What day is it? Wait… What month is it? I’ve been on the road for dang near 7 months straight and the tours have been incredible, after many years of concentrating on markets outside the US we have really gotten to spend some serious time catching up with our country and playing to some of the most dedicated listeners any band could hope for! The heat has been sweltering and us Alaskans have been teetering on melting completely for weeks now but im taking it all in as my summer weight loss program;)!! We are currently out with rock radio heavyweights, In This Moment and what a show they put on. It’s been great to see our old friends rise to success and we are grateful to have been asked out on this run. The cycle for our album, Time and Trauma has been better than we could ever imagined and want to send a special shout out to all our people for showing up and making yourselves heard at the shows and the record stores! We love you!!!!

Let’s talk some puck!!!
 
A couple weeks back I watched the draft and was really happy about what I saw in Philadelphia Flyer legend and GM Ron Hextall! Focusing on defense and getting some solid young guns was the key and I feel the Flyers got some of the best of the best that was available! Excited for my boys to redeem themselves this upcoming season. My predication… Flyers hoist the cup in 2016…. A boy can dream right?!!;)
 
Let’s drop the puck on this mofo!!!
 
Our season-ending Snipe City column that will put a bow on the 2014-2015 season. We will then be taking the next couple months to think of ways to make Snipe City even better for the 2015-2016 season which starts in early October. We really want to think of more creative ways to get you (the reader) interacting with Snipe City as well as more creative ways to mesh METAL with HOCKEY. To tide you over for a bit, we also have a sweet contest with the coolest site ever, Metal Insider in which you can win some awesome 36 Crazyfists x PUCK HCKY prize packs!!! So be on the look-out for that…and enter!! Watch www.metalinsider.net for details !!
 
OK…on to the hockey!! First off, of course a belated congrats go out to the Chicago Blackhawks who yet again showed the world what a true championship team looks like. This team has some serious HEART. They just simply would not allow themselves to be beaten. When they lost a game, they bounced right back. It shows that when you have the main components in place that serve as the foundation, you can tinker around with the other moving parts and find a successful recipe for winning. A lot of credit should of course go to the management team of the Hawks for being able to keep the core pieces in place while at the same time providing the proper supporting cast….all the while staying within the constraints of the salary cap. Truly a masterful job.
 
You also need to give a “tip of the cap” to the coaching systems and leadership of the Hawks, as it is clearly second-to-none. The most vivid evidence of just how important this is comes from taking a look at the number of player changes that occurred after each of the Hawks championship seasons. To be able to win three championships (2010, 2013 & 2015) in the salary cap era is a mind-blowing feat for sure, but it takes on an entirely new spin when you look at the actual moves that have been made to this team since the 2010 victory. I don’t have the space to detail all the comings and goings, but the sweeping changes that have occurred are well-known throughout the hockey world. Check it out sometime. If you factor in these personnel changes, its obvious that the coaching team has the proper systems in place for all aspects of the game, and the core leadership group buys into it 100%. This team will be good for many years to come!
 

Next up is the NHL Entry Draft which took place the last week of June. While ordinarily the draft does generate some mild interest within the hockey-sphere, this draft generated a TON of interest…why? Well not only were there two so-called “generational” talents available (McDavid & Eichel) that went to Edmonton and Buffalo respectively, the first two rounds of the draft was loaded with quality players. Now that the dust has settled and the picks are in, it will be a good deal of fun to keep tabs on the players from the 2015 draft and how they progress through the ranks and if/when they become NHL players.

 
The final subject to touch on is of course free-agency and the multitude of signings and trades each team has made in an attempt to get better. On the trade front, there have been a bunch of BIG-NAMES that have been shipped to new teams! Check this list: Kessel, Oshie, Sharp, Saad, Bieksa, Daley, Hagelin, Etem, O’Reilly, Lucic & Hamilton !!!! Whew. Very, very interesting deals indeed. On the free-agent front, again some pretty big names have either changed places or re-upped with their current team: Dubnyk, Lee, Ramo, Beauchemin, Martin, Green, B. Richards, Sekera, Jackman, Beleskey, Williams, Ward, Nyquist & Tarasenko. Quite a list ! Keep in mind that a number of teams are either right up against the cap ceiling or are already over it within the allotted 10% overage (must be within the cap by seasons start), meaning more moves are coming for sure! This is like XMAS time for hockey fans as we all watch the hockey news and hope our personal favorite teams are taking care of biz and making the right moves.
 
Lastly…did we mention our contest to win some sweet 36 Crazyfists x PUCK HCKY gear and tunes??? Speaking of 36 Crazyfists, the PUCK HCKY team had the pleasure of seeing the boys completely DESTROY the Token Lounge on July 8th. Those that were there were treated to 90 minutes of heavy-ness and groove that never let up. The guys brought it, full-on from song one straight thru to the encore….amazing energy on display. We were also able to have an awesome photo-shoot with the band, so be looking out for the pix! Soooooo…..don’t just sit there, enter to win some stuff!!!!
 
Hope you’re all out enjoying your summer & as always…. Keep your head up,

Brock & Matt