Welcome

I believe the legendary original Polish Prince, our IT guru Pawel Tauter, is going to make it official about the two new blogs by posting something on the team site. Thought it would be rude to not say hello and hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.

Hockey is here. Yeah, it's 85 on the Island today, but all the signs are there. The U.S. Open is underway and men and women alike are quitting mid-match with injuries a hockey player wouldn't skip a game in October for. The kids are going back to school. Ricky D is bouncing off the walls.

Well aware things have been quiet the last two weeks since Garth signed Vasicek and Berard committed to camp, but it will pick up. (You'll want to bookmark Corey Witt's blog because he often gets the news before anyone. Sometimes he even forgets to tell me, so I'm counting on his blog to get updates on the company I work for).

Two big events coming up. Islandermania, the incredible fan message board that's been kicking butt and taking names for years, will become the official board of the NYI as early as this evening.

And I can't overestimate the importance of Saturday's on-sale of the single-game tickets. Don't have confirmation yet, but it appears the team will have a few special guests stop by the line, including Garth and Ted. Either way, it should be a blast.

As for this blog, it will continue to take shape as the season goes on. When I wrote a few columns this summer and included some culture things like favorite plays and movies, Greg Logan tweaked me. He said he liked the stuff, but felt there's enough of that, that hockey needs people writing about, ya know, hockey. Fair criticism.

So don't expect to be bothered by me telling you about my wife Catherine re-joining the workforce after 9 years. Or about how great the low-low-low- budget movie "Once" is (I think it's still playing at the Roslyn). I'm not going to suggest you go get the Season 2 DVD of "Prison Break" because it's a terrific show and written and exec-produced by a genuine flag-waving Islanders fan. I'm not going to whine about Mussina.

This will be about PR, the media, the fans and the Islanders. If I stray off course, call me out on it.

CB