It’s July, and I’m struggling.  I miss hockey…a lot.  Sure, the New Jersey Devils and their contract hilarity have helped, as has the recent emergence of Douchegate, but it’s still not real hockey.  There aren’t any meaningful games (that you don’t already know the outcome of) on television.  There aren’t any recaps online.  It’s just not the same. 

You see, the best part about being a Bears’ fan is that I’m used to short summers.  In four of the past five seasons, Hershey has played into June.  Last year I was really spoiled.  The Bears hoisted the Calder Cup in June and then season kicked off unusually early because of the anticipated Olympic hiatus.

One of the hardest things for Bears fans right now is watching the team strip down as guys head for other organizations to get their shot at their life long dreams, while other guys sign with the team in hopes of continuing Hershey’s tradition of success.  Last year, this was a non-issue.  As HB Head Coach Mark French reiterated a few weeks ago at Development Camp, the team remained mostly intact for two seasons.  That makes watching the TSN signing tracker even harder.  We had a whole year without worrying so much about it.  Now what we do?

So, instead of beating myself up over learning and speculating as to who will or will not be donning the Chocolate and White this fall, I’ve remembered a ray of sunshine.  There is one guy who will not be putting on the skates this year in the AHL, let alone Hershey.  This in itself is reason to celebrate.  Nygel Pelletier retired at the end of last season, and we won’t have to see him anymore.  Fans across the AHL should remember this key retirement and rejoice…unless you’re Canadian.  Pelletier passed the test to become a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman.  So good luck with that, friends up North.

For those of you who may not be very familiar with AHL refs, know this.  Nygel was about as bad as it could get.  Hershey and Wilkes-Barre fans, who normally cannot agree on anything (much like their parent clubs’ fans – Washington and Pittsburgh), agreed that Nygel was awful.  I don’t believe that there’s an arena out there that he hasn’t been booed in.  In fact, he holds the record for the ref that has been most frequently honored with the “B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T, BULLSHIT!” chant in Hershey* (Official stat is not in the record books.)

To aid in my celebration, I’ve Aol Search enhanced by Googled Nygel Pelletier to come up with ten of the best worst scenarios he’s caused in the AHL as retold by beat writers & bloggers alike.  Note that this is not just a collection of his horrible officiating in Hershey, but across the AHL, so if you’re joining us from another organization (or even from the ECHL) and want to share a Nygel story, please leave it in the comments section.  They never get old, and they never surprise me anymore!

10: No call on the Goalie’s concussion in Hartford.
9: Jonathan Bombulie from the Citizens Voice (Baby Pens beat writer) sums it up best in the 1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph.
8: Oskar Osala says “Maybe he didn’t have the best night.”
7: No, River Rats.  It’s not a goal – despite the goal judge’s light coming on and everyone seeing it on the jumbotron replay.
6: Bombulie again – this time explaining the seemingly unexplainable based on the ref.
5: A San Antonio & Peoria match-up where Pelletier whistled 153 penalty minutes... in one game.
4: The Peerless Prognosticator shares his take on a series winning OT goal in Hershey and the talent that is Nygel Pelletier.
3: 15 power plays in the first 40 minutes…  enough said.
2: Apparently you can take two shots in a shootout when Nygel is running the show.
1: This gem:

Late this afternoon Andy Strickland broke the news that the Washington Capitals traded prospect (and RtR BFF) Stefan Della Rovere for Left Winger tough guy DJ King, answering a question we pitted sometime last month. Here's what we've been able to gather about the newest Cap:

• King was selected in the 6th round, 190th overall, by the St. Louis Blues in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft
  
• He has played in 101 Career NHL games, all with the Blues and has notched 4 goals and 9 points, while accumulating 185 PIM
• Checking the tale of the tape, King tips the scales at 6' 3", 230 pounds
• King signed a two-year extension before the trade
• And then there's this:

In the spirit of off-season deliberation, the blog types of Rock the Red recently kicked around a hypothesis regarding two of the Washington Capitals' pending career milestones. Among other achievements set for the 2010-11 season, Super Swede NicklasBackstrom is poised to eclipse the 200 mark for assists, with 189 career helpers currently on the books. Likewise, grizzled vet Mike Knuble looks to lace up his skates for the 900th time, presently being credited for hitting the ice 889 times in his career. Although separate achievements, both Lars and Double-Duce sit 11 tallies away from their respective marks.

Since Knuble's dauntless man-of-steel-esque competition is nearly as well known as Backstrom's penchant for setting the table, it's hard to say outwright which milestone will be conquered first with absolute certainty. Allow our litigators to present the case of each, and tell us in our comments section which Cap we will see celebrating first.

Backstrom or Knuble? Knuble or Backstrom?

You can exhale now, Flash. You have a contract for next year.

And while we opined it was in the Caps' best interest to trade the forward, we sure are glad to have Flash back in the fold as we sure would hate to have to discontinue this shirt.  Congrats on your contract, Tommy Boy - now for the love of God go work on taking draws.

In this photo via Tarik El-Bashir from Capitals Insider, we are finally able to see the retro logos the Caps and the Penguins will use when they don their sweaters on New Years Day for the 2010-11 Winter Classic at Heinz Field. The complete jersey will be unveiled at this years' Capitals Convention on October 2, 2010.

Uber-tanned Dave Steckel and Mike Knuble (Blu Blocker sunglasses in tow) were in attendance, and shared the stage with the Pens' Sidney Crosby and his former landlord Mario Lemieux, Maxime Talbot, Pascal Dupuis, and ex-Cap Matt Cooke. No word if a post-presser karaoke session was planned.

Change is inevitable. Whether we like it or not, the networks are always going to test some crazy new crap to "enhance" their coverage of sporting events.  Sometimes they come up with sweet ideas, like the goalie ice-cam. Sometimes, they come up with FoxTrax and fail miserably.

Similarly, teams who give a damn about their fan base, such as the Capitals, are always striving to come up with new ideas to improve the in-game experience.

So we figure, if they're going to do it anyway, they might as well get some good ideas from the fans.  So we've come up with a few ideas which we feel could improve the game experience, while not altering the game itself. You know, besides removing all the mouse turds.

Read our ideas, and share your own, after the jump.

As the final moments of the Washington Capitals Development Camp came to a close, I was able to sit down with Mark French, the Hershey Bears' head coach. French quickly progressed in his tenure in Hershey, from being named assistant in January of 2008 to head coach in 2009 after Bob Woods' promotion to DC. In his first year as the Bears' head coach, he lead the team to an AHL record 60 wins (123 points) and the teams' second consecutive Calder Cup. If you are not familiar with French, let it be said that his leadership and demeanor on and off the ice is second only to his abilities as a coach.

French was able to share his thoughts on the importance of Dev Camp, as well as explain what goes through the mind of a coach when players make the trip to don the red, white and blue.

Late in the week at Development camp we had a chance to speak with Stefan Della Rovere, the Washington Capitals seventh round pick in the 2008 Entry Draft (selected 204th overall). A year after being drafted by the Caps, in addition to signing a three-year entry-level contract Delly also won a Gold Medal with the Canadian National team at the World Junior Championships. Since then, his game as progressed in the OHL (as well as winning a silver in the 2010 Championships thanks to John Carlson), and spent some time on the Hershey Bears' roster this past season.

SDR is a rugged forward known for his abilities as an agitator, but also for his leadership abilities and the amount of heart he brings to the rink. While our interest was sparked in seeing him at last years' camp (as well as with the Bears), we quickly learned what Japers' Rink learned two years ago - this is a fun kid to watch play the game.

[Photograph by Neil Greenberg]

Click to get the dirt on Delly.

The morning drills of Day 5 were pretty standard, as hockey drills go. Four on Fours, half-ice scrimmage, shoot- out/breakaway drills.

• Cameron Burt is as advertised - everything he does is done fast - yet he has some sort of precision that a lot of fast guys usually seem to lack. It'll be interesting to see what he does with 2 more years of D1 College Hockey.

• Anton Gustafsson looks to be getting more comfortable as the days go on. His goal over Dunn's shoulder in the shoot-out/breakaway drill was a thing of beauty.

• Eakin with 1 year of Juniors to go looks more ready to move to the AHL than a lot of AHL players.

• Ruel shoots bombs from the point. Inaccurate, yet hard.

• Della Rovere looks strong in drills - not a stand-out, but strong. It will be interesting to see him in scrimmage action tomorrow.

• Patrick Cullen buzzes. He's everywhere, but in a controlled manner. He digs the puck out, follows the pass, & crashes the net. Could be valuable to the Chocolate & White.

[Ed. Note: While we have been able to provide substantial coverage of this week Washington Capitals Development Camp, we were unable to attend yesterday's scrimmage. We knew it wasn't right to leave you- the readers- in the dark for a day, so we were able to post a few interviews with Caps draft picks. In addition, we felt it necessary to share information from someone we knew who would definitely be with the prospects. Please join us in a warm RtR welcome for our newest blogger: Braden Holtby]

Alright, I've never done a blog before so just bare with me here. I asked a few guys who have done them but they found it a lot more funny to watch me struggle though it. Nice friends!

Holtby talks hockey. And paintball. But mostly Paintball.