Players breaking news It's not always beat writers, national outlets or teams breaking news. These day's, it's players themselves. After Atlanta Thrashers GM Rick Dudley informed defenseman Brent Sopel he was traded, Sopel left his office and tweeted, "Off to Montreal -- let the games begin."
Surprise for mom and dad Detroit coach Mike Babcock's not the sentimental type. In Buffalo last week, despite Ryan and Drew Miller's parents driving from East Lansing, Mich., to watch their sons face each other, Babcock scratched Drew. "They weren't too happy," Miller said of his folks.
Said Babcock, "It wasn't a priority to scratch Millsie. It just happened, but there are guys who'll be scratched when we are healthy. Guys have to be professional and they are allowed to be upset and disappointed and all those things, but go out when you play and play hard."
Wall tennis explained A few weeks ago, I wrote about the wall tennis game Wild goalie Jose Theodore invented to warm up and test his reflexes. He used to play it all the time with former Montreal teammate Stephane Robidas until "my hands were blue."
I received a handful of e-mails and tweets asking me to quiz Theodore about the rules. Here's what he said: "Take tape and put it on a wall four feet above ground. Take tape and make an end line and side lines. Then play tennis with palm of your hand. If it goes over the tape, it's a good hit, under, it's like it hits the net. You each take turns hitting. It can only bounce once like tennis. If it goes wide of the tape on the ground or longer than the tape in the back, it's out."
