Greetings from an entirely new zip code, and apologies for making like a Maple Leafs’ first-round draft pick and disappearing (hey, at least I’m back before 2012). We are now pseudo-settled in our new home, where I have an internet connection and every intention of resuming my normal posting frequency. But first, I bring you a classic blog copout: a links post. I generally like to turn interesting links and stories into full-length articles, but considering I’m spending more time with a wallpaper steamer than my laptop, and since some of these are time-sensitive, I wanted to get these interesting snippets to you before they evaporated like March ice. I’ll be back next week with some great stories from the world of backyard hockey!

-If you click any of these links, let it be this one.  Hockey players are used to watching the clock, but Mandi Schwartz’s situation is far more dire than any game.  Please help spread the word! (Race Against Time)

-Great story of a Boston-area kid with an idea, some helpful parents, and a supportive community. Wish I knew about this last week.  (Hockey in the Hood)

-Do you live near Brantford, Ontario?  Have any plans this weekend?  Feel like being a part of history and/or hanging out with Kevin Smith, the Great One’s dad, and thousands of other hockey players and fans?  ‘Not Even Close’, ‘Yes’, and ‘Hell Yes’ would be my answers.   (Walter Gretzky Street Hockey tourney)

-Imagine, if you will, a place that drinks, eats, and breathes hockey, so much so that even when the temps rise and the sun burns, there are hockey tournaments nearly every weekend from one end of this mystical land to the other. Then grab your passport and gaze northward.  (Play On!)

-With Father’s Day approaching (June 20th), what better gift for your hockey-loving Pa than the Pond Hockey documentary and some swag from Northland.  I still haven’t seen Forgotten Miracle, but it’s on my list. Are you reading this, honey?  (Pond Hockey)

-Howard Baldwin may not convince enough people to lure an NHL team back to Hartford, but nothing bad can come from 10 days of outdoor hockey under the cold CT sky. Updates on this to come. (Hartford Hockey Hopes)

-I have no information on this new Wii NHL Slapshot game other than the text of this article, but check out that first screenshot: you get to create a 10-year-old version of yourself and play on a backyard rink! I will sleep in the Toys ‘R Us parking lot to get this.  No word on whether or not there are gameplay modes called “Holy Crap We Have To Shovel This Now?” or “Oh &$#@ There’s A Hole In The Liner!”  (Wii NHL Slapshot)

And finally…

-Yes this is three years old, and sure it got a ton of play at the time, but I dare you to watch this and not laugh.  (Bowling < Hockey)

Seriously awesome photo courtesey of joeracer.