Patrick Lebeau has been invited to the Flyers training camp. Remember him? Doubtful he'll crack the squad. 

For the first time in about 10 months, ramblings were missing for a day. It's not that I didn't look, or try – there was just no news to speak of. We have hit rock bottom for the summer in the hockey world…so it should only move upwards (or sideways) from here!

Viktor Kozlov expects to be right wing on Ovechkin's line, Semin's line, or if Backstrom is unable to handle the job he would be slotted in as Semin's centerman. I would expect Kozlov on the second line on the right side.

Stanislav Chistov apparently has not yet made his signing in Russia official yet, but it will happen within the next few days according to the Boston Globe.

Nikita Alexeev is holding off on signing in Russia in hopes that he can get an NHL contract.

It is believed that Aleksey Morozov is making $4.25 million per season in Russia. Why would an NHL team compete with that? I just don't see it. 

Manny Fernandez's knee is healing properly and he has been given the green light to step up his offseason training.

This from the Boston Globe that I found interesting: According to local goaltending instructor Brian Daccord, the biggest injury worries for netminders these days are their hips, particularly with torn labrums. Among some of the tragically hip: the Islanders' Rick DiPietro, Philadelphia's Antero Niittymaki, former Flyer Robert Esche, ex-Penguin Jocelyn Thibault, and current Pittsburgh property John Curry, formerly of Boston University. "Everybody thinks about the knees," said Daccord, co-founder of Tewksbury-based Superskills Hockey. "But it's the hips. All the movement — the butterfly slides and pushes — is taking a big toll on hips. I'm really worried down the road about how many goalies I train end up with artificial hips. There's all this wear and tear from all the training and the movement down low. It's the way [the position] has to be played. That's where flexibility and core stability become extremely important."

Mike Modano will marry Willa Ford this coming Saturday. Not fantasy-related news…or so I thought. A reader wrote to me recently to let me know that he actually takes five points off his predictions if a player is married in the offseason. That's the type of poolie that looks at so many different angles that he ends up overcompensating and I end up hammering him in the league. Modano's production will go up this year.

It sounds as if Ken Hitchcock will be a slave driver in training camp. He has made it quite clear that they will be all business, even getting the team to reschedule its annual charity golf tournament. "We won't be having that go on in the middle of training camp," Hitchcock said. "No way."

SPECTOR believes that Jason Allison will be a good fit in Columbus. I agree with him, but don't see any team stepping up to sign the centerman. I don't even think he is the slowest player in the league, I just believe that Toronto fans and media saw him crawl up the ice at two miles per hour during a couple of shootouts…and he hasn't shaken the lable since. He's slow, but there are one or two players in the league who are slower. Few in the league have better hockey sense. As for his plus/minus back in his last season (minus-18) keep in mind that he was minus-9 in October alone, his first month playing in over two years.

Some Dobber-swag news – several new products are available, including DobberHockey ball caps, the T-shirt in a new color, and a tank top for the ladies (my wife's request). Also, a couple of price reductions. Check it out… 

I love this shirt – here I am, sporting the new DobberHockey muscle shirt, doing what I do best – BBQ and beer:

Summer special – $5.63 off. So this shirt costs a shade over 14 bucks. BUY NOW