I have an update about the new shop – I’ve seen it, tried it, it works, it’s lovely. But we’re going to work on the Downloads section so that you can filter out older documents as needed. When that is complete – hopefully within a day or two – we’ll go live with the shop, and there will be no more Paypal hassles, extra security and only one company to deal with: mine.

Still on the topic of shops and selling things, my new t-shirt vendor now has hats, including a new 24-7-365 one. We haven’t carried hats in about a year, so good to have those back. I love my white one.

It’s a slow news month so let’s revisit Chris Pronger’s recovery, since everyone else seems to be. He hasn’t been skating yet and it doesn’t sound like he will even by the start of training camp on September 17. In a recent story from the Associated Press, he would not commit to returning in time for the start of the season. All this we knew two weeks ago, but as I browse I notice new stories cropping up around the Internet about this so thought I’d share. It’s not like the ramblings are bulging with too much information and news these days…

The Fantasy Guide is updated as of this morning. The Draft List is also updated as of this morning.

DobberHockey still has the old shopping cart. I have a meeting this morning with the site designers and should have an update re: the changeover after that. But I hope to be rid of Paypal and launch my secure shopping cart… any day now (I know, I’ve been saying that for two days now).

The Traverse City prospects tournament starts Sept. 11 and will have TB, DET, DAL, CBJ, CAR, STL, MIN, and NYR. Tampa is back in the tournament after missing last year. It’s no coincidence that Steve Yzerman is calling the shots – and knows the value of these scrimmages. It’s a great way to get a look at the kids, and us poolies get previews of what we can expect. Last year, in other prospect tournaments, we were all enamoured with Sergei Shirokov (VAN) and Viktor Stalberg (TOR). Granted, they didn’t give us much fantasy-wise a year ago, but it is worth noting that they were nonetheless drafted high last year – especially in earlier fantasy drafts.

Notables for Tampa Bay at the tournament: Jaroslav Janus, Dustin Tokarski, Mark Barberio, Carter Ashton, Brett Connolly, Richard Panik, Dana Tyrell, James Wright

So a reporter was fired for wearing a Florida Gators hat to a press conference by the coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks? What a bunch of knobs – the radio station who fired her, as well as the reporter for thinking it was a good idea in the first place. Should I don a Habs cap and go to the next Brian Burke presser? Stupid – but fireable?

Dave King and Ken Hitchcock are running an orientation camp for 2011 draft eligibles, which is news in itself. But this camp will also be testing out some possible new rule changes. Some of them are pretty cool – here are some of the interesting things on the list:

-no line change for team committing offside
-face-off controlled by whistle in place of puck drop
-bigger crease
-three minutes of 4-on-4 OT, three minutes of 3-on-3 OT, three minutes of 2-on-2 OT followed by shootout.
-“verification goal line” (an additional line behind the goal line)
-wider blue lines
-a line changes zone in front of each bench
-no icing while shorthanded
-different face-off variations, such as three dots down the middle of the ice instead of their usual spots
-no touch icing
-offsides mean no line changes for that team and face-off in their own zone
-face-off: if player gets kicked out, opposing center can choose his opponent
-second ref located off the ice
-shootouts with five players

Camp kicks off today