Former Austin Ice Bats stalkerazzi Jason Cohen forwarded a profile of Columbus’ Ron Hainsey replete with all sorts of Hartford Whalers nostalgia (“They traded RonFrancis to Pittsburgh, and then they even got rid of “Brass Bonanza”, too. We had Whaler season tickets for years, but once the song went, that was pretty much it for my family,”) that includes the following factoids collected by the Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont.
The annual World Junior Championship, set to begin just after Christmas in Sweden (cities: Mora and Leksand), likely will include as many as five Bruins prospects.
Netminder Tuukka Rask and forward Mikko Lehtonen are expected to suit up for the Finns. Defenseman Yuri Alexandrov is considered a shoo-in for the Russians, ditto for center Vladimir Sobotka for the Czechs. Left winger Brad Marchand found out Thursday night that he made the cut with the Canadians.
Writes Jason, “I would like to be the first to officially nickname Sobotka, ‘Frank’.”
The latest potential buyer for the Pittsburgh Penguins is Toronto beer / sports drink magnate Frank D’Angelo. Though D’Angelo is hardly a household name south of the border, he’s presumably an iconic figure of sorts based on the televsion commercial shown below.