Sports bloggery is a bit of a minefield these days. For every quality site with a discernable point of view, those who settle for aping the Screech aping Sports Frog are too numerous to mention. Suffice to say, I won’t link to ’em and it’s pretty transparent who is engaging in comment spam for the sole purposes of driving traffic to their own snoozy offerings.

Luckily, we’re still the beneficiaries of inspired work by those who are truly devoted to the craft. Dave Zukauskas aka Brushback of Sidearm Delivery is one such individual. In the past week, Zukauskas has shed light on the following :

a) the number 84 making it’s first-ever appearance in an NHL game — the last available number that had never been claimed.

b) the dulcet tones of Hartford Wolf Pack radio mouthpiece Bob “Chicken Hawk” Crawford, subject of a stirring tribute by Zukauskas.

c) introduction of the long-awaited Al Montoya action figure.