I don’t know how your hockey-less summer is going, but mine has been extremely uneventful.

I’ll give credit where credit is due…

Yes, it was exciting to see the Hawks win the cup for the first time in decades…but that was almost two months ago.

Draft day was altogether uneventful, but very positive for the Ducks organization.  On the same note, Prospect camp was enjoyable and great to get a taste of the future.

Of course, whether you care or not, it has been difficult to ignore the Ilya Kovalchuk shenanigans.  I have strong opinions on not wanting him to play in Southern California for that purple and black clad team, as well as the length and absurd amount of money thrown his way, but that is irrelevant.

And speaking of the Kings, I could have had less of them this summer all around.

Some good things have come the Ducks way – signing at least 1 key defenseman, Saku Koivu‘s two year deal, and the recent addition of Cam Fowler‘s contract.

However, none of these things are in any way a replacement for this Ducks fans desire to see some quality puck action.

Just to reiterate, I don’t do baseball, so it’s not as if I can find solace in another sport.  And being that I have a normal work schedule, I didn’t see any of the 8:00 am soccer games.  Not that I would have watched anyway.

In fact, just thinking about sitting through four hours of baseball is making me want to take a nap.  And even though I didn’t watch any of the World Cup matchups…I somehow can’t get the buzz of the vuvuzelas out of my head either.

With that in mind, it’s time to start focusing on the countdown…again.  If I forget to tweet it, you can always find it here on DUCKSandPUCKS where it will be posted in the column on the right.

So while we wait for hockey to resume, and until that glorious day when I’m sitting up in the 400′s and watching the Ducks skate onto the ice, I thought it would be fun to post a little blurb about ”what I’m missing about hockey today”. 

Entitled “Melted Ice”, these will be short/long/random/chaotic thoughts that allow me to take a few moments out of an uneventful hockey day and give my brain flashes of stimulation and excitement. 

Plus, until there is actual news about the indecisive Teemu Selanne or the long awaited/much desired contract negotiations involving Bobby Ryan have been sorted out, I don’t see this summer getting any more eventful.

No matter what, we’ll see how this experiment goes and how far I get before I just start posting inexplicable crap about how baseball is awful.

So let’s begin!

What I’m missing about hockey today…

Line changes.

Line changes, seriously?  Yes.

Seems kind of minor and most of the time people don’t even realize they’re happening.

And that is exactly why I love them.

What other sport shuffles through their 20 man roster over the course of five minutes without blinking an eye?  It’s one of the reasons that hockey is usually tops on my list when it comes to comparing sports.  The amount physical exertion for just 45 seconds is enough to warrant the impressive line change to take place.

It happens so seamlessly too.  Well, most of the time.

What may look like a mish-mash of mass confusion to the outsider is harmonious to a hockey lover.

Watching that first guy jump over the boards, you know what’s coming up next for your team.

“Okay, Perry’s on the ice…it’s time to see some offense boys!”

When the game is winding down, and whether they’ve got a commanding lead, or are trailing horrendously, sometimes seeing that one player jump onto the ice can give the crowd a flicker of hope. 

It might just be enough to change the energy in the entire building.

The line change.  I bet you didn’t expect anyone would find it so fascinating.  Well, we have about 54 days before the puck drops on preseason hockey, I hope you’re prepared for more subtleties that I love and miss about hockey.

GO DUCKS!!!