Coping With the Offseason: Tall Tales and Mirages of August

The temperature was over 90 degrees here on Long Island for the second day in a row. So, about two months late, summer has finally arrived in my neck of the woods. Glad to see that it could take the time to finally stop by. But along with the heat comes a weird time in the hockey news cycle. Basically, anything and everything is a story. Alright, so the Patrick Kane twenty-cent-cabbie-punch thing is a pretty big deal, even if he ends up getting acquitted. But other than that the hockey media -- myself included -- is really just grasping at straws to write about which reminds me, has training camp started yet?

Let's start with Theo Fleury. It's all well and good that the 41-year old with a long history of off-ice issues that derailed an otherwise successful career is trying to give it another go. You can't hate on a guy for giving it a shot. But let's realize the hurdles that Fleury left for himself to jump.

First and foremost, he's 41 and hasn't played in the NHL since 2003. Getting back into game shape is one battle. Another is the indefinite suspension that current hangs over his head after violating the NHL's substance abuse policy. So he's got to get a pass from the commissioner before he can suit up for anyone, which leads us to the next issue -- actually getting a chance to play for an NHL team.

But to be honest, I do wish Fleury the best. When he was at his best he was one of the most exciting players in the league to watch. He's just got a heck of a hill to climb. Earlier this year 41-year old Claude Lemieux made a comeback to play about 10 minutes a night down the stretch for the Sharks. The word on the street was that Lemieux had always kept himself in great shape. So that's the kind of odds Fleury is up against. Not insurmountable, but very, very tough not including the suspension. The reality of it is that it's likely more a summer dream than anything that will become a reality during the winter

Then there is the tale involving a young Blackhawk in Buffalo. Being that it's a matter of the law -- I am no lawyer -- and it's a matter of an altercation in a cab at 4 AM (a cab I was not in), I can't say who's telling the truth here. But sometimes -- and hear me out on this one -- folks in the media can blow things out of proportion a bit. However, athletes are prone to making the same mistakes that us regular folks are, so who knows. Either way, it's another black eye the Hawks don't need after the cloud of smoke that surrounded Dave Tallon's dismissal earlier in the summer.

And then there is the most interesting tall tale of them all this summer. The soap opera that is the Phoenix Coyotes. In the latest installments Jim Balsillie tries to probe the NHL owner's unanimous rejection of his bid (good luck with that one) and Jerry Reinsdorf claims to have an agreement with the Coyotes' second largest debtor who, in fact, is not Wayne Gretzky nor Shane Doan. So the big ball of crazy in the desert keeps on rolling and we're still no more sure about where it's all going than we were last week or last month. But hey, it sure is something to talk about, huh? And those distant dreams of another Canadian team aren't that bad, either.

So there you have it: bizarre arrests, longshot comeback stories and bankruptcy court ownership battles. Those are the hottest hockey stories in mid-August. They all leave me with the same question in mind; "Is it time for hockey season yet?"