Game On!

• Chicago fans are responding to the Blackhawks renaissance where it counts: at the box office. Ticket sales already are up 300 percent from this time last year. (Imagine if Chi makes the playoffs!) The Hawks season tix base has climbed from 3,400 at the beginning of 2007-08 to 12,000-plus so far.

• It didn’t make People magazine – we don’t know why – but Kings ace Jarret Stoll is engaged to a knockout. His new bride-to-be is model Rachel Hunter. In case you missed it, ravishing Rachel has appeared on Dancing With The Stars, Celebrity Circus and had been married to rocker Rod Stewart. The King is a mere stripling of 26 while his bride-to-be is 38 and with two kids from her previous betrothal.

• Did you know Marc Crawford was THIS funny? We didn’t. But after receiving a one-year contract from CBC, the deposed Kings mentor chortled, “I must not have been a very good coach because I received three offers to do TV.”

• In his welcoming speech to his newly-minted coach, Scott Gordon, Garth Snow emphasized his choice’s INTEGRITY with such gusto, it inspired some media members to wonder whether it was a not-so-subtle shot at yanked Ted Nolan. (If it wasn’t a shot at Nolan, it sure fooled us!)

• A version of the Marian Hossa Atlanta Song-and-Dance could be repeated in St. Paul, only this time with  Marian Gaborik doing The Twist. In the last year of his Wild contract, Gaborik eventually will have to inform Doug Risebrough whether he wants to remain in Minnesota for 2009-10 or bid the Wild good-bye. No question, the Wild will offer big money; that’s not the issue. What’ll matter is whether Gaborik feels comfortable returning under Jacques Lemaire’s baton. No more, no less!

• A growing trend is for agents to hold summer “development” camps for clients along with high school-aged players. One of the more interesting such training groups was held at the Rochester Institute of Technology.  It was organized by agent Steve (Sports Consulting Group) Bartlett and featured clients Ryan Callahan and Brian Gionta. "My advice to the kids was, ‘Have fun with the sport and stay positive,'" says the Rangers forward. "I use myself as an example. I didn't have much promise at that point but I worked hard and earned my spot on the team."

• Terry Crisp is the Don Cherry of American hockey analysis; insightful and funny. Here’s a cute Crisp-ism: "People ask me what my smartest move as Calgary coach was and I say, 'Getting Edmonton to trade Wayne Gretzky to L.A.' I knew that if my Flames were going to have any chance of winning the Cup, we had to go through the Oilers. When Edmonton took the NHL's best player out of their lineup, it gave us to make a run at it." (P.S. Crisp’s Flames took the mug in 1988-89.)

• David Poile says he’s contacted Mark Parrish's rep in the event Alex Radulov remains in Europe. But DP won’t make a move until the Radulov ridiculousness is resolved. Still, Poile is leaning toward youngsters filling the Radulov gap – if necessary – rather than vets.

• Has anyone noticed that NHL training camps will have a later-than-usual start this season? For example, the Leafs won't officially start skating until September 19. (Hey, maybe it's better that way.)  

• For years we've been awed by Rod Brind'Amour's dedication to training – and he hasn't slowed down yet. With the new season still in the distance, the Canes captain shows up at 6:30 A.M. for workouts at the club's practice rink.  If that's not leading by example, we don't know what is!

MORE:

• What Else Is Going on in the NHL?
• Avery's Knock on Rangers
• Leetch, Richter Honored