Soundin' Off

Managed not to post this last night, so here it is today with some updates

Caught up to Jack Capuano on Wednesday but had to wait my turn. His son, Anthony, is part of the host team at the Senior League World Series in Bangor, Maine. With wins over teams from Edmonton and Italy and now Houston, this Bangor team is not only the first host team to win more than one game in this tournament, but it’s the first to advance to the semifinals. Anthony is 4-for-11 with five RBIs in the first four games.

Some postgame Capuano thoughts on Hilbert (Howard Saffan said he didn’t think Hilbert would be here for the whole year) and Hisey:

“Obviously I had a chance to see Andy Hilbert with the Islanders. Garth, with some of the guys he’s signed, (Jon) Sim, Hilbert, there’s going to be a lot of competition in training camp. Knowing what I know, he’s a character guy, a fierce competitor, a great locker-room guy. … We’re going to have a young team, obviously. Garth is putting veteran, character leadership around our guys.

“I don’t know Rob at all, obviously, but he played with Jesse (Joensuu), right, on the same line? (True, in Finland.) … When he was recalled from the Central League — he’s put up points everywhere he’s been. He definitely has the craftiness and the skill level to compete at our level. He’s crafty. He’s got good vision. He makes his linemates better.”

(Hisey didn’t seem to play with any concern for his size, did he?) “The games we watched, the prescout: Obviously, you want to take advantage and hit skill, but he did not shy away. One game we saw, he got hurt, he saw the hit coming. I liked his competitiveness. From what I saw, the first time we played him, he had seven or eight shots with a goal.”

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ETA on the AHL schedule: One more week, Aug. 25. Just in time. Thanks, LeBron. You’re a gift that keeps on giving.

Odessa GM Joe Clark got a contract extension.

The NHL put referee Jean Hebert under contract.

Josh Phelps put one on the barn roof Wednesday night.

Poked through the spam-comment folder and found one from our old buddy Dist1Ump, who is now working in a slightly different district. Sorry you got filtered, Blue. (Always wonder what’s getting caught up in there.) To answer the question: Nope, staying home this time.

But that’s a nice segue: A reminder that, if you’re looking for Fairfield American stuff from Williamsport, Pat Pickens is your man. Photos come from Lindsay Niegelberg, showing the “New England” caps. It’s not quite as sharp a distinction as two years ago; red-and-white to maroon-and-black, it’s jarring, but not like orange to maroon. Anyway, here’s hoping everyone has fun out there, and may any extralegal instant replays not change the outcome.

Sight: “XKP” at the end of a license plate. Thought: Should be the Associated Press ID code for Russian hockey. Sight: “XHL” at the end of a license plate. Thought: Don’t let Vince McMahon see this.

And finally, you’ve probably seen the headlines by now: Lou Gehrig might not have had Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The hypothesis is pretty chilling: If concussions and brain trauma can produce symptoms down the road that mimic those of ALS, just what the heck are we doing to ourselves when we bang our heads in these games of ours?