Hitting The Links: Go Away, Irene Edition

Irene is ruining lives! Okay, not technically, but she's certainly making some people's Stanley Cup days a little complicated. How did everyone fare in the storm this weekend? Hopefully none of you live in Vermont; the flooding there was a little excessive. I'm pretty sure that out of all the places expecting to feel the effects of this storm the most.....Vermont was pretty low on the list. Sorta sad.

It was fun to see some players tweet about the storm, though; Jonathan Quick posted a photo of a huge fallen tree near where he was in Connecticut, and Anthony Stewart tweeted "on a scale of 1 to 10, how worried should I be about a hurricane?" ...Stewart currently plays for the hurricanes. Oh the irony.

After the jump - catching up with the Cup, and how one player's Cup day is serving as a launch date for a certain helicopter business...

• Daniel Paille, the Bruins' NHLPA rep, is confident that the NHL can avoid a lockout next year. [NESN]
• Irene, you won't keep the Cup away from this guy; Brad Marchand drove to P.E.I. after McQuaid's Cup day when the threat that it wouldn't make it to Halifax arose. [CBC]
• Marchand is totally ready for his Cup party, too. [Chronicle Herald]
• Adam McQuaid's Cup party yesterday drew thousands - almost as many as the Royal couple did a few months ago. [The Guardian]
• A local helicopter business in Newfoundland is capitalizing on transporting Michael Ryder and the Stanley Cup to the remote town of Bonavista, NFLD - and using it as a launch point to grow its clientele. [The Telegram]
• Don Sweeney brought the Cup to Bangor, Maine on Friday. [Bangor Daily News]

NHL News:

• The Saskatoon Blades of the WHL are testing out helmet sensors to record hits this year. [CBC]
• The NHL leads the four major sports in championship parity over the last 12 seasons, which, honestly? It's fun that it's so much harder to craft a dynasty in this sport. [Pro Hockey Talk]
• Lady Gaga went to the VMAs last night looking oddly like a certain goalie we're all familiar with. Cannot unsee. [Puck Daddy]
• Mike Modano? Oh, go away already, you're the Brett Favre of the NHL at this point and it's not cute. [ESPN Dallas]
• The NHL's list of top talent under 21 does not include any Bruins. [NHL]
• With players forced to end their careers early due to injury, what will the game's future alumni look like? [Western Star]
• The Capitals' Michal Neuvirth still expects to be the #1 goalie, despite, well, Tomas Vokoun. [Post]
• Some of the players making the trek to Frozen Fenway this year have never been to a baseball park. [Herald]
• With Times Square "closed" during Hurricane Irene on Saturday, the eerily quiet landscape made a perfect road hockey venue. Road hockey in abandoned Times Square? Obviously, there's video. [Puck Daddy]

Non Hockey Link of the Day:

• Also played in Times Square during the hurricane? Rugby. Oh, obviously. A local Police and Fire team, whose game was cancelled, decided to bring it to the streets. [youtube]