Tuesday night link dump and open thread

First, a couple of housekeeping notes: This week’s fan confidence poll should be the last for a couple of weeks. Seeing the dog-days of summer are ahead, there will be little reason for confidence to build or decline until September.

Secondly, I’d like to note that he Lined-Up Update remains in place tracking the various transactions for the club this off-season.

Aaaaaand, that’s about it. ON WITH THE LINKS!

Lightning news

• One (Seattle) fan’s perspective on the loss of Tod Leiweke [SB Nation Seattle]
• While Damian Cristordero had an article in the Times today about the Leiweke hiring (with Tod’s own words), it didn’t present the full interview he conducted with. The full interview with Tod Leiweke is posted here [Lightning Strikes]
• For those on Facebook, did you have Steve Yzerman request to be your friend? Or did you have him pop up as a friend suggestion? No, it wasn’t really him, and it’s causing a stir [The Beach Bucket]
• The bitter-sweet ending of the Gagne saga [Broad Street Hockey]
• More Flyers angle on the Gagne deal: Simon’s career summarized on Broad Street Hockeyi in two parts [Part 1] [Part 2]
• Nolan analyzes the Gagne trade with help of his drunken expert friends [Frozen Sheets]
• Yzerman makes signing Steve Downie a priority [Lightning Strikes]
• Are you a fan of Raw Charge on Facebook? [Facebook]

Hockey news

• The Recent vendor report by ESPN. It effects the Southeast Division…. AND St. Pete Times Forum patrons. [The Litter Box]
• Ebay’s strangest NHL product offerings [From the Rink]
• The hot summer in Pittsburgh has given way, at least for a few hours, to thoughts of the winter and 2011’s NHL Winter Classic between the Penguins and Capitals [NHL.com]
• Hoosier Hockey completed their series about Sunbelt hockey (is it working?). We’ve posted some of the parts before on our link dumps, all of them are included here [Primer] [Part I] [Part II] [Part III]
• Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke is not a fan of the Kovalchuk joke contract, or “back-diving” contracts for that matter [Faceoff.com]
• 2009-10 saw less penalties called in the third period. Teams playing conservative? Players tired? Referees lazy? Draw your own conclusion [Hockey Independent]

General Links

• ESPN’s vendor report. Every major venue in ever state of the union. [ESPN]
• If you are a Tampa Bay resident, don’t forget to vote in the 2010 Best Of The Bay awards. [Creative Loafing Best Of the Bay]