Law of Unintended Consequences

New uniforms...sleeker, more aerodynamic, offers a whole new revenue stream with updated designs and logos, repels moisture...

"Repels" moisture...OK, so where does all this moisture go? Well, as we see in this article by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dave Molinari, the moisture collects in the equipment -- most notably gloves and skates. As the Penguins' Mark Eaton pointed out...

"They do what they were designed to do, as far as repelling the water. But we've found, the last three or four days of wearing them, that, when the water's repelled, it has nowhere to go but into your skates and gloves. By the end of the second [period] or the start of the third, your skates are sloshing around and you have to change your gloves because they're [soaked]."

The league might look at this new performance system as a work in progress, but no amount of tweaking will end up looking like this...


Imagine this look on Zdeno Chara...

...yeesh.

And with that, The Peerless is going dark for a few days. Remember to visit all the bloggers, and while you're at it...floss.


Thanks to Direwolf on The Official for pointing the way to this issue.

Boyle to miss 3-6 weeks

Hockey is dangerous enough without having to worry about falling skates in locker rooms, but that is precisely what Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle had to deal with after last night's 2-1 loss to the Caps. As the St. Petersburg Times reports:

The skate, which apparently was not secured properly, fell about 2 feet and the blade sliced into Boyle's arm and through the abductor tendon.

Boyle ran to the training room, his arm bleeding. Four stitches closed the wound, though they will be removed today when he undergoes surgery.

It is worth noting that in addition to the effects on the Lightning in terms of Boyle's presence and production -- a significant ingredient to the Lightning's success -- Boyle is also in a contract year. He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

Division opponent he might be, but one wishes he gets back on the ice as soon as possible.