I’m not sure if I’m crazy about Jerry Reinsdorf being the owner of the Phoenix Coyotes. Not that I don’t think he’ll do a good job, I just don’t know that his offer is the best one for the troubled-team. When the NHL approved his bid, which was the lowest of the bids submitted and didn’t seem to address the other financial concerns such as paying creditors, I was shocked. One would think NHL owners would like to sell the team for a higher price, thus, making their teams jump in value.

I know Jim Balsillie is looked upon negatively by a lot of hockey fans. The billionaire has swung and missed, it seems, three teams in his attempts to own a NHL franchise and swoop it away to Hamilton, London, Kitchener or another city near Toronto. The NHL may need to pay attention to how Mark Cuban has transformed the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA. It’s true that Cuban kept the team in Dallas rather than moving them to his hometown of Pittsburgh, but it’s also true that he’s been viewed as a renegade and someone a little too controversial for the sport. In my opinion, Cuban is the best thing about the NBA. Maybe with a little foresight, Balsillie could be that guy for the NHL.

Moving on…

Former Admirals in new places: Josh Gratton and Drew MacIntyre to Atlanta/Chicago; Wade Brookbank and Wyatt Smith to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; Bracken Kearns to Rockford. Darren Haydar left Grand Rapids for Colorado/Lake Erie. Karl Goehring retired to become an assistant coach with the Syracuse Crunch.

I’m very excited about Nashville’s acquisition of Ben Eaves. If Eaves is anything like his father, University of Wisconsin head hockey coach Mike, the Preds (or Admirals) will get a player focused on fitness. He is smart, coachable and a good citizen. I hope he’s in Milwaukee.

I just signed up for Twitter. You can follow me @aaronadmirals. I’ll have news updates, game notes and stuff like that once the season begins. I’m also on Facebook (Aaron Sims). I’ll be working on updating that site, too, with pictures and video from around the league. Plus, there’ll be a lot of new features on this remodeled website that I’m very excited about.

We’re also looking to do a lot more interactive types of things during the broadcast: e-mail question of the game, contests, etc. If you have any ideas, let me know at aaronadmirals@gmail.com.

Don’t forget, the next Milwaukee Admirals Center Ice radio show is Aug. 17. We’ll visit with former Admirals who’ve gone on to become coaches. It should be a lot of fun. We’ve also added another show Aug. 31. Listen to them on Sportsradio 1250, WSSP.

Until next time…Go Admirals!!!