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Montreal Canadiens fans have a haunted, panicked look these days. There were two big sucker plays lurking around the fringes as free agent mania began. Who would absorb Scott Gomez’s bloated contract? Who would bet on Mike Cammalleri, removed from the bosom of Jerome Iginla? Nice, Habs, nice…Marian Gaborik’s relationship with management in Minnesota was so strained, so unnatural, that there is a strong chance that the mercurial scorer will thrive in a new environment. The New York Rangers are to be commended for taking a chance on a player with enormous upside…the New York Post today states that Dany Heatley has been described as “toxic”, a reason Ranger GM Glen Sather opted for Gaborik…the Heatley contract situation verges on the surreal. The Ottawa Senators are on the hook to ante up 4 million to a player that refuses to play for them? How can that possibly be consistent with contract law? Eugene Melnyk should pronounce Heatley in violation of his contract and refuse to pay. At least the resulting fireworks would be intriguing…the cavernous pit of the ACC was home to excruciatingly indifferent play by the home side last season. So, absolutely, Brian Burke has taken strides to address the paucity of temerity so boldly paraded. Are they a better team? Will they win more games? Debatable. But watching the team will be a far more interesting spectacle, especially with the knowledge that Burke will ultimately prove successful in turning the franchise around…I’m already doing the math, figuring out who will be able to reasonably bid on Rick Nash next year…keeping Marian Hossa hungry, bouncing from organization to organization, has induced the forward to play some excellent regular season hockey. He is a consistent under performer in the play-offs.  These factors mitigate against signing Hossa to a long term deal. With the financial imperative removed I expect a slow, peaceful decline in the interest and persistence of the player. The Chicago Blackhawks, surging based on the play of an outstanding core of young snipers, have just made a serious misstep. Two, three years from now, Hossa will have devolved into an indifferent passenger…the New York Islanders made a very nice move in picking up Dwayne Roloson for two years. Incumbent Rick DiPietro is battling long term injuries and needs to be able to fade into the background for a while. Roloson buys the young goalie time…yo, Detroit Red Wings, minus Hossa and with serious questions in goal, it’s your move…Bryan Colangelo is reportedly on the verge of offering Hedo Turkoglu, ex of the Orlando Magic, a five year 60 million dollar contract. While it would mean the end of Shawn Marion’s days in Toronto, Turkoglu would represent a major upgrade to the sordid Raps…Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed to Goal.com that he felt he needed to leave Manchester United because of the rough play of the Premier League. He states he feared serious injury if he continued to play in the league. Hardly makes me want to rush out and watch a Spanish League game…David Beckham returns to the Los Angels Galaxy on July 16^th for a game against the New York Red Bulls. The Beckham revolution in North America continues, uhhh, right?…jockey Julie Krone is going to be the subject of a Hollywood bio, called The Boys Club…for the last two weeks or so, Woodbine conditioner Terry Jordan has been winning at an 80% clip. His runners bolt from the gate, obtain perfect stalking positions, and then accelerate through the lane. Their past form seems irrelevant. To all the world weary punters out at the Rexdale zoo these days, there is no celebration at Jordan’s amazing run. Everyone is a cynic. Everyone feels the 67 year old conditioner is brandishing some new form of “magic”…I’ve enjoyed reading some of the beautiful reminisces of fight fans concerning the late Alexis Arguello. Legitimate, serious grieving is the result of the loss of the gentlemen. Alexis was brave and committed in his latter day fights with his demons. The demons may have won, but this is not the tale of a pathetic pedophile. He deserves our tears…finally had a chance to view a Cristobal Arreola fight. Very entertaining slugger, probably would be an all time great in the famed Toughman competitions. But bottom line, not a great pugilist, not a threat to the Klitschkos…