YOU FEEL SHAME…
By Michael Cangemi

"Throw me a penny,
and I'll make you a dream..." 

— Black Sabbath, "Wishing Well" 

It seemed fitting to crack the label on a new season and this new feature of the website by stealing that line. In a lot of ways, it could very well turn out that this season is a lot like Black Sabbath's Heaven and Hell album, their first album after the departure of one Ozzy Osbourne. No, really. I'm not drunk. Well, not at the moment, anyway...

Really though, it's a fitting comparison. When Ozzy walked away from Sabbath (for the second time) in 1979, there were many who pretty much assumed that Sabbath was over, and that was that. After all, how do you replace one of the few true rock icons, guys who just have that presence and give an act an identity? Really, how could Black Sabbath have gone on without the biggest piece of their puzzle?

Well, rather than panic and call it a day, what was left of Sabbath played the John Blutarski "Over?! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?? IT'S NEVER OVER!!" card and brought in The Evil Elf himself, Cortland's own Ronnie James Dio, banged out two classic albums, toured the world a couple of times and reinvented the band in the process. Even though it wasn't meant to last forever, for the brief period that Dio fronted Black Sabbath, it was a force of nature; blending precision with power and anger with beauty. It was a sight to behold, and my only wish was that I'd been a little older than three years old at the time, so that I could have seen it for myself.

Anyway, there's a comparison to be made here. Many people, myself included, wrote off the season last year after the Hartigan trade. How, many of us asked, could they let a guy like that get away? Harty was dominating pretty much at will in his last two seasons in a Crunch uniform, after all. I make no bones about it that Mark Hartigan was my favorite player to ever come through this town, and I was ready to go down to the old barn the day the trade went down, pitchfork and torch in hand to look to get a piece of anyone involved.

Then, once that initial bile subsided, it became apparent that the two guys we got back in that deal were something pretty special too. I don't think anyone could have reasonably expected Konopka and Glencross to come in and immediately put their footprints all over this club. I was shocked and more than a little excited about how these guys came to play and let it all hang out every night. What's more, I was downright giddy that it seemed like it was infectious: guys started hitting anything and everything that moved on the ice, pucks started finding the net, chemistry really started to develop and we all went for that excrutiatingly fun, yet incredibly torturous stretch run in March. I don't know about anyone else, but I walked out of the old barn after last year's home finale proud of the heart our boys showed down the stretch, and itching for this year to begin. There were so many things to look forward to that I forgot all about my favorite player getting traded.

That brings us up to today. If Harty and Motzko getting traded, along with Sugar's exit, was the "Ozzy leaving Sabbath" moment for our club, this season is shaping up to be the "Dio comes in and brings it to a whole new level" moment. Think about it in a vacuum for a minute. Put aside the variables of injury, callups and cases of Bougeneicki-itis, and consider the following: Geoff Platt, Joakim Lindstrom, Zenon Konopka, Kris Beech, Derrick Brassard, Curtis Glencross, Alexandre Picard, Adam Pineault, Andrew Murray and Tomas Popperle. Who wouldn't go to war with that lineup? To a man, I'll put our lineup against anyone in our division. Clearly, there are some holes that needs to be addressed, and the three globus monkeys Columbus employs as a training staff will screw us over more than once due to injury callups, but it sure looks good when you read it, doesn't it? Judging by what I saw during the last two games of the preseason, there's a lot to look forward to this winter. We may not be treated to a championship this season, but it doesn't seem much of a stretch to say that this team will make life difficult for everyone they play.  

I'm not in the business of predictions, but don't be surprised if any of the following things happen this year: 

And while we're on the subject...Don't Stop Believing? Seriously? This is the best they could do? Someone give me the gig of picking the theme song for the season. If I have to hear that play during every pre-game this year, I might start swinging by Halloween. Further, don't be surprised if Mirasty redefines the art of wild brawling in this town as we know it. The comparisons to John Badduke will start coming in in about ten, nine, eight... 

That seems as good of a place as any to end this column. Some of you may have seen my other column in the booster club newsletter this month; the material covered there will be a lot different than what's covered here. I'd be remiss if I didn't publicly thank Dave once more for allowing me the space and freedom to do my thing while I'm waiting around to write a second book. I'm not exactly sure what direction either space will take, but for those of you who might read Bill Simmons on espn.com, I'm going to try to be the anti-Simmons. It shouldn't be that hard, considering I hate basketball and love the Yankees, but I will admit to enjoying the format of his column on The Worldwide Leader's site, even if I don't like his material most of the time. Let's just see how this thing plays out and assume it's going to be a good ride. 

And if you haven’t seen it yet, this may be the greatest YouTube moment of all time. Sorry, Bills fans. Nothing personal…but comedy is comedy. 

Now, I should probably get back to work. I am, after all, at the office... 

Any comments, questions or ideas are welcome at joakimlindstromhasskills@gmail.com .