Heh.

Forget anything else. The hockey gods must looove me because not only do the Bruins finally play on my birthday, but they're playing PHILADELPHIA!

And so we go.

From Wednesday's Philly Inquirer:

"I expect there will be a lot of tough questions asked and answered," [Philadelphia] Flyers winger Mike Knuble said. "People will want to know why things progressed like they did and what was the reasoning behind things. This deal won't get passed unanimously, but everybody will have a chance to express themselves, face to face."

The [players'] meeting serves another purpose for Knuble. Since signing with the Flyers last summer, he still has not met a single teammate. Even when he was in Austria for the World Championship, the American did not get to meet the Canadian national team's Simon Gagne, and their dressing rooms were only yards apart.

"That is a big reason why I am going to this meeting," Knuble said. "You know how it is the first time you sit down with new guys; it's a little weird. But I look forward to this."

From Friday's PhillyBurbs.com:

"I think if they (the players) paid attention, they understand that it's now a revenue-driven business," [Keith] Primeau said. "I hope that point is driven home even more in the fall.

"When you're asked to do an interview, you do it. When you're asked to sign an autograph, you do it. A public appearance, you do it, to the best of your ability. Indirectly, it's going to affect your bottom line."

Make no mistake, hockey players were already some of the most accessible professional athletes on the planet.

But as baseball players such as Cal Ripken showed after the canceled 1994 World Series, it's a whole new game after you've burned some bridges with the people who essentially pay your salary.

From Friday's Philly News:

“I think as a group we collectively decided that it wasn’t what we were shooting for in the beginning, but it was the best deal we were going to get,” new Flyers forward Mike Knuble said.

“We all agreed that it was something that could grow our sport in the future. There are some initial things that are hard to swallow like the [24 percent salary] rollback. It’s a mental readjustment for some players. They kind of got use to making certain salaries, but it got scaled back.

“But as group we decided that if we sat out any longer, it wouldn’t do any good and we just want to get back at it and move on.”

And with that sentiment, a reported 464 of 532 (87.2 percent) of the NHL Players Association members accepted the deal that was reached in principle last week between players and owners.

How 'bout a little Knublism?

There's the July 14th Boston Herald:

Former Bruin Mike Knuble signed a three-year contract worth $6 million last summer with the Flyers, but after the rollback and the lost year that deal will be worth just a fraction of its original amount.

"(The rollback) is a tough one to take for everybody,'' said Knuble. "At that point it seemed like it made sense to move things along. But it wasn't enough and they just kind of tucked that one away and used it against us a bit.''

"There are going to be guys who'll be very, very upset at that meeting as to why we didn't get to this last year and what the whole point was,'' Knuble said. "That's the toughest question that (NHLPA chief) Bob (Goodenow) and his guys will have to face. Whether it costs him his job, I don't know.''

And the Times Herald:

While some teams need to sign a couple handfuls of players just to fill out a roster -- the Boston Bruins only have four players under contract heading into the whirling dervish of fantasy-league style free-agency the league will have come August 1 -- the Flyers may need only one or two players to place a Stanley Cup contending product onto the ice.

While the Flyers will definitely be younger, they also will still have their share of wily veterans who will be looked upon not only for productive play on the ice, but for leadership in the locker room as well. "We were thinking about the way the league would be after the lockout to some degree when we added (Mike) Knuble and (Turner) Stevenson last summer . . ." said Flyers assistant general manager Paul Holmgren. "We're pleased with the way we look right now. We have a good mix of size and speed, veterans and youth and a mobile and gritty defense."

And the Grand Rapids Press:

"It's a relief that [the lockout] appears to be over," said Knuble, who has 101 goals in a 510-game NHL career. "The players paid a hefty price for cleaning up the mess the owners made, but it's time to move forward and put this last year behind us."

It's done.

In brief.