Juice Signs New Deal

Big rig Milan Jurcina has come to an agreement with the Caps after going through arbitration, resulting in a one-year deal said to be in the $1.375 million range.

A little more info on Juice from the team's press release:

Jurcina, 26, appeared in a career-high 79 games for the Capitals in 2008-09 and led defensemen in games played. He had three goals and set career highs in assists (11) and points (14), and the team was 10-3-0 when he recorded a point. Jurcina was first on the club with 131 blocked shots and second with 157 hits. He added two goals in 14playoff games and was third on the team at +6.

The Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia, native was the Boston Bruins’ eighth-round choice, 241st overall, in the 2001 Entry Draft. He was acquired by the Capitals from Boston in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2008 NHL Draft on Feb. 1, 2007. He has played in 275 NHL games – 184 of them with Washington – and has 14 goals and 32 assists in his career.

On another note, we all know that NHL fans are some of the most tech-savvy sports fans on the planet. HM has found an incredible resource for fun and factual (and some not-so-factual) hockey info in Twitter. Although I don't personally "tweet" so much (due to my dated technological apparatus - am upgrading to the IPhone in a month - yippee), I have found it to be a hockey fan's oasis as far as news and interesting stories go. For all you sports fans looking for a fix in the midst of this long and dull summer, check out some of the top sites to follow on Twitter, courtesy of From the Rink.

One last tidbit related to my fellow sorority of hockey moms out there. One of my co-workers brought in a vintage Canadiens hockey sweater circa 1970 or so to show me and a fellow hockey mom co-worker. As we inspected this replica of "old-time hockey" and commented on the differences between it and the current Reebok versions, I instinctively held it up to my nose and took a whiff. The jersey owner started howling with laughter and said "that's what she (other hockey mom) just did!" Not sure what is ingrained in us hockey moms with our innate instinct to smell jerseys and such, but it was pretty funny. On the subject of smell, after taking 3 boys home yesterday following a 5-hour power skating clinic, my car smells worse than a NYC subway on a 100 degree day. Anyone know any good auto detailers out there?