Hello New York and everywhere else, I'm Bird and you're in the Birdcage. I want to spend a few lines of text on what I like to call Center Ice for your car.....XM Radio.

I have a neighbor who is one of those high end car stereo installer guys. He routinely installs audio and video equipment in the worlds most expensive cars and trucks. he's so good, XM chose his shop to make up the custom XM display cars that are in hotel lobbies in Vegas. Yep, the guy is that good. So, one day he asks if I'd like to have XM in my car for free. At the time I was a little disappointed because Howard Stern had just finished his regular radio show and would be on Sirius in a few weeks. Of course I accepted the free offer, I mean....who wouldn't?

After a few minutes of deciding where to mount this little radio it was plugged into my regular car radio, powered up and activated. XM has all the music, news, weather and sports you could ask for. Of course, my first pre-set button was set to XM 204, Home Ice. 24 hours a day, seven days a week it's all hockey all the time.

In the mornings I can tune in and get game recaps and NHL news. On my way home from work I tune in for pre-game info. And of course....the games themselves. It was interesting being down here in Florida to once again hear WFAN during a Devils game or 1050 during a Rangers game. Like Center Ice you get all the games. Now I don't have a long commute but for those who do this ability to listen to any game as well as the 24 hour hockey talk is just amazing. I now rarely listen to music anymore.

There are a few different shows including one which features Phil Esposito. I always enjoyed listening to Phil as a color commentator. He speaks passionately about the game and is very insightful. He's also funny as hell. In addition to Phil's show I also enjoy the Alumni show where a retired player is interviewed. Hearing stories about the old days of hockey is just a special treat for me.

Now the pregame shows can be some of the most interesting radio I've heard. Usually you'll get someone close to the teams to comment on who might play, who's hurt and why a team is winning or losing. Fans of a team on the way to a game call in and that's always fun. On more than one occasion I've heard Brian from insidehockey.com as a guest and he's good. I've also heard Eklund from hockeybuzz.com and he's well....not so good.

Now, before I get into this rant on Eklund I must explain a few things. here at Hockeybird we kind of ignore the rumor pages. There are a bunch of websites that do nothing but rumors on trades and other issues. Most if not all of the items I've read over the years seem to be made up. Over the lockout some posters on our boards had a discussion about this Eklund guy. There was some debate on whether he was a former NHLer, whether his info was legit and at some point I read I think at the BlueShirt Bulletin that the guy was a complete fraud. I have no idea if anything I read about Eklund is true or not. I'm not really sure I care. Somehow this guy has become successful in the hockey world and good for him. He now is part of a site called Hockeybuzz and I'm sure I read that John Davidson is a part of that.

Anyhow, listening to Eklund speak about a Flyer playoff game I heard him say "we" a few times referring to the Flyers. One only says "we" if you're part of the team or a passionate fan. It was clear to me that Eklund was very passionate about the Flyers. This week I heard Eklund discussing the Devils before the Canes put 'em away. It was during this segment that he lost me. He said that the Devs first loss was due to their being too loose after sweeping the Rangers, "a team that didn't belong in the playoffs".

What?

Now I don't want to turn this into a bitch match but where the hell does this kind of comment come from? Now maybe I'm giving the guy too much credit but any serious hockey analyst would have a hard time justifying a comment like that. I'm quite sure I haven't made any public comments on this Eklund guy (I may have posted something on the boards once) and I think it's great that he's turned whatever it was he was doing into a sweet gig. I mean I'm just a dumb guy with a website so why should I be anything but happy for a guy who does the same kinda thing I do only for a larger audience? However, I can't get the some of the stuff I've read out of my head and when combined with the commentary I've heard I can't say I'm impressed.

OK, back on topic. The NHL on XM is good. If you're looking for a way to follow your favorite team while on that long car ride....it can't be beat.

----}- Bird

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