Be Your Own News Editor

Yes, I like to read. I like to read a lot, but I have long ago given up on most dead-tree publications. I get a few magazines because they come as part of an online subscriptions.

Newspapers? Well, if you haven't noticed already, most newspapers can be read online. And as for sports news ... . I'll leave it at that.

Sports blogs and online sites, not related in anyway to a newspaper, are far superior to anything else out there. They need to cover sports the way business websites need to cover finance and commerce. They're all in. Information is money. And feature stories need to have a point, that is, other than winning an newspaper editors' association award for the best Sunday thumb sucker. (Look, color pictures and a static graphic! What will they think of next.)

And to get your money, they need to do it every day, at any time of the day.

For hockey, I allow two newspapers into the mix. The rest can roll up on the doorstep like logs looking for a good fireplace to call home. The Globe and Mail and The National Post are regular reads (again online). And yes, I still get The Hockey News, which I started reading when I was in short pants.

After that, TSN.ca, ESPN.com, hockeyprospectus.com and my Google reader more than cover what I will be talking about this season.

What's in my Google Reader?

There is hockeysfuture.com for scouting. Kukla's Korner is a good starting spot in the morning, as is Puck Daddy and Coming Down the Pipe!

Throw in Buzzing the Net and Puck Worlds, and add a dash of fun with the Minnesota Hockey Hub, hockey sweater talk at icethetics and some NCAA updates with a feed from College Hockey News.

Gather all these RSS feeds in a reader basket -- I prefer Google Reader -- and you have a far better collection of what is going on in hockey than any, and I mean ANY, newspaper. There is no competition.

Adding NHL.com and Hockey-Reference just enhances your statistical reach, as does CapGeek and Behind the Net.

And there is Vic's Stereo Lounge, where your host likes to serve up a few good hockey stories, TV/web hockey viewing advice and an occasional tune along with a cold one.

Got a tip (either cash or a website)? Pass them on. We'll talk more later today.