Obviously, NHL players, obviously.

Please, please, please, stop saying "obviously" so frequetly during your interviews.

Jason Blake is, to my ear, the worst offender, tallying 3 instances of "obviously" in a recent 75 second interview with Deb Kaufman at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. But the overuse and abuse of the word is an assault on my ears and my intelligence.

In the modern NHL broadcast, player interviews are commonplace. In the spirit of "Player Access," before, during, and after games, players are called upon to offer their views on what they expect to see, or have seen. Sometimes a player might recall a play that has been made, or he might make suggestions as to what might soon occur. In either case, the experienced hockey fan does not really need to hear the word "obviously," as in, "Obviously, we need to get the puck to the net." And to a less-than experienced hockey fan, it might not be "obvious."

I guess the player does not want to hear someone tell him, "No kidding," but please, enough with the "obviously," already.

Hummer Metro Ice Challenge

The Hummer Metro Ice Challenge, sponsored by the New York Metro Hummer dealers, rewards the winner of the regular season NHL games between the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils with a $50,000 donation to the charity of their choice.

Pardon my cynicism, but $50,000 as a donation? While it is indeed noble to donate money to worthy charities, I can't help but think that the donation amount is dwarfed by the cost of airtime that the Hummer dealers spend to advertise their program.

Want to impress me? Advertise it only once per game, and increase the amount of the donation.