The constant hum of the air conditioner was getting to me so I stepped outside to find some quiet time, but beads of sweat started forming on my forehead in about two minutes.

I jumped in the car, opened the windows to create a breeze and a downpour began. The car windows began to fog up so I just stopped the car and just sat.

I turned the radio on  to listen to a baseball game only to find out my team, the Detroit Tigers, were about to lose their sixth game in a row. I turned the channel to a national sports radio show but quickly heard the word LeBron and shut the radio off.

Oh if only I could find a hockey game, then all would be good.

Even though we are in the middle of summer, my mind is on hockey. I wanted it at that moment and only my game would give me relief.

I drove back home, put a hockey DVD in (doesn't matter which one, as long as it is hockey), and sat back.  All of a sudden I felt refreshed. The air-conditioner noise was drowned out by the roar of the crowd. Beads of sweat still remained, but on the foreheads of the players instead of on mine.

There was no fog of humidity to deal with as the game started.

I was back in my environment, and even though the clock said 1 a.m. I did not feel tired.  Just the opposite, actually -- I felt refreshed, rejuvenated and content.

It had been a long day, and then the Ilya Kovalchuk signing broke, followed by the Simon Gagne trade, so the day and early evening flew by for me. Early in the evening the hockey news of the day settled down and I became irritated.

The heat of the summer was getting to me and the calendar just isn't moving quickly enough for me.

I need the month to read mid-September instead of late July. I have to have my game back ASAP. So after going through a rough period of time, I did something about it. I watched a hockey game.

Again, it doesn't matter who was playing, who won or who lost -- all was good because it was hockey, and in my mind, that is good enough for me.

I went to bed at 3 a.m. dreaming of what the 2010-11 NHL season will bring us. One thing that is a given is it will bring us hockey, which allows us to be back in our environment.  

Until then, use your imagination, use all the resources you have and put yourself in hockey mode. You will be better if you do so, and if nothing else, you won’t notice the summer heat as much.

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