Just recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired Paul Maurice, and before then the Florida Panthers, Atlanta Thrashers, and Ottawa Senators were vacant in the ‘HC’ position. Since the Maurice firing, the Colorado Avalanche fired Joel Quenneville, hired Tony Granato, and it is rumored that San Jose might fire Ron Wilson as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning and John Tortorella. The overabundance of openings is making many experts, players and fans question themselves and why this might be happening this off-season. Most are puzzled, but I would ponder to guess that no one else is more puzzled than Pat Burns.Burns has been out from behind the bench since the New Jersey Devils, four years ago. Since then, Pat Burns has been diagnosed twice with colon and liver cancer. Pat Burns fought for his life for the last couple of years, and since then he has decided to return to coaching.

He joined Team Canada this year as the assistant coach to Ken Hitchcock.Pat Burns is on the list for possible coaching positions for about 10 different teams and why not? Burns has proven himself as a coach in the new NHL, when he won a Stanley Cup with the Devils in the 2002-2003 season. His grit, fight and power behind the bench is the target that most teams are looking at this time around. I would assume that we will see Burns as the head coach of an NHL team in the very near future. It is also rumoured that Ottawa is looking closely at Craig Hartsburg and I agree that he will be a great fit in Ottawa.I will give my predictions as to who some teams might have on their radar. Actually, better yet, I will give all of the possible candidates that will be interviewed this off-season and some who might get the “boot” within the next upcoming days.Who do you think would be good to coach your team??- Pat Burns – Bob Hartley – Pat Quinn – John Tortorella – Ron Wilson – John Paddock – Joel Quenneville – Randy Cunnyworth – Paul Maurice – Steve Yzerman – Patrick Roy – Joe Nieuwendyk – Scotty Bowman – Craig Hartsburg- Don MacLean. LOUISVILLE, Colo.–(Business Wire)–CableLabs announced today the alpha version of the Enhanced TV (ETV) Test Suiteto support user agent development.

Based on the CableLabs` Enhanced TV BinaryInterchange Format (EBIF) specification, the test suite comprises a set of testEBIF applications, a test plan, and test controller software (with source code).ETV user agents are the software components that process an ETV application on aset-top box. The test suite provides preliminary test coverage for developers of ETV useragents. CableLabs will continue to expand test coverage and provide updates tothe suite in the coming months. In support of the ETV initiative, CableLabs hosts ongoing ETV and tru2wayinteroperability events. Interested parties with programs, devices, or supporttools are invited to participate. The contact for the interops and for licensingthe test suite is Senior Manager of Vendor Relations in the OpenCableDepartment, Phil Bender, . In conjunction with the availability of the ETV test suite, CableLabs alsoannounced additions to its state-of-the-art laboratory facilities that includesupport for the ETV platform.

The ETV Lab includes a comprehensive collection ofETV user agents for both legacy set-top boxes and tru2way devices from the majorcable operators, as well as test applications, example commercial applications,and various test tools. The ETV Lab is open to application developers,programmers, cable operators, and device manufacturers. For details, see http:// Steve Reynolds, Comcast Senior Vice President of Premise Technology, said: “ETVis going to play an important role in the interactive digital video servicesMSOs will be introducing as indicated by the large volume of EBIF and ETVapplications on display at the recent Cable Show. This new ETV initiative fromCableLabs is another example of the cross-industry collaboration that will leadto new ways for consumers to interact with content on their TVs.” “Our test program and our interoperability process will continue to advancequickly and stands ready to serve suppliers when they are ready to participate,”said So Vang, Vice President of Advanced Media Platforms in the CableLabsOpenCable initiative ETV is one form of interactive TV technology. Initiated in 2004, ETV is suitedfor the millions of legacy set-top boxes that don`t support the more advancedJava-based tru2way middleware to run fully featured applications.