Some Monday Stuff

There have been many girl groups that have worked their way through music, but perhaps the first to combine some real sex appeal with an actual music ability that I noticed were The Bangles. "Manic Monday" was a monster hit for the 1980s' girl group, and I have to admit that, despite me being a tyke in the 1980s, I probably live that song every Monday now. Work has been extraordinarily busy over the last few weeks, so it has seriously put a cramp into my daily search for interesting hockey news. However, let's take a look at some of the stuff that was announced and seen over the weekend. I'll spin my take on each of these stories as well.

• The Calgary Flames announced that the gorgeous retro jerseys they have been wearing this season for their 30th Anniversary will stick around in the future. Calgary will continue to wear the throwback jerseys as alternates next season, meaning you'll get to see them 15 times... minus the anniversary patch! Honestly, this is good news to me. It means we don't have to see some sort of Flames abomination as an alternate in the near future.
• The Columbus Blue Jackets are apparently introducing a new logo for their new alternate jersey next season. Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch reports in his second point that a cannon logo is being planned for the Blue Jackets' new alternate jersey. He also points out that we should be thankful that GM Doug MacLean got his hands on the first jerseys in 2000. Instead of the CBJ logo, fans in Columbus would have been stuck with Stinger on the front of their team's uniforms. The jury is out on this one, so I'll wait to see what is unveiled before making a comment. Great work by Aaron on this!
• Alexander Ovechkin was thrown out of the game on Sunday between Washington and Chicago after he pushed Blackhawks defenceman Brian Campbell into the boards at an awkward angle. Campbell is reportedly out for the next three games with an upper-body injury. Personally? I'm glad the referees tossed Ovechkin. The push was dangerous and Campbell was in a vulnerable position. It was no different than Maxim Lapierre's hit on Scott Nichol a few days ago, and I thought Lapierre's four-game suspension was certainly warranted. Look, that was a classic case of boarding. You can make the claim that Ovechkin's push wasn't bad or vicious, but he caught Campbell in a vulnerable spot. It's about respect, kids. And Ovechkin showed none there.
• Just as an aside about NBC's coverage of the game, can someone put me in touch with whoever is responsible for allowing Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury to be on the air at the same time? Both men are entirely unprofessional, and neither of them has a résumé that should make them "hockey experts" by any means. I'm not saying I'm better than either of them, but there are better people that NBC could have on the air instead of those two clowns.
• I want to point out an absolutely classy act by two men who rarely make any noise off the scoresheet. Vancouver's twin tandem of Daniel and Henrik Sedin donated $1.5 million of their money to the B.C. Children's Hospital's Campaign for B.C. Children. The twins originally wanted to remain anonymous with their donation, but agreed to announce the donation in order to help the hospital achieve their $200 million goal. This is absolutely amazing, and it really shows that Henrik, Daniel, and their families are a part of Vancouver. Congratulations to the hospital on receiving the donation, and a huge "thank you" to the Sedins for being so selfless.
• I had a good laugh at Charles Wang's proposal that all of the non-playoff teams should be granted a mini-tournament to secure the eighth and final playoff spot in both of the NHL's conferences. I'm not sure why anyone would even consider this idea, let alone try to get 29 other men to agree to it. The major complaint from non-hockey people about hockey right now is that more than half the teams make the playoffs already. Now Wang wants all the teams to make the playoffs in one or another? No thanks. Here's a motto that the NHL needs to adopt: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Lots of hockey coming up. The Paralympic Games continue tomorrow, and there are a lot of battles going on for playoff spots in the NHL, AHL, and ECHL. We'll see how much we can get to on these topics as well as any other news that may occur during the week.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!