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Saturday is Hockey Day in Canada, a time when many of us will reflect on the warm memories the game has given us.
It might be one day of respite from the important debate that continues on how the game should deal with blows to the head.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and MP Ken Dryden joined the fray this week, telling us the NHL needs to take a leadership position on the issue.
NHL VP Colin Campbell bristled at the idea, of course. Professional sports leagues never like politicians telling them how to run their businesses.
While the Patrice Cormier elbow will inevitably be viewed as the tipping point in public opinion regarding headshots, the NHL has been examining the issue in its jurisdiction for months.
New rules or interpretation of the rules are expected to be recommended by NHL general managers when they meet in March and they were going to come without the Cormier elbow drawing attention to the issue.
The junior leagues have been couched as taking the leadership role in defining legislation regarding head shots, but that is true only in this context: junior teams need to be able to tell parents their sons will be safe or risk losing players to other leagues or the NCAA.
The junior leagues have to look tough on crime so they have been compelled to act harshly in the wake of recent incidents. The NHL has no such motivation.
That said, the NHL has to realize that as the best league in the world, what it allows and what it tolerates are perceived, rightly or wrongly, as the standard at all levels of the game.
The heat is on the NHL GMs to come up with something substantial in March regarding headshots while not legislating contact out of the game.
HEAR AND THERE: There was a lot of light and heat after a couple of Vancouver newspaper bloggers posted photos of the Chicago Blackhawks partying in the back of a limo with some female companions, Patrick Kane and John Madden shirtless, mugging for the camera. Nothing wrong with living large as long as you can back it up and the ’Hawks have done that so far. They just better do it in the playoffs...After a bit of a good stretch, things are ugly in Columbus again. When asked about the character of his club after losing to the Kings, coach Ken Hitchcock replied: “I’m not getting into that.”
REVELATIONS: As an NHL executive mentioned in this space last week, negotiations to sell the Tampa Bay Lightning were well underway and The Hockey News has reported the candidate is Boston hedge fund manager Jeffrey Vinnick, who is also involved in ownership of the Boston Red Sox. There is speculation captain Vincent Lecavalier could be put on the block to pare salary, but that seems moot since one source told QMI Agency Wednesday in Tampa it is extremely unlikely Lecavalier would waive his no-movement clause...Detroit’s Johan Franzen expects to play five games before the Olympic break after knee surgery in October. The Olympics have more healing power than a TV evangelist.
SPECULATIONS: Vinnick’s value has been estimated at $515 million, which sure sounds like a lot. But what’s that old saying? How do you become a millionaire owner of an NHL team? Start out as a billionaire...Hey, Kris Versteeg: Miami Vice called. They want their sunglasses back.
JUST SAYING: Good to see Kane has stopped using taxis and graduated to a limo...Speaking of the Lightning, that win over the Habs the other night was their third in a row, the first time they strung together three wins in a row in a year.
JUST WONDERING: They’ve got a surprisingly good team with some marvelous young players and only 11,572 turned out Thursday night to see Colorado shoot for its best homestand in history. All those sellouts seem so long ago, no?
PARTING SHOT: Maybe it’s just some old-school thinking, but wasn’t there a day when, in photos of hockey players and girls in the back of a limo, the girls would be topless?