Odds n Sods

terribly busy week for me, but a few brief notes:

"Hope grows dim for Connolly’s return" - Many Sabres fans are using this as ammo against Darcy Regier, but Buffalo hasn't exactly missed Tim Connolly this year. While I don't disagree with the idea that signing him to a risky 3-year deal was a bad idea, this setback is due to his leg stress fracture, not any concussion-related symptoms.

Chris Simon's Paul Bunyan impression. You've probably seen it by now, but it truly is unreal. The NHL needs to start throwing guys out of the league. No more of this 3-game suspension garbage, especially for no-talent ass-clowns whose absence would barely be felt (I'll admit Simon has, or had, some skills - but that's completely irrelevant). They need to throw a guy out for a year or more, and not allow the team any re-compensation with regards to the salary cap. Make these offenders essentially blacklisted. And none of this "oh, [Ryan] Hollweg could have gotten up quicker...he wasn't that hurt." Again: irrelevant. If Simon's stick is two inches lower we've got a tracheotomy. Two inches higher and loss of eye/nose whatever. Disgusting.

I also found it amusing/amazing that in looking at NHL.com's stat page there's a picture of 19-year old Sidney Crosby leading the league with 99 points, then 73-year old Dominik Hasek once again leading the league in goals-against. Detroit hasn't gotten enough credit for signing him; a lot of us thought he was done.