Thinking out loud after the first round while getting set-up in Vancouver to return to covering Canada's team in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

* What's worse? Missing the playoffs three straight years like the Oilers or losing in the first round four straight years like the Flames? Let's ask those Albertans in Northumberland, England.

* After what happened in Montreal this season and in the playoffs, why would you want to fire Bob Gainey? He might be the only guy who knows the total extent of what has to be done to fix everything that went wrong what with the mobster stuff, sex stuff, other stuff which hasn't come out yet, not to mention the hockey stuff. As for the team being for sale, Gainey is an asset. That's not true with half the players who didn't deserve to wear the Canadiens uniform (in all of its varieties) this centennial season.

* Two of the least disciplined people in the first round: Sean Avery and John Tortorella. They deserve each other.

* I'm not one of your politically correct puck pundits. I love a good fight and I look around the rink when there's a good scrap and usually see 17,000 or so people who agree with me. I think hockey wouldn't be hockey without the hitting, the rough, tough, aggressive style of play. But watching Donald Brashear in Game 6 of the Washington-New York series made me sick to my stomach for the sport. If there was only some way to vote guys like Sean Avery and Donald Brashear off the island, it would be a better game. I wouldn't shake hands with either one of those guys after a playoff series.

* Until further notice lets consider Roberto Luongo Canada's national netminder for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Especially after those last two goals in the final few seconds of Game 7 to cost New Jersey advancement to the second round.

* Anybody have a problem with not putting Joe Thornton on the "automatic" list of players picked to wear that red Maple Leaf next February after disappearing in yet another playoffs like he was a similar sized mammal in Sigfried & Roy's old Las Vegas act?

* A lot of messages are delivered to players, referees and even fans through the media in the playoffs but isn't it a bit much when a coach complains that the opposition is taking liberties with his goalie while in the next breath says his team has to start "crashing the net."

* I miss the one referee system and my annual column about which guy's turn it is to be in the barrel this year, with all sorts of stuff happening in every game he works. I'm also going to miss Rob Schick, Kerry Fraser, Don Koharski, Bill McCreary, Dan Marouelli and, ah, even you Mick McGeough.

* Montreal fans boo American national anthem. Enough already. Line the players up on the blueline, have them raise their sticks to each other and drop the puck. Just like at the IIHF World Championships.

* I agree with what St Louis Blues coach Andy Murray said about playing for Canada at those World Championships during the Vancouver series: "Unless you have a bone sticking through your skin, I think you should go."

* Other than the deadlines and the length of the flights I'd rather cover Western Conference playoff hockey than Eastern Conference. The Vancouver-St. Louis sweep was better than some of these six and seven game series I've been watching while resting up for the next Canuck series.

* For the record I like Vancouver in seven over Chicago in the best playoff series of this Stanley Cup season. This one is going to look a lot like those Calgary-Edmonton series we used to watch. I'm coming up on my 600th Stanley Cup playoff game covered and nothing compares to those series. Probably a good thing this year's Oilers and Flames didn't make that match-up after all, come to think of it.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

ANAHEIM VS DETROIT
Unlike San Jose Sharks, Red Wings want it and know how to get it. Now it's Duck season. Detroit in five.

CHICAGO VS VANCOUVER
Best series we see all spring. Rust costs Canucks early. Rest and Luongo win it late. Vancouver in seven.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

CAROLINA VS BOSTON
Hurricanes coming off a high but Bruins are the better team, very much up to facing the force. Boston in five.

PITTSBURGH VS WASHINGTON
Crosby vs Ovechkin. This series has sizzle. But Caps had too much trouble with Rangers. Pittsburgh in six.

The news that a former Philadelphia Flyers draft pick accused last week of murdering a referee is making the rounds on the Internet.

Ladislav Scurko has been arrested in the death of Marek Liptaj, allegedly stabbing him 14 times at a highway road house in January 2008. Liptaj's body was found in a forest in December, according to local police.

He could face 15 to 20 years in prison.

Scurko played for the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds between 2004 and 2006, registering 25 goals and 87 points. He finished his junior career with the Tri-City Americans in 2007.

The Slovakian centre was drafted by the Flyers in 2004, 170th overall.

The IIHF reported that the Slovak police sent out a release last week detailing the crime, and said Scurko had confessed to the murder.

The Flames will be without Dion Phaneuf for their critical Game 6 match against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"He is not available tonight," head coach Mike Keenan said after the morning skate. "He's day-to-day."
Keenan wouldn't disclose Phaneuf's injury.
Phaneuf left midway through the third period of Calgary's fifth-game 5-1 loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday. He took a hard hit to the head from Troy Brouwer after shooting a puck.
Minutes earlier, Phaneuf was hit by Brouwer late after chasing down an icing call.
Chicago won that game to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Calgary must win tonight to force a seventh and deciding game.
Calgary will likely dress Anders Eriksson.

Who knows, maybe he'll make a dramatic return for tonight's game, but Dion Phaneuf isn't on the ice at the morning skate.
And seeing as Jarome Iginla and the usual suspects who exercise their option on optional skates are out there, it looks very likely Phaneuf won't play tonight.
Also noteworthy is that Matt Pelech is on the ice, but so is Anders Eriksson, so Calgary does have seven defencemen partaking in the skate.

Donald Brashear is an aging thug for the Washington Capitals who hadn’t been in the headlines for a while.

Until Sunday afternoon.

That’s when, far away from the play, he delivered an upper-cut elbow-smash to the head of New York Rangers forward Blair Betts during the first period of Game 6 of the opening-round playoff series.

A good Canadian kid who doesn’t fake injuries, Betts was down for the count and was woozy as he was helped off the ice by Rangers’ teammates and to the dressing room by training staff. He did not return to the game.

Brashear was not penalized, despite the fact that it looked like a deliberate, although perhaps not pre-meditated, attempt to injure. Brashear should have been given a match penalty, which means five minutes in the box, a game misconduct and the possibility of further disciplinary action.

NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell, always a busy guy with the amount of cheap crap that goes on seemingly every night, will no doubt be sent video by the Rangers demanding the 37-year-old be suspended for what will turn out to be a Game 7 in Washington on Tuesday. With the Caps’ 5-3 win on Sunday, the best-of-seven series is tied 3-3.

Not surprisingly, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau defended Brashear. “When we watched that between periods, to me that was a shoulder,” he said. “He followed through, but the elbow didn't hit him. It was a good shoulder hit.”

Brashear also bumped Rangers enforcer Colton Orr during the pre-game warm-up. It wasn’t a big hit or anything, but it was cheesy, cheap, Avery-esque and prohibited by league rules.

If the league is serious about cracking down on head shots and about not having its product turned into a bush-league sideshow — WWE on skates, anyone? — then it’ll suspend Brashear for at least one game. Five would be both more convincing to fans and possibly more of a deterrent.

And if he is handed a five-game ban and the Capitals are eliminated on Tuesday, Brashear should have to sit out the first four games of next season.

The line between aggressive play and dangerous/stupid play may occasionally be thin. A five-game suspension might make it a little clearer.

We'll start with the daily injury update: Dion Phaneuf is — no surprise, here — day-to-day.
Phaneuf took a shoulder to the head in the third period of Saturday's game, and wasn't among the Flames players spotted Sunday afternoon.
There was no practice — because The Killers (man, no shortage of jokes for that) have taken over the Saddledome — so players gathered for "off-ice sessions" which may mean light exercise, but more likely means video and meetings.
In fact, the media was ushered out with all the players in the room (except Phaneuf to the best our eyes) readying for their head-to-head.

While the players talked about regrouping from their dreadful play Saturday night and reloading to Monday's critical Game 6, head coach Mike Keenan was somewhere between appealing to his players to have enough pride to play their best next game (which obviously wasn't the case in game 5) and snappy.

Asked what his players' emotion should be looking ahead to game 6, with such options as anger or determination provided, he replied: “I would prefer the word pride. Play like they’re capable of playing.
“The expectations for game 5 — the teams I’ve worked with in the past — the expectation was to be prepared to play in a NHL game and to play well and play as hard as you can play, and give us an honest effort.”

When Jarome Iginla's play was mentioned — minus-3, one shot — and what he expected next outing from the captain, Keenan said:
“We expect a lot more. I’m sure he expects a lot more from himself.”
Pressed for specifics, Keenan shot back: “You can ask him about that. I’m not going to berate an individual at this time of year. I haven’t all season long, so why would I now. Why would I give you an evaluation of Jarome’s play? He said it himself.
“You asked me should he be better. He said he should be better, and I agree with him.”

Then again, so should pretty much every player, especially the top-end stars such as Miikka Kiprusoff, Olli Jokinen, Michael Cammalleri, Todd Bertuzzi and Daymond Langkow.

Craig Conroy, Daymond Langkow and Rene Bourque all returned to action after taking the morning skate.

Craig Conroy was hit heavily twice in the first period of Game 4, ending his night early.
His injury still undisclosed, the Calgary Flames centre wasn't about to shed light on it.
Upper body or lower?
"No body now," Conroy said with a laugh.
"I feel good, ready to go tonight. Looking forward to Game 5."
The Flames could be back to as near a full lineup tonight as they've had since Game 1 with Daymond Langkow declaring himself fit yesterday and Rene Bourque expected to suit up after sitting out Game 4 with a suspected ankle re-injury.
Conroy, too, considers himself ready.
Head coach Mike Keenan thinks all three will play.
"I would suspect that they are," said the Flames bench boss.
"They'll be game-time decisions," he added, "but I suspect they are."

Daymond Langkow says he's playing.
His right hand, which appeared to take the brunt of a Brian Campbell slapshot in the third period of Game 4, was dangling at his side and appeared no worse for wear.
The tough Calgary Flames centre says that's because the puck didn't hurt his hand.
"Actually, I kind of took that in the groin area, that shot," said Langkow, who had reporters laughing early in his scrum as he spat out brief answers to the injury questions.
"The hand's fine. It was something else."
Craig Conroy scooted through the dressing room wrapped in towels, but was not available for comment after a big hit put him out in the first period of the Flames' 6-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Saddledome Wednesday night.
He practised on a line with Rene Bourque and Andre Roy.
Roy is suspended, and Bourque is also day-to-day with an undisclosed injury believed to be a tweaked ankle.
Head coach Mike Keenan didn't offer any insight into whether either Conroy or Bourque would be back for Game 5.
"It's just a matter of me feeling good enough to go out there and play well, and not take a roster spot up for someone that's going to go out there and play better than me if I'm not feeling well," said Bourque.
"If I'm feeling good and I feel like I can contribute, I'll play tomorrow night."

Surrendering nine goals in two games at the Saddledome, some thought Nikolai Khabibulin might be sent to the bench.
Not happening.
At least if you believe Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville.
Asked if he considered swapping to Cristobal Huet, who rotated with Khabibulin much of the regular-season, Quenneville used one word to answer.
"No."
The Hawks players don't believe a move should be made, either.
"We're confident in either guy, but with Nikolai having that experience of winning a Stanley Cup, just seeing his confidence back there, it's great for our team," said forward Adam Burish.

It's long been the opinion of most people who cover them that the best place to watch the Olympics is at home, horizontally, in front of your television set.

When you are actually there, you are often interviewing one athlete in a mixed zone while keeping your eye on another on a TV monitor, sometimes at an entirely different venue.

It's like that with the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, too.

I've drawn the Vancouver Canucks assignment for the playoffs this year and, having been through the same drill two years ago, it's almost impossible to follow the other series like the fan at home despite the credentials and the company you keep.

For starters, you have the dreaded west coast time zone. Because you are going to cover your own game, with a late start, you have to write "earlys" and you don't get to watch the other games being played before they drop the puck in your own tilt.

Then there are the away games when they're in a city like St. Louis. Good luck finding the Versus network on your hotel room TV.

So you end up in a bar. Which is not a bad thing, especially if virtually the entire media contingent and the staff and management of the visiting team manage to end up in the same place as we did at Mike Shannon's between Game 3 and 4.

But get a series sweep (two years ago they went seven against Dallas) and get home and watch a night of Stanley Cup first round playoff hockey horizontally and ... well, there's just something about the first round of the playoffs.

That's kind of how it's meant to be done.

He's not in the lineup after all.
Andre Roy is.

Ran into a friend at the Dome and his buddies.
The topic at hand was whether Rene Bourque wouldn't play for the Flames.
Looks like it.
Then again, the Flames have three more guys out there than they can dress.
Scratches from last game, Jamie Lundmark, Andre Roy and Anders Eriksson are all out there.

For Chicago, Patrick Kane is on the ice, too.

He's alive.
On Tuesday, Rene Bourque was "day-to-day" injured by the cross check from Adam Burish in Monday's game — head coach Mike Keenan said to the face even though replays showed it was in the shoulder.
Wednesday morning, he was on the ice for the skate. Is anybody surprised?
Bourque didn't look worse for wear, although we expected he'd be wearing a jaw guard.
Either way, all parties for the Flames were accounted for at the skate.
Maybe now we'll all be able to move forward from all the lies and half truths we were fed Tuesday, and actually get back to the hockey.
Good thing if that happens, because the games have been very entertaining, which has been lost in all the extra-curricular activities.

I don’t get it.

Montreal is a cosmopolitan city: Lots of people from different countries, lots of skin tones, lots of accents. If you want the best in African dining in Canada, for example, chances are you’ll find yourself in Montreal. The city’s residents pride themselves on their sophistication and their urban chic.

Then we get the yahoos in Montreal who boo the American national anthem. Aren’t some of these people the same ones who want to separate from Canada? OK, that’s a discussion for another day.

Today’s topic is classless Montreal fans. And it goes back further than the booing of the American anthem in the playoffs.

They rioted when Rocket Richard was suspended in 1955, they rioted when the Habs won the Cup in 1993, they rioted when the Canadiens won a single darn round in the playoffs last spring and, in the 2002 playoffs, they threw a banana at Carolina Hurricanes goalie Kevin Weekes, who is black.

Not all Canadiens fans are idiots, but there’s a mounting pile of anecdotal evidence that some of them most definitely are.

Do us all a favour and grow up. Ignore your natural tendencies and try to show a bit of class. It doesn’t hurt at all. Your idiotic behaviour, by contrast, is staining the sport of hockey, the great city of Montreal and Canadians -- and Canadiens -- in general.

Plenty of news to follow Tuesday at the Saddledome.
Flames left winger Rene Bourque is "day-to-day" according to head coach Mike Keenan, who wouldn't divulge Bourque's injury.
Or whether he'll be good to play Wednesday night's Game 4.
“Today’s today and tomorrow’s tomorrow. Seriously, he’s day-to-day," Keenan said.
Bourque recently returned from an ankle injury that cost him nine weeks, but Keenan said his ailment was from the cross check taken from Adam Burish in the final seconds.
“He’s day-to-day as a result of the incident (Monday) night," Keenan reiterated.
As for Burish, he won't receive a suspension for his actions. His stick broken in two pieces.
Prior to that news, Keenan said he wouldn't be disappointed if there was no supplemental discipline.
“I have a lot of confidence in Colin Campbell (the NHL's chief of discipline) and trust his judgement. Whatever he decides is good with me. Obviously, I’ve had a relationship with him — in terms of working with him — and he knows the game well. He does his job well and whatever he decides is fine with me.”
Bourque wasn't made available to the media.
While the Flames practice was completely optional, Chicago's was missing only two: defenceman Duncan Keith and forward Martin Havlat.
Forward Patrick Kane, who missed Monday's game, did practice.

The Calgary Flames got into the series with a big 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Monday night.
Head coach Mike Keenan got into playoff mode, too, after the contest.
Winger Rene Bourque wasn't available after the game. Most thought it was because of the awkward fall that forced him to the dressing room briefly in the first period.
Keenan said it was a result of a cross-check from Adam Burish late in the game.
“I’m disappointed that they weren’t given a match penalty for deliberate attempt to injure," said Keenan. "A cross-check to the face where Burish broke his stick over his face.
"He suffered an injury because of that cross-check to the face."
How serious, they weren't saying.
But with suspensions being handed to the Boston Bruins' Milan Lucic, and Philadelphia Flyers' Daniel Carcillo for late-game incidents, Keenan had to do his best to bring the latest potential infraction to light.
"We had a meeting, the managers and coaches about those types of tactics late in games," said Keenan. "I have no idea how the referees could miss it. It was blatant and it was a cross-check to the face to the point where a man broke his stick over his face.”

Anyone looking for bad omens might have considered the Sea of Red's inability to sync up both sides of the building for its first Go Flames Go chant an early one.
The Calgary Flames weren't in sync in the opening minutes, either.
Taking advantage with a scoring chance on the first shift, the Chicago Blackhawks showed no signs of intimidation.
Even less after they opened the scoring on the powerplay 2:03 into the game.
Patrick Sharp had an easy tap-in set up by Jonathan Toews with Olli Jokinen in the box for goaltender interference.
Eric Nystrom gave the sold-out Saddledome new life with his first career playoff goal less than five minutes later, roofing the puck past Nikolai Khabibulin to tie things at 1-1.
Getting a scare when Rene Bourque appeared to tweak his ankle while throwing a hit on Brent Seabrook, the Flames breathed a sigh of relief when he came back for a final shift before the end of the period.

He's not in the pre-game warmup, apparently with the flu.
Check on YouTube for the hit Rene Bourque and you may see the cause of his flu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX1PvgMbAPY

Colin Fraser appears to have drawn in.
For Calgary, seven defencemen are taking the warmup: Phaneuf, Leopold, Aucoin, Pardy, Vandermeer, Sarich and Eriksson.
The Flames have two extra skaters, with both Warren Peters and Jamie Lundmark involved.
If they dress seven d-men, expect both those forwards to be scratched.

UPDATE
Anders Eriksson and Jamie Lundmark are the last of the healthy scratches.

Hawks young star Patrick Kane didn't skate and head coach Joel Quenneville said:

"Game-time decision. Resting right now."

Kane took a couple of big hits, which led to speculation a problem has resulted from that.

Quenneville was asked if it was something from one of the games or a combination, and replied: "Might not be a combination of either game."

We'll see when the puck drops how bad it is, whatever the issue.

ST. LOUIS

When you have as many miles on you as this veteran sports beat traveler, you expect to lose luggage and have other stuff happen while on the road.

You learn to roll with the punches and ride out the day.

But every once in a while you get hit with something you've never had to deal with before. And what good is this blogging business if you can't thank a mysterious woman by the name of Charlie for coming to the aid of the weary traveler.

The story begins at 4:30 a.m. in Vancouver Saturday. That's normally the time I'm getting in, not heading out. But I had an early flight to Chicago and transfer to St. Louis to cover Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup playoff series with the Vancouver Canucks.

Everything seemed O.K. until I landed in St. Louis and turned on my BlackBerry and got a message to call a girl named Charlie about my luggage.

Charlie works for WestJet and she'd called my wife, on her cell phone, to inform her my bag was in limbo in the Vancouver airport.

“It's in transfer bag recovery,” she said. “In the UFO cage. I'm calling because they called us. You had a WestJet tag from Edmonton to Vancouver still on the bag.”

Seems the girl at United had failed to put the baggage tag on it to get it to Chicago and St. Louis.

The United baggage department guy was great. He said he'd never heard of that happening before but he'd track it down and get it to my hotel the next day.

That should have been the end of the story.

But the next day when I left for the rink (neglecting to take my BlackBerry for the first time since I got the thing), the housekeepers, noting an empty room except for the BlackBerry, decided I'd checked out and left it behind.

Meanwhile the baggage arrives and the guy is informed I've checked out.

He calls the number on the identification tag on the bag and my wife answers and said, no, he's at the rink in St. Louis covering Game 3. But she can't get me because I forgot the stupid BlackBerry.

While she's taking to the security guy, the hotel security guy calls about the BlackBerry.

Meanwhile I'm covering a hockey game and my all of a sudden an e-mail pops up in my computer, saying 'Call Home.'

I don't know about you, but I never want to see a 'Call Home' message on my computer.

It all ends well. I needed a new key to the room. The bag was behind the front desk. The security guy had the BlackBerry. And it was just another travel tale.

It coulda been worse if it hadn't been for Charlie.

terry.jones@sunmedia.ca

Anders Eriksson is in ... at least that's what he said after the morning skate.

Cory Sarich also indicated he would be ready for another crack at returning from a painful foot injury.

If both are indeed given the green light, the Flames could suit up with seven defencemen.

Jamie Lundmark already appears to be the odd man out in the forward ranks, with a fourth line comprised of Warren Peters, Dustin Boyd and Eric Nystrom at the morning skate. Peters or Boyd could also sit if head coach Mike Keenan decides Sarich looks and feels good enough to play a full game.

The blueliner sat out the third period of Game 2 in Chicago, and played sparingly in the second because he didn't feel 100%.

Up front, Rene Bourque and Curtis Glencross swapped spots, with Bourque joining Jarome Iginla and Craig Conroy, and Glencross with Olli Jokinen and David Moss.

Michael Cammalleri, Daymond Langkow and Todd Bertuzzi formed the other scoring line.

I love the intensity of the playoffs.

The pace is frantic, the hits are harder, the goals more important, the emotion higher, the sacrifice greater and the trophy at the end of four series and 16 wins is, bar none, the most difficult one to win in all of pro sports.

What I don’t like is the after-the-whistle scrums and macho posturing. Who in their right minds likes this stuff?

Wait, before you call me a wussy and send off that angry e-mail, please let me be clear. I like the big checks. It’s the post-whistle scrums that waste everyone’s time, solve nothing, add zero value and make the game unwatchable before long.

This is not an original criticism. It’s come up here, here and here and, no doubt, in other places that care about hockey, too.

Everyone knows hockey is a contact sport, but so is football and you don’t get this silliness much at all. Basketball is also frequently a contact sport and the big guys keep their cool most of the time. With hockey, it’s like every single play is an insult to someone’s mother and then, naturally, every guy on the ice feels compelled to facewash, squawk at, taunt, mug, punch, cross-check, spear or otherwise abuse his opponent.

This has got to stop.

For the good of the game, take the chief instigator and throw him in the box for two minutes. In fact, this might be a new use for the old instigator rule in fighting, which nobody liked anyway. When they enter into these embarrassing testosterone-fuelled melees, players figure there will be coincidental penalties, if there are any penalties at all, so there is no risk, there is no consequence for carrying on this way.

Well, it’s time to introduce a little stick — and I mean the opposite of carrot, not hockey lumber — into the equation. If a player knows beforehand that the after-the-whistle theatrics will put his team down a man, he might think twice.

On the other hand, it may be just part of the game that is an inevitable consequence of its speed and intensity. Maybe so, but I don’t have to like it. And I don’t.

Watching Jannik Hansen acting rough with Alex Steen after a whistle is just plain silly.

Making his 2009 Stanley Cup playoff debut, Cory Sarich didn't last long.
A little more than seven minutes.
The Calgary Flames defenceman, who has been out of the lineup since blocking a shot with the inside of his foot late last month, is again considered day-to-day after sitting out the entire third period to get some maintenance done on his banged-up body.
"Been having a few setbacks, so just trying to get over those," Sarich said yesterday, with no visible ice packs attached.
"I don't want to hurt the team while I'm out there. I'm trying to get myself ready to go."
The team hopes he will be ready to give it another try.
Sarich says there's a good chance he'll be in uniform again for Game 3 at the Saddledome.
No guarantees in terms of how long it will last this time.
"That was due to my call, just kind of letting the coaches know how I felt," Sarich said of his lack of activity in the second period Saturday before being sidelined for the third. "My biggest word is frustrated.
"I just want to get out there and help my team."
The team needs help. Defencemen Dion Phaneuf, Jordan Leopold and Adrian Aucoin all logged big minutes. Rookie Adam Pardy posted more than 18.
In Robyn Regehr's absence, a healthy Sarich becomes even more important.
"I haven't faced injuries for quite a few years. You kind of forget what it entails. It's a battle. Mentally, you have to be more focused than ever," said Sarich, who recently owned the league's active ironman streak.
"Actually, I felt really good in warmup. Legs weren't quite there, which I was anticipating.
"Mentally, just a little rusty in a few things in the first. I was trying to keep things as simple as possible."

St. LOUIS

Maybe somebody should try this with sportswriters.

The Vancouver Canucks elected to travel here on Saturday rather than take a charter to St. Louis immediately after their 3-0 win over the Blues in Game 2 because of a study they'd taken earlier in the season.

The Canucks wore rhythm monitors or “sleep bands” during a six-game, 11-night road trip, only removing the
contraptions for games and practices.

The info was downloaded and energy patters were evaluated.

Strap these things on a sportswriter covering a Stanley Cup playoff series and the results might be interesting.

Like covering games on the west coast with eastern deadlines, getting up at 4 a.m. for 7 a.m. flights and losing your luggage because the airline check-in person didn't put the luggage tag on it.

That's just the travel. Then there's the pounding of another column (and don't forgot to blog) on the other end.

Then there's the search to find a sports bar where you could actually find a hockey game on TV. That was partially accomplished.

We found one which has the Versus network (you're not likely to find it in your hotel room) to see the Canadiens get blown out by the Bruins. But we never did find the Calgary Flames-Chicago Blackhawks game.

If I'd been wearing one of those contraptions I would have suggested, strictly for the sake of the study, that we take a trip out to a bar I used to frequent in East St. Louis, a rather rough area of town.

The joint was (I'm not sure it's still there) named Pops. It had a sign on the front: “We May Doze, But We Never Close.”

Once did a radio show there during a band break at about 6 a.m.. But that was 20 years ago and I hadn't had a 4:30 a.m. wake up call that morning, hadn't lost my luggage and I had a couple of wingers.

Still, for the purposes of a study ...

It's finally happened. Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen were split apart after a month-long struggle together.
At least it looks that way for Saturday night's Game 2 in the Flames playoff series with Chicago.
At the morning skate Iginla was practising with Craig Conroy and Cutis Glencross, while Jokinen was skating with Rene Bourque and David Moss on his wings.
Naturally, head coach Mike Keenan tried to shoot down any commotion about it.
"You have been around the team long enough to know nothing is set in stone in terms of line combinations, and/or the meaning of what we do in practice," he said. "It may have no correlation to what we do in the evening. So, you can really interpret it any way you like."
So, the coach was asked, how should we interpret Iginla back with good friend Conroy and Glencross.
"He's on the checking line," Keenan said with a straight face. "Which you've seen before."
Maybe this move will finally get Jokinen's game in order, too.
Iginla was a non-factor in Game 1. Jokinen has struggled mightily for weeks. He hasn't scored in the last 14 games.
There will be other changes, too.
Defenceman Cory Sarich, who missed the last six regular-season games and the series opener due to a broken bone in his foot from blocking a shot, said he'll be back in action.
As well, it appears Dustin Boyd will be at fourth-line centre on a line with Eric Nystrom and Jamie Lundmark. Although, Warren Peters also skated on the fourth line, Either way, Andre Roy isn't expected to play.

(Warning -- graphic audio)

VANCOUVER - Poor Roger Millions.

In every rink where there's a Stanley Cup playoff series in progress today, sportswriters, broadcasters and hockey people are gathered around media room computers dialing in YouTube and typing in "Roger Millions" to see the all time swear to air hockey blooper.

Here John Davidson, president of the St. Louis Blues and a long time hockey colour commentator with MSG and Hockey Night In Canada, was talking about the time he swore on a live call when a player had the puck in his feet and Big John somehow managed to switch the first letter of each word.

Everybody in the business has a story about somebody.

I told the one about the late Eric Bishop of Calgary doing a WHA game from Cincinnati, I think it was, where they forgot to build a press box and the broadcasters sat in the first row of the upper deck.

A couple times during the broadcast, the cords, which ran across the walkway below and down below the stands, had been unhooked by passing fans and had to be taped back together again.

Looking down late in the second period, Bishop noticed a cord had been unhooked yet again.

He instantly launched into a colorful combination of six or seven curse words in a spectacular steady stream.

But he was still live and on the air in Calgary.

This time it was the home broadcaster's cords which came undone.

Bill Powers, working the intermission call-in show after the second period received a call from a fan which began:

"Just tell me one thing. Is it safe for my son to listen to the third period?"

Nothing official yet from the notoriously tight-lipped Flames nor a reply from NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell, but according to sources, Michael Cammalleri isn't going to be suspended for Thursday night's elbow/forearm on Martin Havlat.
Cammalleri received a high sticking penalty on the play off the faceoff, which at first did look like he clipped Havlat, but on closer view it was much worse than first appeared.
Will update when we get an actually confirmation.

The cavalry has arrived for the Flames, but not all of it.

Defenceman Cory Sarich took part in practice, but it doesn’t appear he’ll be a go for tonight’s playoff opener against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Sarich missed the final six games after being hit in the foot by a Joe Thornton shot. He practised fully in the morning skate — wearing a protective guard on his foot — but was on the ice long after the rest of the team went to the room.

That means the Flames are likely to play with a blueline crew of: Adam Pardy-Adrian Aucoin, Jordan Leopold-Dion Phaneuf and Jim Vandermeer-Anders Eriksson.

Robyn Regehr, who is out with a knee injury isn’t on the trip.

Calgary’s lines look like they have for practice the last couple of days.

Rene Bourque - Olli Jokinen - Jarome Iginla

Michael Cammalleri - Daymond Langkow - Todd Bertuzzi

Curtis Glencross - Craig Conroy - David Moss

Eric Nystrom - Dustin Boyd - Jamie Lundmark

Glencross and Bourque were injured to end the season and Boyd was in the minors, leaving the Flames a man short.

Andre Roy appears to be the odd-man out.

Calgary summoned No. 4 goalie Matt Keetley, but that is supposedly just so they have enough netminders for the big group of Black Aces on hand.

Curtis McElhinney hurt his thumb in the last practice, but was fine this morning.

For Chicago, Patrick Sharp said he’ll play, but he was skating on the fourth line.

Sharp has been out of action since being cut by a skate just above his knee, which damaged a tendon.

“I feel good and feel ready,” Sharp said. “I’m excited. I can’t wait to get out there. It’s been a while since I was in the playoffs, my first year in the league, in a limited role with the Flyers.

“I’ll be ready to go. Whatever they want me to play, that’s what I’ll do. We’ll see in the game how it reacts but I feel good and can help the team win.”

VANCOUVER

Sports fans from around the world are confused by Canadians at this time of year.

Oh, those soccer fans in Europe and South America get that hockey makes our blood boil like their sport does theirs.

And baseball fans in the USA get it the same way.

What they don't get is how we get so dialed up for the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That there's more interest in the first round than the Stanley Cup final itself or any other part of the season.

It's all those playoff pools and all the upsets over the years and just all those games with players pouring so much into them after 82 of them during the regular season when that wasn't the case.

It's all that talk at the water cooler.

Anyhow, away we go ...

And he's how it's going to go:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

ANAHEIM VS SAN JOSE

Ducks just the team to find out if Sharks are going to be a different team in the playoffs this year. San Jose in six.

COLUMBUS VS DETROIT

Blue Jackets first-time story is terrific. But Red Wings playoff experience is trump. Detroit in six.

ST. LOUIS VS VANCOUVER

Roberto Luongo coming off back-to-back shutouts and a 46-save one-goal game. Vancouver in six.

CALGARY VS CHICAGO

Flames a beat-up bunch who lost all four to Hawks by a combined score of 19-7. Chicago in five.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

MONTREAL VS BOSTON

Habs have won 24 of 31 series against the Bruins but teams switched spots in standings from last year. Boston in four.

NEW YORK VS WASHINGTON

O.K. Alex Ovechkin. Take off the hat and big sun glasses. Now it's show time. Washington in five.

CAROLINA VS NEW JERSEY

Hurricanes won nine straight before losing their final two, the last one to the Devils. Carolina in seven.

PHILADELPHIA VS PITTSBURGH

Penguins 18-3-4 since firing Michel Therrien. Should be just a great series. Pittsburgh in seven.

STANLEY CUP WINNER: San Jose Sharks.

STANLEY CUP LOSER: Boston Bruins.

EAST DARK HORSE: Carolina Hurricanes.

WEST DARK HORSE: Vancouver Canucks.

CONN SMYTHE: Joe Thornton.

FIRST ROUND FODDER: Montreal Canadiens.

terry.jones@sunmedia.ca

Over the weekend, the hockey world witnessed another Canada-U.S. final at the women's world championship. Unfortunately for Canada, the U.S. dominated and won the game 4-1 for their second straight title.

Some things never change.

Both countries have had the top talent in the women's game since the first championship in Ottawa way back in 1990. Finland and Sweden almost routinely play in the bronze medal match. And that is it.

Those four teams are considered the elite. You can maybe add Russia and Switzerland, but that's about it.

That's after almost 20 years of competition. Include the first Olympic gold medal at Nagano in 1998 to the U.S. and Canada winning the next two in Salt Lake and Turin, the competitive balance is definitely out of whack.

But that can't be said about the small steps the women's game has made in Canada for the last decade.

Today, the Canadian Women's Hockey League appointed former national team player Nancy Drolet as its chairman of the board. Her first challenge is to help raise $1 million for the upstart league, which wrapped up its second year after the National Women's Hockey League ceased operations after the 2006-07 season.

Consisting of four teams in the Greater Toronto Area and one each in Montreal and Ottawa, the CWHL is headed by the players themselves. Although still not paid to play, the players themselves have to fork over money from their own pockets to keep their hockey dreams alive.

They now have their own championship trophy, as the inaugural Clarkson Cup (named after Canada's former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson) was awarded for the first time to a club team in March after the Montreal Stars beat the Minnesota Whitecaps at the National Canadian Women's Hockey Championship in Kingston, Ont.

The Western Women's Hockey League, another offshoot of the NWHL, also is a force in women's hockey. With three teams in Alberta (Calgary, Edmonton and Strathmore) along with Abbotsford, B.C. and Minnesota, the game is still growing in the west.

Things are looking bright right now. But for women's hockey to succeed in Canada, the players must start getting paid and a national league set up with the top-skilled players from North America, Europe and possibly Asia taking part.

Drolet's appointment is a step in the right direction.

Every once in a while, we have to defend the honour of hockey from the proud ignorance of our typist cousins south of the border. Below is a not-so-refreshing take on an old argument from CBS Sports columnist Cameron Martin complaining, essentially, that he can't find the puck.

Nothing personal, Cameron. Hey, your employer’s website generally kicks butt, but your anti-hockey rant is tired and, frankly, panders to your audience. They deserve better.

Anyway, here’s Martin’s missive:

“Congratulations to the Boston University Terriers, who engineered a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the finals of the Frozen Four on Saturday, winning on a lucky deflection that basically underscored my whole problem with hockey, a sport influenced far too much by general mayhem, fortuitous bounces and random acts of unchecked violence.

“I love watching hockey highlights, including the fights and the end-to-end dashes. But the games themselves? Yeah, no. It's nothing personal. I simply like to watch a sporting event and be able to a) know where the ball/puck is at all times, b) recognize sublimity with my own two eyes, and c) trust that the championship game of the entire sport doesn't end when everyone loses track of the ball/puck after it's randomly deflected and floats through the air and lands past the goalie.

Cool game, but really lame ending.

Cool sport, but really lame aspects.”

--

OK, Cameron, as a good Canadian, I’ll take the bait on this rant.

First, does a guy who lives in a country that worships football more than even bibles and guns really want to talk about sports that are influenced by random acts of unchecked violence and fortuitous bounces? Dude, where are you spending your Sunday afternoons and Monday nights? Watching Restaurant Makeover? C’mon!

I agree that one should be able to follow the ball/puck at all times. You obviously don’t watch golf on TV, and I don’t blame you. Except for the bonding opportunity with my Scottish-born, gorse-loving father that it provides, watching golf on television is cruel and unusual punishment and quite possibly a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Look, a puck is not that hard to follow. It’s black, the ice is white. Also, wherever the puck is, there are bound to be at least three players converging on it at high speed. Look for the convergence point. Put it this way: It can’t be any more difficult to pick up than a Nolan Ryan fastball used to be.

“Recognize sublimity with my own two eyes”? Cameron, I feel for you, my friend, for it is clear your childhood never included watching a Guy Lafleur streak down the right side, culminating with “a cannonading drive” and a bulging twine, or Wayne Gretzky feathering a pass to a teammate who, a second before, was not even part of the equation; or a Mario Lemieux one-timer from an impossible angle. The sublime is out there. You just have to know where to look.

As for important games being decided by random deflections, two names: Steve Bartman and Jeffrey Maier.

That’s what makes it sports and that’s what makes it fun to watch. If you want certainty, Cameron, watch some competitive accounting or maybe some freestyle — but not so free that there are any random deflections — mathematics. Heck, even math isn’t certain. That’s what makes pi so exciting, no?

Happy 100th anniversary Habs.

Now buckle up, you’re on the auction block.

What a way for the storied team to celebrate their centennial According to several articles earlier this week the club’s current owner, George Gillett, is hoping to sell the team in a highest-bidder format. It’s somewhat of a shock considering Gillett has only owned the club (well technically 80 per cent of the club) since 2000.

But as big as the sale is, it’s unlikely that it will cause a massive overhaul of the team And it is exceptionally unlikely that it will mean the Habs are headed to another city, which is what Quebec politicians are apparently worried about.

According to Premier Jean Charest a certain amount of financial support will be offered by the province if it looks like the club’s new owner, and the league I suppose, showed any interest in moving the team.
Which prompts the question: Are politicians really that dense?

With only six of the NHL’s 30 teams calling Canada home, what are the chances that the league will take the second most profitable of the bunch and dump it in a brand new city. Say what you will about Bettman, and I’ll admit to having said my fair share, but he’s not stupid enough to agree to move the Montreal Canadiens to a warmer clime for the sake of a 25th American team.

The team is financially viable in their current home, which is more than a lot of American teams can boast, and with a fan-base that has consistently stood behind the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge for 100 years, it would wind up being counter-productive for the league.

So as much fuss as the Quebec provincial government is making about the team, and worrying about their future in the Montreal, I’d have to say the chances of losing the Canadiens are about as likely as the Leafs agreeing to a team in Hamilton.

Why was Malkin not suspended for his hit on the L.A. King players (twice in one game) when other players have to sit out? Is it because they think he is more important than other players? The rules are for everyone to be treated the same

Asked by: Ron Waffle in Regina, Sask.

Hi, Ron

I’m not sure of the other hit you’re referring to in Pittsburgh’s 4-1 win over Los Angeles on March 20, but my guess is Malkin wasn’t suspended for the hit on Kings player Wayne Simmonds in the final seconds of the game for the same reason other players aren’t: This kind of stuff happens every day in the NHL.

What Malkin did was the same thing Gary Roberts did to his opponents for 20 years. Roberts was called gritty and tough for his efforts. When a Russian does it, we call him a cheap-shot artist.

Does Malkin do some sucky things sometimes? Absolutely, but I think at best there’s a double standard at work here when European players do things that don’t fit our stereotypes — and at worst there’s some xenophobia.

Of course, when it comes to xenophobic hypocrites, Don Cherry leads the pack. He was all upset about the Malkin check on Simmonds, but if it had’ve been a good Canadian kid who leveled a Euro with a mid-ice shoulder/elbow shiv, you can bet Cherry would have been the first one to smugly advise the player on the receiving end to skate with his head up next time.

I know times are tough for everyone these days but I had to shake my head when this press release from TSN popped into my inbox a few minutes ago.

Media Advisory - TSN to Address Rumours Concerning its NHL Playoff Broadcast Team

TSN will officially address rumours surrounding Maggie the Monkey’s future as the network’s NHL playoff prognosticator. NHL ON TSN host James Duthie will comment on the issue during the first intermission of tomorrow’s Buffalo @ Toronto game - starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on TSN.

OK, let me get this straight.

TSN, Canada’s biggest and most-watched television all-sports network has resorted to absurd tactics in an effort to get a little press? A press release about “rumours” regarding a monkey who makes NHL playoff predictions by spinning a wheel?

Suffice to say I didn’t realize the rumours about Maggie’s return were swirling. It’s been days, maybe even weeks, since I heard anyone here at the office ask if that cute, cuddly little monkey was going to picking the Stanley Cup winner again this spring.

Seriously, if I was Bob McKenzie or Darren Dreger, the network’s “Hockey Insiders”, I’d be miffed. How can I take them seriously when they’re a seated a few feet away from a trained monkey itching to spin his favourite wheel – and I’m not referring to Duthie.

Yes, I realize this blog post accomplishes that goal for TSN. And perhaps the bigwigs at TSN do subscribe to the “no press is bad press” theory.

But, really.

A press release about a monkey?

Don’t get me wrong. I think 43-year-old Claude Lemieux has done an admirable job of clawing his way back to the NHL after five years away from the game.

But am I the only one who thinks it’s a bit odd for the pint-sized master of disaster to be named the San Jose Sharks’ nominee for the Masterton Trophy?

The Masterton Trophy is awarded each season by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association to “the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”

Past winners include such class acts as Saku Koivu, Pat LaFontaine, Steve Yzerman, Doug Jarvis and Lanny McDonald.

Detroit Red Wings forward Kris Draper doesn’t get a vote, but I suspect he wouldn’t be in favour since it was Lemieux who rearranged his face courtesy of an infamous cheap-shot hit from behind in the 1996 playoffs. And it's not Lemieux's only less-than-classy on-ice move. Then there's the time he was injured, but then managed to dust himself off in order to try to take on the entire Toronto Maple Leafs bench.

Maybe it's not fair to bring up Lemieux's past record, but so far this season he has but one assist in 16 games with the Sharks and has been out of the line-up since March 3 with a jaw injury that has seen him miss the last 18 games. For this you can be given a trophy?

As a four-time Stanley Cup winner, Lemieux has proven to be a money player — or extremely lucky — over the course of his 20-plus years in the NHL, but on the list of guys who have had a notable impact on their teams or the game, isn’t there anyone more deserving on the Conference-leading Sharks?

How about Dan Boyle coming back from a freak skate cut injury last season to being one of the highest scoring defencemen in the league this season, with 16 goals and 57 points so far?

Every team gets a nominee and it's difficult to believe Lemieux is the most compelling story on a team that has enough skill and character that many people are projecting them as potential Stanley Cup finalists.

There hasn’t been this much ink spilled in Toronto over a Swedish defenceman since Borje Salming was in town.

The Leafs on Wednesday were fined $500,000 and stripped of a 2009 fourth-round draft pick for their handling of the acquisition of defenceman Jonas Frogren last summer.

"The Toronto Maple Leafs acknowledge and apologize for the error of judgment," general manager Brian Burke said in a statement Wednesday night. "The club accepts the punishment handed down by the league and will not be commenting further."

Cliff Fletcher was in charge when Frogren's services were acquired, and which the league later rejected.

The crux of Frogren-gate centres on whether the veteran blueliner is subject to entry-level rules (a two-way contract with limits on salary) or, as someone who turns 28 before the 2008-09 season started, not subject to those rules.

The league considers Frogren a “defected player.” Originally drafted by the Calgary Flames in 1998, 206th overall, Frogren never signed with them and has played his entire professional career in Sweden before this season. Interestingly, Al Coates was general manager of the Flames at the time Frogren was originally drafted and he was hired by the Leafs a month before Frogren was signed by the Blue and White. Burke fired Coates in January.

At the time of Frogren’s signing, there was no transfer agreement in place regarding European players, leading the league to claim that players in Frogren’s situation — the Leafs signed him away from Farjestad, reportedly helping him buy out his own contract — revert to “defected status,” meaning the drafting team will have the rights to European draftees indefinitely. Currently, players must be signed within two years or they can go back into the draft.

Depending on what you read, the controversy could have been the result an honest mistake stemming from a lack of clarity in the CBA, a 500-page legal document that is not designed to be user friendly, or, as the fine and sacrifice of a draft pick suggest, it could be the Leafs consciously taking advantage of the lack of a transfer agreement to go around the spirit, if not the letter, of the CBA.

The bigger question is whether a half-million-dollar fine — chump change to the most valuable (and profitable) team in the NHL — and losing a fourth-round draft pick will be enough of a deterrent for teams looking for an edge in the marketplace? Or does the penalty depend on the quality of the player at issue?

This case may be closed, but we haven’t seen the last of this issue.