Until then, enjoy these highlights (?) from the Skills competition:

And on the heels of that, the Flyers have recalled Steve Downie, the minor-leagues whose 20 game suspension before the season was even underway began the new era of the Broadstreet Bullies.

First things first — Riley Cote was given a three-game suspension for an elbow on Matt Niskanen. I haven’t seen the play, and I think my head will hurt too much if I try to understand how an elbow could warrant a three-game suspension. Especially while not one but two Bruins players were absolutely drilled — one while the guy was on his freakin knees — and that’s only worth two games each. NHL, inconsistency is thy name.

Then Commish Gary Bettman essentially put the Flyers org “on notice” (with apologies to Steven Colbert). Does the NHL even have any power to do anything about this? If Downie runs someone else, can the NHL prove that coaching and management sent him out to do it? And wouldn’t that be a tad obvious on the Flyers’ part?

Philly plays Minnesota tonight. Considering these two teams play once a year if they’re lucky, there shouldn’t be any of the usual intensity that leads to vicious hits and shots to the head. But then, Vancouver’s Ryan Kessler probably thought the same thing before he met Jesse Boulerice.

Downie has already been quoted as saying he doesn’t plan to change his style of play, saying it’s what’s gotten him “this far”. I’m not sure what “this far” means, in terms of the NHL, since he’s been suspended from the NHL for, oh 20 games more than he’s played in it, but hey, whatever works.

Steve Downie, Riley Cote, Matt Niskanen, Gary Bettman, Steven Colbert, Ryan Kessler, Jesse Boulerice

Thank God.

and

It’s About Freakin’ Time.

There’s something about professional athletes competing in Olympic events that always rubbed me the wrong way — especially since most countries carry a National Team anyway. Those guys get royally screwed, playing for four years without getting to play in the big show.

NHL players always handled it a lot better than say, the NBA players and their “Dream Team” did (I’m ignoring the room-trashing story from Nagano). But there was still something that stank about the pro-athletes coming in and taking the spotlight away from the people who live in near poverty to be able to compete at this level.

Not to mention, stopping the season for the handful of players who get to compete, while hundreds of other players wait for games to start up again is just insane and brings way too many factors into the season. Teams get a break to heal, but the best players do not get a break, resulting in tired play and a higher likelihood of injury when they return. The playoffs are usually a joke. And God forbid any player gets hurt in the Olypmics. You can’t tell me players aren’t pressured to skip the Games entirely.

I can’t argue the excitement of a Canada/US Gold medal game and the near chaos it created in…. well Canada. The rest of the world didn’t care.

One thing that worries me is Gary Bettman’s stance on addressing it year by year. I almost read that as: Olympics in North America, we’re in. Olympics overseas, we’re out.

The NHL should be out. For good.

And so it goes for the Vancouver Olympics team, who presented their mascots Miga the Sea Bear (?), Quatchi the Sasquatch and Sumi the Thunderbird.

In more detail:

• Miga the Sea Bear - is a combination of an orca and a sea otter. it is “inspired by legends of the Pacific Northwest First Nations, tales of orca whales that transform into bears when they first arrive on land”
• Quatchi the Sasquatcj - based on the legend of the ever-elusive Sasquatch, most often seen in Kokanee beer commercials.
• Sumi the Thunderbird - Sumi is from a Salish word meanung “guardian angel”

It has to be pointed out that none of these animals exist in nature.

Comments have not been kind, ranging from “they don’t look very Canadian” to “Pokemon modern”.

Of course, kids are taking to them right away, which would be organizers’ main objective. Hello merchandising sales!

They’re not awful. They’re not fun like the upcoming Beijing mascots, but you can’t get any cooler than a panda bear holding a gun.

And I can’t say much — my local Olympic mascots were two polar bears wearing cowboy outfits. Hey, it was a different era.

What does this have to do with hockey? Aside from the fact NHL players will be there, nothing. But it keeps me from ranting about Toronto.

Which is funny because the Toronto Sun has Peddie calling the hiring of John Ferguson Jr a mistake.

Supposedly it’s a mistake because JFJ is a first-time GM and Toronto is such a hockey-crazed fishbowl that the job was too much pressure.

Which is why they’re rumored to be looking at other people like Mark Messier and Steve Yzerman, because of all their GM experience. And no one will be scrutinizing their every move, not at all.

But don’t worry — Ferguson is cool with those comments. You know, about his hiring being a mistake and all.

Turns out he was young and experienced then, but he’s all good now. He’s got four years of misguiding a team under his belt.

This is a joke. Peddie has to either stand up and back his GM and coach or fire them, replace them and move on so the Leafs can get back to winning hockey games, or at least competing in hockey games without the three-ring circus. The Washington Capitals are only 4 points behind the Leafs and climbing (since firing their coach of course) and if the Leafs think things are tough in the 14th spot in the East, wait until they see 15th.

Richard Peddie, John Ferguson Jr, Mark Messier, Steve Yzerman, Washington Capitals

Hartnell smokes Boyd Gordon and Chris Clark takes exception (Chris Clark is the Caps captain?):

Hartnell chops Vincent Lecavalier with his stick, Lecavalier chops Hartnell with his fists:

I don’t know the French word for “ass-kicking”, but it must be in there somewhere, as Komisarek beats the living snot out of Hartnell:

Here it is in English (I just thought the French was more fun, but the TSN announcers are good too):

This is the first video that’s not from the current season. A brief duker between Hartnell and Sami Hell-on-Ice:

Hartnell versus Dan Fritsche — this one we’ll call a draw:

Even Jiri Fischer had a go at Hartnell. No audio on this one:

Those were all from Page One of a search for Hartnell on YouTube. Check out YouTube for more…

Scott Hartnell, Boyd Gordon, Chris Clark, Vincent Lecavalier, Komisarek, Jiri Fischer

Here’s the hit for anyone who hasn’t yet seen it:

I never thought Scott Hartnell was that kind of player. What are the Philly coaches putting in the water bottles?

Hartnell has been suspended (2 games of course). I’m glad the NHL is taking shots to the head seriously again (is my sarcasm clear enough?). I’d love a count of Flyers’ suspensions compared to every other team in the league. The Jesse Boulerice suspension alone probably totals more than all the other teams in the NHL combined. But those Flyers, they keep on trucking…. top of the division and no sign of stopping now.

Scott Hartnell, Jesse Boulerice

NHLPA.com has a nice feature on Vincent Lecavalier and his charity work in the Tampa area, specifically with the Children’s Hospital. Lecavalier is donating $3 million dollars to a pediatric cancer and blood disorders center.

Going Five Hole has a post on the dearly missed “Badger” Bob Johnson on the anniversary of his death in 1991. Has it really been that long? While many remember his amazing work with the Penguins, Johnson coached here in Calgary for many years and brought the Flames to their first Stanley Cup final. He is still highly regarded around here, and there is a tribute to him in the Saddledome. I can’t hear “It’s a great day for hockey” without getting a little tear in the eye…

James Mirtle looks at the instigator rule and why the NHLPA should maybe find out things to fight about.

On Frozen Blog checks out some of the worst arenas in the NHL. I’m glad someone else dislikes the Air Canada Centre, though I might be biased towards a classic arena like Maple Leaf Gardens.

FastballFans dug up this news story on some White Sox 1919 World Series memorabilia to be auctioned off. There’s a lot of fascinating history to the documents and that particular World Series, so it’s worth a look. It’s not hockey, but if any sport tops hockey in history and nostalgia, baseball is it.

I’ve dropped the Mike Keenan watch recently (fish… barrel), but Barry Melrose Rocks has been staying on top of it.

Vincent Lecavalier, “Badger” Bob Johnson, instigator rule, NHLPA, Mike Keenan

For those like me who forgot, the last time these teams met, Patrice Bergeron was taken from the ice in a stretcher after being checked face first into the boards by Randy Jones. Jones received a two game suspension from the NHL, adding to a string of dirty hits and suspensions for the Flyers.

I wasn’t aware that Bergeron has yet to return to play. He has a Grade 3 concussion and a broken nose, and may not return this season.

So, like so many other “re-matches” of the season, this game is being hyped, by TSN anyway. Maybe it’s a slow hockey day.

Is any revenge going to be exacted tonight? These are both good teams playing well, in the case of Boston, shouldn’t they be more concerned about gaining more points in the standings, increasing the distance between themselves and the Sabres… and Toronto?

The Bruins have too much going on to be distracted by revenge. As much as a big brawl is fun to talk about, as the Boston Globe points out, the media is making more out of this than the players are. (The Boston Herald also went with the points over revenge theme today).

Some of Boston’s biggest heavyweights are hurt, making a fight seem even less likely.

But I have a feeling someone will go after Jones, just to enforce a certain code of honor, even if it’s just to duke it out, then get on with the game.

Boston Bruins, Philadelhpia Flyers, Patrice Bergeron, Randy Jones

What else would make me sit through a Leafs/Coyotes game on a Saturday night? It wasn’t to see good hockey, that’s for sure.

The Leafs aren’t even playing that badly. Ask Capitals or Coyotes or Oilers fan about true misery. But Leafs fans are hungry, and have a certain sense of entitlement to the Cup. Not that that’s a bad thing — it forces the team to address the problems quicker.

Or so one would think, but according to this reports from Sportsnet.ca, Leafs GM John Ferguson Jr tried to fire head coach Paul Maurice last week.

First off, am I alone in thinking Maurice isn’t the problem here? Update: Apparently, I’m not. The players have stepped up in defense of Maurice.

Second, isn’t “trying” to fire a head coach and failing just another display of how powerless this GM is?

Third, can’t the Leafs do anything without the Toronto media getting wind of it? Sieves have less leaks than this organization.

The rest of the article… meh, I take with a grain of salt. The GM “replacement” list reads like a HOF inductee list — doesn’t anyone really think Steve Yzerman is going to take over as GM of the Leafs? — but I guess it’ll keep Leaf fans talking. Update: More on replacing Ferguson here.

Which is better than actually watching the games.

But all this talk is just that — talk. If the Leafs are going to turn it around and get themselves out of the slump/goaltending controversy/excuse of the week they’re in, they need to act now. Their division isn’t exactly waiting for them: Ottawa has a league-leading 33 points, Montreal is playing strong enough to lock down second with 27 points, and the Bruins — yes the Bruins — are in third with 24 points. Toronto is tied for last with Buffalo, and that’s only by virtue of 5 OT losses. Buffalo is actually a .500 club and is pulling away from Toronto.

When was the last time the Leafs were out of the playoffs by December?

Toronto Maple Leafs, John Ferguson Jr, Paul Maurice, Steve Yzerman