Saturday Tidying

I apologize for not getting the book review of The Code up last night. I've had a long week, and I was exhausted. I kind of passed out while taking a break, and realized I hadn't published it when I logged in this morning. In any case, check out Friday's entry about The Code. It's a fabulous book, and really deserves to be read by everyone. In the meantime, I have a pile of stuff to comment on as there has been hockey going on everywhere this past week. Between the articles on fighting and everything else going on in my life, I could use a couple of weeks off. Anyway, enough of that. On with the show!

• I was thinking about making a change to the banner up top. I like my old one as it has a great hockey feeling, but I feel that I'm focusing solely on the NHL when my blog covers so much more. So I pose the question to the readers of this blog: do I stick with the HBIC banner you've come to know, or should I change it to something like this? Comments are welcome on this one as I really would like some input.
• The Ontario and New York Fire Departments raised over $9000 for the Muscular Dystrophy Fund and the Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome Family Network on Wednesday night in Ontario, California. A great cause benefited from the 1500 fans who showed up to watch the two teams battle it out. New York FD ended up winning the game 5-2 over the Ontario FD.
• The FBI and the US Secret Service also squared off for a good cause this past week as the two teams battled to raise funds for raise the family of fallen Agent Sam Hicks. 1600 fans turned out Monday to watch the two government agencies do battle at the Kettler Iceplex in Washington, DC. Thanks to the fans, over $9000 were raised for Hicks' family. The FBI ended up winning the game 5-4 in overtime.
• Steve Mason continues to build a strong case for the Calder Trophy as he and the Blue Jackets shutout the Ottawa Senators 1-0 last night. That's seven shutouts for the Blue Jackets' rookie netminder, and Mason's play has elevated the Columbus squad to sixth in the Western Conference. If he doesn't win the Calder Trophy at this point, I'm not sure if anyone is watching hockey. My only question is how many Hart Trophy votes does he receive?
• Doug Gilmour will be honoured by the Leafs tonight as his #93 will be elevated to the rafters at the Air Canada Centre to join the other honoured numbers. Gilmour may not have won anything major aside from a Selke Trophy while in Toronto, but no one showed up to the rink every night with as much heart as Gilmour. While Gilmour was not the prototypical, intimidating leader at the time like other teams in the NHL had, he played that much bigger than everyone else on the ice each night. And he brought the city of Toronto together in 1993 like no one else. Does he deserve the honour? This writer says "undoubtedly".
• The Peter Forsberg-to-the-Avalanche drama ends with him deciding to stay in Sweden, and the sun rises in the east. Let's just keep moving.
• The Vinny Lecavalier trade talk is heating up in Montreal after the Habs stunk up the state of Florida. Except that TeeBay has picked up the pace and Lecavalier has been a major reason why. The VC Trade Watch is officially over. He's staying with TeeBay, people. And the sun rises in the east. Moving on.
• Karen Newman, anthem singer for the Detroit Red Wings, apparently isn't just an anthem singer. She's got a website loaded with merchandise, and she's a helluva singer from listening to the embedded song. Check it out, and good for Miss Newman! Congratulations on all your success, and continued good luck for the future!
• While Canadian head coach Sean Simpson may not have brought home a Spengler Cup against a KHL team Moscow Dynamo, Simpson's club team, ZSC Lions in Switzerland, battled Metallurg Magnitogorsk to a 2-2 in Game One of the Champions League Final. With the two teams coming down to a one-game showdown, both teams were looking to secure the championship. Simpson's coaching led ZSC to a 5-0 victory in Game Two, and the Champions League Trophy. Simpson was ecstatic with the support his team got from the Zurich fans, and hopes the Champions League will continue to be a draw for the best teams in Europe. Congratulations to the ZSC Lions on becoming the first Champions League champions!

Ok, that's all for today. I still have a billion and one things to get done, so I'm going to focus on those tasks for the rest of the day. Let me know about the potential new banner, or any other thoughts you may have for a banner. I'll check out the comments, and see what I can come up with.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!