Cleaning Up The Mess

If you happened to notice, there's a brand new menu at the top of the page below the banner! It took me the better part of the evening to put this together, but I'm quite happy with the results at this point. I became annoyed lately at all of the crap on the right-hand menu, so I decided to clean things up by making it a little more palatable by hiding things in menus. I'd love to hear your opinion on this new menu, so please leave a comment.

I do want to point out a couple of things, though. First, you can hover over a section and see the sub-menu. In other words, don't click until you find what you want. Secondly, I'm done for the night tonight, but it doesn't mean that this menu won't continue to evolve as I work some code out. Please be patient as I work through some of this stuff as I re-organize and clean this space up! Thanks, readers!

As I shift over to the hockey news from today, I want to commend Brendan Shanahan for sending a very clear message to Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta with the ten-game suspension handed down to him. Kaleta plays with his elbows up and always seems to be targeting a player's head when he's swooping in for a check.

Kaleta has been reviewed seven times in his career already by Shanahan and his squad, so it's not like he's an angel in any sense. However, the ten-game suspension handed out today sends a clear message: change your ways or it will only get worse.

You look at players like Matt Cooke and Steve Downie who were two of the most-vilified players due to how they played their game. Both players have changed significantly for the better, and both men have not backed down from playing physical. Instead, they play clean in terms of keeping their elbows and sticks down while still leaning into opponents.

Kaleta, however, has not done this, and he will get eight more games to think about his actions on the ice. Having already missed two games wile suspended indefinitely, whatever was said in that in-person meeting with Shanahan should be taken to heart. There's no going back for Kaleta now as he's a repeat offender with a rap sheet of dirty plays. It's time to shape up or ship out.

Ten games without pay, in my view, is only a good start for a player like Kaleta.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!