Al (“Laura” as he’s known in after-hours clubs) played for the Fincups,,, one year they moved to St. Catharines but back to Hamilton the next year. He’s now an airline pilot living near Fort Worth. A solid hard-nosed player who knew his way around head-hunters like Scotty Stevens.

Sens/Hurricanes game on in the background [until Jets get going].  Apparently on Brady Tkachuk's second goal he made a "... smart play by pivoting and then allocating..... "     I wasn't watching the moving-picture part..... what did he do after he pivoted???

Full story/video here…. stories.sportsnet.ca/games/Car...1023.html
Allocating,, hmmm. Mrs. Lindsay would cluck her tongue.

... and from Hockey Beast via Facebook.... Razzle-Dazzle Basil with a different take on enforcers:

”I wound up playing in Detroit when they had Probert and Kocur. People just figured that I loved it there because I didn’t ever have to fight with those two around. In actuality, it was the worst situation in the world for me because whenever something got stirred up, all of the opposing enforcers would just race to me instead of having to square off with those two animals.”

– Basil McRae

Sheesh,, (sans outrage),, the Little Ball of Hate is even reaching the august levels of State gub’m’nts.

I can see it all now..... la Coupe Stanlee in a few years for Mtl.   https://www.habseyesontheprize.com/transactions-signings-trades/2022/2/14/22933257/montreal-canadiens-trade-tyler-toffoli-to-the-calgary-flames-habs-emil-heineman-pitlick-draft-picks?fbclid=IwAR0yBUysanybogBbiLYeS_MRvQOWJt28vQvc0M5ToCBK0lXKaJncV4DOjZQ

What think the experts??

.... from Hockey Beast via facebook:

"50 years old today and still playing. Happy Birthday to Jaromir Jagr!"

... if this carries on much longer, he's gonna start thinking he's Gordie Howe!!

Canada 3 - USA 2 .... Congrats to the womens hockey team.

BUT, I doubt I'll ever understand the rationale behind Jennifer Jones trying a [higher risk?] run-back with her final rock instead of a [gimme?] draw, with 'backing' no less, in the game vs. China????   Situations like this pop up once in a while.... maybe they're covered by "you hadta be there"?

....and yet more from Hockey Beast / Facebook:

"Shortly after the Gulf War, Odjick, known as one of the league’s tough guys, was back on the Canuck bench after having been involved in a fight. One of his teammates leaned over and said, “The only guy tougher than you is Saddam Hussein.” Odjick, according to the story that was told and retold around the league, scanned the ice, then looked back at his teammate and asked, “Which guy is Saddam Hussein?”

.

.... and another one heads for the big rink in the sky.  https://theahl.com/emile-francis-1926-2022   Or maybe he's gonna split time between there and the ball field... I understand he was also a pretty good ballplayer.   RIP.

Emile “The Cat” was an entertaining between- periods guest on many hockey broadcasts.
One time ,commenting on his team’s lack of scoring punch, he remarked “They couldn’t put the puck in the ocean!”

(btw, what was political about the cop/media thread?) 

Dunno.... unless there was something in that rabbit hole that that agent provocateur (?) bubba advised us to check out.   Never went there, so????

Open mic??   ....maybe the ref is considering taking a run at being a politician after his reffing days are done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ONe0FnRYLA

..... mentioning "the code" probably qualifies as blasphemy, but nonetheless I find some of the inside (?) tidbits kinda interesting.   

Once again from Hockey Beast: 

”Some officials just have a great hockey sense for a how a game is being played out. I remember this one game where Matthew Barnaby kept jabbing me with his stick every time I got near him. I just figured he was trying to goad me into a penalty, but he would never challenge me.

He just kept whacking me. Finally, the referee, Terry Gregson, comes over and says to me, ”Hey, knock it off.”

I was like, ”I’m not doing anything, Barnaby is just agitating me and trying to get me riled up”. So I said, ”Watch him, keep your eye on him.”

He does, and sure enough Barnaby comes back over and tries to start a little scrum with me. Gregson then comes back over and says to Barnaby, ”Okay, if you do that again I am going to tell my linesmen to turn around and leave so that McSorley can beat the hell out of you”.

Barnaby turned white as a ghost and he said, ”You can’t do that!” And Gregson said, ”Yes I can. Watch me!” Needless to say, Barnaby stayed about three steps behind me for the rest of the game.

– Marty McSorley

Source: ”The Code – The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL”.

Too bad Marty had to whack Brashear on the noggin. Da code is a code til its inconvenient.  Brashear has a brutal childhood, btw.

"Brashear is the youngest of three children born to an African-American father, Johnny Brashear, and a white mother, Nicole Gauthier, who was mainly of French-Canadian descent, in Bedford, Indiana. His father was an alcoholic who relentlessly abused his family, including slashing Donald with belts and electrical cords. On one occasion, when Donald was only six months old, he picked him up and hurled him through a window."

I'd kinda forgotten about him slashing/high sticking Brashear.   Naturally I had to "look it up" .... it seems likely his suspension put a stay (?) on the code being played out.   Rightly or wrongly, I dunno.   Had 'the code' played out, would it have cleaned the slate with one fight, or would there have been more to it?

I can’t answer any more hard questions….

Fair enough, but I have a hunch I'll still ask 'em.... interspersed among mostly easy ones. 

I'm on precious few social media sites, but where guys speculate about the causes for traffic accidents or other predicaments people find themselves in, invariably somebody will admonish people that they should wait for the facts to come out.  I like to remind them that it's much harder to speculate once the facts are known..... fritter around and the opportunity will be gone. 

Five in a row. The Habs might find the magic combination: not good enough for the playoffs, but too good for the good first round pick. Quick, send them back to Laval!

.... maybe they'll get in via the "exemption" route .... like when an exceptional 15 (?) year old is allowed to play in the CHL or the 5-years-retired rule is lifted (?) for certain admissions to a H of F??

I'm still waiting for Josh Brook to be brought up from Laval.   https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=179677 

His grandpa and I were high-school classmates and we've kept loose contact since.   I'm not sure how "no longer on active roster" works, but my understanding is that he's just recently back playing with Laval after 8 months recovery/rehab from a knee injury.    The Rocket /  The Rockets / Le Rocket / Les Rockette / ??? routinely have games on "you are not subscribed to this channel."

Maple Laffs training camp, October 1928 in Port Elgin, ON:

"The Leafs players are drilled by Corporal Joe Coyne of the RCR.

First row, left to right: Ace Bailey, Art Duncan, Joe Primeau, Hap Day. Middle: Shorty Horne, Dr. Bill Carson, Gerry Lowrey, Art Smith. Back: Lorne Chabot, Jack Arbour, Alex Gray, Danny Cox."

So obviously it wasn’t good enough,, they went 21-18-5 that season, but beat the bleu-blanc-et rouge 3 times they met, et tied deuxieme fois

"Lost Kootenays" is a website that has some interesting (?) old pics [so far none featuring DC/MD that I can recall]:   https://www.facebook.com/LostKootenays/photos/a.176494359167738/2209146429235844/

“Sources confirmed to The Canadian Press on Friday that MLB players on teams visiting the Blue Jays who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 would be placed on a restricted list for the length of their series in Toronto.

Putting players on the restricted list will open up roster spots for the visiting team. The unvaccinated players will not enter Canada, will not get paid during those series, and will not be credited with major league service, during such period of unavailability.” - Sportsnet

Might as well start a convoy to protest these mandates. Maybe block off Skydome….,. just sayin’