I live in Calgary and, like many places in the world, the locals are scrambling to get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus (a.k.a. swine flu).  The Canadian government isn’t charging residents for the shot but each province has to manage how they get rolled out. image: TSN Unfortunately, things have been chaotic and disorganized so some people have had to wait as much as 7 hours while others have even been turned away.  Needless to say, Alberta has some pretty frustrated residents and some have freaked out over reports that the Calgary Flames and their families were vaccinated against the virus in a private clinic. I personally agree with the decision to vaccinate them for a few reasons but the most important is that they do fall within... [Read more]

After Anaheim Ducks defenceman James Wisniewski took a forearm to the head of forward Shane Doan over the weekend, the NHL has decided that the action warrants a two-game suspension. image: TSN The hit took place during the first period after the Coyotes were left shorthanded for having too many men on the ice.  Wisniewski crossed the Ducks blueline and delivered a hard blow to Doan’s head. There wasn’t a penalty assessed at the time for the hit but as soon as play stopped, Coyotes d-man, Keith Yandle, decided to send Wisniewski a message.  As a result, he was given a 10-minute game misconduct and two minutes in the box for instigating. [Read more]

Simon Gagne has been diagnosed with two small hernias in his right groin and will out of the Philadelphia Flyers’ lineup for six to eight weeks which, of course, sucks.  That basically means that he won’t be coming back until the new year. image: TSN General manager Paul Holmgren announced: ”Simon is going to have surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) to reinforce the rectus abdominis on both sides, and at the same time he’s going to look and see, laparoscopically, through his belly button, at the small hernias that we saw, and he’ll repair those as well.  We’re probably looking at six-to-eight weeks before [Gagne is] ready.” Gagne took some time to think about having the surgery (I’m sure the fact that he had a similar... [Read more]

Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin left early in the second period and did not return to the game in the team’s 5-4 loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight.  The possible injury occurred when Ovie collided with Raffi Torres. image: Zuma Press After falling to the ice, the Russian player stood up and appeared to be in pain.  A team spokesman said that Ovechkin had suffered some sort of upper body injury and is currently being listed as day-to-day. I know there are other players for the Caps to rely on but no one wants to lose a player like Ovechkin, who went into Sunday’s game with a league-leading 14 goals and 23 points. [Read more]

NHL fans are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the introduction of goaltender masks.  On November 1, 1959 the New York Rangers were hosting the Montreal Canadiens at the Madison Square Garden. Rangers forward, Andy Bathgate, was pretty irritable with Habs netminder, Jacques Plante, who, he says, rubbed it in when the Rangers were beaten at home.  He also was a bit upset about an altercation with the goalie that almost left Bathgate in the hospital. image: TSN “The puck was dumped in and it wasn’t a hard shot,” Batgate recalled.  “I thought I could beat him to the puck but all this was happening in split seconds. And Jacques came out the right side and he saw that I was coming, I was right on him, and he turned around... [Read more]