Racist in Montreal: Someone threw a banana at goalie Kevin Weekes after the Habs beat the Canadiens in OT on Tuesday. Normally I am skeptical of claims of racism, but come one, who the hell brings a banana to a hockey game?!

But Kevin is being cool about it. Yeah there are some idiots in Montreal, but that does not mean that all frogs are racist.

Did I just say that?

Weekes is a good kid and has the makings of a great goalie. It remains to be seen if he becomes as legendary as Grant Fuhr (the Hurricanes are not exactly the 1980's Edmonton Oilers), but I think he will do well, one way or another.

Holy Frijoles!: After all the song and dance, someone had to take the blame for such a crummy season with the Washington Capitals.

No surprise to some, I guess, that coach Ron Wilson just got fired.

"Needless to say, this was a difficult decision," GM George McPhee said. "Ron is a very good coach, but sometimes a coach's relationship with a team runs its course. After an analysis of the past season, a coaching change was in the best interests of the Washington Capitals. We are very appreciative of Ron's contributions to the organization, and we wish him well."

Toronto terrorists?: Geoff posted this on his Grasshoppa blog:

Oh Canada! Jean Chrétien yesterday tentatively ">offered sanctuary in Canada to 13 Palestinian militants who have been under siege in Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity since April 2. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been decimated by injuries and are seeking replacements.

The management carousel: Dudley did such a spectacular job in Tampa Bay (before he resigned in disgrace, of course) that the Florida Panthers have decided to hire him in place of GM Cliff Fletcher.

Meanwhile, the NHL Fan Association's e-mail mini-poll on Wednesday found that, while members were mostly divided on the need for contraction, everyone agreed that Anaheim, Tampa Bay and Florida should be the first out the door.

Damn Habs: I can't believe they blew it so badly. I saw them with the lead and turned off the telly so I could get some work done. Then I find out this morning that they lost the lead then lost in OT? What the hell happened?!

Blues done: Obviously they made an effort not to get killed last night, but they're hurting badly. I don't see how they can survive without Chris Pronger.

Red Wings Are Better

How bad does Brent Johnson's mindless own-goal look now?

They really are much better than the Blues at this point. Their dominance tonight robbed me of the opportunity to state Bill Russell's saying that you're never behind in a series until you lose a home game. Of course, the Red Wing fans behind got awful quiet when the score went to 4-3 with 1:30 left. Before that they had just about got a few fans into a pugilistic mood. And that's not even counting the women leaning over from the restaurant who kept yelling and pulling her shirt up, not all the way up, but with the temperature being a little cool inside the arena, let's just say that the rather thin top she was wearing made a whole lot of guys in my section miss a substantial portion of the third period.

Oh well, it's not over yet.

Ottawa's sense of humor From the AP:
The Ottawa city council passed a resolution Wednesday banning complaints by Toronto players about bad officiating inside or within 500 meters of the Corel Centre. Councilor Rick Chiarelli introduced a motion declaring the perimeter of the hockey arena an official "no-cry" zone. "It's called the Cujo Law," after Toronto goaltender Curtis Joseph, Chiarelli said. The Maple Leafs' 2-1 victory at night tied the series 2-2.

And then Al Strachan calls it as he sees it.

Mike Sultan's funny: Doctors in Chicago have given six patients their sight back.

Six patients who were almost blind were given an artificial retina with a microchip and now have greatly improved vision.

The good news is, the patients can see much better ... the bad news is, they
can't go back to their jobs as figure skating judges.

There may be Hope Yet!

After being lucky not to be down 2-0 early, the Blues get up on the Red Things and stay ahead, dominating late to win 6-1!

Watch for me Thursday, 20 rows up behind the Blues net in periods 1 and 3.

I Got the Horse Right Here ...

Seattle Slew was great, and if memory served me correctly he was bought at one time for $12,000, but there has never been a horse like Secretariat.

St. Louis Blues

Two 38 year-old fireman, Derek Martin and Robert Morrison, perished in St. Louis on Saturday fighting a blaze. The St. Louis Blues raffled off a number of signed jerseys, sticks, and two season passes for next year with all the proceeds going to these brave men's families.

Just thought you should know.

Expansion: While we in the NHL desperately need some contraction of teams, the American Hockey League has announced, a year after they absorbed the remnants of the International Hockey League, that they will add two new franchises in San Antonio and Bingamton.

Who would I contract out of the NHL? Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Florida, Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville. Next in line would be (unfortunately) Calgary, Columbus and Pittsburgh. It is just the way it has to be.

Rumor central: Defenseman Derek Morris to Boston, winger Sergei Samsonov to Calgary.

CHARLES T, the answer is Detroit netminder Roger Crozier (1966).

UPDATE: He led the league that year in games played (64), regular season shutouts (7) and playoff shutouts (1). Lalime already has four playoff shutouts thus far. The game has evolved defensively, there's no doubt about it. But nothing in the sport (other than salaries) has changed more radically than goaltending over the last few decades. Ask yourself how long it's been since you last saw a skate save in the NHL? There's a reason for that.

My picks: Martin posted his picks for the regular season awards, so I want to do so as well:

Hart Trophy: Jose Theodore, Canadiens

Calder Trophy: Ilya Kovalchuk, Thrashers

Jack Adams Award: Bob Francis, Coyotes

Lady Byng Trophy: Ron Francis, Hurricanes

Norris Trophy: Chris Chelios, Red Wings

Selke Trophy: Michael Peca, Islanders

Vezina Trophy: Jose Theodore, Canadiens

Jagr loves his country: Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr is willing to throw away more than $40 million US in order to play for his country.

The Washington Capitals forward revealed Saturday that he'll forgo half of his eight-year, $88-million US contract should he suffer a serious injury at the world hockey championships.

Jagr also paid out of his own pocket (around $70,000 US) for part of the premium on his extra insurance, on top of the normal insurance he gets from his NHL contract. Now that's devotion.

"With long-term deals like mine and Alexei Yashin's, they only insure $20 million," Jagr said after the Czechs' 5-4 win over the U.S. in qualifying-round play Saturday. "Washington didn't want to take that kind of risk and I don't blame them.

"We settled on me paying some of the premium. If I get (seriously) hurt I only get paid half my contract." (Canadian Press)

LCS blog: LCS Hockey's Michael Dell tries his hand at blogging...

How pathetic: The product may suck, but the NHL rejoices that game attendence continues to rise:

For the third consecutive season, the NHL showed increased average attendance at opening-round games of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

An average of 18,442 fans attended the 47 first-round games, up from 18,360 last season and 18,342 in 2000.

The NHL had already posted a regular-season attendance record for the second straight year. The total attendance for the regular season was 20,614,613 -- up from 20,373,379 last season. The per-game regular-season average of 16,760 topped last season's previous high of 16,564 for the 1,230-game schedule.

Brand new arenas which seat more people are being built every year - capacity is rising. This does not necessarily equate with a rise in popularity.

Blues/Red Things

I'm going to one or both of the Blues games this week. I may also get tickets to game 6... if there is a game 6.

DOWNDATE: Thursday's game only. At this point, I'm hoping there will still be a game four.