from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- If there was a steroids scandal in hockey and almost all who tested positive were French Canadian, or American, or Russian or any single group, how much would be made of that? Why then has so little been made of the fact the 12 suspensions announced in baseball this week were all hispanics?

- Watched some of the Leafs-Bruins series the other night was left with one startling impression: James Reimer made many remarkable saves and then let in some terrible goals. It was brilliance one moment, bad rebound or bad goal the next. The goaltending battle at training camp between Jonathan Bernier and Reimer will be the main event of the pre-season for the Leafs.

- What did the Pittsburgh Penguins lack more than anything else the past few playoff seasons? OK, sound goaltending, I know. But what else did they lack? Defensive structure. That’s why the hiring of Jacques Martin as an assistant coach is important. Aside from being able to bore people in both of Canada’s official languages, he is a coach who understands and can teach structure.

read on if interested in how the Gretzky trade hurt Canada...