from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- My favourite Scotty Bowman line: “We have two goalies, Osgood and no good.” ... My second favourite Bowman line, after making the Danny Gare for Mike Foligno three-for-three trade in Buffalo. As his new players walked onto the team bus after their first game, Bowman looked at them and said: “Nothing for nothing.”

- Joe Bowen said it in jest, but he’s right. NHL penalty killers should consider using wood sticks for those shifts. Too many composite sticks are breaking on the PK, turning one-man advantages into two.

- A well-known former NHL player, a star who does not wish to be identified, is dying of cancer. But that’s not the story here.

The story is the one-time hockey great had to borrow $20,000 to pay for recent medical expenses. He didn’t have the money. He may need more in the months to come, assuming he lives that long.

He couldn’t find immediate support of any kind from the NHL Players’ Association or the NHL Alumni. He played 13 years in the NHL — most of it at a very high level, before the real big money kicked in for players — and he has a pension, I’m told, that pays him just over $1,000 a month. That, by itself, is troubling.

Athletes, just like the rest of us, make bad investments, poor financial decisions, don’t always end up in the right kind of situation. But unlike us, their sport should take better care of them....

more