from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Imagine if the opposite had occurred?

Imagine if it had been Sidney Crosby’s finger dangling, dripping blood, part of it crushed, the result of a slash, intentional or not?

Imagine the noise the hockey world would make?

Instead, the usual voices say the usual things. You can’t penalize the kind of slash that happens so often in every game. You can’t suspend Crosby for maiming Ottawa’s Marc Methot and ending his regular season — and possibly his playoff run — while probably damaging his hand forever.

That’s their view. The NHL shrugs and looks the other way. The game goes on.

That’s their view, not mine....

- What you need to remember about Eugene Melnyk: When last we saw his Ottawa Senators in the Stanley Cup final, there was Melnyk in the dressing room after losing the Cup, calling out players, questioning their character and basically embarrassing himself.

- Really, Gary Bettman cares nothing about you. He took away a hockey season. If he thinks it’s good business to not have NHL players in the Olympic Games, he won’t lose a minute of sleep over it. That said, Bettman hasn’t officially ruled out NHL participation in the Olympics, which makes it still possible.

more on Crosby and other hockey notes too...