Leave it to Scotty Bowman to break down the forced-sitting of Lidstrom & Datsyuk.

Listen to Scotty who was on the Fan590 in Toronto this morning. Scotty also discusses numerous NHL topics.

Also, from Wayne Scanlan of the Ottawa Citizen,

Fine them.

Make them go to their room.

Make them each write a 1,000-word essay on why they love the NHL All-Star Game.

But to make Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings miss tonight’s game against the Blue Jackets does more potential harm to the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild than it does to Detroit.

For the sake of propping up an all-star game that is rightly mocked for presenting silly hockey, the NHL is using a sledge hammer to kill a fly.

read on