Back in May, when I was Quebec for the Worlds, one of the Canadian reporters asked Denis Grebeshkov, the Oilers defenseman, why the Finns hate the Russians so much.

He looked at the reporter and said, "Do they? I don't think they do, isn't it the Swedes the hate?"

And that's been bugging me ever since.

Because both were right.

Yesterday, I walked by the Parliament of Finland in Helsinki, together with my son. He's five. I explained to him how all the laws were made in that big house with those big statues in front of it.

"Oh, so, like, are you saying that they say that 'this is enough, from now on, everybody must have fun on New Year's Eve'?" he said, pumping his little fist in the air.

I thought we already had that law.

So. I got another offer, and it makes my head spin. At the same time, I realize that I can't do everything – no matter how I'd love to.

Off to a short vacation in sunny Finland, but watch this space.

Dusting off the archives again, trying to move things around a bit. And since these are the days of the draft, what would be better than a little story about Jarmo Kekäläinen, the assistant GM of the St. Louis Blues.

Keep reading.

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Got something on iihf.com today.

The Nordic Trophy, a preseason series between five Finnish and five Swedish teams, might be a precursor to the ultimate dream, a pipe dream if you wish, of merging the Finnish and Swedish leagues.

Read it here, or below.

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Saw this piece of news today:

Maxim Mamin, 20, tested positive in a random doping control on January 2, 2008, following the game Russia – Czech Republic at the 2008 IIHF World U20 Championship in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Both the A-sample as well as the requested test of the B-sample confirmed the presence of norandrosterone, a metabolite of the anabolic steroid nandrolone.

And my mind raced straight to Dave King's book King of Russia...

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Whoops, missed the column from the June issue of Scanorama. Here it comes.

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And here's a column from the July/August issue of Scanorama. Keep reading.

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Here's a column I wrote for the May issue of Scanorama. Enjoy!

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I find tipping difficult. People in Finland or Sweden don't generally give tips, I would say, so I'm not used to that at all, it's not something my brain is wired to do.

I also find it hard to tip when you have to do it with coins. How do you make that an event, how do you not make it feel like you're handing out candy money to little kids? I have no idea. Leaving a couple of dollar bills on the table feels fine, leaving a two-dollar coin feels .. like a statement.

Last night, I went out with a friend, and I saw people buying a 57-kronor pint of beer, and leaving three kronor as a tip. Is that anything? (Obviously, I didn't tip at all).

Hockey season 2007-08 is now officially over. For my take on Game 6, click here, or continue reading after the jump.

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Last year, Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup with 16 Canadians on its roster and early on, it seemed that other NHL teams were cranking out Ducks copies in an attempt to win the Stanley Cup. And here we are again, with Detroit winning the Stanley Cup, with eight Swedes on its roster, and at least four, five, ok, let’s make it six, fine, seven, in prominent roles on the team.

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