Even with a gentlemen’s agreement between the NHL and the IIHF in place, players find a way to leave Europe. Read my IIHF.com piece here or after the jump.
IIHF.com: Jumping through loopholes
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Clubs
Clubs are what makes us human, right? We like to belong to clubs because, well, then we belong. For me, the coolest thing about a club is the club card, something you have to show other – outside the club – that you belong.
Maybe that’s why I like hanging out at golf courses even though I’m lousy at golf, and don’t really want to get better, either. But I like how they all made that polite nod to me at the course today.
We need more nodding.
Boys and girls
There I was, holding hands with my two beautiful kids, my son and my daugther, hanging out at Finland’s biggest Prisma store, when I saw the two huge signs that guide the customers to the toy section.
To the left: “Boys’ toys”. To the right: “Girls’ toys.”
And all I wanted was some little buckets.
What year is this?
Hello, neighbour
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.
A new law
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.
Another crossroads
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.
Archives: Kekäläinen
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.
IIHF.com: Family ties
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.
Maximum bust
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…
