THE ROUNDUP: Big Night For Big E, The NHL’s Latest Stupid Hill To Die On and more...

Bo’s (Almost) Back- If there were ever a sign of how important a player was to their team, just look at the Canucks’ record after Bo Horvat’s injury. Horvat has made the trip to Edmonton and has begun practicing with the team, but is unlikely to play Saturday night against the Oilers for their Hockey Day in Canada matchup. It is possible he could return the next night as they head to Winnipeg to take on the Jets, though.

History Repeating Itself?- If you’re one of the fans who’s still a little miffed at the way Jimbo and Trev handled the Nikita Tryamkin situation, you have to be a little concerned about hearing things like this from Nikolay Goldobin:

While for the most part, he says a lot of the right stuff in the interview, but it would be frustrating to see the Canucks fail to develop a piece that clearly has a lot of potential (again). I did like seeing this though, and that’s probably something that needs to be done on both sides:

Big Night For Big E- It seemed as though this night might not ever happen, and I am sure that the passing of owner Ed Snyder had something to do with it, but it was great to see the Philadelphia Flyers patch things up with Eric Lindros and retire his number last night. Here’s a link to some great pics from the talented Kate Frese over at Broad Street Hockey for you to check out. The Flyers did the big man proud as they came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Leafs in OT, 3-2.

The NHL And It’s Relationship With Its Fans Vol. 7842- Yeah, they’re really this out of touch with pretty much everything. In the wake of increasing disapproval from a majority of hockey fans over the choice of Kid Rock to be the “entertainment” at this year’s All Star Game in Tampa, the NHL doubled down on their selection. So the league that wants you to know that “Hockey is for everyone” is promoting a guy who makes transgender bathroom jokes, regularly flies the Confederate flag (despite being born and raised in a well-to-do Michigan suburb) and has been leading chants of “Fuck Colin Kaepernick” at shows, (not to mention the game being played in the town that just waivered out the only NHL player to make a protest statement in game), shows that once again, despite all it’s claims, the NHL continues to do little if nothing to try and actually make anyone who’s not a white, affluent male to feel welcome within.

It really doesn’t jive with their honoring of the 60th Anniversary of Willie O’Ree breaking the league’s colour barrier, too. Sure, they’re saying nice things, putting on nice displays, etc. Yet when it is brought up (again and again) that O’Ree should be in the Hall Of Fame as a Builder, there’s a whole lot of silence from the nomination committee members. If you truly want to show this game is for “everyone”, then do the right thing, and induct Mr. O’Ree next season, before he leaves this mortal coil.

Brown Back On His Bullshit- Noted rocket scientist and All Time All Douchebag team nominee Dustin Brown was gooning it up again last night with a pretty disgusting hit on Justin Schultz of the Penguins.

But lest you think we’re somehow trying to portray the Penguins as innocent victims last night, here’s Low Key Dirty Bastard Evgeni Malkin with a pretty blatant nut-shot on Brown earlier in the game. No penalty was called, either.

The takeaway from all this? Both teams are hot garbage, I guess...

Shots From The Point- A lot of talk about how hot the Calgary Flames are right now, but I am far more impressed by the Colorado Avalanche. After last season’s disaster, they’re starting to show this team is legit, and last night won their 8th straight... Insert obligatory Vegas Golden Knights are unreal mention (here)... Patrice Bergeron should probably be getting some Hart trophy consideration, just sayin’...

BATTLE HYMN OF THE DAY- Crossover kings IRON REAGAN have a split with GATECREEPER coming out in March that sounds pretty damn good. Get your mosh on and we’ll see you tomorrow for an actual game.