Monday Links, News and Notes: Battle of the Tkachuks, Brassard’s Hat Trick, and More!

It’s weird, not having recent games to talk about. I feel like it’s been ages since the Sens last played a game, and I’m excited to watch them tonight. Here’s what’s been happening around the NHL and the hockey world.

• It’s the battle of the Tkachuks, again, tonight, and of course, that means fun content about their relationship. NHL.com has a cute piece on how Brady and Matthew are keeping in touch during COVID.
• The Sens also wore mismatched socks at practice yesterday for World Down Syndrome Day.  See what they had to say about it in this video!/

"It's an important cause and I'm glad we did it as a team to show support." #WorldDownSyndromeDay pic.twitter.com/sOdjt0Wxze

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) March 21, 2021

• Former Senator Derick Brassard recorded a hat trick against the Ducks this weekend! It’s always a bit bittersweet to see former Senators thriving on other times, but it’s nice to see that Brassard is doing well in Arizona.
• For subscribers to the Athletic: Ian Mendes put together a full team of former Senators, and compared it to the current Senators’ team. The findings were interesting: apparently, the all-traded team would be a bubble team with bad defense - no surprises there - while the current team is, of course, quite bad. Obviously, these stats don’t tell the whole story, since this Sens team has a much better outlook for the future than the other one would, but I still thought it was a fun experiment.
• Another Athletic piece: Arpon Basu wrote about Alexis Lafrenière, Tim Stützle and Nils Höglander about adding accents to their names. It’s behind a paywall, but if you have a subscription, it’s well worth reading. It seems like this is finally becoming a thing in the NHL, and I think it’s long overdue.
• The government of Ontario has apparently given the OHL over two million dollars for postsecondary scholarships for OHL players - and it’s not the first provincial government in Canada to do so. I’m not sure I’m the best judge of whether or not this is a good use of taxpayer money - I generally think scholarships for hockey players are good, though I can also think of several other uses for $2 million - but I’d like people to keep this stuff in mind the next time the topic of government funding for women’s sports comes up.
• One of my favourite hockey websites is Hockey in Society. They recently put out a piece on abuse of referees, and what needs to be done about it. It’s a long read, but a good one.
• You may have seen that Gord Miller and his teenage daughter were recently targeted by Barstool Sports, after Gord stated that he doesn’t want to associate with them. The latest update is that Twitter has taken action to stop the harassment. I’m incredibly relieved that this is being dealt with, but as someone who recently appeared in a Barstool callout video, and who knows many people who have been dealing with this level of harassment for years from exactly those same people, I can’t help but wonder why this type of protection isn’t extended to women and people of colour. Let’s just hope this does something to help shut down Barstool’s harassment campaigns. /

This week my company and I have been working closely with @Twitter to try to manage the abuse that’s been flying around online. Tweets have been pulled, accounts have been suspended and other action has been taken if warranted. @Twitter has been very helpful, and I’m grateful.

— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) March 19, 2021

• Listen closely to this clip from a Belleville Senators game, where the powerplay announcement includes a “ha ha ha YES!” Please, please, please make this a thing in Ottawa, too./

Wait, has this always been a thing? Listen closely.

"Sens are on the powerplay ha ha ha ha..... YES!"@SensDJ You're a sicko. pic.twitter.com/fj4a6cvMIL

— Pesky Sickos (@PeskySickos) March 20, 2021

• If you follow Drake Batherson on Instagram, you may have noticed that he posted a piece of fanart the other day. The artist is an old friend of Silver Seven, so make sure to check out their work on social media - you can also buy some of these designs on society6 and redbubble (though not the more recent ones, unfortunately)! I bought one of those Alfie paintings back when I moved into my first dorm room, and it’s still on my wall today./

New painting: Drake Bathersosn pic.twitter.com/sO8u1MIteD

— A. Lubowitz (@alubowitzart) March 19, 2021