Zack Kassian, “Hockey Moms”, and more!

As always, it was an eventful week in the National Hockey League. Least of all for the Ottawa Senators, who are currently mired in a seven-game losing streak. We’ll get to that, of course, but there are a few other noteworthy stories to talk about too. So settle in, and enjoy our Monday edition of Links, News, and Notes!

• By now you’ve all seen, or at least heard about, the ugly incident that took place between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames on Saturday night. After taking three questionable hits from Matthew Tkachuk, Zack Kassian finally snapped, and laid a beating on Brady’s brother, who was an unwilling combatant./

While I can understand Kassian’s frustration, this was obviously a bit much. He put a pretty savage smackdown on the elder Tkachuk, who clearly wanted no part of the exchange. The hits may have been on the dirty side, and I can understand the desire, but after a few viewings, it gets pretty uncomfortable. Kassian is expected to be disciplined by the league.

Beyond that, the two parties exchanged some verbal barbs following the game.

Zack Kassian and Matthew Tkachuk continue the hatred in the post-game pic.twitter.com/f6MmgNiPrb

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 12, 2020

Something tells me this isn’t over.

• On a lighter note, Sportsnet’s Kristina Rutherford wrote another great piece this week. This time, it follows a few high-profile women’s hockey players, and their respective attempts to return to action after giving birth. It’s an issue that, frankly, had never crossed my mind, but it’s an incredibly interesting read that you can find here. /

My beer league hockey team has a term for what Mikkelson is working her way back from: We call it the “Middle-Body Injury,” or “MBI” for short. No, “pregnancy is not an injury,” Dr. Julia Alleyne points out. She finds the term a little insulting, a negative spin on the joy of bringing new life into the world. We’re sorry, doc, and we promise “MBI” is a joke, a play on hockey’s lower- and upper-body injuries — at least the moms on our team think it’s funny.

• Getting back to the Sens for a minute, they’ve now lost seven games in a row. Their last victory came against the Buffalo Sabres on December 23rd, meaning they have yet to win in 2020. This actually ties a franchise record set in 2017 (ugh), in the wake of the Matt Duchene trade. So if the Sens fall to Chicago on Tuesday, they make history. Great./
• With the 2020 NHL All-Star festivities in St. Louis just 11 days away, there has been little to generate interest, as many apathetic hockey fans take a pass. However, a new initiative may serve to liven up the weekend a bit. Currently, there are rumblings that the NHL will be holding a 3on3 scrimmage between top American and Canadian women’s hockey players. While there are no plans for the league to develop a WNHL (stupidly), this is a good step for the league to take, in order to use its influence to help further the women’s game./
• With this year being the Vancouver Canucks’ 50th anniversary, they’ve taken great care to honour those that have helped bring the franchise to the level it’s at today. One of said folks was the late, great, Pat Quinn. The Canucks’ head coach from 1991-1995, he led the team to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 1994, and went on to have a Hall of Fame career. The Province ran a great little throwback piece to the 1992 NHL Awards, where Quinn won coach of the year. It’s a great read, whether you were a fan of his or not. Definitely worth checking out./