Topics of the Week

In the past week, there have been two things that have dominated the NHL headlines:  Rick Rypien grabbing a Minnesota Wild fan on his way to the locker room and Ilya Kovalchuk being a healthy scratch for Saturday's game against the Sabres.  I went into fairly good length about the first topic, so the only thing to touch upon there is the length of the suspension.  I think the length is a little short, but a good track record and others testifying to his overall nature had something to do with that, so I can't place blame on the league for that.  Now, it's up to Rypien to prove that he has learned from his mistake, and apologizing for his actions is a good start.

Topic two is the healthy scratch of Kovalchuk.  Reportedly, this was the coach's decision because he missed a team meeting.  Now, supposedly, this was to send a message to the team, but given that the Devils got trounced 6-1, and even when Kovalchuk returned the next game against the Rangers, only to lose 3-1, there seems to be trouble in the Garden State.  It's too soon to tell, but given the Devils' penchant for turning over the coaching position almost as constantly as someone would change their underwear, it wouldn't be surprising if the Devils change coaches at the end of the year.  The Devils made their bed, now they have to lie in it for the next 15 years, and no one outside of New Jersey will feel sorry for them.