The Ontario Hockey League has suspended Kitchener Rangers forward Steve Downie eight games for jumping Guelph Storm winger Mike McLean, and subsequent gross misconduct. Downie will be eligible to return on Mar. 17.

Click here for details.

It’s nice to be back home. Even though I was only gone for a few days, it seems I missed a lot. Probably because I was Internet-less. It makes me realize how dependant I am on things like email. Scary. And speaking of scary...

Five OHLers have plead guilty to charges of assault and battery as the result of an Oct. 4, 2006 incident involving a then 15-year-old girl in Saginaw, Mich.

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Here's a story I've been eagerly anticipating -- the ongoing saga of the UHL's aptly named Danbury Trashers. Last season the Trashers made headlines when the team was suspended because of a fraud investigation. In addition, team owner James Galante still faces charges of racketeering, extortion and witness tampering.

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It seems the NHL's little Florida retreat for general managers was a dud when it came to wheelin' and dealin'.

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From today's Kingston Whig Standard:

A motion to cancel the downtown arena will be put in front of councillors at their meeting tonight, which starts at 7:30 p.m. at Kingston City Hall. The motion was drawn up after it was revealed last week that cost overruns would add at least $4 million to the approximately $41 million budget.

Here are a couple of things for this glorious Monday.
When you work odd hours, like we do in the newspaper business, Monday loses its dread as the start to the work week. I am looking forward to Monday this week, because I have Tuesday off. But I digress...

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Tonight the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to honour their 1967 Stanley Cup winning squad before their game against the Edmonton Oilers.

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The Flyers have sent the oft-injured (this season at least) Peter Forsberg to the Nashville Predators in exchange for winger Scottie Upshall, Guelph blueliner Ryan Parent, a first round pick and a third round pick in the NHL draft.

Here's the story from the Toronto Star

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Former hockey enforcer Tony Twist settled his lawsuit with Spawn creator Todd McFarlane today.
Twist agreed to a settlement worth $5 million (all figures U.S.) after first launching a suit more than seven years ago.

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Stephen Colbert has spoken and he wants the Saginaw Spirit to tank their next 14 games. The Spirit have already clinched a Western Conference playoff spot with a 32-19-0-3 record. They host the division leading Plymouth Whalers (38-13-1-2) on Feb. 21 and Comedy Central’s satiric host has given them specific directions.

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Happy Valentine’s Day to the blogosphere - or as I like to call it, Valenmines, cause I gotta get mines!

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Since The Police announced their reunion tour date at Toronto's Air Canada Centre on July 22nd, I've been plotting the best way to get tickets.

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It's been two weeks since I've had any kind of update on the planning for Stephen Colbert Day in Oshawa. The good people at the mayor's office have released the following information about March 20th -- the "Grin and Bear it" festival in honour of the Colbert Report host.

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Here's an update on the three guys injured in the last two games I've seen.

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As I'm typing this, I'm comtemplating the math. I'm wondering how many minutes are going to pass before someone takes another run at Sidney Crosby. If you've read any of the papers in Toronto this week, you'd think Sid the Kid would need the services of a witness protection program.

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If you happen to be stumped about what to get the special lady in your life for Valentine's Day, might I suggest a new book -- Ontario Hockey League Classics written by former OHL media relations director Aaron Bell.

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Former Kamloops Blazer Jarret Lukin, now a member of the University of Calgary Dinos, has been suspended by the CIS for two-years after testing positive for "cocaine metabolite". His future playing in the ECHL is also in doubt.

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In my job as a copy editor, I get to do a lot of reading. A lot.
Even when I'm not working, I'm still reading. Here are some of my good reads so far today.

BUFFALO BUDDIES: Nice story in the London Free Press today about Buffalo, N.Y., natives Pat Kane of the London Knights and Guelph Storm goaltender Thomas McCollum.

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Anaheim Ducks prospect Bobby Ryan scored a hat trick and added an assist to rally the Owen Sound Attack to an 8-4 win over the Windsor Spitfires.

The Spits had taken an early 2-0 lead before Ryan helped the Attack -- losers of their last six -- rebound to snap the skid.

“When you’re looking at a team like that that’s been down and out, we should be licking our chops,” Spitfires defenceman Keith Wynn told the Windsor Star.

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Former Windsor Spitfires coach Paul Gillis has been hired by the UHL's Elmira Jackals. Last season he had been with the UHL's Danbury Trashers.

“I am excited to be bringing in a coach of Paul Gillis’ incredible talent and winning reputation,” said Jackals General Manager Robbie S. Nichols on the team's website

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I got a phone call recently and it's one of my OHL contacts.

"Sunaya," he shouts, "have you seen that OHL thing on YouTube?!"

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Outside of a trip to Tim Hortons for coffee, I've spent most of the day cleaning and watching daytime TV.

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So far I've spent my day off doing laundry and watching the Biography of that great thespian Nick Nolte. I guess it beats watching the soaps right?

On the topic of soap operas... no not the Ice Dogs... but the situation with one-time alleged sniper Sergei Samsonov, who cleared waivers today with the Montreal Canadiens.

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After spending most of my day off running errands and surfing the Internet(s), I thought I'd share some of the latest stories that have piqued my interest:

LASSIE COME HOME? It wouldn't be fun if there weren't an update in the on going saga of Eugene Melnyk and friends, and their attempts to find a new home for the Mississauga IceDogs. Here's the latest from the Niagara Falls Review:

IceDogs Frozen Out Again

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In case you missed it, there was some "old-time hockey" gone terribly wrong in Belleville on Jan. 27 in a game between the Bulls and Kingston Frontenacs.

If you did miss it, like anything else these days, you can now watch it on YouTube:

Click here: Brawl in Belleville

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Since Terry has taken care of the all-star game details.

I'll share some of my thoughts about Saginaw, the city. This was my first trip to see a game at the Dow Event Center and my first trip to Saginaw. As shocking as this may sound, I never had any reason to visit "mid-Michigan" prior to this.

The main reason for my visit to Saginaw wasn't the all-star game, or the festivities, since the Toronto Star had sent me to do a story about how The Colbert Report had impacted the city and the team. I had a blast. The people were warm, helpful and friendly.

Here's the story about the Colbert Report

One of the first things I noticed driving into town was, one, the number of bowling alleys, and two, the number of car washes. Every street had at least two or three car washes.

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