2/8 Notes

The NHL's executive vice-president, Colin Campbell, said yesterday that Colorado defenseman Adam Foote will not be suspended for high sticking Steve Yzerman in the face on Thursday as time expired in the Wings/Avs game:

"I don't think Adam Foote hit Steve Yzerman in the face on purpose. Even if it was accidental, I don't think it was reckless use of the stick. It was careless. "Maybe sometimes you have to lok at things and read things into it, but if you asked Steve, I don't think Steve would say Adam Foote would do that (deliberately)."

Well, deliberate or not, Adam Foote deserves a suspension or at the very least some kind of fine. I personally believe it was unintentional but the players are responsible (theoretically) for keeping control of their sticks at all times. That high stick was no more intentional than what Mathieu Schneider did to Glen Murray a few weeks back and yet he got a two game suspension. Foote's "careless" use of the stick was far more destructive than Schneider's and the league is entirely hypocritical for doing nothing. I'm disgusted. I expect someone on the team to go after Foote's head this Saturday. I will be extremely disappointed if nothing happens. Sorry, Adam, intentional or not, you did it and should have to pay the price. Last night's SuperSkills competition was disappointing (I wasn't able to catch any of the YoungStars game but the West won 7-3). Pavel Datsyuk didn't dazzle as I was hoping, most noticeably on the breakaway competition. He looked good on the puck control relay but stumbled out of the blocks on the fastest skater competition and had the slowest time. Nick Lidstrom wasn't even in the hardest shot competition. For me, the highlight of the night was Jeremy Roenick going four-for-four in the shot accuracy competition. That was really the only thing that got me excited. Hopefully the All Star Game today will be better. Last year's was the best I remember seeing and it would be hard to top it but with Pavel Datsyuk playing, it's possible. It starts at 3:00 EST and is on ABC and CBC. Bob Wojnowski has a gloomy piece about the NHL and its TV contracts in today's Detroit News. Personally, I couldn't care much less if the games weren't shown on ESPN or ABC any more because I can't stand to watch games on those channels. Gary Thorne and Co. annoy me to death. As a Wings fan, I'm not worried about missing games since the vast majority of them are broadcast locally. The only ones that aren't on Fox Sports Net or Fox 2 are on ESPN and ABC. I'd much rather have those few games on FSN or Fox, personally. I guess ESPN/ABC is good for the NHL because they get the sport out there but Wings games will always be on TV as long as I'm living in the Detroit area (or Michigan overall) so it doesn't matter much to me.