HOCKEY TODAY: FRANKLY, NO ONE SHOULD GIVE A DAMN WHAT THIS GUY WANTS TO DO

It's a little funny. Yesterday, I was talking to someone and wondered what happened to beer baron Frank D'Angelo's plan to buy the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lo and behold, he's issuing a statement that he still wants to buy the team. Riiiiiight.

The Penguins aren't even on the market, and D'Angelo has already been spurned by the Canadian Football League. At this rate, by 2009 he'll be issuing statements about his interest in buying a NFL team and an English Premiership team.

This is being written with the full awareness of the irony of mentioning Frank D'Angelo in order to decry him as a publicity monger, so don't bother pointing it out. He's harmless entertainment, so the media apparently doesn't bother letting the baby have his bottle, no pun intended.

Leafs 10 Bruins 2: Seriously, WTF? Six forwards out, a quiet night for Mats Sundin, and the Leafs hit double-digits for the first time since '98-99. Damn.

NHL Scoreboard

Today's better games: Penguins-Bruins, 8 p.m.; Preds-Hawks, 8:30 p.m.; Oilers-Canucks, 10 p.m.

HOMETOWN BREAKDOWN

The Whig-Standard's Claude Scilley profiles Frontenacs newcomer Matt Auffrey, whose dad Greg actually performed national anthems at games back in the '90s.

One more OHL note: Earlier this week, a London, Ont.-area reader e-mailed to ask about Justin Taylor, a player whom the hometown Knights had acquired in a trade. Some quick Googling revealed that Taylor was doing pretty well with the Wellington Dukes in the Provincial Junior A loop, and I dutifully passed that along, guessing that he might be able to help the Knights, or at least be future trade bait. Well, last night, when Knights forward Josh Beaulieu scored five goals -- doubling his season total -- in a win over Peterborough, Taylor assisted on four.

What I wouldn't give to say, "I told you so."

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.