HOCKEY LAST NIGHT: CALL FOR SAFER GEAR AFTER SENS-SABRES BRAWL

Lost in the shuffle of the Sabres-Senators donnybrook last night was that Buffalo co-captain's Chris Drury injury -- his face collided with Chris Neil's shoulder pad, opening up a huge cut -- could have been mitigated with safer equipment.

Obviously, the brawl that ensued between the division rivals is the bigger, more eye-catching news, especially for the attention span deprived who are assumed to make up Sportsnet Connected's target audience, so that's the big story. You had Sens goalie Ray Emery going Sugar Ray Robinson on on a pair of Sabres and getting thrown out of the game and Bryan Murray getting spittin' mad at Sabres coach Lindy Ruff for putting out the straight-from-Slap Shot trio of Andrew Peters, Adam Mair and Patrick Kaleta (100-plus penalty minutes) against the Dany Heatley-Jason Spezza line. It was good fun and no one minded much, since it's the latter half of February and by this point, all the games are starting to run together and you're desperate for anything that make make the post-game quotes a little bit more lively. As a sidebar, the Sabres won 6-5 in, wait for it, a shootout.

Drury got a severe cut from a clean check because the shoulder pads Neil was wearing aren't meant to reduce the impact of a blow should spark some conversation on the need to develop safer, more lightweight gear for NHL players, especially as they keep getting stronger and faster. It bears repeating: Padded wetsuits, anyone?

Eight of 12 games last night went to overtime -- including seven of the eight which ended before 11 Eastern. Does anyone actually try to win a game in 60 minutes any more? Incidentally, Globesports.com's Eric Duhatschek is saying pitch the shootout and play 10 minutes of 4-of-4 and call it a tie if no one scores. Eighty to 90 percent of the time, someone would score. Anyone who's actually seen the rare NFL game which ends in a tie,which hasn't happened since 2002, knows there's no shame in a game ending deadlocked if both teams did try to win. The NHL is the opposite: The shootout mandates someone has to win, even on the many nights when no one seems interested in doing so.

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HOMETOWN BREAKDOWN

Our Kingston Frontenacs' quest to overachieve and finish higher than sixth in the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference continued in earnest -- they got by the Peterborough Petes 3-2 on Chris Stewart's game-winner in the front end of a home-and-home series.

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