1. Less than 48 hours after a game was suspended following an injury to a player during a fight, the USHL commissioner said his league is going to take a hard look at the role fighting plays. . . . “I’m convening a special meeting of our competition committee to see whether we’re being too tolerant of fighting,” USHL commissioner Skip Prince told Will Z. Klein of The New York Times. . . . That story is right here.

2. On Monday, the USHL issued a comprehensive news release covering the fight during which D Dylan Chanter of the Dubuque Fighting Saints was injured. That release is right here.

3. During Sunday night's NFL telecast on NBC, Bob Costas editorialized on the refusal of Washington Redkins' owner Daniel Snyder to change his team's nickname. Right here, Dave Zirin of The Nation offers up his take on what Costas did.

4. When Don Matthews was coaching in the CFL, he was a real hombre, or, at least, he came off like one. He carried himself like a real gunslinger. It was, he says, all an act. Today, Matthews is 74 years of age and a whole lot mellower. Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette has more on The Don right here.

5. The Vancouver Giants are back home with a 1-7-2 record after having lost six straight on an East Division road swing. . . . Here's Steve Ewen in the Vancouver Province: "Part of Vancouver's slow start can be attributed to injuries, and (GM Scott) Bonner says that forwards Dalton Sward (upper body) and Travis McEvoy (upper body) should be back for Friday against Kamloops. Forward Cain Franson (upper body) is day-to-day, winger Scott Cooke (lower body) should start skating on Friday and winger Rob Trzonkowski (upper body) is probably three weeks away." . . . Ewen's complete story is right here.

6. The Kamloops Blazers, who beat the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 7-1 on Monday afternoon, will be at home to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Wednesday night before playing in Vancouver on Friday. . . . The Blazers, like the Giants, are off to a rather slow start -- they are 3-7-0. . . . Don't forget that the Blazers' first half will be home heavy as they'll be out of their building for the Tim Hortons Brier in late February and early March.

7. A Monday tweet from Dylan Purcell of the Lethbridge Herald: "7-1 for Blazers, Canes start is sadder than that last episode of Glee." . . . The Hurricanes have lost six in a row and are 1-8-1. Purcell also pointed out that this is the team's worst start since at least 1996-97.

8. A Steve Bartman night at Wrigley Field, 10 years after the incident? Doesn't seem that it will happen. Ben Strauss of The New York Times has more right here.

9. There was some really good baseball viewing available over the long weekend, but I'm wondering if Gary Thorne and Rick Sutcliffe ever stop for a breath. Gentlemen, every play is not the final play of Game 7, and there isn't anything wrong with a bit of silence one in a while. Ease up a bit!



The Prince George Cougars and Victoria Royals have played three times this season, and each game has ended in a shutout. The host Royals won 3-0 on Monday. Earlier, the Cougars posted a 2-0 victory, while the Royals also won, 1-0. . . . Victoria F Logan Nelson scored twice on Monday; he's got goals in five straight games and seven snipes on the season. . . . Royals G Patrik Polivka has three shutouts in 10 games; last season, as a freshman, he put up two in 53 games. . . . The Saskatoon Blades are 5-0-1 in their last six games after winning 2-1 over the host Moose Jaw Warriors on Monday. . . . In Regina, the Pats made it four straight victories with a 5-1 triumph over the Brandon Wheat Kings.

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Bruns burning it up

1. The note here the other day about the WHL discontinuing the publication of its annual Guide brought this response from a long-time season-ticket holder:
"Sad to note the impending demise to the WHL official guide. Not embarrassed to admit that it is likely to most-opened volume on my shelves on an annual basis.....from Ken Franski in Regina in the '60s to the host of players that have followed, the guide information is easilly retreived good memories of long past and recent times. May result in loss of my season tickets in favour of periodic visits to the games. Nothing like nostalgia to help fan the emotions of hard core followers. Sad news!"

2. Hey, how about G Cole Bruns and the start he is off to this season with the USHL's Omaha Lancers? On Saturday night, the Lancers dumped the visiting Des Moines Buccaneers 7-0, improving their record to 5-0.
Bruns, who is from Prairie Grove, Ill., has been in goal for each of those games and, in fact, has yet to allow a goal. That's right! He has opened the season with five straight shutouts, stopping 117 straight shots in the process.
Omaha next plays Thursday when it meets the host Waterloo Black Hawks.

3. William C. Rhoden of The New York Times argues right here that Daniel Snyder, the owner of the NFL's Washington Redskins, is headed towards moral bankruptcy, and it's hard to disagree with him. Yes, it all has to do with Snyder's refusal to change the nickname of his football team.

4. Things got scary in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday evening when Dylan Chanter, 18, of the Dubuque Fighting Saints fell during a fight in a USHL game with the RoughRiders. Chanter hit his head on the ice and appeared to suffer a seizure, after which the game was suspended. Thankfully, no serious damage appears to have been done, as Chanter, who is from Armstrong, B.C., was released from hospital later in the evening. He also tweeted that he was "awake and okay." . . . Frankly, I was stunned to learn that the USHL, which is a major supplier of talent to the NCAA, hadn't banned fighting. I still can't figure out why it hasn't. . . . Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports has more on the Chanter story, including a video of the incident, if you haven't already seen it. All of that is right here. . . . Chanter's WHL rights belong to the Portland Winterhawks -- he is on their college list as he has committed to the U of New Hampshire. Mike Johnston, the GM and head coach of the Winterhawks, was in contact with the Chanter family on Saturday night. . . . There's more on the Chanter situation right here.

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