Winter Classic in Fenway, Jan 1 at 1 PM on NBC

Where do you think the handshake ritual came from? I've never researched it but, having a kid who's in college and still playing goal, I've always assumed that it's like boxing or gunslinging or the other old-school rough "sports," where "gentlemanly" rituals grew out of the basic need to separate the sport from the rest of life.

It's why I never bought into the "ban the Indian mascot" movement; in fact, I've publicly argued against it. Because it always seemed to me that the Indians well understood the inverse need for inherently peaceful people to go through a ritualistic preparation for war, sort of the "pep rally" before the game, if you will. So, far from mocking native Americans, making Indians sports mascots not only makes perfect sense but actually honors an aspect of their culture that we arguably don't do as well. It really has nothing to do with being "PC"; I reject the premise that it's derogatory in the first place.

Why do we play so rough here? Because a forum like this is as impersonal as flying drones. We don't sit around the table and debate these things, so we tend to forget our manners.

And, yeah, Leighton looks good between the pipes. The can of whoopass the Flyers broke out on the Rangers night before last was a delight to behold. I followed the Flyers in the days when Bernard Marcel Parent was in goal, so, for me especially, they just aren't the Flyers without great goaltending. Sadly, it's been elusive for them for quite some time.

Where's your goalie? My daughter plays for Castleton State (VT).

And I think you guys still owe the Bruins some thanks for Bernie Parent (and Reggie Leach, for that matter). There were many of us who thought the Bruins were too sentimental with Eddie Johnston, and should have kept Parent.

Mike

Ah, the Rifleman! He used to electrify the Spectrum crowd at the end of the pre-game shoot with unbelievable blue-line shots!

My kid's at Syracuse, where he fell off the depth chart this yr. Illogically, though it's in ice country, Syracuse is just an ACHA school for men's hockey, probably in part because they have so much of their Title IX $$$ invested in the big three: football, b-ball and lx. (For the same reason, their women's ice team is the big dog, ranked #10 in it's second year.)

But he "skated on" to the team as a frosh last year, so at least got a souvenir jersey!

Hockey players always shake after the final playoff game in ALL rounds of the playoffs. They have always done so. It's a Canadian tradition.

At least in D-III, the women shake hands after every game. It's nice to see the sportsmanship, wherever it came from.

Mike