Per Tarik El-Bashir, beat writer for the Washington Capitals at the Washington Post, superstar winger Alexander Ovechkin has been suspended two games for his hit on the Blackhawks' Brian Campbell. First, the hit.

Obviously, the hit warranted a penalty. Thats not in question. Ovechkin made a hit moments after Campbell played the puck away. What I have a problem with, however, is the game misconduct and following suspension. Ovechkin finished his check on Campbell, which unfortunately resulted in Campbell losing an edge and falling headlong into the boards. The fact that Campbell was injured on the play surely played into the suspension, but other than that it seemed to be a routine boarding call that results in a two minute minor. Why Colin Campbell insists on suspending players for these hits and not ones like Matt Cooke, I'll never know.

Meanwhile, the league remains silent on the most blatant attempt to injure that I've ever seen. Steve Downie slew-footing Sidney Crosby was illegal and disrespectful to not only Crosby but the league. Why Ovechkin is suspended and Downie wasn't even given a disciplinary hearing, I'll never know.

Readership,

As James has shifted his attentions to his new digs over at Pro Hockey Talk (if you haven't yet, swing by there before you read further), I've been commissioned to pick up some of the slack here at CLS. I've written for On the Forecheck for a while now (SB Nation's Nashville Predators blog), and am currently toiling through school in pursuit of a journalism major. I'll be covering the NHL as a whole here, but won't shy from zeroing in on specific teams now and then. Feel free to suggest topics in the comments or on Twitter, and tell a friend, 'mkay?

Not really NW Division specific, but good post by The Hockey Junkies on wearing player jersey's of the opposing teams just because you like the player. One of them had a rather bad experience at a Pens game with another fan giving them a hard time about wearing a Bergeron jersey, which is such a shame. Maybe it's just me, but I feel that even though you have your home team, if you are fan of the game in general you recognize that some players are ridiculously talented. So why can't you show your support for that particular player by wearing their jersey?

And now back to your regular NW Division links...

Someone gave Canucks reporter Derek Jory a press pass for the Olympics and he shares really great behind the scenes photos complete with captions

Lowetide looks at how Magnus Paarjavi-Svensson ranks with other notable SEL teenagers over the years, which puts him in between Peter Forsberg and Nicklas Backstrom

Calgary's retro jerseys are now 5-0, and Matchsticks and Gasoline now understands whats it's like to be an Avalanche fan

The Canucks acquired Andrew Alberts at the trade deadline, and in the game against Phoenix, he was found going after the ref's whistle instead of the puck

Let's see what's been going on here, eh?

Chicago's having goalie issues. In other news, the world is round.

Winging it in Motown looks at the load the Mule's pulling.

The 303:30 talk about the Preds at the deadline... and about how they didn't fill any big gaps.

Game Time's Prospect Department looks at the Blues' young guns.  If you're not reading this every week, you're insane.  Or not a Blues fan.

Not a whole lotta links this week... for whatever reason, things've been pretty quiet around the Central, other than the fact that the Wings are within one of Nashville.  That's always exciting.

I imagine the vast majority of people who follow this blog regularly already are aware of this, but Brandon Worley asked me to help him out with NBC Sports' new hockey-centric blog Pro Hockey Talk. Obviously, big thanks go to Worley for a great opportunity. I hope to bring my brand of verbal hooliganism and impish charm to the blog, so feel free to let me know what you think of the endeavor.

For what it's worth, NBC has been fantastic about supporting the blog so far, with prominent display of our stories on their NHL page. They seem serious about putting their considerable strength behind it, so I'm serious about providing the best content my feeble mind can produce. It is, without question, a very exciting project so far.

As far as CLS is concerned, I'd like to keep it alive. It just might require a lot more outside help. One idea I've had is to possibly have an "editor of the day." After all, this blog was originally designed to be all-roundtable discussions anyway. So if you'd like to be considered for a daily editor "position" (unpaid naturally), drop me a quick e-mail at cyclelikesedins[at]gmail.com. I can't guarantee you anything, especially not a quick response :)

More to come as this situation sorts itself out ...

Even though the trade deadline as a whole was disappointing in the fact that only minor trades were made, this weeks links are full of post-trade deadline stuff, enjoy.

Imagine your team getting Toskala at the trade deadline: Vesa Toskala, Kpper's bestest friend, is a Calgary Flame. Yeah. Join the Rush thinks Darryl Sutter is officially grasping at straws

Sean from Anyone But Detroit explains why money was a factor in Wolski being traded to Phoenix

Lowetide find the beauty in Edmonton's moves is that his kids will be able to experience "scorched earth" for themselves due to Tambellini

Since Schneider (the goalie with the Manitoba Moose not the old guy) didn't get traded yesterday, JJ at the Canucks Hockey Blog looks into the shelf life for Cory Schneider

And though most fans don't think of this, View From My Seats looks at the human aspects of NHL Trades

Much like last year, CLS thought it would be best to poll some of our favorite team-specific bloggers and ask, "What would you do if you were your team's general manager?"

With the deadline approaching on Wednesday, these posts will be updated up until early Wednesday afternoon so keep an eye on the blog during that time. Feel free to tell us what you would do if you were the GM in the comments.

(And, as always, thanks to our contributors.)

Jump for Rudy Kelly, Hip Checks and tarts who may be found on or around couches.

Much like last year, CLS thought it would be best to poll some of our favorite team-specific bloggers and ask, "What would you do if you were your team's general manager?"

With the deadline approaching on Wednesday, these posts will be updated up until early Wednesday afternoon so keep an eye on the blog during that time. Feel free to tell us what you would do if you were the GM in the comments.

(And, as always, thanks to our contributors.)

Jump for greatness from Scotty Hockey (NYR) and Flyers Goal Scored By ...

Like what Laura said earlier, I'm filling in for James for the NW Division GM Thoughts, if this is the first one you've read here's the deal:

Much like last year, CLS thought it would be best to poll some of our favorite team-specific bloggers and ask, "What would you do if you were your team's general manager?"

With the deadline approaching on Wednesday, these posts will be updated up until early Wednesday afternoon so keep an eye on the blog during that time. Feel free to tell us what you would do if you were the GM in the comments. If your team hasn't been covered yet, or even if it has and you have a different take, shoot me an e-mail at thevancitycanuck [at] gmail . com and we'll make it happen.

(And, as always, thanks to our contributors.)

Avalanche

Tapeleg from Jerseys and Hockey Love

I'll be honest here, I'm a hold-on-to-your-potential-assets, keep-the-chemistry kind of guy.  I don't like to let go of guys who have potential or have come up through the ranks, and certainly wouldn't give them up for nothing.  But there are a few guys who no one would miss.

Just fillling in for James tonight while he's off doing bigger and better things or whatnot.  Here're the two clubs, St. Louis and Nashville, that we have reporting in so far on the what would you do senarios.

Hello there.

Hello to you too, Brad.  Was this what St. Louis's looking for?

If I was GM of the Blues, I would be shopping Paul Kariya like a mofo. No. 1 thing I'm looking for is a rugged, stay at home defenseman who can control the area in front of my crease. A lot of fans talk about getting a puck-moving defenseman or a power play quarterback. But then every team is looking for those guys and they don't grow on trees. So I do the next best thing and I try to control the puck more in my end and see how it goes from there. Dumping Kariya would free up a roster spot for Lars Eller, a first-round pick from a few seasons ago who was taken the same draft as David Perron. 

I would not trade Keith Tkachuk, a player who helped the team make a miraculous run at the playoffs -- something we hope happens twice in two years. Because of that, I can't trade the often disappointing Brad Boyes. But I'd be willing to listen to even moderate offers. 

Finally, I'd try to find a taker for Eric Brewer. It would open up the captaincy, clear some cap space and give Brewer a fresh start in a city where he's really not liked. I doubt I could actually do it unless I'm willing to take a horrible contract (Hello, I'd like the number for the New York Rangers).