**Andy and the commenters bring up a lot of good points about a new Oilers building. The academic papers that puncture the Economic Spinoff myth are recommended reading.

I would just like to, once again, raise the "moral" objection to public funding of a hockey rink in Alberta: a substantial segment of the population is willing to voluntarily part with their money to fund NHL hockey, so it is simply disgusting to force the remaining population to pay for it as well.

**Tom Benjamin's reaction to the establishment of the Cold F/X Mark Messier Award exceeded my wildest hopes:

Even if I accept the turning of NHL trophies into commodities and even if I accept the idea that hockey leadership is an ability on a par with goal scoring, and even if we were talking about a dead Hall of Famer... Even if all that, I would not name an elevator after Mark Messier.
[...]
Not only was he an awful player in Vancouver, he was the worst ever captain of the Canucks "leading" them through what was the most divisive and disappointing three year period in team history. Messier floated through the games, he hid from the media after embarassing losses and he chirped on mates who were outworking him. He stole his $20 million. Yet the debacle in Vancouver counts for nothing. It has all but been erased.

No more Mr. Nice Guy indeed.

**News Flash (unless you're fan of one of the Alberta teams, or alternatively, have been paying attention): Derek Boogaard is still only the 2nd-toughest fighter in the NHL. Eric has the video.

**Flames Hole-Digging-Out-Of (?) Roundup
The Flames have now won 5 games in a row (all in 60 mins) and sit in 8th position in the conference, 1pt behind the Oil with a game in hand. The coach had a quote I liked after last night's game: "...I think that's a media creation, where we were way off in some place and all of a sudden we came out of the bush and found a trail. It's different than that."

I'd still like to see him project more optimism when things aren't going well, and the special teams have got to get better (a PPG and a SHG last night are a good start, obviously). But, congratulations and credit to the coach for getting the team back in it early. Also, if you didn't catch the highlights of the 3-0 win last night, and have scoffed at the Flames' skillz, go watch on NHL.com. Tanguay's 2 primary assists were Gold!, and Iginla's 2 secondary assists were the furthest thing from garbage points, especially the sick, tape-to-tape 50-foot pass through traffic on the opener. A few other Flames numbers of note:

• Outscored opponents 15-5 in the 5 wins (home: 9-1 in 3 wins; the team and Kipper clearly have the 'Dome mojo back, and have certainly figured out the matchups they like)
• Have not allowed an even-strength goal since the 1st period of the game in St. Louis; that's 14+ periods, or by my calculations, about 200 minutes of ES play
• As I noted before, that goal was as Regehr was stepping out of the penalty box. The last real 5-on-5 goal the Flames allowed was early in the 1st in Detroit; that's 20+ periods ago, or 298 EV minutes ago. If you're looking for good underlying fundamentals in this streak, Voi-la.

**Lastly, at the risk of infuriating Roger Millions even further: I was semi-grumbling about his verbal quirks during the telecast last night, and Mrs. Matt suggested that a Millions-inspired drinking game might be appropriate. No doubt! I'm a bit rushed at the moment to structure the whole thing, but here's some of the elements I would include to serve as a signal to pick up your glass:

• Describes a wrist-shot or backhand flip as a "blast"
• Uses the phrase "unable to do so"
• Criticizes the "consistency" of the game officials
• Expresses bewilderment at the standard of officiating, without imparting to the viewer what exactly he thinks the problem is (I've watched 30+ of his games now, and despite constant discussion of the officiating, I still have no idea whether he thinks a "harmless" hook or hold should or should not be a penalty)

And the big one, if you're planning on getting plastered:

• FOOTRACE!

Please add your own in the comments. Have a nice day. And, Go Flames.