Quick Hits: Hockey players are freaks; Cal stuff

This story out of the Dallas game last night from the Dallas Morning News blog has me turned inside out from squickiness:

DETROIT _ Krys Barch had a mouth full of blood and broken teeth, and yet he was still ready to fight Detroit's Aaron Downey.
"I had my gloves off, I was ready to go,'' Barch said.
After all, he had already done as much damage as he could.
The Stars enforcer took a high stick to his mouth from Chris Chelios in the first period and lost eight teeth. The teeth didn't fall out...they were shattered...through a mouthguard.
"Yeah, it was a mess,'' Barch said.
Yet, the tough-as-nails winger didn't want to leave the game. So, after a quick trip to the locker room while his teammates were scoring a power play goal, Barch was back taking a regular shift and helping the Stars to a 4-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
"A game like that, you want to be a part of it,'' he said. "That was exciting. That was like a playoff game.''
Barch finished with 5:35 in ice time and two hits. He also received two minutes for roughing in the scrum with Downey in the second period. Just as important, he gave his teammates a little glimpse of the dedication it takes to win.
"He reminded me of a young kid who gets his tooth knocked out for the first time,'' said Stars coach Dave Tippett. "It was like a badge of honor, and he came back to the bench smiling, and saying, 'I think I lost a few.'''

Seriously. If I've got a mouth full of teeth and blood, I'm done for the night. I'm done for the f**king week. I'm reminded again how nice it is to have two nurses and an EMT in our league. :)

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Charley Walters at the Pio had some Cal stuff from the perspective of the scouts who advocated for drafting him.

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The Cal for the Calder campaign rages on in delightfully entertaining ways. Some guy got his panties in a bunch about it and feels like by pimping Cal, we're snubbing Ryan, and Buddha over at MN Wild Times took him on with a funny rebuttal (link to the original blogger is there, too).

Admittedly, Bobby Ryan is an amazing player and is one of the more realistic candidates. I don't think our Jersey-loving friend quite understands the tongue-in-cheek nature of the Cal for Calder campaign.

It's all about showing the love to a guy who gives absolutely everything he's got every single day, makes a tremendous difference on a team that desperately needed a difference-maker, and is a decent guy who loves the game just like we all do (but is better at it than us). It's not that we expect him to win... the campaign itself is the reward and our gift to him.