Funny to see the old double-dipper himself, Pat Quinn, caught taking some thinly-veiled potshots at the Leafs and president Richard Peddie from the safety of Vancouver. Funnier still to see Quinn, who despite his bully rep never had the stomach for face-to-face confrontation, backpedalling like crazy when his words filtered east to Toronto. Naturally, Quinn has been careful to avoid saying bad things about his former employer in hopes of roping in another NHL team to pay him an exorbitant salary as a coach or consultant. The best part of being caught this time is that despite having all of his words on radio, Quinn is still blaming the media, claiming misquote, or at least that devious media types are again twisting his words. Just once it would have been nice to hear this man speak without forked tongue. Just once it would be nice to hear him take some of the responsibility for the Leafs' inability to get anywhere near a Cup during his tenure.
Terrible conundrum for Jesse Lumsden. The Washington Redskins have cut him loose, and the choice is trying to catch on with an NFL practice roster or return to the CFL and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The practice roster pays a lot better, while the CFL work includes the nasty beating running backs take along with a fraction of the salary. To play for less money or sit on a practice roster for a lot more. Not an easy choice, particularly when the former includes looking for holes behind a weak offensive line in Hamilton. ... Like Nashville's signing of J.P. Dumont, an underrated finesse forward. But while the Preds have added much in Dumont and Jason Arnott, some GMs feel they have lost more in Danny Markov, Yanic Perreault, Mark Eaton, Adam Hall and Scott Walker. ... Quick tip on a hockey book to watch for this fall. Former Globe and Post scribbler Gare Joyce has penned a look back at the infamous 1987 Brawl in Piestany between the Canadian and Soviet national junior teams. It's terrific. ... Count on this now. As soon as a Leaf, any Leaf, loses a fight this season, there will be endless print and electronic discussion about how much the club dearly misses Tie Domi. Count on it. . .Cassie Campbell, who retired from hockey today, may not have been the best player to ever grace the national women's team. But in addition to her talent and versatility as a forward and defenceman, she will go down as an athlete who transformed the women's game with her personality and style. As well as being a key component of several Olympic efforts, Campbell always sold and promoted the game well, and it's not too hard to envision her somewhere down the line as a key national voice for the women's game. It's about time Canada had a commissioner or president for women's hockey, and Campbell would be a perfect choice.

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