Insert any team name you want - Flames, Canucks, Senators or Avalanche.

It’s a league-wide epidemic and it’s called “parity.”

To see Kurtis Foster lying on the ice, in obvious agony after breaking his leg Wednesday evening was not a highlight of the season for me.

Oddly, earlier in the day, I had similar thoughts.

For two reasons I was really looking forward to the gala. The first was because one of my favourite pleasures is to listen to public speakers, and secondly, this guest speaker was the legendary goaltender Vladislav Tretiak.

All hockey fans know of Tretiak’s brilliance on the ice but very few people know much about the man, including myself.

As everyone knows, as expected on Monday, the Detroit Red Wings signed Darren McCarty to a contract.

Why does this make me feel good?

Nobody can stop talking trades for good reason, now that we’re only days away from the Feb. 26 trade deadline.

Honesty and integrity are key components to any negotiation.

It’s my opinion then, that if two parties consent to a certain clause or certain terms in a contract then that agreement should be binding.

For instance, I might be away on a trip for three days, then return home. Shortly after arriving in our house, Donna (my wife) will say something similar to this, “When you get a chance you might want to organize those CDs you have laying around and then start cleaning up your office.”

Since I realize how important communication is, I’ll probably reply, “you know what, I was just thinking that myself,” then head downstairs to start my clean up.

“Treat others the way in which you would like to be treated.”

We’ve all heard this expression or used one similar to this but maybe we don’t always follow through with the proper behaviour.

Most of us can honestly say we’ve all tried to play “Mr. Big Shot.”

What an impossible task!

Last Saturday I broke that rule and I’m okay with that.

For those of you who didn’t catch it, my colleague Scott Oake asked me during the intermission of the Sharks-Leafs game if I could explain why San Jose captain Patrick Marleau was having a tough year (his stats are well under his point per game pace of previous seasons). I replied honestly that it was tough to comment given my history with him. Let me explain.

Close to 150 of Don’s family and friends were on hand to help Don and his wife Judy celebrate his illustrious 47-year career at the CBC.

No doubt many more would have attended but various commitments forced them to miss out on something special.

Along with their children (David, Karen and Kristen and their families), we all listened to stories and watched clips of Don’s brilliance in front of the camera - clips taking us back to the beginning of Don’s career and featuring some of the best sports calls ever in television.

Maybe it’s for that reason we all find great interest in the outdoor classics recently. I know I do.

It’s usually not the games themselves that seem to linger in our thoughts. It’s the conditions or elements outside that remain with us, even after years and years.

My first experience going back to an open-air game as a professional - you may not even remember because it was a pre-season game - was played in Las Vegas on Sept. 29, 1991. More than 13,000 people watched us (the Kings) beat the N.Y. Rangers 5-2 on a rink built in the Caesars Palace Hotel parking lot.

Perhaps not eaten alive by a female of my own species, but into a position of making a poor decision that clearly is not the proper one.

I know what you’re saying, what is this guy talking about!

Here’s my point. Chris Simon, as we all know, made a very poor decision and because of it, he’s now forced to sit out another 30 games. I know that’s the appropriate amount to be suspended for, given the circumstances, but I just can’t get my head around it because he really is a nice guy.

It’s almost inevitable for virtually every guy that laces up the skates, his day will come. Is it embarrassing? Absolutely.

That’s why it’s important the coaching staff handle these situations properly.

All coaches have their own unique way of handling it. Some believe in personally telling the player, while others choose to have an assistant coach or even a trainer tell the player he’s not in the lineup tonight.