Another weekend came and went, and once again I ingested far too many Limons and water, grenades and copious beers, yet I still managed to make it home without acting like a complete douchebag towards a cab driver.

I don’t get why people treat cabbies with such disrespect. These guys get you home in one piece, they save you from an impaired charge and if there weren’t cabs we’d either all be getting impaireds or we’d have to have pick designated drivers every night out. Hands up how many of you guys willing offer to be the DD on a regular basis?

Patrick Kane you are a cheap ass idiot!

I’m sorry there is no defence for what he and his chicken-ass cousin James allegedly did to a Buffalo cab driver this past weekend. The Kanes have been charged with felony robbery and misdemeanour counts of theft and criminal mischief. All of this allegedly stemmed from the cabbie not having 20 cents in change.

20 cents? Really that’s what these two tight-asses were upset about? The original fare was $13.80 and the cabbie supposedly only had a dollar in change. Being that much of a tight-ass is just as embarrassing as allegedly beating up a 62-year-old cab driver.

It will be interesting to see what the NHL does regarding this situation. The NFL has a code of conduct that the players have to follow, and the NHL needs to follow suit. There is wording in each NHL contract that states the player needs to act professional on and off the ice, but the league doesn’t have anything close to what the NFL has right now. Gary Bettman should act quickly, regardless of what transpires in Kane’s case, and implement a code of conduct that clearly outlines suspensions and so forth when players act like baffoons.

Is shooting yourself in the leg any worse than allegedly beating up a 62-year-old cab driver? I might argue it’s worse, since Plaxico Burress’ stupidity only hurt himself.

This has been a horrendous PR summer for the Blackhawks. Their franchise player, who never hits anyone on the ice, but is a tough guy against an old man, is in hot water. A front office blunder with contract offers got Dale Tallon demoted, Marian Hossa signs a 12-year deal and a month later it’s announced he needs shoulder surgery and the now the league is investigating that same 12-year contract. Not the “Summer of George” by any stretch for the Hawks.

The Kane incident is by far the most egregious, and unless some facts come to light that we haven’t seen it will be impossible for the league to defend his actions.

While many will snicker and ridicule Theo Fleury for wanting to make a comeback seven years after leaving the NHL, I don’t see it being an issue. If he proves to the league that he has followed their substance abuse policy why wouldn’t they re-instate him?

The bigger question is whether a team will give him a tryout. Why wouldn’t a team bring him to camp with just an invitation to prove he can play? If he shows well in camp and the preseason then they can sign him, if not, both sides will know that he’s done.

Right now I have way more respect for Fleury than Kane. Fleury battled the bottle and his demons for many years, and if he has them under control I’d give him a look. Addiction is tough to beat, and having seen my late uncle battle it for many years, it can beat a person down. After all he has been through if Fleury needs to go to camp and see for himself how good he is, I hope a team at least gives him a chance to find out.

The Oilers and Ladislav Smid are close to getting a deal done. The Oilers would like him to sign for three years, while his camp is looking for a one or two year deal. Talks have been progressing and both sides are confident they will get something done soon.

No truth to the Smid for Plekanec deal at all. The Oilers don’t have room for another forward, unless the deal has them sending out a forward, and why would they want another 20- goal scorer. They need a 35-goal scorer, and Plekanec isn’t that guy.

It sounds more and more like Andrew Cogliano will get a look at LW when camp opens. They tried him there in his rookie season, but he was lost. At that time he felt he was a centreman, but I wonder if he feels differently now that he has been schooled in the faceoff dot two years in a row. If he starts on the LW from the first day of camp I don’t see why he can’t make the change.

Don’t be surprised if Dustin Penner takes a few shifts on the RW as well. He admitted last year that while it isn’t his first choice, he isn’t against playing there.

Pat Quinn will implement a much more up-tempo style, and that should benefit guys like Nilsson, O’Sullivan and Cogliano.

Right now it seems the 3rd and 4th line winger slots are much clearer than the top two lines. Moreau and Pisani are 3rd liners while Jacques and Stortini occupy the 4th line.

Right now only Hemsky and Gagner are locks in the top six. Hemsky will be the 1st line right winger, while Gagner will be one of the top two centres. Horcoff might find himself on the 3rd line, although I think that’s a long shot. Nilsson, Penner, O’Sullivan, Cogliano will battle for the other slots, but it seems clear that Quinn wants to evaluate these guys on how they play HIS system, not what they’ve done, or not done, in the previous few years.