"Darth" Gerber and more Commodore

Pretty cool! Now if only we could get Leclaire to run with the "Grinch" on his!

Actually there is a story behind snoopy being on Leclaire's mask but I can't remember what it is -- if anyone knows please post in the comments.

Also check out this read from the Calgary Sun about Mike Commodore (courtesy of Puck-daddy over on Yahoo.com) and his thoughts on those who criticized his contract:

"My buddies told me (TSN's) Pierre McGuire was running his mouth off and I couldn't care less. Whether I deserve it or not is not up to guys like Pierre McGuire. I've worked hard to get where I am. The market is at where it's at. It's not like I was going to say, 'no I'll just take one-and-a-half.' "

Best part, he says, is that it wasn't just the money that made Columbus a good fit, it was the role they want him to play -- something that was diminished in Ottawa where he finished last season following a trade.

"I think I can be out there against the top lines and I think I should be out there every third shift and kill penalties. By no means do I think I should be out there on the powerplay. I think I'm an 18- to- 20-minute guy and that's what I think I deserve and when I think I'm at my best. I had a conference call with Columbus and asked how they saw me and they basically described me the same way and that went a long, long ways."

This part is great:

"After I agreed to terms, I just sat down and said 'wow, I can't believe that just happened,'" said the character from Fort Saskatchewan.

"Then I called my mom. I said, 'look, you're both driving cars that are about to die -- I'll buy you two new cars. Whatever you want.' "

According to Lindsay Kramer Steve Mason is out for another month...at least. Ouch. Assistant GM Chris MacFarland is guessing that Mason may miss at least 2-3 weeks of the season.

This is not only a blow for the Crunch who will now rely heavily on Dan LaCosta but also the Jackets in terms of goaltending depth. I'm one fan who felt really good about our goaltending situation *if* Mason was playing in the AHL. Now if Leclaire gets hurt and Norrena struggles its LaCosta until Mason regains his form which could be a while.

The Jackets will continue to give Mason all the time he needs to recover and hope its not a re-occuring problem. Would hate to see an entire year go to waster for this blue chipper.

According to Mior or Dahm may get the chance to be LaCosta's backup.

Here is another note from Kramer's blog:

MacFarland said he's been so impressed with the early play of rookie forward Devin DiDiomete that he wants to work out an AHL deal with the middleweight scrapper

Great for DiDiomete!

-LTL