A new Franken ad drags hockey into the fight for Coleman's Senate seat.

It's a funny, yeah--and boy was I happy to get hockey back. By the way, disappointed by that Lou Nanne book? Check this glorious clip:

Addendum:

Here's the original Coleman ad...

The 8-game suspension handed down to Anaheim's Chris Pronger for stomping Vancouver's Ryan Kesler is being questioned by those who remember the 30-game suspension for a similar incident involving Wild winger Chris Simon.

First, here's a video of Pronger's actions:

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KSTP is reporting that the Wild have been sold, and the news conference is streaming live from their site right now. Sources tell me that a very limited number of people even in the organization -- less than 10 -- knew this was happening until late last night.

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It's Thursday evening, and Thursday is the sickly stepcousin of Friday. Skies are gray. It is the next-shortest day of the year. My attorney calls me up. This, as anyone with an attorney can tell you, is rarely good news.

This is about the poop figures, isn't it? I say. If we're getting sued over that, I'm legally changing my name to Chadus Rigsborik and moving to Slovakia.

"Oh hell no," he intones. "I've got Wild tickets. Good tickets. I know people who know people." In addition to keeping me out of legal trouble, on occasion he plays the role of my muse. I've been in town six weeks, and haven't been to an NHL game. I'm sniffing at the promise of the night, and I catch the hockey-tinged scent of awesome. Let's light this candle.

The Wild's anthem, "State of Hockey," begins to play just as we hit our seats. There are scattered attendees singing along to the inspirational ditty.

"You know," my attorney offers, "that song has precisely the same meter as Edward Lear's poem 'The Owl and the Pussycat.'" After just a few bars of the anthem, I realize instantly that lawyer boy is right. Watch this clip, and you will, too:

Awash in liquid inspiration, my attorney begins to sing along:

'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

Like I said: muse. But people are staring now, so it's already time to change seats for a while. "This way," he suggests. "I know a bartender that'll get us free beers." You had me at free beers.

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Hockey fan? Checked out TV sports highlights lately? Then you've probably seen Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek's gulp-inducing play from a few days ago, which upended the Wild's Marian Gaborik. If you haven't seen it, you want to. And if you wouldn't mind, indulge me in the following thought experiment.

First, watch this:

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According to Sports Illustrated, that is. Minneapolis-St.Paul has supplanted Detroit as the top puck-friendly destination in America.

Michael Farber's pithy summary of why MSP is the new No. 1 after the jump.

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Derek Boogaard has been called many things: enforcer, tough guy, and goon. One thing he has not been called is "NHL All-Star."

But there is a movement afoot on the Internet to change that. At Vote 4 Boogey you will find everything you need to help elect the Wild's 6' 7" 270 lbs. forward.

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Click on the picture of Yutaka Fukufuji to see why this is one of the more popular photos on Yahoo! this morning. Fukufuji played with Japan's national ice hockey team three times and was chosen 238th overall yesterday by the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL draft. In other hockey news, the Strib is reporting city bureaucracy is getting in the way of celebrating the Wild's return to the Xcel ice this fall. Apparently the dozens of hockey-theme banners hanging around downtown St. Paul violate the city's own rules against using public property to advertise a business. Deputy Mayor Dennis Flaherty says he will be seeking a waiver from the city council to keep the banners flying.