The Hockey Stop

Montreal Canadiens fan Ryan Stotland, 22, is bringing his Le Tricolore (3 Colors) jersey and his bike to South America on a 12,000 kilometre (7.5 thousand mile) journey to raise awareness and funds for two causes -- climate change and skin cancer.

His four-month, seven-country expedition, which has already raised over $110,000 and is currently rolling through Ecuador, has been recognized by the Habs in a video message endorsing his charitable efforts.

The Habs are making news themselves with the announcement today that the storied franchise's sale to the Molson family has been approved by the NHL Board of Governors.



The ownership change comes the same week Montreal celebrates its 100th anniversary, culminating with Friday's game against Boston at the Bell Centre.

Hopefully, Ryan will be able to watch his Habs celebrate their 100th season wherever he will be in South America.





Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has been suspended two games by the NHL for a knee-on-knee collision with Carolina's Tim Gleason during Monday's 3-2 Caps victory in Raleigh.

Ovechkin exited the ice with a sore knee following the hit and the MRI results have not yet been made available to the media so he is officially listed as day-to-day.

I attended the Caps-Sabres game at Verizon Center last week in which Ovechkin received a game misconduct and was ejected from the game after a hard check on Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta.

According to the NHL rulebook, a total of three game misconducts in the general category during the regular season results in an automatic one-game suspension. The general category includes charging (Buffalo game) and kneeing (Hurricanes game) so it wasn't a given that Ovie would have been suspended.

Here is the Game Misconduct rule:

23.1 Game Misconduct Penalty - A game misconduct penalty involves the suspension of a player or goalkeeper for the balance of the game but a substitute is permitted to replace immediately the player or goalkeeper so removed.

23.3 Fines and Suspensions – General Category - In regular League games, any player or goalkeeper who incurs a total of three (3) game misconduct penalties in the “General Category” and exclusive of other designated categories, shall be suspended for the next League game of his team. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game. For each suspension of a player or goalkeeper, his Club shall be fined one thousand dollars ($1,000).

OTHER NEWS:

• New Jersey Devils radio color analyst Sherry Ross made history last Wednesday by becoming the first woman to provide play-by-play of an entire NHL game in English.

• The NHL Network is currently previewing on The Dish Network. It is available to basic cable subscribers on channel 403, but not in HD. The promising network provides nightly highlights, live look-ins, full game broadcasts and expert analysis.

• Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, the longtime former home of the city's NHL team, is being renovated after 10 years of neglect. The $57 million facelift will transform the historic arena, which opened in 1931, into a retail and recreation complex.