A brief selection of odd news that has almost nothing to do with nation of Sweden.

• Puck Daddy takes on the matter of “Malsby!”—the mutated jersey name that occurs when you get cheap about purchasing both a Malkin and a Crosby sweater. (PD is baffled, but I think it’s awesome.)*
• Jes Golbez notes that Darcy Hordichuk has been staying busy, training MMA-style, and we should all have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, we might be impressed with his work ethic and dedication; on the other, we might also worry he’ll be dead come October.

  
  
  For more about MMA, you can read my interview with Calvin Ayre—the bazillionaire owner of Bodog Fights—published by MMA on Tap last fall. Ayre revealed himself to be a huge Canucks fan, so perhaps he can be relied on to give Darcy a friendly phone call if he thinks the boy is going to hurt himself.

• Red Yarsk (Russian) had this interview with Alex Semin that wanders into usually-untouched territory when they ask him “Is there a God?” to which Semin responds:

  “I think so.”

  This causes Red Yarsk to worry that a significant misunderstanding may have just taken place...(translation by the Alex Ovetjkin blog):
  

  Just a hockey God or an universal God?
  “God throughout the universe, of course. He directs all that there is on Earth.”


The interview then moves on to talk about Alex Ovechkin—somehow managing to keep “Ovechkin” and “He who directs all there is on Earth” out of the same sentence.  It’s a good read.
• I lied about leaving Sweden out of this post.  Below is an advertisement from last year the 90s (according to a commenter) that I’d never seen till yesterday.  Quite entertaining, as it manages to make fun of the Habs while celebrating Mats Sundin, which is a popular hybrid form of entertainment in Vancouver lately.  (note: It also implies nice things about Toronto, but we can just overlook that).

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*Perhaps this suggests a missed opportunity in Vancouver’s ‘West Coast Express’ years? I mean, who wouldn’t wanted to have owned a “Mobertland” jersey?!?