New HDA Campaign, Kane clears waivers, and a strange Senators tattoo!

It’s Monday. That means it’s time for some links, news and notes from around the hockey world. It’s been quite the weekend!

• Starting off with the weirdest and most iconic Sens-related storyline from this weekend: meet the guy who got a life-sized tattoo of Josh Norris’s face on his stomach! Yes, the tattoo is real, and the story is even better than it sounds. I won’t spoil anything, though; I’d encourage everyone to read the incredible article by fantastic Sens poster Thomas Williams. I laughed so hard I cried.
• A more serious story, now. The Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA) has a new campaign about racism in hockey. The video they put out is incredibly moving, and Rick Westhead had a great write-up over at TSN. Several HDA members talk about their experiences facing racial slurs and other types of discrimination in hockey, and how little support they received from the people around them. Avry Lewis-McDougall also had a good take on the new campaign over at The Hockey News.
• And right on cue, an infuriating story about racial discrimination in junior hockey out of PEI. Back in December, a junior hockey player made an anti-Asian comment toward an opponent. Keegan Mitchell, a teammate of the player who was targeted, slashed the offending player and earned a two-game suspension. The player who made the racist comment also got two games. The latest update to the story is that Mitchell took to social media to criticize the officials and Hockey PEI for their response to the incident, and was consequently suspended indefinitely. Nothing is going to change if these types of incidents aren’t taken seriously - and punishing someone for calling out racism more harshly than you punish someone for saying racist things is inexcusable.
• Over at The Hockey News, Ian Kennedy writes about the tragic death of Canadian women’s hockey trailblazer Marian Coveny. I unfortunately knew very little about her before reading this tribute piece, and I’d encourage people to read up on her.
• Our last bit of upsetting news: you may have seen tributes to Teddy Balkind, a 16-year-old from Connecticut who recently died from an injury sustained during a high school hockey game. It’s a horrifying story, and my heart goes out to everyone involved.
• Switching gears to some on-ice NHL news (sort of), Sharks forward Evander Kane has cleared unconditional waivers and will be bought out. The NHLPA will be filing a grievance. It’s kind of fascinating to finally find out just where the line is. How many bad things to you have to do in order for the NHL to finally decide that you’re too toxic to be in the league? We’ve finally found the limit... or have we? The NHLPA doesn’t agree with the decision, and Kane might still get another contract after this.
• I just want to give a shoutout to the person behind the Belleville Senators social media accounts for this excellent post:/

"If a man does not have the sauce, then he is lost. But the same man can be lost in the sauce."

- Gucci Mane pic.twitter.com/GlSpp7cKIn

— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) January 9, 2022

• And finally, some good news: the Leafs blew another 4-1 lead! Read all about it here, or watch Steve Dangle’s reaction./