Former Wild teammates Marcus Foligno and Ryan Reaves do battle.

SIDE LAKE – In a short few days it will be American Thanksgiving. I sincerely hope that everyone that can will be able to spend it with their families and closest friends and I hope if you are traveling to get to your destination that your trip will be safe and sound.

I'm looking forward to the holiday myself and have been contemplating what my culinary contribution might be. Right now I'm leaning toward making a couple of cheesecakes. I haven't made any recently and will readily admit I could go for a good-sized portion right now!

I am also reminded of one of my favorite jokes. This goes back to the old days of the US-Russia Cold War and was told by the comedian George Wallace. He states, Man, those Russians must not be too smart. They are always egging us on as far as a conflict goes, but they don't seem to know that the best time to invade the United States would be about 2 on Thanksgiving afternoon. Everyone has had dinner, and every guy in the country is on the nearest sofa or recliner napping that turkey dinner away! Dang Russians could walk right in and take us over on the spot! Big George might be onto something.

But no matter if the holidays are here, the hockey world goes forth. Over in England there has been an arrest in the Adam Johnson mishap. Johnson, if you hadn't heard, was cut on the throat by a skate during a game in England and did not survive the injury. The other party in this most unfortunate matter, Matt Petgrave, a Toronto native and member of the Sheffield Steelers hockey club, has been arrested and processed with manslaughter in the incident.

Petgrave was not listed as the party charged in the English press because their laws do not allow it. His name has been published in North American news.  To my dismay within a couple of hours of this devastating event someone had posted a video of it on social media. That brought out the speculators of the world and a few of them were saying this was no accident, that Petgrave's action was intentional.

This struck a bit of a raw nerve with me for different reasons. First, since the event had happened very recently and suddenly a lot of news outlets, sports or otherwise, hadn't even placed it into their cycle yet. To me it was a knee-jerk reaction. How could anyone draw any conclusions as to what had happened so soon afterward? I just thought there would be time enough to examine what happened and draw some educated conclusions. The selfish speculators weren't even giving the family and friends any time to grieve before going right to their theory.

Next off, between playing and coaching I spent about 32 years directly involved with the game. It is beyond my thought process to think or believe that one hockey player could intentionally do this to another. That has never, ever been on my radar.

And I'll have to admit I haven't seen the aforementioned video clip and furthermore have no intention of ever watching it. Why would I? I'm not in law enforcement or forensics. I know what happened and don't have any need to see the dreadful conclusion to a hockey brother's very life. And then, there are differing standards of law and burdens of proof between the U.S. and England. In the States you could have a voluntary or involuntary manslaughter charge. In England intention may or may not be a part of the charge.

It could have been an accident but still could have earned the charge due to negligence on behalf of the alleged offender. There are also still questions as to whether Petgrave has actually been charged. When he was brought in for processing it was based upon the "suspicion" of manslaughter. Petgrave did post bail and was released.

If the charges are now "official,” I'm not certain and haven't been able to verify that. In the three weeks post-incident whenever I have challenged anyone who believes this was intentional the first comeback is whether I saw the video. And even when I warn them of what they are viewing on a clip and what really happened might be two different things, I'm met with frustration and occasional anger.

At varying times in my life I have been involved in the judicial system and have friends who are attorneys. I'm not a lawyer, but understanding basic law isn't rocket science. I'd be inclined to ask some questions before racing off to make possibly unfounded allegations. Was there bad intent? Was malice involved? What is the burden of proof in England?

There will be many difficult questions to be answered before the English authorities can issue a final statement about what they think happened, and the Petgrave legal action will unfold in due time. For those that fall on the side of this being "intentional," is that what you want? Would that make you feel better? Either way, one heck of a young man will still be gone forever. 

The Minnesota Wild are over in Sweden preparing for the weekend NHL Global Series. They will play the Ottawa Senators in Stockholm on Saturday morning at 10 am CT. On Sunday morning at 7 CT they will meet the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I'd like to say I'm optimistic about the team's chances of returning home with some points in the bank, but I'm not. The club is now in the lower half of all of the basic stat categories in the league. And playing a back-to-back 4,200 miles from home? Holy stacked deck, Batman! In a recent game between Boston and Toronto, Bruins resident knucklehead and new Captain Brad Marchand tripped Leaf defenseman Tim Liljegren, resulting in an LBI to the Leaf defender. He will miss at least 10 games. After the play there was a lot of jawing between the Leafs and Marchand, but no one challenged him physically.

This has upset the Leaf faithful. The club thought they had boosted their team toughness over the summer by signing Ryan Reaves and Max Domi, but neither laid a glove on Marchy. So, is Reavo still a tough guy? He got a three-year deal from the team, which is about two more than I would have given him, and the Leafs paid him more than the Wild could have to retain him. But after watching Reaves disappear in the playoffs last year when the Dallas Stars Ryan Suter repeatedly cross-checked and abused Wild star Kirill Kaprizov in Game One, I wouldn't have entertained the thought of adding him anyway. Needless to say fans and media still have chafed backsides over the lack of pushback from the team. All is not well in Leafland.

How has your year been? Good, bad or indifferent? Whatever your response to that might be I find that just about all of us have something in our lives to have gratitude for. During this Thanksgiving season, be grateful and do something positive for someone in need and don't tell anyone about it! Happy Thanksgiving and be safe! PEACE