Ottawa Senators goalie Ray Emery wore a mask the other night featuring the image of Mike Tyson… and his GM, John Muckler, has talked him into taking it off. He didn’t ‘make’ him take it off… but he gently eased him in that direction.

“We didn’t ask him not to wear the mask,” Senators GM John Muckler said Tuesday. “We just had a discussion about what was right and what was wrong. He said he would take it off.”

Yeah, we wouldn’t want anyone to sully hockey. “Hey kids, come to a game, watch two grown men punch each other in the face without repercussions. But please avert your gaze from the 6-inch airbrushed image of Mike Tyson because that is threatening to tear apart the moral fabric of our game. And hey, how about a hand for Todd Bertuzzi!”

Anyway… in the interests of full disclosure, I am biased here, on both sides. I love Mike Tyson… and, as bizarre as it may seem, I hate John Muckler. The last time I was a hockey fan, he was coaching the Rangers quite poorly. In addition, he’s pretty much the reason that Ted Nolan can’t get another NHL job. Or, at the very least, he represents the old boys hockey network that is the reason that Ted Nolan can’t get a job. Anyway, I hope Mike hears about this and shows up at a Senators game looking for a piece of Muckler.

Emery also has masks that honor Marvin Hagler and Jack Johnson… which makes him just about the coolest guy in the history of the NHL. And while we’re here… isn’t the goalie mask about the most unique uniform thing that exists in all of sports? I mean, what other sport allows you to put whatever you want on one piece of uniform equipment? If David Stern had to deal with that, he’d kill himself.