I'd like to take this tiny platform to stress something that has had great personal significance to me and to many family members and friends. Depression is not a failure, it is not a weakness, it is not made up or indicative of some sort of personal deficiency or sin. It is an illness that is nearly as hard to acknowledge out loud as it is to heal. Please, if you're suffering, know that there is help and not judgment waiting.

• While no official police report has been released, it appears Wade Belak's death was a suicide. [USAToday via AP] [CBC]
• Calls are coming from all over for somebody to do something in the wake of the worst off-season the sport has known. [Denver Post] [Hockey Independent] [Madhouse Enforcer]
• The NHL and the union vow to investigate and review behavioral health programs. [Globe & Mail] [CBC] [PHT]
• Dustin Byfuglien was arrested. Deadspin doesn't think the fat jokes are funny. [Madhouse Enforcer] [Sun-Times]  [Deadspin]
• With Brian Campbell gone, who is going to fill Niklas Hjalmarsson's d-partner void? [CSNChicago]
• Blackhawk Up begins their 30 team preview with Anaheim. [BH Up]
• The official investigation into the Vancouver riots blames alcohol and crowd size. [Chicago Tribune] [CBC]
• A Chicagoland area-born hockey player led the U-17 in scoring last season. [Daily Herald]