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Because of the strong response to Bill Ratay's Mellon Arena memories printed in the Q&A recently, similar submissions from other readers interested in sharing their recollections will be posted in the Penguins area of PG-Plus. Those pieces can be sent via the Q&A submission form or to DMolinari@Post-Gazette.com

Q: When Alexander Ovechkin was fined and suspended, did he still count against the team salary cap for that period? If, in some alternate universe, Ovechkin was suspended for a whole season, would Washington be able to sign a player (or, more likely, players) to replace Ovechkin's salary-cap hit?

Drew Seman, Washington, D.C.

MOLINARI: Incredibly enough, no, a player's contract does not count against his team's cap-ceiling figure during the time he is suspended. (Same with any bonuses he would have earned then.) Article 50.10(c) of the collective bargaining agreement spells that out pretty clearly. Indeed, it doesn't just stop at league-issued suspensions. Turns out a player's cap hit goes away if he's suspended by his team, as well.

Sounds like pretty good incentive for marginal players on teams with very little cap space to not give the boss any reason to suspend them, although presumably the NHL Players' Association would file a grievance over any suspension that is even remotely suspicious.

The only stipulation in the CBA is that if a team brings in a player or players to replace a guy who is suspended, it must clear space to accommodate the suspended player's contract before he can return to active duty.

As for the hypothetical case you offered, yes, the Capitals could go out and get players whose cap hit would match that of Ovechkin ($9,538,462) if he were suspended for an entire season.

As promised earlier in the week when the subject of a nickname for the Consol Energy Center was broached in the Q&A, here's a sampling of suggestions submitted by readers.

Quite a few were turned in by more than one person, in which case the individual who sent it in first is the one credited with it.

The list:

The House that Sid Built (David Potter)

Mario's House (Zach Lancia)

The Castle (Fred Apple)

The Goal Mine (Paul Veltri).

The Coal Bin (Nate Natale).

The Coal Mine (Ryan Cetnarowski).

The Sol (Ray Reed).

Consol Energy Center (Aaron Pollock).

The Coal Bowl (Chris Heaton).

The Con (Dan Angelo).

The Fuse Box (Matthew Macklin).

Deux Igloo, Deux Igleux or Igleux Deux (Andy Reamer).

Lemieux's Con (George Pavlic).

The IceBox (Steven Titlebaum).

The Rookery (Matthew Cahalan).

If more new suggestions arrive in coming days, perhaps there will be a sequel to this list.

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.