from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- The odd equation of this coming NHL season: The more games that are played, the more money team owners will lose.

Don’t expect a season much longer than 56 games. And don’t expect players to earn much more than 54% of their total salaries, with increased escrow, already-agreed-to discounts, and likely more back-and-forth negotiations before play is set to resume sometime in January.

- If you were Joe Thornton, and you really wanted to win the Stanley Cup before retiring, wouldn’t it have made sense to sign with the Colorado Avalanche or the Vegas Golden Knights, assuming they had interest?

- The beginning of the end for Max Domi with the Montreal Canadiens started when he took time to thoughtfully determine whether he would participate in Return To Play because of his diabetes. Domi made a wise choice in taking his time. The Habs, I’m told, we’re not so impressed.

- In his book, Burke’s Law, Brian Burke attacks four veteran journalists and I happen to be one of them. That’s fair game. You take shots, you expect to get them back. The irony of this: The other writers Burke singles out, Larry Brooks in New York, Tony Gallagher in Vancouver, Al Strachan, then in Toronto, have all been recognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame.

more on the first topic and other notes too...