from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Gary Bettman deserves a raise. And no, I haven’t lost my mind or been caught up in the spirit of the season. I don’t care much for Bettman, the hockey man. I have come to greatly appreciate Bettman, the businessman and all he has done to grow the NHL. The fact he could get anyone to agree to pay $650 million U.S. for a Seattle expansion franchise — can we say goodbye Quebec City — is both stunning and brilliant. Of course, if there’s another lockout in 2020, allow me to change my mind.

- What an impressive deep rookie class in the NHL: Brock Boeser, Matthew Barzal, Clayton Keller and defencemen Charlie McAvoy, Mikhail Sergachev and Will Butcher. The Calder race is going to be a great one.

- From a personal perspective, I’ve watched NHL games regularly and marvelled at the inaccuracy of the giveaway-takeaway stats. On one shift in a game recently, a player gave the puck away three times. At the end of the period, he was listed as having one giveaway.

So if the NHL can’t get time on ice correctly, can’t properly track shots on goal, can’t seem to get the giveaways and takeaways — and probably hits as well — accurately, then the entire process of statistical gathering for teams and players and media and fans needs to be addressed. And somehow fixed.

The next time you see the statistic save percentage, take it with a grain of salt. It’s only as accurate as the information provided and what seems clear these days is the information provided is not entirely accurate.

more on the last topic plus other hockey notes...