from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,

- On April 2, 2007, when the Devils fired Claude Julien, Jay Pandolfo was one of his players. Nearly 10 years later, when the Bruins fired Julien, Pandolfo was one of his assistant coaches. The inimitable Elias Sports Bureau does not track information on assistant coaches. So without Elias’s services, I turn to the crowd to answer who was the last ex-player/assistant to experience two firings of the same coach.

- .Arizona and Colorado, teams that have acknowledged this season is a lost cause, have not reduced their asking prices, according to one Eastern Conference executive. Their demands are likely to go down before the March 1 deadline. The trade market could start to loosen once that happens.

- Jonathan Ericsson could miss up to two months after breaking his wrist Thursday. Ericsson was injured during Detroit’s 6-3 loss to Washington. The shutdown defenseman’s loss should confirm to GM Ken Holland that the Red Wings’ 25-year postseason streak will end. Moving Thomas Vanek and Brendan Smith, two UFAs-to-be, will help the rebuilding process.

- Hard to believe that it took until Thursday for Joe Thornton to solve an NHL goalie. Thornton recorded his fourth goal of the season when he snapped a puck past Tuukka Rask. His three other goals were empty-netters

- One week later, the Toronto war room is still reviewing Julian Edelman’s catch to see if the Patriots were offside.

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