from Michael Russo of The Athletic,

It’s 9:45 a.m. on March 10, and Brian Lawton’s pounding on the door of Room 332 at the Residence Inn in Secaucus, N.J.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Nothing.

Then, louder, and still no answer.

Lawton’s panicking now.

The night before, Lawton had knocked on the same door, and just like now, no answer. He called the room. No answer. He texted and texted. No reply … until just before 10 p.m. when Mark Parrish, his fellow NHL Network analyst, finally texted back.

Parrish vowed then that he was fine, merely tired. He was going to bed early and the two would have breakfast the next morning to talk things out.

Lawton was worried. He had an uncomfortable, heated conversation with Parrish hours earlier.

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