While Carolina owner Peter Karmanos told the Raleigh News & Observer last week that he hadn't had any conversations about a contract extension with Peter Laviolette, whose current deal expires this season, Slap Shots has been told that talks between the organization and head coach broke off following a stalemate over the offer. And though Laviolette is expected to resume negotiations at the conclusion of the playoffs - standard coaching and management contracts run through June 30 - we're told that the Bruins are extremely interested in pursuing the head coach...

Finally, would it not be a very, very, very good idea for OLN to relinquish its exclusive rights to the conference finals and first two games of the Finals, so that local rights-holders can pick up the feeds and the greatest number of people - even those who don't subscribe to digital tiers on their cable packages - have a chance to, you know, watch the games? Under the present arrangement, who could be forgiven for asking, "Whose NHL?"