from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

On another day, in another playoffs, the trials and travails of Luke Schenn and Braydon Coburn would make for fine copy.

The veteran Tampa Bay Lightning defencemen each left families behind to spend a month inside the Stanley Cup bubble getting scratched before finally having the chance to contribute in back-to-back wins over the Boston Bruins this week

However, when asked about that Friday afternoon, I heard a response unlike any I can recall in 15 years of covering the NHL on a daily basis.

“Thanks for the question,” Coburn began. “I think today for the most part … we kind of want to make sure that we keep the attention and the conversation around the issues and that’s kind of where I think our heads are at right now. Thank you, though.”

Let’s mark this down as the kind of small, but significant change that shouldn’t go unnoticed after NHL players decided to postpone two days worth of games to make a statement about systemic racism.

Or, how about this from Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand?

“Sports, it’s a luxury. It’s a luxury to watch this game, to play this game,” he said.

continued