from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- ...day after day you still hear deputy commissioner Bill Daly talk about plans for completing the season and squeezing in the playoffs. There’s no reality to what he’s saying. How can there be?

There may, however, be some financial motivation to keep hope alive. By not cancelling games officially, the league’s teams are under no obligation to return ticket money. And in large markets certainly, this year’s money will certainly be applied to next year’s season tickets. But that doesn’t help the individual ticket holder, who put out good money for a single games that isn’t going to be played.

There’s also a television revenue side of the equation in all this. By announcing cancellation of the season, advertisers will be due refunds of some kind and quite likely television networks will be compensated for games they purchased that won’t be played.

To date, the NHL has put on a happy face with delusional plans to play out its playoffs, if not its season. It sounds like a whole lot of fantasy talk from here.

- How much did the Maple Leafs drop from one season to the next? Last year after 70 games they were fourth in the NHL. This year, tied for 12th overall.

- Since January 1, 2019, Jordan Binnington has started 105 games for the Stanley Cup champion, St. Louis Blues. His record in that time: A rather stunning 70-27-8.

a few more hockey notes...