from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- After 25 games, Alex Ovechkin is my early Hart Trophy pick in the NHL with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl behind him, canceling votes between each other.

- This makes me sad: After missing last season, Jonathan Toews has one goal in 26 games with the wayward Chicago Blackhawks.

- The fallout from the Vancouver Canucks shakeup: The real winner, the local media. New boss Jimmy Rutherford is one of the most open people in the business and his coach, Bruce Boudreau, is right up there along with him.

- The Minnesota Wild is the spitting image of their general manager, Bill Guerin. They play hard, mean, and with purpose. They are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.

- Another contender that mirrors its coach: The Carolina Hurricanes. They look and play like Rod Brind’Amour.

- It doesn’t matter who owns the Arizona Coyotes or who operates them, they just skate from crisis to crisis, from embarrassment to embarrassment and commissioner Gary Bettman puts on his best Animal House front and maintains forever that all is well.

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