from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- The Florida Panthers have a huge decision to make in hiring their coach to replace Quenneville. They have a team capable of competing for the Stanley Cup. Now they need a coach who can get them there. Word is they may go on the cheap and retain assistant Andrew Brunette. This isn’t a time to be counting pennies.

- Eddie Olczyk is the favourite to get the head hockey position with the Blackhawks. The reason, aside from knowing the team, the game and the league, is that Olczyk is hugely popular as a television commentator in Chicago. The Blackhawks need to do something to appease an angry fan base. Another good GM candidate: Broadcaster Kevin Weekes.

- Word is the Hawks are just putting their list of candidates together. Whoever winds up as GM will need a new coach rather quickly.

- Wade Belak, Rick Rypien and Derek Boogaard, three NHL fighters of note, died within three months of each other in 2011. The NHL said it would produce a report on the possible correlation of fighting, concussions, drug addiction and alcoholism: If it did, no one’s ever seen it.

- Two teams and too many injuries later, Nick Foligno hasn’t scored a goal since he left the Columbus Blue Jackets.

- The expansion Seattle Kraken have done just about everything right in their first weeks of business. Their uniforms look great. The team is playing reasonably well for an expansion team. The building seems spectacular.

There’s just one problem.

They didn’t invite Russ Farwell to their season opener or to any of the activities leading up to it. They didn’t call, they didn’t send a ticket, a gift basket. They basically ignored Farwell.

So who is Russ Farwell, other than the man who traded for Eric Lindros in Philadelphia and changed hockey there forever?

He’s the guy who has run the Seattle Thunderbirds Western Hockey League team for the past 26 years....

more on the last topic and additional hockey notes, mostly Leafs related...