from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- Commissioner Bettman needs to bar NHL players from participating in the Olympic Games in February — as much as that breaks my heart and probably yours — because he’s going to need those unscheduled days to be able to get in the entirety of his regular season.

And at the same time, he needs to put his league on hold now — just as has been done with several teams through Dec. 26, until it’s safe enough, healthy enough, and strong enough for the league to continue in the midst of the latest overactive wave of COVID-19.

It shouldn’t matter now that that was originally a players’ decision. It shouldn’t matter now that Bettman negotiated all of this in good faith to enable players to go to Beijing. It shouldn’t matter now that different teams from different countries will obviously view this in a variety of ways....

- I feel for NHL players who so wanted to be part of the Olympic Games four years ago and were denied the opportunity. And I also understand why, under current COVID protocols, they wouldn’t want to participate in Beijing, even if it was available. I also feel for the majority of NHL players who weren’t going to get Olympics calls, but were prepared to head out for family or personal vacations when hockey was shut down. They would lose out now from an Olympic cancellation.

- The Florida Panthers never really replaced Joel Quenneville, who was essentially forced out, and they put long-time NHLer Andrew Brunette in charge as coach. They have a team capable of challenging for the Stanley Cup. If I had a choice between Maurice and Brunette as coach, I know who I’d be picking.

- At the 30-game mark of the NHL season, the MVP is not Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl: It’s Alexander Ovechkin.

- Ray Ferraro is the Ovechkin of hockey broadcasters. The older he gets, the better he gets.

more on the first topic plus other hockey notes...