from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- There will be a lot of noise in the coming days about Patrick Marleau’s pursuit of Gordie Howe on the all-time list of NHL games played. Howe played 1,767 NHL games. Marleau, heading into Saturday night, had played 1,762. What doesn’t get mentioned often enough is that Howe played 419 WHA games and somehow that gets forgotten in the record books

- Alex Ovechkin is five goals away from passing Marcel Dionne for fifth overall in NHL goal scoring. Ovechkin has 727 goals. After he moves past Dionne, he’ll be 10 goals away from passing Brett Hull for fourth overall. And a weird Ovie stat: He has the least penalty minutes of his career this season and might be a longshot Lady Byng candidate.

- If I’m Team USA general manager Stan Bowman, my choice to coach in Beijing — if there is NHL involvement in China, and that’s still to be finalized — would be Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan … Sullivan is on a long list of those with coach of the year credentials this season. The others: Rick Tocchet in Arizona, Rod Brind’Amour in Carolina; Sheldon Keefe in Toronto; Dean Evason in Minnesota; Joel Quenneville in Florida; Barry Trotz, again, every year, in Long Island. That’s seven strong candidates and only three can be finalists.

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