from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

...I spoke with veteran GM Lou Lamoriello on Wednesday afternoon about this difficult-to-fathom season.

For starters, I asked him about his team’s COVID-19 outbreak from earlier this season, and now COVID-19 hitting again, and the idea of how even for players who have returned, you get the sense it has had an impact on their performance and set some of them back.

“We’re in a performance-driven, results-driven business. We all know that,” Lamoriello said. “Whenever you get some external circumstances that you really don’t have control of, they have an effect. But in saying that, you have to get beyond that. You have to accept it. Whether you understand it or not, it doesn’t matter. You have to accept it.

“And you have to take the hand that you’re dealt with at given times and you have to maximize it. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You can’t ‘woe is me’ under any set of circumstances. You’ve got to deal with it, and you’ve got to get the best results you possibly can.”

For those who have been around Lamoriello over the years, “woe is me” has never been part of his repertoire.

But let’s consider a 13-game road trip to start the season while waiting on UBS Arena to open, key injuries, plus the COVID-19 outbreak.

much more (paid sub.)