from Craig Custance of ESPN,

First, congratulations to St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock on 700 NHL wins. Thursday night's shutout win over the Philadelphia Flyers put him in a 700 club that includes just three others: Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour and Joel Quenneville. That's amazing company and Hitchcock, one of the greats, deserves to be there.

As for the shorter-view accomplishment, that win did something else pretty amazing. It allowed the Blues to catch the Nashville Predators for the top spot in the Central Division. We can't say for sure that the Predators collapse timed up neatly with good friend Scott Burnside's visit to Nashville, but something has gone horribly wrong there and the Blues are taking advantage.

The only problem? At this point, it just means they'd get the Los Angeles Kings in the first round instead of the Chicago Blackhawks. There just isn't an easy path coming out of the Central.

continue for LeBrun on the Jets, Burnside on the race for the President's Trophy and Scott Powers on the Blackhawks...