from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Kevin Bieksa said Tuesday that he was talking to an NHL team as recently as two weeks ago about something for this season, but ultimately said no because it meant living alone too far from his family. “My wife (Katie) is very supportive about me playing if I want to. Same with my father and my brothers. Saying no was not their decision. But being away from my children at this time in their lives is not something I’m interested in at this point in their lives.”

His son is turning 11, his daughter nine. He’s taking them to school every day, attending their extra-curricular pursuits, happy to be a dad. “I’m not retired, but it would have to be something close to home (California).”...

- In the 31 Thoughts podcast with Jeff Marek, Henrik Zetterberg admitted he traded sticks with a few long-time opponents towards the end of last season. “Some of those notes I wrote,” the Detroit captain said, “I think those guys probably knew that could be it.” He didn’t want to say who was involved, but under ferocious questioning, dropped a couple names.

“There’s a few guys you play a lot against throughout the years. (Sidney Crosby) is one of them. Obviously we had our battles throughout the years and he is a player that I respect a lot. (Joe) Thornton is another one that is outlasting me, but we had some good fights against each other.” There is a well-known story about Crosby using a photo of Zetterberg holding the Stanley Cup after Detroit’s 2008 victory over the Penguins as motivation during training for the next season. Zetterberg is skeptical that it is true. (It is.)

- Don’t get too excited about week one exhibition results. Now the lineups are filled with more legit NHLers, and those who seriously think they’ve got a chance to get there. This is a truer indication. We’re going to find how ready those who had good first weeks like Evan Bouchard (Edmonton), Dillon Dube (Calgary) and Max Lajoie (Ottawa) are.

a bit more on Bieksa plus a boat load of Thoughts...