from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- Jason Spezza is playing 13 minutes a night, lower than any season since he became an NHL regular. I do believe it is Dallas’s preference to make this work. You can never score enough in this very tight league, and Spezza is a skilled player who can create offence. But it bears watching. Doing some research into his contract, Spezza has a unique clause. There is a window to trade him, but it’s in the summer. After the Stanley Cup is awarded until Sept. 1, he can submit a list of 10 teams Dallas cannot send him to. Other than that, Spezza has a total no-move, so he controls the situation. He also has one more year at $7.5 million. This is purely guesswork, but we know Columbus is going to look for one more high-level offensive player.

- I love the Hockey Hall of Fame inductions. The speeches are almost always great. Clare Drake couldn’t be there, and I wanted to recognize something he said. Mike Johnston and Ryan Walter wrote a book in 2004 entitled Simply the Best: Insights and Strategies from Great Hockey Coaches. In it, Drake discussed “self-talk.” He created a handout for the players “that defined it and explained its importance,” he said. “You talk to yourself 1,785 times per day. We tried to get the players to make as much of it as possible, positive, focussing on the good things they do. We talked to them individually about not getting down on themselves too much, telling them, ‘We think you’re being a little too negative. You’re taking away some of your energy and enthusiasm by being too tough on yourself.’” It’s great, great advice.

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