via the YouTube page of The Bob McCown podcast,

Two Canadian broadcasting legends, CHRIS CUTHBERT and JIM HUGHSON join the podcast for a rare "Play-By-Play" edition of our friday roundtable talk.

Watch th 46 1/2 minute show below.

And speaking of three-on-three overtime, is anyone else enjoying it less this year? Or is it just me? Back before the coaches turned it into a tactical exercise, of constant regrouping — when it was a straight-out-exercise in trading chances — it was the best five minutes of any game. Now, it’s been dulled down to the point, where it’s marginally more interesting than the regulation 60 minutes, but nothing at all like the whirlwind it used to be.

-Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic where you can read ($$$) numerous topics including now what Rangers?

Watch the incident below.

added 5:36pm, One game suspension for kneeing, watch the explanation below.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Anyone who would have wagered that Erne would be leading the Red Wings in goals when this season ended is likely a very, very rich person today.

But given a larger opportunity — not necessarily just personal improvement — as the season progressed, Erne flourished with it.

“If you asked him, it’s more about getting more opportunity and he’s done a good job with it,” Blashill said. “With him, it’s getting more opportunity and he’s capitalized with the opportunity.”

Erne, 26, was a 2013 second-round draft pick of Tampa Bay, so there was always potential of being a good offensive player.

But his best season in three years in Tampa was a seven-goal season, before being traded to the Wings in one of general manager Steve Yzerman’s first moves in the summer of 2019.

Erne only had two goals and three assists last season with the Wings, but he heads into this final weekend with a career high in goals (11) and having tied a career high with 20 points.

As for Rasmussen, it is a case of a young player putting in the work during the long offseason and improving on the ice.

“From a year ago, and you include the summer as part of it, he’s clearly a better skater, clearly playing with more confidence and clearly a better defensive player,” Blashill said. “He’s come one of the furthest in terms of development.”

more

13 minutes of your time.

from the CP at TSN,

Canada is golden at the under-18 men's hockey championship after another strong performance from two of the youngest players at the tournament.

Led by 17-year-old captain Shane Wright and 15-year-old Connor Bedard, the Canadians beat Russia 5-3 on Thursday in the championship game, going undefeated along the way.

Wright had two goals and an assist while Bedard added a goal and a helper.

Brennan Othmann scored a highlight-reel between-the-legs goal for Canada, which got another from Logan Stankoven.

Benjamin Gaudreau made 31 saves and was named top goaltender at the 10-nation event.

Wright and Bedard — two of only seven players in Canadian Hockey League history to be granted exceptional player status to join major junior a year early — finished 2-3 in tournament scoring behind Russia's Matvei Michkov.

continued

Below, watch the goals from Connor Bedard during the tournament, note the video may be taken down due to IIHF restrictions.

Bedard is 15 years old, eligible for the 2023 NHL Draft and is 5' 9", 185 lbs.

from Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times,

“It’s the right decision because ESPN is the biggest sports platform in the United States, probably the world,” Zadorov said. “It’s definitely a step forward for us to sell the game. We’re going to bring more people, more population to watch [us]. And it’s a big step up with the money as well for us, which is going to help us in the future with the next [collective-bargaining agreement].”

The money is undoubtedly the biggest positive from a league-business standpoint. The NHL will net $645 million annually from ESPN and Turner, plus another roughly $400 million annually from its ongoing Rogers/Sportsnet contract in Canada. It previously received less than $300 million annually from its contracts with NBC and Disney (for online streaming).

The increased TV revenue will balance the books after a devastating financial year and help the salary cap rise again — although that isn’t expected for another year or two.

“It’ll be good to get some freshness after the year we all had with COVID and everything,” Hawks forward Brett Connolly said. “It’ll be different, but hopefully it’s an advantage, which I think it will be.”

more

via the NHL's YouTube page,

A celebration of the weird moments across the NHL including a stubborn stick, mysterious goalie blunders, Brady Tkachuk's 'Frank the Tank' celly and more!

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

This wasn’t about the state of the rebuild. This was about the state of the Rangers union. And Jim Dolan, the Executive Chairman of Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., was not comfortable with it. So he acted. Decisively.

“I saw a weakness in the team that was not being addressed and I knew it needed to be,” Dolan told The Post during a telephone interview on Thursday in explaining why he dismissed president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton. “I knew that we were missing a key component to us being a Stanley Cup contender.

“And that is the overall spirit and culture that goes with being a team. I believe that as good of a job as JD and Jeff have done, in speaking with them, it is clear to me that Chris Drury was going to be the right guy to lead the team forward.”

continued

from Neil Best of Newsday,

from Michael Traikos,

Now that the blood has dried and we’re done shaking our collective fists at Tom Wilson, George Parros and the old-school culture of settling scores, can we please go back to marvelling at what Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews have done so far this season?

Can we talk about the emergence of Adam Fox as a Norris Trophy contender and the endurance of Sidney Crosby as one of the game’s best players? Can we go back to debating whether Russian veteran Kirill Kaprizov should be considered a rookie and whether Patrick Marleau should have broken Gordie Howe’s games-played record? Can we laugh about how badly run the Sabres are and how no one is safe from John Tortorella?

Can we return to our regular scheduled programming and highlight the amazing years that Joel Quenneville, Aleksander Barkov and Marc-Andre Fleury are having, as well as Buffalo goaltender Michael Houser’s unbelievable journey from being left for dead in the ECHL to winning a couple of games in the NHL?

Can we focus on the hug that Nicklas Backstrom gave T.J. Oshie following a 4-2 win on Wednesday, rather than the cross-check that Pavel Buchnevich gave to Anthony Mantha in a fight-filled game?

Can we try to remember that the NHL isn’t broken? That it’s not a gong show or a sideshow or a poop-emoji show. That it’s been entertaining and fun and exactly the kind of distraction we all needed in a difficult year of virus variants and slow-rolling vaccinations, and where the local lockdowns keep being extended to golf courses and pickleball courts.

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from Shawn Windsor of the Detroit Free Press,

...here are the Wings, two games from season’s end – they finish with consecutive games in Columbus this weekend – pushing themselves all over the ice as if there were something for which to play.

Actually, there is.

Don’t forget this.

Whether contracts or momentum or pride or love of the game, this group is fighting. Again, Blashill deserves some credit for this.

It wouldn’t be a stretch for Yzerman to extend Blashill’s contract another season or two. It’s not like the Wings are going to compete for the Cup anytime soon anyway. And as long as the team keeps improving, and as long as the young players keep developing, why not?

Familiarity can be helpful during a rebuild. So can a fresh voice in the locker room. Which is why it wouldn’t be stunning if Blashill is gone, either.

No matter Yzerman’s choice, he obviously thinks a lot of his coach. He wouldn’t have kept him around the past two seasons if he didn’t.

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THREE HARD LAPS

* Auston Matthews reached 40 goals on the season, while Connor McDavid moved within four of the 100-point mark.

* Jeff Carter scored four times as the Penguins followed up a 7-3 win on Tuesday with an eight-goal outburst to move back into first place in the MassMutual East Division.

* Friday’s slate is highlighted by Wild rookie Kirill Kaprizov looking to inch closer to the 30-goal mark, the 2020 Stanley Cup Finalists concluding their season series as well as the Honda West Division-leading Golden Knights and fourth-place Blues opening a back-to-back set in Las Vegas.

How close are the Canucks and head coach Travis Green to signing a contract extension? Is there reason for optimism for NHL participation in the Olympics? TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun discuss this and more.

Watch at TSN

High-sticking.

from Sean Shapiro of The Athletic,

When it comes to luring big-name talent for its hockey coverage, ESPN is taking a shot at the biggest name in the sport’s history.

ESPN has approached and pitched Wayne Gretzky about a broadcasting role, according to multiple sources. Whether Gretzky, an alternate governor for the Edmonton Oilers, is interested is unknown, but at this point ESPN hasn’t been given a “no.”

It’s been believed that ESPN wanted to take some big swings when it came to adding hockey personalities whose names held Hall of Fame value from their playing careers. Bringing in hockey’s universally known all-time leading scorer would certainly fit that ambition.

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20 1/2 minutes of Jeff Blashill after practice, turn your volume up.

There were no reports by the media from pracice.

NEW YORK (May 6, 2021) – The National Hockey League announced today that the New York Rangers have been fined $250,000 for their public comments on Tuesday, May 4.

“Public comments of the nature issued by the Rangers that were personal in nature and demeaning of a League executive will not be tolerated,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “While we don’t expect our Clubs to agree with every decision rendered by the Department of Player Safety, the extent to which the Rangers expressed their disagreement was unacceptable. It is terribly unfair to question George Parros’ professionalism and dedication to his role and the Department of Player Safety.”

My pick is the Tampa Bay Lightning, with the Vegas Golden Knights, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins in the mix.

How about you?

Full standings in case you need any assistance.

via Sportsnet's YouTube page,

The Blues honoured David Backes in what will probably be his last game in St. Louis, and after the game, Backes was emotional as he hugged his former teammates.

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

While there have been routs here and there, the Wings, on the whole, have worked hard under Blashill. There has never been chaos in the locker room. His players respect him. From all appearances, he has a good relationship with Yzerman.

There’s also the fact that Blashill doesn’t command the higher-end salary of more experienced coaches, and that’s not an insignificant factor at a time the coronavirus pandemic has left teams scrounging for revenue.

Lastly, there’s this: If Yzerman didn’t think Blashill was doing a good job developing the players who are key to the rebuild — Larkin, Bertuzzi, Michael Rasmussen, Filip Zadina, to name a few — there’s no way Yzerman would have kept Blashill behind the bench.

Missing the playoffs five straight seasons would cost many a coach his job, but nothing in Yzerman’s history indicates he’ll make a change just to make a change. It comes down to whether Yzerman thinks Blashill is the right guy to continue coaching the rebuild. The Wings don’t project to be a playoff team next season — not even with Moritz Seider on defense and Joe Veleno joining the youth movement up front. They should be better than this season’s team, though, the way this season’s team was better than last season’s.

Yzerman isn’t yet at a point where he’s looking to hire the guy he thinks can coach the Wings towards Stanley Cup-contender status. His old linemate and longtime buddy, Gerard Gallant, has been available for more than a year, and Yzerman hasn’t bit. Is there an in-between coach Yzerman has in mind? We should know shortly.

more ($$$)

from Mark Whicker of the Daily News

For a long time the Ducks were able to withstand the downforces. Beginning in 2006, they qualified 11 times in 13 seasons. In 2017, they lost the Western Conference Finals to Nashville, a six-game collision that bruised every crucial body part, the heart included.

But as they limped home, they still had much to anticipate.

Ryan Getzlaf was a point-a-game dynamo in those playoffs. Richard Rakell, 23, scored 33 goals that season. Goalie John Gibson and defensemen Josh Manson, Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler and Brandon Montour were all 25 or younger.

Four years later, in the merciful emptiness of Honda Center, the Ducks have produced the worst hockey in their 28-year history.

They have won three home games in regulation. Their current power-play percentage of 9.24 would be the worst in league history, wiping the ‘98 Lightning (9.38) off the books. In starker terms, Anaheim has scored 11 goals on its power plays and given up five.

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NEW YORK (May 6, 2021) – The Clorox Company, a global leader in cleaning and disinfection, and the National Hockey League (NHL) today announced a new multiyear North American partnership, naming Clorox the Official Cleaning and Disinfecting Product Partner of the NHL®.