If you missed it earlier today, Gallant was name head coach for Canada at the World Championship.

“As players, we feel we’re very fortunate that we’ve been able to do what we love to do. There’s a lot of situations out there where people have had to sacrifice what they love to do and we’re still able to do it, obviously under different circumstances. Guys have had to really adhere to protocols and things like that, and it’s made it stressful at times.

“But at the end of the day, we’re playing hockey and we’ve enjoyed that part of it.”

-Sam Gagner of the Detroit Red Wings. Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News has more from Gagner.

Hockey starts early today at 5:30pm ET with Vancouver in Ottawa. Some excitting games will follow, the full schedule is below. Quinton Byfield makes his NHL debut for the LA Kings too.

Big game of the night is the Colorado Avalanche against the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas holds a four point lead but Colorado has a game in hand.

Jeff Blashill first, Sam Gagner below.

A little less than five minutes to watch.

It's slow, so...

Join NHL prospect guru Scott Wheeler, Aaron Ward and Ken Daniels.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Teammates told Detroit Red Wings prospect Joe Veleno to work hard, have fun and enjoy the moment Tuesday, because you only get one opportunity to make your NHL debut.

“They said everything you did to get here, bring it on the ice every shift,” Veleno said.

After feeling some butterflies and what he called exciting nerves during the pregame warmup, Veleno did not look out of place in his first NHL game, a 1-0 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

“He was strong on the puck, strong on his stick, played a 200-foot game, had some opportunities,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought he played a good hockey game. He looked like a guy who’s played two years pro and was ready for the opportunity to skate in the NHL. His strength really showed.

“He got a decent amount of ice time and he earned it.”

continued

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Panthers and Lightning both earned wins to clinch a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, joining the Hurricanes – who clinched on Monday and moved into first place in the overall NHL standings with a win on Tuesday – to fill three of the four slots in the Discover Central Division.

* The Capitals swept their three-game set with the Islanders, shutting out New York in two of the three contests, to move one point ahead of the Penguins for first place in the MassMutual East Division.

* The NHL and Turner Sports announced a seven-year media rights agreement that will have regular-season, Stanley Cup Playoff and Stanley Cup Final games televised on TNT and TBS starting next season and running through 2027-28.

Not much to say when the score was 0-0 going to overtime.

Both goalies were good and both teams looked as if there was nothing to play for, which is correct for Detroit and Columbus.

Now really not much to say after a goal less OT.

CBJ wins in the shootout, Wings failed to score.

Team stats.

added 10:50pm, Below, find Joe Veleno and coach Blashill in one video and also the game highlights.

added 12:43am on 4/28/21, Longer versions of Veleno and Blashill are below.

added 12:52am, Mickey Redmond is below and good night.

via TSN's YouTube page,

TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli joins host Gino Reda to discuss an update on the NHL’s Draft Lottery, if All-Star Weekend is on the league’s radar for next season and whether or not the league’s new U.S. TV deal could have an impact on the salary cap going forward.

There's not much to talk about. The Wings are finishing out the season, and, the 19 are thinking about which players we'd like to have back, and hoping to catch a glimpse of Joe Veleno.
It's anybody's guess regarding what Yzerman plans to do with the coaching position, and, who stays or goes.

So, let's just sit back, enjoy the rest of the season, and look forward to next year.

It's a Live Blog!

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

If you’ve watched this Red Wings team on television on a nightly basis or covered them, you can’t deny facts. They've gotten better, individually and collectively, despite the noise around them.

Coach Jeff Blashill called it out the other day, noting what has stood out in this irregular season.

“I would say both on and off the ice, our push to keep getting better on a daily basis,” Blashill said.

On many levels, this Wings season has been so much more watchable than last season — a low bar to jump over — and maybe the last several seasons.

For Blashill, who doesn’t have a contract for next season, the way this roster has continued to forge ahead could be a check in the “why to bring him back” column.

This season would have been an easy one for this team to mentally get away from, especially after a disastrous first month (2-6-2) and an eight-game winless streak from Jan. 22 to Feb. 5.

continued

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet,

- GMs seen so far at the Under-18s: Doug Armstrong (St. Louis), Jim Benning (Vancouver), Ron Francis (Seattle) and Steve Yzerman (Detroit).

- During Monday’s Board of Governors’ meeting, Bettman made it very clear there would be serious consequences for post-season COVID outbreaks resulting from not following protocols. A couple of governors were left with the impression that if a team could not finish a series, it might have to forfeit.

- For awhile now, teams have indicated they’d like to reign in coaching/front-office salaries, and we’re going to get an indication of how serious that really is over the next little while. Carolina’s Tom Dundon is one owner who’s mentioned it, and the Hurricanes are working on an extension with Rod Brind’Amour — who sets the tone for a really good team.

A month ago, I’d heard it was a foregone conclusion, but was then warned it was a tougher grind than anyone hoped or wanted. I don’t believe Brind’Amour wants to go anywhere else, and I have always believed this gets done, but it’s been a challenge.

- McDavid’s 1.76 points per game is tied for 30th in NHL history. It’s the highest since Mario Lemieux’s 1.77 in 2000-01. Only Mike Bossy, Phil Esposito, Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Lemieux, Bernie Nicholls, Adam Oates, Bobby Orr and Steve Yzerman are ahead of that.

- On cross-checking, GMs were reminded of the standard: a push versus a punch with the stick. The former is okay, the latter is not. There’s a little more latitude in front of the net as opposed to elsewhere on the ice. There is supposed to be an allowance for net-front battling, which is where the subjectivity comes in and makes some people crazy.

more Thoughts, including a look at the Turner Sports deal.

Seider left his last game and did not return. His coach was silent on his status but he is back playing today.

As mentioned yesterday, Veleno has yet to be cleared to play but that could happen before tonight's game in Columbus.

A bit over 3 minutes to watch.

added 12:23pm, watch the full podcast below.

via the NHL PR department,

TNT to Crown Champion with Stanley Cup Final and Extensive Stanley Cup Playoffs Coverage; Rights to Up to 72 Exclusive Live Regular Season Games, Including NHL Winter Classic Each Season

Comprehensive Agreement Also Highlighted by Live Streaming Rights; Expansive Digital and Highlight Rights for Bleacher Report and More

Turner Sports, a division of WarnerMedia, and the National Hockey League have reached a multi-faceted, seven-year agreement set to begin with the 2021-22 season, it was announced today by Jeff Zucker, Chairman, WarnerMedia News & Sports, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. This historic multimedia rights agreement will bring the Stanley Cup Final and Stanley Cup Playoffs to TNT and TBS for the first time, along with providing Turner Sports rights to up to 72 regular season games and the NHL Winter Classic each season.

from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer,

Because this team expected no less than this, and because it has indeed elevated its game from last season and the season before, this can’t be enough. Amid the disruption of last season and the stifling uncomfortability of the playoff bubble, there were times when it seemed like the Hurricanes were merely happy to be there, especially as the Boston series went sideways.

There hasn’t been any of that this season, and there shouldn’t be any of that in the playoffs, and there can’t be any of it now. The stakes are just as high over the final eight games as they were over the first 48. In this division, with three heavyweights slugging it out at the top, finishing first means more than hanging a banner.

With the obvious and perennial caveat that every playoff series is its own miniature universe, the odds will lean heavily toward the team among the Carolina-Tampa-Florida trio that doesn’t have to play one of the other two in the first round. That 2-3 semifinal series in the Central Division has the potential to be an absolute slog, every bit as difficult as the division final will be. No disrespect to Dallas or Nashville, but the gap between the top three and the rest of the division is tangible and significant. There’s a reward for finishing strong, and the Hurricanes control their own destiny to claim it.

Closing out the season the right way and claiming the division title would be a statement of intent from a team that has shown its Stanley Cup window is as open as anyone’s. There are 12 players on this team who participated in the first-round win over the Washington Capitals in 2019. That core is as experienced in the postseason as it is going to get. With the addition of Vincent Trocheck, Brady Skjei, Martin Necas, Jesper Fast and Alex Nedeljkovic to that group, their time has come and it has come now.

more

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Hurricanes rallied in the third period to collect a point and become the first team from the Discover Central Division to clinch a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Connor McDavid helped the Oilers overtake second place in the Scotia North Division with his third hat trick of 2020-21 and is now on pace for 99 points this season.

* The Predators prevented the Panthers and Lightning from clinching a postseason berth and were one of four teams to boost their playoff hopes on Monday.

There are 8 NHL games tonight beginning with Montreal in Calgary starting at 6:30pm ET. Cole Caufield will make his NHL debut for the Habs.

Tracey Myers of NhL.om has al the scenarios for the games.

Below, find the schedule for tonight.

from Brian Steinberg of Variety,

NBCUniversal has decided to cap a 16-year relationship with the National Hockey League, according to two people familiar with the matter, walking away from negotiations with the league, which is poised to triple the rights fees it collects from media companies with a new deal for a package it will launch with AT&T’s Turner Sports.

Turner will share overall rights with Disney’s ESPN, which struck a seven-year deal with the NHL in March that will give it control over a larger share of national games and other NHL properties. All told, these people suggested, Turner is likely to pay around $200 million a year for its NHL package, and ESPN is believed to be paying around $400 million — compared with the $200 million per year that NBC was paying the league for sole control of TV rights.

Turner and NBCU declined to make executives available for comment. An NHL spokesperson could not be reached for immediate comment. The aforementioned decisions have yet to be finalized these people cautioned, and could still change. Sports Business Journal previously reported some of the details.

An NHL rights deal would represent the most significant expansion of Turner’s sports portfolio in some time. Turner shares control of rights for NCAA March Madness with ViacomCBS and NBA rights with ESPN. The WarnerMedia unit recently renewed a deal for a package of games from Major League Baseball and has been working to build out its own celebrity golf tournament called “The Match.” But with parent AT&T looking to pare down its debt, Turner has not been expected to be a buyer of big sports packages in the recent past.

Sports observers will want to see if a Turner deal with the NHL comes with any sort of streaming rights for HBO Max, the streaming video hub which has become one of AT&T’s top business priorities.

continued

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Patrick Roy is ready and open to a National Hockey League return.

That message was broadcasted by his new agent, Neil Glasberg, on Monday when Glasberg fired off a tweet destined to pop up in the feeds of NHL owners and managers.

Roy, the 55-year-old Hockey Hall of Famer and four-time Stanley Cup champion, is happy acting as general manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts. He is not departing the junior club.

But when Roy was approached by Glasberg -- whose PBI Sports & Entertainment represents more NHL coaches than any other agency -- and pitched the idea of exploring a return to the big leagues, Roy was enthused.

The two signed an agreement over the weekend in preparation for the inevitable coaching and executive changes that will take place following the conclusion of the 2020-21 regular season.

Several teams -- including the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks -- do not have a coach under contract for 2021-22.

“He could be a president of hockey ops. He could be a GM. He could be a co-GM. He could be a head coach,” Glasberg told Sportsnet Monday. “It's going to be situational. That's the truthful answer.”

continued

NEW YORK (April 26, 2021) – San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau and clinical nurse educator generalist Jane Vergara have been named the NHL’s “First Stars” for the week ending April 25.

Throughout the 2020-21 season the NHL is celebrating the remarkable efforts of the off-ice stars who make it possible for us to play our games amid a pandemic by honoring frontline healthcare heroes from the regions represented by the League’s weekly and monthly “Stars.”

Vergara, a clinical nurse educator generalist at a local San Jose hospital, hires and teaches clinical staff and contracted nurses to ensure they are well-informed and confident in providing exceptional patient care. She has taken charge of various types of teaching throughout the hospital, helping grow the Clinical Education, Practice and Informatics Department over the past five years.

Vergara has not been slowed down during the pandemic, instead rising to every occasion as her hospital has adapted to new equipment. She always maintains a positive, enthusiastic and humorous energy that she incorporates into her training, helping staff members stay engaged and excited about their work.

Rounding out the “Three Stars” of the week are Minnesota Wild goaltender Cam Talbot and Florida Panthers left wing Jonathan Huberdeau. More on each NHL player’s performance can be found below:

15 1/2 minutes of Joe Veleno after practice is first up, followed by 16 1/2 minutes of Jeff Blashill below.