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®.

from Neil Best of Newsday,

So, what happened? The real story figures to unfold over time.

But the fact it followed a series of recent humiliations surely did not help, the nadir coming on Monday when the Capitals’ Tom Wilson threw around and/or pummeled various Rangers, who seemed powerless to respond.

The league did not help with its inadequate $5,000 fine and non-suspension of Wilson, which led directly to at an embarrassing, 1970s-style spectacle early in Wednesday night’s rematch at the Garden, which the Capitals won, 4-2.

There were six fights in the first five minutes, three at the drop of the puck. The first time Wilson came onto the ice, Brendan Smith went after him. There were 100 minutes of penalties assessed in the first period, 141 overall.

"I thought that it should have been handled before this game and it wasn’t," Smith said later, "so unfortunately it had to be kind of on my shoulders, and I thought I took it."

Said Ryan Strome, who had a rare fight, too, "We felt the need to take matters into our own hands a little bit and I thought it was a great response, really showed a lot from our team . . . My only wish was that the Garden was full to be rockin’ after what happened the first five minutes."

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THREE HARD LAPS

* The Jets blanked the Flames and became the third Scotia North Division team to clinch a berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Marc-Andre Fleury passed Roberto Luongo for sole possession of third place on the NHL’s all-time wins list, while Anze Kopitar had an assist to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

* The League-leading Hurricanes look to match their longest point streak in franchise history as the club continues to pursue its first-ever Presidents’ Trophy.