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.