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.