Just a little over nine minutes to watch.  

from Brian Pinelli of the New York Times, The N.H.L.’s best teams may be competing for a cup named after an Englishman — Lord Stanley, a governor general of Canada who has been dead for over a century — but the ties between Britain and the sport’s highest levels usually end there. Now, however, Britain’s national men’s ice hockey team is competing at the I.I.H.F. world championship for the first time in 25 years.... “No one knows anything about U.K. hockey, and the first couple of days here people were laughing at us,” defenseman Ben O’Connor said. “We go out and lose, 3-1, to Germany, and they’re not laughing at us anymore. “Just because you’re from England doesn’t mean you have to play football, or soccer,” he added. “We can play hockey too.”... Against an American team captained by the three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane on May 15, Britain held on valiantly for 60 minutes. The score was tied, 1-1, nearly halfway through the game, before the United States pulled away for a 6-3 win. “To play like we did and be in that game was special,” said O’Connor, who regularly skates for the Sheffield Steelers, one of the Elite league’s most popular teams. “You catch yourself thinking, ‘Patrick Kane is coming down on me.’ It’s surreal.” Forward Colin Shields, 39, a member of the Belfast Giants of the Elite league, recently announced his retirement and is playing his final tournament for the national team. “To line up against some of the players on Team U.S.A. was definitely a moment I’ll never forget and one of the greatest games I’ve been a part of in my career,” Shields said. more

Blues move within one win of reaching Final for first time in nearly half a century; Schwartz becomes first St. Louis player with multiple hat tricks in a postseason; Tarasenko, Binnington also achieve franchise-firsts.

Tennis ball machines are mechanical devices designed to throw tennis balls automatically. It works by releasing balls at different speeds, intervals, and angles. This device is a training aid to help tennis players enhance their ball hitting technique. It is the best alternative for solo tennis practice since it allows the ball to be short off from realistic hitting angles and positions. It can also be used by coaches to train their players by demonstrating swings, controlling the ball angles, and giving individual training in a group practice. Here’s why you should practice with a tennis ball machine:

from Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News, So while the Sharks showed their mettle by coming back from a three-games-to-one deficit against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round, and gutted out a Game 7 win over the Colorado Avalanche in the second, the headwinds they’re facing right now are unlike any they’ve had to deal with so far in the playoffs. They feel much, much stronger. “For sure we’ve been here before and had to go and win on the road in Vegas in order to get to a Game 7,” Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said. “You’re never comfortable when your backs against the wall like that, but we have been here before and found a way. I’m confident we can do that again.” Count Erik Karlsson, Tomas Hertl and Joe Pavelski as being among the walking wounded for the Sharks. Their availability for Tuesday’s Game 6 has to be considered in question. While Karlsson’s injury issues are nothing new, Hertl was injured in the first period after a high hit by Ivan Barbashev. He played only about five minutes after that. Pavelski caught an elbow to the head from Alex Pietrangelo early in the third period, and did not return. “We’re still alive,” Sharks center Logan Couture said. “We’ve been in this spot before, going to Vegas down 3-2 in a very difficult building. St. Louis is similar, it’s a tough building against a good team. A structured team. We scored one goal in the last two games, that’s not going to cut it. We’re not doing enough around their net or creating enough opportunities on second chances.” more Below, watch a short GIF of the high hit on Hertl.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, ...it wouldn’t be surprising to see Yzerman do some tweaking this offseason, in an effort to strengthen the roster. The hard part for Yzerman will be the simple fact the Wings don’t have many players who would attract significant building blocks. Forwards Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha, two young players who showed meaningful progress last season, might be the only pieces who could fetch a big return. Otherwise, there are several veteran defensemen who are likely to be dealt at some point during the season or before, including Trevor Daley, Jonathan Ericsson and Mike Green. Here's a look at the Red Wings roster, with a forecast on who's staying and who's going. Likely staying Justin Abdelkader, F: Buying out Abdelkader would mean a salary cap hit between $1.2 million and $2.46 million until 2027-28. He has four more years left on his present contract ($4.25 million cap hit) and at age 32, needs to rebound from three declining years. Jacob de la Rose, F: An accelerated heartbeat ended de la Rose’s season in mid-March, but he had a procedure that apparently fixed the issue. He showed enough to be a part of the fourth line. Andreas Athanasiou, F: After a 30-goal season where Athanasiou showed significant growth on and off the ice, the only reason Athanasiou isn’t “definitely” staying is that he would fetch a nice return in any trade. And the Wings don’t have an abundance of valuable trade pieces. more

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, ...the Sharks have a lot of numbers that mean almost nothing, and certainly less to them than the zero Stanley Cups the franchise has won while winning more games than any NHL team over the last 15 seasons. In that span, the Sharks have made the playoffs 14 times, and in 10 of these seasons advanced past the first round and into the NHL’s final eight. And yet, they’ve played in only one Stanley Cup Final and lost that one in 2016 to Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins. San Jose is 1-3 in Western Conference finals, and the betting favourite is now 1-4 after the Sharks were hammered 5-0 Sunday on home ice by the St. Louis Blues, who took a 3-2 lead in this year’s West final. When the Sharks play Game 6 Tuesday in Missouri, they will surpass the Penguins for the most playoff games since 2004. But Pittsburgh has three Stanley Cups in that time. Doug Wilson became San Jose’s general manager in 2003 and has never had a down cycle, never needed nor wanted to rebuild, never finished with fewer than 89 points in a full season. By almost any measure, this is an incredible, almost unfathomable, run of prolonged success. But even with a .629 winning percentage the last 15 seasons, the Sharks are known as much for their failure in springtime as their success during winter. more

“He’s a guy who is solid in one-on-one situations, very powerful, really good skills, good hands and able to release a good shot. So far his line with Kyle (Turris, of the Predators) and Jared (McCann, of Pittsburgh) has been our most consistent, offensively as much as defensively. They support each other well and in Anthony’s case, so far he’s been competing with a lot of grit, a lot of intensity, and when you have that talent and that frame, that makes a good hockey player.” Max Bultman of The Athletic (paid subscription) has more on Mantha.

Les matchs Junior du 19mai sont reportés au dimanche 26mai aux mêmes heures.

from Tracey Myers of NHL.com, The Sharks also have injury concerns; forward Joe Pavelski was injured on his first shift of the third period after a hit along the boards from Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Forward Tomas Hertl, who took a high hit from Blues forward Ivan Barbashev in the first period, did not play in the third. Defenseman Erik Karlsson, who did not play the final seven minutes of the second period, did not return for the third. Karlsson also looked to be struggling in the Sharks' 2-1 loss in Game 4 at St. Louis on Friday. DeBoer did not have an update on any of the injured players. "It's easy to sit here and say now, yeah, sure you have regrets," DeBoer said of playing Karlsson on Sunday. "I mean, hindsight's 20/20, you know? We make those decisions based on reports we get form the player and medical, and the report was he felt he could play and get through the game." more

With a 5-0 win over the San Jose Sharks today, the St. Louis Blues can now wrap up the series on Tuesday night in St. Louis. If not, game 7 is Thursday night in San Jose. The Blues dominated the game today, San Jose will have a tough battle on Tuesday. Watch the goals from today's game below.

via Sportsnet, Brian Burke talks about the Ottawa Senators coaching candidates, their prospect pool and how teams should play when there is an empty net.  

from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette, When in doubt, blame the ref. It’s a system as old as the games we watch. Players, coaches, fans, media critics and even league officials get into the act and the only rule is that the referee is always wrong in the eyes of someone, somewhere. And the number of eyes on the ref has multiplied exponentially in the age of replay review — reviews that are, in my humble opinion, wrecking the entire experience. Even with the mind-numbing review delays, the NHL is enduring a post-season nightmare, a litany of gaffes. When league execs are taking pot-shots at their own referees, you have the very definition of a mess. Key goals that should count are disallowed. Goals that should be waved off are allowed. Phantom penalties are called, real penalties are missed. Games are decided not by the players on the ice but by referees and anonymous war-room geeks. What to do, what to do? The solution may seem counter-intuitive but it’s there: Give the referees the power they once had to officiate the game. There was a time, before the two-referee system and that utterly inept war room in Toronto, when a single referee ran the game he officiated. continued

Series tied at 2-2, winnter today will have the opportunity to advance to the Stanley Cup Final with a win in game 6 on Tuesday.  

KOSICE, Slovakia - Dylan Larkin (Waterford, Mich.) scored the game-winning goal in the third period off a highlight-reel feed from James van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.), Alec Martinez (Rochester Hills, Mich.) tallied two assists, and Cory Schneider (Marblehead, Mass.) made 24 saves as the U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Germany, 3-1, at the 2019 IIHF Men's World Championship to secure a place in the Thursday's (May 23) quarterfinal round. “Germany played a hard game,” said Jeff Blashill, head coach of the 2019 U.S. Men’s National Team and also the bench boss of the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. “We had to really grind out a win and I give our guys credit. This is a hard tournament, harder than I think people realize. We got some real strong performances tonight from guys like Suter, Martinez, Larkin and van Riemsdyk, but I thought Jack Eichel really raised his game and played like he wasn’t going to be denied." The United States (4-1-0-1/W-OTW-OTL-L) will seek a sixth straight win to close Group A preliminary round play when it faces Canada on Tuesday (May 21). Puck drop at Steel Arena in Kosice, Slovakia, is set for 8:15 p.m. local time (2:15 p.m. ET) and will help decide final placement for the quarterfinal round. That game, and every U.S. game, will be broadcast live in the U.S. on NHL Network. For the complete game recap, click here. Watch the game highlights below.

from Garrett Wroblewski/Guest Columnist at the Mercury News, You’ll have to forgive the national media and recent bandwagon-jumpers for considering the San Jose Sharks the NHL equivalent of a four-leaf clover or lucky rabbit’s foot. Yes, the Sharks have been the beneficiaries of a hat trick of controversial calls, non-calls, and coaches challenges in these playoffs. The latest was Erik Karlsson’s OT winner in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals, initially set up by Timo Meier’s illegal handpass to Gustav Nyquist. One Associated Press writer went so far as to call it “sketchy,” as if he were discussing a backlot drug deal and not the zenith of a playoff hockey game. Those currently accusing the referees of being partial to the Sharks seem to have a short memory, if any memory at all. (More on that later.) Also in Game 3, what Joe Thornton (and a continent of viewers) believed to be an over-the-glass delay-of-game penalty by the Blues’ David Perron was missed by officials. Minutes later, Perron scored to the game, then scored again to put St. Louis ahead 4-3. continued

from Tracey Myers of NHL.com, The San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues will each try to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference Final when they play Game 5 at SAP Center on Sunday. The Blues scored twice in the first period before holding off the Sharks for a 2-1 win in Game 4. It was the 10th victory of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for St. Louis, tying its record it set in 1986 and 2016. When the conference final/semifinal is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has a series record of 19-8 (70.4%). Here are 5 Keys to Game 5: 1. Binnington stays strong Blues rookie goalie Jordan Binnington continues to handle the playoff pressure well. He's 10-7 with a 2.58 goals-against average and .908 save percentage, the first goalie in Blues history to win at least 10 games in a single postseason and the 10th rookie to do so in NHL history. St. Louis expects the same steadiness from him in Game 5. "He's been dynamite for us back there all year," Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. "He's just doing his thing and just a lot of confidence in him from the whole team. Every single game he's given us a chance to win, so yeah, there's not much more to say. He's been unbelievable for us and such a huge part of our success." 2. Home sweet home The Sharks didn't get off to a great start in Game 4, but they're confident they can find their game immediately at home Sunday. San Jose is 7-3 at SAP Center this postseason and has outscored its opponents 39-29. "The series is tied up now, best out of three, and we've got home-ice advantage," Sharks forward Gustav Nyquist said. "We have to make sure we take advantage of that. We've been good at home and we'll be ready to play tomorrow." read on

Sharks, Blues deadlocked heading into Game 5 of Conference Finals; Couture, Hertl look to continue home-ice success; Pietrangelo sets sights on franchise benchmark.

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, - The Bruins may be on to something with the way in which they managed Tuukka Rask’s play during the regular season. Their version of Load Management. Rask started just 45 games, his lowest total in six years. And when you add the 17 playoff starts, that brings his total to 62 games. By comparison, Frederik Andersen started 60 games for the Leafs in the regular season and seven more playoff games. Anderson was brilliant in Game 6 against Boston and just average in Game 7. Rask is the leading contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy. - If the Sens are interviewing Patrick Roy, what does that say for Marc Crawford, D.J. Smith, Rick Bowness and all the other candidates interviewed? - It probably makes the Nashville Predators happy that Kyle Turris is captain of Team Canada. Preds want to move Turris, who has $30 million and five years left on a rare bad contract signed by David Poile. Maybe the captaincy ups his value. a few more hockey topics...

The answer to this officiating mess that has been a long time coming is not to dramatically expand video review, but to dramatically improve the performance of the referees and linesmen working the games. It is to provide them with better direction, perhaps a new protocol. It is to revamp the officiating department, and that means starting at the top. -Larry Brooks of the New York Post where you can read more on this topic, plus a few additional notes.

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, F Evgeny Svechnikov Drafted: 19th. Scouting report: Considered a complete package of size, skill and strength. Wingspan: It looked promising when Svechnikov notched 20 goals among 51 points in 74 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins as a rookie, and then helped them win the Calder Cup with 12 points in 19 AHL playoffs games. His second pro season, though, started with a slump — Svechnikov had just five points his first 27 games with the Griffins. He righted himself enough to pump 17 points into the next 25 games, and earned an audition with the Wings. Svechnikov scored his NHL goal March 20 and recorded a first multi-point game (goal, assist) on March 29 to finish with two goals and two assists in 14 games. A knee injury sustained last September led to ACL surgery in October and sidelined Svechnikov the entire season. The Wings made Svechnikov eligible for the 2019 AHL playoffs because at that time (February) there was still hope he’d be able to play by late March, but that plan was scuttled as Svechnikov didn’t show enough progress. At least that decision buys the Wings time — because Svechnikov, 22, was sidelined the entirety of what would have been his third season of pro hockey, his last year of waiver exemption carries over to 2019-20. D Vili Saarijarvi Drafted: 73rd. Scouting report: Mobile and smart player. Post draft: Bounced between the Griffins and the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye in his first pro season of 2017-18. Had 16 points in 70 games for the Griffins in 2018-19. Saarijarvi, who turns 23 on May 15, has yet to see NHL action. He had a nice season with the Griffins, but he’s been overshadowed by Filip Hronek and Dennis Cholowski, and will soon be dealing with competition from more recent draft picks in Gustav Lindstrom and Jared McIsaac, both of whom are very skilled players, as well as free-agent signee Oliwer Kaski. Assessment: Has dropped on the depth chart. more on the above players and other draft picks...

Anthony Mantha submits his entry for goal of the tournament. The big man steals the puck and finishes with an impressive between the legs shot. 5-1 Canada in the 3rd. — Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 18, 2019 And he just scored another, two for the day, 7 for the tourney Watch the highlight goal below.

from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, Talk in league circles Saturday was that legendary NHL goaltender Patrick Roy is expected to be the final interview by Ottawa general manager Pierre Dorion in a thorough search for the vacant post behind the bench. It’s believed the Senators could speak to the 53-year-old Roy next week to discuss the possibility of being a full-time replacement for Guy Boucher, who was fired by the club on March 1. That would make Roy the mystery seventh candidate for the job, with six interviews already completed. Roy also has a good relationship with Ottawa assistant GM Peter MacTavish, a former agent, who has been conducting the interviews with Dorion. While Roy is best known for his Hall-of-Fame career with the Montreal Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche, he has paid his dues as a coach and has had success. continued

from Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News, Perhaps there was only one sight uglier than the Sharks’ start to Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against the St. Louis Blues on Friday. It was the one of defenseman Erik Karlsson on the Sharks’ bench late in the third period, lurched over in obvious discomfort. Karlsson returned late the third after the Sharks had pulled Martin Jones, attempting to tie the game with the extra attacker on the ice. But the Sharks couldn’t beat Blues goalie Jordan Binnington a second time and lost 2-1, setting up a pivotal Game 5 at home on Sunday with the series now tied 2-2. Sharks coach Pete DeBoer didn’t have a health update after the game on Karlsson, who missed a handful of shifts after he left the ice at a stoppage in play with 9:24 left in regulation time. Karlsson came back with just under two minutes left, a good sign for the Sharks that he was able to gut it out for one final push. Still, for a player who missed 27 of the Sharks’ final 33 games due to groin and leg injuries, there has to be some concern for how effective Karlsson might be for the rest of this series. continued

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet, Here, in order of sheer panic, is a look at the seven NHL clubs most in need of solidifying their crease in the 2019 off-season. Let that carousel spin. Carolina Hurricanes As remarkable as the Canes’ playoff run — three series deep! — was this spring, and as much cap space as budget-conscious Carolina has to manoeuvre (approximately $20 million), next year’s roster is going to look much different. Regulars Sebastian Aho, Justin Williams, Michael Ferland, Brock McGinn and Greg McKegg are all headed to free agency, and the prices at the Jerk store just went up. Think the forwards are a puzzle? Carolina was the only NHL club operating without a goalie under contract for 2019-20. Scott Darling’s future as a professional goalie is in question, and the overachieving tandem of Mrazek and McElhinney — who made a paltry $2.35 million combined — is headed toward the open market and significant pay raises. Behind them is impressive but unproven 23-year-old prospect Alex Nedeljkovic — and he’s an RFA. We can see Mrazek getting lured by bigger bucks elsewhere, while McElhinney could re-sign short-term for a pay bump. Columbus Blue Jackets Did impending UFA Bobrovsky even unstrap his pads before he listed his Columbus condo for sale? Goalie Bob’s weave out of Ohio to become the most desirable netminder on the open market leaves the Jackets without a sure-shot No. 1 for the first time in eight years. Complicating matters, neither backup — deadline insurance Keith Kinkaid (UFA) and the underwhelming Joonas Korpisalo (RFA) — has put pen to paperwork for 2019-20.... more

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, The most important coaching Craig Berube did this series wasn’t even during a game. It wasn’t finding a way to wring more from Vladimir Tarasenko or changing the St. Louis Blues’ power play or tweaking the defence pairings. It was walking into the dressing room late Wednesday to tell his players, emotional and vibrating with anger about a non-call that decided a playoff game against them, that everything was going to be alright. “He comes in and says: ‘Forget about it, move on,’” St. Louis centre Ryan O’Reilly explained Friday. “He said: ‘We’re going to be alright, we’ll respond the right way.’ And we did.” “We went home with the right mentality,” winger David Perron said. “I really believe it made a difference.” O’Reilly said Berube believed in his players, and on Friday they earned more trust by dominating the San Jose Sharks at the start of Game 4 and hanging on to win 2-1 to even the Western Conference Final at two games apiece. continued Watch the game highlights below.

Blues even Western Conference Final at two games apiece; Rookie Binnington joins rare company with 10th playoff win; Stanley Cup Final to begin on May 27.

NEW YORK (May 17, 2019) – The National Hockey League today announced the dates, starting times and television information for the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, which will begin on Monday, May 27, in Boston. Additionally, Stanley Cup Final Media Day will be held on either Saturday, May 25 or Sunday, May 26, in Boston. The Stanley Cup Final will match the winner of the Western Conference Final, either the San Jose Sharks or St. Louis Blues, against the Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins. The Bruins collected 107 points during the regular season, most among the remaining teams, followed by San Jose (101) and St. Louis (99). Boston will have home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final, and will host Games 1, 2 and, if necessary, Games 5 and 7. The Western Conference champions will host Games 3 and 4 and, if necessary, Game 6. The start time for all Stanley Cup Final games will be 8 p.m. ET. NBC Sports Group has exclusive coverage of the Stanley Cup Final in the U.S., while Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports have exclusive coverage throughout Canada. SCF game dates below.

Great feature! via Sportsnet, Watch as Sportsnet’s Chris Simpson talks with Wes McCauley, known for his dramatic calls and great relationship with players, inspired to have a career in officiating thanks to his father.  

Good ideas and information from Brian Burke, including a rarely used rule plus other topics. via Sportsnet, Brian Burke talks about controversial goal calls, John Davidson becoming President of the Rangers, and shares a Brett Hull story.  

The San Jose Sharks lead the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in their series. A win by the Sharks tonight will give them a chance to wrap up the series on Sunday at 3:00pm ET. A home win by the Blues tonight will turn this into a long series.  

from Matt Larkin of The Hockey ews, The Ask Me Anything Mailbag is back after a long layoff, and I thank you, readers, for blitzing me with enough top-notch questions that I could’ve included 20 here. I pared the list down to five, primarily looking ahead to the off-season but also addressing the elephant – or zebra – in the room. Which team will be the most active with trades, transactions, buyout etc. leading up to the draft in Vancouver? The Nashville Predators went from Stanley Cup final to Presidents’ Trophy to first-round exit over the past three seasons and, after giving his team a vote of confidence with minimal changes last off-season, GM David Poile should be aggressive this time. Don’t be surprised if he swings a major trade to break up the blueline Big Four of Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm and P.K. Subban, with Subban the likeliest name to go for reasons I outlined here. But the team I expect to be the most active of all? It’s the one rumored as a potential trade partner with the Preds, the Pittsburgh Penguins. General manager Jim Rutherford is a smart man and likely sees that his Penguins, after being swept in Round 1 of the playoffs, resemble the 2017 Blackhawks, a top-heavy, star-studded empire that began to crumble, got swept in Round 1 and ended up with two straight playoff misses after that. Sidney Crosby turns 32 in August. He showed this season he’s still an elite player, but he only has so many prime seasons left. To give Pittsburgh another shot at the Stanley Cup in the Crosby era, Rutherford must (a) make major moves to upgrade his team immediately or (b) deliberately weaken his team by dumping a star for futures in hopes of quickly replenishing Pittsburgh’s farm system, which is the league’s most barren, and providing some higher-upside reinforcements to join Crosby in a year or two. Chicago seems to be attempting option (b), building around a new core of Alex DeBrincat, Adam Boqvist, Dylan Strome and Henri Jokiharju, which might ascend quickly enough to make that team relevant again while Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have good years left. more plus four more questions and answers...

NEW YORK, May 17, 2019 – The Madison Square Garden Company Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James L. Dolan announced today that John Davidson has been named Rangers President. “Today is the start of a new and exciting chapter in New York Rangers history,” Mr. Dolan said. “John Davidson is one of the premier executives in the National Hockey League. As we continue to build a team that can consistently compete for the Stanley Cup, John’s knowledge of the game and his experience and passion for the Rangers logo make him the ideal choice to oversee our Hockey Operations department. I am thrilled to welcome “JD” and his family home.”

from Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette, How many Stanley Cups have the Montreal Canadiens won since 2011? How many times in the last eight years have they made it to the Cup final? The answers are zero and zero. With the Boston Bruins sweeping those Carolina Hurricanes “jerks” via a 4-0 pummelling Thursday night, the Habs’ archrivals are set to go the Cup final for the third time since 2011. To refresh the selective memories of delusional Habs fans, Boston won the Cup in 2011, then made it back to the final in 2013 and famously came within seconds of forcing Game 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks. So that adds up to one Cup and three finals in eight years, and most people I know think the Bruins are the most likely 2019 Cup winners. Yet here in Montreal, so many are still saying that everything is just fine and dandy with their hockey team. The strange argument goes something like this: We missed the playoffs for the third time in four years, but we have all these great prospects and the future’s bright. Well I’d suggest that predicting the future, plus $4.50, will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Who knows what’s gonna happen in the next few seasons? All we know for sure is what happened in the past and by that measure, the situation with the Canadiens is dire. In my last column, I pointed out that our real rivals are the Bruins, but I’m beginning to wonder how long that will last. You can only be rivals in the NHL if you meet in the playoffs and you can’t meet anyone in the playoffs if you don’t reach the post-season. The fact is there is a real rivalry building between the Maple Leafs and the Bruins because they’ve met in a few recent hard-fought post-season series. continued

via the Columbus Blue Jackets, STATEMENT FROM BLUE JACKETS PRESIDENT MIKE PRIEST "The New York Rangers recently sought permission from our organization to speak with John Davidson about serving as their team president. That permission was granted and today John has resigned his position as the president of hockey operations and alternate governor with the Columbus Blue Jackets. "Personally, I want to thank J.D. for his friendship and the many contributions that he and his wife, Diana, have made to the Blue Jackets and throughout our community. He helped us forge a winning culture based on preparation, hard work, accountability and honesty. He set the tone and hired talented people that put in place a plan to build the Blue Jackets through the draft and player development with the end goal being a team that could compete and have success at the highest-level on a yearly basis. "The winning culture that now is entrenched in all of us will continue under the direction of Jarmo Kekalainen, who will now serve as an alternate governor in addition to general manager, and the leaders within our hockey operations department. We remain committed to improving on the successes we've had in recent seasons with the goal of bringing a Stanley Cup championship to Columbus."