from Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Hands, please, if you’re surprised that Alex Ovechkin was among the perps who violated the NHL’s — the NHL’s and NHLPA’s, by the way — COVID-19 protocols. Didn’t think so. We know it is not ideal. We know that restrictions imposed in our daily lives don’t always make sense. But we also know that if Ovechkin and his Capitals teammates Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ilya Samsonov and Dmitry Orlov wanted to watch television while bivouacked at the team’s hotel in Pittsburgh, they could have done so in a large ballroom set aside for team recreational activities. But no.... continue for more on Ovechkin plus other topics like this... The league has what appears to be a two-week buffer following the tentatively scheduled May 8 end of the regular season to accommodate postponements. According to deputy commissioner Bill Daly via an email exchange, the NHL has not yet begun to discuss — or even consider — contingencies if all teams are unable to complete the 56-game schedule. That, I don’t understand. Seems simple enough to declare immediately that team standings will be determined by winning percentage rather than points if everyone isn’t able complete the schedule. Why wait? In fact, the NHL could even enlist a corporation to sponsor the percentage column of the standings. The league can thank me in the morning.

Some perspective. PLD is an excellent addition to the Jets. Roslovic made it clear he was never playing for Winnipeg again. Laine didn’t see a future with the Jets beyond this season. This is asset management. 20+ teams expressed interest in Dubois. https://t.co/peOay7yCnj — Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 23, 2021

Almost 18 minutes of Blashill after practice today.  No more names added to the COVID list today and Helm is questionable tomorrow. Bobby Ryan is below.  

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, For the third time this season, the Detroit Red Wings are faced with salvaging a series. They lost their first game at Chicago, falling 4-1 Friday at United Center. The teams play again Sunday afternoon. The Wings had to make do without several key players because of the pandemic, leaving them wondering if they will face a temporary shutdown. “Well’ we’re five guys down,” coach Jeff Blashill said Friday night. “The other team with five guys down is Carolina, and they postponed their games. So, that is where we are at. Certainly, it does not help chemistry, but again  … we are just trying to control what we can control.” continued

With the Detroit beat writers doing exactly what we are doing, sitting at home, it could be a slow news period when the Wings are on the road. Basically we will depending on the team to keep us updated or perhaps a local beat writer may chime in now and then.   Practice day in Chicago. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/dYQBnLbf5Y — Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 23, 2021

Kind of a yak game tonight. As Larry Murphy discussed during the 2nd intermission, Detroit 's routine has been messed up sine yesterday's practice where they skated in small groups to avoid the spreading of the COVID virus. Then flying out this morning, no morning skate an the result was a 4-1 loss tonight. Detroit's lone goal is below, see you Sunday afternoon.

Oops, puck shoved into their own net. Rangers lost 4-3 in a shootout.  

THREE HARD LAPS * The Stars erupted for seven goals, including five in the second period, to end a scoring drought against the Predators and earn a season-opening win. * A four-goal outing at Xcel Energy Center helped the Wild boost the NHL’s best points percentage in home openers to .800. * Montreal, which leads the League with 24 goals through five games this season, is set to close a six-game, season-opening road trip with its third straight game against Vancouver tonight on Hockey Night in Canada.

Up first is Dylan Larkin below fid Mickey Redmond, Jeff Blashill and the game highlights.  

The Wings will have their work cut out for them this weekend. Tonight’s game against the Hawks is not going to be an easy one. They’re hungry and angry. We're only four games in, but, this Wings team is starting to look better, and, are playing with more confidence. They will have a couple more players out because of Covid protocol. That's just the way this season will go on. We’ll just have to hang in there, trust in the Yzerplan, keep our fingers crossed, and, hope the guys are for real.  It’s a Live Blog!

Any plans to bet online now that it is legal in Michigan? from Ryan Zuke of Mlive, Consumers will have ample options to place their wagers once online casino gaming and sports betting launches in Michigan at noon Friday, Jan. 22. The Michigan Gaming Control Board on Tuesday and Wednesday approved authorization for 10 total casinos and their platform providers to begin accepting wagers on Friday. All 10 operators are licensed in at least one other state and are reputable, according to Steve Ruddock, analyst and content director at BettingUSA.com “I think the reliability will be there across the board,” Ruddock told MLive in a phone interview. “Certain companies might have a little bit of a difference in their customer service, things like that. Other companies have a little bit of an advantage in the user experience of the mobile app. It’ll really depend on what the customer’s preferences are and what they find important.” continued

Detroit – Adam Erne; Robby Fabbri; Sam Gagner; Jon Merrill; Filip Zadina The rest of the teams are below.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, Forwards Bobby Ryan and Vladislav Namestnikov, defensemen Troy Stecher and Jon Merrill, and goaltender Thomas Greiss weren’t high profile — Ryan was the biggest name, but some felt he was way past his elite days — and some analysts weren’t sure how much they’d help. So far, through one week and four games of the regular season, the new Red Wings have been impactful — both on and off the ice. “Everyone is buying into the system and doing it the right way,” forward Tyler Bertuzzi said. “They’re all great guys and they’re fitting in perfectly." read on

from John Ourand of Sports Business Journal, NBC has told distributors and some sports leagues that it plans to shut down its NBCSN sports channel by the end of the year. NBC’s most recent affiliate deals with Charter and Dish Network do not include carriage for NBCSN beyond this year, sources said. Plus, sports leagues that have deals with NBC were being told of the changes this week. The move is in line with the current media trend of consolidating cable channels. For NBC, it also is part of a bigger strategy to grow its Peacock streaming service, while, at the same time, bolstering the programming schedule for other NBC channels like USA Network. Bigger properties, like the NHL, NASCAR and EPL, will move to USA Network while keeping some windows on the broadcast channel. Smaller properties, like car shows, dog shows and some motorsports, will have to find new linear TV outlets. The big question is how a league like the NHL reacts to the shutting down of a network that has carried its games for the past 15 years. The NHL’s deal with NBC ends after this season. The NHL has made it clear that it wants to split its rights between at least two TV outlets. NBC has told the NHL that it would carve out regular windows on its broadcast channel and USA Network, which is in 86.2 million homes, plus Peacock. continued (link very slow to open at the time of this post)

from Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press, The hot start has left many fans wondering: Are the Wild for real? Here’s a counterpoint to that: Who cares? Honestly, it doesn’t matter if the Wild are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender this season, not if they are laying the foundation to be legitimate Stanley Cup contenders for seasons to come. As much as Guerin has preached that he expects the current roster to compete at a high level — something it’s proved capable of so far — it’s pretty clear he’s playing the long game here. He doesn’t even have a No. 1 center, for crying out loud. That said, it’s pretty clear the Wild are going to be a fun team to follow no matter what happens this season. They have a potential superstar in rookie Kirill Kaprizov, who goes by “Dolla Bill Kirill” in the locker room and already has the fan base wrapped around his finger. They also have a rising star in wing Kevin Fiala, who is among the most dynamic players in the league, capable of spontaneously combusting at any moment. more

from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com, Fans are tuning into the NHL in record numbers -- in French and English, in Canada and the United States, nationally and regionally, on television and online. Demand pent up when the start of the 2020-21 season was delayed until Jan. 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The vast majority of fans have been at home and unable to attend games in arenas. The NHL and its broadcast partners have been creative with scheduling and promotion. This is the result. "NHL fans are incredibly passionate," said Justin Byczek, senior vice president of programming and rights management at NBC Sports Group. "I think after a really successful bubble Stanley Cup Playoffs, people are ready to get back to hockey." continued

List of teams that I believe have inquired with Columbus on Pierre-Luc Dubois, obviously some with more seriousness than others (in no particular order): Anaheim, Minnesota, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa, Rangers, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington and Arizona. — Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 22, 2021

from Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, Dubois’ situation went from a brushfire to a bonfire Thursday when the Blue Jackets’ No. 1 center was benched by coach John Tortorella for the final two periods of a 3-2 overtime loss to Tampa Bay in Nationwide Arena. Yes, the Blue Jackets’ leading scorer last season — arguably the most talented forward on the roster, though he’s off to a rough start this season — finished the game with five shifts and 3:55 in playing time and sat on the bench for the final 44:36. This could have been the last straw for Tortorella: On Dubois’ last shift, late in the first period, he took nearly 10 seconds to go from the far end of the rink to the Blue Jackets’ bench to make a change. “I’m not going to have a discussion with you guys about it,” Tortorella told reporters afterward. “It’s not difficult for me. I have to call them as I see them and go about our business on the bench and try to win a hockey game.” read on (paid subsription)

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, For the first time since Travis Green was hired as coach, the Vancouver Canucks look dead in the water, truly stalled and in danger of foundering. Hope that Wednesday’s wonderfully chaotic win against the Montreal Canadiens was a sign the Canucks were starting to move forward again was obliterated Thursday when Vancouver gave away a pile of goals, including two in nine seconds, and was embarrassed 7-3 by the Habs at Rogers Arena. The seas are getting rougher and the Canucks already look capable of sinking. They no longer seem like a team trapped by circumstance in a slow start, but a team in serious trouble. “We weren’t just giving up scoring chances, we were giving up goals,” Green, who is in the fourth and final year of his Canucks contract, said after the game. “We gift-wrapped probably four or five goals. It wasn’t a game where we were hemmed in our zone... it was just giving up breakaways. In this league, if you give up chances that are gifts, you’re going to lose bad. We did that tonight.” continued Watch the game highlights below.

THREE HARD LAPS * Tyler Toffoli followed up a hat trick with another multi-goal game against his former team as the Canadiens and Canucks concluded their back-to-back set with over 20 combined tallies. * Semyon Varlamov saw his season-opening shutout sequence end at 142:10, one of the longest such runs in League history. * The reigning Western Conference champion Stars are set to play their season opener against the Predators in a rematch of the 2020 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Griffins on Friday announced their schedule for the 2020-21 American Hockey League season. It will mark the franchise’s 25th campaign overall, 20th as members of the AHL and 19th as the primary affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.

from Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes, The NHL’s top-earning player for the 2020-2021 season is Auston Matthews. The Toronto Maple Leafs center was scheduled to make $15.9 million in playing salary and bonus, but will instead earn $13 million net of escrow and including deferrals (a bulk of the escrow payment will be deducted from his July 2021 bonus). Matthews’ off-ice income in 2021 from endorsements, memorabilia and licensing is an estimated $3 million, pushing his total income to $16 million. The athlete endorsement market has gone into a deep freeze during the coronavirus pandemic, but Matthews added new deals last year with Verizon and equipment giant CCM Hockey. They join ongoing partners Nike, Scotiabank and sleep aid Dream Water. Matthews offers a compelling package for marketers. He was on pace to break the Maple Leafs’ single-season goals record before the season was paused in March. He is a young, fashion-forward, Mexican American playing in the hockey capital of the world. Matthews spent part of his offseason training with fellow star center Connor McDavid, who ranks as the NHL’s second-highest-paid player with $15.2 million (both are clients of sports agency Wasserman). The 2017 NHL MVP has one of the sport’s top endorsement portfolios, generating an estimated $4.5 million from partners CCM, Adidas, CIBC, BioSteel and more. McDavid’s No. 97 Edmonton Oilers jersey was the NHL’s second best-seller behind Sidney Crosby’s sweater in 2020. Rounding out the top five are Mitch Marner ($15 million), Alexander Ovechkin ($13.2 million) and Crosby ($11.9 million). more

"I can't wait till we all get the vaccine. "Get a shot ... and get this to be a safer world for all of us. But it's a worry." "I worry about it every day. "We show up here every morning to get tested, and every morning I get the results from the previous day and it's like, I come in with my fingers crossed because I don't think anybody knows exactly enough about where you get this." -David Poile, GM of the Nashville Predators.  More by Paul Skrbina of the Tennesseaon including Poile is a bit puzzled by the fine the Washington Capitals received.

Five and a game misconduct for Myers.  

from Frank Seravalli of TSN, Hockey is back, but some National Hockey League coaches’ salaries have not returned to pre-pandemic levels with the start of the season. According to data compiled by TSN, seven NHL coaching staffs are working on reduced salary this season... League employees are also operating on reduced pay. Sources said league employees were notified at a town hall meeting in early January to continue to expect a 25 per cent reduction for the duration of the 2020-21 season for employees earning more than $75,000.... Here is the list of NHL franchises whose hockey operations staff – including coaches – are currently operating at reduced pay, according to team and league sources: Detroit Red Wings: A 20 per cent reduction for all staff over $75,000, effective Jan. 9 until July 1, 2021. more teams...

What impact will the Capitals COVID-19 news have on the team as a whole? What would happen if a team had too many games cancelled, and wouldn't be able to finish the complete 56 game schedule? Are NHL coaches still working with reduced pay? TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun, Darren Dreger and Frank Seravalli discuss this and more. Watch at TSN

Anthony Mantha first and Jeff Blashill is below.  

NEW YORK (Jan. 21, 2021) – The National Hockey League today released the list of Players who are unavailable to play or practice on Jan. 21, 2021, in accordance with the League’s COVID Protocols.

via Ansar Khan tweet, practiced in four small groups today using both rinks. The early groups are done. The later groups feature: Zadina, Larkin, Helm Nemeth-Hronek And Ryan, Rasmussen, Mantha, Smith DeKeyser, Djoos

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, It’s at least a week without four critical players for the Washington Capitals — including captain Alexander Ovechkin — after contact tracing following a positive COVID test revealed the group was together in a hotel room, in violation of league protocols. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Samsonov were the other players added to the league’s COVID-Related Absences List on Wednesday evening. The Capitals’ next game is Friday against Buffalo, and, as of Thursday afternoon, there were no plans to postpone. “We totally understand why the rules are in place and there's no arguing with that,” head coach Peter Laviolette said Thursday. “We want to be compliant. We made a mistake and we need to do a better job.” Ovechkin’s wife, Nastya, was not as understanding, blasting the decision in an Instagram post, which revealed both Orlov and Ovechkin have antibodies. She made sure to post in both Russian and English so no one misunderstood her message. continued

Just under 5 minutes long.  

Tippett "It's almost funny to me how everybody talked all summer about Toronto and Edmonton have to defend better and then Toronto and Edmonton actually defend well, and now they think its a bad hockey game. It just baffles me sometimes hearing what's going on." — Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) January 21, 2021 Edmonton beat Toronto 3-1 last night.

from Will Burchfield of 97.1 The Ticket, Detroit was a comforting situation for Ryan. So much had changed in his life over the past year. Here was a chance to retain his role as a leader. And here was a chance to play. Here was a chance to chase those dreams in the back of his mind of racking up goals and lighting up crowds and "getting back to the Bobby Ryan I was." Ryan calls these dreams 'selfish.' Another word might be 'human.' "For me personally, this was a prove-it year," Ryan said Monday after his two-goal game. "And an opportunity to take the step that I should have taken years ago but hadn’t been able to because of the outside stuff. So (this start) means a lot." For now, that's all it is. A start. Ryan has put seven pucks on goal and four have gone in. That won't continue. But the jump in his step is back, and he never lost his nose for the net. They were right about Bobby Ryan. He's the kind of player you want in your locker room. Perhaps they were wrong about him, too. He's still the kind of player you want high in your lineup. more

from Dan Rosen of NHL.com, To create the Super 16, each of the 14 participating staff members put together his or her version of what they think it should look like. Those were submitted and a point total assigned to each. The team that was selected first was given 16 points, second got 15, third 14 and so on down to No. 16, who got one point. Here is the Super 16: 1. Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0-0) Total points: 221 Preseason rank: No. 1 The Lightning have eight players who've scored at least one goal and 13 at least one point. Forward Steven Stamkos leads them with five points (two goals, three assists). 2. Vegas Golden Knights (4-0-0) Total points: 207 Preseason rank: No. 3 Alex Pietrangelo appears to be a fit; the defenseman scored his first goal with Vegas in a 5-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday and entered averaging more than 26 minutes of ice time per game. The Golden Knights have shown resiliency by coming back to win games against the Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks after falling behind in each of them. 3. Colorado Avalanche (2-1-0) Total points: 180 Preseason rank: No. 2 The Avalanche responded to their season-opening 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues by scoring 11 straight goals across five periods before allowing two in the third period of a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Nathan MacKinnon scored his 500th NHL point against the Kings. The center has 191 goals and 309 assists in 528 games, all with the Avalanche. 13 more teams

Capitals' Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Samsonov are all in quarantine. Laviolette just said he believes all will miss the next four games and then under review. — Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) January 21, 2021