* Oliver Bjorkstrand lifted the Blue Jackets to their sixth straight win after he became the first player in franchise history to record a multi-goal performance in three consecutive appearances. * Ahead of making his sixth NHL All-Star game appearance, Eric Staal factored on two of Minnesota’s three third-period goals to lift the Wild to their 13th comeback win of 2019-20. * Starting today, the 2019-20 season will take a four-day break from regular-season games for 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, which will be hosted by the reigning Stanley Cup champion Blues at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

via Sportsnet's YouTube channel,  Elliotte Friedman joined Tim and Sid to discuss teams that are on the bubble when it comes to adding talent at the trade deadline, and what he thinks of the Jets and Paul Maurice’s standing with the team.  

In the first period, Zadina 2, Wild 1.  Nice to see the Wings get the bounces. In the second period, Wild 3, Wings 0.  After 40 minutes, Minnesota 4, Detroit 2.  Not the best period for the Wings but we have seen it before. No scoring in the third.  Final 4-2 Minnesota. Below find the Zadina goals and Detroit stats. Now it is break time for the Wings, next game is Friday, January 31 at MSG to face the Rangers.

Another loss by the Wngs, losing 4-2 to the Wild. Not sure if there will be post-game videos but if they show up soon, I will post them below.  added 11:41pm, below, group post-game video is below.    

It’s gotten to the point of actually dreading Wings game's lately. They manage to get worse with each passing game. I understand injuries, lack of elite talent, no D, and yes, bad goaltending. That still doesn't get the coaches off the hook either.  Many of us have watched all of the worst of the Wings teams of the past, and this group has some better players than on previous bad Wings teams, but, this is some of the worst hockey in forty years. Bar none.....   It's a Live Blog!

from Christian Hetrick of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Chris Greenwell brought his boy Brandon to the Wells Fargo Center one night in November to meet the most famous person on the Philadelphia Flyers payroll: Gritty. The Flyers had invited Greenwell and his 13-year-old son to get a photo and some face time with the fuzzy, googly-eyed mascot, all part of an exclusive event for season ticket holders. But after waiting in line for about an hour behind dozens of fans to get to Gritty, something shocking happened, according to Greenwell. In Greenwell’s telling, Brandon playfully patted the mascot on the head after the photo was taken. As Brandon walked away, Gritty got out of his chair, “took a running start," and “punched my son as hard as he could," Greenwell said Wednesday. Officials at Comcast Spectacor, the company that owns the Flyers, told Greenwell there is no video footage of the incident because the “cameras in that area of the center are focused on other locations,” according to emails between Greenwell and officials. The company claimed it conducted an investigation that included interviews with Gritty, and “Gritty’s handler,” but couldn’t verify Greenwell’s account. continued

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The 2020 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Ontario International Airport is just days away, and the two-day event will reach millions of hockey fans worldwide through extensive television, internet streaming and social media coverage.

Dennis Cholowski first, Jeff Blashill below.   "It's always exciting to be back." Dennis Cholowski is in Minnesota after being called up from Grand Rapids this morning. | #DETvsMIN pic.twitter.com/B6A6sE9lmI — Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 22, 2020

Heck, I can't even remembers goals from the games last night, so turning it over to you. from Tracey Myers of NHL.com, In the runup to the unveiling of the NHL First and Second All-Decade Teams on Jan. 24 (6:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN), the NHL will be announcing its best plays, moments, events, coaches and team of the 2010s. One selection, chosen by NHL.com and NHL.com International staff members, will be unveiled each day in the runup to the release of the all-decade teams. Today is Goal of the Decade, which was scored by Patrick Kane in Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final against the Philadelphia Flyers. Patrick Kane has scored a lot of memorable goals in his NHL career. But the Chicago Blackhawks forward's goal 4:06 into overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, the one that ended the Blackhawks' championship drought after 49 years with a 4-3 victory, is one he'll never forget. "I mean, obviously it was a great run throughout the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs and you think you're sitting pretty at 3-2 and they tie it up," Kane said of the 4-3 win. "It seems like they have a lot of the momentum going into overtime. We had a couple of chances early, I think [Kris] Versteeg had a chance in the slot." continued Watch the goal below.

from Lisa Dillman of The Athletic, Drew Doughty knew there would be pain. He realized that last season. But Doughty certainly didn’t anticipate the Kings’ struggles would last this long and run quite this deep. What looks to be their continuing membership in the Lottery Club is difficult to accept for someone with Doughty’s winning pedigree — a two-time Stanley Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and Norris Trophy winner in 2016. “It’s frustrating. Being one of the top guys, I never expected to be (in this position). I always expected that I would be able to help push my team to a playoff spot every single year,” Doughty said. “But now back-to-back years, being in last place, it’s been stressful and depressing a little bit. “Sometimes you’ve got to sit back and realize you don’t have the team you once had.” continued (paid) Doughty's AAV is $11M through the 2026-27 season. Full contract details.

from Elliotte Friedman of Sportnset, - As the all-star break begins and teams go through their scouting meetings, a few teams with interesting possibilities are waiting on upcoming performance to decide their path. Included in that group are Chicago, Minnesota, Montreal and the Rangers (back-to-back with Detroit when they return). Those teams will test the value of their players, but hold off on final decisions until closer to the deadline — unless they become convinced they’re out. Pittsburgh continues its pursuit of Jason Zucker, but the Wild aren’t yet ready to concede anything. Nothing is happening with the Blackhawks as long as they’re still in the race, but if they fall out, would Joel Quenneville ask to pitch ageless physical specimen Duncan Keith on the virtues of southeast Florida? - The NHL tried to make the Justin Bieber/Jordan Binnington showdown part of All-Star Weekend. Just didn’t work at this time. Apparently, it is going to happen, though. - The league sent a memo to its officials about the “Michigan”/“Svechnikov” lacrosse-style goal reminding officials that any goal scorer must have his stick below shoulder level when possessing the puck and below the crossbar when putting it home. Otherwise, the stick is in an illegal position. many more Thoughts...

#RedWings in morning skate: Bertuzzi-Larkin-Zadina Perlini-Filppula-Fabbri Helm-Glendening-Erne Smith-Ehn-Abdelkader Nemeth-Hronek Daley-Bowey Cholowski-Biega — Dana Wakiji (@Dwakiji) January 22, 2020

from Frank Seravalli of TSN, Five of seven Canadian clubs are represented in the mid-season Top 50. Ottawa and Calgary don’t have any players on the list. The Flames had four on the pre-season list: Gaudreau, ,  and . Norris Trophy frontrunner  is the highest-ranked defenceman at No. 7. Carlson’s teammate  fell from No. 7 on the pre-season list to No. 10, staring up at players like Pastrnak - whom he will attempt to chase down in the Rocket Richard race in the second half. Let the debate begin. Here is TSN Hockey’s mid-season Top 50 ranking for 2019-20: the top 3 on the list are McDavid, MacKinnon and Pastrnak...

“There was no f—ng slow start. We played as good in the first as we did in the second as we did in the third. That team played its asses off tonight. “Listen, I haven’t liked some of the games we played but that team played as hard as it could. I got no beef on the effort, the other team played well too.” -Paul Maurice, head coach of the Winnipeg Jets after a 4-1 loss to Carolina.  Ted Wyman of the Winnipeg Sun has more on the Jets, who have lost 5 of their last 6 games.

Two games tonight, Winnipeg at Columbus and Detroit at Minnesota. Then no NHL games until Monday.  So a simple question as we head into the All-Star break. Who is your favorite to win the Stanley Cup? Mine, the Blues repeat. Extra credit if you pick the other team in the SCF.  Mine is Washington.

DETROIT - The Detroit Red Wings today recalled defenseman Dennis Cholowski from the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins. Cholowski, 21, has split his second professional campaign between the Red Wings and Griffins, showing eight points (2-6-8) and four penalty minutes in 29 games with the Red Wings, including five points (1-4-5) on the power play to rank second among the team's defenseman in addition to his first overtime-winning goal in the NHL (Nov. 12 at Anaheim). Since joining the Griffins last month, Cholowski has notched five points (2-3-5) in 17 contests, including goals in two of his last four games with the team. Dating back to his pro debut at the end of the 2016-17 campaign, Cholowski has 17 points (2-15-17) and 14 penalty minutes in 43 regular-season games with the Griffins and two points (0-2-2) and two penalty minutes in six Calder Cup Playoff games. In his two NHL seasons, the 6-foot-2, 197-pound defenseman has recorded 24 points (9-15-24) and 20 penalty minutes in 81 games with the Red Wings.

from Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch, The Blue Jackets are 15-2-4 over their past 21 games. The numbers within are crazy, and we can count the ways. On Dec. 9, when this hot streak started, the Jackets were closer to last place in the conference (nine points ahead of Detroit) than they were to the second wild card (11 points behind Carolina). Heading into a game Wednesday night against the Winnipeg Jets in Nationwide Arena, the Jackets are holding the first wild card. Right now, they’re in. The Jackets are 26-18-6. They have 60 points, their second-best record through 50 games, trailing only the 2016-17 team, which had 71 points through 50 games and ended the regular season with 108. That was a healthy group touched by magic. This is something else. The past 21 games, by the numbers (and the goaltending stats are crazy): Nineteen players have combined to score 63 goals (3.0 a game). Twelve players have scored winning goals. continued

from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News, The Blackhawks should have a pretty good idea of their playoff chances by the time the trade deadline rolls around Feb. 24. They have a gruelling schedule in February, with all but three of their 14 games away from the United Center. But they’ve actually been a better team on the road than at home this season. Not including tonight’s game, they have 11 more games, eight of them on the road. So the picture should become a little clearer in the coming weeks. If the Blackhawks are still in playoff contention, there’s no way they even think of trading Lehner. They might not be able to trade him even if they want to make a deal because as enticing as a top-tier goaltender would be for the playoffs, there are precious few teams that are playoff bound that need a goaltender. The Edmonton Oilers, who are getting good, but not great goaltending, are one of those teams. The last time they made a deadline deal to get a goalie was 2006 and it worked out pretty well. They made a deal for Dwayne Roloson, who carried them to the Stanley Cup final and might have won it for them had he not gotten hurt in Game 1 of the final. Regardless of whether Lehner is dealt by the Blackhawks, it’s impossible to argue that he doesn’t deserve the long-term deal he was seeking from the New York Islanders over the summer. There have been a total of 37 goaltenders in the NHL who have played at least 60 games over the past two seasons and of those goalies, Lehner is second in save percentage to Ben Bishop. more

from Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong has aggressively spent long-term assets while in win-now mode. He has the defending Stanley Cup champions atop the Western Conference as a result. Yet Armstrong can step back at the All-Star break and still see solid organizational depth supporting his roster. If he wants to make an upgrade before the NHL trade deadline, he still has chips to play. If he chooses to hang on to them instead, he will have a hedge against spring fatigue and future salary cap challenges. Either way, Armstrong is sitting more comfortably than most of his peers. Even with wingers Vladimir Tarasenko and Sammy Blais sidelined while recovering from surgical repairs, forwards Jordan Kyrou and Zach Sanford have had to alternate in the lineup and power forward Klim Kostin has remained in development in San Antonio. continued

THREE HARD LAPS * Frank Vatrano scored Florida’s fourth hat trick of the season to propel the Panthers to victory in Joel Quenneville’s return to Chicago. * Meanwhile, Mike Hoffman joined rare company with his second point streak of 10-plus games in as many seasons as the Panthers skated to their sixth straight win. * Teuvo Teravainen, one of three Finnish-born players to find the score sheet in the Hurricanes-Jets game, collected his fourth three-point game of 2019-20 and helped Carolina improve to 4-0-1 in its last five home games.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive, Givani Smith has scored two goals in 14 games with the Detroit Red Wings but hasn’t celebrated either, since they came late in one-sided losses. There will be more goals and many more games for the big, abrasive forward. Smith has made a good impression since being recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins on Dec. 30. He forechecks hard, grinds down low, plays physical and doesn’t back down. General manager Steve Yzerman likes what he’s seen, telling people in the organization he’s pleased that Smith goes to the net aggressively. continued from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, A little after noon Tuesday, a pair of goaltenders wanted to know where their Detroit Red Wings teammates were. Practice was supposed to be underway, but the only players on the ice were Jonathan Bernier and Calvin Pickard, who went through skating and shooting drills with goaltending coach Jeff Salajko. The question came up because they wanted to face shots. The answer: Detention. Practice was delayed about half an hour because coach Jeff Blashill was adamant players stick around until they understood the assignment regarding systematic play. The Wings, who lost to the Colorado Avalanche, 6-3, on Monday, take a five-game losing streak into Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Wild. “It was a meeting that I wasn’t going to leave until we had it straight,” Blashill said after an optional practice at Xcel Energy Center. “We have to get better at our d-zone coverage. So until everybody had a chance to make sure everybody understood, we weren’t leaving that meeting, and if it went a little long, it went a little long.” continued

from Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun, George Parros is coming to the game. But he doesn’t want to talk about it? Meanwhile, just about everybody else seems to want to talk about nothing else but Game 787 of the NHL schedule Jan. 29 in Edmonton. It’s a game that has come to stand separately from all the others on the 2019-20 NHL schedule. The renewal of hostilities of the finally-on-again Battle of Alberta following the Oilers recent 4-3 loss in Calgary featuring heels Matthew Tkachuk and Zack Kassian has become the featured game of the entire regular season. Parros, the NHL Director of Player Safety, has decided his presence will be required in Rogers Place to read the riot act to both teams and particularly both players in order to prevent a riot. In all his years as a goon, playing 10 NHL seasons with career totals of 18 goals and 18 assists and 1,092 minutes in penalties, no NHL Director of Player Safety was ever required to show up for any jackpot Parros ever managed to get himself involved. continued

They still love Coach Q in Chicago. pic.twitter.com/pUG0hh4vKt — NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) January 22, 2020     Q’s moment. pic.twitter.com/a0wB2LDU6y — Tracey Myers (@Tramyers_NHL) January 22, 2020

from Dana Wakiji of DetroitRedWings.com, Although only 11 players took part in the optional on-ice practice, every player was part of a lengthy meeting beforehand. "It was a meeting that I wasn't going to leave until we had it straight," Blashill said. "We gotta get better. I talked about it last night. We gotta get better in our D zone coverage. So until everybody had a chance to make sure everyone understood, we weren't leaving that meeting. If we went a little long, it went a little long." Bowey said he thought everyone got a lot out of the meeting. "Just right now I think it comes down to structure for us, supporting each other all around the ice," Bowey said. "I think in the D-zone especially, we got to close quicker, make sure it's harder for other teams to get their top players rolling around in our defensive zone and I think just focus on that. I think we have a really good structure put in place by the coaching staff and if we just follow that, do that to the best of our abilities, it puts us in good spots to come away with wins. I think that's certainly a focus now, focusing on doing the little things right, supporting each other all around the ice and knowing who we have to cover and knowing when to shut down plays." more and other topics including an injury update on Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou, "(Mantha's) still a ways away, a month maybe," Blashill said. "It's not a progress thing. I don't know if I gave you a bad timeline to start. I don't remember the timeline I gave you, to be honest with you. It just is what it is. It's gonna be a long process before he's healed." Unlike Mantha, Athanasiou had started skating before the team left. "His is a healable thing that will be healed. It just depends on when," Blashill said.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … The American Hockey League today announced that Bakersfield Condors defenseman Brandon Manning has been suspended for five (5) games as a consequence of his actions in a game at Ontario on Jan. 20. Manning was suspended after being assessed a game misconduct under the provisions of AHL Rule 23.9 for use of a racial slur towards an opponent. Manning will miss Bakersfield’s games Wednesday (Jan. 22) vs. San Jose, Friday (Jan. 24) at Tucson, Saturday (Jan. 25) at Tucson, Jan. 31 vs. Ontario and Feb. 1 at Stockton. Statement from Manning is below.

via Dana Wakiji tweet, Erne, Ehn, Smith and Ericsson on ice for optional practice at Xcel Energy Center. Larkin just joined as well. Anything noteworthy from the optional I will post it here.

I recently received an email from a KK member which included the following. Paul, I have had many milestones in my 63 years. College, 29 years of marriage, 30 years as an attorney and Judge, scaled mountains, sailed seas, flown airplanes, raced my Porsche, and now........ (drum roll please)  I just moved above 10,000 posts on your site! Huzzah! Thank you for the hosting the platform for all the shenanigans through the years! Onward!! All the best, I emailed the member back to receive an okay to use this, with the name of the member not included.  How about you, does anyone else reach some rare air?  

from Sportsnet, “I don’t know, it’s tough, I mean 3-on-3 is exhausting. We play six forwards and three D for the most part. Guys are usually dead tired, and goalies are dead tired by the end of the five minutes, so, I think extending it would be a little bit tough.” – Vegas’ Mark Stone “You see how much the fans love it, and I think we love it almost just as much. It’s fun. If you went past the five minutes, it wouldn’t take long until there’s a goal because there are so many chances that happen. Once you get to a shootout, it’s kind of like a 50/50. How many two-on-ones are there in five minutes? I think in another five minutes, someone will score.” – Vancouver’s Brock Boeser many more responses...

His ideal temperature for a long winter’s nap — seven to nine hours is the goal — runs about 18 Celsius (64.4F), and maybe chillier.... And his environment must be pitch black, which is generally not a problem at home or on the road, when the Leafs stay at high-end hotels like the Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton. “Most rooms have nice blackout curtains.”... “When you’re in a new room, something about your brain stays on a little bit. The fight-or-flight response,” he said. “It’s some kind of instinct. When you’re in a new environment, you’ve got to be aware if there’s any sabretooth tigers coming.” Who is it?

from Sean Keeler of the Denver Post, “I don’t think I’m gonna get 50,” MacKinnon, the Avalanche all-star, said quietly when the subject of the big 5-0 — Nimble Nate is on a pace for 51 — was broached. “Nah. I don’t think I’m gonna get 50. “I’m a disher. I’m a passer. I’ll get 70 assists but not 50 goals.” Come again? “I’m just joking,” MacKinnon continued, less than hour after scoring twice on the hapless Detroit Red Wings to help Colorado close the first half of the season with a 6-3 win. “I don’t know. We’ll see. “I’ve got to get hot. I’ve only gotten 40 once, so I don’t know. I’m just trying to play my best every night, play at 100 percent and we’ll see what happens out there.” read on

from Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette, The big talking point as the Canadiens start their bye week is what Bergevin is going to do with his week off while many of his players are off vacationing in the sun. The Feb. 24 trade deadline day in the National Hockey League is hurtling toward us with frightening velocity and the discussion among hockey opinion-makers and Canadiens fans this week is what the general manager’s strategy should be in the next month. As a good pal of mine, a former stock trader, always says: “sell high, buy low.” That’s true on Wall St. and it’s also true in pro sports. If you believe that, then Bergevin should be dealing assets in the coming weeks. In terms of high value, you don’t get much better than Tomas Tatar and Shea Weber and that’s why he should, at the very least, go out and see what fellow GMs might offer for those two. Tatar is having another great season, with 43 points in 50 games. We all love Tuna — even more so after he scored that beauty of a shootout winner Saturday — but he’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in summer 2021 and will naturally be looking for a lengthy high-price contract that off-season, a deal for a 30-year-old that would be silly for Montreal to sign. Weber, 34, is more obvious trade bait. He is also having an amazing season, but this one is just an age thing. He will not be the same kind of player when the Canadiens’ young prospects come to maturity. read on

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, The Detroit Red Wings noticed fans still remember the rivalry, and the competitiveness of the Colorado Avalanche stoked hopes it soon might be revived. The Wings head into Wednesday's game at Minnesota, their last before the break, on a five-game losing skid after dropping a 6-3 Monday matinee at Pepsi Center. There were enough partisan fans to start a few "Go Wings" chants, but many more voiced their disapproval of the Wings, whose rivalry with the Avalanche two decades ago was one of the best in sports. “This rivalry, with the fans, most definitely it’s still there,” Dylan Larkin said. “Next year or year after and in the years following, with the players they have and the players that we have, it’s going to be an exciting rivalry again.” The Wings don’t stack up against opponents most nights, their lineup weakened by injuries (top defenseman Danny DeKeyser is out for the season and top-line winger Anthony Mantha’s return is uncertain) and patched with minor-league call-ups. At 12-34-4, the Wings are on pace to finish with 46 points. continued

NEW YORK (Jan. 20, 2020) – Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins and Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews have been named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending Jan. 19.

At what point do we just stop watching the Wings? All of the beat writers have finally anointed the Wings as "Bad". Tell us something we don't know. As a team, at what point did it become acceptable to just give up? Losing has now become the norm, and, that is going to be the hardest obstacle to overcome. The longer the Wings continue to lose, the easier it becomes, and it's looking all too easy from where I stand.  It's a matinee Live Blog!

added 5:42pm, Detroit stats way below. Since some of you are probably working during the game and since this is the only NHL this afternoon, well as I get Detroit goals and/or highlights, I will post them. Follow Kate's Live Blog for all the ongoing comments during the game and check back here for videos during and after the game. 1-0 Detroit Bertuzzi.  

Just south of 5 minutes to watch.  

Coach first, highlights below. added 6:32pm, Larkin below. added 6:58pm, group video below.  

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, The Red Wings mustered three goals Monday — they’ve only scored eight goals in the last five games, all losses — but didn’t do enough defensively to quiet the Avalanche. “A lot of chances and goals were from us not coming back into our zone, it’s not good enough,” forward Dylan Larkin said. “We knew coming in, a team like this, we were going to have to defend a lot. But we didn’t come back (defensively) and sort it out enough.”... “The second period, we couldn’t get out of our end and all of a sudden you’re spending a whole bunch of time defending,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We lost (Nielsen, Green) … and it just taxed our guys a lot. “There’s a whole bunch of defending and suddenly we didn’t have our skating legs — and that’s a hard team not to have your skating legs against.”... Losses wear on you, and it starts to hurt your energy a little bit,” Blashill said. “We have to be real careful of that, we have to find a way to have great energy in our last game before the break and get ourselves rejuvenated coming back out of the break.” more

THREE HARD LAPS * No strangers to wild comeback wins this season, Florida rallied past Minnesota at Xcel Energy Center via a go-ahead goal scored in the dying seconds of regulation by Noel Acciari. * In his final game before captaining the Central Division at the 2020 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, Nathan MacKinnon tallied twice and became the fourth player to reach the 30-goal mark this season. * Cale Makar matched the single-season franchise record for points by a rookie defenseman, reaching the mark in nearly half the games required by the Nordiques blueliner who did so nearly 35 years ago.

Just a reminder, the puck drops against the Avs at 3:00pm ET today. It will take you close to 27 minutes to watch.  

The Athletic with their poll of the players with question like best player, game 7 SCF goalie and more. I will concentrate on this... Who is the dirtiest player in the league? Now we come to the first question players were a little hesitant to answer. Some took issue with the concept of dirty players altogether. “Nobody’s dirty,” a Pacific Division player said. “I know guys who are cheap. There are a lot of rats in the league. (Matthew) Tkachuk’s a rat. Brad Marchand’s a rat. But I wouldn’t call them dirty.” Others disagreed and had lots to say about Marchand, in particular. Let’s go with a sampling from all four divisions. “Marchand can do some shady shit.” — a Pacific Division player. “Let’s go with Brad Marchand. He’s a little prick.” — a Metro Division player. “It’s disgusting what the league lets Marchand get away with. He’s got no respect for anybody. Makes me sick.” — a Central Division player. more ($$$) and 9 more categories...

THREE HARD LAPS * Patrick Kane found the score sheet to register his second 10-game point streak of the season and become the 90th player in NHL history to collect 1,000 regular-season points. * Sidney Crosby factored on two of four unanswered Penguins goals to lead Pittsburgh to its third three-goal comeback win of 2019-20 (also Nov. 7, 2019 at NYI and Nov. 27, 2019 vs. VAN). * In his first game back with the Hurricanes after signing a one-year contract with the club on Jan. 7, Justin Williams helped Carolina climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Patrick Kane (31 years, 61 days) became the youngest U.S. player to reach 1,000 career regular-season points, eclipsing Jeremy Roenick (32 years, 13 days) who spent eight seasons with the @NHLBlackhawks from 1988-89 to 1995-96. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/Mne1TH6bvF — NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 20, 2020   Video below.

Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News on all the losing with the Detroit teams but I am just going to try to highlight the Wings. We knew it’d be bad. We signed up for bad. But at some point, a pointed question: How long before it’s bad enough to do something about it? The Red Wings, Tigers and Pistons have been in various stages of rebuilds for about four years.... If you happen to coach in Detroit right now, you can’t win. Also, you can’t lose. Because the Wings and Tigers are in full teardowns, Jeff Blashill and Ron Gardenhire get some slack, despite historically awful records.... The Wings have the worst record in the NHL, by far, and will have the best shot at the No. 1 pick. Blashill is 148-178-51 in five seasons, incredibly the third-longest-tenured coach in the ax-happy NHL. He’s on the thinnest ice, pun intended, although Steve Yzerman has strongly supported him. It’s not just that the Wings’ well-compensated veterans — Frans Nielsen, Jimmy Howard, Mike Green, Justin Abdelkader, etc. — have failed, it’s that the touted young players — Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi, Andreas Athanasiou — have either been hurt or stagnant. Gerard Gallant, recently fired by Las Vegas, could be the next guy in charge, whenever that is.... The lack of urgency to fire coaches here is not about management being lazy, detached or cheap (although we can revisit those charges). It’s about owners — Chris Ilitch, Tom Gores, Martha Ford — who have mapped out plans of patience and aren’t ready to blow their covers with showy firings.... Would Scotty Bowman or Mike Babcock win more games with these Wings, who have lots of injuries, no defensemen and no goaltending? Not before their heads exploded (literally!).... ’m not letting the coaches off the hook. (Yes you are!) (No I’m not!) I’m suggesting talent acquisition is a much larger issue than talent development.... That’s where Blashill, 46, has to show more, and you wonder if a few young players have stopped getting the message. It wouldn’t be a surprise, considering they’ve heard his voice since he coached some of them in Grand Rapids. more

from Mike Chambers of the Denver Post, Jared Bednar is sympathetic toward coach Jeff Blashill and the Detroit Red Wings — by far the NHL’s worst team. It wasn’t that long ago when Bednar coached “that” team. In 2016-17, Bednar’s first season behind the Avalanche’s bench, Colorado finished with league/franchise lows in victories (22) and points (48). It was the league’s worst season since the Atlanta Thrashers won just 14 games in 1999-2000. The Red Wings take a league-low 12 wins and 28 points in Monday’s matinee against Colorado at the Pepsi Center and are on pace for just 47 points. “It’s horrible. Pure misery,” Bednar of coaching the NHL’s worst team. “The morale in your room, you’re trying to get guys back in the right mental state to go win your next game, and there’s a lot of nights where you play hard, do everything you can, (but) you maybe just don’t have the horses to win the games.” continued

A little over 6 minutes to watch.   Coach Blashill looks ahead to tomorrow's matchup against the Colorado Avalanche following today's practice at the BELFOR Training Center inside Little Caesars Arena. #RedWings pic.twitter.com/YFd8le8Kk0 — Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 19, 2020

via Ansar Khan tweet, RedWings rare practice after back-to-back nights, due to early game Mon. at @Avalanche (3 ET). Lines: Bertuzzi-Larkin-Zadina Erne-Glendening-Fabbri Abdelkader-Ehn-Smith Helm-Perlini Filppula, injured, and Nielsen not skating. Nemeth-Green Ericsson-Hronek Biega-Bowey No Daley

from Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet, Dan Hamhuis is seated on the baseline of a slightly busted semi-circle. The 16-year NHLer is one of seven Nashville Predators defencemen participating in a group chat about all aspects of the position they play. It’s early December, post-practice, and backwards hats, hoodies and athleisure rule the day. The sweaty jerseys and socks have been whisked away, equipment staff are busy toiling in other areas of the team facility and the dressing room has pretty much cleared out apart from the blue-liners when Hamhuis, speaking to the idea that defencemen belong to their own little tribe, suggests that if he walked into a room full of hockey players he didn’t know, he’d eventually be able to sort out who else is part of the brotherhood without having to ask. “I think there’s a personality thing,” Hamhuis says. “I don’t want to blanket it, but I think you kind of can.” He opens it up to the room: “What do you guys think?” Ryan Ellis, plunked on a chair facing Hamhuis, senses his opportunity. “It’s like we’re more win-oriented,” he says, igniting a round of chuckles. That’s not exactly how Hamhuis was framing things, but you can see why the joke plays well. Whether it’s a bunch of blueliners skating in today’s green-light game or retired guys from more staid eras past, you don’t have to probe very hard to discover a common pride. “You’re not out to get goals and points as much as forwards,” says Hamhuis. “We’re more under-the-radar kind of guys, doing things that maybe don’t get the glory.” continued

from Jason Simmons of the Journal Pioneer, Gerard (Turk) Gallant admits he never saw the Vegas Golden Knights’ coaching change coming... “I was quite surprised actually when it happened,” Gallant told the Journal Pioneer on Saturday night. “You don’t see something coming like that when you have 2 ½ years in. “I was disappointed and surprised, but I understand the hockey business and things have to change sometimes. They made a tough decision and I’m sure it was tough on them, but that’s the way hockey is.”... “I’m far from done,” said Gallant, 56. “I enjoy coaching. “If an opportunity comes up I will definitely look at it – myself and Mike. Mike is a big part of what I do too and sometimes people forget about the assistant coaches.  read on

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet, It has been a jaw-dropping news week in British Columbia. Harry (the Royal formerly known as Prince) could move to the West Coast with his wife, rare snowfall ended rain’s winning streak, the Vancouver Canucks moved atop the Pacific Division, and the Supreme Court ruled the provincial government can’t restrict what flows here by pipeline from Alberta. Shocking but true: the Canucks lead the Pacific Division heading into their National Hockey League bye week. The Canucks! And it’s not fake news. The Canucks, who have lost more games over the last four years than anyone other than the Buffalo Sabres, beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 Saturday to move alone atop the tightest division in hockey. Actually, they didn’t just beat the Sharks but dominated them. Shots were 27-7 after 40 minutes. continued Catch the game highlights below.

from Jeff Svoboda of BlueJackets.com, The Blue Jackets ran their hot streak to 14-2-4 in the last 20 games with a 5-0 win against New Jersey on Saturday night in Nationwide Arena.... Quote of the Game Head coach John Tortorella: "That score at the end of the second period could have been lopsided the other way. We had one guy play. As a team, we played the first six minutes and then we watched Elvis play for the rest of the first period and the rest of the second period. We played better in the third ... but don't kid ourselves on how this team played. We were not good, and Elvis deserves a tremendous amount of credit as far as finding our way tonight." CBJ Notables - Merzlikins was superb yet again, finishing with a career-high 41 saves -- including 21 in the first period -- on the way to his fourth straight win and eighth in 10 games. - Atkinson continued to be on fire, notching his second and third goals in two games since returning from injury while adding an assist. He has eight goals in his last 10 games, 40 career game-winning goals and 16 games of at least three points in his CBJ tenure. - Wennberg had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to four games (3-2-5). He has a 3-6-9 line in his last 10 contests.  more

from Ansar Khan of Mlive, If you’re going to lose, don’t go down without a battle. That has been the message from Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill. His team lost again Saturday, 4-1 to the Florida Panthers at Little Caesars Arena, but Blashill was glad players competed and scrapped in a chippy, physical, penalty-filled game. “It was physical and lots of jawing and lots of stuff behind the play and a lot of emotion,” Blashill said. “I’m 100 percent good with that. We could have had ourselves a line brawl and it would have been even better. “I’m just kidding.” The problem, nothing new, was the Red Wings’ failure to capitalize on the power play, going 0 for 7, wasting more than 12 minutes on the man-advantage. They squandered Jimmy Howard’s second solid outing in as many nights, a 34-save performance. continued from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Paul Stastny picking at his chicklets.  

HREE HARD LAPS * Alex Ovechkin scored his second hat trick in as many games to move ahead of Mario Lemieux (690) and into a tie with Steve Yzerman (692) for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time goals list. * Elvis Merzlikins became the seventh rookie goaltender in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) to register three shutouts in a span of four starts. * Blackhawks forward Dominik Kubalik became the first rookie to 20 goals in 2019-20, while his 14 tallies since Dec. 1 trail only Toronto’s Auston Matthews (18) among all players in that span.

Alex Stalock on Corey Perry incident late with the #mnwild up 6 goals pic.twitter.com/KknfhgX9r5 — Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) January 19, 2020   Watch the play below in two versions, one edited for langiage, the other one raw.

The panel discussed Zack Kassian close to signing an extension, the play of Ilya Kovalchuk and are the Habs buyers or sellers. Also Gerard Gallant wants to get back into coaching quickly if the right fit, Robin Lehner wants a fair contract and at the ASG, the boards will be digitally advanced. via Sportsnet,  

General recap of Detroit's 4-1 loss to Florida. In games like this, the lack of offensive weapons on the Detroit team shows. I would say the Wings had more chances than Florida but no finish.  They still remain offensively challenged.  Plus going 0-6 on the power play doesn't help. Joe Veleno and Moritz Seider interviews plus Detroit goal and stats are below. Next game is in Denver on Monday with a 3pm ET drop on MLK Day. added 10:03pm, added the stick work by Biega below the stts...

Frederik Andersen on Bronx cheers from #Leafs fans tonight: “I think it’s easier for players to play well when they have support. Sometimes you don’t get it. But you also have to work and play well to get that kind of support.” Prefers the other kind of cheers he’s used to. — Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) January 19, 2020   Below, watch the Bronx cheers.  The Leafs lost 6-2 to the Blackhawks.

Besides Joe Veleno and Moritz Seider (posted in tonight's game recap), Fox SportsDetroit spoke with Gustav Lindstrom and below, Michael Rasmussen and Evgeni Svechnikov. Added Jeff Blashill below too after the loss to Florida. added  10:53pm, Larkin, group talk and highlights below.  

via Sportsnet, Sheldon Keefe addresses the media following the Toronto Maple Leafs loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, stating that the team is 'immature' and that they need to be more disciplined and responsible defensively.     added 11:17pm, Post-game talk below.

At the end: "Thank you, thank you very much." #CBJ https://t.co/gKJLRPlERR — Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) January 19, 2020

Some good, flashback video cuts included. via Sportsnet, Brian Burke talks about the league stepping in to deal with the Tkachuk and Kassian feud and the process of hiring a coach with a remaining term.  

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Ray Shero’s dismissal after 4¹/2 seasons as Devils general manager wasn’t as much a commentary on his and his team’s performance as it was a story about lines of authority and autonomy within the hierarchy. Make no mistake. This is an owner-driven operation. If you didn’t recognize that David Blitzer and Josh Harris were calling the shots, then you might have missed the summer trade for PK Subban that was hatched in the owners’ suite. Not that New Jersey was alone on this, as another Eastern Conference team beaten to the punch on No. 76 was also holding talks above the GM level with the Predators, sources reported at the time. There has been previous reporting by CBC’s redoubtable Elliotte Friedman about the “collaborative” process favored by ownership in decision-making. George Steinbrenner once favored a collaborative process, too. Slap Shots has been told New Jersey features an organizational chart in which all lines on the hockey side lead to ownership rather than the general manager and that the influence the analytics department had on ownership was an issue, with VP Tyler Dellow reporting to Blitzer/Harris rather than Shero and with reports from the analytics department awarded prominence in weekly meetings between ownership and the hockey department. continued

I think these back to back games are a lot harder on the 19 than they are on the Wings. Just sayin...... It's a Live Blog!

from Peter Botte of the New York Post, “They’re not easy discussions, but Hank and I also have had good conversations regarding the situation we’re in,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “It’s about players adapting in their careers, and as their careers evolve. “[Lundqvist] is in a situation where he’s obviously not playing the amount he’s played in the past. That doesn’t mean he’s not a really good goalie. We have faith in him. But our organization feels that we’re gonna have three goalies here as of right now, and it’s just kind of the way it’s evolved and the situation we’re in.” The Rangers (23-19-4) have won four of their past five games, with Shesterkin and Georgiev notching two wins apiece, sandwiched around a 5-2 loss Jan. 11 in St. Louis in Lundqvist’s lone appearance between the pipes during that stretch. “It’s a bit of a challenge, for sure. In the end, you want to play. If you’re in this room, you want to play games,” said Lundqvist, who has one year remaining on his contract at a $8.5 million cap hit with no indication he’d be willing to waive his full no-trade clause. “I understand the big picture here, and at the same time, [Georgiev and Shesterkin] are playing well, both of them. I’m trying to focus on the things I can control, and that’s the way I practice and prepare. “It’s important for me not to overthink it too much, and I’m sure it was the same for [Manning] when he went through it. I know I can play well when I get the next opportunity to play and get my chance.” more

Coach Blashill ahead of the game. #FLAvsDET #LGRW pic.twitter.com/0iDHc609z6 — Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 18, 2020

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun at the National Post, - If you were a hockey scout and you’d never seen Tyson Barrie play before this season, what would you tell your team about him? And would you recommend signing him? I’m not sure I would … Leafs are still trying to figure Barrie out. He looked lost playing for Mike Babcock, scored three goals in his first three games under Sheldon Keefe, but has just one goal in 22 games since. - How much will Dougie Hamilton’s broken fibula injury hurt the Carolina Hurricanes? He was having a terrific season.  Carolina is a tight playoff race. Four teams – Canes, Philadelphia, Florida and Columbus – for two spots and two points behind them all … The West could go down to the final weekend. Right now, it’s Arizona and Calgary at 57, Vancouver and Vegas at 56, Edmonton at 55, Winnipeg at 54. It’s hockey’s version of musical chairs. Six teams, five playoff spots, someone will be left standing … And who do you like in the Atlantic – Boston or Tampa Bay? The Lightning are again playing the best hockey in the league. They have a +38 goal differential. Since December 1st, the Lightning are 17-7-1 and the Bruins are 10-13-7. more

Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press answers some fan mail. The first question is regarding the Wings at the trade deadline, Yzerman has said he wants to add more picks to the eight the Wings hold in the 2020 draft, but he may be hard pressed to do so. Mike Green, Trevor Daley and Jimmy Howard are among veterans on expiring contracts, but they’ve all struggled this season. Maybe a contender inquires about Green because he has been successful especially on power plays in the past on good teams, but he isn’t going to yield much in return. Daley is a mobile puck mover but he has struggled to stay healthy the past two seasons. Howard has struggled too much to draw interest. More: Detroit Red Wings' Jeff Blashill: NHL coach firings 'a bit crazy in the league' Forward Andreas Athanasiou scored 30 goals last season, but this season has been dismal — at the time he suffered a lower-body injury Dec. 29, Athanasiou had 5 goals, 14 assists and a minis-35 rating in 36 games. That has tarnished his trade value, and there’s no sense in moving a 25-year-old with his skill set — explosive speed, soft hands — unless the return is something that really boosts the rebuild. He should still draw interest, though. Maybe the Penguins consider him, since they lost Jake Guentzel to shoulder surgery on Dec. 31. more and two more questions...

from Matt Porter of the Boston Globe, At a hockey game today, everything is under review. Look no further than a Bruins game at TD Garden. To capture the on-ice action, NESN has access to 17 cameras, shooting different angles. They’ve got center-ice overheads, wide-angle side views, iso-cams, and ankle cams. There are lenses focused on the stars, the scrubs, the goalies, coaches, and management. If Cam Neely sneezes, it’s probably on film. All this video has seemingly made everyone a little more sincere. If a player dares to skate into the zone a few snowflakes ahead of the puck, the NHL’s video review system will catch him. And anyway, hockey’s an honest game, right? All that free-flowing action makes it hard to cheat. It’s a game of quick thinking, not sign stealing. A playbook isn’t much help when Connor McDavid is racing toward you, or David Pastrnak is lining up a slapper. You can’t deflate solid rubber, and if anyone’s banging on a trash can, it’s an overserved fan. Honest game, right? Not quite. “I played with an illegal stick my entire career,” offered NESN analyst Andy Brickley.... All in all, fairly benign. But here’s the question: Could an NHL team pull off a true cheating scam? read on plus more topics...

from Jack Harris of the LA Times, “There’s this momentum across the league and the hockey industry itself,” said Alicia Chin, an NHL senior manager of social impact and growth. “As demographics of North America are changing, we know that we need to be relevant.” The traditional cold-weather sport has never found much of a foothold in Latin America. In many cities across the U.S. Sun Belt states, it still remains mainly a niche activity. Latino players, such as the Kings’ Alec Martinez and Toronto Maple Leafs All-Star forward Auston Matthews, have always been in the minority on NHL rosters. And unlike football and baseball, French is hockey’s de facto second language, not Spanish. The potential, however, is promising. Teams across the league, especially those in the country’s southern footprint, are envisioning an increasingly diversified future for their sport. more

from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer, There’s no replacing Hamilton, who picked up where he left off last season as an offensive dynamo, not only creating chances for others but finishing them himself, and doing a far more credible job in his own end at the same time. Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce were already shouldering a heavy load as part of the defensive foundation with Hamilton; their nights aren’t going to get any shorter. Slavin played 25:23, third-most this season, in Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks. Pesce played 25:34, second-most for him. That’s the new normal for both in the post-Hamilton reality. The Hurricanes are hoping the way they played isn’t. Hamilton’s absence alone doesn’t excuse a dismal performance against a Western Conference bottom-feeder after Sebastian Aho staked the Hurricanes to the lead in the first four minutes. “That’s a huge part of our team missing,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “But we have a lot of guys in there. I don’t think we were sharp. That was clearly evident.” The Hurricanes were in the market for a top-four capable defenseman before Hamilton went down, but that quest was upgraded from “if possible” to “by all means necessary.” Unfortunately for them, everyone else in the NHL knows it. Whatever the prices they saw before were, they just went up. Fortunately, they have the salary-cap space to do it, and maybe even add a veteran depth guy as well. Ideally sooner rather than later. more

Then... Mickey Redmond tells us so.  

THREE HARD LAPS  * Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded his second double-digit win streak in as many seasons to join elite NHL company and help the Lightning (29-15-4, 62 points) strengthen their grip on second place in the Atlantic Division standings. * Sidney Crosby scored the overtime winner and is averaging two points per game since returning the Pittsburgh lineup earlier this week. * Sam Steel also tallied an overtime goal, with the Ducks and Penguins continuing the trend that 60 minutes is not enough in the NHL.

Final score Pittsburgh 2 Detroit 1 OT An entertaining game to watch and good goaltending from both sides. Crosby wins it in OT on a power play goal from Crosby. Detroit goal and stats below. Next game is tomorrow night with the Wings hosting the Florida Panthers at 7pm ET.

Highlights first, below in one video are Dylan Larkin, Jimmy Howard, Filip Zadina and Jeff Blashill. added 10:53pm, just Blashill below.  

Will the Wings man up, play the game, and respond to the utter humiliation of the debacle on the Island? Pittsburgh is on a three games in four days schedule, tonight being game three, and, the second of a back to back. Normally, this should provide an opportunity for some semblance of a response from the Wings. No one expects miracles, just some kind of effort. Man up..... It's a Live Blog!

RALEIGH, NC - Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton today underwent successful surgery to repair a fractured fibula in his left leg. The procedure was performed by Dr. Kevin Logel at Raleigh Orthopaedic, and Hamilton is out indefinitely. Below watch how the injury occurred.

from Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic, All the bye weeks are scheduled around the 2020 All-Star break – which takes place Jan. 24-25 in St. Louis. Seventeen teams will have their bye weeks going into the All-Star weekend and 14 teams will have their bye weeks coming out of it. Tampa and Anaheim play their final games before the break this Friday (Jan. 17). Most teams have either seven or eight days off. Colorado has the longest stretch without games.... According to Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland, it took the league time to get the bye-week scheduling correct, but he believes the new, revised schedule is “perfect” – because it maximizes the benefits to players and staff, but minimizes the disruption to the NHL regular season schedule. “It’s trial and error,” said Holland. “When we went into those first manager meetings (to discuss how to implement bye weeks), I looked at those Olympic years, when everybody had 10 or 11 days off, and everyone seemed to enjoy a 10-day mid-winter vacation. If you were in the Olympics, you loved being part of the tournament. If you didn’t play, you loved taking a break. But everyone was on a level playing field. “To the credit of the schedule maker and the people at the league, they came up with this idea of, half the league shuts down pre-All Star and half the league shuts down after. So, you continue to have games – because it’s important to have the league on TV on an every-night basis.” much more (paid) on this topic plus other, in-depth topics, take some time and read them all...

from Ryan Patrick Hooper of WDET, The NHL’s “Black Hockey History Tour” will visit 14 cities in total including two stops locally at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History and the Little Caesars Arena for the annual Hockeytown Winterfest. You can find a full schedule of events here. African-Americans have a history with hockey that dates back to the late-19th century with the Coloured Hockey League — an all-black ice hockey league founded in Nova Scotia in 1895. But less than 5% of the NHL is made up of players of color — that’s 43 players out of more than 700 in the league. Three of those players — Givani Smith, Trevor Daley and Madison Bowey — currently play for the Detroit Red Wings. That’s a first in the history of the franchise. “That’s a real milestone for the Red Wings and that organization,” says Kim Davis, the executive vice president of social impact, growth initiatives and legislative affairs at the NHL. more

NY Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren has been fined $2,486.56, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for Interference on NY Islanders’ Jordan Eberle. — NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) January 17, 2020   Watch the play below.

from Jared Clinton of The Hockey News, in a year that has been among the most coach-unfriendly in NHL history, here are five candidates to be next in the firing line: Jeff Blashill, Detroit Red Wings Blashill has the remainder of this season and the entirety of next on his contract, but it’s almost impossible to imagine a scenario in which he’s back behind Detroit’s bench to finish out his pact. The truth is that there’s not much about this season that is solely Blashill’s fault. His roster is among the worst in the league, the Red Wings lack depth at all positions, the veteran players they do possess are on the back-nine of their respective careers…the list goes on. Those are all the failings of past management, areas that current GM Steve Yzerman has been tasked with addressing. That said, it’s impossible to believe any coach, particularly one who’s not a first-year bench boss with the organization, is going to be able to survive a season that has been this abysmal. The Red Wings are on pace for the lowest point total of any team in an 82-game season in the post-lockout era. Detroit only recently scored its 100th goal of the season. The Red Wings have a minus-81 goal differential. If we wanted to keep piling on here, we definitely could. Let’s just leave it at this: Blashill appears to be a sitting duck and it’ll be legitimately surprising if he’s coaching the Red Wings next season. four more coaches...

from Frank Seravalli of TSN, Welcome back for another edition of the Friday Five, where we point out quirks, quips and questions that pop up throughout the week in the NHL season. Should NHL veterans be given an All-Star waiver? The NHL has a little bit of an attendance problem when it comes to All-Star weekend.  opted for rest and bailed for a second year in a row. This time, goaltender  and  joined him. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly admitted in a recent podcast with colleague Pierre LeBrun that their absences are “concerning.” So that got us thinking: Should the NHL have some sort of length of service waiver? For example: Ovechkin has attended seven previous All-Star weekends. How many should he have to attend before he is free and clear to take off without penalty? It doesn’t make sense to continue to penalize fans – let alone impact the competitiveness of a regular-season game – to have a star like Ovechkin sit out for one game before or after the All-Star break just because he’d like to rest when he’s been a mostly faithful servant. Before 2019, Ovechkin only missed twice in his career, once for injury (2016) and once because he was suspended (2012). The idea of a waiver is at least up for consideration. “I don’t know what we will do yet, if anything,” Daly said via email Friday. “No need to rush any decisions. We have time.” more plus 4 other topics...

NEW YORK (January 17, 2020) -- Nashville Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson has been fined $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment), the National Hockey League announced today. Arvidsson was issued a Warning following an incident flagged by NHL Hockey Operations during NHL Game No. 586 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 27. His second Citation, which triggered the $2,000 fine, was issued for an incident at 0:14 of the first period during NHL Game No. 671 against the Boston Bruins on Jan. 7. Arvidsson (embellishment) and Bruins forward Brad Marchand (cross-checking) received coincidental minor penalties on the play. I believe the incident is in the video below.

Trevory Daley first, Jeff Blashill below.   "They're going to get their chances, we just have to do a good job of limiting them to the outside and try not to give them those grade-A's." Trevor Daley | #PITvsDET pic.twitter.com/TPj2isz8fq — Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 17, 2020

Portland, Ore. / New York (January 17, 2020) — adidas, the NHL® and the Los Angeles Kings® today introduced the special-edition ADIZERO Authentic Pro NHL® jersey specifically designed for the 2020 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series™ outdoor game. adidas journeys ahead of time with a sleek, futuristic design, which pulls inspiration from the Air Force Academy’s angular architecture and aircraft.

Sportsnet style.  

Jimmy Howard first goalie off the ice at optional skate, so he’s staring tonight for #RedWings against @penguins at @LCArena_Detroit Calvin Pickard backing up. — Ansar Khan (@AnsarKhanMLive) January 17, 2020

Dylan Larkin befriended a 14-year-old cancer survivor named Michael this summer at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He invited Michael to Red Wings practice for a first-class experience.pic.twitter.com/UXxXmJ2yAq — Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 17, 2020

from Terry Jones of the Edmonton Sun, When it comes to the trade deadline, Ken Holland has a philosophy. “When your team plays at a high level to put themselves in a position to get into the playoffs, as the general manager I want to help out. “I like to make a move that sends a message to your team, a message that says ‘You guys have played great to get us to this point, I’m going to try to help out.’ ” In a one-on-one interview with your correspondent Thursday, Holland revealed his intent to be a player at the trade deadline if his hockey club keeps itself in position to warrant it. Having taken over the job as Edmonton Oilers GM with the team in salary cap jail, all Holland could do was sign a bunch of low dollar one-year deals with veteran European and North American players, hoping a few of them would help build a bridge to next year. continued

from Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Breaking: Peter DeBoer didn’t wear a red nose and big floppy shoes in his debut as coach of the Golden Knights on Thursday. But you can bet there exists a majority of fans who would have thought it a good look. They certainly will be content with first impressions, the Knights having snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Ottawa Senators 4-2 at Canadian Tire Centre. But the part about welcoming a guy with open arms from the most passionate (obsessed?) followers of the Knights will take time, DeBoer having last directed the NHL team that Las Vegas has come to loathe before he was fired by the San Jose Sharks in December. It was more surreal than anything else, seeing DeBoer wearing a Knights sweatsuit and hat when addressing the media a day after he replaced the fired Gerard Gallant. continued from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun,

Can this city truly embrace a Bruins’ team that can’t beat its opponent to a pulp if all else fails? Well, my guess is if this team had buried any of the 8-10 quality scoring chances that the Big, Bad Blues allowed in the first period of Game 7 last June, the parade would have been just as big as it was in 2011. Taking a pound of flesh while winning feels great, and it’s a nice balm for your fans when you lose. But playing a granite-fisted style doesn’t isn’t an option for this team right now. It’s best the B’s try and win on skill and talent and work ethic. And, by the trade deadline, go out and get some more. -Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald where you can read more on the Bruins.

THREE HARD LAPS * Alex Ovechkin scored his 25th career regular-season hat trick to tie Cy Denneny for the ninth-most in League history and reach the 30-goal mark for the 15th time in as many campaigns. Hat tricks wasn’t the only all-time list Ovechkin climbed on Thursday, as outlined below. * Several of Ovechkin’s countrymen also shined Thursday, including Capitals rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov.  * The Bruins kept pace with the League-leading Capitals in the NHL standings, thanks in part to a Boston veteran recording his 11th career 20-goal season.

from Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post, It was the first word out of David Quinn’s mouth after the game, and the Rangers coach hardly needed to say more about his team’s effort. “Ballsy,” Quinn said after a power-play goal from Chris Kreider with 24.6 seconds left in regulation gave his team a second straight win over the Islanders, this one 3-2 on Thursday night at a raucous Coliseum. “Just a real gutsy effort by our guys.” This was quite a bit different than the 6-2 shellacking the Rangers (23-19-4) put on the Islanders (28-14-4) on Monday night at the Garden. That was an offensive whirlwind led by Artemi Panarin, and this was a physical and mental grind that gave the Blueshirts their fourth win in the past five games since coming back from western Canada. It also felt like a rivalry game, played to the soundtrack of alternating chants from the split crowd of 13,917. And it turned when old buddy Derick Brassard got called for cross-check when he upended Jesper Fast with 54 seconds left in regulation, setting up Kreider’s game winner on a rebound. continued Watch the game highlights below.

Hopefully not as bad as it looked.  

The TSN Hockey Insiders discuss why Jake Virtanen wasn't suspended by the NHL for his elbow on Jets forward Mathieu Perreault, the fallout of Matthew Tkachuk and Zack Kassian's feud, the latest on Dion Phaneuf, the Oilers and Flames' search for a top six forward, and more. Watch at TSN.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive, Coaches generally bear the brunt of the blame in bad times, so it’s no surprise many fans are calling for Jeff Blashill’s ouster with the Detroit Red Wings on pace for their worst season in 34 years. Media has speculated whether he might be replaced by former Red Wing Gerard Gallant, who on Wednesday became the seventh coach fired this season when Vegas replaced him with Peter DeBoer. Blashill is blocking it out and continuing to search for solutions to improve this team. “I learned right away, in this league especially, not to pay any attention -- especially when it’s not going well, to any of that stuff,” Blashill said. “Certainly, I appreciate the passion of our fanbase 100 percent. I think our fanbase overall has an idea of where we’re at in the building process, more so than when I probably first got the job. I think they understand if you have a salary cap and a draft, then the nature of pro sports is cyclical, and they understand where we’re at in the cycle.” continued from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News, Replacing Blashill with former Wings’ player and Yzerman teammate, Gerard Gallant, who was fired Wednesday as Vegas’ coach, is a popular notion right now. But Larkin, who has had no other NHL coach other than Blashill, fully backed Blashill after Thursday’s practice and highlighted Blashill's strengths. “We’ve grown together in this league and I have a lot of respect for him,” Larkin said. “He’s a great guy, a great dad, and great coach and he’s well respected in the room. “He’s my coach, and I’m his player, and that’s about as far as it goes.” more

from Gabe Conte of GQ, Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks prefers to do things his way. On the ice, he excels as a hybrid, elite-level defenseman and point-scorer. Off the ice, his diet is hyper-specific: When he eats meat, he likes it from his own ranch that he and his family maintain in Texas. Burns says he feels healthier when consuming leaner and fresher game, and enjoys the oversight he has over the process of preparing his own meals, a luxury he doesn’t get on the road. Many professional athletes find and maintain unusual (and expensive) hobbies, but when Burns gets going about how he populated his land with game including white-tailed deer, antelope, and wildebeest—yes, wildebeest—it becomes clear this is more than a hobby. Burns hunts and farms his own food because, he says, he has a genuine love for nature and wildlife. It took a while to find the right plot of land—roughly two years, in fact—but Texas was always going to be the spot, given that Burns’s wife is from there. “We wanted to get a place where we can go to when everything’s said and done,” he says. “We finally found this place where there was enough space for what we wanted to do. I’m a huge animal lover, and I’ve been collecting all types for a while. I just love them, and I wanted animals to be a part of my kids' lives too.” continued

"I'm not surprised to the honest...player safety my ass. This is literally an elbow to the face to a guy that didn't have the puck. "I see him coming, I brace for a hit, it was a late hit, I never had the puck and he puts an elbow to my face and they're not going to do anything about it. Now I’ve got to take matters into my own hands. Next time this happens and I get to swing my stick across his forehead and I shouldn’t get suspended then." - Mathieu Perreault of the Winnipeg Jets on no action from Player Safety on an elbow from Jake Vitranen.  TSN has more (video is geo-blocked) or watch the incident below.

from Greg Wyshynski of ESPN, In full disclosure, I love Pests. The first jersey I ever owned had Claude Lemieux's name on the back. As a Devils fan, I secretly loved that Sean Avery stick wave in front of Martin Brodeur that necessitated the NHL to change its rulebook on the fly to cover his antics. No, I can't condone the knees and spears and slew foots and other injurious cheap shots doled out by decades of miscreants like Bryan Marchment. But, if I'm being honest, I'm sometimes in awe of that level of depravity. Is Matthew Tkachuk the NHL's best agitator? He has many of the essential traits of the NHL Pest. And here they are: Know your role The Pest is a role, no different than a penalty killer or a backup goalie, only with more trash and insults thrown at you from the stands. The role entails disruption, agitation and disturbance, by any means necessary. The role asks for brutality, intimidation and mockery. If performed correctly, the Pest is a vital role, because it changes the dynamic of a game, either through becoming a magnet for ire or, from a tactical standpoint, the removal of another team's player from the ice. more

via NHL.com, Tuukka Rask was placed on injured reserve by the Boston Bruins on Thursday The goalie left Boston's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday because of a concussion. The injury came when he was elbowed in the head by Blue Jackets forward Emil Bemstrom, who was skating by the crease and was cross-checked into Rask by Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo. "He's concussed. He got elbowed in the head," coach Bruce Cassidy said after the 3-0 loss. Bemstrom said the contact was accidental. "It's not my purpose for that at all," Bemstrom said. "I tried to come back and backcheck. I got a little cross-check in my side and that probably turned my skate a little bit. It wasn't on purpose, of course." Watch the incident below.

Almost five minutes long.  

NEW YORK (Jan. 16, 2020) – The National Hockey League (NHL®) and GRAMMY Award-winning rock band Green Day will build on its multiyear partnership with the band’s headlining performance at the 2020 Honda NHL® All-Star Game on Saturday, Jan. 25, in St. Louis. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees will perform outside Enterprise Center shortly before they take the stage inside during the second intermission presented by Ticketmaster. The performance will be televised as part of the live All-Star Game broadcast on NBC in the U.S. and on CBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT.

via Ansar Khan tweet, lines at practice: Bertuzzi-Larkin-Fabbri Glendening-Filppula-Zadina Erne-Nielsen-Helm Abdelkader-Ehn-Smith Perlini D-pairs: Nemeth-Green Daley-Hronek Biega/Ericsson-Bowey In goal: Howard Pickard

They will be facing the LA Kings on February 15th at Falcon Stadium, U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO.   NHL announces the #Avs Stadium Series sweater goes on sale Jan. 20: pic.twitter.com/n3LKBiiuss — Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) January 16, 2020

Here in the Western Hockey League, the holiday season is synonymous with the World Junior Championship. It’s the Stanley Cup of junior and college hockey. Flash forward to January 6 and the hangover from non-stop tournament hockey hit like a ton of bricks.The cure? The NHL Central Scouting Midterm Draft Rankings and the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. Fifty-one WHL players are ranked and 14 of those will play in the game.

from Max Bultman of The Athletic, Not many specifics of his injury had been publicly revealed, but Rasmussen said Tuesday he had been dealing with a back injury. He didn’t want to go into much detail, but said it was “just a nagging thing” that he’s over now. “It was tough,” he said of sitting out. “Definitely never want to be out, never want to be out that long. But (I) wasn’t feeling right, so just had to get better, get healthy and just excited to be back.” Rasmussen can’t get that time back, and at this young age (he is 20), it’s a tough point in his career to be losing two months of a season. But fortunately for both him and the Red Wings, the 2017 first-round draft pick does still have time to make the most of the remainder of his second professional hockey campaign. Prior to his injury, Rasmussen had jumped out of the gate in Grand Rapids with nine points in 10 games, including five in his first three. That was eye-catching after Rasmussen had faced a whole new level of challenges last season as a 19 year old in the NHL, where he played largely because the franchise felt he wouldn’t learn as much by going back to the WHL, which he had already dominated. more (paid subscription)