- Matt Pepin of the Boston Globe: Sunday’s schedule:
4:30 p.m.: Washington Capitals at New York Rangers Game 6
7 p.m.: New York Islanders at Pittsburgh Penguins, Game 7-x
7:30 p.m.: Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs, Game 6
10 p.m.: Detroit Red Wings at Anaheim Ducks, Game 7-x
- Eric Stephens: “If Ducks win Sunday, it’s ANA-LA and SJ-CHI. If DET wins, it plays CHI and SJ faces LA.”
- Adam Kimelman of NHL.com: Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and John Tavares were named as candidates for the Hart Trophy.
- John Shannon: Sounding like there is progress being made between the IIHF, NHL, NHLPA regarding the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The major issues remaining appear to be “logistics in Sochi and cost of travel and insurance and who pays.” If/when an agreement is reached, the NHL will be shut down from February 8th to February 25th, 2014.
- Arthur Staple of Newsday: Islanders Frans Neilsen left Game 5 against the Penguins in the 3rd period and his status for Game 6 is unknown.
- Allen Panzeri of the Ottawa Citizen: Sounds like there is a chance that Jason Spezzawill get back into the Senators lineup for round two. He’s been skating with the black aces/reserves.
“I think that over the weekend, probably, he’ll continue to work hard and we’ll see then.
“It’ll then be up to Jason and (coach) Paul (MacLean) to decide if he’s going to practise with the team or take a little longer.
“But there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
- Colorado Avalanche: The Avalanche did some management restructuring. Josh Kroenke will be the teams president, replacing Pierre Lacroix, who will stay on as an advisor. Joe Sakic will be their Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations and Greg Shermanwill remain as the general manager.
“Greg Sherman will work with Joe in managing the day-to-day business operations of the team as General Manager,” added Kroenke. “I know he is just as optimistic as Joe and I are about the future of our team.”
- Mike Chambers of the Denver Post: Coyotes coach Dave Tippett’s contract expires on June 30th and would be a home run hire by the Avalanche if they get the opportunity to talk to him. The uncertainty of the ownership situation has left the Coyotes coaching staff and general manager in limbo as they would all like to know where the team may be located before signing deals.
- Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette: Michael Ryder will be one of the Canadiens top free agents heading into the offseason, but they may not be willing to match the money or term that others may offer. Colby Armstrong and Jeff Halpren will be UFAs. Halpren may be worth bringing back. RFAs include: Michael Blunden, Ryan White, Petteri Nokelainen and Gabriel Dumont.
