from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, - Mike Babcock’s next job should be university professor: He could teach revisionist history. Babcock peddled a bunch of truths and half-truths to TSN’s Pierre Lebrun in an exclusive interview the other day. If this was written as a book, it would have to be termed fiction instead of non-fiction. And, really, Babcock has to give up on the ‘I’m a mental health advocate’ platform when there would be a long list of former players who would gladly disagree with that claim. The Marner family was so upset about Babcock’s treatment of Mitch — and aren’t happy with Babcock peddling the all-is-well mantra — that, if you go back, Marner’s father refused to go on the dad’s trip one season with the Leafs. The reason: He didn’t want a thing to do with the coach. And that kind of behaviour is pretty rare. - I don’t mind hockey statistics, as overrated as many of them are, but I do mind people who can’t talk about the game without referencing some inane or irrelevant stat. - Detroit sports: the Lions stink; the Red Wings stink; the Pistons stink; the Tigers stink. more

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.

Corey Perry fera ses débuts avec les Canadiens de Montréal ce soir. L’attaquant de 35 ans a été rappelé de l’escouade de réserve afin d’être …