Congratulations to the Florida Panthers for winning a game in — GASP! — regulation last night. Sergei Bobrovsky continued to bolster his Conn Smythe resume with his first shutout of the playoffs, meaning the one goal the Panthers scored was enough to take a 3-0 lead in their series. They can finish a sweep on Thursday night. Tonight Golden Knights can grab their own 3-0 series lead in Dallas.
- If you didn’t hear yesterday afternoon, the Blackhawks have changed their plans for their prospect development camp this summer. There will not be on-ice time for the new players and some previously drafted skaters, which kinda sorta stinks because I think most of the hockey world wanted to see Connor Bedard in Chicago. He’ll still be in town for a week, but just won’t be doing anything on the ice.
- Big news out of Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon. Well, from insider Darren Dreger, who reported the Penguins have asked for and received permission to speak with Kyle Dubas about their general manager vacancy. Dubas was relieved of his duties in Toronto last week and had indicated he would prefer to take a year off, but that same press conference apparently led to his dismissal. So we’ll keep an eye on this one.
- Speaking of general manager searches, Pierre LeBrun at The Athletic shared a lengthy look at the Maple Leafs’ approach to replacing Dubas. He mentions former Flames’ GM Brad Treliving, Jason Botterill and Marc Bergevin as experienced general managers who could be on Brendan Shanahan’s list. But the name that got my attention was St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong. His name has been floating early in the summer, and that would be an interesting move for Armstrong and open a hole in the front office for the Blues.
- A new general manager in Calgary? What about their head coaching vacancy? After a disappointing season, the Flames moved on from the guys they had in both roles but they’ve reportedly found their new GM.
- Two championship trophies, just hanging out and seeing the people. Will both of these trophies find themselves spending time in south Florida in the coming weeks? We’ve got a chance for both the Heat and Panthers to be in their respective championship series soon. That would make for some more potentially fun content. And beach shots. Give me all the pics from the beach!
- How about we revisit the Hartford Whaler? A report out of Hartford says the governor of Connecticut is meeting with NHL executives this week to discuss the possibility of bringing NHL hockey back to the city. I’m all for it, though the Carolina Hurricanes would need to give them their branding back. Brass Bonanza all day, baby! But… that would mean the NHL would have to revisit realignment again, too.
- Finally, I’m absolutely 100 percent here for players praising teammates on social media. LOVE IT.