Here are all the links from around the hockey world, and what I’m reading while really needing to see the Shape of Water at this point.
-- Taylor Hall is firmly in the Hart Trophy conversation, and so is Nathan MacKinnon. It’s too bad that Patrice Bergeron no longer will be now that he’s shelved with the fractured right foot, but those are the breaks sometimes. It’s clear other players are stepping up as their teams battle for playoff position.
-- I think Brian McGrattan might legitimately be the scariest dude the Bruins have ever had in their NHL dressing room since I’ve been covering the team. He obviously didn’t catch on with the B’s, as they had Shawn Thornton at the time, but it’s good to hear that he’s caught on in a player development role with the Calgary Flames after retiring following a stint playing hockey in England.
-- Good on alum Shayne Gostisbehere meeting with the Stoneman Douglas hockey team during a recent Flyers trip through the Sunshine State. It’s a small gesture, but certainly one that will be meaningful for those kids.
-- Reading into what Bob Nicholson has planned for the Edmonton Oilers, and how it did not include Ryan Nugent-Hopkins getting traded. So maybe get off of that, okay?
-- Mike Babcock bluntly explains the difference between the Sabres and Maple Leafs, and why “tanking” is an oversimplification for what Toronto did while getting Auston Matthews.
-- For something completely different: It’s hard to believe that the wonderful John Candy has been gone for 24 years. Here his kids remember him and what it was like to grow up with him as their father.