Morning Skate: Carey Price is back to being himself, giving Habs confidence

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Nashville - Here are all the links from around the hockey world, and what I’m reading because the Patriots aren't on any TVs here in Nashville. Damn.

*You think you’ve had a tough day? At least you didn’t score on your own goal, then have Nazem Kadri laughing at you right to your face. Ouch, Kris Russell.

*Steve Simmons says that part of the trick in the NHL today is to find an “A” defenseman to build your team around, and that maybe Morgan Rielly is an A- defenseman that can be at the level of, say, a PK Subban. I’ve seen Rielly, and all due respect but he’s not that guy. I don’t think the Toronto Maple Leafs currently have that guy within their ranks, and that is part of the issue with an up-and-coming Maple Leafs club. Simmons also references the aging Zdeno Chara no longer being an “A” guy in Boston, but he isn’t going to need to be much longer with Charlie McAvoy continuing to look polished and poised beyond his years, and absolutely “A” defenseman material, as a rookie.

*Nathan MacKinnon has really turned it on with the Colorado Avalanche ever since the Matt Duchene trade, and continues to reclaim his game with that powerful skating stride.  

*Connor McDavid and Mike Smith are friends when they work out together in Toronto in the offseason, but they’re enemies during the War of Alberta.

*Interesting news from Pro Hockey Talk out of the KHL where Mike Keenan is out with the Kunlun Red Star as head coach/GM, and former Bruins player Bobby Carpenter has replaced him behind the bench on an interim basis.  

*Viktor Arvidsson delivering the engagement ring for a proposal right after a Nashville Predators game is unquestionably the video clip of the day

*Carey Price has played stellar hockey since coming back from his absence, and it’s allowing the Habs to play with confidence.

*For something completely different: Rolling Stone’s 50 best albums of 2017 just makes me feel really, really, really old.

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