In Red Wings Land

Detroit Red Wings on hot-mic ref: For most part, officials do really good job – Freep

“There’s zero doubt in my mind that we’ve got a great group of officials who ref this game with integrity,” Blashill said. “It means tons to them. I’ve had heated conversations with different refs at different times, and one thing I know for certain, is that they care about doing a great job. It’s their livelihood.”

There’s just quotes from Gagner and Blashill in there, but if you asked them all on the record to speak about the nature of the folks who will continue having ultimate authority over the games they’re playing in, you’re not going to get different answers.  I hope at some point somebody gets a general off-the-record poll going to get the players’ real feelings, but if they know they’re being named directly and especially if they’re one of the two teams at the center of the controversy, this is what you’re getting.

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Peter asked me to share that there won’t be a regularly-scheduled expansion draft article this week due to a loss in the family. Our hearts go out to he and his wife at this time.

Around the NHL

Canadian government expected to shorten quarantine for NHL players ahead of trade deadline – CBC

The seven-day mandate cuts in half the current quarantine requirement of 14 days, lessening an impediment to teams trading players across the Canada-U.S. border. The seven Canadian teams have been playing exclusively among themselves this season to prevent cross-border issues because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paving the way for the Glendening to Edmonton deal we’ve been waiting for.