-- Above, San Jose’s Brenden Dillon and Nashville’s Austin Watson exchange penalty box pleasantries following a scrap.
Here’s the transcript:
Dillon: Hey Wats... we gotta work on our cardio this summer, huh?
Watson: I’m dyin’ after like 10 seconds, man.
Dillon: Jesus.
Watson: I’ll come see Joey, we’ll mix it in.
Dillon: Joey doesn’t know cardio.
Watson: I know, that’s why I’m gonna come see him.
Dillon: Ah, I like it.
Watson: Good luck the rest of the year, bud.
Dillon: Thanks, you too buddy.
“Joey” is Watson’s teammate, Preds center Ryan Johansen. Johansen and Dillon are British Columbia natives and co-host a charity summer golf event in Whistler each summer. To the best of our knowledge, the tournament does not include cardio.
-- On Feb. 3, the Lightning lost 5-2 to Ottawa, dropping them to 22-24-6 and seemingly out of playoff contention. Then, GM Steve Yzerman had a fire sale and traded away Ben Bishop, Valtteri Filppula and Brian Boyle, further suggesting the postseason dream was dead.
But after last night’s OT win over Ottawa, the Bolts are now 12-2-3 since that aforementioned loss on Feb. 3. They’re right back in the playoff picture and, what’s more, there’s a “light at the end of the tunnel” for injured captain Steve Stamkos, who’s missed the last four months following knee surgery.
-- Chicago goalie Corey Crawford was hit in the head with a Shea Weber slapshot during last night’s game against the Habs. The Tribune’s Chris Hine wonders if NHL concussion protocol failed Crawford by not removing him from the contest.
-- Vancouver won’t make the playoffs, so GM Jim Benning has a new goal in mind, and that’s to see how well his young prospects fare at the NHL level. But will head coach Willie Desjardins, who’s notoriously and fiercely loyal to certain vets, get on board?
“I talk to Willie on a day-to-day basis and we talk about that,” Benning said, per The Province. “Up to this point, his focus was to try and compete hard every night and win enough games to challenge for one of those last playoff spots.
“Now that reality has set in, he’s going to be on-board with getting our young kids more ice time.”