The Sabres have elected to keep Ron Rolston on as their head coach for next season. Not going for an established coach indicates to me that they are indeed going ‘rebuild’, and that the unproven coach can grow as the team grows.

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My thoughts on the Calder finalists – I think the right picks were made. Granted, Alex Galchenyuk and Nail Yakupov had the best final two weeks. And Vladimir Tarasenko and Cory Conacher had the best initial two weeks. But the trio of Gallagher, Saad and Huberdeau were consistent throughout. And while the best rookie this season – Jonas Brodin – was to me the absolute best freshman on any team, he didn’t have the flashy stats to warrant a Top 3 nomination.

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You know what is starting to get on my nerves? The whole ‘suspension’ thing. Not the NHL and the inconsistency there because – newsflash: that’s not ever going to change, situations are perceived differently by different personalities. No, what I’m referring to is the reaction from vocal fans and media. Every hit, somebody’s whining about a suspension. An elbow goes up a little? Suspension. A player smells funny? Suspension. Just stop. Watch the F’n game. Just like you used to watch it 10 years ago.

The Wheel of Justice? This player got X games, so this player who did a similar thing should also get X games? Yeah, stop that. Take the word “suspension” out of your rant, and insert the words “sit in timeout” and you sound exactly like my conversation with my four-year-old and my two-year-old when they’re fighting. “But he got this…” and “Hey, no fair…” Who. Cares. Injustice and bad calls in sports happen all the time. What you see as a suspension, your neighbor sees as a clean hit. Don’t stress out about it, just sip on your beer and watch the game.

And I’m as guilty of it as anybody – and I’ve been focused on stopping. I see a massive hit in a hockey game, I don’t want my first thought to be – will he have a phone call from the NHL tomorrow? But that’s what pops in my head right away. And I hate it. I don’t want it to be like that anymore. So I’m going to focus. I’m going to watch hockey and when elbows go up, or big hits are thrown, I’ll just nod, sip on my beer, and keep watching and enjoying the game. Who’s with me?

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Tuukka Rask stole one for the Bruins. He made 45 saves on 47 shots and on the second goal it was a defensive breakdown that caused it – and he still bailed his teammate out twice before finally Kessel stuffed it home. It’s the reason why Rask had been the top prospect goaltender prior to making the jump. The Leafs are toast if he’s found his zone.

The Bruins were winning draws left, right and center. The linesman seem to have caught onto to Tyler Bozak‘s faceoff move and implemented a zero-tolerance policy. The slightest cheat and he was sent out of the circle. So when he stayed in, he lost the draw.

Speaking of which, I’ve had enough of linesmen making themselves the star of the show. Drop the puck please. You can be replaced by a tube that slides down from the ceiling. Drop the puck.

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Cody Franson led both teams in shots on goal with seven (tied with JVR). He had just one shot combined in Games 1 and 2. He also led the Leafs in ice time (24:43).

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Not sure why David Krejci was second star of the game. Jagr was the best skater for the Bruins, and Lucic a close second. Krejci earned two of his three points thanks to Lucic, who was like a freight train at times. Jagr had just one assist to show for it, but was dangerous all game and you will see him on his new line in Game 4 I’m sure. He clicked well with Peverley and Kelly.

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My column for The Hockey News yesterday took a close look at Pascal Dupuis, who is an unrestricted free agent in the summer – how do you play it? Buy? Sell? It’s all here.

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The minute John Tortorella recognized Derek Stepan as their No.1 center over Brad Richards and played him accordingly, the Rangers became the team we expected them to. He’s played 73 minutes over three games now.

With the three-point game last night, Derick Brassard has 14 points in 16 games as a Ranger. So glad I traded him three hours before the Blue Jackets traded him. Man. But who saw that coming? I had no idea he was on the block. Brassard also recorded five hits.

Mats Zuccarello has eight points in his last 10 games. Sleeper for next year, no question.

Marc Staal played 17:17 in his return to the lineup from that brutal eye injury he suffered.

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Dave Bolland and Ray Emery will not be ready to return to action tonight for the Blackhawks, but both are looking pretty good for Game 5.

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Jets’ prospect Mark Scheifele is still going. Barrie moved onto the OHL Final against the Knights. Scheifele had four points in three games last week to earn OHL player of the week honors. We have him fully profiled right here. Edit: Scheifele had five points last night in a 6-3 win! (s/t to Jimmy Taktikos via Twitter)

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Justin Abdelkader was suspended for his hit on Toni Lydman. So he was out, Mikael Samuelsson (finally) draws in. Here is the hit that got the suspension:

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Jason Pominville was back in practice for the Wild, but is still questionable. The team also added to their Black Aces, calling up Mikael Granlund and Matt Dumba.

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Matt Beleskey has five points in his last six games.

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Although Vladimir Tarasenko was back in the lineup for St. Louis, he had just 5:51 of ice time. Were it not for two shifts in the last seven minutes – immediately after the Kings took the lead – Tarasenko would have been under five minutes.

The line on Vladimir Sobotka – two assists, plus-2, with 10 hits. One thing’s for sure – the loss wasn’t his fault.

By comparison, David Perron was minus-3 with an assist and zero hits.

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Detroit scored three times and their players tallied six assists. Of those nine points, six were earned by first-year players. Smith and Andersson had two points each. Brunner scored the OT winner – with Nyquist earning an assist.

Brunner’s OT winner: