I've been computer-free for the better part of 12 days and I've been really looking forward to these ramblings. But it hasn't been easy! After a week in Cuba (okay, that part was easy), I was hit with 'Traveller's Flu' on Thursday, the day we checked out. I've never experienced anything like this. I remember getting the Norwalk virus, but that was for 24 hours. As I type this, it's closing in on 96 hours of hugging toilets! But Sunday I found that sitting up was doable, so here I am with the ol' lap top. Enough bellyaching. Moving on.

Pun intended.

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NBC noted during the game yesterday that Marcus Kruger led the league in games played since the start of last season (170, including Olympics). Very impressive when you consider that the games were crammed in after January 19 last year.

Chicago had this Jonathan Toews goal called back. It was the right call, but did it look like the play was reviewed? Goalie interference is not reviewable. It looked like a momentum changer when the Kings really turned it on (and scored), but the Blackhawks put the kibosh on that pretty quickly.

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I'm finding the words aren't pouring out of me as they usually do. Mind's a little cloudy I guess. I promise to bounce back Wednesday. This thing can't last 144 hours, can it?

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So Carey Price injured his knee Saturday, as you know, when Chris Kreider went in hard at the net. The Habs were making a game of it and the lopsided final score by no means reflected how the game would have gone had that not happened. I have the Rangers winning the series, but man will it ever end quickly if Price is out long-term. Right now, the team isn't admitting a thing about his knee, but frankly I don't think we'll see him for the next couple of games. And if we do, it wouldn't be the 'real' Price. He skated for a couple of minutes in practice Sunday, but looked pretty tentative getting off the ice.

You could look at the Rick Nash goal Saturday in one of two ways. Either he got the monkey off his back and the goals will find the zone. Or he scored a meaningless seventh goal and he's probably still snakebitten. Which side of the fence do you fall on?

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From a fantasy standpoint, Patrick Maroon showed a lot of promise for next season. He was shut out the last four games of the LA series (with reduced ice time, which is not so good), but prior to that he managed 38 PIM and seven points in nine games. I think he could be a 40/150 (points/PIM) guy next campaign.

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One of Columbus' top prospects, Alexander Wennberg, has signed a three-year ELC with the club. He's ranked 13^th on the Fantasy Prospects List – a list that I did not update for May, for obvious reasons. Wennberg won't be on the team next season. He'll get a look, but they're not rushing him.

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My thoughts on the Ray Shero firing – first of all, I think Dan Bylsma will be fired too. No sense in doing that now in the off chance that the next GM prefers him as the coach. Second, I think the new GM will want to make his mark. What could Shero have done? He managed to keep Malkin and Crosby long term, and managed to give them decent linemates in the cap era. So would the new GM trade Malkin? Letang? Another big name? I think there will be something big, several months after the new GM is announced.

But Bylsma will be fired. He lost the team and there are too many good coaching options out there now.

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Speaking of coaches who should be fired, this one almost slipped by me as it was announced just after I landed in Cuba. Randy Carlyle signed a two-year extension? Why? I respect him as a coach, like Bylsma. But he's not the right coach for this team (like Bylsma). So maybe it's a statement that the Leafs are making some big moves in the summer in an effort to make this more of a Carlyle team.

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I think pretty three-on-one goals are my favorite