Top Line: Hurricanes to fire Kirk Muller?; Subban's best; more links
Kirk Muller, who became Carolina's head coach in November 2011, may be on his way out soon. (Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:
• Larry Brooks covers a lot of ground in this week's Sunday column, including his disdain for fans who rip Martin Brodeur for sticking around too long, a familiar name who could replace Mike Gillis in Vancouver, and an inevitable coaching change in Carolina.
• Here's one more reason to love P.K. Subban. Or, for some of you, one reason to love P.K. Subban.
• Kevin Allen bravely takes on the fool's errand of predicting the wild card races in the wake of last night's whiplash-inducing action.
• It's a good thing the Leafs chose not to give fans the sweaters off their backs at their home finale. Otherwise this might have happened on a night when the crowd was more venomous than ever.
• Is Evander Kaneon the outs with the Jets? After he was listed as a healthy scratch for last night's game, there's obviously a bridge that needs to be repaired...or burned to the ground.
• How much does Ondrej Pavelec want to be part of turning things around in Winnipeg next year? I'd guess "not very."
• Bruce Garrioch considers the price to be paid in Vancouver, a player headed for a big payday, and a surprising coach on the hot seat in this week's Sunday column.
• What a beauty this was by Zac Rinaldo.
• Tough to criticize the Tyler Seguin trade on a day when Reilly Smith wins the Seventh Player Award and Loui Eriksson chips in four assists to help the Bruins clinch top spot in the Eastern Conference.
• Mike Heika explains how the Dallas Stars can learn an important lesson from Nikola Tesla. Because that's what Heika does.
• The Wild invited J.P. Parise on a personal father-son trip with the team last week. Turns out things have changed a bit for NHL players since J.P. played in the league back in the day.
• Bobby Orr. Gordie Howe. Mario Lemieux. Wayne Gretzky. Dave Andreychuk. We now live in a world where the illustrious hockey achievements of each of these men have been immortalized in bronze. It's not just me, right? This is a pretty lousy statue, isn't it?
• A change to the NHL's lottery system? Don't count on it, says one GM who is likely to be affected.
• The Penguins appear to be headed for a playoff date with either the Red Wings or the Blue Jackets. Dave Molinari takes a look at the match-ups and decides one team is a lot scarier than the other.
• Everyone's having fun in New Jersey after a Saturday win that pulled them to within one point of a playoff berth.
• Sitting ninth in the scoring race while setting a slew of personal bests, Taylor Hallis having his best season while the Oilers are having their worst. I really like the way the kid has responded to the Olympic snub, using it to focus his intensity and effort. He should play a huge role at the world championships.
• Tal Pinchevsky does a terrific job capturing the intrigue that led to the fall of hockey's iron curtain. Might want to freshen up the coffee before you dig into this one, but it's well worth the time.
• Patrick Roy called David Backesgutless for jumping Nathan Mackinnon. Can't argue there. No problem here with the "if you go after ours, we'll go after yours" philosophy, but you don't send Backes after an 18-year-old. That's just sorry.
• The guys at HockeyFights.com say the silliness between the Blues and Avs reminds us of exactly why the game needs a tussle every now and then.