The injury bug largely left the Pittsburgh Penguins alone this season, but it has feasted in the final weeks, and a handful of players have been shut down, including rookie Rutger McGroarty. Of course, with the injury toll, several players were recalled, including Vasily Ponomarev. Shelly Anderson also has the veteran players recounting their memories of former GM Ray Shero. Elsewhere in the Daily, the New York Rangers are reportedly ready to make big changes, and the Carolina Hurricanes had to answer for their body slams as the Washington Capitals rang the bell.

I’m sitting in the final hotel room of the NHL regular season, in fabulous Newark, New Jersey. This city is wild. I don’t know how else to describe it, other than to say there is no reason to visit or stay here other than I had some meetings on Thursday, which went exceedingly well. When you finish the meeting with a beer, it’s gone well. We’re on the precipice of being able to take National Hockey Now to the next level and working with people who have access to the money and have the horsepower to do so many of the things we’ve wanted to do but were limited by circumstance.

So close. Stay tuned.

Also, a road trip tip: Coffee at most gas stations/convenience stores is every bit as good as or better than the national chains and usually only $2. When I poured myself a giant vanilla latte from a digital coffee maker at the Shell station somewhere north of Ford City yesterday, I realized—why do I pay $6 (plus tip) for this elsewhere?!

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Let’s start with the injuries. It sounds like very bad news for Rutger McGroarty, though coach Mike Sullivan avoided specifics. In total, the Penguins shut down five players. Here’s the Penguins’ injury roll.

With the injuries comes a recall for a few more young players, including Vasily Ponomarev.

It was unexpected, and many in the hockey world felt the loss when former Penguins general manager Ray Shero passed away at age 62. He built upon the foundation laid by GM Craig Patrick and was a regular horsetrader at the deadline, scooping up Marian Hossa, Billy Guerin, and many more. He built the Penguins into Stanley Cup champions and kept them successful. Several paid tribute, including Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh Baseball Now: I failed to link to this yesterday. The Pirates bricks fiasco is mind-boggling to me. It shows an absolute lack of care for (or an inability to understand) the fundamentals of communing and communicating with a fanbase. Near the Honus Wagner home plate statue rested a brick dedicated to our John Perrotto’s late father. It, too, was tossed like garbage. As you might imagine, John had some heavy thoughts about this latest Pirates blunder.

I guess the Pirates were too “laser-focused” on winning, eh?

NHL Rumors, News, & National Hockey Now

TSN: The Rangers are essentially out of the playoff race. It’s all over except for the E beside their name for eliminated. There are some big shoes to drop in the coming week, including–as Pierre LeBrun reports–the remote possibility of firing GM Chris Drury, but the high likelihood of firing coach Peter Laviolette.

Sportsnet: Remember the brawl between the Capitals and Hurricanes and Jalen Chatfield’s body slam to the ice of Connor McMichael? Remember Rod Brind’Amour saying any further talk about it was all a media creation? Yeah…  It didn’t take long Thursday night for the Hurricanes to have to answer the bell for their assault.

Get out of here with the “media creation” nonsense. That’s become a term du jour for every coach who doesn’t want to talk about something. Sure, blame us, the conduits to the public. Newsflash to hockey coaches–People talking about your game and sport is a good thing. Maybe if the game weren’t intentionally shrouded in secrecy, more fans would understand it. It starts with coaches being willing to talk. Coaches who do are a great help to their fanbase (See also: Barry Trotz, Bruce Cassidy, Jim Montgomery, and so on).

Detroit Hockey Now: All I need is a miracle. The chances are now below 1%, but it has happened before. It’s time to ask for divine intervention for the Detroit Red Wings.

Montreal Hockey Now: Hundreds showed up at the airport to greet Ivan Demidov’s arrival. He has electrified an already frothing fanbase. As the playoffs are close, the Montreal Canadiens are it.

NHL Rumors: According to Elliotte Friedman in the latest 32 Thoughts, the Canucks are quite unhappy with the rumors and news linking Rick Tocchet to the Flyers head coaching gig and filing complaints with the NHL and letting the Flyers know they aren’t happy. OK, this one might be a media creation because within minutes of the Flyers firing John Tortorella, everyone in Philly had the same thought. But Vancouver ain’t so happy.

Sportsnet: And finally, you may have noticed that Evan Rodriguez has a big personality. So too does Brad Marchand. The boys went back and forth inside the Panthers’ locker room Thursday night.