Morning Flurries: Barstool Bruins

The Colorado Avalanche may be gearing up for the draft now, but the Stanley Cup playoffs are still in full swing for another few games — and it wouldn’t be a Stanley Cup Final without a controversy or two.

The NHL has already managed to incite more complaints about officiating with the inconsistency displayed throughout the postseason, including a hit in Game 1 by Torey Krug that sparked plenty of discussion online.

Now, as the St. Louis Blues evened up the series to a game apiece with a 3-2 overtime win over Boston at TD Garden, there’s a player injury that could spark even more debate:

Bruins defender Matt Grzelcyk ended up in the hospital following the hit, which only earned two minutes — so fully expect the comments to come fast and strong as the league awaits Game Three between the two clubs.

Oh, and Boston drew plenty of ire with an ill-fated playoff towel sponsor ahead of Wednesday night’s game, to boot:

Barstool has developed a reputation as a Boston-centric sports lifestyle blog, and they have more than enough revenue to sponsor a rally towel in the kind of crucial game that Boston played on Wednesday.

Of course, that entirely overlooks the fact that Barstool has a history of getting into problematic legal situations, which have included everything form incidents of harassment online and stolen work to further their own brand.

The ambiguous and not altogether stellar nature of their presence in the sports world - and their history with women and marginalized groups - made Barstool a surprising choice as a sponsor for a professional sports team in the year 2019. But for the Bruins, the entire ordeal was more than they felt like commenting on:

For those interested in the inner workings of the NHL draft and how teams prepare, here is an interesting video from inside Vancouver’s scouting meetings:

Also, what the shit:

In Breckenridge, the Global Goaltending Retreat continued on Wednesday with an incredibly important talk about mental health in sports:

In other league-wide prospect news, the Chicago Blackhawks have signed one of their own prospects to a new, entry-level deal ahead of the 2019-20 season. [Second City Hockey]

Finally, ahead of the draft, here’s a cool tidbit about where some of the draft’s up-and-coming prospects and college commits are coming from:

SB Nation Mock Draft

We have our first surprise as the Buffalo Sabres take a little reach for Cole Caufield.

1. New Jersey Devils - Jack Hughes
2. New York Rangers - Kaapo Kakko
3. Chicago Blackhawks - Alex Turcotte
4. Colorado Avalanche - Kirby Dach
5. Los Angeles Kings - Dylan Cozens
6. Detroit Red Wings - Bowen Byram
7. Buffalo Sabres - Cole Caufield