Sunday notes: Good times for the NHL, and teams following Pittsburgh's lead

Now that the NHL season is finally over, the focus immediately shifts towards preparations for next season. So let's see what's being said as we have a new franchise in Pittsburgh setting the standard...

Analysis - Penguins’ Stanley Cup Validates Aggressive Changes - NYTimes.com

Here comes the first of many articles to suggest that other NHL teams will try to copy the Penguins' winning formula, following the lead of Pittsburgh GM (and former Nashville front office man) Ray Shero.

Bad deals handicap clubs - The Globe and Mail

Eric Duhatschek looks ahead to the NHL's wheeling-and-dealing season and the difficulties for GMs to play that game. There's a Top 10 list of bad contracts that will make any hockey fan shudder.

Draft Help - Major Junior Hockey Overview - Raw Charge
American sports fans are intimately familiar with how college football feeds into the NFL, but in the world of hockey, things are not so well known, particularly here in the South. Raw Charge (SB Nation's Tampa Bay Lightning blog) provides an overview of Canadian Major Junior Hockey, and the three leagues which make up the CHL.

A great game and good times for NHL | CharlotteObserver.com
Tim Dahlberg, writing for the AP, lauds the successful conclusion of this NHL season, with a classic series featuring the victory of its brightest young stars over the reigning dynastic power. There are always complainers lurking in the weeds, but this season has been (largely) a positive one for the league.