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The Colorado Avalanche are making a concerted effort to avoid watching the scoreboard and checking the standings as they try to make the playoffs. The Avalanche continue a four-game trip through Canada on Friday night against the Calgary Flames. Battling Minnesota for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, Colorado (36-31-4) snapped a three-game road skid and improved to 1-1-0 on the trek with Wednesday's 3-1 victory over Vancouver. Continue to Article

March 17, 2016 12:12:pm EST

Michael Frolik had a goal and two assists and the Flames scored three times in the first period before cruising to a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night. Joe Colborne had a goal and an assist and Mikael Backlund, the third member of that line, added two assists as the Flames won consecutive games on home ice for the first time since December. Sean Monahan and Mark Giordano also scored for Calgary. Continue to Article

March 17, 2016 2:40:am EST

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The NHL said it’s still reviewing different disciplinary options on Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman for hitting a linesman, but remained mum on details. An independent arbitrator lessened Wideman’s suspension, which was levied by the league’s hockey operations department, from 20 games to 10 games after a lengthy appeals process. The league said it “strenuously” disagreed with the decision and did not back off its stance when asked about it Wednesday after the NHL's general managers meetings. After arbitrator James Oldham reduced Wideman’s suspension, Nick Kypreos reported that the NHL could go after Wideman in federal court. On Wednesday, Elliotte Friedman also noted that the league could take Wideman to the US Court of Appeals . As part of the appeals process, commissioner Gary Bettman initially upheld the 20-game suspension.  It's believed the league wants the suspension to be returned to 20 games.  [ Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Hockey contest today ] “We had a view of what happened here and the opinion is pretty clear,” Bettman said. “Obviously the arbitrator had a different view and whether or not that was appropriate is something we’ll continue to examine.” When asked about specifics of their examination, Bettman declined to go further. “I don’t want to get into that now,” Bettman said. “We’re still reviewing our options. Once we decide what those will be and what we may or may not do, we’ll have that discussion.” The length of the appeals process was not brought up in the GMs meetings over the last three days, but it’s still a topic that drew controversy with Wideman. Wideman hit linesman Don Henderson on Jan. 27 and didn’t get a final opinion on the appeal until March 11. This was the first time this process went to an independent arbitrator. Because of this the Flames were without Wideman for nine games longer than his eventual suspension noted and had to navigate a crucial part of the season, and trade deadline period, without one of their better defensemen. “If anything the experience of it now is learning for everybody because it was the first time,” Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving said. “That’s probably the one thing you’d want to do is move through the process quicker. It may or may not be possible. You have scheduling and a whole bunch of things, but that would be the one thing from experience if it’s possible to do it quicker you’d want to do it quicker.” MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY     - - - - - - - Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper         Continue to Article

March 16, 2016 3:48:pm EST

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Following the league's general managers meetings, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly estimated the salary cap for next season could hit $74 million. This is slightly below the estimation at the NHL’s Board of Governors meeting in December when the cap was projected to increase $3 million. The current salary cap is at $71.4 million. “It’s just nice to know. It’s nice to have a number so you can plan,” Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray said. “Whether you’re going to be a cap team or not, there are a lot of teams in there that are cap teams. Anything that’s unknown or you have to guess is no fun. With the Canadian dollar the way it is, there’s still al little projection, but I think we’re on the right track.” Said Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving, “There’s still a little bit of time to go but it gives you a little sense in terms of planning, we’re at worst case scenario flat and best case scenario a little growth.” This number takes into account if the NHL Players’ Association exercises its five percent escalator clause, which is not a definite. Bettman also noted that the system takes the dropping Canadian dollar into account. As of Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at 75 cents per one US dollar.    “It’s a factor but it’s not as dramatic as some would suggest as evidenced by the fact that we had a pretty severe decline and slight recovery of the Canadian dollar and we’re still in the same ballpark,” Bettman said. “When you’re talking about a cap that’s over $70 million dollars I’m not sure if a million dollars either way is all that material."  Daly said that without putting in the NHLPA’s inflator option into account, the salary cap could remain flat. “Our practice with Players' Association really has been over the last couple years to try to sit down and talk about a reasonable projection for revenue growth and build in that inflator,” Daly said. “So that's what I'd say, it's somewhere probably between the current cap and $74 million.”  In between the 2014-15 season and 2015-16 season, the salary cap went up a total of $2.4 million. This small increase forced several teams, such as the Chicago Blackhawks, to jettison players during the offseason. The salary cap increased $4.7 million in between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.  MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY   - - - - - - - Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper Continue to Article

March 16, 2016 1:53:pm EST