It’s my Parting Shot for a second edition of a newish Tuesday feature – answering questions posed on the T-S-N website…..

For instance, the first query I spotted was, How critical is a healthy Ehlers to a Jets Cup run? This one is right up my alley since it is a question about my favourite N-H-L team from Winnipeg! The answer is very critical because Nikolai Ehlers is a highly-skilled goal-scorer and offensive force, in a secondary role behind Mark Scheifele and Kyle Conner. But, it’s an important secondary role because if either Scheifele or Conner go cold, Ehlers is the most likely player to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, Nik Ehlers is injury-prone, a potential problem for the Jets in the post-season!!

Another question was, how big of an opportunity did Habs miss by failing to clinch against Blackhawks? I say a big one, and not just because I despise the Montreal Canadiens! The Habs are still in a very good spot to be the N-H-L’s Eastern Conference second wild-card playoff team, but the longer you wait to put the, “x”, in the standings next to your team name, the more life you give to a pursuer like Columbus and reduce the number of games needed to make something happen to overtake you while you choke!!

A third question I saw was, Can banged-up Oilers beat Kings for a fourth straight year? The easy answer is, of course. So long as Edmonton has a healthy Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, two of the top five players in the world right now, they should beat L-A! My hope, of course, is the Kings utilize home ice and send the Oilers to the golf course early! Better still, the fact that Edmonton and Los Angeles are meeting for a fourth straight year in the post-season in a 32-team league is ridiculous! Change the playoff format back to Conference-wide and not divisional – unless one of the divisions consists of only Canadian teams!!

Last one, Is S-G-A’s M-V-P case closed? I know, I know – many of you could care less about basketball, especially the N-B-A, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a Canadian who is excelling in the predominantly American top flite professional hoops circuit! As a Canadian, and with today’s political climate, we should all be on board hoping that S-G-A is named N-B-A M-V-P! Unfortunately, that same political climate might dictate someone else wins!!

That’s my Parting Shot. I’m Les Lazaruk…and it turned out nice again!