Litter Box Cats, a Florida Panthers community

Commish Gary Bettman hosts Florida's Bill Torrey, discussing the Dale Tallon hiring, Randy Sexton's removal, tarps, and more. Follows Mike Richter at the 41:30 mark.

Longtime Cats alternate governor Bill Torrey will appear with Gary Bettman on this evening's "NHL Hour" (NHL.com and satellite providers), no doubt discussing which shades of blue look sharpest on industrial-grade tarps. Dale Tallon's name might pop up too. Show starts at 6 pm; the Bowtied One will follow Mike Richter, according to the presser. And keep in mind, it's a call-in show, so have at it: 877-645-6696.

From Dave Joseph of the Panthers official site: NHL Commish Gary Bettman said on his weekly radio show Thursday the situation with the Coyotes in Phoenix is "fixable" and said relocating franchises in troubled times is not the answer to fixing problems. "When you have fans invest in a franchise emotionally and financially, you just don’t give up on them when times are tough," he said. "If the standard was, ‘When times get tough,’ we would have been out of Chicago for Pete’s sake. We would have been out of Ottawa, Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and they were all situations that were fixable." W4E say: Ummmm, Hartford? Quebec? Winnipeg? Those were evidently "unfixable", right? Smelling a nasty double standard here. And how's that long-promised big-time national TV contract coming along, G-man? Sacrificed a few clubs who had fans "investing emotionally and financially" for decades before the objects of their loyalties were ripped away for the perceived good of the league. Bogus.

A must-read by the Toronto Sun's Bill Lankhof. And by "must-read" I refer to this being yet another sky-is-falling/relocation/expansion/contraction Ontario-needs-a-second-team screed, complete with a list of which clubs are in the most "dire" of circumstances. The Panthers are one of the biggest offenders in padding attendance. It is possible to buy a ticket for $17. If that's not good enough, for the same $17, you can get a deal including a ticket, a parking pass, a $5 gas card, and a food voucher for a total worth more than $17. Now there's a strong case for relocation: ticket discounts. C'mon, Bill...give us something we can work with.