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SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEFNHL 6/8/2013

Boston Bruins680345 Penguins coach: 'We've got one game to win'680346 Kaspars Daugavins to play tonight680347 Game 4 preview: Penguins at Bruins680348 TRUE GRIT: BOSTON ATHLETES PLAYING THROUGH

PAIN680349 Odds stacked in Bruins' favor680350 Defense carries Bruins to Stanley Cup Final680351 Bruins Stanley Cup ticket details680352 McQuaid's goal sends Bruins to Stanley Cup finals680353 Bruins advance to Stanley Cup Final680354 Daugavins replaces injured Campbell for Bruins680355 Kaspars Daugavins gets the nod680356 Penguins, Bruins acknowledge how grueling extra periods

can be in playoffs680357 Game 4, pregame: Daugavins in for Campbell680358 Beyond wildest dreams680359 Neely’s grin bears it680360 Marchand dishes out game-winner680361 Closing failures get bad rap680362 Bruins sweep into Stanley Cup finals

Buffalo Sabres680363 Buffalo's Bailey, Blujus invited to USA Hockey's world junior

camp680364 Road to the NHL Draft: Max Domi

Chicago Blackhawks680365 Quenneville's line changes -- it was Two-Fer Thursday680366 Hawks happy to have Keith back Saturday680367 Bruins won't give an inch680368 Game 4 victory uplifting for Keith680369 Hawks know power of desperation mode680370 Predicting NHL playoffs perilous680371 Rozsival fits the bill680372 Blackhawks and their fans deny Kings the comforts of home680373 Michal Rozsival helps keep clamp on Kings680374 Even on cusp of series win, Blackhawks can reach another

level680375 Spellman’s Scorecard: A whole lot of hard Hawks hockey680376 Hawks need to come out with killer mentality in Game 5680377 Hawks don’t want to go back to L.A.680378 Kings coach Sutter not exactly a worry-wart680379 No one happier than Keith about Game 4 win680380 Hawks thriving thanks in large part to Bickell, Crawford680381 Aggressive Kane finally gets his goal680382 Hossa's late goal gives Hawks Game 4 win680383 From "Buff" to "Bicks"680384 Blackhawks benefiting from Rozsival's veteran leadership680385 With scripts flipped, Hawks know series isn't over

Dallas Stars680386 Coaching search: Is Alain Vigneault the man you want

behind the Stars bench?680387 Stars acquire Sergei Gonchar from Ottawa for 6th-round

draft pick680388 Report: Sergei Gonchar 'likely' to agree to two-year deal with

Dallas Stars680389 Sean Avery responds to Dallas Stars' Twitter taunt with

haymaker: Thanks for the $16 million

Detroit Red Wings680390 Detroit Red Wings' Niklas Kronwall named grand marshal for

NASCAR race at MIS680391 Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ian White on his way out680392 Season continues for a few Red Wings680393 Howe family, ex-managers face off in court over handling of

hockey great's finances680394 Detroit Red Wing Niklas Kronwall named grand marshal,

Olympic gold medal swimmer Tyler Clary honorary starter680395 Red Wings' prospects gaining valuable experience during

Grand Rapids Griffins' run to Calder Cup finals680396 Blackhawks snap LA Kings’ home winning streak

Los Angeles Kings680397 Win or done, Los Angeles Kings must break road pattern680398 Los Angeles Kings need weary Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown680399 Kings' middle management needs improvement in Game 5680400 It's now or never for defending champion Kings680401 JILL PAINTER: Road to Stanley Cup rough one for Kings680402 No supplemental discipline for Penner680403 Waking up with the Kings: June 7680404 June 7 quotes: Brown, Williams, Regehr, Stoll680405 Sutter on Richards: “still really doubtful at best”680406 Kings history when trailing 3-1

Montreal Canadiens680407 Towel-quality guidelines and other highlights from the new

NHL CBA680408 Molson proud of Habs’ progress this season680409 1993 Stanley Cup flashback: 10th straight OT win for Habs

in Game 4680410 Sunday marks 20th anniversary of Habs’ last Cup win

New York Rangers680411 Pittsburgh’s loss may be Rangers’ gain680412 Guest blogger: Jared Sexton of RangersUnlimited.com …

looking ahead to free agency

NHL680413 As Bruins Reach Finals, Empty Feeling for Penguins680414 The Blackhawks’ Bickell Outperforms Star Teammates680415 Bruins Likely to Replace Campbell with Daugavins

Ottawa Senators680416 Bye, bye, Gonchar: Senators trade defenceman’s rights to

Dallas Stars680417 Ottawa Senators trade rights to defenceman Sergei Gonchar

to Dallas Stars

Philadelphia Flyers680418 2013 Flyers offseason: Internal options for filling out the

forward lines680419 Who would make your Flyers Mount Rushmore?

Pittsburgh Penguins680420 Kovacevic: For Penguins, a stubborn failure680421 Bruins display closing touch in NHL’s Eastern Conference

finals680422 Crosby, Malkin silenced again in season-ending loss680423 Penguins notebook: Crosby hit hard by Paille680424 Bruins notebook: Daugavins gets his shot in lineup680425 Pieces fail to come together for Penguins in season-ending

loss680426 Pens, Flyers discussing game at Penn State's Beaver

Stadium680427 Penguins stars at a loss for words680428 Penguins outdoor game at Penn State looms against Flyers680429 Penguins meltdown mystifying680430 Rask, Bruins shut out Penguins, 1-0

San Jose Sharks680431 Sharks checklist, No. 6: Explore market for Thornton, Boyle

St Louis Blues680432 Hockey Guy: Happy ending for McDonald

Tampa Bay Lightning680433 Bolts hope AHL success pays off680434 Lightning AHL team in Calder Cup final

Toronto Maple Leafs680435 Maple Leafs should trade Phil Kessel: Feschuk

Vancouver Canucks680436 Canuck GM Mike Gillis talks about coach search

Washington Capitals680437 Agent: ‘No progress at all’ between Matt Hendricks and

Capitals

Websites680444 ESPN /Friday, June 7, 2013680445 ESPN / Hawks' speed, depth dooming Kings680446 NBCSports.com / Bylsma: ‘I feel real comfortable about our

power play’680447 NBCSports.com / Bruins confirm Daugavins in for Campbell;

Kelly likely to center Merlot Line680448 NBCSports.com / Habs owner: GM Bergevin ‘lives hockey,

and our success starts with him’680449 USA TODAY /Bruins, Rask sweep Penguins680450 USA TODAY / Stars acquire Sergei Gonchar's rights680451 USA TODAY /Penguins-Bruins Game 4 preview: Daugavins

in680452 YAHOO SPORTS /Bruins in championship form, shut down

star-studded Penguins for return to Stanley Cup final680453 YAHOO SPORTS / Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby

humbled by Bruins, playoffs in East final

Winnipeg Jets680438 Winnipeg prospects to skate at Classic680439 Kane unloads great Twitter rant680440 Winnipeg Jets have started talks with Zach Bogosian's camp680441 Winnipeg Jets winger Evander Kane talking a good game on

Twitter680442 Hainsey unlikely to stay with Jets680443 Closing the champion chasm

SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129

680345 Boston Bruins

Penguins coach: 'We've got one game to win'

Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff June 7, 2013 01:43 PM

Here's what Penguins coach Dan Bylsma had to say Friday morning about Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, which the Bruins lead, 3-0.

When chances are thin and odds are grim like this, players are saying, “We believe we can get back into this, when so few teams have done it.” How do you get them to believe?

Well, there's lots of different ways I think you can look at what the possibilities are. I think you look at it when you have to beat Boston Bruins four times in a row, in four elimination games to move on, that's not something you really want to put your brain around. We beat the Boston Bruins three times in games this year. We've got them one game here tonight. It's elimination for our team, and we'll move on when we do. I know the facts we're in a bracket right now, we've got one game to win to move on in that bracket. It's right here tonight.

A lot of guys in the locker room said they wouldn't mind winning the Game 1-0. Do you feel this team could get on another one of those runs if they find the puck at the net when all those chances are paydirt?

I'd love to put our players and our power play and have the puck on James Neal's stick in the slot, three times with the puck on his stick like he was last game. Malkin on a breakaway. More than two other opportunities. We'd like to see those opportunities again for our guys tonight. I feel real comfortable about our power play and our guys cashing in on those. Is that something we're going to build on? Absolutely.

You mentioned [Thursday] that you liked the early results of Bennett, Sutter and Iginla together in Game 3. What was it about that combination that you liked? What were you hoping bringing Bennett back into the lineup would add to this group?

Offensive skill guy. Play-making ability. He did both of those things in the game. Power play, driving the net. Two good chances out from the wing, one from Crosby, one where he pulled by the defenseman in overtime. He got opportunities there, used his skill, did that with his line for Jarome and Brenden. He added that. We're looking for one goal. He was all around it in the last game.

I know you like to think the game a lot. Were things going around in your head last night or did you get a little bit of rest before today and clear your head?

Before the start of the series, you kind of have a rest the night before. In series, game to game, I think you're always thinking, preparing mentally opportunities that are going to present themselves in the game for your team. Did a fair amount of that last night.

A lot of guys keep saying, if not for a bounce here or there, stay the course, things will work out. Being down 0-3, the clock is ticking. Do you believe just stay the course or have you thought about some changes in lines or something else?

We made adjustments last game to our game. In both instances you talked about, we'll make adjustments in how we play in different areas for this game as well. Especially last game, how we need to continue to do some of the things we have done, to get those opportunities, to get it to go our way. You know, every game I think you could talk about a bounce or some instance in the game. I don't think we feel like we've lost it on a bounce or a post going the wrong way. Would have meant the difference in the game for Craig Adams if his post had gone in. We feel we can play better. We can continue to play better. We can make adjustments. But we also need to make good on our opportunities that we have had.

Dan, you have so many forwards and so much skill at your disposal. You talk about staying the course. When you get to an elimination game, is there a tendency or desire at some point to ride those guys over and over, to kind of say at some point, We're not going to roll our lines, we're going to double shift guys, do whatever we can to get to a Game 5? Where is that tipping point?

I'm pretty sure Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin played 38 minutes in the last game. We've done that at times, definitely last game. When we had the opportunity here on the road to have a matchup, icing, situation we could get, a different combination, a double shift, we took that opportunity. You know, we were in a game last game where we felt we were desperate to win. We'll find ourselves in that game and situation tonight, as well.

Boston Globe LOADED: 06.08.2013


Kaspars Daugavins to play tonight

Posted by Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff June 7, 2013 11:50 AM

Kaspars Daugavins will play tonight in place of injured center Gregory Campbell. Daugavins has been a healthy scratch since Game 1 against Toronto.

During the morning skate, Daugavins practiced on the left wing alongside Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin. Chris Kelly centered Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton. Claude Julien said he has options to mix and match his bottom two lines.

Tonight's expected lineup:

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jaromir Jagr

Kaspars Daugavins-Rich Peverley-Tyler Seguin

Daniel Paille-Chris Kelly-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg

Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk

Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

Anton Khudobin



Game 4 preview: Penguins at Bruins

Posted by Fluto Shinzawa, Globe Staff June 7, 2013 10:06 AM

Good morning from TD Garden, where the Bruins will look to sweep the Penguins out of the playoffs tonight. The Bruins have a 3-0 series lead. Game 5 would be at the Consol Energy Center on Sunday. The Bruins have no intentions of making a return trip to Pittsburgh.

The Bruins will be without Gregory Campbell (broken right leg) for the rest of the playoffs. They will have to replace Campbell’s toughness, even-strength efficiency, faceoff experience, and penalty-killing prowess.

The Bruins have options, but the guess here is that Kaspars Daugavins will get the first nod. Rich Peverley could move down to center the fourth line. Daniel Paille could be promoted to the third line.

No lineup changes are expected for Pittsburgh. The Penguins did everything possible to win Game 3, but were foiled repeatedly by Tuukka Rask.

Puck drop: 8 p.m.

TV/radio info: NBC Sports Network (Mike Emrick, Ed Olczyk, Pierre McGuire), 98.5 The Sports Hub (Dave Goucher, Bob Beers)

Records: Penguins 0-3, Bruins 3-0

Projected Penguins lineup:

Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Pascal Dupuis

Matt Cooke-Evgeni Malkin-James Neal

Brenden Morrow-Brandon Sutter-Jarome Iginla

Beau Bennett-Joe Vitale-Craig Adams

Brooks Orpik-Paul Martin

Matt Niskanen-Kris Letang

Douglas Murray-Deryk Engelland

Tomas Vokoun

Marc-Andre Fleury

Healthy scratches: Mark Eaton, Tyler Kennedy, Jussi Jokinen, Dustin Jeffrey, Robert Bortuzzo, Simon Despres

Projected Bruins lineup:

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jaromir Jagr

Daniel Paille-Chris Kelly-Tyler Seguin

Kaspars Daugavins-Rich Peverley-Shawn Thornton

Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg

Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk

Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask

Anton Khudobin

Healthy scratches: Matt Bartkowski, Dougie Hamilton, Aaron Johnson, Carl Soderberg, Jay Pandolfo

Storylines: Tomas Vokoun was excellent in Game 3. Vokoun will get the start tonight over Marc-Andre Fleury… There are questions in Pittsburgh about Dan Bylsma’s future if the Penguins bow out. Bylsma would be hired in a second if the Penguins let him go… The Bruins are perfect on the penalty kill. They went 6 for 6 against the Penguins in Game 3… Eric Furlatt and Stephen Walkom will be the referees. Shane Heyer and Brad Kovachik will be the linesmen.



TRUE GRIT: BOSTON ATHLETES PLAYING THROUGH PAIN

By Jim Davis/Globe Staff

Someday, today’s young Bruins fans will be telling their kids about the amazing 2013 playoffs.

They will talk about how Bruins fans first collectively rallied a city blown apart by evil on a Wednesday night in April by taking over National Anthem duties from Rene Rancourt. They will say that was the start of something special. They will talk about a Game 7 comeback against Toronto after Boston was trailing 4-1 when the team scored three, no 10, no 34 goals in the third period to force overtime before beating the Maple Leafs.

They will talk about Game 3 against the Penguins Eastern Conference Finals. How it was a glorious 2-1 double-overtime, gut-wrenching, heart-stopping, bladder crushing playoff victory over Sidney Crosby and his teammates.

But mostly, they will tell their children about how a guy named Gregory Campbell played almost a minute of hockey during a critical power-play with a broken leg.

“Yes, kids, a broken leg. Meanwhile, Jacoby Ellsbury was still out that night after missing five games nursing a sore groin.”

Even in the present, history looms large in this series. When Jaromir Jagr broke into the NHL, Sidney Crosby was a three-year-old baby boy. Turns out he still is.

In the context of Campbell’s performance Wednesday, we decided share some of the memorable moments of Campbell-like in-game “true grit” in the annals of Boston sports.



Odds stacked in Bruins' favor

Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff June 7, 2013 07:08 AM

The Garden was rocking in the wee hours of Thursday morning when Patrice Bergeron redirected a Brad Marchand feed past Tomas Vokoun for a double-overtime game-winner that gave the Bruins a commanding three-games-to-none lead over the Eastern Conference top seeded Penguins.

But having been on both ends of 3-0 postseason collapses in the last decade with the Red Sox (good) and Bruins (not so good), Bostonians are wise enough to know that though the chances are remote, the Penguins are still alive in the series. But other factors make it a virtually insurmountable obstacle for Sidney Crosby & Co. to overcome.

Yes, Pittsburgh entered this series riding a six-game winning streak head-to-head with Boston, winning eight of the last nine battles of the black and gold, but the trend has been dramatically reversed and Claude Julien’s boys have not lost four straight games since mid-March 2012, with just two winless streaks of four games or more in the past three combined regular and postseasons.

A look at NHL history shows that teams taking a 3-0 lead in a seven-game series have gone 109-65 in Game 4, a winning percentage of .626 (including a Bruins loss last round to the Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals Game 4, before closing out New York in Game 5). Those same teams have won the series 170 out of 173 times, a confidence-building winning percentage of .983.

Expand the study to include MLB and NBA teams and the numbers get even more staggering in favor of the Bruins' current standing. In 1,212 completed best-of-seven-game postseason series, only four have seen the team leading three-games-to-none fail to advance (a .997 winning clip) according to data found at whowins.com.

But Boston has been part of, and on each end of, half of them: the 2004 Red Sox climbing back from the brink against the Yankees in the ALCS and the Bruins, who in 2010 acquiesced to the Flyers after jumping to a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. (the others were the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs over the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals and the 1975 New York Islanders, coincidentally over the Penguins, in the league quarterfinals).

Seven other times the team trailing 0-3 made things very uncomfortable by forcing a deciding Game 7, most recently in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals when the Blackhawks nearly pulled off the miracle comeback against the Vancouver Canucks (the team the Bruins eventually defeated for the Stanley Cup).

The key total in all of this for this series is eight. That’s the number of Bruins (Bergeron, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara, Andrew Ference, Milan Lucic, Daniel Paille, Tuukka Rask and Shawn Thornton) who participated both in Game 7 of the ‘10 Flyers debacle and the thrilling Game 3 win that began Wednesday night and ended Thursday morning. That group not only knows the awful sting of a collapse, but based on the strength of their experience hoisting the Cup in 2011, are not a group likely to be associated with two historically significant chokes.

So go ahead and check out those rates for Chicago and Los Angeles hotels and flights. While there’s no guarantee that the Pens won’t steal one, two, or (clutch your chest) even three games this series, lightning would have to strike a very talented and championship-tested group TWICE for the Bruins not to advance to the 2013 Finals. You should like their odds.



Defense carries Bruins to Stanley Cup Final

Posted by Zuri Berry, Boston.com Staff June 7, 2013 11:56 PM

A rigid defense, a crafty goalie, and offense from the blue line won out again and again and again for the Bruins. On Friday, with another near flawless performance, the Bruins edged the Penguins, 1-0, sweeping the once heavy favorites in their Eastern Conference Finals series.

The Bruins will face the Blackhawks or Kings in the Stanley Cup Final.

It was the Bruins' 14th sweep in the franchise's history and the team's first conference final sweep since ushering Washington out of the playoffs in 1990. The shutout was Tuukka Rask's second of the series and his career in the playoffs. He had 26 saves.

Adam McQuaid, continuing with the team's streak of offensive minded defensemen, fired a one-timer top shelf in the left corner past Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun for the game-winner, only 5:01 into the third period. Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron assisted on the goal, which was one of only a few clean looks for the Bruins.

"It feels good to be able to contribute that way when you don't normally," said McQuaid. "But I think you look at so many great efforts we had from guys tonight. The last 10 minutes of the game, guys were all over the ice, doing whatever it took to preserve that goal."

Bruins defensemen have 35 of the team's 138 points in the postseason, including 15 of 50 goals.

"Yeah, that's what you need," said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who logged 25:58 ice time. "Contributions from different guys, it's not always gonna be the same guys. Even we got a lot of offense from guys we rely on. But even in some key situations of different games we got contributions from guys that maybe are not well known for their offense. "

Which team do you want to see the Bruins face in the Stanley Cup finals?

The series sweep was marked by the Bruins' tough defense, holding the Penguins to only two goals in four games. While the Penguins seemed intent on creating one-on-one chances, the Bruins' system of defense squelched many of their chances.

"We didn't expect to hold them to two goals in four games," said Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk. "I mean they hit a couple of posts, we got a couple of good bounces. Both teams worked hard. It was just a good team effort."

Said Chara: "We were really trying to play the way they came and not focus on what they were trying to do. We were trying to really play tight defensively, five guys on the ice, not to really open up too much or give them too much room."

Vokoun, who had 23 saves for the Penguins, and fought off clean shots from the Bruins' Milan Lucic and Torey Krug in the second period. But whatever mastery he had mustered in the first two periods gave away to a dangerous third, with McQuaid scoring, followed by Jaromir Jagr and Daniel Paille nailing the post.

The Bruins led in shots in the third, even after the Penguins pulled Vokoun with a minute remaining that led to a flurry of shots in the waning seconds in an effort to tie the game. That mad dash had a normally even-keeled Rask worried.

"Well, yeah. It's just a scramble, you know," Rask said. "You can't see anything. People are laying down. … You just try to [make] yourself as big as you can."

Rask now has a .943 save percentage heading into the Stanley Cup Final against either the Chicago Blackhawks or Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks are up 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals.

"He's playing phenomenal," Boychuk said. "He gives us a chance to win every night. He's … Tuukka."

The Bruins will make their second Stanley Cup appearance in three years. The won in 2011 against the Vancouver Canucks.

"It's very exciting," Chara said. "We all know it's not happening every year. For teams to go into the finals – whatever two, three, five years – it takes a lot of hard work. I think we are happy where we are right now. But in a few days we gotta get ready for the final round."



Bruins Stanley Cup ticket details

Posted by Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff June 7, 2013 11:25 PM

The Bruins announced Friday that tickets for three Stanley Cup Final games at TD Garden will go on sale Tuesday at noon.

The Bruins await the outcome of the Blackhawks-Kings Western Conference finals. The NHL has not set the schedule for the Stanley Cup Final, although if the Blackhawks win they will have home-ice advantage based on regular-season record. The Bruins would have home ice against the Kings.

Tickets will be available for purchase at the TD Garden Box Office, on the Bruins' website, and by phone at 800-745-3000.



McQuaid's goal sends Bruins to Stanley Cup finals

By HOWARD ULMAN / AP Sports Writer / June 7, 2013

BOSTON (AP) — The Bruins defense shut down the potent Pittsburgh Penguins throughout the Eastern Conference finals. Then a Boston defenseman scored the goal that sealed the stunning sweep.

Adam McQuaid scored early in the third period, Tuukka Rask posted his second shutout of the series, and the Bruins reached the Stanley Cup finals with a 1-0 win on Friday night.

The Bruins dominated the series and held the high-scoring Penguins to just two goals. Pittsburgh never even had the lead in any of its four losses.

‘‘I think first and foremost, we’re obviously trying to be solid defensively,’’ McQuaid said of the defensemen. ‘‘It obviously feels good. It feels good to be able to contribute that way when you don’t normally.

‘‘You look at so many great efforts we had from guys. The last 10 minutes of the game, guys were all over the ice, doing whatever it took to preserve that goal.’’

Boston will face either the Chicago Blackhawks or Los Angeles Kings when the Bruins shoot for their second Stanley Cup title in three years.

Chicago leads the Western Conference series 3-1 and can advance to the finals with a home win on Saturday night. If the Blackhawks get there, it will set up the first finals matchup of Original Six NHL franchises since 1979.

The Penguins’ season ended swiftly and shockingly as the league’s highest-scoring team got no points in the series from offensive stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

‘‘I don’t feel like they totally shut us down,’’ Crosby said. ‘‘I feel like we got chances, but Rask made some big saves.’’

McQuaid scored at 5:01 of the final period on a 45-foot slap shot from the right over the glove of goalie Tomas Vokoun.

That unleashed loud chants of ‘‘We want the Cup!’’ from the capacity crowd.

‘‘We were a little sluggish the first two periods,’’ Bruins forward Milan Lucic said, ‘‘and we said, ‘We have to win a period to win a series.'’’

They did just that.

The top-seeded Penguins were trying to overcome both the disciplined defense of the fourth-seeded Bruins and history. Only three teams had lost a series after winning the first three games. The last was the Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Penguins felt they were ‘‘put together to win the Stanley Cup. That’s our expectation from Day One,’’ coach Dan Bylsma said. ‘‘You’re going to look at this as a missed opportunity.’’

Pittsburgh was swept for the first time in 47 series. The last team to do it to the Penguins was Boston in 1979.

The Penguins also lost the first three games of their opening-round series last year against Philadelphia before being eliminated in six games.

Rask was solid again with 26 saves, but didn’t have to stop many challenging shots. His last save came with his glove at the final buzzer on Jarome Iginla’s shot from 40 feet.

‘‘He has been the reason why we’re here,’’ Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron said of Rask, who stopped 134 of 136 shots in the series. ‘‘We just played our game the whole time. We put a lot of pressure in their zone.’’

The Penguins had been shut out just twice in their previous 147 games before being blanked twice in the four games against the Bruins. Pittsburgh lost Game 1 at home 3-0.

Holding down Crosby and Malkin was the key.

‘‘He is the best player in the world,’’ Bergeron said of Crosby. ‘‘We did a good job with that.’’

After the game, a calm Rask felt that shutting out the potent Penguins twice wasn’t such an overwhelming feat.

‘‘Every game starts with zero,’’ he said, ‘‘so you have a chance.’’

McQuaid scored his second goal of the playoffs after he managed just one in 32 games during the regular season.

‘‘It’s obviously nice when you can get a little offense from your defense,’’ he said.

Brad Marchand held the puck along the left boards in the offensive zone and waited for McQuaid to skate up ice. Marchand fed the puck toward the blue line where McQuaid, with no Penguins player close to him, unleashed the winning shot.

There was little sustained offense in the first two periods when Pittsburgh outshot Boston 20-17.

Boston’s Kaspars Daugavins hit a post at 2:56 of the second period during his first appearance in the series. Daugavins replaced injured center Gregory Campbell, who broke his leg in the second period of Boston’s 2-1, double-overtime win in Game 3 on Wednesday night.

At 10:56 of the second on Friday, Vokoun made a save with his right pad against streaking Tyler Seguin from the left side.

The Bruins got this far by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games in the first round and then taking out the New York Rangers in five to reach the East finals.

Boston rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period of Game 7 against Toronto just to reach the second round.

‘‘It seems like a lifetime ago,’’ Lucic said. ‘‘Without that Game 7, to come back and win it, if it wasn’t for that we wouldn’t be here right now.’’

The Penguins topped the New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators to reach the NHL’s final four.

NOTES: John Krasinski, star of ‘‘The Office’’ and a native of nearby Newton was in the stands with his wife, actress Emily Blunt. ... William and Patricia Campbell, whose daughter Krystle died in the Boston Marathon bombings, waved the ‘‘Fan Banner,’’ a traditional part of pregame activities. ... Gregory Campbell’s father, Colin, was a defenseman on the 1979 Penguins, who were swept by the Bruins. Gregory Campbell gave a wave to the crowd when he was shown on the arena video board.



Bruins advance to Stanley Cup Final

By Matt Pepin, Boston.com Staff

The Bruins punched a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday to sweep the series.

It will be the Bruins' second Stanley Cup Final appearance in three years. In 2011, the Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to win their first Stanley Cup in 39 years.

The Bruins also won the Stanley Cup in 1929, 1939, 1941, 1970, and 1972.

Adam McQuaid scored the only goal in Game 4, a slap shot from just inside the blue line midway through the third period. Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask made 26 saves for the shutout, his second of the series.

The Penguins only scored two goals in the series.

The Bruins will face the Chicago Blackhawks or the Los Angeles Kings in the finals. The Blackhawks and Kings play Game 5 of their series Saturday in Chicago, with the Blackhawks leading 3-1.

According to a report from TSN's Bob McKenzie, if the Blackhawks win Game 5, the Stanley Cup Final will reportedly begin Wednesday in Chicago. If the Kings extend their series, the Stanley Cup finals will begin June 15.

The NHL has not released an official schedule for the finals.



Daugavins replaces injured Campbell for Bruins

AP / June 7, 2013

BOSTON (AP) — Kaspars Daugavins is replacing injured forward Gregory Campbell for the Boston Bruins on Friday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Campbell, the Bruins’ fourth-line center, broke his right leg in the second period of Boston’s double-overtime win in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He is out for the rest of the playoffs.

Daugavins played in just one of Boston’s first 15 postseason games this year.

Boston claimed Daugavins off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on March 27. He had no goals and one assist in six regular-season games with the Bruins after posting one goal and two assists in 19 games with the Senators.

Campbell had three goals and four assists in 15 playoff games.



Kaspars Daugavins gets the nod

Friday, June 7, 2013 -- Steve Conroy

In tonight's potential close-out Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Penguins at the Garden, Kaspars Daugavins will be making his return to the Bruins' lineup tonight to make up for the loss of Gregory Campbell, who suffered a broken fibula blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot in Game 3.

Daugavins skated as a left wing on a line centered by Rich Peverley with Tyler Seguin on the right wing. Chris Kelly, meanwhile, moved down to take Campbell's spot between Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton on the former Merlot line.

“He's a gritty player,” said coach Claude Julien. “He's strong on the puck, strong on his skates, shoots the puck well. We always said we've got depth on this team and we showed it when injuries crept up on defense. Now we've got an injury up front and he's going to have to step in and do his job.”

Daugavins was happy to get his chance tonight.

“Playing is always easier than watching,' said Daugavins. Daugavins, picked up on waivers from Ottawa in late March, has played one playoff game for the B's, Game 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, a 4-1 victory. “For sure, it's going to be hard and it helped playing that one game,” said Daugavins, who'll most likely take over some of Campbell's penalty killing duties. “Toronto played us hard and, even though we won that game by three goals, it wasn't easy. I remember that it was hard and I expect the same thing tonight.”

Kelly, skating between Thornton and Paille, knows he'll be trying to replace a multi-faceted player in Campbell.

“Soup does a lot of things for this hockey team, a lot of things that maybe go unnoticed outside this locker room,” said Kelly, who nonetheless said he feels comfortable playing with anyone. “He's versatile, he kills penalties, he takes faceoffs, he sticks up for his teammates. And obviously he blocks shots, like everyone saw. And he can play all three positions. I don't think one guy is going to go out there and fill Soup's shoes. It's going to take everyone to pick up their game.”

Though the B's may start the game with those line combinations – the top two combos were unchanged – that doesn't mean it will stay that way. Peverley and Kelly could easily switch lines.

“I do have lots of options,” said Julien. “I can change things around after I see how things go. That's what I had this morning at the skate, but (the players) know it can change. It's not set in stone.”

The Penguins, down 0-3, will clearly be a desperate team tonight, but the B's need a little desperation in their game, too. If the Pens can force the series back to Pittsburgh, they'll have two of the last three games at home and we all know miracles – or calamities, depending on your perspective – can happen.

“This is about one game and nothing more than one game and what we need to do here,” said Julien. “We try to minimize all the hoopla around everything and try to keep it to the one game. We didn't play our best game the last game. The played better, we need to be a better team tonight.”

Boston Herald LOADED: 06.08.2013


Penguins, Bruins acknowledge how grueling extra periods can be in playoffs

Friday, June 7, 2013

Author(s):

Shelly Anderson

About 12 hours after playing the equivalent of an emotional 1 1/2 games over the course of four hours, the Penguins and Boston Bruins were up and about Thursday.

The Bruins reported to TD Garden, though only a couple of regulars practiced. The Penguins milled about in their hotel.

The Penguins had to deal with trailing Boston, 3-0, in the Eastern Conference final after dropping Game 3, 2-1, in double overtime Wednesday.

"These games are really tough to lose," Penguins goaltender Tomas Vokoun said.

Both teams were dealing with the physical fallout.

"It was a crazy game," Boston defenseman Torey Krug said. "We were lucky enough to get the win and send the fans home happy, but it definitely was pretty taxing."

Following the game, which ended after midnight, some players' faces were red, others ashen, and they bore the look of fatigue, even though they had managed the rigors of the long game as best they could.

"The staff's been helping," Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis said, explaining that team conditioning coach Mike Kadar "was making [protein] shakes and bringing food through the overtimes and letting us know what to put in our bodies to get ready for the next game."

That included a lot of liquid.

"You just try to get fluids in you and stay hydrated when it goes that late," Penguins center Brandon Sutter said. "A big part of it, too, is [the next day], getting that rest and trying to follow the same regimen, rehydrate and refresh yourself."

Krug said even during the game, players were trying to find what worked for them to keep them going.

In the playoffs, a tie at the end of regulation means full intermissions and full periods until someone scores. Center Patrice Bergeron ended it by scoring for Boston at 15:19 of the second overtime.

"Some guys do things differently than others," Krug said. "Some guys are drinking special drinks."

Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara played 42 minutes, 5 seconds. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang logged 40:50. Five others topped 35 minutes. And most of those players already have more ice time than many of their teammates under usual circumstances.

"That's something I think both teams are going to have to deal with in Game 4, is guys having played a lot of minutes in the last couple of hockey games," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.

Game 4 is tonight at TD Garden, with the Penguins facing elimination.

"The playoffs are a grueling time, and you prepare for that," Penguins winger Matt Cooke said. "You gear up for that through the regular season.

"There may be some fatigue, but you have two days to gear up to go again. I think our guys do a great job of being in shape and being ready to go."

Toward that end, players from both teams were still in recovery mode Thursday.

"The physical toll, it was hard on everybody's body to play five periods, but you've got to do the right thing the day after and hydrate and take care of your body because [tonight] is going to be a battle again," Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk said.

Despite the fatigue, sleep didn't come quickly for everyone.

"It's tough to sleep after that," Krug said. "I'm sure there are guys that had a really hard time going to sleep."

Krug was one of them.

"Yeah, at first, and then I kind of dropped down from the high and I was exhausted," he said.

Bruins coach Claude Julien said his club fought through the long game and the aftermath as well as possible.

"You do the best you can as far as psychologically," Julien said, but he seemed even more concerned about the physical cost.

"I mean, there's two teams that have to feel the same way," he said. "When you look at Pittsburgh, they worked just as hard as we did [Wednesday] night and maybe even harder. But it's one of those things that [illustrates that] this is a tough sport, and when you look at a game like [Wednesday] night, you really learn to appreciate the athletes.

"We finished [Thursday technically], and to come back right the next day and be ready and willing to do it all over again [tonight] is pretty impressive. I think hockey players deserve a lot of credit for their conditioning, their commitment and everything else that goes with it."

Some players didn't feel the effects of double overtime so much.

Such as Boston fourth-line winger Shawn Thornton, who played 3 minutes, 56 seconds in the 95-plus minute game.

"You're asking the wrong guy," Thornton said of the rigors of the game. "I'm fresh as a daisy."

For much more on the Penguins, read the Pens Plus blog with Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson



Game 4, pregame: Daugavins in for Campbell

Friday, June 7, 2013 -- Mark Daniels

It’s official, Kaspars Daugavins is in for the injured Gregory Campbell.

During the team’s pregame skate, Daugavins was inserted into the third line next to Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin. Center Chris Kelly was moved down to the fourth line with Daniel Paille and Shawn Thornton. The lines were the same during the B’s pregame warmups. Defensive pairings look to be the same as they've been all series.

Daugavins played in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Toronto, replacing Peverley. He totaled 9:52 of ice time and took two shots on net. The Bruins won that game 4-1 and hope to see similar results during tonight’s potential close-out Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals against Pittsburgh. The 25-year-old also has experience in the penalty kill, an area where Campbell excelled. When Campbell got injured during Game 3, Claude Julien inserted David Krejci into his penalty kill.

Tonight’s Fan Banner Captains are William and Patricia Campbell of Medford. Their daughter, Krystle, was one of the victims at the Marathon bombings.



Beyond wildest dreams

Sweep surprise as B’s dismantle Pens

Saturday, June 8, 2013

By:Steve Conroy

Enough people gave the Bruins a chance to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. If they had gutted out a seven-game series win, it certainly would have been a notable upset, but not a shocker.

No one, however, expected things to happen like this.

Coming on the heels of their double-overtime victory on Wednesday, the Bruins swept the Penguins in a 1-0 defensive classic in Game 4 at the Garden last night to punch a ticket to their second Stanley Cup finals in three years.

Tuukka Rask recorded his second shutout over the once-believed-to-be-mighty Pens with 26 saves, including the final blast as time ran out. It came, fittingly, off the future Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, who spurned the Bruins’ overtures to obtain him in a trade and instead opted for the Penguins as his preferred vessel to the hockey Holy Grail.

Iginla wound up with a goose egg in the series, but he had plenty of company among his elite friends. For a team that averaged 4.27 goals a game in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Bruins-induced power outage was incredible. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal and Kris Letang all joined Iginla in failing to produce a single point against a suffocating team defense that was led by Zdeno Chara, Dennis Seidenberg and Patrice Bergeron.

But it was not exclusive to those big names.

The Pens came into the series with star power. The Bruins won the series with staying power.

“We may not have the biggest stars in the world. We may not have the best players in the world,” said David Krejci, the hero of Game 1. “But we may have the best team in the world.”

That cannot be proven until they face off against either the Chicago Blackhawks or the Los Angeles Kings, who battle tonight in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals with Chicago up 3-1.

But the victories last night — both the game and the series — were ones the B’s could deservedly bask in for at least a night.

“We were committed to do the little things, and really buy into our structure, what we want to do defensively,” said Chara, who frustrated the Pens’ stars for four games. “Let’s not kid ourselves: They have the best offense in the world, and they are an unbelievable team. They probably deserved better, but we were just playing under our game plan, and exposing what we do well, and trying to limit what they’re trying to do.”

It was fitting that in this team-above-all victory, it was a B’s third-pair defenseman, Adam McQuaid, who was the hero of the night. He scored the lone goal of the game at 5:01 of the third period on a terrific blast.

Brad Marchand gained the offensive blue line and waited for the trailer that he wanted. He looked off Krejci and then saw the strapping McQuaid barreling down the middle of the ice and connected. McQuaid found a crease in the Penguins’ shot-blocking defense, and lifted the puck over Iginla’s stick and a sprawling Brandon Sutter to beat Tomas Vokoun with a perfect shot high to the glove side.

A young man who battled for his life last autumn with blood clot issues, McQuaid is the very essence of the humble Canadian boy. But his humility didn’t make him shy away from the big moment.

“We said in the playoffs it’s about everyone, it’s about the team, and everyone steps up at one point or another, and tonight it was Quaider,” said Bergeron, who took his turn being the hero in Game 3. “He’s one of those guys that you don’t necessarily see that often on the score sheet, but he does his job and the way that he plays goes a long way, especially in the playoffs, and tonight was his turn to score that big goal.”

From there, it was all about the defense and the goaltending again. And as they had for the whole series, they came through with flying colors. The B’s had to kill off 57 seconds of a Penguins power play (0-for-15 in the series), and once Pittsburgh pulled Vokoun, there was a mad scramble at the end until Iginla’s shot nestled into Rask’s glove as time ran out.

It was a perfect ending to a nearly perfect game.

“Tuukka and all the defensemen deserve a lot of credit for what they did in this series,” Milan Lucic said. “The two best players in the world (Crosby and Malkin) and you’re able to shut them down to zero points is more than an accomplishment. We have full trust and belief in what they do. And it’s great what we’ve done as a unit so far, but the job is not over yet.”

Maybe not. But the portion of the job that was finished last night was truly remarkable.



Neely’s grin bears it

Beating hated Pens puts smile on Cam’s face


By:Steve Conroy, Bruins Notebook

Bruins president Cam Neely was walking from the team’s dressing room at the Garden last night wearing just the slightest of grins.

With all of his history with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he was asked, just how satisfying it was to finally knock them out of the playoffs.

“I haven’t really thought of it,” said Neely, breaking into a much wider smile.

It was, of course, a joke. He has the kind of history with the Penguins that you don’t easily forget. Not only had Neely lost two conference finals to Pittsburgh in 1991 and ’92, but he suffered an injury from the knee of Ulf Samuelsson that would lead to the end of his playing career.

The team the Bruins smothered in four games may not have been as good as those Mario Lemieux-led Penguins, but a lot of people thought they were close.

“I went up against them twice in the conference finals and we didn’t get as far as this team did. We’re one step closer to where we want to be. But when we found out we were playing Pittsburgh, you start thinking about past history.”

Does this erase any of that history?

“Well, it just feels really good right now,” said Neely, who marveled at the Bruins’ play in the series. “Talk about a team game, from Tuukka (Rask) on out. Our ‘D’ played really well, our forwards were very smart. We just played a great team game.”

Iginla: Loss ‘stings’

Jarome Iginla had his choice of where to go at the trading and, as we all remember, he chose Pittsburgh as his best chance to win a Stanley Cup, nixing a trade to the Bruins.

“It doesn’t make it easier, but I’m very fortunate to get the chance to come to Pitt, and you want this opportunity. You want an opportunity to be in the conference finals, and have a chance to win, and we had that chance,” said Iginla, who went scoreless in the series. “The Bruins, they played very well, they’re a very good team. I was fortunate to have that choice, and when you make it you definitely believe in the guys here, and we played some great hockey up until this last series.

“It also stings not playing well in this last series. These four games, I just didn’t play very well, and that’s when you want to play your best for the team, and you want to find ways to contribute and be a part of these close games, and help it go the other way.”

Iginla has always been known as a class act and there was no one in the Bruins locker room willing to rub salt in his wounds.

“First off, he’s a great player. He’s a legend, he’s a future Hall of Famer, and I think looking back at that day, he earned the right to make the decision that he made. You can never blame a guy for going with his heart and making that type of decision. I’m not going to insult him in any way,” said Milan Lucic. “He’s a guy that I always looked up to as a teenager and seeing the way that he played. As a Canadian, seeing what he did in the Olympics and all that type of stuff, he’s definitely an idol of mine.

“But like I said, he earned that right to make the decision that he made. I’m sure if he could go back he would make a different decision, but in saying that, he’s still a great player, he’s got a few more years ahead of him, and you wish him nothing but the best.”

But did his decision to go with the Penguins get the B’s competitive juices flowing?

“We kind of took it that way, in that sense that when a guy chooses another team over your team, it kind of does light a little bit of a fire underneath

you,” said Lucic. “Fortunately, we were able to turn it into a positive more than a negative.”

Dogman steps in

With the loss of Gregory Campbell, Kaspars Daugavins got the call for the Bruins, playing mostly on a line with Rich Peverley and Tyler Seguin, though the bottom six forwards were mixed and matched a bit.

He had a solid game and nearly put the B’s up in the second period when he hit a post.

“I felt good; I had a lot of energy at the start,” said Daugavins, who hadn’t played since Game 1 of the first round on May 1. “I didn’t play that much but every time I got out there I enjoyed every second of it. I tried to keep it simple because I hadn’t played in a while and it worked. Get pucks deep and try to start a cycle and back check, it worked well.”



Marchand dishes out game-winner


By:Mark Daniels

All series long, Brad Marchand poked, prodded and got under the skin of several of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He was a constant annoyance, and that didn’t stop last night during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. But for Marchand, the best revenge came in the form of one crisp pass to Adam McQuaid.

With the game scoreless in the third period, the left winger had the puck and plenty of options. The Bruins were in the middle of a line change and Marchand’s first thought was to dump the puck. But as he crossed over the blue line, he immediately turned up and saw David Krejci. Krejci had a good head of steam and Marchand thought about sending the puck his way.

But he waited for a moment.

As the Penguins defensemen pulled back, McQuaid was all alone. Marchand sent him a pass and McQuaid put it home for the score, at 5:01, to lift the B’s to a 1-0 win over the Penguins and send them to the Stanley Cup finals.

“I didn’t see him until the last second when I gave it to him,” Marchand said. “When I turned up, I was going to go to Krejci. I was looking for him. Then I just saw Quaider came up behind him and Krejci just kind of pulled his guy through and I just gave it to him. He made a great play.”

Marchand’s never been afraid to get in someone’s face. His role as an irritant was highlighted in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals when he sent a series of jabs to the face of Canucks forward Daniel Sedin.

And Marchand was a thorn in the Penguins’ side all night. In the second period, he mixed it up with Brenden Morrow and Matt Niskanen. Both Marchand and Niskanen earned matching roughing penalties.

After the game, Marchand said all the animosity made the victory even sweeter.

“Yeah, I think so. It’s just how the game goes out there,” Marchand said. “The tempers are flaring a bit. And especially when we’re this far in the playoffs, guys’ tempers are going and there’s a lot of intensity out there. It’s kind of right there in your face all the time. Guys are always going after each other. It’s fun to be a part of.”

Marchand, who scored two goals in Game 3, has tallied 13 points (four goals, nine assists) this postseason. The 25-year-old said he’s ecstatic as he heads to the second Stanley Cup finals of his career.

“It’s very exciting. It’s a feeling you can’t describe. We’ve worked for this our whole lives,” Marchand said. “It doesn’t matter that we won one a couple years back. I think it made us that much hungrier to be back here and want another one. We’re extremely excited right now.”



Closing failures get bad rap


By:Ron Borges

In baseball, closers provide relief. In sales, closeouts bring relief, too. But in the dark lair of the Bruins, closeouts bring high anxiety and closers have been in short supply these past six years.

Last night was the 22nd closeout game the Bruins have faced under the leadership of Claude Julien. In the hours before the puck was dropped between the Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins in what could become the final game of the Eastern Conference finals, there was much discussion about one fact: Julien’s Bruins were 8-13 in such games, including 2-3 thus far during their playoff run this season.

Many in these parts have come to feel such disappointing numbers are revealing of something being amiss at the core of the Bruins or Julien. This is despite the fact that together they won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and may soon be four victories (and at least one more “closeout game”) away from doing it for the second time in three years. Many would see that as a pretty good “closeout’’ record but others seem to focus not on the big picture but on each individual closeout failure as if, in the end, the outcome of each carries the same weight when in reality the only one that really matters is the one that could close you out.

Hockey is not like pro football, where everything is decided in one game. In the NFL playoffs every game is a closeout game so if one team or one coach consistently comes up on the wrong end of such games a reputation grows that cannot be shaken.

That was the sad, unfair fate of Marty Schottenheimer, who turned around three franchises and still was labeled a loser. But when you are very likely headed to the Stanley Cup finals twice in three years you might think this closeout talk would by now have been, well, closed out.

That it has not is because the past is of interest to fans, ex-players and the media more than to those who live in the moment. For active players only one close out game matters: this one.

“You want to play your best game regardless of what happened in the past,’’ Bruins center Chris Kelly said hours before that first puck dropped last night. “We’ve gotten much better at being in the moment and at staying in the moment.

“The main focus has to be on ourselves. The team playing for their lives is a desperate team and a desperate team is a dangerous team. So if we worry about them and what they’re going to bring, we’re in trouble.”

What the Penguins intended to bring was all they had. The Bruins intended to do the same but the reality is it is one thing to be 0-3 and on the brink of elimination and quite another to be 3-0 and on the brink of eliminating someone else. The difference is the definition of human nature. It is not, as many seem to think, that the team that can close out the other necessarily loses focus or gives less effort than its opponent. It is simply that desperation can bring a fire as difficult to contain as it is to maintain.

There is an element at work that makes winning such games much more difficult for the lead dog than it would seem to civilian observers. It is the difference between desperation and desire.

“When a team is facing elimination they are so desperate everyone brings their ‘A’ game,’’ explained Brad Marchand, who often plays in that desperate fashion. “Nobody is a weak link. That’s very difficult to match that.

“All you can do is be sure you’re prepared because every time you give a team life it’s dangerous. We have some experience with that around here (Don’t remind us!).

“We’ve seen a lot of different things happen (at 3-0). We’ve been on the other end. We know pumping any kind of life into a team is very dangerous.”

The Bruins have not only been up 3-0 in a closeout game but also led 3-0 in a closeout game and in both cases saw themselves closed out. It is a

memory that has lingered among fans and some in the media like the memory of a getting food poisoning at a restaurant. You don’t forget that. Yet one can learn from such experiences as well and the Bruins, despite being 2-3 in closeouts this year going into last night, believe they have even if others outside of their dressing room still wonder.

“I think we know how we need to play,” Julien said. “It’s about bringing it tonight. This is about one game. It’s nothing more than about one game, what we need to do here.

“We try and minimize, I guess, all the hoopla around everything and keep it to the one game, how we need to play. Again, I mentioned yesterday that we didn’t play our best game last game. They played better. So we need to be a better team tonight.”

Not a more desperate team. Just a better one.



Bruins sweep into Stanley Cup finals

Friday, June 7, 2013

By:Steve Conroy

Many people gave the Bruins a chance to beat Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals.

No one expected it to be like this.

The Bruins swept the Penguins in a 1-0 defensive classic at the Garden last night to punch their ticket to their second Stanley Cup finals in three years.

Tuukka Rask (26 saves) recorded his second shutout over the mighty Pens, who came into the series averaging 4.27 goals in the playoffs but scored just two in four games against the B’s.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Neal, Jarome Iginla and Kris Letang all came up with goose eggs in the series.

Adam McQuaid scored the first and only goal of the game at 5:01 of the third period on a blast. Brad Marchand gained the offensive blue line and waited for the trailer he wanted. He looked off David Krejci, and then saw McQuaid barrelling down the middle of the ice and connected. McQuaid found a crease in the Penguins’ shot-blocking defense and beat Tomas Vokoun with a perfect shot high to the glove side.

The game was eerily reminiscent of the B’s Game 7 victory in the Eastern Conference finals two years ago, which was also a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay.

In what felt like an extension of Game 3, the two teams were deadlocked 0-0 after two periods.

The Penguins got the first break of the game just 2:35 in when birthday boy Milan Lucic was called for unsportsmanlike conduct when he touched Penguins defenseman Douglas Murray on an icing. It was a light hit and rather questionable icing call, as it appeared Zdeno Chara had gained the red line on the follow through of his dump-in. But it was called icing and thus a penalty on the Lucic hit.

But as the B’s had done on the first 12 Pittsburgh power plays in the series to that point, they were able to kill it off.

The Pens, however, got some momentum off the power play, and they pressured the B’s with a strong forecheck, causing a couple of turnovers on the Bruins breakouts. The B’s would make seven turnovers in the first period.

The Pens’ best chance came at 7:40 when it looked like Crosby would break free coming through the slot. Crosby, however, was harassed by Johnny Boychuk and had to rush his shot, which went off Rask and out of play.

The B’s got their chance on the power play at 9:22 when the Pens were called for too many men on the ice.

On the power play, the first unit kept the puck in the Pittsburgh zone for much of the advantage and got a few shots on Vokoun, but couldn’t put one past him.

But as the Pens did, the B’s seemed to get a little jump-start from the advantage, and they carried the play through the middle of the period.

The B’s had a good chance when a loose puck came out and Nathan Horton had an empty net, but a Penguin just got his stick on it before Horton could.


680363 Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo's Bailey, Blujus invited to USA Hockey's world junior camp

June 7, 2013 - 12:53 PM

By John Vogl

The United States will go for a repeat at the next world junior hockey championships. Justin Bailey and Dylan Blujus have a chance to be part of it.

USA Hockey will hold its national junior evaluation camp Aug. 3-10 in Lake Placid, and the Buffalo-area duo is among the 40 players invited. Bailey, a 17-year-old forward from Williamsville, plays for Kitchener of the Ontario Hockey League and is eligible for the NHL draft June 30. Blujus, a 6-3 defenseman for North Bay of the OHL, was selected by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2012 draft.

The national team will be selected during a pretournament camp in mid-December. The world juniors will begin Dec. 26 in Sweden.

Buffalo News LOADED: 06.08.2013

680364 Buffalo Sabres

Road to the NHL Draft: Max Domi

June 7, 2013 - 10:00 AM

By John Vogl

Max Domi

Position: Center

Junior team: London (OHL)

Born: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Measurables: 5-foot-9, 185 pounds

2012-13 stats: 64 games, 39 goals, 48 assists, 87 points

Central Scouting rank: No. 19 (North America)

Lowdown: There’s no doubt being the son of an NHL player has certain perks. Domi, for example, grew up sharing the ice with stars such as Mats Sundin, Joe Nieuwendyk and Gary Roberts while his dad, Tie, played for Toronto. Max Domi learned how to be a pro from a young age.

There can be drawbacks, as well. Opponents see the name on the back of the sweater and take their best shot. But Domi’s main obstacles have included Type 1 diabetes and inheriting his dad’s lack of height. The compact, powerful forward wears an insulin pump during games and monitors his glucose levels on the bench and at intermission.

Domi has overcome the challenges so far. He’s strong like his pugilistic father, but he’s mainly a scorer. He had a hat trick in his OHL debut and has continued to torment goaltenders. He has top-level speed and an impressive touch around the net. The concern is whether he’ll get pushed around by bigger players at the NHL level, but the name Domi carries a reputation for fighting through obstacles.

He said it: "It’s a blessing to be able to hang around with guys like Mats Sundin, Mario Lemieux, ask them questions and learn from them, obviously. It’s definitely beneficial for me. It’s a lot of fun to be around them.” – Domi.

The Buffalo News is profiling 30 prospects in 30 days leading up to the NHL draft June 30.

Buffalo News LOADED: 06.08.2013

680365 Chicago Blackhawks

Quenneville's line changes -- it was Two-Fer Thursday

Steve Rosenbloom

The RosenBlog

8:16 AM CDT, June 7, 2013

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville changed lines.

Of course, Quenneville changed lines. That’s what he does when things get dire, and sometimes even when they don’t.

But in the second period of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals in Los Angeles, the Hawks were desperate. Sure, they had established their pace. Sure, they were moving the puck through the center because they smartly avoided getting pinned along the boards. But the Hawks were desperate.

They had just blown a two-man advantage of nearly a minute in a one-goal game. Then they wasted the subsequent 5-on-4 advantage.

The Hawks might’ve been criticized for trying to be too cute on the two-man advantage, but that’s the smart play. Work for one shot. Instead, the Hawks managed none.

With a 5-on-4 advantage, the idea is to shoot and crash the net. The Hawks couldn’t do that, either, managing one shot that Kings goalie Jonathan Quick saw and gloved.

The Hawks failed to get the puck into the dangerous area or move it well enough to create a clean blast. They needed to be clutch. They were capable only of playing catch along the perimeter.

And so, the Hawks were desperate, and oh, were they ever missing suspended defenseman Duncan Keith.

In the Stanley Cup playoffs, they say your best players have to be your best players. In these playoffs, the likes of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook have been some of their most worst.

It’s hard enough to beat Quick even up, and here were the Hawks blowing a golden chance.

Or maybe it’s not that hard.

As he does when the Hawks struggle to create offense, Quenneville put together Kane and Toews, and bang, here came one important sequence, perhaps the most important sequence of the playoffs going forward.

Kane motored around the slot and shot. Toews shot near the right. Kane centered to Niklas Hjalmarsson for a slap shot at the top of the slot. Finally, Kane shoveled in a Bryan Bickell deflection that trickled behind Quick to make it 2-2 late in the second period.

Just like that, the two struggling stars from whom Quenneville said he needed more were reunited and immediately started, continued and finished a critical scoring play.

Quenneville, of course, changes a second line when he changes a first, and would you look at that:

Hossa, who was dropped from Toews’ line, took a slick pass from Michal Handzus, who used to center Kane, and roofed the go-ahead goal 70 seconds into the third period. Three-two, Hawks.

Talk about your ultiamte two-fer: Quenneville changed his top two lines, and one scored the tying goal while the other nailed the winner.

The Hawks protected that lead the rest of the way, limiting the Kings to just two shots in the third period. Three games to one, Hawks.

A win at home Saturday puts them in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since Kane scored that forever goal. Interesting how it always seems to come back to certain names.

The Hawks weren’t going to do anything in this series if their stars couldn’t score, especially in a rink where the Kings hadn’t lost this postseason.

Some of the Hawks’ biggest stars showed up Thursday night. They scored goals that turned the game and the series.

Nice of them to help out Bickell.

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 06.08.2013


Hawks happy to have Keith back Saturday

By Shannon Ryan

Tribune reporter

5:10 PM CDT, June 7, 2013

Nobody in the dressing room was as giddy as the man who didn't play.

After beating the Kings 3-2 in a critical Game 4 on the road Thursday night, Blackhawks players were rushed by suspended defenseman Duncan Keith.

"He was pumped up when we came into the locker room," defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said Friday when the team arrived back in Chicago from a cross-country flight. "We were all happy obviously, but he was probably one of the happiest guys. He was jumping around and giving us fist bumps. It was fun to see. I can just imagine. It’s always worse watching than actually playing the games. It was probably pretty tough for him."

Keith can release his energy on the ice again.

After sitting out for a one-game suspension, Keith will return for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night at the United Center, where the Hawks can eliminate the Kings. He was banned for the game after high-sticking Kings Jeff Carter in the face.

"We’re looking forward to getting him back in the lineup," captain Jonathan Toews said. "We know how much he can help our team."

Winning without Keith, who is considered one of the top defensemen in the NHL, proved something to the other Blackhawks, they said.

"We’ve played without some of our top players before," Toews said. "There’s a little bit of a mental hurdle there at first when you realize you’re going to be without that guy. We have a lot of great players who can step in. That’s what makes us a good team."



Bruins won't give an inch

McQuaid's goal enough for 1-0 victory and series sweep as Penguins can't get offense started

By Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune reporter

11:15 PM CDT, June 7, 2013

BOSTON — With one Adam McQuaid slap shot, the Bruins' sweep was complete.

In a defensive battle Friday night at TD Garden, McQuaid scored the lone goal to give the Bruins' a 1-0 victory over the Penguins and the Eastern Conference finals 4-0.

The Penguins made a desperate scramble in front of the net in the final 45 seconds, but as they couldn't convert an equalizer, the crowd of 17,565 began to roar.

As the Bruins celebrated, the roar turned to chants of "We want the Cup!" The Bruins will make their second appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in three years after winning in 2011. They will face the winner of the Western Conference finals between the Blackhawks and the Kings, which resume Saturday night at the United Center with the Hawks up 3-1.

"It feels good to contribute that way when you don't normally," said McQuaid, a defenseman who scored just his second goal and third point of the playoffs. "You look at so many great efforts we had from guys tonight. The last 10 minutes of the game, guys were all over the ice doing whatever it took to preserve that (lead)."

The Penguins hadn't been swept in the playoffs since the Bruins took the 1979 quarterfinal round from them.

The talk entering the game was about the difficulty facing the Penguins as they tried to recover from a 3-0 series deficit. But the Bruins and goaltender Tuukka Rask pitched the second shutout of the series to stop the comeback talk before it could get started.

The Bruins allowed just two goals in the series against a team that entered averaging 4.27 per game in the playoffs. Rask made 26 saves Friday and breathed a sigh of relief after the Bruins made their final stand.

"It's just a scramble," Rask said of the final minute. "You can't see anything. People are laying everywhere. You don't have a stick. You just try to grow yourself as big as you can to stop the puck."

On the winning goal, Brad Marchand got the puck up the ice, paused and sent a pass back to McQuaid. He fired a shot to the top left corner of the net past Penguins goaltender Tomas Vokoun with 14 minutes, 59 seconds to play in the third period. Vokoun made 23 saves.

"I got up the ice, and Marshy kind of stopped up and made a nice pass to me," McQuaid said. "I just tried to get a shot on net, and luckily it went in."

The Penguins had a better start Friday than they did in the first three games. They didn't allow a Bruins goal in the first period for the first time this series.

The Penguins didn't score a power-play goal the entire series, going 0-for-3 Friday to bring their series total to 0-for-15. It was a surprising twist for a team that boasts offensive powerhouses such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, neither of whom had a point in the series.

"We're very happy with how we played," Marchand said. "It's a pretty amazing thing, and I guess lucky too, that we were able to hold them to two goals. There's so much talent and skill."



Game 4 victory uplifting for Keith

Star defenseman euphoric after Hawks took 3-1 series edge while he was suspended

By Shannon Ryan, Chicago Tribune reporter

9:06 PM CDT, June 7, 2013

Nobody in the dressing room was as giddy as the man who didn't play.

After the Blackhawks beat the Kings 3-2 in a critical Game 4 on the road Thursday night in Los Angeles, suspended defenseman Duncan Keith rushed his triumphant teammates.

"He was pumped up when we came into the locker room," defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said Friday after the team arrived back in Chicago from a cross-country flight. "We were all happy obviously, but he was probably one of the happiest.

"He was jumping around and giving us fist bumps. It was fun to see. I can just imagine. It's always worse watching than actually playing the games. It was probably pretty tough for him."

Keith can release his energy on the ice again.

After sitting out for his one-game suspension for high sticking Jeff Carter in Game 3, Keith will return for Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night at the United Center, where the Hawks can eliminate the Kings.

"We are looking forward to getting him back in the lineup," captain Jonathan Toews said. "We know how much he can help our team."

Winning without Keith, who is considered one of the top defensemen in the NHL, proved something to the other Blackhawks, they said.

"We've played without some of our top players before," Toews said. "There's a little bit of a mental hurdle at first when you realize you're going to be without that guy. (but) we have a lot of great players who can step in. That's what makes us a good team."

Power moves: The Hawks' penalty kill is notoriously effective, going 14 of 15 in the series against the Kings and 54 of 56 in the playoffs.

But they admit their power play could use a little work.

They were scoreless in four opportunities with a man advantage in Game 4, including a 53-second 5-on-3 chance in the second period.

"That could be a small thing maybe," Toews said. "We trailed for at least half the game until we tied it in the second. It's something that we're always focused on and we'll keep trying to work on it. We know it can make a difference in the series."

Coach Joel Quenneville seemed less concerned.

"I don't think we've struggled," he said. "I thought we did some good things during this series in our power play. Maybe in production it's not reflecting the zone time or the quality or the momentum you go into the power play with. The 5-on-3 was disappointing.

At the same time, we're a pretty good penalty killing team. As long as you don't lose the momentum I think your power play is OK, though certainly you would like something to show for it."

Tuning in: Or not.

Believe the Blackhawks when they say they are not looking ahead.

Asked if he was going to watch a possible elimination game in the Eastern Conference finals between the Bruins and Penguins on Friday night, Hjalmarsson said, "If I have nothing else to do I might watch it."



Hawks know power of desperation mode

They rallied thrice to win elimination games in semis just as Kings must do against them

By Shannon Ryan, Chicago Tribune reporter

8:21 PM CDT, June 7, 2013

It wasn't that long ago when questions enveloped the Blackhawks about a likely inevitable exit from the NHL playoffs.

Down 3-1 to the Red Wings in the Western Conference semifinals, they were headed off the cliff.

Instead, something clicked.

Now, conversely, with a 3-1 advantage over the Kings and one game from the Stanley Cup Final, the Hawks hardly are expecting their opponent to come into the United Center meekly Saturday night for Game 5.

"We were on the other end of this so we know what they're thinking," defenseman Johnny Oduya said Friday. "We know this is not over."

The desperate must-win scenario sparked the Hawks who won three straight from the Wings to claim the series.

The Blackhawks know better than anyone that being one game away from advancing does not equal a punched ticket.

"We had that the other series and we woke up, knowing (we had) to play the best game of the series," Niklas Hjalmarsson said.

Captain Jonathan Toews is looking Saturday night as just the start.

"We can just go into that game with the mindset that we're down 3-1," he said. "That's what we've said the last couple of games in L.A. We know the other team is coming at you hard. It's up to you to motivate yourself and try to put yourself in that position that you feel like you're in a seventh game or your back's up against the wall.

"We did that (in Game 4). We know we have to raise our level of play even more (in Game 5)."

The Blackhawks appear to have the necessary momentum to close out the series. They served the Kings with their first home playoff loss Thursday night, ending a 15-game home winning streak, and they did it without star defenseman Duncan Keith, who will return to the ice after serving a one-game suspension.

Also working to their advantage is the fact the Kings struggle mightily on the road.

They are just 1-7 in road playoff games this season, including two losses at the United Center already.

"They're a great team, and it's always toughest to win to close out a series," Hjalmarsson said. "(But we) always look forward to playing at the United Center. We know the crowd is going to be rocking."

Facing elimination against the Red Wings revitalized the Blackhawks, coach Joel Quenneville said.

"That's where we started to become a team," he said. "The progression in our team game has evolved where it's a little more confident."

While the Hawks prepared for a Kings' late awakening, they are eager to close out the series before the home crowd.

"We don't want to go back to L.A.," Oduya said.



Predicting NHL playoffs perilous

Question Hawks' depth and look the fool

Dan McNeil

8:16 PM CDT, June 7, 2013

If anybody in the sports observation business ever tells you he or she doesn't take enormous joy in being right, they're lying.

Everybody with a laptop or a microphone relishes every opportunity to spike the ball after a prediction — be it on a game, a season, a career — proves correct. As it is with sports wagering, however, it's much easier to recall, in vivid detail, those "I'm telling you this is what's going to happen" projections when they belly up.

Good thing I don't blush easily. My NHL crystal ball has been an off-the-charts disaster this spring.

Leave it to the Stanley Cup playoffs to slam the brakes on my "told ya so" roll: Brian Urlacher's career being over, the White Sox being much closer to Cubs-level bad than anybody realized, etc.

Just after my "the Blackhawks are the hammer and the Red Wings are the nail" proclamation one game into the Western Conference semifinals blew up, I was telling anybody who would listen that the Hawks were coming back from Los Angeles with the series tied 2-2.

Without suspended defenseman Duncan Keith, the Hawks were certain to lose. Nobody could have convinced me otherwise.

Keith's performance in the first game of the series, on both ends of the rink, was his best of the year. Two nights after the Hawks couldn't get out of their own zone, there was no way that would change with Keith in civilian clothes for his boneheaded retaliation against Jeff Carter.

Question the depth of this Hawks roster and look the fool.

I know Niklas Hjalmarsson is a terrific player, but I didn't think he would be mobile enough to log the extra time two nights after taking a bullet of a slap shot off his right knee in Game 3. Hjalmarsson played more than 25 minutes and showed no ill effects.

Brent Seabrook rose to the occasion. Michal Rozsival got much more ice time and responded. Johnny Oduya and Nick Leddy were steady.

The Hawks' blue-liners got the puck out of the defensive zone. In tandem with the spirited forechecking efforts of the forwards, the Hawks afforded Corey Crawford his easiest third period in 16 playoff games, holding the Kings to two shots on goal.

So how in the world can Darryl Sutter's Kings, who were unbeaten after scoring first at home this season, muster up an effort Saturday and extend the series to six games?

It's the NHL playoffs. I would recommend waiting until Sunday morning before checking flights and hotels in Boston for the finals.

The Hawks are going to their second finals in four years, but I can't say with any more conviction that they will punch that ticket in Game 5 than I can predict Saturday's winning Powerball numbers.

The Bruins were left for dead in the first round, and the Maple Leafs choked. The Blues blew a 2-0 series lead on the Kings in the first round. The Red Wings, the No. 7 seed, were sure to upset the Hawks after taking a 3-1 series lead in the conference semis.

Professional hockey defies logic. How does one explain role player Bryan Bickell's ascent to first-line status? The soon-to-be-wealthy winger has gone from grinder to Conn Smythe contender.

The puck has been finding Bickell. And he has been cashing in. Bickell scored his eighth playoff goal Thursday, albeit on Jonathan Quick's worst moment in the series. The NHL's hottest goaltender couldn't get anything on an unobstructed Bickell knuckler.

That encapsulates how perfectly the stars have been aligned for Bickell lately. And it proves that the NHL playoffs can't be predicted or explained.

I'm going to keep trying though. Possessing a willingness to embarrass yourself is part of the job.



Rozsival fits the bill

Whatever Hawks ask, veteran defenseman delivers — including quality starter's minutes

By Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune reporter

8:12 PM CDT, June 7, 2013

Michal Rozsival had a vision in his head when he hit the free-agent market last summer.

The veteran defenseman had several suitors, but it was the dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup over his head that drew him to the Blackhawks.

Rozsival and the Hawks are now one game from the opportunity to play for the Cup as they own a 3-1 edge over the Kings in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals with Game 5 set Saturday night at the United Center.

"We're not quite there, what I was imagining, but we're on the right track," Rozsival said. "I'm having a blast right playing with this group (and) I couldn't be happier."

The Hawks are pretty pleased with Rozsival's presence as the 34-year-old has become a vital cog along the blue line. Since signing a one-year, $2 million contract Sept. 11 after playing with the Coyotes in 2011-12, Rozsival has helped the Hawks many ways. He has filled in when needed, played on special teams and stepped up to log starter minutes as he did in Game 4 with Duncan Keith suspended Thursday night in Los Angeles. Paired with Johnny Oduya to form the second unit, Rozsival logged 25 minutes, 28 seconds of ice time as the Hawks limited the Kings to 21 shots in a 3-2 victory.

"All year (Rozsival) probably didn't get a good chance to play those types of minutes but he certainly … could have handled it," coach Joel Quenneville said. "He has played in all types of situations. He can play against top guys. Offensively, he has the puck a lot and has real good patience. He looked like an old pro out there (Thursday). He's a good fit for us (with) good experience. He has been around the league, he gives us some size (and) he's really patient with the puck."

Added Oduya: "He has been tremendous the whole year. He's a skill guy, smart with the puck and makes plays. You give him that opportunity to play a little bit more and steps up and plays a great game."

Though he joined the Hawks because he believed he had a good chance to capture the Cup, Rozsival is one of the reasons the team is in position to do just that.

"I knew the Blackhawks with the personnel they had and the players they had up front from playing against them last year in the playoffs," Rozsival said. "I knew they were a great team. Definitely a contender."



Blackhawks and their fans deny Kings the comforts of home

BY RICK TELANDER [email protected] June 6, 2013 11:46PM

Updated: June 7, 2013 2:46PM

LOS ANGELES — The puck dropped for Game 4, and Duncan Keith was nowhere to be found.

But the Blackhawks opened up the ice against the hard-hitting Los Angeles Kings, their defense held strong, and they pulled off a huge come-from-behind 3-2 win against last year’s Stanley Cup champs.

With a minute to go at Staples Center, actor Will Ferrell came on the Jumbotron over center ice and screamed like the craziest of fans, ‘‘I NEED TO HEAR YOU!’’

The crowd erupted into its ‘‘Go, Kings, go!’’ chant, which was matched word-for-word by the thousands of Blackhawks fans in the arena screaming, ‘‘Go, Hawks, go!’’

The combo came out, ‘‘Glow, blah, bloke!’’ and must have inspired the visitors even more.

On-fire goaltender Corey Crawford ran out the clock against the dazed Kings and sealed the deal.

Yes, Chicago fans are everywhere. And they’ll go nuts back home when Game 5 occurs Saturday night at the United Center and the Hawks have a chance to move straight on to the Stanley Cup finals.

What will it take to get that critical fourth win?

‘‘Just play well defensively,’’ answered Hawks winger Marian Hossa, as beautiful a veteran skater as there is in the league. ‘‘Just play the checking game, because when we do that, we feel like we have the fastest players and we can take off.’’

Man, can they.

Hossa sped up ice and took a lovely pass from the left side from teammate Michal Handzus early in the third period and lifted it like a laser beam over Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.

This is a place where nobody beats the Kings, remember? But the Hawks didn’t get that memo. Had they lost this game, they might have destroyed whatever momentum they had achieved in the first two wins of the series.

‘‘They say the last game is the toughest,’’ added Hossa. ‘‘When you want to close it.’’

And that sweet assist from Handzus, after Johnny Oduya stole the puck to set up the charge for that third and game-winning goal?

‘‘Ahh, that hit me right in my wheelhouse,’’ the gifted man said with a smile.

Getting hit in the wheelhouse is a good thing. Better than getting hit in the face and needing some dental adjustment and 21 stitches, as the Kings’ Jeff Carter did after Keith whacked him in Game 3. That’s why Keith wasn’t around, but Niklas Hjalmarsson and defenseman Brent Seabrook played more than 24 minutes each, and they finished a combined plus-3, meaning they done damn good.

‘‘Everybody who was chipping in, whoever was there, they are on the same page,’’ Hossa said.

That means even the much-criticized and bottled-up Patrick Kane, the little dervish who twice was crushed into the boards by Kings semi-brute Robyn Regehr, who goes 6-3, 230.

But Kane came flying from the left, tapping in the second goal of the game,while launching himself over Quick like a Frisbee.

It was great to see, proving that, as Kane had said, ‘‘I didn’t suddenly just get bad.’’

Kane flew all over, finding open spaces and, best of all, going to the net.

‘‘Their transition is where it gets really hard,’’ said Kings forward Dustin Brown. ‘‘You’re ultimately going one way and they’re going another.’’

That’s the good Blackhawks we know, the ones who have such gifted players as Jonathan Toews, Kane, Hossa, Patrick Sharp and so many others. It’s the Blackhawks that don’t get caught up in dumb fights and silly slashes. The team that coach Joel Quenneville has built to prove other teams aren’t as skilled or cohesive.

‘‘At this stage, it doesn’t matter who scores,’’ Hossa said. ‘‘You just want to win.’’

Yes, you do. A second trip to the finals in three years is the prize. Then, maybe a second trip for the Cup itself, showing up in the schools and offices and parks and bars in Chicago.

For Keith, it has to be a relief that his team won without him.

And it should be a reminder that the Hawks are deep and good. Keith isn’t a bad guy, and he immediately tried to apologize to Carter after high-sticking him. And he didn’t complain about Carter having tried to break Keith’s hand with a nasty slash to Keith’s fallen left glove only moments before the penalty.

But that was two games ago.

Now it’s full strength on the home ice coming up.

Biggest game of the year.

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 06.08.2013


Michal Rozsival helps keep clamp on Kings

BY ADAM L. JAHNS [email protected] June 7, 2013 10:16PM

Updated: June 8, 2013 2:15AM

He didn’t have any points, he didn’t log the most minutes and he had one shot on goal, according to official statistics. But call defenseman Michal Rozsival the unsung hero of the Blackhawks’ 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4 on Thursday.

The attention just came a day later.

“He was like an old pro out there,” coach Joel Quenneville said of Rozsival, who logged 25 minutes, 28 seconds of ice time with top defensemen Duncan Keith suspended.

“He probably didn’t get the chance to play those kind of minutes, but he certainly probably could have handled it. Last night, he got a chance to get a little more opportunity to play, played all situations. He did a great job. He did what we were hoping he’d do.”

By no means is Rozsival the fastest skater, but his defensive awareness and steady play kept the Kings out of the Hawks’ zone.

Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson might have garnered the most attention for the strong play of the Hawks’ blue line without Keith, but he was very admiring of what Rozsival did.

“You can just see, he’s been around for a long time and he knows where to put pucks and he knows where the centermen are in the ‘D’ zone,” Hjalmarsson said. “He’s just a really smart player that I personally can try to learn stuff from, too, just the way he makes situations out there look really easy.”

No. 2 returns

The Hawks were happy with how they played without Keith, but they’re even happier that they’ll have the 2010 Norris Trophy winner back in their lineup for an elimination game Saturday.

The Hawks saw how tough it was for Keith to sit out.

“He was pretty pumped up when we came in the locker room there [after the win],” Hjalmarsson said. “We were all happy. But he was probably one of the happiest guys. I would say he was jumping around and giving us fist pumps. It was fun to see. I can just imagine. It’s always worse watching than actually playing the game.”

Shutdown mode

The Hawks showed a killers instinct in the third period of Game 4, holding the Kings to two shots. That included time with Jonathan Quick pulled for an extra attacker.

“Our team game had a real purpose to it, whether it was puck placement, protecting the puck, good forecheck, good zone time in the offensive zone, odd-man rushes having to defend,” Quenneville said. “There’s four defensemen that played a ton in that period, and they did an excellent job in front of Corey [Crawford].”

Penner can play

The NHL announced that Kings forward Dustin Penner would not be disciplined for his elbow to the head of center Dave Bolland in the third period of Game 4.

In a tweet, the league stated, “Penner/Bolland: A reflex forearm prior to a collision. Not predatory. Not retaliatory. No history. No Supplemental Discipline.”

Richards watch

It looks like the Kings still will be without center Mike Richards in Game 5. Kings coach Darryl Sutter said “it is still doubtful at best” that Richards plays.



Even on cusp of series win, Blackhawks can reach another level

BY ADAM L. JAHNS [email protected] June 7, 2013 10:16PM

Updated: June 8, 2013 2:15AM

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville sold his decision to watch Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday like it was any other game earlier in the series.

But with a 3-1 stranglehold on the Western Conference Final against the Los Angeles Kings, it must seem a little different, right?

“We’ve watched every game,” Quenneville said. “And we watch it very closely.”

Quenneville and Co. aren’t quite ready to talk about the Bruins or a bigger, grander series that could be in their future. As they always say in hockey, the Hawks are focusing on their next game — Game 5 on Saturday at the United Center.

“We put ourselves in a good spot for [Saturday],” Jonathan Toews said. “We’re looking forward to that.”

But the only way the Kings get out of their 3-1 series hole is if the Hawks let them.

It’s become more obvious that the Hawks only will be done in by themselves, that anything is possible if they do the right things to make it possible. That applies now and later if they do what everyone expects them to do and advance.

“We know we have to raise our level of play even more, so we’ll go forward with that mentality,” Toews said.

That’s the intriguing aspect about the Hawks. They’re one victory away from the Stanley Cup Final, and their play can reach another level. It’s not just locker-room speak, either. There are definite — and attainable — areas for improvement.

Start with their hapless power play, which continues to infuriate fans and baffle everyone. How can a team that struts out star after star after star be so uncreative and unsuccessful on the power play (14.3 percent in the postseason)?

Quenneville called the two-man advantage the Hawks had in

Game 4 “a disappointing miss” and said the Kings did a good job of taking away some set plays. Quenneville didn’t want to get into the technical details, but it can be argued that the Hawks’ power play is often filled with too many statues and passes and not enough movement and shots.

“The production is maybe not reflecting the zone time, the quality or the momentum you go into the power play with,” Quenneville said. “It’s been OK, but certainly we’d like something to show for it.”

Winger Patrick Kane played more like he can in Game 4, and more of that effort will be needed. And everyone is waiting for center Dave Bolland, the “Rat” of 2010, to come out.

“We progressively in these playoffs have gotten better and better as we’ve gone along,” Quenneville said. “I think that’s the character of our team.”

Most of the Hawks’ woes this postseason are self-inflicted. The series against the Detroit Red Wings is full of examples. They made goalie Jimmy Howard’s job way too easy at times, didn’t adjust fast enough to what the Red Wings were doing to neutralize their speed in the neutral zone and even lost their composure.

Against the Kings, the same is true, whether it’s defenseman Duncan Keith getting suspended, third-line grunt Andrew Shaw committing ill-timed penalties, Kane staying to the outside far too much and so on.

Maybe it’s just the ebb and flow of one team’s postseason, but there is still some untapped potential left for the Hawks.

If the Hawks manage to send the defending champs home in five games, it will be a testament of not only how far they’ve come this postseason, but of how far they are capable of going.

Then we can talk about the Bruins.

“Everybody is going to be aware that [Saturday] is going to be a heckuva battle,” Quenneville said. “Let’s go do what we have to do.”



Spellman’s Scorecard: A whole lot of hard Hawks hockey

By Mike Spellman

Gotta say it:

Duncan Keith deserved that suspension.

Just can't do that.

Question:

I wonder how many times over the years Brendan Shanahan, the NHL player safety guru, would've suspended Brendan Shanahan the player?

Does that even make sense?

Well deserved:

I know it was probably just fate that the best picture Sports Illustrated had for its regional cover was of Marcus Kruger mixing it up along the boards.

But I love it anyway.

Kruger may not be a marquee name, but the guy throws it all out there all the time and deserves a little pub.

And if it can't be my guy Michael Frolik, Kruger's a good second option.

Q is right:

Niklas Hjalmarsson is a warrior.

Who was that guy?

While some people sensed trouble Tuesday night when the camera caught "Chicago guy" Jim Belushi in the seats at the Staples Center, my uh-oh moment came about three minutes into the game when Patrick Sharp dropped the gloves.

Someone got in his head.

Just wondering:

Did the city council OK the Cubs' selection of third baseman Kris Bryant in the first round?

Instant reaction:

I know it's all about pitching, but, man, I really like this pick.

I'm still a little skittish about taking a pitcher that early, and for that I say: Thank you Mark Prior!

Fun in the press box:

Sunday night at the UC during Game 2, this one media guy was walking down the stairs of the three-tiered press box with a cup of coffee and just as he neared the lower tier, he did a Dick Van Dyke over the ottoman routine and his coffee went flying … all over a couple of reporters.

What a dork.

Yeah, you got it, it was me.

The equation:

The 1-888-709-LIMO commercial is to this decade what the Victory Auto Wreckers ad was to the 1980s.

Discuss.

Talking tennis:

I'll admit it, I only watch tennis when it's the finals of a major and it's between two marquee players.

This weekend it will be Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova. Not sure I'm gonna watch this one though because honestly I can't remember a competitive match between those two.

Now if it turns out to be Nadal vs. Djokovic in the men's finals, I'll be all over that.

Speaking of majors:

Longshot for U.S. Open: Zach Johnson.

So long, Deacon:

Yeah, I'll admit it. My only memory of Deacon Jones was his guest role on "The Brady Bunch."

(Rare) soccer talk:

I know people say hockey is a tough sport to figure out, but for my money nothing tops the MLS.

The game itself is easy to follow.

The off-the-field stuff? Impossible.

Players leave midway through the season to go play for teams in their home countries. You've got your loaners, your DPs, your random friendlies …

Not that I'm trying too hard to figure any of it out, but when I do give an effort, my head explodes.

Ahh ... OK:

Now we know why Robin Ventura didn't want to sign that contract extension.

She's done it again:

A year after introducing everyone to jockey Tim Thornton, Arlington track analyst Jessica Pacheco is picking right up where she left off with a new video series called "Racehorse" featuring local owners and the equine athletes they adore. You can find it at arlingtonpark.com.

After watching the premiere episode, pretty sure this is going to be must-see stuff.

Two out of three ain't bad:

Showdown at Belmont!

Oxbow vs. Orb!

Crickets.

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 06.08.2013


Hawks need to come out with killer mentality in Game 5

By Tim Sassone

If the Blackhawks learned anything from the last round against Detroit, it's that no lead is safe — not even a 3-1 advantage in a series.

That's why the Hawks are taking a guarded approach to Saturday's Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

The Hawks can close out the Kings with another win and return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in four years, this time to play Boston, but they know Los Angeles won't go quietly.

"I think we can just go into (Game 5) with the mindset that we're down 3-1," said captain Jonathan Toews, who helped lead the Hawks back from a 3-1 deficit against the Red Wings. "You know the other team's going to come at you hard, but it's up to you to motivate yourself and try and put yourself in that position where you feel like you're in a seventh game or your back's up against the wall.

"I think that's when you play with the most desperation, so we did that (Thursday) and we know we have to raise our level of play even more."

The Bruins advanced to the Finals on Friday with a 1-0 win over Pittsburgh, completing the four-game sweep.

If the Hawks win Saturday, the Finals would start Wednesday at the United Center.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville is expecting the Kings to play their best game of the series.

"Everybody's got to be aware that (Game 5) is going to be a heck of a battle and let's get ready for the start knowing that they're Cup champs for a reason," Quenneville said. "Let's go do what we have to do, but Games 1, 2 and 4 is how we have to play and finish like that."

The Kings have no answer for the Hawks' transition game, which has been dominating at times. If the Kings turn the puck over, which they have done with regularity, the Hawks are right back in their face.

"Their transition game is really hard to handle," Kings captain Dustin Brown said. "You're ultimately going one way and they're going another. You just have to learn with the mistakes."

Turnovers have killed the Kings.

"That's one thing Darryl (Sutter) has been hard on us right now," said Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. "We're making too many turnovers in the neutral zone especially and that was the cause on 2 of the goals we allowed (Thursday). We'd turn the puck over and they would come down on odd-man rushes and score. If we want to win, we can't be doing that."

"It's an incredibly skilled team," said Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi. "We're not getting into something we didn't know. When you turn the puck over like that at the blue line, with the skill they have, it's only a matter of time before they put one on the scoreboard."

The Kings had only 2 shots on goal in the third period of their 3-2 loss in Game 4.

"We've got to find a way to get more pucks to the net," Brown said. "They play their game well and keep us to the outside."

The Kings also have no answer for Bryan Bickell. The Hawks' left winger scored his third goal of the series Thursday and eighth of the playoffs.

"He's playing with a purpose," Quenneville said.

"He's been probably the most important player on our team," Hawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. "He's doing everything, scoring goals, big hits for us, just a big body out there. He's been unbelievable in the playoffs, that's for sure."

Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, who was supposed to be the star of the series, let in a poor goal by Bickell in Game 4 and is getting outplayed by Corey Crawford.

Crawford kept the Hawks in Game 4 even when they were trailing 1-0 and then 2-1.

"Being down a goal and then being down again, it just showed some character to stick with our game," Crawford said. "It's been like that all playoffs where it doesn't really matter what happens, we believe, and if we keep going we're going to have a chance."

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what the Kings have to do Saturday.

"We just have to go in there and win one game, that's it," Quick said. "We've won there before, obviously not this series, but we've won there before."



Hawks don’t want to go back to L.A.

By Joe Aguilar

Wearing a blazer and dress shirt with no tie, an unshaved Jonathan Toews looked a little Hollywood-ish when he stepped off a plane after arriving at O'Hare Airport with his team from Los Angeles on Friday.

"It was a good plane ride," the Blackhawks captain said. "We're happy to be back in Chicago with at least one win on the road and put ourselves in a good spot for (Game 5)."

Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson looked equally "L.A. cool" with his beret. But the truth is, sunny California is a destination the Blackhawks would rather not visit again this season.

Up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series after splitting a pair of games on the Kings' home ice, the Blackhawks can wrap up the Western Conference finals tonight with a win at the United Center.

"We were on the other end, so we know what (Los Angeles) is thinking," defenseman Johnny Oduya said of the Blackhawks rallying from a 3-1 series deficit against Detroit in Round 2. "We know this is not over. It's a really, really good team. We said it (Thursday) night: We don't want to go back to L.A. It's a tough place to play and to win games. We got to bring our best performance and best effort to win the game."

Must-see TV:

The Eastern Conference finals between Boston and Pittsburgh is required viewing for coach Joel Quenneville, but not so much for Niklas Hjalmarsson.

"I haven't really been looking that much at the other series," Hjalmarsson said. "But if I got nothing else to do (Friday night) I might watch it then."

Quenneville planned to park his body in front of a TV.

"We watch every game," Quenneville said, "and we watch them very closely."

Bickell strikes again:

Left-winger Brian Bickell scored his eighth goal, tying him with Patrick Sharp for the team lead, in 16 playoff games Thursday night. The 6-foot-4, 233-pound Bickell had 9 goals in 48 regular-season games.

"I think he's probably a little more comfortable with the puck," Joel Quenneville said. "It seems to be finding him. ... He's dangerous off the rush. He seems to be finding pucks at the net."

The 27-year-old Bickell, who scored a career-high 17 goals two seasons ago, is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

"He's bringing speed to our lineup and playing with a purpose," Quenneville said. "You talk about all the ingredients that make up a power forward. He's putting it all together."



Kings coach Sutter not exactly a worry-wart

By Mike Spellman

As his team prepared for a deciding Game 7 against San Jose in the Western Conference semifinals, their first Game 7 appearance since 2002, Los Angeles Kings coach Darryl Sutter had a two-word response when the subject was broached by a reporter.

"Who cares?"

Well, now Sutter and his Kings are in an even more precarious situation, sitting on the cusp of elimination as they prepare for Game 5 tonight against the Blackhawks at the United Center.

Think Sutter might be a little more animated with a return trip to the Stanley Cup Finals hanging in the balance?

Think again.

"You know what? I don't put a big deal on elimination games because it really doesn't have much impact on anything or anybody," Sutter said. "If we play like we did the last three games, we have a chance to win.

"Somebody will win. Somebody will lose."

While Sutter doesn't put much stock in using the past as a motivation, like the Kings battling back from an 0-2 deficit against St. Louis in their quarterfinal series, or holding off the Sharks in Game 7 in the semis, his players, like captain Dustin Brown, sure seem to see some value in a bit of desperation.

"It's a different situation when you just have one game to play," Brown said on the eve of Game 5. "You can draw on being in the trench hole together. I think it's key for us, the fact that we've been through it together — we've been down in the holes together.

"I think the most important thing is leaning on each other at a time like now."

This is the 12th time the Kings have opened a playoff series with 3 losses in four games. The only time they were able to advance was in 1989 against Edmonton. Only 25 NHL teams have accomplished the feat.

Once again, though, if L.A. wants to keep the series alive, it looks like they'll have to do it without leading scorer Mike Richards, who's still suffering concussion-like symptoms after taking a big hit from Dave Bolland late in Game 1.

"It's still really doubtful at best," Sutter said of the chances of seeing Richards on the ice.

For a team that struggles to score goals, that's a big loss. And it means even more pressure will be applied squarely on the shoulders of Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.

"If there's one thing that's never going to waiver, it's the confidence we have in that guy," Brown said.

Said Sutter: "We need a great goaltending performance from our goaltender. At the end of the day, all those things everybody talks about, the only thing that matters is who scores the most goals.

"I know if you think that you can outscore Chicago, meaning get into a high-scoring thing, you're going to lose, so ..."



No one happier than Keith about Game 4 win

By Joe Aguilar

A goal mouth-wide smile greeted ecstatic Blackhawks as they walked into the visitors locker room following their 3-2 win over Los Angeles at the Staples Center on Thursday night.

Duncan Keith's smile wasn't too toothy, mind you, only because he famously lost several teeth thanks to a flying puck that ricocheted off his mouth the last time the Blackhawks enjoyed an extended run in the NHL playoffs.

That was three years ago when the Blackhawks brought home the Stanley Cup.

Keith missed Game 4 of this season's Western Conference finals after receiving a one-game suspension for busting open Jeff Carter's chin with a careless stick in Game 3.

That his team prevailed without him was a great high and greater relief for the Blackhawks' No. 1 defenseman, who will be back in uniform tonight for Game 5 at the United Center.

"He was pretty pumped up when we came into the locker room," defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said with a smile. "We were all happy obviously, but he was probably one of the happiest guys. He was jumping around and giving us fist pumps."

Forward Michael Frolik understood Keith's excitement, which was mutual among his teammates.

"It was a great win, and if we had lost it wouldn't have been a great feeling," Frolik said. "He was cheering for us in the room. We thought we had to win for him, kind of. It was a good feeling."

Keith leads all Blackhawks defenseman with 10 playoff points (9 assists). He's also a plus-5 and has been one of the team's best players, period, during the postseason.

"He was happy for his teammates (after Game 4)," coach Joel Quenneville said. "It was nice to see him so happy. He seemed happier than the guys that were out there playing."

With the former Norris Trophy winner relegated to spectator status, the Blackhawks' other defenseman, including newly inserted Sheldon Brookbank, all had to stretch their minutes.

Veteran Michael Rozsival logged a Keith-like 25 minutes and 28 seconds of ice time. The 34-year-old Rozsival was essentially a sixth defenseman all season.

"He's been great this year," Hjalmarsson said. "I noticed the first practice with him this year just the small passes he makes. It makes it just so much easier for everyone. You can just see that he's been around for a long time. He knows where to put pucks and he knows where the centerman is in the 'D' zone. He's a really smart player that I, personally, can try to learn stuff from."

Defenseman Johnny Oduya agreed. Brent Seabrook (26:20), Hjalmarsson, Rozsival and Oduya each played more than 22 minutes.

"He's been tremendous the whole year," Oduya said of Rozsival. "We have good depth and a lot of guys that can play those (heavy) minutes. He's a skilled guy, smart with the puck and makes plays."



Hawks thriving thanks in large part to Bickell, Crawford

By Mike Spellman

Q. Where would the Blackhawks be without the play of Bryan Bickell and Corey Crawford?

A. Boy, both of them are playing really well right now. You need players to step up and sometimes overachieve, and I'm not saying they're overachieving, but at least play to their utmost potential and you're getting that out of both of those guys right now.

play video

video Bickell breaks down Game 4 win

What Bryan Bickell is doing right now is incredible. He's a tough force to deal with — a big body who can score. He's playing with a lot of confidence.

The same goes for Corey Crawford. I don't think there's going to be a lot of critics of Corey Crawford anymore.

Q. Talk about the way the defense, particularly Michael Rosival, stepped up in the absence of Duncan Keith.

A. I thought Rosival was great in that game. He absorbed some huge minutes. That pairing — Johnny Oduya and Rosival — I thought they were a critical pairing; it was a comfortable pairing for those guys.

Joel Quenneville really relied on four guys and then spread it out among the rest of them.

Rosival really stepped it up and I thought Oduya and Niklas Hjarmalsson played tremendous and Brent Seabrook logged a lot of ice time as well. Those guys really beared down and dug deep to put together a performance like that.

Q. How important was it that Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa notched goals in Game 4?

A. Really important. It's easier said than done to play their game. A lot of it has to do with how L.A. is playing and how they're competing. It's not easy. This is the semifinals of the Stanley Cup.

The Blackhawks did what they needed to do as a team on Thursday, and anytime you have your top scorers scoring in a game, it gives them a lot of confidence. That's important for Kane and Hossa moving forward.

Q. How important is it for the Hawks to come out Saturday and try to take the Kings' hearts out of it early?

A. I always believe that you have to keep your foot on the pedal when you have a team on the ropes.

At some point, if you just keep working and keep working, you're going to lose one or two of those players on the opposition team — at some point their will kind of starts to drift away a little bit.

When you do that, you can't let up — just make sure you continue putting the pressure on.

•Troy Murray is in his 13th year as a member of the Blackhawks broadcast team and his eighth year as the color analyst for the team's radio broadcasts. The Selke Award winner was a five-time 20-goal scorer and a veteran of 15 years in the NHL, playing in 915 career games.



Aggressive Kane finally gets his goal

LOS ANGELES – Patrick Kane batted at the puck at the goal line, a puck that was probably going in anyway on the strength of Bryan Bickell’s shot. But better to be safe.

“I told Bicks I was sorry I stole it from him. It might’ve gone in,” Kane said with a laugh. “But when you see the puck there it’s instinctive to stick your stick in and touch it. But it was a big goal nonetheless.”

And as odd as it sounds, Kane needed that goal more than Bickell did.

Kane’s second-period goal tied the game at the time for the Chicago Blackhawks, who went on to beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 and to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Final. But for Kane, it was almost a kind of exhale moment. He’s been struggling, and that goal snapped a seven-game skid without one. It was also one of several signs that Kane was getting closer to being Kane again.

“Kaner wanted the puck, he had it early and had it a lot,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “He was dangerous off the rush and took shots through screens. It was nice to see him score as well.”

Kane looked like he was playing more his style Thursday night. He did have the puck a lot, he was more noticeable and he was shooting just about every time he got a chance. He finished with seven shots on goal, easily the most of anyone on either team. The right wing said yesterday that patience was fine, but he was too much so lately. On Thursday, he was more take-charge.

“I think the biggest thing was just trying to get the puck any way I could and skate with it and get into the game, no matter when that was. I felt I did a good job of that,” he said. “You get a lot of support from coaches and teammates that want you to have the puck and want you to skate with it and start moving with it. It’s a big part of our game if we play as a 5-man unit and come up with speed. You see how successful we can be.”

That team success that comes from the team speed and puck possession goes for Kane’s individual game, as well.

Defenseman Michal Rozsival said he told Kane during first intermission that he would score tonight. Apparently he knew what he was talking about. The Blackhawks need their top guys to have top performances. Kane was looking more like himself, and bringing that type of outing, in Game 4.

“Every time he was out there it seemed he had the puck. You could see the energy in him, the way he was skating and controlling the play,” Rozsival said. “I’m glad he (got that goal) and it’s great to see him scoring. He’s the guy we definitely need to be successful.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 06.08.2013


Hossa's late goal gives Hawks Game 4 win

LOS ANGELES – Duncan Keith’s absence was going to hurt, there was no doubt about that.

But the Chicago Blackhawks weren’t focusing on their lineup loss heading into Game 4 of the Western Conference Final. It was about gaining something on the ice, enough of an advantage that, if they played the team defense they were capable of, they could put the Los Angeles Kings’ backs to the wall.

Done.

Marian Hossa’s wicked shot gave the Blackhawks a lead 1:10 into the third period, and the defense did the rest as they beat the Kings 3-2 at the Staples Center Thursday night. The Blackhawks now have a 3-1 series lead heading back to Chicago, as they handed the Kings their first home loss of this postseason.

Bryan Bickell scored his eighth goal of the postseason and Patrick Kane scored to end a seven-game goal-less drought.

For the Blackhawks, it was back to the team mentality, something that was sorely lacking in Game 3. To withstand another Kings push without Keith, who was suspended a game for his high stick on Jeff Carter, they needed everyone contributing, everyone on board defensively. And once Hossa gave them the lead, they got that.

“We played really well after we scored the third goal there. Just solid,” said Niklas Hjalmarsson, who logged just under 25 minutes and had two assists to celebrate his 26th birthday. “We chipped pucks down and the puck just went to their end pretty quick, so we didn’t have to play much in our end. We had a lot of confidence there.”

The Blackhawks just shut the Kings down in the third period, ramping up their defense with whatever personnel was on the ice. The Kings had just two shots in that final frame, and one of them was with 1:17 remaining in regulation. That shut-down included a penalty kill without Michael Frolik, who was penalized in the game’s final five minutes. Defensemen loaded up on the necessary minutes. Michal Rozsival, who played 15:54 in Game 3, played 25:28 in Game 4.

“Some guys logged a lot of minutes,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “They had a good gap, got some clears (in the third period). The defense in front of Crow and Crow combined to do an outstanding job. That’s a tough team to shut down like that, but those guys deserve a lot of credit.”

Brent Seabrook said Keith’s absence was obviously tough, but that the Blackhawks got back to what’s worked for them throughout.

“We talked about it all season, especially in the playoffs: our team game, team defense is what’s been doing such a great job and Crow in the net making big saves,” said Seabrook, who played a team-high 26:20 with three hits and three blocked shots. “When our forwards come back the way they are it makes it easier for us. We’re just trying to get back there quick and get outlet passes for our forwards to go with the puck.”

The Blackhawks did have to battle, of course. Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who’s had a tremendous postseason, was at it again early, scoring his sixth goal of the postseason for an early lead. But the Blackhawks’ own postseason star, Bickell, had the equalizer about 10 minutes later, a wrister that Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick should’ve had, but just got a piece of. Dustin Penner reestablished the Kings’ lead about two minutes into the second, but Kane scored, batting a Bickell shot through, with 1:39 remaining in the second.

“I told Bicks I was sorry I stole it from him,” Kane said with a laugh. “This was huge, especially with how they’re playing at home. They won 15 in a row at Staples Center (dating back to the regular season), so it’s nice to steal one, for sure.”

With one of their best defensemen gone, the Blackhawks put their best defensive foot forward, especially in the third period. They’ll get Keith back in Game 5. But the mentality and teamwork will continue regardless of the lineup.

“We’re not about individuals. The whole team has been pulling on the same rope all season,” Rozsival. “It’s great to see all the guys contributing, even if we’re missing a guy like Duncs. But it’s important to have him back.”



From "Buff" to "Bicks"

"Under the radar."

That's actually a phrase Joel Quenneville used when asked for the umpteenth time this postseason about Bryan Bickell. To clarify, the Blackhawks head coach used it to describe the 6'4 left wing up until now. But now, the 27-year-old is not "under the radar".

Try being on every NHL team's radar as he heads full-steam towards unrestricted free agency after the playoffs are over, and he'll hit the open market less than a month from now (July 5th, a date four days later than most offseasons due to the lockout).

So, if the Blackhawks take care of business vs. the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night at the United Center, or, at worst, find a way to win one of the next three, it's on to the Stanley Cup Final -- where Bickell will be in the spotlight, a.k.a. the farthest place from "under the radar."

They could eventually wind up meeting a Boston team filled with Bickell types: big, rugged, nasty players who've wreaked havoc with everything in their way, starting in the third period of Game 7 from Round 1 vs. Toronto. They flicked away the Rangers and are on the verge of sweeping top East seed Pittsburgh. The crystal ball's becoming clearer: the 2010 champs against the team that succeeded them.

Back to Bickell, though. We sat here three years ago, marveling at the Dustin Byfuglien Stanley Cup breakout, as the hybrid forward-defenseman collected nine goals through the first three rounds, as big a reason as any that the Blackhawks earned a Finals matchup with Philadelphia. He added two more goals in the six games against the Flyers, and his formula was much the same as Bickell's now: the net presence that opponents didn't have an answer for.

After the Cup was clinched and the city celebrated, "Big Buff" was the first piece shipped out in the necessary salary purge that needed to take place in order to get under the Cap the following year. I remember getting on a plane to Las Vegas to cover the awards show recognizing the Stanley Cup champions and Duncan Keith's "lock" as the Norris Trophy winner. Byfuglien was on the team when I was in Chicago. By the time I landed in Sin City, he was an Atlanta Thrasher. He was going into the final year of his contract, and his big playoff required a huge payoff the Blackhawks couldn't meet. He eventually signed a five-year, $26 million deal the following February. They were numbers the Hawks would never have paid him, even if they had the resources.

See, as big a splash as Byfuglien made during that Cup run, it was an instance in which all the stars were aligned for him. He's always wanted to be a defenseman, but bought in for that Cup run to be the "eclipse" in front of Pekka Rinne, Roberto Luongo, Vladimir Nabokov and Michael Leighton. Even after all that success, he still wanted to be on the blue line. On top of that, many members of the organization throughout his time here tore their hair out over his lack of commitment to remaining physically fit. And when the rest of the roster can find ways to do it, how can you make a different set of rules for someone who can't? And make him among your top five players on the money scale? And while refusing to embrace the role that actually earned him that money? Make no mistake, Byfuglien's big shot is an asset -- especially on the power play, as it is now with the Jets. But he's a guy who's wanted to stay on the back, where his defensive acumen has always come into question, not in front -- where Hawks fans fell in love with him, and he earned all that cash.

Fast forward, now, to the present. After yet another goal Thursday night, Bickell's potted eight goals heading into Game 5 of the Conference Final, one shy of what Byfuglien had through the sweep of San Jose. He made slightly more than half a million dollars this season. His performance at "money time" this spring has likely earned him a deal at least seven to eight times more than his current salary. Heck, there might even be a team so smitten with Bickell they'd offer $5 million annually. On top of that, he's bought in -- and become very effective -- in the role he's needed.

The Blackhawks now are slightly below the current salary cap of about $71 million. Under the new CBA, the cap shrinks to just over $64 million next season. Joining Bickell on the current squad that need new deals are Ray Emery, Viktor Stalberg, Nick Leddy and Marcus Kruger. Of that remaining group, Leddy is probably the top priority, but Bickell has now moved to the forefront. I'm counting Emery as gone, after his superb work in almost

splitting time with Corey Crawford in the regular season probably has a team thirsting for help in net and a starting opportunity throwing cash the Blackhawks can't match in a backup role.

Despite being in this cap pinch, I'd imagine general manager Stan Bowman is trying to find a way to keep the Bowmanville, Ontario native around. Okay, so it's actually Orono, Ontario, but I couldn't help the symmetry. The GM has found ways to get creative in rewarding and protecting priorities. First, that new CBA also allows for two contract buyouts over the next two years that don't count against the cap. He can do one now, one later, or both now if he so chooses. He has candidates for that.

He and his staff also have a grasp of whether some veterans in the middle of their salary scale are giving them proper bang for their buck. If not, perhaps it's time to cut ties with a taker who may be interested. Perhaps he goes even bolder and makes a move with a player previously considered "core." Either way, it opens an avenue to re-sign Bickell, get something decent in return, and open a wider path for the likes of a Jeremy Morin, Jimmy Hayes, Brandon Pirri, Ben Smith, Ryan Stanton or Adam Clendening to get a longer opportunity on the big stage to take over for anyone they may need to launch through this process.

On the glass-half-empty side, Bickell hasn't proven himself over an 82-game season. There were confidence issues as recently as 15 months ago. Half full, he's proven three straight years he's answered the bell when the pressure's on most -- in April, and now May and June. He seems to now "get" what it takes, physically and mentally. Still, it doesn't take long for May's hero to become December's whipping boy. Especially after a big bucks contract.

But Bickell's proven something here. In a 2004 NHL draft in which there were tons of first-round misses (and Cam Barker third overall wasn't the only one), the Blackhawks' second second-rounder is finally sitting awfully pretty. Where would this Hawks team be without him, especially as "core" guys like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook have had their share of struggles in various forms this spring? There can be no question the big man has earned a big payday. Props to him. We potentially have another round to see what else he might deliver under the spotlight. Then, it falls on the bosses to determine just how much Bickell's worth in Chicago, especially in a role they've been looking to fill since Byfuglien departed.



Blackhawks benefiting from Rozsival's veteran leadership

June 7, 2013, 7:30 pm

Tracey Myers

Michal Rozsival’s minutes in Game 4 were reflective of what the Chicago Blackhawks needed from their defensemen in Duncan Keith’s absence: everyone had to take on a little more.

Rozsival took on more minutes; many more minutes, in fact, than he had in his last handful of games. But that was fine with him.

“It feels better when you play more regular shifts,” Rozsival said following Game 4, when he played 25 minutes, 28 seconds. “You go out there often; you don’t sit for three shifts. You’re more into the game. You just have to prepare for it mentally.”

Obviously Rozsival didn’t have a problem adjusting there either. With the Blackhawks needing their defensemen to take on a little more, Rozsival took on a lot more and looked just fine doing it. His minutes, which included power-play and penalty killing time, were his second highest this postseason. He played 27:11 when paired with Johnny Oduya in Game 1 against the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference quarterfinals.

For Rozsival it was an opportunity. But the Blackhawks have benefited from his veteran leadership and steadiness throughout the regular- and postseason.

“He’s been great,” said Niklas Hjalmarsson. “I noticed in the first practice with him this year, just the small passes he makes made it so much easier for everyone. He’s just a really smart player that I personally can try to learn things from. Just the way he makes situations out there look really easy. He’s been great this year and he had a good game yesterday.”

Rozsival is a plus-5 this postseason. He was a plus-18 with 12 assists the regular season, when he split time with Sheldon Brookbank. But as the playoffs approached, Rozsival was consistently penciled in as part of that third pair.

“He’s been tremendous the whole year,” said Oduya, who was paired with Rozsival in Game 4. “We have good depth, a lot of guys who can play those minutes. And he’s a skill guy who’s smart with the puck and makes plays. He’s obviously a veteran; he’s been around for some time and just showed yesterday, when you give him that opportunity, he steps up and he played a great game.”

Thursday night, Rozsival didn’t have to be Keith. Not one guy along the blue line was expected to be. It was about sharing the load and Rozsival definitely carried his part of it.

“All year, he probably didn’t get the chance to play those kind of minutes but he can handle it,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “He can play in all situations, against top guys and has real good patience. He’s a pretty heavy defender as well. Last night he had more opportunity and did a good job. He was an old pro out there; he did what he had to do.”



With scripts flipped, Hawks know series isn't over

June 7, 2013, 6:15 pm

Tracey Myers

Just two Fridays ago the Chicago Blackhawks were on the precipice of their season’s end.

They lost to the Detroit Red Wings the night before, falling into a 3-1 second-round series hole. They know what it’s like to have their backs against the wall, what it’s like to just say “heck with it” and play with determined abandon, and what it’s like to erase that deficit and advance to the next round.

The Blackhawks know the Los Angeles Kings, down 3-1 in the Western Conference Final after Chicago’s 3-2 victory Thursday night, are experiencing all of that right now. And when the Kings throw that desperate, determined, do-or-die game Saturday night, the Blackhawks plan to act like they’re in the same boat.

Thanks to their inspired Duncan Keith-less Game 4 victory, the Blackhawks have a chance to close out a series in five games for the second time this postseason. They’ll look to slam the door on the defending Stanley Cup champs, when they host the Kings in Game 5 at the United Center. The Kings are now where the Blackhawks found themselves in Round 2. But the Blackhawks said they want to play like they’re the ones facing elimination again.

“That’s what we said the last couple of games in L.A.,” Jonathan Toews said. “Obviously being up 2-0 or 2-1, you know the other team’s going to come after you hard. But it’s up to you to motivate yourself, to put yourself in that position where you’re in a seventh game or your back’s against the wall and you play with the most desperation. We did that yesterday and we’ll go forward with that tomorrow.”

The Blackhawks had reason to tap into that desperation in Game 4, despite being up 2-1. Minus Keith due to suspension and facing a Kings team that entered the game 8-0 at Staples Center this postseason, the Blackhawks were motivated to avoid coming back to Chicago with a series tied 2-2. Whatever they told themselves manifested itself in the game, with the pack mentality that’s been the Blackhawks’ modus operandi all season.

Now facing that cliché “hardest-to-win” fourth game, the Blackhawks want to match, if not dominate in the field of desperation hockey.

“The other team faces elimination and that’s when they’ll fight the hardest. We had that the other series, and that’s when we woke up,” Johnny Oduya said. “By no means do you look at it any other way than that, knowing you have to play the best you can.”

Granted, there are a few differences between the two series. The Blackhawks were snake-bit through a few of those early games vs. Detroit, hitting posts and crossbars and having a goal – eventually two – disallowed. They were, and still are, healthy. The Kings, meanwhile, look like they’re feeling the effects of their first two series, bruising and physical ones against St. Louis and then San Jose. Still, when you’re desperate, you can get past that. The Blackhawks’ attitude and mental toughness during their deficit stayed strong, and it translated into improved play on the ice. The Kings certainly have the talent to keep this series alive.

“Everyone has to be aware that tomorrow’s going to be a heck of a battle. They’re the Cup champs for a reason,” head coach Joel Quenneville said. “Let’s do what we have to do. Games 1, 2 and 4, we have to play like that.”

The Blackhawks don’t have to look far for motivation. They could wrap this series up and perhaps get a few rest days before the Stanley Cup Final begins. But the bigger force pushing them is that 3-1 mark, knowing that two weeks ago they sat on the short end of that. And since they could turn things around and come back from that deficit, so could the Kings.

“We were on the other end of this, so we know what they’re thinking. We know this is not over,” Oduya said. “It’s a really, really good team. We said it last night, too: we don’t want to go back to L.A. It’s a tough place to win games. We need to bring our best performance to win.”


680386 Dallas Stars

Coaching search: Is Alain Vigneault the man you want behind the Stars bench?

MIKE HEIKA / REPORTER

Staff Writer

Published: 07 June 2013 10:13 AM

Updated: 07 June 2013 10:55 AM

We'll take a look at the Stars coaching candidate in a series of articles here on the blog. Today, we'll look at Alain Vigneault.

Looking at recent history, Alain Vigneault is the most successful of the Stars' coaching candidates. Heck, looking at long-term history, he might also be the most successful.

Vigneault is coming off a seven-year run with the Vancouver Canucks in which he won six division championships and two Presidents' Trophies. He posted a 313-170-57 record in that span for a .632 points percentage.

So why did the Canucks fire him? Well, not unlike Dave Tippett with the Stars, he didn't have enough success in the playoffs. Vigneault's team went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011, and lost in Game 7 to Boston, 4-0. It was a crushing defeat for the fans, who rioted, and for the team, which never seemed to recover. Vancouver lost in the first round in each of the past two seasons, including getting swept by San Jose this season.

In addition to the playoff loss, the Canucks struggled with a goaltending controversy between Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider. Now, you can say the goaltending dilemma was created more by GM Mike Gillis, who could not find a suitable trade partner to move Luongo and his 12-year, $64 million contract (it expires in 2022 when Luongo is 43), but you can also say that the constant switching between the two goalies created problems on the team and in the locker room.

Either way, the Canucks decided something had to change.

Vigneault came out of the firing looking pretty good. Many media pundits supported his work, and his ability as a coach, and said Gillis was making a mistake.

Here, the Hockey News' Adam Proteau puts the blame squarely on Gillis.

Here, veteran scribe Jim Matheson writes even before Vigneault is fired that he is a great coach who could easily find a new job.

Here, fellow veteran scribe Eric Duhatschek says that Vigneault's firing was just the way the NHL works.

But here, Pass it to Bulis says that Vigneault's firing was deserved because of the long-term lack of playoff success.

So, what could he bring to the Stars at age 52? Well, a ton of experience and maybe a lot of energy with a fresh start. Tippett also struggled to find playoff success in Dallas, but was a great regular season coach for seven seasons with the Stars. After he was fired, he marched straight into Phoenix and won there with not a lot of talent. The guess is that coaches who have proven they can win consistently in this league can do it for a lot of different teams.

Most people would bet that Vigneault could get the Stars into the playoffs quickly.

In addition, he seems to have a long shelf life. While bringing in John Tortorella (or even Ken Hitchcock two seasons ago) seems like a plan that could last three or four seasons, Vigneault might be able to stay for a decade. New Stars GM Jim Nill has talked about his desire for consistency and long-term planning, and Vigneault definitely could fit into that scheme. He is disciplined, but he also is a player's coach.He gets along with the players and has a good demeanor.

Heck, all you have to do it look at that clip of him giggling over Vernon Fiddler's impersonation of Kevin Bieksa to understand he likes to have fun.

What kind of scheme does Vigneault embrace? Well, he coached one of the more offensively talented groups in the NHL, and produced some high-

scoring squads in Vancouver. Two years ago, the Canucks averaged 2.94 goals per game and ranked fifth, three years ago it was 3.15 and first, four years ago it was 3.27 and second. That said, he is known as a coach who preaches defense, and the Canucks ranked fourth in goals against two years ago at 2.33 and first in 2010-11 at 2.20.

Now, a lot of that has to do with talent, and there are critics who say the Canucks fattened up on a very weak division for the past few years (Edmonton, Calgary, Minnesota and Colorado) _ and there is something to that argument. As good as the Canucks have been in the standings, they don't dominate puck possession or the shot clock. They have been about plus-1.5 in shot differential and have consistently been around 29.5 shots a game against (that ranks about 10th on a regular basis).

So can the Stars live with that kind of hockey? Probably. Would Nill (who has been a part of a puck possession team with a huge "plus" shot differential in Detroit) help shape the style of Vigneault if he came here? Also, probably. Remember, Ken Hitchcock was raised on firewagon hockey in Western Canada and only became a defensive specialist when he started to learn the Montreal way from Bob Gainey here in Dallas.

In addition to his experience as a head coach in Vancouver and Montreal, Vigneault also has eight seasons as a head coach in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, one year as head coach in the AHL and four years as an assistant coach in Ottawa. In other words, he has seen it all. Check out his history here.

He seems like a perfect candidate So, we'll leave you with a very in-depth look at Vigneault done here by Thomas Drance of the CanucksArmy.com. Then, you can start your discussion on whether you would want Vigneault as the next head coach of the Stars.

Dallas Morning News LOADED: 06.08.2013

680387 Dallas Stars

Stars acquire Sergei Gonchar from Ottawa for 6th-round draft pick

MIKE HEIKA / REPORTER

Staff Writer

Published: 07 June 2013 05:03 PM

Updated: 07 June 2013 06:13 PM

The Stars on Friday acquired the rights to defenseman Sergei Gonchar for a conditional sixth round draft pick.

The Stars are hoping to get him signed to a two-year contract. If they do, Ottawa will get the draft pick. If they don't, the Stars keep the draft pick.

Gonchar, 39, is a four-time All-Star Game participant who the Stars see as a potential No.1 defenseman, or possibly as a power play specialist. Gonchar has been a 25-minute player for most of his career, and averaged 23:59 in 45 games with Ottawa last season.

He tallied three goals and added 24 assists for 27 points. That ranked 16th among defensemen in the NHL. Gonchar is coming off a three-year contract in Ottawa in which he averaged $5.5 million a season. He has told reporters in Ottawa that he wants a two-year deal, something that Ottawa appeared hesitant to give at his advanced age.

However, the Stars gave Ray Whitney a two-year deal last summer at 40 and were rewarded when Whitney tallied 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 32 games. Dallas seems fine with the older player.

Gonchar has had few injury issues in recent seasons. He also played 37 games for Metallurg in the KHL during the lockout last season, and tallied 29 points (3G, 26 A) there.

Gonchar spent parts of three seasons in Pittsburgh with defenseman Alex Goligoski, and could be a potential partner for Goligoski in Dallas. Gonchar is listed at 6-2, 206 and is a left-handed shot.

If the Stars can sign Gonchar, that could allow them to take a slow route on the development of young defensemen like Jamie Oleksiak, Kevin Connauton or Joe Morrow or it could allow them the ability to study possible trades for veterans such as Stephane Robidas or Trevor Daley.


680388 Dallas Stars

Report: Sergei Gonchar 'likely' to agree to two-year deal with Dallas Stars

By SPORTSDAYDFW.COM



It looks like it didn't take long for talks between the Stars and Sergei Gonchar to get serious.

Less than six hours after news broke that the Stars traded a conditional sixth-round pick to Ottawa for the rights to negotiate with Gonchar, TSN's Darren Dreger tweeted that the defenseman will likely sign with the Stars. Gonchar also held numerous offers from KHL teams. Just Thursday morning, Yahoo! reported that Gonchar was nearing a deal with Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL.

Here is Dreger's tweet:

KHL interest excelerated the process for Gonchar who will likely agree to a 2 year deal with the Stars. #TSN

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 8, 2013


680389 Dallas Stars

Sean Avery responds to Dallas Stars' Twitter taunt with haymaker: Thanks for the $16 million

By SPORTSDAYDFW.COM



Some teams are still in battles for the Stanley Cup. The Dallas Stars are officially in a Twitter battle with a former player. And on some score cards, they're losing.

Yesterday, while participating in the #ImGregoryCampbell hashtag, the Stars took an unprovoked shot at former forward Sean Avery, who had an embattled 23-game tenure with the team.

Had Sean Avery on our team. #ImGregoryCampbell

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) June 6, 2013

Today, Avery fired back.

@dallasstars did i ever say #ThankU for the 16 Million........hahahhahahaha

— Sean Avery (@imseanavery) June 7, 2013


680390 Detroit Red Wings

Detroit Red Wings' Niklas Kronwall named grand marshal for NASCAR race at MIS

3:01 PM, June 7, 2013 |

Posted by Brian Manzullo

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Michigan International Speedway is about to get Kronwalled.

Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall was named grand marshal for NASCAR’s Quicken Loans 400 on June 16 at MIS in Brooklyn. Olympic gold medal swimmer Tyler Clary will serve as honorary starter.

“We are thrilled to welcome Niklas Kronwall and Tyler Clary to the MIS festivities,” track president Roger Curtis said in a release. “Niklas is an integral member of the Red Wings and the Detroit community who represents the state with pride. As a member of the US Olympic team, Tyler represented our country with pride and we are pleased he will be here with us to wave the green flag.”

Kronwall helped lead the Red Wings to their 22nd consecutive postseason before being eliminated in the second round by the Chicago Blackhawks last month.

Clary, a former swim champion at the University of Michigan, won gold in the 200-meter backstroke at the 2012 London Olympics.

Free Press news services contributed.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 06.08.2013


Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ian White on his way out

6:50 PM, June 7, 2013 |

By Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Ian White could see the writing on the Red Wings’ wall: He has no future in Detroit.

As the Wings prepare for off-season changes, White is one of the guys who won’t be back. The Wings already have six defensemen under contract for 2013-14, plus two restricted free agents who will be re-signed in Brendan Smith and Jakub Kindl.

White, who turned 29 earlier this week, is a month away from unrestricted free agency, a path that will put him in search of a sixth team since joining the NHL in 2005. White conceded as much as he took part in locker clean-out day at Joe Louis Arena days after the Wings lost in the Western Conference semifinals.

White didn’t appear in any playoff games, and hadn’t played since April 7. “It’s somewhat doubtful they’re going to bring back a guy who’s not going to play,” White said. “Probably the most unfortunate part of our business is moving around all the time, switching teams.

“I loved playing here.”

The Wings brought White in two seasons ago, and he had a career first year with 32 points, benefitting from playing opposite Nicklas Lidstrom. When that changed, White looked decidedly more average, both offensively and in his own zone. His playing time this season degenerated from regular to reserve, and his expendability pretty much became official after the Wings acquired Danny DeKeyser in late March, giving them an excess of healthy defensemen.

Even before that, though, White was unlikely to be back. One of the most vocal critics of commissioner Gary Bettman during last fall’s labor dispute, White’s comment in November that, “I personally think he’s an idiot,” did not go over well with the Wings organization, with the prevalent feeling one of distaste that White’s name-calling reflected poorly on the club.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 06.08.2013


Season continues for a few Red Wings

Ted Kulfan

| The Detroit News

Detroit— The season may be over for the Red Wings — well, most of them.

After Detroit was eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs last week, forwards Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson and defenseman Danny DeKeyser joined the team’s minor-league affiliate in Grand Rapids. The Griffins begin play in the Calder Cup on Saturday night.

“It’s very valuable,” Red Wings general manager Ken Holland of the young players experiencing a long playoff run. “This isn’t something you can replicate in a development or training camp.”

The best-of-seven series starts in Syracuse.

DeKeyser makes his American Hockey League debut after breaking his right thumb in Game 2 of the first round against Anaheim. He went straight from Western Michigan to the Red Wings without stopping in the minors.

Syracuse is affiliated with the Lightning, whose general manager is Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman.

Detroit News LOADED: 06.08.2013


Howe family, ex-managers face off in court over handling of hockey great's finances

Mike Martindale

The Detroit News

Pontiac — The recently released film "Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story" has thrilled fans across North America, but a dramatic chapter in the beloved Detroit legend's life is still being written in Oakland County Circuit Court.

A legal battle has played out since 2007 on how appearance fees and priceless sports memorabilia accumulated over a six-decade career have allegedly been stolen from the 85-year-old Howe, who has dementia.

Attorneys faced off Friday in Judge Leo Bowman's courtroom in the civil case. Attorney Steven Matta said Howe, his son Mark and their Power Play International Co. have suffered well into "seven figure" damages in the destruction of personal property that had been ordered returned to Howe.

The defendants' attorney, Anthony Randazzo, said such claims are baseless and the lawsuit is being driven by Howe's celebrity and a personal "vendetta" by Mark Howe against former business managers Del Reddy and Aaron Howard because they resigned without notice.

Reddy's father, Michael Reddy, and their Immortal Investments Co. are also named as defendants.

"We loved Colleen and Gordie Howe," Del Reddy said outside the courtroom. "We can't talk about this, but this, this is insane."

Later, during nearly three hours of questioning by the Howes' attorney regarding his handling of business, including the transfer of funds from Colleen J. Howe Foundation to another foundation called Wind without any written permission from the family, Reddy's voice quaked and he began sobbing.

"Wind was because they used to play that song about 'You're the wind beneath my wings' for Gordie — he was the wind beneath her wings," he said, his voice breaking as he suddenly dropped his head and sobbed.

Colleen Howe, who handled all of her husband's finances during and after his career, became ill in 2000. She died in 2009 of Pick's disease, a form of dementia.

"She was about the big picture … not this," said Reddy, who earlier described the pain of watching Colleen Howe, his "mentor," going through a "brain-wasting" disease.

Howe, tanned and appearing still fit enough to skate a shift or two, sat flanked by his two sons during testimony Friday. .

In a 2007 lawsuit, the Howes claimed Reddy and Aaron Howard — hired by Colleen Howe — allegedly enriched themselves by cheating Howe of personal appearance fees and other royalties. The Howes and Power Play sued the pair and Michael Reddy, and their Immortal Investments.

The lawsuit ended in an out-of-court settlement for $60,000 but also a permanent injunction that Immortal stop using Howe's name and likeness in any sales and had to return all Howe's property to him.

But court documents — including two Shred-It receipts — alleged that other property was destroyed in November 2008, just days before Immortal returned several vans of property to Howe. Among them: 26 banker boxes containing 134 digital video discs; 402 compact discs; about 1,400 tapes; thousands of photographs, and books.

Matta said many of the recordings are irreplaceable because they included family movies of Howe and his wife, Colleen.

The Reddys and Howard contend they followed the court's instruction but were within their rights to destroy some materials in their possession that belonged to Immortal and not specified in the agreement.

The trial is to continue Monday.

Detroit News LOADED: 06.08.2013


Detroit Red Wing Niklas Kronwall named grand marshal, Olympic gold medal swimmer Tyler Clary honorary starter for Michigan International Speedway race

By Tarryl Jackson | [email protected]

on June 07, 2013 at 2:31 PM, updated June 07, 2013 at 2:33 PM

JACKSON, MI – Detroit Red Wings alternate captain Niklas Kronwall will be the grand marshal for the Quicken Loans 400 on Sunday, June 16 at Michigan International Speedway.

Olympic gold medalist swimmer Tyler Clary will serve as the honorary starter for the race, the racetrack announced Friday, June 7.

Kronwall will command of the drivers to start their engines, while Clary will wave the green flag to start the race.

Kronwall has helped lead the Red Wings to seven playoff appearances, including winning the Stanley Cup in 2008. He won a hockey gold medal at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games for his native country, Sweden.

Clary, a 24-year-old Olympian and three-time NCAA champion at the University of Michigan, won the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke at the London Summer Olympics. He has won eight medals during his international swimming career.

“We are thrilled to welcome Niklas Kronwall and Tyler Clary to the MIS festivities,” MIS President Roger Curtis said in a statement. “Niklas is an integral member of the Red Wings and the Detroit community who represents the state with pride. As a member of the US Olympic team, Tyler represented our country with pride and we are pleased he will be here with us to wave the green flag.”

Michigan Live LOADED: 06.08.2013


Red Wings' prospects gaining valuable experience during Grand Rapids Griffins' run to Calder Cup finals

By Ansar Khan | [email protected]

on June 07, 2013 at 7:02 AM, updated June 07, 2013 at 7:11 AM

DETROIT – The Grand Rapids Griffins have many future NHL players on their roster.

Some are certain to be with the Detroit Red Wings from the start of next season – Gustav Nyquist, Joakim Andersson, Tomas Tatar, Brian Lashoff and Danny DeKeyser.

Others, like Tomas Jurco, Riley Sheahan and Petr Mrazek, are a year or two away.

All are gaining valuable experience during the Griffins' playoff run. Grand Rapids will play the Syracuse Crunch in the Calder Cup finals, a series that starts Saturday night at Syracuse.

“These are great experiences,'' Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said. “When you're a young player nothing can be better for your development than going on a run in the AHL playoffs. It's a roller-coaster ride, physically and emotionally. This is an experience we can't replicate in development camp or training camp.''

Tatar leads the Griffins with 11 goals and 16 points in the postseason. The small but skilled winger has a nose for the net and good hands. He had four goals and seven points during an 18-game stint in Detroit from Feb. 5 to March 10 before being sent down to make room for Nyquist.

Nyquist had three goals and six points in 22 regular season games with the Red Wings and was playing his best hockey during the playoffs, picking up five points (two goals, three assists) in 14 games on a young third line that provided energy and matchup problems for Anaheim and Chicago.

Andersson, with his size (6-foot-2, 206) and defensive ability, brings a different dimension than other Red Wings' prospects. He solidified the third-line center spot in the absence of injured Darren Helm.

Jurco has half as many goals (seven) in 18 playoff games as he did in 74 games (14 goals) during his first pro season. He is second on the Griffins with 13 playoff points.

Mrazek has played every playoff game for the Griffins, going 11-7, with a 2.18 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. He had a strong NHL debut, making 26 saves in a 5-1 victory at St. Louis on Feb. 7, but appeared in only one other game for Detroit, a 3-1 loss at Minnesota on Feb. 17.

The Red Wings could elect to keep Mrazek in Grand Rapids for up to three more seasons without having to expose him to waivers.

DeKeyser, out since May 2 with a broken right thumb, will make his AHL debut on Saturday.

“They're all playing regularly, they're all contributing,'' Holland said. “Tatar is only 22, just a kid. He's one of the leaders on that team.

“Jurco has come a long way. He's competing harder, he's made good strides. Andersson is taking key faceoffs. Peter Mrazek is a great story for us in goal.

“Jeff Blashill has done a fantastic job as a rookie coach.''

The Crunch is the affiliate for the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose general manager is Steve Yzerman, the long-time Red Wings captain.

No surgery for Samuelsson

Right wing Mikael Samuelsson won't need surgery for now. An MRI showed some damage to his pectoral muscle but no torn tendons.

“He'll rehab,'' Holland said. “If he doesn't progress over the next few weeks then we'll consider (surgery).''



Blackhawks snap LA Kings’ home winning streak

By GREG BEACHAM

AP Sports Writer

Posted: Friday, 06/07/13 07:48 am

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks were suitably impressed by the Los Angeles Kings’ 15-game home winning streak. They also respected the defending Stanley Cup champions’ ability to win eight straight playoff games at Staples Center.

All that admiration just made the Blackhawks even more eager to be the team that ended the Kings’ roll — and now they’re one win away from knocking off the champs.

Marian Hossa scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and the Blackhawks moved to the brink of the Stanley Cup finals with a 3-2 victory Thursday night in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, handing the Kings their first home loss since March 23.

“It’s an impressive streak, especially in the playoffs when the level of competition goes up a lot,” said Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, who had two assists. “It feels really good to break it.”

When Bryan Bickell’s shot slipped out of Jonathan Quick’s usually inescapable glove and trickled into the Los Angeles net early, the Blackhawks figured their time might have arrived. When Hossa’s shot eluded Quick for the go-ahead goal two periods later, the Blackhawks knew they had cracked both their foes’ star goalie and the formula for winning at Staples Center.

“They were playing so well at home, and to finally break that streak, we’re happy about it,” Hossa said. “We knew about it. We talked about it before the game. We were hoping to break it, and we got it.”

Corey Crawford made 19 saves, and Patrick Kane tapped in the tying goal as Chicago rallied from a second-period deficit. Bickell had a goal and an assist for the top-seeded Blackhawks, who took a 3-1 series lead even without Duncan Keith, their suspended ice-time leader and top defenseman.

“We knew our defense was going to step up, and they did,” Bickell said. “We had a good feeling coming in. We had a bitter taste from the last game. They had a big start, but we stuck with it and eventually got it back.”

Game 5 is Saturday night in Chicago.

Slava Voynov and Dustin Penner scored for the Kings, who had the NHL’s longest home postseason winning run since 2009. The champs know they’re in trouble after failing to hold on to a late lead in front of their Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie.

“It’s an incredibly skilled team,” Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi said of Chicago. “We’re not getting into something we didn’t know. When you turn the puck over like that at the blue lines, with the skill they have, it’s only a matter of time before they put one on the scoreboard. Hopefully we learned our lesson, and we’ve got to win the next one.”

The Blackhawks thrived without Keith, who served a one-game suspension for high-sticking Jeff Carter in the face during the second period of Game 3. Sheldon Brookbank filled in while Chicago played strong team defense in front of Crawford, allowing just two shots by the desperate Kings in the third period.

“Right from the first couple shifts, we were moving our feet, playing with speed,” said defenseman Brent Seabrook, who led Chicago with 26:20 of ice time. “We were getting in on the forecheck and making good plays. It was big for our group to come back with a good effort.”

Los Angeles hadn’t lost a playoff game at home since Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals last season, winning nine straight overall. The Kings also had been outstanding when playing with a lead in front of Quick, who stopped 25 shots, but Los Angeles uncharacteristically surrendered that 2-1 lead late in the second period.

The high-scoring Kane ended his seven-game goal drought in a quiet postseason by charging into the crease to tap home the tying goal on a rebound of Hjalmarsson’s shot and Bickell’s deflection late in the second period.

After Los Angeles killed a penalty to open the third period, Michal Handzus caught the Kings napping and set up a break with the speedy Hossa, who ripped a precise shot for his seventh goal of the postseason.

“That’s one thing that (coach) Darryl (Sutter) has been hard on us for right now,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We’re making too many turnovers, in the neutral zone especially. That was a cause of two of the goals. We made turnovers and they came back down on odd-man rushes and scored. If we want to win, it’s something we can’t be doing.”

The Kings played their third straight game without center Mike Richards, who has an apparent concussion after a big hit from Chicago’s Dave Bolland in the series opener. Richards was the Kings’ leading postseason scorer with 10 points when he got hurt.

Los Angeles’ unbeaten stretch at home ended in unusual fashion with the blown lead, and the low-scoring Kings’ title defense could be over in two days. The NHL hasn’t had a repeat champion since the Detroit Red Wings in 1998, and Los Angeles has managed just eight goals in four games against the powerful Blackhawks.

“They didn’t have many great scoring chances,” Crawford said. “We mostly kept them to the outside. It was great for us to shut them down.”

Chicago needs one win in three games to advance to its second Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1992. The Blackhawks have been mostly rolling since their 5-2 victory in the season opener at Los Angeles in January, ruining the Kings’ banner-raising ceremony.

The Blackhawks hadn’t won a playoff round in the past two seasons since their Stanley Cup triumph, replenishing their roster on the fly around their talented young core.

Just nine players remain from the championship team, but it’s safe to say the rebuild is complete for a team that won its second Presidents’ Trophy with a 36-7-5 regular season, followed by a gutsy rally from a 1-3 series deficit against Detroit to escape the second round.

Los Angeles’ fourth line created the first goal just 3:28 in when Kyle Clifford passed from behind Chicago’s net to Voynov, who skated in alone for a slap shot past Crawford. The goal was Voynov’s sixth of the postseason, extending his single-season playoff record for Kings defensemen.

The Blackhawks evened it on an innocent-looking play by Bickell, whose wobbly shot somehow got out of Quick’s glove for his eighth goal of the postseason. Bickell is on a remarkable playoff run before unrestricted free agency this summer, scoring a goal in each of the past three games and five of seven overall.

The Kings went back ahead early in the second period on a goal by their newly constituted big line around Carter, who drove the net while Chicago’s Nick Leddy failed to knock him off the puck. Penner swept home the rebound of Carter’s backhand when Brookbank couldn’t move him out of the crease.

Chicago tied it late in the period when Hjalmarsson launched a long shot through Bickell’s screen. Kane tapped it home for a much-needed boost for the prolific scorer who had managed just two goals in the playoffs after getting 23 in the regular season.

NOTES: The Kings lost at home in regulation just four times in the regular season. ... Brookbank played only 6:50 and was a minus-2, but coach Joel Quenneville praised his work. ... Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown has one goal in the last nine games, none in the conference finals. Top scorer Anze Kopitar has one goal in 13 games, also none in this series. Brown and Kopitar tied for the NHL playoff scoring lead last season with 20 points apiece.


680397 Los Angeles Kings

Win or done, Los Angeles Kings must break road pattern

Kings' Justin Williams says the team is 'certainly not scared' of the three-games-to-one deficit, although they have rarely won on the road in these playoffs.

By Lisa Dillman

8:41 PM PDT, June 7, 2013

CHICAGO — The Kings used to win road games, and not just by the score of 2-1 or 3-2.

Really.

In fact, one was here in Chicago at the United Center on March 25 in the regular season and they scored five goals, the last time they recorded such an impressive output.

That win in Chicago was two days after the Kings suffered a loss at home against Vancouver. Then for 75 days the Kings were unbeatable at home until Thursday night, when they weren't anymore.

Now the show moves to the road where they've found it nearly impossible to win during the playoffs. Maybe that will change too.

The one truth about these home/road streaks is that they all eventually come to an end.

The Kings' season is on the line as the defending Stanley Cup champions face a 3-1 series deficit with Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Saturday. They are 1-10 in franchise history when trailing 3-1 in the playoffs, and the lone comeback came via Wayne Gretzky and friends in 1989 against the Edmonton Oilers in the first round.

The Kings, 1-7 on the road in these playoffs, can perhaps find solace in the fact that last year they set an NHL record with 10 consecutive road wins.

"It hasn't gone our way on the road, obviously," forward Justin Williams told reporters at the Kings' media session Friday in Chicago. "But now we need to win two in the United Center. We're not scared of it. We're certainly not scared of it. We're going to welcome a challenge to beat the best team in the league this year in their own house starting tomorrow."

The Kings most likely will have to mount their comeback without center Mike Richards. He missed the last three games because of a concussion suffered late in Game 1, and was the Kings' leading scorer in the playoffs at the time of the injury.

Richards has done some light skating — the team was not on the ice Friday — and attended the Kings' last two games, in the press box for the latter. His presence at Staples Center was a positive development because often individuals suffering from severe concussion symptoms are sensitive to lights and noise and are advised to steer clear of those situations.

He said he was feeling fine, but Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said it was "really doubtful at best" that Richards would be in the lineup for Game 5.

Chicago will get a boost from the return of its top defenseman, Duncan Keith, who missed Game 4 because of a one-game suspension for high-sticking Kings center Jeff Carter in the face.

"He's been one of the best D men in the league," said Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.

Sutter had thought that the Blackhawks would adapt to Keith's loss, spreading the minutes around judiciously.

"When Duncan was suspended, it really doesn't hurt their team," Sutter said. "He's a great player, but it doesn't really hurt their team because the way their team is set up, they just add five minutes on the four other defensemen."

Chicago managed to put a tight grip on the series without Keith and despite a shaky outing in the early going by his replacement, Sheldon Brookbank, who was on the ice for both Kings goals. But both sides realize how quickly that grip can change.

Comebacks from a 3-1 series deficit, while difficult, happen more regularly these days in the NHL. Boston did it to Toronto this spring, and the Blackhawks pulled it off against the Detroit Red Wings in the previous round.

"We had that in the other series, and that's when we kind of woke up," Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya said.

Said Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr: "It's a situation — you don't have to look very far. You look at the opponent that we're playing. They were in the exact same situation, and they came out of it in the last round.

"It's something that's very doable. We're preparing to win one game tomorrow, and that's as far as we're looking right now."

LA Times: LOADED: 06.08.2013


Los Angeles Kings need weary Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown

Kings offense pays price for two stars' low production. Kopitar and Brown have combined for only 11 points during playoffs.

By David Wharton

6:18 PM PDT, June 7, 2013

CHICAGO — The locker room had emptied out, his teammates heading home, when Anze Kopitar finally emerged.

Medical treatment for an unspecified ailment had kept him around late, but that wasn't the only reason for the weary look on his face. Kopitar had endured a tough night against the Chicago Blackhawks, managing only one shot on goal.

"Yeah," he said. "It's frustrating."

Last year at this time, the Kings center was piling up points, recording eight goals and a dozen assists on his team's run to the Stanley Cup. His teammate, Dustin Brown, was on a similar roll, the two of them leading the offense.

This postseason, Kopitar and Brown have combined for 11 points — roughly a quarter of their output in 2012 — which goes a long way toward explaining why the Kings trail Chicago three games to one with the Western Conference finals set to resume Saturday night at United Center.

As Coach Darryl Sutter said early in the series: "We have guys that have to score."

It is an axiom in sports: The best players must shine at playoff time. That's especially true for the Kings, a physical, defense-minded team that needs bursts of offense to complement Jonathan Quick's goaltending.

A two-goal average has not been good enough. For Kopitar and Brown, who have struggled around the net for the past month, the current series has proven especially troublesome.

Kopitar has rarely been free to execute his trademark maneuver, wheeling along the boards with the puck on his stick, using that 6-foot-3 frame to ward off defenders. There has been much speculation about a lingering injury, which he has refused to discuss.

Either way, Chicago's agile skaters have done a good job of denying him and Brown the space to make plays.

"You get by one and they almost cheat on the play in the sense that the second guy is coming right away," Brown said. "Where you catch them is when they overplay, but we haven't been able to find the open guys."

Contrast this predicament with the scene in the other locker room, where Patrick Kane feels relieved.

Like Kopitar and Brown, the Chicago winger is a dangerous scorer who had faltered of late. He had alternately tried being more patient and more aggressive. The other night, he studied videotape of previous playoff goals with his dad.

"It's cool to watch those things," he said. "It gives you a little confidence."

Kane finally broke through Thursday night with an acrobatic goal in the second period.

The sequence began with a slapshot from the blue line that was deflected by teammate Bryan Bickell, the puck dribbling toward the goal line. As Quick twisted around to retrieve it, Kane reached in to finish the play while launching himself airborne, over the fallen goalie.

Truth be told, the shot probably would have carried across without any help.

"I told Bicksy I was kind of sorry I stole it from him," Kane said of the goal. "Kind of instinctive when you see the puck there, to stick your stick in and touch it."

Whatever it takes to end a slump.

Chicago Coach Joel Quenneville was hoping to create this type of spark when he tinkered with his lines in Game 4. Kane seemed to play with renewed verve, especially on a third-period rush when he veered to the side and snapped a wrister that Quick barely gloved.

"Got a lot of support from coaches or teammates that want you to have the puck," Kane said. "They want you to start skating with it and moving it."

The Kings want the same for Kopitar and Brown. To this point, they have gotten most of their scoring from center Jeff Carter, defenseman Slava Voynov and winger Justin Williams, who has played inconsistently but has found the net at key moments.

Hoping to enliven his biggest stars, Sutter has done some mixing and matching, testing various combinations.

Brown has willingly moved around, the captain pulling duty on the third line in some games. He insists the Kings are just a pass or two away from solving the Chicago defense and claimed to see good things early in Thursday night's loss.

"In the first [period] it was a good example," he said. "They overplayed and we had a two-on-one, a three-on-two, and we had a great scoring opportunity."

But with the game tied at 2-2 starting the third period, the Kings were stymied for 20 minutes, managing only two shots on goal while another Chicago star, Marian Hossa, produced the winner during an odd-man rush.

"I haven't looked at the stat sheet — I'm sure you have," Sutter told reporters afterward. "Look at who has the shots. It's probably going to show that some of our top guys didn't."

Which left Kopitar looking glum, standing in the hallway as team staff readied large equipment bags for the trip to Chicago. He mused about finding more room to make things happen.

This time of year, the top stars have to come through.

"I've just got to play better and produce more," he said. "That's the bottom line."

LA Times: LOADED: 06.08.2013


Kings' middle management needs improvement in Game 5

By RICH HAMMOND

2013-06-07 18:15:35

CHICAGO – The oohs and aahs come around the nets. The games are won in the middle of the ice.

Puck management becomes increasingly important in tight, lower-scoring playoff games, and so far in the Western Conference Finals, the team that has won the neutral zone has won the games. Three times, that's been the Chicago Blackhawks. Only once has it been the error-prone Kings.

Turnovers have been deadly for the Kings, who face elimination in Game 5 Saturday night at United Center. One more careless game with the puck and the Kings' Stanley Cup defense will be finished.

The situation is grim. Of the 264 NHL teams that have faced a 3-1 deficit in a best-of-7 series, only 25 have won, a rate of 9.5 percent. The Blackhawks would feel better about that statistic if they hadn't just become the 25th team. Chicago won three in a row to knock off Detroit in the second round.

"I think one thing about this group of guys is, we tend to play our best hockey when we're really in trouble," Kings captain Dustin Brown said with a grin.

Then again, this series lead isn't a fluke. Chicago has been the better team in all areas – including goaltending, surprisingly – and the Kings again figure to be without leading playoff scorer Mike Richards.

The Kings flew to Chicago on Friday morning and didn't skate. Richards, recovering from a concussion he suffered in Game 1, hasn't yet had a full-team practice.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you (if Richards will play)," Coach Darryl Sutter said. "It's still really doubtful, at best."

Neutral-zone turnovers aren't the Kings' only woe. They've struggled to finish the too-few chances they have generated, and goalie Jonathan Quick has allowed a couple eyebrow-raising poor goals.

The Kings could stand to be better in all three zones, but they've been particularly stuck in the middle. The puck should be handled with care, like a newborn baby. The Kings have been treating it like the family Labrador with a tennis ball in the backyard. They've done everything but drool on the puck.

Poor puck management in the middle of the ice is double trouble. It prevents a team from gaining the offensive zone and generating chances, and then often turns into odd-man rushes for the opponent.

"When you turn the puck over like that at the blue lines," defenseman Rob Scuderi said, "with the skill they have, it's only a matter of time before they're going to put one on the scoreboard. Hopefully we learned our lesson."

In Games 1, 2 and 4, their three losses, the Kings struggled mightily in the neutral zone, were outscored 9-5 and outshot by a 90-74 margin. In Game 3, the Kings won 3-1 and had a 28-20 edge in shots.

Chicago plays with discipline and speed. When a King gets the puck in the neutral zone, he's met by two Blackhawks, one who tries to deliver a bump and the other who tries to take the puck. It's not rocket science, though. Beating the 1-2-2 forecheck requires quick, accurate passing and good puckhandling.

"They're a very aggressive team," Scuderi said. "They play right on top of us, with pressure, but you have to realize it's there. If you have time, make a play. If not, put (the puck) in a safe spot. You can always live to fight another day, but if you turn the puck over, it's usually going to be a scoring opportunity."

The Kings need better from their centers. The loss of Richards, a superb puckhandler, has been devastating. Anze Kopitar, clearly hurt or fatigued (or both), has been nonexistent in terms of creating offense. Jarret Stoll has always been more of a grinder than a playmaker.

Jeff Carter has been solid since his move to center after Richards' injury, but even then, Carter is lugging the puck to the net and creating chances for himself but not really his linemates.

On the other end, the Kings' sloppy play is making life too difficult for their goalie. As the Kings scramble to get in position after turnovers, Quick faces an increased number of odd-man rushes and quality scoring chances. He has suffered, with a far-below-average save percentage of .901 in this series.

Here's the good news for the Kings: They know what to do. In Game 3, they took care of the puck and turned the tables. The Kings' forecheck caused problems for the smaller Blackhawks. The Kings must bully the Blackhawks before they have a chance to move the puck.

Protect and cycle the puck, and get in goalie Corey Crawford's face, and the Kings might be able to stay alive, even though they're 1-7 on the road in these playoffs. Otherwise, it's goodbye, Stanley Cup.

"I think now that we're down 3-1, people aren't expecting us to (win), so we can go in there as if we have no pressure on us," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "We can go in there and play our game, play hard, and steal one from them in front of the home fans."

Orange County Register: LOADED: 06.08.2013


It's now or never for defending champion Kings

By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer

Posted: 06/07/2013 11:01:58 PM PDT

Updated: 06/07/2013 11:02:11 PM PDT

Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and the rest of the Chicago Blackhawks' top offensive players resurfaced during their victory in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals Thursday at Staples Center. The Blackhawks' most skillful players were their best players during a 3-2 win.

Anze Kopitar, team captain Dustin Brown and the rest of the Kings' top offensive players continued their collective disappearing act as the Kings fell into a 3-1 hole in the best-of-7 series. The team's most skillful players were not their best players while the Kings produced only two shots in the third period.

"We've got to find a way to get more pucks to the net," Brown said. "They played their game well, especially in the third period. They limited opportunities and pushed it to the outside. We have to find a way to get into the inside.

"We have to get our shots by the first guy, and they blocked a lot of shots (in Game 4). You have to get it by at least the first guy because they have layers (defensively). If it's blocked in front of the net, you at least have a chance (at a rebound try)."

The Blackhawks can eliminate the Kings with a victory in Game 5 today in Chicago.

Game 6, if necessary, is set for Monday at Staples Center.

It will only be necessary if the Kings find a way to turn up the pressure on the Blackhawks, create more scoring chances and score more goals. The Kings' meager output of 34 goals in 17 playoff games is by far the fewest of the any

of the four surviving teams in the postseason.

The Blackhawks' average of 2.69 goals per game is only marginally better than the Kings' average of 2.00. But in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Boston Bruins were averaging 3.27 goals going into Game 4 on Friday, and the Pittsburgh Penguins were averaging 3.50.

The so-called Dead Puck Era of the early 2000 s has returned with a vengeance, with the grinding, hard-hitting Kings its chief practitioners. The Kings' play is commendable. Who wouldn't admire a hard-working team? But their lack of scoring depth has been their undoing in this series.

It's not as if the Kings don't have skilled players capable of scoring goals. They simply don't have enough of them, and those they do have haven't been producing as anticipated or needed during the conference finals.

Veteran center Jeff Carter and second-year defenseman Slava Voynov share the Kings' lead with 12 points in 17 games. Each has six goals and six assists. Injured center Mike Richards is the only other King to reach double figures with 10 points (two goals, eight assists).

Kopitar, the Kings' leading scorer in the regular season with 42 points in 47 games (10 goals, 32 assists), has seven points (two goals, five assists). Brown, who tied Kopitar with an NHL-leading 20 points in the playoffs last spring, has four points (three goals, one assist).

The Blackhawks, by way of contrast, have five players with 10 points or more in 16 games.

The Bruins have six players with 10 points or more in 15 games.

The Penguins have eight players with 10 points or more in 14 games.

Kings coach Darryl Sutter likes to say the NHL is a 3-2 league.

He's certainly got that right during the postseason.

The trouble for the Kings is they keep getting the two instead of the three.

Perhaps we will learn once the playoffs are completed several key players were injured and will require surgery in the offseason. No question, they should be praised for their ability to keep playing with determination despite debilitating injuries.

In the meantime, the Kings must play to their strengths, Brown said. Don't look for them to open things up and play run-and-gun hockey in Game 5.

"We've been through a lot as a group and never been faced with a situation like this," Brown said in the quiet of the Kings' dressing room after Game 4. "We're leaning on each other at this point. It's not going to be one individual.

"That's been the strength of this group for a few years now, really relying on each other and trusting each other when we get in a tough spot."

LA Daily News: LOADED: 06.08.2013


JILL PAINTER: Road to Stanley Cup rough one for Kings

By Jill Painter, Staff Columnist

Posted: 06/07/2013 09:18:41 PM PDT

Updated: 06/07/2013 11:00:32 PM PDT

The Kings are on the road again.

Just can't wait to get on the road again

Oh wait.

The Kings are complete busts on the road this season. Last year, they wrote the manual on how to win playoff games on the road, where they lost just once in winning the organization's first Stanley Cup championship.

This playoff season, the Kings are totally befuddled on the road, where they've lost every game but one.

The Kings' season can come to a crashing halt Saturday in Chicago, where Game 5 is an elimination game for them in the Western Conference finals.

Chicago leads the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can advance to the Stanley Cup Finals with one more win. The Kings would need to win three consecutive games to advance, and two of those would be on the road.

If their season were to end today, it would be fitting for the Kings if it happened the road, because that's where most of their debacles have happened.

In their eight road games, the Kings have scored 11 goals, averaging 1.4 per road game. It's amazing the Kings have even come this far.

Really, the Kings don't score much at home, either, and are averaging just 2 goals per game this postseason. Goaltender Jonathan Quick has made up for the paltry offense, most of the time.

But they established a particularly disturbing trend by taking their road play to a new low. Quick has played well, but when he didn't, the Kings were pummeled 4-2 in

Game 2 in Chicago.

And because Quick was shaky in net in Thursday's 3-2 loss to Chicago, the Kings have too many deficiencies to count.

This could be it, today. The Kings could be down to their last game.

And unfortunately for them, it's on the road.

"We're not happy with the situation we're in, but they've got to win four games," captain Dustin Brown said. "Right now they've only won three. We still have life We're not going into a do-or-die game thinking we've struggled on the road. We're going into this game thinking we need to win. We have to find a way to grind it out. Your record on the road doesn't play into a game like (today)."

Coach Darryl Sutter and players fielded daily questions about why the team can't figure out how to win on the road. Last year is last year, Sutter said repeatedly. And this year, unfortunately for the Kings, is so not last year.

Asked how the Kings would play today, in a must-win game, Sutter seemed to take exception to the question.

"Pardon?" Sutter said. "Ohhhh, I think you can answer that yourself."

Well, based on how the Kings have played on the road all postseason, we can answer that question for ourselves. Unless the Kings have an offensive trick or two up their white road jerseys, there's nothing that tells us this game will be much different than any of the other Kings' road games.

But the Blackhawks just did something special Thursday in beating the Kings at Staples Center.

No other team had done that this postseason. The Kings had won 15 consecutive games at home before that devastating loss.

How different the series might have been if the Kings had tied the series

at 2.

Chicago masterminded a comeback victory in Los Angeles, after the Kings had taken 1-0 and 2-1 leads.

Told by a reporter that the Kings would need the right attitude going into today's game, Sutter said: "I assume we'll have the right attitude."

The Kings must assume the right road attitude, one they haven't had all season.

Or this could be the worst roadtrip of the postseason. The one that ends it.

LA Daily News: LOADED: 06.08.2013


No supplemental discipline for Penner

Posted by JonRosen on 7 June 2013, 2:04 pm

Another game, day in which the question of supplemental discipline has been raised.

Per Tracey Myers of CSN Chicago, Dustin Penner will not face a hearing for a third period forearm to the head of Dave Bolland as shown in the video below.

Skip 35 seconds in for a slowed-down replay of the collision.

Though the hit didn’t appear to pass the threshold of being suspension-worthy, a two minute minor should have been assessed as Penner caught Bolland in the head with a reckless forearm that spun the Chicago forward around. It didn’t appear vindictive or intentional, just a forearm that Penner raised with opposing players in tight quarters, perhaps as an attempted hit gone awry, or perhaps as a means of bracing against possible contact.

Not that precedence is always useful in the Department of Player Safety’s logic in evaluating postseason discipline, but if Duncan Keith was assessed one game for a retaliatory stick-flailing that cracked and chipped several of Jeff Carter’s teeth in an incident behind the play, Penner wasn’t realistically going to miss any games for the above hit. Of the three questionable hits from the series – a list that also includes Bolland’s unpenalized low-to-high hit that caused a concussion and made Mike Richards’ head the principal point of contact in the waning moments of Game 1 – this hit was the least sordid, and that’s not to casually dismiss a blow to the head. A minor penalty would have been appropriate in this case.

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 06.08.2013


Waking up with the Kings: June 7

Posted by JonRosen on 7 June 2013, 9:47 am

-Though the Los Angeles Kings’ 3-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks appeared to hinge on a sequence of plays late in the second period and early in the third, Los Angeles’ inability to take a two-goal lead weighed heavily in the defeat. Corey Crawford proved that it’s not always about how many saves you make, it’s when you make the saves, and his denial of chances on the shift that immediately followed Slava Voynov’s goal, the Kings’ power play that ensued, and his poke check on Justin Williams’ breakaway four minutes into the second period with Los Angeles leading 2-1 were pivotal moments in the game.

-This has been a series that has been decided by even strength scoring, and that’s not necessarily a good thing for the Kings. Los Angeles has averaged 1.4 even strength goals per game in the playoffs, a scoring output that has necessitated a razor-thin margin for error on the defense and in net. The two teams have combined for two power play goals in 26 chances, with the Kings’ power play tally with 1:02 remaining in Game 2 having virtually no bearing on the game or the series. A short-handed Los Angeles squad with Mike Richards – who led the team in scoring when he was concussed by Dave Bolland on an unpenalized hit late in Game 1 – watching from upstairs and multiple players attempting to play through pain is significantly challenged in attempting to keep pace with a healthy Chicago Blackhawks team that earned points in 41 of 48 games this season.

-This is also a Kings team that has generally responded well when pushed into postseason must-win situations. Dustin Brown has discussed Darryl Sutter’s strength in “getting that emotional level where it needs to be for individuals and the group,” and the coach responding to an inquiry on how the team will come out in an elimination game with “I think you can answer that yourself, couldn’t you?” is all kinds of Sutter-beautiful. It means little, but the Kings have won five of their last six Game 5s in which they trailed 3-1 in a playoff series, including a pair of 1-0 shutouts by Felix Potvin in the rarified air of the Pepsi Center in 2001 and 2002. Those games, coupled with Jonathan Quick’s 51-save performance in a 3-1 win at San Jose in Game 5 of the teams’ first round series in 2011 and Los Angeles’ injuries and five-on-five scoring woes indicate that Quick will need to produce one of his signature efforts of the 2012-13 season on Saturday. More than one goal allowed by the Kings’ 2013 playoff MVP may not be a strong enough performance to send the series back to Staples Center.



June 7 quotes: Brown, Williams, Regehr, Stoll


Dustin Brown, on facing a 3-1 series deficit:

“It’s a different situation when you just have one game to play. You can draw on being in the trench hole together. I think it’s key for us, the fact that we’ve been through it together, we’ve been down

in the holes together. I think the most important thing is leaning on each other at a time

like now.”

Brown, on why the team accounted for only two shots on goal in the third period in Game 4:

“I couldn’t tell you what caused that. We have to get more pucks to the net, more bodies to the net. I don’t think that’s just the third, but the whole series. The Hawks have done a good job, been limiting our rush chances. With the way their D skate, we have to place the pucks better and get to the neutral zone better. I think the neutral zone has pretty much been the key for the whole series. Their transition game is really good. If we’re going to turn the puck over or not get through the neutral zone cleanly, it’s going to play into their hands.”

Brown, on his “belief” in Jonathan Quick:

“Jon has been the backbone of our team ever since he came here. It’s a big part of the reason why we’ve been successful as a team. It all starts with him back there. If there’s one thing that’s never going to waiver, it’s the confidence we have in that guy. Going back through the last few years, there’s been some times when we have struggled as a team, and he has allowed us to win games 1-0, 1-0 in shootouts in regular seasons. We never question that guy as a teammate. Like I said, he’s huge for us.”

Justin Williams, on what the team has to do differently on the power play:

“I think they do an excellent job of blocking shots. That’s plain and simple. They get their bodies in the shot lane. You can sometimes fake that you’re in the shot lane when you’re actually not. But they’re in them every time. They’re manning up and getting behind them. We’re getting a lot of zone time on the PP. Only have one goal to come with it. Haven’t scored a big power play goal yet. But getting through the first layer is going to be important because we’ve had a lot of possession time, a lot of zone time. But just getting it through their blockers is key.”

Williams, on whether the team’s road play is a “mental hurdle”:

“No, I’m not too worried about it. Are you worried about it? I don’t think we’re worried about it. [Robyn Regehr: “You prepare the same way, whether it's the home or on the road. The preparation is all the same."]”

Williams, on the team’s road play:

“It hasn’t gone our way on the road obviously. But now we need to win two in the United Center. We’re not scared of it. We’re certainly not scared of it. We’re going to welcome a challenge to beat the best team in the league this year in their own house starting tomorrow.”

Williams, on how to avoid retaliation in a physical series:

“Well, use your head. We’re pretty smart guys. Sometimes emotions get the better of you. We’ve been through pressure situations. You take a punch to the head for the better of the team. Everyone says that. You just do it. It’s going to be physical. You play whistle to whistle, and that’s it.”

Regehr, on whether Chicago went into “shutdown mode” in the third period of Game 4:

“I don’t think so. I think they have a game plan. They play it. They played it well. We had a game plan. We didn’t execute it as well as we wanted to. Back to that first question you asked to the guys, too. It’s a situation that you don’t have to look very far. You look at the opponent that we’re playing. They were in the exact same situation, and they came out of it in the last round. It’s something that’s very doable. We’re preparing to win one game tomorrow, and that’s as far as we’re looking right now.”

Jarret Stoll, on Chicago’s skill level:

“I think their skill level is obvious. They’ve got a lot of guys spread out throughout their lineup that can score goals and create chances. Their depth is one thing that comes to mind. Their neutral zone play. Like Brownie said, they move the puck really well. By us being more simple, getting in on the forecheck, that doesn’t mean throwing pucks across, you have to do things smartly, set your game up that way. They love the rush. They love making plays on the rush. They don’t really like to dump the puck in too much. Whereas St. Louis, they were more of a big-grinding, physical, down-low cycle team. These guys are a little bit more dangerous.”



Sutter on Richards: “still really doubtful at best”


Darryl Sutter addressed the media at the team hotel shortly after arriving from Los Angeles on Friday afternoon and provided a brief update on Mike Richards, followed by remarks on the team’s attempts to win a road game at the United Center on Saturday evening.

On Mike Richards’ status for Game 5:

“We didn’t skate today. Didn’t do much yesterday. So honestly, I couldn’t tell you. It’s still really doubtful at best.

On what the team can do to create more power play chances:

“Not much. Every series, make a big deal out of it. Every series, every year I’ve been in it, make a big deal about it. There’s no dramatic, you get a faceoff goal, broken stick goal, everyone says you scored on the power play.”

On whether his approach to elimination games:

“You know what, I don’t put a big deal on elimination games because it really doesn’t have much impact on anything or anybody. If we play like we did the last three games, we have a chance to win. Somebody will win. Somebody will lose.”

On whether Chicago went into a “shutdown mode in the third period:

“Both teams played outstanding games in the neutral zone. So when you have a lead, you can do even better because you can just basically force the other team to chip it in, and then you can chip it out. You chip it in, you chip it out. It’s pretty much got to be a broken play. It’s not based on shots. I know that’s what you base everything on, you guys…Quite honest, in this series, shots have been pretty even. I think in two of the games we actually out-shot them. But it doesn’t impact the score at all. It’s basically quality scoring chances and finishing the opportunity. No more than that. At the end of the day, all those things everybody talks about, the only thing that matters is who scores the most goals. I know if you think that you can out-score Chicago, meaning get into a high-scoring thing, you’re going to lose, so…Way better to prevent the goals against this club than to think that

you’re going to out-score them.”

On whether Chicago is a better defensive team than they are given credit for:

“They won the Jennings, right, which is very tough to do. I’ve been on teams in Chicago that have done it, in Calgary also, I believe. You do it by committee. There’s no fluke in it. It’s not just a great goalie when you win those team awards like that. That’s based on your team commitment. That’s why they’re such a good hockey club, because it’s both ways for them. It’s not based on a power play, a penalty kill, a star player. It’s based on the whole thing. That’s sort of how our team is, too. Would they be underrated? Not if you look at it stat-wise. They’re not, because they don’t allow a lot of shots, a lot of goals. Similar to us, you break it out by zone as much as you can. That’s why I said that with Duncan. When Duncan was suspended, it really doesn’t hurt their team. He’s a great player, but it doesn’t really hurt their team because the way their team is set up, they just had five minutes on four other defensemen. On most other teams, those guys would be playing those situations anyways.”

On whether there is “anything that’s different” with the way the Kings play on the road:

“Yeah. Five of them were 2-1 losses. When you lose 2-1, a lot of those games you could win. I don’t really break it into what pinpoints something at the start of the game. They’re 2-1. How many overtime games? Three. One was in the last minute of regulation. So what’s the difference? Not much. Not very much.

On his “belief” in Jonathan Quick:

“We need a great goaltending performance from our goaltender tomorrow.”



Kings history when trailing 3-1


229 different NHL teams have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven series, with 20 teams rebounding to win the series in seven games. The 1989 Los Angeles Kings are one of those teams, having defeated the Edmonton Oilers three straight times in the Smythe Division Semifinals before eventually succumbing in four games to the eventual Cup-winning Calgary Flames in the second round. The Kings have won one of the 11 series in which they trailed three games to one, though they have won five of the last six Game 5s when faced with a 3-1 series deficit.

The last team to win a series in which it trailed three games to one actually rebounded from a 3-0 series deficit. The 2010 Philadelphia Flyers won four consecutive games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals after the Boston Bruins had built up a commanding 3-0 series lead. Mike Richards took part in that series, though Jeff Carter was sidelined with a foot injury. Simon Gagne scored the series clincher to break a 3-3 deadlock with 7:08 remaining in Game 7; the Flyers ultimately lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the Stanley Cup Final.

In Los Angeles’ most recent game played when faced with a 3-1 deficit, Jonathan Quick stopped 51 shots as Wayne Simmonds, Kyle Clifford and Dustin Penner scored in a 3-1 victory at San Jose on April 23, 2011.

Kings history when trailing 3-1 in a playoff series:

1974 Quarterfinals

Game 5: Los Angeles 0 at Chicago 1

-Kings lose series, 4-1

1977 Quarterfinals

Game 5: Los Angeles 3 at Boston 1

Game 6: Los Angeles 3 vs Boston 4


1982 Division Finals

Game 5: Los Angeles 2 at Vancouver 5


1987 Division Semifinals

Game 5: Los Angeles 4 at Edmonton 5



Game 5: Los Angeles 4 at Calgary 6



Game 5: Los Angeles 4 vs Edmonton 2



-Kings win series, 4-3

1991 Division Finals




1993 Stanley Cup Final

Game 5: Los Angeles 1 at Montreal 4


2001 Conference Semifinals

Game 5: Los Angeles 1 at Colorado 0

Game 6: Los Angeles 1 vs Colorado 0 (2 OT)



2002 Conference Quarterfinals

Game 5: Los Angeles 1 at Colorado 0 (OT)

Game 6: Los Angeles 3 vs Colorado 1



2011 Conference Quarterfinals

Game 5: Los Angeles 3 at San Jose 1

Game 6: Los Angeles 3 vs San Jose 4 (OT)



680407 Montreal Canadiens

Towel-quality guidelines and other highlights from the new NHL CBA

JAMES MIRTLE

The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Jun. 07 2013, 4:35 PM EDT

Last updated Friday, Jun. 07 2013, 4:59 PM EDT

At long last, the day is here: The NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement is publicly available.

And, at 517 pages of legalese – 63 more than its predecessor from eight years ago – it’s quite a tome.

Not all of the items included within, however, are the kind of dense financial topics that were talking points during the league’s ugly four-month lockout.

Also addressed are concerns of the quality of the hair products and towels available in the visiting locker rooms.

Section 34.12 reads “Locker Room Quality/Shower Supplies. Clubs are to provide professional quality shower supplies/products to home and visiting team Players. Clubs are to provide high quality bath towels to Players, to be replaced on as needed basis.”

(The rumour is that the Carolina Hurricanes were slacking in this department.)

There’s also an odd section of the document dedicated entirely to shovelling snow off the ice surface, with one new decree stipulating that teams must have an “eight shoveler” crew dedicated to the process “in order to optimize ice conditions around the league.”

And they shouldn’t be stomping around out there in their gumboots.

“The Clubs will utilize their best efforts to deploy ice shovelers on skates,” it reads. “The League will issue updated minimum standards (current standard attached) for end zone ice shoveling procedure.”

The attachment then provides a diagram for how to best clear the ice, as well as more in-depth shovel specifications than you’ll find at your local Canadian Tire:

“The Hockey Operations Department suggests the following tools for this procedure:

- Six to eight 48" poly single-handed shovels, two poly scoop shovels, two plastic buckets to hold snow“

NOTE: The recommended shovels can be ordered and replaced when necessary by going to the website www.thesnowplow.com. The shovels are 48 inches wide, poly single handled plastic shovels.”

No wonder all that collective bargaining took so long this winter.

And wouldn’t you like to know how many lawyers pondered over these particular sections?

More areas of note in the new CBA:

- New towels won’t be the only addition to the locker room. There’s a whole host of workout equipment for the visiting team to have access to that’s standardized in the CBA, including “two stainless mobile whirlpools (hot/cold).” Oh, and of course, “one Bosu Ball.”

- This section was also included in the last CBA, but it’s still worth a chuckle: “No Player shall be involved in any endorsement or sponsorship of alcoholic beverages (excluding malt-based beverages such as beer).” Wouldn’t want to offend the beer sponsors.

- Perhaps to help those snow shovelers out, the length of intermissions was extended from 17 to 18 minutes. More time to grab a popcorn, I guess. But if you’re wondering why games are ending two minutes later than in the past, there’s your answer.

- On arbitration awards: Teams can only walk away from awards that are $3.5-million or more. Otherwise, you’re stuck with the player at whatever

number the arbiter comes up with. That figure also rises with the NHL’s average salary.

- On relocation: “Any player forced to move as a result of being claimed in an expansion draft, or as a result of a team relocation, shall be paid $6,000.” Potentially some big money for members of the Phoenix Coyotes.

- Speaking of relocation, the NHL included language to state that it maintained sole control over those types of decisions: “Each Club, and, where appropriate, the League… shall in addition to its other inherent and legal rights to manage its business, including the direction and control of its team, have the right at any time and from time to time to determine when, where, how and under what circumstances it wishes to operate, suspend, discontinue, sell or move and to determine the manner and the rules by which its team shall play hockey.”

- No more will teams be able to play nine exhibition games, as the Leafs always seemed eager to do: “Each Club shall schedule no less than six (6) and no more than eight (8) Exhibition Games during Training Camp.”

- Expanding the playoffs by having four more teams involved in a play-in round is also still in play: “If the League desires to implement a Playoff Qualification Round with respect to future NHL Season(s), it may only do so with the consent of the NHLPA, which shall not be unreasonably withheld.”

- Players get a bump in their meal money, which was at $85 at the start of the last CBA: “The per diem meal allowance for each Player accompanying his Club while it is away from its home city for the purpose of playing NHL Games shall be $100 for the 2012-13 League Year.”

- This one could be known as the Boogaard rule: “Prescription Drugs. Each Club shall identify one (1) individual who is responsible for monitoring on an ongoing basis, or auditing on a regular basis, prescription drugs that have been given to each Player on the Club, with a particular emphasis on monitoring controlled substances and sleeping pills, if any, that have been prescribed.”

- There’s also the matter of calculating the cap, which will use a slightly different formula to the old CBA beginning in 2014-15. For next season, however, it’s already set: “…in the 2013-14 League Year, the Lower Limit of the Range shall be $44-million, the Midpoint of the Range shall be $54.15-million, and the Upper Limit of the Range shall be $64.3-million.”

- Players will now be paid quite a bit more in the playoffs, with the total compensation up from $6.5-million in the last CBA to between $14- and $17-million in this one. Teams that advance deeper in the postseason receive more of that cash, which acts as a modest bonus.

- The two most complicated sections of the CBA are two that were dramatically revised: revenue sharing and the pension plan. Both were seen as small “wins” for the players’ side after negotiations, but it’s difficult to break down just how much benefit they’ll see. What’s clear is that revenue sharing will be at least $200-million a season from now on and all teams – even those in very large markets – are now eligible.

- Here’s one specific item on revenue sharing: “For each Playoff Game that a Club hosts in its home arena during a League Year, such Club shall contribute the dollar value equivalent of thirty-five (35) per cent of the Playoff Gate Receipts” to the pool of money

- And one more that affects teams like the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils: “Any Recipient Club that is in a Designated Market Area with 3 million or more households shall only be eligible to receive fifty (50) per cent of a ‘full share’ ”

Globe And Mail LOADED: 06.08.2013


Molson proud of Habs’ progress this season

By PAT HICKEY, THE GAZETTE June 7, 2013

MONTREAL - Canadiens owner Geoff Molson was disappointed with the way this season ended, but is proud of the progress the team made during the lockout-shortened campaign that ended with a first-round playoff loss to the Ottawa Senators.

“I think we have a good group of players and we made progress,” Molson said Thursday following a press conference to announce the start of construction on the Tour des Canadiens, a luxury condominium development that will be built adjacent to the Bell Centre.

“You could tell that this was a close team even during the lockout, with the players texting each other and keeping in touch,” Molson added.

“We had some outstanding performances from our rookies and we had some of other young players grow into leadership roles. I’m proud of players like P.K. (Subban) and Carey (Price). We had good coaching, but it all starts at the top and I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about (general manager Marc Bergevin). He lives hockey and our success starts with him.”

Molson said he was impressed with the consistency of the team’s performance.

“We didn’t have any bad stretches until the end when we ran into injury problems,” Molson said. “But we went a long way toward building for the future. We’re headed in the right direction.”

Molson took advantage of Thursday’s press conference to announce plans to relocate Centennial Plaza, which is being uprooted to make room for the condo development. The plaza will be moved to the Windsor Court on the east side of the building.

The monuments commemorating the retired jerseys, the team’s 24 Stanley Cup teams and the mosaic of historic moments will be moved, along with four bronze statues representing Canadiens greats Howie Morenz, Maurice (Rocket) Richard, Jean Béliveau and Guy Lafleur. The team will also replace the 12,000 bricks that fans purchased during the team’s centennial celebrations in 2008.

Molson also confirmed that due to the risk of damage inherent in the removal and storage of existing bricks, the club would absorb the cost of ordering an entirely new set of bricks complete with the original inscriptions made by fans.

“By becoming Centennial Plaza brick owners, our fans showed their deep attachment to the team (and) as a result they became an integral part of the plaza,” Molson said. “It’s very important to us as an organization take centre stage in what will become a permanent historic site for the Montreal Canadiens.”

That was the idea the first time around, but the land on the west side of the building belongs to Cadillac Fairview, one of the major partners in the condo development. The Windsor Court property belongs to the Canadiens.

The partners in the project — Cadillac Fairview, Canderel and Fonds immobilier de solidarité FTQ — said construction will begin on the project after what were described as record-breaking sales. The project is 99 per cent sold, with the only unsold units two penthouse apartments with pricetags starting at $833,000.

“It is no surprise that the unprecedented enthusiasm elicited for the project allows us to begin construction in record-breaking time, even with the recent addition of two floors,” said Daniel Peritz, Canderel’s senior vice-president.

Sal Iacono, the senior vice-president of portfolio and development management for Cadillac Fairview, said the condominium was part of a $2-billion facelift for the area surrounding the Bell Centre. Construction has already begun at La Tour Deloitte, a 26-floor office and retail complex on a site to the east of the Bell Centre.

While the Canadiens are listed as a partner in the project, Molson noted the team’s involvement is minimal.

“We’re not in the real-estate business,” Molson said.

The team has lent its name to the project and will manage a sports bar on the ground-floor level of the development. Molson said the idea for the sports bar was inspired by the popular Real Sports restaurant adjacent to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, but “it will be different.”

Vail invited to Team USA camp: Canadiens prospect Brady Vail was one of 40 players invited to the Team USA national junior training camp in August in Lake Placid, N.Y. Vail, a 6-foot, 185-pound centre, was the Canadiens’ fourth-round pick (94th overall) at the 2012 National Hockey League entry draft. In 68 games this past season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires, he posted 20-35-55 totals and was minus-23. He finished the season with the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs, posting 1-3-4 totals and a plus-2 in 12 games.

Montreal Gazette LOADED: 06.08.2013


1993 Stanley Cup flashback: 10th straight OT win for Habs in Game 4

Posted by Stu Cowan

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Canadiens’ last Stanley Cup championship.

The Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings met in Game 4 of the 1993 Stanley Cup final on June 7, 1993 with the Canadiens winning 3-2 in overtime on John LeClair’s goal, moving within one victory of their 24th Cup championship.

Below are the columns by Michael Farber and Red Fisher that were published in The Gazette following Game 4.

PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE ON JUNE 8, 1993

RED FISHER

THE GAZETTE

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – It is one game away from what once was thought to be an impossible dream, so now Guy Carbonneau sits there, shaking his head.

“Unbelievable. I’m numb,” he said in the moments after this 3-2 overtime victory by the Canadiens, which gives them a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series with the Los Angeles Kings.

“I don’t know what to think, whether to laugh, be serious or to be happy. Happy, I guess, because we’re leading the series 3-1 and we’re going home. Unbelievable, though.”

What was unbelievable, perhaps, was that for the second consecutive game, John LeClair scored the winner, this time 14:37 into the overtime.

Unbelievable, because for the first 25 minutes of this pivotal game, the Canadiens swept into a 2-0 lead on goals by Kirk Muller and Vincent Damphousse. They were in control. They set the tempo. They had two, but could have had four – and then the wheels almost fell off.

The air started to go out of the balloon a couple of seconds after a Canadiens giveaway – allowing Mike Donnelly to score. That’s when the Kings started taking over in what ended as a desperate second period when Marty McSorley tied the score with only five seconds remaining.

“I’m sitting here not really knowing what to say,” said Carbonneau, “but what I do know is that Patrick (Roy) came into the dressing room after the second period and said that was the last goal he was giving up.

“He kept his promise.”

So did LeClair, who had come into the room after the third period and boomed in his hillbilly twang:

“Let’s go guys. I’ve got lots left.”

Lots – even though many of his colleagues appeared to be tiring.

Enough to get the winner, which came after he pounced on a shot that had gone wide, shrugged off several restraining bodies beside Kelly Hrudey, who had fallen out of position, and tucked it beyond defenceman Darryl Sydor.

“What can you say about that guy,” said Carbonneau. “He’s finally learning how good he can be. He’s finally learning how to get things done with his size. He said he had lots left. We need guys that size to do the job for us – with their size.”

The Canadiens did it the hard way again – a remarkable 10th victory in 11 overtime games after losing the first one to the Quebec Nordiques. What they also did was go into the game as well- prepared as any team can be.

Twelve minutes into it, the Canadiens had an 8-3 margin in shots. A minute later, they had tested Hrudey four more times.

It’s called turning it on, but is there a prettier play than the one choreographed by Muller for the period’s only goal?

There he is, facing off in the circle to Hrudey’s right. Jari Kurri, who plays that position largely as an afterthought, faced him. The puck is dropped, Muller slips it through Kurri’s legs and, in one motion, lashes a shot beyond Hrudey.

The Canadiens could have had at least two more. Once, Carbonneau struck the post on a two-on-one with Ed Ronan. Brian Bellows was set up delightfully by Muller – and missed the pass. Carbonneau sweeps in on Hrudey, is stopped, and can’t get his stick to the short rebound.

Games have been won with the opportunities the Canadiens, as a team, frittered away. Or, more precisely, the chances they couldn’t bury because of Hrudey’s excellence.

Mathieu Schneider is caught laying on an elbow late in the period. Two minutes later, he’s out of the box and racing in on Hrudey. He’s stopped.

Bottom line: it may not be the best period the Canadiens have played in the playoffs, but it was up there with the best.

The Kings?

The best they had to offer among their six shots were two by Tomas Sandstrom, but Roy took both away – particularly the rebound.

Skating is what the Canadiens were all about. Team Whoosh! They dictated the pace, and for much of the period it was simply too much for the Kings.

“If we win this one,” Mike Keane had said earlier in the day, “we’re in a great position. If we don’t, it’s anybody’s ball game.”

Keane had that right.

Roy reigns as best player of the second season


MICHAEL FARBER

THE GAZETTE

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – This had become Hockey Morning in Canada a good 20 minutes earlier and there stood Patrick Roy. He had a mask, but he didn’t have a cigarette.

He doesn’t smoke. The Kings do. This was Stanley Cup overtime, that extra special place where the Canadiens have lived for the past seven weeks, but it was Los Angeles that was owning the extra time, throwing everything at Roy.

The Kings looked fresh. The Canadiens were like a punch-drunk fighter, searching out the clinches, hanging on, doing everything they could to fend off Kings. This was Rocky in Wayne’s World, a tired team trying desperately not to get outclassed, and the only thing that was keeping the Canadiens alive was their goaltender.

“You know, I feel good in overtime,” Roy said later. “I felt perfect. I just had to make myself tough to beat. You just don’t want to give up a soft goal.

“My concentration came easy, especially in the third period and the overtime. I knew it would be a difference between 2-2 and 3-1.”

John LeClair made sure the Canadiens are one win away from the Stanley Cup when he scored a 16-incher at 14:37 of overtime. Long John was Short John again, and his two game-winners put end-to-end would still be a gimme. But Montreal surely would have been back at its beachfront hotel if it weren’t for Roy. He was Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Terry Sawchuck rolled into one.

The next person he becomes is Conn Smythe.

Roy has been the best player in the post-season just as he was in 1986 when, as a rookie, he led Montreal to its last Stanley Cup. He is one Wednesday from a not-so-instant replay but in the overtime period, he surely turned the clock back to 1986 when he survived about a 3,465 shot overtime against the New York Rangers. Roy was called to stop a mere 10 in almost a quarter of an hour against Los Angeles, but he was just as sharp.

When asked to compare the two, Roy said, “It’s tough to compare this to 1986. We played so few overtime games then, and now we have one almost every night. But I don’t live in the past. I only go on to the next game.”

Good idea. Why compare a Van Gogh to a Picasso.

A playoff masterpiece is a playoff masterpiece.

“Patrick Roy is the greatest goaltender in the world,” said Jacques Demers. “Kelly Hrudey (in the Kings nets) was great, battling, not giving an inch, but the Patrick Roy who came tonight was the Patrick Roy who is best in the game.”

Roy made a reflex save on Jari Kurri in the overtime, a remarkable reaction as Kurri batted the puck in midair off Roy’s glove. Of course, he couldn’t stop what he couldn’t see but then Roy didn’t have to. His goalpost did it for him.

Roy didn’t have a clue on Jimmy Carson’s shot from the faceoff in overtime. Carson was the bounciest player on the ice, Kings coach Barry Melrose having used him as sparingly as he uses the barber. That made Carson the most dangerous. He tried a cute play off a faceoff in the Montreal zone – Kirk Muller had scored on the same play in the first period when he took a faceoff through Jari Kurri’s legs and shot it past Hrudey – and Carson got some serious stick on it. Clang. Roy still talks to his posts, and once again the post talked back.

“I wasn’t thinking about overtime,” Roy said. “I don’t think our team was thinking about it either, not in a conscious way. But we know that when the score is tied and there are 10 minutes left in the third period, we’re not going to take many chances. If we have a good chance, we’re going to take it and go. But we’re willing to go into the overtime. We’re really positive about it.”

Why not. The streak of overtime victories has reached 10 and the legend grows faster than the record for Team Time and a Half because now we’re into exponents as well as opponents. The Canadiens now have won their past three games in overtime over the doubting Kings, the first final since Montreal-Toronto in 1951 to have a string of three overtime games. This was a little more lingering death than sudden death, but the Canadiens don’t ask how long, they ask how much.

LeClair scored on a botched two-on-one on a play that should have been well past your bed time. But you probably stayed up and so did Roy, challenging the Kings to beat him. They couldn’t when it counted.

This was no rout, but you better believe they are plotting a route on St. Catherine St. this morning.

Twilight zone; Canadiens’ mastery in overtime can’t be explained statistically


MICHAEL FARBER

THE GAZETTE

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – We take you now to the laboratory of Advanced Statistical Hockey Research, also known as Room 711 at the Westin LAX. This could be any lab in North America (except for the telltale crusts of the room service club sandwich on the table near the window), but here yesterday afternoon one of the most significant experiments in recent sporting history occurred.

Some background, professor.

We men of science could no longer buy the layman’s “ghosts” or a quark named “Patrick Roy” or “experience” or “patience” or the “long bench” (how long? 30 metres?) to explain an apparent statistical anomaly.

So we applied the empirical method.

The implements: one 25-cent piece (American, 1980), one bed (king- size, four pillows), one thumb (right).

The methodology: flip the coin and let it land on the bed.

The data: heads, heads, tails, heads, tails, tails …

For complete results, you will have to wait for the parade. But to summarize: after 100 flips of the coin, there were 52 tails and 48 heads. More significantly, the longest streaks by these evenly matched sides were seven (heads) and five (tails).

So heading into Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final last night, the only explanation for the Canadiens’ record streak of nine overtime wins was: beats the hell out of us.

The odds against nine straight overtime wins are 1 in 1,024, and you shouldn’t take the word of Advanced Statistical Hockey Research because

we were once nearly fired by a shoe store for an inability to make change. No. Like other scientists, we welcomed verification.

“Now let me get this straight,” said Prof. Jan DeLeeuw, the director of the statistics program at UCLA. “Hockey has three periods each of 20 minutes, which actually takes much longer than 60 minutes to complete. And if there is a draw after 60 minutes, they play overtime?”

Right.

“Well, you must assume as you start overtime the chances of each team to win are equally good,” DeLeeuw said, “because that’s why you need overtime in the first place.”

Of course. Sometimes we scientists have lost sight of that fact because Roy has made every big save for the Canadiens for seven weeks and Montreal plays with a nice mixture of verve and composure in sudden death. Still, when the streak of overtimes started against Quebec in Game 3, the scientific community favored the Nordiques because 1) they had won the first game in OT and 2) if OT is a scoring lottery, Quebec seemed to have more balls in the drum.

“So if overtime is the equivalent of a fair coin toss,” continued DeLeeuw and then he went off on binomial distribution, which might be elementary to him but hasn’t been used as regularly in this lab as, say, Spectravision.

The prof came up with the probability of the streak as .00098, roughly one in a thousand.

Thanks, professor. You’re one in a million for taking time to help. Do you happen to know any of the Los Angeles Kings?

“One.”

The player wears .00099.

But to verify his figures, to guard against any Left Coast numerical bias, we checked with the math department at McGill University because for all we know, .00098 could be .00120 Canadian.

Prof. V. Seshadri, a Canadiens fan since 1962, obliged.

“Just a simple binomial formula,” Seshadri explained. Right. Simple to DeLeeuw. “You take 1/2 to the power of 10 …

“Ah, my calculator isn’t working.”

This is the Stanley Cup final, Professor. You’ve got to check out your equipment.

That’s what Marty McSorley, Ph.D. always says.

Now we know these findings are controversial. The ghost mob has its backers, and Dave Taylor of the Kings already is wondering.

“Our series really doesn’t apply a lot to what they’ve done in overtime,” he said. “We haven’t had good opportunities the other way to score. The Canadiens have just taken the puck into our zone and put it in the first time. Two first-minute goals. But it is crazy the way the whole thing worked out.”

The craziness continued., The Canadiens won 3-2 in overtime in Game 4 last night. The law of averages has been repealed.

“You know, I’ve been watching the games, and they have been thrilling,” Seshadri said. “The finals are different ballgames from what happens in the rest of the year. Both teams are evenly matched, and this is blood.

“Can you get me a ticket?”

Now we know these findings are controversial. The ghost mob has its backers, and Dave Taylor of the Kings already is questioning the methodology.

“Our series really doesn’t apply a lot to what they’ve done in overtime,” he said. “We haven’t had good opportunities the other way to score. The Canadiens have just taken the puck into our zone and put it in the first time. Two first-minute goals. But it is crazy the way the whole thing worked out.”

Maybe. But as they say around campus, nine heads are better than one.



Sunday marks 20th anniversary of Habs’ last Cup win

By Stu Cowan, GAZETTE SPORTS EDITOR June 7, 2013

MONTREAL — Where were you on the night of June 9, 1993?

Maybe you were lucky enough to be among the nearly 18,000 fans at the Forum who watched the Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final to win their record 24th championship.

Maybe you were downtown for the riotous rampage that followed the Canadiens’ victory, resulting in 118 arrests, 168 injuries and millions of dollars in damage.

Maybe, like current Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban — who was 4 at the time — you were too young to really remember, or like Habs rookie Alex Galchenyuk, you weren’t even born yet.

Whatever memories you do or don’t have of that night, Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of the Canadiens last Stanley Cup championship.

“It’s hard to believe,” Guy Carbonneau, the last Canadiens captain to hoist the Cup, said Thursday about the fact 20 years have passed. “It started a little bit last year … people started to talk about it. It was probably then that you realize that, my gosh it went fast. Now I’m pretty used to it. But, yeah, it’s hard to believe.”

Carbonneau doesn’t have any special plans Sunday to mark the anniversary.

“No,” he said with a laugh. “Either I’m going to go to the Grand Prix or watch the Grand Prix. I’m not doing anything special. Nobody is organizing anything.”

Demers doesn’t have any special plans, either.

“Play golf — depending on the weather — at Whitlock with my brother, Michel, and a couple of friends,” he said Friday about his Sunday plans.

But Demers has been talking a lot about the 20th anniversary recently.

“I’ve been reminded on a daily basis for about a week with different media calling me,” he said. “I’m very proud and I wish to heck — and I’m being totally honest with you — that they win (another) one very quickly and I think they’re on the right track.”

And for the first time on Thursday, Demers brought his ’93 Stanley Cup ring to the Senate in Ottawa “because they wanted to see it.”

“I felt proud, I felt good,” said Demers, who was named to the Senate in 2009 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and only wears his Cup ring on special occasions. “A lot of stuff is going on at the Senate now and I didn’t feel like a Senator yesterday, I felt like the Montreal coach who in 1993, on June 9, won the Cup. It was very special for me.”

Demers has many special memories from that night 20 years ago at the Forum. He recalls veteran Denis Savard being upset because he was scratched from the lineup, instead helping Demers as an assistant coach behind the bench. During the post-game celebration on the ice, Demers recalls that Savard was crying when they hugged and told the coach: “I won my Stanley Cup!”

Demers made another tough decision that night, deciding not to dress defenceman Kevin Haller to make room for the rarely used Donald Dufresne.

“I wanted to give Donald Dufresne an opportunity to put his name on the Stanley Cup,” Demers recalled when he was a guest on The Gazette’s Hockey Inside/Out web show this year (hockeyinsideout.com/show). “That was very difficult ... and when Kevin came on the ice (I said) thank you Kevin for understanding what I did. And Donald Dufresne thanked me. But I owe thanks to those players. They’re the ones who played hard, they’re the ones who had to block shots. I was the coach and I got a lot of credit, but I tell you one thing, those are the players who made the difference for me.

“We had a lot of French Canadians on that team and I think for the province of Quebec it’s great,” Demers added. “But I never want people to forget the contribution of some of our anglophones. Mike Keane was absolutely

unbelievable. Mathieu Schneider, Kirk Muller, Lyle Odelein … we can’t forget those guys … Ed Ronan. They came in and they enjoyed playing for the Montreal Canadiens, but really enjoyed the chemistry that we had put together. Then Rob Ramage came in a little later … Gary Leeman … those guys were fantastic. They joined the team together and we’re going to work together and I believe that was the strength of our team, the chemistry.”

Carbonneau agrees with his former coach, saying the ’93 Canadiens were built to “play as a team, not individually.”

“Everybody that wins … you have to have that chemistry and the trust between each other,” he said.

The Canadiens also had goaltender Patrick Roy, who recorded an incredible 10 straight overtime victories while winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after posting a 16-4 record with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.

Carbonneau recalls the Canadiens dressing room at the Forum being packed after the final game, with friends and family joining in the celebration.

“At one point after the celebration in the room, we asked everybody to kind of leave the room and we stayed, just the players and the coaching staff, the hockey staff, just for about 15-20 minutes trying to reflect on what we were able to do,” Carbonneau recalled. “I think that was a fun point.

“You can always put the 10 overtime wins, the goals, all those things. But at the end of the day, I think to be able to kind of reflect on what we achieved that year was a lot of fun.”

What wasn’t so much fun was trying to get home.

“Because of the riot outside, we couldn’t leave the building,” Carbonneau recalled. “I remember my daughter, Anne-Marie (who is now married to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Brenden Morrow), was there with us and she was about 11 years old and I remember we couldn’t get out. At one point during the night, I had to go see some security guys and say: ‘Listen, I need to get my daughter to bed.’ We called a cab company and we told him what route to take and once you get to the corner just don’t stop … just open the door.

“We had the security guy making sure that nobody saw us and we asked the cab to be at the corner by the back door. It was fun, but it was so late. But we had so much fun.”

After making the escape from the Forum, Carbonneau figures it was around 3:30 a.m. when they finally got home.

The next season, despite recording 96 points, the Canadiens were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Bruins. In the 1994-95 lockout-shortened season, the Habs missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years and after an 0-4 start to the 1995-96 season, Demers and general manager Serge Savard were fired by team president Ronald Corey. Mario Tremblay took over as head coach and Réjean Houle as general manager, both with no experience in those jobs.

The rest is history.

“Coaches are meant to be replaced ... fired,” Demers said on the Hockey Inside/Out show, adding that the downfall of the Canadiens started when Savard was replaced by Houle, who had a “heart of gold” and was a “tremendous worker,” but had no experience as a GM.

“Savard had won a Cup in 1986 (went to the finals in ’89) and then all of a sudden we win a Cup in ’93 and he’s fired,” Demers said. “A general manager who has that competence and who had brought some great players. Every, every general manager in the NHL or any sport makes mistakes. But I thought Serge had a vision. Coaches are short-term. We have to win right now. Serge was a long-term guy. While you’re long-term, you still want to win right now.”

There was also a revolving door behind the Canadiens’ bench.

“All of a sudden, Alain Vigneault is in the (Cup) finals, Michel Therrien is in the finals, Claude (Julien) wins the Stanley Cup,” Demers said of former Habs coaches who went on to have success elsewhere. “Guy Carbonneau I thought had a really wonderful year (as head coach) … I believe he had 104 points. It’s stability.”

Carbonneau has a message for frustrated Canadiens fans.

“You have to be patient,” he said. “The process now is a lot harder. When they used to win most of their Cups there was maybe six teams and then 16 teams and then 21 teams and now there’s 30 with the salary cap. It’s really

hard to keep a team together. There’s mistakes that were made because they wanted to be competitive every year and they paid for it for a long time. But I think they’re on the right track now and hopefully in the near future they can give (the fans) a good run.”

Said Demers: “I’m a Montrealer … a French-Canadian … I won the Cup with the Montreal Canadiens and I could never forget how it happened, can’t forget the fans who still treat me with great respect.

“Look, we’re 20 years away and we’re still talking about it.”

Relive the 1993 Cup final: You can relive the ’93 Cup final between the Canadiens and Los Angeles Kings as we republish stories by Red Fisher and Michael Farber, who covered the series for The Gazette, at hockeyinsideout.com


680411 New York Rangers

Pittsburgh’s loss may be Rangers’ gain

By LARRY BROOKS

Last Updated: 3:44 AM, June 8, 2013

Posted: 1:26 AM, June 8, 2013

The Penguins’ loss could be the Rangers’ gain.

For if Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero — perhaps under orders from team chairman Mario Lemieux — dismisses coach Dan Bylsma in the wake of his club’s sweep by the Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals that was cemented in Boston last night with a 1-0 Game 4 loss, the 2009 Stanley Cup-winner would immediately vault to the top of the list of candidates for the vacancy behind the Blueshirts’ bench.

That is, if Shero were to grant Rangers GM Glen Sather permission to speak to Bylsma, who is under contract to the Penguins through the end of next season.

The Rangers are expected to at least initially address the club’s coaching search at their organizational meetings at Sather’s Western White House in La Quinta, Calif., which will commence Monday.

It is unknown whether Sather will conduct formal interviews with candidates during the week, though it would seem an appropriate time.

The Blueshirts have received permission to speak with former Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault, fired by the Canucks after a second consecutive first-round playoff exit following a Game 7 defeat in the 2011 Finals, and AHL Toronto Marlies’ coach Dallas Eakins. They are expected to ask for permission to speak with Lindy Ruff, dismissed in February by the Sabres after 14-plus seasons in Buffalo.

Dave Tippett, who remains under contract to the Coyotes through June 30, has made it clear his first preference is to remain in Phoenix if ownership issues can be resolved. Mark Messier remains in the picture, though it is unclear whether Sather is willing to even entertain the notion of taking the leap of faith that would be required in order to hire an individual absent of any coaching experience.

Vigneault is believed to have the inside track for the job, which calls for a coach who will maximize the team’s talent for a run at the Stanley Cup over the next year or two, not one who will require time to grow on the job.

But Bylsma’s potential availability would shake up the process. The 42-year-old, Michigan-born coach led the Penguins to the Cup in 2009 after replacing Michel Therrien midway through that season. Pittsburgh then was upset in the 2010 second round before losing in the first round in both 2011 and 2012.

Though few — if any — fingers are being pointed in Bylsma’s direction for the Penguins’ embarrassing effort against the Bruins (they were outscored 12-2 in the series), it is possible the coach could pay the price for the team’s failure to at least reach the Finals for the fourth straight year. Especially after the club sacrificed four draft selections and three prospects in a win-now effort to to acquire rentals Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Douglas Murray around the trade deadline.

Bylsma, known as creative and a forthright communicator, has thrived with top-end, marquee talent since replacing the conservative Therrien. He is also accustomed to the spotlight that has often accompanied Sidney Crosby’s team.

New York Post LOADED: 06.08.2013

680412 New York Rangers

Guest blogger: Jared Sexton of RangersUnlimited.com … looking ahead to free agency

By Jared Sexton at RangersUnlimited.com

Free agency kicks off on July 5, a little less than a month away. It’s a time of the year that’s been a bit of an adventure during the Sather administration. It’s produced such blunders as Bobby Holik, Wade Redden, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Ales Kotalik and Donald Brashear. Below I list five targets on which I feel the Rangers should lock in, and three players I feel they should avoid.

Players to Target:

1. Mark Streit

The Rangers’ need for a strong power-play defenseman needs no introduction. Streit definitely fits the calling, as he’s averaged 3.63 points per 60 minutes of 5 on 4 ice time in the past five seasons. A spot in the lineup could be opened up for Streit if Michael Del Zotto is traded for a scoring forward, and Marc Staal is moved to the right side to make better use of his one good eye. Of course, the problem is, Streit is going to get paid. He is the premier defenseman on the free agent market without competition, and he recently turned down $14.25 million over three seasons from the Islanders. To complicate matters, Streit is 35, so any contract he signs will be a 35+ contract. It would take at least a three year commitment to win Streit’s services, and I would be very hesitant to give him a fourth year.

2. Danny Briere

I’m operating under the assumption that Philadelphia will use an amnesty buyout on the final two seasons of Briere’s contract. Briere is another player who could help the Rangers’ hurting power play. Briere has averaged 4.04 points per 60 minutes of 5 on 4 ice time over the past five seasons. He is also one of the most established playoff performers in the league, with 50 goals and 59 assists in 108 career playoff games. I would figure Briere would project as a winger for the Rangers, while serving as some much needed insurance at center for Stepan and Brassard. Briere is also 35. It would likely take only a two-year commitment to secure his services.

3. Michael Ryder

Ryder is an alternate to Briere. He is another right-handed shooting forward with a history of success on the power play. Ryder has averaged 4.31 points per 60 minutes of 5 on 4 ice time over the past five seasons. Ryder, 33, is below Briere on my list, not because he’s an inferior player, but because he’ll likely command a great salary over a larger number of years. Ryder’s game isn’t pleasing to the eye, but his goal scoring record speaks for itself.

4. Raffi Torres

The downside to Torres goes without saying: he plays on the edge and the NHL will suspend him for just about anything at this point. His trouble with the law is well-documented, but his proficiency at scoring at even strength gets much less attention. Torres has averaged 1.82 points per 60 minutes of 5 on 5 ice time over his past five seasons. To put that into perspective, the Rangers had only four forwards exceed that even-strength scoring pace this season. I feel that Torres is extremely undervalued and the contract he receives on the open market will reflect that. San Jose acquired him at the deadline for a third round pick, which illustrates how he value is negatively skewed among NHL GMs. Torres would bring some sandpaper in the games in which he is not suspended.

5. Matt Hendricks

Hendricks would fill the role of fourth-line center and penalty killer while adding a bit of snarl to the bottom six. Hendricks, who will turn 32 in June, hasn’t been an offensive producer for a while. It’s been two seasons since Hendricks has scored as much as a point per four games. He is however, an excellent faceoff man, as he’s been over 53% in each of the past three seasons, including a 56.8% rate this year. Hendricks can also play wing if another center pushes Boyle down the depth chart.

Players to Avoid:

1. Bryan Bickell

Bickell raises a number of red flags for me. He has scored 7 goals so far in the playoffs, and players who go on these miracle playoff runs tend to get overpaid when they hit free agency. Joel Ward and Sean Bergenheim both got lucrative four year deals after big postseasons. I’m also always cautious about giving physical players long term contracts that will expire in their 30s. You just never how a physical player’s body is going to hold up. The list of physical players who have signed long-term deals that have turned out poorly for the teams that signed them is long: Darius Kasparaitis, Darcy Tucker, Mark Parrish, Jay McKee, Mike Komisarek, Trent Hunter, Colin White, Mike Commodore, and Ethan Moreau among others.

2. Ryane Clowe

Clowe missed games this season with a shoulder injury and concussions, and when he played, he didn’t inspire confidence that his body was going to hold out much longer. Clowe will turn 31 before the season starts. The Rangers would have to forfeit their 2014 second-round pick if they re-sign Clowe, removing any desire I would otherwise have to re-sign the winger.

3. David Clarkson

David Clarkson is a hockey player that any team would love to have. Naturally, then, those teams that would love to have him are going to bid for him this summer, and he is going to get paid. Clarkson has to (and is willing to) grind for every point that he gets, and as for reasons described above, I don’t think paying for physical players on the free agent market works out well for teams too often.

Rockland Journal News: LOADED: 06.08.2013

680413 NHL

As Bruins Reach Finals, Empty Feeling for Penguins

By PETER MAY

Published: June 7, 2013

BOSTON — The way the game was going, with goals at an absolute premium, the first one, whenever it came, seemed destined to be the only one. And so it was.

In the third period Friday night, the Boston Bruins delivered the coup de grâce to the scoring-challenged Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. It came off the stick of a most unlikely source, defenseman Adam McQuaid, a finalist for the Masterton trophy, which recognizes perseverance and sportsmanship.

McQuaid’s goal gave the Bruins a 1-0 victory and a sweep of a series in which the supposedly high-powered Penguins, who led the N.H.L. in scoring, managed two goals and never had a lead.

For the second time in three years, the Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup finals, where they will play Chicago or Los Angeles. Boston won the Cup in 2011, ending a 39-year drought.

For the Penguins and their captain, Sidney Crosby, it was a humiliating end to a season they had hoped would result in a second Stanley Cup since 2009. Instead, Pittsburgh was swept in a series for the first time since 1979.

McQuaid’s goal, at 5 minutes 1 second of the third period, came on a blistering slap shot from the right point off an ideal pass by Brad Marchand, who had set up Patrice Bergeron for the winner in Game 3. Marchand, who had 4 points in the series, eluded several Penguins and found McQuaid alone. The shot sailed over the right shoulder of Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun.

“I felt like I got good wood on it,” McQuaid said. “Didn’t necessarily think it was going to go in, but I’m glad it did. Marshy made a nice pass and just tried to get it on net. It feels good to be able to contribute that way when you don’t normally.”

The goal continued a trend for the Bruins in the postseason. Defensemen have accounted for 30 percent of their 50 goals. For McQuaid, it was his second of the postseason; he also scored in Game 3 of Boston’s first-round series against Toronto.

The impenetrable Tuukka Rask made the goal stand up with his second shutout of the series, stopping 26 shots. He frustrated the Penguins time after time: neither Crosby nor Evgeni Malkin nor Kris Letang nor Jarome Iginla, who spurned Boston at the trading deadline, managed a single point in the series.

“You score two goals as a team in four games, and we go without any points,” Crosby said. “That doesn’t sit very well.”

Bruins Coach Claude Julien said, “Our guys did a good job of taking away time and space, and when they did get opportunities, our goaltender stood tall.”

Julien added that he did not feel as if the Bruins had swept the series. “I felt the breaks went our way,” he said, calling the Penguins “snakebitten” for all their missed chances.

The Penguins’ offensive woes were epitomized by their lack of production on the power play. Pittsburgh finished 0 for 15 on the power play; on Friday, it had two two-minute advantages and another of 63 seconds.

The Penguins pulled Vokoun in the final 90 seconds and still got nothing, even as Rask played several seconds without his stick as Penguins buzzed around his crease. Malkin appeared to miss an open-net opportunity in the closing seconds.

Asked about the improbable lack of offense, Pittsburgh Coach Dan Bylsma said, “I share your disbelief that’s a possible story line in this series.”

He added: “It certainly wasn’t lack of opportunity or scoring chances or situations for our team. We did have them. And at the end, it felt like not

only Tuukka Rask was keeping the puck out of the net, but there was a force around the net.”

The Penguins’ two goals set a Bruins record for fewest allowed in a four-game series. The previous record, five, had been set in 1930. Rask has a .943 save percentage in the playoffs, leading the league.

As the clock wound down, the fans in TD Garden, who included the Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and professional golfer Keegan Bradley, chanted, “We want the Cup.”

They will get their chance, a lot sooner than they, or the Penguins, expected.

New York Times LOADED: 06.08.2013

680414 NHL

The Blackhawks’ Bickell Outperforms Star Teammates

By ANDREW KNOLL


LOS ANGELES — When the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, left wing Bryan Bickell did not meet N.H.L. requirements to have his name etched on the trophy. Should Chicago win the Cup in 2013, he might also see his name hammered onto the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the player judged most valuable to his team during the playoffs.

Bickell’s eight goals tie him with his teammate Patrick Sharp for the second most in the playoffs. His 6-foot-4, 223-pound body has also punished opposing skaters and screened goaltenders throughout the postseason.

“It’s so nice to see Bicksy being on a roll like he is,” Marian Hossa said. “He’s a big body with an unbelievable shot, so heavy. We just told him to keep shooting the puck and good things will happen.”

Bickell has emerged slowly over the past two seasons, evening out his effort, improving his conditioning and getting his quick, hard wrist shots on goal much more regularly.

“He seems like he’s found consistency in his game,” Hossa said. “As soon as he moves his feet, he’s almost unstoppable because he has that heavy body. He can take the puck to the net, and right now his shot is deadly. It’s not surprising at all, but it’s impressive how he’s playing right now.”

The Blackhawks have restocked the depth, goaltending and grit they lost in free agency after their 2010 triumph. Much like Dustin Byfuglien that season, Bickell has not only played alongside top players but also elevated their games and, in this case, outproduced almost all of them. As Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have struggled to score, Bickell has recorded a point in every game of the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Kings. He had three goals in the first round against Minnesota, and his physical play and scoring helped catalyze a rally from a 3-1 series deficit against Detroit.

With a 3-2 victory Thursday, the Blackhawks have cornered the defending Stanley Cup champions Kings, taking a 3-1 series lead with Game 5 on Saturday night in Chicago. They persevered through the one-game suspension of their top defenseman, Duncan Keith. Chicago won by twice pushing back from one-goal deficits. They handed the Kings their first home loss since March 23 and just their fifth regulation loss in 33 games at Staples Center this season.

Bickell scored the Blackhawks’ first goal on a fluttering shot and nearly scored again on a deflection that Kane nudged in to tie the game at 2-2. Kane’s tap relegated Bickell’s redirection to a primary assist rather than his ninth goal, which would have tied Bickell with Boston’s David Krejci for the league lead.

“Kaner was telling me, ‘I know I stole one from you, but you’ve already got eight,’ ” Bickell said.

Bickell, a behemoth of a man with a robust beard now three rounds into the playoffs, started out on figure skates in Orono, Ontario, a town of 1,800 less than an hour east of Toronto. Bickell confirmed that, somewhere in his parents’ home, there is still a photo that offers a stark contrast to the competitor whom fans see today.

“There’s a picture floating around somewhere of me in a tutu,” Bickell said. “My dad says it’s on the wall. It’s not on the wall. He’s making that up.” He has taken a longer road than most to prominence in his professional career. A second-round pick in 2004, he did not stick as a regular until last season. At 27, Bickell is not a fresh-faced, breakout performer in the mold of the 23-year-old Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, but his timing could prove quite favorable.

N.H.L. players qualify for unrestricted free agency at 27. Bickell’s linemates this postseason — Kane, Sharp and Toews — would have each earned roughly $6 million in salary had 2013 been a full 82-game season. Bickell would have been paid about $600,000. That low figure and his pending free agency place him in line for perhaps the most lucrative raise in hockey, whether he hits the open market or Chicago makes an offer.

For now, Bickell said he remained focused on the ultimate goal of the Stanley Cup, eschewing discussion of his individual performance and free-agent status. Still, with the finals in sight, he acknowledged that he had given at least some thought to his personal surge and the chance to kiss the Cup a little more deeply this time around. “Confidence-wise, I’m on cloud nine right now,” Bickell said. “Most importantly, we got the win and we can continue this playoff run now.”

He added: “With the season we had this year, I thought we’d have a great run. If we have our whole team confident, I think we’re going to be a hard team to beat. To be a part of this has been fun.”


680415 NHL

Bruins Likely to Replace Campbell with Daugavins

By PETER MAY

BOSTON – Kaspars Daugavins appears to be the likely candidate to replace the injured Gregory Campbell in the Boston Bruins’ lineup for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Finals against Pittsburgh Friday night.

The Bruins lead the series, 3-0.

Daugavins, who Boston claimed off waivers from Ottawa in March and appeared in one playoff game (Game 1 of the Toronto series) was on a line with Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverly in Friday’s morning skate. Coach Claude Juline moved third line center Chris Kelly to the so-called Merlot Line, where he was flanked by Campbell’s former linemates, Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille.

‘We’ll see how things go,’’ Julien said following the working out TD Garden. “That’s what I had this morning. They know it can change. Not necessarily set in stone.”

Daugavins appeared in six regular-season games for the Bruins this season. He had one assist. His one goal of the season, however, came against Boston while he was with the Senators. He also achieved a bit of notoriety for spinning the puck on his stick during a failed penalty shot attempt against Tuukka Rask.

“He’s a gritty player,” Julien said of Daugavins. “He’s strong on the puck, strong as an individual, he can shoot the puck. We’ve always said we’ve got depth on this team. We showed it when injuries crept up on defense. Now we’ve got an injury up front. He’s going to have to step in and do his job.”

Campbell broke his right fibula – the smaller of the two leg bones – blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot in the second period of Game 3. He will miss the rest of the playoffs.

At the Penguins’ morning skate, Coach Dan Bylsma said he was hoping to build on the team’s performance in Game 3, when it outplayed the Bruins for much of the game. He also pointed to the team’s regular-season success against Boston as a reason the Penguins should feel optimistic about forcing a fifth game back in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

“We beat the Boston Bruins three times this year,’’ Bylsma said. “We’ve got them one game here tonight. It’s elimination for our team, and we’ll move on when we do. We’ve got one game to win to move on.”

The high-scoring Penguins have been limited to two goals over three games, the third of which went into double overtime. Their power play has not produced a goal in 12 opportunities, although Bylsma said he would love to see the same opportunities in Game 4 that he saw in Game 3.

“We’d like to see those opportunities again for our guys tonight,’’ he said. “I feel real comfortable about our power play and our guys cashing in on those. Is that something we’re going to build on? Absolutely.”


680416 Ottawa Senators

Bye, bye, Gonchar: Senators trade defenceman’s rights to Dallas Stars

By Allen Panzeri, OTTAWA CITIZEN June 7, 2013 7:07 PM

With rumours that 39-year-old defenceman Sergei Gonchar was thinking about an offer to play for Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL, and with no interest in re-signing him, the Ottawa Senators tried to salvage something Friday by trading him to the Dallas Stars for a conditional six-round draft pick.

The Stars are said to be interested in signing Gonchar to a two-year deal - the same length of deal Gonchar was looking for from the Senators.

If Gonchar signs a contract for the 2013-14 season, Ottawa will get Dallas’ sixth-round selection.

The Senators at present have six selections in the 2013 entry draft, including their own first-, third-, fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-round selections.

Ottawa also has the Philadelphia Flyers’ fourth-round selection, acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this season.

The conditional pick from Dallas would give Ottawa seven selections in the 2013 draft.

Last season, Gonchar had three goals and 24 assists in 45 regular-season games for the Senators. He had six assists in 10 playoff games.

Overall, at $5.5 million a year, he played in 186 regular-season games with the Senators over three seasons, getting 15 goals and 76 assists.

“We thank Sergei for his efforts in Ottawa,” Senators general manager Bryan Murray said in a statement.

“We felt that this trade will give Sergei the opportunity to extend his career in the NHL and we wish him success with the Stars.”

In 1,177 regular-season games with the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Senators, Gonchar has 217 goals and 558 assists for 775 points.

That puts him first among active NHL defensemen in goals, assists and points. He ranks among the top-20 all-time in all three categories.

The Senators might have been willing to re-sign Gonchar at half his 2012-13 salary, but the rumoured $7 million offer from Metallurg Magnitogorsk meant that Gonchar wasn’t going to take a haircut.

In any event, he is not a critical part of Ottawa’s future.

With Erik Karlsson, Jared Cowen, Eric Gryba, Mark Borowiecki, Marc Methor, Chris Phillips, and Patrick Wiercioch, the Senators are well stocked defensively.

There’s was no need for the team to spend several million dollars on a defenceman who is past his best-before date.

Ottawa Citizen LOADED: 06.08.2013

680417 Ottawa Senators

Ottawa Senators trade rights to defenceman Sergei Gonchar to Dallas Stars

Sun staff

First posted: Friday, June 07, 2013 06:25 PM EDT | Updated: Friday, June 07, 2013 06:41 PM EDT

The Senators have cut ties with Sergei Gonchar.

Ottawa traded the rights to the veteran defenceman to the Dallas Stars for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2013 NHL draft Friday.

While the condition isn't specified, it seems likely the Senators will only get the pick if the Stars sign Gonchar before the draft. Gonchar, 39, is set to become an unrestricted free agent July 5. The trade gives the Stars an exclusive negotiating window.

"We thank Sergei for his efforts in Ottawa," Senators GM Bryan Murray said in a statement. "We felt that this trade will give Sergei the opportunity to extend his career in the NHL and we wish him success with the Stars."

Sources told the Sun Thursday that Gonchar has an offer to return home to Russia and join Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the Kontinental Hockey League. The deal would pay him north of $7 million per season.

Ottawa Sun LOADED: 06.08.2013

680418 Philadelphia Flyers

2013 Flyers offseason: Internal options for filling out the forward lines

Kurt R., SBNation

Posted: Friday, June 7, 2013, 8:49 PM

The big moves this offseason for the Flyers look like they may come on the defensive side of things, but the team's got a few holes to fill in its forward corps as well. Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Knuble are both on their way out, and Danny Briere is probably going to be gone next year as a compliance buyout.

Free agency is usually the fun place to look and speculate on these kinds of things, and we'll talk about potential free agent targets some time between now and July 5. But given the fact that the Flyers' reserve list for next season is currently the most crowded in the NHL, with 43 names before any slide rule previsions, and that their cap situation is the most unfriendly in the league, it may be easier (and would definitely be cheaper) to fill some of those vacant spots with some in-house options.

So since it's been a while since the last time anyone in the Flyers organization played hockey, now may be a good time to re-familiarize ourselves with some of the forward options in the organization who may get a look for next season.

Let's start with what we already have. The Flyers have 10 forwards under contract, not including Briere, that are expected to be on the NHL club next year, barring a trade: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Matt Read, Sean Couturier, Zac Rinaldo, Maxime Talbot, and Jay Rosehill.

Among that group, you've got several pure wingers (Voracek, Hartnell, Simmonds), some no-doubt centers (Giroux, Couturier), a lot of guys who can shift around a bit (Schenn, Read, Talbot, Rinadlo), and Jay Rosehill (Rosehill). There's a lot of flexibility as far as who can line up where, so we'll ignore those specifics for now. All we know is that it leaves room for three other players in the opening-day top 13 forwards.

As far as the potential in-house replacements, we can divide them into two groups, as such:

Guys We Know

... those who spent some time with the Flyers in 2013 and will likely be the favorites to fill those spots if the team is looking to stay in-house.

Simon Gagne

It was definitely fun to see him back in orange and black, and he's already expressed his willingness to come back to Philadelphia on a deal worth less than the $3.5 million he made last year. He's still got a bit of punch offensively (.42 points per game between LA and Philadelphia this year) and is more than competent defensively, which could make him a prime candidate to slot into a defensively-oriented line with someone like Couturier.

Whether or not the Flyers bring him back probably comes down to two things: 1. How much of a discount is he actually going to take? and 2. Are they high enough on any of the other young guys that they already have under contract that they'd rather not have Gagne block him? We'll talk a bit more about Gagne, his 2013 Flyers cameo, and his prospects for returning in the upcoming weeks leading up to July 5. But he's the most interesting option to slot into one of those winger spots, and certainly the fan favorite.

Tye McGinn

McGinn was a pleasant surprise after being recalled early in the year, putting up five points in 18 games while actually leading the team's forwards in Corsi while on the ice. He's offers a bit of everything -- the team tried him on the top line and power play, so they've got some faith in him offensively, and he's got a solid physical game and isn't afraid to drop the gloves.

He's under contract for $775,000, which works in his favor, and I definitely think there's a spot for him in the team's top four lines. At worst, he could add some physicality and occasional scoring to the fourth line, but his

impressive possession metrics could justify him a trip to the top-9 as well. Probably my top choice among the in-house options, personally.

Scott Laughton

The team's first-round pick from last season impressed the observers in his five-game NHL tryout last year, and ended his season in Oshawa with a total of 56 points in 49 games, along with 13 points in just seven playoff games before getting suspended for an illegal hit. He's another guy who was hailed as someone who can play a good two-way game, and to see his scoring spike the way it did this year was certainly encouraging.

However, since he's still got a year of slide-rule eligibility, the question now is similar to what it was last January: Is it worth it to burn the first year of his $1.1 million entry-level contract, or does it make more sense to toll that contract for one more year and have him spend another season refining his game outside the NHL? Given that this team is probably not going to contend for a Cup next season, there's a case to be made that the Flyers are best-served keeping him back for another year. But everyone will have their eye on him in the meantime, and he'll almost definitely get at least a nine-game tryout next October.

Guys We Don't Really Know

... those young players, mostly on entry-level deals, that are long shots to make the NHL roster but would probably be leading call-up candidates.

Michael Raffl

The new guy from Austria, Raffl was signed by the team last week on a three-year entry-level deal. The Flyers have said that they think he's NHL-ready, so it's a given that he's on this list. People seem high on his chances after the great year he had in Allsvenskan, and he turns 25 in December so he's a bit more aged than some of the other options. His situation has drawn some comparisons to Matt Read's from summer 2011, and apparently the Flyers hope he can play a similar role that Damian Brunner did in Detroit this year.

Personally, I think both of those are a little optimistic. He was just under a point a game in Sweden's second league, this was the first year where he was putting up those kinds of totals in that league, and at that age of 24 he probably doesn't have as much upside as some of the other guys here. But they're clearly high on him, so he may get a chance.

Jason Akeson

Akeson, as you may remember, made his first-ever NHL appearance in the 2013 season finale, even scoring his first NHL goal in Ottawa. He's mostly a one-way offensively-oriented winger, and was the Phantoms' leading scorer last season with 53 points in 62 games. With one year left on his entry-level deal worth $900k, the Flyers may give him a chance to show what he's got. They clearly see SOMETHING in him, because otherwise they probably wouldn't have put him on the top line in that game in Ottawa. (It may, on that note, also be worth mentioning that he and Giroux have been close friends for a decade and do a lot of training together in the offseason, so Akeson might just have a leg up on some of these other guys if the captain has any say and/or if the team thinks there may be some chemistry there.)

Kyle Flanagan

Now here's an interesting case, and one that -- in my opinion -- draws a much better comparison to Matt Read's situation in 2011 than Raffl does. Flanagan, a Hobey Baker Award nominee last year after putting up 47 points in 35 games with St. Lawrence University, was signed this past March, and is probably not a favorite to make the squad.

But given his age (24) and the fact that he's on a one-year deal, he may get more of a look. He's a center, and he's a bit undersized at 5'9, 170 pounds, so those two things work against him. But in the same way Read came on and caught us all by surprise two summers ago, Flanagan doing so isn't totally out of the question. Not likely, but not out of the question.

Petr Straka

Straka was the Flyers' big win in last spring's undrafted free agent signings, as Paul Holmgren lured him to Philly out of what was allegedly a group of 12 teams vying for his services. A second-round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2010, Straka had two down years in the high-scoring QMJHL before taking a big step forward this year, posting 82 points in 55 games to go with 25 points in 19 playoff contests for Baie-Comeau. At 21 and on the first year of a three-year entry-level deal for $925k, the team will likely want to give him some time in Adirondack before giving him a serious look at the big club. If

he continues progressing, he could get a call-up. But that's likely not the plan to start the year.

***

There are some other guys in here worth noting. Guys like Ben Holmstrom, who seems like a candidate to slot in the fourth line as an injury-call up if needed, or Marcel Noebels, who could get a look if he impresses again at the AHL level, or even Nick Cousins, who's going to need some time in the AHL but is one if not the teams best forward prospects. And others.

If I were to guess right now, I'd think that they bring back Gagne, keep Laughton on the NHL team, and then they'll either sign some bottom-6 UFA to a low-value deal or they'll go into training camp with the expectation of Raffl making the team.

If I had my pick? I'd say re-sign Gagne, keep McGinn up, keep Laughton down for another year, and let some of the aforementioned guys fight it out for that last spot. I'm intrigued by Flanagan, particularly if he can put on some weight this offseason and/or if he's willing to shift to the wing. But I also reserve my right to change those predictions/opinions between now and July 5.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 06.08.2013

680419 Philadelphia Flyers

Who would make your Flyers Mount Rushmore?

Aaron Talasnik

June 7, 2013, 7:15 pm

On Tuesday, ProFootballTalk unveiled their Eagles Mount Rushmore. The fan vote resulted in a close call, but in the end, Reggie White, Chuck Bednarik, Randall Cunningham and Brian Dawkins were deemed the four most iconic Eagles.

While one could debate the merits of Cunningham over, say, Steve Van Buren or Norm Van Brockin, Mike Florio took it one step further placing Andy Reid on his Eagles Mount Rushmore instead of Brian Dawkins.

Since ProFootballTalk handled the Eagles Mount Rushmore, the Lunch Break staff decided to tackle the other three major sports teams in the city.

On Wednesday, we released the Phillies Mount Rushmore. Thursday, we gave you the Sixers Mount Rushmore. Today, it's the Flyers’ turn.

The candidates

Ed Snider

Mr. Snider is not just the founder of the Flyers, but is one of the most recognizable faces of the franchise. He brought hockey to Philadelphia, he helped build the Wells Fargo Center and there is no questioning the impact he’s had on the city of Philadelphia through the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. Is this more than enough to get his face on Flyers Mt. Rushmore?

Bobby Clarke

While his tenure as Flyers GM had some rocky moments, there is no doubt his leadership and skills on the ice will forever be connected with Flyers hockey and the history of the franchise. Clarke's No. 16 was retired in 1984; he was a member of both Stanley Cup teams; and he was an eight-time NHL All-Star and three-time Hart Trophy winner. In his career, Clarke tallied 358 goals and 852 assists.

Eric Lindros

When “Big E” was on the ice and healthy, there wasn't a more dominating force in the game. While his career was cut short by concussions, Lindros did compile 372 goals and 493 assists. He also won the Hart Trophy in 1995 and was a six-time All-Star as a Flyer.

Bernie Parent

It has been said, "Only God saves more than Bernie Parent," and that alone might earn him a spot on the Flyers' Mount Rushmore. But Parent’s numbers also speak for themselves: Six career shutouts, including two Stanley Cup-clinching shutouts; a career 2.55 goals-against average; and 271 wins. Parent also won two straight Vezina trophies as the league’s best goaltender, and was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 1984. His No. 1 has also been retired by the Flyers' organization.

Ron Hextall

From Bernie to Hexy. Hextall makes the list not without some controversy, but his rookie year alone -– in which he captured the Vezina Trophy while leading the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final –- is worth consideration. Hextall played 11 of his 13 seasons wearing a Flyers jersey, winning 240 games with 18 shutouts. Hextall also eclipsed the 100-minute mark in penalties in three years, and has scored two goals –- a rarity for any netminder.

Fred Shero

From 1971-1978, Shero guided the Flyers from the bench. He helped lead the Flyers to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. Shero won more than 300 games while coaching the Flyers in the regular season, plus another 47 wins in the postseason.

Ed Van Impe

Van Impe was the second captain in team history and might be best known for throwing a hit that led to the Soviet Union team’s leaving the ice and

refusing to come back out. Van Impe was also a valuable member along the blue line in both Stanley Cup Championships.

Rick Tocchet

Tocchet spent 11 of his 22 NHL seasons in Flyers orange, and also served as team captain. Tocchet scored 440 goals during his career, tallying 512 assists. He appeared in four All-Star Games.

Mark Howe

How spent 10 seasons in Philadephia and was a staple along the Flyers’ blue line. Twice, he scored more than 20 goals in a season, and in 1985-86 he had 82 points in 79 games. Howe's No. 2 was the fifth and most recent number to be retired by the Flyers' organization.

Bill Barber

Barber spent his entire career in orange and black, totaling 420 goals, 463 assists and two Stanley Cups. A six-time All-Star, Barber scored a career-high 50 goals in the 1975-76 season and wore the Flyers’ “C” in 1981-82.

Did Tim Panaccio and Rhea Hughes get the Flyers' Mount Rushmore right? Who would be on your Flyers Mount Rushmore?


680420 Pittsburgh Penguins

Kovacevic: For Penguins, a stubborn failure

By Dejan Kovacevic

Updated 4 hours ago

BOSTON — Well, at least the Penguins did it their way.

Give 'em that much.

At least they showed the hockey world that their way was right. That all those changes and adjustments, all those strategic shifts and personnel switches, all that stuff was for losers.

Not for the mighty Penguins.

Not for the franchise that's now — say it with me — the NHL's four-time defending paper champion after getting swept out of the Eastern Conference final by slinking away silently to the Bruins, 1-0, Friday night at TD Garden.

Silently and stubbornly and stupidly, right to the end.

“It stinks that we're out,” as Jarome Iginla succinctly summarized it. “It definitely stinks.”

Let's not stop there: This was the worst playoff series in franchise history.

The most embarrassing.

The most ridiculous.

The most inexplicable.

Doubt it?

Hey, we can revisit all the numbers, the two total goals — two! — on 139 shots over 253 minutes and 14 periods, plus the 55 missed shots, the 0-for-15 power play ... all that was disastrous enough.

But citing simple stats, even this grotesque, is letting this group off easy.

It doesn't sufficiently encompass all the talent wasted, all the investment from the money to the draft picks and prospects sent out, all the passion of hockey's most passionate American fan base.

And it doesn't do justice to the bullheadedness demonstrated by pretty much all concerned all through the series.

No, Game 4 did that just fine all by itself.

It started beforehand, when Dan Bylsma's do-or-die lineup move was to insert Tyler Kennedy in favor of Joe Vitale and … um, that was it. Presumably because the tide would be turned by a fourth-line shakeup.

His strategic response was even less ambitious, little more than the standard get-to-our-game fare. Sure, the Penguins tightened up and faceoffs improved over the final two games, but there were no surprises, no unusual formations on offense, defense or the breakout, nothing to cause Claude Julien to so much as break a sweat.

Power plays?

Nothing there, either, not so much as a single X to their O.

Ensuring that forwards go hard to the net?

What, and cause Tuukka Rask to spill his tequila?

To say it again: Bylsma's got questions to answer from Ray Shero, and the answers had better be good. For that matter, Shero's questions had better come without any preconceived notion of status quo.

But the coach isn't alone, and as much as he'll make a tidy target, don't pretend there wasn't more to it.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the consensus two best players in the world, combined for zero points in a full playoff series.

I can't believe I just typed that.

Stubbornly, those two tried again and again to stickhandle through a stout Boston defense designed to stop exactly that. And even the few times they pulled it off, none of Crosby's 13 shots or Malkin's 21 paid off.

“If you look back, the chances were there,” the captain said. “You try to fight, try to get rebounds. … We scored two goals all series, and I didn't score any points. It doesn't sit very well.”

Sure doesn't.

“It's tough. I don't have confidence,” Malkin said. “You know, zero goals.”

We know.

James Neal knows, too. Only his zero point total was accompanied by an absurd 10 missed shots in the final two games, including five more glass-bangers in Game 4. No less stubborn than the rest, he wasn't content to force Rask to make actual saves. He had to pick at corners.

Small wonder he was testy afterward when someone asked what the Penguins should have done differently: “Yeah, obviously, we have to put it in the back of the net.”

Yeah, obviously.

Kris Letang, owner of 16 points through two rounds, disintegrated into a minus waiting to happen. Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Jarome Iginla … you can pretty much roll right through the roster … almost all vanished.

The Penguins' best skater at any position in this series was Paul Martin. Their best forwards were Craig Adams, Matt Cooke and Brenden Morrow. And their best overall player, beyond debate, was Tomas Vokoun, who deserved so much better after earning the chance of a lifetime and being one of the few to make the most of it.

But with all due respect to those gentlemen, a whole lot went terribly awry for those to be their team's best in the series leading into the Stanley Cup final. Shero's got one murderous summer ahead of him to try to figure it out and react accordingly.

For now …

“When you don't reach your main goal, it's always a failure,” Letang said. “We had the opportunity. We had the group to do it.”

That's had.

And that's sad.

Tribune Review LOADED: 06.08.2013


Bruins display closing touch in NHL’s Eastern Conference finals

By Matt Kalman

Updated 4 hours ago

BOSTON — In recent Boston sports history, the Bruins have proven the adage that the fourth win in a playoff series is the hardest to attain.

It took an Eastern Conference final matchup with the top-seeded Penguins to end Boston's closing problems.

On the strength of a goal by defenseman Adam McQuaid and 26 saves by goaltender Tuukka Rask, the Bruins won Game 4 on Friday, 1-0, to finish an improbable sweep of the team that Boston forward Milan Lucic called “the Miami Heat” of the NHL prior to the series because of the Penguins' star power.

The Bruins are heading to the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in three seasons, where they'll face Chicago or Los Angeles.

It's difficult to determine what was more improbable from this Bruins team that finished the regular season in a 2-5-2 slump: that they won in a sweep or that they held a team averaging four goals per game in the first two rounds to just two goals in four games.

“This series here against Pittsburgh was not a 4-0 series. I really felt that the breaks went our way this series on a lot of occasions,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “And you just have to look back to right at the end of the game when (Evgeni) Malkin had the open net there and Zdeno (Chara) makes that arm save and those sort of things. They dinged shots off the post, and if those go in it's a different series.

“The unfortunate part of this game is that sometimes, as a team, you don't get the breaks, and you wonder what you have to do. And I think that's where Pittsburgh was a little snake-bitten, and we were the team that was taking advantage of our breaks.”

Adding to the Bruins' defensive numbers, their penalty kill stopped the Penguins' power play, which started the series first in the league, all 15 times. And Rask finished the series with a .985 save percentage.

Seemingly still worn out by the double-overtime thriller from Wednesday, both teams slogged around on some choppy ice through two periods and went into the third with the game scoreless. McQuaid stopped a pass from Brad Marchand and beat goalie Tomas Vokoun with a slap shot inside the left post at 5:01 of the third.

Rask made six saves in the third period, and the Bruins staved off a furious rush by the Penguins in the final minute.

Boston is 3-3 in closeout games this postseason. In the first round of these playoffs, the Bruins jumped to a 3-1 lead on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Twice the Maple Leafs staved off elimination before the Bruins prevailed in overtime in Game 7. Boston built a 3-0 lead on the New York Rangers in the second round before winning the series in Game 5.

Even when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011, they twice failed to clinch a series with a 3-2 lead in Game 6. Of course, they also went on to become the first team to win three Game 7 situations on their way to the championship.

The Bruins' most famous closeout failure was in 2010. With Rask as a rookie in goal, Boston became just the third team in NHL history to lose a 3-0 lead. The Philadelphia Flyers reeled off four consecutive wins in the second round. The Bruins couldn't even hang on to a 3-0 lead in Game 7 of that series.

Matt Kalman is a freelance writer.



Crosby, Malkin silenced again in season-ending loss

By Josh Yohe

Updated 4 hours ago

BOSTON — They sat side by side in the Penguins' locker room, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the two greatest Penguins — and maybe players — of their generation. Crosby sat dignified and quiet, while Malkin sat with his head in his hands for the longest time.

They'll forever sit side by side at the bottom of the score sheet of the 2013 Eastern Conference final, too.

The mega-powers were silenced by the Bruins in a 1-0 setback in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final. Neither player earned a point in the series.

They weren't able to muster much of an explanation, either.

“I tried,” Malkin said. “I tried. If you're not (shooting), you're not scoring goals. Sometimes I'm not scoring and I'm nervous and I have good chances — I don't know, try to shoot quicker? Sometimes I can wait and get an empty net. It's tough.

“I have no confidence. You know, zero goals.”

Malkin launched 21 shots on goal during the series.

Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped every one.

Crosby knows the feeling.

The undisputed greatest player in hockey endured the most miserable playoff series of his career.

Crosby actually played his finest game of the series in Game 4 and was probably the game's best player, other than the unflappable Rask.

But the player who was built to score points at will came up empty against the stingy Bruins.

“If you look back, chances were there,” Crosby said. “You try to fight, try to get rebounds. Sometimes they come to you, sometimes they don't. We scored two goals all series and I didn't score any points. It doesn't sit very well.”

The Penguins entered the series averaging 4.27 goals per game in the postseason, the NHL's highest mark through 10 playoff games since the 1990 Edmonton Oilers. They also led the NHL in goals for a second consecutive regular season.

But no NHL team has won the Stanley Cup and led the league in goals since the 1992 Penguins.

Crosby gave the Bruins plenty of credit, saying they're among the finer defensive teams he's ever encountered — “They don't give you anything,” he said — but refused to give Boston all the credit.

Rather, Crosby acknowledged he and his gallery of future Hall of Fame teammates simply failed.

“For whatever reason, we just weren't able to capitalize,” he said.

The Penguins did themselves no favors with the man advantage. They entered the series clicking at 28.2 percent with a man advantage and had the second best power play during the regular season.

They went 0 for 15 against the Bruins.

“Maybe we should have scored a power-play goal at some point,” left wing Chris Kunitz said.

Crosby and Malkin are the engine that runs the power play.

The engine, for reasons even they don't seem to understand, was never ignited.

For the fourth straight time since 2009, someone other than Crosby will raise the Stanley Cup.

“To get two goals in this entire series,” Kunitz said, “is something we never would have imagined.”



Penguins notebook: Crosby hit hard by Paille

By Rob Rossi

Updated 4 hours ago

BOSTON — Captain Sidney Crosby was leveled by a hard hit from Boston's Daniel Paille early in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final Friday at TD Garden.

Crosby had just crossed into the offensive zone when Paille caught him from the blindside. Paille skated into Crosby, whose head was turned toward action at the other end of the ice. No penalty was called.

Crosby's neck snapped in a whiplash motion when he hit the ice.

He did not miss a shift immediately after the hit, but he was checked often by trainer Chris Stewart.

Players showing signs of concussion symptoms are required to be removed from the game setting to spend time in a quiet room before gaining clearance from a trained medical professional to return.

“It didn't feel good,” Crosby said. “But it was OK. Knocked the wind out of me. It was way out of the play. I think it's a penalty. It may have been so far from the play that they didn't see it.”

Orpik back

Defenseman Brooks Orpik played in Game 4 even though he finished the previous contest worse for wear after a hit from Milan Lucic of the Bruins. That hit — near the conclusion of a second overtime Wednesday — did not cause Orpik to experience concussion symptoms, he said.

Orpik said another part of his body hurt. His right shoulder and head appeared to hit the glass hard when Lucic caught him from behind in Game 4.

Small tweak

Coach Dan Bylsma only slightly altered his lineup, replacing Joe Vitale with Tyler Kennedy.

Bylsma had expressed satisfaction with many aspects of the Penguins' Game 3 performance — chances created and offensive-zone possession.

— Rob Rossi



Bruins notebook: Daugavins gets his shot in lineup

By Matt Kalman

Updated 4 hours ago

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins' health among forwards throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs had relegated Kaspars Daugavins, Jay Pandolfo and Carl Soderberg to healthy scratches since the start of the postseason.

Gregory Campbell's broken right fibula in Game 3 opened a spot for one of the seldom-used forwards.

Bruins coach Claude Julien went with Daugavins, a waiver-wire pick-up March 27. In the regular season, he skated in six games for Boston and recorded one assist.

“He's a gritty player,” Julien said. “He's strong on the puck, strong as an individual, he can shoot the puck. (He's) got a lot of qualities. We've always said we've got depth on this team. We showed it when injuries crept up on defense. Now, we've got an injury up front. He's going to have to step in and do his job.”

Julien was alluding to the way his team overcame injuries to Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden on defense and beat the Rangers in the second round by plugging in rookies Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski and Dougie Hamilton.

Missing Campbell

If all you looked at was the 11:35 of ice time Campbell averaged this postseason, you'd think he was easy to replace. But in the Bruins' four-line attack, Campbell has been huge in the postseason with three goals, seven points and a 50.5 success rate on faceoffs. He's also a key member of the Bruins' penalty kill, which was 15 for 15 against the Penguins' power play in the series.

“He plays such a hard game,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said. “He's such a big part of our team and especially you saw the last couple of rounds, he's been very big.”

— Matt Kalman



Pieces fail to come together for Penguins in season-ending loss

By Rob Rossi

Updated 4 hours ago

BOSTON — Kids, they grow old so fast.

Four years after their coming-of-age Stanley Cup victory, the Sidney Crosby-led Penguins were swept out of the Eastern Conference final.

Bruins 1, Penguins 0 — that was that from TD Garden on Friday night after Adam McQuaid scored 5:01 into the third period. Boston claimed the best-of-seven series, 4-0.

Favored, the Penguins never led.

Dangerous, they scored only two goals — none on 15 power play chances.

Experienced, they made mistakes.

The one that players mentioned most after this loss — center Evgeni Malkin called it “big” — was losing two games at home to open the series, including a 6-1 drubbing in Game 2.

“We lost this series at home,” Malkin said.

Added defenseman Brooks Orpik, the longest-tenured Penguin: “It was just Game 2. That will be tough to get over.”

No Penguins squad had been swept in a playoff series since 1979.

Star-studded, these Penguins are star-crossed — infamous for their lows, the four straight playoff losses to lower-seeded opponents, as they are famous for their highs, the back-to-back Final appearances that preceded those defeats.

General manager Ray Shero had stopped talking about his club in the final days of this series.

So there was no vote of confidence for coach Dan Bylsma, who is 20-21 in the playoffs since the Penguins won the Cup on June 12, 2009.

There was no defending the honor of franchise cornerstone centers Crosby and Malkin, without a point in the East final, their team without a signature postseason victory since that magical night at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena four years ago.

The missing pieces to another Cup puzzle were not acquired by Shero three months ago.

Winger Brenden Morrow provided grit and guts, but he was often a fourth-liner.

Defenseman Douglas Murray defended the scoring areas and bolstered the penalty kill, but he was one of a handful of back-end players who could not handle the heavier workload that eventually fell on the shoulders of Kris Letang, Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik.

Forward Jussi Jokinen won some faceoffs, but he also watched seven games with other players who were scratched.

As for winger Jarome Iginla, the diamond of those deemed-dandy moves by Shero …

He never was Crosby's winger, and he could not fit playing the opposite side with Malkin. A scorer of more than 500 goals, a quiet warrior respected by competitors, Iginla finished this postseason with four goals and 12 points.

He was no top-six winger for the Penguins, and the Bruins — the squad to which he blocked a trade — are playing for the Cup that has eluded Iginla for each of his 16 seasons.

He has not played for the Cup since 2004, and at age 35 this may have been his best chance.

“I wasn't very good in this series,” Iginla said. “These close games, you want to find a way to contribute on that extra goal and stuff.”

Malkin, 26, and Crosby, 25, may have missed out on the last best chance of their primes, too.

Wayne Gretzky won his last title at 27. Mario Lemieux was 26. Bobby Orr was 24.

Shero has no choice but to take on tough decisions with his roster, with contracts committed to 18 players at a combined salary-cap hit of about $61 million for next season. The cap is set at $64.3 million.

Cup-winning wingers Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke and Craig Adams — staples on the first, third and fourth lines, and the penalty kill — are unrestricted free agents. Iginla, Morrow and Murray also can test the market.

Crosby is locked up for the next 12 seasons, but Malkin, a former MVP of the regular and postseason and a two-time scoring champion, is entering the last year of his contract. Joining him, notably, are Letang, Orpik and Kunitz.

Marc-Andre Fleury, the franchise leader in wins, shutouts and Cup-clinching saves in a Game 7, played only in one game after losing his starting gig to veteran Tomas Vokoun by the fifth contest of Round 1.

A new era of Penguins hockey is coming to Pittsburgh.

It will be led by Crosby and Malkin, the tandem ownership has instructed Shero to keep together at any cost.

“That was the expectation,” Crosby said of regaining the Cup. “To come up this short does not sit well with anyone.”

Adulthood is often about responding to disappointment.



Pens, Flyers discussing game at Penn State's Beaver Stadium

June 7, 2013 11:02 am

By Dave Molinari / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers have had informal discussions about playing a game at Beaver Stadium on the Penn State campus.

The talks have been between Penguins CEO David Morehouse and Flyers president Peter Luukko.

"It would be great for Pennsylvania hockey," Morehouse said.

Luukko confirmed the discussions to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

It likely would not be played during the coming season, when the Penguins will face Chicago in an outdoors game at Solider Field, but could happen during the 2014-15 season, if approved by all the appropriate parties.

Such a game, which has been the subject of much speculation in recent years, reportedly has strong support from Penn State officials.

Dave Molinari

Post Gazette LOADED: 06.08.2013


Penguins stars at a loss for words

June 8, 2013 12:28 am

By Shelly Anderson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BOSTON -- There is no consistent seating chart for the Penguins when they are on the road. Visiting locker rooms are configured differently.

At TD Garden on Friday, centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin occupied a small section with just two lockers on one side of the Penguins' locker room.

They sat there -- in contrast and yet hurting for the same reason -- after a 1-0 loss to Boston that ended the team's season with a series sweep by the Bruins in the Eastern Conference final.

Neither star player had a point in the series.

Crosby, surrounded by two sets of reporters, quietly answered question after question, his voice low and with little detectable emotion.

"You score two goals [as a team] in four games in a series, and personally to go without any points, it doesn't sit very well," said Crosby, who had never gone four playoff games in a row without a point before this series.

Malkin sat for several minutes with his head down, stunned and not wanting to speak to anyone.

When he did, he assigned himself a lot of blame.

"We scored two goals in four games. It's not enough," Malkin said. "It's my mistake to score zero goals. It's not good for me."

Both Crosby and Malkin have been the NHL scoring champion and league MVP. Crosby is a finalist to win the Hart Trophy as MVP again this season and in all likelihood would have led the league in points during the regular season if he had not missed the final 12 games of the regular season because of surgery for a broken jaw.

The stage was set for one or both of them to help the Penguins salvage at least one win in the series and bring it back to Consol Energy Center for what would have been Game 5 Sunday night.

Previously in games where the Penguins were facing elimination, Crosby had three goals, nine points in 10 games, and Malkin had four goals, 10 points in 10 games.

Crosby finished Game 4 with four shots, plus three that were blocked and one that missed the net.

Malkin had one shot, one that was blocked and one that missed the net.

"If you look back, chances are there," Crosby said. "You try to fight and get through to the net."

Malkin's best game in the series was Game 3, when he had 10 shots, plus seven that were blocked and four more that missed the net, in a 2-1, double-overtime loss.

Still, he said in the series he lacked patience for a better shot, perhaps with more room to get a puck past Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask.

"It's tough," Malkin said. "I don't have confidence. I have zero goals."

Crosby took a few big hits in the series ??? including a blind-side upending by Bruins winger Daniel Paille in the first period Friday ??? but said he came out of the series healthy.

It might not be that way for Malkin, who had trouble with a shoulder off and on for several weeks. There was no indication how severe it might be.

The Penguins' two goals in the four games were scored by Brandon Sutter and Chris Kunitz, and the Penguins were competitive in each game except for a 6-1 loss in Game 2.

Rask had two shutouts, assisted by strong defensive play from his teammates, who cleared rebounds, blocked shots and made it difficult for the Penguins to get set up offensively.

"For whatever reason, we couldn't capitalize," Crosby said. "We had chances, open nets. There weren't times where we were worried, to be honest, where we felt like we were losing momentum.

???There are times where you get three or four shifts where they???re hemming you in and you feel like they???ve got a lot of pressure [but] there wasn???t really any point besides that second game where we felt like [we were worried].

"We felt like we were getting chances pretty consistently, [but prime scoring chances] were few and far between for both teams. They capitalized and we didn't."

Malkin balked at the idea he simply ran into a hot goalie in Rask.

"My job is not to look at how the goalie plays," he said. "It's my job to score goals. It doesn't matter what's going on on the ice.

"I tried. I tried."



Penguins outdoor game at Penn State looms against Flyers

June 8, 2013 12:25 am

By Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BOSTON -- The Penguins' rivalry with Philadelphia might be going to a new level.

Or at least to a different setting.

The Penguins and Flyers have had informal talks about playing an outdoor game at Beaver Stadium on the Penn State campus.

"It would be great for Pennsylvania hockey," Penguins CEO David Morehouse said Friday.

The talks have been between Morehouse and Flyers president Peter Luukko, who confirmed them to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Luukko told the Inquirer that Penn State is "very interested" in being the site of such a game.

Because the Penguins are committed to play an outdoor game against Chicago at Soldier Field next winter, they likely would not be able to play the Flyers at Penn State until at least the 2014-15 season.

A Penguins-Flyers game most likely would not be a Winter Classic, which is a specific annual event on the NHL calendar, but would be one of the "satellite" outdoor games that will begin taking place in 2013-14 in places such as New York's Yankees Stadium and Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

The official website of Penn State athletics lists Beaver Stadium's capacity as 106,572, although numerous football games there have drawn crowds of several thousand more.

Bruins' position shocks Bruins

A week ago, not many people expected Boston to be in a position to close out the Eastern Conference final Friday night. And none, it seems, were based in the Bruins locker room.

"It's not something you ever think is going to happen, especially against a team like Pittsburgh," Boston left winger Brad Marchand said before Game 4. "We're very, very lucky right now.

"A few of those games could have gone the other way if a few of their plays would have connected. [Game 3, a 2-1 double-overtime victory for Boston], they deserved to win, but we got a little lucky.

"We're definitely happy with where we're at, but we never thought it would happen."

Boston winger Nathan Horton doesn't think anyone looks for series sweeps.

"I think it's surprising to anybody if [you're in position] to try to sweep in this day and age," Horton said. "There's so much competition."

Replacing Campbell not easy

Boston lost a valuable role player for the balance of its season when forward Gregory Campbell's right leg was broken when he blocked an Evgeni Malkin shot while killing a penalty in Game 3.

Bruins coach Claude Julien chose left winger Kaspars Daugavins to take Campbell's spot in the lineup, but realized it wouldn't be that easy to actually replace Campbell, a role player whose value is significantly higher than his profile.

"You don't replace a guy like Gregory Campbell by putting another guy in there," Julien said. "He brings a lot. It's when you lose a guy like him, you realize the hole that he's left.

"Like every other team, you have to find ways to fill it, some of it will be by other bodies, some of it will be by other guys stepping in."

The selection of Daugavins was interesting because Julien bypassed veteran Jay Pandolfo, a capable penalty-killer. That is not part of Daugavins' usual job description.

Two sides to Jagr

There are two things that help define Bruins winger Jaromir Jagr, and they both came up the past couple of days.

The first is how Jagr -- who set up Boston's winning goal in double overtime in Game 3 -- keeps going at age 41.

"You've got to give a lot of credit to his commitment to conditioning, and we all know at that age if you're not a well-conditioned athlete you're not going to survive," Julien said. "He really does a lot of extra work."

Jagr, a former Penguins star, is known for late-night skates and other extra workouts.

"I know a lot of people laugh at all the different things he does after a game and going out late and shooting pucks in weight belts and everything else, but he's committed and dedicated to the conditioning part of his game, and that's what's allowed him to stay on top of his game as much as he can for a guy that age," Julien said.

Then, there's the playful side.

When the Bruins opened their locker room to a throng of reporters after the morning skate Friday, Jagr positioned himself at the door as writers, radio reporters, television sportscasters, etc., started filing in.

He counted them, out loud, and threatened to cut it off at 100 because of fire safety concerns -- even stopping an unsuspecting camera guy who was No. 101 -- before walking away with a big grin and without doing interviews.



Penguins meltdown mystifying

June 8, 2013 12:24 am

By Gene Collier / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BOSTON

As Penguins postseason meltdowns go, the one that ended inside rollicking TD Garden Friday night was slower, deeper and more mystifying than the three that immediately preceded it, and the fallout will be malignant.

The Boston Bruins, beaten reliably by these same Penguins in the Penguins' record-breaking regular season, turned around and pounded them when it mattered, abused them in every way short of singing them Sweep Caroline.

For the first time since 34 years then, the Penguins were chased from a playoff series with a big swooping broom, having averaged precisely a half a goal per game and failing to score at all in this Eastern Conference final's final 127 minutes, 8 seconds.

Put another way, they performed offensively in direct disproportion to their available talent, a revolting punctuation that figures to bring swift and dramatic repercussions. When their dressing room doors swung open at 10:43 p.m., what was still at that moment Dan Bylsma's team sat slumped against the four walls, Sidney Crosby sitting next to Evgeni Malkin, two superstars who had just combined for exactly zero points in nearly 14 periods of hockey.

"There's not much to say," said Crosby as Malkin sat forward and put his head in his hands. "We had our chances, that's for sure. You can talk about their defense and their patience, but whether it was hitting posts or whatever, we just didn't execute."

Across the room, Jarome Iginla, who chose the Penguins over the Bruins when looking for a ride on the Stanley Cup Express at the trade deadline, spoke a truth that was painfully self-evident:

"It sucks not moving on," he said. "

It stings because this is a special group that had a great opportunity. We were in close games, but we didn't get it done."

The Penguins essentially spent the balance of their forgettable presence in these NHL playoffs the same way they spent most all of this series: Not putting the puck in the net.

On their first attempt with their hapless power play Friday night, they tried simply not shooting the puck at all, but that produced the same result as when they shoot it five times.

As the third period began, you had to wonder if the Penguins would start shooting the puck away from the Boston net.

Could that have hurt?

The pity of this series is that it's doomed to be remembered in Pittsburgh for the Penguins' offensive impotence than for the generally superb work of Tomas Vokoun, who again Friday night turned back great Bruins scoring chances, one after the next.

Nathan Horton approached him with the 1,000th Kris Letang turnover of the series late in the middle period of a scoreless game, but Vokoun's flashing glove swallowed it whole, just as surely as he stoned an excellent chance for Tyler Seguin from the left circle a few minutes earlier.

Except for a less than stellar first period in Game 2, Vokoun likely was the Penguins' most consistent performer in a postseason in which the Penguins dearly hoped to keep him off the ice altogether.

It was Marc-Andre Fleury's disintegration after four Islanders encounters in Round 1 that brought Vokoun to center stage, and he never gave Bylsma any good reason to sit him.

He brought a 2.11 goals against average for this postseason into Game 4, better than his career postseason figure (2.30), better than his season number (2.45) and the number for his entire career (2.55).

In other words, he was the one Penguins player in these playoffs who was better than himself.

He was the unwavering dance band on the unsinkable Titanic.

Until Adam McQuaid rifled one over his right shoulder five minutes into the third period, he was working on another postseason shutout.

But in an irony that won't soon fade from his consciousness, the team that planned to win the Stanley Cup without him, the team he lugged out of the first round and into the third, suddenly required him to be perfect.

In the hour of their most desperate need, he stopped 23 of 24 shots, meaning he was minimally imperfect for a team that was maximally dreadful.

Letang was on the ice for 7 of the 12 Boston goals in the series. James Neal was a minus-7. Malkin a minus-5. Two nights earlier, the Penguins missed on 53 of 54 shots.

If their scoring touch vanished after they scored 13 times in the final two games against Ottawa in Round 2, their spoken confidence never waned.

Crosby said after a morning skate Friday that the solution was merely to keep shooting.

"Eventually they'll go in," he said.

100 percent true.

But now eventually means October.



Rask, Bruins shut out Penguins, 1-0

Boston knocks Penguins out of playoffs, finishing four-game sweep as Rask shuts them out; McQuaid gets only goal in 3rd period

June 8, 2013 1:12 am

By Dave Molinari / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BOSTON -- It wasn't supposed to end like this.

Not this soon.

Not this way.

Not for a group that had been constructed to win a Stanley Cup, not merely a couple of early series against low-seeded opponents.

But the Penguins' season came to an abrupt and stunning end with a 1-0 loss against Boston in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final Friday night, leaving them a full eight victories shy of the championship they were so intent on winning.

"To come up this short definitely doesn't sit well with anyone," captain Sidney Crosby said.

Just what the fallout from the elimination will be -- and when it will begin -- wasn't immediately clear.

There is sure to be significant roster turnover, if only because of salary-cap limitations, and coach Dan Bylsma and his staff figure to receive a rigorous review from general manager Ray Shero and the rest of upper management.

Fittingly, Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who was almost unbeatable for four games, gloved a Jarome Iginla shot as time expired in the series.

He shut out the Penguins in Games 1 and 4, and turned aside 134 of 136 shots during the series. Sensational as Rask was, he was aided greatly by teammates who consistently got their sticks on Penguins passes and shots and allowed few second-chance opportunities.

"They have good structure," Penguins left winger Chris Kunitz said. "They're willing to battle and they have guys there and they bring guys back to play well defensively."

The Penguins never had a lead in four games and scored just two goals.

Big-time talents such as Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Jarome Iginla and Kris Letang failed to record a point.

The Penguins had averaged more than four goals per game while knocking off the New York Islanders and Ottawa in the first two rounds.

Boston got the only goal it needed when defenseman Adam McQuaid's slap shot from above the right circle glanced off Iginla and beat Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun high on the glove side at 5:01 of the third period.

McQuaid's goal earned the Bruins a spot in the Stanley Cup final against the winner of the Western Conference final, in which Chicago holds a 3-1 lead over Los Angeles.

This is just the third time in franchise history the Penguins have been swept in a best-of-seven series, and the first since Boston did it to them in 1979.

Another striking stat: The Penguins failed to score a power-play goal in a series for only the second time; the other was in a best-of-three against Buffalo in 1979.

They also prevented Boston from getting a man-advantage goal, something the Penguins had managed only once previously.

That was in 1970 against Chicago, which suggests that flawless penalty-killing might not be as valuable as it seems.

The Penguins have been swept both times that happened.

Although the Bruins wrapped up the series in Game 4 after taking a chokehold on it in Game 3, both of which were played at TD Garden, the

Penguins are convinced, with good reason, that their chances of advancing were undercut by losses at Consol Energy Center in the first two games.

They had some tough luck in the opener, but self-destructed during a 6-1 loss in Game that stuck them in a hole from which they never came close to escaping.

"We lost the series at home," Malkin said.

"We started [down] 2-0. Big mistakes.

"The last two games, the team played very well. I'm glad how the team played the last two games, but it's tough here, and their goalie played very well."

And so the Bruins are headed to the final for the second time in the past three years and look entirely capable of earning a Cup to go with the one they claimed in 2011.

"It's all about hitting your stride at the right time," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "And, obviously, they did it."

Just as obviously, the Penguins never really did in this series, at least offensively.

And so, what could have been one of the most exhilarating playoff runs in franchise history instead will be remembered as an excruciating failure.

"It's really disappointing," Vokoun said. "We had a great team, and we just didn't get it done."


680431 San Jose Sharks

Sharks checklist, No. 6: Explore market for Thornton, Boyle

Kevin Kurz

June 7, 2013, 9:00 am

As successful as the second half of the Sharks’ season was, as San Jose went 12-5-1 to close out the regular season and advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, there are no guarantees that the team will simply pick up where it left off in October. In 2011, after the club lost to Vancouver in the Western Conference final, general manager Doug Wilson made a pair of blockbuster trades with Minnesota when he acquired Brent Burns and Marty Havlat and sent Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi and Charlie Coyle packing.

Could he have something major in mind for the 2013 offseason?

It’s probably unlikely, considering that the Sharks seemed to have a real chemistry in the locker room and were “playing for each other,” in the words of head coach Todd McLellan. Still, Wilson is known as one of the more active general managers around the league when it comes to keeping lines of communication open with other GMs, and he has a pair of assets in Joe Thornton and Dan Boyle that are entering the last years of their respective contracts and are still very effective players.

Putting out some feelers in the offseason for Thornton and Boyle makes sense, and if the Sharks struggle out of the gate in 2013-14, it might be time to finally break up the core group that has failed to get the club to the final round.

First, Thornton. As well as he played in the playoffs, it was a bit of an inconsistent season for the captain and leading scorer. Thornton was benched in the third period of a game in Columbus on April 9, a 4-0 Sharks loss. On April 21, again in a game with the Blue Jackets, he took some shifts with fourth line wingers Andrew Desjardins and Adam Burish, although McLellan downplayed the apparent demotion afterwards, as he shook up all of his forward lines in a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jackets.

Even in the playoffs, where Thornton had two goals and eight assists for 10 points, his Game 7 performance against the Kings drew some pointed criticism from NBC analysts Keith Jones and Mike Milbury after San Jose’s 2-1 loss ended its season.

It’s fair to wonder, too, if Thornton’s game still fits Wilson and McLellan’s philosophy of playing a north-south game, skating in straight lines and getting the puck to the net as quickly as possible, as Thornton has made a potential Hall of Fame career out of slowing the game down and making a perfect tape-to-tape pass to a teammate.

Boyle is the more movable option, as the defenseman has a limited no-trade clause while Thornton has a full no-trade, according to CapGeek.com. The 36-year-old’s minutes were noticeably scaled down throughout the season, as he was essentially taken off of the team’s penalty kill unit. Boyle skated less than 23 minutes per game in the regular season, that lowest that number has been in his Sharks career. Even so, he was still arguably the team's best defenseman and was a key component to the top power play unit.

Wilson may very well have had conversations with other clubs about those players around the trade deadline, but the Sharks’ five-game winning streak after the Douglas Murray trade and before the April 3 deadline resulted in the minor roster tweaks that energized the club and brought it within one game of the conference finals.

Getting a sense of what kind of market is out there for those two players in particular would be a good idea, or the Sharks could risk losing them both for nothing this time next year. And, if the deal is good enough, maybe it comes sooner than later.


680432 St Louis Blues

Hockey Guy: Happy ending for McDonald

7 hours ago • By Jeff Gordon [email protected]

Andy McDonald is one of the NHL’s good guys.

He enjoyed a great professional hockey career. He produced, he led and he won.

He was popular with his teammates, coaches and managers. He treated fans and media members with respect.

So it was a shame McDonald couldn’t go out with a final blaze of glory.

He struggled mightily in the playoffs as the Blues lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. That defeat ensured significant change this summer, including the likely exit of veterans like McDonald, Scott Nichol and Jamie Langenbrunner as their contracts expired.

McDonald opted to retire rather than shop his services around the league as an unrestricted free agent.

This was a wise move.

McDonald, 35, has earned a lot of money playing the sport. He has won a Stanley Cup. He found a comfortable home for his family in St. Louis.

Given the myriad injuries he suffered during his career – including concussions he still feels effects from – why should he battle on?

The sports world has learned a lot about concussions in recent years, none of it good. Once a NHL player suffers a serious concussion, he is more vulnerable to additional injury.

Athletes who have suffered multiple concussions often feel serious long-term consequences. Former Blues Jeff Brown, Paul Kariya and Geoff Courtnall are just three examples of players who suffered long after their retirement.

McDonald left on his own terms, creating a happy ending to his career story. He will remain in the St. Louis business community and work on his second career.

He could join our local hockey community, which embraces the former Blues who settle here. He will add some scoring punch to the Blues Alumni team and remain an ambassador for the sport locally and nationally.

We would say how much we will miss Andy McDonald but we’re sure we’ll be seeing him around.

AROUND THE RINKS: Can anybody really blame playmaking center Jori Lehtera for taking the easy way out by staying in the KHL? He can make more money on Russia giving about half the effort it takes to produce offense in today’s NHL. The KHL features a lot of world-class players, but the game there is slower. There is more room to work on the bigger ice surfaces. Few KHL goaltenders would hold up in the NHL and most of the Russian defensemen would be role players at best on this side of the world. Lehtera has found a comfort zone playing closer to home. If he wasn’t dying to play in the NHL, then it was best for everybody that he didn’t take a second stab at helping the Blues . . . Speaking of the KHL and defensemen, Sergei Gonchar could collect a nice check finishing out his career back in his homeland . . . The defending Stanley Cup champions are running out of steam against the explosive Blackhawks. The Kings will need a miraculous turn of events to get past Chicago now . . . The free agent market for this summer looks pretty weak. Many teams will be looking move payroll with the salary cap shrinking. Odds are we will see some serious wheeling and dealing . . . Once upon a time scoring line wingers Martin Havlat and Dany Heatley were traded for each other. Now both players could get cap compliance buyouts this summer after failing to stay healthy and productive for their new teams . . . As the Oilers reconfigure, those hefty salaries earned by veteran forwards Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky give the front office plenty to think about.

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 06.08.2013

680433 Tampa Bay Lightning

Bolts hope AHL success pays off

By Erik Erlendsson | Tribune Staff


Experience serves as the best education.

With that in mind, the Lightning's top prospects are set to graduate the minor leagues magna cum laude, as Tampa Bay's top farm team will play for a championship for the second consecutive year.

The Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning's affiliate in the American Hockey League, open play at home today in the best-of-seven Calder Cup final against the Grand Rapids Griffins, the top affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings.

Many of the top prospects in the Tampa Bay organization play key roles for Syracuse this season, while eight current members of the Crunch won a championship last season with the Norfolk Admirals — Tampa Bay's AHL affiliate before switching to Syracuse.

Playing such important games not only gives players extra ice time to develop their skills, but it puts them in pressure situations that can't be replicated during practice or even a regular-season game.

“The greatest experience a player can get is winning,'' said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who led Norfolk to the title last year and coached Syracuse for most of this season before being promoted to Tampa Bay. “Regardless of what happens here at the end, getting to back-to-back finals is hard to do. When you get to the playoffs, this is truly big-boys hockey. I just think it puts our guys further ahead than other guys in the league. This is unbelievable education for our prospects.''

Norfolk finished last season on a record-shattering 28-game winning streak and went on to win the Calder Cup, dropping only three games in the postseason and ending the playoffs on a 10-game winning streak.

This season, Syracuse captured the East Division title and finished as the third seed despite dealing with a handful of issues. The players moved to a new city, many of the team's top prospects were called up to Tampa and Rob Zettler assumed head-coaching duties when Cooper was promoted.

In this year's postseason, the Crunch have won 11 games and lost one.

“This kind of expedites their development, so from an organizational standpoint, that's one of the biggest benefits of having these long playoff runs,'' Syracuse general manager and Lightning assistant GM Julien BriseBois said.

While Tyler Johnson, Radko Gudas, Mark Barberio, Ondrej Palat (league-best 20 points in 12 playoff games) and Richard Panik are some of the top Lightning prospects making a second run at a championship, Brett Connolly, J.T. Brown, Andrej Sustr, Vladislav Namestnikov and Dmitry Korobov are getting their first taste of postseason success.

The long-term hope for the Lightning is that the experience of winning in the minor leagues translates into success at the NHL level.

“I think it can (translate to NHL success), we have hope it will,” BriseBois said. “I look at Ottawa, and they had 10 players on their playoff roster that won a Calder Cup (in 2011) … to win, you need to have talent, which I think our young players have, and you need to learn how to win. So I think it bodes really well for the future.''

Tampa Tribune LOADED: 06.08.2013

680434 Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning AHL team in Calder Cup final

Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer

Friday, June 7, 2013 3:53pm

J.T. Wyman hoped to play in the NHL this season. It didn't happen.

But if the forward had to be in the minors, he said he could not be in a better spot than with the Lightning's AHL affiliate in Syracuse, N.Y.

"This is not an everyday occasion what we've got going here," Wyman said. "We know how special this is."

What the Crunch has going is a chance to give the Tampa Bay organization its second straight Calder Cup title, and 12 players who last season won rings with then-affiliate Norfolk face Grand Rapids in a best-of-seven final starting tonight at Syracuse.

But the Crunch's story is about more than the achievements of its talented players. It is about the actualization of an organizational blueprint in which a player's character is as important as his skills and camaraderie is as crucial as understanding the coach's system.

"Whether it's for Syracuse or Tampa, it's a very important factor," Syracuse general manager Julien BriseBois said of evaluating character.

"We do a lot of research on it. We do background checks. We pass on some really good players because we don't think they fit with our team chemistry and attitude, and we've brought in some players who maybe would have been passed up by other teams but we knew they would make our team better because they're the right fit for what we're trying to do."

The result is a team that finished third in the Eastern Conference despite an in-season coaching change and the Lightning poaching some of its top talent.

It is a team with its own bowling league. A team that between playoff series had a pig roast and arranged an appearance by a hypnotist, who Wyman said had No. 3 goalie Eric Levine dancing like Michael Jackson.

Really, it is a team that seems more like a family.

"I've been involved in pro hockey for 25 years at both the NHL level and minor-league level," coach Rob Zettler said, "and I've never been part of a team that's so close."

"It's just a welcoming environment," Wyman said. "Guys come in, and they're able to be themselves. We stress enjoying every day we spend together. It's a great opportunity for us to bond as individuals and a team. It's to the point everyone knows what they need to do to be part of this."

And the result on the ice?

"They go to bat for each other," said Zettler, who went from assistant to head coach when Jon Cooper was promoted to the Lightning after Guy Boucher was fired in late March. "They will tell each other when someone is not holding up their end of the bargain. It's a really cool atmosphere."

"It's the trust we have for each other," defenseman Radko Gudas said. "In the playoffs, it's harder hockey, and you fight for every inch. The better friends we are, the better it is on the ice."

It has been quite a postseason for the Crunch. At 11-1, a sweep of Grand Rapids, the Red Wings' affiliate, would give it the fewest losses among Calder Cup champions that had to win four playoff rounds.

Wing Ondrej Palat is tied for the league scoring lead with 20 points and leads with 15 assists. Center Tyler Johnson is third with nine goals and tied for the lead with three winners.

Defenseman Matt Taormina is tied for the lead at plus-15, and goalie Cedrick Desjardins has a 1.86 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

"This is the ultimate learning experience before you get to the NHL, playing in games this meaningful and at this pace and with this level of desperation," BriseBois said.

"It bodes well for our organization because I believe a very important number of them will end up playing for the Lightning and helping us win in the NHL. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about."

Lightning prospect update: Defenseman Dylan Blujus was invited to the U.S. national team junior evaluation camp, an audition for the 2014 world junior championship team. Blujus, 19, 6 feet 3 and 198 pounds, was drafted 40th overall in 2012, and this season he had two goals, 29 points and 57 penalty minutes in 68 games with Brampton of the junior Ontario league.

>>Fast facts

Reaching for seconds

The 12 players on AHL Syracuse's playoff roster who in 2011-12 won the Calder Cup with Norfolk and go for another with the Crunch:

Defensemen: Mark Barberio, Jean-Philippe Cote, Radko Gudas, Evan Oberg. Forwards: Mike Angelidis, Philip-Michael Devos, Alex Hutchings, Tyler Johnson, Eric Neilson, Ondrej Palat, Richard Panik. Goaltender: Pat Nagle.

On the Web: All Calder Cup games can be seen online at ahllive.com. Register on the website.

Lightning AHL team in Calder Cup final 06/07/13 [Last modified: Friday, June 7, 2013 11:22pm]

Tampa Bay Times LOADED: 06.08.2013

680435 Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs should trade Phil Kessel: Feschuk

By: Dave Feschuk Hockey, Published on Fri Jun 07 2013

If you’re any kind of fan, maybe you’ll never get over it. It was a little more than three weeks ago that the Toronto Maple Leafs were seconds away from ousting the Boston Bruins from the NHL playoffs. Now that the Bruins are a game removed from sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins for a berth in the Stanley Cup final — well, it’s only natural to relive Toronto’s epic near-miss with a never-ending procession of what-ifs.

But if there’s no re-seizing a moment that’s been lost, MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke is bent on re-setting the standards of a once-proud NHL franchise.

“We understand the only thing that matters here, for the greatest fan base in the history of the National Hockey League — and, by the way, the most important organization in the National Hockey League — is winning a Stanley Cup for Toronto,” Leiweke said in a video address to season-ticket holders this week.

In the YouTube-posted message, Leiweke also offered an endorsement for the team’s current brain trust while uttering a four-word sentence that would make any NHL executive nervous, specifically: “I’m a hockey fan.”

“I will bring more enthusiasm and more passion,” Leiweke said. “What you can be assured of is we’re going to work even harder.”

Somewhere, Leafs forward Phil Kessel is on a golf course saying: “Harder? That’s a joke, right?” And somewhere else, GM Dave Nonis and his management team are pounding the phones to bolster a flawed team in need of improvement in nearly every area. It’s exactly what they should be doing. With a little more than three weeks until the June 30 draft, now’s when off-season trade talks traditionally begin their slow build. As Leiweke has made clear, Nonis should talk a lot, since the status quo won’t cut it.

But making big changes to the Toronto roster, with the NHL salary cap shrinking from around $70 million (all figures U.S.) to about $64 million, will require bold vision and savvy manoeuvring that many fans might consider sacrilege.

Example: There’d be no better time to trade Kessel, considering his excellent run of play as the league’s sixth-leading regular-season scorer has put his value at an all-time high. Don’t for a moment believe that Nonis, fresh off delivering a no-Leaf-is-untouchable post-season message, isn’t thinking hard about the possibility.

Why would Kessel be a smart chip to cash in? He’s a perimeter-hugging winger in a net-front league playing for a team that will need to give up something of value to land its long-sought No. 1 centre. He’ll also be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2014, as will team captain Dion Phaneuf. The latter, a lightning rod of post-season criticism thanks in part to his defensive paralysis in the crucial moments of that Game 7, would be by far the more palatable trade piece in the eyes of many supporters.

But Phaneuf’s stock, weighed down by a hefty $6.5 million salary, is in the tank. Kessel’s, by contrast, is soaring. Given the local wont to buy high and bail low, it’d be a welcome change for a Toronto GM to recoup a decent haul on an investment as costly as Kessel.

It’s not the only possible move, mind you, and Nonis has a shopping list that isn’t short. The dominant post-season work of Jonathan Quick and Tuukka Rask is a reminder the Leafs, who got credible if spotty work from No. 1 James Reimer this season, should be on the lookout for an upgrade between the pipes. Mike Smith is a free agent worth considering. Roberto Luongo will again be discussed. Tim Thomas’s comeback has got to start somewhere.

The Leafs are also certain to be among the suitors of David Clarkson, the impending unrestricted free agent with the New Jersey Devils. That Clarkson is Toronto-born and media-savvy doesn’t matter as much that he plays the wing with a Bruins-worthy heaviness and has scored 30 goals in a season.

But Clarkson is expected to command big dollars and the Leafs will have plenty of their own players looking for more, too, among them restricted free agents Nazem Kadri, Cody Franson, Leo Komarov and Carl Gunnarsson.

Toronto centre Tyler Bozak, the best of the Leafs scheduled to hit the unrestricted open market this summer, can make a case he’s in line for a raise that would put him on par with the team’s highest-paid forward, the $5.5 million Mikhail Grabovski, but the Leafs will be looking for him to take a hometown discount. Giving every incumbent a pay bump might not jibe with the reality of a shrinking spending limit and other needs.

Toronto, with a defensive corps that also needs help, needs more high-end talent at low prices, which is why moving up in a deep draft on June 30 would make sense, as would trolling the market to woo compliance buyout cases that could come relatively cheaply.

Change, for the Leafs, needs to be in the offing. Falling in love with a team that was a first-round out would be a mistake. The Leafs, by a lot of measures, weren’t a particularly good squad during the 48-game regular season. They were grossly outshot. They only secured their playoff spot a week from the schedule’s conclusion. Still, they made progress.

“I think what we’ve done is we’ve provided ... an identity for our team,” coach Randy Carlyle said during the playoffs. “I think, in some ways, we’ve proven if we work hard, with the skill that we have and the commitment to playing as a team, that we can be competitive.”

Actually, the coach might want to revise that manifesto given the CEO’s latest mission statement. Working hard and being competitive is suddenly not enough. Bizarre, historic first-round choke jobs are presumably also not acceptable. ’Tis the off-season for working harder and assembling champions. Consider the proverbial bar raised along with the expectations of Leafs Nation.

Globe And Mail LOADED: 06.08.2013

680436 Vancouver Canucks

Canuck GM Mike Gillis talks about coach search

June 7, 2013. 3:58 pm

Posted by:

elliottpap

Canuck GM Mike Gillis took time out from his coach search Friday to appear on the team’s flagship radio station, Team 1040. Midday show host Matt Sekeres asked Gillis a number of questions on the coaching front. Here are some of his answers…

On Toronto Marlies coach Dallas Eakins, who has been in for two interviews: “He did very well. He’s a well-spoken guy, a solid young coach and a good person. He has good views on the game and what it takes to coach in the National Hockey League.”

On Eakins’s ability to develop the Leafs’ minor-league prospects, specifically Nazem Kadri: “Whoever our next coach is will have to be able to work with young players because that’s what the future holds both in terms of the collective bargaining agreement and where we are as a team. So we are committed to getting younger players into our lineup and being patient enough to allow them to develop and play. The next coach is going to have to have a track record or a commitment to have the features and characteristics he needs to make sure that it works for us.”

On former Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan, who has also been interviewed: “I thought his team played hard. They went through a lot of changes and they kept getting better. Glen is a very bright young coach with a really solid future ahead of him. In our effort to make sure that we talk to everybody who is available and might be a candidate, he was involved and I was very impressed.”

On how long his list of candidates is: “I’m going to interview at least four, perhaps five more people. I think this is a great opportunity for us to change direction and I want to speak to everybody and hear their views about what they feel we need and how they could contribute to the Vancouver Canucks. It’s an interesting process and it’s an opportunity to learn a lot about people who are good quality coaches.”

On being willing to wait until the end of the playoffs if there is a candidate he likes: “If we felt they were really solid, legitimate candidates, we would be prepared to wait to get them into the mix. For the right person, we would wait that long.”

On whether he expects to have the new man in place before free agency begins July 5: “I would like to get the coach in place the moment we make a decision on the right person. I don’t have a time frame. We are going to take our time and make sure we speak to everybody we think is a legitimate candidate and learn as much as we can.”

On whether he would be prepared to wait beyond July 5 if need be: “I don’t think that will be the case.”

Vancouver Sun: LOADED: 06.08.2013

680437 Washington Capitals

Agent: ‘No progress at all’ between Matt Hendricks and Capitals

By Katie Carrera, Updated: June 7, 2013

Updated 1:51 p.m.: NHL free agency is set to open in a little less than a month, but the Capitals are no closer to reaching an agreement with gritty forward Matt Hendricks.

Negotiations on a new contract for the versatile Hendricks were ongoing throughout the season, but the two sides have not discussed a new deal for the Minnesota native since April 3, the day of the trade deadline, according to his agent.

“There has been no progress at all. We haven’t even talked,” Hendricks’s agent, Michael Wulkan said in a phone interview. “Matt said from day one that his preference is to stay in Washington, but we were negotiating and then it stopped. They know our position.”

Hendricks, who will turn 32 on June 17, solidified his place as an NHL regular during his three seasons with the Capitals and became an important component of the roster. In 203 regular season games with Washington, Hendricks has 18 goals and 24 assists.

While he doesn’t light up the scoresheet, Hendricks earned the respect of all those who played with him by being willing to do everything from fight, kill penalties, fill in on the top lines, score clutch shootout goals or simply keep his teammates laughing.

Those traits, and his reputation as a reliable blue-collar player, are why Hendricks could be a sought-after free agent and will likely receive a raise on the $800,000 salary ($825,000 cap hit) he received last season. The New York Rangers are reportedly interested in his services, and they’re likely not the only ones.

As much as Hendricks would like to stay in Washington, where he and his family have made a home, Wulkan said that the forward isn’t limiting his options. The closer it gets to July 5, the tougher it will be to not see what offers are available, Wulkan said.

“He’s not scared of going to free agency,” Wulkan said. “His preference was to stay in Washington but we can’t do a deal when we haven’t heard from anybody. This is an opportunity for him to get a deal that he deserves.”

For a player like Hendricks, who didn’t break into the league until he was 28 years old and has only become entrenched on an NHL lineup over the past few seasons, this is the best opportunity of his career to earn a significant contract.

Hendricks, who is back in his offseason home of Plymouth, Minn., admitted it’s tough to balance his fondness for Washington with ensuring he gets what he believes is a fair deal.

“Number one on my list is to be back in Washington and play for the Caps. I’ve made a home there and it’s been great. I’ve found a niche with that team, that organization. I’m treated professionally every day as a man,” Hendricks said in a phone interview Friday. “But at the same time there is the business side of it where you want to get market value as a player. That’s your goal. I’ve done a lot to this point to get here.”

With the salary cap dropping to $64.3 million next season, it will be interesting to see what the market value will be for Hendricks.

Last summer Brandon Prust, 29, a similarly versatile forward but with 18 goals and 46 points over two seasons prior to becoming a free agent, signed a four-year, $10 million contract ($2.5 million cap hit) with Montreal. In late March Tampa Bay signed Nate Thompson, 28, a gritty forward the Lightning rely on to kill penalties and perform spot duty on top lines, to a four-year, $6.4 million contract ($1.6 million cap hit). Hendricks is likely to fall in the range between those two deals on the open market.

“I wouldn’t be doing my job — the business side of it is I need to try to make what I can when I can. I have a family to think about, which comes first and foremost over everything else,” Hendricks said. “You never know how long you’re going to play, but I would like to take a good shot at this one and make it a good contract that I’ll be able to play and be happy with.”

Washington Post LOADED: 06.08.2013

680438 Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg prospects to skate at Classic

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

THE Winnipeg Jets got their first look at the likes of Mark Scheifele, Eddie Pasquale and Adam Lowry two years ago at the Vancouver Canucks Young Stars Classic.

And, after a year hiatus due to last fall's NHL lockout, the organization's best prospects will be heading back to Penticton, B.C., to do it all over again.

The Jets announced Thursday they will participate again in the Canucks' tournament, 2013 version, which will take place from Sept. 5-9.

The event will feature prospects from the Jets, Canucks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks.

The Jets finished the 2011 tournament with a 2-1 record with Scheifele as the team's leading scorer after three games (two goals, one assist).

For more information about the Young Stars Classic and surrounding events, go to canucks.com/youngstars.

Here is a schedule for the event:

Young Stars Classic

Sept. 5: Edmonton vs. Calgary, 6 p.m.

Sept. 5: Vancouver vs. San Jose, 9:30 p.m.

Sept. 6: Winnipeg vs. San Jose, 6 p.m.

Sept. 6: Vancouver vs. Calgary, 9:30 p.m.

Sept. 7: Edmonton vs. Winnipeg, 9:30 p.m.

Sept. 8: Vancouver vs. Edmonton, 4 p.m.

Sept. 8: San Jose vs. Calgary, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 9: Winnipeg vs. Vancouver, 2 p.m.

All times central

Winnipeg Free Press LOADED 06.08.2013


Kane unloads great Twitter rant

ken.wiebe - June 6th, 2013

Winnipeg Jets left-winger Evander Kane was innocently Tweeting about Game 1 of the NBA Final between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night before really catching the attention of cyberspace.

Kane is no stranger to centre stage and he found himself there once again when he unleashed a stream of five hockey tweets that caught the attention of fans and media members alike.

Here’s the play-by-play from @EKane9Jets (go to No 5 and work your way back please):

Goodnight tweeps. #thenatural

Expand

Evander Kane Evander Kane @EKane9JETS 40m

It really pisses me off and I’m done with these kind of results. It’s time to start winning and it’s starting now.

Expand


I’m sick of sitting here at this time of the year not having a chance to win, not scoring goals, not winning games and not winning rounds.

Expand


So I don’t care! Next year will be a different story! You can count on that.

Expand


For everyone asking why I don’t care to watch or talk about the NHL playoffs. I’m not playing in them, I can’t win this year, CONT:

Naturally, when Kane opens his mouth — or in this case, his thoughts on social media — there was a firestorm of reaction.

And wouldn’t you know it, some of the conspiracy theorists were interpreting Kane’s thoughts as suggesting Kane was somehow asking for a trade.

I don’t see it that way, not one bit.

In fact, in case you forgot, Jets RW Blake Wheeler expressed similar thoughts in an interview with columnist Paul Friesen last spring. And Wheeler reiterated those concerns after the Jets were eliminated from playoff contention during the lockout-shortened season.

Kane’s frustration is obvious and this isn’t the first time he’s expressed his thoughts about failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs either.

He’s a guy that won a lot on the way to the NHL, but has failed to get to the post-season party during his four NHL seasons with the Winnipeg Jets and Atlanta Thrashers.

Kane is driven to improve as a player and he wants to win.

For all of the negativity that seemed to dog him during his first season with the Jets and during the lockout after the Floyd Money Mayweather Cash Phone Tweet, I saw maturity and growth from Kane this season.

And not just on the ice, where he had another solid season, despite watching frequent linemates Olli Jokinen and Kyle Wellwood suffer through funks.

Kane was more engaging with the media during the season and more available this season.

It looked to me like he was trying to take more responsibility and trying to grow into the role as one of the leaders on the team.

He’s not ready to wear a letter next season, but he’s progressing nonetheless.

There are more steps to be taken, but to me, expressing some anger about not participating in playoff games at this point of the season is something to be celebrated, not a situation that requires an ounce of worry.

Winnipeg Sun LOADED 06.08.2013


Winnipeg Jets have started talks with Zach Bogosian's camp

By Ken Wiebe ,Winnipeg Sun

First posted: Friday, June 07, 2013 07:55 PM CDT | Updated: Friday, June 07, 2013 08:00 PM CDT

The Winnipeg Jets have opened talks on a new contract with pending restricted free agent Zach Bogosian.

Agent Bob Murray, who represents Bogosian, confirmed via e-mail on Friday morning that he had a “preliminary discussion" with the Jets on Thursday but wouldn't discuss any further details.

During the last negotiation in 2011 — which ended in the two-year bridge contract for $5 million that is about to expire — Murray made it clear that he doesn’t plan to negotiate through the media and he’s sticking to that mantra this time around.

Bogosian, who is eligible for salary arbitration, is one of nine restricted free agents on the Jets roster and figures to be in line from a significant raise over the $3 million he made last season.

The 22-year-old defenceman had five goals and 14 points in 33 games during the lockout-shortened season.

Locking up Bogosian to a long-term deal is one of the Jets top priorities this summer, along with new deals for top line forwards Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little.



Winnipeg Jets winger Evander Kane talking a good game on Twitter

By Ken Wiebe ,Winnipeg Sun

First posted: Friday, June 07, 2013 07:23 PM CDT | Updated: Friday, June 07, 2013 08:10 PM CDT

With fans of the Winnipeg Jets essentially starved for hockey matters to discuss, Evander Kane once again did his best to help fill the void.

Only this time, it wasn’t negative attention raining down on the Jets’ star left-winger — unless you’re one of the conspiracy theorists who believe that Kane’s Thursday-night Twitter rant was somehow a subconscious plea to be traded (where have we heard that before?).

In case you were one of those who were sleeping — and plenty of you were — here’s a little context to what went down.

It was a seemingly routine evening for Kane, a big NBA fan who decided to share his thoughts on Game 1 of the championship final between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.

As he regularly does, Kane provided some insight on the match-up, made a prediction and then weighed in on what was happening in the game.

At some point, multiple hockey fans Tweeted at Kane to ask why he was watching the NBA playoffs instead of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Not sure if the question struck a nerve because Kane unleashed four 140 character Tweets to express his displeasure over being on the outside looking in once again and basically offered up a Mark Messier-like guarantee:

“For everyone asking why I don't care to watch or talk about the NHL playoffs. I'm not playing in them, I can't win this year, CONT:

“So I don't care! Next year will be a different story! You can count on that. I'm sick of sitting here at this time of the year not having a chance to win, not scoring goals, not winning games and not winning rounds.

“It really pisses me off and I'm done with these kind of results. It's time to start winning and it's starting now.”

So there you have it.

It doesn’t qualify as breaking news that Kane was unhappy about missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive spring.

He shared similar sentiments after the Jets were eliminated from playoff contention this year.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I liked the rant from Kane.

Again, it’s not a revelation by any means, as you’d be hard-pressed to find many NHLers who are actually happy about not being in the playoffs, especially among those who have never had a taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

After getting closer than he’s ever been to the post-season party this spring, you’d hope that Kane is tired of losing and it’s clear that he is.

And you can be sure that Kane isn’t the only one.

Captain Andrew Ladd has expressed his frustration plenty of times and so has right-winger Blake Wheeler.

Talking about taking the next step is a start, but the actions must be louder than the words.

It’s important to remember that for all the strides the Jets took last season, taking that next step into the playoffs is a big one.

Not to mention one that requires further improvement to the roster, plenty of sacrifices to be made by individuals in pursuit of the team goal and ultimately, holding themselves to a higher standard.

Kane isn’t shy about sharing his opinion and for those of us in the media industry, that’s a good thing, a very good thing.

While it’s true that Kane’s expressions on Twitter have occasionally got him in trouble (like the Floyd Money Mayweather Cash Call photo), but this series of thoughts probably brought a smile to the face of Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, who made a six-year contract commitment to the sniper last summer.

Provided others on the roster are as hungry as Kane to take the next step (which is a pretty safe bet), there will eventually come a time when Jets fans will actually have a game of their own to talk about in June, rather than having to interpret the Tweets of their power forward.



Hainsey unlikely to stay with Jets

By: Gary Lawless


Unrestricted free agency is the holy grail for a players' association in any sport, so to have one of its leaders spurn the opportunity just wouldn't wash with the rank and file.

Ron Hainsey's role with the NHLPA almost makes it a requirement that he test the free agent market on July 5.

Were the Winnipeg Jets to make him an offer significantly increasing his wage, the veteran blue-liner could likely accept with little or no backlash. But a pay cut, a given in Hainsey's case, wouldn't be viewed as good union politics. Hainsey must consider the optics of his actions so it's a safe bet he'll test the market.

Hainsey led his union's recent CBA negotiations as they fought to retain contracting rights they'd gained in previous deals, including unrestricted free agency.

Taking the first offer sent his way, unless it included large gains that would elevate the marketplace, flies in the face of everything Hainsey has stood for in his off-ice politics.

The Jets are unlikely to offer Hainsey anything close to the previous deal -- $22.5 million over five years.

The Los Angeles Kings recently signed veteran defenceman Robyn Regehr to a two-year deal worth $6 million. The players are really only similar in age, position and previous contract, but Hainsey's representatives will likely use the Regehr contract as a comparable.

It's hard to imagine the Jets, with an influx of young defensive talent on the way and serious cash demands to meet in the form of Zach Bogosian and a slew of valuable restricted free agents, agreeing to such a demand.

It looks more and more like Ron Hainsey will go to market and find work with another organization.

BOGO TALKS BEGIN: Bogosian is slated to become a restricted free agent on July 5 and his agent Bob Murray says talks have begun with the Jets.

"We had a very preliminary discussion (Thursday)," said Murray in a response to an email query from the Free Press. Bogosian is coming off a strong season and is at the end of a two-year deal worth $5 million.

The Jets signed teammate Toby Enstrom to a five-year, $28.75-million deal last summer. Veteran Dustin Byfuglien is scheduled to make $5.75 million this season and has two more years at similar rates left on his deal.

Bogosian doesn't have the same offensive game or hockey sense as Enstrom and Byfuglien, but has more leadership upside and provides a constant physical presence.

Bogosian was used against the opposition's best players game in and game out. The coaching staff trusts him more than any other blue-liner.

The Jets will want to eat up some of Bogosian's unrestricted free agent years and that comes at a premium.

The maximum term the Jets could sign Bogosian to is eight years. Look for a six-year deal north of $30 million. If the sides want to go longer, the price is unpredictable.

EVANDER TWEETS: Jets power forward Evander Kane likes to share some of his thoughts on Twitter and he got his tweeps stirred up Thursday night.

Here's the play-by-play:

1. Evander Kane @EKane9JETS

For everyone asking why I don't care to watch or talk about the NHL playoffs. I'm not playing in them, I can't win this year, CONT:


So I don't care! Next year will be a different story! You can count on that.


I'm sick of sitting here at this time of the year not having a chance to win, not scoring goals, not winning games and not winning rounds.


It really pisses me off and I'm done with these kind of results. It's time to start winning and it's starting now.


Goodnight tweeps. #thenatural

A couple of things come to mind. It's great Evander wants to be in the playoffs and is bent on changing the way his team performs.

One might suggest watching the best play at the most difficult time of the year would be insightful for Evander or anyone trying to reach this level of competition but maybe that's a bit of hair splitting.

I've ragged on Kane for tweets in the past, so in the interest of fairness, kudos to Evander for urging both himself and his teammates to reach higher heights.

BURMI BUSINESS: An email sent to Alex Burmistrov's agent Mark Gandler went unanswered on Friday. But word around the NHL is Gandler has been chatting Burmistrov up to a number of NHL teams.

It's no secret there's a disconnect between the Jets and the Burmistrov group, but the latter has almost no leverage. Burmistrov is set to become a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights. An offer sheet is a pipe dream and the only way Burmistrov ends up on another NHL team next season is via trade.

Gandler's efforts may be a way of stirring interest in his client and causing teams to inquire about the Jets' asking price. Hard to see this getting wrapped up without some drama.



Closing the champion chasm

Club a far cry from Final Four

By: Ed Tait


The face of the Stanley Cup playoffs is a bearded one. It features a facial gash of some sort, perhaps a blackened eye. It is bleary-eyed, but determined.

This is the toughest trophy to win in pro sports because it takes 16 wins spread out over a couple of months against four different opponents. It takes skill and talent to be sure, but also equal amounts of grit and resiliency.

A year ago, with the help of TSN analyst Shane Hnidy -- a cup champion himself -- we offered up a comparison of the National Hockey League's final four clubs to the Winnipeg Jets to determine what factors, whether they were statistical, physical or otherwise, separated them from the loop's elite.

And now, what with the Jets still working to become a playoff team and this year's Final Four also comprising the last four Stanley Cup champions -- Pittsburgh in 2009, Chicago in 2010, Boston in 2011 and Los Angeles in 2012 -- the template is perfect for another comparison.

What separates the Jets from the best? Here is our take...

1. EXPERIENCE... BEEN THERE, DONE THAT

Sorry to open up an old wound, Jets fans, but the Thrashers/Jets 2.0 franchise hasn't qualified for the post-season since 2006-07. That's no small thing, especially when comparing them to the Final Four. We pointed this out near the end of the regular season, but it bears repeating: Of the 28 players with the Jets in late April, 16 had never appeared in a playoff game. The rest, including Stanley Cup champions Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien, have combined to play in 249 playoff games. Just as a point of reference, Sidney Crosby -- who is only 25 -- already has 105 playoff games under his belt, close to twice as many as the most-experienced Jet, Ladd (53 games).

The Jets, collectively, are struggling just to make the playoffs let alone actually win a series. And that's a huge difference compared to the Pens, Bruins, Hawks and Kings.

"That's the first thing for me," said Hnidy. "All these teams have been there and all of them have won it. But they've all been through the hard times, too. You can reference the (Toronto) Maple Leafs' loss in the first round to the Bruins this year... as tough as that is for them, it's also a growing period. Look at the Bruins before they won the Cup -- they had a 3-0 lead on the Flyers (in 2010, before losing) and had to overcome that. Chicago last year exited early. All these teams have had growing pains, but afterward have stuck with their core group of guys. That's critical."

Interestingly, the Jets roster could be facing a significant makeover this summer, especially with nine players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents -- Nik Antropov, Kyle Wellwood, Mike Santorelli, Antti Miettinen, Aaron Gagnon, Ron Hainsey, Grant Clitsome, Derek Meech and Al Montoya.

2. STAR POWER, DEPTH AND

CLEARLY DEFINED ROLES

The Final Four features some of the greatest players on the planet in Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews, Evgeni Malkin, Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask and many, many others. Drag your finger down the roster of any one of those squads and compare them to the Jets and the difference in talent is clear.

But what is also obvious is while the Jets have some solid pieces, their roster seems to still be in a state of transition. The top six screams out for a right winger to play alongside Evander Kane, the third line didn't provide enough offensive punch and the fourth was forever a rotating series of pieces. The Kings won last year because they could roll four lines, ditto for the Bruins two years ago and this spring.

"Look at Pittsburgh even though they've struggled against the Bruins," said Hnidy. "Yeah, they've got Crosby and Malkin. But they've got Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, Matt Cooke, Craig Adams, Brooks Orpik... to me, that's their core and those guys have clearly defined roles.

"A coach can establish those roles, but it's finding the players who will accept those roles and shine in them. They know if they do that role, it brings success to everyone. That's a big difference between teams that consistently win and those that don't.

"Give the Jets this: I think this year (Bryan) Little, Ladd and (Blake) Wheeler established themselves as a legitimate top line. They still need to fill out that second line with Kane. Hopefully (Olli) Jokinen bounces back, but they need a right-winger for that line.

"But there isn't enough of a threat on the third line. To me, what they have on the bottom six was a revolving door of players off waivers, call-ups and the injury to Jim Slater hurt them. Their top six is more defined right now than their bottom."

3. TEAM DEFENCE

This one is ridiculously obvious, yet not so easily addressed. The Final Four ranked first (Chicago), third (Boston), seventh (Los Angeles) and 12th (Pittsburgh) in goals allowed this year. Winnipeg was 25th, having surrendered almost a goal more per game (2.95 to 2.02) than the Blackhawks. Further to that, the Jets were 18th in shots against per game (29.7) and the quality of those chances was often substantial.

Defence isn't just about the three defensive pairings, although that could be in a state of flux with Hainsey, Clitsome and Meech all unrestricted free agents, Jacob Trouba knocking on the door, Toby Enstrom battling injury problems and rumours about Dustin Byfuglien's future only growing leading into the draft on June 30.

"To me, their top four D isn't where it needs to be yet," said Hnidy. "But team defence has to become a mentality. There were periods last year where the Jets were really good defensively and I remember being in the room and the guys saying they were seeing the buy-in pay off. But there wasn't enough consistency. There's got to be more consistency, confidence and everyone wanting to do it. That comes with time, but you've got to have the right personnel willing to buy in. The more they do that, the more they win and then the easier it becomes as a sell for the coach."

4. A DOMINANT PUCK STOPPER

Near the end of the regular season, Jets head coach Claude Noel reaffirmed his belief the club can win a championship with Ondrej Pavelec in goal -- an assertion the franchise made clear a year ago when they signed him to a five-year, $19.5-million contract. The 25-year-old Czech appeared in 44 games last year and there has been growth in his game, but his numbers are actually down from his final year in Atlanta -- a 2.80 goals-against average and .905 save percentage.

During the regular season, only L.A.'s Quick (.902) had a worse save percentage than Pavelec, but the Kings' netminder has been outstanding in the post-season (.941). Tuukka Rask in Boston, Chicago's Corey Crawford and Pittsburgh's Tomas Vokoun have also played huge roles in backstopping their teams to the last four standing.

"It's hard to compare Pavelec to the other goalies still playing because of those teams' commitment to defence," said Hnidy. "It's tough when you're second or third in the league in shots faced and you wonder what Pavelec would do on a defensively sound team. I like him, he's a great young goalie who's maturing, but he still has steps to take. Mind you, there were times where he stole games for them and he's going to have to continue to do that and more."

THE FAB FOUR VS. THE JETS

A look at some of the numbers of the Blackhawks, Kings, Penguins and Bruins and how the Jets match up:

THE BASICS

(Regular-season totals)

TEAMW-L-TGOALSGFGOALSGA

RANKAGAINSTRANK

CHICAGO36-7-53.102nd2.021st

PITTSBURGH36-12-03.381st2.4812th

BOSTON28-14-62.6513th2.213rd

LOS ANGELES27-16-52.7310th2.387th

WINNIPEG24-21-32.6216th2.9425th

Notable:

The Jets finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, four points out of a playoff spot. Their point total of 51 would have placed them 10th in the West, also four points out of the playoff picture.

Based on this year's point totals, Winnipeg would have finished fourth in its new division, behind Chicago (77), St. Louis (60) and Minnesota (55) and ahead of Dallas (48), Nashville (41) and Colorado (39).

SPECIAL TEAMS

TEAMPOWERRANKPENALTYRANK

PLAY%KILL%

CHICAGO16.719th87.23rd

PITTSBURGH24.72nd79.625th

BOSTON14.826th87.14th

LOS ANGELES19.910th83.210th

WINNIPEG13.830th79.724th

Notable:

The Jets went from having the second-best PP at home in 2011-12 to 26th.

Even in their one appearance in the playoffs in franchise history, back in 2006-07, the Thrashers' power play was ranked only 23rd overall and their penalty kill was 26th.

THE DIMENSIONS

Average age, height and weight

TEAMAGEHTWT

CHICAGO27.16-1.5202.4

PITTSBURGH29.76-1204.4

BOSTON28.96-1200.4

LOS ANGELES25.56-1.3202.8

WINNIPEG27.16-1.8206.2

INDIVIDUAL GOALS/POINTS

Number of players per team achieving these totals:

TEAM10+ GOALS20+ GOALS30+ PTS48+ PTS

CHICAGO4232

PITTSBURGH5362

BOSTON6040

LOS ANGELES5140

WINNIPEG3040

Notable:

Andrew Ladd led the Jets in scoring this season with 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists) in 48 games. The last time a player with this franchise finished with more than a point per game was in 2008-09, when Ilya Kovalchuk finished with 91 points. The following season he had 58 points in 49 games when he was traded to New Jersey because Thrashers' management was convinced he wouldn't re-sign with the team.

DOLLARS AND CENTS

(Numbers courtesy capgeek.com)

TEAM2013 CAP HITRANK

CHICAGO$67,343,5445th

PITTSBURGH$66,739,1337th

BOSTON$64,486,5629th

LOS ANGELES$62,025,79914th

WINNIPEG$58,447,94118th

Notable:

The Jets top six highest-paid forwards (Evander Kane, Olli Jokinen, Andrew Ladd, Nik Antropov, Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little) earned a combined $23.1 million.

By comparison, the Pens' top six pull in $30.4 million, the Blackhawks are at $29.9 million, the Kings just under $28 million and the Bruins come in at $25.6 million.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 8, 2013 C3


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ESPN /Friday, June 7, 2013

Hawks' speed, depth dooming Kings

By Pierre LeBrun

ESPN.com

CHICAGO -- The Los Angeles Kings were a popular upset pick by many entering the Western Conference finals. And why not, after the defending Stanley Cup champions showed their resilience in series wins over St. Louis and San Jose?

Having spent time with the Kings over the past month, however, I felt entering this series that the Kings were a beat-up squad almost gasping for air after surviving seven games against the Sharks. I have once again been impressed with how they grind out wins, but I picked the Blackhawks in large part because of the fatigue Los Angeles was feeling.

That seems to be bearing out now, and is a good place to start as we examine why the Hawks have a 3-1 series lead over the Kings and the inside track to a berth in the Stanley Cup finals.

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ESPN / Hawks' speed, depth dooming Kings

Surprising goaltending and Bryan Bickell's power also driving Chicago

Updated: June 8, 2013, 12:19 AM ET

By Pierre LeBrun | ESPN.com

CHICAGO -- The Los Angles Kings were a popular upset pick by many entering the Western Conference finals. And why not, after the defending Stanley Cup champions showed their resilience in series wins over St. Louis and San Jose?

Having spent time with the Kings over the past month, however, I felt entering this series that the Kings were a beat-up squad almost gasping for air after surviving seven games against the Sharks. I have once again been impressed with how they grind out wins, but I picked the Blackhawks in large part because of the fatigue Los Angeles was feeling.

That seems to be bearing out now, and is a good place to start as we examine why the Hawks have a 3-1 series lead over the Kings and the inside track to a berth in the Stanley Cup finals.

The Kings' health issues

If and when the Kings are eliminated, finally becoming privy to the list of ailments and injuries the defending Cup champs are playing with should be quite compelling. There's no question Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown are gutting it out through injuries, because neither has the pace to his game we're used to seeing. These guys were legitimate Conn Smythe Trophy candidates a year ago, but that level of play just isn't there this spring.

Coach Darryl Sutter's decision to move Kopitar to the third line before Game 3 is a pretty strong indication not all is right with Kopitar. Justin Williams and other Kings are also playing through pain, and even for those who aren't somewhat injured, just the drain of having played the most games in the playoffs, plus the most physical series in years versus St. Louis, has taken its toll.

Los Angeles looked tired near the end of Game 4, like a car running on fumes, and launched just two shots on goal against the Hawks in the third period. Not sure the long flight back to Chicago is going to help restore those legs, either.

Richards' absence hurts

Let's not sugarcoat it: The loss of star center Mike Richards to a concussion in Game 1 was a huge blow to a team that couldn't afford to lose any key pieces. Richards does it all for the Kings, from special teams, faceoffs, late-game shifts and shutdown roles, to being the offensive leader and emotional barometer of the team. His absence is felt in so many ways.

Crawford vs. Quick

The goalie matchup looked lopsided entering this series given how sensational the Kings' Jonathan Quick looked in the first two rounds. Corey Crawford had been good for the Hawks, but the greatness Quick displayed versus the Blues and Sharks gave the Kings an obvious and important edge. Or so it seemed.

Four games into the series Crawford has held his own and then some, making the saves he had to while closing the door when Chicago has held third-period leads. He's allowed only seven goals in four games. What else can you ask of him?

Nobody is asking Crawford to steal a game in this series. The Hawks just need him to not lose one. And he hasn't, with a Game 3 loss clearly not falling on him. He's been steady and confident in the face of a goalie matchup that could intimidate many other netminders.

Quick, meanwhile, has come down to earth a little in this series, pulled in Game 2 and victimized in Game 4 by a knuckling wrist shot by Bryan Bickell that he should have had, whether the puck hit defenseman Robyn Regehr or not. Just that very small crack in Quick's armor is enough for the Blackhawks' all-world offensive talent to take advantage, and they have so far.

The Kings' stagnant offense

In Quick's defense, it would be nice if his team could score some goals to support him. Los Angeles has averaged two goals per game in the playoffs, an offensive output that makes it difficult to repeat as champs. Kopitar and Brown were 20-point men last spring. They're nowhere near that this year; as we stated above it's believed both are playing through injuries.

But where is Dwight King this spring? He was a revelation a year ago in the playoffs but hasn't done much this year. The power play hasn't delivered enough, either. The Kings have won their share of 2-1 games, but it's hard to go to that well every night and beat a quality team like the Blackhawks.

Turnovers are killers

The Kings have turned the puck over way too often in the neutral zone in three of the four games, uncharacteristic of the way L.A. usually plays when it's on top if its game. But that's also a result of Chicago's superior speed forcing some of those mistakes. Two of the Blackhawks' three goals Thursday night, in the critical game of the series, were off Kings mistakes or turnovers. That has absolutely burned the Kings in this series.

The Blackhawks' depth

Chicago has gotten contributions from all kinds of players in the series. Just look at the way the Hawks' blue-line corps all stepped up their game in the absence of Duncan Keith in Game 4, particularly Niklas Hjalmarsson and Michal Rozsival.

Up front, fourth-line wingers Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger have continue to spearhead Chicago's ridiculous penalty-killing prowess, while the third line of Andrew Shaw, Brandon Saad and Viktor Stalberg has provided quality shift after quality shift.

When the supporting cast is giving you those kinds of minutes behind the big stars on the team, it's tough for a depleted Kings squad to match up.

The power of Bickell

As the risk of beating the storyline to death, you can't write this piece without once again underlining Bryan Bickell's formidable presence. Now up to eight playoff goals, the Hawks' emerging power forward has been impossible for the Kings to handle in their own zone, and Bickell's knack for timely goals has fueled the Blackhawks in this series.

Is the end near?

If there's any team that can come back from a 3-1 deficit, it's the Kings, who have shown their character time and again this spring when pushed in a corner by St. Louis and San Jose.

But for the reasons listed above, and the sense that the Blackhawks are not going to take their foot off the pedal Saturday night, all signs point to this series ending shortly. It may not be Saturday, but it's hard to believe there's any way Chicago won't win one of the three possible remaining games.

And if it does end for L.A., there's no shame in it whatsoever for the Kings, who have valiantly and proudly defended their title with a trip to the conference finals, battling through injuries and showing their character in winning big games when it mattered.

But the Hawks are a step above right now, firing on all cylinders. Sometimes, there's just no answer for that no matter how much you want it.

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NBCSports.com / Bylsma: ‘I feel real comfortable about our power play’

Mike Halford

Jun 7, 2013, 1:01 PM EDT

Despite the fact Pittsburgh is scoreless on the power play in the Eastern Conference finals, Dan Bylsma isn’t showing concern.

On Friday, the Pens’ head coach was asked about his team’s inability to convert with the man advantage (0-for-12 thus far).

He said he’d relish the opportunity for similar chances in Game 4 — because he’s confident his team will convert.

“I’d love to put our players and our power play and have the puck on James Neal‘s stick in the slot, three times with the puck on his stick like he was last game,” Bylsma explained. “Malkin on a breakaway. More than two other opportunities. We’d like to see those opportunities again for our guys tonight.”

The Penguins have been unable to convert scoring chances into goals all series long, but Game 3 was the most glaring example of that struggle — Pittsburgh out-shot Boston 54-40 on the night (13-4 on the PP) and had six man advantage opportunities to the Bruins’ two.

The most stunning part might be how quickly Pittsburgh’s power play went from scorching hot to stone cold.

The Pens went 7-for-21 in the opening round against the Islanders (33. 3 percent) and 6-for-25 against the Sens in Round 2 (24 percent), scoring at least one PPG in nine of 11 games.

Their current three-game scoreless streak on the power play matches a season-high, and they never went four games without scoring on the power play.

So maybe Bylsma is right in feeling confident that, eventually, the PP will come around.

“I feel real comfortable about our power play and our guys cashing in on those,” he said. “Is that something we’re going to build on? Absolutely.”

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NBCSports.com / Bruins confirm Daugavins in for Campbell; Kelly likely to center Merlot Line

Mike Halford

Jun 7, 2013, 11:51 AM EDT

Boston head coach Claude Julien has figured out how to replace Gregory Campbell in the lineup for Friday’s Game 4 against the Penguins.

Kaspars Daugavins — who hasn’t played since Game 1 of the Toronto series — will draw into the lineup, Julien confirmed.

Based on the morning skate, the 25-year-old Latvian will play on a line with center Rich Peverley and winger Tyler Seguin, while Chris Kelly skated in Campbell’s place on the “Merlot Line” between Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille.

Daugavins’ insertion is a story, but it’ll be more interesting to see how Boston’s fourth line reacts to the loss of Campbell.

The 29-year-old was in the midst of an excellent playoff, scoring 3G-4A-7PTS in 15 games, sitting third among all forwards in hits (35) while winning over 50 percent of his draws.

The line had combined for 16 points this postseason and had developed some serious chemistry over the last three seasons, allowing head coach Claude Julien to confidently roll all four lines throughout the game.

Which is probably why Julien decided to drop Kelly — a more natural center — down to the Merlot Line, rather than drop Daugavins down (he’s a left winger).


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NBCSports.com / Habs owner: GM Bergevin ‘lives hockey, and our success starts with him’

Mike Halford

Jun 7, 2013, 11:03 AM EDT

According to Geoff Molson, there’s one person primarily responsible for Montreal’s turnaround season in 2013:

GM Marc Bergevin.

Bergevin, who was named one of the three finalists for the NHL’s general manager of the year award, was showered with praise as Molson addressed the media on Thursday.

“We had good coaching, but it all starts at the top and I’m not talking about me,” Molson told reporters, as per the Montreal Gazette. “I’m talking about (general manager Marc Bergevin).

“He lives hockey and our success starts with him.”

Hired last May, Bergevin completely overhauled Montreal’s front office and coaching staff (see here and here and here and here), culminating with the hire of head coach Michel Therrien.

In free agency, the rookie GM addressed the team’s lack of toughness by signing Brandon Prust and Colby Armstrong, then selected Alex Galchenyuk third overall at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

He also stood firm during the P.K. Subban negotiations, and was able to secure the Norris-nominated defenseman’s services for $2.88 million per season.

With those moves complete, Bergevin sat back and watched Montreal go from 15th in the Eastern Conference last year to Northeast Division champions this year — the club’s first divisional banner since 2008.

Pretty good first year on the job.

Overall, Molson was happy with just about everything this season save the finish, when injuries besieged the Habs and they were bounced in five games in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“We didn’t have any bad stretches until the end when we ran into injury problems,” Molson said. “But we went a long way toward building for the future.

“We’re headed in the right direction.”


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USA TODAY /Bruins, Rask sweep Penguins

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports 12:57 a.m. EDT June 8, 2013

BOSTON -- The offensively gifted Pittsburgh Penguins found Tuukka Rask to be a goaltending mystery they could not solve.

The Boston netminder stymied the Penguins for the fourth consecutive game Friday, making 26 saves to power the Bruins to a 1-0 victory to complete a stunning four-game sweep and earn their way back to the Stanley Cup Final. They won the Cup in 2011.

"There's no question that the performance (Rask) put in this series was elite," said Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma. "He was the difference in the series.There is no question."

Defenseman Adam McQuaid scored the only goal the Bruins needed when he launched a 50-foot shot over Pittsburgh goalie Tomas Vokoun at 5:01 of the third period to break a scoreless tie. He came off the bench on a change, and winger Brad Marchand found him with a pass as he entered the offensive zone.

"It feels good to be able to contribute that way when you don't do that normally," said McQuaid, who has two goals in 48 career playoff games.

The Bruins will face the winner of the Western Conference finals where the Chicago Blackhawks have a 3-1 series lead against the Los Angeles Kings going into Saturday's Game 5 in Chicago (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network).

With the goalie pulled in favor of an extra attacker, the Penguins had heavy pressure on Rask in the final minute.

"(Evgeni) Malkin had a great look," Rask said. "He didn't shoot it. He went around me and then 'Z" (Zdeno Chara) saved it. "

Rask gloved the last shot from Jarome Iginla, fitting because Iginla nixed a deal to go to Boston because he wanted to play for the Penguins.

The Penguins were the highest-scoring team in both the regular season and first two rounds of the NHL playoffs, but Rask limited them to two goals in four games. Neither Malkin nor Sidney Crosby had a point.

"Rask is playing phenomenal," said Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk. "He gives a chance to win, even if we are not at our best."

The Penguins couldn't explain their lack of offense, except to note how well Rask performed.

"If you look back, the chances were there," Crosby said. "You try to fight. You try to get through to the net and get rebounds, and sometimes they come to you, sometimes they don't. But obviously when you score two goals as a team … it doesn't sit well."

Rask, who became Boston's No. 1 goaltender this season when Tim Thomas took a hiatus, stopped 134 of 136 shots (.985 save percentage) in the series.

Even with Crosby and Malkin on the No. 1 unit, the Penguins' power play was 0-for-15 in the series.

"We just got a lot of lucky bounces and they hit a bunch of posts and Tuukka made a bunch of saves," Marchand said.

It was definitely more complicated than that, but even Boston coach Claude Julien said it didn't feel like it was a 4-0 series because he did feel as if his team got the majority of the breaks.

"Obviously we are a very good team and we went cold at the wrong time," Iginla said.

But the Penguins weren't selling the Bruins short. Boston has nine of its last 10 games, dating to its first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"They're playing great hockey," Iginla said. "They're playing tight and they are opportunistic."

The Bruins were playing their first game without forward Gregory Campbell, who suffered a broken leg last game while helping to kill a Penguins' power play. He received international attention for continuing to play on one good

leg for about 40 seconds before he could get off the ice. Kaspars Daugavins took his place in the lineup, but Campbell was in attendance, cheering on his teammates.

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USA TODAY / Stars acquire Sergei Gonchar's rights

Mike Brehm, USA TODAY Sports 8:10 p.m. EDT June 7, 2013

The Dallas Stars got an early jump on the free agency signing period by acquiring the rights to defenseman Sergei Gonchar on Friday.

They sent a conditional sixth-round pick in this month's draft to the Ottawa Senators for the rights to talk to the defenseman before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 5. If he signs, the Senators get the pick. If he doesn't, the Stars hang on to it.

Gonchar, 39, is in the final season of a three-year, $16.5 million contract and ranked second on the Senators with 27 points this season. His 24 assists ranked fifth among NHL defensemen.

Last summer, the Stars were aggressive, signing 40-year-olds Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney and trading for Derek Roy. But they traded Jagr and Roy (plus captain Brenden Morrow) as they missed the playoffs again.

That led to the firing of general manager Joe Nieuwendyk and the hiring of Jim Nill.


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USA TODAY /Penguins-Bruins Game 4 preview: Daugavins in

Kevin Allen, USA TODAY Sports 1:22 p.m. EDT June 7, 2013

Situation:The No. 4 Boston Bruins own a 3-0 lead on the No.1 Pittsburgh Penguins going into today's game in Boston (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network). If the Bruins win, they'll go to the Stanley Cup Final.

Goalies: The Penguins' Tomas Vokoun (6-4, 2.11 goals-against average, .931 save percentage) vs. the Bruins' Tuukka Rask (11-4, 1.85, .940). Rask stopped 108 of 110 shots in Games 1-3.

Who's hot: Bruins C Dave Krejci has 13 shots and four goals in the series.

Who's not: Penguins centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have no points in the series. Malkin looked dominant at times in Game 3. He has 20 shots in the series but is minus 5.

Lineup issues: Bruins, coach Claude Julien said LW Kaspars Daugavins would replace Gregory Campbell (broken leg) in the lineup. Daugavins, who kills penalties, hasn't played since Game 1 in the first round. "He's a gritty player," Julien said Friday. "He's strong on the puck, strong as an individual, he can shoot the puck. Got a lot of qualities." Daugavins was skating with the third line with C Chris Kelly moved to the fourth. Penguins, C Tyler Kennedy could be returning to the lineup.

What the Penguins want to do: 1. Play much the same way they played in Game 3. They were the better team but couldn't put the puck past Rask. 2. Make Rask's crease area look like a Boston freeway at rush hour; the Penguins have to put traffic in front of him. 3. Close the barn door before the horses get out. Own the puck, but don't own it at the expense of taking chances defensively.

What the Bruins want to do: 1. Play better than they did in Game 3. They need to dial up the intensity and efficiency about 10 degrees. They need to play more like they did in the first two games. 2. Put more pucks on the net. They need more chances against Vokoun. 3. Play as if it's Game 7. Forget that they're up 3-0 and don't take their foot off the gas.


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YAHOO SPORTS /Bruins in championship form, shut down star-studded Penguins for return to Stanley Cup final

Nicholas J. Cotsonika

BOSTON — The final shot, fittingly, came off the stick of Jarome Iginla. The future Hall of Famer chose to waive his no-trade clause for the Pittsburgh Penguins before the deadline, even though the Calgary Flames had worked out a deal with the Boston Bruins, because he wanted to play with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and their all-star cast. He figured they would give him his best chance at the Stanley Cup.

Tuukka Rask surrendered only two goals in four games against Pittsburgh in the East final. (USA Today)Iginla picked the wrong team. He wasn’t the only one. The Penguins were the favorites entering the Eastern Conference final – the NHL’s top scoring team in the regular season and the playoffs, featuring those two former MVPs and scoring champions. They had beaten the Bruins six straight times. They had won six straight in Boston. But it didn’t matter. Not even close.

When that final flurry ended and that final shot was stopped by goaltender Tuukka Rask, it was just one more futile attempt – and one more indignity for Iginla, who had watched an Adam McQuaid shot glance off his stick and into the Pittsburgh net earlier in the third period. The Bruins blanked the Penguins on Friday night, 1-0. They swept them in the series, 4-0. They smothered them, suffocated them, stifled them, stoned them – incredible, indelible goose eggs.

In four games – in more than 275 minutes of hockey, thanks to double overtime in Game 3 – the Bruins allowed all that star power and firepower only two goals. They never allowed the Penguins to lead for a second, never allowed them a power-play goal, never allowed Crosby or Malkin or Iginla or James Neal or Kris Letang a single point.

Rask stopped 134 of 136 shots. Many others hit sticks or bodies or posts. It seemed otherworldly, at least to the Penguins, who felt they had enough chances but couldn’t break through for some reason they couldn’t identify. Although he called Rask the difference in the series, coach Dan Bylsma said “it felt like something was keeping the puck out” and “there was a force around the net.” Ghosts from the old Boston Garden? Maybe, maybe not. But this will haunt the Penguins for a long, long time.

“I think we played exactly what was our game plan,” said Bruins center David Krejci. “There was no guy who was cheating on the ice. We all played with responsibility, we all took pride in our game, and we shut them down.”

There is a reason the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011. They shut down the top offensive team in the NHL at that time, too, surprising the Vancouver Canucks in a scrappy, physical, seven-game final. They have a chance to win the Cup for the second time in three years – and to become the first team to win it twice since the salary cap was introduced in 2005-06 – because they have the same coach, most of the same players, the same system and the same dogged approach.

Rask has replaced Tim Thomas, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player that year, but he has put up even better numbers than Thomas did then. Thomas posted a .940 save percentage. Rask is at .943. The Bruins still have Zdeno Chara, a winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman, and Patrice Bergeron, a winner of the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward. Though coach Claude Julien is short on sexy scorers, he has a long bench.

“There’s four lines who can play,” said Jaromir Jagr, the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer, whom the Bruins added at the deadline after they failed to land Iginla. “It’s a huge advantage. You’re not depending on one or two guys and everybody waiting for them to score. … Coach try to roll four lines, doesn’t matter what the situation is. Even we were up, 1-0, 10 minutes to go, we were still rolling four lines. Not many teams have the lineup to be able to do it.”

Sidney Crosby and several other Penguins stars were held pointless in the series. (AP)The Penguins have a point. They played well the first two periods of Game 1, and the 3-0 score was a little misleading. Though they stunk in Game 2, self-destructing in a 6-1 loss, they responded. Game 3 went to double OT, so it could have gone either way. Game 4 went into the

third period scoreless, so it could have gone either way. Echoing his teammates, Crosby said: “I don’t feel like they totally shut us down.”

But the Bruins played fairly consistently throughout the series. When they had the puck, they managed it well. When they didn’t have the puck, the forwards backchecked hard. The defensemen boxed out and didn’t let the Penguins near the net. Rask saw just about every puck and stopped just about everything he saw. The Penguins had few second chances. “We played the system perfectly,” Bergeron said.

Crosby would lose faceoffs to Bergeron – or win faceoffs only to find Bergeron glued to him. He struggled as badly as he ever has, outside of some flashes. Malkin kept running into Chara and was a non-factor except for a solid performance in Game 3.

“They’re great players,” Jagr said. “There’s no question about it. It’s not easy. It’s like everybody waiting for them to do something. … If you’re going to play against LeBron James, you’re going to put two guys on him, let the other guys beat you.”

The other guys couldn’t beat the Bruins, either. General manager Ray Shero went all-in before the trade deadline, adding Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Douglas Murray. He said this was his deepest team, even deeper than the one that won the Cup in 2009. It was a team that won without Crosby and Malkin when they were injured during the regular season. But it couldn’t win without them on the scoresheet in this series. The Pens looked out of sync too often and fell short of expectations, and this group can’t stay intact because of the cap.

“We have the assets to go far every year, and the management and the owners always help us create a good team,” said Letang, who struggled badly during the series after being named a finalist for the Norris Trophy. “So it’s always a fail when we don’t get our goal.”

Shero now has tough decisions to make. Does he bring back Bylsma? What does he do about guys who need new contracts or extensions, most notably Malkin and Letang? Does he make another aggressive trade like he did last summer when he moved Jordan Staal?

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli could have been in the same position. His team blew a 3-1 series lead to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round and faced a 4-1 deficit in the third period of Game 7. But after rallying to win, the Bruins have lost only once since, ripping through the New York Rangers in five games, sweeping the Penguins, rediscovering their identity.

Before the series, Bruins winger Milan Lucic compared the Penguins to the Miami Heat. After the game Friday night, he was asked if the Penguins were the Heat, what did that make the Bruins? He laughed. He paused.

“I got no answer for that,” he said.

The Boston Bruins don’t have to be anybody but themselves.

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YAHOO SPORTS / Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby humbled by Bruins, playoffs in East final

Nicholas J. Cotsonika

BOSTON — “You have high expectations. You expect to be in the finals every year. But if anything, I think you appreciate how tough it is to get there, what it takes, probably even more so.”

Sidney Crosby, the best player in the world, has been at his worst in the East final. (USA Today)Sidney Crosby said that in September 2010. If he only knew. He was 23 then. He had just experienced his first real failure, scoring one goal in seven games as the Pittsburgh Penguins were upset by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the playoffs, but it seemed like a blip, a bump, an aberration.

He already had a Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal, not to mention an MVP award, a scoring title and a goal-scoring title. It wasn’t a question of if he would win more, but how much more he would win. He was the face of the NHL with so much to look forward to. The Winter Classic was coming to the ’Burgh on New Year’s Day!

Well, we all know what has happened since, and we all know what is happening now.

A concussion suffered in that Winter Classic cost Crosby one playoff run, and injuries might have cost him two MVP awards, two scoring titles and a goal-scoring title, at least. Though the Penguins have advanced past the second round for the first time in four years, they face a 3-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference final against the Boston Bruins.

[Watch: Penguins risk stinging disappointment of being swept by Bruins]

Crosby has zero points in the series. He has lost his composure. He has turned over the puck. Not only has he failed to be a difference-maker, but he has even been a liability at times. The best player in the world has been at his worst.

Yes, Sidney Crosby is still the best player in the world. It would be foolish to lose perspective based on one series, especially based on only three games.

Remember when Claude Giroux outdueled Crosby last year? After Philadelphia finished its first-round upset of Pittsburgh, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette referred to Giroux as “the best player in the world,” taking a subtle but clear shot at Crosby. How does that look now? Giroux didn’t come close to Crosby in the regular season, and we can’t compare Giroux to Crosby in the playoffs because the Flyers didn’t make them.

The pressure is on Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to somehow lead the Penguins back against Boston. (Getty)Crosby has averaged .493 goals per game and 1.296 points per game in the playoffs over his career. But let’s say he is overrated, overhyped, over-adored by NBC and the powers that be. After all, he didn’t win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs’ most valuable player when the Penguins won the Cup in 2009; Evgeni Malkin did. He wasn’t named the best forward at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics despite his golden goal; Jonathan Toews was.

Malkin, a former MVP and scoring champion himself, also has zero points in this series. Toews, a Conn Smythe winner himself, has one point in four games for the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference final (and one goal and seven points in 16 playoff games overall).

This is hockey. Even the best players can be shut down when they run into targeted game plans, responsible defenses and great goaltenders night after night, plus unforgiving goal posts. Crosby and Malkin both hit posts in the third period of Game 3. Had one of those pucks gone in, maybe the Penguins would have cut their series deficit to 2-1 and we’d be writing about how a star came through in the clutch.

When Crosby and Malkin are healthy, that means they are playing leading roles, and that means they need to produce in proportion. They have played 81 playoff games together. In 65 of those games, at least one of them has recorded a point. The Pens have gone 45-20. In the other 16, neither has recorded a point. The Pens have gone 2-14.

But this is the first time since 2009 that Crosby has gone three straight playoff games without a point, and this is the first time since 2008 that Malkin has. That illustrates three things: One, they aren’t producing in this particular series, a huge disappointment for Pittsburgh. Two, this is rare. Three, depth matters. Crosby didn’t record a point in Games 5-7 of the ’09 Cup final, the most important games possible. The Penguins won the Cup, anyway. Max Talbot, a checker, scored both goals in the 2-1 clincher against the Detroit Red Wings.

One of the arguments against Crosby’s Hart Trophy candidacy this season was that the Penguins kept winning after he suffered a broken jaw, and so as valuable as he was, he wasn’t necessarily the most valuable player. The Pens have won without Crosby and Malkin in the lineup often in recent years.

Jarome Iginla and many other Penguins players have been silent against the Bruins. (USA Today)Why aren’t they winning without them on the scoresheet in this series, especially when general manager Ray Shero went all-in at the trade deadline and has called this the deepest team they have had? Because all that depth has suddenly gone dry, too. The Penguins have only two goals in more than 215 minutes of hockey in this series. Kris Letang, James Neal and Jarome Iginla are among the other Penguins with zero points against the Bruins. Had Craig Adams scored and not hit a post in double overtime of Game 3, the situation would not be so desperate.

“I think every team would love to make the Stanley Cup finals every year, but it’s not going to happen. I hope we don’t lose another time in the playoffs the rest of the time I play hockey, but percentages probably say that we will.”

Sidney Crosby said that in September 2010, too. It has been tough to win the Cup in any era, and one player has never made a team, no matter how great. Wayne Gretzky won four Cups in 20 seasons, Gordie Howe four in 26, Bobby Orr two in 12, Mario Lemieux two in 18. And this is the era of the salary cap and the concussion.

The Penguins had gone up, up, up in the Crosby era – missing the playoffs, losing in the first round, making the Cup final, winning the Cup – until that loss to the Canadiens. It has been a roller coaster since – a first-round loss with no Crosby or Malkin, a first-round loss with Crosby and Malkin, and now this. The Eastern Conference final is a step forward, but not far enough.

Crosby has risen to a new level, battled concussion problems, come back as great as before and suffered a broken jaw. He missed a month and put up seven goals and 15 points in 10 playoff games, and suddenly he's struggling.

He is still only 25. He is still the face of the NHL and should still have much to look forward to. Yet if anyone should know not to take anything for granted, it should be him, and if the Penguins lose this series, one more precious chance will be gone. Crosby will have been humbled, not just by his own mistakes, like his brutal giveaway that led to a goal early in Game 2, not just by the Bruins, who have smothered him, but by the game itself.

Crosby lost his helmet in double overtime of Game 3. He kept chugging with that head and jaw exposed, trying to create something, trying to do what the best player in the world is supposed to do. But not long afterward, the puck ended up in the Pittsburgh net instead. Just when he thought he appreciated how tough it was to get to the Cup final, it got even tougher.

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