SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF - NHL.comflyers.nhl.com/v2/ext/05.20.2011 nhlc.pdf · 2011-05-20 ·...

SPORT-SCAN DAILY BRIEF NHL 5/20/2011

Anaheim Ducks 569852 Ducks sign Etem to entry-level contract 569853 Ducks’ Parros stunned by Boogaard’s death

Atlanta Thrashers 569854 Bettman: No deal to move Thrashers so far 569855 No deal yet on Thrashers' search for new owner

Boston Bruins 569856 Lightning in a bottle 569857 Thomas gets back into stopper role 569858 Now that was more like it 569859 Bench gave Krejci heads-up 569860 Glue guy kept it together 569861 Tampa never found an offensive spark 569862 Coach couldn’t just roll along 569863 Tim Thomas, ‘D’ bottle Lightning 569864 Patrice Bergeron big boost to Bruins 569865 Tim Thomas beyond regular 569866 Zdeno Chara backbones lockdown defense 569867 David Krejci’s night: One big goal, one big hit 569868 Tyler Seguin’s breakout is hardly his alone 569869 Lightning rain down praise for B’s Tyler Seguin 569870 Patrice Bergeron expected to play in Game 3

Buffalo Sabres 569871 Bergeron returns to lineup 569872 Records cite slurs in arrest of Barnaby

Carolina Hurricanes 569873 Skinner receives rookie honor 569874 Canes, Ammons could link up 569875 Ice rink's troubles send shivers through skaters

Chicago Blackhawks 569876 Crawford's deal avoids repeat of Niemi situation 569877 Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford rewarded with $8M contract 569878 Frolik, Campoli next on list 569879 Crawford quite content with a new 3-year deal 569880 Don’t expect Hawks to bring back Turco 569881 Blackhawks ink Crawford to three-year deal

Detroit Red Wings 569882 Red Wings and assistant coach Brad McCrimmon part ways 569883 Valtteri Filppula's brother, Ilari, leaves Wings organization to play in Finland 569884 Brad McCrimmon won't return as Wings assistant 569885 Red Wings, Brad McCrimmon agree to part ways 569886 Red Wings' prospect Ilari Filppula heads back to Europe

Los Angeles Kings 569887 Sad story, and a look ahead

Minnesota Wild 569888 Ken Hitchcock on Wild candidate list 569889 Granlund to remain in Finland for 2011-12 569890 Wild close to signing Larsson; Koivu returns to military service 569891 Tom Powers: Minnesota Wild could be heading back to 'Norris'

New Jersey Devils 569892 Devils' Lemaire won't come out of retirement

New York Islanders 569893 Business group rips Coliseum site plan 569894 Evgeni Nabokov expected for training camp

New York Rangers 569895 Rangers sign prospect Christian Thomas

NHL 569896 Report: Thrashers sold to Winnipeg group 569897 Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg 569898 Why Bettman fights for Phoenix 569899 Hockey Hall tracks down missing Gretzky puck 569900 Quebec arena backers endure more hurdles 569901 Quebec arena deal hits speed bump 569902 Bloody mess for Sharks 569903 Sin bin lives up to its name in Vancouver 569904 Don't expect bad blood to boil over with Canucks, Sharks 569905 NHL turns its hopes back to Canada 569906 Bergeron the difference as Boston wins Game 3 569907 Atlanta Thrashers’ move to Winnipeg not complete, parties insist 569908 Thrashers Appear Poised to Relocate to Winnipeg

Ottawa Senators 569909 Senators commit to Greening, Smith

Philadelphia Flyers 569910 Flyers' Zherdev subject of conflicting reports of domestic violence 569911 Flyers' Zherdev arrested after alleged dispute in Russia 569912 Flyers acknowledge Zherdev reports

Phoenix Coyotes 569913 Phoenix Coyotes sign newly acquired center Ethan Werek

San Jose Sharks 569914 Coach Todd McLellan's message to underperforming Sharks isn't so subtle 569915 Toothless Sharks have a familiar sinking feeling 569916 Sharks notebook: Vitriol for Canucks on the rise after second loss 569917 Coaches trade barbs over rough play by Sharks' Ben Eager 569918 Sharks eagerly follow Ben Eager to the penalty box in loss 569919 Sharks must get improved play from 2nd, 3rd lines 569920 Canucks feeding on Sharks' lack of composure 569921 No discipline for Ben Eager

St Louis Blues 569922 Growth spurt for Blues' Pietrangelo

Tampa Bay Lightning 569923 This isn't the way to beat the Bruins 569924 Early mistake too much to overcome 569925 Roloson: Amnesia key to his success 569926 Bruins' Bergeron return makes immediate difference 569927 Bruins blank Bolts, take 2-1 series lead 569928 Bucs' Morris makes bold statement for Lightning 569929 Roads around Forum will be closed for NHL playoff games 569930 Lightning focus on defense to end 'pond hockey' scoring sprees 569931 For Lightning's Roloson, boy's short story melts ice 569932 Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas has big Game 3 against Tampa Bay Lightning 569933 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins, Game 3 reaction: What they're saying 569934 Maybe Boston Bruins are simply better than Tampa Bay Lightning 569935 Tampa Bay Lightning loses to Boston Bruins 2-0 in Game 3 of East final, Bruins lead series 2-1 569936 Tampa Bay Lightning-Boston Bruins news and notes 569937 Commissioner Gary Bettman not surprised by Tampa Bay Lightning's quick improvement 569938 Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins rediscover defense 569939 Cheap Trick to perform after Game 4 569940 Former Tampa Bay Lightning player Fredrik Modin retires 569941 Swap your Boston sports gear for Tampa Bay

Vancouver Canucks 569943 Mystery Canucks flasher a 'chauvinist pig' 569944 Fan gets fresh with Eager 569945 Canucks shrug off 'coward' talk 569946 Low shots a high point for Canucks 569947 Canucks' Samuelsson has successful surgery 569948 Struggling Sharks again in troubled waters against hungry Canucks 569949 Canucks’ Mikael Samuelsson out for the season after sports hernia surgery 569950 Canucks, Daniel Sedin keep their heads while Sharks lose theirs 569951 Canucks’ Vigneault points finger at Sharks coach McLellan for Ben Eager's act 569952 Confident Raffi Torres back on his game for Canucks 569953 Sharks coach Todd McLellan wants more out of team’s second and third lines 569954 Spitballin’ on the Canucks, the Sharks, boobs, guts, and fists 569955 Canucks More Than Eager 569956 Vanishing act puts Sharks in peril of extinction 569957 Canucks give peace a chance, find themselves six wins from Cup 569958 Trend Of One Bad Goal A Night Continues For Canucks' Luongo 569959 Torres into the groove 569960 McLellan eager to see more Eager - from all his players 569961 Sharks out of sync in Conference final 569962 Higgins feels right at home 569963 Odd couple rock solid 569964 Samuelsson has successful surgery, out of lineup for season

Washington Capitals 569942 Leonsis on Capitals: ‘I don’t think our window is closing’

Websites 569965 CNN/Sports Illustrated / INSIDE THE NHL Bruins' discipline pays in key win 569966 ESPN / Lightning stars not themselves in Game 3 569967 ESPN / Sharks' second line stalls vs. Canucks 569968 FOXSports.com / / Bruins, Lightning keeping it close 569969 Sportsnet.ca / A year in change 569970 Sportsnet.ca / Missing in action 569971 Sportsnet.ca / Reflection of the past 569972 TSN.CA / Can't debate Winnipeg's love for the Jets name 569973 USA TODAY / Tim Thomas' net play helps Bruins seize lead vs. Lightning 569974 YAHOO SPORTS / Sharks are making all of the wrong moves

SPORT-SCAN, INC. 941-284-4129

569852 Anaheim Ducks

Ducks sign Etem to entry-level contract

Eric Stephens,

The Ducks have signed top-level prospect Emerson Etem to a three-year entry level contract, the club announced Thursday.

Etem

Etem, 18, was a first-round pick of the club and the 29th selection overall in the 2010 entry draft, the same one in which rookie Cam Fowler was taken by the Ducks as the 12th selection. The contract contains a $900,000 NHL salary — which has a $90,000 bonus factored in — and a $67,500 American Hockey League salary for each of the three years.

Also a product of the U.S. national under-18 team, Etem said he got a call from his Century City-based Eustace King, who informed him that he and the Ducks were in talks of signing him “today or, who knows, a year from now.”

Apparently, the process on Etem’s end took only an hour as he signed the contract after going over with it with King, his mother, Patricia, and Venice-based trainer, T.R. Goodman.

“It was pretty crazy,” Etem said. ”I wasn’t really expecting it to happen this quick. … I’m pretty excited. Pretty stoked.”

The Long Beach native, whose selection by the Ducks in front of many family members and friends was met by a loud ovation at Staples Center last summer, had a big second junior season with the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers as he had 45 goals and 35 assists in 65 regular-season games.

Etem also produced in the postseason as he had 10 goals and 11 assists in 15 WHL playoff games as the Tigers reached the Eastern Conference finals before being swept in four games by the eventual league champion Kootenay Ice. After taking a week to rest with his family, the 6-foot, 195-pound winger got back into training with Goodman this week.

“Obviously I’m training harder and harder every summer,” Etem said. ”I feel like I’m mentally and physically stronger. Going back to Medicine Hat was a great opportunity for me to build a more overall rounded game. I think I did that.”

As an ending point to his season, Etem got into his first fight as he took out some frustration on Kootenay’s Brayden McNabb, who just signed with Buffalo.

“If you ask me, I won,” he said. “But you can take a look at the video and judge for yourself. It’s pretty cool for me to look back on that and build a lot of confidence from that.”

Hockey’s Future lists Etem as the Ducks’ top prospect overall in their most recent rankings. After getting a look in the preseason last fall before being sent back to the Tigers, Etem believes that he has put himself closer to his dream of playing in the NHL.

“I think every year it gets more and more realistic,” he said. ”I know last year, obviously I had an open mind. There weren’t many spots open. Every year you have to go in with the mindset of knowing and wanting to make the team. That’s what I did last year and it’s no different than this year.”

Only two other California-born and trained players have been taken higher in the NHL draft than Etem — Jonathon Blum of Rancho Santa Margarita by Nashville with the 23rd pick in 2007 and Beau Bennett of Gardena by Pittsburgh with the 20th selection in 2010.

Orange County Register: LOADED: 05.20.2011

569853 Anaheim Ducks

Ducks’ Parros stunned by Boogaard’s death

Eric Stephens, Staff writer

As he was about to enter the movie theater Friday night, George Parros was doing the simple task of checking his cell phone for any text messages when he came across one that he thought was “some sort of twisted joke.”

It was at that moment when he learned that veteran NHL forward Derek Boogaard was found dead in his Minneapolis apartment.

“I thought it was a joke because I’d just seen him a couple of days before in Hermosa Beach where I live,” Parros said. ”I had a chat with him and everything. It was disturbing.”

Boogaard, 28, had been in Southern California on vacation with his brother, Aaron, when Parros met up with the fellow enforcer in a chance meeting last week. Known more for his time spent with the Minnesota Wild, the player known as the “Boogeyman” was coming off a concussion-shortened first season with the New York Rangers.

Having had a friendly conversation with him just days ealier made the news of his death all the more stunning to the Ducks’ big right wing.

“I was just coming back from the grocery store and he was hanging out on the corner of my street with his brother and friends,” Parros said. ”I did a double take and saw him across the way so I went over and said hello.

“I asked him how he was feeling and he said he was just having some vacation time and that he’d be back in July to work out for a couple of weeks. It was definitely shocking to hear what happened.”

The cause of Boogaard’s death has not be determined and it figures to be weeks before one will be determined, pending the results of an autopsy performed by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office. Local police do not believe that any foul play was involved.

A public memorial service was held Sunday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and a private funeral will take place Saturday in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Boogaard suffered what is known to be his fourth concussion as the result a Dec. 9 fight against Ottawa’s Matt Carkner and reportedly had trouble dealing with the lingering symptoms as he didn’t play another game last season. The New York Post reported that the 6-foot-7 winger had been in the NHL/NHLPA Substance Abuse and Behavioral Program.

There has been no connection linking the concussions to his death but Boogaard’s family donated their son’s brain to a group of researchers at Boston University, who are studying whether there is a link between repeated head trauma and debilitating health effects in athletes.

The family of the late Bob Probert donated the feared tough guy’s brain to the Sports Legacy Institute, which teamed with the BU reserachers to find that former NHL player Reggie Fleming, who suffered from dementia in his later years, had died of a degenerative disease identified as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Parros said any further study on the impact of concussions or any form of head trauma is welcomed by him and that the long-term effect of fighting is “something you have to think about at some point, doing what we do.”

“I feel like every player on the ice is susceptible to concussions,” he said. ”Fighters even more so. But it’s something you have have to think about and something you have to respect. I’ve always actually been more concerned with how my hands are going to feel after I’m done. I’m scared of rheumatoid arthritis. Knock on wood, I haven’t had any concussions. You never really know.

“I’m glad that they did decide to donate his brain. I think more research needs to be done. It certainly is something that needs to be looked at and something that’s going to help everybody. As far as concussions in general, they happen. Whatever we can do to prevent any sort of long-term damage needs to be looked at.”

The two dropped the gloves in 2007 and 2009 with each of them holding his own. Parros said his biggest challenge in going up against Boogaard was making sure the 245-pound forward did hurt him or any of his teammates

with a check, saying that “if you saw him, you can get out of the way but if you didn’t see him, you could be in trouble.”

“I don’t think either one of us were incredibly dirty out there,” he said. ”He definitely probably hit some guys later than I would have liked. But he’s hard to stop once he gets started. I think each of us respected the other’s presence out there on the ice and fighthing capabilities.”

But their most memorable meeting on the ice didn’t end in a fight. The two traded words and shoves during the warm-up prior to Game 5 of the 2007 Western Conference quarterfinals, which the Ducks ultimately won on the way to the Stanley Cup.

“It was weird,” Parros recalled. ”I remember it clearly. He went and cross-checked Chris Pronger in the back of the shoulders along the red line. I kind of couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I don’t know what sparked it. I sprinted right over and pushed him up against the boards.

“I remember him pushing me and I tripped on a stick that was behind me. All of a sudden, I was down on my knees. I had to get back up real quick and we started pushing each other and everyone started circling around I was waiting to see if anything escalated from there.

“I think everyone kept their cool after that. We had some choice words and left it at that.”

Even with their battles, Parros said that Boogaard left an impact on the ice and off it.

“I know that he was a heck of nice guy and I’m aware of all the charity stuff that he’s done and been involved with,” he said. “Any time you lose someone like that, it’s always hard.

“I think that his legacy on the ice is obviously one of a pugilistic nature. He was damn good at it. He definitely raised the bar for everyone else for doing the same thing we did. He was a force to be reckoned with. Just a tragic loss.”

Orange County Register: LOADED: 05.20.2011

569854 Atlanta Thrashers

Bettman: No deal to move Thrashers so far

By Tim Tucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

9:43 p.m. Thursday, May 19, 2011

The future of the Thrashers was a hot topic on NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's weekly radio show Thursday night.

Bettman said no deal has been made to move the Thrashers to Winnipeg -– and criticized reports of a possible move -- but he did not rule out relocation unless someone steps forward to own the team here.

"We get reports, speculation, that the team's gone. And there's no deal," Bettman said. "I can tell you that with certainty that there is no deal for this team to move. Am I predicting that there will never be or that there won't be at some point in time? No, I'm not saying there is or there isn't."

Bettman said the NHL always wants to keep a team in its current market but must have an owner to operate it there.

"The decision as to whether or not to move a club doesn't come out of looking at two markets and saying, 'This market would be better than that market,'" he said. "We try to keep our clubs where they are. And if it is ultimately determined that a club has to move, generally the reason . . . is because nobody wants to own a team there anymore, nobody wants to fund the losses and [the current owner] can't find a buyer."

The Thrashers' ownership group has said that it faces a "sense of urgency" to shed the team's operating losses and that if a buyer can't be found to keep the team in Atlanta, relocation is a possibility.

The first two callers to Bettman's show, broadcast on satellite radio and the Internet, were Thrashers fans. The first said Atlanta will support a hockey team if ownership meets the fans halfway by putting a competitive product on the ice.

"I understand and respect that," Bettman said, "but the key to this may be, in the final analysis, whether or not somebody wants to own the team in Atlanta. In the absence of either the current ownership group continuing to own and operate or somebody stepping forward who wants to buy the club, that becomes the situation that concerns us or any sports league.

"We'll only leave a market -- in this case Atlanta, picking up on the caller's statements –- if we have to. And hopefully the current ownership group will figure a way out of this that makes sense for everybody," he said.

The caller told Bettman that the Thrashers drew strong crowds in their first five seasons and that a fan rally will be held Saturday to show support for the team.

Noting that the Thrashers have ranked near the bottom of the league in attendance the past two seasons, Bettman said: "I understand that there may be dissatisfaction there, but demonstrating your dissatisfaction by not going to games is an interesting strategy. It's your absolute right. But if it becomes a turnoff for anybody who might want to buy the franchise, the long-term consequences could be severe.

"It will be interesting to see how many people show up at the rally on Saturday," Bettman said.

He declined to put a deadline on a decision about whether the team will be moved.

"Obviously, as it relates to next season, time is getting short," he said. "We have to do a schedule. We're doing a schedule with our broadcast partners; we have to have it done for clubs by the end of June. And it's not something you can do in 28 or 48 hours."

Atlanta Journal Constitution LOADED: 05.20.2011

569855 Atlanta Thrashers

No deal yet on Thrashers' search for new owner

Associated Press

The Thrashers still belong to Atlanta - for now. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and True North Sports and Entertainment denied a deal has been reached to sell the team to True North, which would relocate it to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The Globe and Mail in Toronto reported Thursday that the Thrashers' agreement with True North was done and will be announced in Winnipeg on Tuesday. True North is led by Winnipeg businessman Mark Chipman and billionaire David Thomson, whose family owns The Globe and Mail.

On his weekly radio show Thursday, Bettman said no deal has been made to move the Thrashers to Winnipeg.

"We get reports, speculation, that the team's gone," Bettman said. "And there's no deal. I can tell you that with certainty that there is no deal for this team to move. Am I predicting that there will never be or that there won't be at some point in time? No, I'm not saying there is or there isn't."

True North spokesman Scott Brown told The Canadian Press the report is "not true."

While no deal is final, the reprieve for Atlanta could be short-lived. One of the Thrashers' lead owners, Bruce Levenson, has said his top priority has been to find a buyer who would keep the team in Atlanta.

The two-year search for a buyer to keep the team in Atlanta hasn't been successful.

Winnipeg lost the Jets in 1996 when the team moved to Phoenix because of financial problems. Atlanta lost a team to a Canadian city in 1980 when the Flames moved to Calgary, Alberta.

Bettman, who fielded calls from Thrashers fans on his show, said the league will consider moving a team only when there is no owner willing to keep the team in its current city.

"The key to this may be, in the final analysis, whether or not somebody wants to own the team in Atlanta," Bettman said. "In the absence of either the current ownership group continuing to own and operate or somebody stepping forward who wants to buy the club, that becomes the situation that concerns us or any sports league.

"We'll only leave a market - in this case Atlanta, picking up on the caller's statements - if we have to. And hopefully the current ownership group will figure a way out of this that makes sense for everybody."

The Thrashers are still planning a select-a-seat event for season-ticket holders at Philips Arena on Saturday. Fans are planning a rally before the event.

Levenson would not say on Thursday if Atlanta fans can still make an impact with a strong turnout at the rally on Saturday.

"I understand their frustration but as I have said we are not allowed to comment on discussions with potential buyers and we must operate the business as usual until we find a solution," Levenson told The Associated Press.

Bettman will follow the turnout by Thrashers fans at Saturday's rally.

"It will be interesting to see how many people show up at the rally on Saturday," Bettman said.

Levenson would not comment on the Toronto report or the status of talks with any potential buyer.

Augusta Chronicle LOADED: 05.20.2011

569856 Boston Bruins

Lightning in a bottle

Bruins grab series lead with shutout

By Fluto Shinzawa

TAMPA — Through a tangle of five Lightning jerseys, Milan Lucic saw one lone stick poised to strike in the low slot. The blade had the curve of a righthanded shot. Nathan Horton was curling high at the right circle, so it wasn’t him. Lucic knew then that the stick belonged to David Krejci.

“They were all focused on Nathan in the slot,’’ Lucic said. “I saw five black sweaters and I saw a stick there. I knew that’s where Krech was. Even though I didn’t see him, I just saw his stick, so I put it there.’’

From deep in the right corner, Lucic connected with a crisp pass to Krejci’s tape. Dwayne Roloson leaned forward, taking away Krejci’s forehand, so the center turned to his backhand and flipped the puck into the net.

And just like that, 69 seconds into the night, the Bruins had scored the only goal they needed in a 2-0 win over the Lightning at St. Pete Times Forum. The Bruins now have a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

“Our last three games, they scored the first goal,’’ Krejci said. “We wanted to get the first one, especially on the road to put the pressure on them. I think that’s what happened. It was a big one for us. I thought we played well again tonight. It was a good win.’’

Before Game 3, the Lightning had pledged to be tighter defensively. They did a rotten job of executing that command on Krejci’s goal.

After Johnny Boychuk rapped the puck into the corner and Lucic hunted it down, Tampa’s defensive structure crumbled. Brett Clark, as the left-side defenseman, made the correct move of engaging Lucic in a race for the puck. Partner Victor Hedman should have stayed at home in front of the net. But Hedman was sucked into the play and pursued Lucic. Mistake No. 1.

Once Lucic settled the puck, Horton scurried to the right circle to offer his wingman support. As the center, Dominic Moore stayed high and closed off Lucic’s passing lane to Horton. But right wing Steve Downie, instead of hustling to fill the hole Hedman left in front of the net, also strayed toward Horton. Mistake No. 2.

After Krejci received Lucic’s pass, Roloson went down, anticipating a forehand wrist shot. Mistake No. 3. Krejci had no trouble pulling to his backhand for the goal.

As the game evolved and it was clear the Bruins were putting on a 60-minute lesson on fundamentals, it was clear that one series of mistakes was enough to bury the Lightning. The Bruins allowed five goals to Tampa in each of the first two games. Last night, the Lightning got none because of a three-pronged effort.

The Bruins mastered puck possession, mostly because of their strength on faceoffs (57 percent). When the Lightning entered the Boston zone, the defense, led by Zdeno Chara (28:27 of ice time), smothered the Lightning’s top-heavy attack.

“To me, without a doubt, it was his best game of the series,’’ coach Claude Julien said of Chara. “[Dennis] Seidenberg, even Boychuk were really good tonight. [Boychuk] had a bit of a tough night the other night. So our back end did a great job. We never got caught with outnumbered situations like we did in the first two games. I thought we really adjusted well. We were alert, really focused, and determined tonight.’’

Whenever the Lightning got rare scoring sniffs, Tim Thomas was there to deny them time and again. Although Thomas made timely saves in the 6-5 Game 2 win, he wasn’t at his sharpest. Last night, Thomas was perfect — challenging shooters, sponging up shots through traffic, and pulling out the top-shelf stuff when necessary. Thomas’s best save might have been in the first, when he booted out a Vincent Lecavalier chance with a rocket of a right pad.

“I know he gave a lot of credit to the guys in front of him for letting him see those pucks,’’ Julien said. “But he had to make the big saves when he had to. He did that.’’

At 8:12 of the third, the Bruins got some insurance via a goal so dirty it was beautiful. Lucic started the sequence with a backhand chip to keep the puck in the zone. Tyler Seguin, hesitant to engage in races for the puck during the regular season, won the first of three straight battles. Seguin settled the puck, then sent it down the wall for Chris Kelly. In turn, Kelly fought off Lecavalier and Marc-Andre Bergeron for the puck and kept the cycle going. Michael Ryder hunted down the puck, then gave it to Andrew Ference at the point.

Because of how hard the forwards had worked the Lightning down low, Ference had plenty of room to let a shot go. With Kelly setting a screen on Roloson, Ference slapped the puck into the net. It was as blue-collar a goal as the Bruins have scored in the playoffs.

“We have a lot of guys who are good at reading the play and getting on the puck on the forecheck,’’ said Ference. “It’s a strength of a lot of our guys. We have an easy job of watching them work it and work hard. If we give them an outlet, sometimes there’s a lane. Sometimes there’s not. But if we can filter shots at the net when they do all the hard work, we have to try and reward them for what they do.’’

Boston Globe LOADED: 05.20.2011


Thomas gets back into stopper role

Goalie was at home in defensive showdown

By Matt Porter

TAMPA — The narrative of Game 3 is the Bruins getting back to what made them successful. Were Tim Thomas not as good as he was, it would have been a much different story.

A returning Patrice Bergeron was his usual self and Boston’s defensemen handled the puck with care. They took an early lead and topped it off with a third-period goal. Lanes were filled, sticks were tied up, layers of backchecking pressure were applied.

And back in net, Thomas authored a masterpiece, turning back all 31 Tampa Bay shots to help the Bruins take a 2-1 series lead.

It was Thomas’s second career playoff shutout. The first was a 19-save effort against Carolina in Game 5 of the 2009 Eastern Conference semifinals. This one, coming on the heels of a 6-5 win in Game 2, was a cold shower for anyone thinking the Bruins would stray too far from what had brought them seven — now six — wins away from the ultimate prize.

“I was able to play more under control tonight, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that we played the way that I’m used to,’’ Thomas said. “So I felt comfortable in a game like that.’’

Spotted a goal by David Krejci just 69 seconds in, Thomas handled most of Tampa’s chances with ease. Once he broke a sweat, he was even sharper.

Five minutes after Krejci’s goal, Teddy Purcell carried into the zone against a backpedaling Zdeno Chara, with Vincent Lecavalier lurking to the left. Thomas put a pad on Purcell’s slapper from above the circle, and needed to spin back into position to deny Lecavalier’s follow-up chance from 20 feet.

“They came in pretty fast, and I was moving when the first shot came,’’ Thomas said. “I made the save, but as I was doing it my momentum carried me toward the corner. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lecavalier was going to get the rebound. So that’s when I did the spin-o-rama. I spun around, got to the center of the net, and was fortunate enough to get a leg on it.’’

Dennis Seidenberg blocked Martin St. Louis’s follow-up chance, one of 14 blocks made by the Bruins. (Tomas Kaberle led the team with three.)

“Offensively, I don’t feel that we paid the price,’’ St. Louis said. “We just needed to make his job a little tougher, and we just didn’t do that tonight.’’

The Bruins held the Lightning to six shots in the second period. In search of the tying goal, Tampa put 15 shots on net in the third, mostly from the outside. The Lightning didn’t crash the crease enough to disrupt Thomas. With their netminder so squarely in the zone, the Bruins’ defense let him see the puck and gobble it up.

“We knew that this game was going to be like this,’’ Steven Stamkos said. “These are the games that we usually play well in, one-goal games, we usually win them. Give them credit, they played good defensively and Thomas played good when he had to.’’

Midway through the third, Thomas stood up to trap Marc-Andre Bergeron’s straightaway slapper, and kicked away a Sean Bergenheim turnaround chance.

“We didn’t challenge him enough, in front of him,’’ St. Louis added. “As the game goes on, he feels better about himself and gains confidence that he carries through the rest of the game.’’

For a team that allowed five goals in a wide-open Game 2, this was a piece of factory-produced machinery, straight from Claude Julien’s assembly line.

“It felt more normal,’’ defenseman Andrew Ference. “Our team finds that comfort zone of just making plays.’’

“He’ll give credit to the people in front of him. And I think it’s very deserving, because our team did play well in front of him,’’ Julien said of Thomas. “But when they had some great opportunities he was also there to make the big

saves. So, I think it’s really tonight one of those games where you want to spread the credit around.’’

Thomas had done that moments before.

“I’m kind of a product of the way the game goes in front of me,’’ he said.



Now that was more like it

By Bob Ryan

TAMPA — Six wins to go . . . or is it a bit too early to start talking like that?

But it’s true. With last night’s 2-0 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning — oh, yes it was — the Boston Bruins are six wins shy of hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1972.

Facts are facts.

There’s a lot of grueling hockey ahead of them, but the Bruins have now won 10 of 12 games since losing those first two eminently winnable games to the Canadiens. Forgotten was the 5-2 debacle in Game 1 of this series, and likewise forgotten was the weirdly wonderful 6-5 hair-raiser in Game 2 Tuesday. Even if this series were stretched to the best of 99, you stand zero chances of seeing another game like that. The coaches would bring shotguns to the arena before they would allow a similar occurrence to take place.

Last night was a real, live Stanley Cup game, and that’s the way Claude Julien likes it.

“Tonight’s game probably resembled a little more of what everyone expected from this series,’’ said the Boston mentor. “Both teams were tough to score against. We were stronger [than in Game 2], made better decisions. We were more aware of what was going on tonight.’’

The Bruins scored early, and there was a reasonable chance that particular goal would stand up as the game’s only tally. Milan Lucic fired a pass in front, and an alert David Krejci stopped the puck, deftly shifted it from his right to his left, and flipped in an artful backhander past Dwayne Roloson. The Bruins were on the scoreboard a mere one minute and nine seconds into the game.

Gee, you think Tim Thomas liked that?

It was the only goal the Bruins goaltender needed. He was, once again, good when he had to be and great when he had to be, but the truth is he only had to be great on rare occasions, one of them coming about five minutes after the Krejci goal.

Thomas had to contend with a bang-bang-bang sequence consisting of three shots in, oh, maybe 8-10 seconds. That had to raise his pulse rate a bit.

“Things happened pretty fast,’’ he said.

After making an initial stop, things got a little dicey.

“My momentum had carried me away,’’ he said, “and out of the corner of my eye I saw [the ever dangerous Vincent] Lecavalier. That’s when I had to do a spin, and I was able to get my leg on it in front of the net. The third one from [Martin] St. Louis, someone else stopped it before it ever got to me.’’

Well, OK, so he only made bang-bang saves, and not bang-bang-bang. But it was important stuff, all the same.

“Coming right after we had scored, it felt good,’’ Thomas declared. “I think it helped give our team confidence.’’

Forget the shots on goal numbers, which tell a big, fat lie. Tampa Bay may have had 31 shots to Boston’s 25, officially, but anyone who watched the game knows the preponderance of serious action was in front of Roloson, not Thomas. The Bruins forced the action throughout, taking full advantage of, among other things, the return to action of Patrice Bergeron, who lifted the team with his skill, energy, and just plain moxie. In contrast to the third period of Game 2, when the surging Lightning chopped a three-goal deficit to one and who seemed to have 117,000 chances in the final two minutes alone, the Bruins always seemed to be in firm control of this one, even though more than 50 minutes after the Krejci goal the score was still 1-0.

At that point, Andrew Ference unloaded a shot from blue-line territory on Roloson. About all that can be said with certainty is that there was a flurry of activity in front of Roloson and that somehow the puck dribbled through the ol’ five-hole and into the net. It was clearly 2-0 at 8:12; of that there was no doubt. But who dunnit?

It took more than 2 1/2 minutes before the PA man announced Golden Child Tyler Seguin as the perp. But there was even more review once the game was over, and at last came the official announcement: Ference, from Michael Ryder and Chris Kelly. Seguin? Ah, that would be a no. Perhaps the NHL should consider instituting a new category called “Team Goal.’’

If Julien was the happiest man in the house to see a game that was played, shall we say, systematically, close behind would have been Thomas. He could not have enjoyed the constant barrage of two-on-ones and three-on-twos that materialized in Game 2, which made table hockey look calm.

“It felt more like a ‘normal’ game that we played most of the year,’’ Thomas conceded. “Playoff games are faster and played with more energy with more chances than in regular-season games, but that was more like Boston Bruins hockey.’’

For Thomas, who has been magnificent more often than not the whole year, it was his first shutout of the Second Season. He was more than willing to credit his defense, and Julien agreed that it was a 50-50 deal.

And it really was a 2-0 butt-kicking, which guarantees nothing in the long run. Prepare to hear countless references to the concept of “Desperate Hockey’’ as the Lightning prepare for Game 4. Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins have 10 down and six to go, and no one can deny that.



Bench gave Krejci heads-up

He heeded warning, braced for a big hit

By Fluto Shinzawa

TAMPA — Late in the first period of Boston’s 2-0 win over Tampa Bay last night, David Krejci started to turn up the ice. During the turn, Krejci heard his teammates on the bench screaming. They had spotted Marc-Andre Bergeron roll over the boards, sprint toward Krejci, and prepare to launch himself into the center.

“They gave me a little heads-up,’’ Krejci said. “I got a little ready for it.’’

So even though Krejci never saw Bergeron approaching, he had an idea that a freight train was coming. That heads-up might have been the warning that saved Krejci from a serious injury.

Bergeron flattened Krejci at center ice and was called for elbowing at 17:29 of the first. Krejci remained on one knee for several moments, then skated to the bench, where he remained for the rest of the period.

NHL protocol requires players who are suspected of having suffered a concussion to report to a quiet room for evaluation. Krejci, who missed six games this season because of a concussion, never left the bench, which indicated he hadn’t suffered a head injury.

Krejci didn’t play for the rest of the first, but he came out for the second, then finished the game. Krejci scored one goal, landed two shots, won 13 of 18 faceoffs, and recorded two takeaways in 18:34 of ice time.

“Not bad,’’ Krejci said of how he felt. “I was a little sore. But I feel pretty good.’’

Thornton takes a seat Shawn Thornton had a good idea that when Patrice Bergeron came in, he would be the odd man out. The fourth-line right wing was averaging 6:30 of ice time in the playoffs. Unlike linemates Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell, Thornton doesn’t kill penalties.

But Thornton went through his regular pregame routine. He participated in the morning skate. Thornton was on the ice for warm-ups. And even though he didn’t take his usual spot during line rushes, Thornton’s presence was felt.

“I’ve had the pleasure of playing with him since we came into the organization at the same time,’’ said Milan Lucic. “He’s never going to complain or feel sorry for himself in a situation like that. He knows his role. That’s what makes him who he is.’’

Assuming everybody stays healthy, Thornton will be in suit and tie again in Game 4.

“It’s about the team right now, and through a long series, you see changes all the time,’’ coach Claude Julien said before the game. “The best thing is, whoever that player ends up being has to be ready to jump into the lineup when he’s called upon. That’s been the case since Day 1.’’

Complimentary gift Throughout the series, Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher and the Lightning players have been quick to praise the Bruins.

Boucher on Bergeron: “He’s a great player. Great individual.’’

Boucher on Tim Thomas prior to Game 2: “I’m sure Tim Thomas is going to be at his best.’’

Steven Stamkos on Tyler Seguin: “He’s playing really well. He’s been their top player.’’

Yesterday morning, when asked about the Lightning’s approach toward slowing down Seguin, Julien turned the conversation toward the Lightning’s never-ending praise, starting with Boucher, who has a degree in psychology.

“Tampa’s been very good at complimenting our team,’’ said Julien. “They do a really good job of that.

“I think Tampa’s got some pretty good speed themselves, with [Martin] St. Louis and those kinds of guys. Stamkos. They’ve got the same kinds of players. I think they’re pretty well-served on their side.

“I don’t think they’re worried so much about Tyler more than they want to flatter him. We know the mind games that teams play. Right now, we’re just focused on what we have to do here.’’

A nod to Fleming The Lightning are without assistant coach Wayne Fleming, who underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. Fleming was an assistant with the Islanders when Chara was on Long Island. Asked how much Fleming helped him develop, Chara said, “Quite a bit. He was always positive, always in a good mood. He was willing to share things, help you out. Obviously it’s very unfortunate that he’s dealing with a sickness. Just one of those things. I texted him a few weeks ago. He seems to be doing better.’’ . . . For the first time in the series, St. Louis skated alongside Vincent Lecavalier. St. Louis had been with Stamkos. Lecavalier and St. Louis combined for seven shots.



Glue guy kept it together

By Kevin Paul Dupont

TAMPA — Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup last night and the Bruins didn’t allow a goal. Most of that credit goes to goalie Tim Thomas (31 saves), of course, but with Bergeron sidelined with a concussion in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals, Thomas and the Bruins allowed the Lightning to score 10 goals.

Do we need further evidence that Bergeron is the “glue guy’’ for the Bruins? He is not the fastest guy on the roster. Not the strongest, most prolific, and by no means the most sensational. But to a large degree, as Bergeron goes so go the Bruins, and he now has part ownership of nine of their 10 wins in the 2011 postseason.

Sure, the Bruins can win without “Bergy,’’ their soft-spoken general, as they did with their impressive rebound victory in Game 2 against the Light ning. But things are just easier, more coherent, simply more according to the Black-and-Gold guide and handbook when the 25-year-old pivot is at the center of things.

“I really liked the way he played,’’ said coach Claude Julien. “His line was better. His linemates [Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi] were more comfortable. There is some chemistry there. We had four lines that were stable.’’

Stability. Bergeron. Glue guy. It’s not so much that he makes things right all by himself, but with him around all things just seem to go right.

Take, for instance, faceoffs. There were 65 over 60 minutes last night, and Bergeron took 28, even subbing in for Gregory Campbell late in the second period for a draw in Boston’s offensive end. He also picked up some added work in the middle when fellow pivot David Krejci was rattled by a Marc-Andre Bergeron elbow to the head late in the second. Bergeron won 18 of those 28 drops, an impressive 64 percent. The seven other Bruins who took faceoffs only broke about even, winning 19 of 37.

By the end of the night, Bergeron skated 29 shifts and totaled 19:13 in ice time, including 1:44 on the power play (some of that point duty) and 1:23 on the penalty kill. He landed two shots on net. He did not pick up a goal or an assist. But like so many of his nights, that was of little consequence.

“When the Canadian team added him to their Olympic roster for 2010,’’ recalled Brian Burke, who was Team USA’s general manager for those Games, “I know it didn’t get a lot of attention. Well, I’ll tell you, it got our attention. He was a big player for the Canadians . . . their Swiss Army knife.’’

Which is why Boston’s chances in the conference finals took a big hit when Bergeron was knocked to the ice in the final moments of Boston’s sweep of the Flyers. Knocked down by a Claude Giroux hit just after he dished the puck, Bergeron suffered a mild concussion, his third brain injury in a span of some 3 1/2 years.

“I wasn’t very happy,’’ said Bergeron, whose comments after last night’s win were his first public words since the injury. “I was pretty disappointed, especially for it to happen at that time of the year. I was happy with the win . . . but it was hard to take.’’

Despite rumors that Bergeron would return on Tuesday, he sat out Game 2, and made his return here on a night that could prove to be a turning point in the series. The Bolts now have lost two in a row and their forwards, including some of the game’s best — the likes of Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier, and Martin St. Louis, who totaled 11 shots last night — couldn’t get their names on the scoresheet. It was the second time in three games they proved not to be a factor, and they disappeared on a night when the Bolts needed to prevent the Bruins from gaining more traction off the Game 2 victory.

“It was great to have him back,’’ said Thomas, lauding Bergeron for his work all over the ice, particularly noting his work in the offensive and defensive corners. “The most important thing is his health. When I saw him

get hit there against Philadelphia, it wasn’t a fun thing for me to watch. He is one of the best, if not the best, players on the team.’’

For the most part, said Bergeron, he played without limitation. He wasn’t worried about taking his first hit, but noted it was important to get in there and feel comfortable in the action.

“I felt pretty good out there,’’ he said. “I felt good. I felt like I was myself.’’

There are only so many of these knocks to the noggin a player can take. Bergeron’s teammate, Marc Savard, in January suffered his second concussion in a span of 10 months and hasn’t played a game since. There’s no telling if he’ll ever make it back, and his age (33) and history of concussions don’t play to his favor. Bergeron is very fortunate. He shook the latest concussion off faster than his last two, and his game last night no doubt will provide him a confidence boost — in a season that had him playing his best hockey since the severe concussion he sustained in October 2007.

“I thought I stayed pretty positive in the process again,’’ said Bergeron, reflecting on the last two weeks. “And I mean, obviously, it’s behind me. I am looking forward and I’m happy it was mild.’’

Ten playoff victories. The Bruins haven’t been in this spot since May 3, 1991, when they took a 2-0 series lead over the Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. They are now but two wins shy of returning to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1990. And they have their glue guy, Bergeron, right in the thick of it.



Tampa never found an offensive spark

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell

TAMPA — Tuesday night in Game 2, the Lightning couldn’t prevent goals. Last night, in Game 3, they couldn’t score any.

Goaltender Dwayne Roloson, who was yanked after two periods in Game 2 because he was under siege, was expected to rebound strongly, and for the most part he did.

But a breakdown in front of Roloson led to the first goal at 1:09 of the opening period when he was beaten by Bruins center David Krejci. His only other lapse was at 8:12 of the third when defenseman Andrew Ference blasted a shot from the left point through a screen. In between, Roloson (23 saves) was terrific. But Bruins netminder Tim Thomas was better. In fact, he was perfect (31 saves).

All of Tampa’s top guns — most notably Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, and Steve Stamkos — were neutralized. The trio did combine for 11 shots. Tampa went from being up, 1-0, in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals to being down, 2-1, with Game 4 tomorrow afternoon. It was the first back-to-back losses for the Lightning since the opening-round series against Pittsburgh, when they dropped Games 3 and 4.

“I felt we played a pretty good first period,’’ said Lecavalier, who had five shots, second only to Teddy Purcell’s team-high six. “It was a pretty even game. We made one little mistake on that [Krejci] goal and it cost us. We needed to support each other a lot more on the ice during the game. We got [31] shots but the quality of them wasn’t maybe as good as the previous games. They played us well.’’

Defensively, the Bruins weren’t doing anything particularly different to disrupt the Lightning. They just did a better job playing their system than the Lightning did.

“They are being disciplined to play their system,’’ said Lecavalier. “Offensively, the support is maybe the most important thing. If we’re all far from each other, we get two on one a lot and nothing happens from that. We’ve got to move on, it’s going to be a long series. We’ve got to bounce back here next game and play the way we know how to play. We were better defensively, but offensively we weren’t as sharp. To be close to each other and then to attack the net, we weren’t as good as we were the previous two games.’’

With Patrice Bergeron returning from a concussion, the Bruins had even more in their arsenal, and Lecavalier said that made a difference, too.

“He played great,’’ Lecavalier said. “He’s great on the draws and he plays hard. He’s one of the best. He’s an all-around player. He played well for them. Especially when you come back from a concussion like that, he came back and played a strong game.’’

Lecavalier said as good as Thomas was, they need to be better in front of him.

“I don’t think we attacked it as much as the first two games,’’ he said. “We’ve got to give him credit, he still stopped 31 shots. They played a patient game but we could’ve done a little bit more.’’

Coach Guy Boucher expects the rest of the series to be tight with the team that makes the fewest costly mistakes coming out on top. Obviously, last night, it was the Bruins who made fewer errors.

“It was down to who was going to make that one lethal mistake and we made it early,’’ said Boucher.

Offensively, Boucher said his team had opportunities, but couldn’t cash in.

“Some of them could’ve gone in, their goaltender played outstanding,’’ he said. “Obviously, he gets a shutout but their players played well, too, a lot of boxing out. It was obviously a much tighter game, which means it’s going to be a low-scoring game so you’re looking for those opportunities and things you normally do. Everybody was fighting so much harder defensively that there wasn’t many holes there. They know we’re tight defensively and we know they’re tight defensively. I think both teams are back to what they normally do.’’



Coach couldn’t just roll along

Boucher felt move needed in Game 2

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell

TAMPA — NHL coaches weigh carefully the decision to pull a goaltender. And in the playoffs, when the stakes are high, it can be an even more difficult call. But with games every other night, it doesn’t make sense to leave a netminder in to be shelled as the Lightning’s Dwayne Roloson was in Game 2 in Boston.

After Roloson allowed six goals on 27 shots in two periods of Tampa Bay’s 6-5 loss Tuesday, Lightning coach Guy Boucher replaced the 41-year-old with Mike Smith.

“You need to make sure you do the right thing,’’ said Boucher prior to Game 3 last night. “I think if you leave him in, or if you take him out after a seventh goal, people in the stands are probably screaming at him. I don’t think that would be right. It wouldn’t be respecting him.

“I know he wanted to stay in to battle but he also understood that by changing something, it might change the outcome of the game. And it almost worked.

“He’s the first guy to want what the team needs at that point. So, we certainly didn’t lose confidence in Roloson. We left him alone with breakaways and two-on-ones and stuff.

“It was just about respecting him and trying to see how we can turn this game around because we were getting a lot of chances but it just wasn’t turning our way.’’

This season, Roloson was 6-1 in games that followed games in which he allowed five or more goals.

“He’s built some mental tools over the years that some young guys don’t have,’’ said Boucher. “It’s all about a 12-hour thing. Beyond 12 hours, you can’t even talk to him about it because it doesn’t exist. And it’s a great mental tool that takes a long time. And it takes a mature man to be about that.’’

Stirred, not shaken Boucher said his team had plenty of confidence heading into Game 3. In Game 2, he said, the Lightning had “the most scoring chances the entire year — the regular season and the playoffs. So we know, offensively, we did some good stuff. But I think we wanted it too much offensively, and obviously, five on three in the first period, for me killed us more than anything.’’ Having said that, the Lightning were up, 2-1, heading into the second period. “I think the idea was we were a little too eager in the second period to put the game away,’’ said Boucher . . . The Game 2 performance of Bruins rookie Tyler Seguin (two goals, two assists) wasn’t missed by the Lightning. “I think the players and everybody underestimated his speed,’’ said Boucher. “His speed is obviously a weapon for him and for his team. And being a young guy, having success right away, certainly takes a lot of nervousness away. And for us, we know that he’s going to be on the ice. We have to be able to keep on him.’’



Tim Thomas, ‘D’ bottle Lightning

By Steve Conroy | Friday, May 20, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Bruins

TAMPA — Well, now that’s a little more like it.

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals didn’t have nearly the entertainment value of Game 2, but no one in the Bruins’ traveling party was complaining, least of all coach Claude Julien.

Last night, the B’s got back to their sound defensive system, notched a couple of timely goals and let Tim Thomas see just about every one of the 31 shots he faced as the Bruins silenced the 21,027 gathered at the St. Pete Times Forum with a 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The B’s took a 2-1 series lead with Game 4 tomorrow afternoon.

“I think (last night’s) game probably resembled a lot more of what everyone expected from this series,” said Julien. “Two teams that can make it hard for you to score and I thought our team was very good in regards to that. We made some stronger plays, some better decisions and we seemed a little bit more aware out there of what was going on.

“So comparing it to last game, where I thought it was pretty sloppy, I thought we bounced back well.”

The players were just as pleased.

“We played a more compact game, we played a smarter game,” said winger Milan Lucic, who had one of his best games of the playoffs. “It showed in Game 1 and Game 2 that when we opened up and played run-and-gun, it’s probably not the best thing for us. Everyone loves a 6-5 game, but as a coach and as a player, you get a heart attack when you see that chance-for-chance.

“But I think we did a good job playing as a five-man unit. We can enjoy that win (last night), but definitely there’s a lot more work to be done.”

Lucic helped get it started when he fed David Krejci in front for the first goal just 1:09 into the first period. He beat Tampa Bay defenseman Brett Clark in the right corner after Johnny Boychuk kept it in. Nathan Horton was open for an instant in the high slot, but the Lightning rushed to collapse on him. That left Krejci all alone at the top of the crease.

Lucic zipped it over to Krejci, who held the puck for what seemed an eternity, then went to a backhand move that spun Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson to the ice. He flipped it into the empty net.

“It’s a great way to get the game started,” said Lucic. “That first goal is huge.”

Having scored first for the first time in the series, the Bruins then got more confident. With Patrice Bergeron (18-for-28 in faceoffs) back in the lineup for the first time since suffering a concussion on May 6, they also seemed a lot calmer. They were not turning it over in the neutral zone, nor allowing a whole lot of odd-man rushes.

One of the few Tampa Bay did get was as dangerous as they come, as Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier broke out on a 2-on-1 in a first period 4-on-4 situation, but defenseman Zdeno Chara made a great play to break up the St. Louis pass.

Chara and the rest of the defense played extremely well throughout the night. And it was fitting that a defenseman provided the insurance goal at 8:12 of the third period. Andrew Ference collected a feed from Michael Ryder and flipped a wrist shot that somehow made it through a few bodies and barely trickled through Roloson’s pads.

“Shots go off shin pads or it hits one of their guys and it sits there for a rebound,” said Ference. “It’s nice to get blocks, but they cause goals, too. Throw enough at the net and you can get lucky.”

But that’s about the only thing that was lucky for the Bruins in this victory.

Make no mistake, they earned this one.

Boston Herald LOADED: 05.20.2011


Patrice Bergeron big boost to Bruins

Logs major minutes in return from injury

By Steve Buckley | Friday, May 20, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Bruins

TAMPA — For 12 days, he was hardly seen and never heard. He made some appearances on the ice during some morning skates, and Bruins fans applauded this wonderful news, but the wonderful news came with some fine print at the bottom of the page: No hitting.

And so a waiting game began, and continued. When would Patrice Bergeron return for the playoffs? Would he return at all? And if he did, would he be the same dymanic, two-way performer who helped get the Bruins into the playoffs?

He had, after all, suffered a concussion. And in this day and age, concussions are taken seriously. Especially when the 25-year-old Bergeron was recovering from his third concussion in four seasons, each one of them sending shock waves throughout Bruins Nation.

Yet there he was night at the St. Pete Times Forum, back at the playoff rock pile, logging 19 minutes and 13 seconds in the Bruins’ 2-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Asked how he felt to be back, the casualness with which he answered the question was as revealing as the words themselves.

“I felt pretty good out there,” he ho-hummed, “and pretty happy obviously to be back and help the team.”

But what about the hit? He took a good one from the Bolts’ Victor Hedman in the first period, and it was impossible to watch that play and not think back to Game 4 of the semifinals, when a hard hit from the Flyers’ Claude Giroux had B’s fans wondering if Bergeron would be back before training camp. And please go to YouTube.com and type in the keywords “Victor Hedman” and “Sidney Crosby” to get the, if you’ll pardon the expression, full impact of what could have happened last night.

“I wasn’t worried,” Bergeron said. “I was confident I was ready and that I was 100 percent. When you’re like that and in your mind you know you’re fine .?.?. no, I wasn’t really worried about that first hit. I knew I was going to be all right.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien minced no words when asked about the hit: “If that would have been a concern, I don’t think we would have dressed him. When we decided to dress him, he was 100 percent.”

Bergeron had neither a goal nor an assist last night. Sure, he had his chances here and there, but that’s not the point. Not last night, not at a time when it was not unfair to look at Bergeron and ask yourself: Can he play?

But if one were to isolate Bergeron from everything else that was happening on the ice, what would emerge is a guy winning 18-of-28 faceoffs, a guy playing tough in the corners and, late in the second period, a guy drawing a hooking penalty on the Bolts’ Eric Brewer.

“In the first period I was keeping things simple, which I think is pretty normal when you’ve missed two weeks,” said Bergeron. “I felt I got better as the game went on.”

Goaltender Tim Thomas, who had perhaps the best view of Bergeron’s two-way game, said, “He’s very good, not just in both ends of the ice, but in all ends of the arena. Whether it’s the faceoff circle or in our defensive corner, the offensive corner, all over the place. It was great to have him back.”

Today will be important to the Bruins. It’s not like the medics simply said, “He’s ready to go,” and then hopped aboard the next flight to Logan. Remember, we are talking about a concussion, the unwelcome gift that keeps on giving. Bergeron will need to be examined, and Julien will continue to use the word “protocol” as often as he uses the word “hockey.”

If Bergeron misses another game, that’s just the way it should be. But the Bruins are now two victories away from the Stanley Cup finals, and Patrice Bergeron, the man who helped get this team to the playoffs, pulled on a sweater last night and helped keep them on course.



Tim Thomas beyond regular

Finding comfort in shutout

By Steve Conroy / Bruins Notebook | Friday, May 20, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Bruins

TAMPA — Tim Thomas didn’t have to be as spectacular last night as he was in the Bruins’ Game 2 victory on Tuesday. But unlike that performance, Thomas was much more sound in the 2-0 shutout victory in Game 3.

It was also a much more sound game by the team in front of him.

Funny how that works, isn’t it?

“That felt more like a normal game,” Thomas said last night after stopping all 31 shots by the Lightning. “That felt like the game we played most of the season. Playoffs are always faster and there’s more energy and a few more scoring chances than a regular-season game. But that was Boston Bruins hockey.”

While he had to rely on his competitiveness and athleticism in Game 2, Thomas seemed much more in control all through last night.

“Well, it’s kind of a product of the way the game goes in front of me,” Thomas said after recording his second career playoff shutout. “So I was able to play more under control tonight, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that we played the way that I’m used to. So I felt comfortable in a game like that.

“I think getting the first quick goal definitely helped the whole team. And then not just sitting back in the third but going out and getting that second goal made us able to stay relaxed and calm throughout the whole game.”

While the Bruins played well in front of their goalie, Thomas still had to make a handful of excellent stops, including when Lightning forward Martin St. Louis skated in alone off a faceoff.

“We’ve said so much about Tim and rightfully so, he’s been a great goaltender,” said coach Claude Julien. “He made some big saves when he has to and he’s been good. I guess this is the way this team is, he’ll give credit to the people in front of him and I think it’s very deserving because our team did play well in front of him. But when they had some great opportunities he was also there to make the big saves. So I think it’s really one of those games where you want to spread the credit around.”

Lucic finds ‘A’ game

Milan Lucic got the monkey off his back when he scored a couple of goals in Game 4 against the Flyers, but last night might have been his best game of the playoffs.

Not only did he set up David Krejci for the first goal, he did a great job of hustling to keep the puck in the offensive zone as his shift was ending. And as he was stepping onto the bench, Andrew Ference’s shot went between Dwayne Roloson’s pads for the second goal.

“My game’s gotten better as the playoffs have gone on and it’s getting to where it was in the regular season,” said Lucic, who once again skipped the morning skate after taking a shot off his foot in Monday’s practice. “I don’t know what happened. It was like I went from one player to someone I didn’t want to be and tonight I think the main reason I had success and we had success every time we were on the ice was that I was keeping my feel moving and I was in a straight line and making simple plays. No matter who you’re playing, when you do that you give yourself a chance to have success. All in all, scoring goals is great. But in the playoffs, it’s about getting wins.”

Odd man out

With Patrice Bergeron back in, Shawn Thornton was the odd forward out.

The consummate professional and leader that he is, Thornton was upbeat in the locker room before and after the game.

“I’ve had the pleasure of playing with him and we came in the organization at the same time,” said Lucic.

“He’s never going to complain or feel sorry for himself in a situation like that,” Lucic continued. “He knows his role and that makes him what he is. He’s still going to be upbeat in the dressing room and be vocal. Before the game, that’s a huge part of him doing his thing and getting that feeling going in the room.” .?.?.

After winning just 3-of-18 draws in Game 1, Krejci won 13-of-18 last night.



Zdeno Chara backbones lockdown defense

Captain stands up tall

By Stephen Harris | Friday, May 20, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Bruins

TAMPA — Some 13 minutes into the first period last night at the St. Pete Times Forum, with the Bruins leading 1-0 on David Krejci’s early goal, the good folks in the stands, and the Lightning themselves, watched a play unfold that all probably assumed would result in a game-tying goal.

Up the ice on a clean 2-on-1 break came Bolts stars Martin St. Louis, carrying the puck on the left, and Vinny Lecavalier, busting down the middle. There may be a more dangerous pair in this situation, but maybe not.

The shot never happened.

Because when St. Louis passed the puck across, there was Zdeno Chara to knock the puck harmlessly aside before it reached the very dangerous left-hand stick of Lecavalier.

That sort of act was a common sight last night, as Chara & Co. delivered a wonderfully solid, smart and structured night of team defense and beat the Bolts, 2-0, to claim a 2-1 series lead.

“I notice that those two guys are coming at me,” said a weary-looking Chara of that early 2-on-1. “You try to be in the right position, have your stick in the right place. I’m glad I had the stick in the right place.”

There were several obvious heroes for the Bruins: Tim Thomas, who stopped all 31 Tampa Bay shots for his second career playoff shutout. David Krejci, who had the first goal. Andrew Ference, who had the second. Milan Lucic, who moved his feet, played with energy, threw his weight around and played a strong, strong game.

But Chara was The Man for the Bruins last night, on the ice most of the game against the Lecavalier-St. Louis-Teddy Purcell No. 1 line.

Again and again, there was the B’s captain using his long reach to poke pucks away from Lecavalier, and his size and strength to calmly win puck battles along the boards and make a smart pass to get the breakout moving.

Lecavalier had five shots and St. Louis two, but Chara took away most of their prime scoring chances. He always matches up against top players like these, and has proven himself as the NHL’s top shutdown D-man.

“I like challenges like that,” he said. “It’s always been a big part of my game. I know that’s my number one job, to be playing well defensively.”

And the plan for stopping any top player is the same: Don’t give them room to work their magic.

“Try to take away the space and time from any of those guys as much as possible, that’s basically it,” said Chara. “You have to always be aware of them being on the ice, and where they are.

“They’ve played together for a number of years and they know about each other every time they’re on the ice. You have to be looking around and really be on top of your game mentally.”

After making innumerable mistakes that led to scoring chances in their wild 6-5 win in Game 2, the B’s made few such errors this time. It was a night of poise and patience, smart decisions, sharp passes and cohesive team play.

The kind of performance which, yes, suggests the B’s could get the six remaining wins they need to bring about a Stanley Cup parade in Boston.

“There’s always things you can do better,” said Chara. “But I thought we were really solid, especially defensively. We tried to really focus on our position play, being in the right place away from the puck.

“It was a close game. We had a one-goal lead for most of the game, so we really tried to focus on that part and wait for our chances. We tried to move the puck as quick as we could, move the feet and play simple, not look for something more than what there was out there.”

Chara shrugged off the wide-open Game 2.

“You’re going to have games that are wide-open, high-scoring games, and then you’re going to have games like you saw (last night). That’s going to happen in the playoffs: Wide-open games and really close games.”

If it’s a really close game like last night, you can bet Chara is a big reason why.



David Krejci’s night: One big goal, one big hit

By Matt Kalman | Friday, May 20, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Bruins

TAMPA — The Bruins had been there before.

Last spring, just two games after Marc Savard returned from a concussion to face Philadelphia in the second round of the playoffs, David Krejci suffered a season-ending wrist injury that started the team on its downward spiral.

So on the night when Patrice Bergeron returned from a concussion, the Bruins didn’t need to see Krejci, after scoring the game’s first goal, go down after he was hit at his own blue line by Tampa Bay defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron late in the first period.

“I was a little sore but I feel pretty good,” said Krejci, who sat out the final 2:31 of the first but returned to finish with 18:34 of ice time in the Bruins’ 2-0 win against the Lightning in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Bergeron received a questionable elbowing penalty, although he clearly made contact with Krejci’s head.

Krejci, the veteran center who missed six games with a concussion in November and also suffered one during his rookie season, rested on one knee for a few seconds before heading to the bench. He didn’t go to the dressing room or the NHL-designated “quiet room” for head-shot recipients. When the second period started, he took a shift in the opening minute.

Krejci credited his teammates for helping him dodge a bullet.

“The guys told me that the guy (Bergeron) just came off the bench,” he said. “I didn’t even see him. They gave me a little heads up, so I got a little ready for it. If they didn’t give me a heads up on the bench, then I would get hit and in a relaxed body and it’d be maybe way worse. But I feel fine .?.?.”

Krejci opened the scoring 1:09 into the contest, as he darted to the front of the net and beat Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson with a backhand flip after a no-look pass from Milan Lucic from the right half-wall.

“All their forwards and defensemen, they kind of left me alone on the bench,” Krejci said. “So it was a great pass. I told him, ‘How did he see me?’ He was looking the other way. So it was a great pass. He has great vision.”

After scoring the opening goal for the first time in the series, the Bruins then rode the goaltending of Tim Thomas and their defense to the victory and the 2-1 series edge. Some of the B’s success also came from their faceoff dominance, which finished up at 57 percent. Krejci won 13-of-18 draws.

“I was really focusing on them. You feel way better and way more important when coach puts you out there to take some important faceoffs,” he said. “Last game it happened, today it happened again, so I’ve just got to keep going and get ready for each faceoff.”



Tyler Seguin’s breakout is hardly his alone

Success to be shared

By Stephen Harris | Friday, May 20, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Bruins

TAMPA — For most NHL players, the work day is ending as they leave the ice at the end of practice. For a small number, that’s when the work starts.

The extra players. The spare parts. The guys whose names are listed on the roster, just never on the lineup card. Like all players at this point, they are getting paid nothing beyond the standard per diem.

Yet they have to stay in shape, mentally and physically, on the odd chance they may be needed to play at some point during the playoffs. They skate, pass and shoot, trying to keep a positive outlook and convince themselves their chance will come.

Until two weeks ago, Tyler Seguin was one of these guys. The remarkable degree to which he was able to stay ready, as evidenced by his 3-3-6 totals in his first two playoff games, is a testimony to Seguin’s character and the efforts of others around the Bruins.

“I think it says a lot about the assistant coaches who worked with him. I think it says a lot about his commitment to the game and it says a lot about the veteran players on the team,” said Pierre McGuire, the former Hartford Whalers head coach and current analyst for TSN and NBC.

“People have helped to keep him motivated, and he’s kept himself motivated. It says a lot.

“And, of course, he’s obviously an extremely talented kid.”

Credit goes to B’s assistant coaches Doug Houda and Doug Jarvis, whose job is to push the extra guys to worthwhile practices.

“You can’t discount the effort level that the assistant coaches had, the time they put in with this guy must have been unbelievable,” said McGuire.

“I remember when I was an assistant coach in Pittsburgh, Scotty Bowman telling me, ‘Make sure that our extra guys are ready, make sure if we do have an injury, these guys understand they have to be ready to play. They can’t take any extra time getting ready. They’ve got to be ready, right away.’?”

McGuire knows it’s not easy for these guys to keep the right attitude.

“Especially as you get later in the playoffs, it becomes a real chore. It’s putting on your skates and equipment day after day, knowing you’re probably not going to play,” he said. “Somehow you’ve got to keep these guys motivated. Boston did a great job with him.”

McGuire believes Seguin’s performance, after a regular season that was nothing great, has dramatically altered his future (and even the future of the Bruins). He feels Seguin was rushed into the NHL due to rules that force an 18-year-old to stay or go back to juniors, and that the B’s made a mistake with him.

“I think if they had a chance to do it over, they would have had him go to the World Juniors (in December and January),” McGuire said. “That’s such a huge developmental tool. It’s basically playoffs in the middle of the year against the most talented kids in your age group. If you can be dominant with the puck there, you come back with so much confidence.”

Who knows if Seguin might have found that confidence earlier. What we know is he’s found it, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.

When the time came, he was ready.



Lightning rain down praise for B’s Tyler Seguin

By Matt Kalman | Friday, May 20, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Bruins

TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Lightning, like most sports fans in Boston, have been marveling at Bruins rookie Tyler Seguin’s breakout performance in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals ever since Tuesday.

That didn’t stop yesterday prior to Game 3 at the St. Pete Times Forum, as the notoriety Seguin’s been getting for his two-goal, two-assist eruption continued to increase.

“Well, it’s good for him. I mean he got an opportunity and he’s risen to the occasion and on the biggest stage of his career so far — the Eastern Conference final,” said Lightning star sniper Steven Stamkos, who’s no stranger to huge offensive outbursts at the game’s highest level. “So he’s a good player for them.

“Everyone knew what type of player he was. He’s been given the opportunity now. So he’s obviously someone we’ve got to try to stop. He’s playing really well and been their top player.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien has had the unenviable task of keeping everything in perspective in light of his 19-year-old forward’s emergence as a formidable offensive force. To his credit, Seguin has said all the right things about wanting to remain “consistent” and stay “focused.”

Julien, however, thinks there might be an ulterior motive to Tampa Bay’s verbal bouquets, and he wants to make sure they don’t cause a swelled head or overconfidence.

“Tampa’s been very good at complimenting our team,” said Julien. “They do a really good job at that. I think Tampa’s got some pretty good speed themselves — [Martin] St. Louis and those kind of guys, Stamkos. They’ve got the same kind of players. So I think they’re pretty well-served on their side.

“I don’t think they’re worried so much about Tyler more than they want to flatter him. We know the mind games that teams play, and right now we’re just focusing on what we have to do here.”

Seguin famously was a healthy scratch for the Bruins’ first 11 postseason games. He was only inserted into the lineup because Patrice Bergeron suffered a concussion in the third period of Game 4 of the Philadelphia series. He scored three goals in the first two games of the series with Tampa.

If Julien doesn’t like all the kind words coming from the other side, he’s going to hate that center Vincent Lecavalier didn’t shy away from a comparison between Seguin and Stamkos, who’s already been a 50-goal scorer in the NHL.

“They’re both great players,” said the Lightning captain. “I knew him; I’d seen him play a little bit. But that goal (in Game 1 of the series), it was pretty amazing. Just moving left to right and then finishing it off, that’s definitely confidence. It’s not every 19-year-old that has that confidence and obviously he has it. We have to keep an eye on him, for sure.”

Julien would certainly appreciate the comments of Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson more.

“No, I won’t do any extra film to look at him specifically,” said the netminder. “It’s not about him; it’s about us — what we’ve got to do to shut him down and also the rest of his teammates.”

Guess Roloson didn’t get the memo about trying to swell the kid’s head.



Patrice Bergeron expected to play in Game 3

By Steve Conroy | Thursday, May 19, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Boston Bruins

Although Bruins coach Claude Julien would not definitively rule Patrice Bergeron in for Game 3 tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum, other sources within the organization have said that the versatile centerman is expected to play.

It would mark Bergeron’s first appearance in a game since suffering a mild concussion when he was hit by the Flyers’ Claude Giroux on May 6.

Bergeron took part in the Bruins’ morning skate and was one of the first forwards off the ice, giving an indication that he will indeed be in tonight. If he was still in rehabbing mode, he would have most likely skated more than the 15 minutes or so the team was on the ice.

Julien, for his part, however, said there was still a decision to be made.

“There’s going to be a decision made either today or tomorrow as he inches closer. He’s feeling pretty good. It’s not totally up to the coach to make the final decision. I think a lot of other things have to happen,” said Julien. He later added, “If he’s in the warm-ups, I’m not just sending him out for a skate.”

With the return of Bergeron, Shawn Thornton is expected to be scratched, with Rich Peverley moving down to the fourth line right wing spot.

In addition, Julien said that Milan Lucic, who did not take part in the morning skate, will be in the lineup tonight.


569871 Buffalo Sabres

Bergeron returns to lineup

ASSOCIATED PRESS

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was in the lineup for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals after missing two games because of a concussion.

The team re-evaluated Bergeron's status for the game against Tampa Bay on Thursday night following the pregame skate, in which the alternate captain took part.

Bruins coach Claude Julien said Bergeron is "feeling pretty good." Bergeron had been sidelined since getting injured in the finale of the second-round series against Philadelphia when he was hit by Claude Giroux.

Bergeron had two goals and 10 assists in 11 playoff games this season before getting hurt.

"He brings a lot to the table, offensively and defensively," Boston captain Zdeno Chara said.

Also, Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina was scratched for Game 3. Kubina, out since the first game of the conference semifinals against Washington, when his head went into the glass on a hit, has not resumed practicing.

Buffalo News LOADED: 05.20.2011

569872 Buffalo Sabres

Records cite slurs in arrest of Barnaby

By Denise Jewell Gee

Court documents accuse former Sabre Matthew T. Barnaby of "threatening harm" and using "racial slurs" Friday night during 20 to 30 harassing phone calls to a friend of his estranged wife in a domestic dispute in Amherst.

The case was transferred to State Supreme Integrated Domestic Violence Court on Wednesday, but a complaint filed against the ESPN analyst in town court provided new details of the incident.

Barnaby, 38, has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including felony criminal mischief, stemming from the incident Friday night at the Getzville home of his estranged wife. Barnaby is also accused of violating a court order and damaging the garage door of the home.

New details made public Wednesday in the court documents included accusations that Barnaby harassed his wife by swearing at her and used "racial slurs" during a series of harassing phone calls to her male friend.

The complaint provided no details of what racial slurs Barnaby is accused of making. The documents state only that he is accused of harassing the man "via phone calls 20-30 times threatening harm, racial slurs and with no legitimate purpose to contact the victim.cq"

Amherst Police Officer Thomas M. Brown reported hearing Barnaby using a series of swear words toward his wife during the incident, calling her "worthless" and telling her, "I wish you would die," according to court documents.

Barnaby's attorney, Frank LoTempio III, declined to comment on the specifics.

"We're going back to court on Monday, and we're hoping to resolve it as quickly as possible," LoTempio said.

Barnaby, who was released on his own recognizance Saturday after spending the night in the Amherst Police Headquarters lockup, is scheduled to appear in the domestic Supreme Court Integrated Domesticviolence court at 9:30 a.m. Monday.

Domestic violence cases are transferred by the court administration to the special court Integrated Domestic Violence Courtwhen they also involve related cases in matrimonial or family court.

Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said the court administration set up Integrated Domestic Violence Court with the intention of consolidating those cases under one justice.

"It's a pretty typical procedure," said Sedita, who declined to comment on the specifics of the case against Barnaby.

Barnaby is charged with felony third-degree criminal mischief for allegedly damaging the garage door, lock, door handle and door frame on his wife's Getzville home at about 6:14 p.m. Friday.

He is also charged with second-degree criminal contempt for violating a February court order by entering the garage of his estranged wife's home. The three other charges include third-degree criminal trespass, second-degree harassment and second-degree aggravated harassment.

Sources have previously told the news that the February court order related to access to the couple's marital property.

According to court documents, Amherst Town Justice Mark G. Farrell on Saturday issued two temporary orders of protection directing Barnaby to stay away from his estranged wife and the male victim.

Barnaby played six years for the Buffalo Sabres before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1999 and retiring from the NHL in 2007.

Barnaby released a statement Saturday through his spokesman, Jesse Derris, stating that the "past few months have been difficult on our entire family, as my wife and I decided to separate and divorce."

He referred to the incident Friday as an "unfortunate disagreement between us regarding a family matter."

"There was never any physical violence or threat of physical violence involved," Barnaby said in the statement. "I would like to ask that everyone respect our privacy during this difficult time, and hope that this will be resolved quickly and amicably."

Buffalo News LOADED: 05.20.2011

569873 Carolina Hurricanes

Skinner receives rookie honor

Staff Report

RALEIGH -- Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes has been chosen the NHL's rookie of the year by The Sporting News.

The magazine polls the league's players for its annual NHL awards, and Skinner received 62.3 percent of the votes from the 309 players who participated in the poll.

Skinner, 19, was the NHL's youngest player last season. Carolina's first-round draft pick in 2010, the Markham, Ontario, native earned a spot on the Canes' roster and ranked first among NHL rookies with 63 points. The forward was second among rookies in assists (32) and third in goals (31).

Skinner, who trailed only Eric Staal among Hurricanes skaters in goals and points, scored his 30th goal April 6 against the Detroit Red Wings. He was the youngest player in franchise history and the seventh-youngest player in NHL history (18 years, 325 days) to score 30 goals.

News Observer LOADED: 05.20.2011


Canes, Ammons could link up

By Chip Alexander - Staff writer

Jeff Ammons, a Raleigh builder, would like to open a sports academy for young athletes near Brier Creek. He'd like to have ice rinks in it and have the Hurricanes be a part of it and practice in it.

The problem: a still-sluggish economy, stingy banks and the ice business itself, Ammons said. For now, he said, the Brier Creek project is "in the planning stage, with a lot of fancy drawings."

"It's hard to say when it will get started," Ammons said. "The ice business is tough. There are so many peaks and valleys. You can build just for the peaks or you will suffer at times."

The RecZone, for example. It's in foreclosure. If no one steps forward in the next week or so to buy it, it may close its doors, meaning the Canes will need to find another place to use as a practice facility.

Ammons owns The Factory in Wake Forest. If there is no more RecZone, it appears the Canes will use The Factory as a temporary solution. The Canes' rookie conditioning camp is set for July, and plans need to be made.

Ammons, president of Ammons Building Corp. in Raleigh, said The Factory has two ice rinks and that the Canes could easily be worked into the schedule for next year. One problem would be preparing a locker room and weight-room area, but Ammons said the facility has enough space to handle it in the short term.

As for the Brier Creek project, Ammons said adding more ice to the area may not be needed. A sports performance academy, incorporating such sports as gymastics and soccer may fly, he said, and could fit in well in the Brier Creek area. But Ammons said there may now be enough ice rinks to handle the demand.

"What's happened to the RecZone tells you something," he said. "If there was a huge need for ice, you'd think it would be more prosperous. But apparently it did not have enough business to stay open."



Ice rink's troubles send shivers through skaters

By JAY PRICE, REGINA WANG AND CHIP ALEXANDER - Staff Writers

RALEIGH -- The mighty Carolina Hurricanes and defending ACC tournament champion N.C. State University club hockey team were jolted by the news that the RecZone skating rink might close, but surely no harder than Rachel Cannon, Tegan Byers and Yunyu Teng.

The budding preteen figure skaters have practiced their spins and jumps and taken those lesson-giving falls at the rink 10 hours a week for more than half their young lives.

"I met my best friends here," said Tegan, 10.

After shedding some tears, the trio jumped to action. They sang "I Will Survive" and created a Facebook page to rouse support for the rink that has become their second home.

It's hard to imagine that will be enough. BB&T foreclosed on the RecZone on Friday and can't yet say whether it will be able to keep the rink open, a bank spokesman said Wednesday.

The shock waves about the potential closing have spread quickly through the Triangle's various ice-using communities, particularly youth and adult hockey and figure skating.

There are only a handful of rinks in the Triangle, and ice time was already such a scarce a commodity that the RecZone opened at 5:45 a.m. many days and didn't close until midnight.

John Biedermann, whose family had owned the rink for a decade, said more than 1,200 people used the RecZone every week. There are youth league teams, men's and women's adult teams, figure skating, pickup game sessions, recreational skating, summer camps, skating instruction sessions and even lacrosse and street hockey league games at outdoor facilities. Now nearly all the groups that use the ice are scrambling to reserve time at one of the other four area rinks.

Canes need a place

Among those who haven't found alternatives yet are the NCSU club team and the Hurricanes.

Like many involved in ice sports in the area, Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said he has heard there is some interest from potential buyers. Rutherford said there's also talk that another new rink might be in the works, as part of a new sports academy for young athletes being planned for a site near Brier Creek.

Rutherford said it would include an ice rink "the Hurricanes would be a part of."

"We're looking forward to that down the road," he said. "I don't exactly know the status of it now."

In the short term, the Hurricanes need to find available ice for next season. The Canes practice at the RecZone when other events are scheduled at the RBC Center and hold their rookie conditioning camp at the RecZone in July.

"It's a little bit of a scramble," said Brian Tatum, the team's senior director of team operations. "We'll see what happens with the RecZone the next few weeks. Ideally someone will step in and manage it. If not, we'll look for a temporary situation and see who can help us."

Hockey teams scramble

NCSU coach Mike Gazzillo's team had hoped to raise its tournament championship banner in the RecZone this season. But Gazzillo can't afford to wait long to see whether BB&T leaves the rink open, or sells it quickly to someone who will because the team's season begins with tryouts in late August and games the next month.

"I do not want this season to fold in any way," he said. "We were just blind-sided by this."

Gazzillo said he needs to quickly to find another rink that can handle his team's practices and games and also accommodate games on specific dates already scheduled with other universities.

One of the best candidates for a replacement rink has a bigger ice surface, which could disrupt the way the team plays, he said.

A major force on local ice is the Raleigh Youth Hockey Association, with 1,200 players in 73 teams that plays at all five area rinks. League leaders heard there might be a problem and made a backup schedule months ago, said Steve Henley, the group's executive director.

The league's size and financial strength allowed it to lock in the crucial-for-families hours in early evening. If the RecZone shuts down, Henley said, it will create a squeeze; some parents will have to drive to more distant rinks for practice, but all the teams will be accommodated by shifting things around.

"It's not going to be perfect, and it's not going to be like it was, but the availability will be there," Henley said.

Ice time is so tight, though, that losing the rink would quickly cap participation in youth hockey, which has been growing for years at a rate of about 10 percent annually, he said. That's not something that can be prevented, even if the rumored new rink is built, because it would still be years away from opening.

Ice users with less clout also are feeling the pressure. Adult league teams, which dominate the late night hours, are already signing up at other rinks.

It's a family place

Eventually the rescheduling will be done, and the hockey teams will figure out how to fix their problems, even if the RecZone shuts down. But for the tiny figure skaters who essentially grew up at the RecZone, and their parents, it's unlikely they will replace what they have there. They had built a small community, thanks in part to the rink's unusually consistent schedule, which for them hadn't changed in 10 years.

Yunyu Teng, 11, said the RecZone is different, a place where she can be herself.

"We all support each other there, not like other rinks where there are rivals," she said.

The friendship reached beyond the tweens to their mothers. When Tania Moore took her daughter Maurie to the rink in 2008, she quickly bonded with other mothers, dubbing their group "the skating moms." Moore said she has no relatives in Raleigh, but at the rink, she has found family.

"We travel and have dinner together, " Moore said. "We share knowledge and information from skating to raising 10-year-old daughters."


569876 Chicago Blackhawks

Crawford's deal avoids repeat of Niemi situation

Blackhawks reward goalie for outstanding rookie season with 3-year, $8 million contract

By Chris Kuc, Tribune reporter

5:52 PM CDT, May 19, 2011

It already promised to be a less eventful summer for the Blackhawks than last year's turmoil-laden offseason, and now they have cleared the biggest hurdle before June.

Corey Crawford, who established himself first as the Hawks' No. 1 goaltender and then as one of the league's top goalies, signed a three-year, $8 million contract Thursday that will provide stability at a position that has lacked it in recent seasons.

The deal prevents a repeat of the messy negotiations with Antti Niemi, whom the Hawks let go as a free agent after he helped lead them to their first Stanley Cup championship in 49 years. Niemi, who is playing for the Sharks against the Canucks in the Western Conference finals, was allowed to walk after being awarded $2.75 million in arbitration and now is playing under a four-year, $15.2 million contract in San Jose.

Like Sharks counterpart Doug Wilson, Hawks general manager Stan Bowman realized the importance of having a No. 1 goaltender locked in for years to come.

"Your most important position is in net," Bowman said. "We wanted to get some stability there. We've had a number of different No. 1s year to year, and it's nice to know we're not going to go through that. We're very thrilled with the season (Crawford) had and the future he brings in net. We finally have some stability in goal for a while."

Bowman and the Hawks got that stability at a fairly affordable price. Crawford's salary-cap hit of $2.6 million per season allows the team to address other pending free agents or add a newcomer or two to a core that is among the best in the NHL.

The Hawks have 15 players under contract for 2011-12 at a cost of about $54 million. The cap is expected to increase a few million from its current $59.4 million, and the Hawks have another $4 million in bonuses coming off the books. So they have room to maneuver as Bowman turns his attention to re-signing some of the team's other free agents, which include Troy Brouwer, Chris Campoli, Michael Frolik, Tomas Kopecky and Viktor Stalberg.

"Over the next four or five weeks, we're going to spend time getting ready for the draft as well as handling our players who need new contracts," Bowman said. "We're still going to make some changes. Not wholesale changes, but we need to have some new faces in the lineup and we need to give the opportunity for young players to also get into the lineup.

"I'm confident that when we get going next October, we'll have a very strong team."

For Crawford, the new contract is a reward for an outstanding rookie season that culminated with a stellar performance in the playoffs against the Canucks — and also for toiling in the Hawks' minor league system while they first turned to Nikolai Khabibulin, Cristobal Huet, Niemi and Marty Turco.

"It means a lot," said Crawford, who led rookie goalies with 33 wins — including four shutouts — and ranked eighth overall with a 2.30 goals-against-average. "I want to be a part of the Blackhawks, and I think the management and everyone there wanted me back too. It's great to get it done early. Now I can just focus on workouts and getting prepared for next season."

Crawford, 26, now has all of summer and training camp to get into the mindset of entering the season as a starter.

"I'm going to try to be in the best shape that I can," said Crawford, who began the '10-11 season as Turco's backup. "I'm going to try to get stronger (and) quicker.

"It's a little bit different the mental approach going into it. I have to still prove to them that I'm the guy, and the work doesn't end here. The work only gets harder."

Chicago Tribune LOADED: 05.20.2011


Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford rewarded with $8M contract

ADAM L. JAHNS

ON THE BLACKHAWKS

Last Modified: May 19, 2011 11:42PM

Three years is just fine with goalie Corey Crawford. To him, it’s still a pretty long time, and he’s thrilled that it will be spent in goal for the Blackhawks.

“It’s great to get it done early,” Crawford said Thursday of his three-year, $8 million contract that carries an annual $2.67 million cap hit.

“We’re very happy with three years. I don’t know how much talk there was to have more than that. I think, for now, that’s more than fine. I’m so excited to get back there and start next season.”

Crawford, 26, proved he’s a No. 1 goalie in the NHL, taking over for veteran Marty Turco and becoming a stabilizing force when the Hawks were at their shakiest.

He also starred in the playoffs against the Vancouver Canucks.

“He earned the right to be our No. 1 goalie,” general manager Stan Bowman said of Crawford, who went 33-18-6 with a 2.30 goals-against average in his first full NHL season.

Avoiding what happened last summer with goalie Antti Niemi, whom the Hawks walked away from after a $2.75 million arbitration award, was essential. Bowman made it clear that signing Crawford was his top priority for the offseason, and the deal didn’t take long to finalize.

“I was confident all along that we were going to get Corey signed,” Bowman said. “He made it clear that he wanted to be a Blackhawk, and that means an awful lot to us. Obviously, we’re thrilled with the season he had and the future he brings for us in net. We finally have some stability in goal.”

Crawford’s cap hit isn’t much different than the arbitration award handed to Niemi, but this summer is much different than last year, when the Hawks underwent a salary-cap-mandated makeover.

Bowman has more money at his disposal. Bonus overages are coming off the books, and he doesn’t have three franchise players — Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith — getting significant raises. Crawford had an $800,000 cap hit in 2010-11.

A second-round pick in 2003, Crawford spent five years in the American Hockey League, toiling away and biding his time as Nikolai Khabibulin, Cristobal Huet, Niemi and Turco were brought in. Now the Hawks have to decide who will back him up.

Bowman said he hasn’t had discussions with Turco, a free agent, regarding a role as Crawford’s backup, but he knows Turco still feels he can backstop a team on a full-time basis.

But Bowman is planning to have goalie Alexander Salak, who was part of the deal for Michael Frolik with the Florida Panthers, in North America next season after a solid year in the Swedish Elite League.

“The most important thing is we have our No. 1 guy, and we’re going to work off that,” Bowman said.

And that No. 1 guy still feels like he has something to prove.

“I’m going to try and get stronger [and] quicker,” Crawford said. “It’s a different mental approach going into [summer training], but, still, I have to prove to them I’m the guy. The work doesn’t end here. The work only gets harder.”

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 05.20.2011


Frolik, Campoli next on list

By ADAM L. JAHNS

[email protected]

Last Modified: May 19, 2011 11:45PM

Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said Thursday he’s confident “that when we get going next October, we’ll have a very strong team.”

But there’s plenty of work to be done.

First on his checklist was goalie Corey Crawford. With Crawford locked in for three years, Bowman’s attention will turn to re-signing other restricted free agents, notably winger Michael Frolik and defenseman Chris Campoli.

Deciding what to do with forwards Viktor Stalberg, Troy Brouwer and Jake Dowell, who also are restricted free agents, and preparing for June’s entry draft are also on tap. Trades and young players moving up also will be considered.

“Our top priority was getting Corey signed,” Bowman said. “Now that we’ve done that, we’re going to move on to some of the other business at hand. We’ve got a number of players whose contracts are finished.

“We’re going to work on them concurrently. That’s really the next thing on tap here. We’re preparing for the entry draft, as well. Over the next four or five weeks, we’re going to spend time getting ready for the draft, as well as handling our players who need new contracts.”

While not in the salary-cap mess that he was in last summer, Bowman does need the cap to rise by the expected $3 million to make things work better.

“We have a good idea where the cap will be,” Bowman said. “We’re still going to be making some changes, like I indicated before — not wholesale changes, but we need to have some new faces in the lineup.”

Chicago Sun Times LOADED: 05.20.2011


Crawford quite content with a new 3-year deal

Staff Report

Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman made re-signing goalie Corey Crawford his top priority of the off-season.

Bowman got it done Thursday in relatively quick order, signing Crawford to a three-year contract worth $8 million before the club's No. 1 goaltender became a restricted free agent on July 1.

Crawford, who won 33 games as a rookie while leading the Hawks to the playoffs, will have a cap hit of $2.6 million, which is the average of the three-year deal.

He will collect $3.25 million next season followed by salaries of $2.25 million in 2012-13 and $2.5 million in 2013-14.

“As the year went on, Corey emerged as our No. 1 guy,” Bowman said. “He earned the right to be our No. 1 goalie. You don't want to anoint people.

“Down the stretch, it became apparent as we were fighting to get into the playoffs he was carrying us every night.

“It's nice to have some stability. We've had a different No. 1 goalie year to year.”

Crawford will be the Hawks' fourth different No. 1 goalie to start a season when the puck drops in 2011-12, following Nikolai Khabibulin, Cristobal Huet and Marty Turco.

Crawford, who will be an unrestricted free agent following the 2013-14 season, was happy to get the three-year commitment after basically living season to season throughout his pro career.

“I'm very happy with three years,” Crawford said. “I don't know how much talk there was about adding more than that, but I'm more than happy. Three years is a pretty long time too.

“It means a lot to get it done early. Now I can focus on working out and getting ready for next year.”

After toiling for five years in the American Hockey League and coming to camp last September as Turco's backup, this will be Crawford's first summer knowing he is a No. 1 goaltender in the NHL.

“I don't think it changes anything that much,” Crawford said. “I'm going to try to be in the best shape I can and get stronger and quicker. It might change your mental approach, but I still have got to prove that I'm the guy. The work only gets harder.”

With Crawford's signature on a new contract, Bowman now can focus his attention on what to do with his other key restricted free agents: Troy Brouwer, Chris Campoli, Michael Frolik, Jake Dowell and Viktor Stalberg.

Bowman wasn't about to reveal his plans for his restricted free agents or if he planned to attempt to re-sign unrestricted free agents Turco, Tomas Kopecky, Ryan Johnson, Fernando Pisani or Jordan Hendry.

It's likely the Hawks will let Turco, Kopecky, Pisani and Hendry test the free agent market. Johnson would appear to be a strong candidate to be re-signed provided the price is right. He was paid $600,000 last season.

Counting Crawford's new deal, Bowman and the Hawks have $53.7 million in committed salaries for 15 players for next season.

The NHL's salary cap presently sits as $59.4 million with various reports suggesting it will go up to approximately $62.2 million.

“We'll know in about a month what it will be,” Bowman said. “We'll see how it shakes out in terms of the final number, but we're in a better situation this summer because we've got the bonus money (for Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane) coming off the books, which was not helping us last year.

“We're still going to make changes like I indicated before, not wholesale changes, but we need to have some new faces in the lineup and we need to give the opportunity for young players to also get in the lineup. I'm confident that when we get together in October we'll have a very strong team.”

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 05.20.2011


Don’t expect Hawks to bring back Turco

While Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman didn’t come out and say Thursday that veteran Marty Turco won’t be back next season even in a backup role to Corey Crawford, the GM left the writing on the wall.

“He was a great Blackhawk for us this year,” Bowman said. “He came in early on when we needed him and played some big games for us. As the year went on and he wasn’t playing as much he was still a great Blackhawk. He proved to be a great mentor for Corey.

“We appreciate everything he did this year in a difficult circumstance for him, and he handled it like a pro.”

Bowman said Turco indicated to him in his season-ending meeting that he wanted to play in 2011-12.

“We have a meeting with every player at the end of the season and I think Marty is still interested in playing hockey,” Bowman said. “We didn’t talk in relation to what his plans were, but I know that he feels he’s still going to try to play.”

The Hawks have several options with it comes to a backup for Crawford next season. Alexander Salak, acquired with Michael Frolik from Florida in February at the trade deadline, is a possible candidate, as is Alec Richards, who spent last season at Rockford.

“Alex is a guy who is going to be in North America next year,” Bowman said. “We’re still working things out, but he has a very bright future.”

Bowman can also pursue a backup goalie in free agency. Among the veterans who will be unrestricted free agents on July 1 are Ray Emery, Peter Budaj, Mathieu Garon, Josh Harding, Jose Theodore, Alex Auld, Johan Hedberg, Pascal Leclaire, Brian Boucher, Jason LaBarbera, Ty Conklin and Mike Smith.

Tim Sassone

Daily Herald Times LOADED: 05.20.2011


Blackhawks ink Crawford to three-year deal

By Tracey Myers

Just last fall, Corey Crawford earned the Chicago Blackhawks’ backup goaltending job after years of work through the team’s system.

Eight months later, the backup who earned the No. 1 job has also earned a well-deserved raise.

The Blackhawks signed Crawford to a three-year deal worth $8 million on Thursday, giving him a solid contract and giving themselves a certain No. 1 goaltender for the first time in a while. Crawford’s contract, which RDS Hockey first reported pays him $3.25 in the 2011-12 season, will count $2.67 million against the cap per season.

For Crawford, it’s peace of mind that the deal is done and now he can focus on his sophomore season.

“It means a lot,” he said. “We weren’t thinking that much about it, we really wanted to be a part of the Blackhawks and think everyone wanted me back, too. It’s great to get it done early. Now I can just focus on workouts and getting prepared for next season.”

General manager Stan Bowman said at season’s end he was “very confident” the deal would get done quickly, and it did. It was a far cry from last offseason, when the Blackhawks were still trying to figure out their goaltending situation right up through the end of July.

“I had some discussions with (Crawford’s) agent (Gilles Lupien), and it was clear Corey wanted to be a Blackhawk,” Bowman said. “When that’s the case, usually those deals get done. We were confident when we met at the end of the year.”

For Crawford, this season was a culmination of a lot of work and a lot of patience. After fighting for a spot for years, Crawford was the No. 2 goaltender behind Marty Turco – at least to start this season. But when Turco struggled, Crawford broke through and took over the No. 1 spot.

Crawford finished this season with a 33-18-6 record that included four shutouts and sported an NHL eighth-ranked 2.30 goals-against average. Despite the gaudy numbers, Crawford was not a Calder Trophy finalist for Rookie of the Year.

With Turco likely gone this offseason, the Blackhawks will look at other backup choices. Bowman said Alexander Salak, who was acquired with Michael Frolik from the Florida Panthers in February, will be in North America next year – “we’re working on that right now,” Bowman said. Alec Richards could also be in the mix.

Including Crawford, the Blackhawks now have nearly $54 million wrapped up in player salaries next season. There are 10 free agents remaining from the 2010-11 roster, including restricted players Frolik, Chris Campoli, Troy Brouwer and Viktor Stalberg and Bowman said the Blackhawks will get the deals they want done.

“We’re going to work on them concurrently and then the next thing is entry draft (on June 24-25),” Bowman said. “The next 4-5 weeks we’re going to spend on the draft and players who have contracts coming up.”

Bowman said he didn’t know what the cap would be next season -- the New York Post reported recently that it could be at $62.2 million – but he was confident that the Blackhawks will get the pieces they need and avoid cap issues.

“We’ll have bonus money coming off the books, which didn’t help us last year,” he said. “We’ve planned for this for a long time. We’ve got a good idea of where the cap will be and we’re still going to make some changes. Not wholesale changes, but we need some new faces in the lineup and we need to give young players the opportunity to get into the lineup. We’re confident that when we get going next October we’ll have a very strong team.”

Work and perseverance got Crawford to this point, this No. 1 status and earned him this contract. Now that he’s reached this point, he doesn’t plan on shirking any of the ethics that got him here.

“(My workout plan) doesn’t change that much. I’m going to try to be in the best shape that I can be and try to get stronger, quicker,” he said. “It’s a little bit different mental approach going into it but I’ve still got to prove to them that I’m the guy. The work doesn’t end here. It only gets harder, and that’s how I’m going to approach it.”

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 05.20.2011

569882 Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings and assistant coach Brad McCrimmon part ways

By GEORGE SIPPLE

Brad McCrimmon is ready to pursue other career opportunities after completing his third season as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings.

“There’s different opportunities out there that I’m interested in,” McCrimmon said in a phone interview today. “Obviously, being able to come back and work for the Ilitches and Ken Holland was a great privilege. Having the ability to be associated with the great players that are here and staff and the pursuit of the Stanley Cup every year, which is the goal here. Glad to have that opportunity.”

McCrimmon, 52, could be a candidate for an NHL head coaching job. There are openings in Atlanta, Florida, Minnesota, New Jersey and Ottawa.

McCrimmon’s contract expired at the end of the 2010-11 season.

“I’d like to thank Brad for his dedication and tremendous work in serving as an assistant coach for the Red Wings,” general manager Ken Holland said in a released statement. “We wish Brad and his family all the best in their future endeavors.”

McCrimmon spent 18 seasons as a defenseman in the NHL, including 1990-93 with the Wings. In addition to his three seasons as an assistant coach with the Wings, he was an assistant with Atlanta (2003-07), Calgary (2000-03) and the New York Islanders (1997-98).

“I was here for three years, and if my memory serves me correctly, it was the start of the 20-year playoff run,” he said of his playing days in Detroit.

Detroit Free Press LOADED: 05.20.2011


Valtteri Filppula's brother, Ilari, leaves Wings organization to play in Finland

Ted Kulfan/ The Detroit News

The Red Wings will have one less Filppula in the organization next season.

Forward Ilari Filppula, Valtteri's brother, has signed a four-year contract with Jokerit in the Finnish pro league.

Ilari Filppula, 29, played with Detroit's AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids last season but was never called up to the Wings. He led the Griffins with 64 points, including 20 goals, in 76 games in 2010-11.

Detroit News LOADED: 05.20.2011


Brad McCrimmon won't return as Wings assistant

Ted Kulfan/ The Detroit News

Brad McCrimmon will not return as a Red Wings assistant coach next season. The Wings said he decided to pursue other career opportunities.

TSN of Canada, attributing its information to a source, says McCrimmon and head coach Mike Babcock mutually agreed it was time to make a change.

McCrimmon, a defenseman who played for the Wings from 1990-93 in his 18-year NHL career, had been Babcock's assistant in Detroit for the past three seasons. He also was an assistant for the Islanders (1997-98), Calgary (2000-03) and Atlanta (2003-07).

"I'd like to thank Brad for his dedication and tremendous work in serving as an assistant coach for the Red Wings," Wings general manager Ken Holland said in a prepared statement. "We wish Brad and his family all the best in their future endeavors."

Detroit News LOADED: 05.20.2011


Red Wings, Brad McCrimmon agree to part ways

Ansar Khan

DETROIT — The Detroit Red Wings and assistant coach Brad McCrimmon have parted ways.

The club said McCrimmon, 52, has decided to pursue other opportunities after his contract expired. He has served as an assistant under Mike Babcock for three seasons, working mainly with the defense.

“It was a bit mutual,” general manager Ken Holland said. “Mike wanted to make changes to the coaching staff. (McCrimmon) wanted to pursue other opportunities, have a bigger role, bigger impact.

“There’s head coaching positions out there. Brad would like to be a head coach.”

Paul MacLean, an assistant in Detroit for six seasons, also remains interested in becoming a head coach. If he doesn’t get that opportunity, he likely will remain in Detroit.

Holland said there is no rush to fill McCrimmon’s vacancy.

Former Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios said he is not interested in the position. His role as Detroit’s advisor to hockey operations is expanding. He will be working with Aaron Downey in helping the team’s prospects with the Grand Rapids Griffins develop their strength and conditioning.

“I’m happy with what I’m doing,” Chelios said. “I haven’t closed the door on anything (in the future). I enjoyed working with Grand Rapids, being on the ice, helping run practices with (Griffins assistant coach) Jim Paek during the playoffs (for the Black Aces). I like being directly involved with the players.”

Bob Boughner might be a candidate for the post. He resigned this week from the Columbus Blue Jackets after one season as an assistant coach. Boughner spent four seasons as head coach of the OHL Windsor Spitfires, winning Memorial Cup championships in 2009 and 2010 and is the Spitfires team president.

Boughner, 40, was a hard-nosed defenseman who played in 630 NHL games over 10 seasons with Buffalo, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Calgary, Carolina and Colorado. He was the Red Wings’ second-round pick (32nd overall) in the 1989 entry draft and spent three seasons in their minor league system.

Prior to joining the Red Wings’ staff, McCrimmon spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Thrashers. He also hserved as an assistant with the Calgary Flames (2000-03) and New York Islanders (1997-98).

McCrimmon played 18 seasons as a defenseman in the NHL, with stints in Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix. He played in 1,222 games, registering 403 points (81 goals, 322 assists) and a plus-444 rating.

No personnel decisions yet

Holland continues to conduct exit interviews with players this week. He has talked with longtime Red Wings Kris Draper and Chris Osgood but said no decision on their future likely will come for at least a month.

Draper told Holland he wants to continue playing. Osgood has not decided whether he wants to play next season or retire.

Chelios helped Fox get Eddie Vedder

Chelios used his wide-ranging influence to help the Fox Theatre attract Eddie Vedder for a June 26 concert.

“I asked him if he could cancel a Philadelphia show to fit this into his schedule,” Chelios said. “I’m looking forward to that.”

Chelios and Vedder, the lead vocalist for Pearl Jam, became friends in the early 1980s, when the Chicago natives surfed in the same spots in San Diego while attending separate high schools.

Vedder moved to Seattle and joined Pearl Jam. Chelios went on to play hockey at Wisconsin.

Michigan Live LOADED: 05.20.2011


Red Wings' prospect Ilari Filppula heads back to Europe

Ansar Khan

DETROIT — Ilari Filppula’s first season in North America was a success, as the skilled Finnish forward led the Grand Rapids Griffins in scoring and played in the AHL All-Star game.

But it wasn’t enough to convince Filppula, the older brother of Detroit Red Wings center Valtteri, to stick around. He has opted to return to Europe.

“He had a good year, put up good points,” Red Wings assistant general manager Jim Nill said. “He wanted to come over and play in North America. We knew it was a one-year shot.”

Filppula, 29, had 20 goals and a team-leading 64 points in 76 games for the Griffins. But he was an average skater, prompting the Red Wings to look to younger, faster players when needing to recall somebody.

“We discussed it a few times. He was in the mix (for a call-up),” Nill said. “But (Jan) Mursak played well. (Tomas) Tatar played well. (Cory) Emmerton played well. Mike (coach Babcock) felt comfortable with those three.”

The Red Wings would have liked to re-sign Filppula, but he can earn much more in Europe than he could in the AHL ($105,000 maximum for a two-way deal). The undrafted Filppula had signed a one-year deal with Detroit last summer.

Nill said he didn’t know which team Filppula will join. Reports indicate he has or will sign with Jokerit in Finland.

Griffins have many free agents

The Griffins’ other unrestricted free agents include forward Jamie Tardif and defensemen Derek Meech and Sergei Kolosov.

“We’ll talk to all of those players,” Nill said. “For some of them, it’ll be their first chance to be unrestricted free agents. They may want to test the waters.”

The Red Wings expect to make qualifying offers to all or most of the Griffins’ restricted free agents: forwards Dick Axelsson, Jordan Owens and Francis Pare, defenseman Logan Pyett and goaltender Jordan Pearce.

Nill said Axelsson will remain in Europe next season.

• The Red Wings have until June 1 to sign 2009 draft picks Andrej Nestrasil (75th overall) and Adam Almqvist (210th) or they will lose their rights.

• The team’s annual summer prospects camp will shift from Joe Louis Arena to Centre I.C.E. in Traverse City. It will run from July 7-14 and is open to the public.

Tatar, Emmerton, Brendan Smith, Gustav Nyquist, Landon Ferraro and Riley Sheahan are among the top prospects who will attend. Nill said 2010 draft picks Calle Jarnkrok (51st overall) and Teemu Pulkkinen (111th) might be there as well.

Michigan Live LOADED: 05.20.2011

Edmonton Oilers

Siemens’ toughness puts him on Oilers’ draft radar

Sherwood Park 17-year-old among top prospects on defence

By Jim Matheson

EDMONTON - Duncan Siemens barely qualifies for the June NHL draft — turning 18 just eight days before the Sept. 15 eligibility cut-off.

But the Sherwood Park youngster doesn’t have a baby-face on the ice. It’s often angry. He’s looking for trouble, and it often finds him.

His favourite player is Scott Stevens, who was never a dove as a hockey player. He also likes Nashville captain Shea Weber, wild playoff beard or not, because he’s big and he hits, and he also leads. That’s how Siemens, who is on the Edmonton Oilers’ radar with their second pick in round one if they can make a trade to move up considerably from their No. 19 slot, plays with the Saskatoon Blades. He got 43 points last year.

He willingly got into a tussle with Frank Musil’s boy David at the NHL Prospects game this winter, after a Siemens’ collision with Red Deer’s Ryan-Nugent Hopkins, the possible Oilers’ No. 1 choice. The 6-foot-three-inch, 200-pound Musil (Vancouver Giants) came in to defend the much-smaller RNH’s honour.

“I was out there asking every now and then (for a fight),” said Siemens, who anchored the Blades defence this season along with the puck-moving Colorado draft Stefan Elliott. “I was playing my game, being a pest. He (Musil) stepped up to the plate. He doesn’t fight much but he’s a big, strong kid. I tried to make it a fight but it was the end of a shift ... there was a lot of grabbing.”

Most scouts feel the 6-foot-three-and-a-half inch, 200-pound Siemens is a can’t miss NHLer — a shutdown defender who will be out against the other team’s top guns. He’s the best WHL blueliner and leading the second tier of draft eligible defencemen after Swede Adam Larsson, and two OHL kids, Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Murphy.

“He’s big and tough, certainly not afraid to scrap,” said Hockey Canada chief scout Kevin Prendergast.

“From talking to his coach Lorne Molleken he’s a hell of a leader. I think he’ll go between 8-15 in round one, although the early exit with his team (out in Round 2 to Kootenay) hurt those (draft) guys. That said, everybody’s looking for players who show up to play,” said Prendergast.

Siemens has a good shot and a solid hockey IQ but most scouts feel his game is getting in people’s faces. He had 121 PIMs and was plus 40. The Oilers have that sandpaper in Theo Peckham, and that’s newcomer Colten Teubert’s modus operandi from junior in Regina and the AHL, too. But they could use another one. The Hall of Famer Stevens has long been a Siemens’ favourite, and not just for the thundering open-ice hits.

“He was always on edge and he was one of the more feared players whoever played the game. He played for keeps ... I guess that’s what I’d call it,” said Siemens. “I like taking the body. When the other team sees me out there, maybe it puts some second thoughts into their mind if they’re going into the corner or coming across the middle.”

He fully expects he’ll grow to about 225 pounds and add another inch or so on his frame. “My whole family is tall. I’ve got lots of room to fill out.”

If he gets up to 225, he’ll be Weber size. Some scouts feel he’s got some of Weber in him, too, without the shot.

“Not as mean as Scott Stevens was but he hits hard and he’s tough,” said Siemens.

Last year, another Sherwood Park kid, Mark Pysyk, the Edmonton Oil Kings’ captain, was taken 23rd in round one. Now it’s Siemens’ turn to see where he goes. In a twist, Duncan’s mother Valerie, a junior high phys-ed teacher, and Pysyk’s assistant principal dad Terry, were co-workers at Clover Bar school.

Pysyk had his draft party. Now it’s Siemens’ turn.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 05.20.2011

Edmonton Oilers

Northlands won’t be an obstacle to new arena: Katz

Oilers owner lauds Mandel's 'vision' for city

By Gordon Kent and John MacKinnon

EDMONTON - Oilers owner Daryl Katz says Northlands will do the right thing and not operate Rexall Place as a competitor to a $450-million downtown arena.

Northlands officials have repeatedly indicated they might continue holding concerts and other events at Rexall if the Oilers move out, but Katz said Thursday that wouldn’t be best for Edmonton.

“This (project) is in the best interests of the city, and clearly we can’t support two arenas,” he said from Vancouver, where he had watched a Canucks playoff game.

“I think between the mayor and his team they’ve been dealing with that issue and it really hasn’t been something that has been in our quarters.”

Katz and the city have reached a deal in principle on how to build and operate an 18,500-seat arena, including a 35-year location agreement, funding and a framework for resolving other concerns.

But Coun. Bryan Anderson warned Thursday the arrangement will be derailed unless Rexall is effectively shut down once the downtown facility opens.

“Katz says the city has to exert some kind of influence on Northlands so they will agree not to compete with a new arena. There is not the economics in this town for two arenas,” Anderson said.

“If there’s no non-competition clause, I think then this deal will fall apart.”

It’s up to senior city managers to look at other ways for Northlands to collect the revenue it now receives from Rexall, he said.

“We have to find a way to keep them whole.”

Northlands is still waiting to see details of the proposed agreement, but a lease that can be renewed until 2049 prevents the city from forcing it to mothball Rexall, spokeswoman Cathy Kiss said.

Northlands president Richard Andersen “has said we would continue to operate the arena unless something different comes to light … As it sits right now, we don’t really know what was discussed last night.”

A consultant’s report for the city outlining options for Rexall, if the Oilers leave in 2014 as the team hopes, is due later this year.

However, Katz doesn’t expect Northlands to be an obstacle to his plans to replace aging Rexall Place with a bigger structure.

“Northlands has always said that they would do what’s in the best interests of the city,” he said. The mayor has spoken and I think council has spoken, and the citizens of Edmonton have, too.”

University of Alberta sports business professor Dan Mason isn’t surprised Katz wants to have the only major arena.

“They’re putting their resources into the arena, they have to be the premier entertainment venue in town. The deal the Katz Group has agreed to is one that doesn’t have a competitor,” he said.

“If you look at other cities the size of Edmonton, you cannot have two arenas that size. In the long run, there’s not enough events to keep it sustainable. There’s not enough big acts … they end up cannibalizing each other.”

The proposed arena funding scheme includes $100 million cash from Katz, $125 million from a ticket surcharge, and $125 million from property taxes on surrounding development and other city sources.

The city will own the facility, buying the land from Katz at cost, but the company will be allowed to sell the naming rights.

Those rights could be worth up to $2 million a year, Mason said.

Although Premier Ed Stelmach has consistency ruled out putting money into such a facility, Katz supports city efforts to pry the remaining $100 million out of provincial and possibly federal coffers.

“With the city behind this, with the citizens of Edmonton behind this, with the capital region behind this, and particularly with the mayor behind this, I feel pretty optimistic that other levels of government should endorse this project.”

The proposed 104th Avenue site is zoned to include hotels, a casino, apartments, shops, restaurants and other entertainment businesses.

Supporters of the scheme see it as a way to revitalize downtown as well as provide a financially stable home for NHL hockey in Edmonton.

The two sides will now try to negotiate a binding contract, including a design concept, although Katz couldn’t say when an architect will be named.

“When we have stuff that’s suitable to show to people, we’re going to be happy and excited to do that.”

Coun. Kerry Diotte, one of five councillors to vote against the agreement, said the matter was raised during a private meeting with no warning at the end of three long days of hearings.

He wanted more time to study the proposal before making a decision.

“It’s been described as a game-changer for the downtown. It’s a huge deal, as everyone has talked about,” Diotte said.

“Why push through something like this late in the day behind closed doors? Why not just get it out in the open and debate it?”

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 05.20.2011

Edmonton Oilers

New Oilers arena still $100 million short

By MICHELLE THOMPSON, QMI Agency

EDMONTON - The $100-million dollar question continues to linger after the Katz Group and city struck a deal to build a downtown Edmonton arena.

Funding for most the $450-million project will be covered through a $100-million contribution from Oilers owner Daryl Katz, coupled with $125 million from the city, and another $125 million from a user-paid facility fee.

But that still leaves the scheme $100 million short.

The province is keeping tight-lipped about its possible role and says it's waiting on a formal request before making a decision.

“Right now, we're neither here nor there,” said infrastructure ministry spokeswoman Tracy Larsen.

“Nothing's changing until we get the request.”

This came as Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason warned the province against funding the arena.

"This is an inappropriate use of taxpayers money,” Mason said.

“Especially so much money."

There's better ways for the province to spend the cash, Mason said.

“I think it has to be stacked up against other priorities,” he said.

“They couldn't find $100 million to help school boards maintain their staffing levels, they couldn't find $100 million to reduce wait times for cancer surgery.

“Until we can resolve those basic things, I don't think we should be funding private billionaires for their for profit operations."

Federal Minister of Public Works Rona Ambrose has staunchly opposed spending tax dollars on a private arena.

Ambrose was not available for comment Thursday, but a spokeswoman said her position has not changed.

“The government has no program to fund professional sports facilities,” said Michelle Bakos.

“Any requests for funding for the redevelopment or revitalization of the city's downtown must meet the criteria of infrastructure through the programs and agreements that are in place.” monton Oilers

Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 05.20.2011

Edmonton Oilers

Time to get excited, Oilers fans

By TERRY JONES

EDMONTON - First of all, it’s about the missing $100 million.

Do you think Mayor Stephen Mandel and city council, as well as Daryl Katz and his team, would have done so much work to complete the framework for a deal that will change the face and image of the city, if they were worried about the missing $100 million?

Do you think the Edmonton Oilers owner would have invited me down to his box in Rogers Arena with 10 minutes to play in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final to talk about his dream coming true, if there wasn’t the belief that the $100 million would be there from the province?

This project isn’t just for Edmonton, it’s for Northern Alberta. I’m sure the mayor has assurances that if they finally managed to get the framework built, the rest of the money to top it off to a $450 million building would be forthcoming.

Don’t forget, the Calgary Flames are believed to be well down the road behind the scenes (things are done much more quietly and much less messily in Calgary) toward getting a new rink for Southern Alberta, and that sort of support would be looked for there.

Tradition

There’s a long tradition of this sort of thing dating back to the Jubilee Auditoriums in both cities.

I know that Mayor Mandel thought everything else would fall into place but was worried that the deal buster would be Katz not signing off on $125 million of ticket tax money on “his” tickets.

But, finally, he did. And wasn’t that a wonderful bit of timing by city council — providing the long-promised $12 million of new green seats for Commonwealth Stadium, but with a ticket tax attached.

There’s also debate, and even some angst, about what happens to Edmonton Northlands now.

Katz made it clear when he made the public appearance in front of city council that there would be no compromise when it came to Northlands. They would have to be out of the arena rental business.

A non-competition clause is part of the framework of the deal. And it has to be.

“I think everybody understands that has to occur,” Coun. Bryan Anderson said. “The economy can not sustain two arenas competing for the same things. I think they’d both go broke.”

But if you go back to the downtown arena study group led by Lyle Best, an inspired thought came out of that group that Northlands could keep Rexall Place, just not with 16,837 seats in it.

This city desperately needs an 8,000 seat arena for events too big for the new downtown arena and to complement the agricultural fair board concept where it all began with the former Edmonton Exhibition Association — an outfit which essentially killed Klondike Days because the fabulous downtown action was cutting into the fairgrounds attendance.

The idea would be to remove the roof from Rexall Place, take out the upper deck, and put a new roof on the lower bowl.

Remember the city gets a month’s worth of booking time for things like the Canadian Finals Rodeo, the Brier, World Figure Skating Championships, etc. in the new downtown arena.

Katz’s Oil Kings would be better suited to an 8,000-seat Rexall.

And forget the idea that the City of Edmonton just did Northlands dirt.

Northlands IS the City of Edmonton.

An opportunity

Certainly there are challenges ahead to “keep them whole,” but this is also an opportunity to reinvent the fair board and get them back to running a much higher quality summer event than the sad show they have out there now.

I say again that Wednesday was a great day in the history of the City of Champions and the next thing that should happen here is for the Katz Group to reveal to the entire populace the plans that they’ve been showing around town to the movers and shakers.

It’s time to get Edmonton excited.

And somebody ought to make sure to record the names of the five councillors who voted against this because, five years from now, there isn’t going to be a person in this city who is going to think this isn’t the greatest thing to ever happen to Edmonton.

Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 05.20.2011

569887 Los Angeles Kings

Sad story, and a look ahead

Posted by Rich Hammond on 19 May 2011, 8:20 pm

Just got in, but I would be remiss if I let the day pass without extending condolences to the loved ones of Jonathan Moncrief, who passed away at age 43. Moncrief wrote about the Kings for the Examiner.com website, and while any death is sad, those who leave long before their time are even more shocking and difficult to understand.

As a secondary note, I should give a reminder, to everyone interested, about the impending start of the Memorial Cup, the ultimate championship of North American junior hockey. Kings prospect Maxim Kitsyn and the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors open the four-team tournament Friday afternoon against Saint John. The game will be televised on a tape-delay basis on the NHL Network on Saturday at 6 a.m. Pacific time. Mississauga’s second game, against Kootenay, will be shown live on the NHL Network on Sunday at 4 p.m.

LA Kings Insider: LOADED: 05.20.2011

569888 Minnesota Wild

Ken Hitchcock on Wild candidate list

Article by: MICHAEL RUSSO , Star Tribune

General Manager Chuck Fletcher's methodical search for the third coach in Wild history doesn't appear close to a conclusion, but the list of legitimate candidates is beginning to take shape.

Coming off his stint as coach of Team Canada at the world championships, Ken Hitchcock has joined two other veteran coaches as a candidate. The Wild, according to sources, has received permission from the Columbus Blue Jackets to interview Hitchcock, a veteran of 15 seasons as an NHL head coach.

Sources say Fletcher also has interviewed former Montreal and Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien, who joins former Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish, who was interviewed in late April.

Fletcher declined to comment on the search.

Hitchcock, 59, ranks 13th all time with 533 regular-season victories and coached Dallas to the Stanley Cup in 1999. Though he was fired by Columbus after 59 games in 2009-10, he has one more year left on his contract with the Blue Jackets at $1.3 million. Therrien, 47, coached the Penguins to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals and scouted for the Wild last season. MacTavish, 52, coached the Oilers to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals and works as a television analyst for Canada's TSN.

All three are proven coaches who could bring structure and accountability.

"Hitch is definitely one of the smartest coaches I've ever played for," former NHL star Jeremy Roenick, who played for Hitchcock in Philadelphia, told the Star Tribune last month. "He has a great knack to understand players, he has a great system."

Hitchcock is known as a big believer in playing fast defensively so his teams can get out of the defensive zone quickly and get on the attack. Hitchcock's longtime assistant in Dallas is Wild assistant coach Rick Wilson, whose future is in flux because of the Wild's coaching vacancy.

Therrien is considered a no-nonsense coach and Jacques Lemaire disciple. They're friends who share similar philosophies, and Therrien played for Lemaire in 1982-83 when he was a 19-year-old defenseman for Longueuil of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"His teams always have good structure, and he loves discipline," Lemaire said Thursday. "He demands a lot from his players, there's no doubt about that. He knows what it takes to win games."

According to sources, Fletcher also has talked to Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Kirk Muller, who played 19 seasons and won a Stanley Cup with Montreal in 1993. However, Muller has not yet been interviewed.

Fletcher also is expected to interview Houston Aeros coach Mike Yeo, who has the Wild's American Hockey League affiliate one victory from a Calder Cup finals berth against Binghamton.

Fletcher has been in the Toronto area talking to candidates the past few days.

Star Tribune LOADED: 05.20.2011


Granlund to remain in Finland for 2011-12

Despite Mikko Koivu's attempt to persuade him to play for the Wild next season, highly touted 19-year-old Mikael Granlund will remain in Finland another year, one of his representatives said Thursday.

"The game plan is he's going to be entering the army and fulfilling his service and finishing high school, and we'd come over a year from now," agent Todd Diamond said.

"Mikael prefers when he comes over to Minnesota, hockey is the only thing he needs to focus on in his life. He wants to get all these so-called housekeeping things out of the way and, a year from now, get ready to hopefully crack the lineup."

Diamond said Granlund has received permission from the Finnish Army to attend the Wild's July 10-17 development camp. Diamond said the plan is to sign "this time next year."

"We believe Minnesota is a really good spot for him and the right environment for him to succeed in the future. It's the Finland of the United States in some ways," Diamond said.

Granlund, the Wild's first-round draft pick in 2010, helped lead HIFK to an SM-Liiga championship, then Finland to a world championship.

Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher was not surprised by Granlund's decision.

"Mikael has consistently said he wanted to fulfill all of his commitments in Finland before he comes over to play in the NHL," Fletcher said.

Etc.

• The Wild is close to signing 2010 second-round pick Johan Larsson, 18, to an entry-level contract, but he's expected to play for Brynas in Sweden next season. The Swedish winger will attend Wild development camp.

MICHAEL RUSSO



Wild close to signing Larsson; Koivu returns to military service

Posted by: Michael Russo

The Wild is close to signing Johan Larsson to his three-year, entry-level deal. Not done yet, but close.

Larsson, an 18-year-old left wing taken 56th overall, will be the second of the Wild's top-four picks from the 2010 draft to sign. The other was Brett Bulmer last month. Bulmer has been playing for Houston on an amateur tryout, but he sustained a knee injury in this series against Hamilton.

Next focus from 2010 will be Mikael Granlund. At the very least, the Wild would like to sign Granlund to bring him to training camp. Larsson is expected to attend both the July development camp and September's training camp. But he'll almost certainly return to his Swedish club, Brynas.

But you can bet the Wild would love to try to convince Granlund to give the Wild a try.

In an MTV3 interview here, Wild captain Mikko Koivu said he spoke to Granlund's parents:

From my pal, Juha Hiitela: "I don't want to comment about him coming to Wild next year. I've spoke about it with Mikael and his parents. He can make his own decision and tell that when time comes. I've gave them help and met them, that's all I'm going to say about it."

Now that the "glee" of Finland's world championship has worn off, Koivu returned to his military service Wednesday night.

On Thursday, he was at the rainy recruit camp in the town of Nurmes learning to use a rifle.

Here are two links for pics: Here and here

Courtesy: MTV3 (Finland)

If you need a refresher, here's the original blog I wrote last month on Koivu fulfilling his military obligation

On Friday, Koivu will bring the dented world championship trophy to his hometown of Turku. He will be on a special ferry, I'm told, on the Aura River. It's expected to be the biggest party ever in Turku. A few top Finnish bands and singers will get on stage, too.



Tom Powers: Minnesota Wild could be heading back to 'Norris'

By Tom Powers

A return to the old "Norris Division" for the Wild? It's a distinct possibility.

And although Denis Savard, Bob Probert and Bernie Federko have long since retired, Minnesota's NHL team again could square off on a regular basis against the Blackhawks, Red Wings and Blues.

Wild fans should pay close attention to the Atlanta Thrashers' situation. That team could wind up in Winnipeg as early as next season. If that should happen, one of the contingency plans being discussed behind closed doors is a shifting of three teams to different divisions:

The new Winnipeg team moves to the Northwest. The Columbus Blue Jackets slide into Atlanta's old spot in the Southeast. And the Wild replace Columbus in the Central.

At first glance, it appears as if Nashville is the Central Division team best suited to move to the Southeast. But unlike Nashville, Columbus is in the Eastern Time Zone, the same as the other Southeast teams. That's a big deal in terms of TV schedules and travel.

Of course, everything is subject to change. But this particular scenario makes so much sense that, according to a couple of people with knowledge of the situation, even the league sees it.

For the past couple of years, it looked as if the Phoenix Coyotes would be the team moving to Winnipeg, which would have been ironic since the Jets left Winnipeg to move to Phoenix and become the Coyotes. A Winnipeg team definitely moves into the Northwest so it can face fellow Canadian rivals Vancouver,

Edmonton and Calgary. That would have left a hole in the Pacific Division, which no doubt would have been filled by Colorado - reluctantly. Minnesota was not going to be affected.

With the Coyotes now anchored to Phoenix for at least another year, however, the financially struggling Thrashers quickly have come into play. According to published reports in Winnipeg and Atlanta, Thrashers ownership is in negotiations with True North Sports and Entertainment to sell the team. True North would move the team to Winnipeg. So the dominoes could start falling any minute.

Now, this is a hard thing. As great as this realignment would be for Wild fans, it's still tough to see Atlanta fans go through this. We've been there. We've seen a hockey team ripped away. Actually, so has Atlanta since the Thrashers represent the area's second chance after the Flames moved to Calgary. Still, it seems rather tacky to get giddy. Nevertheless, it really is beyond our control. We're just here to help pick up the pieces.

Currently, the Wild's travel schedule is brutal. And those road games in Western Canada often start so late for us here that it's difficult to stay awake to follow a game to its conclusion on TV or radio. Those are the tangible reasons for the Wild to play in the Central. Almost as important are the intangibles.

The Wild get emails and phone calls every day from fans asking when the team is going to return to the "Norris." People miss the rivalries with Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit. Minnesota might have a little thing going with the Canucks, but nothing else has sprouted. The division games have the same atmosphere as the non-division games. Fans miss that creative tension involved in what I'd call those old blood rivalries.

It finally may happen. Of course, trying to nail it all down is like trying to grab hold of quicksilver. There are so many rumors that the situation seems to be in constant flux.

If everything does fall into place, the team that will squawk the loudest will be the Dallas Stars, who have been lobbying for years to move to the Central. Playing their road games primarily along the U.S. West Coast, the Stars' travel is almost as lousy as the Wild's. But the word is they are out of the picture. No other team either wants or is suited to move to the Pacific.

I guess what I'd say is: Geez, tough cookies. But enjoy the team. And Norm Green STILL sucks.

Certainly nothing definite will be forthcoming until after the playoffs. The NHL sort of embargoes league news until after the Stanley Cup Finals. The idea is not to distract from the league's showcase event.

Hey, everybody has waited a decade for this. If, in fact, it is going to happen, another few weeks won't make much difference.

Pioneer Press LOADED: 05.20.2011

569892 New Jersey Devils

Devils' Lemaire won't come out of retirement

By MARK EVERSON

The Devils are right back where they were last May, without a coach. There have been suggestions that general manager Lou Lamoriello might eliminate the next middleman and just talk Jacques Lemaire back from retirement again.

Lemaire said it isn't happening.

"I'm ready for retirement, for the rest of my life," Lemaire said yesterday.

Lemaire said Lamoriello did try to keep him behind the bench.

"He asked me right after the season, seeing if I wanted to come back," Lemaire said. "That was it."

The Devils went 29-17-3, including a 23-3-2 stretch, under Lemaire after he replaced John MacLean on Dec. 23. The list of coaching candidates includes Ken Hitchcock, Craig MacTavish, Guy Carbonneau, Marc Crawford and Kirk Muller.

New York Post LOADED: 05.20.2011

569893 New York Islanders

Business group rips Coliseum site plan

By JAMES BERNSTEIN [email protected]

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano's plan for the county-owned land around the Coliseum was dealt a blow Thursday after Long Island's largest developers group objected over the issue of who has the right to develop the property.

According to members who were there, the Association for a Better Long Island told Mangano Thursday it was unhappy because Islanders' owner Charles Wang was negotiating with him for the right to develop not just a new sports arena and a ballfield, but the rest of the property around the arena, which amounts to about 40 acres.

The association is one of the Island's most powerful business groups, representing $25 billion in land and buildings.

Executive director Desmond Ryan said the county should put that taxpayer-owned land up for bid.

Deputy County Executive Rob Walker told the members at the closed-door meeting in Syosset that Wang won similar rights in a 2005 request-for-proposals, according to a county spokeswoman, Katie Grilli-Robles. Some of the group's members had also submitted bids, but lost to Wang.

In an interview later, Mangano said, "We are in negotiations [with Wang], and we can't comment on blow-by-blow negotiations."

Mangano said he would take the group's complaints to county negotiators, and that there would be a public hearing on the proposal Tuesday and a referendum at a later date.

Wang, whose 2005 bid failed several years later, after the Town of Hempstead failed to act on his Lighthouse development plan, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Mangano's proposal has the support of the Nassau-Suffolk Building Trades Council. Council president James Castellane said a new coliseum and ballfield would create "several thousand" construction jobs at a time when unemployment in the building trades on the Island is about 30 percent.

The Association for a Better Long Island's expressions of displeasure come a week after a state fiscal watchdog, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, said it was "deeply concerned" about Mangano's proposal, which calls for borrowing $400 million to replace the aging Coliseum and to build the minor league ballpark.

Mangano appeared before about 30 members of the association to appeal for support for his plan, which would help keep the Islanders in Uniondale through at least 2045.

Ryan called the hourlong meeting "an aggressively spirited discussion." He said, "Given that this is public land and taxpayers have a lot riding on it, there needs to be a new competition that brings out the most effective use of the property."

Some group members said Wang's victory in 2005 does not give him the right to all of the property now, because then Wang was willing to put up the money to pay for his Lighthouse project, not depend on $400 million in county-issued bonds.

Member Vince Polimini, a Garden City developer who was among those who bid on that RFP, said: "No one in that room was happy with it."

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 05.20.2011

569894 New York Islanders

Evgeni Nabokov expected for training camp

Wednesday May 18, 2011 6:53 PM By Katie Strang

Evgeni Nabokov is planning on reporting to Isles training camp in September, Newsday has learned.

According to Nabokov's agent Don Meehan, the 35-year-old Russian netminder will attend as per his contractual obligation.

"Absolutely," Meehan said when reached by telephone Wednesday afternoon.

Nabokov was claimed by the Islanders off waivers back in January. and subsequently suspended for his refusal to report. As Newsday first reported last month, the Islanders will "toll" his $570,000 contract and retain his rights for this upcoming season.

Most recently, Nabokov played for Russia in the World Championships in Russia, and although he suffered a reported groin injury during the tournament, Meehan said it's "nothing serious."


569895 New York Rangers

Rangers sign prospect Christian Thomas

Thursday May 19, 2011 11:00 AM By Steve Zipay

Christian Thomas, the son of former NHL forward Steve Thomas, has signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Rangers.

Thomas, who will be 19 next week, scored 54 goals and added 45 assists for the OHL's Oshawa Generals last season. Thomas, who is 5-9, was the second-round draft choice (40th overall) of the club in 2010.

He reportedly would be paid an average of $838,333 if he makes the team; $67,000 per season if he is in the AHL. If he plays more than nine NHL games, he loses his junior eligibility.

His father scored 412 goals in 20 seasons in the NHL, four of them with the Islanders, starting in 1991.


569896 NHL

Report: Thrashers sold to Winnipeg group

By Aaron Portzline

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The Atlanta Thrashers have been sold and will move to Winnipeg, Manitoba, before next season, according to a report last night by the Globe and Mail, Canada's largest national newspaper.

But several other outlets - including ESPN, USA Today and TSN, a Canadian sports website - reported that a deal was not yet completed, and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman denied the report in a Canadian television interview.

The Globe and Mail reported that the deal will be announced, with Bettman on hand in Winnipeg, on Tuesday. One of the owners of the Winnipeg group is David Thomson, who also is part owner of theGlobe and Mail.

The Thrashers joined in the NHL in 1999, one season before the Blue Jackets, but they made the Stanley Cup playoffs only once and played before some of the smallest crowds in the league.

Their departure would mark the second time that the NHL has failed to find roots in Atlanta. The Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary, Alberta, in 1980 after eight seasons.

Sources indicated to The Dispatch last night that the Thrashers' move to Winnipeg is unlikely to prompt immediate realignment by the NHL, a two- or three-team swap that could have moved the Blue Jackets to the Southeast Division for next season.

But with the Phoenix franchise far from settled - the city of Glendale, Ariz., bought another year with the promise of $25 million to cover the NHL's losses - the league wants to wait to see where the Coyotes, and possibly other clubs, might settle.

Columbus Dispatch LOADED: 05.20.2011

569897 NHL

Atlanta Thrashers moving to Winnipeg

By STEPHEN BRUNT

Globe and Mail Update

Globe Exclusive: True North Sports Entertainment secures rights to NHL franchise

An agreement to sell the National Hockey League's Atlanta Thrashers to a Winnipeg group which plans to relocate the franchise to the Manitoba capital is done.

Sources confirmed tonight that preparations are being made for an announcement Tuesday, confirming the sale and transfer of the Thrashers to True North Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and the MTS Centre arena, which would become the NHL team's new home.

Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the National Hockey League, is expected to travel to Winnipeg to make the news official.

The announcement would end months of speculation about whether one of the NHL's financially-troubled American sunbelt teams might move north, filling the void left when the Winnipeg Jets packed up and left for Phoenix in 1996, where they became the Coyotes.

Much of the talk this spring had centred on that failing franchise, which was bought by the league after being placed in bankruptcy by its former owner Jerry Moyes in 2009.

But sources in Winnipeg suggest that the Thrashers had in fact been the primary target of potential owners Mark Chipman and David Thomson all along, and that some months back, the NHL board of governors quietly approved the sale and transfer of the team, pending the negotiation of a purchase agreement between Atlanta Spirit LLC, the Thrashers' owners, and True North.

In the meantime, no potential owner materialized who was prepared to keep the team in Georgia, and local governments there showed no interest in propping up the Thrashers.

"There seems to be a consensus there is going to be a team in Winnpeg," former major league pitcher Tom Glavine, who had tried unsuccessfully to find new ownership for the hockey team in Atlanta, acknowledged last week. ""The question is who, and unfortunately the bullseye seems to be on the Thrashers' back."

When it appeared this spring that the Coyotes might also be in play, after a deal to sell the team to Matthew Hulsizer underwritten by a municipal bond issue fell apart in the face of political opposition from the Goldwater Institute, the Winnipeg group sought to take advantage of what suddenly seemed a buyers' market, with two teams available and no other potential owners or relocations sites on the horizon.

After the City of Glendale agreed to cover $25-million of the Coyotes losses for the 2011-2012 season, and the NHL opted to operate the club in Arizona for at least one more year, True North's full focus returned to Atlanta, and a deal was hammered out this week.

Even before those final negotiations took place, the potential Winnipeg owners concluded an agreement with the Manitoba government which will allow revenues from a sports bar with slot machine to be used for improvements to the arena, and to be used towards the debt service on the building.

That's consistent with what Manitoba premier Greg Selinger told reporters earlier this week, when he said that the provincial government had no interest in subsidizing an NHL team, but that the province had financially supported the renovation of the MTS Centre in the past, and would continue to be willing to do so.

Toronto Globe And Mail LOADED: 05.20.2011

569898 NHL

Why Bettman fights for Phoenix

By DAVID SHOALTS

Letting the Coyotes move could be seen as victory for old enemy Jim Balsillie

More than one person is asking this these days: How come Gary Bettman fights so hard to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix but not the Thrashers in Atlanta?

There are the obvious reasons - the NHL commissioner has a group of local politicians in Glendale throwing their taxpayers' money at him in order to keep the Coyotes and maybe Glendale/Phoenix makes more sense to the NHL from a U.S. television standpoint than Atlanta. This despite the fact Atlanta is a much bigger television market (No. 9 in the U.S., compared to Phoenix at No. 13). Also, the NHL is in the process of failing in Atlanta for the second time, so it might be easier to let them go to Winnipeg.

Oh, we interrupt this blog for news that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports there is one group left talking to the Thrashers owners that is willing to keep the team in Atlanta. Alas, Thrashers president Don Waddell would not identify the group, said a deal is not imminent and then said this:

"My job is to try to find a buyer who will keep the team in Atlanta. As long as they keep taking my phone calls, I'll keep working."

Okay, sounds like these folks are really interested. At least they are until they decide Waddell's phone calls are too annoying and let him go to voice mail.

As for the Coyotes, one person close to the situation has an interesting theory - the overriding reason Bettman fights so hard for them is ego. Letting them move could be seen as victory for Jim Balsillie.

When Balsillie made his play to buy the Coyotes and move them to Hamilton, Ont., his message was that hockey would never work in the desert, only in a tried-and-true hockey market. He also made the mistake of enraging Bettman and the owners by running a season-ticket campaign in Hamilton in a previous attempt to buy the Nashville Predators.

The reason True North Sports and Entertainment of Winnipeg seemingly has the blessing of Bettman is that the company's principals, Mark Chipman and David Thomson, are going about their business in silence. That is the way Bettman likes it.

Any leaks in this story are coming out of Atlanta, where the owners are fed up and don't need to worry about displeasing the commissioner.

By giving up his fight to keep the Coyotes in Phoenix, Bettman could be seen as admitting Balsillie was right. So as long as the local politicians are willing to be relieved of $25-million (U.S.) per year, and the NHL owners are willing to let the Coyotes play on their tab, then Bettman will work hard to prevent any perception Balsillie was right.


569899 NHL

Hockey Hall tracks down missing Gretzky puck

By JAMES CHRISTIE

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Former Hockey Hall of Fame official travelled to Los Angeles in 1989 to collect milestone disc

The Hockey Hall of Fame believes it has the puck Wayne Gretzky used to break Gordie Howe's NHL career points record of 1,850 early in the 1989 season.

Hockey Hall of Fame president Jeff Denomme said yesterday that when the Hall knew a record was possible former president Ian (Scotty) Morrison, travelled with the Los Angeles Kings for a week in 1989 to make sure that the fabled hockey museum and NHL institution got the record-breaking puck.

"We knew we had to do something special and, with Wayne's blessing, Scotty followed the team and collected not only the record-setting puck, but the pucks that led up to the record," Denomme said. Those pucks "all game-used pucks" are part of a clock-face display, he said.

He said that the Hall is not in negotiations for other pucks - purported to include the record-setting rubber - bought at auction last month by Calgary businessman Sandy Edmonstone.

Edmonstone bought pucks at an auction for about $50,000 from Marc Juteau's Montreal-based Classic Auctions. Timekeeper Don Whidden said he received the puck from a linesman after the goal, put tape around it and placed it with three other pucks in his briefcase. He signed an affidavit to that effect. He gave one of the pucks to the Oilers - according to the Hall not the record-setter - and kept the others safe at home, Whidden said.

Denomme says is possible that there was a mix-up or a substitution of the record-setting puck. "But it's highly unlikely that the timekeeper would not know what the Hockey Hall of Fame was up to," in collecting the puck, Denomme said.

"From our point of view, we haven't seen a legal document in the Classic Auctions description of the item that they sold (as the record-breaking puck)," Denomme said.

It's the second time this month that Gretzky's name has come up in the world of sport memorabilia.

The Great One's NHL rookie card fetched $94,163 U,S. in online bidding, a price that organizer SCP Auctions says is the highest price ever paid for a hockey card.


569900 NHL

Quebec arena backers endure more hurdles

By SEAN GORDON

Globe and Mail Update

Mayor Régis Labeaume says don't count him out

So it turns out that Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume won't get his wish - at least not yet.

The colourful Labeaume had been pressing the provincial National Assembly to pass a law insulating the arena management contract his administration signed with Quebecor a few weeks ago from vexatious lawsuits.

Though the opposition Parti Quebecois agreed to sponsor such a bill, it would have required unanimous consent to be tabled given the deadline for private member's legislation has passed.

Independent MNA Eric Caire - and another former Action democratique MNA, Marc Picard - have refused to give their consent, so that's it until the legislature opens a new session in the fall.

The move is a repudiation of sorts for Labeaume, who argued that a threatened lawsuit by a former city manager (who is contesting the legality of the contract) would scare off the NHL, which is the subject of a lobbying campaign by Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau to put a team to the $400 million arena that is scheduled for completion in 2015.

The National Assembly machinations won't derail the construction process, but it will give new life to opponents - the provincial municipal affairs department believes that some aspects of the deal may in fact violate Quebec law.

At issue is a legal device aimed at splitting up the various elements of the leasing arrangements - concert promotion, concessions, etc.

Provincial government lawyers believe the arrangement between the city and Quebecor should have beem subjected to a public tendering process, and that breaking up the components of the contract is an attempt to skirt that process.

The city's lawyers, unsurprisingly, disagree vehemently, and insist the proposed contract is perfectly legal.

It's not to say that this will end up in court, or that it will jeopardize the arena project even if it does (the province has already committed to funding the project), but it is clearly a short-term setback for Labeaume.

He had cited the need to reassure the NHL about legal roadblocks being thrown up, a la Phoenix.

This isn't a roadblock - after all, the ruling Liberals have a majority and could pass the law next fall if the disagreements can be ironed out - but it's certainly a speed bump that will slow this thing down.


569901 NHL

Quebec arena deal hits speed bump

So it turns out that Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume won't get his wish - at least not yet.

The colourful Labeaume had been pressing the provincial National Assembly to pass a law insulating the arena management contract his administration signed with Quebecor a few weeks ago from vexatious lawsuits.

Though the opposition Parti Quebecois agreed to sponsor such a bill, it would have required unanimous consent to be tabled given the deadline for private member's legislation has passed.

Independent MNA Eric Caire - and another former Action dÃ©mocratique du QuÃ©bec MNA, Marc Picard - have refused to give their consent, so that's it until the legislature opens a new session in the fall.

The move is a repudiation of sorts for Labeaume, who argued that a threatened lawsuit by a former city manager (who is contesting the legality of the contract) would scare off the NHL, which is the subject of a lobbying campaign by Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau to put a team to the $400-million arena that is scheduled for completion in 2015.

The National Assembly machinations won't derail the construction process, but it will give new life to opponents - the provincial municipal affairs department believes that some aspects of the deal may in fact violate Quebec law.

At issue is a legal device aimed at splitting up the various elements of the leasing arrangements - concert promotion, concessions, etc.

Provincial government lawyers believe the arrangement between the city and Quebecor should have been subjected to a public tendering process, and that breaking up the components of the contract is an attempt to skirt that process.

The city's lawyers, unsurprisingly, disagree vehemently, and insist the proposed contract is perfectly legal.

It's not to say that this will end up in court, or that it will jeopardize the arena project even if it does (the province has already committed to funding the project), but it is clearly a short-term setback for Labeaume.

He had cited the need to reassure the NHL about legal roadblocks being thrown up, a la Phoenix.

This isn't a roadblock - after all, the ruling Liberals have a majority and could pass the law next fall if the disagreements can be ironed out - but it's certainly a speed bump that will slow this thing down.


569902 NHL

Bloody mess for Sharks

By GARY MASON


San Jose's best players missing in action, while Canucks click on all cylinders

In the aftermath of his team's listless performance in the opening game of the Western Conference final, San Jose coach Todd McLellan said Game 2 would test the Sharks' commitment and resolve. It would reveal what his players were truly made of.

After Wednesday's 7-3 drubbing at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks, McLellan has to be horrified at what he has witnessed in the first two games of this series. If Game 2 was supposed to reveal the true character of his team, then his conference final will soon be over.

While there has been plenty of attention on the Sharks' composure meltdown in the game - and deservedly so - the team's problems don't end there. Yes, the Canucks demonstrated that they are more Cup ready by keeping their heads while the Sharks' players were losing theirs, but the Canucks have also dominated this series in almost every department.

Coming into the final, the Sharks were said to have more depth up front. And yet, it has been the Canucks' top three lines that have dictated the pace of play. One of the most well-worn adages in hockey is that to win championships, your best players have to be your best players.

Vancouver's best players have stepped up their game. As for San Jose, well, poor Todd McLellan said after the game Wednesday that he was tired of making excuses for many of his. "I'm not going to hide them any more," he said. But when asked which players he was calling out, McLellan refused to divulge their identities.

Not that it takes much sleuthing to figure out whom he would be talking about. If you've watched the first two games, you know.

Go down the list: Devon Setoguchi, Ryan Clowe, Dany Heatley, Dan Boyle, Kyle Wellwood, Ian White, Torrey Mitchell have all been missing in action. And though they have scored, even Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton haven't done much beyond offering hints of the players they can be.

(But you have to give Marleau credit for taking on Kevin Bieksa, a fight that likely wouldn't have happened had former teammate, now analyst, Jeremy Roenick not called the Sharks' winger "gutless" after a particularly poor playoff outing against Detroit. That's what that was all about.)

The Sharks' best player in Game 2 was hulking defenceman Douglas Murray. Even their spectacular goaltender, Antti Niemi, appeared human and vulnerable.

Right now, Vancouver looks like it often did during the regular season - unbeatable. If you are a hockey purist, watching the Canucks at the top of their game is a delight. There were times on the power play Wednesday when they looked like those Russian teams of the early '70s that came over and stunned us with their puck possession wizardry. The Sedins, when allowed to roam as they have in this series, can make you laugh they are so good. The way Vancouver's defence often plays is like having two extra forwards on the ice.

For whatever reason, the Sharks have appeared two steps behind the Canucks in the first two games. Either Vancouver has found another gear or San Jose has lost something. "You can't chase this team," McLellan said after the game. And he's right. There is no sense chasing what you can't catch.

The Sharks are bigger, but they are getting badly outhit by the Canucks. Down low, the San Jose defence can't seem to handle the Vancouver pressure. It seems overwhelmed.

The Canucks are winning without the Ryan Kesler who single-handedly took over the series against Nashville. Instead, they have the Kesler who is merely very good. His linemates, Chris Higgins and Mason Raymond, have

been more noticeable in the first two games. But that just shows you which team really has the most depth.

Hockey is a strange game. Teams can often demonstrate split personalities, within a single game. And teams can change dramatically within a seven-game series. All of which is to say that San Jose seems to be too good a team to continue to be subjugated by the Canucks.

But unless the Sharks find themselves soon, like Friday night, this series is over. If it isn't already.


569903 NHL

Sin bin lives up to its name in Vancouver

BRUCE DOWBIGGIN | Columnist profile | From Friday's Globe and Mail

What if they threw a hockey game and the Green Men didn’t show? We discovered the answer Wednesday as technicians at Rogers Arena in Vancouver appeared to move the camera angle for the penalty box for Game 2 of the Western Conference final to eliminate the unitards from ruining an otherwise decent family program. But the annoying Green Men took a pass on the game, reportedly so that daddy could use the seats. (Or maybe they were stinging from the rebuke delivered by their hero, Don Cherry, back in the Vancouver Canucks-Nashville Predators series.)

CBC got something even more controversial than the Green Men, however: an eye full from a female fan who flashed her breasts live on camera as San Jose Sharks winger Ben Eager made yet another trip to the sin bin in the third period. (Which might explain why the hapless Sharks forward kept getting himself sent to the penalty box so often.) Needless to say Twitter, YouTube and Facebook instantly captured the moment for a waiting world that might have missed the passing shot, replete with allusions to the twins (not Sedin) being good on the glass, and so on.

So now the NHL and the Canucks have two problems as exultant Left Coasters turn the visitors’ penalty box into a frat party. CBC had no comment on the intrusion on Thursday beyond this from spokesman Jeff Keay: “We appreciate the enthusiasm of hockey fans and trust they’ll use their best judgment with regard to proper decorum at games.” At least it’ll spare us Don Cherry saying, “Now for all you kids out there and everything …”

TROUBLE AT NBC

The resignation of NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol raises serious questions about the network’s commitment to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia – and, by extension, the attendance of NHL players in those Games. Industry rumours said Ebersol was having trouble convincing the new owners of NBC and Comcast to shell out the significant money needed for Sochi after losing a considerable amount on the Vancouver Games in 2010. Matters reportedly came to a head Thursday morning, with Ebersol telling staffers he was gone.

It’s hard to see the NHL doing business on ABC or ESPN after signing its recent 10-year deal with the NBC and Comcast. The negotiations for the U.S. Olympic TV rights will be determined in June.

EYE SPY

Why Hockey Night in Canada still moves the needle: great technical abilities. Its work on the Kevin Bieksa goal, which put the Canucks up for good in Game 2 of their series with San Jose, showed why Hockey Night still matters. Hockey Night had a camera trained on the Canucks’ bench to show us how Chris Higgins sat perched on the edge of the boards, playing possum against the Sharks. Think of the old lonesome end play in football.

As analyst Glenn Healy (who was positioned right beside that bench) described it, Higgins chose the perfect moment to pop onto the ice, take a pass, and find a streaking Bieksa all alone on the breakaway. We got to see Higgins’ follow-up on an isolated camera as Bieksa beat Antti Niemi off camera for the goal that broke the back of the Sharks. Succinct, unembellished visual storytelling. Kudos.

Meanwhile, CBC says it won’t offer any 3-D telecasts of the Stanley Cup final. Citing cost problems and slow rollout of the technology with consumers, the network says it is now not as bullish on the technology as it was this time last year. CBC did two 3-D games this season with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens last December and the Heritage Classic between the Calgary Flames and the Canadiens on Feb. 20.

CHARLES IN CHARGE

If only hockey had a TV announcer or athlete as honest as the NBA’s Charles Barkley. With the news of Phoenix Suns executive Rick Welts coming out of the closet, Barkely addressed the situation of gay athletes in team sports. “First of all, every player has played with gay guys,” Barkley

told 106.7 The Fan in Washington, adding that any player who says he hasn't is “a stone-freakin’ idiot.”

“It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say: ‘Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.’ First of all, quit telling me what I think. I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play,” Barkley said.

When will hockey find a voice as courageous as Barkley to break the ice about gay players and executives in this sport? Don’t hold your breath.


569904 NHL

Don't expect bad blood to boil over with Canucks, Sharks

By MATTHEW SEKERES


Neither Sharks nor Canucks want to give opponent a power play

In a typical NHL playoff encounter, the bad blood and hostilities expressed by the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks in Game 2 could well carry on and become a series storyline.

Just don't bet on it with these teams.

As emotionally charged as the NHL's Western Conference final became in a 7-3 Canucks win Wednesday, there's one overriding factor that should prevent another powder keg in Game 3 at the HP Pavilion on Friday.

Power plays.

Simply put, the Canucks and Sharks are just too dangerous with the man advantage to take non-essential penalties. And the way Game 2 was officiated, the players have been put on notice that whistles will be quick.

"It's a [7-3] game, and that's not going to carry over into nastiness in the next game because you can't do it," said Sharks winger Ryane Clowe, who was some chapped with Vancouver's Maxim Lapierre for posturing as though he wanted to fight, only to decline. "What are you going to do? Sit in the box. The physical play will probably still be there, but as far as that stuff [goes], the refs are calling everything."

San Jose is perfect on three power-play opportunities in the series, while Vancouver has converted four of 11 chances, including three in its blowout victory at Rogers Arena.

The Canucks had the league's best power play in the regular season, which connected at 24.3 per cent, while the Sharks ranked second at 23.5 per cent. In the playoffs, Vancouver has slightly improved on its performance (25.5 per cent), and San Jose is still clicking at a reasonable 18.5 per cent.

"We feed off the power plays we're getting," said Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa, whose punch-up with Patrick Marleau triggered all the rough stuff. "We're not looking to be nasty."

Teams in the postseason often claim that discipline is paramount, because the stakes are so high that one ill-timed penalty could make the difference. It's one thing to claim that when a series features impotent power plays, such as those of the Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators, but it's an entirely other thing when the series features the offensive talent of Vancouver and San Jose.

At every turn, there are Olympic-calibre players ready to fill the net.

Vancouver's Sedin twins have won gold medals, and have won back-to-back Art Ross Trophies. Henrik Sedin was chosen league MVP last year, and Daniel is a Hart Trophy candidate this year.

Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dany Heatley and Dan Boyle have also won Olympic gold, while Jumbo Joe has Art Ross and Hart trophies on his mantel, too.

Centres Ryan Kesler and Joe Pavelski were among the best U.S. players at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, while German Christian Ehrhoff has proved one of the league's most dangerous offensive defenceman after a 50-point, 14-goal season.

Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault began this season by stressing discipline - Vancouver's undoing in an emotional series against Chicago last year - and telling his players to lay off the officials so as not to pick up penalties with their mouths.

"We'll take criticism, we'll take punches in the face, we'll take whatever it takes to win this series," Bieksa said. "You got to keep your cool."


569905 NHL

NHL turns its hopes back to Canada

Damien Cox

Perhaps in retrospect Sidney Crosby’s golden goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was a sign from the hockey heavens.

Get ready Canada for a new period of prosperity in professional hockey. A new golden era for this country in the NHL.

It is an era, expected to officially begin with the NHL deciding to move a team from the U.S. to Winnipeg as soon as this week, that has arrived with stunning speed.

Fifteen years ago in the wake of the move of NHL teams in Winnipeg and Quebec City to the United States there were concerns that Canada might be left with only two NHL clubs. Or perhaps one — the wealthy Maple Leafs.

A decade ago, nobody in the province of Quebec wanted to buy the fabled Montreal Canadiens, who couldn’t sell out their games. Eight years ago the Ottawa Senators were under bankruptcy protection.

To help keep teams north of the border afloat, with the Canadian dollar trading close to 60 cents in U.S. money, the NHL established the Canadian Assistance Program to funnel dollars to desperate Canadian teams.

Dark times indeed.

Now, amidst reports by the Thomson-owned Globe and Mail Thursday night that billionaire David Thomson has concluded a deal to buy the Atlanta Thrashers and bring a team back to Winnipeg — a report heatedly denied by the NHL — it seems very possible that Canada could in the next few years regain its former complement of eight NHL franchises, or perhaps more.

The NHL, which not so long ago seemed disinterested in Canada, suddenly needs the birthplace of the game more than ever.

Quebec City is once again looking for a team after unveiling plans to build a rink, and there appears to be no shortage of struggling money-losing U.S. teams interested in moving north, with no new Americans cities clamouring for teams.

In Edmonton, plans have been approved this week for a new $450 million arena. Calgary may soon follow suit. Persistent rumours of a second team in the Toronto area and a wide variety of plans to build new arenas to house that team won’t die.

Finally the Vancouver Canucks, up two games to none over the San Jose Sharks in the NHL’s Western Conference final, may be on the verge of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993.

Surely the stars do seem to be aligning.

The possible rebirth of the Jets in Winnipeg — either by that nickname or another — have been circulating vigorously for more than a week, ever since city officials in Glendale, Ariz., home of the NHL-owned Phoenix Coyotes, agreed to guarantee $25 million (U.S.) in losses for that team for the second straight year.

Thomson and his True North Sports and Entertainment group had been sniffing around the Coyotes, and after that announcement they quickly seemed to turn their attention to the Thrashers, although the Globe report indicated that the NHL’s board of governors had actually approved the sale and transfer of Atlanta to Winnipeg “some months” ago.

Senior NHL officials bluntly denied that part of the story.

In Atlanta, no new ownership candidates have emerged to buy the Thrashers, who are losing upwards of $20 million per season. Thomson and his partner Mark Chipman have been negotiating with Atlanta’s owners at least since Monday to move the team to Manitoba for next season. If it happens, it would be the second time that an Atlanta-based franchise has been moved to Canada, with the Atlanta Flames having become the Calgary Flames back in 1980.

Whether a Winnipeg franchise can truly flourish this time remains a significant question. The Canadian dollar is at par or better against the U.S. dollar now, but NHL payrolls are much larger than they were when Winnipeg was moved to Phoenix in 1996. Also, the arena in the Manitoba capital, while modern and successful, only seats about 15,000 spectators for hockey, compared with more than 21,000 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

That said, compared to the huge financial losses being experienced by teams in Atlanta, Phoenix, Miami, Tampa Bay, Columbus, Dallas, Long Island, N.Y., and other U.S. cities, Winnipeg might nonetheless be a preferential location for an NHL team.

As well, the NHL is preparing for a new round of collective bargaining with the players’ association that could see the league demanding cuts in player compensation that might in theory help smaller market Canadian clubs.

While many media outlets ran multiple denials of the Globe story, the fact the Thomson family owns the newspaper suggests David Thomson approved the published report. More to the point, the NHL needs to release its schedule in the next few weeks and needs to nail down the location of all of its 30 clubs for that reason alone.

So if Atlanta has to move to Winnipeg, it has to happen quickly. Or already has.

And it may just be the start.

Toronto Star LOADED: 05.20.2011

569906 NHL

Bergeron the difference as Boston wins Game 3

Paul Hunter

TAMPA — It was more subtle, more cerebral than the four-point circus show rookie Tyler Seguin used to revive the Bruins in the previous game, but the return of Patrice Bergeron to the Boston lineup for Game 3 will likely be more important in the long run.

You won’t find Bergeron in the scoring summary, but after missing the last two games, his fingerprints were all over his squad’s 2-0 win against the Lightning Thursday.

In a victory that puts Boston ahead 2-1 in the Eastern Conference final, Bergeron was dominant in the faceoff circle, was strong at both ends of the ice and generally imbued his squad with confidence against a Lightning team that was looking to regain control of this series in its own rink.

Speaking publicly for the first time since a shoulder-to-the-head check from Claude Giroux bounced him out of the final game of Boston’s sweep of Philadelphia last round, Bergeron said that he suffered only a “mild” concussion that night and he had no apprehension about stepping back into game action.

“To be honest, I felt pretty good out there. I felt like I was myself,” said Bergeron. “Maybe in the first period I was kind of keeping things simple, which I think is pretty normal, you know, coming back from … I missed two weeks. Even though I only missed two games, it was two weeks.”

Bergeron said he didn’t have a timetable for his return, but he’d been feeling fine for a week and he worked in concert with team physicians to determine when it would be appropriate and safe to throw himself back into physical pounding of playoff hockey.

“It felt good for the past week. So I decided I was ready to go, and I had some practices this week. And I had a little bit of contact with the extra guys on game day last game. And I felt good,” recounted Bergeron, who has had a serious concussion in the past.

“I didn’t want to put pressure on myself. When you do that, it can make it worse. I knew it was mild, and I felt good. But we didn’t want to take any chances, any risk. I was confident that I was ready, and the doctors and trainers were in the same boat as me. So it was time for me to be out there.”

Bergeron played more than 19 minutes — more than any other Boston forward — and won 18 of 28 faceoffs. That 64 per cent success rate is the clip the centre has been working at all spring as the best faceoff man in the post-season.

With their lines back to normal the Bruins, as a team, returned to what defenceman Andrew Ference referred to a “comfort zone” — not only because of Bergeron’s presence, but also because they got back to playing a more controlled game than they had in a frenetic 6-5 victory in Game 2.

It also helped that goaltender Tim Thomas, who has really not looked himself while giving up 10 goals in the first two games, was as sharp as at any point in the season. Many of his saves were typically acrobatic — but none, perhaps, more important than consecutive groin-stretchers, with a spin-o-rama in between, on Teddy Purcell and Vincent Lecavalier in the first period when the Bolts were pushing hard to come back from an early 1-0 deficit.

“I was able to play more under control tonight, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that we played the way that I’m used to,” said Thomas.

While Thomas counted some huge saves among the 31 he made for his first shutout this post-season, the Lightning players blamed themselves for not challenging him enough.

“As the game goes on, he feels better about himself and gains confidence that he carries through the rest of the game,” groused Bolts forward Marty St. Louis.

“We have to make his job a little tougher and we just didn’t do that tonight.”

Seguin, while he played well, had a much quieter night. He was briefly credited with tipping in Boston’s second goal, but that was eventually awarded to Ference, who took a shot from the point that squeezed through a crowd in front.

Boston jumped ahead 1-0 when David Krejci was left completely uncovered in front of the Tampa net — Bolts defenceman Victor Hedman drifted into the corner to help Brett Clark cover Milan Lucic and no one else picked up Krejci — and the centre had a ridiculous amount of time to make Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson look like a fish out of water.

“If it wasn’t for that, I think it would have stayed 0-0 for quite a while,” Tampa coach Guy Boucher said of the gaffe just over a minute in.

“So yeah, one bad mistake and it cost us, and then we were chasing the rest of the game. But I think it looked a lot more (like) the type of game that people were expecting.”


569907 NHL

Atlanta Thrashers’ move to Winnipeg not complete, parties insist

Mark Zwolinski

A report that Winnipeg was getting a new NHL team created a buzz in the hockey world Thursday night, though all the parties supposedly involved denied the deal had been done.

The story, widely rumoured for days, said the Atlanta Thrashers had been sold and would move to Winnipeg for the next season.

It claimed the sale has been finalized and that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would be in Winnipeg on Tuesday to officially announce the move.

But NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said by email Thursday night that “the board has not been asked to consider nor approve any transaction involving the sale and/or possible relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers' franchise. . . . Any suggestion to the contrary is entirely untrue.”

Another high ranking source in the NHL front office, though, said the sale of the team to True North Sports and Entertainment is in an advanced stage of negotiation, but that “a deal is far from final.”

Other sources with all three parties said numerous issues and details with a potential sale have yet to be worked out. But while there was plenty of denial about an immediate sale and move of the Thrashers to Winnipeg, Atlanta Spirit's quest to sell its team has narrowed down to a lone group, and that group is not local.

True North, which has long been rumoured to be negotiating to bring the Thrashers to its MTS Centre arena in Winnipeg, flatly denied any such deal is imminent.

“True North Sports and Entertainment is denying the report and that it is accurate,” Scott Brown, spokesman for the group, told the Star Thursday night.

True North owns and operates the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League out of the MTS Centre.

Several sources with the Thrashers said they have no knowledge of an imminent sale, but added that team owners Atlanta Spirit LLC, which have been earnestly attempting to sell the franchise for more than a year now, have been keeping current negotiations private and contained to a select few individuals within the ownership group.

Thrashers general manager Don Waddell denied any sale was complete with two words — “not true” — in an email Thursday night.

Bettman spoke earlier Thursday on NHL Live and said no deal has been made to move the Thrashers to Winnipeg. Bettman also criticized reports of a possible move, but did not rule out relocation unless an Atlanta group becomes a serious player to purchase the team.

There has been no indication any local Atlanta group is prepared to buy the team, but former Atlanta Braves baseball pitcher Tom Glavine has said he is willing to search for others who would pay to keep the Thrashers there.

“We get reports, speculation, that the team’s gone. And there’s no deal,” Bettman said on NHL Live.

“I can tell you that with certainty that there is no deal for this team to move. Am I predicting that there will never be or that there won’t be at some point in time? No, I’m not saying there is or there isn’t.”

While the denials flew Thursday night, Thrashers players continued to hear hints that they will be making a move to Winnipeg.

According to an NHL agent, Thrashers' players have been “quietly” told to start personal plan to relocate out of Atlanta.

Since joining the NHL in 1999 as an expansion team, the Thrashers have only made the playoffs once, in 2006-07. They were swept by the Rangers in the first round.

Winnipeg lost its former NHL team, the Jets, to Phoenix in 1996, and people in the city have been longing for the team’s return ever since.

Bettman has said that the league has a “covenant with fans” to do everything possible to keep teams in their current markets. But Bettman has also said, referring to the move of the Jets, “I'd like to try to fix something I wished hadn't happened in the first place.”

Amid rumours of a deal, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger announced Wednesday that the province would support an NHL franchise, but it was not in a position to “subsidize” the team. But he added the province would continue to financially support the renovation of the MTS Centre.

A recent report from the Conference Board of Canada, an economic think tank, said that conditions in Quebec City and Winnipeg were improving in terms of their ability to host an NHL team, but faced obstacles, including that Winnipeg’s MTS Centre still can only hold about 15,000 fans. If the team does move to Winnipeg, the MTS Centre would be the smallest arena in the NHL.

However, another recent report, by the Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto, said Canadian markets could host up to six other NHL teams, including one in Winnipeg. That study was based on potential gate revenue, by weighing city size, wealth, location, and other factors.

An NHL team in Winnipeg would surely leave fans clamouring in Quebec City, which the Nordiques left in 1997, and in Hamilton, where BlackBerry magnate Jim Balsillie has been trying for years to lure a hockey team.

The Thrashers’ operating losses are estimated at $20 million (U.S.) a year. Forbes magazine reported on Tuesday that the Thrashers’ owners are asking $110 million for the team.

According to legal documents, the Thrashers rank 27th in NHL attendance with crowds averaging 13,403. They were considered second in line for a move, after the financially troubled Coyotes.

The Thrashers looked promising for a while on the ice this season. Midway through the campaign, they were seventh in the Eastern Conference with a 20-15-6 record.

But the bottom fell out in late December and continued for two months. A 6-15-5 swoon from Dec. 21 to Feb. 23 all but sank any hope of stirring hockey interest in a team that plays before great swaths of empty seats.

Atlanta finished 12th in the East with a 34-36-12 record.

The team was 28th out of the 30-team league in attendance this season, averaging just 13,469.

Still supporters are planning a rally before the team's annual select-a-seat event for season-ticket holders at Philips Arena on Saturday.

With files from Kate Allen and Star wire services


569908 NHL

Thrashers Appear Poised to Relocate to Winnipeg

By JEFF Z. KLEIN

The Thrashers stood on the brink of relocation to Winnipeg on Thursday, with the last hope for keeping the team in Atlanta hinging on negotiations with one remaining potential buyer, according to the team’s president.

Negotiations, meanwhile, were also continuing with True North Sports and Entertainment, the group that has long sought an N.H.L. team for Winnipeg. The Globe and Mail of Toronto reported Thursday night that a deal was complete to sell the Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg, but True North denied the report.

The N.H.L. is believed to be working on two schedules for the 2011-12 season — one with the Thrashers playing in Atlanta and a second with the team relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba. It has traditionally released the schedule for the following season during the Stanley Cup finals.

“My job is to keep the Thrashers in Atlanta,” Don Waddell, the Thrashers’ president, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “As long as they keep taking my phone calls, I’ll keep working.”

Waddell told The Journal-Constitution that a deal was not imminent. He did not identify the potential buyer.

The Thrashers last week replaced the Phoenix Coyotes as the most likely N.H.L. team to move north when the city of Glendale, Ariz., paid the N.H.L. $25 million to cover projected losses for next season. The payment guaranteed that the Coyotes would remain at least one more season while the city and Matthew Hulsizer, the prospective owner, tried to reach an arena lease agreement that would also satisfy a watchdog group threatening to block the sale on grounds that the state constitution forbids public subsidies for private developments.

Although the N.H.L., which owns the Coyotes on a caretaker basis, has consistently expressed support for keeping the team in Arizona, it has offered less assurance about the Thrashers.

“I can’t guarantee that,” Bill Daly, the league’s deputy commissioner, said recently when asked whether he could guarantee the Thrashers’ presence in Atlanta next season.

During an intermission in the Vancouver-San Jose game on Wednesday, Commissioner Gary Bettman discounted news of an imminent move by the team.

“There has been so much speculation,” Bettman said. “How many people in your line of work were reporting the Coyotes were going to Winnipeg? Where is that coming from? It’s made up. It didn’t happen. The minute the Coyotes made it clear they’re staying, we’re on to Atlanta.”

If the Thrashers, who play in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division — with Washington, Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay — were to move to Winnipeg, the league would have to consider realigning its divisions.

There are several possibilities. In one plan, the Nashville Predators would move to the Southeast, with Winnipeg taking their place in the Western Conference’s Central Division. But that would substantially increase the Predators’ travel schedule and deprive Nashville of two or three lucrative home dates against Detroit.

Other possibilities include a Winnipeg team changing places with Columbus or Detroit, the easternmost teams in the Western Conference, or its moving to the Northwest Division to play alongside Minnesota, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, triggering a cascade of other interdivision moves.

Daly declined to comment Thursday on the various options or on any potential sale of the Thrashers.

The Thrashers are the second N.H.L. team to be based in Atlanta. The first, the Flames, lasted from 1972 until 1980, when low attendance, combined with a lucrative offer from Canadian businessmen, sent them to Calgary, Alberta. The Atlanta Flames were fairly successful on the ice, reaching the playoffs in six of their eight seasons.

The Thrashers began their existence in 1999, and in 11 seasons have made the playoffs once, in 2007, when they were swept by the Rangers. In the last few seasons, they have consistently finished in the bottom three in attendance.

New York Times LOADED: 05.20.2011

569909 Ottawa Senators

Senators commit to Greening, Smith

By DON BRENNAN, QMI Agency

Two key players in the Binghamton Senators’ magical run to the AHL final signed their first one-way NHL contracts Thursday.

Both are good deals for Ottawa.

First-year pro Colin Greening’s agreement will pay him $700,000 next season, $800,000 in 2012-13 and $950,000 in 2013-14. The big winger could have become an unrestricted free agent after next season, but opted to accept GM Bryan Murray’s offer.

“I love the organization, I love the city and this gives me a little more stability ....I want to be a part of the rebuilding process in Ottawa,” Greening told The Team 1200’s Steve Lloyd and Jason York. “It’s an honour that I am in their plans.”

Zack Smith appeared to put an end to all his shuffling between Binghamton and Ottawa last season. Murray made it official signing the 22-year-old to a contract that will pay him $625,000 in 2011-12 and $775,000 in 2012-13.

Smith had three goals and an assist in Binghamton’s Game 3 victory over Charlotte in the Eastern Conference final. The next night he set up Ryan Keller’s overtime winner as the B-Sens swept the Checkers.

Smith now has 17 points (six goals) in 17 playoff games.

“Zack is going to be a third-line type, match-up type player,” said Murray. “He’s big and strong, he handles the puck fine, but he knows how to play defence, he knows how to play against good players ... He’s a good, solid two-way guy that is just coming of age.”

Greening played 24 games in the NHL after the Senators’ moves at the trade deadline, working his way to a first-line spot alongside Jason Spezza and scoring six goals and seven assists.

Neither he nor the club expected his development to be so fast.

A seventh-round pick in 2005, Greening was putting the wraps on his college career at Cornell just 14 months ago. Of his first pro camp last September, he said he looked around at the talent and figured he’d be in tough to make the AHL team, let alone play any games for the parent club in

2010-11.

“His skating, his size, his strength are the biggest assets,” said Murray. “He knows how to check. He’s a willing worker ... We think he can be a regular player in Ottawa next year.”

Ottawa Sun LOADED: 05.20.2011

569910 Philadelphia Flyers

Flyers' Zherdev subject of conflicting reports of domestic violence

Daily News Staff Report

Nik Zherdev may be in a little bit of hot water in his native Russia.

Reports surfaced in a Russian newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolets, that the Flyers forward allegedly attacked his wife after a quarrel in a restaurant, damaged her car with a metal pole, and threatened her verbally with death.

"According to eyewitnesses, Nikolay picked up a metal pole from the parking lot and began hitting the car with the pole while shouting expletives at his wife. Fearing for her life, his wife rushed to escape, turning in the wrong direction on the highway. The same day, she went to the police," a translated report in the newspaper said.

Meanwhile, a conflicting report in Sovietsky Sport yesterday shot down any alleged foul play involving Zherdev, quoting the restaurant's owner.

"There was nothing remotely similar to what was written on the Internet took place in front of our restaurant," the restaurant's owner told Sovietsky Sport. "This is such nonsense! I specifically asked the entire personnel, including security guards, but no one saw anything."

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren acknowledged the reports yesterday.

"We are aware of the reports but until we have spoken to Nikolay and have more information, we will not comment," Holmgren said in a statement.

Zherdev, 26, was married last summer shortly before signing a 1-year deal with the Flyers. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but expressed interest in returning to the Flyers in an exit interview with Holmgren if they could fit him under the salary cap.

Zherdev netted 16 goals in a little more than 704 minutes of total ice time this season, a staggering amount of production for such little ice time.

He earned $2 million in his first season back in the NHL after the former first-round pick played the previous season in Russia.

Zherdev's aloof personality - and the apparent language barrier - made him one of the Flyers' more quiet players in the locker room.

The Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper said Zherdev is expected to be charged for damaging his wife's car and that authorities are examining the death threats he allegedly issued.

Zherdev's agent, New York-based Puck Agency chief Jay Grossman, did not return a message left by the Daily News yesterday seeking comment or clarification.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 05.20.2011


Flyers' Zherdev arrested after alleged dispute in Russia

By Sam Carchidi

Inquirer Staff Writer

Flyers winger Nik Zherdev, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, was arrested in Russia after an incident with his wife, according to the Russian newspaper MK.

The newspaper said Zherdev, 26, smashed the Bentley his wife was driving with a metal rod and threatened her after an argument. The incident reportedly took place outside the restaurant where they had eaten.

The newspaper said witnesses heard him shouting threats to his wife.

Another newspaper, Sovietsky Sport, interviewed the restaurant's manager, who said security guards did not witness any incident.

MK reported that police were investigating the wife's "complaint about the threat of murder. However, in the opinion of the officers of the law, there are not enough grounds to hold the hockey player responsible for this charge, because the athlete apparently doesn't have reasons to wish death to his wife."

Zherdev and his wife, Evgeney, were married July 3.

Shortly after he signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Flyers on July 9, Zherdev talked about playing the previous season in Russia.

"I did find my wife, so right now I'm a happy man," Zherdev said in a conference call with reporters at the time. "I missed a season in the NHL but found my lady."

As for the alleged incident, the Flyers said they would not comment, and Zherdev's agent, Jay Grossman, did not return phone calls.

"We are aware of the reports, but until we have spoken to Nikolay and have more information, we will not comment," general manager Paul Holmgren said.

Zherdev, known as a loner, scored 16 goals in 56 games this season. He is not expected to be offered another contract by the Flyers.

A 27-goal scorer for Columbus in 2005-06, he has played on four teams in the last four years.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Daily News LOADED: 05.20.2011


Flyers acknowledge Zherdev reports

Staff Report

The Flyers have acknowledged the conflicting reports regarding an alleged incident involving forward Nikolay Zherdev and his wife at a restaurant in Russia.

"We are aware of the reports but until we have spoken to Nikolay and have more information, we will not comment," general manager Paul Holmgren said in an e-mail.

Zherdev, who will be an unrestricted free agent July 1, was reported to have been involved in an altercation with his wife Evgeniya after a dispute during a breakfast with friends.

Comcast SportsNet.com LOADED: 05.20.2011

569913 Phoenix Coyotes

Phoenix Coyotes sign newly acquired center Ethan Werek

Republic news sources

The Coyotes signed newly acquired center Ethan Werek to an entry-level contract, General Manager Don Maloney announced Thursday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Werek appeared in 47 regular-season games with Kingston (Ontario Hockey League) in 2010-11, totaling 24 goals, 28 assists and 51 penalty minutes. In three playoff games, he collected three assists and 12 penalty minutes. In 170 career regular-season games with Kingston, Werek recorded 86 goals, 93 assists and 202 penalty minutes.

Werek was acquired from the New York Rangers in exchange for Oscar Lindberg on May 8.

Arizona Republic LOADED: 05.20.2011

569914 San Jose Sharks

Coach Todd McLellan's message to underperforming Sharks isn't so subtle

By Tim Kawakami

Todd McLellan's message is as subtle as Ben Eager's style of play, which means it's big, loud, often embarrassing and always irascible.

It's a desperate cross-check, not a commiserating love tap.

Basically, as the Sharks simmer over their 2-0 series deficit to Vancouver with Game 3 of the Western Conference finals Friday at HP Pavilion, the coach's message is Eager.

And, if you ask me, McLellan's main point isn't meant for the Canucks.

It's meant for Devin Setoguchi, Joe Pavelski, Ryane Clowe, Kyle Wellwood and a few other underperforming Sharks forwards.

If the Sharks are going to go down, McLellan would rather go down brawling with Eager than quietly accept the milquetoast play of some much more talented Sharks.

If McLellan can't rattle Vancouver's best players -- and so far, he hasn't -- then at least he can make a statement to his own.

"I thought Ben Eager was one of our better players as far as forecheck, creating scoring opportunities," McLellan said Thursday. "He had a number of shots on goal.

"He played with an energy and passion that was required of him. As I said last night, he took penalties that we cannot take.

"Is he an asset or a liability? He was both last night. (If) we can limit the liability part, we've got one heck of a player."

The subtext is real: McLellan praised Eager, and most definitely did not praise the players who didn't go berserk all over the ice on

Wednesday.

This stance, of course, will only heighten tensions between the Sharks and Canucks after Eager's penalty- and taunt-strewn display at the tail end of Vancouver's Game 2 blowout victory.

The Canucks, with merit, remain particularly upset with Eager's second-period run at superstar Daniel Sedin and his crash into goaltender Roberto Luongo after scoring the Sharks' final goal.

But again, I don't think this is about the Canucks, even though they're the ones absorbing the Eager charge (and taking advantage of all his time in the penalty box).

I think it's about the Sharks, and a coach who figures it's time to go to the motivational whip. Or, with the Sharks halfway toward another conference final loss, there's nothing left to use but the whip.

McLellan would not go so far as to detail which Sharks he believes are giving the most questionable efforts, but his answers to specific questions made it pretty obvious.

Setoguchi? "Can be better," McLellan said tersely, noting that Setoguchi is on the top line with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau and still had no shots on goal in Game 2 and had a minus-3 in the plus/minus rating.

The Pavelski-Wellwood-Torrey Mitchell third line? Clowe and the second line?

"You've seen the effects that some of these players can have on a game," McLellan said. "You haven't seen that in the first two games. I think it's evident from some of them."

The Pavelski line, for instance, was stalwart through the first two rounds, and Pavelski was the Sharks' standout producer in last year's playoffs.

But in the first two games of this round, the Pavelski line (cumulative minus-4 in the series) has been outplayed by Vancouver's third line (cumulative plus-6); and Wellwood, in particular, has begun to get his ice time reduced.

"I think every series you have to kind of reprove yourself," Pavelski said Thursday. "I haven't showed up in the way I'd like."

McLellan said that the players identified as two-game underperformers have been personally told so by the coaching staff.

And, this being hockey, none of the obvious suspects were doing anything to duck the responsibility or the discussion.

"I think most guys look at themselves on this team -- we're not a selfish team by any means. We're not stupid, either," Clowe said. "We know who he's talking about. We've just got to respond."

But they're down 2-0, and they know that's a bad place to be.

The Sharks are 0-8 in playoff series when they've gone down 2-0, including last year's sweep at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals.

And historically, NHL teams that go up 2-0 win the series 86.6 percent of the time.

"You know, it's frustrating," Clowe said. "I don't think it's a lack of people not caring. Still, at this time of year, it's funny how you can say that we need more guys, we've got some passengers.

"You're in the Western Conference final, and you got a taste of it last year, you know, how hard it is. You figure you push harder."

It's not a marathon any more. It's a sprint for the Sharks -- a sprint to save themselves, and apparently Ben Eager will be leading it, for good or bad.

That's the coach's point, I think. It's not an elegant one. It's certainly not a sign that the Sharks are ready for a true Stanley Cup journey.

But until and unless other Sharks players meet McLellan's requirements, this is the last brutal card he has to play.

San Jose Mercury News: LOADED: 05.20.2011


Toothless Sharks have a familiar sinking feeling

By Daniel Brown

The Sharks looked so inept in their latest playoff loss that the Versus network showed the postgame highlights accompanied by Harlem Globetrotters theme music.

"I was waiting for somebody to throw the fake bucket of water," studio host Liam McHugh joked as he watched the Vancouver Canucks skate circles around the? men in Teal.

If only the Sharks' act was so funny. Instead, their 7-3 loss in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals was a variation of the same frustrating, infuriating scene that plays out every spring.

The Sharks may have avoided the "choke" label by fending off Detroit in the previous round, but Wednesday night's debacle put them back on the gag reel.

They swear you haven't heard this one before.

Still, San Jose did nothing to enhance its postseason reputation by emotionally unraveling on the national stage.

"Obviously, to anybody that watched the game last night, we lost our composure," Sharks coach Todd McLellan acknowledged Thursday.

The Sharks committed 13 penalties, often out of pure frustration. This was the Terrible (Game) Two, complete with fighting, taunting and name-calling. Forward Ben Eager managed all three -- a brat trick? -- in racking up four minor penalties and a 10-minute misconduct over the final 21 minutes. He was the symbol of the Sharks' implosion as the Canucks took a 3-2 third-period lead and turned the game into a rout.

Even playing their best, the Sharks might

not be good enough to defeat the Canucks, who had the NHL's best regular-season record. But they absolutely have no chance if they continue to lose their cool and allow Vancouver's twin stars, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, to work their extra-man magic. (The Canucks converted three penalties into goals Wednesday.)

Now, the Sharks are in a 2-0 hole as the best-of-seven series shifts to HP Pavilion on Friday. In NHL history, only 13.4 percent of teams down 2-0 have come back to win the series. The odds grow exponentially worse if they lose Game 3.

"There's a lot of series left," Sharks captain Joe Thornton insisted after practice Thursday.

For reasons to believe, the Sharks can point to how they handled their other darkest moments this season.

After their six-game losing streak in January, which appeared to put them out of the playoff picture, they rallied to have the best record in the NHL in the second half. They came back from down 4-0 in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Kings to win. And, of course, they bounced back from losing three straight to win a nervous Game 7 against Detroit.

Skeptics would point out that the Sharks have been on this path before, reaching the crest of the mountain's peak only to slide back down. They are Sisyphus on skates.

San Jose has been to the Western Conference finals three times, only to drop the first two games each time. Last spring, the end result was getting swept by the eventual champion Chicago Blackhawks.

This year was the year everything was supposed to be different, thanks to a roster loaded with playoff experience -- including five former Stanley Cup winners. But one of those accomplished champs, Eager, a former Blackhawk, is the one who lost his cool in Game 2.

On the other hand, Eager played with a fire often missing from his Sharks teammates this time of year. McLellan acknowledged as much in assessing Eager's overall performance.

The Canucks weren't so willing to find the silver lining. Coach Alain Vigneault wanted Eager suspended and took a shot at McLellan, suggesting Eager is acting on orders.

When some of the juicy quotes of the day were relayed to the Sharks on Thursday, they reacted with monotone answers and stoic glances. In contrast to the bubbling cauldron of Game 2, players spoke of keeping their emotions in check.

They know they need to get back to the task at hand before it slips away -- again.

"This organization will always have the label of underachieving until it wins the Cup," defenseman Dan Boyle said. "We've been talking about it for three years now. We have to find a way to win and that's it."



Sharks notebook: Vitriol for Canucks on the rise after second loss

By Daniel Brown and Alex Pavlovic

The Sharks and Canucks combined for 10 goals in Game 2, and they've been just as prolific in the vitriol department.

The game included 20 penalties and a fight between Patrick Marleau and Kevin Bieksa, which were a prelude to fireworks in the locker rooms. In the aftermath of a 7-3 loss, Ryane Clowe told the Vancouver Sun that the Canucks' Maxim Lapierre was a "coward."

Clowe received a roughing penalty and 10-minute misconduct in the third period for getting in Lapierre's face.

"I wouldn't have asked him to fight, because I knew he wouldn't go," Clowe said. "He was shaking his gloves at [Logan] Couture. I didn't go jump him, I said 'I'll go you,' but I wasn't expecting him to go. I know what he's like."

The two played junior hockey together with the Montreal Rocket nearly a decade ago, and even then never got along. Lapierre couldn't pinpoint the origin of the frosty relationship, and didn't bite when told of Clowe's comments.

"It doesn't matter what they're going to say on the other side," Lapierre told the Vancouver Sun. "He's a competitor, a great player, tough guy -- he might be right, he might not be right, that's all I'm going to say about that."

Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault and Sharks coach Todd McLellan exchanged verbal jousts Thursday, and Ben Eager didn't back away from comments made after Wednesday's game, when he called Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa a phony.

Eager said Bieksa turned down fight

invitations "a few times" before dropping the gloves with Patrick Marleau, who hadn't been in a fight since 2007.

"That's the way he plays," Eager said.

For their part, the Canucks on Thursday showed little interest in responding to the Sharks' growing displeasure on and off the ice.

"We want to keep our focus on winning," defenseman Dan Hamhuis said.

McLellan credited the Canucks' defensemen for helping spark the offensive onslaught in Game 3. Led by Hamhuis (three assists), the Canucks defensemen combined for two goals and six assists.

"Their mobility and their ability to jump into the rush and create offense is maybe a little underestimated," McLellan said. "Detroit is the premier team when it comes to the ability to jump in and get going, and we seemed to play somewhat effective against them in that area, so we can do a better job."

In a scary sight for the Sharks, twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin got into a comfortable groove in Game 2. Daniel had two goals and Henrik had three assists. McLellan said the Sharks might alter the matchups at HP Pavilion, where they will get the last line change.

McLellan also said the Sharks need to keep the Sedins from taking advantage of power plays.

"Last night they ate us alive on the power play," he said. "We can't put them in that situation."



Coaches trade barbs over rough play by Sharks' Ben Eager

By Alex Pavlovic

Ben Eager wasn't able to spark the Sharks with his physical play in Game 2, but he did ignite a war of words between the opposing coaches Thursday.

Disappointed that Eager wasn't suspended for a second-period hit on Daniel Sedin, Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault accused Eager of trying to hurt the Canucks star and then took a shot at Sharks coach Todd McLellan.

"In our mind anyway, he went out and tried to hurt our player, the potential MVP," Vigneault said. "That's how their coach wants him to play. He ran our goalie. I guess that's how they want him to play.

"I mean, there's really nothing we can do about it. We just got to hope that the people do the right things. ... You don't want players running around trying to hurt people. It's evident by him challenging the bench, him challenging the bench at the end of the period, his coach saying that's how he wants him to play. I hope nothing bad happens, because some people are going to have to pay for it."

Vigneault called Eager "undisciplined" -- a term McLellan agreed with before delivering a subtle shot at his counterpart.

"You know what's interesting about that -- he's right; we were undisciplined in the third period. I'm the first to admit that, and the team has to be a lot better," McLellan said.

Then the Sharks coach brought up Game 4 of Vancouver's first-round series against Chicago -- a 7-2 loss in which the Canucks were whistled for 11 third-period penalties.

"We're

always watching other games. "... There was a lot going on on the ice at that time, and Alain decided just to leave it at that," McLellan said. "So that's what we're choosing to do."

The barbs extended a strange 24 hours for Eager, who has become a lightning rod in the aftermath of the Sharks' 7-3 loss Wednesday night.

After sitting out five times in the first two rounds, Eager played 19 shifts in Game 2 and was on the ice for a postseason high 10:59. But he racked up 20 penalty minutes, and his six offenses covered a large chunk of the hockey rule book; he was booked for roughing, boarding, tripping, cross-checking and misconduct.

But Eager also was effective at times, taking four shots, scoring a late goal and delivering constant energy on a night when many Sharks didn't. McLellan credited Eager for providing forechecking and scoring opportunities but stressed that he has to stay out of the penalty box.

"Is he an asset or a liability? He was both last night," McLellan said. "If we can limit the liability part, we've got one heck of a player."

Eager said he has to "stay on the right side of the line" but added that he didn't have many regrets from his eventful night.

"The tripping penalty, I'd like to have that back," said Eager, referring to a penalty that led to a power-play goal early in the third period.

As for the hit on Sedin: "It's playoff hockey, checks are going to be finished. "... There was a penalty but no suspension, so I'm happy with that," Eager said. "It was a two-minute penalty, and the ref was right there, so I think he made the right call."

Eager's roughhousing is amplified by his history with the Canucks. While with Chicago, Eager helped the Blackhawks eliminate the Canucks from the postseason two years in a row.

"You play a team three years in a row, and there's going to be some dislike," Eager said. "When it's in the conference finals, it's that much more intense. Sometimes games end up like last night."

While the coaches focused on Eager's discipline, or lack thereof, Eager was a popular Internet topic Thursday for a much different reason. During one of

his trips to the penalty box, a female fan near the glass lifted her Canucks jersey and flashed Eager.

"It was an interesting night, for sure," Eager said.



Sharks eagerly follow Ben Eager to the penalty box in loss

By Mark Purdy

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- It's one thing to be eager. It is another thing to be too eager.

And it is way too much of a crazy thing to let Ben Eager be way too much Ben Eager. As the Sharks learned here Wednesday.

Eager does not receive total blame for the 7-3 loss to Vancouver's Canucks in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. The Sharks were having trouble with the Canucks' north-south speed and skillful puck movement even before Eager turned the game into a festival of scrums and misconduct that no real lover of hockey wants to see.

"When the score is 7-3, not many people played well," Sharks center Logan Couture noted properly. "It's embarrassing. When you're in the conference finals and you put out an effort like that."

So, yes, there was plenty of blame to go around. But you could certainly say that Eager was the train engineer when the Sharks went off the rails. When he began running around in an overheated fashion and racking up 20 penalty minutes for six rules violations, he blew up any chance the Sharks had of overcoming a 3-2 deficit they faced at the beginning of the third period.

Suddenly, two power-play goals by Vancouver turned a one-goal lead into a three-goal lead. From there, it was a boat race of discombobulated fracas until the final horn, with the Sharks losing their cool and concentration.

And it all began late in the second period when Eager took an unnecessary boarding penalty by

ramming into Vancouver's Daniel Sedin, several seconds after he had passed the puck and turned his back on the play.

Or maybe not, if you believe Sharks coach Todd McLellan, who might have hurt his back by bending so far backward to defend his player.

"I think that's oversimplifying," McLellan said about the Eager penalty. "Ben Eager's hit, it started a bit of a frustration level on our team. We didn't handle it very well. It obviously grew from there. "... We lost composure, we were frustrated. "... When you're second, you tend to be frustrated."

What does McLellan expect of Eager?

"He's one of our faster forwards, one of our more physical forwards," McLellan said. "I think he has the ability to win battles and create scrums. I do believe the other team knows when he's on the ice. The fact that Ben played a lot more minutes tonight was rewarding for us. Now the negative: He can't march to the penalty box on an ongoing basis. The trade-off obviously didn't work in our favor tonight. I'd like him to play that game, without going to the penalty box. Simple as that."

Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault, as you might expect, was quietly satisfied by the whole episode and said he expected that the NHL office might discipline Eager.

"When their fourth"'line player took a run at the NHL's leading scorer, possibly the MVP, we stayed focused, we stayed disciplined," said Vigneault, who added: "We're confident the league will do the right thing."

Eager's response: "I'm sure I'll get a phone call. I always do."

Naturally, he didn't think he had done anything wrong with the Sedin hit.

"It's playoff hockey, Western Conference finals," Eager said. "I don't know if it's the appropriate call there. He sees me coming. I'll take that one. We killed that off."

But they didn't kill off two others. And from appearances, they started to think more about retribution instead of solutions, at least in terms of solving the Canuck mystery. Eager, a stocky bear of a man at 6-foot-2 and 255 pounds, was acquired from the Atlanta Thrashers in January to lend physical heft and sandpaper to the Sharks' lineup. And he did just that. But he also carried a reputation of going over the edge, which, when he was

with Atlanta, resulted in a four-game suspension for an alleged sucker punch. We saw an unhealthy dose of that Eager on Wednesday.

Even when he did something well, Eager simultaneously did something loopy. He scored the Sharks' third and final goal of the game with less than three minutes left -- but in the celebration managed to take a roughing penalty after seeming to taunt Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo after scoring what amounted to a meaningless goal.

Was he sending a message?

"Did it look like I was sending a message?" Eager asked. "I scored a goal. I was happy."

Trouble was, Eager was infectious. By night's end, four other Sharks had visited the penalty box. Ryane Clowe was given a 10-minute misconduct for too much rough stuff. And of course, there was Patrick Marleau, who earned five minutes for fighting.

Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. Marleau, who has not fought anyone since December 2007 and is generally one of the least-penalized players on the Sharks, dropped his gloves and started an altercation with Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa.

Shortly thereafter, perhaps as retaliation, Eager took his run at Sedin -- which would follow the hockey code. After the game, Eager then called Bieksa a "phony" for goading Marleau into a fight instead of going after Eager or Clowe or a more feisty Shark.

Bieksa laughed off Eager's taunt, as a player on the better end of the final score usually does.

"If they want to worry about that kind of stuff, that's fine," Bieksa said. "That's to our advantage. Our power play did a great job tonight of making them pay for some of their penalties. Our focus is on winning a series. That's the important thing."

Would someone please tell the Sharks that? They are down 0-2 in the conference finals for the third time in three tries. They have not proved they are a better team than Vancouver in any real sense. The Sharks play again Friday night at HP Pavilion. Here's some advice for them: Be more smart than Eager.



Sharks must get improved play from 2nd, 3rd lines

Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, May 20, 2011

(05-19) 21:12 PDT -- After a game in which the Sharks lost their cool and kept marching to the box, it's easy to point to the penalties as the reason San Jose lost Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.

Yes, the Canucks scored three power-play goals, and it's safe to say that in Game 3 tonight at HP Pavilion, the Sharks will try to limit Vancouver's time with a man advantage. What San Jose really needs most, though, is some production from the second and third lines after dropping the first two games of the best-of-seven series.

"We have two lines that we have to find a way to get going," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said after the team's practice Thursday afternoon. "We have a group of six forwards that has to find a way to leave its mark on the game."

Speaking specifically about the second line of Dany Heatley, Logan Couture and Ryane Clowe, McLellan said that it had been effective in getting San Jose into this round, but in the first two games, "They haven't skated well enough. They haven't won enough battles for us to win games in this series. That doesn't mean they won't do it. We're counting on them doing it."

Clowe, who missed Game 6 of the second round with an upper-body injury, didn't shy from blame, saying, "First two games of the series, obviously we can be better as a team. I know I can be better as an individual."

Clowe did very little in Game 1 at Vancouver with no shots, one blocked shot and one hit. In Game 2, he did have five hits and one shot, but also 12 penalty minutes, including a 10-minute misconduct added to a roughing call. On Thursday, Clowe said he believes that this series should fit his style and that he must have more of an impact in the offensive zone.

Joe Pavelski, who centers the third line, said, "I haven't showed up in the way I'd like. I can definitely be better in a lot of areas."

Clowe and Pavelski and their lines aren't alone: Talented scorer Devin Setoguchi, generally on the top line, had no shots in Game 2, and no points in the series. "He can be better," McLellan said.

McLellan noted that, playing on their home ice, the Sharks will have the last change, so they can try to take advantage of matchups. That means that a player such as Setoguchi might not always be up against the Canucks' checking line.

McLellan also pointed to specific areas the Sharks must improve, particularly puck battles along the boards, and defenseman Dan Boyle said the team must do a better job of containing Vancouver's defensemen when they jump into plays, a la Kevin Bieksa's second-period breakaway goal that gave the Canucks a lead in Game 2.

McLellan isn't ruling out line changes and said that the staff has made it clear to the group, and to specific players, that they must up their games.

"I don't think it's a lack of people caring," Clowe said. "Still, at this time of year, it's funny how you can say that we've got some passengers. ... We're not a selfish team by any means. We're not stupid either. We know who he's talking about. We've just got to respond."

Western finals

Sharks-Canucks

Canucks lead series 2-0. All games on Versus and 98.5/102.1, unless noted

Game 1: Canucks 3, Sharks 2

Game 2: Canucks 7, Sharks 3

Tonight: at HP Pavilion, 6 p.m.

Sunday: at HP Pavilion, noon Channel: 11 Channel: 3 Channel: 8

Tuesday: at Vancouver, 6 p.m.*

Thursday: at HP Pavilion, 6 p.m.*

May 28: at Vancouver, 5 p.m.*

if necessary

San Francisco Chronicle LOADED: 05.20.2011


Canucks feeding on Sharks' lack of composure

Gwen Knapp

(05-19) 22:12 PDT -- Apparently, that exorcism from Game 7 against Detroit didn't take. The Sharks' inner gremlins simply packed their bags for Vancouver and reappeared in the third period of both Game 1 and Game 2, first in a cameo and then in a starring role.

The little devils didn't steal the show Wednesday night, which rightfully belonged to the Canucks, but they commandeered the soul of the Sharks. The No. 2 seeds in the West became strangers, honor-roll students posing as schoolyard bullies.

Third-period unraveling has become almost ritualistic for the Sharks of late. Over the past five games, opponents have outscored them 13-4 in the last 20 minutes of regulation. But they had faded in those other playoff games, become less of themselves. On Wednesday, they surrendered their identity for recklessness and a 7-3 loss.

That game was either definitive evidence that they can't keep up with these Canucks in playoff hockey, or the ultimate purge of their penchant for underperformance. Teams noted for choking have been known to tear themselves down completely, or allow themselves to be taken apart, as a prelude to pulling everything together.

Consider the 2004 Red Sox. Before they converted an 0-3 series deficit into the American League pennant, they lost 19-8 to the Yankees at Fenway Park.

Baseball and hockey don't match up very well, but the importance of energy, passion and confidence is universal in sports. The Sharks went listless in Game 1's third period, and they lacked suitable verve for much of Game 2. Todd McLellan coached like a man who didn't see what he had to lose, repeatedly sending out enforcer Ben Eager to assert himself and rack up trips to the penalty box.

The Sharks needed a defibrillator, and Eager artlessly applied the paddles.

"Is he an asset or a liability?" McLellan said. "He was both (Wednesday) night. If we can limit the liability part, we've got one heck of a player."

Eager being Eager wasn't the problem, though. Patrick Marleau trying to be something he isn't, dropping his gloves to fight Kevin Bieksa, doesn't cry out for an encore. He might have satisfied a constituency that wants to see more combativeness from him, but the gesture seemed to be just that. Chalk it up as a stretching exercise at best, a pointless stunt at worst.

Even if McLellan sanctioned some of the mayhem, he knows his team thrives on a very different type of energy. It was completely missing at the end of Game 1, when the Canucks came back for the win. Vancouver looked infinitely better than its regular-season West runner-up in that game. It's possible that the Sharks at their peak might not be able to keep up with the Canucks in optimal form. Game 2 added to the evidence, but didn't close the case.

"It was interesting because the game was still 3-2 halfway through the third period basically, 12 minutes left," McLellan said. "I thought prior to that we already lost our composure. It wasn't like we lost it when it was 5-2 or 6-2. We lost it at 3-2. That's not the sign of a team that can win a series."

McLellan said he couldn't compare this year's 0-2 start in the conference finals to last year's 0-2 start of a sweep by Chicago.

"I thought our first two games against Chicago last year were much better than our first two games against Vancouver this year," he said. "I don't think it's fair at all to our team and to the players in the locker room this year to attach it to last year, and I don't think it's fair to Vancouver. They're a different team. They've earned two wins. Full marks for them."

That doesn't sound like an encouraging statement about tonight's Game 3 at the Shark Tank, especially not when coupled with the club's 0-5 all-time home record in conference-finals games.

The Sharks will have Eager, whom they could have lost to a suspension for a violent hit on Daniel Sedin after the Marleau fight.

"You can't respond in the playoffs," he said with a properly straight face. "But I went out and finished my check, and got a penalty. But we killed it off and that was that."

Instead of finishing checks that strongly, he and his teammates must learn to be the ultimate finishers, owning the third period.



No discipline for Ben Eager

Susan Slusser, Chronicle Staff Writer

(05-19) 21:12 PDT -- Sharks forward Ben Eager spent a busy night ringing up penalties in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals in Vancouver on Wednesday, and there was speculation that he might receive supplemental discipline from the league for a second-period hit on Hart Trophy finalist Daniel Sedin that landed Eager in the box for boarding.

Eager heard nothing from the league Thursday. "No news is good news," he said after San Jose's practice.

The Canucks had argued that Eager should get a suspension, and Thursday morning, head coach Alain Vigneault said, "In our minds, he went out and tried to hurt our best player, the potential NHL MVP."

Eager said, "That's his opinion. It was a two-minute penalty. The ref was right there. I think he made the right call."

After Eager was called for six penalties, totaling 20 minutes (he drew one 10-minute misconduct), the question was whether the Sharks would have the fourth-line player on the ice for Game 3 tonight, but head coach Todd McLellan has been largely complimentary of Eager's play, which included a goal in Game 2.

"He played with an energy and passion that was required of him," McLellan said. "He took penalties that we cannot take. Is he an asset or a liability? He was both (Wednesday) night. If we can limit the liability part, we've got one heck of a player."

There's no doubt the Canucks believe Eager will be back; Vigneault suggested that Eager was following instructions.

"That's how their coach wants him to play," Vigneault said.

In a cool tit-for-tat, McLellan on Thursday referenced Vancouver's 7-2 first-round loss to Chicago a month ago, which featured 13 Canucks penalties. "There was a lot going on on the ice at that time," McLellan said. "Alain decided just to leave it at that. That's what we're choosing to do."


569922 St Louis Blues

Growth spurt for Blues' Pietrangelo

By JEREMY RUTHERFORD [email protected] > 314-444-7135 | Posted: Thursday, May 19, 2011 1:05 am

Alex Pietrangelo is ineligible for the NHL's rookie of the year award this year, but the young Blue won't go into the offseason empty-handed. Playing for Team Canada at the recent World Championships in Slovakia, he was named the tournament's top defenseman.

Pietrangelo, 21, had two goals and three assists in seven games for the Canadians, and he also led the tournament with a plus-9 rating.

The award is "an accomplishment," Pietrangelo said. "I felt pretty good about the way I played, and it's nice to get some recognition. I think it represents St. Louis, too, so it's good."

Pietrangelo returned to St. Louis this week and then jetted off for some much-needed R&R on the beach. It's been a long nine months since the No. 4 overall pick from 2008 made the Blues' roster last September and then turned in a season worthy of recognition.

In 79 games, Pietrangelo finished with 11 goals and 43 points, the 20th-highest point total in the league by a defenseman. It would have tied him with teammate Kevin Shattenkirk for the most points among all rookies, but because Pietrangelo played in more than six games in each of the two previous seasons (eight in 2008-09 and nine in 2009-10), he is ineligible.

"I think 'a huge step' is accurate to say," Pietrangelo said. "Being my first full year, there was a learning curve. But I used everything I had learned over the last couple of years and just tried to apply it."

Speaking about Pietrangelo, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said he was impressed with how "quickly he adapted to the NHL, and how quickly he adapted to being a large piece of the puzzle. With a first-year player, you're hoping they can assimilate quickly. But you don't want to be in a position where you're counting on a young player and then you're disappointed. With Alex, he just kept demanding more from the coaches and getting stronger ... to the point where we stopped viewing him as a first-year player and instead a player who played very important minutes for us."

In mid-February, Pietrangelo's role on the roster continued to increase when the Blues traded defensemen Eric Brewer and Erik Johnson. In 26 games after the Brewer trade, Pietrangelo eclipsed 27 minutes three times and only once played less than 21 minutes. He was a plus-7 in that stretch, finishing with a plus-18, which ranked second on the team.

"It's nice to be in that role," Pietrangelo said. "Everybody wants to be that go-to guy. I just continued to do what I was doing."

The season ended without a trip to the playoffs, but Pietrangelo was one of several Blues invited to the World Championships. In 2010, Pietrangelo played for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, where he was also named top defenseman.

"I felt pretty confident," said Pietrangelo, who is 6-foot-3, 210 pounds. "You're playing with such good players, the game almost becomes easier. I just tried to go over there and do what I usually do, and things kind of panned out."

Armstrong, who was in Slovakia, said: "He emerged very quickly as one of their top players. When Hockey Canada called asking about (Pietrangelo), I was telling them how advanced he was and don't get fooled by thinking you're bringing in a 20-year-old ... he's well past that. After the tournament, they were very impressed with him on and off ice."

At one point in the tournament, Canada coach Ken Hitchcock compared Pietrangelo's puck patience to that of Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom.

"I didn't see that (comment), but (Canada teammate) Johnny Tavares was giving me the gears about it," Pietrangelo said. "It's always a good compliment when your coach says something like that."

Pietrangelo wasn't the only Blue to have a solid tournament. Patrik Berglund, who won a silver medal with Sweden, finished second in goals (eight) and points (10) and was named to the all-star team.

"He was the best player on the ice every time I watched," Pietrangelo said. "Against us, he was dominating. It was good to see him playing well."

Next, Pietrangelo gets a chance to relax.

"Playing 82 games and then going to Worlds, it's a lot of pressure," he said. "I'm just going to take a couple of weeks off and enjoy it. Before we know it, it'll be training camp. It's going to be a big summer for me. I'm going to get myself ready, and hopefully things turn out even better than this year."

"The test for Alex is understanding that being as good as you were last year isn't good enough," Armstrong added. "What happens when we go play Detroit now is they're going to have Alex's number circled. He's going to get that from 29 other teams. Last year, he was just a player. Now they'll be saying, 'Watch this kid.'"

St Louis Post Dispatch LOADED: 05.20.2011

569923 Tampa Bay Lightning

This isn't the way to beat the Bruins

By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA --

For the Lightning's first home game in the Eastern Conference finals since the magic year of 2004, you'd expect a little sizzle, a little snap.

You'd expect, oh, I don't know, a goal or two?

But it didn't exactly work out that way at the Forum in Game?3 of this series with the Boston Bruins. For the Bolts, the evening was basically a belly flop, a 2-0 clunker of a loss they had about a hundred chances to win. It was their first home shutout loss of the season, and now it gets hairy.

The Bolts trail in the series 2-1 and have surrendered home-ice back to the Bruins, not that playing at home seems to matter all that much in the playoffs.

I'd say that Game 4 on Saturday is a must-win except, well, recent history proves that's just not so. Tampa Bay lost three of the first four games against Pittsburgh in the opening round, including two at the Forum, and we know what happened there.

So we wait for the drama to unfold.

"We expect seven games," defenseman Victor Hedman noted. "We were in the same spot against Pittsburgh but we bounced back."

But let's not overlook something. This was basically a sloppy game and the Bolts can't beat this team that way. The Lightning couldn't take advantage of many puck-handling mistakes by the Bruins, and when they did get a good chance, Bruins goalie Tim Thomas was waiting there to stop it.

"Offensively, we weren't as sharp," center Vinny Lecavalier said. "We didn't attack as much as we did in the first two games. We need to attack more."

They also need to avoid leaving someone from the other team alone in front of the net. That's just what happened 1:09 into the game, as Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson was placed in an essentially helpless situation after a huge coverage mistake.

Boston center David Krejci got close enough, unchecked, to shake hands with Roloson.

He faked, made a move, zap!

No chance.

Just like that, the Lightning trailed.

"We were supposed to have someone in front of the net. He wasn't there," said Lightning coach Guy Boucher, but that wasn't exactly a startling revelation. Boucher wouldn't say who was supposed to cover Krejci.

"It's a team game," he said.

You're not supposed to be hopelessly behind when down a goal with nearly 59 minutes to play, but the way this game unfolded it was increasingly obvious they were.

They spent the next 21/2 periods in fruitless attempts to break through a Bruins team determined to reintroduce the concept of defense to this playoff series. And when a shot by Boston's Andrew Ference trickled through Roloson's legs, slipping agonizingly into the goal midway through the third period, that was that.

"Seeing how difficult it was to score tonight, that second goal hurt us," Boucher said.

After the offensive fireworks during the first two games — the Lightning had 10 goals — it was probably time for a game more in line with what everyone expected from two teams with outstanding goalies.

"We didn't get into space as much," Hedman said. "It was just one of those games where you have to pay the price a little more to be in front of the net."

That's also the kind of game where a single breakdown like the one the Bolts had on that early goal can have large ramifications.

The Bruins committed to playing a defensive style after the exhibition of what Boucher called "pond hockey" in Boston. They clogged the Lightning zone and negated the Bolts' speed, turning the game into a bit of a chess match on ice.

"It looked a lot more like the type of game people are expecting," Boucher said.

So we've seen this series go three different directions in three games. The Bolts had the quick strike in Game 1 and turned that into a relatively easy win. There followed the fireworks in Game 2 in a 6-5 Boston victory, and now this.

"It was down to who was going to make that one lethal mistake," Boucher said. "And we made it."

For the Bolts, something needs to change, and quickly.

Steven Stamkos was asked about that, specifically what they need to do come Saturday.

His answer was simple.

"Win."

Tampa Tribune LOADED: 05.20.2011


Early mistake too much to overcome

By IRA KAUFMAN | The Tampa Tribune

For the past two days, Lightning coach Guy Boucher preached the gospel of structure to anyone who would listen.

All that focus vanished in a first-period flash Thursday night and the consequences could be far-reaching.

A startling gaffe in Tampa Bay's defensive zone only 69 seconds into Game 3 resulted in an early lead for Boston and the Bruins went on to post a 2-0 triumph in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

"It was a breakdown for sure,'' said Lightning winger Sean Bergenheim. "I'll have to watch the film to say any more than that.''

With Bruins forward Milan Lucic in possession of the puck at the right boards, Tampa Bay's Brett Clark found himself blocked off behind an official and fellow defenseman Victor Hedman left the slot area to help out. With center David Krejci suddenly alone in front of the net, Lucic whipped a pass to Krejci, who had plenty of time to deke helpless goaltender Dwayne Roloson for a backhander and a 1-0 advantage that held up before Andrew Ference provided a cushion goal with 11:48 remaining in the game.

"Clarkie got picked a little bit behind the net by the ref,'' said Hedman, whose first of 30 shifts proved eventful. "I was trying to take away a passing lane. We just need better communication there overall.''

Tampa Bay's overall defense improved markedly from Game 2, limiting Boston's odd-man rushes, but the Lightning couldn't overcome the early mistake, despite firing 31 shots at Tim Thomas.

After the setback, Tampa Bay players and coaches acknowledged a lack of coordination — but it was unclear which forward was charged with the responsibility of sliding down toward the slot to cover for Hedman's departure.

"It was just a miscommunication,'' said center Dominic Moore, one of three Lightning forwards on the ice, along with Bergenheim and Steve Downie. "We doubled up on coverage in the corner.''

Moore was asked which forward should have skated toward the front of the net to guard Krejci.

"It can be anyone,'' he said. "It's just a matter of having our structure, making sure we have all the lanes covered.''

The quick lead emboldened the Bruins, who supported each other defensively while handing the Lightning their first home shutout loss of the season. Tampa Bay failed to sustain pressure in Boston's defensive end for most of the evening, and Boucher will undoubtedly stress the importance of a better start for Saturday's Game 4.

The Bruins are 6-0 in the postseason when leading after the opening period.

'"We're supposed to have someone there in front of the net and there was no one there,'' Boucher said. "It's a team thing.''



Roloson: Amnesia key to his success

By IRA KAUFMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Make no mistake — Dwayne Roloson didn't want to depart Tuesday night's shootout.

Even after the Bruins strafed him for five goals in a brutal second period, Tampa Bay's 41-year-old netminder wasn't keen about checking out of Game 2.

Roloson's vote was ultimately trumped as coach Guy Boucher huddled with goaltending consultant Frantz Jean and decided to pull Roloson with Boston leading 6-3 after 40 minutes.

The Lightning dropped a 6-5 decision, evening the NHL's Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece heading into Thursday night's matchup.

"I knew what my feeling was, but you need to respect the player, too,'' Boucher said after Thursday's morning skate. "You need to make sure you do the right thing. I think if you leave him in, and then you take him out with a seventh goal, people in the stands are probably screaming at him. I don't think that would be right … it wouldn't be respecting him.''

This wasn't Roloson's first interrupted rodeo.

One night after blanking the Capitals 1-0 in his Lightning debut Jan. 4, Roloson was shelled at Pittsburgh in an 8-1 debacle.

The Penguins scored five times against Roloson in 23 shots before he was yanked.

In Tampa Bay's next game, Roloson was superb, turning away 31 shots in a 2-1 victory at Ottawa.

"You just have to forget about it,'' Roloson said about rebounding from ineffective outings. "It's a trait you have to learn. For me, it came in my second year in the minors (AHL's Saint John Flames), working with coach Paul Baxter. A lot of it goes back to having experience in these kinds of situations.''

For Boucher, inserting Mike Smith in net for Tuesday's final 20 minutes represented an attempt to alter the dynamics of a game that had been dominated by the Bruins.

"I know (Roloson) wanted to stay to battle, but he also understood that by changing something, it might change the outcome of the game,'' Boucher said. "And it almost worked. He's the first guy to want what the team needs at that point, so we certainly didn't lose confidence in Roloson.''

When Roloson returned for Thursday's pivotal Game 3 matchup, he was leading all remaining goaltenders with a .931 save percentage and 2.37 goals-against average.

"You need amnesia,'' Roloson said. "You've got to forget about what's happened in the past. If you're dwelling on things as a goalie, nine times out of 10 it's going to hurt you rather than help you.''



Bruins' Bergeron return makes immediate difference

By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

Bruins C Patrice Bergeron made his long-awaited and much-ballyhooed return to the ice on Thursday. Those wondering what all the fuss was about soon got their answer.

Though he didn't figure into the early scoring, Bergeron had a noticeable impact on the game, winning a majority of his faceoffs while either breaking up plays in the defensive end or creating them in the offensive end.

"He really does bring a lot to the table for us, offensively and defensively,'' Bruins D Zdeno Chara said. "He brings so much all over the ice with his effort. He can play in all situations.''

He did Thursday, logging a regular shift despite not having played since he suffered a concussion during the final game of the Eastern Conference semifinals series against Philadelphia.

The Bruins weren't surprised by Bergeron's performance. After all, he ranks second on the team in scoring with 12 points in the playoffs and is tied for second on the team with a plus-7 rating.

"He does everything well,'' fellow C Chris Kelly said. "He kills penalties, he's on the power play. He's on the ice if you're down by a goal or up by a goal in the last minute. He's definitely one of our leaders, on and off the ice.''

Defending the realm

The Bruins were being very protective of Tyler Seguin on Thursday. Though the rookie scoring sensation went into Game 3 as perhaps the most talked-about player in the NHL after scoring two goals in the Bruins' 6-5 victory on Monday, he was not made available to the media before Game 3. To ensure Seguin didn't talk, the Bruins placed a staffer at Seguin's locker to ward off any would-be interviewer after the team's morning skate.

The Bruins weren't the only ones being protective on Thursday. The Lightning took strides as well to ensure that no one from the massive media contingent stepped on the logo emblazoned into the carpet of their dressing room. The logo was cordoned off by a collection of chrome-stanchion belt barricades. This is the same logo Boucher trampled across two weeks ago, saying, "Doesn't matter, it's the old logo.''

A word from the commissioner

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was on hand for Thursday's game at the Forum. Bettman, who encouraged Lightning owner Jeff Vinik to buy the team when it went up for sale, said solid ownership has been the key to the team's turnaround on the ice. "I've always believed in this market,'' Bettman said. "It just needed the right person to own it.''

Yeah, he said it

Bucs coach Raheem Morris expressed his support for the Lightning in a unique posting on the Bucs' Facebook page Thursday. Wearing a Lightning jersey, Morris jumps at the camera and says, "Hey Bolts, fans, this is Raheem Morris, head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and I'm all in as we eliminate the Bruins. Yeah, I said it.'' The last line is a play off of Morris' boast following a Bucs victory over the Rams last year, when he said of his 4-2 Bucs, "We're the best team in the NFC. Yeah, I said it.''

Party on, Garth

The Lightning will host a watch party for fans who don't have tickets for Game 4 on Saturday on the west plaza outside the Forum. Following the game, Cheap Trick will perform a free concert on the plaza.

Roy Cummings



Bruins blank Bolts, take 2-1 series lead

By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Two nights after getting caught up in a game of pond hockey, the Lightning looked to be frozen in ice.

Tampa Bay, the highest-scoring team in the postseason, was completely stifled by Boston's neutral-zone trap in a 2-0 loss in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals in front of 21,027 fans. The victory allowed Boston to take a 2-1 series lead, with Game 4 scheduled at the Forum on Saturday afternoon.

The Lightning have lost consecutive games for the first time since dropping Games 3 and 4 at home to Pittsburgh in the opening round.

Boston goaltender Tim Thomas stopped 31 shots for his first shutout of the postseason, and his second career playoff shutout, while David Krejci and Andrew Ference provided the only offense for the Bruins, who put on a road hockey clinic.

Dwayne Roloson stopped 23 shots as Tampa Bay fell to 3-3 on home ice this season. Boston, meanwhile, improved to 5-1 away from home.

In Game 2 on Tuesday, the teams combined for 11 goals in a wide-open, freestyle sort of game that was pleasing to the fans but somewhat maddening for the coaching staffs. So the focus heading into Game 3 on both sides was to tighten up on defense and try to limit the scoring chances to make for a more structured showdown.

Both teams played it close to the vest, refusing to open things up as in the previous game. That mission was accomplished.

The home fans were in a frenzy anticipating the first conference finals home game in seven years, but the air was quickly taken out of the building shortly after the opening faceoff. With Milan Lucic in possession of the puck and battling Brett Clark along the wall, Victor Hedman tried to jump into the fray, but he left the front of the net wide open. Lucic was able to slip the puck to the front to a wide open Krejci, who pulled the puck to his backhand and put the puck in the open net just 69 seconds into the game.

"It was one of those games where it was going to come down to who made that one mistake, and we made it — early," Lightning coach Guy Boucher said.

The early goal marked the first time since Game 4 against Pittsburgh that Tampa Bay trailed in the first period and it snapped a stretch of seven consecutive games in which the Lightning scored first.

Those kind of early mistakes, however, normally have little effect on the Lightning, just as a three-goal deficit in Game 2 did little to deter them in the third period.

But this time, it looked and felt a little different. While there were some solid chances in the first period, the Bruins locked things down in the second, clogging up the neutral zone forcing Tampa Bay into a dump-and-chase game. Only that dump-and-chase turned into a dump-and-defend as Boston limited the Lightning's ability to recover the puck and put pressure on the Bruins net.

And Boston knows how to play with a lead, holding a 30-6-6 record in the regular season when scoring first.

"That felt like the game we played most of the season," Thomas said. "Playoffs are always more faster and more energy and a few more scoring chances than a regular-season game. But that was Boston Bruins hockey."

When there were opportunities, Thomas either swallowed up the puck or pushed the rebound out of danger areas.

"When they get the lead, they are a very tough team to beat," Lightning winger Simon Gagne said. "It's tough when you play a game, especially when you are in the playoffs, when you are behind by one or two goals, it's hard because you are going to burn a lot of energy because of that. So, I don't want to say the first goal is important, it doesn't matter if they score first or second, we need to react to it and try to find a way to tie the game.

"But they did play really well, they don't give much defensively and it's hard to score a goal after that."



Bucs' Morris makes bold statement for Lightning

By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA – Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris expressed his support for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a unique video posted Thursday on the Bucs' Facebook page.

Wearing a Lightning jersey, Morris jumps at the camera and says, "Hey, Bolts fans, this is Raheem Morris, head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and I'm all in as we eliminate the Bruins. Yeah, I said it.''

The last line is a play off Morris' boast after the Bucs improved to 4-2 last season with a victory against the St. Louis Rams: "We're the best team in the NFC. Yeah, I said it.''



Roads around Forum will be closed for NHL playoff games

By TBO.com

Drivers should expect increased traffic congestion and street closures around the St. Pete Times Forum and in the downtown area during NHL playoffs, including the games tonight and Saturday.

Due to the large crowds involved in the festivities around the Forum, the Tampa Police Department will be shutting down portions of Channelside Drive and Morgan Street to vehicle traffic. The roads will be closed 30 minutes after the start of each game until 30 minutes after each game ends.

Tonight's Game 3 between the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning starts at 8 p.m., so the road closures will start at 8:30 p.m. Saturday's Game 4 begins at 1:30 p.m., so roads will close at 2 p.m.

The following sections of the road will only be open to pedestrian traffic:

N. Florida Ave. to Old Waters St., and Morgan St. between Brorein St. to Old Waters St.

1. Traffic eastbound on Channelside should use the following detour for access to the Tampa Port, Selmon Crosstown elevated lanes, Florida 60 to Brandon, Channelside Entertainment Complex and the Florida Aquarium

North on Florida Ave. to Jackson St, then turn east on Jackson St. to Meridian Ave., and north on Meridian Ave. to the Crosstown Expressway and Florida 60 to Brandon; or, south on Meridian Ave. to the Tampa Port, Channelside Entertainment Complex, Florida Aquarium and Harbour Island.

2. Traffic southbound on Morgan Street should use the following detour to Harbour Island, Tampa Convention Center, Embassy Suites, Marriott Waterside and the Westin Hotel:

Turn west on Brorein St. to Franklin St., south on Franklin St. to listed locations; or, west on Brorein St. to Florida Ave., north on Florida Ave. to destinations.



Lightning focus on defense to end 'pond hockey' scoring sprees

By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

This was supposed to be a showdown between elite goaltenders, right?

For the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dwayne Roloson was playing just like Nikolai Khabibulin's fabled "Bulin Wall" during the Bolts' 2004 Stanley Cup run.

And one of the Lightning's biggest questions entering the Eastern Conference final was how they could find a way to beat Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas.

That was the pre-playoff storyline, anyway. Both goalies were stingy in the first two rounds of the playoffs, allowing just two goals per game. Would either team figure out a way to score?

Uh, yeah they have.

The Lightning scored 10 goals in splitting the first two games of the series at Boston. And the Bruins forced Roloson from the game with a five-goal barrage in the second period of Tuesday's eventual 6-5 win for Boston, although the Bolts insist it was more of a total breakdown than it was a problem with the goalie.

The Bruins have been sparked by rookie Tyler Seguin, who didn't play in the first two series, has three goals and three assists.

So what gives?

"You've got two teams that know how to score goals," Lightning wunderkind Steven Stamkos said on a conference call before tonight's Game 3 at the Forum.

Yeah, but you also have two goalies that know how to stop them.

"I don't think the second period was much different from the first, to be honest with you," Roloson said. "We got away from our system and structure as a team the first two periods.

"And we came out in the third, played our system a little bit better and our style a little bit better. So for us, it was just not sticking to what we had to do to win a hockey game."

Well, it will take more than one bad period to shake the Bolts' faith in Roloson, that's for sure.

Like Vinny Lecavalier said, "It wasn't -- the thing is it really wasn't Roli's fault. We kind of really left him out to dry, is that the expression? We really -- the mistakes that we made in that second period, they scored five goals, really -- there was rebounds and us not getting that second shot to help him out. So, yeah, I mean it was -- it was really a tough second period."

While the Bolts might point to one bad period as simply a momentary defensive lapse that can be corrected, on the other side they have shown the ability to score consistently against Thomas.

And listen to Bolts coach Guy Boucher on that subject.

"Obviously, we should have buried more, but he's a great goaltender so he's going to make some incredible saves," he said. "I think that it's ... it's not our offense right now that's the problem. I think it's playing better defense. And we've given them things on the rush that we never give up against anybody. So I think we have to tighten that up."

At some point you know that's going to happen. These teams won't keep playing what Boucher referred to as "pond hockey" indefinitely. Logic says we're due for a 1-0 or 2-1 type of game soon.

And guess what the Lightning appear to have been concentrating on since the last game?

"Our focus has always been defense first," Boucher said. "And when we don't do that -- we scored five goals in an opponent's rink (and lost) -- it just proves that even if we do focus on offense, it's not going to give us any success."

The Bolts said early and often after the last game that the problem was a total defensive breakdown. The sight of Seguin skating through the entire

back line for a point-blank shot on Roloson made all the highlight shows, as it should have.

If the Bolts get that corrected, they'll count on Roloson to do the rest.

"Yeah, I'm a little surprised that it broke down. But at the same time it is hockey, and it's a game of mistakes. The other team capitalizes on your mistakes and … your team capitalizes on the other team's mistakes. So we knew it was going to be a long series, and we still plan on it being a long series. So for us we've got to stay within our system and focus and regroup for (tonight)," Roloson said.

"And for the question on losing, you know, it's just part of the game. You always have one winner and one loser. So for us -- we haven't -- having the string we did, that's great, but at the same time we have to focus on the next game. We've always been a team that's never looked in the past. We've looked in the future and tried to control the things we can control, and that's what we're going to do for (tonight)."



For Lightning's Roloson, boy's short story melts ice

By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA --

Dwayne Roloson, Tampa Bay Lightning goalkeeper, has been a star most of these Stanley Cup playoffs.

Then again, he has help.

There's a small green shamrock painted on the back plate of Roloson's goalie mask — a shamrock with the initials KR inside it. And there are the letters TDLO for "The Dream Lives On."

It's for a friend, a former camper at Roloson's summer goalie school, a boy not unlike Roloson's young sons, Brett and Ross. The shamrock is for a remarkable boy who'll always be 12, with a mop of hair and smile that could melt the ice.

It's for KR.

Kelly Ryan.

"I'm honored to have him with me," Roloson said.

"The dream lives on, that's true," said Phil Ryan, Kelly's father. "Every day I watch Roli in the playoffs, even though Roli's name is on the sweater, … Kelly is there. He's in the Eastern Conference Finals."

He came into this world on Chicago's Southwest Side on Oct. 9, 1997, a month premature.

Kelly Thomas Ryan was in a hurry.

Phil Ryan is a cement finisher. His wife, Chris, is an office manager. They have two daughters, McKenna and Hannah. Kelly was in the middle.

Phil was a goalkeeper. He put Kelly on skates at 6, and a year later Kelly went between the pipes. He wasn't the biggest kid, but he worked hard and rose through the youth hockey ranks. Like we said, he was in a hurry.

"The NHL, that was Kelly's goal since he was 10," Phil said.

Along came Roli.

Phil still has no idea why his son chose Dwayne Roloson as his hockey hero. It's not as though Roloson played for Chicago's NHL team, the Blackhawks. Kelly followed Roloson as he went from the Minnesota Wild to the Edmonton Oilers to the New York Islanders.

"When Kelly was 7, he just started emulating Dwayne Roloson," Phil said. "He was comfortable with Roli's style on the ice, and as he got to know Roli, with his humbleness."

Kelly always wore a Roli hat and No. 30 in his games because Roli had worn 30 for the Wild. A few years ago, when his parents re-did his bedroom, Kelly insisted: Oilers blue. The guy at the paint store told Kelly, "I have no idea what you're talking about." Kelly returned with his Roli Oilers jersey. He got his Oilers blue room. It's still that color.

Through a mutual friend, Phil learned that Dwayne Roloson had a goalie camp in his hometown of Simcoe, Ontario. Camp co-founder and Chicago resident Tim Anderson, another former goalie, became good friends with Phil. In 2007, Kelly and the whole Ryan family headed for Simcoe.

"And we all just fell in love with Kelly," Tim Anderson said,

It's a 10-hour drive from Chicago to Simcoe and the Roloson Mason Goalie School, which also is named for Bob Mason, the Minnesota Wild goalkeeper coach. Dwayne Roloson is no figurehead. He's on the ice with the kids.

"We want to get to know them, each of them," Roloson said. "Kelly? He was the little guy with the smile, asking hundreds of questions, wanting to learn. He was just a phenomenal kid, very talented, very skilled. Every day he came to camp, he was happy."

"Roli was such a positive role model for my son, the way he worked with him, the way he treated him," Phil Ryan said.

Kelly attended three camps, the last in July 2009. Roloson always found extra time for him.

"Kelly had scholarship potential," Roloson said. "I think he could have been anything he wanted."

Roli was his idol.

"It's very humbling," Roloson said.

Sunday afternoon, April 18, 2010, Kelly finished up a weekend tournament. When he got home, his friend Alex called to see whether Kelly could come over. Kelly hopped on his BMX bike and promised his parents he'd call on his way home. And he did. He told his mom when he was a few blocks away. It was still light out.

A few minutes later, at 8:30, Phil's phone rang. He saw the ID. It was Kelly's cellphone.

But it was a police officer's voice.

"Do you have a son Kelly Ryan?" he asked.

At the accident scene, they kept Phil and Chris away from the ambulance. Chris saw the pickup truck. Kelly's bike was twisted in the truck's rear axle.

At the hospital, Phil cradled Kelly and whispered to him that if it hurt that bad, to let go, just let go, buddy. It was 11:03 p.m.

"A few seconds later, he was gone," Chris said.

There were 3,000 people at the visitation. Inside, there were Kelly's hockey jerseys, including his Roli jerseys. Phil put his own goalie equipment in the casket with Kelly, and some Roli hockey cards.

The funeral procession passed Kelly's grade school on the way to the Mass. His teachers and classmates were out front, wearing hockey shirts. They released balloons into an overcast sky.

At the cemetery, one of the boys asked Phil whether it was OK to leave his jersey on the casket. Soon there was a pile of hockey sweaters, and sticks, too. No one wanted to leave. A light rain began to fall. Finally they drifted away.

Dwayne Roloson was in Simcoe, at his oldest son's lacrosse practice, when Tim Anderson called him about Kelly.

"You're watching your son out on a field and you get a phone call about a boy who's just a few years older than your child, and he's gone," Roloson said. "Twelve years old. What do you do?"

Dwayne Roloson did what he could. A few months after the accident, he invited Phil Ryan up to goalie camp as a coach. It helped. The first Kelly Ryan Best Camper Award was given to the most dedicated goalie.

Phil's biggest fear was that Kelly would be forgotten. Chris goes to the cemetery all the time. Sometimes she locks herself in Kelly's room, where nothing ever changes.

On Oct. 18, 2010, six months to the day Kelly died, there was a candle and prayer memorial at the intersection where the accident occurred. Chris and the girls went, but Phil lingered at the house. There was too much pain.

He decided to watch the Islanders-Maple Leafs game because Roli was playing for New York and Kelly would love that. Phil noticed Roloson had a new mask. As the Islanders left the ice after the first period, Phil saw the mask's back plate. There was a huge green shamrock. And Kelly's number 30. And the words:

"To Kelly … Your dream lives on …"

"And I just start crying," Phil said.

Then he got up and went to the memorial.

Roloson and his wife, Melissa, came up with the idea for the mask. He had two made: one for games, one for the Ryans. Roloson was traded to the Lightning on New Year's Day. He has a Kelly back plate on his Lightning mask.

The Lightning came to Chicago late this season, and the Ryans came to the arena. Chris hugged Roli.

"Roli finally told me to stop crying or he would start," Chris said.

"He's with me all the time," Roli told her.

The Lightning play the Bruins tonight. Tim Thomas will start in net for Boston. Dwayne Roloson and Kelly Ryan will be in goal for Tampa Bay.



Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas has big Game 3 against Tampa Bay Lightning

By Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA — As competitive as Tim Thomas is, his Bruins teammates knew how determined he was for a big bounceback game Thursday night.

Thomas, 37, a Vezina Trophy finalist as the league's top goalie, had allowed nine goals over the first two games of the Eastern Conference final, rare in itself. He made some outstanding saves, but the Bruins gave up too many quality scoring chances due to an uncharacteristic wide-open game.

But on Thursday, when Boston played a more typical game, it got a more typical Thomas, who picked up his second career postseason shutout with 31 saves in a 2-0 win in Game 3.

"He wanted to step up and play the way he has been playing all year long," Bruins left wing Milan Lucic said. "He's been our MVP from Day 1. He's a very competitive guy. He takes a lot of pride in being the best player out there every night. And he showed that tonight. When he's feeling it, and feeling confident, he's a tough goalie to beat, and for us we have a lot of confidence in him, that's for sure."

Thomas credited the play in front of him, the Bruins playing a more tighter game, allowing himself to feel normal in net. Unlike the first two games, when Thomas had to fend off breakaways and odd-man rushes, he just needed to be steady Thursday.

"I'm kind of a product of the way the game goes in front of me," Thomas said. "I was able to play more under control tonight, but a lot of that had to do with … we played the way that I'm used to. I felt comfortable in a game like that."

Thomas was tested, including a flurry of chances just more than six minutes in. Thomas stopped a Teddy Purcell slap shot, then spun around to make a save on a Vinny Lecavalier wrist shot, before defensemen Dennis Seidenberg blocked an attempt by Marty St. Louis.

"They came in pretty fast," Thomas said. "And I was moving when the first shot came, so I made the save but as I was doing it, my momentum carried me towards the corner. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lecavalier was going to get the rebound and that's when I did the spin-o-rama. I spun, got to the center of the net and fortunately got a leg on it."

St. Petersburg Times LOADED: 05.20.2011


Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins, Game 3 reaction: What they're saying

Times staff, wires

Adam Steele, Lightning fan from Orlando

"The loss can only be attributed to one thing. Home team support. Go to any other conference final, or for that matter quarterfinal game. What do you find? A sea of the home team colors overflowing in the stands, towels spinning, lively chants. I've seen more excitement in spring training baseball. I'll be sitting in the nosebleed Saturday, with my Lightning gear, and since I live here, you are my home team and I will support you with everything I have."

Corey Masisak, NHL.com writer:

"Will Tyler Seguin get a statue before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at this point?"

Shawn Roarke, NHL.com writer:

"Boston's decision-making at center red line has been impeccable in this game. That has been a huge difference."

Seth Rorabaugh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Penguins blogger:

"Hey, someone call 1999 and tell them to take their style of hockey back."

Bruins coach Claude Julien, on the return of Patrice Bergeron after he missed two games because of a concussion:

"You could see the difference he makes."

Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg:

"Both goalies made huge saves. This just felt more normal. I think both teams got more toward the type of game they wanted. I think it was a lot more typical and expected from us."

Scott Cullen, Canada's TSN network:

"It wasn't the most exciting game of the playoffs, to be sure, but it was the kind of road effort that the Bruins needed to take the lead in the series. They'll likely aim for more of the same in Saturday's matinee Game 4, while the Lightning could use more contributions from its supporting cast if the big guns are going to get locked down by Chara and company."

Don Brennan, Canada's QMI news agency:

"Zdeno Chara has the longest stick in the league, but it must have looked like a fishing rod to Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier all night. Chara spoiled a couple of their scoring chances with nice poke checks. "

Lightning's Marty St. Louis, on Bruins goalie Tim Thomas:

"As the game goes on, he keeps making saves, feels better about himself and is gaining confidence. We've just got make his game a little tougher and we didn't do that. Chew on it for 10 minutes and get back to work."



Maybe Boston Bruins are simply better than Tampa Bay Lightning

By John Romano, Times Sports Columnist

TAMPA — The scoreboard was bad. The implications were worse.

This was not a loss due to lack of structure. It was not because of penalties, momentum, tempo or inexperience. In other words, none of the usual explanations were apparent in Tampa Bay's 2-0 loss to Boston in Game 3 on Thursday night.

Which means the Bruins were simply the better team.

Somehow, that seems worse than the Game 2 loss on Tuesday night, when the Lightning felt it got away from its game plan. And it seems worse than the early losses against Pittsburgh, when the Lightning was still a team learning how to survive in the playoffs.

It seems worse because it makes you wonder whether Boston is actually the better candidate to make it out of the Eastern Conference final.

"These are the games that we usually play well in," Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said.

"One-goal games, we usually win."

We have already seen the Lightning come back from a bigger deficit this postseason, so we know it can be done.

The difference is Tampa Bay is facing a more complete opponent than a couple of weeks ago when it fell behind Pittsburgh.

"We have to stick to our game plan. We know it works," said forward Dominic Moore. "Some nights, you're not going to get the results."

This was Boston playing the way the Lightning must have feared. It was a team with a smothering defense and a world-class goaltender making a 1-0 score feel like it was 10-0 for the first 50 minutes or so.

If Game 2 had the feel of a bunch of kids playing on a pond, this was those same kids playing on Prozac. It was stops and starts, it was fumbles and flops. It was butt ugly.

By the second period, Lightning players looked frustrated. They made poor passes and silly decisions. They had scoring opportunities that fizzled before the shot.

If not for 20 strong minutes from Lightning goaltender Dwayne Roloson, the game would have been over by the time the puck was picked up at the end of the second period.

As it was, Tampa Bay barely mounted a challenge in the final minutes. There was never the feeling that a comeback was near, there was never the sense that confidence was high.

And now the Lightning is faced with a quandary. It lost Game 2 when the tempo was high and the scoring chances were plenty. Now it has lost Game 3 when the pace was slowed and the defenses were in control.

"Today was more of a playoff game between two teams that pride themselves on playing tight, and that's why we're here. If we weren't like that, we wouldn't be here," Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. "They played well, and we played just as well.

"It came down to one mistake here and there."

In this case, the mistake came 69 seconds into the game when Lightning defensemen Brett Clark and Victor Hedman both converged on the same player and David Krejci was left standing alone in front of the net.

Boucher would not say whether the mistake was made by one of the defensemen or a forward who was slow to get back in position.

Either way, doesn't it seem a bit concerning that a mistake one minute into a game could determine the rest of the night?

For most of the second period and parts of the third, the Lightning seemed like a team that was unsure of itself. A team that looked out of synch.

"No, no, I wouldn't say we were out of synch," Boucher said. "There's another team in front of us. It's not like we're playing a bantam team that is just going to let us run around and have our breakaways."

The truth is Boston has had the better forecheck. It has been better on faceoffs. And the past two games, Tim Thomas has been a better goaltender than Roloson.

This is not a Pittsburgh team that was offensively challenged. And it is not a Washington team that lacked cohesion.

In this series, the Lightning is not getting away with mistakes.

Against this opponent, Tampa Bay is paying for missed chances.

"I'm not going to use any cliches here," said Marty St. Louis. "We just didn't get the job done."

So is it time to panic? Not yet.

No matter how frazzled you may feel this morning, the world can change again by Game 4 on Saturday afternoon because logic rarely applies in the NHL postseason.

The Lightning may have given up home-ice advantage with this loss, but the team has actually played better on the road (6-2 record) than at home (3-3) in the playoffs.

And if you're worried about momentum, the Lightning went through seven games in the Eastern Conference final and the first five games of the Stanley Cup final without winning back-to-back games in 2004 and still walked away as champion.

Two losses is not the end of the world for the Lightning.

You just sort of wish there was a better explanation.



Tampa Bay Lightning loses to Boston Bruins 2-0 in Game 3 of East final, Bruins lead series 2-1

By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA — After the first two games of the Eastern Conference final produced a total 18 goals, Game 3 Thursday night at the St. Pete Times Forum went in the opposite direction.

The Bruins beat the Lightning 2-0 in a close-checking contest that featured fine goaltending by Boston's Tim Thomas and Tampa Bay's Dwayne Roloson, and the Bruins took a two-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series in front of a sellout crowd of 21,027.

David Krejci scored 1:09 into the game after a bad defensive gaff by Tampa Bay. Tyler Seguin scored his fourth goal of the series 8:12 into the third period.

Boston also got a boost from the return of center Patrice Bergeron, who missed the first two games with concussion symptoms.

The Lightning's penalty kill, which allowed two goals in a 6-5 Game 2 loss, returned to form, killing all three Boston power plays. But Tampa Bay's power play was 0-for-3.

Tampa Bay did not storm Thomas, but the goalie made 31 saves for his second career playoff shutout and came up big when he had to. He also got a bit of luck in the second period when Steven Stamkos whizzed a wrist shot off the crossbar.

The Lightning had the better of play in the first period and outshot the Bruins 10-8. But one Tampa Bay mistake led to Krejci's goal, and the Bruins also won 14 of 18 faceoffs.

Boston took the lead 1:09 into the period when a giveaway by Lightning defenseman Brett Clark and bad positioning by defenseman Victor Hedman left Krejci alone in front of the net. Roloson did not have a chance as Krejci, unchecked, deked him out of position.

From there, the Lightning took off and at one point had a 7-3 lead in shots. And Thomas had to be sharp during a serious Tampa Bay flurry that featured leg saves on wrist shots by Teddy Purcell and Vinny Lecavalier within five seconds and a block of Marty St. Louis' shot by Dennis Seidenberg six seconds after that.

Roloson had to be sharp with 9:39 left as Gregory Campbell launched a spin-o-rama shot. Roloson made the save but did not know where the puck was under him, prompting a scramble in the crease in which Campbell took an extra swipe at Roloson.

Simon Gagne came to Roloson's defense, and both players received two minutes for roughing.

Tampa Bay had a great chance with St. Louis and Lecavalier on a two-on-one with 8:09 remaining. But St. Louis' cross-ice pass was knocked away by the long stick of 6-foot-9 Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara.

Lightning coach Guy Boucher was as animated as he has been all season after Marc-Andre Bergeron was called for elbowing Krejci with 2:31 remaining. Replays showed Bergeron hit Krejci legally with his shoulder, and Boucher gave referee Steve Kozari an earful.

The Bruins had a 12-6 advantage in shots, but both goalies had moments when they had to shine, and the period ended 1-0 for Boston.

Roloson had the first big save 21 seconds into the second period. After a takeaway by Brad Marchand, Bergeron had an open shot on left wing, but Roloson got to his right quickly and made the save.

Thomas showed skill with 6:51 left with a right-foot save on Lecavalier's blast from the slot.

Roloson answered with a left-leg save on Rich Peverly from in close at the end of a two-on-one, and another save on Peverley's rebound try.

Seguin made it 2-0 in the third when he deflected in Andrew Ference's shot from the point and the puck trickled through Roloson's legs.

Inside

Lightning no surprise to Bettman

Commissioner Gary Bettman credits a good owner and GM for Tampa Bay's quick turnaround. 3C

Playoffs are playoffs to Boucher

Lightning coach Guy Boucher, in his first NHL postseason, has junior and AHL playoff experience. 4C

Tickets

Saturday's Game 4 and a potential Game 6 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa are sold out. Unused team tickets might be released on game days. Check with the box office at (813) 301-6600 and Ticketmaster (outlets, ticketmaster.com, toll-free 1-800-745-3000).

On the Web

For more photos of the Lightning's x-x loss to the Bruins, check out sports.tampabay.com.

Games 6, 7 if necessary



Tampa Bay Lightning-Boston Bruins news and notes


Underappreciated

Fredrik Modin, 36, retired Thursday. The high point of his career was 1999-2006, when he had 116 goals and 229 point in 363 games for the Lightning, for which he was an alternate captain, part of a line with C Brad Richards and Marty St. Louis, and a force on defense. Despite that, Modin, right, a member of the 2004 Stanley Cup team, never got the recognition he deserved from the Tampa Bay area media or fans. Perhaps it was his quiet demeanor or that he was overshadowed by big-name talent. Whatever the reason, Modin was one of the most underrated players in franchise history. "For us he wasn't underrated," Lightning C Vinny Lecavalier said. "He was a huge part of our team. He was a great leader and great for us."

Roped off

With so many reporters covering the East final, the Lightning is serious no one even inadvertently steps on its team logo on the floor of the St. Pete Times Forum locker room. It's so serious, it barricaded the logo behind several metal poles connected by those nylon strips that funnel you toward the tellers at your bank. "We're just trying to properly respect the precedent set down by our Stanley Cup champion team of 2004," Lightning spokesman Bill Wickett wrote in an e-mail. "It's easier to put a subtle reminder in place than continually ask people for that respect."

Three stars

TIM THOMAS: The Bruins goalie bounced back after allowing nine combined goals in the series' first two games to pick up his first shutout of the playoffs, making 31 saves.

DAVID KREJCI: The Bruins center scored the game's first goal, his team-high seventh of the postseason, and was strong in the faceoff circle, going 13-for-18.

PATRICE BERGERON: The Bruins center, returning to the lineup after missing two games with a concussion, was his steady self in playing 19 minutes, 13 seconds, and he dominated the Lightning in the faceoff circle, going 18-of-28 .

Cheap Trick time

The rock band Cheap Trick will perform on the west plaza of the St. Pete Times Forum after Saturday's Game 4. The concert is free. Fans without a ticket to the 1:30 p.m. game can watch on a big screen on the plaza and stick around for the show.

Tickets

Saturday's Game 4 and a potential Game 6 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa are sold out. Unused team tickets might be released on game days. Check with the box office at (813) 301-6600 and Ticketmaster (outlets, ticketmaster.com, toll-free 1-800-745-3000).

The series

Bruins lead 2-1

Game 1, Lightning 5, Bruins 2: Three goals in 1:25 of the first spark Lightning.

Game 2, Bruins 6, Lightning 5: Bruins score five in the second.

Game 3, Bruins 2, Lightning 0: Bruins get the edge in tight defensive game.

Saturday: at Tampa, 1:30, Ch. 8

Monday: at Boston, 8, Versus

Wednesday: at Tampa, 8, Versus *

May 27: at Boston, 8, Versus *

Radio: 970-AM, except Wednesday, which is 620-AM

If necessary



Commissioner Gary Bettman not surprised by Tampa Bay Lightning's quick improvement

By Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA — Though many are likely surprised with the Lightning's one-year turnaround from out of the playoffs to the Eastern Conference final, commissioner Gary Bettman is not among them.

And a big reason why Bettman believes Tampa Bay is, and can continue to be, successful is the mix of GM Steve Yzerman and owner Jeff Vinik, both in their first seasons with the team.

"Perhaps the most important thing for any hockey team or any sports team is ownership," Bettman said Thursday at the St. Pete Times Forum, where he attended Game 3 between the Lightning and Bruins.

"Tampa has one terrific owner. He's a hockey fan, he's smart, he's a good business person, he has the resources, he has the commitment, he knew what he was getting into and hires the right people.

"I said to Jeff just now, because he was a guest on my (weekly satellite radio) show … 'Okay, so you're a rookie owner and look how well you're doing. What's the secret sauce?' There's no secret sauce. Actually, (Vinik) is the secret sauce."

One of the "right" people Vinik hired was Yzerman, a longtime Red Wings captain who spent several postretirement seasons learning the management side in Detroit before coming to Tampa.

"He was part of a successful organization in Detroit, so it's no surprise that he's creating a successful organization here in Tampa," Bettman said. "He's really smart, very thoughtful, very cerebral. Anybody who spends time with him knows that they are in the presence of somebody special."

bruins' BERGERON BACK: Bruins star C Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup Thursday after sustaining a concussion in Game 4 of the East semifinal sweep with the Flyers. "I felt pretty good out there," he said. "I was confident I was ready." Bergeron, who had been one of the team's top scorers (12 playoff points) and faceoff men, started, logged 19:13 of ice time and won 18 of 28 faceoffs.

MIND GAMES? The Lightning praised Bruins rookie C Tyler Seguin, the second overall pick in last year's draft and who racked up six points in his first two playoff games, Games 1 and 2 against the Lightning. But Bruins coach Claude Julien believed there was more to the Lightning's flattery of Seguin. "I don't think they're worried so much about Tyler more than they want to flatter him, and we know that there are mind games that teams play," he said.

IN AND OUT: D Randy Jones was out of the lineup and C Blair Jones in. Jones was plus-1 with an assist in five playoff games. He refused to use the ankle injury that sidelined him the final two months of the regular season as an excuse. "If I'm good enough to be out there and play and lace them up, then there are no excuses and no restrictions," Jones said. "Has it affected me? I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to notice that."

MISCELLANY: C Dana Tyrell (foot) participated in warmups, and Boucher said he's "ready to go." But he missed his 10th straight game. … Boucher said D Pavel Kubina (upper-body injury), injured in Game 1 against the Capitals in the semifinals when a Washington elbow bounced his head off the glass, hasn't skated yet and "we're going to wait."



Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins rediscover defense

By Tom Jones, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA — If the first two games of the Eastern Conference final between the Lightning and Bruins was must-see TV, Game 3 was more like C-Span.

It was stick-in-the-mud hockey. It was slow-motion hockey. Quite frankly, it was boring hockey.

"Neither team would give the other team anything," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said.

Get used to it. It probably is the type of hockey we will see for the rest of the series.

"I can't read the future, but if was a betting man, I would think so," said defenseman Andrew Ference, whose third-period goal put Boston up 2-0. "Both teams went back to their styles."

That style is grind-it-out, watch-your-back, take-few-risks hockey that places emphasis on keeping the puck out of your own net instead of offense. The result was a measly two goals — both by Boston — after the teams combined for 18 and about a gazillion scoring chances in the first two games.

Tuesday's 6-5 pond-hockey game was replaced by Thursday's plodding 2-0 affair that saw a lot more dumping and chasing than shooting and scoring.

"This was more of a playoff game between two teams who pride themselves on defense and playing tight," Lightning coach Guy Boucher said.

Bruins coach Claude Julien estimated his team allowed the Lightning nine quality scoring chances in the third period alone of Game 2. The Lightning didn't appear to have that many in all of Game 3. The Bruins clamped down after taking a 1-0 lead 1:09 into the game. The Lightning was almost as stingy.

Aside from a defensive breakdown on the first goal and a seeing-eye puck that squirted through goalie Dwayne Roloson's pads in the third, the Lightning turned in one of its better defensive efforts of the playoffs. Boston had only 25 shots, its fewest this postseason.

This disciplined style is not as thrilling as Game 1 and, especially, Game 2, but the teams are interested in victories, not entertainment value, at this time of the year.

"I saw them talk after last game, and I saw us talk. And I think both teams felt the exact same way," Ference said. "(The first two games are) not a way to win a series and continue in the playoffs. This game was more like it."



Cheap Trick to perform after Game 4

Rock band Cheap Trick will perform on the west plaza following Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final between the Lightning and Bruins Saturday at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.

Fans without a ticket to the game can watch the game outside on the plaza and stick around for the postgame concert.

Posted by fpastor



Former Tampa Bay Lightning player Fredrik Modin retires


As you may or may not have heard, former Tampa Bay Lightning player Fredrik Modin, in his native Sweden, officially announced his retirement. Clearly, the constant injuries he has endured finally took their toll.

Modin, 36, was one of the great players for the Lightning from 1999-2006, compiling 116 goals and 229 points in 363 games, including a 32 goals in 2000-01 and 29 during the 2003-04 Stanley Cup season. He also had eight goals and 19 points in 23 playoff games on the way to Tampa Bay's Cup title.

But Modin, acquired by then-GM Rick Dudley from the Maple Leafs for defenseman Corey Cross and a seventh-round draft choice, never seemed to get the recognition he deserved from the media that covered the Lightning or the fans. Perhaps it was his quiet demeanor. Perhaps because he was overshadowed by linemates Brad Richards and Marty St. Louis and teammate Vinny Lecavalier. Whatever the reason, Modin never got his due here and could be the most underrated player the Lightning has seen.

"For us, he wasn't underrated," Lecavalier said. "He was a huge part of our team. He was a great leader and great for us."

He also seemed constantly hurt. Maybe not enough to keep him off the ice but enough so that after games he would be visibly limping or favoring an appendage. Even so, in only one season (2001-02) did Modin play fewer than76 games. His standard line when you asked him how he was feeling? "I'm good." And he'd say it with a smile like everyone was in on the joke.

"He fought through a lot of injuries," Lecavalier said. "He was a guy who always tried to play through it. It was definitely tough for him."

Modin was traded to the Blue Jackets in June 2006 for goaltender Marc Denis, and he still has a house in the Tampa Bay area.

Other stuff from the morning skate: Forward Dana Tyrell skated for the first time without the red no-contact jersey. Tyrell said he is cleared to play and will take warm-ups for Game 3 but said he did not believe he would play. But we'll see. Coach Guy Boucher said Tyrell is a game-time decision. ... Defenseman Randy Jones is averaging only 6:58 in the five playoff games he has played since returning from a high ankle sprain. And Jones didn't sugar coat that he still is feeling some discomfort. "Has it affected me? I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to notice that," he said. But Jones also is not using the injury as an excuse. "If I'm good enough to be out there, then their are no restrictions or excuses." ... Defenseman Pavel Kubina did not skate Thursday. ... Boucher reiterated what the players said on Wednesday's conference call, that goalie Dwayne Roloson was not to blame for Tuesday's 6-5 loss and he was pulled only to try and give the team a spark. "I know he wanted to stay to battle, but he also understood changing something might change the outcome of the game, and it almost worked," Boucher said. "We certainly didn't lose confidence in Roloson. We left him alone on breakaways and two-on-ones and stuff. It was just about respecting him and seeing how we could turn that game around." ... On the Bruins side, the Patrice Bergeron watch continues. Coach Claude Julien said Bergeron likely will warm up, but would not say if he would play, though it sounded as if he doesn't play in Game 3, game 4 is almost guaranteed. ... Boston is 4-1 on the road in the playoffs. ... In an interesting exchange between the coaches, Boucher first complimented Boston rookie Tyler Seguin, saying, "I think everybody seriously underestimated his speed, and that's the main thing. His speed is obviously a weapon for him and for his team. And being a young guy, having success right away, certainly takes a lot of the nervousness away. We have to be able to keep on him." While Julien enjoyed the compliment, he said he understands what it was. "Well, Tampa has been very good of complimenting our team," he said. "They do a really good job of that. Tampa has got some pretty good speed themselves, St. Louis and those kind of guys, Stamkos. They've got the same kind of players. So, my answer to that would be I think they're pretty well-served on the other side. I don't think they're worried too much about Tyler more than they want to flatter him, and we know that there are mind games that teams play, and right now we're just focusing on what we have to do here. If anything, I would be more tempted to compliment my own players such as St. Louis and those guys that are just as good as Seguin when it comes to speed."



Swap your Boston sports gear for Tampa Bay

Want to swap your Boston sports gear for merchandise featuring Tampa Bay area teams?

Bring your Bruins, Red Sox, Patriots or Celtics hats, shirts, jackets, jerseys, etc., to Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza (1912 W. Brandon Blvd.) Friday between 9 a.m. and noon, when WDAE 620-AM's Ron and Ian will be broadcasting live, and receive Tampa Bay gear in return, while supplies last.

Each person that donates will be entered for a chance to win a brand new 2011-12 Lightning home jersey, courtesy of the Lightning. The winner will be contacted at a later date, when the jersey is available.


569942 Washington Capitals

Leonsis on Capitals: ‘I don’t think our window is closing’

By Katie Carrera

Ted Leonsis has declined interview requests through a spokesman since the Capitals were swept from the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs earlier this month, but on Thursday he answered questions from fans on the team’s website .

Leonsis reiterated a message of patience in regard to the Capitals’ ability to achieve playoff success and stressed that despite this postseason’s disappointment, he doesn’t believe the team is running out of time to win.

“The one that has bothered me is this notion that the pain of losing is because our window is closing,” Leonsis said of the emails and comments he’s received from fans since the loss to the Lightning. “I’m a fan. I want instant results. I feel great disappointment. I, too, would like to figure out why can’t we go deeper in the playoffs. It’s really what we’ve been spending time on the last several weeks.

“We’re struggling as an organization translating regular season productivity into longer success in the playoffs,” Leonsis said. “We certainly want to go further than one round.”

Although he talked about how the Capitals’ internal assessment and introspection has just begun, Leonsis added that the answer for how to take that next step doesn’t necessarily include firing General Manager George McPhee, Coach Bruce Boudreau or trading away the team’s star players.

“I think right now we’re all looking at what do we have to do differently to move forward in the playoffs,” Leonsis said. “We finished the first round this year and we all felt that we were in good shape. We felt that was the toughest round to get through….And we got swept in the second round. It didn’t feel good. We’re all sitting down to say, ‘What do we have to do differently?’ but so are the other teams that got swept.”

Leonsis said he believed the team’s transition to a more defensive posture mid-season was the appropriate move to make, but that the power play’s struggles may mandate “something major” to reignite the unit. Leonsis didn’t go into specifics about what those changes might entail.

Leonsis said he believes the Capitals will continue to have a consistent opportunity for success because of the age of most of their core players, who are in their early to mid 20s, and the potential impact of young players in the pipeline.

“I don’t think our window is closing,” Leonsis said. “All [youth] does is give us more hope that we can improve our playoff performance. But I do think the team’s young players contribute a lot and will get better because they’ll get more experienced.”

Washington Post LOADED: 05.20.2011

569943 Vancouver Canucks

Mystery Canucks flasher a 'chauvinist pig'

By KAREN JOUHAL, QMI Agency

VANCOUVER - A Vancouver woman has gained international attention for a booze-fuelled flashing of her breasts, sparking a debate about bad-girl behaviour in sport.

A day after a mystery flasher bared her breasts to Ben Eager on live TV while the San Jose Sharks forward was languishing in the penalty box during Game 2 of their playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks, the cyberworld went crazy Thursday.

While no joke was spared on Twitter, not everyone is laughing.

“This is classic taunting behaviour within the model of a what we call a female chauvinist pig,” Catherine Murray, chairman of Simon Fraser University’s department of gender, sexuality and women's studies, told QMI Agency.

“I don’t know if it’s something many Lower Mainland fans would support.”

The flashing happened late in the third period when the woman lifted up her Canucks jersey and pressed her breasts against the penalty box glass.

A source said the woman – who was ejected from the building and upstaged the Green Men – was intoxicated and embarrassed by her antics.

While the CBC received a few e-mails, Canucks hockey blogger Katie Maximick is not amused.

“Thirty-six per cent of the NHL fan base is female, and this woman – who probably isn’t even a real fan but a bandwagon jumper – is setting women back. It doesn’t give female hockey fans a very good rep.”

The incident was reminiscent of 2004 when euphoric female hockey fans flashed their breasts in the streets when the Calgary Flames were battling for the Stanley Cup against Tampa Bay.

“We are definitely beginning to see some nudity or partial nudity in fan behaviour in soccer, but not in hockey,” Murray said.

Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo had a more lighthearted response.

“I haven’t seen the replays, but I heard about it. It’s a tough toss up between the Green Men and that. I don’t know what’s better."

Winnipeg Sun LOADED: 05.20.2011


Fan gets fresh with Eager

Sharks forward flashed in sin bin

By QMI Agency

A female Canucks fan exposes herself to Sharks forward Ben Eager while the agitator serves a penalty during Game 2 Wednesday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C.

San Jose Sharks forward Ben Eager spent a lot of time in the sin bin during Game 2 Wednesday night, mostly for acting like a boob.

A female Canucks fan let him know just how she felt about his play, which earned him 20 penalty minutes in a 7-3 loss to Vancouver at Rogers Arena. She lifted up her Henrik Sedin jersey and exposed herself to the Sharks agitator late in the third period.

The flash was shown nationally on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada and received an immediate reaction from the Twitterverse.

"And let the Green Men be forgotten," wrote QMI Agency's Rob Longley (@longleysunsport).

No word on whether the NHL will crack down on the fan for touching the penalty box glass, as the league reportedly did with the Green Men.



Canucks shrug off 'coward' talk

By HOSEA CHEUNG, QMI Agency

VANCOUVER - Don't expect any name-calling from the Vancouver Canucks camp.

While the San Jose Sharks may have mistaken the playoffs for a playground, the Canucks aren't taking part in any schoolyard games by replying to verbal barbs, at least not off the ice.

Rather, the players are focused on extending their series lead to 3-0 against the Sharks, who had a few choice words after being trounced 7-3 Wednesday in Game 2 in Vancouver.

The most vocal of the San Jose bunch after Game 2 were Ben Eager and Ryane Clowe, with the former calling Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa a "phoney" while the latter said forward Maxim Lapierre was a "coward."

"It doesn't matter what has been said," Lapierre said Thursday before the Canucks' flight to San Jose for Game 3 Friday. "It's playoffs, (Clowe) wants to start something. It's funny, I like that. If he felt that way, that's all right, he may be the only one."

Lapierre was one of six players who received 10-minute misconducts in a feisty showdown that saw the Sharks crumble under a lack of discipline. The Canucks capitalized, scoring three power-play goals on seven opportunities.

"We feed off the power plays that we're getting from that," Bieksa said. "We're not looking to be nasty, we go out and play hard. If they're distracted with all the stuff that's going on, that's fine for us."

Bieksa, who has scored in each of the first two games of the Western Conference final, brushed off the post-game jabs.

"Personal comments, don't really care at all," he said. "We'll settle this on the ice. Most important thing right now is the win. I'll take criticism, Max will take criticism. We'll take punches in the face, we'll do whatever it takes to win the series."

That very well may include putting up with borderline hits, much like Eager's check on Daniel Sedin late in the second period. The ex-Chicago Blackhawk forward ran the NHL's regular-season leading scorer from behind into the boards, apparently retaliating after Bieksa had dropped the gloves with Sharks star Patrick Marleau moments earlier.

Eager received a two-minute penalty on the play -- one of his five minors on the night -- and didn't face any further discipline from the league.

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, however, voiced his displeasure Thursday.

"You look at Eager (Wednesday) night, obviously he's on the ice to try to hurt people. (He) ran Danny from the back, ran our goaltender; their coach goes out and says that's the way he wants him to play," Vigneault said. "I just hope that nothing serious is going to happen on the ice, otherwise there are going to be some serious consequences to that. We want the game to be played fairly."

As for Eager's comments about Bieksa after the game, Vigneault said: "When you hear Eager call Kevin Bieksa a 'phoney,' when last year we had (Darcy) Hordichuk ask him I don't know how many times to fight, and he always turned him down. I think (Rick) Rypien must be 40 to 45 pounds lighter than him, and offered him many occasions to fight and Eager turned him down.

"All year long, we really stayed focused on what has needed to be done."

Echoed Roberto Luongo, who was on the receiving end of Eager's taunts late in the game: "It was key for us (in Game 2) that we weren't going to get into that type of match and were going to stay focused and play our game."

Meanwhile, the Canucks announced Thursday that injured forward Mikael Samuelsson underwent successful surgery to repair an adductor tendon and a sports hernia. He is expected to be out for the rest of the playoffs.



Low shots a high point for Canucks

By HOSEA CHEUNG, QMI Agency

VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Canucks are aiming high by shooting low.

All seven goals Wednesday by the Canucks in their assault of San Jose Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi were shot along the ice or just off it -- but the players say it wasn't their intention.

"Scouting report was shoot the puck high," Daniel Sedin said with a laugh Thursday.

"But sometimes, the puck goes in. I'm sure (Niemi) is going to bounce back and have a big game (Friday)."

Sedin scored twice in the 7-3 win to bump his playoff total to eight goals. He started the onslaught when his one-timer off a pass from brother Henrik was raised just off the ice and through Niemi.

The Finnish goalie then failed to get his pads across in time to stop a Raffi Torres tap-in before Kevin Bieksa's breakaway shot found its way through the five-hole.

"Goalies nowadays take a good portion of the low ice away, we just found the holes (Wednesday) night," said Chris Higgins, who scored the winning goal, another low shot off a one-timer. "I wouldn't read too much into it."

The winger said it may have been a matter of Vancouver forcing Niemi to kick the puck out with his pads and give up rebounds, such as when defenceman Aaron Rome picked up a loose puck by the side of the net and scored his first career playoff goal.

"If we can get those rebounds and second-chance opportunities, we can spend a lot of time in their end," Higgins said.



Canucks' Samuelsson has successful surgery

By Sports Network

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver Canucks forward Mikael Samuelsson is out indefinitely after having successful surgery to repair his adductor tendon and sports hernia.

Samuelsson had been out of action since suffering a lower-body injury during Game 5 of Vancouver's semifinal series against the Nashville Predators.

In 75 games this season, Samuelsson tallied 18 goals and 32 assists. He added one goal and two assists in 11 playoff contests.

The Canucks hold a 2-0 series lead over the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference finals



Struggling Sharks again in troubled waters against hungry Canucks

It looks like another edition of a team that doesn’t measure up to its talent

By Cam Cole

SAN JOSE, Calif. — He didn’t name names, but he didn’t really have to.

Todd McLellan was dead blunt about his players’ shortcomings Wednesday night after the San Jose Sharks’ 7-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, and left reporters to do the detail work.

But really, is this about details?

Or are the San Jose Sharks that eternal mystery wrapped in an enigma: big, strong, talented ... and utterly feckless?

The coach wants to believe — has to believe, or he would go crazy — that "the team is the sum of its parts, and we need more of the parts to participate at a higher level if we're to have a chance."

By process of elimination, since McLellan thinks Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau and second-line centre Logan Couture have been decent, it seems that the slackers must be, primarily, Devin Setoguchi, Ryane Clowe, Dany Heatley and Joe Pavelski.

"[If] you've followed us all year, you've seen the effects that some of these players can have on a game, and you haven't seen that in the first two,” McLellan said Thursday, at the Sharks Ice facility where a Learn To Curl program was taking place on an adjacent sheet of ice.

But maybe it’s bigger than all of them. Maybe it’s beyond the powers of GM Doug Wilson or any coach or any free agent signing to purge a sordid pattern of playoff underachievement without starting anew on a fresh canvas.

Two games is, admittedly, a little early to be hammering on such a harsh argument — especially when a San Jose win in Game 3 of the Western Conference final Friday at HP Pavilion (6 p.m., CBC, Team 1040) would shift the burden of proof onto the shoulders of the Canucks — but it’s not really just two games.

It’s these two, and the four-game sweep by the Chicago Blackhawks a year ago, and if you want to stretch a point, it’s the last two games of the 2004 conference final against Calgary.

Eight straight losses now in the third round. And those are the high-water marks in an archive full of earlier eliminations.

So you wonder, when McLellan calls out his players after the Game 3 debacle, as Ron Wilson must have done many times before him, whether anyone is taking it to heart, or if it just sounds like a broken record to players who have been through it all before.

“I'm not going to sit here and try to protect them. We've got some guys that need to ask themselves some questions, answer them, and pull the skates a little tighter ... we had some guys that really showed up and committed themselves to the team. Then we had some guys that weren't sure. They have to ask themselves whether or not they want to keep on competing.”

You wonder, when the players climb on the plane after a game like that, having heard comments like those, if they go away thinking, “He’s talking about me,” or if it’s “He must mean him.”

"Good point,” said McLellan. "It's our job as a coaching staff to address individuals and let them know, 'Hey, we are talking about you.' And that's done.

"Sometimes it's done as a D pair, or a line. Sometimes it's done individually. Sometimes it's done in the locker room in front of the teammates — peer pressure.”

But the Sharks have had such a bellyful of their checkered past being thrown in their faces every spring, their rationalizations are, by now, well-rehearsed and suitably vague.

How about that compete level, Joe Thornton?

"Lot of serious lack,” he said.

When it’s eight conference final losses in a row now for this club, Patrick Marleau, do they all have their own characteristics, or is there a common thread?

"No, every year's different, and every game,” said Marleau, who has a goal in each of the first two games, and a bruise on the side of his face from losing an ill-advised fight with Kevin Bieksa in Game 2. “I don't think anybody's really thinking about those games that we've lost in the past, we should be all focusing on the game we've got in front of us."

"I haven't showed up in the way I'd like,” said Pavelski.

Gotta be better. Work harder. Compete. Is there a losing team anywhere that hasn’t said the same thing? But do the Sharks believe it, individually, where it has to start?

"Well, I hope you look in the mirror and think he means you,” said Clowe, the big winger from The Rock who must be hurt to be so physically ineffective.

“I think every guy gets on that plane and evaluates his game, or should, win or lose. I don't think it's a lack of people caring, but still, this time of year it's funny [to hear] ‘we need more guys’ and ‘we've got some passengers.’ You're in the Western Conference final, and you were in it last year, so you know hard it is.

"I think at times you want to win so bad you get frustrated and lose composure like we did last night — but you know, I think most guys look at ourselves. We're not a selfish team, by any means, we're not stupid either. We know who he's talking about, we've just got to respond."

McLellan isn’t willing to burden this year’s team with past failings, even if there might be worrisome similarities.

"No, what's worrisome is the way we've played in this series,” he said. “I don't think it's fair at all to our team to attach it to last year — Chicago played a different game ... and I don't think it's fair to Vancouver. They're a different team and they've earned two wins. Full marks to them."

In truth, though the Canucks only won Game 1 by a 3-2 margin, the series has not been very close. To this point, Vancouver has played with more conviction, more discipline, more confidence, and more passion.

"Those 50-50 pucks aren't from a blueprint, those are black-and-white. You have to want to win those battles,” said Clowe. “That's on ourselves as individuals, how much pride you've got in those areas, and right now they're winning those battles."

After the 7-3 loss, he knew he would be among those singled out for substandard play.

"You can probably point to a lot of individuals right now and that's a sad thing," said Clowe, well aware that another loss wasn’t helping the common perception of the Sharks as a playoff team.

"Well, we have to do something to prove them wrong. Or shut them up if they're going to say that. But we haven’t done it.”

Not yet. And if they don’t do it Friday night, they can kiss another year goodbye.

Vancouver Sun: LOADED: 05.20.2011


Canucks’ Mikael Samuelsson out for the season after sports hernia surgery

Chris Higgins proves to be more of an adequate replacement

By Elliott Pap

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks finally announced Thursday what many had suspected: right-winger Mikael Samuelsson is out for the season after surgery to repair an adductor tendon and sports hernia.

Samuelsson, who possesses a Stanley Cup ring from his Detroit days, was injured May 5 in Game 5 of the Nashville series when he collided with Predator forward Nick Spaling in the offensive zone. The veteran Swede went down in a heap and required assistance to leave the ice.

He was first listed as “day-to-day” by Canucks coach Alain Vigneault, but that changed earlier this week, leading to Thursday's announcement.

“Obviously he's a huge part of our hockey team and he brings a tremendous skill set to the table,” fellow Canuck forward Alex Burrows said before flying to San Jose for Game 3 Friday of the Western Conference final. “He's been a great leader and teammate all year long for us. He's going to be missed on the ice but I'm sure he's still going to be around. He's got a really good knowledge of the game and what he can do to help us out.”

Samuelsson, 34, has been labouring for much of the season with what appeared to be a lingering groin/lower abdomen problem. However, according to Vigneault, that was not necessarily the case.

“I know he's had a few issues with the groin but he had been fine until he got hurt on the ice at the end there,” Vigneault explained. “Yeah, he missed a couple of games [in late March] because his groin was a little bit sore but not to the extent of when he got hurt.”

Fortunately for the Canucks, trade-deadline acquisition Chris Higgins has fit seamlessly into Samuelsson's spot alongside Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond. Higgins has collected four goals and three assists and is a plus-5. He's also delivered some hellacious hits, including ones this round on Joe Pavelski and Kyle Wellwood. Samuelsson had three points and was a minus-4 in 11 playoff games before he went down.

Vigneault conceded he wasn't completely aware of the package that Higgins, 27, could bring to the team.

“I hadn't seen a lot of him because he was out east,” said the Canucks coach. “I heard in Montreal, because I have quite a few connections there, that they thought he had all the potential to become a really good, solid two-way player and that he had a lot of offensive capabilities. For whatever reason, things went off track a little bit. But right now he's playing with a lot of skill and determination. He's doing a really good job for us.”

Higgins admits he's pleasantly surprised how events have transpired since arriving Feb. 28 from the Florida Panthers for blue-line prospect Evan Oberg and a 2013 third-round pick. The New York native scored once and assisted twice Wednesday in the Canucks' 7-3 victory in Game 2.

“Did I anticipate this big of a role? Not initially, I guess,” said Higgins, who stands to become an unrestricted free agent July 1. “You come to the best team in the league and it seemed like they had a pretty good lineup. So I knew I had to work for my minutes. Then the opportunity presented itself to play more and I'm just trying to make the most of it.”

By the way, his home run pass to Kevin Bieksa on the go-ahead goal Wednesday was preceded by a bit of chicanery as he sat on the boards in hockey's version of the sleeper play, awaiting the chance to spring a surprise on the Sharks.

“Actually, I used to do that in high school all the time,” Higgins explained. “I don't know why I thought of doing it then. I knew we had control of the puck and I don't think they saw me back there — and I don't think anyone expected Juice [Bieksa] to be going for a breakaway either. It worked out. We'll take it.”

The Canucks lead the best-of-seven Western Conference final 2-0. Game 3 goes Friday at 6 p.m. from the Shark Tank (CBC, Team 1040) while Game 4 is scheduled for a noon start Sunday.



Canucks, Daniel Sedin keep their heads while Sharks lose theirs

Composure, discipline a hallmark of this Vancouver team as it rolls through NHL playoffs

By Iain MacIntyre,

VANCOUVER — For the second straight playoffs, Vancouver Canucks star Daniel Sedin “snapped.”

A year ago, he was so outraged at getting repeatedly slashed on faceoffs by Dave Bolland he wanted to brawl with the Chicago Blackhawk stickman, which was like Gandhi joining a knife fight.

Sedin lost his head, and nearly did it again Wednesday. This time he was snapped into the boards by San Jose Shark Ben Eager’s hit from behind.

Sedin’s response was typical. He quickly got up and skated back to the bench to dab at the small cut under his nose.

“I wasn’t injured, so I didn’t want to stay down,” Sedin explained Thursday.

The Canucks didn’t score on that penalty. But they produced two power-play goals halfway through the third period as the Sharks imploded with rage — when Martians land in the Silicon Valley and ask to see the leader, apparently they’ll be taken to Ben Eager — and turned a close game into a 7-3 laugher for Vancouver.

The Sharks’ lack of discipline, embodied by Eager’s six penalties, also doubled the Canucks’ lead in the Western Conference final to 2-0 in games and seemed oddly familiar inside Rogers Arena.

A year ago, it was the Canucks channeling the Charlestown Chiefs and losing badly. It was Sedin.

The Canucks’ atrocious behaviour allowed the Blackhawks to score six power-play goals while sweeping the first two games in Vancouver, speeding the home team’s exit from the second round of the National Hockey League playoffs.

Anyone requiring further proof that these Canucks are not those Canucks, that this Vancouver team is special, needed only to pay attention to the third period on Wednesday.

“We learned an awful lot because that’s what killed us last year, especially at home against Chicago,” Vancouver associate coach Rick Bowness said at YVR before the Canucks boarded their charter to San Jose for Game 3 Friday (6 p.m., CBC, Team 1040). “So it paid dividends learning the hard way. I don’t want to go back there and I don’t think we will. We want to play with a lot of emotion. We want to play with a lot of passion. But we want to control it.”

Sedin doesn’t want to go back there, either.

He downplayed his meltdown against Bolland, although he did reveal to reporters: “You get frustrated when you think their team is better than your team. This year, we have a better team.”

But just before this Stanley Cup tournament began, when asked how he felt in hindsight about his shocking lack of discipline against Chicago, Sedin said: “It was a mistake. It was embarrassing, but it won’t happen again.”

He has stayed true to his word. So have the Canucks.

All season, players talked about discipline and managing emotions, about proper focus and channeling energy where it is most needed. If not distracted, the Canucks feel their game will beat anyone. Period.

The Sharks were right to be upset that Canuck defenceman Kevin Bieksa goaded pacifist Patrick Marleau into a fight just before Eager stapled Sedin. But as anyone in a 21st-century kindergarten class can tell you: all feelings are okay, all actions are not.

The Sharks did not give themselves a chance to win Game 2. Or, rather, the Canucks didn’t give San Jose the chance to win by lowering themselves into a street brawl.

“It’s nice we’re not the team that’s doing that,” Bieksa said Thursday. “It just shows you can take advantage of that. If they’re going to start acting like that, we’re going to start capitalizing. We learned our lessons the hard way. At the time [last year], it really cost us. We talked about it a lot during the season and talked about it a lot before the playoffs. It’s been one of our strengths all year and it seems like we’re capitalizing on other teams’ mistakes, now.”

In two games against the Sharks, the Canucks have been shorthanded only three times. This is good because Vancouver penalty-killing is 0-for-the-series. Since a spate of penalties allowed the Blackhawks back into the Canucks’ first-round series, Vancouver has given its opponents three or fewer power plays in six of the last nine playoff games.

Vancouver players were focused Thursday on the next game, not the last one, despite all the chatter-worthy events on Wednesday. Ironically, the only Canuck who seemed outwardly upset a day later was coach Alain Vigneault, angry that the NHL didn’t suspend Eager for his hit on the league’s scoring champion and potential MVP.

But as we’ve said, more Eager is a good thing for the Canucks. As long as he is out and about marauding, Vancouver can capitalize with a power play that was merely the best in the NHL during the regular season.

“For us, nothing changes,” goalie Roberto Luongo said. “We want to make sure we play the same way and keep that discipline. I think it was key for us last night. It showed them we’re not going to get in that type of match.

“We’ve been on that side of the story before and it hasn’t worked out well for us. You learn from the past, and I think last night was a great example.”



Canucks’ Vigneault points finger at Sharks coach McLellan for Ben Eager's act

By Elliott Pap

VANCOUVER — In the matter of Ben Eager vs. the Vancouver Canucks, the NHL said “not guilty” Thursday and the rambunctious San Jose Shark forward wasn't suspended for his Game 2 hit from behind on Daniel Sedin.

This appeared to disappoint Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault, who pointed an accusing finger at San Jose counterpart Todd McLellan for the manner in which he deployed Eager.

After running Daniel from behind, Eager also slew-footed Mason Raymond, bowled over Roberto Luongo and then taunted him and, finally, was involved in a brouhaha with nine seconds remaining in the 7-3 Canucks win.

“In our mind, he went out and tried to hurt our player, the potential MVP of the NHL,” Vigneault said. “That's how their coach wants him to play. He ran our goalie. I guess that's how they want him to play. I mean, there's really nothing we can do about it. We just hope that people [NHL head office] do the right things.”

If that wasn't clear, Vigneault continued his theme of blaming McLellan for letting Eager run amok.

“Obviously if he's undisciplined and the referees call it, then it's favourable to us,” Vigneault added. “That being said, you don't want players running around trying to hurt people. It's evident by him challenging the bench at the end of the second period and his coach saying that's how he wants him to play. I hope nothing bad happens because some people are going to have to pay for it.”

Daniel Sedin seemed less upset than his coach that Eager did not receive further punishment from the league. The latter was given two minutes for boarding, even though similar hits this season have resulted in major penalties and game misconducts.

“It's up to the league, I can't really worry about what they do,” Daniel said. “It doesn't matter what I think. It's up to the league and they made the decision. So let's move on. Last game, Eager took a few penalties and it cost them. We'll see what happens next game.”

FLASHER FOLLOW: Canucks captain Henrik Sedin claimed he didn't see the women wearing his No. 33 jersey show her “twins” to Eager while he was in the penalty box Wednesday night. He was certain of one thing, though.

“It wasn't my wife, I'll tell you that,” he said, blushing. “You mean the Green Men weren't there? I didn't see it. I don't know what to say. I was playing hockey.”

Alex Burrows was playing hockey, too, but he did see something.

“I was on the bench so I kind of saw it from the side,” he explained. “I wasn't sure if she really did it or not. I saw the fans reacting, so good for her. Hopefully she'll be back and the Green Men will be out.”

BOLDUC ON ROAD: Checking centre Alex Bolduc, one of five Manitoba Moose farmhands summoned last Friday, travelled Thursday with the big club to San Jose while the other four remained behind. Bolduc is fourth-line insurance but could replace rookie Cody Hodgson if Vigneault opts for a gritty lineup.

“Either way, it's exciting to be part of the team and I'm pumped,” remarked Bolduc.

The Montreal native, a boyhood friend of Chicago netminder Corey Crawford, said his troublesome shoulder is fine and won't inhibit his play if called upon.

“I think that just stems from the first time I injured it and that there's some lingering stuff to fix maybe in the off-season,” he explained. “But it feels good now. I had no problems with it down in Manitoba. It's good to go.”

QUOTABLE: “We're trying not to think too far ahead. That's when you get in trouble. We know we're getting closer. But there is so much more work to

be done that we're not even thinking about it yet.” — Canucks forward Chris Higgins on the team being two wins away from appearing in the Stanley Cup final.



Confident Raffi Torres back on his game for Canucks

By Ian Walker

VANCOUVER — Dumb.

Dirty.

Head hunter.

Raffi Torres heard the whispers when his back was turned.

Repeat offender.

Serial charger.

Cheap-shot artist.

And even when he didn’t, he just had to open up a sports section or turn on the television to know what was being said about the Vancouver Canucks winger. The lowest of the low came when people started comparing him to Matt Cooke.

“It’s tough, I don’t think people realize what it’s like to get burned in the media or labelled by Hockey Night In Canada and stuff like that,” said Torres, before boarding the Canucks’ flight to San Jose for Friday’s Game 3 of their Western Conference final against the Sharks at HP Pavilion.

“It’s kind of a big deal, especially for a guy who grew up in Canada and is a Toronto boy, and you know everyone is hearing that and talking about it and you can’t do anything about it.”

Turns out Torres was wrong.

It’s been only a month since his controversial shoulder-to-head hit on Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook and those jeers are now cheers.

The six-foot, 215-pounder received one of the loudest reactions from the fans on hand to wish the Canucks off from the Vancouver International Airport on Thursday afternoon.

Dressed in a blue-and-white striped golf short, black pants, black leather shoes and with a pair of black designer sunglasses resting atop his closely shaved head, the 29-year-old exuded confidence. Something that had been sorely lacking from his game at the start the post-season — thanks in no small part to a four-game suspension for an elbow to the head of Edmonton Oiler Jordan Eberle with two games left in the regular season.

The real trouble started though when he caught Seabrook behind the Blackhawks net with his head down in his first game back. Although he was given an interference penalty on the play, which cost Seabrook two games with a concussion, the fact Torres went unpunished by the league was a cause of great debate from coast-to-coast.

“Raffi’s a sensitive guy and plays a lot better when he’s got some confidence and you’ve seen that over the past couple of games — he’s been a threat all series,” said former Oiler head coach Craig MacTavish, who coached Torres for four seasons, including the team’s improbable run to the Stanley Cup final in 2006, when they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games.

“When he has confidence and he plays with guys that compliment his skill-set — yes, he can be unpredictable at times — but when he’s on, he’s a physical force, has lightning quick hands, a quick release and is incredibly strong on the puck.”

Torres has two goals and is plus-4 dating back to Game 5 against the Nashville Predators and his line of Maxim Lapierre and Jannik Hansen has never looked better than it has through the first two games of the West final. They’re forcing the Sharks to move the puck quicker than they’d like and reaping the benefits of the turnovers they cause.

“He’s playing well,” said Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault. “Raffi is a player that when he feels good about his game, about how he plays, that he can really chip in and contribute. Right now he’s doing it both offensively and he definitely is doing it physically.”

Thanks in large part to a conversation between player and coach.

Vigneault called Torres in for a little confab after it was clearly apparent something was amiss in the opening round. It was most noticeable in Game 5 when Torres peeled off rather than plaster Blackhawk defenceman Duncan Keith along the boards.

“The last thing you want to be known as is a dirty player and it got to me a little bit and bugged me a little bit and got to my game in terms of being physical and not wanting to go for the big hit because of not knowing what was going to happen,” admitted Torres, an unrestricted free agent this summer.

“(Vigneault) knew something was wrong — it’s not rocket science. If I go unnoticed in a game, I know I’m not playing my role. I just have to do something to get noticed is the way I should be playing so he took me in and said I know all this stuff that’s happened in the past, but leave it, move on just go out and play.”

Competitor.

Intense.

Streaky.

Unpredictable.

Sensitive.

Now that, Raffi Torres can live with.



Sharks coach Todd McLellan wants more out of team’s second and third lines

Notebook: ‘We have two lines we have to find a way to get going’

By Brad Ziemer

SAN JOSE, Calif. — This time, Todd McLellan named names.

After Wednesday night's embarrassing 7-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the San Jose Sharks coach suggested some of his players had "to ask themselves some questions, answer them, and pull the skates a little tighter."

He wouldn't publicly disclose who he was particularly unhappy with. But on Thursday, McLellan pointed the finger squarely at his second and third lines.

"We have two lines we have to find a way to get going," McLellan said after his team's optional practice.

Heading into the series, many felt the Sharks were a deeper team offensively than the Canucks. After all, they had a U.S. Olympian and a proven playoff performer in Joe Pavelski centering their third line.

But Pavelski and linemates Kyle Wellwood and Torrey Mitchell have not been effective and were badly outplayed by Vancouver's third line in Games 1 and 2.

McLellan also said his second line of Logan Couture, Ryane Clowe and Dany Heatley also has to be better Friday when the Sharks attempt to dig themselves out of a 2-0 hole in the best-of-seven Western Conference final (6 p.m., CBC, Team 1040).

"We felt going in, especially after the first two series and the way we played down the stretch, that the Pavelski-Mitchell-Wellwood line had really contributed to our success, helped us get to this point and were factors," McLellan said. "They haven't played that way the first two games. But with that being said, the Couture line hasn't either … We have got a group of six forwards there who have to find a way to leave its mark on the game."

Pavelski agreed he has to be better.

"I think in every series you kind of have to reprove yourself and I haven't shown up the way I'd like," Pavelski said. "I can definitely be better in a lot of areas."

NOT GOOD ENOUGH: McLellan didn't limit his criticism to the second and third lines. While he seemed fairly satisfied with the play of Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau on the Sharks' top line, he has not been enamoured with the play of their linemate Devin Setoguchi.

"What Devin does well, is he puts himself in a position to shoot the puck," McLellan said. "That's the first thing he does and he ended up with zero shots on goal last night and a minus-3. The second thing he does well is he skates, he's quick, he hunts pucks and he stays in battles. When he is doing that he is very effective and he didn't do much of that last night."

NO APOLOGIES: Thursday was a great day for Ben Eager. There were no phone calls from the NHL head office and the Sharks winger didn't spend any time in the penalty box.

"Didn't hear anything, so no news is good news," Eager said after the Sharks' optional practice. "It's playoff hockey, checks are going to be finished. There was a penalty, but no suspension. I'm happy with that."

There had been some speculation that Eager might face a possible suspension for his hit from behind on Vancouver winger Daniel Sedin. That didn't happen and earlier Thursday Canucks coach Alain Vigneault expressed his frustration.

"In our mind anyway, you know, he went out and tried to hurt our player, the NHL MVP, potential MVP," Vigneault said.

Told of Vigneault's comments, Eager just shrugged and said: "Really, well that's his opinion."

Eager maintains he was simply finishing his check when he slammed Sedin face-first into the side boards late in the second period. Eager, who had 20 penalty minutes in Game 2, seemed more upset with himself about a third-period tripping call that resulted in a Canuck power-play goal.

"Obviously the tripping penalty, I'd like to have that back," he said. "It cost the team and kind of put the game out of hand. But the hit on Sedin, it was a penalty but I think in playoffs good teams kill those penalties. The guys did a great job killing that penalty off and then going and putting the team shorthanded again with the tripping call, that's something I can't do and if I could take that back I would."

McLellan said Eager simply has to play with much more discipline.

"As I said last night he took penalties that we can not take," McLellan said. "Is he an asset or a liability? He was both last night. If we can limit the liability part, then we have a heck of a player."



Spitballin’ on the Canucks, the Sharks, boobs, guts, and fists

Pass it to Bulis: Posted by Harrison Mooney ?

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Spitballin’, (or Super Pass It To Bulis: All In, if you love adventurous acronymizing) is a new feature that allows us to touch on a multitude of things really fast, because after a game like last night’s there are lots of things to find and colour. While we covered most of them in the I Watched This Game post, Daniel would have been writing for six more hours if he tried to hit absolutely everything. Here are a few more topics that deserve mention.

At one point, a woman lifted her shirt

How can you tell hockey is a male-driven market? Because, in a game with about 1500 perfectly excellent storylines, the topic du jour this morning is that a woman gifted Ben Eager a perfect Janet Jackson impression. (I won’t link it here. You’ve already seen it.) But is that really the big story? Is that what Vancouver wants to talk about? Should we change our name to Pass it to Bewbs? The whole kerfuffle is somewhat ironic to me, especially since many men go to great lengths to avoid their wives and girlfriends, most of whom have two breasts, on game nights. If it’s breasts you want, turn off the television and spend some time with your lady — she might let you see them. If it’s hockey you want, shut up about the breasts. Granted, it was a somewhat unprecedented anomaly: between Eager and the woman’s exposed breasts, the penalty box briefly had three boobs. It was like Total Recall, but with plexiglass.

Alain Vigneault speaks freely

The media has been criticizing Alain Vigneault’s sparing answers to their questions throughout these playoffs, but he certainly didn’t mince words last night when Ben Eager boarded Daniel Sedin. No, I’m not referring to the postgame scrum — I’m referring to his reaction in real time. That’s a pretty easy lip read.

Gutless Sharks gutting themselves

After the game last night, Jason Botchford said the Sharks were so concerned with proving they weren’t gutless, they gutted themselves. Greg Wyshynski had a similar take on last night’s antics, arguing that Jeremy Roenick’s criticism of Marleau’s awful offal may have led to Marleau’s foolish decision to pick a fight with Kevin Bieksa. Between that and Joe Thornton’s out-of-character challenge to Ryan Kesler in the faceoff circle to open Game 1, it’s pretty safe to say the Sharks are a little more concerned with proving the doubters wrong than they are about winning the series. It’s a shame, too, because they might have a better change to accomplish both if they only focused on the latter. We’ve discussed, at intervals this season, how Vancouver revamped their character with a newfound Zen focus. The Sharks are like looking into a mirror of our own past.

Aaron Rome is better than Ryan Kesler

Aaron Rome’s goal last night — his second this year — was quite a surprise, but it also raises some interesting questions. Ryan Kesler faced criticism this season for only scoring 8 of his 41 goals (or roughly 20%) against playoff opponents. Rome’s two goals this season have come against the Nashville Predators and the San Jose Sharks, Vancouver’s two most recent playoff opponents. In other words, 100% of his goals have come against cup-contending opposition. Is Aaron Rome 80% more clutch than Ryan Kesler? I’m not exactly saying so, but consider this: Aaron Rome has 1 goal in this series. Ryan Kesler has none. Is Rome a better scorer than Ryan Kesler? Maybe, maybe not, but consider this: the Canucks are undefeated when Aaron Rome scores. Is Rome more valuable than Kesler? The evidence speaks for itself.

Kevin Bieksa would make a good defense lawyer

You might have missed this little gem from last night: not only did Bieksa wallop Patrick Marleau something fierce, but he made a genuine effort to screw the Sharks winger out of a good goal. When it became apparent Marleau’s goal was going to be reviewed, Bieksa tried to block the goal camera with his skate. It’s a good thing Bieksa’s a hockey player, because

his degree in Finance and his complete lack of legal ethics makes it a pretty safe bet he’d be a white-collar criminal.

Sharks might want to tighten up the box

For all intents and purposes, the Canucks scored four powerplay goals last night (Mason Raymond’s came one second after the penalty had expired), so expect the Sharks to spend a little time working on their penalty kill. One thing they might want to investigate is that massive swath of space inside the four-man box — that’s where Vancouver scored all four of these goals. Raymond, Higgins, and Daniel Sedin all score in roughly the same place: directly between the faceoff dots. The issue is that the Sharks forwards were playing much, much too high. They were also barely trying. For example, watch Joe Pavelski and Dany Heatley on Daniel Sedin’s second goal. Pavelski goes for a skate at the blue line and Heatley falls asleep on his feet:

Niemi Just Wins

There’s this amusing stream of thought that, statistics be damned, Antti Niemi, who has yet to lose a playoff series, just wins. Of course, he wins all these series in spite of the team in front of him, which is why he won the Conn Smythe trophy last year, right? Wrong. More likely is that Niemi is the new Chris Osgood, good only insofar as he’s had the benefit of minding the net for skilled teams that can outplay his mediocre numbers. He now has a 7-7 record in these playoffs, with a .900 save percentage, and a 3.30 goals against average. Some might argue that these stats are inflated because of last night’s blowout, but Roberto Luongo suffered through two such blowouts, and his stats are still pretty impressive. Funny Bob has the best GAA of the remaining postseason goaltenders. Niemi has the worst. In fact, of all the goaltenders to play in these playoffs, only Ilya Bryzgalov, who spent much of the Coyotes first-round sweep thinking of reasons he didn’t want to move to Winnipeg, is worse. Niemi just wins indeed.



Canucks More Than Eager

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Ben Eager of the San Jose Sharks.

On a night where Ben Eager ran around trying to settle scores, the Canucks again showed that, for now, they are the more determined team.

Clearly, Eager hasn’t been paying attention to how the Canucks operate this season. If you take liberties and wind up in the box, they will make you pay. Again. And again.

And while Patrick Marleau might get to lose the “gutless” label for the time being for daring to scrap with Kevin Bieksa, he gets to swap it for “punch drunk” instead.

San Jose coach Todd McLellan is faced with an interesting dilemma heading back to the Bay Area. Does he dare dress Ben Eager again, who after handing the game to the Canucks, seemed to think that making the score 7-3 was cause for celebration.

In the end, the likes of Ben Eager are bad for business for the NHL. His retaliatory charge on Daniel Sedin was completely predatory with only the Sedins’ durable genes saving the league from having another high profile discipline matter to deal with.

As for Bieksa’s pummeling of punch drunk Patrick, Marleau obliged and Bieksa delivered. Hard to see the harm nor foul in that encounter.

In the Canucks’ playoff history, this game has to rank as one of the most complete performances. All lines are contributing – with twelve players getting their names on the scoresheet tonight. The struggles of the supposedly injured Sedins are now forgotten. And Roberto Luongo? Well, he passed to the guys in blue tonight.

We expected more from the Sharks this evening, who are having trouble simply keeping up with Vancouver and with games 3 and 4 less than 48 hours apart, they will hardly have time to catch their breath. But as fans of both of these teams know, series’ leads can evaporate in a moment.



Vanishing act puts Sharks in peril of extinction

Plenty of passengers on squad that has lost eight consecutive Western Conference final games since 2004

By Cam Cole

He didn't name names, but he didn't really have to.

Todd McLellan was dead blunt about his players' shortcomings Wednesday after the San Jose Sharks' 7-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, and left reporters to do the detail work.

But really, is this about details?

Or are the San Jose Sharks that eternal mystery wrapped in an enigma: Big, strong, talented ... and utterly feckless?

The coach wants to believe -has to believe, or he would go crazy -that "the team is the sum of its parts, and we need more of the parts to participate at a higher level if we're to have a chance."

By process of elimination, since McLellan thinks Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau and second-line centre Logan Couture have been decent, it seems that the slackers must be, primarily, Devin Setoguchi, Ryane Clowe, Dany Heatley and Joe Pavelski.

"[If] you've followed us all year, you've seen the effects that some of these players can have on a game, and you haven't seen that in the first two," McLellan said Thursday, at the Sharks Ice facility where a Learn To Curl program was taking place on an adjacent sheet of ice.

But maybe it's bigger than all of them. Maybe it's beyond the powers of GM Doug Wilson or any coach or any free agent signing to purge a sordid pattern of playoff underachievement without starting anew on a fresh canvas.

Two games is, admittedly, a little early to be hammering on such a harsh argument -especially when a San Jose win in Game 3 of the Western Conference final tonight at HP Pavilion would shift the burden of proof onto the shoulders of the Canucks -but it's not really just two games.

It's these two, and the fourgame sweep by the Chicago Blackhawks a year ago, and if you want to stretch a point, it's the last two games of the 2004 conference final against Calgary.

Eight straight losses now in the third round. And those are the high-water marks in an archive full of earlier eliminations.

So you wonder, when McLellan calls out his players after the Game 2 debacle, as Ron Wilson must have done many times before him, whether anyone is taking it to heart, or if it just sounds like a broken record to players who have been through it all before.

"I'm not going to sit here and try to protect them. We've got some guys that need to ask themselves some questions, answer them, and pull the skates a little tighter ... we had some guys that really showed up and committed themselves to the team. Then we had some guys that weren't sure. They have to ask themselves whether or not they want to keep on competing."

You wonder, when the players climb on the plane after a game like that, having heard comments like those, if they go away thinking, "He's talking about me," or if it's "He must mean him."

"Good point," said McLellan. "It's our job as a coaching staff to address individuals and let them know, 'Hey, we are talking about you.' And that's done.

"Sometimes it's done as a D pair, or a line. Sometimes it's done individually. Sometimes it's done in the locker-room in front of the teammates -peer pressure."

But the Sharks have had such a bellyful of their checkered past being thrown in their faces every spring, their rationalizations are, by now, wellrehearsed and suitably vague.

How about that compete level, Joe Thornton?

"Lot of serious lack," he said.

When it's eight conference final losses in a row now for this club, Patrick Marleau, do they all have their own characteristics, or is there a common thread?

"No, every year's different, and every game," said Marleau, who has a goal in each of the first two games, and a bruise on the side of his face from losing an ill-advised fight with Kevin Bieksa in Game 2. "I don't think anybody's really thinking about those games that we've lost in the past, we should be all focusing on the game we've got in front of us."

"I haven't showed up in the way I'd like," said Pavelski.

Gotta be better. Work harder. Compete. Is there a losing team anywhere that hasn't said the same thing? But do the Sharks believe it, individually, where it has to start?

"Well, I hope you look in the mirror and think he means you," said Clowe, the big winger from The Rock who must be hurt to be so physically ineffective.

"I think every guy gets on that plane and evaluates his game, or should, win or lose. I don't think it's a lack of people caring, but still, this time of year it's funny [to hear] 'we need more guys' and 'we've got some passengers.' You're in the Western Conference final, and you were in it last year, so you know how hard it is.

"I think at times you want to win so bad you get frustrated and lose composure like we did last night -but you know, I think most guys look at ourselves. We're not a selfish team, by any means, we're not stupid either. We know who he's talking about, we've just got to respond."

McLellan isn't willing to burden this year's team with past failings, even if there might be worrisome similarities.

"No, what's worrisome is the way we've played in this series," he said.

"I don't think it's fair at all to our team to attach it to last year -Chicago played a different game ... and I don't think it's fair to Vancouver. They're a different team and they've earned two wins. Full marks to them."

In truth, though the Canucks only won Game 1 by a 3-2 margin, the series has not been very close. To this point, Vancouver has played with more conviction, more discipline, more confidence, and more passion.

"Those 50-50 pucks aren't from a blueprint, those are black and white. You have to want to win those battles," said Clowe. "That's on ourselves as individuals, how much pride you've got in those areas, and right now they're winning those battles."

After the 7-3 loss, he knew he would be among those singled out for substandard play.

"You can probably point to a lot of individuals right now and that's a sad thing," said Clowe, well aware that another loss wasn't helping the common perception of the Sharks as a playoff team.

"Well, we have to do something to prove them wrong. Or shut them up if they're going to say that. But we haven't done it."

Not yet. And if they don't do it tonight, they can kiss another year goodbye.



Canucks give peace a chance, find themselves six wins from Cup

Team learns from last year it's okay to play with emotion but never to let it boil over

By Iain MacIntyre

or the second straight playoffs, Vancouver Canucks star Daniel Sedin "snapped."

A year ago, he was so outraged at getting repeatedly slashed on faceoffs by Dave Bolland he wanted to brawl with the Chicago Blackhawks stickman, which was like Gandhi joining a knife fight.

Sedin lost his head, and nearly did it again Wednesday. This time he was snapped into the boards by San Jose Shark Ben Eager's hit from behind.

Sedin's response was typical. He quickly got up and skated back to the bench to dab at the small cut under his nose.

"I wasn't injured, so I didn't want to stay down," Sedin explained Thursday.

The Canucks didn't score on that penalty. But they produced two power-play goals halfway through the third period as the Sharks imploded with rage -when Martians land in the Silicon Valley and ask to see the leader, apparently they'll be taken to Ben Eager -and turned a close game into a 7-3 laugher for Vancouver.

The Sharks' lack of discipline, embodied by Eager's six penalties, also doubled the Canucks' lead in the Western Conference final to 2-0 in games and seemed oddly familiar inside Rogers Arena.

A year ago, it was the Canucks channelling the Charlestown Chiefs and losing badly. It was Sedin.

The Canucks' atrocious behaviour allowed the Blackhawks to score six power-play goals while sweeping the first two games in Vancouver, speeding the home team's exit from the second round of the National Hockey League playoffs.

Anyone requiring further proof that these Canucks are not those Canucks, that this Vancouver team is special, needed only to pay attention to the third period on Wednesday.

"We learned an awful lot because that's what killed us last year, especially at home against Chicago," Vancouver associate coach Rick Bowness said at YVR before the Canucks boarded their charter to San Jose for Game 3 tonight. "So it paid dividends learning the hard way. I don't want to go back there and I don't think we will. We want to play with a lot of emotion. We want to play with a lot of passion. But we want to control it."

Sedin doesn't want to go back there, either.

He downplayed his meltdown against Bolland, although he did reveal to reporters: "You get frustrated when you think their team is better than your team. This year, we have a better team."

But just before this Stanley Cup tournament began, when asked how he felt in hindsight about his shocking lack of discipline against Chicago, Sedin said: "It was a mistake. It was embarrassing, but it won't happen again."

He has stayed true to his word. So have the Canucks.

All season, players talked about discipline and managing emotions, about proper focus and channelling energy where it is most needed. If not distracted, the Canucks feel their game will beat anyone. Period. The Sharks were right to be upset that Canuck defenceman Kevin Bieksa goaded pacifist Patrick Marleau into a fight just before Eager stapled Sedin. But as anyone in a 21st century kindergarten class can tell you: all feelings are okay, all actions are not.

The Sharks did not give themselves a chance to win Game 2. Or, rather, the Canucks didn't give San Jose the chance to win by lowering themselves into a street brawl.

"It's nice we're not the team that's doing that," Bieksa said Thursday. "It just shows you can take advantage of that. If they're going to start acting like that, we're going to start capitalizing. We learned our lessons the hard way.

At the time [last year], it really cost us. We talked about it a lot during the season and talked about it a lot before the playoffs. It's been one of our strengths all year and it seems like we're capitalizing on other teams' mistakes, now."

In two games against the Sharks, the Canucks have been shorthanded only three times. This is good because Vancouver penalty-killing is 0-for-theseries. Since a spate of penalties allowed the Blackhawks back into the Canucks' firstround series, Vancouver has given its opponents three or fewer power plays in six of the last nine playoff games.

Vancouver players were focused Thursday on the next game, not the last one, despite all the chatter-worthy events on Wednesday. Ironically, the only Canuck who seemed outwardly upset a day later was coach Alain Vigneault, angry that the NHL didn't suspend Eager for his hit on the league's scoring champion and potential MVP.

But as we've said, more Eager is a good thing for the Canucks. As long as he is out and about marauding, Vancouver can capitalize with a power play that was merely the best in the NHL during the regular season.

"For us, nothing changes," goalie Roberto Luongo said. "We want to make sure we play the same way and keep that discipline. I think it was key for us last night. It showed them we're not going to get in that type of match.

"We've been on that side of the story before and it hasn't worked out well for us. You learn from the past, and I think last night was a great example."



Trend Of One Bad Goal A Night Continues For Canucks' Luongo

By Ian Walker

If there's a good thing about the San Jose Sharks' second goal on Wednesday, it's that at least Roberto Luongo has his gaffe out of the way early. The Vancouver Canucks were leading 2-1 in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final when Patrick Marleau scored on the power play to even the score heading into the first intermission. The thing is, Luongo looked to have had the initial shot, but Marleau somehow managed to poke the disc between the goalie's legs. Originally, the Canucks looked to get a break as the referee blew the play dead, but video review showed it clearly over the goal line and the call was reversed.

Luongo gift-wrapped the Sharks' opening goal in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series, passing the puck to Joe Thornton along the wall with the Canucks net open. The 32-year-old has also come under fire for allowing weak goals from bad angles against the Nashville Predators in the conference semis.



Torres into the groove

By Jim Jamieson

Raffi Torres is the first to admit he’s a sensitive guy.

Not what you’d expect from one of the most intimidating open-ice hitters in the NHL, but the Canucks winger has his soft side, too.

Want proof?

The funk he was labouring through in the Canucks’ series with Chicago and then for the early part of the Nashville series was produced by an upper body injury: hurt confidence and uncertainty about where the line is regarding hits on opposing players.

Torres admits he became a wreck after his four-game suspension — the first of his NHL career — for his late-season hit on Edmonton’s Jordan Eberle. It only got worse when he was vilified in some media quarters for his hit on Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook in his first game back. He received a minor for the hit on Seabrook, but the media outcry made it seem like attempted murder.

Torres, whose game is built upon being able to dish out hits, suddenly didn’t know where the line was — and played like it.

“I got a little bit mixed up with the things going on off the ice and what I was hearing,” said Torres, before boarding a team flight to San Jose for Game 3 of the Western Conference Final on Friday. “The last thing you want to be known as is a dirty player. It kind of got to me a little bit and affected my game in terms of being physical out there and just not wanting to go for the big hit because you didn’t know what was going to happen. I think right now I’m just back to playing the right way. Keep my feet moving, making plays out there. If there’s a hit, fine, if there isn’t then don’t worry about it.”

Signs of life were evident in Torres’ game later in the Nashville series. In Game 5, he had a goal and an assist and his linemates centre Max Lapierre and Jannik Hansen were excellent. The trio has continued to be a forechecking force and Torres getting his groove back has been a big part of it.

The 29-year-old Toronto native played perhaps his best game of the playoffs in Game 2 against San Jose, scoring a first-period goal, making some excellent plays with the puck and being ferocious on the forecheck. He was rewarded with 14:46 of ice time.

Torres credits a chat he had with Canucks coach Alain Vigneault after the Seabrook hit for helping to get him emerge from his fog of uncertainty.

“It’s not rocket science,” said Torres. “We talked about it. He brought me in and just said I’ve got to move on from the stuff that happened, just leave it in the past. If I don’t get noticed in the game then I know I’m not playing my role. I’ve got to do something to get noticed out there.”

But Torres said the memory of being called a dirty player still stings.

“I think family and friends don’t really realize what it’s like to get burned in the media or get labelled on Hockey Night in Canada. It’s a big deal, especially if you’re a guy who’s grown up in Canada and you’re a Toronto boy.”

Torres, who was a big part of the Oilers unlikely march to Stanley Cup final in 2006, said his confidence is sky-high right now.

“I’m back to moving my feet, I want the puck again and putting myself into scenarios where I can get the puck,” he said. “My balance is back. I’m tough to move off the puck again. Overall, it’s a lot to do with my linemates, we’re all on the same page.”

Vancouver Province: LOADED: 05.20.2011


McLellan eager to see more Eager - from all his players

By Jason Botchford

SAN JOSE, Calif. — This could either go horribly awry or it could be exactly what the San Jose Sharks need to get back in the series.

Head coach Todd McLellan was pretty clear in his assessment of what he wants from his team: More Ben Eager.

Until now, we don't think those three words have ever been uttered in a playoff series. And they could be dangerous for a team that's spent much of the first two games trying to be something it's not.

The Sharks haven't looked composed from the opening face-off of the series when Joe Thornton, a Team Canada centre, absurdly challenged Ryan Kesler to a fight.

But Thornton's line isn't the problem.

McLellan's message Thursday was for a group of forwards who have been listing. It was this: Find Eager's emotion and play with it, but without the stupid penalties.

They do that, and actually get some scoring chances on Roberto Luongo, who hasn't won in San Jose since 2007, and the Sharks should be just fine.

As the coach pointed out, as poorly as his team has played, the Sharks were in a one-goal game midway through the third Wednesday before it turned into a 7-3 disaster.

McLellan singled out both his second and third lines, openly confronting their lack of intensity. Luongo may have looked vulnerable in both games, but the Sharks haven't been able to test him enough. You could count their total scoring chances this series with two hands.

"I believe that they're more competitive than they're showing right now," McLellan said of his second and third lines. "The team is a sum of its parts, and we need more parts to participate at a higher level for us to have a chance at success.

"We have a group of six forwards that has to find a way to leave its mark on the game."

If you think Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault is honest and forthright about his players publicly, you haven't spent enough time listening to McLellan. He wasn't hiding anyone Thursday.

"Unless you make it clear and you bring those individuals to the forefront, sometimes it's easy for them to look to the guy next to them and say, 'Well, must be talking about that guy,'" McLellan said.

"It's our job as a coaching staff to address individuals and let them know that: 'Hey, we are talking about you.'

"That's done."

After exonerating Logan Couture, McLellan made it clear who he's talking about — his phantom five. There's Ryane Clowe, who has talked big, but played small; Dany Heatley, who's played like a cloud that rolls in once a period; Joe Pavelski, who has just been plain rotten; Torrey Mitchell, who is playing like vapor trails; And Kyle Wellwood, who looks like a plush toy and skates like one, too.

McLellan acknowledged that the Canucks third line has thoroughly dominated the Sharks' matchup, centred by Pavelski. But McLellan was most raw when talking about Clowe's line.

"They haven't been effective enough. They haven't skated well enough," McLelland said. "They haven't won enough battles for us to win games in this series.

"That doesn't mean they won't do it. We're counting on them doing it. (Game 3) will be their opportunity to shine."

How bad has it been? The Sharks forwards have been shown up by Eager, a player who has seen 10 minutes in ice time just once this postseason.

That was Wednesday, a game in which many believe Eager cost the Sharks any chance of winning with his penalties.

"I thought Eager was one of our better players as far as forecheck, creating scoring opportunities," McLellan said. "He had a number of shots on goal. He played with an energy and passion that was required of him. As I said (Wednesday) night, he took penalties that we cannot take.

"Is he an asset or a liability? He was both. (If) we can limit the liability part, we've got one heck of a player."

McLellan calling Eager a "heck of a player" is a bit much. It's hard to imagine the Sharks thinking they can win this series if Eager plays a prominent role. But playing him lots does send a message to others and it's not hard to figure out why McLellan would want that.

"I think we should expect more of ourselves," Clowe said.

"You think this kind of series should suit my game a little bit, so I got to start playing in it that way.

"At this time of year, it's funny how you can say that we need more guys, we got some passengers. You're in the Western Conference final, and you got a taste of it last year, you know how hard it is. You figure you push harder.

"I think at times you want to win so bad, we get frustrated, kind of lose composure a little bit like Wednesday night.

"We're not a selfish team by any means, we're not stupid either, we know who he's talking about.

"We've just got to respond."



Sharks out of sync in Conference final

By Jim Jamieson

The Sharks were busy defending Patrick Marleau's curious decision to go toe to toe with Kevin Bieksa late in the second period of a playoff game led 3-2 by the Canucks and clearly slipping away from San Jose.

It brings to question just how badly out of synch the Sharks are in this Western Conference Final, which they now trail 2-0, when one of their star players thinks it's a good idea to try to spark his team by dropping the gloves.

The tactic backfired in just about every way possible – as Bieksa, an accomplished scrapper, pummelled Marleau thoroughly in the bout and the incident resulted in a chain reaction of attempted retribution that contributed to the lop-sided 7-3 Vancouver victory and distracted the Sharks from any possibility of a comeback in the game.

“It was the heat of the moment kind of thing,” said Marleau, who dropped his gloved his mitts first, inviting the Canucks defenceman to do the same. “It happens in hockey. We just kind of exchanged shots and dropped the gloves. At that point we (Sharks) were just kind of trying to get things going.”

In a game where the Sharks vowed to be better than they were in the 3-2 loss in Game 1, they still couldn't establish their bread and butter forecheck in the Vancouver end. Marleau admitted he was just trying to make a statement – both to the Canucks and his own teammates.

“I haven't fought too many times, but I'm the one who dropped my gloves so it was my decision, too,” he said.

While fourth-liner Ben Eager did his best to run amok the rest of the game – when he wasn't in the penalty box, most notably on a cheap hit from behind on Daniel Sedin on the side boards – Sharks' centre Logan Couture said there was no

need for retribution. “I don't think so,” said Couture, who scored his fifth goal in six games in the first period. “I mean they both dropped their gloves. As far as I saw, they dropped them at the same time. It's a fight, there shouldn't be retaliation.

“He stepped up. Patty's a leader. He doesn't show his emotion too much, but we all see how badly he wants to win. He stepped up and made a statement.

Unfortunately the rest of us didn't follow through.”

Added Sharks centre Joe Thornton: “He wants to win, he's a gamer. It's too bad we didn't have a bunch more gamers tonight.”

The task for San Jose now is to go home and try to win against a team they didn't beat in regulation in four tries in the regular season.

“They played good defensively, they're five tight so you've got to try and spread them out, get to the net and get your shots through,” said Marleau, who scored his team's other first period goal. “I think if we sharpen up as a team and play our game it will take care of a lot of mistakes we made.”



Higgins feels right at home

By JIM JAMIESON

It seems like seasons ago that the Canucks acquired forward Chris Higgins at the trade deadline to play on their fourth line.

Flash forward to now, and Higgins — along with Max Lapierre, who was obtained under the same expectations — has become an integral part of the team.

Higgins made that point with an exclamation mark in Wednesday’s Game 2 win over San Jose, with a goal and three points in the 7-3 rout. He now has seven points in 15 playoff games and has found a home on the second line with Ryan Kesler.

Higgins’ prettiest play in Game 2 was actually a breakaway pass to Kevin Bieksa midway through the second on a play that broke a 2-2 tie and put the Canucks ahead to stay. Higgins jumped off the bench on a line change and immediately wheeled the puck across ice to a streaking Bieksa.

“I knew we had full control of the puck, but I didn’t know where it was, and it kind of worked out,” said Higgins. “I didn’t expect to see Juice (Bieksa) up there, but he was flying, so I just gave him the puck.”

Higgins has showcased a strong all-around game, finishing his checks when he can, so it’s hard to see why he’s on his fifth team in two seasons. But a chance to go deep in the playoffs and pending unrestricted free agency for a player who’s about to turn 28 can work wonders in terms of focus.

“It’s a good team to start with,” Higgins said on why he’s fit in so well. “They were Presidents’ Trophy winners pretty much before I got here. I’m just trying to earn my minutes. There’s a lot of depth on this team I know if I falter someone else is going to take my spot. I just think it’s the quality of this team,

“There’s a lot of leadership in this locker-room. That’s one of the first things I noticed when I got here is how mature and how focused this group is.”

Higgins also showed he has the grit and defensive ability to be valuable in a bottom-six role Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said Higgins has been fulfilled the expectations he brought with him.

“I hadn’t seen a lot of him because he played in the east,” said Vigneault. “I heard in Montreal, because I have quite a few connections there, that they thought that he had all the potential to become a real good, solid two-way player and had a lot of offensive capabilities. For whatever reason, things went off track a little bit. But the way he’s playing right now, he’s playing with a lot of skill, determination. He’s doing a real good job for us.”



Odd couple rock solid

By Ed Willes

Following his team’s beatdown in Game 2, San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan went searching for some positives to sell his group.

This wasn’t easy. He identified Ben Eager’s contribution as a plus for his team while noting the big fella might want to stay from those four power plays he served up to the Canucks. He also thought his team skated better than in Game 1 which was hard to prove by the Canucks’ huge territorial edge.

But there was one item McLellan touched on which was of special interest because it’s emerging as one of the central storylines in the Western final.

Coming into this series, the Sharks were recognized as one of the NHL’s top forechecking teams. Their offence, in fact, is built primarily around the ability to work the opposition’s defence with their plus-sized forwards.

Here’s what McLellan said about his team’s forechecking in Game 2:

“I thought we created more of a forecheck. But the ability to sustain it wasn’t there again.”

Which, when you think about it, isn’t much of a forecheck.

Admittedly, there are sexier storylines to emerge from the first two games and most of them are being analyzed to within an inch of their lives in today’s bugles.

But this issue, the Canucks’ ability to beat the Sharks’ forecheck, is central to everything they’ve done in taking a 2-0 series lead.

As for the reason for their success, Canucks forward Chris Higgins nailed it with: “Our defence is playing really well.”

And, of those defencemen, none is playing better than Kevin Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis.

The Canucks’ odd couple — Bieksa is an outgoing sort; Hamhuis is the opposite to outgoing — is coming off a superb performance.

But it is their consistency throughout these playoffs which has been a pillar of this playoff success.

In the 7-3 win, Bieksa was the more visible, recording a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, an assist and a fight with Patrick Marleau which he didn’t lose.

Hamhuis wasn’t as loud as Bieksa. But in his trademark, understated way, he was equally effective, earning three assists and finishing plus-2 in just over 20 minutes of work.

“He’s very low-maintenance,” associate coach Rick Bowness said of Hamhuis prior to boarding the team’s charter for San Jose on Thursday.

“There’s no BS with this guy. He’s just so steady and so reliable. You don’t notice Hammer a lot but he’s always where he’s supposed to be.”

Hamhuis’ game, in fact, is a reflection of his personality. It’s not flashy but it is efficient. He doesn’t stand out but there’s a purpose and intelligence to just about everything he does. It’s easy to overlook the 28-year-old until you study him on a night-in, night-out basis.

Then his value is revealed and there is no greater measure of his season than the effect on Bieksa.

“It’s easy to play with the guy when you know what he’s going to do,” said Bieksa.

“I’m sure the average fan in Vancouver appreciates him more than they did in Nashville [where he played six season before signing with the Canucks this offseason]. Here, they understand the little things in the game that add up.”

That’s the essence of Hamhuis’s game: the subtle chip along the boards; the quick retrieval and the quicker outlet pass; the active stick which always seems to be in the passing lane.

Those aren’t things which appear in the stats. They are things which lead to wins. They’ve also had a calming effect on Bieksa’s game.

The two blueliners, who have formed a close relationship off the ice, are at similar stages in their career. They both have young families and they’re both small-town guys.

“I’m sure we could finish each other’s sentences,” Bieksa said with a laugh.

“It’s easier when you like the guy you’re playing with,” said Hamhuis, who added, “This season has been everything I could have hoped for on and off the ice.”

Now, there’s just the ending to get right.



Samuelsson has successful surgery, out of lineup for season

By Sports staff

Vancouver, B.C. - Vancouver Canucks President and General Manager Mike Gillis announced today that right wing Mikael Samuelsson underwent successful surgery to repair his adductor tendon and sports hernia. Samuelsson will be out of the line-up indefinitely.

“After consultation with our physicians it was decided that surgery was the best course of action,” said Mike Gillis. “The best long term decision for Mikael and our hockey club was to have the surgery immediately.”


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CNN/Sports Illustrated / INSIDE THE NHL Bruins' discipline pays in key win

Sarah Kwak

TAMPA, Fla. -- After Tuesday's pond hockey exhibition between the Bruins and Lightning -- a wild 6-5 affair that was as entertaining as it was uncharacteristic for both clubs -- it was just a matter of time before the children would be called in from the great outdoors and put back on the structured dimensions of the rink. As the Bruins skated off with a 2-0 win Thursday night, pulling ahead in the Eastern Conference final series 2-1, it was through adhering to adult hockey -- more responsible hockey.

"It just felt more normal," Boston defenseman Andrew Ference said of the struggle at the St. Pete Times Forum. "I think both teams got to [play] the type of game they wanted tonight."

For all but one play early in the game, Ference would be right, but a defensive breakdown by Tampa Bay was all that Boston would need. Unlike in Game 2, when the Lightning struck on their first shift, it was the Bruins who got on the board just a minute into the game. Thanks to a heads-up pass from Milan Lucic, who had drawn two defenders into the corner, David Krejci stood wide open in the slot with enough time and space to play pick-a-move with Tampa goalie Dwayne Roloson. Krejci won it with a backhand-forehand-backhand move, roofing the puck as Roloson helplessly flailed in his crease, giving Boston the early 1-0 lead.

"Except for one big mistake to start the game -- if it weren't for that, I think it would have stayed 0-0 for quite a while," Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher said. "It cost us, and then we were chasing the rest of the game."

The score just 1:09 into the game would end up being all the Bruins would need, as goalie Tim Thomas made 31 saves to record his first shutout of this postseason. After giving up five goals in Game 2, including two third-period scores that seemed to breathe life into Tampa Bay's attack, the 37-year-old Vezina Trophy finalist gave his team the timely saves. And even if they weren't textbook -- and with Thomas they rarely are -- they were there when the Bruins needed them.

"He makes the big saves when he has to," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Our team played well in front of him, but when they had some great opportunities, he was also there to make the big saves."

Many of those saves came at the expense of Tampa Bay's top line of Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Teddy Purcell, who combined for 13 of the Lightning's 31 shots, and at the expense of the Lightning's power play, which went 0-for-3 on the night. With the Lightning on the power play late in the third period, Thomas made a couple spectacular saves, including one right off the faceoff on St. Louis and another on Lecavalier, who looked to have a golden opportunity.

"[Thomas] played really well," Lecavalier said. "[But] I don't think we attacked him as much as we did in the first two games, but I've got to give him credit. They played a patient game, but we probably could've done more to take it to them."

But Tampa Bay found it difficult to get their transition game activated, as Boston stifled the attack by sticking with its game, displaying the kind of discipline that neither team really showed in Game 2. The Bruins were better in their own zone, better also in the offensive zone. They generated more chances, blocked more shots, were better at reading plays and dominated in the faceoff circles. At 8:12 in the third period, it was a strong cycle and good battles down low that paid off for the Bruins, when Michael Ryder fed Ference at the point. The defenseman one-timed the puck, which trickled through Roloson's legs and over the goal line, giving the Bruins the 2-0 lead and a little room to breathe.

Said Julien: "Tonight was one of those games where you want to spread the credit around."

Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron -- who returned after missing the last two games with a concussion -- is one place where plenty of credit is due. Cleared to play Thursday afternoon, the skilled center showed how valuable he is to the Bruins' success -- and not only in the faceoff circles, where he won 18 of his 28 draws.

"His line was definitely better," Julien said. "His linemates obviously felt comfortable because they've been with him all year, so there was some chemistry there, and that certainly helped us tonight. I liked the fact that we had our four lines that were pretty stable and pretty good for us and reliable."

That might've been a departure from the other night -- reliability was in short supply in Boston -- but with the series going forward, it should be the norm.

"Today was more of a playoff game between two teams who pride themselves on doing well defensively and playing tight," Boucher said. "That's why we're here ... [Going forward] I don't expect anything else... it's going to come down to those little details that will make the difference. That's the way it should be at this time of the year."

Three Stars

1. Tim Thomas: With the 31-save shutout, the goalie protected a one-goal game with timely saves. Though he deflected much of the credit to his teammates, there were huge saves both early and late that could have altered the course of the game. They were momentum-saving stops that the Bruins needed, and Thomas delivered.

2. Patrice Bergeron: In his first game back from a concussion, the center looked like he didn't miss a step. A force in the faceoff circle, winning 64 percent of his draws, Bergeron gave his teammates more time with the puck and helped generate more chances for his linemates who had struggled a little in his absence. Simply put, he makes those around him better.

3. Milan Lucic: While drawing attention away from the slot, he set up David Krejci with a great pass in front of the net, making it all but impossible for the center not to finish for the Bruins' first goal. Getting the early goal turned out to be imperative since both teams looked to tighten things up. And Lucic's physicality is always a factor.

CNN/Sports Illustrated LOADED: 05.20.2011

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ESPN / Lightning stars not themselves in Game 3

By Scott Burnside

TAMPA, Fla. -- If you're just matching skill against skill in the Eastern Conference finals, you would have to give the edge to the Tampa Bay Lightning, given the presence of major NHL hardware winners Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. The trio's penchant for scoring in bunches, and at just the right times this spring, validates that theory.

But skill is only a checkmark on a ledger unless it is accompanied by will and work ethic, and that was something that was curiously absent for the Bolts in Game 3 on Thursday night.

"Offensively, I don't think we paid the price," St. Louis said after the Lightning dropped a 2-0 decision in Game 3 to fall behind in the series 2-1. "I think we have in the past couple of games. I'm not going to use any clichés here; we just didn't get it done."

Stamkos, so strong in Game 2, was not his normal self and was unable to get shots through the Bruins' defenders.

"These are the games that we usually play well in, one-goal games, we usually win them," he said. "We need to find ways to generate goals."

The Lightning failed on all three power-play attempts in Game 3, breaking a string of three straight playoff games with at least one power-play goal (they scored with the man advantage in five of six prior to Thursday's loss).

Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher was less critical of his squad, saying it was a matter of two teams limiting each other's chances and the Bruins ended up with two goals.

"It's not like we were playing a phantom team and they were just going to let us run around and have our breakaways. Last game, we had four breakaways and two 2-on-1s," Boucher said. "Today was more of a playoff game between two teams who pride themselves on doing well defensively and playing tight. That's why we're here. If we weren't like that, we wouldn't be here."

Bolts breakdown

The Bruins' first goal looked like a total breakdown by young defenseman Victor Hedman, who chased a loose puck into the corner and left David Krejci alone in front of the Tampa Bay net. But a scout explained to ESPN.com that it was actually a Tampa Bay winger who should have been covering Krejci, as the Lightning generally use both defensemen in the corners because the theory is they will have a better opportunity to win puck battles.

"We were supposed to have somebody in front of the net obviously, and that person wasn't there, so it's a very simple read," Boucher said. "But when you're eager to get on the ice sometimes, that will make you make some mistakes, and obviously it's a costly one and we paid for it."

Difficult to watch?

We had a chance to chat with Bruins president and Hall of Famer Cam Neely about whether he found it nerve-racking to watch his club from the press box as it tries to return to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1990.

"It's a lot of fun, and it is nerve-racking," he said. "[GM Peter Chiarelli] and I joke all the time that it's never easy, but anything you want in life shouldn't be easy."

And finally ...

The Bruins are now 7-0 in the postseason when they score first, while the Lightning have allowed the first goal in a game only five times in 14 postseason games. The Lightning are also 0-for-3 when trailing after the first period, while the Bruins improved to 6-0 this spring when leading after the opening frame.

ESPN LOADED: 05.20.2011

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ESPN / Sharks' second line stalls vs. Canucks

By Pierre LeBrun

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Just as the Vancouver Canucks have welcomed the re-emergence of their top line, a key San Jose Sharks unit has gone missing.

If you're looking for a quick and easy way to measure Vancouver's well-deserved 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference finals, the Sharks' second line is a heck of a place to start.

The Sedin twins are on fire through two games with a combined three goals and four assists. Unwrapped from the chains that were Shea Weber and Ryan Suter in the second round, Henrik and Daniel Sedin have made the Canucks that much harder to stop.

With the twins going in one direction, the Sharks' second line of Logan Couture, Ryane Clowe and Dany Heatley has gone the other way. And that's about the last thing the Sharks can afford.

"Our Heatley, Couture and Clowe line has been a tremendous line for us," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said Thursday at his team's practice facility. "For as much as the other players have played well, they really contributed to getting us to that point. They haven't been effective enough. They haven't skated well enough. They haven't won enough battles for us to win games in this series.

Mason Raymond

"I haven't showed up in the way I'd like," Joe Pavelski said. "I can definitely be better in a lot of areas. I just need to improve on that."

"That doesn't mean they won't do it. We're counting on them doing it. Tomorrow will be their opportunity to shine."

Game 3 is Friday night at HP Pavilion.

Couture's line had been the Sharks' engine in these playoffs, its shifts providing momentum for the rest of the team because of its ability to sustain a forecheck and a cycle in the offensive zone, and provide timely offense. That's nowhere to be seen through two games of the Western Conference finals.

"This is the role they want our line to play: be physical, be big and control the puck in their end," Heatley told ESPN.com on Thursday. "And I think we have to do a better job of that in this series."

Clowe said Thursday that his line did a better job in Game 2 of gaining entry in the offensive zone but couldn't maintain puck possession. The key is simple: Win more battles. It's not complicated.

"Sometimes you can't go to the drawing board and draw something up there," Clowe said. "Those 50/50 pucks, you hear it all playoffs, you have to win those battles. That's not a blueprint; that's black and white. You got to win those. That's upon ourselves as individuals, how much pride you got in those areas. Right now they're winning those battles. Our line, we pride ourselves on that. We've got to be a lot better."

Couture had a beauty to open the scoring in Game 2, but the unit has been fairly silent otherwise. Clowe, arguably San Jose's top playoff performer through the team's opening 11 games with 13 points (4-9), hasn't been the same since missing Game 6 in Detroit with an upper body injury. He does not have a point in three straight games. His physical play was more noticeable in Game 2, but his offense hasn't returned. And the Sharks aren't the same without Clowe at his usual pace.

Heatley has been even more of an enigma. He hasn't scored since Game 4 at Detroit and has just three goals in 15 playoff games. Look at his overall goal production since the lockout, and you see a gradual decrease. Since bursting out of the lockout with back-to-back 50-goal seasons for Ottawa, he posted 41 goals in 2007-08, back-to-back 39-goal seasons and then 26 goals this season -- his lowest output for a full season since his rookie campaign in 2001-02.

"It doesn't frustrate me," Heatley said. "As long as we're winning. Of course as a goal scorer you want to score goals. That's what you've always done and that's what you're paid to do. But there's been years where I've put up

big numbers and the team hasn't done very well. I'm happy to be here in whatever role they want me to play."

It is true Heatley became a more complete player this season, paying more attention to his defensive responsibilities. And it is true that he hasn't seen much first-unit power-play time in the playoffs, getting most of his power-play minutes on the second unit.

Still, this is a longtime goal machine gone rather silent, and the Sharks need him to step up here along with his linemates to make this a series.

The Sharks' second line isn't alone in the blame game. Joe Pavelski's third line with Kyle Wellwood and Torrey Mitchell was solid in the opening two rounds but has been the exact opposite against the Canucks. The Sharks entered the conference finals with an apparent edge on the third line with Pavelski matching up against Maxim Lapierre's unit. Oh, there's an edge alright, but Lapierre, Raffi Torres and Jannik Hansen have it now.

"I would agree with that assessment. It's very accurate," McLellan said Thursday. "We felt going in, especially after the first two series, the way we played down the stretch, that the Pavelski, Mitchell, Wellwood line had really contributed to our success, helped us get to this point, and were factors. They haven't played that way the first two games." McLellan said how happy he was with the line when Ben Eager replaced Wellwood on the unit halfway through Game 2. And where was Pavelski when Torres scored a big goal alone in front of the net Wednesday night?

This hasn't been the same Pavelski of last season. His offense is down. His pace is, too. You wonder whether he's battling an injury. He had 17 points (9-8) in 15 playoff games last spring. Right now, he's got eight points (5-3) in 15 games. Granted, a year ago he had a top-six role and this year he's been relegated to third-line duty, but he still doesn't seem to have that same explosiveness.

"Yeah, I think every series you have to kind of reprove yourself," Pavelski said Thursday. "I haven't showed up in the way I'd like. I can definitely be better in a lot of areas. I just need to improve on that."

Pavelski, Heatley, Clowe ... it is just the start of a long list of Sharks players with something to prove Friday night.

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FOXSports.com / / Bruins, Lightning keeping it close

Lyle Richardson

The first two games of the Eastern Conference Final presented a study in contrasts as the Tampa Bay Lightning cruised to a disciplined 5-2 victory, only to see the Boston Bruins win a wild Game 2 by a 6-5 score which wasn't reflective of how dominant the Bruins were for the first two periods.

Game 1 saw the Lightning strike for three goals in roughly a minute and a half midway through the first period, which set the Bruins back on their heels for the remainder of the game. Netminder Tim Thomas appeared shaky at times but wasn't helped by his teammates, who were expecting the Lightning to play their vaunted "1-3-1" system but instead saw a more traditional, though still disciplined, attack by the Bolts.

Boston roared back in Game 2, out-hustling and out-muscling the Lightning through the first two periods to take a 6-3 lead and driving Dwayne Roloson from the Tampa Bay net before they inexplicably strayed from their physical play in the third, allowing the Lightning to narrow the lead to 6-5.

Red Wings win Game 4

Thomas' struggles continued in the first two periods. But as the Lightning pressed for the equalizer, he ultimately saved the victory in the final minutes.

This isn't the first time in this year's playoffs Thomas has had a couple of games where his play has been less than stellar, but he rebounded back into form before and will likely do so again. Ditto Roloson, who was outstanding in Game 1, only to be lit up for five goals in the second period of Game 2.

The Bruins' power play, anemic in the first two rounds, continued to sputter in the opener, going 0-for-4 with the man advantage, but it roared to life in Game 2 by going 2-for-5 courtesy of tallies by Nathan Horton and Michael Ryder. It remains to be seen if this is a sign the Bruins have finally shaken off their power-play woes.

Perhaps the biggest story of this series so far is the play of rookie Tyler Seguin, who finally saw playoff action after center Patrice Bergeron was sidelined in the previous series by a concussion.

Seguin saw limited playing time this season and was often overshadowed by the play of other notable rookies, but the 19-year-old has made the most of his opportunity in this series, splitting the Lightning defense to score one of the Bruins' goals in the opener and then following up with an impressive two-goal, four-point effort in Game 2.

The first of his two goals saw him again split the Lightning defense and this time deke Roloson out of his pads. His second was a hard wrister beating Roloson high to the glove side. His efforts had Bruins fans chanting his name every time he was on the ice in Game 2 and led to calls for Bruins coach Claude Julien to give the kid more ice time in this series.

If Seguin plays as well in Game 3 as he did in the first two games, he'll certainly get more playing time. We could be witnessing the emergence of the next Bruins superstar.

While the Eastern Conference final has the look of what could be a close series, the same cannot be said of the Western Conference, where the Vancouver Canucks have jumped to a 2-0 series lead over the San Jose Sharks.

The first two periods of Game 1 were very close, but the Canucks dominated the third period en route to a 3-2 victory. The Sharks appeared to run out of steam, leading to suggestions they may have been feeling the after-effects of their seven-game battle with the Detroit Red Wings.

The first period of Game 2 was another evenly matched frame and the teams stood tied at 2-2. But the Canucks took over in the second period, stifling the Sharks' offensive game while stepping up their own scoring attacks. A Kevin Bieksa breakaway goal snapped the tie and the floodgates opened in the third as the Canucks scored four consecutive goals over a demoralized Sharks team.

Red Wings win Game 4

Sharks forward Ben Eager got one back late in the third but by that point the game was lost and the goal was meaningless. That didn't prevent Eager from trash-talking Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, earning one of his four penalties on the night -- which did little to help his team's cause. Given his reckless performance in Game 2, Eager will be lucky to see the ice again in this series.

The Canucks' best players have stepped to the fore in this series. The Sedin twins struggled to score in their previous series against Nashville, but they've had no problem finding the back of the net against the Sharks. Defenseman Kevin Bieksa has two goals in as many games. Luongo has been steady between the pipes. Ryan Kesler meanwhile continues his strong two-way play.

By contrast, the Sharks can only point to three players – captain Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle and Patrick Marleau – who played well in both games.

Dany Heatley has scored only once in his last nine games. Devin Setoguchi, who was a clutch scorer earlier in the playoffs, has yet to generate a point in this series, and Joe Pavelski has only an assist. Logan Couture scored a pretty goal to open Game 2 but was nearly invisible after that. Ryane Clowe's only contribution of note has been in penalty minutes. Goalie Antti Niemi played well in Game 1 and then was lit up for seven goals -- though to be fair he had little help from his teammates in that one.

The Sharks appear to be having trouble keeping up with the Canucks' speed, as well as generating consistent offensive pressure against Vancouver's defense. They'll have to find a way to elevate their overall performance to match the Canucks, or this series could very well end in the next two games in San Jose.

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Sportsnet.ca / A year in change

SAN JOSE — To be the team the Vancouver Canucks have become today, they first had to be that other team.

The one Canucks fans were always told they had, and they would counter with, "Your guy dives as much as Alex Burrows does." Or, "the other player was yapping at Ryan Kesler first."

To get to this side of the equation — the one where San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan sits behind a microphone and admits, "We lost our composure," — the Canucks had to have that Game 4 meltdown against Chicago a year ago.

"We lost our composure again. I don’t know why it happened," Roberto Luongo said that night, after his team had come completely unglued in a 7-4 loss. "We were all on the same page before the game started, and I don’t know… One thing led to another, and we lost our composure again."

Fast forward a year and a bit, and there was Luongo, standing at YVR with his carry-on bag hanging from one shoulder, answering questions about Game 2 of this Western Conference final, won handily by his Canucks.

The goaltender who once was so busy signaling offside for a linesman in a playoff game against Anaheim a few years ago, the one that Rob Neidermayer’s 60-foot shot slid in under his raised arm, admitted of the Sharks’ meltdown: "We’ve gone down that road before, and it hasn’t worked so well for us."

"You learn from the past," he said. "I think (Game 2 against San Jose) was a great example."

This spring it’s the other guys who are coming unglued, with over-aggressive penalties, or foolish distractions like asking for a fight before the series has even begun. And this year it is the Canucks who have their arms in the air — for all the right reasons — as they ignore the referees and bury the Sharks with a string of powerplay goals that turned a 3-2 contest into a 7-3 runaway.

You knew something had to change when, a year ago in Round 2, even the ultra-sedate Daniel Sedin lost it in back to back games against Chicago.

Remember how that pesky Dave Bolland got under Daniel Sedin’s skin, driving him to distraction — and the penalty box — while exposing a side of Daniel we had never before seen?

Here’s the part we didn’t know about that:

"You get frustrated when you feel that their team is better than your team," Daniel said Thursday, when taken back to that out-of-character moment in his career. "This year, we have a better team. Chicago had a lot more depth than we had last year, and that’s what happens.

"San Jose is a very good team. But when you feel you have a good team, like we do this year, we don’t need to worry about those kinds of things. For us it’s simple: We bring our best game, and usually, it’s enough."

We’ve heard all season long about how Burrows and Kesler decided to turn over new leafs in 2010-11. Now, it doesn’t happen over night, but the referees we’ve spoken to list Kesler as a solid, hard-working player, while Burrows is getting better, but still not afraid to snap his head back after a hit to the body.

Old habits die hard.

"We talked about that a lot during the season, and we talked a lot about it before the playoffs," defenceman Kevin Bieksa said. "Ya gotta keep your cool. We go up 4-2 (in Game 2), it’s still a game. After that we got a lot of powerplays … that’s usually how we keep teams honest."

There was one player who knew that age-old formula of turning the other cheek, then thrusting the dagger in on the powerplay. He had seen it first-hand, and in a key signing by GM Mike Gillis, imported the culture into the Canucks dressing room.

"Michael Samuelsson was the first person to say, ‘Let’s go whistle to whistle. Let’s stay off the ref’s,’" Bieksa said. "At first we kind of teased him. ‘Whistle to whistle…? We’re not a whistle to whistle team.’"

Then they lost to Chicago again, for the second straight spring, unraveling right to the end. And there’s Samuelsson, the quiet Swede with the Stanley Cup ring, looking awfully sage.

"Detroit always played hard, whistle to whistle, and stayed away from the antics after the whistle. They played hockey the right way," Vigneault said of the Red Wings. "We’ve talked a lot about modeling ourselves after good teams, and they’re one of them."

A year ago, after that big loss in Game 4 where everyone from Daniel, to Burrows, to Bieksa, had made undisciplined mistakes to fall behind 3-1 in the series, Vigneault sat behind the podium, a man without an answer.

We remember it like it was yesterday.

"I really believe this group is ready for this moment," he said that evening. "But obviously our actions right now are proving me wrong."

Hmmm. How times have changed.

Mark Spector

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Sportsnet.ca / Missing in action

VANCOUVER -- Following the San Jose Sharks in the playoffs is like watching the Sedins cycle the puck on the powerplay. You've seen it so many times before, and you still can't believe it ends the same way every time.

The choke is on for San Jose folks, this time against a Vancouver team that's finding its third opponent of the post-season to be by far its easiest one. The Canucks are up 2-0 against a Sharks team that invented the playoff gag job, and appears to be exercising its patent again this spring.

While the Sedins piled up five points between them in a 7-3 Vancouver win, and Kevin Bieksa starred with a Gordie Howe hat trick on a dazzling night, San Jose players like Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Pat Marleau brought nothing to the table.

As usual, we might add.

"There are a few people in our group, and I'm not going to hide them anymore," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan, "they have to ask themselves whether or not they want to keep on competing."

"Who?" McLellan was asked.

"I'll hide that part," he said to the media. "You guys get to decide."

Once again, with the Stanley Cup in sight, Heatley is a fleeting rumour. Marleau admirably showed up for a scrap with Bieksa, took his lumps, then meekly went away. Ryan Clowe, who was supposed to be San Jose's best player in these playoffs, had best be hurt.

Because if he's healthy and this is all he's bringing? Well, maybe he'll be captain of this sorry ship one day.

Joe Thornton? Another no-show, Joe.

"You can probably point to a lot of individuals right now and that's a sad thing," said Clowe, who was informed that people are coming to expect this kind of fold job from the Sharks.

"Well, we have to do something to prove them wrong. Or shut them up if they're going to say that. But we haven't," he said. "We lost last year and we've lost the first two this year. We have a lot of work ahead."

The Canucks don't look anything like a team that could lose four of the next five games to this sorry Sharks outfit, though is ever the Sharks could man up and play the game like they wanted to win, Game 3 in San Jose Friday will be the time.

All of Vancouver's best players are playing like just that, with the Sedins finding more space in two games versus San Jose than in the entire Nashville series.

They out played the Sharks, let Ben Eager implode, then systematically devoured San Jose on the powerplay.

"Well, it was a hard fought game. I don't think the score indicates the play, for the first 40 minutes," Alex Burrows said. "We stuck with it, maybe a little bit better, and we got on the powerplay and made them pay."

Eager was a force to be reckoned with - for both teams - Wednesday. You can blame him for his six penalties, but at least he brought it. You wonder how a guy like Heatley can even look Eager in the eye after this game.

"I'll take Ben Eager's game - without the penalties - any night," McLellan said. "He was an honest guy, battled hard, skated, fought through everything."

When Bieksa beat up Marleau, Eager predictably targeted the first Sedin he saw, drilling Daniel from behind into the boards. When an accomplished fighter beats on a scorer, as Bieksa did, it's open season on the star players on his team.

That's the law of the jungle, and Eager - a menace of a fourth-liner - is just the man for the job.

"It's a penalty," Eager admitted of his hit from behind on Daniel, "(but) he knows what he's doing there. He's turning, He sees me coming.

"I finish all my checks. He turned his back on me."

Eager expects a call from NHL offices tomorrow. "I'm sure I'll be getting' a call. Always do."

And what did he think about Bieksa fighting Marleau?

"We've seen that before with Kevin," Eager said. "It's sad, but someone is going to sign him to big money (as a UFA) and, you know, he's a phony. He goes after our top player - he's been asked many times before (to fight) by lots of players throughout the league, and he's declined."

It's funny that he would use that word. "Phony."

Once again, the mighty San Jose Sharks are on the precipice of accomplishing something - at their third Conference Final in seven seasons - and not only did they lose. They didn't even show up.

San Jose now has an eight-game losing streak going in Round 3, dating back to '04, and as well as Vancouver played in Games 1 and 2, the wins simply came too easy for this time of year.

"I didn't play well, the list goes on. It's embarrassing," said Logan Couture, the rookie who outplayed all the vets on his team. "You're in the conference finals and the Stanley Cup playoffs, you put an effort out like that? You can't feel bad for yourselves, but you feel bad for the fans and the coaching staff that we gave an effort like that tonight."

Mark Spector


569971 Websites

Sportsnet.ca / Reflection of the past

This team, like the one that left Winnipeg, is riddled with young, exciting players just ready to burst into the spotlight.


The Thrashers resemble a team that was once called the Winnipeg Jets.

For many in Winnipeg, the news they are finally getting another NHL team comes as welcome relief.

For as much as the NHL and True North Sports and Entertainment are denying the deal is done, doesn't it just feel like the wait is finally over? The next question Winnipeg hockey fans will be asking, after the news is confirmed once and for all, is: What kind of a team are we getting?

The team that skipped town following the 1995-96 season, after all, was a pretty good up-and-comer with a massive upside.

If you recall, Keith Tkachuk, who retired following last season, was just a 23-year-old buck already in his fifth year in the NHL. Walt, as he was called by his friends and teammates, actually led the Jets in scoring in 1995-96 with 50 goals and 98 points in 76 games to go with 156 penalty minutes (which was second highest on the club). For Jets lovers it must have been painful to watch Tkachuk play 13 more years as one of the NHL's best and most productive power forwards knowing he was theirs.

HC: Will Wings head East?

Teemu Selanne, meanwhile, was only 25 years old. The Finnish Flash had just completed

his third season in Winnipeg and was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career. Selanne,

who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, is still playing like he's a kid. Would he consider playing his final year in Winnipeg for old time's sake? Don't bet on it.

Nikolai Khabibulin, who would go on to backbone the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup championship, was just 22 years old. Igor Koralev, who had a few productive years left in him, was 24. Alex Zhamnov was 24 and the solid defenceman Teppo Numminen, was 27.

For so long fans in Winnipeg assumed they were getting the Phoenix Coyotes; not a bad team to be sure. The Coyotes finished sixth in the ultra-competitive Western Conference this season thanks to a 43-26-13 record. They are well-coached by Dave Tippett and some pretty good players in veteran Shane Doan, who played his rookie season in the NHL as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, Ray Whitney, Derek Morris and Adrian Aucoin. The Coyotes made the playoffs, but were eliminated in the opening round; losing four straight to the Detroit Red Wings.

Now Winnipeg hockey nuts find out they are getting the Thrashers.

With all due respect to the Coyotes, if I'm a Winnipegger, I'm thrilled with this change of direction. Sure the Thrashers failed to make the playoffs this season. After a good start to the year under new GM Rick Dudley and new coach Craig Ramsay, the team fizzled in the second half.


Start with defenceman Zach Bogosian, who is just 20 years old and has three years of NHL experience. The third overall pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft did not enjoy a great year in 2010-11, finishing with just five goals and 17 points in 71 games. That being said, there is no denying he has the potential to be an impact player in the league. As an 18-year-old he managed nine goals and 19 points in 47 games and the following year he scored 10 goals and 23 points in 81 games. He's a tough kid who will recover from this past season and will blossom into a star. Count on it.

Then there's 19-year-old left winger Evander Kane who had 19 goals and 43 points to go with 68 penalty minutes in 73 games this season. The fourth overall pick in 2009 has the potential to be a top-10 scorer in the league. Not next season, but some day soon.

Bryan Little, 23, had 18 goals and 48 points in 76 games this season. The fourth-year NHLer had 31 goals three years ago and has the potential to exceed those numbers soon.

He's not a kid, but he's not a geezer either so, defenceman Dustin Byfuglien is another reason for Manitoba hockey fans to be delighted it's the Thrashers coming to town. The 6-foot-5, 265-pounder blossomed this season scoring 20 goals and 53 points one year after starring for the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the playoffs.

Tobias Enstrom, 26, is one of the league's better rushing defencemen. He's coming off a career year having scored 10 goals and 51 points to place third in team scoring.

Then there's goalie Ondrej Pavelec. The 23-year-old had some health issues to contend with this season, but he looks like a guy who just might compete for the Vezina Trophy some day.

All in all, this is a team that somewhat resembles the team that left for Phoenix. There may not be a Tkachuk or a Selanne on board, but there are some good kids; some exciting young players who will capture the fancy of hockey fans in a city where the game is loved.

The kids may not be thrilled to be moving to Winnipeg, but after playing before people who love and appreciate what they do on the heels of playing before mostly empty seats, they will come to appreciate the move.

Mike Brophy


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TSN.CA / Can't debate Winnipeg's love for the Jets name

Dave Naylor

What's in a name?

A lot, apparently, given the way hockey fans are debating whether a possible return of NHL hockey to Winnipeg should mean reconnecting with the name Jets.

While NHL commissioner Gary Bettman surely shudders at such premature conversations, fans were already weighing-in before Dave Hodge's segment during Monday night's Lightning-Bruins telecast netted 1,800 responses on this subject.

The overwhelming majority of those suggested that a new Winnipeg team should be the Jets, a choice we assume would mean bringing back the old uniforms and colours as well.

Which suggests that part of this exercise for Winnipeggers is about getting back what rightly belongs to them. And that re-claiming the name Jets would be a little like re-inserting the missing piece to a city that has had a hole in it since 1996.

It also suggests something more personal, that the emotional ties to the old Jets remain very much alive.

That should come as no surprise since memories of sporting events that involve a home team tend to remain much more vivid and last much longer than most other life experiences.

Because we experience them with such passion, because we have such an emotional investment, we can overcome the passage of time and recall how a particular moment felt. And as we move through life, a home team becomes a way to reconnect to the past, to recall feelings, times and places we might otherwise have forgotten.

Sometimes it takes just the sight of a crest or a logo, the sound of a team name spoken out loud, to bring it all flooding back, to awaken feelings that otherwise would have dissipated over time.

Think of baseball fans in Brooklyn who still can't face the idea that the Dodgers are in Los Angeles. Or how about football fans in Baltimore who once so badly wanted to relive memories of cheering for a team named Colts that they rallied around a team in a three-down league most of them knew nothing about, just because of how it made them feel to sit at a game and yell C-O-L-T-S!

Along the same lines, when Baltimore did eventually get an NFL team back, by way of Cleveland in 1995, the NFL made the Browns leave the name behind.

The old Browns, not unlike the Winnipeg Jets, had experienced mostly disappointment though the years. But fans in Cleveland had no interest in rooting for a team with any other name. They just wanted their Browns back, which they got in 1999.

There are, however, plenty of examples of cities rejoining professional sports leagues under new team names, usually because the old one is being used in another city.

The Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Wild, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets, Kansas City Royals and Charlotte Bobcats are examples in which cities that had no choice but to adopt new names.

In other instances - Washington Nationals, Houston Texans and Ottawa Renegades - teams simply opted to go in a new direction.

Based on that sampling, it would seem that if you can win a championship, like the Ravens and Royals did, no one is going to miss a former name all that much.

Which must be tempting for the would-be owners in Winnipeg, who may be reluctant to reconnect with the history of a team that mostly struggled for respect and success during its 17 NHL seasons from 1980 to 1996.

The Jets finished above. 500 in just five of 17 seasons, won exactly two playoff rounds and none during their final nine years before departing for

Phoenix. By the end of their time in the Manitoba capital, they were The Little Team That Couldn't.

From an owners' perspective, it would be tempting to let mediocrity lie in peace with the Jets.

That's believed to be the way the prospective owners are leaning and no doubt they've come up with some decent possibilities for a new name as well.

But they'll have to measure their desire to break with the past, against the desire of fans to reconnect with it.

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USA TODAY / Tim Thomas' net play helps Bruins seize lead vs. Lightning

By Kevin Allen, USA TODAY

TAMPA — Two days after the Boston Bruins needed six goals to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, goalie Tim Thomas and his teammates were sharp enough that only one goal was required to get the job done.

Thomas made 31 saves and the Bruins benefited significantly from the return of Patrice Bergeron to down the Lightning 2-0 Thursday in Game 3 and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals.

"That felt like the game we played most of the season," Thomas said. "That was Boston Bruins hockey."

In Game 2, the Bruins seemed like they were playing pond hockey, giving up many golden scoring opportunities en route to a wild 6-5 victory. With Bergeron back in the lineup for the first time since suffering a mild concussion in the last round, the Bruins seemed far more structured. Known for his two-way game, Bergeron was 18-10 in the faceoff circle and the Bruins had more puck control.

"He's very good, not just at both ends, but in all areas of the arena: in our defensive corner, in the offensive corner, all over the place," Thomas said. "It was great to have him back."

Bergeron said he has felt good "for the past week" and decided he was ready to play. "I was confident (the concussion) was mild, but we didn't want to take any chances," Bergeron said.

The Lightning weren't startled to see him back.

"He is a good player, but we can't focus on that," defenseman Victor Hedman said. "But we expected when the series started that he was going to be back."

Boston vs. Tampa Bay

Series tied 1-1

Game 1: Lightning 5, Bruins 2

Game 2: Bruins 6, Lightning 5

Game 3 Bruins 2, Lightning 0

May 21: at Tampa Bay, 1:30 (NBC)

May 23: at Boston, 8 (Versus)

x-May 25: at Tampa Bay, 8 (Versus)

x-May 27: at Boston, 8 (Versus)

x-if necessary. All times ET

The only scoring the Bruins truly needed came at 1:09 of the first period when David Krejci scored after a centering feed from Milan Lucic along the boards. Hedman originally had Krejci covered, but then left him to help in the corner, leaving Krejci all alone two feet in front of Dwayne Roloson. When the puck came to him, he made a quick deke to get Roloson sprawling before putting the puck in.

"Except for one big mistake to start the game ... I think it would have stayed 0-0 for quite a while," Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. "One bad mistake and it cost us, and then we were chasing the rest of the game. But I think it looked a lot more the type of game that people were expecting."

At 8:12 of the third period, the Bruins produced the insurance goal when Andrew Ference's shot from the point leaked through Roloson.

"We made some stronger plays, some better decisions and seemed a little bit more aware out there of what was going on," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "I thought we bounced back well tonight."

Said Bergeron: "The last game was not how we want to play. We tried to avoid, and it was a great team effort overall. We all played well. We all played our role."

Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos combined for 11 shots.

The Lightning believe there are areas where they can improve before Game 4 Saturday.

"From our part, I didn't think we went to the net as much as we should," Hedman said. "We stayed too much to the outside and let (Thomas) see the puck."

The Bruins are 5-1 on the road in the postseason.

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YAHOO SPORTS / Sharks are making all of the wrong moves

By Nicholas J. Cotsonika, Yahoo! Sports May 19, 3:04 am EDT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Going hard to the net? Good. Scoring a goal? Even better. Standing over the goaltender, looking down through the top of the net and talking smack afterward? Dumb.

Even dumber when all you did was score a garbage goal at the end of a 7-3 blowout loss in an important playoff game, a snowball you helped roll down the hill by taking boarding and tripping penalties earlier in the night.

But that’s what Ben Eager did Wednesday, sparking a scrum, taking a roughing penalty and then adding a cross-checking penalty and a 10-minute misconduct after getting out of the box in the final seconds for good measure.

And the saddest part of all for the San Jose Sharks? At least Eager made an effort against the Vancouver Canucks. His coach would rather take the bad with the good he got from Eager than the little to nothing he got from others.

“We had some guys that really showed up and committed themselves to the team, and then we had some guys that weren’t sure,” Todd McLellan said. “There’s a few people in our group – and I’m not going to hide them anymore – they have to ask themselves whether they want to keep on competing.”

Who?

“I’ll hide that part,” McLellan said.

There is no hiding this: The Sharks aren’t going to be competing much longer unless they turn themselves around – and quick.

They have dug a 2-0 hole in the Western Conference final. They have lost five of their past six playoff games, after blowing a 3-0 lead to the Detroit Red Wings in the second round and winning Game 7.

As badly as they want to shed their reputation as perennial playoff disappointments and advance to their first Stanley Cup final, they have lost six consecutive conference final games over the past two years (and eight straight if you want to stretch back to 2004).

“It’s embarrassing,” Sharks center Logan Couture said. “That’s the only word that comes to mind about tonight.”

I’m sure Sharks fans can think of a few more, but they aren’t fit for print or pixels.

It was one thing when the Sharks lost their legs in the third period of a 3-2 loss in Game 1. They had only two days off after that epic, emotional seven-game series with Detroit, while the Canucks had enjoyed a five-day rest.

There was no excuse this time. Both teams had two days off, and the Sharks didn’t lose their legs. They lost their composure.

It was only a one-goal game late in the second period. San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi had just made a highlight-reel, potentially momentum-changing save, robbing Alex Edler with his right pad. Then Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa cross-checked San Jose star Patrick Marleau at least twice. Marleau turned around and took exception, and they dropped the gloves.

I give Marleau credit for sticking up for himself. Former teammate Jeremy Roenick had called him “gutless” on television just last week, and by fighting for the first time since Dec. 20, 2007, he was making a statement for himself and his team.

Problem was, he got pummeled. Bieksa ripped off his helmet and landed some good ones, leaving some marks, most notably a bruise on his left temple. As much as Marleau shrugged it off afterward – “I’ve got an older brother, so I’m used to getting those,” he said – the damage was done.

“Yeah, you know, we’ve seen that before with Kevin,” Eager said of Bieksa, a pending unrestricted free agent. “It’s sad that someone’s got to sign him for big money when he’s a phony. He goes after our top player, and he’s been asked many times before [to fight by] lots of players throughout the league and he’s declined, so …”

Eager came out for revenge and drilled Daniel Sedin from behind into the boards with 28 seconds left in the second. Eager said he deserved a penalty even though Sedin “knows what he’s doing there” and “turns his back.” Eager got away with a two-minute minor for boarding, but he should have received a five-minute major and could receive supplemental discipline. (A fine? A suspension? Are you kidding? This is the NHL. Your guess is as good as mine.)

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll be getting a phone call,” Eager said. “I always do.”

The Sharks killed that penalty. But then Eager took a tripping penalty 6:57 into the third – “It’s the conference finals. I don’t know if that’s the appropriate call there,” he said – and the Canucks capitalized with a power-play goal by Chris Higgins. Vancouver led, 4-2.

Then the Sharks were called for having too many men on the ice. Daniel Sedin scored his second power-play goal, the Canucks’ third of the game. Vancouver led, 5-2.

Now it was getting out of hand. The fans chanted, “WE WANT THE CUP!” Aaron Rome, who had scored only two regular-season goals in his career, made it 6-2. Mason Raymond made it 7-2.

“We didn’t see that coming,” Couture said. “We said to stay out of the box; we didn’t. We said we got to kill the penalties; we didn’t. And the next thing you know, you look up and it’s 7-2 or whatever it was.”

The truth is, the game started going bad for the Sharks even before the Bieksa-Marleau bout and the Eager-Sedin hit. The Sharks went more than 10 minutes without a shot in the second period. Then they botched a forecheck they had worked on since September. Higgins hit Bieksa in stride with a sweet pass, and Bieksa beat Niemi between the legs to break a 2-2 tie.

“From there,” McLellan said, “it started to unravel.”

McLellan won’t name the players who didn’t show up to compete, but we can guess the list is long and includes big names like Dan Boyle, Ryane Clowe, Dany Heatley, Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi and Kyle Wellwood. Did we miss anybody?

The Sharks haven’t beaten the Canucks in regulation this season, and the Canucks are starting to roll now. Bieksa has scored in back-to-back games and had a Gordie Howe hat trick Wednesday. Not only did Daniel score twice, but twin brother Henrik had three assists, so the Sedins are producing. The Canucks scored seven goals in a blowout victory and Ryan Kesler, who factored into 11 of their 14 goals in the second round, didn’t record a point.

Marleau was asked point-blank if the Canucks were just better.

“Well, he said, “we haven’t played our best yet.”

They better soon. Because this looked like a team that gave up – and the most notable exception, amazingly, was Eager, scoring that garbage goal, looking down on Roberto Luongo like some conquering hero. The Sharks need to look somewhere else.

The mirror.

“We’ve got some work to do,” McLellan said. “We’ve got some guys that need to ask themselves some questions, answer them and pull the skates a little tighter.”

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