The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

Champions Issue 2013

The Hockey News - 2013 Commemorative

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0646/9870103-1-eng-US/f0057-062.jpg" title="f0057-06" width="622" height="615"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JERSEY: GLENN JAMES &ndash; DALLAS STARS)</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s a new era in Big D, with all the fancy trimmings. Tom Gaglardi is the owner, Jim Nill his GM and, now, updated uniforms with a fresh logo and color scheme.Will people make fun of &ldquo;Victory Green&rdquo; if the Stars get out of the gate slowly? Sure, but it does look good on a jersey, which also gives us a brand new logo. The letter &lsquo;D&rsquo; is actually pretty tricky to work with unless you go the Detroit Tigers Olde English route, so this incarnation (dare we call it &ldquo;ninja&rdquo; star?) passes the test. Simple stripes and a lace-up collar complete the look. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

JerseyHOUND

<div class="byline">WORDS BY&nbsp;KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011490/9868892-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHOTO BY DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

WINDY CITY SEQUEL

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DEBRA RUGHOO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012112/9868567-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BIGGER IS BETTERChampionship rings have enlarged in step with the growth of the NHL. (MATTHEW MANOR/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</figcaption></div>IN 1893, MEMBERS OF THE FIRST STANLEY CUP winning team, the Montreal Hockey Club (see pg. 11), were presented with simple, 15-karat gold bands. The letters MHC were engraved above a pair of crossed hockey sticks and a puck on the outside, while inside had the player&rsquo;s name and &ldquo;Champion 1888-93&rdquo; etched in.Not every Stanley Cup-winning team, however, has received rings. When Montreal won again the following year, the players were presented with watches. And after the Vancouver Millionaires claimed the Cup in 1915, players were awarded medallions. Members of the 1971 Montreal Canadiens, meanwhile, were given color TV sets.Awarding rings didn&rsquo;t become a regular NHL tradition until about 50 years ago. The Montreal Canadiens won 10 Cups before getting their first rings in 1959. Each was 10-karat gold without any diamonds or jewels. A Stanley Cup was engraved in the center, surrounded by the words &ldquo;World Hockey Champions.&rdquo;The Toronto Maple Leafs did something unique when the team won multiple championships in the 1960s. Each player received a ring the first time he won the Stanley Cup. If he won another, his ring was updated with the new year and the diamond was replaced by a larger one.While those rings might have seemed flashy at the time, they&rsquo;re nothing compared to the rings we see today.The face of the Dallas Stars&rsquo; 1999 ring, for example, is covered with diamonds and a green emerald sits at the center of the team&rsquo;s logo. Carolina&rsquo;s 2006 ring has the Hurricanes logo in rubies and black sapphires circling a diamond-filled Stanley Cup. Even more blinding is the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; 2010 ring, with a whopping 404 diamonds and gemstones.The diamonds and jewels on rings aren&rsquo;t solely for show. They often have meaning attached to them. For instance, the face of the 1983 New York Islanders ring has four diamonds to represent the team&rsquo;s four Stanley Cups. The side of the Boston Bruins&rsquo; 2011 ring has six stones surrounding the bear logo to honor the team as one of the Original Six franchises. The Anaheim Ducks&rsquo; 2007 ring has 14 stones on the left shank to stand for each of its NHL seasons. Though 13 of the stones are in color, one is white to represent the 2004-05 cancelled campaign. &#9632;

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LORD OF THE RINGS

<div class="byline">BY BOB DUFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011675/9868795-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">PETR MRAZEK (TATAR+MRAZEK: DAN HICKLING/AHL)</figcaption></div>MINUS NICKLAS LIDSTROM, Tomas Holmstrom and Brad Stuart, the Detroit Red Wings entered 2012-13 awash in uncertainty. A year later, the future suddenly looks so bright that Detroit GM Ken Holland might have to invest in a pair of shades.An injury-riddled regular season forced the Red Wings to count on several of their farmhands, many of whom came up big-time for them. To further emphasize just how much talent is on the way to Detroit, the Grand Rapids Griffins captured the Calder Cup title, the first time a Wings minor league affiliate has won the American League title since 1991-92.Some of the key players on Grand Rapids were also significant contributors to the Detroit cause this season, guys like center Joakim Andersson, right winger Gustav Nyquist and defensemen Brian Lashoff and Danny DeKeyser. Others, such as goalie Petr Mrazek, left winger Tomas Tatar and center Riley Sheahan showed promise during brief flings with the big club. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re way farther ahead just because of DeKeyser, Lashoff, Nyquist, Tatar, Andersson, (and free agent addition Damien) Brunner,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;Four players who started with the Grand Rapids Griffins will be in the NHL next season &ndash; Andersson, Nyquist, Lashoff and Tatar.&rdquo;Andersson, Brunner and Nyquist formed an effective third line for Detroit during the Stanley Cup playoffs. Nyquist showed enough offensive flair that he could make veteran unrestricted free agent Valtteri Filppula expendable. And Western Michigan product DeKeyser, who signed as a free agent at the end of the NCAA season, jumped right into a regular role on Detroit&rsquo;s blueline, displaying the savvy of an experienced rearguard.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if people realize what he did this year, coming in from college and playing the way he did,&rdquo; said fellow defenseman Niklas Kronwall. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if you should be able to do that, come in and have that big of a presence.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">We know that there is more to come from the minors &ndash; Niklas Kronwall</blockquote>Kronwall admitted to feeling a level of uncertainty at the start of the season and even more concern when veterans such as forwards Darren Helm, Todd Bertuzzi and Mikael Samuelsson all endured longterm injuries. But the influx of youngsters and the presence they displayed quickly turned him into an optimist. &ldquo;Over the course of the year, we had a lot of injuries and the young guys who came up and got a chance, they really made the most of it,&rdquo; Kronwall said. &ldquo;You look at Tatar, Andersson, Nyquist, Lashoff, DeKeyser when he came in, even Mrazek did a great job. We know there&rsquo;s more to come from the minors. The younger guys have really proven that they can play at the top level. Just the experience they got in the playoffs is great.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s still concern in Detroit, but it&rsquo;s now the good kind of worry: what to do with all these young players? &ldquo;The guys we&rsquo;ve got coming can&rsquo;t all play here,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;But you have assets, so you make the decisions based on what&rsquo;s best for you.&rdquo;Whatever direction the Wings take regarding their personnel, it&rsquo;s apparent that Detroit&rsquo;s game plan is again upward in motion. &#9632;

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FEATURES

KID WINGS TAKE FLIGHT

<div class="byline">WITH JASON KAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012256/9868228-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="526" height="923"><figcaption class="caption-body">(RYAN BROOK/TC MEDIA)</figcaption></div>WHEN ETHAN MOREAU PLAYED the last of his 21 shifts against Anaheim April 11, 2010, it marked the end of an era. Moreau was the final traceable piece to The Trade for the Edmonton Oilers, the last ember to burn out from the explosive transaction that rocked the hockey world nearly 22 years earlier.While it&rsquo;s a stretch to say Gretzky &ldquo;became&rdquo; Moreau, the lineage of the most shocking trade we&rsquo;ll ever see is terrific fodder for history geeks. Here&rsquo;s the trail. In exchange for No. 99, Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski, the Oilers got Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, $15 million and three first-rounders from L.A. One year later, Carson was dealt to Detroit, along with Kevin McClelland and a pick for Petr Klima, Joe Murphy, Adam Graves and Jeff Sharples. Murphy was subsequently sent to Chicago for Igor Kravchuk and Dean McAmmond. Six years later, McAmmond and Boris Mironov were packaged to the Windy City for Chad Kilger, Dan Cleary, Christian Laflamme and&hellip;Moreau.Edmonton&rsquo;s acquisition of Moreau transpired 27 days before Gretzky announced his retirement in 1999. (Ah, the great circle of life.) The Huntsville, Ont., native went on to play parts of 11 seasons in Oilers colors. Including Moreau, more than 50 assets were brought into Edmonton that can be connected to The Great Trade. It&rsquo;s a labyrinth-like sidebar to a turning point in NHL history and a small part of the debate attached to the question that follows every deal: who won?Twenty-five years later, there is no unanimous decision. Gretzky profoundly changed the perception of the NHL in the U.S., a topic addressed in our oral history of the swap on its silver anniversary (see pg. 12). He led the Kings to a Cup final and helped grow the game immensely. The Oilers won a Cup two years after the trade, with an assist to the bounty Gretzky fetched. It&rsquo;s impossible to say how many more championships Edmonton would have won had he stayed, if any.On the flip side, Los Angeles finally did get its title in 2012 thanks in part to Gretzky&rsquo;s legacy. When he was shipped to St. Louis in 1996, the Kings got Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif and Roman Vopat. Vopat became Eric Lacroix, who became Mathieu Biron, who was packaged with assets to get, among others, Bryan Smolinski, who became Tim Gleason, who became Jack Johnson, who finally emerged as Jeff Carter.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021910/9868221-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="414" height="222"></div><h2>NEXT ISSUE AUGUST 2013</h2>CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO SUBSCRIBE: <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a>CONTACT US: <a href="mailto:editorial@thehockeynews.com">editorial@thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

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TRAIL OF THE TRADE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012486/9868311-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="248" height="281"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021694/9868304-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="536" height="764"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-031012/9868297-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="506" height="796"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04646/9868290-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="531" height="753"><figcaption class="caption-body">(ALL BY TASOS KATOPODIS/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05507/9868283-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="1071" height="833"><figcaption class="caption-body">WALRUS POWERPaul MacLean led an injury-riddled bunch into the playoffs and out of Round 1 with an upset. (MACLEAN: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IN DECIDING OUR ANNUAL GM AND Coach of the Year awards, we found it easy to reach consensus in one area and nearly impossible to do so in the other. In that sense, we were no different than those who chose the official NHL Awards.Our unanimous choice was Senators bench boss Paul MacLean as THN&rsquo;s Coach of the Year. Like our GM of the Year honor, this award factored in regular season as well as playoff performance. And in those regards, MacLean was the clear winner. No NHL coach was forced to deal with more catastrophic injuries &ndash; in Ottawa&rsquo;s case, players at three key positions (goalie Craig Anderson, defenseman Erik Karlsson and center Jason Spezza) &ndash; the way MacLean had to. And yet the Sens not only made the playoffs, but also beat the higher-ranked Montreal Canadiens in Round 1. &ldquo;The credit for the success we&rsquo;ve had starts with the players, but it&rsquo;s also about the depth and talent we have in the organization,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;Our veterans really stepped up to fill the void and they&rsquo;ve got a lot to be proud of.&rdquo;Selecting the NHL&rsquo;s best GM was much more difficult, but in a narrow decision, we chose Penguins architect Ray Shero. Despite having two of the league&rsquo;s highest-paid players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Shero made several in-season moves (the acquisitions of Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow, Douglas Murray and Jussi Jokinen) at relatively little short- or long-term cost and guided them to a first-place finish in the Eastern Conference. He also picked up veteran goalie Tomas Vokoun last summer as an insurance policy for starter Marc-Andre Fleury and Vokoun&rsquo;s strong post-season play was one of the reasons the Pens were conference finalists. Shero also was named GM of the Year in voting by his peers. &ldquo;To find out you&rsquo;re the winner, it&rsquo;s a great honor,&rdquo; Shero said after winning the NHL&rsquo;s award as top GM. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s obviously a reflection of our organization and certainly our coaching staff.&rdquo;Shero was our choice in a neck-and-neck three-way race that also included Chicago&rsquo;s Stan Bowman and Boston&rsquo;s Peter Chiarelli. And that was a marked difference between THN and NHL GMs, who had Bowman fourth in voting and who didn&rsquo;t have so much as a single vote for Chiarelli. Their top five were Shero, Anaheim&rsquo;s Bob Murray, Montreal&rsquo;s Marc Bergevin, Bowman and Ottawa&rsquo;s Bryan Murray. Remember, however, THN&rsquo;s awards factor in playoff performance and the NHL awards do not. Having your team make the Stanley Cup final or win it was a major consideration (but obviously not the only consideration) we took into account.The large number of candidates for GM of the Year is reflective of a season in which there wasn&rsquo;t much in the way of agreement on many awards. When you compare voting for the NHL Awards with the voting done by THN and Yahoo! staffers for our combined honors for the June issue, you&rsquo;ll see overlap in only two areas (Alex Ovechkin as MVP and Sergei Bobrovsky as top goaltender). The lack of consensus was also reflected in the vote totals of the NHL Awards. Ovechkin took the Hart over Sidney Crosby by just 32 voting points (1,090-1,058), Subban picked up the Norris with only a 36-point spread over Ryan Suter (1,266-1,230), while fewer than 100 points separated Jonathan Huberdeau and Brendan Gallagher in the Calder race (1,141-1,048). &#9632;

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HARDWARE, THE HARD WAY

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-04596/9868412-1-eng-US/f0007-042.jpg" title="f0007-04" width="112" height="186"></div>HART MEMORIAL TROPHYAlex Ovechkin, WSH</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-05408/9868405-1-eng-US/f0007-052.jpg" title="f0007-05" width="117" height="197"></div>VEZINA TROPHYSergei Bobrovsky, CLB</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-06313/9868398-1-eng-US/f0007-062.jpg" title="f0007-06" width="112" height="178"></div>JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHYP.K. Subban, MTL</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-07242/9868391-1-eng-US/f0007-072.jpg" title="f0007-07" width="112" height="182"></div>CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHYJonathan Huberdeau, FLA</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-08194/9868384-1-eng-US/f0007-082.jpg" title="f0007-08" width="126" height="210"></div>TED LINDSAY AWARDSidney Crosby, PIT</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-09149/9868377-1-eng-US/f0007-092.jpg" title="f0007-09" width="117" height="190"></div>ART ROSS TROPHYMartin St-Louis, TB</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-10123/9868370-1-eng-US/f0007-102.jpg" title="f0007-10" width="184" height="170"></div>&lsquo;ROCKET&rsquo; RICHARD TROPHYAlex Ovechkin, WSH<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-11102/9868363-1-eng-US/f0007-112.jpg" title="f0007-11" width="138" height="161"></div>FRANK J. SELKE TROPHYJonathan Toews, CHI</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1283/9868356-1-eng-US/f0007-122.jpg" title="f0007-12" width="117" height="202"></div>JACK ADAMS AWARDPaul MacLean, OTT</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1365/9868349-1-eng-US/f0007-132.jpg" title="f0007-13" width="113" height="204"></div>LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHYMartin St-Louis, TB</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-1453/9868342-1-eng-US/f0007-142.jpg" title="f0007-14" width="112" height="207"></div>MASTERTON TROPHYJosh Harding, MIN &#9632;</div>

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AWARDS

<div class="byline">By Charlie Teljeur</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012194/9868443-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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THE INSTIGATOR

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div>THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS didn&rsquo;t become 2013 Stanley Cup champions based on a single player&rsquo;s actions. But without the contributions of Patrick Kane, the road would&rsquo;ve been much tougher.Kane supplied the post-season offense expected of him &ndash; amassing nine goals and 19 points, including three goals and five points in the final &ndash; but his play on defense was valuable as well. In fact, he was so dependable Hawks Joel Quenneville played him a whopping 37:49 in the triple-overtime Game 1 against Boston.Quenneville&rsquo;s belief in Kane is confirmation the Buffalo native has matured in his six NHL seasons. More importantly, the playoffs showed Kane can raise his game as the stakes grow higher. Indeed, as the playoffs went on, Kane got better. And the best part: he&rsquo;s still only 24. (For more on Kane, see pg. 32).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021501/9868474-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="577" height="891"><figcaption class="caption-body">(KANE: DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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PATRICK KANE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BRIAN COSTELLO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012374/9868505-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">THE WAITING GAMEBrendan Shanahan was a leftover in the 2012 Hall vote, but he&rsquo;s sure to get in this year. (STEVE BABINEAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>SAY WHAT YOU WANT ABOUT THE job Brendan Shanahan did this campaign as the NHL&rsquo;s czar of discipline, chances are when it comes down to goals and assists and the game of hockey itself, &lsquo;Shanny&rsquo; will have had a very good year.That&rsquo;s because a season after getting rebuffed by the Hockey Hall of Fame&rsquo;s selection committee, Shanahan is sure to get approval this time around. The 18-member panel meets July 9 to debate and vote on the class of 2014 with the results announced that day. Up to four players will get the special phone call.One call was supposed to be made to Shanahan last year. The author of 656 goals (13th all-time), 1,354 points (25th all-time) and three Stanley Cups was considered a surefire Hall of Fame favorite, along with Joe Sakic, when first-year eligible in 2013. Sakic got the nod and the other three spots were filled by Pavel Bure (eligible since 2006), Adam Oates (eligible since 2007) and first-timer Mats Sundin.Shanahan&rsquo;s statistics and accomplishments dwarfed those of Sundin&rsquo;s, but the selection committee considers a wide swath of attributes when the candidates are placed under a microscope.So now Shanahan is officially a leftover along with the likes of Sergei Makarov, Guy Carbonneau, Dale Hunter, Claude Lemieux, Jeremy Roenick, Mike Richter, Phil Housley, Tom Barrasso, Theo Fleury, Dave Andreychuk, Eric Lindros, Alex Mogilny and others. They&rsquo;re up against a rookie class that includes two slam-dunks.Here&rsquo;s how we rank the first-year eligible candidates:Scott Niedermayer &ndash; No player is as decorated from a team perspective as the fleet-footed defenseman. In addition to four Stanley Cups, Nieder-mayer won two Olympic gold medals, a World Cup, a World Championship gold, a Memorial Cup and a World Junior Championship gold. He also won the Norris Trophy once in 2004 (twice a runner-up) and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2007.Chris Chelios &ndash; Few defensemen in history combined the skill, brawn and durability that Chelios did for parts of 26 NHL seasons. He played 400 or more games for each of Montreal, Chicago and Detroit and finished his career with Atlanta at the age of 48. He won the Norris three times and was runner-up twice. He also won three Stanley Cups, the first and last being 22 years apart.Rob Blake &ndash; Rock solid defensively and smooth as silk moving the puck, Blake was the cornerstone of the Los Angeles blueline for 13 seasons and won a Stanley Cup with Colorado. He won the Norris in 1998.Keith Tkachuk &ndash; He was among the game&rsquo;s top power forwards during the 1990s and had back-to-back 50-goal seasons for Winnipeg/Phoenix. He scored 30 or more goals eight times and his 538 career goals are 30th all-time.Paul Kariya &ndash; Injuries and concussions forced Kariya into retirement by the age of 35. He scored 50 goals and 108 points in his first full NHL season. Kariya was a first-team all-star three times and a second-teamer twice.Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour &ndash; One of the top two-way centers of his era, Brind&rsquo;Amour was a five-time 30-goal scorer and four-time 80-point man. His leadership abilities and acumen on faceoffs were also key in helping Carolina win the Cup in 2006.Owen Nolan &ndash; The first overall pick of the 1990 draft played a power forward game that resulted in two 40-goal seasons and three others with 30-plus goals. &#9632;

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GETTING THE CALL FROM THE HALL?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021818/9868536-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="303" height="302"></div>1. SCOTT NIEDERMAYER1st attempt2. CHRIS CHELIOS1st attempt3. BRENDAN SHANAHAN2nd attempt4. ROB BLAKE1st attempt5. ERIC LINDROS4th attempt6. SERGEI MAKAROV13th attempt7. PHIL HOUSLEY8th attempt8. GUY CARBONNEAU11th attempt9. DAVE ANDREYCHUK5th attempt10. TOM BARRASSO8th attempt11. KEITH TKACHUK1st attempt12. PAUL KARIYA1st attempt &#9632;

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THE RANK

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DEBRA RUGHOO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012350/9868598-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(DAVID DOW/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>BANDS OF BROTHERS</h2>From 1927 to 1947, a new band was added almost every year to the trophy, but it became too big. It was re-designed in 1948 and now consists of five removable rings that each takes 13 years to fill. In 2018, the oldest ring will be removed from the top and a new one will be added to the bottom.<h2>ETCHING IT IN</h2>The first team to have its roster engraved on the Cup was the 1906-07 Montreal Wanderers, with etching done in the inner bowl. Engraving the team&rsquo;s roster didn&rsquo;t become an annual tradition until 1924, however, so there are years missing on the original trophy. When the Cup was redesigned, a new collar was added to honor the missing teams.<h2>CUT SHORT</h2>Aside from 2004-05, the only other season the Cup wasn&rsquo;t presented was 1919, when the Montreal Canadiens/Seattle Metropolitans series was cancelled after Game 5 because of the Spanish flu epidemic. Nothing was engraved on the original trophy for that year. When the Cup was redesigned, &ldquo;Series Not Completed&rdquo; was added.<h2>SOME SLIP-UPS</h2>There have been several engraving errors on the Cup over the years: the 1972 champions were the &ldquo;BQSTQN BRUINS&rdquo;; the 1981 winners were the &ldquo;NEW YORK ILANDERS&rdquo;; Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; Gaye Stewart had his first name misspelled as &ldquo;GAVE&rdquo; in 1947; and the Canadiens&rsquo; Bob Gainey had his last name missing the &ldquo;e&rdquo; in 1977.<h2>THE X FACTOR</h2>When the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers won the Cup, owner Peter Pocklington snuck the name of his father Basil, who wasn&rsquo;t affiliated with team, on the trophy. When the NHL found out, it was covered with 16 X&rsquo;s.<h2>MANY TIMES, MANY WAYS</h2>Dickie Moore and goalie Jacques Plante won six Cups with the Canadiens, but their names are spelled five different ways apiece on the trophy: D. Moore, Richard Moore, R. Moore, Dickie Moore, Rich Moore; and J. Plante, Jacques Plante, Jac Plante, Jacq Plante, Jaques Plante.<h2>GETTING IT RIGHT</h2>Surprisingly, the first correction wasn&rsquo;t made to the Cup until 1996 when the Colorado Avalanche&rsquo;s Adam Deadmarsh had his name misspelled as &ldquo;DEADMARCH.&rdquo; Since then, Manny Legace of the 2002 Red Wings has had his name fixed from &ldquo;LAGASE&rdquo; and the Eric Staal of the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes needed his surname changed from &ldquo;STAAAL.&rdquo;<h2>REAL VS. REPLICA</h2>A replica Stanley Cup was created in 1993 to stand in when the real one isn&rsquo;t available or at the Hockey Hall of Fame. All of the previously known engraving errors were corrected on the replica Cup, but not on the real one, making it easy to tell which is authentic.<h2>DEJA VU</h2>Each of the 27 names engraved on the Cup for the 1960 Canadiens team was also on the trophy with Montreal the year before. This was the first time none of the names engraved on the Cup was a first-time winner.<h2>SETTING A CAP</h2>The 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings have the most names engraved on the Cup for one season with 55. After that, the NHL limited the number to 52. Last year, however, 53 made it on, when Los Angeles Kings co-owner Edward P. Roski Jr., who was originally omitted from the engraving list, had his name added by the league. &#9632;

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WHAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT LORD STANLEY’S CUP

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ERIC ZWEIG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011951/9868629-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SAVING THE BEST FOR LASTMontreal Hockey Club won the inaugural Stanley Cup in 1893 in the final game of its season. (HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</figcaption></div>THIS SEASON MARKED JUST THE second time the Stanley Cup final stretched into summer. When the trophy&rsquo;s first champion won 120 years ago, the Cup-clinching victory came March 10, with the first day of spring still 10 days away.That winter, the Montreal Hockey Club (a.k.a. Montreal AAA) won the Cup as champions of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada with a 2-1 win over the Montreal Crystals in its last game of the season. It improved to 7-1 to edge out Ottawa, who finished second with a record of 6-2. Montreal HC trailed the game 1-0 early, but Haviland Routh&rsquo;s league-leading 19th goal tied it up with just a few minutes remaining. Archie Hodgson then won it in overtime. &ldquo;It was the game of the season,&rdquo; reported the Montreal Gazette. &ldquo;For that matter it was the game of the century.&rdquo;It was the sixth year in a row Montreal HC took AHAC honors, but it was its first since Lord Stanley of Preston announced his intention to donate a trophy to acknowledge the champions of Canada. The AHAC was recognized as the top league in the country, even though it never boasted more than five teams in any year or any beyond Quebec City, Montreal or Ottawa. It played an eight-game season and only had playoffs to break ties in the final standings.Many of the players from this era don&rsquo;t look like athletes, with their handlebar and walrus mustaches, sloping shoulders and skinny legs. But unlike today&rsquo;s stars, they wore almost no protective equipment. Even goalie Tom Paton wore nothing extra to protect him. The rules at this time allowed no forward passing and the wooden sticks of the time made it difficult to put much power into shots or lift the puck, hence why padding was unnecessary for Paton and other goaltenders. The added position of rover meant there were seven men on the ice per team. But all seven starters played the full 60 minutes, so players had to pace themselves. There were no all-out, 30-sec ond shifts like there are today.Though the top players of today are bigger, faster and stronger, coverage of the first Cup-clincher in the Montreal Gazette shows some things are still the same: They all gave hard knocks and they all took them silently and the referee was lenient; but there was no cause for dissatisfaction&hellip;The only drawback to the match was that the rink was not big enough to hold half the people who wanted to see it. &#9632;

f0011-01

DIFFERENT ERA, SAME PRESTIGE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; CRAIG BOWLSBY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021418/9868660-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="412" height="863"><figcaption class="caption-body">(MVP TROPHY: B.C. SPORTS HALL OF FAME)</figcaption></div>Was Frank Nighbor the first in pro hockey to win an MVP award? Nighbor won the inaugural Hart Trophy in 1924, but an MVP award recently discovered at the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame precedes the Hart by seven years. This missing metallic link was once the prize of the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association.In the fall of 1916, during the First World War, Frank and Lester Patrick sought to create more excitement in their league for the spectators&rsquo; morale. They offered a new award for the best all-around player. At the end of the season, four reporters from the contending cities voted. They judged the winner according to his &ldquo;clean play, stamina, scoring ability, popularity with teammates and all around work embodying speed, judgment and consistency.&rdquo;Fred &lsquo;Cyclone&rsquo; Taylor had won the scoring title the previous two seasons, but fell victim to appendicitis and only played half the games. Instead it was Frank Foyston of the Seattle Metropolitans who won. Foyston had finished fourth on the team in total points, but he got two first-place votes and one second-place, which put him in front. Seattle won the Stanley Cup that season and Foyston went on to become a Hall of Famer in 1958. Taylor recovered and the next season he tore up the league. He won the scoring title again and took home the 1918 all-around player award with unanimous voting.Inexplicably, Frank Patrick, who ran the PCHA with an iron fist, declined to offer the award again. Taylor&rsquo;s cup had been in the archives of the B.C. Hall of Fame for nearly 50 years, but its significance wasn&rsquo;t discovered until a few months ago and it was put on display. &#9632;

f0011-02

A HART BEATER?

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‘The Trade’ At 25

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021416/9868764-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="288" height="122"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011913/9868757-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="2837" height="1342"><figcaption class="caption-body">FIRST TIME IS SO GRANDThe Griffins won their first Calder Cup with a 4-2 series win over Syracuse in the AHL final. (TEAM: MARK NEWMAN)</figcaption></div>TOMAS TATAR HAS BEEN known to dress a little on the crazy side. He&rsquo;ll wander off, music blaring, right about the time a team meeting is about to start.Clearly, no one will ever accuse him of blending in with the crowd. &ldquo;He walks to the beat of his own drummer,&rdquo; said Grand Rapids Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan. &ldquo;The stuff that he wears, the things that can come out of his mouth, he&rsquo;s out there. Sometimes when we&rsquo;re ready to meet, we&rsquo;re wondering where &lsquo;Tats&rsquo; is. But he shows up on the ice.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-031006/9868750-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="206" height="191"></div>Does he ever. The bigger the moment, the better the performance from Tatar. The Calder Cup that now resides in Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., is proof.Tatar scored 16 goals and finished with 21 points in 24 playoff games as the Griffins won their first American League championship. He scored twice in the Cup-clinching Game 6 win over the Syracuse Crunch. That&rsquo;s why Tatar was the obvious winner of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP. Only two players have ever scored more goals in one AHL post-season. (Cape Breton&rsquo;s Bill McDougall scored 26 in 1993 and Milwaukee&rsquo;s Darren Haydar had 18 in 2006.) &ldquo;One of the things I saw all year, when the game is on the line, he seemed to get better and better,&rdquo; said coach Jeff Blashill. &ldquo;He wants to win, he really wants to win.&rdquo;Who Tatar is, however, and what drives him, were very clear as the on-ice celebration ended. The entire team had retreated to the dressing room, and sitting near the blueline in the Griffins zone, amid a few gloves and sticks, was Tatar&rsquo;s MVP trophy. He left it behind so he could accompany the Calder Cup to the dressing room. &ldquo;This is like a kid&rsquo;s dream,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was a beautiful playoff for me, but it is more special that I could help this team. It&rsquo;s a special moment.&rdquo;Tatar, the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; second-round draft pick (60th overall) in 2009, scored 23 goals and 49 points in 61 games this season with the Griffins, plus four goals and seven points in 18 games with the Red Wings. But he&rsquo;d never skated in a playoff game in the NHL or AHL until April. Grand Rapids failed to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs in his first three seasons, but he made quite a statement this spring when he finally got a crack at post-season play. &ldquo;My stick was hot,&rdquo; he said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04678/9868743-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="817" height="873"><figcaption class="caption-body">TOMAS TATAR</figcaption></div>This was no one-man show, however. Acrobatic goalie Petr Mrazek (141st overall in 2010) shone throughout the playoffs, going 15-9 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .916 save percentage. Right winger Jan Mursak (182nd overall in 2006) scored 11 goals and was a team-best plus-12. Prospects Landon Ferraro (32nd overall in 2009), Tomas Jurco (35th overall in 2011) and Riley Sheahan (21st overall in 2010) excelled in prominent roles up front and Chad Billins, a free agent signee out of Ferris State University, bolstered his stock on defense. &ldquo;The whole playoff,&rdquo; Blashill said, &ldquo;was a great opportunity for growth for our whole organization.&rdquo; &#9632;

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SWEET SIXTEEN

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011666/9868861-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"></div>*HALF-SEASON<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021192/9868854-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="976" height="1464"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03840/9868847-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="1309" height="1173"></div>ADMITTEDLY, THINGS TOOK A LITTLE LONGER TO GET going this season than usual. And while the lockout that transformed the 2012-13 season into simply the 2013 season may have technically been the most important moment of the campaign, nobody wants to pay their hard-earned money to see how players wore khaki shorts to their union meeting or hear about which hills NHL second-in-command Bill Daly is willing to die on. We want action. So let&rsquo;s bury all that labor nastiness (maybe for good this time, fellas?) and get into the sizzle: Here are the 20 moments that made 2013 a winner.<h2>20 Elliott bakes donuts</h2>April 14: St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott gives up a second period tally to Chicago&rsquo;s Bryan Bickell, marking the first time in 214 minutes an opponent had put a puck past the netminder. Elliott&rsquo;s shutout streak lasts for more than three games, including goose eggs against Detroit, Nashville and Minnesota along the way before he gives up two goals in a loss to the Blackhawks.<h2>19 Superstar fisticuffs</h2>Feb. 15: Captains Joe Thornton of San Jose and Jonathan Toews of Chicago throw down in a rare scrap between stars, with Thornton earning the win. Thornton also fights Dallas cornerstone Jamie Benn later in the month, while Tampa veteran Vincent Lecavalier drops the gloves three times &ndash; his first tilts since 2008-09. In a shortened season, it seems everyone&rsquo;s competitive juices are overflowing.<h2>18 St-Louis&rsquo; scoring title</h2>April 27: Tampa Bay&rsquo;s Martin St-Louis becomes the oldest Art Ross winner in history, notching two points in a 5-3 loss to Florida to give him 60 in 48 games. The 37-year-old beats out linemate and young whippersnapper Steven Stamkos by three points, also holding off perennial faves Alex Ovechkin (who goes on to win the Hart Trophy) and Sidney Crosby. The win gives St-Louis two Art Rosses (the other came in &rsquo;04.)<h2>17 Net found, tooth lost</h2>May 5: Rookie Jean-Gabriel Pageau scores three goals to give Ottawa a Game 3 win over Montreal. He also loses a tooth, becoming the third player in the series &ndash; behind goalies Craig Anderson and Carey Price &ndash; to have a Chiclet knocked out in as many games. That player&rsquo;s team wins each of those contests and though no more high-profile dentistry follows, the No. 2 seed Habs get popped in the mouth metaphorically, losing the series in five games.<h2>16 A storm of Staals</h2>April 25: From a birds-eye view, it&rsquo;s a heartwarming image: Three Carolina Hurricanes lined up for the opening faceoff, all with the name &ldquo;Staal&rdquo; emblazoned on the backs of their sweaters. Youngest brother Jared makes his NHL debut on a line with brothers Eric and Jordan, marking the first time a trio of siblings have played on the same team since the Nordiques&rsquo; Stastny brothers in 1985. Originally drafted by Phoenix, Jared was the only Staal not taken in the first round and even played half a year in the ECHL as his young pro career began. But on this night he is an NHLer, throwing five hits, logging 12:16 of ice time in a 4-3 loss to the New York Rangers and wearing No. 13 to Jordan&rsquo;s No. 11 and Eric&rsquo;s No. 12.<h2>15 O&rsquo;Reilly-Gate</h2>March 3: Colorado&rsquo;s Ryan O&rsquo;Reilly suits up after a contract impasse with Avs management costs him the first 19 games of an already shortened season. The gritty two-way center puts up the best points-per-game average of his NHL career, but can&rsquo;t help the Avs out of the West basement. Silver lining? Colorado wins the draft lottery, adding a great chip to an already promising core. But the truly incredible subplot came when Calgary tendered O&rsquo;Reilly an offer sheet. Colorado matched, but the Flames might not have gotten their man either way: Because O&rsquo;Reilly was still playing in Russia past the NHL deadline, he would have had to clear waivers to join the Flames and a rival team surely would have plucked him before they had the chance to put a jersey on him.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011336/9868840-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="1490" height="1101"><figcaption class="caption-body">(REIMER: STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR VIA GETTY IMAGES; CROSBY: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES OVECHKIN: TRAVIS GOLBY/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; STAALS: GREGG FORWERCK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>14 Wings in playoffs again</h2>April 27: Nicklas Lidstrom joined the Red Wings in 1991-92 and the team never missed the playoffs during his career. But with the sublime Swede retiring, the Wings go into this campaign in foreign waters with an undermanned blueline. There are trials along the way thanks to injuries on the front and back ends, but Detroit squeaks into the West&rsquo;s top eight, clinching its 22nd straight playoff berth with a 3-0 win over Dallas. Thanks to stereotypical Red Wing finds such as Jonathan Ericsson, Gustav Nyquist and Damien Brunner, the team upsets Anaheim in the first round before driving Chicago to overtime of a seventh game in the second round.<h2>13 Toronto breaks curse</h2>April 20: In an era when puck possession and CORSI is king, the Maple Leafs find success in the opposite direction. This is abundantly clear during Toronto&rsquo;s most important victory in a decade, when goalie James Reimer stops 49 Ottawa shots as the Leafs beat the Senators 4-1, earning their first post-season berth in nearly a decade and ceding the NHL&rsquo;s longest futility streak to Edmonton. The Leafs, true to form, throw just 22 shots (albeit effective ones) towards Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson on the night.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011551/9868833-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="1075" height="1782"><figcaption class="caption-body">(GREGORY SHAMUS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>12 Yakupov&rsquo;s electric slide</h2>Jan. 24: He finishes the year tied for the rookie scoring lead with eventual Calder winner Jonathan Huberdeau of the Panthers, but no goal defines the excitement surrounding Oilers freshman Nail Yakupov like his clutch marker against L.A. Yakupov&rsquo;s second goal of the season comes with just seconds left on the clock and his team down by a goal. After potting the puck, a delirious Yakupov shoots out towards center ice, sliding on his knees from blueline to blueline. While some old-schoolers don&rsquo;t like the celebration, there is no questioning Yakupov&rsquo;s slide comes straight from the heart.<h2>11 DiPietro Marooned</h2>Feb. 22: A star-crossed era comes to an end as the New York Islanders waive goaltender Rick DiPietro, ultimately sending the 2000 No. 1 overall pick to Bridgeport of the American League when no other franchise wants to pick up his millstone contract. That infamous 15-year pact &ndash; of which DiPietro was in Year 7 at the time of demotion &ndash; had been a prickly issue for the franchise for most of its existence. Though the cap hit was reasonable, DiPietro&rsquo;s laundry list of injuries made it look a lot worse. DiPietro is naturally unhappy about the AHL assignment, even making dark jokes to a local newscaster about the situation that are misconstrued as a cry for help.<h2>10 Harding 1, MS 0</h2>Jan. 20: Minnesota goalie Josh Harding plays his first game since being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. The netminder takes the win over Dallas and appears in five regular season games total. But Harding&rsquo;s story really becomes feel-good-movie quality in Game 1 of the playoffs when starter Niklas Backstrom comes up lame in warmups. The eventual Masterton Trophy winner gives it his all against the top-seeded Blackhawks, winning Game 3 before getting injured himself when Chicago&rsquo;s Jonathan Toews crashes the crease.<h2>9 Boston back on its feet</h2>April 17: Buffalo beats the Bruins 3-2 in a shootout, but the real story is the atmosphere at TD Garden, where Boston is playing its first game since the Marathon bombing. Anthem singer Rene Rancourt leads the charge before turning the mic over to an emotional crowd, who belt out the Star-Spangled Banner with particular love.<h2>8 Bobrovsky ablaze</h2>March 9: Sergei Bobrovsky picks up his first career shutout in a 3-0 win over Detroit. The Blue Jackets netminder goes on to earn multiple NHL first star of the week nods and ultimately the Vezina Trophy, helping Columbus to a remarkable run that sees the team miss the playoffs based on tiebreakers. &lsquo;Bob&rsquo; ends his year with four shutouts in 38 games.<h2>7 Rough end to Ruff era</h2>Feb. 20: Buffalo fires Lindy Ruff after more than 14 seasons of service. The 2006 Jack Adams winner led the Sabres to the Stanley Cup final in 1999 and was the longest-tenured coach in the NHL, edging out Nashville&rsquo;s Barry Trotz by a season. But things have been going south in Buffalo ever since a cash infusion from new owner Terry Pegula made the team big buyers on the free agent market. While Ruff can&rsquo;t be faulted for Ville Leino&rsquo;s sticker price, the Sabres still find themselves mired at the bottom of the standings despite a nice arsenal of talent. Rookie Mikhail Grigorenko experiences the rare move of being sent back to junior after the first year of his contract has been burned, while 2010 Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers is a healthy scratch twice during another tough season.<h2>6 Iginla finally traded</h2>March 27: Calgary trades longtime captain Jarome Iginla to Pittsburgh for collegians Ben Hanowski and Kenny Agostino, plus the Pens&rsquo; first-round pick in 2013. But controversy erupts even before folks can ask &ldquo;Why now, why not three years ago?&rdquo; Iginla, one of the most highly esteemed players in the game today, has to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to go through, but apparently nixes a trade to Boston at the last second, even though the Bruins are on his approved list. Karma subsequently calls as the B&rsquo;s wipe out Iggy and the Pens in an Eastern Conference final sweep.<h2>5 Leg is broken, will is not</h2>June 5: No one could have imagined Pittsburgh being swept in the Eastern Conference final, but Boston locks the Pens down, limiting their blistering offense to just two goals in four games. Netminder Tuukka Rask is big, but the boys in front of him give maximum effort as well. To wit: Gregory Campbell breaks his leg during a penalty kill while blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot in Game 3, but plays out the rest of the shift so as to not deviate from his duties on the four-man unit. It seems like an eternity before Campbell hobbles off the ice. It becomes a timeless, heroic moment in the Bruins&rsquo; canon.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011333/9868826-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="2108" height="1358"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JARED WICKERHAM/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>4 Karlsson, Crosby down</h2>Feb. 13: Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Matt Cooke steps on Erik Karlsson&rsquo;s leg during an aborted bodycheck, cutting the Senators defenseman&rsquo;s Achilles tendon in the process. Karlsson had been on track for a second straight Norris Trophy before the incident, with 10 points through 14 games and a ridiculous 28 minutes of ice time per game. Ottawa owner Eugene Melnyk, furious at the loss of his superstar, claims Cooke, a notorious recidivist, injured Karlsson on purpose and vows a &ldquo;forensic investigation.&rdquo; In a weird bit of cosmic retribution, the Penguins lose superstar and then-NHL scoring leader Sidney Crosby a month and a half later when an errant shot strikes him in the jaw. Karlsson and Crosby return for the playoffs, where Pittsburgh dispatches Ottawa in five games in the second round.<h2>3 Staal injury is final straw</h2>March 5: New York Rangers defenseman Marc Staal takes a deflected puck to the eye in a game against the Flyers, sustaining a terrible injury and in the process, bringing the NHL&rsquo;s visor policy back to the fore. Though 75 percent of NHLers already wear shields, injuries to stars such as Staal and Chris Pronger &ndash; whose career is effectively over thanks to a concussion sustained after taking a stick to the face &ndash; make the issue dire. On June 4, the league&rsquo;s competition committee approves a mandatory visor rule that would see shields grandfathered in. It still needs approval from the Board of Governors, but is expected to succeed.<h2>2 Chicago&rsquo;s epic streak</h2>March 8: Though it&rsquo;s a loss on the night, the Blackhawks can hold their heads high. A 6-2 blemish against the Colorado Avalanche represents the first regulation loss of the season for Chicago, which puts up a record-smashing 24-game point streak before falling in the Mile High City. Naturally, the Hawks cruise to the Presidents&rsquo; Trophy and netminder Ray Emery ends the campaign with a gaudy 17-1-0 record (though Corey Crawford carries the team in the playoffs).<h2>1 Maple Leaf Meltdown</h2>May 13: The Boston Bruins have the post-season newbie Maple Leafs on the ropes through four games of their opening round playoff series, but Toronto manages to storm back and force a Game 7 in Beantown. The collapse appears complete early in the third period with Toronto building a 4-1 lead and still holding a 4-2 lead with 1:22 remaining, but the B&rsquo;s do not fold. Patrice Bergeron scores the game-tying goal with less than a minute to go as well as the overtime winner as the Bruins shock the Leafs 5-4. It&rsquo;s the B&rsquo;s hardest test until the Stanley Cup final and one of the most incredible series finishes ever. &#9632;

f0020-01

2013 YEAR IN REVIEW

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011501/9868937-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SHOCKING WINNERDave Bolland scores the Cup-clincher a mere 17 seconds after his Hawks tied Game 6. (BRIAN BABINEAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>BOSTONShortly after joining the Chicago Blackhawks late in 2005, Patrick Sharp was given a stack of business cards. On the back, there was a website where fans could log on to get two free tickets to a Blackhawks home game. He was told by the team&rsquo;s promotions department to give them out to everyone he met. Sharp and his teammates gave out as many as they could, then would look in the stands when the puck was dropped and see a wide swath of nothing but empty seats. Just the year before, the Blackhawks had earned the ignominious honor of being the worst franchise in sports by ESPN.That was back in the dark ages. The team was terrible and management and ownership were paying a steep price for treating their fan base like a piece of lint on their collar. Decades of neglect and incompetence had given the organization a serious case of dry rot. It wasn&rsquo;t that people hated the Blackhawks for what they did. It was far worse than that. They simply didn&rsquo;t care about them. Ask anyone who has ever run a sports franchise and he&rsquo;ll tell you that apathy is far worse than hate. And that&rsquo;s precisely what happened to the Blackhawks, once a proud member of the NHL&rsquo;s Original Six and home to Hall of Famers Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito. They had become irrelevant in their own market, the third largest in North America, and anyone who still had a Blackhawks sweater had it buried deep in the closet. &ldquo;You could see your friends in the stands because they had their own sections,&rdquo; Sharp recalled. &ldquo;We could walk around town and nobody would stop you. It was almost as if the Wolves, the American League team, had more credibility than we did.&rdquo;Until this year, there were just six players in NHL history &ndash; Johnny Gottselig, &lsquo;Mush&rsquo; March, &lsquo;Doc&rsquo; Romnes, Louis Trudel, Paul Thompson and Roger Jenkins &ndash; who could lay claim to having their names twice on the Stanley Cup as members of the Chicago Blackhawks. That group became a lot less exclusive and more than doubled when Jonathan Toews, Dave Bolland, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane, Dun-can Keith, Brent Seabrook and Sharp were added to the list. And with two Stanley Cups in four years, this is about as close to a dynasty as we&rsquo;re going to see in the NHL these days. The potential for more is on the horizon with this group. And that&rsquo;s good for Chicago, great for the NHL and the business of hockey and wonderful for anyone who has an appreciation for comeback stories and the rich history of the game.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011383/9868930-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="1391" height="1000"><figcaption class="caption-body">O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTIANJonathan Toews&rsquo; fearful trip is done. His team weathered every attack and the prize they sought is won.</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s also good news for those who respect the integrity of the regular season. The Blackhawks are the first team in five years and the second in 10 to be the league&rsquo;s best team from the start of the regular season to the end of the playoffs. Their 36-7-5 record prorated over an 82-game schedule would have given them 132 points, which would have tied them with the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens for the most in NHL history. Even with the advantage of two more games and the extra points that come with overtime and shootouts, that&rsquo;s an impressive feat. (Take those away and the Hawks would have been a 113-point team over 82 games.)That the Blackhawks have turned things around on the ice and will be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender for the foreseeable future is indisputable. Their core players are still young enough to have the skills to win and hungry enough to want to do it. And their GM, Stan Bowman is very good at what he does. (For more on Bowman, see pg. 58.) On the day before the Stanley Cup final, captain Jonathan Toews, who has the potential to be the best two-way player in the league for the next decade, talked about how when the Blackhawks lost in the playoffs in 2011, it felt like somebody was taking &ldquo;their&rdquo; Stanley Cup away from them. &ldquo;Once you win the Cup once,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you feel like it&rsquo;s yours. You don&rsquo;t want to give it up. As a team, as an organization here in Chicago, we definitely want to prove that we mean business. We want to be in it every single year.&rdquo;It has been a startling transformation, really, ushered in largely by chairman Rocky Wirtz, the team&rsquo;s third-generation owner. Shortly after his father Bill died in 2007, Rocky took the organization over only to find out that the team wasn&rsquo;t going to make payroll. The organization was in shambles and was hemorrhaging money, but within just more than a year, Chicago was filling the NHL&rsquo;s second-biggest building past its capacity, leading the league in attendance for each of the past five seasons and playing a brand of hockey with a group of young players who had finally proved they were NHL-caliber. Sharp, Keith and Seabrook were part of that first group and Bill Wirtz&rsquo;s death coincided with the organization turning the corner on the ice. &ldquo;We felt like we had some good players and we felt like we were all developing and becoming NHLers at the same time, the right time,&rdquo; Sharp said. &ldquo;We got beat up on for a couple years, then drafting Toews and &lsquo;Kaner,&rsquo; new ownership, they all came together at the right time.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">ONCE YOU WIN THE CUP ONCE, YOU FEEL LIKE IT&rsquo;S YOURS. YOU DON&rsquo;T WANT TO GIVE IT UP &ndash; Jonathan Toews</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02970/9868923-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="658" height="875"><figcaption class="caption-body">LIKE A BOSSIt was when Rocky Wirtz took over that the Hawks began down a path to two Cups in four years. (DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Fans could finally watch their team score a goal at home on TV, something they could never do when the team was run by Bill Wirtz, who thought blacking out every home game would drive people to the turnstiles. The Chicago faithful has responded not only by filling the seats, but also by setting ratings record after ratings record in the local market on television. It&rsquo;s not uncommon for the Hawks to not only garner better ratings than the Cubs, White Sox and Bulls in the market, but rout the other local teams in the playoffs.And it&rsquo;s all good for everyone involved. Chicago is a major contributor to an NHL that continues to see its overall revenues rise. And it&rsquo;s very good for the Wirtz family, whose son realized quickly that people like to eat and drink when they go to a game. Every drop of alcohol comes from the Wirtz liquor distributorship.And nothing makes a team relevant like winning. Nobody knew the Blackhawks a few years ago, but Kane said now he has to go out with his hat around his eyes and his head down low if he wants any privacy. The Stanley Cup is theirs, so that won&rsquo;t be dissipating anytime soon. And there seems to be more where that came from. &ldquo;We want to remain at this level,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;The fans of Chicago have come to love this team.&rdquo;And it seems light years away from the days when players had to hand out business cards just to get noticed. &#9632;

f0026-01

FROM BLEAK TO REPEAT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011479/9868975-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BILL SMITH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CHICAGOIn his more than 30 years of coaching minor hockey in Belleville, Ont., Russ Alexander has only kicked one player off his bench. That player was Andrew Shaw.Young Mr. Shaw had a problem with anger management and didn&rsquo;t know how to pick his spots. In one game when Shaw was playing midget with the Quinte Red Devils in 2007, he was sprung for a breakaway. As he skated to the net, he was slashed in the legs. Instead of continuing, Shaw turned around and returned the favor. A few minutes later, he was on another breakaway and the same thing happened. Again, he retaliated.So Alexander told his young charge that scoring in that situation was a good idea. When Shaw was slashed on his third breakaway, he again stopped and slashed back.When he got back to the bench, Alexander and Shaw exchanged loud words, which turned to loud expletives, which led to Shaw hitting the showers. On another occasion, Shaw was complaining to Alexander about all the passing drills in practice, so Alexander let Shaw draw up his own practice, with no passing drills. The next game, as Shaw broke out of his zone, a teammate tried to get the puck to him and missed by miles. Shaw came back to the bench and yelled, &ldquo;Can&rsquo;t anyone pass the (expletive) puck on this team?&rdquo; while Alexander smiled to himself.<blockquote class="pullQuote">IT&rsquo;S THAT KILLER INSTINCT. I&rsquo;VE ALWAYS HAD IT. BOTH MY BROTHERS AND MY DAD HAVE IT &ndash; Andrew Shaw</blockquote>That kind of passion has made Shaw, 22, an NHL player. No sport breeds stories of overcoming obstacles like hockey and that was the case with Shaw, who claims to be 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds. He looks smaller and plays much, much bigger. Going chest-to-stomach with Zdeno Chara in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final proved Shaw has courage. His gorgeous assist on David Bolland&rsquo;s goal and his winner in the third overtime displayed his penchant for producing in big games.Shaw&rsquo;s is a story typical of a lot of guys in hockey. He was picked 215th in the Ontario League draft in 2007 and returned to midget in his first year of junior eligibility. Then he went two NHL drafts without being selected before Chicago took him 139th in 2011. And if not for a trade from Niagara Falls to Owen Sound, there&rsquo;s a chance the hockey world would not have noticed Shaw. He was a crucial part of the Attack&rsquo;s playoff run and led the 2011 Memorial Cup in scoring. The next thing you know, he&rsquo;s an NHL playoff hero and dropping F-bombs on NBC.Shaw has become a favorite among Hawk fans who see him as a whirling dervish, and teammates who see a player who seems always wired on caffeine. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll probably be here at 9 o&rsquo;clock tomorrow morning bouncing off the walls,&rdquo; said Patrick Sharp shortly after Shaw scored the Game 1 winner.Added Patrick Kane: &ldquo;There&rsquo;s times I&rsquo;ve almost told him to shut up because he just asks questions and doesn&rsquo;t stop talking.&rdquo;Sometimes when a player is as tenacious as Shaw, the narrative gets skewed. People get so focused on the grit and determination they forget there is a talented hockey player under all of that. That is the case with Shaw, who plays the game at a high level, but continues to be defined by his ability to overcome and his willingness to do whatever it takes to be successful. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s that killer instinct,&rdquo; Shaw said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always had it. Both my brothers and my dad have it. I&rsquo;m stubborn, I guess. I never listened to anyone.&rdquo;<h2>GAME ONE | CHI 4 BOS 3 3OT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-021037/9868968-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="582" height="313"></div>1 Lucic wrister past Crawford&rsquo;s glove.2 Lucic slapshot, high-glove.3 Saad one-timer over Rask&rsquo;s shoulder.4 Bergeron one-timer, glove side.5 Bolland one-timer, stick side.6 Oduya shot off Ference&rsquo;s skate and in.7 Shaw deflection via shin pad. &#9632;

f0028-01

ANDREW SHAW

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011301/9869013-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CHICAGOIt&rsquo;s a Sunday morning and the playoff grind has clearly gotten to Tuukka Rask. Not the part about playing the games, even the overtime ones. That&rsquo;s the easy part.What is really wearing him down is having to talk about how the 2013 playoffs are becoming The Tuukka Rask Coming Out Party. &ldquo;I mean, I think I&rsquo;ve answered that question a hundred times already,&rdquo; he says with a roll of his eyes. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always good to play in the playoffs. I don&rsquo;t try to prove anything to anybody else but myself and my teammates.&rdquo;If there&rsquo;s anyone who has spent more time proving himself than Tuukka Rask has, he&rsquo;d be extremely difficult to find. That&rsquo;s what happens, though, when you follow in the skate grooves of Tim Thomas, one of the all-time great goaltenders in Boston Bruins history and one of the all-time biggest mysteries in the history of the game.But Rask has made everyone, even in the Bruins room, forget about Thomas, who took this season off to focus on family, friends and faith. So Rask took over the crease and has focused on rebounds, glove saves and shutouts.<blockquote class="pullQuote">TUUKKA&rsquo;S DONE AN OUTSTANDING JOB. HE&rsquo;S BEEN AS MUCH OF A CONTRIBUTOR AS TIM WAS &ndash; Claude Julien</blockquote>Two years ago, Thomas gave the Bruins one of the greatest post-seasons in NHL history in leading the Bruins to the Stanley Cup, but Rask wasn&rsquo;t to be outdone this spring. Included in his impressive body of work was a 33-save performance in Game 2 of the final, including 18 saves in the first period in which the Bruins were soundly outplayed. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s really no time to think, there&rsquo;s too many shots,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just wanted to keep the game tight, give us a chance to survive that first period and regroup.&rdquo;Yes, Rask might have channelled his inner Thomas for the run, giving his team the same level of confidence they had with Thomas in the net. It&rsquo;s just that things aren&rsquo;t as, well, let&rsquo;s say, eventful with Rask around.Thomas was a great goalie. There is no disputing that. With Rask, however, the B&rsquo;s don&rsquo;t have to worry about their goaltender not showing up at the White House or making controversial public proclamations. &ldquo;Tuukka might be a little more normal,&rdquo; said right winger Tyler Seguin. &ldquo;But Timmy was a great guy and he helped us win a Stanley Cup.&rdquo;Bringing up the subject of Thomas, at least during the playoffs, was something a little like walking on eggshells with the Bruins. Consider this bizarre exchange when Rask was asked whether he has kept in touch with Thomas over the past season:Question: &ldquo;Do you ever talk to Tim Thomas at all? Do you keep in touch with him?&rdquo; Answer: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to comment on that. That&rsquo;s between him and me. I&rsquo;ve talked to him in the past.&rdquo; Question: Are you still friends? Do you still chat?&rdquo; Answer: &ldquo;Yeah.&rdquo; Question: &ldquo;Has he offered his support?&rdquo; Answer: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to comment on that.&rdquo;Well, all right then. We&rsquo;ll leave it at that. And that&rsquo;s probably as it should be since the Bruins are now Rask&rsquo;s team. Rask watched Thomas during his historic run and obviously learned a few things about dealing with the ups and downs of the playoffs. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s just as good,&rdquo; said Bruins coach Claude Julien when asked to compare the two playoff runs. &ldquo;Tim had been a great goaltender for us. When you lose a guy like that, there&rsquo;s always that fear that you&rsquo;re not going to be able to replace him. Tuukka&rsquo;s done an outstanding job. To me, he&rsquo;s been as much of a contributor to our team as Tim was two years ago.&rdquo;<h2>GAME TWO | BOS 2 CHI 1 OT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02893/9869006-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="582" height="327"></div>1 Sharp wrister after a mad scramble.2 Kelly jams in rebound under Crawford.3 Paille wrist shot off inside of post. &#9632;

f0029-01

TUUKKA RASK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011486/9869051-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>BOSTONYes, the 2003 draft was a ridiculously strong one, the most star-studded 18-year-old draft in NHL history. But geez, Louise, how on Earth did Patrice Bergeron make it through 44 picks and at least one selection by 26 of the league&rsquo;s 30 teams before the Boston Bruins took him 45th overall? (Full disclosure: in our annual Draft Preview issue that year, THN didn&rsquo;t have him listed among its top 100 prospects. Shea Weber, who went four picks after Bergeron, was at No. 76. Ahem.)His late draft slot had something to do with razzle-dazzle, we have to assume. Bergeron doesn&rsquo;t have it. Never has. Never will. But if all you want to do is win hockey games, it&rsquo;s a good idea to have him on your team. Which brings us to the 2014 Canadian Olympic squad. Sidney Crosby is your No. 1 center and Bergeron should be No. 2. Everybody else can fight for the other two spots.When you look at Bergeron, he&rsquo;s as close to the perfect player as you can find. He also appears to be the perfect person. On the ice, he almost always does the right thing. Same thing in the dressing room and beyond the rink. &ldquo;If you have a daughter,&rdquo; said Bergeron&rsquo;s linemate Brad Marchand, &ldquo;he&rsquo;s the type of guy you want dating your daughter. He&rsquo;s the nicest guy in the world. He always wants to help you out. He&rsquo;s the perfect guy.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">HE&rsquo;S THE NICEST GUY IN THE WORLD. HE ALWAYS WANTS TO HELP YOU OUT. HE&rsquo;S PERFECT &ndash; Brad Marchand</blockquote>He was certainly the perfect guy in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final. Not only did he score a goal to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead, he helped the Bruins start with the puck on a mindboggling 24 of 28 faceoffs. Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks went 8-for-19 in the same game. That&rsquo;s the same Toews who edged Bergeron in one of the closest votes in Selke Trophy history. Toews won by only 10 voting points, despite the fact Bergeron had 78 first-place votes compared to 75 for Toews.Had Bergeron won the Selke, it would have been his second straight and nobody would have argued. Any discussion of the best three-zone players in the NHL has to include Bergeron, but his play on the defensive side of his own blueline has gained him the most accolades. The offense, which came in Game 3 when he converted a pinpoint pass from Jaromir Jagr on a power play, is a bonus. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen anybody be that hungry in the defensive zone,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;He even likes it more than in the offensive zone. He wants to win every battle on the boards and he&rsquo;s so responsible back there.&rdquo;Bergeron tells those who will listen not to get him wrong, he loves life in the offensive zone and he enjoys scoring goals just as much as the next guy. After all, he had 73 points in the first year after the 2004-05 lockout and has consistently produced 50-60 points over the past three years. Makes you wonder what kind of player Bergeron would be if he decided to focus more on offense. Well, keep wondering, because that&rsquo;s never going to happen. Bergeron is a selfless player who knows the Bruins&rsquo; chances of winning increase exponentially when he is as much a force in the defensive zone as he is at the other end of the ice.Bruins coach Claude Julien said perhaps the most impressive thing about Bergeron is his willingness to get even better. Julien recalls a number of times when Bergeron has been first in the video room, on his own, breaking down his game and agonizing over the most minute defensive mistakes. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s 100 percent involved in his job when he&rsquo;s at the rink,&rdquo; Julien said. &ldquo;He does everything he can to be the best player out there.&rdquo;And he often succeeds in doing so.<h2>GAME THREE | BOS 2 CHI 0</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-021024/9869044-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="582" height="298"></div>1 Paille beats Crawford short-side.2 Bergeron one-timer cross-crease. &#9632;

f0030-01

PATRICE BERGERON

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011352/9869089-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRIAN BABINEAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>BOSTONSo Brent Seabrook knows a little something about perseverance. For years, a lot of people in the hockey world believed he rode Duncan Keith&rsquo;s coattails all the way to an Olympic gold medal and Stanley Cup in the same year. The notion is preposterous. Just ask anyone connected with the Blackhawks.Truth is, nobody knows where the Blackhawks would have been without Seabrook this season. When he scored to give Chicago a wild 6-5 overtime win in Game 4, he simply got on one knee, did the lawnmower pull celebration and turned around to face his teammates. Taking the Vince Lombardi advice, he acted like he had been there before.And he had. Seabrook was the overtime hero in Game 7 of the second round against the Detroit Red Wings. But that&rsquo;s only part of it. He seems to have an ability to bring out the best in his teammates as well. First of all, he&rsquo;s had a little something to do with Keith&rsquo;s success. It hasn&rsquo;t been a one-way street.But perhaps Seabrook&rsquo;s greatest contribution to the success of the Hawks in the post-season was his ability to talk captain Jonathan Toews down from the ledge. In Game 4 against Detroit and with Toews taking a series of penalties and losing his composure, Seabrook actually opened the penalty box door and calmed Toews down.<blockquote class="pullQuote">I DON&rsquo;T HAVE ICE IN MY VEINS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. I&rsquo;M JUST PLAYING A GAME. I LOVE OVERTIME &ndash; Brent Seabrook</blockquote>Then when it came for someone to urge Toews to put the puck in the net, Seabrook stepped up again. He said he was getting tired of hearing everyone talk about all the things Toews was doing right. The implication was clear: working your ass off isn&rsquo;t enough. When the two were sitting in the lounge of their Boston hotel before Game 4, Toews was brooding over his lack of production and Seabrook asked him a question. &ldquo;He just asked me, &lsquo;What are you thinking about?&rsquo; and I was like, &lsquo;Nothing, what are you thinking about?&rsquo; &rdquo; Toews said. &ldquo;And he looked at me again and I realized what he wanted me to say: I snapped back and said, &lsquo;scoring goals.&rsquo; There you go.&rdquo;There you go, indeed. But for the past eight years, Seabrook has been much more than a motivational speaker. As part of the Blackhawks&rsquo; top tandem with Keith, he has long been a productive and selfless player. He&rsquo;s Keith&rsquo;s equal when it comes to playing with poise in his own end of the rink. Even though his minutes have been trimmed, he&rsquo;s capable of logging lots of ice time. His shot from the point, as evidenced by his goal in Game 4, is hard, heavy and accurate, and he has a solid first pass.For all the good offensive things Keith does and all the accolades he gains for moving the puck out of the Hawks&rsquo; end, Seabrook does a lot of the work that leads up to those passes and transitions. And he has developed a penchant for making big plays when the Blackhawks need them most. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve got ice in my veins or anything like that,&rdquo; said the 28-year-old veteran. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just playing a game. I love overtime. I grew up loving it and just to be able to get opportunities and play in games like that, they&rsquo;re a lot of fun. Everything is right on the line. I definitely try and raise my game in overtime and try and be better.&rdquo;<h2>GAME FOUR | CHI 6 BOS 5 OT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02919/9869082-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="649" height="310"></div>1 Handzus converts one-timer.2 Peverley beats Crawford glove-side.3 Toews tips point shot past Rask.4 Kane backhand on a scramble.5 Lucic buries own rebound.6 Kruger top-shelf second effort.7 Bergeron bats in bouncing puck.8 Bergeron one-timer glove-side.9 Sharp rebound on doorstep.10 Boychuk slapshot glove-side.11 Seabrook slapshot blocker-side. &#9632;

f0031-01

BRENT SEABROOK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011464/9869127-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BILL SMITH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>CHICAGOPatrick Kane spent much of this year proving he&rsquo;d matured as a person and it appears as though he has done that. His teammates have noticed a change, so we&rsquo;ll take their word for it.On the ice, the 24-year-old Kane has grown up some as well. His playoff beard, while still sketchy and light, is much more voluminous than it was three years ago. He seems to have curbed his rather annoying habit of using his mouthguard the way a dog uses a chew toy. But he has refined his game and the eye-popping skills and creativity that made him the 2007 first overall pick have been sharpened. When Kane has the puck on his stick, we&rsquo;re talking Pavel Datsyuk-like moves.Case in point was Game 5 of the final, where Kane was the difference maker when his team needed him most. Nothing terribly unique about that. After all, Kane scored the overtime goal that won the 2010 Stanley Cup for the Blackhawks and the one that eliminated the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference final. Clearly, the young man loves to shine and wants the puck at crucial times.<blockquote class="pullQuote">HE&rsquo;S THE BEST PUCKHANDLER IN THE LEAGUE. HE&rsquo;S AT A WHOLE OTHER LEVEL &ndash; Duncan Keith</blockquote>But what was really noteworthy was the way he scored the goals in the fifth game. Both were in tight, with little room to work and even less time. Those goals might look easy, but try scoring one. They require a deft touch. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best puckhandler in the league,&rdquo; said defenseman Duncan Keith. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see too many guys better than him. I watch him in practice and he&rsquo;s at a whole other level. The ability to skate with his head up and make plays in tight, I think the only other guy is Datsyuk.&rdquo;Those skills have always been there. The willingness to go to the net to make those kinds of plays? Not so much. There are still times when Kane plays on the periphery more than Chicago would like, but he&rsquo;s added gumption to his game. Chances are, Kane will win a Lady Byng Trophy at some point &ndash; he finished with six fewer penalty minutes this season than Martin St-Louis, to whom Kane finished second in voting &ndash; but that doesn&rsquo;t mean he can&rsquo;t be tough around the net. The Lady Byng winner should be a guy like St-Louis or Kane, a player who will go to the nasty areas to score goals without retaliating. &ldquo;I was in the right spot at the right time tonight on both goals,&rdquo; Kane said. &ldquo;Everyone wants to be that guy in big-time games and I&rsquo;ve been lucky enough in a couple to step up.&rdquo;Being reunited with Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell helped, but Kane was being a little too modest. First, being in the right spot has nothing to do with luck. Just ask anyone who scores in those areas. &ldquo;Those goals look easy, but they&rsquo;re not as easy as they look,&rdquo; said Patrick Sharp, who knows a few things about lurking in the danger zones.There are a lot of players who don&rsquo;t score near as much as they should, or in crucial situations, because they don&rsquo;t venture into those places on the ice. Second, it requires a unique kind of player to constantly want to have the puck on his stick in difference-making situations. &ldquo;Guys that have that kind of innate skill of scoring and being a top player,&rdquo; said coach Joel Quenneville, &ldquo;they anticipate like the rest of us would like to.&rdquo;And it&rsquo;s because he can that Kane stars in the NHL, makes $6.3 million a year to do it and shines brightest when the spotlight is directly on him.<h2>GAME FIVE | CHI 3 BOS 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02992/9869120-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="582" height="350"></div>1 Kane tucks puck around post behind Rask.2 Kane roofs backhand over sprawled Rask.3 Chara one-timer beats Crawford glove side.4 Kane backhand on a scramble. &#9632;

f0032-01

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011301/9869165-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>BOSTONImagine, actor Jim Belushi introducing himself to Corey Crawford. That&rsquo;s exactly what happened after Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final. Let&rsquo;s face it: Crawford has had his critics and doubters. According to Belushi, however, Crawford did just fine. Seconds after the introduction, Belushi gave Crawford a large, heartfelt hug and said, &ldquo;We have to go and celebrate. God bless you. God bless you, man.&rdquo;As Crawford stood at center ice of the TD Garden, he did so a Stanley Cup winner. He did something that three Hall of Fame goaltenders &ndash; Tony Esposito, Ed Belfour and Dominik Hasek (we&rsquo;re pretty sure he&rsquo;s getting in) &ndash; had failed to do: he led the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup.He looked exhausted, almost as spent as he did after the marathon session that was Game 1. In both cases, Crawford marvelled at his teammates for their refusal to quit and for their unwavering confidence. But perhaps it was time, finally, to marvel at what Crawford had done. After all, he never quit, never wavered, never lost his confidence. Not through four years of slugging it out in the minors, not through all of the criticisms of his supposedly leaky glove hand. Not through the constant calls in Chicago for an upgrade in goal or demands from the fans that coach Joel Quenneville hand the reins to backup Ray Emery.<blockquote class="pullQuote">EVERYONE IN OUR ROOM HAD CONFIDENCE IN EVERYBODY ELSE. WE NEVER LOST THAT &ndash; Corey Crawford</blockquote>Crawford handled all that white noise with a sense of humor. When his glove hand became the subject of intense scrutiny in the final, he remarked that in the previous series it was his blocker hand. They both must be lousy, he reckoned. &ldquo;Never thought about (the criticism),&rdquo; Crawford said. &ldquo;Everyone in our room had confidence in everybody else and we never lost that.&rdquo;After allowing five goals to his glove side in the Blackhawks wild 6-5 overtime win in Game 4, your trusty correspondent asked Chicago coach Joel Quenneville whether he would even consider turning to Emery for Game 5. He didn&rsquo;t and that&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s an NHL coach. Crawford redeemed himself, particularly in Game 6 when Boston was completely outplaying Chicago in the first period. &ldquo;I got a question the other day which was kind of surprising,&rdquo; Quenneville said. &ldquo; &lsquo;Who&rsquo;s going to play your next game?&rsquo; It was obvious who&rsquo;s going to play our next game because (Crawford) was the reason we were playing the next game. It was that type of year for him and I&rsquo;m very happy for him.&rdquo;Any one of four or five Blackhawks could have won the Conn Smythe Trophy. Crawford most certainly played his way into that conversation with a 1.84 goals-against average and .932 save percentage in the post-season. Even the guy who won, Patrick Kane, thought Crawford deserved the trophy more than he did. Almost as important, Crawford played his way into serious consideration for one of the three goaltending spots on the Canadian Olympic team in Sochi. If he gets one, it will be the first time he will have worn a maple leaf on his chest.He has all summer to wrap his head around that one. To be sure, he enters the evaluation camp in August as a legitimate candidate, possibly even for the No. 1 job. After all, he&rsquo;s the first Canadian goalie in four years to lead his team to the Stanley Cup. And that&rsquo;s probably good enough for him right now. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great feeling to lift the Cup,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So much hard work.&rdquo;<h2>GAME SIX | CHI 3 BOS 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02898/9869158-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="582" height="298"></div>1 Kelly one-timer from Seguin.2 Toews goes five-hole on Rask to tie it up.3 Krejci to Lucic out front.4 Bickell one-timer out front from Toews.5 Bolland bangs in the rebound to ice it. &#9632;

f0033-01

COREY CRAWFORD

<div class="byline">BY&nbsp;KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011485/9869210-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">DOWN BUT NOT OUTBoston&rsquo;s playoff run rallied fans around victims of the attack such as Jeff Bauman. (BRIAN BABINEAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>BOSTONFor 18 years, Larry Venis has been the head athletic trainer for the men&rsquo;s hockey team at Boston University. In that time, he&rsquo;s tended to the aches and pains of almost 30 players who went on to play in the NHL, including Tom Poti, Chris Drury, Rick DiPietro and Kevin Shattenkirk. He has been there for some great times &ndash; two national championships, five Hockey East titles and 12 Beanpot Tournament wins &ndash; but he has also known profound tragedy.Venis was first on the scene when Travis Roy, a freshman, slammed headfirst into the boards 11 seconds into his first college shift in 1995. Venis was credited with saving Roy&rsquo;s life, but by the time he arrived on the ice to help him the devastating and irreversible damage had already been done. Roy had cracked his fourth and fifth vertebra and was rendered a quadriplegic.There&rsquo;s a feeling of helplessness in all that, particularly for someone who helps people for a living. Among the many shocking images of the Boston Marathon bombings, there is one of a policeman and another man tearing down a fence so they could get to the victims. That other man is Venis.For the past 26 years, Venis has volunteered with the medical team at the Boston Marathon. Most years, his main task is to guide disoriented runners into the medical tent after they finish their race and get them to the proper treatment area. But just when he and his fellow volunteers were remarking on how few distressed runners there were in this year&rsquo;s race, everything changed. Two pressure cooker bombs that sounded like blown off manhole covers had exploded within 13 seconds and 210 yards of each other near the finish line. As was the case with Roy, Venis was a first responder. He was standing 40 yards from the spot where the first bomb went off. &ldquo;I saw things I never want to see again,&rdquo; Venis said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been to war, but I gained an appreciation for anyone who has ever been in a war zone, because that was the same thing. You see the limbs and all the blood&hellip;but I saw a lot of good come out of that day, too.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011374/9869203-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="1397" height="951"><figcaption class="caption-body">EXTRAORDINARY CITIZENBoston U. trainer Larry Venis (red cap) was among the first responders after the attack. (JOHN TLUMACKI/THE BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Hundreds of thousands of people in Boston have been affected by the bombings, some as profoundly as Venis, a 51-year-old father of three children who rushed to the aid of the injured. Most others had a less direct connection to the tragedy, but almost all of them, in some way, were looking to heal.Which brings us to the question: can a hockey team on a Stanley Cup run, in some small way, help with that healing process? That the Bruins couldn&rsquo;t undo what was done April 15 is obvious. Nobody can. But by giving the city something else to focus on, the Bruins tried their best to do their part. One of the photos that made the rounds was of eight-year-old Martin Richard, the first of the three dead in the blast, standing beside his father and wearing a Boston Bruins sweatshirt. In the first game the Bruins played at home after the tragedy, someone draped a Bruins T-shirt with the No. 8 and &ldquo;Martin Richard&rdquo; on the back over the statue of Bobby Orr outside the TD Garden.It&rsquo;s easy to forget the Bruins were part of this, too. Coach Claude Julien said it was all the players talked about in the days following the attack and the players here are as big a part of the community as you&rsquo;ll find in any NHL city. Some, like captain Zdeno Chara, bike to and from practice. Most of them live in the city year-round. They love it here because people in this city appreciate hard-working, humble people and love them back. The Bruins have worked hard to honor those involved in the bombings on the ice and off. &ldquo;Maybe at the beginning we were trying a little too hard to go out and be heroes and want to win every game and do it for the city and do it for the people,&rdquo; said defenseman Adam McQuaid. &ldquo;Maybe we took it a little too much on ourselves, but now we&rsquo;re just trying to give people a couple hours when they can be happy about us and think about something else.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">WE&rsquo;RE HOPING WE&rsquo;RE HELPING. WE COME TO THE RINK EVERY DAY AND WE LOVE THIS CITY AND IF IT HELPS, THAT&rsquo;S AMAZING &ndash; Shawn Thornton</blockquote>McQuaid&rsquo;s teammate Shawn Thornton has played six years in Boston, the past couple on one of the NHL&rsquo;s best fourth lines. Fans have grown to love him for his rough-and-tumble ways and the feeling is mutual. Thornton can often be seen on off days wearing a Red Sox cap and on one off-day he was wearing a T-shirt promoting Wild Card Boxing Club, which is run by Boston native and Boxing Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach. Thornton calls Boston a &ldquo;small, big city,&rdquo; where the players feel comfortable and appreciated. Samuel Adams and Harpoon, &ldquo;really good beers,&rdquo; also help. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to talk about because to put (the bombings) into the same perspective as a hockey game isn&rsquo;t right,&rdquo; Thornton said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to speak for others, but we&rsquo;re hoping we&rsquo;re helping. We come to the rink every day and we love this city and if it helps, that&rsquo;s amazing.There&rsquo;s something about the accomplishments of a sports team that galvanizes a city. It brings together people who might not have much in common and it captures the imaginations and excitement of those who aren&rsquo;t even big fans of that sport. The Bruins, with their run to the Cup final, are no different than any other team in that regard. But they have, in a small way this spring, given another dimension to the &ldquo;Boston Strong&rdquo; motto adopted since the bombings.Larry Venis is proud of what he and others did that day. He takes comfort in how so many people went so quickly from spectators to lifesavers. He beams over the fact almost 100 people hurt in the bombings were put through the medical tents and transferred to hospitals in 23 minutes. And he&rsquo;s proud of the Bruins and what they did to help Boston heal. &ldquo;People say I was a hero, but I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m a hero,&rdquo; Venis said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m one small pebble in a quarry of heroes.&rdquo;And when you gather up enough of those pebbles, in part with a hockey team that galvanizes people by showing it cares and winning games, then you get a rock. And in a small way you help make things better.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02979/9869196-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="858" height="1213"><figcaption class="caption-body">(DAVID L. RYAN/THE BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

BOSTON STRONG

<div class="byline">WITH ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01597/9869241-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SIMPLY OUTSTANDINGPatrice Bergeron and Jonathan Toews proved they&rsquo;re among the NHL&rsquo;s best players in the Cup final. (DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02393/9869248-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="185" height="220"></div>THE 2013 STANLEY CUP FINAL HAS taught us many lessons: multiple overtimes are a thing of beauty despite the bags they leave under your eyes the next morning at work; Zdeno Chara&rsquo;s strength, consistency and durability are things of beauty despite his bearded, bug-eyed appearance that could give movie villain Freddy Krueger nightmares on all streets; and depth on defense is as important as anything in the modern-day NHL.But the biggest lesson I&rsquo;m taking away is this: in large part thanks to the performances of Hawks captain Jonathan Toews and Bruins center Patrice Bergeron, we all need to adjust our idea of what truly encapsulates an outstanding/valuable player.Yes, I&rsquo;m still bitter over the way the Hart Trophy voting played out this season. Giving Capitals star Alex Ovechkin the Hart for a season that began with him playing like a shadow of his former self before finding his former self and ending the year strongly did not sit well with me. My first-place Hart vote went to Toews, precisely because the people I spoke with who are connected to the game (GMs, players, coaches and scouts) never once mentioned Ovechkin as being deserving of that honor and spoke almost in hushed tones about the myriad of talents the Chicago center brings to the table. Yet clearly, the flash and bang of Ovechkin&rsquo;s goal-scoring hot streak resonated with more voters than did the less-sexy areas in which Toews excelled.<blockquote class="pullQuote">WE ALL NEED TO ADJUST OUR IDEA OF WHAT TRULY ENCAPSULATES AN OUSTANDING/VALUABLE PLAYER</blockquote>But after the playoffs &ndash; in which Toews and Bergeron stepped up at crucial moments to push their team to greater heights &ndash; I don&rsquo;t see how anyone can make the case these two should take a backseat to another player simply because he&rsquo;s more adept at offense. At some point we&rsquo;ve been collectively hypnotized to recognize one or two statistical categories as the chief indicators of a NHLer&rsquo;s worth. It&rsquo;s understandable why: you can&rsquo;t promote a player&rsquo;s prowess in advanced stats comparisons through highlight-reel clips. They don&rsquo;t translate.But when NHL coaches and players talk about doing the little things right, this is what they mean. This is why league observers have marvelled at Bergeron for years. He doesn&rsquo;t have the ability to amass as many goals as Ovechkin, but Bergeron&rsquo;s skills in the faceoff circle are unparalleled and the work he did shutting down Sidney Crosby in the Eastern Conference final will stand up as some of the finest defensive play of his (or any modern-day player&rsquo;s) career. Bergeron also stepped up to provide post-season offense in a way Toews hadn&rsquo;t, but that doesn&rsquo;t take away from the importance of his all-around play.Interestingly enough, Toews edged Bergeron to win the Selke Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s best defensive forward. Traditionally, that honor has been dwarfed by the Hart and Art Ross Trophies, but ask yourself: what matters more when the games never matter more?The correct answer is not a boatload of goals or assists. Those are harder and harder to come by at playoff time. The correct answer is two-way play from a team cornerstone that hangs hard on the puck regardless of where it is located.Bergeron and Toews needed more than a little help from their teammates for the Bruins and Blackhawks to make it further than 28 other teams did. But it&rsquo;s well past time the hockey world looked beyond the surface attraction of an elite, one-dimensional offensive menace and instead celebrated the players who truly are indispensable to their franchise.With all due respect to Ovechkin, that&rsquo;s Toews and Bergeron. The proof is in the Stanley Cup final.WANT MORE PROTEAU? READ HIS EXCLUSIVE WEB COLUMN THURSDAYS AT <a href="http://THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM/PROTEAU">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM/PROTEAU</a> &#9632;

f0047-01

TWICE AS NICE

<div class="byline">BY AARON PORTZLINE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01467/9869293-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="271" height="300"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02300/9869286-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="1390" height="984"><figcaption class="caption-body">IT ENDED IN EVERETTRyan Murray&rsquo;s 2012-13 was done in November after he sustained a torn labrum in his shoulder in WHL play. (CHRISTOPHER MAST)</figcaption></div>NHL development camps usually take place in late June or early July, when the rest of the hockey world is on holiday and most families are packing up for summer vacations. It&rsquo;s the price NHL hopefuls pay to reach the big time. Ryan Murray, however, can&rsquo;t wait to get back on the ice after a long winter spent working his way back from injury.Murray was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft, a coveted player after a three-year run in the Western League. How coveted? The New York Islanders offered the Blue Jackets all their 2012 draft picks &ndash; yes, every pick in every round, including the No. 4 overall selection &ndash; to move up two spots and draft Murray. And the Blue Jackets quickly said no.Murray is regarded as a smooth-skating, puck-moving, high-IQ defenseman, a player who would have challenged Jonathan Huberdeau, Brendan Gallagher and others for the Calder Trophy had he stayed healthy.Murray, remaining with his junior club in Everett, Wash., during the NHL lockout, suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder Nov. 16 when he tried to break his fall after an awkward collision.He missed the rest of the season and the injury was so severe that doctors waited two months for surgery, allowing the trauma in the shoulder to calm.Suddenly, morning rehab exercises took the place of morning skates and road trips were replaced by doctor visits. &ldquo;I started skating when I was two and started playing, I think, when I was four,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been off the ice this long in my life and it was killing me.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve broken bones. I&rsquo;ve had injuries, like everybody. But nothing like this.&rdquo;Murray faces one more evaluation with doctors at the Cleveland Clinic before he&rsquo;ll be cleared for contact in the Blue Jackets development camp, scheduled for July 8-11. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t wait,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping for one more good doctor visit.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re playing or practising almost every day, there are times when you get worn down or maybe you&rsquo;d like to take a break. It gets to be a grind. But being out this long and not being able to even skate for most of it has reminded me of how much I love the game. I really missed it. There are a lot of things you take for granted when you&rsquo;re healthy.&rdquo;Murray said his left arm is still noticeably weaker than his right, but it&rsquo;s come a long way in the five months since surgery. He expects the difference to be negligible by NHL training camp in September.Murray would almost certainly have made the Blue Jackets out of training camp last September, but the scene has changed in Columbus &ndash; in so many ways.First off, there are two new guys in charge of the Blue Jackets roster and neither of them drafted Murray. President of hockey operations John Davidson was hired in October after leaving the St. Louis Blues and GM Jarmo Kekalainen was hired in February to replace Scott Howson, who drafted Murray.Further, the Blue Jackets&rsquo; defense corps is the most secure position on the roster. Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski, Fedor Tyutin and Nikita Nikitin are established, while Dalton Prout and Tim Erixon joined the ranks as rookies last season. Veteran Adrian Aucoin may return, too. &ldquo;Nothing is ever promised and nothing is ever given,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the NHL. It&rsquo;s not easy to be a top-six or -seven defenseman. But I&rsquo;m ready to give it a shot. It&rsquo;ll be a great feeling to be healthy and competing again.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-03210/9869279-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="224" height="310"></div>OVER THE FOLLOWING PAGES&nbsp;you&rsquo;ll find all-prospect teams for each franchise based on THN&rsquo;s Future Watch 2013. &#9632;

f0048-01

ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ERIC STEPHENS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01452/9869401-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="936" height="167"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02349/9869394-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="599" height="571"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN GIBSON (GIBSON: MARTIN ROSE/BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>FAST-RISING NETMINDER JOHN GIBSON conquered the Ontario League and then the world stage. All that appears left for the Pittsburgh native to master is the pro game.Five months after lifting Team USA to a gold medal with a star turn at the world juniors, the Anaheim Ducks&rsquo; uber-prospect was back in the international spotlight and collecting more hardware. Gibson supplanted Ben Bishop as the go- to goalie for the U.S. and ended the World Championship by backstopping the Americans to bronze with a 3-2 win over Finland. &ldquo;Any time you can represent for your country is an honor,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;To be able to win a gold medal (and then) win a bronze medal against NHL-caliber guys and some of the best players in the world, those two tournaments are something I&rsquo;ll never forget and will stay with me for the rest of my life.&rdquo;His final numbers from the worlds &ndash; a 3-1 mark, one shutout, a 1.56 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage &ndash; feed the opinion of those who believe he&rsquo;s ready for the NHL. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really worry about that,&rdquo; Gibson said. &ldquo;I worry about stuff day by day. It&rsquo;s nice to hear, but you just got to keep working. You can never be satisfied.&rdquo;Anaheim already has a competent duo in Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth and the preferred move is to have Gibson serve an American League apprenticeship. &ldquo;Right now all I&rsquo;m focused on is just going to camp and trying to make an impression,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If I ever get the opportunity, I&rsquo;ll make the most of it and we&rsquo;ll see happens from there.&rdquo;<h2>ANAHEIM DUCKS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03275/9869387-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="132" height="39"></div>G:&nbsp;John Gibson, 20, Kitchener (OHL)Decorated with WJC and sterling numbersD: Hampus Lindholm, 19, Norfolk (AHL)Showed skill and poise as 18-year-old in AHLSami Vatanen, 22, Norfolk (AHL)Undersized Finn posted great stats as rookie proF: Rickard Rakell, 20, Plymouth (OHL)Had NHL trial due to solid two-way gameWilliam Karlsson, 20, HV71 (Swe.)Production waned first season in elite leaguePeter Holland, 22, Norfolk (AHL)Physical pivot had 21-game NHL audition</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-04255/9869380-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(LINDHOLM: JOHN WRIGHT/COURTESY OF NORFOLK ADMIRALS)</figcaption></div>Losing two skilled blueline prospects in one year (Jake Gardiner and Justin Schultz) briefly stopped the hearts of Anaheim&rsquo;s talent developers, so Hampus Lindholm was drafted early in 2012. The super-talented and towering Swede came over from Rogle right away and played well before and after sustaining two concussions.<h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-05202/9869373-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="130" height="39"></div>G: Malcolm Subban, 19, Belleville (OHL)Great in OHL, so-so for Canada at world juniorsD: Torey Krug, 22, Providence (AHL)Went from project to folk hero in Stanley Cup runMatt Grzelcyk, 19, Boston U. (HE)U.S. NTDP product had solid freshman yearF: Alexander Khokhlachev, 19, Windsor (OHL)Matured playing in KHL, OHL and AHL in &rsquo;12-13Ryan Spooner, 21, Providence (AHL)With 57 pts. in 59 GP in AHL, little left to proveAnthony Camara, 19, Barrie (OHL)Energy guy&rsquo;s 36 goals surpassed expectations</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-06124/9869366-1-eng-US/f0049-062.jpg" title="f0049-06" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(KRUG: STEVE BABINEAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Torey Krug&rsquo;s size was always a concern, but Boston inked the Michigan State product for his tantalizing offense. After a solid AHL campaign, he was pressed into duty for the injury-riddled Bruins during their playoff run. He wowed with four goals and six points in his first nine games, all but locking down a spot for next season.<h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0787/9869359-1-eng-US/f0049-072.jpg" title="f0049-07" width="125" height="39"></div>G: Matt Hackett, 23, Rochester (AHL)A Miller trade would open his path to the NHLD: Mark Pysyk, 21, Rochester (AHL)Puck-mover ran hot and cold in first AHL seasonJerome Gauthier-Leduc, 21, Rochester (AHL)Prolific junior scorer struggled to find touchF: Mikhail Grigorenko, 19, Quebec (QMJHL)Mulligan on NHL debut; 30 G in 33 GP in juniorJoel Armia, 20, Assat (Fin.)Inconsistent sniper dominates international playZemgus Girgensons, 19, Rochester (AHL)Underwhelmed, but USHL to AHL is a big jump</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0855/9869352-1-eng-US/f0049-082.jpg" title="f0049-08" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(GRIGORENKO: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>It wasn&rsquo;t the debut season Mikhail Grigorenko, Future Watch&rsquo;s No. 16 prospect, envisioned. He scored once in 25 games, was often a healthy scratch on a floundering team that fired coach Lindy Ruff and he was sent back to junior. With Buffalo in rebuild mode now, he should get a much bigger opportunity to bloom.<h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0947/9869345-1-eng-US/f0049-092.jpg" title="f0049-09" width="128" height="41"></div>G: Laurent Brossoit, 20, Edmonton (WHL)Posted more great stats on a stellar junior teamD: Chris Breen, 24, Abbotsford (AHL)Tall, rangy and stay-at-home type. Clock tickingPatrick Sieloff, 19, Windsor (OHL)Punishing hitter and ultra-competitiveF: John Gaudreau, 19, Boston College (HE)Hobey Baker finalist a magician in tight spotsMark Jankowski, 18, Providence (HE)Quiet offensive freshman season for first-rounderMarkus Granlund, 20, HIFK (Fin.)Second year in men&rsquo;s league for Mikael&rsquo;s brother</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1041/9869338-1-eng-US/f0049-102.jpg" title="f0049-10" width="316" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body">(GAUDREAU: BOSTON COLLEGE MEDIA RELATIONS/JOHN QUACKENBOS)</figcaption></div>In just his sophomore season, John Gaudreau averaged almost 1.5 points per game, was a star at the world juniors and almost won the nation&rsquo;s top award for collegiate players. Committed to the Eagles for another year, Gaudreau has also grown three inches since being drafted in the fourth round at 5-foot-6 two years ago.<h2>CAROLINA HURRICANES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1132/9869331-1-eng-US/f0049-112.jpg" title="f0049-11" width="131" height="41"></div>G: Daniel Altshuller, 19, Oshawa (OHL)Top 10 in each major OHL category, first in winsD: Ryan Murphy, 20, Kitchener (OHL)Offense declining; got first taste of NHL and AHLKeegan Lowe, 20, Edmonton (WHL)Improved goal output five-fold to lead team D-menF: Victor Rask, 20, Calgary (WHL)Played 10 AHL games before returning to juniorJeremy Welsh, 25, Charlotte (AHL)College signee and checker had 26 pts. in AHLPhil Di Giuseppe, 19, Michigan (CCHA)Solid college player was Canada WJC camp snub</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1229/9869324-1-eng-US/f0049-122.jpg" title="f0049-12" width="305" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body">(TERRY: GREGG FORWERCK/CHARLOTTE CHECKERS)</figcaption></div>With Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe RFAs and the former released on and recaptured through waivers, the Canes may give a secondary long-time prospect a shot in 2013-14. Chris Terry, a 2007 fifth-rounder, led AHL Charlotte in points for the second straight year and has been a top-two scorer on his farm team four straight years. &#9632;

f0049-01

WORLD DOMINATION

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RORY BOYLEN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01439/9869509-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="930" height="169"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02331/9869502-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="599" height="583"><figcaption class="caption-body">RADEK FAKSA</figcaption></div>A PLAYER&rsquo;S DRAFT YEAR IS ONE OF the most exciting times of his life. The following season, however, is one of the most demanding he will face.Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa knows this well. He had a sharp downturn in goal production this year with the OHL&rsquo;s Kitchener Rangers and didn&rsquo;t show the same energy he did in 2011-12, though it wasn&rsquo;t for a lack of desire. &ldquo;Travelling across the ocean several times last year, the NHL combines, individual interviews throughout North America, it took a toll on his body,&rdquo; said Rangers coach Steve Spott. &ldquo;Coming into this year he was physically and mentally exhausted.&rdquo;Further slowing Faksa down was a knee injury sustained shortly after returning from the world juniors. It kept him out of Kitchener&rsquo;s lineup for a month, but may have been a blessing in disguise. Helped by the extra rest, he played well down the stretch and in the playoffs before London eliminated Kitchener in Round 2.Despite Faksa&rsquo;s tough year, Spott believes he has the tools to make Dallas think hard about keeping him after training camp. Though with new GM Jim Nill coming over from the patient Detroit system, odds are Faksa will return to junior. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really looking forward to next year if he does end up in Kitchener to see what level he can take it to,&rdquo; Spott said. &ldquo;No one can deny his size and competitiveness and we can all recognize he has the potential to be a top-six forward in the NHL.&rdquo;<h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-03176/9869495-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="132" height="41"></div>G: Antti Raanta, 24, Assat (Fin.)Finland&rsquo;s regular season and playoff MVPD: Adam Clendening, 20, Rockford (AHL)Excelled as a power play QB in first pro seasonDylan Olsen, 22, Rockford (AHL)Regressed this year; Hawks want him meanerF: Teuvo Teravainen, 18, Jokerit (Fin.)Patrick Kane clone held own vs. men in FinlandJeremy Morin, 22, Rockford (AHL)Ideal for Hawks&rsquo; physical attack; just needs a spotPhillip Danault, 20, Moncton (QMJHL)Heady two-way pivot compared to Dave Bolland</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-04141/9869488-1-eng-US/f0050-042.jpg" title="f0050-04" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(MORIN: BILL SMITH/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>That ka-ching you hear is the sound of playoff hero Bryan Bickell signing a fat new contract as a UFA. If Chicago can&rsquo;t retain him, Jeremy Morin is an ideal replacement. He plays the same bruising style and his offense has improved dramatically: his 30 goals led AHL Rockford and the power forward had 86 PIM in 67 games.<h2>COLORADO AVALANCHE</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0596/9869481-1-eng-US/f0050-052.jpg" title="f0050-05" width="126" height="38"></div>G: Calvin Pickard, 21, Lake Erie (AHL)Improved as rookie pro season went alongD: Duncan Siemens, 19, Saskatoon (WHL)Rugged stay-at-home type growing into tall frameGus Young, 22, Yale (ECAC)Defense-minded; helped Bulldogs win NCAA titleF: Joey Hishon, 21, Lake Erie (AHL)Concussion issues limited him to nine gamesMike Sgarbossa, 21, Lake Erie (AHL)Rookie led Monsters in points much of seasonMitchell Heard, 21, Plymouth (OHL)Struggled in AHL before lighting it up in OHL</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0681/9869474-1-eng-US/f0050-062.jpg" title="f0050-06" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(HISHON: BEN HALL/LAKE ERIE MONSTERS)</figcaption></div>Joey Hishon, Colorado&rsquo;s first-rounder in 2010, missed almost two seasons with a concussion. He finally returned to action in March with Lake Erie in the AHL. Hishon experimented with a device called a GyroStim to relieve concussion symptoms when conventional methods failed. A late-season concussion side-lined him again, though.<h2>COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0757/9869467-1-eng-US/f0050-072.jpg" title="f0050-07" width="125" height="41"></div>G: Oscar Dansk, 19, Erie (OHL)Better than his junior numbers; had no &lsquo;D&rsquo; helpD: Ryan Murray, 19, Everett (WHL)Talented enough to make Jackets out of campMike Reilly, 20, Minnesota (WCHA)Impressed as freshman; won WJC gold with U.S.F: Boone Jenner, 20, Oshawa (OHL)Projects as a strong checking center and leaderMichael Chaput, 21, Springfield (AHL)Inconsistent, but flashed offense in first pro seasonJ. A-Marchessault, 22, Springfield (AHL)Almost a point per game in AHL, but undersized</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0844/9869460-1-eng-US/f0050-082.jpg" title="f0050-08" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JENNER: STCC DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY PROGRAM/PAUL BOWLER)</figcaption></div>Boone Jenner has a real shot at NHL duty next season because he has a man&rsquo;s frame (6-foot-2, 204 pounds) and does the little things well, like winning faceoffs and battling hard on the forecheck. Jenner&rsquo;s offense reached unexpected levels in his final junior season and he impressed with three goals in his first five AHL contests.<h2>DALLAS STARS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0932/9869453-1-eng-US/f0050-092.jpg" title="f0050-09" width="125" height="40"></div>G: Jack Campbell, 21, Texas (AHL)No. 10 to 41 to 74 in past three Future WatchesD: Joe Morrow, 20, Texas (AHL)2011 Pens first-rounder return in B. Morrow tradeJamie Oleksiak, 20, Texas (AHL)Behemoth on skates had 16-game NHL trialF: Brett Ritchie, 20, Niagara (OHL)Turned into scoring machine on Ryan Strome&rsquo;s wingRadek Faksa, 19, Kitchener (OHL)Numbers slipped, but he&rsquo;s a two-way playerAlex Chiasson, 22, Texas (AHL)Proved to be a better scorer in NHL than AHL</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1028/9869446-1-eng-US/f0050-102.jpg" title="f0050-10" width="305" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">(FAKSA+MORROW: MIKE CONNELL/TEXAS STARS HOCKEY)</figcaption></div>Joe Morrow has a familiar sweater to fill, that of namesake (but no relation) Brenden Morrow. As the return from Pittsburgh for the Dallas captain, Joe had a rocky start to his pro career, being a healthy scratch eight times. He rebounded from that, but it was a startling eye-opener for the junior whiz who was drafted 23rd overall in 2011.<h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1124/9869439-1-eng-US/f0050-112.jpg" title="f0050-11" width="131" height="40"></div>G: Petr Mrazek, 21, Grand Rapids (AHL)Impressed in NHL debut, dominated in AHLD: Xavier Ouellet, 20, Blainville (QMJHL)Taken seriously after solid WJC effort for CanadaRyan Sproul, 20, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)Big body (6-foot-4), big offense (66 pts in 50 GP)F: Calle Jarnkrok, 21, Brynas (Swe.)NHL-ready after four Swedish League seasonsTomas Tatar, 22, Grand Rapids (AHL)Stellar AHL playoff effort graduates him for goodMartin Frk, 19, Halifax (QMJHL)High goal scoring ceiling; 13 G in 17 playoff GP</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1222/9869432-1-eng-US/f0050-122.jpg" title="f0050-12" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(FRK: MIKE DEMBECK)</figcaption></div>Martin Frk formed a three-headed monster on Halifax&rsquo;s Memorial Cup champion team with Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin. He had 33 points in 17 playoff games. It remains to be seen how much he benefitted from his linemates, but the Wings need scoring. This is one prospect they could uncharacteristically fast-track. &#9632;

f0050-01

LEARNING THE HIGHS & LOWS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ROB TYCHKOWSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01348/9869617-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="936" height="167"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-02251/9869610-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg" title="f0051-02" width="599" height="570"><figcaption class="caption-body">OSCAR KLEFBOM (KLEFBOM: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>OSCAR KLEFBOM DIDN&rsquo;T BECOME A member of the Oilers late this season. It only seemed like it.He spent the last few weeks of the season in Edmonton, working out and practising with the team, getting acclimated with the players, facilities, organization and the city. And why not? The Oilers expect he&rsquo;s going to be here for good starting in October. The 6-foot-3, 204-pounder, selected 19th overall in 2011, is coming off of shoulder surgery and hasn&rsquo;t played an NHL game yet, but he&rsquo;s being touted as a key ingredient on the blueline.In his season-ending address, new GM Craig MacTavish said he expects the 19-year-old from the Swedish Elite League to make an impact as early as next season. By then it will be a full year since a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery ended his 2012-13 season. &ldquo;Right now my shoulder feels great,&rdquo; said Klefbom, adding he probably could have come back this year if Farjestad had made it to the final. &ldquo;Maybe there was a chance, but I don&rsquo;t think Edmonton would have wanted me to play. And I didn&rsquo;t want to risk anything for next year. My only focus now is on Edmonton and trying to get a place on the team.&rdquo;Which is why he spent the end of the season watching the Oilers up close. &ldquo;For me, personally, it was good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It would have been better to be playing, but I&rsquo;ve been able to learn a lot, visit Edmonton and pick up on the style the Oilers play. It should help me a lot heading into the summer and into next season.&rdquo;<h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-03181/9869603-1-eng-US/f0051-032.jpg" title="f0051-03" width="130" height="40"></div>G: Olivier Roy, 22, Oklahoma City (AHL)Unbeatable in ECHL, middling one level upD: Oscar Klefbom, 20, Farjestad (Swe.)Waylaid by shoulder injury; he&rsquo;s AHL boundMartin Marincin, 21, Oklahoma City (AHL)Towering Slovak has been high-risk, high-rewardF: Tyler Pitlick, 21, Oklahoma City (AHL)Role player in AHL came back from knee injuryJujhar Khaira, 18, Michigan Tech (WCHA)Solidly built winger flourished as a freshmanMitch Moroz, 19, Edmonton (WHL)Plodding grinder has upside on energy line</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-04145/9869596-1-eng-US/f0051-042.jpg" title="f0051-04" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(KHAIRA: MICHIGAN TECH ATHLETICS)</figcaption></div>While loading up on skilled top-six forwards in the past six drafts, the Oilers hope recent second and third-rounders can fill bottom-six roles in coming years. Jujhar Khaira was an early pick in the third round last year who didn&rsquo;t miss a beat in the NCAA after two seasons of Jr. A. The thick-bodied grinder plays with drive and gusto.<h2>FLORIDA PANTHERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-05105/9869589-1-eng-US/f0051-052.jpg" title="f0051-05" width="127" height="40"></div>G: Michael Houser, 20, Cincinnati (ECHL)Finished first pro year with .917 SPD: Michael Matheson, 19, Boston College (HE)Led team &lsquo;D&rsquo; in scoring; made HE all-rookie teamAlex Petrovic, 21, San Antonio (AHL)Averaged 18:46 of ice time in six April NHL gamesF: Nick Bjugstad, 21, Minnesota (WCHA)Led teams in goals for second straight yearQuinton Howden, 21, San Antonio (AHL)Finished fourth in scoring on awful AHL teamRocco Grimaldi, 20, North Dakota (WCHA)Notched two goals in WJC gold medal game</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0688/9869582-1-eng-US/f0051-062.jpg" title="f0051-06" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(TROCHECK: TERRY WILSON/OHL IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Vincent Trocheck, Florida&rsquo;s No. 10 prospect according to Future Watch, had an explosive year split between Saginaw and Plymouth of the OHL. The 2011 third-rounder scored 50 goals, nearly doubling his 2011-12 total. He led the OHL with 109 points and was given the Red Tilson Trophy as the league&rsquo;s most outstanding player.<h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0761/9869575-1-eng-US/f0051-072.jpg" title="f0051-07" width="131" height="39"></div>G: Martin Jones, 23, Manchester (AHL)Poor start, but rallied in second halfD: Derek Forbort, 21, North Dakota (WCHA)Turning pro early a badly needed test for himKevin Gravel, 21, St. Cloud St. (WCHA)Strictly stay-at-home; third year with one goalF: Tyler Toffoli, 21, Manchester (AHL)12 NHL playoff games are worth 50 in experienceTanner Pearson, 20, Manchester (AHL)Had nine goals, 18 points in final 18 gamesNick Shore, 20, Denver (WCHA)Production slipped, but gritty play invaluable</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0843/9869568-1-eng-US/f0051-082.jpg" title="f0051-08" width="321" height="477"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JONES: STEVE BABINEAU)</figcaption></div>With Jonathan Bernier traded to Toronto, Martin Jones gets the chance of a lifetime if the Kings elect to use him to back up Jonathan Quick instead of recently acquired Ben Scrivens. Dating back to his WHL days with the Calgary Hitmen, Jones stands tall in the crease, is positionally sound and is ready for his next challenge.<h2>MINNESOTA WILD</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0936/9869561-1-eng-US/f0051-092.jpg" title="f0051-09" width="132" height="39"></div>G: Darcy Kuemper, 23, Houston (AHL)Stellar AHL numbers prompted call to NHLD: Mathew Dumba, 19, Red Deer (WHL)All-around D-man even got taste of AHL dutyJohn Draeger, 19, Michigan State (CCHA)Won regular role on outmanned college teamF: Brett Bulmer, 21, Houston (AHL)Frame and physical bent suited to energy lineZack Phillips, 20, Houston (AHL)Two-time 30-goal man in junior struggled as proRaphael Bussieres, 19, Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)Improved stats to beyond a point per game</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-1031/9869554-1-eng-US/f0051-102.jpg" title="f0051-10" width="305" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">(DUMBA: MARISSA BAECKER/SHOOTTHEBREEZE.CA)</figcaption></div>The Wild started the season with a pair of teenagers on the roster. Jonas Brodin made the grade at 19, while Mathew Dumba was eventually returned to junior after watching four games from the press box. With a fine array of offensive, skating, shooting and hitting attributes, Dumba is in line to crack Minny&rsquo;s lineup at 19 in October.<h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-1221/9869547-1-eng-US/f0051-122.jpg" title="f0051-12" width="131" height="39"></div>G: Dustin Tokarski, 23, Hamilton (AHL)Acquired via trade; Will be busy with BulldogsD: Nathan Beaulieu, 20, Hamilton (AHL)Decent scoring numbers, but &lsquo;D&rsquo; must improveJarred Tinordi, 21, Hamilton (AHL)His size, grit earned him spot on Habs for playoffsF: Sebastian Collberg, 19, Frolunda (Swe.)Big numbers haven&rsquo;t come yet; still filling outCharles Hudon, 19, Chicoutimi (QMJHL)Lacks tools, but he&rsquo;s smart and stats are improvingMichael Bournival, 21, Hamilton (AHL)Two-way center had solid, unspectacular pro debut</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-1320/9869540-1-eng-US/f0051-132.jpg" title="f0051-13" width="306" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BEAULIEU: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Nathan Beaulieu mostly developed as hoped in his first pro year. The offensive blueliner had 31 points in 67 games with AHL Hamilton and two assists with a plus-5 rating in six games with Montreal. In late April, however, he and his father, who coaches the Sarnia Sting, were charged with assault following a dustup at a Strathroy house party. &#9632;

f0051-01

GETTING A HEAD START

<div class="byline">&#x2013; PETER BOTTE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01346/9869725-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="936" height="167"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02221/9869718-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="599" height="582"><figcaption class="caption-body">RYAN STROME</figcaption></div>RYAN STROME ADMITTEDLY WAS &ldquo;pretty disappointed&rdquo; not to get much of a chance to make the Islanders in their abridged training camp in January, heading back to Niagara of the Ontario League for a third full season. &ldquo;To his credit, he didn&rsquo;t sulk and he hit the ground running as soon as he went down,&rdquo; said Eric Cairns, the former Islanders defenseman who now serves as a member of the team&rsquo;s development staff. &ldquo;He already has what you can&rsquo;t teach: high-end skill and hockey sense.&rdquo;Strome, the No. 5 pick in the 2011 draft, got a chance to play and dominate again in junior and racked up 94 points in 53 games for the IceDogs. He represented Canada at the world juniors for the second time, recording six points in as many games. He also got a taste of the American League during a late 10-game stint with Bridgeport, alternating between center and right wing.But Cairns stressed that the organization was most pleased with Strome&rsquo;s improvement away from the puck, his stops and starts and his attention to defensive details.Strome said that spending time around Hart Trophy finalist John Tavares and the improving Isles as a call-up for the NHL playoffs also made a lasting impression. &ldquo;My goal is to make the team this year, be a part of what (the Isles) are building for a long time,&rdquo; said Strome. &ldquo;To see the passion of the guys, the fans, especially during the playoffs, that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s all about. My job for camp is to make it really hard to ever send me down again.&rdquo;<h2>NASHVILLE PREDATORS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-03154/9869711-1-eng-US/f0052-032.jpg" title="f0052-03" width="131" height="39"></div>G: Magnus Hellberg, 22, Milwaukee (AHL)Six shutouts, .924 SP; built like Rinne at 6-foot-5D: Mattias Ekholm, 23, Milwaukee (AHL)Big, reliable with puck and had 32 pts. in 59 GPMikko Vainonen, 19, Kingston (OHL)Raw, but not out of place after joining major juniorF: Filip Forsberg, 18, Leksand (Swe.2)Good enough to make Preds now; they need himAustin Watson, 21, Milwaukee (AHL)Towering pivot had 20 G in debut AHL campaignColton Sissons, 19, Kelowna (WHL)Two-way forward&rsquo;s offense improved this season</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-04121/9869704-1-eng-US/f0052-042.jpg" title="f0052-04" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(FORSBERG: JESSICA STR&Ouml;M)</figcaption></div>Filip Forsberg may well make Washington pay for trading him soon. The center, ranked 21st overall in Future Watch, had 33 points in 38 games playing with men in the Allsvenskan, Sweden&rsquo;s No. 2 league. He crossed the pond for a five-game cup of coffee with Nashville and averaged 15-plus minutes (2:00 on the power play).<h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0584/9869697-1-eng-US/f0052-052.jpg" title="f0052-05" width="132" height="41"></div>G: Keith Kinkaid, 24, Albany (AHL)Will have to put in one more year in AHLD: Jon Merrill, 21, Michigan (CCHA)Impressed in 12-game stint with baby demonsAlexander Urbom, 22, Albany (AHL)Lou Lamoriello called him one of Albany&rsquo;s best &lsquo;D&rsquo;F: Stefan Matteau, 19, B-Boisbriand (QMJHL)Showed he can hang in NHL after 17-game stintReid Boucher, 19, Sarnia (OHL)Sniped 62 goals in impressive second junior yearHarri Pesonen, 24, Albany (AHL)Solid first AHL season after five years pro in Finland</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0672/9869690-1-eng-US/f0052-062.jpg" title="f0052-06" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BOUCHER: OHL IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Reid Boucher has silenced his critics after eclipsing the Sarnia Sting&rsquo;s single-season record for goals set by Steven Stamkos. He&rsquo;s always been a sniper, but detractors attributed that to playing with Alex Galchenyuk. Boucher isn&rsquo;t the slickest skater, but he boasts a shot some scouts say is the best since Phil Kessel&rsquo;s.<h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0749/9869683-1-eng-US/f0052-072.jpg" title="f0052-07" width="127" height="40"></div>G: Kevin Poulin, 23, Bridgeport (AHL)Should snag backup role in 2013-14D: Griffin Reinhart, 19, Edmonton (WHL)Tantalizing talent ticketed for AHL next seasonCalvin de Haan, 22, Bridgeport (AHL)On comeback trail after season-ending injuryF: Ryan Strome, 20, Niagara (OHL)Isles won&rsquo;t rush him like they did Nino NiederreiterBrock Nelson, 21, Bridgeport (AHL)Didn&rsquo;t lose offensive touch coming from collegeJohan Sundstrom, 20, Bridgeport (AHL)Another surprise on resurging Isles farm team</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0830/9869676-1-eng-US/f0052-082.jpg" title="f0052-08" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(STROME+NELSON)</figcaption></div>While the Oilers have gotten all the prospect headlines, GM Garth Snow has quietly been stocking talent in Long Island, none more stealthily perhaps than Brock Nelson. The center didn&rsquo;t skip half a heartbeat transitioning to the AHL from North Dakota. He&rsquo;s big, strong, skilled and solid on both sides of the puck.<h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0922/9869669-1-eng-US/f0052-092.jpg" title="f0052-09" width="132" height="40"></div>G: Cameron Talbot, 26, Connecticut (AHL)Stuck in AHL until Martin Biron&rsquo;s departureD: Dylan McIlrath, 21, Connecticut (AHL)No goals, but plenty of PIMs with WhaleBrady Skjei, 19, Minnesota (WCHA)Skilled skater should make U.S. 2014 WJC teamF: Jesper Fast, 21, HV71 (Swe.)Goals and points per game up three straight yearsChristian Thomas, 21, Connecticut (AHL)Stumbled in transition to pro, but had 19 goalsCristoval Nieves, 19, Michigan (CCHA)Still raw, but showed promise in first college year</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-1019/9869662-1-eng-US/f0052-102.jpg" title="f0052-10" width="321" height="477"><figcaption class="caption-body">(FAST: DANIEL WENGEL)</figcaption></div>Like Jonathan Quick, Jesper Fast owns his surname and hockey writers already are polishing their puns in anticipation of the Rangers&rsquo; sixth-rounder. Diminutive but dynamic, Fast is, well, freaky fast. He scored 18 goals and 35 points in 47 games in the Elitserien, which is impressive in a league dominated by defense.<h2>OTTAWA SENATORS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-1115/9869655-1-eng-US/f0052-112.jpg" title="f0052-11" width="131" height="39"></div>G: Robin Lehner, 22, Binghamton (AHL)Proved Sens are fine if Anderson goes downD: Cody Ceci, 19, Owen Sound (OHL)Local boy excels offensively, but &lsquo;D&rsquo; needs workMark Borowiecki, 24, Binghamton (AHL)Brought sandpaper to farm and will to Ottawa, tooF: Stefan Noesen, 20, Plymouth (OHL)Started strong, but offense became inconsistentMatt Puempel, 20, Kitchener (OHL)Filled net in OHL, impressed in brief AHL stintMark Stone, 21, Binghamton (AHL)We know he can snipe; skating must catch up</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-1213/9869648-1-eng-US/f0052-122.jpg" title="f0052-12" width="305" height="465"><figcaption class="caption-body">(LEHNER: JUSTIN K. ALLER/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>The Cory Conacher trade surprised many, but made perfect sense for Ottawa, as rising star goalie Robin Lehner made Ben Bishop expendable. Lehner was dominant in AHL play and sparkled with a 2.20 GAA and .936 SP in 12 NHL games. It&rsquo;s fair to wonder if he&rsquo;s surpassed Jonathan Bernier as the NHL&rsquo;s best goalie not in a starting role. &#9632;

f0052-01

HUNGRY FOR WORK ON ISLE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JEREMY RUTHERFORD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01324/9869833-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="936" height="167"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02225/9869826-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="599" height="568"><figcaption class="caption-body">TY RATTIE (RATTIE: MARISSA BAECKER/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>THE QUESTION ABOUT MANY NHL forward prospects is how their eye-popping point production at the lower levels will translate when they turn professional. Ty Rattie, a Blues&rsquo; second-rounder who recently had a record-breaking career with the Western League&rsquo;s Portland Winter-hawks, feels the answer comes well before players enter the league. &ldquo;Goal scoring and finding the back of the net is something a guy is born with,&rdquo; he said.Rattie, the 32nd overall pick in 2011, pumped in 48 goals and 110 points in 62 games with Portland in 2012-13. He also had 20 goals and 36 points in the playoffs, and with a hat trick in the final, he set a new WHL record with 50 career post-season goals. &ldquo;The championship was awesome, but it was neat to get the record,&rdquo; the right winger said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a game I&rsquo;ll never forget.&rdquo;Rattie, 20, will be in camp with the Blues in September. While many fans will be watching his offense, the club will focus on the skating and defense of the 6-foot, 180-pound prospect. &ldquo;Skating was a knock on me and I really worked on it and now I feel like skating is one of my strong suits,&rdquo; Rattie said.His defense may have benefited from playing a checking role with Team Canada at last year&rsquo;s World Junior Championship. &ldquo;Coach (Steve Spott) asked me to be a penalty killer and more of a defensive guy and I thought I did real well,&rdquo; Rattie said.The Blues hope Rattie is right in that he was born to score. The rest he&rsquo;s improving on.<h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-03161/9869819-1-eng-US/f0053-032.jpg" title="f0053-03" width="133" height="40"></div>G: Anthony Stolarz, 19, London (OHL)Handled bulk of long playoff run for KnightsD: Brandon Manning, 23, Adirondack (AHL)Another good year on a bad Phantoms teamShayne Gostisbehere, 20, Union (ECAC)WJC spotlight highlighted skills and compete levelF: Scott Laughton, 19, Oshawa (OHL)Didn&rsquo;t look out of place in five-game NHL stintTye McGinn, 23, Adirondack (AHL)Great NHL debut turned into decent AHL seasonMarcel Noebels, 21, Adirondack (AHL)Offense carried over to AHL from ECHL</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-04136/9869812-1-eng-US/f0053-042.jpg" title="f0053-04" width="309" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(MANNING: ANDY CAMP)</figcaption></div>GM Paul Holmgren will shore up his wounded blueline this off-season, though at least one spot will be up for grabs internally. Oliver Lauridsen has the inside track after finishing the season with the Flyers, but Brandon Manning will get every chance to take it. Manning has less size but more snarl and is better with the puck.<h2>PHOENIX COYOTES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-05100/9869805-1-eng-US/f0053-052.jpg" title="f0053-05" width="131" height="38"></div>G: Mark Visentin, 20, Portland (AHL)Struggled at time as rookie pro; shared workloadD: Brandon Gormley, 21, Portland (AHL)Smooth adjustment as rookie; due for promotionConnor Murphy, 20, Sarnia (OHL)Long and lean with some serious injury issuesF: Henrik Samuelsson, 19, Edmonton (WHL)Beefy pivot showed great hands around netChris Brown, 22, Portland (AHL)Texan out of Michigan had 29 goals as freshmanAndy Miele, 25, Portland (AHL)Miami grad two-time leading scorer for Pirates</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0685/9869798-1-eng-US/f0053-062.jpg" title="f0053-06" width="327" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body">(GORMLEY: PORTLAND PIRATES/RON MORIN)</figcaption></div>While most of the 2010 first round have had at least a cup of coffee in the NHL, Brandon Gormley played out his full junior eligibility and spent this season in the AHL. He&rsquo;s eager for a taste of NHL action, but the Coyotes are seven deep on defense and that doesn&rsquo;t even include well-regarded David Rundblad and Connor Murphy.<h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0762/9869791-1-eng-US/f0053-072.jpg" title="f0053-07" width="131" height="38"></div>G: Sean Maguire, 20, Boston University (HE)Shone in split-duty work with the TerriersD: Olli Maatta, 18, London (OHL)Solid sophomore season with OHL champsDerrick Pouliot, 19, Portland (WHL)Picked up offensive pace in injury-shortened yearF: Teddy Blueger, 18, M.S.-Mankato (WCHA)Latvian was solid in first season in North AmericaJayson Megna, 23, W-Barre/Scranton (AHL)Decent two-way play to start pro careerOskar Sundqvist, 19, Skelleftea Jr. (Swe.)Starred on junior team, but struggled in Elitserien</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0836/9869784-1-eng-US/f0053-082.jpg" title="f0053-08" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(MAGUIRE: ERIC CLASSEN/BU ATHLETICS)</figcaption></div>Goaltending is an organizational problem for Pittsburgh: the Penguins have no stoppers among their top 10 prospects in Future Watch. Fourth-rounder Sean Maguire looks to break that trend after turning in a good freshman season. Eric Hartzell and Jeff Zatkoff are ahead on the depth chart, but are in their mid-20s already.<h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0924/9869777-1-eng-US/f0053-092.jpg" title="f0053-09" width="133" height="39"></div>G: Jordan Binnington, 20, Owen Sound (OHL)Great numbers, but path blocked by Jake AllenD: Jordan Schmaltz, 19, North Dakota (WCHA)Tough year on, off ice; cut from U.S. WJC teamJoel Edmundson, 20, Kamloops (WHL)Big fella&rsquo;s offense improved after he was tradedF: Ty Rattie, 20, Portland (WHL)Went to WJC, Memorial Cup in a banner yearDmitrij Jaskin, 20, Moncton (QMJHL)Dazzled in &lsquo;Q&rsquo; after brutal &rsquo;11-12 in Czech LeagueYannick Veilleux, 20, Moncton (QMJHL)Bruiser got some late-season AHL experience</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-1022/9869770-1-eng-US/f0053-102.jpg" title="f0053-10" width="325" height="479"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JASKIN: DANIEL ST. LOUIS)</figcaption></div>With many players to re-sign and Andy McDonald retiring, the Blues need offensive reinforcements and Dmitrij Jaskin can help. The sniper has great size and is fresh off a dominant junior season in which he had 46 goals and 99 points in 51 games. Talent isn&rsquo;t a problem, but his consistency and motivation are sometimes questioned.<h2>SAN JOSE SHARKS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-1120/9869763-1-eng-US/f0053-112.jpg" title="f0053-11" width="131" height="39"></div>G: Harri Sateri, 23, Worcester (AHL)Stats slipped marginally under shared workloadD: Nick Petrecki, 24, Worcester (AHL)Injuries got in the way of regular NHL recallTaylor Doherty, 22, Worcester (AHL)Slow, steady progress for blueline behemothF: Tomas Hertl, 19, Slavia Praha (Cze.)Second year excelling against men in top leagueFreddie Hamilton, 21, Worcester (AHL)Goals didn&rsquo;t come easy, but he&rsquo;s a two-way gemMatt Nieto, 20, Boston University (HE)Speedy winger skipped senior year to turn pro</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-1218/9869756-1-eng-US/f0053-122.jpg" title="f0053-12" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PETRECKI: ROCKY WIDNER/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>While a couple players from the 2007 draft have reached 400 NHL games, Nick Petrecki increased his total to one. That doesn&rsquo;t mean the slow-developer isn&rsquo;t a blue-chipper; he&rsquo;s just taking his time. The conversion of Brent Burns to forward and loss of Douglas Murray (trade) and Scott Hannan (UFA) created room for Petrecki. &#9632;

f0053-01

BORN TO FIND TWINE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MICHAEL TRAIKOS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01335/9869941-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="936" height="167"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02202/9869934-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="599" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body">MORGAN RIELLY</figcaption></div>MORGAN RIELLY WAS GOING TO drive. It was the day after the Toronto Marlies had been eliminated from the second round of the American League playoffs and the 19-year-old defenseman and a teammate were thinking about getting in a car and making the cross-country commute back home to Vancouver.It sounded crazy. Then again, for someone who played a season with the Western League&rsquo;s Moose Jaw Warriors, went to Russia for the World Junior Championship, was invited to the Maple Leafs training camp and joined the Marlies for the end of the season, what was one more road trip? &ldquo;It was a busy year,&rdquo; said Rielly, fifth overall pick of the Leafs in 2012, who capped a 54-point season in the WHL by playing 22 games (14 regular season) with the Marlies. &ldquo;Not every drafted player that played junior this year had the opportunity I had, so that was a really big honor.&rdquo;The Leafs believe their top-ranked prospect has NHL-ready skills and can step into the lineup next season. But before coach Randy Carlyle gives Rielly a spot, he needs to dominate at the four-team rookie tournament in September and then steal a job at training camp.If Rielly&rsquo;s play with the Marlies is any indication &ndash; he scored in his pro debut and had a goal in eight playoff games &ndash; Rielly should not have to worry about a trip back to major junior. &ldquo;Physically he&rsquo;s there,&rdquo; said Jim Hughes, the Leafs director of player development. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not to say he&rsquo;s arrived yet, but he&rsquo;s not too far away.&rdquo;<h2>TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-03134/9869927-1-eng-US/f0054-032.jpg" title="f0054-03" width="131" height="38"></div>G: Andrey Vasilevskiy, 20, Ufa (Rus. Jr.)Stellar WJC effort for bronze-medal RussiansD: Slater Koekkoek, 19, Windsor (OHL)Reinjured shoulder after trade from PeterboroughNikita Nesterov, 20, Chelyabinsk (KHL)Plus-6, 12:21 TOI in 35 KHL games; key at WJCF: Nikita Kucherov, 20, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)Averaged 1.96 PPG after trade from QuebecVladislav Namestnikov, 20, Syracuse (AHL)Managed 21 points in 44 games as AHL rookieRichard Panik, 22, Syracuse (AHL)Fifth in Crunch scoring despite 25 NHL games</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-04107/9869920-1-eng-US/f0054-042.jpg" title="f0054-04" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BARBERIO: SCOTT THOMAS/SYRACUSE CRUNCH)</figcaption></div>Mark Barberio should get a long look in camp. The top-scoring AHL defenseman a year ago slipped to No. 6 with 42 points in 2012-13, but jumped back to the top in the post-season. He has the puck-moving abilities needed to spring Tampa&rsquo;s electric forwards and deserves more than the two NHL games he&rsquo;s seen so far.<h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0577/9869913-1-eng-US/f0054-052.jpg" title="f0054-05" width="132" height="39"></div>G: Garret Sparks, 20, Guelph (OHL)Seven shutouts with Storm before brief AHL tasteD: Morgan Rielly, 19, Moose Jaw (WHL)Missing WHL playoffs let him turn pro earlierMatthew Finn, 19, Guelph (OHL)Bout with mono made him tough to evaluateF: Tyler Biggs, 20, Oshawa (OHL)Impressed in junior debut; Milan Lucic-like upsideJoe Colborne, 23, Toronto (AHL)Slow-developing pivot running out of chancesJosh Leivo, 20, Kitchener (OHL)Should get top-six shot with Marlies in &rsquo;13-14</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0657/9869906-1-eng-US/f0054-062.jpg" title="f0054-06" width="307" height="468"><figcaption class="caption-body">(RIELLY+COLBORNE: GRAIG ABEL)</figcaption></div>Big pivot Joe Colborne has been featured in THN Future Watch for five years, so it&rsquo;s now or never. While he&rsquo;s been a reasonably effective scorer with the AHL&rsquo;s Marlies, he hasn&rsquo;t stuck at the NHL level. Colborne did acquit himself well as a checker in two games during the Leafs&rsquo; playoff war with his old team, the Boston Bruins.<h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0736/9869899-1-eng-US/f0054-072.jpg" title="f0054-07" width="130" height="38"></div>G: Eddie Lack, 25, Chicago (AHL)Getting in shape now after January hip surgeryD: Peter Andersson, 22, Chicago (AHL)Frolunda vet had solid rookie pro season in AHLFrank Corrado, 20, Kitchener (OHL)Almost made Canada&rsquo;s national junior teamF: Nicklas Jensen, 20, AIK (Swe.)Started season in Sweden before stint in AHLBrendan Gaunce, 19, Belleville (OHL)Two-way pivot responsible in all three zonesDarren Archibald, 23, Chicago (AHL)Started in ECHL, then decent transition to AHL</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0827/9869892-1-eng-US/f0054-082.jpg" title="f0054-08" width="305" height="463"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JENSEN: JESPER ZERMAN)</figcaption></div>Nicklas Jensen is the most skilled player in the system, but he&rsquo;s suited as a top-six forward. Brendan Gaunce, meanwhile, has the makings of a third- or fourth-line center and could crack the lineup right away. Besides skilled, the words inconsistent and high-reward also follow Jensen around. It may take another year though.<h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0921/9869885-1-eng-US/f0054-092.jpg" title="f0054-09" width="132" height="39"></div>G: Philipp Grubauer, 21, Hershey (AHL)Top 15 in AHL GAA and SP after lockout endedD: Patrick Wey, 22, Boston College (HE)Named Hockey East&rsquo;s best defensive D-manConnor Carrick, 19, Plymouth (OHL)First-year OHLer tied for 14th in &lsquo;D&rsquo; scoringF: Evgeny Kuznetsov, 21, Chelyabinsk (KHL)Led KHL finalists in scoring; sixth in the leagueTom Wilson, 19, Plymouth (OHL)Became first Caps teen to debut in post-seasonRiley Barber, 19, Miami Ohio (CCHA)Second in Miami (Ohio) scoring as freshman</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-1018/9869878-1-eng-US/f0054-102.jpg" title="f0054-10" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(WILSON: GREG FIUME/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>The Capitals have been trying for years to find a balance of stars and grinders. Given they were once again outworked by the Rangers in the playoffs, they could turn to Tom Wilson, since few bring his ferocity. Wilson averaged 6:52 of ice in three NHL post-season games, but should be given an honest look in the regular season.<h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-1114/9869871-1-eng-US/f0054-112.jpg" title="f0054-11" width="131" height="39"></div>G: Edward Pasquale, 22, St. John&rsquo;s (AHL)Didn&rsquo;t finish top-20 in any major AHL categoryD: Jacob Trouba, 19, Michigan (CCHA)Named best defenseman, won gold at WJCZach Redmond, 25, St. John&rsquo;s (AHL)Horrific leg cut derailed strong start with JetsF: Mark Scheifele, 20, Barrie (OHL)Led OHL in playoff scoring; 13th in regular seasonIvan Telegin, 21, St. John&rsquo;s (AHL)Struggled in first pro season with only three goalsCarl Klingberg, 22, St. John&rsquo;s (AHL)Did not build on strong first year in North America</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-1212/9869864-1-eng-US/f0054-122.jpg" title="f0054-12" width="305" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">(SCHEIFELE: BARRIE COLTS)</figcaption></div>Mark Scheifele was a man among boys in the OHL and led Barrie to the final, where they lost in Game 7, a contest he missed due to injury. Still, he recorded 41 points in 21 playoff games, including two five-point games in the final, and was robbed of the post-season MVP award. Scheifele is all but a lock to start 2013-14 with the Jets. &#9632;

f0054-01

LONG ROAD, FEW BUMPS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01248/9869972-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="483" height="592"><figcaption class="caption-body">(GUESS WHO: STEVE BABINEAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;As a 20-year-old Washington Capitals goalie, I finished second in 1995 Calder Trophy voting.&rdquo;</blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;In my second season, I won the Vezina Trophy thanks to nine shutouts and a 2.26 GAA.&rdquo;</blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;Add an extra &lsquo;R&rsquo; to my last name and you get a famous Hollywood comedic actor.&rdquo;</blockquote>WHO AM I: JIM CAREY &#9632;

f0057-01

Guess WHO!

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-02179/9870010-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg" title="f0057-02" width="230" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JAGR: JONATHAN DANIEL/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>JAROMIR JAGR</h2>HBO 24/7 star plays on ice, wore black as a Penguin, protects puck along the wall, knows nothing of aging<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-03134/9870003-1-eng-US/f0057-032.jpg" title="f0057-03" width="231" height="446"><figcaption class="caption-body">(HARRINGTON: HBO CANADA)</figcaption></div><h2>KIT HARINGTON</h2>HBO Game of Thrones star plays Jon Snow, wears black as a Crow, protects the Wall, knows nothingEmail your suggestions to <a href="mailto:sab@thehockeynews.com">sab@thehockeynews.com</a> &#9632;

f0057-02

Separated at BIRTH

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-04111/9870041-1-eng-US/f0057-042.jpg" title="f0057-04" width="913" height="913"></div>ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ISSUE AND AT <a href="http://THN.com/XWORD">THN.com/xword</a><h2>ACROSS</h2>1 &lsquo;Sid ___ ___&rsquo; Crosby4 ___ Kessel got winner at women&rsquo;s worlds9 After a brawl, the refs need to ___ order10 Selects in the draft11 Moving quickly, &lsquo;with a full head of ___&rsquo;12 Pittsburgh&rsquo;s old NHL team had this nickname13 ___ Whitten played in goal in several men&rsquo;s pro leagues and also at women&rsquo;s Worlds15 Skin rash that has made some retire early18 An NHL division, through 2012-1321 Tuomo ___, pictured, is with Carolina23 Goodbye, in parts of Canada24 School attended by the Fusco brothers25 4 Across is Phil&rsquo;s ___26 Hall of Famer ___ Pilote<h2>DOWN</h2>1 Beat badly (or Atlanta&rsquo;s mascot before move)2 Come as a result of3 Doug Jarvis is still the NHL&rsquo;s &lsquo;___&rsquo;5 Detroit is known as &lsquo;___ City&rsquo;6 Nikita ___ is with Columbus7 Help in the scoring of a goal8 A team that&rsquo;s ___ has an abundance of talent14 Colorado&rsquo;s former NHL team15 Dan ___ is a Ranger16 Stabs17 Jump over a prone player19 An undeserved goal20 Canadian Amateur Hockey Association: abbr.22 The Caps once played at ___ ArenaLAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION ACROSS 1. STAMKOS, 4. ADAMS, 7. KILL, 8. MITCHELL, 10. CINDERELLA, 12. SKULL, 13. ROUGE, 14. EFFORTLESS, 18. OVERRATE, 19. BILL, 20. SHERO, 21. SOCIETYDOWN 1. SAKIC, 2. ALLAN CUP, 3. SUITE, 4. ACCELERATE, 5. ALEX, 6. SELANNE, 9. WELLS FARGO, 11. JUVENILE, 12. SHADOWS, 15. OATES, 16. SELBY, 17. GENE &#9632;

f0057-04

CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0569/9870072-1-eng-US/f0057-052.jpg" title="f0057-05" width="829" height="783"><figcaption class="caption-body">(MASK: ST&Eacute;PHANE BERGERON)</figcaption></div>COREY CRAWFORD | CHICAGO BLACKHAWKSWith a design from Stephane Bergeron, Crawford keeps things simple and classy. Along with the Blackhawks logo on the top and shoulder patch logo at the chin, the mask sports more realistic renderings of Native American attire and weapons. &#9632;

f0057-05

Behind THE MASK

<div class="byline">WITH KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0058-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-02180/9870134-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALL THE RIGHT MOVESThe Blackhawks win their second Stanley Cup in four years thanks to the masterful management of GM Stan Bowman. (DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01268/9870141-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="194" height="219"></div>WHEN THE CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS won the Stanley Cup in 2010, they held their first championship parade in almost 50 years along Madison Avenue June 11. Twelve days later, GM Stan Bowman made the first of a flurry of deals many thought would irrevocably dismantle the roster.But three years later, Stan Bowman stood in the TD Garden holding the Stanley Cup over his head again. It was four days before his 40th birthday, making him the youngest GM in NHL history to win two Stanley Cups and the only one to do it before he turned 40. (There were three men who did it younger than Bowman &ndash; Tommy Gorman, M.J. Quinn and Dickie Boon, but they all predated the NHL&rsquo;s formation in 1927.) He also became the first GM in NHL history to win two Cups under the salary cap system.Bowman deserves an enormous amount of credit for all of this, more than he&rsquo;s getting. Former GM Dale Tallon did a lot of work assembling the core of this roster, but it wasn&rsquo;t as though he had to do anything special to get his hands on Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Quite to the contrary, actually. If the 2010 team had Tallon&rsquo;s fingerprints all over it, Bowman&rsquo;s DNA can be found on virtually every part of the team three years later.It&rsquo;s clear Stan Bowman learned well from his father, Scotty, with whom he now shares 15 Cup triumphs. But actually, the record will show, and you can look it up, the senior Bowman was no great shakes as a GM. But what Stan Bowman learned from his father was how to evaluate players. And that is at the core of the Blackhawks&rsquo; success and why they rebounded so quickly from that 2010 teardown to remain an elite team.Some maintain Bowman spectacularly mismanaged the salary cap the last time around. This corner begs to differ. Bowman managed the heck out of the salary cap. He dumped the right players and kept the right players. Who wouldn&rsquo;t love to have Andrew Ladd in his lineup? But Bowman made the determination, clearly and decisively, that Ladd and a number of valuable players would have to go. And as a result, the Blackhawks, who were stuck in a salary cap jam when they won the Cup, managed to come out of it all in record time. And he did it by burying only two contracts &ndash; those of Cristobal Huet and Rostislav Olesz, who were both originally signed by Tallon.Last summer, when half of Chicago was calling for him to trade party-boy Patrick Kane, Bowman resisted, playing a hunch Kane would learn from his mistakes this time. It appears he was right and Kane made him look like a genius. It&rsquo;s that kind of faith that Bowman has displayed in the Blackhawks&rsquo; young players that has allowed them to flourish. A good example of that is Corey Crawford. Is Crawford a perfect NHL goalie? Hardly. But the Blackhawks don&rsquo;t need a perfect NHL goalie; they simply need a good one who is not going to lose them games. Bowman understands that and complemented him with an experienced backup in Ray Emery.But perhaps the thing Bowman has done best is realize there are lots of hockey players out there. Brandon Bollig wasn&rsquo;t on too many people&rsquo;s radars in 2010 when Bowman signed him, but there he was in Game 1 of the final taking a regular shift as the game wore on in overtime. Andrew Shaw flew under the radar for two drafts and 138 picks in his third before the Blackhawks took him. To say they got lucky to get Shaw is like saying the Washington Capitals were lucky to get Peter Bondra. These things don&rsquo;t occur on happenstance.Michal Rozsival apparently couldn&rsquo;t play for the Phoenix Coyotes, but he was a big contributor to the Hawks cause. Bowman stole Nick Leddy from the Minnesota Wild. He got Johnny Oduya in a minor deal at the trade deadline in 2012 and all Oduya did was score the tying goal late in Game 1. Michal Handzus came from the San Jose Sharks at the deadline and by the end of the playoffs he was centering the second line.Things won&rsquo;t get any easier for Bowman this time around. He&rsquo;ll have more difficult decisions to make and he&rsquo;ll have to begin making them shortly after he finishes brushing the parade confetti off his lapel. He&rsquo;ll probably lose Bryan Bickell, the power forward who essentially replaced Dustin Byfuglien and was a key cog in the success of the Blackhawks&rsquo; top line in the playoffs. Rozsival, Emery, Handzus, Viktor Stalberg and Jamal Mayers are all unrestricted free agents and Marcus Kruger and Leddy are restricted. And Bowman has about $2.1 million in cap space to get it all done.The Blackhawks won the Cup this year, which means they probably won&rsquo;t in 2014. But they will again sometime soon because they have a GM who knows what it takes to build a champion.CAN&rsquo;T GET ENOUGH CAMPBELL? CLICK ON <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a> FOR KEN&rsquo;S EXCLUSIVE COLUMN &#9632;

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Champions Issue 2013

JerseyHOUND

WINDY CITY SEQUEL

LORD OF THE RINGS

KID WINGS TAKE FLIGHT