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Jack Adams Award 2013: Bruce Boudreau, Joel Quenneville, Paul MacLean named finalists

2013-05-17T14:17:06Z

The NHL announced the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award, which is presented to the coach judged to have contributed the most to his team's success. The honor is voted upon by the NHL Broadcasters Association.

Bruce Boudreau of the Anaheim Ducks, Joel Quenneville of the Chicago Blackhawks and Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators were nominated as the three finalists for the award.

Boudreau completed his first full season (in a relative sense, of course) as the head coach of the Ducks. Having taken over as the team's bench boss in December of last season, Boudreau led the Ducks to an impressive turnaround in the abbreviated 2013 season. The team captured a Pacific Division title and the Western Conference's No. 2 seed after finishing in 13th place the season prior.

MacLean was able to navigate the Senators through an injury plagued 2013 which saw the absence of Craig Anderson, Erik Karlsson, Jared Cowen, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek, all of which are key contributors to the team. Despite these issues, the team managed to clinch a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Quenneville coached the best team in the NHL in 2013. Beginning with a record-breaking point-streak to start the season, the Blackhawks compiled the most points of any other team on way to their second-ever Presidents' Trophy.

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Raffi Torres suspension: Sharks forward punished for past, not present

2013-05-17T13:58:47Z

Defending Raffi Torres is never an easy way to begin a discussion. Given his history and reputation, many have developed a preconceived notion of the San Jose Sharks' aggressive forward.

The most notable instance of this is the National Hockey League.

On Thursday night, the NHL administered an unprecedented ruling in the two year history of the Department of Player Safety by suspending Torres for the remainder of the Western Conference Semifinal for his hit on Los Angeles Kings forward Jarret Stoll.

Stoll sustained an undisclosed injury on the play and has been ruled out indefinitely. In turn, the Department of Player Safety enacted an 'eye for an eye' form of justice, which will keep Torres out indefinitely, as well.

When watching the replay of the hit, it appears as though Torres attempted to connect on a clean check. Given Stoll's hunched over body positioning on the play, Torres' initial mark of the shoulder became a moving target as the Kings' forward attempted to collect a rolling puck. Unfortunately, this resulted in an ambiguous hit that included both Stoll's shoulder and head.

Torres was called for charging on the play even though it didn't appear as though he did so. He didn't leave his feet; he didn't use his elbow; and he didn't leap upwards. He certainly didn't appear to be acting in a predatory manner and he didn't come from a blindside.

By those accounts he didn't do anything worthy of discipline.

Brendan Shanahan explains in the suspension video that Torres must take a route that insures he hits through the core of the body. Which begs the question: how is he supposed to do that when Stoll's core is bent over? Would the route altered anything about the play? Upon several reviews of the hit, it appears as though the route wasn't the problem.

The player executing the hit is.

Times are changing in professional sports. More attention is being paid to player safety and preserving their bodies for life after play. Most importantly, attention is being paid to head trauma and potential side effects from violent, unnecessary collisions. This has resulted in professional leagues attempting to curb player's actions in order to keep the physical component of the games intact, without putting the players at risk.

It's an important development.

In the past, Torres has acted like a predator by taking risks and putting other opponents in harm's way. The strongest example of this was last postseason when he was suspended 25 games for hitting Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa (later reduced to 21 games on appeal).

Coming into this season, Torres stated he would change his ways. By most accounts, he has.

However, Thursday's suspension appears to be a case of his past meeting up with him. The Department of Player Safety has made it clear that history plays a factor in their decisions, as does injuries. Stoll was injured on the play, and Torres has a checkered past.

With that in mind, Torres' suspension isn't because of the hit. It's because of who administered it. Whether that form of justice is truly just is debatable. Ultimately, that's the system in place. As long as that's the case, players like Torres will need to assess the potential risk of suspension when lining up for a hit.

In the larger scheme of things, that's exactly what the league wants.

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Raffi Torres suspension: Sharks forward will miss the remainder of the 2nd round.

2013-05-17T00:41:07Z

San Jose Sharks forward Raffi Torres has been suspended for the remainder of the second round by the NHL's Department of Player Safety, the league announced Thursday. The number of games he ultimately misses could be anywhere from three to six, depending on how long the series between the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings continues.

Torres' suspension is directly related to his hit on Kings forward Jarret Stoll In Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal on Tuesday night. The play occurred at the 19-minute mark of the second period during a Los Angeles offensive zone attack. Torres connected on the hit while Stoll was trying to sustain the drive.

Stoll did not return to the game after the play, while Torres was given a two-minute charging penalty.

In his postgame comments, Torres stated he didn't believe the play was a penalty, which was an opinion his coach, Todd McLellan, agreed with. Los Angeles head coach Darryl Sutter called the play "careless" on Wednesday and stated that Stoll would not be available for some time.

Here is the official explanation of the suspension from the NHL:

This marks the second consecutive postseason that Torres has been disciplined by the Department of Player Safety. During the 2012 playoffs, Torres was suspended 25 games for a hit on Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa (the number was later reduced to 21 games after appeal).

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Stanley Cup playoffs 2013: Alex Ovechkin played with fractured foot during 1st round

2013-05-16T19:34:49Z

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin played the final two games of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal against the New York Rangers with a hairline fracture in his left foot, the team announced Thursday afternoon.

The story was originally reported by Katie Carrera of the Washington Post, who was informed by a source with direct knowledge of the injury. According to Carrera's report, Ovechkin was struck in the foot with a shot by Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh in the first period of Game 6. Ovechkin was hesitant to get up after the play.

Carrera's source stated the injury could not be made any worse by playing on it and that rest is the only course of action required for it to heal.

Following the end of the team's season, Ovechkin joined Team Russia at the IIHF World Championship. He played in only one game, as Russia was eliminated by the United States on Thursday.

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Blackhawks vs. Red Wings: Viktor Stalberg was not benched because of dispute, says coach

2013-05-16T19:19:34Z

Chicago Blackhawks forward Viktor Stalberg was not benched for Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals because of a dispute with head coach Joel Quenneville. At least, that's what Quenneville is saying.

According to a report from Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday, Stalberg took issue with only receiving one shift on the power play during the team's first-round series with the Minnesota Wild. Citing a source, Lazerus reported that Stalberg was benched for voicing his concerns.

Quenneville flatly denied the accuracy of the report, stating that Stalberg understood why he was a scratch and that it had nothing to do with the power play discussion, via the Chicago Sun-Times:

"That story's 100 percent inaccurate. Viktor didn't play, he knows the reasons why. It has nothing to do with anything about our conversation. It was strictly nothing to do with that. At all. That situation wasn't even addressed."

Quenneville explained that someone needed to come out of the lineup with forward Dave Bolland returning from injury. However, the coach failed to publicly acknowledge the reasons for Stalberg's benching. Lazerus points out that Quenneville has not altered his lineups after a win. If that proves to be the case, Stalberg won't be in the lineup for Game 2 on Saturday, as the Blackhawks took a 1-0 series lead with a 4-1 victory on Wednesday.

In five games this postseason, Stalberg has registered an assist and averaged 12:37 of ice time.

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Eric Staal injury: Hurricanes captain sustains knee-on-knee hit at World Championships

2013-05-16T19:05:45Z

Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal sustained a gruesome knee injury while playing for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship on Thursday.

The injury occurred in the first period of Canada's quarterfinal matchup against Team Sweden, when Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler connected on a knee-on-knee. Staal immediately fell to the ice and was clearly in a great deal of pain.

He required the aide of a trainer and was unable to get off the ice under his own power.

Edler was given five minutes for kneeing, as well as a game misconduct. He will likely receive discipline from the IIHF for the action.

However, the more serious question is about Staal's health. To say he was in agony wouldn't do it justice. It certainly appeared based upon his reaction that he suffered a serious knee injury. What kind of implications this has on his 2013-14 season with the Hurricanes remains to be seen.

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Bruins vs. Rangers: Boston alters defense pairings, Brad Marchand expected to play

2013-05-16T17:09:34Z

The Boston Bruins are expected to make changes to their blue line for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Rangers on Thursday night. Those changes are not believed to be by choice.

For more visit: Bruins blog Stanley Cup of Chowder

Head coach Claude Julien stated after morning skate on Thursday that the team will likely be without Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden. All three players were absent from practice and are believed to be dealing with some extent of injury.

Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug are expected to draw into the lineup as a result. During morning skate, Hamilton was paired with Zdeno Chara; Bartkowski was with Johnny Boychuk; and Krug was with Adam McQuaid.

In addition to the potential blue line injuries, forward Brad Marchand reportedly left the ice early due to some kind of injury. Julien stated that Marchand would be playing in Thursday night's game and that whatever was bothering him would not alter his availability.

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