Truth & Rumors > NHL

07:21 AM ET 05.23 | Perhaps, after more than 1,100 games in the NHL, Daniel Alfredsson has earned the right to play the realist. [Alfredsson] says the Ottawa Senators probably won't come back against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Those words, after a 7-3 Game 4 loss on Wednesday put Alfredsson's team down 3-1 in the series, might be a strict motivational ploy. But if the Sens played their last home game of the season, and Alfredsson the last home came of his career, he didn't seem to take any chances. ... The quote Twitter seized on after the game came when he was asked if the Sens could come back from the deficit: "Probably not. They have too much depth," he said, according to Erin Nicks of NHL.com. ... "We don't have much going for us right now. Maybe that's the way we like it."

Sporting News

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07:19 AM ET 05.23 | In Reporter 101, one learns that when a player says, "I don't know if I should say it," you make sure to pay attention. So when TJ Galiardi prefaced his response to a question about Jonathan Quick with those words, we all became more focused. With good reason. Galiardi dropped the E-word -- embellishment -- on the Los Angeles Kings goalie. "What kind of bugs me about him, I don't know if I should say it, but a little embellishment every now and then," Galiardi said. "You skate by and you don't even touch him or you barely even touch him and he's throwing his hands in the air. So that's one of those things. It's playoffs. Everyone's trying to draw a penalty. Whatever." ... "You guys see it," Galiardi said.

Mercury News

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07:17 AM ET 05.23 | The Red Wings are rolling these days, of course, and they're doing it without Darren Helm in the lineup. Helm was expected to be the Red Wings' third-line center before injuring his back in the weight room just before training camp began in January this lockout-shortened season. No one could have guessed then that the injury would limit him to just one game this season. ... The plan now is for Helm to stay off the ice indefinitely. "Something happened (skating during the Anaheim series) and it hurt a lot and I was limping around for a couple of days," Helm said. "We decided to take a step back and we needed a different approach -- staying off the ice a lot longer. Helm said "absolutely" it was a setback in his recovery. "It wasn't a step forward, that's for sure."

The Detroit News

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07:16 AM ET 05.23 | Nearly since their Game 7 Stanley Cup loss, things have been bumpy in Vancouver, which on Wednesday cost coach Alain Vigneault his job. Fifteen days after the Canucks' second straight first-round exit from the National Hockey League playoffs, [Mike Gillis] fired Vigneault and top assistant coaches Rick Bowness and Newell Brown. But even that job went poorly, as Vigneault learned of his dismissal from media reports before Gillis had spoken to him. "I have no idea how that could happen," Gillis told reporters. ... "I was in [a 10 o'clock] meeting until two o'clock. I came out of it and I phoned Alain at 2:15. Then I found out that someone in Quebec had said this had happened. I think it's terribly unfortunate. I wish that wasn't the case."

Vancouver Sun

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07:15 AM ET 05.23 | Alex Burmistrov may have played his final game with the Winnipeg Jets. Two league sources have told the Free Press Burmistrov, due to become a restricted free agent on July 5, has no intention of re-signing with the Jets. Burmistrov wished to be dealt at the trade deadline and the Jets worked in vain to move him. It appears a trade is still the preferred course of action. Burmistrov and head coach Claude Noel beefed on and off over the past two seasons and the relationship hit an all-time low when the player was a healthy scratch four straight games in March. The Jets attempted to trade Burmistrov and reportedly had discussions with the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders at the deadline.

Winnipeg Free Press

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