Truth & Rumors > NHL

10:41 AM ET 05.25 | San Jose Sharks Coach Todd McLellan sounded less than gracious Thursday when asked about the performance of Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick in the Sharks??? 3-0 loss at Staples Center. Quick stopped 24 shots as the Kings took a 3-2 edge in the teams' Western Conference semifinal. He leads all playoff goaltenders with a 1.50 goals-against average, .948 save percentage and three shutouts. But McLellan didn't seem impressed by Quick's work. "I didn't think we tested him a lot tonight," McLellan said. "There were a number of goalies in the league that could have performed that way tonight." The San Jose Mercury News interpreted that as McLellan's way of saying his own team didn't muster a great effort on offense, but it sounded as if McLellan was downplaying Quick's effort. Quick's teammates came to his defense Friday. "He's awesome. He's our MVP. He's our best player," forward Trevor Lewis said of Quick. "He probably makes it look easy out there, but he does a lot for us and he's been awesome."

Los Angeles Times

> Comment

10:32 AM ET 05.25 | San Jose Sharks right winger Adam Burish has been out for the Western Conference semifinals with a broken hand, but it looks like he could be getting closer to returning to the ice and finding a way to make an impact and give the team a much needed boost in Game 6. Sharks head coach Todd McLellan confirmed the news. He may not have been the most productive member of the team when he was available this season, but he is very experienced and that cannot be understated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

FanSided.com

> Comment

08:42 AM ET 05.25 | There he was, a Ranger who finally had enough of Brad Marchand and his verbal challenges. There he was, a Ranger not only standing his ground, but standing up for his teammates. There was Derick Brassard, of all people, dropping his stick and gloves with about four minutes remaining in the second period of Thursday night's live-or-die Game 4 at the Garden after dueling with the Boston agitator in front of Henrik Lundqvist's net. And there was Marchand skating away from the challenge as play continued, leaving the Blueshirts center to gather his equipment and scramble back into the action. Let's just say that four games of familiarity has bred a bit of contempt for Marchand. "Sometimes he doesn't show any respect for his opponents," Brassard told The Post following yesterday's prep work for tonight's Game 5. "He's been asking everybody on our team to fight all series, so I thought it was time to take him up on it, but then I guess he didn't have any interest."

New York Post

> Comment

10:23 AM ET 05.25 | Glendale's mayor said he expects the National Hockey League to lay out its ownership deal for the Phoenix Coyotes early next week. Developments came quickly Friday afternoon. At about 4:30 p.m., NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman scheduled meetings with Mayor Jerry Weiers and other council members for Tuesday morning. Two weeks ago, Weiers told Bettman not to ask for a meeting until the ownership picture was set. "If he's doing what I asked him to do, which is to not bring us anything unless he had it 100 percent ready to go, if he thinks they're ready to go, we'll see what they've got to propose," Weiers told The Arizona Republic. Hours earlier on Friday, the Coyotes scheduled a press conference at Jobing.com Arena for Tuesday afternoon, purportedly to discuss General Manager Don Maloney signing a long-term contract extension. "Other than Don Maloney's new contract, we have nothing new to report on the Coyotes," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told the Republic on Friday.

Arizona Republic

> Comment

02:54 PM ET 05.24 | When it comes down to why they're losing, look no further than captain Jonathan Toews, who is currently playing in a very un-captain-like manner at the moment. What the Red Wings have done is successfully gotten inside the head of the Blackhawks captain and it's showing during games. Toews is not only the captain of the Hawks, he's captain of cool and he's lost his more than once this series. That's the main reason the Blackhawks are in the funk they're in as Toews is setting the wrong tone for the team. Chicago should be cool and collected and they're coming out panicked and gasping for air which is a great way to lose a hockey game and end a season in the playoffs. If Chicago wants to get back into this series, they first need to allow Jonathan Toews to screw his head on right and kick the Red Wings out of the kitchen. Toews cannot be barking at the refs, hacking at the legs of Wings defenders or wasting his time sitting in the penalty box. Once Toews gets it together, the offense will start flowing again and things will get back to normal.

Fansided

> Comment