Truth & Rumors > NHL

07:29 AM ET 06.17 | Based on the math to date, the Bruins and Blackhawks may wind up squeezing the minutes of more than 10 games into the space of a seven-game series. The effect, especially with the number of lengthy overtimes in today's game, accounts for the way [Zdeno Chara and Jonathan Toews] and every other player who is still in this looks at this point. It's almost a crime that either team has to lose (although local Boston-haters won't see it that way) after giving so much to get this far. There will be consequences. One of the safer bets you can make is that neither Chicago nor Boston will be back in the final next spring. ... The schedule is a dynasty-killer. The process is brutal.

Montreal Gazette

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05:18 AM ET 06.16 | The Chicago Blackhawks won a marathon of a game in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but they weren't so lucky when the game went into overtime in Game 2. The Boston Bruins evened the series at 1-1 but if you ask Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews if the Bruins earned the win, he'll tell you they did not. "We just kind of let them play their way and we didn't make them earn it," Toews said after the overtime loss to Boston on Saturday night. "That's a little disappointing." Toews is likely referring to the Blackhawks' poor showing in overtime, and it's an observation that is being made by more than just the team's captain. Defenseman Brent Seabrook echoed Toews' words after the game as well and head coach Joel Quenneville thought the team faded after a strong start to the game.

Fansided

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10:45 AM ET 06.16 | The Calgary Flames apparently believe they need more hockey minds running the organization to help change their fortunes. Brendan Shanahan, the long-time NHL star who's spent the past couple of seasons doling out supplementary discipline, is apparently interested in trying his hands at running a team. Whether a marriage will come remains to be seen, but according to multiple reports, Flames majority owner Murray Edwards and president and CEO Ken King met with Shanahan Friday night in Calgary. According to sources, the club has not offered Shanahan a position, but the team is interested in adding somebody to oversee the hockey operations.

Toronto Sun

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10:00 AM ET 06.16 | Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates told Stephen Whyno of the Canadien Press 2013 NHL Most Valuable Player Sidney Crosby did not have an MVP season: From Whyno's Twitter feed: Sidney Crosby "is an MVP in this league. He is. But in saying that, he also didn't have an MVP season."

Canadien Press

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09:11 AM ET 06.16 | The Rangers should hire Mark Messier as head coach ... of the re-christened AHL Hartford Wolf Pack. That is the place for Messier, passed over in his bid to start his career behind the bench at the top, to begin. That is the place for Messier to build a foundation that will take him on the path to the NHL. That is the place general manager Glen Sather would all but certainly be happy to place Messier in conjunction with making current head man and well respected organization soldier Ken Gernander an associate coach. That is the place for Messier to learn and to showcase himself not merely to the Rangers, but to 30 NHL teams whose coaches operate on a carousel. It's not about paying dues. It's about gaining experience independent of the experience that comes with a Hall of Fame career of 25 seasons. It's about gaining experience leading a team from behind the bench, not from within the room and on the ice.

New York Post

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