Hearsay: Bruins set to reward Rask

Tuukka Rask signed a one-year 'prove it' contract for this season and boy, has he proven it. (AP)

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BRUINS SET TO REWARD RASK

CSNNE.com believes Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask is in line for a big contract extension as a restricted free agent after proving himself in the regular season, and helping lead the Bruins to their second conference final berth in the last three years. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said he doesn’t lament letting Rask go through the playoffs unsigned, and knowing what he is might actually make it an easier negotiating process.

“I’m happy for him that he’s playing well and he’s helping the team,” said Chiarelli. “It’s always easier to sign these guys after success. He’s showing some resiliency, which I like, and some durability, which I like.

“I liked [Rask’s] big saves. We had some real good games where, I’d have to go back and look, but I think we had a chance in every game. The last game, he had those two saves in the third. Not part of sustained pressure. You see a bunch of saves, it’s like point-blank [Ryan] Callahan to [Rick] Nash. Those are big saves. His ability to bounce back from the game before . . . I like that. It really is about the surges. I like that we’re seeing more of the same.”

PENGUINS WENT ALL-IN AT DEADLINE

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review posed the question to Penguins GM Ray Shero: How tempted were you to not make any trades when the club you had assembled was rolling, even without Evgeni Malkin, through what would become an undefeated March?

“What I’ve said before is we made four moves, major moves almost, and they were no guarantee of anything. If we had left the team alone — let’s say we were up against the cap — who’s to say we wouldn’t be where we are right now? I don’t know. We liked our team, certainly. But, as a group, we felt to make some sort of run, to have the depth and experience to play a variety of roles and to give ourselves the chance — the opportunity to do that might not come again. Guys like (Brenden) Morrow and (Jarome) Iginla are veteran guys who have not won the Cup before. It’s always the balance of the chemistry and all that stuff, but knowing our group, we were willing to take that chance.”

ROY’S LEGENDARY COMPETITIVENESS

The Denver Post recalls how after Avalanche road games, on the team plane, it was time for players to relax and get their minds off hockey for a while. For everyone except Patrick Roy.

“He wanted to talk hockey all the time, especially after games, on the plane,” said Dave Reid, Roy’s teammate with the Avs from 1999-2001. “All the young guys would immediately turn on their video games, but Patrick had to talk about the game. If we won, it was ‘What could we have done better? What do we need to do to be better?’ After losses it was ‘This can’t happen again. We need to address this right now.’ So I’d usually be one of the few older guys, along with Adam Foote or Ray Bourque, who’d sit with him and talk hockey the whole ride.”

He also noted: “It wasn’t enough to be just good. With Patrick, you had to be the best or else,” Reid said. “I remember when I first came to the Avs (in 1999), Patrick and Footer drove me home from the airport. And I’m sitting there thinking, ‘This is a pretty sweet setup here. I’m coming to a great team.’ And the whole 45-minute drive back from DIA to downtown, all they kept talking about was ‘We need this, we need that. We’re not going to be the best until so and so happens.’ I just thought, ‘Wow, these guys, Patrick especially, they’re pretty intense.’ “

SEABROOK REGAINS LOST CONFIDENCE

CSNChicago.com indicates Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook couldn’t put a finger on what was going wrong for him these playoffs. There was criticism for it, but he said he didn’t really notice it that much; his biggest critic is the one he sees in the mirror every day.

“I was just pissed at myself, first and foremost,” he said. “I knew I had to be better.”

Seabrook was back to his old self on Saturday night. He’s part of the core that the Blackhawks need to be at their best and play their role well. He did that in Game 5. He’ll need to do it again if the Blackhawks want to pull this series out.

“(Jonathan) Toews scores goals. (Patrick) Kane makes passes and scores goals. I’m the shut-down guy, the physical guy who makes it tough on (the other) team’s top players,” Seabrook said. “That’s the role I love and take pride in. And when I come to the rink, that’s the role I want to play.”

WHAT THEY’RE TWEETING ABOUT

JACKETS READY TO POUNCE IN NEW CAP WORLD

The Columbus Dispatch illustrates how the Blue Jackets are about $19 million below the cap during a transition period where the cap number is shrinking from $70.2 million to $64.3 million.

Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said he has had conversations with clubs about how they plan to get under the salary cap and what they might be seeking in trade for established players this summer. The Blue Jackets have three first-round selections in next month’s draft, which is said to be loaded with talent.

“We were talking a lot about those three picks, how we would entertain turning one of those picks or even more than one of those picks into something that makes sense for us long-term,” Kekalainen said. “A very bright prospect or a player very young in his career is maybe something that would work, and I’m sure a few other teams are thinking the same.

“We’re in a great spot in that we have draft picks and we have (salary-cap) room, and we have a very keen interest in making our team more competitive.”

FLYERS’ CAP EXPERT ON NEW CBA

The Courier-Post details the rise of Barry Hanrahan, now the Flyers’ assistant general manager.

The biggest thing on the 45-year-old’s plate these days is dissecting the pieces he has available of the NHL’s soon-to-be released new collective bargaining agreement and rule changes that come with it. It’s not the first time he’s been tasked with breaking down the superfluous document. He did it after the 2005 lockout, too.

“If there’s anything which we want to double check or confirm (with the league), they’re at our disposal pretty much 24/7,” said Hanrahan, who will read and re-read the CBA when the full document becomes available. “It’s great for us. I know I do it and a lot of clubs rely on them just to make sure certain of deadlines and timelines and rules, and that we’re operating with a clear understanding.”

CAPS’ HENDRICKS APPRECIATES MEMORIAL DAY

CSNWashington.com points out Capitals center Matt Hendricks grew up in Minnesota as the son of a U.S. Marine and has an appreciation for the military and Memorial Day. He was also part of a weeklong USO Holiday Tour in December during the lockout, which took them to airfields in Bagram and Kandahar in Afghanistan, a medical center in Germany, and stops in Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan.

“The biggest thing I brought back [from Afghanistan] is that news outlets don’t do it justice,” Hendricks said. “You see video or pictures and it doesn’t emphasize the real hell hole that place is and that our troops are in.”

Hendricks said it was during his trip to Afghanistan that he expressed to Bryan B. Battaglia, senior advisor to the Joint Chief of Staff Army General Martin E. Dempsey how much he appreciated the sacrifice of U.S. troops and medical personnel.

“I said to him, ‘Man, I can’t believe that our troops live like this and these are the conditions they work in every day,’” Hendricks recalled. “There’s no days off, it’s hard times.

“I talked to people who had been over there for nine, 10, 12 months without a break. I mean, it’s tough. And [Battaglia] said, ‘If there’s a message to bring home, it’s that freedom isn’t free.’”

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