NEW YORK – The Rangers played like they didn’t need to win Game 2 of their Eastern Conference final as badly as the Devils did.

And so, as it usually is when the effort is lacking, they got beat. New Jersey tied the series at one win apiece thanks to their 3-2 win in Game 2 at the Garden.

Game 3 of this Hudson River rivalry conference final is Saturday in Newark.

Despite only trailing 1-0 after one period, the Rangers pointed to the opening period as the main culprit to an underwhelming performance. They weren’t nearly strong enough in any areas of the ice, and got beat to pucks by the hungrier Devils.

“That first period wasn’t what we wanted,” said Rangers defenseman Marc Staal. “Their forecheck and their battles in the corners; they were coming out with more of those than we were. That’s something we can fix, and we’re going to.”

“They were really good along the boards,” said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist after making 24 saves in the loss. “That kind of set the tone for the whole game; winning battles around the ice, on the wall, and like I said, the first period they had us. Then we came out, we started skating a little more, winning more battles, but I just think overall we have to do better.”

The Rangers didn’t only lose because their play in the so-called dirty areas of the ice was poor, they lost because their top players were poor. Marian Gaborik, who was on the ice for Ryan Carter’s deflection goal at 18:09 of the second period, was benched for about half of the third period.

Gaborik was held responsible for that game-tying goal when he failed to clear the puck out of the zone and then didn’t get down to block the shot by Bryce Salvador that was deflected by Carter, and past Lundqvist.

“The second goal, I didn’t get the puck out, I guess, so you’ll have to ask [Rangers coach John Tortorella]. It would have been big (to go into the third period up 2-1),” Gaborik said. “I just have to do a better job there on the second goal. We had some momentum and they took over. I have to do a better job on the wall.”

Rangers coach John Tortorella declined to discuss the benching with reporters during a brief post-game press conference.

Regardless of their mistakes, the Rangers learned a valuable lesson in losing their third straight Game 2 of these playoffs. They will need to match the effort of their opponent every night if they wish to advance past the Devils and into the Stanley Cup Finals.

“We’ve been in this situation before,” said Rangers captain Ryan Callahan. “We just have to go into Jersey and try to get that next game. We can’t get down. Like I said, we’ve been in this situation before, and we’ve come through. We’ll get a day off tomorrow and be ready to work on [Saturday].”

“In that first period, they were just winning more battles than us in the corners and able to get more pressure on us that way,” Staal said. “We came back better in the second, just didn’t finish the job in the third.”

“I just felt like, the first period they were the better team,” said Lundqvist. “Second period, we came back, made a little push. Overall, we just need to be better. I felt like they wanted it a little more.”

NOTES

Staal scored the first Rangers goal when his shot from the point took a strange bounce off the boards and wound up getting kicked into the net by Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur (23 saves).

“It’s a tough place to play,” said Brodeur. “There’s so many bad bounces. The ice is not good, the boards are awful and the glass makes crazy bounces everywhere.”

Chris Kreider tied the game in the second period when he deflected a shot by Anton Stralman 12:19 into the second. His fourth goal of these playoffs ties an NHL record for most goals by a player in the playoffs before playing in a regular season game. His six points also ties the same record.

POST-GAME AUDIO

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The emergence of youngster Tyler Seguin was something that most fans came to expect during his second year in the NHL. The former number two overall pick led the Bruins with 29 goals and 67 points during the 2011-12 season.

His impressive sophomore year with the Black and Gold registered positively in the minds of the Boston faithful as they awarded Seguin with his first honor as a professional. He was named the winner of the “Boston Bruins’ Seventh Player Award” for the player who had been the biggest surprise on the ice.

Seguin experienced another first this season when he suffered a torn tendon in his middle finger on his left hand. He recently had successful surgery to repair the tendon.

“I feel good,” said Seguin. “I went home for about a week to have the surgery and now I am looking forward to start working out again.”

According to John Bishop of BostonBruins.com, the injury occurred on March 15^th in a 6-2 loss to the Florida Panthers. Since that game, Seguin still managed to record 10 points in the final 11 regular season games.

The recovery process is about 10 weeks and he just recently had the cast and stitches removed from his hand. He is now walking around in a splint. Seguin is currently not working out, but he hopes to start lifting weights within the next few weeks.

“My main focus right now is my core strength,” said Seguin in regards to what he needs to improve on this offseason. “Last year, we had a really short summer. Now that we have a bit more time, we can focus on the things we need to really improve on to help the team as a whole.”

If everything goes according to plan, Seguin should be ready to go by the start of training camp. All eyes will be on the kid to see what he will bring to the ice for his junior year.

Seventeen years , 364 days have elapsed since the New York Rangers opened up an Eastern Conference Finals series against the New Jersey Devils.

There have been three Presidents. Apple stock was selling at $30.00 a share. Only two of the current NY Rangers were teenagers. That night a 19-year-old goaltender named Martin Brodeur was in Nets for the Devils. While Brodeur is the only tangible link to that classic seven-game series, it is worth noting that the Rangers defeated a Dale Hunter led Washington Capital team to move into those finals. Two days after finishing off the Dale Hunter coached Capitals, the Rangers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Will History repeat itself ? Will this Battle of the Hudson have a Stephane Matteau moment, will there be a guarantee of a win ? Will Henrik Lundqvist continue to get the better of Brodeur? The two have faced off in 34 regular season match ups,with Lundqvist going 23-6-5 with a 1.73 GAA, including five shutouts.

The atmosphere at the garden was electric. Nine minutes prior to the game PA announcer urged all the fans to put on their free Blue T-shirts that said “Believe” across the front and had a special guest Stephane Matteau alongside him. The song which signified the 94 cup run, Van Halen’s “Right Now,” blasted from the Garden speakers followed by a video montage on the ice that got the Garden faithful into a frenzy.

The game started off with a feeling out period and started to pick up about six minutes into the game. Dan Girardi stepped up on Zach Parise who side stepped him for what looked like a clean break away until Ryan McDonagh caught him from behind to deny the scoring opportunity. About a minute later Henrik Lundqvist made a big glove save on Adam Henrique. Ryan McDonagh once again showed his value when off of a block of a Brandon Prust shot, Ilya Kovalchuk looked like he would have a clean breakway, once again only to be thwarted by McDonagh to keep the period scoreless.

While not singling McDonagh out individually coach John Tortorella said of the defensemen, “He played real well tonight, his skating ability certainly showed there, and those were two big plays.”

When asked about those two plays and bringing his game to another level, McDonagh towed the company line. “You just do it for each other here in the locker room, thats the mindset. You want to pick each other up, play hard for your teammate next to you on the bench. We’ve done it all year like that, there are no individuals on the team. We win and lose as a team and this was just a great team effort.”

Both teams traded ineffective power plays. The Devils played a very strong road period, to quiet the Garden crowd as the period ended with no real advantage in play.

The second period started with the Rangers committed to playing the body much more. The Stepan-Callahan Kreider line controlled play down low and cycled effectively. The Devils countered off an awful give away by Dan Girardi down low that led to several scoring opportinties.

The Rangers finally got the puck out and drew a hooking penaltly against Danius Zubrus. An inspired shift by Mike Rupp, John Mitchell and Brandon Prust early on gave the Rangers life. The second period featured Brad Richards double shifting after Derek Stepan got banged up a bit. Stepan returned and drew a slashing penalty to Andy Greene at the 14:05 mark. During the power play Henrik Lundqvist stopped Zach Parise on three shots from point blank range. The teams traded some chances in the waning moments of the second period but neither team could cash in.

During the playoffs John Tortorella has made a point of saying that these games are a test to see what players are made of. A scoreless third period is one of those golden opportunities, and Dan Girardi cashed in just 53 seconds into the third period off of a beautiful passing play from Chris Kreider and Michael Del Zotto.

The Rangers fed off the goal and came in waves. Martin Broduer made the save of the game diving to his right to stop a Marc Staal shot headed to the back of the net. With the Rangers pressing Steve Bernier took a boarding penalty that Rookie Chris Kreider cashed in for a 2-0 lead at the 12 minute mark.

The Rangers went into lock down mode limiting the Devils to just four shots in the third period. An empty netter by Artem Anisimov sealed the game at 18:33, and Henrik Lundqvist held on to record his 5th career playoff shut out.

When asked if his competitive nature is fueled when he looks across the Ice and sees Martin Broduer, Lundqvist replied, “Everytime you play against great players it’s exciting, it’s inspiring to play against him, and it’s always a challenge.”

It’s a challenge Henrik and the Rangers hope to meet only three more times.

Following two grueling seven game series against the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers, the Washington Capitals were eliminated due to the lack of scoring production from a few of their star players. One of those players that clearly under produced was Capitals’ right winger, Alexander Semin. Semin registered only three goals and one assist in Washington’s 14 NHL playoff games. Following the departure of head coach, Dale Hunter Capitals’ general manager George McPhee could be looking to change the dynamic in the locker room and more importantly the production on the ice.

Washington held one of the highest team payrolls for the 2011-2012 season, due to high salary players such as Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Both Ovechkin and Backstrom produced in the playoffs, placing first and second respectively for the Capitals’ in playoff scoring. Free agent to be Alexander Semin did not live up to his salary and capabilities in the playoffs. The former 40 goal scorer in 2009-2010 certainly did not live up to his potential. Last year he signed a one-year, $6.7 million contract extension for this season,but  only compiled 54 points in the regular season for the second straight year.

His agent quickly all about eliminated a return to the nation’s capital. Semin’s agent, Mark Gandler talked about Semin and his role with the Capitals’ to ESPN the Magazine. “It was good while it lasted. With the lack of playoff success, with the direction they are going. They decided to change directions. That’s within their rights. Alex doesn’t fit into that system obviously.”

If he didn’t fit into the Capitals’ system, why was he re-signed for this season? If he wasn’t fitting in the Capials’ system Gandler certainly should have advised Semin to test free agency in the summer of 2011. Semin certainly can be a prolific scorer for almost any team based on his pure shot and highly offensive talents. Many teams will be interested in his services, especially smaller payroll teams looking to reach the salary cap minimum, such as the Florida Panthers.

Many thought that Semin could should given more ice time, because of his desire to compete and attempts to provide some defensive reliability. Semin’s agent Mark Gandler thought otherwise. “It just doesn’t make any sense to him. He plays, he did the best he could under the circumstances and he earned his right to be a free agent.”

One of the biggest reasons for Semin’s lack of production was his limited ice time. Obviously, Semin would not have a spot on the penalty kill but many thought he would find ice time late in games. Former Capitals’ coach, Dale Hunter often played his third and fourth lines late in games especially when Washington held a lead.

Gandler talked about Semin’s lack of ice time. “I think the issue is with the organization, not necessarily with the coach. They told us Alex is not going to play short-handed, he’s not going to play in the last minute. He’s going to get the same ice time as everybody else. Alex is not ready to be a role player. He wants to be a full-time player. It’s important to him.”

Semin is certainly a player that will attract some interest from smaller market teams looking to reach the cap floor, while gaining some offensive talent. The Colorado Avalanche are a team that could make a play for Semin’s talents. While gaining a nice paycheck, Semin could have the opportunity to play with young stars such as Paul Statsny and Matt Duchene. Other potential teams vying for the right winger could include the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes.

“I don’t know what the market (for him) is going to be,” Gandler said. “I know there aren’t many players like Alex around.”

Sea Dogs Are Champs Once Again

For the second consecutive year the Saint John Sea Dogs are champions of the QMJHL.
The team is the first repeat winners since the Gatineau Olympiques did it in 2003 and 2004 and it is the seventh time overall in league history.

On Tuesday the Sea Dogs took a 3-0 lead in games with a 6-4 win in Rimouski. Danick Gauthier scored twice; and Stephen MacAulay, Tomas Jurco, and Charles-Olivier Roussel had singles for Saint John; while Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Alexandre Mallet, Francis Beauvillier, and Petr Straka added the Oceanic markers.

The team closed out the series with an 8-0 rout on Thursday thanks to goals from Stanislev Galiev who had three; Jurco who had two; and Zack Phillips, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Gauthier had singles.

Following the game Sea Dogs’ forward Charlie Coyle was named the winner of the Guy Lafleur Trophy awarded to the playoff MVP. Coyle added 15 goals and 19 assists for the Sea Dogs in the playoffs this season. In 23 regular season games since joining the Sea Dogs at the end of the World Junior Championships in January Coyle recorded 15 goals and added 23 assists.

Galiev finished as the playoffs top scorer with 16 goals and 18 assists in 17 games; while Coyle finished second; and Phillips rounded out the top three with 32 points (9G, 23A) in 17 games.

Based on a minimum of 500:00 played Saint John’s Mathieu Corbeil leads all netminders with his 16-0-1 record, 2.08 GAA, and 0.919 SAV%. Quebec Remparts’ netminder Louis Domingue (7-3-1-0, 2.65 GAA, 0.897 SAV%) is second while the Blainville-Boisband Armada’s Etienne Marcoux has won seven games, lost three, has one overtime loss, and no shootout losses, has a goals against average of 2.85, and 0.897 SAV% to round out the top three.

The Memorial Cup Gets Underway with one game on Friday as Shawinigan takes on the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Saint John will take on the London Knights on Saturday; and London faces Shawinigan on Sunday.

Corbeil Is CHL Goalie of the Week

Corbeil is the CHL Goalie of the Week for the week ending May 6th.

He went 2-0 with a 1.60 GAA and 0.931 SAV% over that time frame.

On Friday Corbeil made 40 saves in the 3-2 double overtime win over Ri+mouski and followed that up with 14 more in another 3-2 win on Saturday.

Victoriaville and Drummondville Welcome The World

On Tuesday Hockey Canada in partnership with Hockey Quebec announced that Victoriaville and Drummondville will host the 2013 World U17 Hockey Challenge from December 28th, 2012-January 4th, 2013.

The 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will follow the same format as previous years, with five Canadian entries (Atlantic, Ontario, Pacific, Quebec, West) being joined by five international teams, with two groups of five teams. The top two teams from both groups will advance to the semifinals, while the remaining three teams from both groups will cross over for placement games.

The 27-game tournament will be based out of the Colisée Desjardins in Victoriaville, home of the Victoriaville Tigres, and the Centre Marcel Dionne in Drummondville, home of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, both of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Ticket information for the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will be released at a later date.

“It is a great honour for our communities, Victoriaville and Drummondville, to host the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge,” said Jérôme Mésonéro, president of the host committee. “Our host committee, in partnership with Hockey Québec and Hockey Canada, will put in place an extraordinary event for all the fans and players.”

Québec last hosted the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in 1994 in Amos, where the host province won the gold medal. Québec has won the tournament on three occasions; it also won gold in 1986 in Quebec City, Que., and 2006 in Regina, Sask.

“The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge gives many up-and-coming young players the chance to showcase their skills on an international stage for the first time,” said Bob Nicholson, president and CEO of Hockey Canada. “We look forward to Victoriaville and Drummondville, two great junior hockey towns, hosting this prestigious event, which represents an important step in our Program of Excellence for participating Canadian players.”

Since the first World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (then known as the Québec Esso Cup) in 1986, more than 1,100 NHL draft picks have played in the tournament, including nine of the last 10 first-overall selections (Ilya Kovalchuk, 2001; Rick Nash, 2002; Marc-André Fleury, 2003; Alexander Ovechkin, 2004; Erik Johnson, 2006; Patrick Kane, 2007; John Tavares, 2009; Taylor Hall, 2010; Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 2011).

The 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge will bring together the top players in the world born in 1996 or later. The regional under-17 program is the first step in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence. Many players who compete at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge go on to represent Canada with the National Men’s Under-18 Team, National Junior Team and National Men’s Team.

Courtesy QMJHL.

The Los Angeles Kings continued their historic 2012 Stanley Cup Playoff run with a 4-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes in Game One of the Western Conference Finals on Sunday night. The Kings offense was once again paced by their captain Dustin Brown, who had a goal and an assist. Anze Kopitar opened up the scoring fir the Kings in the first period. Dwight King also scored two including an empty-net goal. The Coyotes got another stellar performance from goaltender Mike Smith who made 44 saves on 47 shots. Jonathan Quick stopped 25 of 27 shots for the victory.

Pre-Game

First Period

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Second Period

Third Period

Post-Game

Daniel Winnik (LW, RW)  (80% chance of returning)

Nobody has ever mistaken Daniel Winnik for Rick Nash or Jonathan Toews but the 6’2″ winger has always been well liked wherever he goes. He’ll consistently finish with a point total in the mid 20′s, he’ll grind, dominate the boards, block shots, and consistently kill penalties. He can play effectively on the second, third and fourth forward lines. In other words he can do exactly what Jamie McGinn was never able to with the Sharks: be versatile. While many Sharks fans have been critical over the trade that send McGinn and prospects to Colorado for Winnik and T. J. Galiardi, there are important nuances to note. While “Ginner” was having a career year with San Jose (which got even better after the trade), he simply wasn’t producing when given the opportunity to play on one of  San Jose’s top two lines. Furthermore, McGinn was seldom effective in brief stints on the Sharks penalty kill.

Winnik is set to become an unrestricted free agent but he has indicated a willingness to return given the right deal. Since Galiardi, Torrey Mitchell and Dominic Moore struggled last season, it would be odd if the Sharks let Winnik walk. He was by far their best bottom six forward last season and the Sharks need his size and skating ability.

Jason Demers (D) (70% chance of returning)

The 2011-12 campaign for Demers was a far cry from his previous season where he was arguably San Jose’s most effective defenseman in the 2011 playoffs.

Two seasons ago Demers played in 75 regular season games, posted 24 points and finished a plus-19. In the 2011 playoffs he chipped in a mere 3 points but played in every single game of the first two rounds, providing excellent all around play. Unfortunately Demers was injured for the conference final and he hasn’t been the same player since. This past season was a giant step backwards. Demers was often a healthy scratch, as he played in just 57 regular season contests and appeared in only three out of five Sharks playoff games.

A soon to be 24-year-old defenseman, Demers has one year left remaining on his current contract that pays him an incredibly reasonable $1.25 million. He still has high upside as he saw top unit power play time ahead of then Sharks captain Rob Blake during his rookie season two years ago and he made huge defensive strides in his sophomore season. It is certainly possible that Demers suffered the hardly talked about “junior slump” and his trade value remains rather healthy.

Given the fact Boyle, Burns and Braun are more than likely all returning, Demers fits as the puck mover who is the odd man out. Given the right trade offer, Sharks GM Doug Wilson could definitely send Demers packing for a new city.

Brad Winchester (LW) (70% chance of returning)

Winchester snuck onto the Sharks roster out of training camp this past season. He didn’t even ink a deal until shortly before the season started. That said, the veteran winger appeared in every game deep into winter. And despite the fact his playing time took a sharp decrease during March, it seems reasonable to predict his return. After all every team needs a big, punishing winger to grind the boards on the fourth line. Plus somebody other than Ryane Clowe needs to be able to act as “police” out there for players like Logan Couture and Martin Havlat. It will be curious to see however if the Sharks reward him with a guaranteed deal in the early summer or hope he remains available come September.

Benn Ferriero (RW) (70% chance of returning)

It seems like every organization has a Benn Ferriero type of player: a tough, undersized scorer who everyone seems to love but for whatever reason he can’t find a role with the big club. The 25-year-old Ferriero has had cups of coffee with the Sharks. In fact, he has scored some huge, game-winning goals seemingly out of nowhere (even an  OT winner in the postseason) but he just doesn’t have the size, speed or skill to really solidify himself at the NHL level. He has one year left on his deal and will probably return to the Sharks but it wouldn’t surprise if he was traded away, perhaps for a late round draft choice.

Antti Niemi (G) (70% chance of returning)

Word around the Sharks is that the higher ups—including Doug Wilson—love Antti Niemi. But the Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 has not been able to steal games for the Sharks as he did with Chicago.

During the 2011 postseason Niemi was awful against the Kings, brilliant against the Red Wings and mediocre against the Canucks. And in this most recent playoff series against the Blues, Niemi will be remembered for nothing but his inexcusable gaff in the third period of Game Five. With the Sharks up 1-0 and facing elimination, Niemi mishandled a simple wrist shot from just inside the blue-line despite hardly any traffic in front of him. The ensuing rebound was chipped home by Jamie Langenbrunner and you could sense at 1-1, the impending doom for the Sharks.

Niemi’s regular season save percentage fell from .920 to .915 this past season and he was rarely able to “stand on his head” as “they” say.  He is under contract for three more years at $3.8million per season, a reasonable contract for a No.1 goaltender.

Considering the majority of San Jose’s top prospects make a living between the pipes, the big shake-up that makes the most sense would be to trade Niemi away for any combination of draft choices, bottom six forwards and depth defenders.

That would leave the Sharks with Niemi’s backup Thomas Greiss and prospects Alex Stalock and Tyson Sexsmith battling for playing time. And when you think about it, that’s not that bad of a place to be with goaltenders. After all look at how Niemi and Cam Ward won Stanley Cups as rookies. Furthermore, rookie Braden Holtby came out of nowhere this season to lead the Capitals to a huge upset over the defending champion Bruins. And not only did Holtby knock off Boston in seven games but he nearly equaled that feat in round two, falling just short in seven games against the Rangers.

Who is to say Greiss, Stalock or Sexsmith can’t do the same?

NEW YORK – Throughout this long marathon of a season, Brad Richards has tried to be the consummate teammate. Even when he struggled through an inconsistent regular season, it was all about others.

Even in a year during which he scored the least amount of points in a season since the 2008-’09 campaign, Richards kept positive, never forgetting to assist his teammates through the long season.

Saturday night, during the Rangers’ second do-or-die Game 7 of these playoffs, Richards took a feed from the hard-charging Carl Hagelin and one-timed it into the net just 92 seconds into the decisive game. The Rangers never relinquished the lead from there, winning 2-1 over the Capitals to advance to their first Eastern Conference final since 1997, and a matchup with cross-town rival New Jersey.

In the last 11 playoff games in which his team has faced elimination, Richards has now scored five goals and eight assists.

“That’s the type of player he is. He’s in the situation a lot of times and he always seems to be the go-to-guy,” Hagelin said. “That’s probably something growing up, he was the guy everyone was looking up to. He’s been great for us all playoffs.”

“He’s been great,” Brian Boyle said of the Rangers’ top-line center. “He’s been great for me, you get down on yourself, things weren’t going in early, he’s been great to me, he’s been great to other guys, he’s a fun guy to be around. He’s a huge part to our club.”

“It’s a big goal — not because it’s my goal,” said Richards. “Whoever scores that goal – the first goal for our team, in this game, on home ice – it’s a big goal. It gets the nerves out. You don’t exhale, but you have the 1-0 lead now, you got the crowd in it, they’re not waiting for something to happen. Then, you play.”

And play they did. Through a scoreless second period, then into an impossibly tense third. With 9:55 left in the third, Marian Gaborik’s shot was blocked by center Brooks Laich in the slot, allowing Michael Del Zotto a wrister that beat Holtby for a 2-0 lead.

When defenseman Roman Hamrlik answered with a tally of his own just :38 later, Del Zotto’s goal became the game-winner as the Rangers held off the Caps to win the series.

“I was just happy to contribute. It was a big goal for us,” said Del Zotto. “We said coming out of the second intermission we needed to get that next one to get insurance. Then, they scored next shift. Game of momentum shifts and surges, and we did a good job of getting the win.”

“We certainly know how to make it interesting, that’s for sure. Especially with that lead in the third, the confidence we showed to keep fore-checking, we didn’t give them anything,” Staal said. “That was a big part of it. We talked about it, but a lot of times that doesn’t happen because your natural tendency is to back off. We kept fore-checking and were creating chances.”

For Richards, it was yet another chance for him to make his name as one of the most clutch players currently in the NHL. It’s a mindset; some players are scared of Game 7’s. One mistake could end their season; one moment can make you the hero. Richards, who won a Stanley Cup in 2004 with the Lightning, has been a hero more often than not.

“He’s been there,” said Boyle. “There were times when he wasn’t scoring or doing what he wanted to do, but he was still that guy – he’s great to me. Just watching him lead by example and not letting his dissatisfaction with his play at certain times affect him.”

“He steps up in these moments. You saw it tonight, you see it last series,” said Rangers captain Ryan Callahan. “It seems like he thrives on these moments. Right through the year he’s been big for us, and he’s going to have to continue for us.”

So now, it’s to the Eastern Conference finals, the first time since 1997 the Rangers have advanced past the halfway mark of the playoffs. And, it’s the Hudson River Rivalry, as New York will face New Jersey for the right to play for the Stanley Cup against either Los Angeles or Phoenix.

“It’s a huge win for us. Guys stepped up in big moments,” said Callahan. “We’ll enjoy this tonight, then tomorrow gotta get focused. We play again Monday.”

NOTES

The team that scored first won all seven games of the series.

Del Zotto’s game-winner is the third time in these playoffs a Rangers defenseman has scored the game-winning goal. Dan Girardi had the winner in Game 7 of the conference quarters, and Marc Staal had the overtime winner in Game 5 of the conference semis.

POST-GAME AUDIO:

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Inexperienced in the realm of general managers, Mike Gillis arrived in Vancouver five years ago, and has since made a large impact on the Canucks’ organization, setting standards for other NHL franchises in money management and player development. Now Gillis will continue to make his mark on the city of Vancouver, signing a contract extension on May 7.

“This is a significant announcement for our hockey club,” Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini told CBC. “These past four years have been the most successful in Canucks history. Mike and his management team have done an excellent job to position us for long term success on and off the ice.”

The length of the contract extension is still unknown, but Gillis is already at work. He has indicated the highly possible return of head coach Alain Vigneault, stating that Vigneault wants to return. However, there is no timeline on when the decision will be made, and Gillis has stated that the decision will ultimately be his.

“I have every bit of confidence in Alain,” Gillis told the Toronto Sun. “It gets exasperating sometimes. This is the winningest coach in the team’s history and we just won two President’s Trophies and lost the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final. Is that when you’re going to decide to start getting rid of people?”

It’s certainly not when Aquilini will start to get rid of people. In Gillis’ time with the Canucks, they have won the Northwest Division each year, won two President’s Trophies, competed in nine playoff rounds, were named Western Conference champions and set a franchise record in points. Oh, and Gillis was named the NHL GM of the year in 2011. No big deal.

But before his time with the Canucks, Gillis had nothing to do with running an NHL hockey team. He was a player agent before Aquilini hired him, and studied law at Queen’s University after a shortened NHL career. Drafted fifth overall by the Colorado Rockies in 1978, Gillis played 246 games for the Colorado Rockies and the Boston Bruins before retiring due to a fractured ankle.

After dealing with NHL players for 17 years as an agent, Gillis came to Vancouver partly because of his daughter Kate, who plays for Canada’s National field hockey team. But when he was appointed as general manager, he had a plan and a purpose.

“I’m hoping to bring a different perspective,” Gillis told CBC in 2008 after the Canucks missed the playoffs and posted a 39-33-10 record. “I’m hoping to bring different ideas to the draft table and to player development. I’m hoping to be able to attract players here because, in dealing with them for the last 17 years, I understand the message they want to hear and what is important to them…I think this team needs to get faster. It needs more grit, it needs to be more competitive.”

With a reputation of a hard bargainer, Gillis did just that. An independent thinker, he watched and studied many different successful organizations such as Detroit and New Jersey and put what he learned to use. Understanding how players think and what they want, he worked hard towards making Vancouver a destination for players. Gillis hired sleep experts from the US Air Force to help the team cope with travel demands, used chefs and nutritionists to give the athletes optimal diets and psychologists for personal and professional stresses and reorganized the dressing room into a circle shape.

Gillis also brought with him his attacking and offensive-minded system, even buying Vigneault, a typically defensive-minded coach into it.

“Mike’s unconventional, but he has the same goal we do: to win. That’s why you get into this business,” Aquilini told Vancouver Magazine.

There have been frustrating and difficult moments for Gillis as well. He had to deal with the recent passings of Rick Rypien and Pavol Demitra, both of which he handled very well, but he also lost two close friends to cancer this past year. Of course, the media has not been much help either, and Gillis is constantly frustrated by them.

“There have been moments where I have reflected back and wondered if the amount of energy … is the right thing for me,” Gillis told the Vancouver Sun. “I feel we have unfinished business, for sure, and this team is on the right track…I feel very proud of what we’ve accomplished. It’s the right thing to carry on and try to accomplish our goals.”

So what now? First off, there’s Vigneault’s highly likely extension and then of course, the goaltending “issue.” Those are the two biggest items Gillis needs to address during the off-season.

“We have an awfully busy summer ahead of us. We have a number of situations that we need to resolve,” Gillis told canucks.com. “Now that I’ve resolved my situation we should be able to act on opportunities in front of us.”

Stay tuned – with Gillis as general manager, this off-season could be a fun one.

“These are the games you remember.”

That’s what Washington Capitals coach Dale Hunter says about Game Sevens. He’s right. For both players and fans, it’s all about how the team finishes. Washington has done a complete 180° from their regular season ways during the playoffs. Of course, their defense is what everybody in the media is talking about. They have also been mentally tough. The most valuable trait seen by this reporter has been their consistency.

Caps fans know what they are going to get from their team tonight at Madison Square Garden. We’re no longer asking whether Alex Semin will show up, whether their goaltending will hold up or whether Mike Green can improve his defense. All we are asking is if the Caps can get the last break in a series where the Rangers have seemingly gotten all the breaks. It’s useless to go back on the “what could have been’s” with regard to Games 3 and 5. Washington has responded, and it all comes down to today.

For a team mired in playoff disappointment, today could be the day that changes everything. This isn’t the 1998 Washington Capitals who were happy to get swept in the Stanley Cup Finals. This team is not overmatched against anybody. They are the epitome of  ”it doesn’t matter how they play, it matters how we play.” If Washington comes out with jump in their skates tonight, New York will be back on their heels faster than one of John Tortorella’s press conferences.

Don’t get me wrong, I have full confidence that the Rangers will come out extremely strong. My point is that if Washington does the same, they are a better team with more speed and more playoff experience. While not all that experience has been good, the team has embraced the underdog role and is looking to slay some of their demons.

One notable absence will Jay Beagle down the middle for the Caps. Gritty veteran Jeff Halpern has stepped in and is looking to win his fist playoff series in a long career. If there was ever an X-factor type guy to root for, it’s former Capitals captain Jeff Halpern. Winding down on the end of his career and a 19 game scratch streak (before Game 6), a Jeff Halpern GWG or strong performance is the kind of vindication and storyline that every team needs on the way to a Cup. For once, the Capitals seem to be on the right side of all the media stories. The hot young goaltender, the unselfish Captain, redemption and a rookie coach.

What more could any hockey fan want tonight? Game 7 in the biggest city, on the biggest stage with one of the greatest players in the league trying to prove once for all that he can lead. It will be a great game that probably comes down to a bounce. Who will the Hockey Gods shine upon tonight? No one knows but, one thing is known. Win or lose, this is a game we will remember.