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Waiting for the Replacements

The NHL and PA meet again today here in New York City in another last ditch attempt to save next season and stave off the use of replacement players. Alan Hahn of Newsday has the overall preview, Al Strachan of the Toronto Sun covers the newly hot issue of revenue sharing among franchises, and Kevin Allen of USA Today tackles the prospect of replacements. But the latest round of sniping, courtesy of Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, gives one the sense that this is just the latest chapter in the inexorable dance toward impasse, implementation, and replacements.

Spector, looking forward to the eventual resumption of the NHL with actual NHL players, considers the daunting task GMs will have of putting rosters together. Though he focuses on teams with big name players to retain, few teams will have as big a challenge as the Rangers.

Assuming the NHL is successful in having contracts run down by one year for the lost 2004-05 season, the Rangers will have only a handful of players still under contract -- big ones. Holik will have one year left at nearly $9 million, Kasparaitis will have two left at $4.4 million, and Jagr will have four remaining at $11 million per. That's nearly $25 million for three players, with no other players under contract as far as we can tell (we didn't research this all too rigorously). Karl Rachunek (26) and younger players are likely to remain under restricted free agency rules that will maintain their status as Ranger property, but a couple of 28 year olds, Poti and Purinton, may well become UFAs if a new CBA lowers the threshold age (not that Ranger fans will lament their moving elsewhere). Looks like the Rangers will have about $10 million to spend on twenty players -- that will barely cover the likely minimum salary level in the next CBA.

Cablevision got some help in its fight against the West Side Stadium yesterday when four groups launched lawsuits aimed at reversing the award of the Hudson Railyards to the Jets. Although the suits do not take Cablevision's side -- "We have no brief for the Jets or Cablevision," the Times quoted Straphangers Campaign's Gene Russianoff as saying -- they can potentially create further delay, jeopardizing in its entirety a project CVC opposes because of the competition it would create for nearby Madison Square Garden. "Transit workers and straphangers are not subsidizing skyboxes," said Ed Watt, vice president of the Transit Workers Union, one of the groups suing, according to the Daily News.

Meanwhile, Newsday reports of a quiet Cablevision board meeting in which Chuck Dolan did not pursue plans to reduce the board size to his liking and the board did not increase the company's bid for Adelphia. "It was not clear whether yesterday's relatively routine board meeting meant the rancor that had rocked Cablevision for months was receding," said Newsday. The rancor beseiging the company from outside continues. Phil Mushnik of the Post has his usual harsh words for their oft-used tactic of blacking out sports programming, as they are currently doing to Mets fans, calling MSGN a ghost network. "Friday made it one full month," he writes, "since a Cablevision service rep assured us that her boss will call to explain why we received no rebate or credit for at least 240 advertised, promised, but undelivered NHL games. We're beginning to think that we might not get that call." The full story of Cablevision pulling the plug on a documentary called "The Garden" can be found in this week's New Yorker.

As Jess Rubenstein long predicted, Ivan Baranka signed an amateur tryout contract with Hartford yesterday, allowing him to join the Pack for their playoffs. In the only other junior news today, Bruce Graham and the Moncton Wildcats took a 2-1 lead into the third period but were eliminated by Rouyn-Noranda after giving up four goals in the final stanza. Graham had four goals in the first five games of the series, but none in the last one.

Scott Gomez's pelvic fracture is not as bad as first suspected. "Rumor had it that he shattered his pelvis and it was a career-threatening injury," his father told the Times. "He got hit from behind. He got caught on the latch of the door. He did fracture a bone there, but it's very minor. It's a clean fracture." The Post nevertheless takes this opportunity to slam the NHL: "No-names taking runs at stars. This is the sort of reprehensible incident we can expect to see regularly in a Replacement NHL."

After all the brouhaha earlier this season over whether Theo Fleury would be allowed to join a senior league team in Canada, little fanfare has accompanied his actual play. This week, his team is one of six in the Allan Cup finals.

Falling Short, Coming Back, Moving On

The Pack fell one game short of taking first place, losing to Springfield on the last day of the season -- not that it mattered, as Manchester won their game to clinch the title outright. The Pack face Lowell in the first round of the AHL Calder Cup playoffs, beginning Thursday in Hartford. Charlotte was able to come back from a two-game deficit to tie their series with Columbia at two games apiece, heading into the fifth and deciding game. With several Ranger prospects no longer available (Juris Stals in Europe for the World Championships, and Lee Falardeau and Rory Rawlyk in Hartford), the Checkers had to get scoring elsewhere -- Dusty Jamieson, slumping going into the game, had two goals and three assists in the 5-2 win. Ranger prospect Ryan Glenn had a goal and three assists.

Jakub Petruzalek had two assists on Ottawa's 7-4 drubbing of Sudbury in the deciding game of their playoff. The 67s move on to the conference finals against Peterborough. Out west, Prince Albert completed their comeback from a 2-0 series deficit to Medicine Hat, winning their fourth straight to clinch the series. Dane Byers had an assist for the winners, Roman Psurny was -2 for the losers. The Raiders will take on the winner of the Calgary-Brandon series (no Ranger prospects) in the conference finals. Nigel Dawes was the only Ranger property to make the Hockey's Future list of top twenty already drafted WHL prospects, coming in at #13 despite being a Player of the Year finalist along with #4 Eric Fehr and despite finishing second in goals to Fehr with 50.

Scott Gomez of the Devils suffered what sounds like a terrible injury in an ECHL game last night -- a broken pelvis, courtesy of a cheap shot that sent him into an open doorway at the bench. Said Gomez's coach in Anchorage: "To take a premium superstar who did everyone in the game of hockey a favour by coming here and hit him like that, it's absolutely disgraceful."

Midnight Approaches -- Yet Again

The NHL and PA are meeting on Tuesday, one day in advance of the Board of Governors meeting, and most observers (such as there are these days) are viewing this as the final absolute last ditch midnight hour point of no return chance to save the NHL from replacement hockey. That there are widespread reports of optimism that the NHL is ready to work with the PA's most recent concession -- linking payroll ranges to overall league revenue (though not at the 54% level the NHL has demanded) -- guarantees nothing. One stumbling block is that the PA reportedly plans to leave Trevor Linden and Mike Gartner out of the mix this time -- the NHL credits them for their optimism that there is a deal to be struck.

MSGN.com's Stan Fischler echoes the new optimism, but throws caution into the mix: "Although some owners voiced some hope, the prevailing opinion is that union boss Bob Goodenow will continue stalling. 'He’s counting on the owners caving,' says a top league negotiator." Fischler goes on to say that "if negotiations reach a dead-end – as many expect – it will set the stage for what looms as one of the most contentious league meetings since the NHL was formed in 1917."

Larry Brooks tells us why: replacement players, a concept which will create a huge rift among owners. "Two big-market clubs," writes Brooks, "have already told Bettman they'd give away tickets for free if forced to play with scabs next season, with others planning on cutting prices by 75%. According to participants in fan focus groups hosted by the Rangers, season ticket-holders told club executives they'd be offended if scabs were permitted to wear the traditional Ranger uniform next season." Advertisers and broadcasters, not to mention Wayne Gretzky, have also voiced their displeasure with the concept -- and while Gretzky will have no choice but to go along with it, the other two will not. Revenue sharing is also expected to drive a wedge among owners -- the prospect of huge windfall profits have incented big market owners to support the lockout, but now the small market teams driving the NHL's armageddon want them to share those profits with them.

After all but clinching the AHL's Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference titles with a win over Hartford, the Manchester Monarchs have all but handed the titles back to the Wolf Pack. A pair of Hartford wins and Manchester losses since the apparent clincher have restored one last shot at first place for the Wolf Pack -- a Hartford win and Manchester loss on this, the last day of the regular season, would leave the Pack on top. A 4-1 win in Springfield last night put the Pack back in the race, with Alexandre Giroux scoring two goals to seal the victory after Thomas Pock netted the game winner on a power play. In Charlotte, Lee Falardeau and Dwight Helminen scored to help the Checkers stave off elimination and cut their series deficit to 2-1. After the game, Falardeau (along with defenseman Rory Rawlyk) was recalled by Hartford, making Charlotte's task all that much harder.

So what new fire does Cablevision have to put out today? Here's a new one -- Jimmy Dolan squashing a documentary about Madison Square Garden because of a couple of potentially controversial statements by Garden execs, even though the film was characterized as "flattering" and an "homage", and even though the footage in question dates back to 1998. A lengthy Star-Ledger profile of the Dolans casts their maverick streak as a positive quality, but it also includes a list of some of their contrarian adventures that backfired. The one most relevant to us here: "Retained Rangers president Glen Sather through five straight losing seasons despite the NHL's highest payroll."

[Photo courtesy of Chris Rutsch/Hartford Wolf Pack]

Saturday Night Lite

Charlotte's season, a nice one for the Rangers' ECHL affiliate, was pushed to the brink earlier than anyone expected after a 4-2 loss to Columbia put them down 2-0 in games in the best of five opening round series. Ranger prospects Dwight Helminen and Ryan Glenn scored, but it was not enough. Joel Bouchard scored the game winner in Hartford's 4-2 win over his one-time team, the Albany River Rats. Jozef Balej scored earlier in the game on a shorthanded two on one with Jamie Lundmark. Lengthy article on Hartford's superb goaltending tandem of Jason LaBarbera and Steve Valiquette. The duo lead off the first answer Hartford GM Jim Schoenfeld provides in a NYR.com fan Q&A. The coaches -- Ryan McGill and Nick Fotiu -- earn a lot of praise as well.

In the CHL playoffs, Prince Albert beat Medicine Hat for the third straight time, 2-1 in overtime. None of the Rangers' prospects in the game -- Rick Kozak and Dane Byers of the Raiders, or Roman Psurny of the Tigers -- contributed to the scoring. The Raiders now lead the series three games to two. Bruce Graham scored a goal for the fourth game of the five played so far between his Moncton Wildcats and Rouyn-Noranda, but his -2 rating indicates that he couldn't stop his team from losing and falling behind 3-2 in the series. The same was true for Jakub Petruzalek, who scored a goal for Ottawa but was unable to help his team overcome Sudbury. Sudbury was able to close to within 3-2 in their series with the 67s despite losing a player to a lifetime suspension for a dangerous sucker punch the last time the two teams met.

Two of Cablevision's ongoing battles overlapped yesterday when Mayor Mike Bloomberg, one of CVC's chief foes in the West Side Stadium saga, blasted them for blacking out 2.4 million New Yorkers from Madison Square Garden Network, currently carrying the Mets. "We finally have the Mets — four in a row [now five] — and half the city can't see them," the Post reports him saying on his weekly radio show. "Just when you think a company can't find any more ways to really stick it to the people of this city," Newsday quotes him as saying, "they come up with another one."

"Big Canadian Market Tries to Steal Hockey From Small American City." The hypocrisy of NHL owners is boundless. One of the NHL teams that cries poverty the loudest and hardest, the Edmonton Oilers, and complains about rich American teams having an advantage over them, and scares fans into believing it will have to relocate to a US market, have gone into their deep pockets to offer 25% over market value ($5 million) to any WHL franchise that wants to sell out and allow a move to Edmonton. The Tri-City Americans, located in Kennewick, Washington, and partially owned by Glen Sather and Brian Burke, among others, have tried once this year to move to a Canadian location (only to be denied by the WHL Board of Governors, who want to keep the team in Kennewick), and would be a prime Edmonton target if the BoG changed its mind. Where's the hue and cry?

[Apologies for the delay in today's report -- it was a busy Saturday for us.]

A Taxing Search For Ranger News

Henrik Lundqvist's stellar season is not over yet. As expected, on the heels of his backstopping the Frolunda Indians to SM-Guld in the SEL, he has been named to start for Sweden in the upcoming Wolrd Championships (Johan Holmqvist, who played three games as a Ranger, could be one of his backups). Daniel Alfredsson, Lundqvist's counterpart at forward for Frolunda, will lead the national team as well -- a team more notable in its formidable list of absentees than in its attendees (Michael Nylander, yet to play as a Ranger and maybe never to play as a Ranger, joins the big four of Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Niklas Lidstrom, and Markus Naslund in sitting this one out). There is a nice article at NYR.com on Lundqvist and his big season.

Petr Prucha also gets the same treatment at NYR.com, with an article on his break-out postseason play for Paradubice -- he was the second highest scorer during their run to the Czech Extraliga title, one point behind linemate Ales Hemsky of Edmonton. There was some speculation about whether he'd be included on the Czech team at the WCs -- he's not on Eurohockey.net's list of predicted invitees, though the actual team has yet to be named. Prucha's chances are slim, if coach Rosey Ruzicka was serious is saying, "The basis of the Czech nomination should be players who played in World Cup. I was very satisfied with them. Few others will get the chance." Jaromir Jagr will be on the team, though -- he has agreed to play, and is of course wanted by the coach. Martin Rucinsky, a popular team player, is expected to play too -- if he is healthy enough to do so.

In Hartford, coach Ryan McGill is trying to figure out how to prepare his team for the playoffs after their awful performance the other night vs. Manchester. With three games left in the regular season, he has decided to take a low-key approach for now. In Charlotte, the Checkers will be struggling to find offense with Juris Stals (twelve goals in his last eleven games) gone back to Latvia for the second time this season, this time to play for his national team in the World Championships.

Nothing new from Larry Brooks of the Post today -- only news about him. Brian Burke, former Vancouver GM, is suing Brooks and the Post for an article implicating him in planning the Canucks' retaliation against Steve Moore, which of course led to the ugly Todd Bertuzzi attack. Brooks says he stands by his report and his sources. Looks to us like Burke has a long uphill battle on this one -- we just re-read the article and Brooks cannily crafted all his points ambiguously, as in, what will Burke say and do when asked under oath about allegations made in the Moore suit against him? The only statement that veers from that ambiguity is, "that's been the hearsay on the street for months," referring to "whether [Burke] personally challenged the team to get Moore between periods of the Mar. 8" game in which the attack took place -- and it's hard to deny that that has been the hearsay on the street, even if you deny whether the hearsay is accurate.

Check out the cover of the current issue of The Hockey News -- Joe Sakic in a Ranger uniform?!? The theme is "That Retro Issue" (there is a great photo on page 3 of JD in goal for the Rangers circa 1979), and Sakic is a Ranger as THN speculates what the NHL would look like if it had never expanded from the Original Six. In their fantasy world, Sakic would be the Rangers' second line center -- after Mario Lemieux. The Rangers' third defensive pair would be Scott Stevens and Chris Chelios, and their backup goalie would be Ed Belfour.

This futile though fun exercise answers the talent dilution question with finality -- some yo-yo tried to argue that today's fourth line players are better than second line players of 25 years ago in backing up his case that the NHL's talent has not gone down. Even beyond our proof that that is simply untrue, it remains that the real issue is not fourth liners, who wouldn't even be in the league were it not so over-expanded, but top-liners, first- and second-liners, who would be more heavily concentrated on teams if there were fewer franchises.

To us it is so self-evident that the state of the league, both on the ice and in the general ledger, would have been far healthier had the league not overexpanded. It's the simple law of supply and demand -- if more talent had been competing for fewer spots, supply would have been in balance with demand and bidding for players would not have spiraled out of control. On the ice, teams that could not afford to join those bidding wars (and could therefore not get top-line players except via the draft), would not have had to resort to stifling defensive systems because they'd've had access to more upper echelon players.

Building Blocks

Bruce Graham scored his third goal in four games to seal Moncton's series-equalizing 4-1 win over Rouyn-Noranda. Jonathan Paiement's season ended at the hands of Sidney Crosby and Rimouski, Crosby scoring a goal and three assists in the clincher of the Oceanic's four-game sweep. Offensive defenseman Paiement finished the playoffs with two goals and seven assists in eight games. The Ottawa 67s took a commanding 3-1 lead in their second round playoff series with a 5-2 win over Sudbury. Jakub Petruzalek did not figure into the scoring. Rick Kozak scored a power play goal to put Prince Albert in the lead for good as the Raiders tied their series with Medicine Hat at two games apiece -- Dane Byers was scoreless for Prince Albert as was Roman Psurny for the Tigers.

Any hopes Hartford might have had of catching Manchester to take first place in the AHL's Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference was dashed last night as the Monarchs handed the Wolf Pack a stinging 5-1 defeat. Bad news for Charlotte too as they were shut out 2-0 in their playoff opener in Columbia, managing only 23 shots on goal.

Spector at FoxSports.com marks the passing of what would have been the end of the 2004-05 regular season by looking at what might have been. Mark Messier's photograph accompanies the article, referring to this passage: "Perhaps several long-serving veteran players, like Mark Messier [et.al.], would've returned for one last season in the sun." In Messier's case, as Ranger fans all too painfully know, that would have been one more season in eclipse. Spector also says that "fans of the New York Rangers [et.al.] might be grateful this season never happened, as it would've been painful at times to watch those clubs struggle through obvious rebuilding years." True Ranger fans would have endured the pain to witness a true rebuilding season. As it is, we are grateful the lockout allowed some of our prospects to get one more year of seasoning rather than a trial by fire in the NHL -- a perfect example is Henrik Lundqvist, who dominated the Swedish Elite League and proved beyond doubt that he is ready to play in the NHL next season.

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Dawes Does In Everett

Whatever ailed Nigel Dawes, he's over it now. Dawes scored the overtime game winner in Everett last night to complete Kootenay's sweep of the Silvertips, one night after assisting on the game three OT winner (he had originally been credited with a goal and an assist in that game, but two scoring changes cost him the goal in favor of an assist but added a third assist to his game total). Reports Jess Rubenstein about the result: "For Ranger fans, there is good news as Everett defensemen Ivan Baranka is expected to join Hartford now that his junior season is over. Those who follow the Wolf Pack will like Baranka's game -- a strong skater who plays a solid defense but also has a laser shot from the point. Having former NHL coach Kevin Constantine as his coach gives Baranka an advantage most junior players don't have when they make the jump to the next level. This is a kid who if the Rangers work with and develop properly will become a Ranger blueliner within a couple of seasons."

The Wolf Pack also added Colby Genoway, the leading scorer for Frozen Four finalist North Dakota, signing him to an amateur tryout. Bruce Berlet, in a longer article on Alexandre Giroux, says Genoway will skate on a line with Giroux and Layne Ulmer. Charlotte opens its postseason tonight in Columbia, South Carolina, in an opening round best of five series. Cliff Mehrtens writes today about Checker captain Ryan Cuthbert, Ranger property, who is healthy and ready to lead his team in the playoffs.

In other CHL playoff results last night, Prince Albert got into their series with Medicine Hat with a big win. Ranger prospects Dane Byers and Rick Kozak combined for a Gordie Howe hat trick -- "Byers had his 2nd goal of the playoffs," reports Jess, "and Kozak added an assist to go along with a fight. For Medicine Hat, Psurny spent more time in the penalty box with 4 minors than he did on the ice." In the Q, Jonathan Paiement had a goal and three assists, all on the power play, and helped hold Sidney Crosby scoreless, but was nevertheless unable to stop Rimouski from grabbing a commanding 3-0 series lead over his Lewiston Maineiacs. Also, Rouyn-Noranda took a 2-1 series lead over Moncton. Bruce Graham had a meaningless assist late in the third period for Moncton, his team down 4-1 at the time.

Darius Kasparaitis will play for Russia in the upcoming World Championships, as will former Ranger Alexei Kovalev. Otherwise, the team will go with younger players, as Team USA is doing. If your name is Sergei, fuggedabout! "Not on [the] list," reports the CP, "were veterans Sergei Fedorov, Sergei Samsonov and Sergei Gonchar."

Things are eerily quiet on the NHL front. There is one report of new NHL-PA meetings next week, in advance of next Wednesday's Board of Governors meeting, at which a new payroll concept will be discussed, a hybrid-linkage plan that many feel can be made to work for both sides. There is another emblematic report of Wayne Gretzky saying he will not coach replacement players, even if his team will have to reluctantly go along with such a plan should the NHL choose to go down that road. Otherwise, no sniping in the press, no leaks, no (almost) nothing -- even Larry Brooks is off writing about baseball. Could this mean a compromise is finally in the offing? A friend of ours in the league office says the optimism is genuine. We can only surmise that talks are going on quietly behind the scenes, and that can only be a good thing, that's when things get done, when there is no need for posturing and room only for real negotiation.

The West Side Stadium passed a minor hurdle yesterday when it was formally approved by the Empire State Development Corporation. It faces a pair of tougher hurdles down the road: unanimous approval by the three-member Public Authorities Control Board and the lawsuit filed by MSG against the MTA for rejecting its bid in favor of the Jets'.

"The [PACB]," Newsday says, "includes representatives of [Governor] Pataki, State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver." Silver, possibly playing politics to get more attention for his own downtown Manhattan district, where World Trade Center reconstruction is proceeding at a snail's pace, said yesterday (according to a Times report), "I understand they're trying to close a deal. It doesn't mean I have to give it a lot of credibility." His statement was in response to a letter sent by Jet president Jay Cross who (quoting the Times again) "said the stadium would not be ready in time for the 2010 Super Bowl unless he ordered 17,000 tons of steel by the end of May. He said he could not do that unless the project was approved."

The MSG legal action cuts that deadline close. Says Newsday: "A hearing is scheduled for May 3, and a state judge has asked the MTA and the Jets to hold off signing any documents until May 10." Yesterday MSG complained about the stadium again: "[The ESDC] taking only minutes to consider a wildly unpopular football stadium which requires more than $1 billion in taxpayer subsidies is an outrageous rubber stamp by handpicked political appointees which shows utter disregard for any public input from taxpayers." Nothing in the statement about public input by cable subscribers in Manhattan about not being able to get MSGN or FSNY despite paying for it.

Lundqvist Strikes Swedish Gold

Henrik Lundqvist pitched another shutout yesterday, and this time he needed to. His Frolunda Indians became Swedish Elite League champions (which they call SM-Guld or Gold) with a 1-0 win overtime over Farjestad. It was Lundqvist's sixth shutout of the postseason, half of them coming in the last four games, all wins. He gave up only 15 goals in 14 playoff games, with a 12-2 record. His season is not over, however, as Lundqvist is likely to start in goal for Sweden during the upcoming World Championships in Austria.

When people say the lockout has been good for the Rangers, this is what they mean -- Lundqvist has emerged as the top goalie in the organization in large part because the level of competition in Sweden and in international tournaments was so high this season due to the influx of NHL players. NHL goalies Martin Gerber and Jose Theodore were Lundqvist's victims in the last two series. A Farjestad writer said Lundqvist was "maybe a top-five [goalie] if we are counting in the league once called the NHL." That's from the opposition, folks.

In the CHL playoffs, Jakub Petruzalek had his first big game of the postseason in Ottawa's 6-2 win over Sudbury with two goals and an assist as the 67s took a 2-1 series lead. Out west, Kootenay is on the verge of sweeping Everett after a 3-2 overtime win last night. After missing two games due to injury and then being held scoreless for two games, Nigel Dawes re-emerged, scoring one of the Ice goals and assisting on the OT winner. Ivan Baranka had an assist to notch a point in a third straight game, but again in a losing cause. Kootenay goes for the sweep tonight in Everett. On tap elsewhere, Moncton (Bruce Graham) and Lewiston (Jonathan Paiement) continue their second round series in the QMJHL, and Medicine Hat (Roman Psurny) visits Prince Albert (Dane Byers and Rick Kozak) in the WHL.

Rounding up some other news bits: The Hartford weekly review at NYR.com, the announcement of Team Canada for the World Championships (no Rangers, not even any ex-Rangers), the NHL draft controversy and whether the league wants Sidney Crosby in a high profile market like New York, courtesy of Spector at FoxSports.com, and discussion of an artificial means of killing off the trap a al the NBA's old zone defense rule.

And in the ongoing storms that swirl around Ranger owner Cablevision: Incredibly, the MSGN/FSNY ad in centerfield at Shea stadium malfunctioned yesterday, causing a delay in the Mets' game, an apt symbol of the MSGN/FSNY blackout on Time Warner Cable in Manhattan due to an ongoing dispute between the two cable companies over the price TWC pays for CVC's sports networks. On another battlefront between the two rival firms, the Adelphia deal is apparently not a done deal, the Time Warner-Comcast offer requiring acceptance by the judge handling the Adelphia bankruptcy case. Newsday speculates whether (and why) Cablevision might raise their competing bid for Adelphia's cable networks. Said one industry analyst: "Cablevision looks to be increasingly subscale. The question is whether they are a long-term buyer or a long-term seller."

Weekend Update from Europe

Two Ranger prospects were instrumental in getting their European teams to the brink of winning their elite league championships. In Sweden, Henrik Lundqvist backstopped his third straight win in the final series for Frolunda over Farjestad on Saturday, recording his fifth shutout of the postseason in the 4-0 victory. NHL star Daniel Aldredsson continues to be the scoring star for the Indians, who can close out the series this evening (this afternoon our time).

In the Czech Republic, Petr Prucha was one of the offensive stars in Paradubice's sweep of defending champion Hame Zlin, along with linemate Ales Hemsky of the Edmonton Oilers. Prucha had two goals and three assists and was +6 in the first three games of the series (click here for a PDF of the Game 3 scoresheet that shows numbers 73, Prucha, and 83, Hemsky, under the "S" and "A" columns as having combined to create both goals in the 2-0 win). Prucha was scoreless in the clincher -- Milan Hejduk did not have a point in the series until scoring the game winner in the last game. Hockeyrodent's report on the final game includes a quote from Paradubice's GM stating that Prucha, heavily scouted during his wildly successful playoffs (6 goals, 7 assists, and +11 in 16 games), will definitely be back with his team next season, which explains part of the article's headline: "Prucha:No NYR".

Hockeyrodent.com remains the best place to get timely English-language reports of Ranger players and prospects playing in Eastern Europe (we also like his lockout reporting, which we largely agree with). It was the first place to find news of Fedor Tyutin breaking his hand, since confirmed at RussianProspects.com, news of Maxim Kondratiev being suspended for failing a drug test, since confirmed by MSNBC.com, and news about Jaromir Jagr re-signing with Avangard Omsk for next season, confirmed just today by a TSN.ca report.

In WHL playoff action, Medicine Hat beat Prince Albert 2-1 to take a 2-0 lead in their second round series. Roman Psurny had an assist for the Tigers, Dane Byers had an assist for the Raiders in a losing cause. Kootenay takes on Everett tonight in their series, which the Ice lead 2-0 even though their scoring star Nigel Dawes is scoreless in the two games, while Silvertip defenseman Ivan Baranka has scored one goal in each game, both in vain. In Providence, the Wolf Pack dropped a 2-1 decision. Jozef Balej scored the only goal for Hartford, Ranger UFA Dan Lacouture scored the game winner for the Bruins.