BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins finally held their Stanley Cup Final Fan Fest, after it was rained out during Game 3 on Monday. And it was ... pretty much like their other fan fests every postseason.

Let's take a look, shall we?

There were Bruins fan signs ready-made for those fans that would require such homogenous tokens of enthusiasm.

Ah, that's more like it: Homemade fan sign, tremendous flag in its Teemu-osity.

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BOSTON -- Mandatory use of visors for players entering the NHL next season, plus the testing of a form of hybrid icing in the preseason were among the items endorsed by the league's general managers on Wednesday.

NHLPA Special Assistant Mathieu Schneider said that the GMs were committed to changing the way icings are called, and if all parties are pleased with it, the rule would officially be implemented beginning with the 2013-14 regular season.

Along with hybrid icing and mandatory visors, video review of four-minute high sticking penalties, shallower nets (from 44 to 40 inches), and the need for the puck to make contact with a stick on a pass in order to wave off an icing will now go to the Board of Governors on June 27 for approval.

More discussion needed on diving

The issue of diving was also brought up Wednesday, but according to Schneider, there needs to be more discussion in order for there to be a recommendation to the BoG for some form of punishment.

"There's so many that are gray, even though there's the calls that everybody and their mother knows that it's a dive, there are a lot of them that are gray," said Schneider. "What happens if you discipline one player and another player says, 'I did the same thing'? It's very difficult. There's nothing that's black and white. It's not like a high stick."

Among the ideas discussed were better education of players and a list inside team dressing rooms.

"It's something that we want to address, but we're not sure how to do it right now," Schneider said.

The Bakersfield Condors had another rough year in 2012-13, missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season and winning just 22 games, good for dead last in the ECHL.

Also, there was that hilarious escaping condor incident.

But 2013-14 will be better! The Condors guarantee it. Breaking the cycle of playoff-lessness isn't just a goal for the club next season -- it's an expectation. And so confident are the Condors that they'll make the cut for the 2014 Kelly Cup playoffs that, if they don't, your tickets are free. From the Condors:

Purchase a Condors ticket plan, Pick-6 or larger, for the 2013-14 season, and if we do not qualify for the 2014 Kelly Cup Playoffs, your six games in 2014-15 will be FREE.

[...] "We will make the playoffs, I guarantee it," said Condors President Matthew Riley. "But if we don't, it's no skin off our back, because all of the free tickets will come out of JO's paycheck."

If you're wondering who JO is, that would be team General Manager John Olver, who took over on April 11. He's been charged with getting this group back to the dance, and if he doesn't, the tickets you bought are coming out of his pocket. No pressure, Olver.

He's confident that he can get it done.

"30 years in the hockey business and I have never missed the playoffs," he said, apparently unaware that this means he's due for it. "I don't expect that streak to end this season."

Of note: there are nine teams in the ECHL's Western Conference and eight make the playoffs, so it will be tough to screw this up. But it's possible!

The offer, which is valid through the end of July, works like so: buy six tickets on the Pick-6 plan, and if the Condors finish outside the playoff bubble for the third straight year, those tickets are on the house, or at least the master of it.

It's win-win! Or lose-win!

Anyway. The Edmonton Oilers should adopt this model.

Getty ImagesBOSTON – Bryan Bickell thinks the Chicago Blackhawks have made life too relaxing for goalie Tuukka Rask.

“We haven’t given Rask too much of a hard time. He’s seeing first shots, and the ‘D’ are helping him clear the crease,” he said, hours before Game 4 on Wednesday.

“We need to take his eyes away.”

To do that, the Blackhawks will have to be something they weren’t in their Game 3 loss to the Boston Bruins, which is dangerous offensively.

To achieve that, Coach Joel Quenneville is expected to put Bickell back with two familiar faces: Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

“Every series is different. Every matchup is different,” said Quenneville. “They've had some looks together over the course of the games. We look at production. Sometimes maybe we're looking to ignite. One line can get going. We don't really care who scores goals. If they can get hot, get on the board offensively, that's what we look for.

“But they're certainly capable of it. They exited the last series on a high note. Getting back together here, hopefully they can continue on."

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Neil Degrasse Tyson with arguably his most brilliant observation ever. [Neil Degrasse Tyson]

• Bryan Bickell on how Mario Kart helps the team focus. [NHL]

• Contrary to the opinion of some, Jonathan Toews is having a very, very good postseason. [MC79 Hockey]

• The Boston Bruins' defence is pretty good, eh? [CSNNE]

• How the Chicago Blackhawks can get through it. [Backhand Shelf]

• Bill Daly on the Devils' financial troubles: “Despite recent reports to the contrary, which are inaccurate, we are not concerned about the Devils’ future, or the franchise’s ability to achieve long-term success in Newark." [Fire & Ice]

• The Phoenix Coyotes prospective new owners finally presented their proposal to the Glendale City Council. It did not go well. Councilperson Norma Alvarez was especially unimpressed. She left the meeting early, saying, "I couldn't take it anymore." [AZ Central]

• Bryan Murray is trying to move up at the Draft. “I’ve talked to a number of teams and asked them to consider possibility of flipping picks or doing something where they might get what they need out of it and we might get what we need out of it. I don’t know if anybody will consider that, but I know as you get closer to the draft, if you have a pick very high up, it’s very hard to make the decision to move back. I’m not thinking that will happen, but we at least have to make the calls and to suggest we’re open to talk.” [Senators Extra]

• Henrik Lundqvist denies pushing Tortorella out: "I would never put pressure on the management on decisions like that. I’m just a player. My focus is to play the game and do the best I can on the ice. Whatever [happens] off the ice, I leave to our great staff we have working for this club.” [NY Post]

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BOSTON – Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron won 24 of the 28 faceoffs he took against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. NBC Sports analyst Eddie Olczyk, who took his share of draws in a 16-year NHL career, likened it to watching a pitching machine in batting practice – that’s how automatic Bergeron was all night.

He’s considered the best faceoff man in the NHL, leading the League in playoff faceoff percentage at 62.7 percent, an improvement on the 62.1 percent mark he had in leading all faceoff men in the regular season.

So why is Patrice Bergeron so damn good at faceoffs?

“You should ask him. I’m not going to give anything away,” said center David Krejci.

But why is Patrice Bergeron so damn good at faceoffs?

“He wins’em,” quipped Chris Kelly of the Bruins.

No, seriously: Why is Patrice Bergeron so damn good at faceoffs?

“He does everything. It’s not just one thing,” said Kelly, who faces Bergeron in practice with the other Bruins centers.

“A lot of guys have a go-to move and he can read it your tendencies. Bergy switches it up. Very creative in the circle. He finds ways to win draws. It’s not just one thing.”

Like Pavel Datsyuk stickhandling, Bergeron has a bag of tricks in the faceoff circle and can beat you in several different ways.

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Special Guest Stars: Jesse Spector from Sporting News joins Wysh live from Boston as Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final is hours away.

• What the Bruins and Blackhawks were saying before Game 4.

•Pass/Fail on the contracts for Datsyuk, Streit, Couture and Voynov.

• The Avs claim they're passing on Seth Jones.

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Getty ImagesBOSTON – The way the Boston Bruins have quieted the Chicago Blackhawks’ offense is reminiscent of what they did in the Eastern Conference Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the other top stars for the Penguins went pointless in the four-game sweep. Blackhawks forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane and Sharp are going through a similar drought.

The Boston Bruins experience, as the Rangers and Penguins discovered, isn’t a fun one. It’s the limiting of time and space and the layer upon layer of defensive pressure at all times. Chicago’s stars can’t shine because the Bruins are smothering them.

Still, for as much as Boston’s been controlling at times in this series, all it takes is a fortunate bounce to get the wheel turning the other way. The Blackhawks’ power play could wake up. Their stars could get going. The Bruins’ third line can quiet down. Corey Crawford could return the favor and shutout Boston in Game 4.

This is why the mood in the Blackhawks’ room was one of confidence, not urgency.