"A man is just flesh and blood and can be ignored or destroyed. But as a symbol... as a symbol, I can be incorruptible, everlasting." -- Bruce Wayne. BOSTON – The Boston Bruins are a franchise drenched in symbolism. The spoked-B for unity. The ferocious bear. The flags waved and passed around in the pregame. The fist-pump from the anthem singer. The novelty jackets handed out to playoff heroes. The ribbons on uniforms. It was inevitable Gregory Campbell, or rather his broken right fibula, would become another one, after the Bruins forward stood on his busted buttress and finished killing a Pittsburgh Penguins power play in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final. Not just because it was an unforgettable moment of valor from a grunt in the lineup -- the kind whose limited minutes are designed to inspire -- but because it’s the epitome of what hockey players are supposed to embody. “It might sound naïve of me, but I was just trying to do whatever I could to kill the penalty,” said Campbell on Tuesday, crutches by his side. “There are a lot of guys that play through pain. I don’t see myself as different than anybody else in this League,” he said. “I was just trying to finish the play. Do my job.” So Campbell, like Nathan Horton before him in 2011, has become the broken body the Bruins have rallied around – a player who had his playoff dream ended abruptly, but whose spirit continues to motivate his teammates. “I think same thing, a couple of years ago happened to [Nathan Horton] and every time that someone goes down you always want to play for that player. Right now, Soupy, we know he’s done everything he did to help us get to where we’re at and we always want to make sure that it wasn’t for nothing. So, you want to leave it out there and make sure you give it everything,” said Daniel Paille, Campbell’s former linemate who scored the opening goal in their Game 3 victory.
Great news for Detroit Red Wings and fans of highlight compilation videos on YouTube: Pavel Datsyuk and the Detroit Red Wings have agreed to a 3-year extension, according to the dazzling centerman himself: Signed 3 yr. extension. Detroit, glad to be here for 4 more yrs.Thanks to our fans, friends and Ilitch family @DetroitRedWings @danmilstein — Pavel Datsyuk (@Datsyuk13) June 18, 2013 Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News reports that the deal is worth $23 million, with Datysuk earning $10 million in 2014-15; $7.5 million in 2015-16; and $5.5 million in 2016-17. His cap hit will be $7.667 million , highest on the team. The deal can't be officially announced until July 5 due to the fact that Datsyuk has one year at $6.7 million remaining on his current contract. According to the Free Press , Datsyuk's agent met with Red Wings general manager Ken Holland Tuesday to finalize the negotiations. Four more years of Datsyuk means four more seasons of this kind of greatness: Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy
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. • Don Cherry wears a lot of ridiculous suits. [ Reddit Hockey ] • Speaking of Don Cherry, he thinks Evgeni Malkin is a loser. "I wouldn’t have that Malkin. I know he’s talented, I know. But to me, he’s a loser, as far as I’m concerned.” I agree. Apart from that all that stuff he's won, he's always losing. [ WEEI ] • The Chicago Blackhawks are all about adversity. They love it. Adversity is where it's at. [ CSN Chicago ] • Chris Johnston on the brotherhood of the Bruins, just one of many secret societies in New England. [ Sportsnet ] • Tuukka Rask says he and Tim Thomas still talk, but refuses to dish on what they talk about. Lame. [ NESN ] • Nathan MacKinnon on Zdeno Chara: "That guy probably plugs himself in a night and recharges that way." [ Sporting News ] • Toronto Radio broadcaster Dean Blundell crosses the line regarding the death of Oilers' prospect Kristian Pelss. ”How much must it suck playing hockey in Edmonton when you . . . I’m not going back. I mean, you’d rather jump off a bridge in like a war-torn country in a freezing cold river than go back to Edmonton. Shame. I hope they find him. I’ve been to Edmonton. I know what that guy’s talking about.” [ Edmonton Journal ] • If you want to move into the top-four at the NHL draft, it's going to be very expensive. [ CBC ] • The Senators and Paul MacLean are closing in on an extension, I guess because he's good or whatever. [ Ottawa Sun ] • Was Wilt Chamberlain almost traded to the Chicago Bulls for Bobby Hull? [ Ball Don't Lie ]
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