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  • Dominik Hasek wants NHL return; Tortorella on Game 6; Nash to Boston? (Puck Headlines)

    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.

    • We love this photo from Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. We also can't imagine how many people mistook Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers for Will Ferrell.

    • Dominik Hasek, 47, would like to play in the NHL again. As a backup? As a training camp invitee? Doesn't say. But we'd love to see it happen. Preferably in Tampa Bay in a tandem with Dwayne Roloson, so he can have someone to reminisce with about the discovery of fire. [Malik]

    • Steve Yzerman doesn't rule out trading for a goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning: "My preference," Yzerman said Thursday night, "is to go with a little bit younger guy that maybe has a little less experience that can step up and play well for us now." [TB Times]

    • Coveted NCAA prospect Justin Schultz is reportedly leaving Wisconsin, giving the Anaheim Ducks a 30-day window in which to negotiate exclusively with him before he joins the Leafs, errrr, becomes a free agent. [Ducks Blog]

    • Rick Dudley has left the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Montreal Canadiens as an assistant GM. Tim Wharnsby of CBC on Dudley's mixed results. [CBC Sports]

    • Joe Haggerty breaks down a Rick Nash the Boston Bruins scenario: "Fact: The Blue Jackets are asking for too much for Nash at this point. This hockey writer can only see the superstar winger coming to Boston if Columbus is willing to take on Krejci or Tim Thomas in exchange for their franchise cornerstone. That may or may not happen." [CSNNE]

    • Glendale councilwoman calls Canadians interested in the Phoenix Coyotes' relocation "poachers." Mark Spector pounces. [Sportsnet]

    • John Tortorella on Game 6: "I thought we were on our heels, and you have to give credit to Jersey, too, a little bit, for putting us on our heels. But I think as we've been going here, I think entering tonight's game we're in the right mindset and that's going to be very important for an important game." [NYDN]

    • World Juniors made $22 million in Alberta. For a tournament that Canada lost. Crazy dough. [TSN]

    • How about Ralph Krueger as the new coach head of the Edmonton Oilers? Is that something you might be interested in? [Oilers Nation]

    • Puck Daddy favorite Heidi Androl will be covering the Los Angeles Kings for NHL Network during the Final. Huzzah! [NHL.com]

    • Those high school kids who made racial tweets about Joel Ward after his Game 7 goal vs. Boston sure did learn a lesson. Nearly three weeks without school activities! Man, that's like being thrown in a gulag! [Gloucester Times]

    • Moral of the story? Don't bitch about embellishing if you're embellishing. [s/t Nicholas Ramirez]

    • Dustin Penner on the adulation being given to the Los Angeles Kings: "I think I set a personal best for most messages received, even when comparing it to Anaheim in '07. And that was another new experience, seeing that many people waiting at the airport for you. It was around 4,000 people, and seeing that is something you wish you could relive at a moment's notice, because you probably won't get that visual again until you win it all, if we do." [LA Kings Insider]

    • John Davidson on his future with the St. Louis Blues: "As of right now, Tom, who I have a lot of respect for, is deciding in his own mind how he wants to have the organization set up," Davidson said. "He bought a hockey club and he runs the business. We don't know what he's going to do. He might keep everything exactly the same. He might not keep everything exactly the same. I have no idea what he's trying to do." [FS Midwest]

    • Matt Hendricks and Mike Knuble of the Washington Capitals join the "You Can Play" movement. Said Hendricks: "For me, those areas are black and white: What's right, and what's wrong. If I have the opportunity to help in any way — to clear up those areas and make them more black and white — I'll take that opportunity. Hockey is a great game and anybody should be able to play it. And it doesn't matter if you're gay or straight in my opinion. It comes right to the slogan: if you can play, you can play. And as we move forward as a society, people are more open and they're willing to share a lot more freely. But it's not where it should be. It should be a lot easier than it is right now." [Dump 'n Chase]

    • Puck Stops Here says Jonathan Quick for Conn Smythe, takes a shot at Abel To Yzerman. [TPSH]

    • Debating shot blocking in the NHL. Says Ken Campbell: "Did you ever pause to think that blocked shots are down because teams are less inclined to shoot because they realize the chances of it reaching the net are about as good as Snookie joining a nunnery? No wonder blocked shots are down. It's pretty difficult to block a shot when all your opponent is doing is passing the puck around the perimeter. Now instead of launching bombs from the point, they're working it in deep and hoping to get the puck up and over the mass of humanity in front of the net. Oh, the excitement!" [THN]

    • Finally, the black and white footage on this clip at the start and finish is pretty awesome. It's like the "Wizard of Oz," only instead of brilliant colors in the middle it's drab hockey scenes.

  • Lightning GM Yzerman suggests he won’t be trading for Luongo, strengthens position for Luongo trade

    Don't listen to Yzerman, Lu. He's just playing hard to get.

    Shortly after the Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the playoffs, reports surfaced that Roberto Luongo had requested a trade in his exit interview. (Those reports were confirmed Wednesday by Canucks coach Alain Vigneault in an interview with TVA Sports. "This is what he wants now," Vigneault said.)

    According to further reports, Luongo even provided a list of teams he was willing to join, one of which was, reportedly, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    A Luongo-to-Tampa trade would make a lot of sense for everyone. The Canucks have an elite goalie to deal, Luongo has family in Florida, and after watching Dwayne Roloson spend the season turning to dust before their very eyes like he'd come down with a bad case of Mummy's Curse, the Lightning clearly need a new guy back there.

    But, Wednesday morning, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman appeared on 620 WDAE "The Sports Animal" and indicated that, while addressing the goaltending situation was very much an offseason priority for his club, acquiring a netminder via trade -- say, a Luongo type, maybe, whatever, just spitballin' -- was not. Yzerman:

    I think everybody's trying to find somebody that's an elite guy. I would say there's probably five or six elite goaltenders in the league and then there's a group of good goaltenders, and then there's a group of teams that are really searching for that guy to lock up and not worry about for the present and the future.

    My philosophy is I'm trying to find that Hall of Fame goaltender, and good luck trying to do that -- it takes time. We'll find that guy through the draft or unrestricted free agency. That guy isn't there at this time.

    And then, Yzerman hung up the phone, hopped over to Line 1, and said, "Your move, Gillis."

    Come on. No kidding Yzerman would prefer to acquire a top-notch goaltender through the draft or free agency. I too prefer paying nothing for things. Like most retired gentlemen living in Florida, Yzerman is cheap.

    But if Yzerman can acquire Luongo (or Cory Schneider, or some such other excellent goalie) for a price that he can stomach, that remains an option. And in order to ensure that the price stays down, he needs to downplay his need.

    This is Negotiating 101. Is it any surprise that Canucks' GM Mike Gillis went on the radio earlier this week and said that there was "a distinct possibility" he just might keep Luongo and Schneider? Like Yzerman or any GM, it only eats at his leverage if he lets on just how important it is to make a trade. You simply can't broker a deal in this league from a position of need without getting ripped off.

    Heck, the fact that we know Toronto and Tampa Bay are on Luongo's list is likely a negotiating ploy. Here are two cities desperate for goaltending, the position that cost them a trip to the playoffs this season, and surprise -- rumor has it an all-world goalie wants to join the club? That puts a lot of pressure on Brian Burke and Yzerman to act.

    What an unfortunate leak. I'm sure Gillis was just livid.

    Today, Yzerman relieved a little bit of that pressure. That's all. Do not take him at his word. A deal may not happen, but when a GM says it won't, that's usually a good time to start assuming it might.

    Regardless of what Yzerman says, I'm sure he and Gillis will have multiple discussions throughout the summer. Heck, they're having discussions right now. They're just using radio stations as a go-between.

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