Hype for April 13, 2010

Well, that's 47 minutes and 16 seconds of your life you'll never get back.

President Ken King, oozing political smoothness from every pore, and general Macleod manager Darryl Sutter, the tethered lion on its best behaviour, held court in the Telus conference room early Monday afternoon.

For those people utterly convinced that a change in direction at the top, a revamping of the philosophy

is the only way for the Calgary organization to sort out the predicament it is in, there's disappointing news.

King and Sutter looked as edgy as two cats that had just finished lapping up a large bowl of cream.

Their message: everything's going to be OK.

The proposed agreement between the city of Glendale and a group headed by Chicago sports baron Jerry Reinsdorf for purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes is facing severe criticism from a conservative watchdog group.

Carrie Ann Sitren, lawyer at the Goldwater Institute, said Reinsdorf's memorandum of understanding on a revised lease made public on Friday "raises serious legal questions."

On the other hand, she said the memorandum with the other proposed buyer, Ice Edge Holdings, "looks much better."

The Glendale City Council is to vote on both memorandums on Tuesday night. If both are approved, the NHL would decide who would buy the team.

As befitting a club that boasts perhaps the NHL’s sharpest goalie in Ryan Miller, the Sabres gave up only 2.45 goals per game in 2009-10, fourth-fewest in the NHL. But while Miller is considered Buffalo’s go-to gun (he is a candidate to win the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP), the Sabres’ wave-after-wave attack potted 2.82 goals per game, the fourth-highest clip in the Eastern Conference.

Balance, after all, is what general manager Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff have tried to achieve.

“I see a team that’s undergone a bit of transformation the last few years,’’ said Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli yesterday. “They’ve added more speed up front. You see that in their forecheck and neutral-zone play. Obviously their goalie is a terrific goalie. He’s very hard to beat. We’ve played them well. There’s a defensive element to their game that’s inherent in Lindy’s system and the way Darcy builds his team. It’s not the same type of components, but it’s an emphasis on our team also. From a matchup perspective, you’re going to see some tight defense.’’

Phil Kessel is torn and not just because the Maple Leafs cleaned out their lockers ahead of 16 playoff teams, to go their separate ways for another long summer.

The leading scorer on the team revealed he played with a torn abdominal muscle after April 3, which contributed to his going scoreless in four games at the end of the season and the last six overall, after getting 30 in his first 64.

With rest, Kessel should be 100% next season, but for another departee yesterday, it could’ve been the last time through the dressing room.

Tomas Kaberle, the only Leaf to survive Brian Burke’s purge of the old guard, seemed to put an extra squeeze into his handshakes as he departed the media interview area.

Trevor Linden always came to the defence of Henrik and Daniel Sedin.

Years ago, the former Vancouver Canucks captain saw uncanny playmaking ability, underrated durability and unwavering devotion to superior fitness form the foundation for what the twins are today — the NHL's most dynamic duo.

Henrik's remarkable franchise record 112 points as the organization's first Art Ross Trophy recipient — and Daniel's amazing 85 points in 63 games — only confirm what Linden knew long ago.

The Sedins came here as boys but quickly matured and were never Chicken Swedes or the Sedin Sisters.

They paid their dues behind the West Coast Express are now writing their own chapter of perseverance and productivity that will earn Henrik serious Hart Trophy consideration.

Brian Boucher isn't sure what brought him back to Philadelphia this summer, for his third go-around with the organization that has given him nearly everything worth mentioning in his 10-year NHL career.

Philadelphia was more than a familiar place.

Boucher said he had a "feeling," a hunch, or a premonition when he re-signed with the Flyers on July 1 to be Ray Emery's backup.

"I always wanted to come back to Philly," Boucher said. "I don't know why. It's just a funny feeling you have. I felt like I could come back here and hope that I could get back to a situation like I had in 2000."

You know the story from 2000.

The Washington Capitals are somewhere they've never been, at the top of the NHL heap going into the playoffs. Big targets on their backs. Even bigger expectations from the fans. The pain of enduring multiple last-place rebuilding seasons will be certainly worth it if the franchise wins its first Stanley Cup.

It's enough to make an owner nervous, but Ted Leonsis claims otherwise. In fact, he says he was more skittish when the team returned to the playoffs two years ago after a long drought.

After all, this isn't about winning the Stanley Cup once. It's about having a chance to win it many times over.

As Jimmy Howard prepares for the biggest stretch of games in his young professional career, the Detroit Red Wings hope he has a little Chris Osgood in him -- such as the abilities to be calm under pressure and resilient following a bad goal or tough loss.

Osgood in the past two years led the Red Wings to consecutive appearances in the Stanley Cup finals and won his second title as a starter in 2008.

This is Howard’s time and Howard’s team, though.

No informal chat at the front of the room with reporters. Instead, there was a podium and a microphone and the media was seated in rows of neat chairs.

No Buffalo Sabres backdrop plastered with advertising on the wall. Just a stately "Stanley Cup Playoffs" banner colored in black and blue. Maybe some symbolism to those colors perhaps?

Yes, it's that time again in HSBC Arena. For the first time since 2007.

"It's great to be back in," coach Lindy Ruff said Monday during his first playoff news conference of the spring at the arena. "You've got to be excited to be back in again because a couple years of being absent really hurt."

Players weren't surprised when new Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik fired general manager Brian Lawton and head coach Rick Tocchet on Monday, though some said they felt bad for Tocchet.

Vinik said he expects to hire a chief executive officer, general manager and head coach before the NHL Draft on June 25-26. Lawton learned his fate on Saturday, while Tocchet was informed Monday morning before the announcement.

"Obviously, with the results the last three years, there's always going to be changes," veteran wing Marty St. Louis said. "I think that's part of the business. You're judged on results.