Hype for April 15, 2010

Goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The contract has yet to be signed, but the 26-year-old Stockholm, Sweden native will earn an average of $1.35 million per season.

Recently chosen as Toronto's nominee for the Bill Masteron Trophy, recognizing perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, Gustavsson will become an unrestricted free agent at the expiry of the extension.

They might not have been given a chance by the rest of the world, with their rookie coach and their rookie goaltender.

But the Ottawa Senators have given themselves one, after surprising the Pittsburgh Penguins and then hanging on for a 5-4 win in the first game of their quarterfinal playoff series.

They take a 1-0 series lead into the second game here on Friday night.

One of the happiest people in the crowd was Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, who had to endure a miserable season last year when his team missed the playoffs.

He walked past the media workroom after the game with a big smile on his face.

This is why they say: "In the playoffs, just put the puck on net. You never know." When pucks go on net in pressure moments, weird things can happen.

Exhibit A of the theorem played out with 50 seconds left in regulation Wednesday night, when the Avalanche got a "you never know" goal to win Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series with the San Jose Sharks.

Chris Stewart's centering pass from the corner deflected in off the skate of former Av Rob Blake, giving Colorado a 2-1 win and a 1-0 series lead.

"That's playoff hockey. It was just an ugly one," Stewart said.

 Chris Pronger was talking about the Stanley Cup tournament the other day, his sport's most special time; sorry, Olympics. On the eve of the Flyers' annual journey, which could last until next week or until June, Pronger said, "It's the hardest trophy in sports to win, with the physical attrition and the mental attrition that happens in the playoffs."

The NFL is more physically brutal in some ways, but there is a week between games, not a day. Baseball is more relentless, and mentally exhausting, but does not present the same challenges to the body. Basketball takes almost the same number of games to win, but the other team is not carrying weapons the whole time. Only hockey so severely tests an athlete on every level.

One of the biggest mismatches coming into this playoff series pitted the Detroit Red Wings’ much-improved penalty-killing units against the Phoenix Coyotes’ abysmal power play.

But coaches often say that teams start with a fresh slate in the playoffs.

And that appeared to be the case on Wednesday, as the Coyotes were money on the man-advantage, scoring on their first three opportunities to open the postseason with a 3-2 victory over the Red Wings in their Western Conference quarterfinal series at Jobing.com Arena.

Over the last month of the regular season, Canadiens coach Jacques Martin took delight in his ability to use four lines and six defenceman with little concern about matching lines.

That ability will be an asset in the Canadiens’ first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals, which begins Thursday night at the Verizon Centre.

“When we got healthy, we were able to do that,” Martin said Wednesday after the Canadiens had a short practice in Brossard before flying here. “There are still certain circumstances when we’ll want to use certain people, but we have confidence that we can use all our players.

Sami Salo greeted the thick throng of media packed in a semicircle around his stall wearing a surgeon's mask; Alain Vigneault was firing one-liners at his post-practice press conference.

With a day to go before the Vancouver Canucks begin the 2009-10 playoffs, the mood was a mix of relaxed banter and anticipation.

Four series begin tonight, including Detroit/Phoenix and Colorado/San Jose in the Western Conference.

Then the Canucks and Los Angeles Kings get things going tomorrow night at GM Place.

The Blues were scheduled to go through end-of-the-season exit meetings Wednesday, but the day before, team management decided that it wanted players to know one thing, above all else, as they broke away for the summer.

"This is your coach," Blues President John Davidson said. "When the coach talks to you today, this is your coach. He's not our interim coach. We felt that was important to the franchise."

And so Wednesday, perhaps weeks sooner than previously indicated, the Blues took the interim label off Davis Payne's title and signed him to a two-year contract to remain in St. Louis.

Dean Lombardi wasn't exactly warned against becoming Kings general manager four years ago. But he wasn't encouraged either.

His chief mentor, Flyers executive and Hall of Fame center Bobby Clarke, had the strongest words.

"He told me to be careful because he wasn't sure whether they'd stick through what had to be done because of their reputation," Lombardi said, referring to the Kings' habit of ditching rebuilding plans, reversing course and getting nowhere.

After a long wait, the Kings have found their way back to the playoffs. They are the sixth-seeded team in the tough Western Conference and Thursday night play their first postseason game since 2002, facing the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks.

Jarome Iginla says he would consider waiving his no-trade clause should the Calgary Flames ask him to consider changing teams.

“If they don’t want me here and they want to move in a direction or rebuild or believed they could do better, I would look at it,” the Calgary Flames captain said Wednesday as the players packed up their belongings at the Pengrowth Saddledome.

“Absolutely. You want to play where you’re wanted and have people believe in you.”

But Iginla went to great pains to emphasize that he wants to return to the Flames next season.