Matt Lashoff is a smooth-voiced John Mayer soft rock radio hunk that occasionally dabbles in NHL hockey as a defenseman for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Which brings us to the biggest hockey news of the week:

The new Lashoff is here! The new Lashoff is here!

Remember how he rocked on the Rock Band bass during Pearl Jam's "Alive" with the Boston Bruins? This time it's real instruments, baby.

"Living On Heart" is the name of the album, a title that does sound eerily familiar to the highlight DVD of 2010-11 Leafs defensemen, "Landing On Ass." It's an 11-song collection mostly written by Lashoff and performed by this band, which is one female midget with a ukulele away from being the most random assortment of musicians ever assembled this side of Gogol Bordello.

What does this thing sound like? Well, drop your $9 and buy it on Amazon. Or cycle through the song samples on Lashoff.com like we did and form your own hasty opinions. Like we did.

From Matt Lashoff's new album, complete irresponsible song reviews based on streaming samples:

"Save Me" — If this thing isn't on one of those Christian rock compilation CD they advertise on cable TV, with the whitebread teens singing the lyrics in the concert crowd, our faith is shaken.

"Branch Ave." — Our expectation was that this song would have Lashoff naming off the different roads in Greenbush, New York. Instead it's a wistful ballad, which is fine too we guess.

"Wasting Away" — We're assuming he rhymes "Marlies" with "Harleys" but what rhymes with "Nazem Kadri"?

"Fall Apart" — Official anthem of the Leafs playoff push of 2011.

"Living On Heart" — Woot! Title track! And it's catchy, like the song that plays over the credits of a heartfelt PG teen comedy.

"Cold Cold Cold" — Lashoff's three reasons why he won't be playing for the new NHL team in Winnipeg.

"Before You Accuse Me" — If Matt Lashoff gets any more soul on this track, we're going to have to order out for greens.

"Something I Know" — This is another song that features emotional distance with a loved one, which makes us think there's a rough-edged, road weary blue album lurking somewhere underneath this Kris Allen EP.

"Clear Sky" — Lashoff can't even begin to count the money that's going to roll in when a natural gas company buys this track for its ads.

"While We Cry" — An upbeat park rock anthem about fast cars and dancing on bars and … oh, wait, it's actually a mournful ballad.

"Hockey Night in Canada" — Look, we had some fun with Lashoff here, which is a terrible thing to do to someone willing to put their art out there for public consumption. So, real talk: This is a country blues version of the "Hockey Night In Canada" theme that's awesome, worth the price and should be the first thing you hear if the Nashville Predators ever win the Cup.

So get the sucker on iTunes and support a young NHLer whose interests appear to actually reach beyond ugly T-shirts and cheap beer (not that there's anything wrong with either). As Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks tweeted: "Kid can strum it!! And he needs the cash! Go buy it!"

Three of the four coaches in the Stanley Cup Playoff conference finals have some things in common. Tampa Bay Lightning Coach Guy Boucher, Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien and Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault were all, at one time, coaches in the Montreal Canadiens' system; the latter two coached the Habs, while Boucher coached in the AHL.

They also all speak English and French; which is probably why they were in the employ of the Montreal Canadiens to begin with.

The Anglophone/Francophone political issue with this franchise is neither a mystery nor breaking news, but continues to color every personnel decision the Canadiens make. For example, when Brian Gionta was named the 28th captain in team history last summer, the press materials didn't mention he was only the second U.S.-born player to wear the 'C' for Montreal and Gionta ended his message to fans by speaking French.

After 11 years, Pierre Boivin is leaving this week as president of the Canadiens. In a great chat with Dave Stubbs of the Gazette, he went into a detailed analysis of the cultural obstacles and political hot potatoes the team faces, including the endless outcry for increased francophone representation on the roster and in the front office.

All of which, he said, leaves the Habs "severely competitively disadvantaged."

From the Gazette, here's Boivin:

"If you had a star francophone player, nobody would be counting. You could have two - a star and a fourth-liner, and everybody would be happy. If you don't have the star, then they want seven or eight, because it's all about sense de partenance (sense of partnership).

If it's a star, a Maurice (Richard), a Jean (Béliveau), a Guy (Lafleur), a Patrick (Roy), that's all they need to feel the cultural and linguistic connection. If they don't have the star, they want a whole bunch (of francophones) because one day they hate them, the other day they love them."

And that's how you get an endless cycle of Vinny Lecavalier trade rumors.

But where Boivin is most enlightening is in his discussion of the language issue and management, from the GM office to the coaches' room, where he said the need for bilingual hires is a detriment. From the Gazette:

"There's one general manager in the league this year who speaks French and he's in Montreal. If Pierre Gauthier gets hit by a bus, what does (team owner) Geoff Molson do? Every other team says: 'There are 29 others out there, how many contracts are up?' Thirty assistant GMs might be prepared to step up, like a Steve Yzerman (in Tampa), and then there's 30 AHL managers.

"So they have a pool of 90, (even if) not all are good or are available. We have a pool of three, four, five maybe? Sometimes none? It's the same thing with coaches. And that's a huge disadvantage when human capital is your most important asset. So we have to groom them."

The Yzerman example really brought it home: That some of the best and brightest managerial talent are summarily disqualified for this gig due to politics and language.

This is a completely glib comparison, but could you imaging Nashville passing on Dave Poile because he didn't have a twang? Or Boston only hiring guys with the "Hah-vahd Yahd" accent? The Bruins' choices would be Andy Brickley and … Andy Brickley. It's sorta like that.

The San Jose Sharks' Game 1 loss at the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference final was like following a complicated dessert recipe and having the food come out tasting like curried burlap. The result is unsatisfying, its cause could be any combination of missteps.

(Not that any of it is really your fault, Antti. But honestly, nothing you could do this week is going to be the most embarrassing moment for a Finnish goaltender. That competition is closed.)

The main one, in our eyes: Their inability to shut down an opponent in the third period, to the tune of blown leads in three of their last four playoff games.

But every armchair psychologist and tactician has their own theory of what went wrong in Game 1 and what needs to change in Game 2; lest the Sharks be left with a 2-0 deficit, whines about diving and wondering if Joe Thornton and Ryan Kesler will meet near the monkey bars after the 3 o'clock school bell.

Here are a slew of "keys to Game 2" theories from around the hockey landscape.

The Sharks Don't Shoot Enough

From Hosea Cheung of QMI, the theory is that the Sharks didn't show Roberto Luongo enough rubber in Game 1:

Having averaged 36 shots in the playoffs, third most overall, the normally trigger-happy Sharks were limited to 29 shots -- and just a handful of quality chances -- in Game 1 against the Canucks. It was only the fourth time in 14 playoff games San Jose had less than 30 shots. For a team with so much offensive firepower in the lineup, the low number of shots is shocking. The shot total is expected to be higher Wednesday.

"We'd like to create more offensively and by doing that you get more shots," said defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic. "It's going to be hard but we got to win some battles down low in their zone. We want to create more offensively around their net, break them down by getting shots in waves."

Their shot leader Logan Couture (five in Game 1) was over his 3.7 average for the postseason. But a glance at the other averages finds Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and Dany Heatley needing to lock and load more often in Game 2. And in the case of Heatley, perhaps have one or two of those shots actually fly past the goaltender and into the net. That would help, too.

The Sharks Need To Handle The Canucks' Chips

Mr. Plank from Fear The Fin noticed that Vancouver had both deep penetration and intense pressure, which sounds exactly as dirty as it is. From Fear The Fin, what the Sharks need to do to prevent this:

San Jose did a good job of restricting Vancouver from entering the zone in game one but the defenseman got hung out to dry once the Canucks started chipping the puck past them and beating them to loose pucks. Continued forward support through the neutral zone and deep in the defensive zone is going to be a key to containing Vancouver's entries and cycle game, while at the same time being cognizant of overcommitting down low and thereby allowing the blueline to pummel away from the point. It's a fine line to walk and will require the Sharks forwards to be on their best behavior as possible. Vancouver is so mobile I hear "Hello, hello, hello" in decreasing octaves every time they take the ice*.

*That's probably the stupidest joke I've ever written.

That's only because we wrote "How long have you Benn Ferriero?" before you had a chance to, sir.

The Sharks Need To Be More Physical, and Ryane Clowe Needs To Be Ryane Clowe

Clowe has been a postseason leader for the Sharks, and admitted after Game 1 that his effort wasn't where it should be. From Mark Purdy:

After returning inspirationally from an unspecified "upper body injury" to help the Sharks win Game 7 against Detroit last Thursday, he was barely a factor in Sunday's 3-2 defeat to the Vancouver Canucks. Clowe has been the team's leading scorer in the playoffs. But he took just one shot Sunday, which was blocked. He has also been one of the team's most physical players. But on Sunday, he delivered just one barely noticeable hit.

"Let's call a spade a spade," Clowe said Monday. "Our line was awful last night. We've got to be better than that."

More to the point, Clowe said on Tuesday that the Sharks need to be a much more physical team in Game 2, especially against the Canucks' blue line:

"I try to establish a physical presence whether it's finishing a hit or protecting the puck," Clowe said.

"Last game it was just one of those games where it was tough to get sustained time (in the offensive zone), some rhythm or momentum going. That comes off a lot of things but a lot of it has to do with wearing them down. That's a big part of my game and we've got a lot of forwards 220-plus."

That physical presence would help against this …

The Sharks Must Stop Canucks' Fluid Defense

So says Jim Morris of the Canadian Press, noting that the tying goal in Game 1 came from a Vancouver D-man moving up on the play:

Putting a road block in front of Vancouver's defencemen is something the San Jose Sharks will need to do when they face the Canucks in Game 2 of the Western Conference final Wednesday. The Sharks lost Sunday's opening game 3-2. With the Sharks clinging to a 2-1 lead in the third period, Vancouver defenceman Kevin Bieksa took a pass from Alex Burrows and ripped the tying goal past netminder Antti Niemi.

"Offence from our defence has been a big part of our team's success all year,'' said Bieksa, who has two goals and three assists in the playoffs. "We have six guys that can do it pretty regularly. It's just a matter of reading when the right time is."

The Canucks have three defensemen in their top 10 playoff scorers: Christian Ehrhoff (10 points), Alex Edler (six) and Kevin Bieska (five). The Sharks have two: Dan Boyle (12 points) and Ian White (seven), who hasn't tallied a point in his last three games.

Musical Interlude

The Sharks Don't Have Late-Game Conditioning

Harkening back to their third-period problems, the issue of conditioning was raised with Todd McLellan on Tuesday's off-day presser, where he said:

"I feel very, very good about our conditioning and fitness level," he said. "I don't have any doubts that we can play deep into games and well into overtime if we have to. I don't think there's a team probably in the history of the National Hockey League that gets to this point if they're poorly conditioned."

Even those teams in the 1970s that used to pound beer before games?

Finally, The Sharks Just Have To Get Their Heads Screwed On Right

Along with everything else he borrowed from Mike Babcock, Todd McLellan has also borrowed the Red Wings coach's sports psychology dogma. From CSN, the Sharks coach talks about the mental game:

"At this time of the year, you always hear us talk, the team that loses says, 'We've got to be better, work harder,'" McLellan said.  "It's not this much, it's only that much.  We've got to convince the players of that. We're not asking you to be 10 or 15 percent better, we're asking you to be 1 percent better. Sometimes that's all you need."

Why don't they know that already in, like, the conference finals? McLellan continued:

"My point there in the convincing of the players is sometimes the players think the gap is huge for whatever reason," he said.

"If I talk to Devin Setoguchi, for example, and pull him in and ask him to do a few things better, it's not a big gap.  He's done it before. It's just a small gap that he has to close.  That's what I mean by convincing them. Getting them to understand that they're not going to be asked to do something they haven't done before. They're only going to do what they're doing and do it better and longer, if that makes any sense at all."

As much as any other theory about Game 2 makes sense, sir.

It's a Wednesday edition of Puck Daddy Radio, and we're chatting about the following and much more:

• Special Guest Star Part 1: NHL legend Dave Andreychuk, the Tampa Bay Lightning's vice president of fans, joins us to talk about the Eastern Conference Finals and life crashing the crease.

• Special Guest Star Part 2: Our old buddies The Green Men join us to preview Game 2 and their antics.

• Looking back at Game 2 between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, a.k.a. the Tyler Seguin show.

• Previewing the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks' Game 2.

• Question of the day: Who will be the best player for each team and why in tonight's Game 2 between the Sharks and Canucks?

• Puck Previews.

Email your thoughts to puckdaddyradio@thescore.com.

Puck Daddy Radio is on Monday through Friday, from 1-2 p.m. ET/10-11 a.m. PT on The Score Radio Sirius Channel 158. Featuring Wyshynski and Rob Pizzo, it's your show: Calls, tweets, special guests and a ton of hockey goodness every day.

The call in number is 1-888-942-7326 (1-888-9-HARDCORE). We'll also be reading emails to puckdaddyradio@thescore.com and tweets that you send to @wyshynski and @robpizzo.

We're all about interaction here; call in, email, tweet ... we'll discuss whatever you'd like. Listen here:

Will the San Jose Sharks rally against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 2 and/or actually hold a lead in the third? What happened to Tampa Bay's system? How many times will Tyler Seguin score during this chat?

Please join us beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT today for our weekly chat that includes a revolving door of panelists like Lyle "Spector" Richardson of Fox Sports; David "Dave" Pagnotta of The Fourth Period Magazine; as well as your friendly neighborhood knuckleheads from Yahoo! Sports, Puck Daddy and Buzzing The Net.

You bring the funny; we bring the abrupt changes in tone and Hamburger Women. That's how it works.

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.

• Shark Clubs across British Columbia have changed their name to "Vancouver Club" in support of the Vancouver Canucks. General manager Tim Murphy claims people had been calling non-stop for them to change the name, because they need a hobby. No word if all copies of "Jaws" and its sequels will be destroyed in a giant bonfire, including any copies of "Jaws: The Revenge" that haven't already been destroyed. [Metro, Faceoff]

• Vancouver Canucks lineup changes for Game 2: "Vancouver is going to replace winger Tanner Glass with Jeff Tambellini on the fourth line, with big and quick Victor Oreskovich on the opposite flank. Glass has been an every-game regular for the Canucks, with a few exceptions, but the Game 2 lineup might include the eight fastest wingers available to head coach Alain Vigneault." [Globe & Mail]

• How a dive into fatherhood changed life for Alex Burrows. [Province]

• Game 2, aka Tyler Seguin Appreciation Night, earned a 14.59 household rating in Boston, the highest local rating ever for an NHL game televised on Versus. [Bruins Blog]

• The St. Pete Times encourages fans to hit back at the Boston Bruins' hilarious ad campaign mocking Tampa Bay Lightning fans. [Lightning Strikes]

• According to the Winnipeg Freep, the billionaire potential owners of a new NHL Winnipeg team are asking the Manitoba government for financial assistance in buying the Thrashers, causing guffaws from Coyotes fans that had to hear self-righteous gloating about how Winnipeg wouldn't need any.  Which ignores the slight difference between "managing the debt load it carries on the MTS Centre" and "Glendale dropping its pants for the NHL." [Winnipeg Free Press]

• "Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger says taxpayers won't subsidize an NHL team in Winnipeg." [CP]

• Mirtle on the public funding sought by Winnipeg and Quebec City. [Globe & Mail]

• How potential realignment would affect the Dallas Stars. [Defending Big D]

• "In lieu of flowers, the family of Derek Boogaard requests donations be made to Defending The Blue Line. The Boogaard family would like to see Derek's legacy live on by supporting military kids and the game he loved." [Wild, Defending The Blue Line]

• Some suggestions on how to make EA Sports' NHL 12 better than its predecessor, such as improving the goalies: "They bite at the simplest move. It's a sad state of affairs when a simple forehand to backhand deke has the goalie sprawling behind him in a last ditch effort." [MMOMFG]

• Have the Philadelphia Flyers put themselves in the position to either trade Mike Richards or strip him of his captaincy? [Philly.com, Crossing Broad]

• Turns out you actually can be too drunk for Finland. [Helsingin Sanomat]

• Bob Boughner, who was a Columbus Blue Jackets coach and GM of the Windsor Spitfires, has stepped down as the former to continue in the latter. [Puck-Rakers]

• Why Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings is the best player in the world. [The Good Point]

• The Buffalo Sabres have signed a nonbinding letter of intent to purchase the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League in Terry Pegula's latest bid to expand his hockey empire. [AP]

• Gabe picks apart some Damien Cox ideas about Winnipeg and NHL expansion. [Behind The Net]

• In 2013, the U.S. women will beat Canada in Ottawa. [CBC Sports]

• The season review for Marian Gaborik of the New York Rangers: "Many observers believe that Gaborik and Tortorella cannot coexist, and the Rangers should trade the 29-year-old away. Those who make such an argument apparently find it easy to ignore the 42 goals that Gaborik scored for a Tortorella-coached team in 2009-10, not to mention the winger's no-trade clause and the fact that his value on the market after a disappointing season is disproportionally low." [NYDN]

• The season review for Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins: "For a team that was limping through the better part of the season and well into the postseason, the mangled lines could've really used a little extra help from Cooke." [Pensburgh]

• NHL players fear celebrity figure skating competitions. [CP]

• Tomas Kaberle to the Detroit Red Wings, as Ryan Dixon writes? Malik mentions something called "the salary cap" that may be a factor in this transaction. [Malik Report]

• That's pretty funny right there, from the Philadelphia Flyers loyalists from Gorilla Upskirts. Roman Cechmanek has been editing his YouTube reel for the last 24 hours. [Stick tap to Broad Street Hockey]

• Interesting comparison between Sergei Bobrovsky in Philadelphia and Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks. [Houses Of The Hockey]

• From Barstool Sports and Rear Admiral on Game 2 of Bruins/Lightning. [Barstool]

• The long-shot options to keep the Atlanta Thrashers from moving to Winnipeg. [AOL Sporting News]

• Among those long-shots: The mysterious Balkan, who is no longer so mysterious. [Bird Watchers Anonymous]

• The end of Zack Stortini with the Edmonton Oilers? "The Oilers elect not to give Stortini a qualifying offer, and he ends up signing a two-way deal with another NHL team that leaves him playing in the minors for all of 2011-12." [Copper & Blue]

• According to SportsPro, Alex Ovechkin is the 23rd most marketable athlete in the world, right behind Maria Sharapova. And who wouldn't want to be beh … eh, too easy. [Alex Ovetjkin]

• Finally, an inspiring spoken word performance about the San Jose Sharks. If anyone know Morgan Freeman, please make him aware that his vocal stylings are needed to cover this.

See, this is why we love TV news. 11Alive Sports reporter Sam Crenshaw in Atlanta caught up with Ted Turner, an original owner of the Atlanta Thrashers. The headline is "Turner wants to see Thrashers stay." The video … well, you gauge the befuddled billionaire's enthusiasm:

Well that was awkward.

Meanwhile, Thrashers fans are going to hold a tailgate/rally in support of saving the team on Saturday, May 21, beginning at noon at The Gulch next to Phillips Arena. From the official Facebook page:

Come out to support our ATLANTA Thrashers! They are our team and they MUST remain in Atlanta. There will be general tailgating activities of food, beer, music and goofy games. I expect to see many "Save Our Thrashers!" type of signs. Let's keep them mostly clean, lol

Wear your team clothing and bring your signs for pictures. Bring your cameras and phones. During the final hour we will get everyone assembled for a group photo. Photos go to Gary Bettman, the AJC, on facebook, etc, for all to see that we love our team!

It is very important to show visible (and vocal) support for the Thrashers, so really try be there, at least for the last hour! We are thinking about trying to get people like Dan Kamal, Jay Bird, maybe Jeff Schultz to speak during the last hour. Don't know if we can get anyone on such short notice.

We wish them the best, as a large gathering of Thrashers fans at this dire hour would be a feel-good moment. If nothing else, hopefully they can top the attendance of that Save Spezza rally.

You know, it's times like these in which we wish Thrashers superfan Lil' Jon would just drop some coin and buy this team … oh, nevermind.

There have been, like, a billion songs written about the Vancouver Canucks this postseason. We wish this was an understatement. At this point everyone in the city has appeared in one of these videos. Twice.

As Game 2 against the San Jose Sharks looms on Tuesday night, we wanted to provide a little musical accompaniment. Frankly, we're in awe of the quality and the quantity of these tunes — some of which you've heard before and others that we haven't featured.

Mostly, we're in awe of the guy who turned Canucks players into English Premiership sing songs.

This is going to be a Wiz Khalifa Free list, because those parodies are (a) numerous and (b) played out.

But a Katy Perry "California Gurls" parody called "Swedish Boys" in tribute to Daniel and Henrik Sedin? That's the new [expletive]:

This one we've featured before, but it's a heck of an effort from Grand Daddy P., and not just because it features white towels and Green Men:

Here's a funky acoustic anthem from David Blair that's one Jermaine away from being a "Flight of the Conchords" video. Let it never be said that busty eye candy is a bad thing for a music video:

As we mentioned earlier, Canucks fan and Puck Daddy reader Jason Del Vicario has been using Facebook to help create mashups of English Premiership sing songs to Canucks lyrics. What the hell does that mean? Take a listen to the Sami Salo song, and the Galifianakish delivery of the lyrics:

And please, fellas, you can love Alex Burrows … just not this much. Unless that's what you're into.

The Canucks polka song. And a one and a two …

Our old buddies K-Maxx & Shelly-D battle puberty and the playoffs:

One of the most popular tunes: Kyprios' anthem for the 2011 Vancouver Canucks playoff run! Co-written with Rob the Viking and Kevin Coles, as every song should be:

Finally, this is a song we featured the other day, but now there's an accompanying video that's … like … we don't have the words. Ladies and gents, Ivan Hrvatska believes the Canucks will make love to the Stanley Cup.

Well, Game 2 between the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks was certainly eventful.

The Canucks taking a 2-0 lead in this series with a rout that exposed the Sharks' offense, defense, goaltending and level of competition. The Sedins picking up four power-play points as Vancouver scores three power-play goals in the 7-3 victory. Ben Eager of the Sharks taking a boarding penalty, then a tripping penalty that led to a Canucks' goal, then scoring a goal himself and chirping Roberto Luongo while standing over him, earning a roughing call at 17:27; and then getting cross-checking and misconduct penalties at 19:51. All while coach Todd McLellan kept putting him out there.

Oh, and of course, the Girl Who Flashed Ben Eager in the Penalty Box, making a strong case against mandatory attendance by the Green Men at all Canucks home games.

But the most memorable night was that of Kevin Bieksa, the defenseman who scored on a breakaway, fought Patrick Marleau (!) and picked up an assist for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick:

Patrick Marleau tried to spark his team. It didn't work. In fact, once again in the third period, the Sharks lost their composure, as coach Todd McLellan declared in his postgame press conference. "I'm not going to sit here and try to protect them," he said.

Bieksa was asked if the Sharks began to lose their composure after that fight; he said:

"Yeah, I don't know.  I can't see in their heads, but I'm not sure what got them rattled.  I don't really care too much about how they're feeling.  I know we scored a couple big goals in the second.  For whatever reason, they took some penalties in the third.

"That's been the strength of our team all year, is our power-play.  A lot of the games we've won by three, four goals, they were close games until the other team started to get undisciplined.  And on our power-play we capitalized.
Like Danny said, our power-play is going right now, we're scoring goals, so that's how we keep teams honest."

Vancouver leads the series and in pierced-boobs-against-the-glass, 2-0. (Stick-tap Ed P.)

During Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, San Jose Sharks agitator Ben Eager went to the penalty box with 2:33 left in the third period, on a night that saw him earn 20 penalty minutes for acting like a boob.

Which, we're sure, was exactly the sentiment the young lady on the penalty box glass was trying to convey when she flashed her (pierced!) bare breasts at him.

Uh-huh.

Courtesy of The Score, here's a censored look at the CBC feed that accidentally caught one Vancouver Canucks fan going where no Green Man has gone before.

(Still NSFW content, of course.)

For the record, the flash didn't make the VERSUS feed in the U.S. The Canucks won the game, 7-3, to take a 2-0 series lead.

Well that was quite a sight. Guess she thought the crowd was chanting "We Want The C-Cup" during the third period. Think we can all agree on two things: That this could be the greatest new hockey fan tradition since the hat toss, and that we're all lucky the exiled Blue Jackets mascot wasn't anywhere near the arena.

In case you were wondering, this does fall within the scope of the NHL's penalty box taunting crackdown in Vancouver because she touched the glass. Even if she didn't do a headstand.

Couldn't help but notice the young lass was wearing a Henrik Sedin jersey. Big fan of the twins, apparently.

Image via @EdofEV. And if anyone wants to put us in touch with this superfan, we're at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com. This story needs more coverage. Er, yeah.

No. 1 Star: Kevin Bieksa, Vancouver Canucks

The defenseman tallied a Gordie Howe hat trick, even though reader "The Riot Is Tonight" stated that it "doesn't count as a Gordie Howe Hat Trick if you fight Patrick Marleau." That said, Bieksa's breakaway goal off a perfect feed from Chris Higgins gave the Canucks a 3-2 lead in the second period that was expanded to a 7-3 win in the third period. He also picked up an assist on Chris Higgins' goal in the third. Vancouver is now up 2-0 in the Western Conference finals.

No. 2 Star: Chris Higgins, Vancouver Canucks

The aforementioned Mr. Higgins set up the tie-breaking goal by Bieksa and then scored a back-breaker in the third period on the power play, a rocket one-timer from the slot that made it 4-2. He also helped set up the Canucks' final goal with a quick pass to Mason Raymond in the slot to make it 7-2.

No. 3 Star: Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks

You can count on one hand the number of Sharks that didn't embarrass themselves in Game 2, but we'll give the rookie a nod here for his first-period goal on the power play and overall play in 17:37 of ice time.

Honorable mention: The twins were brilliant for the Canucks. No, not those twins; Daniel Sedin, who had two power-play goals and now has eight for the playoffs, and Henrik Sedin, who had three assists. They dominated on the power play. …  Raffi Torres and Aaron Rome had the other goals. Dan Hamhuis had three assists. … Patrick Marleau's power-play goal, confirmed by video review, and Ben Eager's third-period tally were the other Sharks goals. … Roberto Luongo had 28 saves. … Ryan Kesler was 16-7 on draws while Joe Pavelski was 15-9 for San Jose.

Did you know? NBA star and Canadian hoops icon Steve Nash was at the game, spilling his beer after the Bieksa goal.

Dishonorable mention: The officiating didn't favor the Sharks, as the refs missed a couple of clear high sticks, including one that cut Joe Thornton. … Now, where to start with the Sharks? The defense was terrible, giving up two goals in 39 seconds in the first period and with Douglas Murray finishing at a minus-3. Antti Niemi was bad at times, giving up seven goals on 38 shots. They allowed three power-play goals. They allowed four goals during the third period. Ryane Clowe, Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi (minus-3) didn't register a point. Finally, there was the Ben Eager show: Taking a boarding penalty on a cheap hit against Daniel Sedin; a tripping penalty that led to a Canucks goal; scoring a goal of his own late in the third, followed by his chirping Roberto Luongo in a 7-3 game, before taking another minor penalty; then a cross-checking penalty and a misconduct for 20 minutes in penalties in total. Here's the hit on Sedin:

Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Ryan Kesler, Vancouver Canucks; 2. Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning; 3. Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins; 4. Sean Bergenheim, Tampa Bay Lightning; 5. Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks; 6. Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks; 7. Dwayne Roloson, Tampa Bay Lightning; 8. Ryane Clowe, San Jose Sharks; 9. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks; 10. Nathan Horton, Boston Bruins.

Forget what the Discovery Channel has taught us. In the end, the Cowhead was indeed mightier than the Bear.

For the last two NHL postseasons, the Boston Bruins have run print ads in front of TD Garden that playfully mocked their playoff opponents' fans. In 2010, the Bruins had a billboard that read: "Never, Ever Date a Flyers Fan. Even If She Shaves Her Moustache."

In 2011, they posted another anti-Philadelphia ad that read, "Black and gold runs through Boston's veins. In Philly, it's just cholesterol."

For the Eastern Conference finals, they ran the billboard seen above that questioned the existence of Tampa Bay Lightning fans as if they were mythic creatures.

They also had other signs, including one that read "Welcome, Tampa fans, nice to see you fixed your bandwagon"; and the ad shown on the right that pokes fun at the retirement community that is Florida.

(See a collection of the Bruins Bear signs here.)

Thing is, there are plenty of Lightning fans, many of them aren't elderly, and some of them didn't take too kindly to these ads; like Clark J. Brooks of the Tampa Bay blog Raw Charge who said Bolts fans should have a laugh at it but also "retaliate in kind, rising (or stooping) to whatever levels necessary to make our point."

This week, someone took command of the counteroffensive. And his name is Cowhead.

OK, his name is actually Mike Calta, but he's the host of The Cowhead Show on 102.5-FM in Tampa Bay. It's one of those wickedly funny morning radio shows with girls making out in studio and listener stunts and a big enough following to have crossed over into television.

Cowhead targeted the Bruins ads, according to the St. Pete Times — and now they've been removed.

From the Times:

It created so much backlash — especially after Tampa Bay radio personality Cowhead (real name Mike Calta) of 102.5-FM urged listeners to call the Bruins marketing department in protest — the team on Wednesday removed the offending signs.

"In a swift and strong attack we showed the Bruins organization that not only do we exist, but we are ready to fight for our team," Calta e-mailed the St. Petersburg Times. "We moved in like Seal Team 6 and shut them down in a way that other teams they attacked have never been able to do."

(UPDATE: Barstool Sports Boston is reporting tonight, via the Bruins, that the team received "death threats" from callers protesting the signs. The team spokesman did not indicate if the Bruins followed up on the threats.)

Even though the slogans are all approved by Bruins brass, team spokesman Matt Chmura told the Times that they're supposed to be seen as emanating from the Bruins Bear, the team's cantankerous advertising mascot:

"The Bear is supposed to be a fun vision of how the Bruins fans think," Chmura said. "It's just a fun-loving character that tries to embody Bruins fans and their spirit."

Look, the ads are hilarious. While we applaud the Loch Ness Monster Lightning fans' protest to the Bruins, it'd be much more in keeping with the spirit of Stanley Cup Playoff animosity to strike back with something even more insulting and caustic, rather than having them remove the ads.

Make a Zdeno Chara Wicker Man out of grouper parts. Hit a guy in a bear suit with a Taser gun. Use the centuries of comedic fodder the city of Boston has given the world, to the point where you can't find a New England comic that isn't geographically self-deprecating.

The Flyers set the bar this low for Bostonian retaliation this postseason. Surly Tampa Bay fans could have cleared it.

(Stick-tap Boston Sports Blog.)

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Before Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the last time San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau fought in a National Hockey League game was on Dec. 20, 2007.

It was against the Phoenix Coyotes, during a post-whistle scrum between the teams. Marleau paired off with defenseman Nick Boynton. Fighting next to them in this saloon brawl were Coyotes pest Dan Carcillo … and Jeremy Roenick:

Watching the fight, you can see where Roenick might begin to formulate long-held beliefs about whether or not a player is "gutless." Marleau is "fighting" Boynton like a parent trying to put an ill-fitting holiday sweater on a child. Roenick, meanwhile, is leaping onto piles and applying MMA-style chokeholds on rabid penalty minute leaders.

After Game 5 of the Sharks' series against the Detroit Red Wings, Roenick infamously called Marleau's performance "gutless." Two games later, Marleau was a Game 7 hero in helping the Sharks to advance to the conference finals. Many observers drew a line from Roenick's comments to Marleau's resurgence in the playoffs.

New round, new opponent, but the link between Roenick in the media and Marleau on the ice continues to be one of the biggest storylines this postseason. Did Marleau fight Kevin Bieksa in Game 2 because Jeremy Roenick questioned his gallantry?

Because that fight ended up lighting the fuse of Ben Eager, to the detriment of the Sharks in that 7-3 loss.

As a fresher, the Marleau/Bieksa fight:

Larry Brown of Larry Brown Sports sees a Marleau/Roenick domino effect:

He took himself out of Game 2 by getting into a fight when he shouldn't have, and one has to wonder if this is all a response to Jeremy Roenick. If it is, that's sad, and Marleau should just stick to what he does best — playing hockey. Leave the fighting to everyone else.

The tough love continued from Roenick on VERSUS during Game 2, with him criticizing Marleau's defensive play by lauding his fight.

Does Keith Jones have a point? Did Roenick inspire this effort from Marleau?

Because he's the thing: Despite everyone thinking this was going to be Max Talbot Part Deux, it didn't inspire a team as much as it set off Ben Eager. From the Mercury News:

The scrap infuriated Sharks forward Ben Eager, who was seen yelling at the Canucks bench right before he took a boarding penalty on Daniel Sedin just 1:34 later. Eager's mood or views on the fight didn't change much when he met with the media for the postgame scrum.

Eager, who fought Bieksa in 2009, referred to the Canuck as a "phony" and that he had declined previous invitations to fight. "He was a coward then, and that hasn't changed," he said, referring to when the two played junior hockey in Ontario.

So inspired was Eager after that Marleau fight at 17:58 of the second period that he took a boarding penalty (that could have been a major) on Daniel Sedin; a tripping penalty on Mason Raymond that resulted in a Canucks power-play goal; and then 14 minutes in penalties in the last 2:33 of the game.

But he did score to make it a 7-3 game, too.

Coach Todd McLellan was asked about Eager and Marleau after the loss:

Q.  Tell me what you want Eager to do?
COACH McLELLAN:  Ben Eager is one of our faster forwards, one of our more physical forwards.  I think he has the ability to win battles and create scrums.  I do believe the other team knows when he's on the ice.  The fact that Ben played a lot more minutes tonight was rewarding for us.

Now the negative.  He can't march to the penalty box on an ongoing basis.  The tradeoff obviously didn't work in our favor tonight.

Q.  Altogether, not what you wanted?
COACH McLELLAN:  I'd like him to play that game, without going to the penalty box. Simple as that.

Q.  The Marleau fights, what impact did that have on the game?
COACH McLELLAN:  I'm not sure it had a major impact on the game at all.  I thought maybe at that point we got a little frustrated because we wanted to even the score.  That was Ben Eager taking a run at one of the Sedins.  It probably grew from there a little bit.

But at this point, you've got to have your emotions in check.  You've got to maintain some composure.  You're never really out of it.  We saw that last night.  I think we talked about the Boston game.  You're never really out of it.  We've been down four and been able to fight back.  Composure all the way through the night is important, sticking to a game plan.

So the thinking goes: Roenick's criticism sparked Marleau to fight, which sparked Eager to go psycho. (Great blog name, by the way.)

We think it's safe to say that Jeremy Roenick's had a greater impact on the Sharks in the playoffs than Dany Heatley. Then again, Pat Falloon has almost had more impact than Heatley at the rate Heatley's goating, er, going.

Nikolay Zherdev returned to the NHL this season with the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring 16 goals in 56 games on a 1-year contract.

He's an unrestricted free agent this offseason … an offseason that has started with Zherdev getting arrested in Russia for a violent incident with his wife, according to the newspaper MK.

From MK.ru, a non-Google translation of the arrest article:

"After a fight with his spouse, the 27 year old hockey player smashed her car with a metal rod and threatened the woman. As MK [the newspaper] found out, the conflict took place around 12:30 at the "Osteria di camagnia" restaurant on the Rubleve-Uspenskoe highway.

"The star couple had breakfast with a company of friends. Unexpectedly a fight broke out between Nikolai and his wife. The woman decided to leave the building. She went to the parking lot of the restaurant, sat in her Bentley Continental and drove to the roadway. However, in a few meters from the café the car had to stop due to a traffic jam.  Then Nikolai jumped out of the doors of "Osteria," he caught up with his spouse and tried to open the doors of the car, although they were locked.  According to the witnesses, the athlete took a metal rod from the parking lot (it was not secured) and started hitting the expensive auto, shouting out threats towards his wife.  The scared woman was in a hurry to escape, by making a U-turn. On the same day Evgeniya [Zherdev's wife] went to the police.

"As MK were told by the Odintsovo police precinct, the woman informed that her husband threatened her with physical force and, apart from that, caused serious damage to her car.  Right now the smashed Bentley is being examined by experts — it is possible that after the examination of the damage, Zherdev will be charged under an article of the Russian Criminal Code 'causing intentional damage to another's property.'

"Apart from that, the police are investigating [his wife's] complaint about the threat of murder. However, in the opinion of the officers of the law, there are not enough grounds to hold the hockey player responsible for this charge, because the athlete apparently doesn't have reasons to wish death to his wife."

Sovietsky Sport, however, interviewed the manager of Osteria di campagnia who disputed the MK report:

"There was nothing remotely similar to what was written on the Internet took place in front of our restaurant. This is such nonsense! I specifically asked the entire personnel, including security guards, but no one saw anything. Besides, we are located on the second floor of the building, there are two beauty salons, a flower store, a bank as our neighbors…"

The death threat angle has gotten the most attention back in North America, obviously. But clearly it's a story with much left to be known.

It's a Thursday edition of Puck Daddy Radio, and we're chatting about the following and much more:

• Special Guest Star: Matt Sekeres of the Globe & Mail and Team 1040 in Vancouver joins us to talk Sharks and Canucks.

• Full coverage of bare breasts.

• Breaking down the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks' Game 2.

• Previewing the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3.

• Question of the day: What should the Green Men do to trump the Eager Flasher in Game 5?

• Puck Previews.

Email your thoughts to puckdaddyradio@thescore.com.

Puck Daddy Radio is on Monday through Friday, from 1-2 p.m. ET/10-11 a.m. PT on The Score Radio Sirius Channel 158. Featuring Wyshynski and Rob Pizzo, it's your show: Calls, tweets, special guests and a ton of hockey goodness every day.

The call in number is 1-888-942-7326 (1-888-9-HARDCORE). We'll also be reading emails to puckdaddyradio@thescore.com and tweets that you send to @wyshynski and @robpizzo.

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Tyler Seguin's Game 2 performance for the Boston Bruins was the stuff of sports fables: The 19-year-old rookie who blossoms into a star with a 4-point game to lead his team to a vital playoff victory in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But sports stopped being about fables a long time ago. It's a business. And along with thousands of Boston hockey fans, Seguin made sports apparel company Under Armour very, very happy with his breakout Game 2.

Last summer, Under Armour built two commercials around Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Seguin, who was drafted second overall by the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Entry Draft. A 30-second ad with Nash launched last Christmas, along with a 60-second spot with both players. But they also built a 15-second spot that spotlighted Seguin.

Tyler Seguin- Protect This House. I Will. - Under Armour from studio m on Vimeo.

"We were hanging onto that, assuming he was going to play in the playoffs," said Corey Friesen, Director of Marketing for Under Armour in Canada, with a laugh. "Then he didn't for the first couple of rounds. We were just sitting on it."

There were cries from the Bruins faithful to get Seguin in the lineup, especially to help a moribund power play; meanwhile, Under Armour was watching their only option for a relevant playoff ad campaign lie dormant.

The company had nine endorsing players in the playoffs, with others like Brad Richards of the Dallas Stars and Nash out of the postseason. When Henrik Zetterberg and the Detroit Red Wings were eliminated, Friesen said that left Seguin as the only Under Armour client left in the tournament.

"Our eggs were in the Seguin basket. And the basket wasn't on the ice yet," he said.

Did they consider sending Under Armour guy Ray Lewis of the Ravens over to Bruins coach Claude Julien's office to talk some sense into him?

"The thought crossed our mind," Friesen joked, "but the good thing is that his performance has ensured he'll be playing."

Seguin finally saw his first Stanley Cup Playoff minutes in Game 1, scoring a picturesque goal against Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Dwayne Roloson in an otherwise humbling loss for the Bruins. There was some mystery as to whether he'd play in Game 2, but Patrice Bergeron's recovery from a concussion kept him out of the lineup and gave Seguin another opportunity.

So Under Armour finally aired its Tyler Seguin spot on TSN during Game 2 … a game that saw Seguin tie a rookie record with four points in the second period, leading the Bruins to a series-tying victory. Suddenly, the company didn't just have a pertinent player in its commercials; it had a 19-year-old rookie that had become the story of the Eastern Conference Finals.

But as much as they'd like to capitalize on that surge in popularity, Friesen said Under Armour wasn't going to interfere with Seguin's playoff focus.

"We're very sensitive to that. We're not going to interfere with that voodoo, with that routine. But at the same time, as they say, the sun is shining and you gotta make hay," he said, adding that the commercial is currently only playing in Canada.

The harvest, one imagines, will be in the offseason and into next season.

"He's a great Under Armour athlete for us. He's got a great training regimen, great physique, looks the part of an Under Armour athlete," Friesen said. "Does this change what we'll do with him in the future? We love that the momentum is going so strong with him. We always had plans to keep leveraging him, and will do that.

"Sometimes it works out. Right now, it's really working out."

For all the flack Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien has taken about his lineup management this postseason, here's where the Bruins are: Tied 1-1 in the Eastern Conference finals, with Tyler Seguin looking like Steve Yzerman, and with Patrice Bergeron apparently ready to give the team a jolt of energy with a return in Game 3.

So things have worked out OK for Mr. Julien, it appears.

Joe McDonald of ESPN Boston reports that Bergeron's back for Game 3, citing multiple sources. He's second on the team in playoff scoring with 12 points in 11 games. He's a plus-7 and was over 64 percent on faceoff wins when he suffered a mild concussion in Game 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers on a Claude Giroux hit.

Coach Claude Julien was asked about Bergeron on Thursday:

"He is closer.  He's feeling pretty good.  Again, not totally up to the coach to make the final decision.  A lot of other things have to happen. And, again, I can only give you the same answer I gave you the other day.  He's going to warm up because he's ready to go and we'll - I'm sure there's going to be some discussions on how we move forward today, and it just goes to show you that he's getting real closer."

As for what happens to the Boston lineup with both Bergeron and Seguin in it, McDonald believes Shawn Thornton could be the odd man out. From ESPN Boston:

If Julien keeps the Seguin-Chris Kelly-Michael Ryder line, and if Bergeron is back on his line with Mark Recchi and Brad Marchand, that means Rich Peverley could move to the team's fourth line with Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille.  Seguin and Ryder have played together at times this season and their synergy was evident in Game 2.

Indeed it was, to the tune of a combined four goals and three assists.

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.

• From one of our new favorite people, ChicagoNativeSon.

• Vancouver Canucks right wing Mikael Samuelsson underwent surgery Thursday to repair an adductor tendon and sports hernia. The team announced he would be out of the lineup indefinitely. [NHL]

• In case you haven't heard, the HUGE sports media news of the day is that Dick Ebersol is leaving NBC Sports after 22 years because of a contract dispute. Mark Lazarus takes over. Now things get really interesting for the 2014 Olympic bid. [Fourth Place Medal]

• Eric Lindros talks about the psychological damage he suffered while skating with his head down being concussed on multiple occasions in the NHL. [Macleans]

• Congrats to the NHL for winning Sports League of the Year. [Puck The Media]

• On the Edmonton Oilers arena deal framework that was announced on Wednesday night: "There are holes in the funding still, there is much work to do in every area, whether it's design, timing, funding from the provincial and/or federal government." [Edmonton Journal]

• Great post by Botta on the New York Islanders and what the heck they're going to do with Evgeni Nabokov: "This is a team with a goal of making the playoffs. Nabokov could end up being a lot more valuable to the Islanders as a goalie than as a trade chip." [NYI Point Blank]

• Interesting take by Mike Heika on the sexiest head coaching vacancy in the NHL, which may be the Dallas Stars: "The team appears to have the choice between going even younger or using whatever financial wiggle room a new owner might bring to sign free agents or swing a trade for a big-name player that might carry a little salary with him." [Dallas Stars Blog]

• Why the notion of trading Mike Green to "shake up" the Washington Capitals is a silly one. [Japers' Rink]

• Adam Proteau believes Game 3 of the conference finals is the definitive moment for the San Jose Sharks: "This is a make-or-break moment — the make-or-break moment — for the Sharks. We'll see whether they're truly kings of the sea or fodder for opponents that truly understand how to seize the moment in their teeth and never let it go." [THN]

• And you will know the name of Marc-Andre Gragnani! [Die By The Blade]

• Further exploration of hockey's growth in the Southern U.S., and how that growth will be affected if there's relocation. [United States of Hockey]

• Looking at the exchange rates and how they affect NHL expansion. [Behind The Net]

• On the future of Brooks Laich with the Washington Capitals ... and, maybe, the Toronto Maple Leafs. [Hockey Independent]

• The Detroit Red Wings today announced that Assistant Coach Brad McCrimmon will not return to the club for next season.  McCrimmon's contract expired at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season and the former Red Wing player and long-time NHL assistant has decided to pursue other career opportunities.

• Sadly fold your red and blue glasses and put them away. CBC is not doing 3D coverage of the Stanley Cup Finals this season. [CP]

• From Ben Eager of the San Jose Sharks' Wikipedia page. Nice. (s/t to Eric MacKenzie)

• Claude Lemieux dives into a new gig. [Calgary Herald]

• Why the New Jersey Devils should consider a "Coach Tasting." [Puck Update]

• It appears Freddy Modin is retiring after 14 NHL seasons, robbing someone of an overpaid fourth liner with more injuries than goals. [Too Many Men on the Site]

• We're all about the charity stuff here, so please check out this summer hike raising money for the fight against Breast Cancer that features officials from Junior hockey leagues such as the NAHL, USHL and NCAA games. [Hiking Colorado for a Cure]

• The "So You've Just Lost a Playoff Game To The Vancouver Canucks" survival guide. [Pegasus News]

• What Ben Eager may or may not have said to Roberto Luongo last night. [HOTH]

• The Colorado Avalanche are getting their own official state license plates. Dibs on "STOALVR". [Avalanche]

• Here is the History Will Be Made for the Sedin Twins. We want to believe the tag line has something to do with boobs.

As you might have heard, a Vancouver Canucks fan lifted her Henrik Sedin jersey and pressed her bare breasts against the penalty box glass as Ben Eager of the San Jose Sharks sat obliviously in the third period of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.

But the CBC cameras (and the thousands of screen grabs of that footage) didn't capture the face of The Girl Who Flashed Ben Eager. Rich Lam of Getty Images, however, was on the j-o-b and captured this image on Wednesday night.

So it turns out she's just the girl next door with multiple piercings, a studded belt and a complete lack of inhibitions.

Meanwhile, Frank Appleyard of Postmedia spoke with the CBC about those six seconds of titillation from Game 2:

CBC head of media relations Jeff Keay said that the footage was picked up by an in-house camera that the broadcaster doesn't control.

… Keay said that the CBC has "no plans at this time" to institute a tape delay to prevent similar images hitting the airwaves in future. The CBC placed controversial hockey commentator Don Cherry on a seven-second tape delay in 2004 following comments he made during its Coach's Corner segment.

Keay said the CBC was hopeful fans would keep their passion more carefully hidden at future games. "We appreciate the enthusiasm of our fans, but we hope that they act appropriately at the game," he said.

We see nothing inappropriate about any of this, sir.

Again, now that her face has made Getty Images, the identity will soon follow. We'd love to talk to our playoff MVP — puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com if you please.

UPDATE: We located her, reached out to her over Facebook to let her know she's a hero to our readership. She declined the interview request. She further requested that we blur her face out in the photo. Before we could write back to explain that Getty Images is an international wire service that we have no control over, and that there's actually a second photo of her face and her exposed breast on Getty, she deleted her Facebook account. If you're reading this, the offer still stands, ma'am.

For the last two seasons, the Chicago Blackhawks had a young starting goaltender who was a restricted free agent; one who wanted to be a Blackhawk and that the Blackhawks wanted back.

The main difference between Antti Niemi in 2010 and Corey Crawford in 2011 is an economic one: The Blackhawks didn't meet Niemi's contract terms and then walked away from a $2.75 million arbitration award in August after a summer of tumultuous roster turnover.

This time, GM Stan Bowman locked up his keeper early. Crawford agreed to a 3-year, $8 million deal announced on Thursday. Crawford gets $3.25 million, $2.25 million, and then $2.5 million in the final year, via ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun. (Terms via ESPN Chicago.)

"Corey wanted to be a Blackhawk, and we wanted him back," said Bowman. "The agent was very reasonable throughout."

Added Bowman: "I was confident all along that we were going to get Corey signed."

Crawford, 26, earned the starting job during the regular season as a rookie, starting 55 games and going 33-18-6. He led all rookies in wins and was second to Cory Schneider with a 2.30 GAA. Crawford had four shutouts in the regular season.

In the playoffs, there's no question he established himself as a big game keeper for Chicago: 2.21 GAA, .927 save percentage and a shutout during the Blackhawks' 7-game loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

"It's great to get it done early," said Crawford. "I can just focus on workouts, getting prepared for next season."

His $2.67 million cap hit puts him below what Niemi would have made and above the $2.25 million hit for Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings, who signed his extension in February. (And, of course, well below the $5.625 hit Cristobal Huet would still carry in the NHL had the Blackhawks not made him go "poof.")

Detroit went two years with Howard. The Blackhawks went three with Crawford. Bowman was happy to have that kind of consistency between the pipes.

"We've been working on this, making sure this was done," he said. "It's our most important position, and we wanted to get some stability there. We had a number of different No. 1s year to year. It's nice to know we don't have to go through that."

As for Marty Turco, an unrestricted free agent, Bowman said the veteran wants to play in the NHL but said there wasn't anything decided about his future with Chicago.