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Torres was suspended for the rest of Round 2 for his illegal hit to the head of Kings forward Jarrett Stoll. Don't think that this means Torres agrees with the suspension, though; in fact the organization disagrees with it. Sharks general manager Doug Wilson released a statement on it, calling it "abundantly clear that this was a clean hockey hit." He also said it was an "inappropriate application" of Rule 48.1, where the head is the principal point of contact and target of the hit. Wilson said this suspension was "grossly unfair" to Torres.

Spezza reportedly doesn't have medical clearance yet, so there are still hurdles for him to overcome. "He continues to skate on a daily basis and makes progress," said Senators coach Paul MacLean. "We'll go through practice (Saturday) and the pre-game skate and we'll see where it is. If he's available to us, it's Jason Spezza, we're going to have him in the lineup." Spezza was limited to just five regular season games.

Edler will be forced to miss the remainder of the 2013 World Championship for his "reckless" and "dangerous" actions. The IIHF Disciplinary Committee can choose to extend Edler's suspension if they wish, which would open the door to him missing part or all of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, Carolina Hurricanes fans just have to hope that Eric Staal's injury isn't as bad as it looked.

Anaheim's Bruce Boudreau and Chicago's Joel Quenneville are the other candidates for the award that will go "to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." It would be surprising if MacLean misses out on this award. His Senators had to overcome major injuries to Craig Anderson, Erik Karlsson, Milan Michalek, and Jason Spezza. The fact that they managed to make the playoffs despite that is incredible.

"I'm sure [coach Dan Bylsma] is pretty comfortable with us because we've played together for so long," said Crosby. The move sent Jarome Iginla back to the right side with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal. These may be the line combinations that Bylsma chooses to go with in Game 2 versus Ottawa Friday night.

"At this point, I'd say he'll be back as No. 1," Nonis told reporters on Thursday to wrap up the year. "I think his mental make-up remains his strength. It's something you could question last year. I think it was clear that a lot of his issues a year ago were based upon his health. When we needed quality goaltending ... James was very good. I don't think anyone could point to goaltending as an issue with our team." The Leafs may continue their search for a quality veteran keeper, but Reimer made plenty of positive steps during the lockout-shortened campaign.

"We'll continue to work on it," Lamoriello said Thursday. "We've certainly started the process, but until (contracts) are complete there is nothing done." There hasn't been financial discussions at this point though. Clarkson would garner a fair share of attention if he were to hit the open market.