TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The latest from Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
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7:58 p.m. EDT
Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell, who got hurt in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, has been ruled out for the Stanley Cup opener. Assistant coach Mike Kitchen tells NHL Network it is a precautionary move, and Kris Versteeg will take his place.
Versteeg was in Toronto on Monday to be with his wife, Brittany, for the birth of their first child, son Jaxson James Versteeg. A few hours later, Versteeg rejoined his teammates in Florida.
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7:55 p.m. EDT
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has few major problems with his league as the Stanley Cup Final gets underway in a model Sun Belt market, but he took time in his state-of-the-league news conference to address perceived problems with two other warm-weather clubs.
Bettman said he believes the Florida Panthers ”are on the absolute right track” under owner Vincent Viola, dismissing rumors of relocation or bankruptcy as complete fiction.
As for the perpetually struggling Arizona Coyotes, Bettman insists he isn’t worried about continuing financial problems since the league sold the team: ”The club is not going anywhere.”
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7:20 p.m. EDT
And now for some notes:
-The Lighting became the first team to team in the NHL’s expansion era to beat three Original Six franchises (Detroit, Montreal and the New York Rangers) to reach the Stanley Cup Final. There is only one left standing in their way, Chicago, after the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs failed to qualify for the postseason.
-The Blackhawks are 1-2-4 in their past seven meetings against the Lightning, and haven’t defeated Tampa Bay in regulation since a 4-0 win at Chicago on Dec. 13, 2009. They also are 0-1-3 in their last four visits to Tampa Bay since a 5-3 win on Feb. 17, 2009.
-Chicago converted five of 26 power-play opportunities against Anaheim in the Western Conference finals, and is 10 of 51 overall. The Blackhawks are 7-0 this postseason when they score on the man advantage. For the Lightning, after converting just two of 34 chances in their first eight playoff games, they have gone 14 of 38 in their past 12 games.
-Explain this: Lightning goalie Ben Bishop has allowed 15 goals on 78 shots in his last three home playoff games – all losses. By comparison, Bishop has stopped all 48 shots he has faced in his past two road games.
-The Blackhawks have 17 players who have won a combined 24 Stanley Cup titles. The Lightning have just six players who have appeared in the final, with Valtteri Filppula the only one to win a Cup, with the 2008 Red Wings.
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7:01 p.m. EDT
Yeah, so about those plans to limit ticket sales to Blackhawks fans in Tampa …
It’s about 75 minutes before the opening faceoff of the Stanley Cup Final, and the visiting team’s tunnel at Amalie Arena is surrounded by several dozen fans in red Blackhawks jerseys. The same jerseys and their black counterparts already are all over the arena, which just opened its doors several minutes ago.
The Lightning have a policy prohibiting ticket purchases with a credit card linked to a state other than Florida, and the club has a policy against wearing the opposing team’s logo on two of Amalie Arena’s club levels.
None of it stopped the Blackhawks’ fans from turning out in droves, a development that surprises nobody – not even NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who has no problem with the policy.
”I believe that the Lightning are attempting to create as good a home atmosphere as possible,” Bettman said before the opener. ”The interesting thing is they apparently have the luxury of knowing that the building is sold out, even if they try to limit tickets. Now having said that, any Blackhawk fan that really wants to get into the game can figure out a way to do it. It’s not all that difficult.”
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6:45 p.m. EDT
Rocky Wirtz, the Chicago Blackhawks’ principal owner and chairman, just arrived at Amalie Arena for the Stanley Cup Final opener along with team President John McDonough. They stopped to watch a group of Blackhawks playing soccer in the arena hallway. Wirtz is widely credited for kicking off the Blackhawks’ current renaissance by abandoning many of his father’s longtime policies after Bill Wirtz’s death in 2007.
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6:45 p.m. EDT
It’s almost time for the opening faceoff in Tampa.
The streets and plazas around Amalie Arena began filling with hockey fans several hours before the Lightning took on the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final opener Wednesday.
Downtown Tampa is festooned with banners, flags, sidewalk stickers and fans supporting the Eastern Conference champions, who are in their first final since 2004. Dozens of people gathered around a merchandise trailer before it even opened outside the arena on a humid afternoon, hoping to purchase souvenir pucks before they were out of stock.
Yet dozens of fans in red Blackhawks jerseys already were roaming the Tampa streets on the morning of Game 1, and their numbers will only multiply despite the Lightning’s ticketing policies designed to limit the number of road fans in the arena. Chicago has one of the NHL’s best traveling fan bases, and thousands of transplants live within easy driving distance of every Sun Belt NHL city.
”You can’t stop Blackhawks fans, so why even try?” asked Jennifer Smythe, a Schaumburg, Illinois, native now living in Tampa.
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6:35 p.m. EDT
Kris Versteeg made an important detour on the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
While his teammates flew to Tampa, the Chicago Blackhawks forward stopped in Toronto on Monday to be with his wife, Brittany, for the birth of their first child, son Jaxson James Versteeg. A few hours later, Versteeg rejoined his teammates in Florida.
”She was induced into labor right basically when she called me, so I got there in time,” Versteeg said. ”I called the team and they took care of the rest. I couldn’t thank them enough for what they did for me. It was pretty amazing how they went above and beyond to help me get there.”
Versteeg has played just once for the Blackhawks since the first round, but remains focused on getting his second title despite the tiny distraction back home.
”It was hard to leave him, but it’s part of your job, and that’s why you get paid to be a professional,” Versteeg said. ”It’s to show up and focus on what you need to do.”
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5:35 p.m. EDT
The Chicago Blackhawks’ defensive depth problems have come to this: Trevor van Riemsdyk is likely to play at some point in the Stanley Cup Final, even though he hasn’t played an NHL game since Nov. 16.
Van Riemsdyk had surgery on his left kneecap and his right wrist during the winter, and he has played only sparingly in the AHL since his injuries. But he is practicing with the Blackhawks in Tampa, and coach Joel Quenneville said after Wednesday’s pregame skate that van Riemsdyk is likely to make his NHL playoff debut soon.
”Not playing (in Game 1), but he’s real close,” Quenneville said. ”We asked, `Could he play today?’ He’s sitting there. He’s that close. We expect a very good chance he’s going to be in the series.”
Van Riemsdyk has played only 18 games in his NHL career, but the Blackhawks apparently can’t wait to try another strategy to replace injured Michal Rozsival. In the Western Conference finals, Chicago relied heavily on four defensemen; Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya.
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