Sport-scan daily brief

682653 Anaheim Ducks re-sign defenseman Ben Lovejoy

682654 NBC scores big with hockey fans

682655 Dan Paille shows his worth

682656 Milan Lucic delivers

682657 Weber signs three-year, $5 million contract with Sabres

682658 Sabres keep Weber with three-year deal

Calgary Flames

682659 Flames enter Sunday’s NHL Entry Draft with clear plan to draft best player available

682660 Flames get younger and bigger in trade with Avalanche

682661 Flames GM Feaster keeping door open to further trade activity

682662 Johnson: While extra D-man Sarich wanted fresh start, Tanguay sad to leave a city he had made home

682663 Calgary Flames trade Alex Tanguay to Colorado Avalanche

682664 Calgary Flames Foundation to make $1 million donation to Alberta flood relief effort

682665 Calgary Flames get bigger, younger with Alex Tanguay trade

682666 Cory Sarich welcomes tradeaway from Calgary Flames if it means more playing time

Carolina Hurricanes

682667 Canes intrigued by Russian winger as NHL draft nears

682668 Back surgery possibility for Hawks' Hossa

682669 Hawks must get down to business quickly

682670 Quenneville's magnificent balancing act

682671 Blackhawks faithful plot their pilgrImages

682672 Montador, Olesz to get buyouts from Hawks

682673 2013 Blackhawks rewind: A frantic finish

682674 2010 Blackhawks: 'One for the ages'

682675 1961 Black Hawks: Blizzard of goals and snow

682676 1934 Black Hawks: Triumph then tragedy

682677 1938 Black Hawks: 1 of most improbable winners in NHL history

682678 Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville says he’d like to work out a contract extension

682679 Marian Hossa played on, but he might need back surgery

682680 Celebrating can be exhausting for Blackhawks

682681 Blackhawks will retool, not rebuild this offseason

682682 The Fratellis pumped up over the popularity of the band’s ‘Chelsea Dagger’

682683 Here come the Hawks: Parade starts at United Center, Grant Park rally kicks off at 11 a.m.

682684 With all key players in the fold, Blackhawks have potential for dynasty

682685 One more title and Hawks can be called a dynasty

682686 Hossa’s aching back may require surgery

682687 Hawks veterans awed by Toews’ leadership

682688 Blackhawks notes: Mayers, Leddy, Stalberg updates

682689 Hawks fight through injuries on the way to the Cup

682690 Bickell: Blackhawks 'No. 1 on my list'

682691 Joel Quenneville hoisted his third Stanley Cup on Monday night

682692 Bolland taking trade rumors in stride

682693 Blackhawks use team buyouts on Montador, Olesz

Colorado Avalanche

682694 Alex Tanguay traded to Avalanche from Calgary Flames

682695 Look for the Colorado Avalanche to keep the first pick in NHL draft

Columbus Blue Jackets

682696 Blue Jackets: Anisimov agrees to three-year deal

682697 Detroit Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk earns TSN's Play of the Year award - against himself

682698 Helene St. James: Vincent Lecavalier 'idolized' Detroit Red Wings, and they should pursue him

682699 Darren Helm will skate with prospects at Detroit Red Wings' development camp

682700 Darren Helm to join Wings prospects at Traverse City camp in July

682701 Red Wings might be interested in Vincent Lecavalier

682702 Vincent Lecavalier grew up 'idolizing' Red Wings, says they're definitely a team he would consider

682703 Injured Detroit Red Wings forward Darren Helm will return to ice at next month's Prospects Camp

682704 Lightning will buy out Vincent Lecavalier, giving Red Wings and other teams another free-agent option

682705 Red Wings prefer decent-sized forward with 18th pick in draft, their highest selection since 1991

682706 Will Red Wings woo Vincent Lecavalier?

Edmonton Oilers

682707 Impatient MacTavish showing his stuff by NOT rushing to make a trade

682708 NHL Draft: Trade to Vancouver Giants big career boost for Sherwood Park’s Mason Geertsen

682709 Sacrifices about to pay off for Geertsen family

682710 Edmonton Oilers — Building a dynasty through the draft

682711 Edmonton Oilers will choose 'best available' in NHL draft

682712 Panthers gear up for Sunday's NHL Draft

682713 History of third round & 88th picks under Lombardi

682714 Wild's Fletcher busy making the rounds before NHL draft

682715 Minnesota Wild's Jason Pominville ready to show he's worth hefty price tag

682716 Charley Walters: Minnesota Timberwolves have some shopping to do

682717 Bergevin faces extra heat going into second draft as Canadiens' GM

682718 Bergevin faces extra heat going into second draft as Canadiens general manager

Nashville Predators

682719 Should Predators pick Seth Jones if he's available?

682720 Longtime Predator will watch son chase same NHL dream in Sunday’s draft

682721 Predators' first-round pick to come from among top six

682722 Former Devils goalie Sean Burke excited about draft for son Brendan

682723 Devils have ties to at least three top NHL entry draft prospects

682724 Bettman says Devils' finances are stable

682725 Devils, Rangers prepare for marathon draft day

New York Islanders

682726 Islanders hit snag in Nabokov talks, not interested in Luongo

682727 Messier, Passed Over for Rangers Job, Leaves the Team

682728 Mark Messier resigns as special ass't to NY Rangers GM after Alain Vigneault hired as coach

682729 Richards: ‘No clue’ if he will stay a Ranger

682730 Mark Messier leaves Rangers organization

682731 Mark Messier might find his niche with new job in youth hockey

682732 Devils, Rangers prepare for marathon draft day

682733 Bypassed Mark Messier leaves Rangers

682734 Mark Messier leaves the Rangers organization

Ottawa Senators

682735 For general managers, NHL draft weekend involves many moving pieces

682736 Senators head to draft, looking to steal a deal

682737 Young defenceman Darnell Nurse draws from football bloodlines ahead of NHL draft

682738 Ottawa Sens GM Bryan Murray hunting for a deal

Philadelphia Flyers

682739 Flyers officials study draft presentation to prepare for 2014

682740 Flyers need to trade a defenseman

682741 For Straka, it's a fantasy on ice New Flyer Petr Straka during the IIHF World Junior Championship in 2011.

682742 Flyers' Paul Holmgren talks draft; Ilya Bryzgalov bids fans farewell

682743 Rob Parent: Dion Phaneuf worth a look as Flyers chart future

682744 Holmgren talks three possible Flyers draft picks

Phoenix Coyotes

682745 Glendale releases draft contract for Phoenix Coyotes deal

682746 Keeping tabs on Coyotes prospects

682747 Coyotes about to confront key free-agent decisions

682748 Kunitz trades free agency for security

682749 Letang rejects Penguins’ big offer; Kunitz signs 3-year extension

682750 Penguins’ Bylsma to coach Team USA

682751 Penguins sign Kunitz to three-year extension

San Jose Sharks

682752 San Jose Sharks re-sign defenseman Jason Demers

682753 Sharks, Demers agree on one-year extension

St Louis Blues

682754 TOP 5 DEFENSEMEN IN NHL DRAFT

682755 Blues aren't looking to build defense through the draft

682756 Shattenkirk thrilled to be part of Blues' building young nucleus

682757 Lightning buy out remainder of Lecavalier's contract

682758 Q&A: Why did Bolts cut Lecavalier?

682759 It just won't be the same without Vinny

682760 Where will Lecavalier play next season?

682761 Buyout leaves Bolts with void to fill

682762 Reactions to Lecavalier buyout

682763 Defenseman Jones a complete package along the blue line

682764 Vinny: Life and times of a Lightning legend

682765 Vinny Lecavalier touches Tampa Bay in lasting way

682766 Lightning plans Lecavalier buyout

682767 5 Vinny Lecavalier memories

682768 Lightning will use compliance buyout on Vinny Lecavalier

Toronto Maple Leafs

682769 Maple Leafs: Possible Toronto deal for Letang, Lecavalier?

682770 Could Letang now be Leafs-bound?

Vancouver Canucks

682771 Arniel won’t coach Utica Comets, pursuing NHL assistant job

682773 Gallagher: Advice to NHL draft watchers ... 'make sure the bullbleep filter is cranked to the max'

682774 Kuzma: How do you trade an albatross?

682775 ESPN / Lecavalier will be missed in Tampa area

682776 ESPN / Source: Letang rejects $56 million extension

682777 ESPN / Will Cup hero Bolland be on the move?

682778 ESPN / Lecavalier adds spice to UFA center crop

682779 ESPN / Chris Kunitz signs $11.55M extension

682780 ESPN / Vincent Lecavalier to be bought out

682781 USA TODAY / USA taps David Poile, Dan Bylsma for Olympic roles

682782 USA TODAY / Analyzing the Flames-Avalanche trade

682783 USA TODAY / Lightning buying out Vincent Lecavalier

682784 YAHOO SPORTS / Busy season, busy summer: Get ready for NHL draft, more buyouts, trades, free agency, Coyotes d

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682653 Anaheim Ducks

Anaheim Ducks re-sign defenseman Ben Lovejoy

By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer

Posted: 06/27/2013 03:09:48 PM PDT

Updated: 06/27/2013 03:15:58 PM PDT

Ducks general manager Bob Murray scratched one item off his summer to-do list Thursday, when he signed veteran defenseman Ben Lovejoy to a three-season contract extension. The deal is worth $3.3 million, according to an NHL source.

Lovejoy was one of 13 unrestricted free agents in the Ducks organization, a list that also includes Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Toni Lydman. The Ducks also have two restricted free agents in Matt Beleskey, who has arbitration rights, and Kyle Palmieri, who does not.

The 29-year-old Lovejoy proved to be a useful player on the blue line for the Ducks after a trade Feb. 6 from the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had 10 assists and a plus-minus defensive rating of plus-six in 32 games for the Ducks, who acquired him for a fifth-round draft pick in 2014.

Agent Baizley dies

Don Baizley, a longtime NHL agent who represented Selanne, Koivu, Paul Kariya, Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and many other top players over the years, died from non-smoker's lung cancer. The Winnipeg resident was 71.

"Today was a sad day for the sport of hockey," Selanne said in a statement released by the Ducks. "Don was a special person. He was not only a great agent for me - he was my `American Dad,' great friend, mentor and supporter during my career. Don will always have a special place in my heart."

LA Daily News: LOADED: 06.28.2013

682654 Boston Bruins

NBC scores big with hockey fans

By Chad Finn

June 28, 2013

It might have begun as wishful thinking, a spoken hope for a grand ending to an NHL season that almost never got started.

Several months and one wildly entertaining, widely watched Stanley Cup Final later, it turned out to be satisfying premonition.

“You never dare expect to get a Chicago-Boston Stanley Cup Final,’’ said Sam Flood, executive producer at NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network and the longtime mastermind behind the networks’ NHL coverage. “You can hope, but you can’t expect it.

“I remember telling someone on a call the second day of the season, ‘The Cup Final is very different if it’s Boston-Chicago rather than Carolina-Ottawa.’ We know that there will be a lot more people watching a Chicago-Boston final. That proved to be true.’’

Did it everThe Final averaged a 3.3 household rating and 5.76 million viewers on NBC (Games 1 and 4-6) and NBC Sports Network (Games 2 and 3), with the deciding sixth game earning a 4.7 rating and drawing 8.16 million viewers.

Overall, the household rating was up 83 percent over last year’s Final between Los Angeles and New Jersey, while viewership was up 91 percent.

It is the most-watched Cup Final since viewership records were first kept in 1994.

Flood, who grew up in Dedham and captained the Williams College hockey team in 1983, has just one lament, one shared with Bruins fans: “I just wish there was a Game 7. That would have been something. It disappeared in 17 seconds.”

The reasons for the massive ratings are fairly obvious to anyone who can discern a puck from a ball: The Bruins and Blackhawks are Original Six franchises in large, hockey-appreciative United States markets. And the series was highly competitive, with three overtime games, including a triple-OT thriller to begin the series.

“If anyone sees the spoked-B or the Blackhawks jersey, those are pretty iconic symbols of sports,” said Flood. “You get those two teams together, people care more because of the rich history.

“But it’s also about the growth of hockey over the last number of years. When Chicago won the Cup in 2010 and the Bruins the next year, it really enhanced both markets. They started to consume hockey at a much greater level after they won the Cup.”

In Boston, the Cup was consumed to unprecedented levels. Most of the games earned a rating in the high 20s and low 30s, peaking with a 33.0 rating in the Boston market for Game 6.

For context, consider this: The NFL is the king of televised sport, and locally the Patriots averaged a record 36.36 household rating last season, eclipsing 30 in the Boston market for every game. Even in the Stanley Cup Final, the NHL approaching regular-season NFL numbers is extraordinary.

Overall, the Cup Final ratings didn’t approach the numbers ABC got for the seven-game NBA Finals series between the Spurs and Heat. That series averaged a 10.5 final rating and 17.7 million viewers — increases of 4 percent in rating and 5 percent in viewership from the Heat-Thunder five-game series in 2012. It was the most-watched NBA Final since Celtics-Lakers in 2010.

“Comparing across sports to us is apples and oranges,” said Flood. “The focus is making this sport bigger, making it accessible to more people, and making more people care about it.

“You think about the Winter Classic, you think about ‘Hockey Day in America’ [Saturdays on NBC], you think about ‘Wednesday Night Rivalry’ [on NBCSN], all things that we have created with the NHL to grow the game of hockey.

“I think it makes more people pay attention when we get to the postseason, and when you get lucky and get two teams like the Bruins and Blackhawks, you’re going to have some record ratings.”

It’s interesting, though probably not surprising, that the NBA Finals averaged a 6.2 rating in the Boston market, good for 54th nationwide. With the Celtics bowing out in Round 1 and the Bruins making their run, this was hockey territory.

“Hockey’s always been an important sport in the city, between the Beanpot and some of the great college hockey that goes on,’’ Flood said. “But I think the NHL and the Bruins lost their way for a period there.

“When the [2004-05] lockout ended, it started coming back, and you don’t see an empty seat at the Garden anymore. That’s a pretty important statement about how important and big hockey and the Bruins are to the city right now.’’

Raftery to Fox

Fox Sports 1, which launches in August, had a bit of a coup Thursday with the news that the great Bill Raftery will leave ESPN to call college basketball games on the rebranded network. Raftery, long associated with the Big East, will call the conference’s games on Fox Sports 1, reportedly with Gus Johnson. Raftery will continue to be a part of CBS and Turner’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage in March . . . ESPN did retain one popular prominent personality for the long term, announcing Thursday that college announced football analyst Kirk Herbstreithad signed an extension through 2022 . . . NESN will not renew the contract of Bruins sideline reporter Naoko Funayama when it expires this summer. She has been at NESN since 2007 . . . Comcast SportsNet New England will launch a new baseball show July 1. Titled “The Show,’’ it will feature CSNNE’s Trenni Kusnierek and Rich Levine, Globe columnist Christopher Gasper, and 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Marc Bertrand, with a strong emphasis on social media . . . Still cannot believe ESPN cut away from Aaron Hernandez’s live arraignment Wednesday to get legal analyst Roger Cossack’s opinion. Nothing the network could have aired at the moment would have been more compelling than watching the stone-faced Hernandez listen as the prosecution revealed in extraordinary detail what it believes to be the timeline of the crime.

Boston Globe LOADED: 06.28.2013

682655 Boston Bruins

Dan Paille shows his worth

Friday, June 28, 2013

Steve Conroy

Daniel Paille went into the Stanley Cup playoffs with a clearly defined, fourth line role. And he may start next season in that role again.

However, Paille showed in the postseason that he could be a little more than that. He had 4-5-9 totals in 22 playoff games with three game-winning goals. With Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton, the so-called Merlot line, they performed well enough, especially in the New York and Pittsburgh series, to be thrown on the ice against the other teams’ top six forwards with their energy controlling the shift.

When Campbell suffered a broken leg in Game 3 against Pittsburgh, the fourth line ceased to exist.

Then in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Blackhawks, Paille was thrown onto a third line with Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly, and they provided a spark when the Bruins desperately needed it. Paille had the game-winning goals in Games 2 and 3. That came after a regular season in which he had 10-7-17 totals in 46 games and was a Seventh Player Award candidate (rookie Dougie Hamilton won it).

Moving forward, the Bruins’ core will be intact, but there will be changes. If the B’s re-sign Nathan Horton, they’ll have to offload some salary, possibly Rich Peverley or Chris Kelly. Depending on how things shake out, there could be new opportunities for Paille. His scoring touch comes and goes, but his speed, which makes him a dangerous penalty killer, keeps the opposition honest.

Paille was pleased with his season.

“Individually I wanted to improve, and I know there’s still room for improvement. I think that’s one thing I wanted to do and I hope I accomplished that this year,” said Paille during the B’s breakup day on Wednesday. “But to be a consistent player I want to continue that and I want to do that next season as well as the future.”

The 2002 first-round draft pick of the Sabres came to the Bruins at the start of the 2009-10 season from Buffalo, where he posted a career-high 19-goal season in 2007-08, and had his troubles finding a role. There were times when it seemed he might not find his way. It wasn’t until midway through the Cup-winning season of 2011, that Paille found a home with Campbell and Thornton, establishing an identity to his game.

It led the B’s to hang on to the then-free-agent-to-be, signing him to a three-year deal last summer worth $1.3 million annually.

And though he fits like a glove on the fourth line, Paille’s still striving.

“I’ve talked to management a lot over the last few years about what they expect from me. For myself, I had expectations that I wanted to accomplish. I do believe management felt that way as well,” said Paille, whose 10 goals this year were the most he scored since he did the same in 2009-10 in 76 games. “In the end, I think it was to a point where I think it could have gone the other way. I think I realized that and didn’t want to be in that position.

“I wanted to prove that I could to be a bigger part. I think I said it last year when I signed, that I want to be a bigger part, within the same context of my style of play.

“I think I accomplished that this year.”

And who knows what more he can accomplish.

Boston Herald LOADED: 06.28.2013

682656 Boston Bruins

Milan Lucic delivers

Friday, June 28, 2013

Matt Kalman

For most of the regular season, it looked like the $18 million the Bruins agreed to pay Milan Lucic over three years starting in the 2013-04 season was as sound an investment as a pill for invisibility.

Lucic was impossible to see on the ice as he sputtered to seven goals in 46 regular-season games. It wasn’t until he stopped focusing on the money that he finally turned things around.

“I stopped worrying about living up to the expectation of the paycheck, and my game started being where it wanted to be,” Lucic said after the Bruins lost Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals to the Chicago Blackhawks.

“Obviously when you make as much as you do, it’s always going to weigh on you. But I think for myself what I learned the most was once I stopped thinking about that and once I stopped worrying about living up to some unrealistic expectation that I put on myself, and just focused on playing hockey, that’s when I was playing at my best.”

Luckily for the Eastern Conference champion Bruins, Lucic refocused just in time for the playoffs. In 21 postseason games, Lucic produced 6-12-18 totals and a plus-13 rating. He led all players in the playoffs with 102 hits and was a one-man wrecking crew throughout. Just ask New York Rangers defenseman Anton Stralman, whom Lucic knocked out of the Bruins’ second-round series, a microcosm of the beating the Bruins put on the Rangers in those five games.

Lucic turned 25 during the postseason run, and he had a lot to prove beyond his monetary value. In the 2012 playoffs, he failed to score a goal in seven games. Even during the Bruins’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup championship, he quietly scored five goals and recorded 12 points in 25 games.

Known as a big-time postseason performer during his junior hockey career and early days in the NHL, Lucic wanted to once again show he could shine when the spotlight is brightest.

“You just try to get your game back, and try to have fun with it again,” Lucic said. “I saw it as an opportunity to get my game back to where I wanted it to be, and show that I am still able to be a big-game type of player. Thankfully I was able to peak and play my best at the right time, and hopefully I can carry that into next year.”

Amazingly, considering the rugged nature of the 6-foot-3, 228-pound left winger’s game, Lucic said he escaped the postseason mostly unscathed. He said in the aftermath of the Bruins’ run that he was only dealing with a couple nagging injuries, including some neck discomfort caused by all the hits.

Lucic’s combination of physicality and scoring helped make his line with center David Krejci and right winger Nathan Horton by far the most productive trio in the playoffs this season.

There was more to Lucic’s game that Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli liked as well.

“What I can take away from this playoff with respect to Looch is, I just go back to that Toronto game,” Chiarelli said about Game 7 of the Bruins’ first-round series. “He passed it to Horton (for the rally-starting goal) and then he came behind the bench and the way he said it, delivered his message to the bench, ‘There’s one, boys. Got a couple more to go.’ That, to me, that speaks to the leadership. I’ve been on the bench before with stuff like that said. . . . I think it just raises the level. He was a man among boys that game. He had a real good playoff.”