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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Sidney Crosby heads a star-packed tournament of champions in the NHL's conference finals round. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;By&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Allan Muir&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 With the tournament down to the previous four Stanley Cup winners, four major market teams and a bevy of stars,  the NHL couldn't have gotten luckier than it did with this year's conference finals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 This year's final four isn't just about winning a championship. It's about building a legacy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Here's the &lt;em&gt;Boston Globe&lt;/em&gt;'s breakdown of key match-ups and storylines heading into Saturday's series opener between the Penguins and the Bruins.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Looks like Boston will be without a top-four defenseman  when the series gets underway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Yuck. All the gory details of Sidney Crosby's gruesome facial injury are contained herein.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Another round, another town that has reason to hate him. It's fun being Matt Cooke.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 The series hasn't even started and the Penguins already have lost one. On Thursday, the buzz had Pittsburgh as the likely landing spot for the Russian national team's star defenseman, Anton Belov, so it was a surprise to learn that the 26-year-old, NHL-ready free agent had signed here instead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Damien Cox thinks  the defending champs will be tough to beat now that they have a head of steam behind them...but that doesn't mean he's picking 'em to win.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 They're not finished talking about  Brent Seabrook's OT heroics in Chicago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 They saw how the Red Wings did it. Now the Kings are hoping to throw Jonathan Toews off his game.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Dan McNeil writes that it's time for Chicago's fans to lighten up. Because, of course, everyone appreciates being told to lighten up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Unless the Kings figure out how to do more of this, they won't pose much of a threat to the Blackhawks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 And that's only one of the obstacles that Los Angeles faces as it bids to repeat as Stanley Cup champs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Rumors are starting to fly about the next step for Roberto Luongo. Check out the latest scuttlebutt here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Alain Vigneault in Dallas? Paul Maurice in Vancouver?  Mark Messier in New York? TSN has the latest coaching rumors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Used to be that anything short of a Stanley Cup win was a disaster in Detroit. But this season's second-round loss feels like  a promise of better days ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 There is a decision looming about how best to use Brent Burns in San Jose. I'm thinking a look at any game tape from April or May should clear that up in a hurry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 According to NHL.com, Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen is happy to have three first-round picks in this year's draft. How many would it take to make him excited?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 Here we go. Next step: Skipping the combine altogether.\n\u2022 Apparently, 21 points in 27 games wasn't enough to convince Montreal GM Marc Bergevin that Michael Ryder has a future in the organization. Reports indicate the Canadiens will allow the 33-year-old winger to go to market as an unrestricted free agent this summer.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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