Kritik und Lob » minister of sport.Still, the evidence to prove

BOSTON -- Putting the puck past Henrik Lundqvist is a huge challenge for the Boston Bruins. Of course, they have to get it to him first and thats a tough task against the shot-blocking New York Rangers. "Theyre definitely going to be laying down to block those shots," Boston forward Patrice Bergeron said after practice for Thursday nights series opener. "We have to be aware of that. I think its about finding ways to get that puck to the net and faking shots and moving more." On Monday night, it seemed the Bruins wouldnt have to worry about that. They were close to elimination. Then they rallied from a three-goal deficit in the last 11 minutes of the third period and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Bergerons overtime goal in Game 7. "You dont give up," Bruins forward Jaromir Jagr said Wednesday, but "if you try to do it again, youre probably not going to do it even if you try 100 times, but it happened." Now its time to forget that unforgettable comeback. Its time for the Eastern Conference semifinals, the first playoff meeting between the teams in 40 years. Lundqvist, last years Vezina Trophy winner and finalist for that award this season, enters the series with consecutive shutouts in Games 6 and 7 against the Washington Capitals. He stopped 62 shots in those games while facing elimination. The key to the shutouts? "Box them out before they get (near the goal) so they cant provide a screen," Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi said. "If we cant box them out, the biggest thing is getting (at) their sticks. Hankie is going to stop that shot if he sees it. We have to do a good job of letting Hankie see those first shots, make sure theres no tips." Girardi led the NHL this season with 125 blocked shots, just under three per game. The Rangers were sixth with 16.1 per game. And in the playoffs, they have three of the top seven shot blockers -- Girardi in second place with 24, Ryan McDonagh in fourth with 20 and Ryan Callahan in seventh with 18. And even though Bruins captain Zdeno Chara can slap the puck at more than 100 mph from the point, theyre not likely to shy away. "Anything they can get to, theyre going to block," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "If they have a chance to block a shot, they are going to block a shot. Everybody." If they do, Chara could make it painful. "Im certainly not going to ask him to take anything off his shot because theyre blocking," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. He wants his players to keep their heads up and watch where theyre shooting instead of just looking down and hitting the puck as hard as they can. "Were going to have to work extra hard to get those pucks through and then get them to reach the net," Julien said. "At the same time, I dont think its a big secret to know that they got a pretty good goaltender, and that traffic in front of the net is going to be something were going to want to do a lot." Bostons Tuukka Rask, a more aggressive goalie than Lundqvist, also has been outstanding in the playoffs. But he could be without three injured veteran defencemen. Andrew Ference missed Games 6 and 7, Wade Redden sat out Game 7 and Dennis Seidenberg played just 37 seconds of the finale before being sidelined. None of them practiced Thursday. "Sometimes its better not to practice and just to play," said Julien, careful not to tip his hand. Rookies Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug all could be active. "Its going to be a challenge for us," Rask said. "It gives these new guys an opportunity to step up and show what theyve got. If I was in their shoes Id be really excited." Both teams leading goal scorers in the regular season -- New Yorks Rick Nash (21) and Bostons Brad Marchand (18) -- were shut out in their first series. But Marchand assisted on Bergerons series-winning goal and Nash seems to be making progress. "He certainly wasnt totally on but hes very close," Tortorella said. "I thought he played very well in Game 7. Hes playing and I think hes going to be a really big part of this as we enter into Boston." Both teams snared some much-needed rest after playing two games in two days Sunday and Monday. Bergeron expects a low-scoring series. Girardi expects it to be physical. "Both teams want to get on the forecheck," he said, "create some momentum that way." Julien wants his team to fight for position in front of Lundqvist, who allowed just 12 goals in seven games against Washington. "They protect their goaltender fairly well," Julien said. "You know hes good enough to stop what he sees. They box out extremely well, so weve got to work hard to take away that vision that he needs in order to stop pucks. Theres going to be a lot of battles, I think, in this series. "By the end of it, I think youre going to have some exhausted teams." Stitched Saints Jerseys . 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Lack made 20 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Canucks blanked the St. Louis Blues 1-0 in the first post-Olympic game for both teams night. LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Russian athletes and officials who are proven to have been part of a doping manipulation system should be banned for life from the Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach said Thursday.Bach gave his personal view one day before Canadian investigator Richard McLaren publishes a final report into alleged state-backed cheating at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.Proof of systematic doping would be aggravated circumstances to justify life bans, the IOC leader said at a news conference after a three-day executive board meeting.I would not like to see this person again at any Olympic Games in any function, said Bach, who declined to speculate if fresh revelations Friday could lead to calls for Russias exclusion from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games. I do not know the content and the scope of the report of Professor McLaren.Bach did note that as an IOC disciplinary commission chairman he approved life bans for Austrian team members implicated in a doping program at the 2006 Turin Winter Games.However, proving that individual athletes knew of systematic doping involving state agencies could be difficult.McLaren, who was appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in May, is expected to give more detail about cheating operations at the Sochi laboratory.In his interim report in July, McLaren confirmed claims by former lab director Grigory Rodchenkov of a hole-in-the-wall swapping system aided by the FSB security agency to exchange athletes dirty urine samples for clean ones.Earlier Thursday, the IOC member appointed to oversee disciplinary cases that arise from McLarens evidence acknowledged they could be tough to prove.Can you prove (athletes) were aware? Denis Oswald said on the sidelines of a sports law conference in Geneva.It is not that we would be scared to attack high level people in the Russian regime, the Swiss lawyer said. The question is more on the legal point of view. Can you punish athletes if they have done nothing and whether they were not aware of what was happening?Bach has also appointed a second IOC commission, headed by former Switzerland president Samuel Schmid, to evaluate if McLarens report and evidence proves a state-run doping system.ddddddddddddAnd then based on that we will see if we can start cases against athletes, Oswald said.Oswald will approach his next Olympic clean-up project after spending several months disqualifying dozens of athletes -- mostly in Russia and former Soviet Union countries -- from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics. Their use of anabolic steroids was detected in re-tests of samples.He acknowledged it was easy to see the link in claims that Russian authorities approved a doping program for the home Olympics at Sochi after the teams poor performance at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.There are some indications according to first report there was this mouse hole (in the Sochi lab) and trafficking of samples, Oswald said. And there are certainly enough elements to prove that something was done by the authority, by the minister of sport.Still, the evidence to prove doping might be missing.With DNA we can prove that the sample under the name of that person is not belonging to the person, Oswald said, of the sample swaps in Sochi. But, again, does it mean the original urine is positive, is contaminated?For now, Russia is atop the Sochi medal table with 13 golds ahead of Norways 11, and 33 total medals compared to 28 for the United States.Asked if Russia will remain there in the fallout of McLarens report and the IOCs follow-up commissions, Oswald said probably not.Meanwhile, United States lawmakers want Bach to attend a congressional committee hearing next Thursday to provide an update on sports fight against doping.Unfortunately I cannot attend there, said Bach, adding that the IOC will provide by other means all the information they may need. ' ' '