April 21th

BERGERON WILL PLAY IF CLEARED BY DOCTORS

If Patrice Bergeron is cleared to play by doctors, Boston coach Claude Julien will put him in the lineup for the Bruins' Game 7 clash against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

"He really looks good (in practice)," Julien told reporters Sunday. "Yeah, maybe he hasn't played in real-game situations, so there might be some little issues here and there, but the quality of player he is, there's no way you can keep a guy like that out. I wouldn't even consider it."

Bergeron has been sidelined since suffering a severe head injury last October. The Boston forward has been skating in practice and asked the Bruins' medical staff to play in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference series on Saturday, but was turned down.

The Bruins defeated the Canadiens 5-4 in Boston to tie the best-of-seven series and force a seventh and deciding contest Monday in Montreal.
The 22-year-old will consult with doctors on Monday to see whether they will clear him to play later that evening.

Back on October 27, 2007, Bergeron was hit from behind by Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Randy Jones on Oct. 27, 2007. Bergeron crumpled to the ice, lost consciousness and was taken from the ice on a stretcher.

Bergeron had been participating in one-way contact in practice for the past six weeks — meaning he could hit, but he couldn't take hits or play in games until he returned to full strength.


FLYERS KNUBLE OUT FOR REST OF 1ST ROUND

Philadelphia Flyers winger Mike Knuble, who scored the winning goal in double overtime against Washington on Thursday, will be unavailable for Game 6 Monday and if necessary, Game 7 the following night.

Knuble partially tore his left hamstring in the second period of a 3-2 loss in Game 5 of the NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final Saturday afternoon when he stumbled to the ice in a moment of indecision over whether to try to block a shot.

He had 29 goals and 55 points during the regular season. Knuble was also minus-3, his worst rating since the 1999-2000 campaign (minus-7), but has collected four points in the first five games of the NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final.


"THE BIG HURT" IS LET GO

Frank Thomas's short Toronto Blue Jay career has come to an end.

The 39-year-old slugger was released by the American League club on Sunday, 24 hours after reacting angrily to being benched by manager John Gibbons and replaced by Matt Stairs as designated hitter.

Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said the decision was "mutual" and it came after he and Thomas met on Sunday morning.

"Our best opportunity is to put other guys in the lineup at this point," the GM said. "Obviously, reduced playing time is not something that he was interested in. In order to let him go forward and get on with his career, I think it's fair to do it at this point.

Thomas was off to an anemic start that had seen the future Hall of Famer go hitless in his last 13 at-bats and only 4-for-34 since homering in three straight games April 5-8.

"I'm angry," Thomas said on Saturday, claiming the decision was made so Toronto could avoid having to automatically guarantee next year's $10-million contract if he got 376 plate appearances this season.

Thomas's vesting option for 2009 was part of the $18.12-million, two-year deal signed in November of 2006.

He has 516 career homers and a lifetime batting average of .302. Last season, Thomas hit .277 with 26 homers and 95 RBIs for Toronto.

Thomas, a career .302 hitter, is one of four players in baseball history to record at least a .300 average, 500 home runs, 1,500 RBIs, 1,000 runs and 1,500 walks. The others are Mel Ott, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.


Todays NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Schedule

-(8) Boston @ (1) Montreal--Game 7--6pm (Series tied 3-3)

-(3) Washington @ (6) Philadelphia--Game 6--6pm--Versus (Flyers lead series 3-2)

Tuesday

--IF NECESSARY-- (6) Philadelphia @ (3) Washington--Game 7--6pm

-(7) Calgary @ (2) San Jose--Game 7--9pm (Series tied 3-3)