Morning Snapshots 20/06

• Brent Seabrook scored the winning goal on a shot from the point that fluttered past Boston goalie Tuukka Rask in overtime last night, as Chicago took game four of the Final 6-5 and evened the series at two games apiece. The Blackhawks ended a couple rather important streaks in the process, including Boston's home winning streak, and finally breaking through on the power play for the first time in the series.
• If anything, the game was a lesson in how to lose momentum and NOT keep a lead. Chicago's offense was going, firing 47 shots on Rask, but it seemed every time they scored, the Bruins would respond and get back in the game. After a couple of snoozers in the final so far, nice to see some goals, isn't it?
• Gotta feel bad for Rask and Chicago goalie Corey Crawford though. After pumping both their tires up in my Top Ten Conn Smythe candidates post yesterday, they each had their worst game of the playoffs so far. Consider Rask: he allowed the same amount of goals last night as he had in the previous five games combined, and saw his goals against average jump from 1.64 to 1.83 as a result. 
• So now the series shifts backs to Chicago, with the Blackhawks having taken home ice advantage back from the Bruins. No doubt Hawks coach Joel Quenneville can't be happy with the goals against, but if wide open hockey is what's needed for Chicago to win, don't be surprised when they come out flying again in game five on Saturday.
• Moving away from the Final, there is a juicy rumour out of Philadelphia that the Flyers have told center Danny Briere that he will be bought out and become a free agent this July 5th. Briere is a veteran of 15 NHL seasons, but with his slow decline in play and injury history combined with his high salary ($6.5 million) and Philly's cap problems, this move should come as little surprise to anyone. Expect Briere to be a hot commodity on FA day, though at a much lower price point.
• A few weeks ago, the NHL Competition Committee made some recommendations to the NHL's GMs, who approved said recommendations yesterday for implementation into the 2013-14 season. This includes: mandatory visors for all players entering the league from next year forward, shallower nets to allow for more play below the goal line, and video review on four minute high-sticking penalties. They also approved trying out hybrid icing during the pre-season. If they like what they see, hybrid icing will be kept for the regular season next year as well. 
• Weird news out of Denver, where new Avalanche executive vice-president Joe Sakic had revealed they have no interest in selecting defenseman Seth Jones with the first overall pick in this year's NHL entry draft. Instead, the Avs plan to go for one of the top forwards available, likely either Nathan MacKinnon or Jonathan Drouin. Strange announcement from Sakic, who is new to the job, as teams in a position of draft power usually don't show their intentions so easily. 
• Even though he's been retired from playing for 14 years (wow, really?), when The Great One speaks, people in the hockey world listen. Wayne Gretzky stated in an interview that his "gut feeling" is that Quebec will receive an NHL franchise soon which is "going to be a strong, solid franchise just like Winnipeg is now". With the parity of the league, the market in Quebec and the salary cap, all of which weren't in place when the Nordiques left, hard to argue against Gretz on that one.
• Yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings and city officials announced plans for a new $650 million dollar arena in downtown Detroit. Fans of the Red Wings must be a little conflicted by the news. Obviously a new arena is badly needed in Detroit, but saying goodbye to the 32 year old Joe Louis Arena, which has seen six Stanley Cup finals and countless memorable moments, will be hard.
• And just a few signing notes from the last week to finish off the blog today. The Predators have resigned defenseman Victor Bartley to a three year, $2 million dollar deal. Young superstar, and future of the San Jose Sharks, Logan Couture has reupped with the team for five years at a $6 million dollar cap hit. Young blueliner Slava Voynov, who has emerged as an essential piece on the backend for LA, has resigned with the Kings for six years and $25 million dollars. And the sublime Red Wings winger Pavel Datsyuk, who some worried would be heading back to Russia after next year, has chosen to stay in Detroit, signing a three year, $22.5 million dollar deal.

That's all for this morning everybody, thanks for reading! Please comment, and especially share if you like the content here at WAAP. I had to take a couple days off from writing, but I'm back to the regular schedule now and will have tons of updates from now through the free agency period, so check back often! As for todays gif, could it be anything other than the game winning goal last night? Not the most beautiful goal, but Seabrook beats Rask clean, have a look: