Articles by Doug Stolhand

MONTREAL – Montreal police say small organized bands of vandals were responsible for the post-game riot that left 16 police cruisers damaged early this morning.

MONTREAL – Montreal police say small, organized bands of vandals were responsible for the riot after Monday’s NHL playoff game that damaged 16 police cruisers and 10 downtown buildings.

MONTREAL – Highly organized arsonists used the cover of a spontaneous downtown celebration by Canadiens fans to lash out violently at police, authorities said Tuesday.

MONTREAL – Milan Lucic, much like his Boston Bruins, made a statement in these playoffs.Though the disappointment of losing Game 7 to the Montreal Canadiens was still fresh in his mind, Lucic was able to find the silver lining in a season where the Bruins overcame more challenges than perhaps any team in the NHL.

Movements in the world of hockey Monday:National Hockey LeagueMINNESOTA WILD-Reassigned C-LW Benoit Pouliot and D Erik Reitz to Houston (AHL).

Scoring summaries from Monday’s NHL games:Bruins 0 at Canadiens 5 First period1. Montreal, Komisarek 1 (Kovalev, Koivu) 3:31Penalties – Brisebois Mtl (slashing) 10:40, Markov Mtl (interference) 13:48, Stuart Bos (cross-checking) 17:02.

SAN ANTONIO – Bill Thomas scored the game-winning goal as the San Antonio Rampage beat the Toronto Marlies 3-2 in American Hockey League playoff action Monday.

PHILADELPHIA – Held without a goal for four straight games, Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the third period to lift the Capitals to a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night and send the series back to Washington for a decisive Game 7.

MONTREAL – Andrei Kostitsyn scored two goals and rookie Carey Price had 25 saves as the Montreal Canadiens advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 5-0 victory over the Boston Bruins.

MONTREAL – Andrei Kostitsyn scored two goals and rookie Carey Price posted a 25-save shutout to put the Montreal Canadiens and their ear-splitting fans into the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 5-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday night.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Jacques Lemaire says this off-season is like any other.He says he will go home to Florida, speak with his wife Mychelle, meet with Minnesota Wild management, and decide whether he wants to return for another year behind the bench.

CALGARY – What can make the pulse race faster, the adrenaline pump quicker and, it has to be said, a certain part of the lower anatomy clench tighter than Game 7 of an NHL playoff series?The Calgary Flames feel the first two and hope the San Jose Sharks experience the latter in Tuesday’s Game 7 of their Western Conference quarter-final series (10 p.

ANAHEIM, Calif. – High-flying a year ago, the Ducks are down and out.Like every other Stanley Cup champion of the past decade, Anaheim won’t be repeating.

After playing 77 regular season games and losing in the first round of the playoffs, Martin Brodeur has turned down an invitation to backstop Canada’s team in this year’s World Championship.

DETROIT – Chris Osgood helped the Detroit Red Wings eliminate Nashville.Now, he’ll get a chance to keep the Red Wings rolling in the second round.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Nashville Predators’ reward for surviving a year with enough twists and turns for a soap opera came in the form of a fourth straight playoff berth.

DALLAS – Sergei Zubov was already out with an injury. Then Philippe Boucher went down, too. So the Dallas Stars cringed when Stephane Robidas, another reliable defenceman, took a puck off his face and rushed straight to the dressing room during Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks.

TORONTO – Scott Niedermayer’s season is over but just how much he will earn in salary remains in question.The Anaheim Ducks star defenceman already lost about US$2 million in wages from his $6.

MONTREAL – Game 7s were a hot topic this week, and a player who was in a truly memorable do-or-die contest was Boston Bruins backup goaltender Alex Auld.

TORONTO – The NHL’s competition committee got a face lift Monday.Brian Campbell of the San Jose Sharks, Jeff Halpern of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres, Mathieu Schneider of the Anaheim Ducks and Jason Spezza of the Ottawa Senators have been selected by the executive board of the NHL Players’ Association as the new player representatives on the committee.