CALGARY -- The cost of insuring the roughly $1.5 billion in contracts among the players attending Canada's Olympic orientation camp this week is the reason why they're not on the ice. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo doesn't have a contract to insure just yet.

Pietrangelo is still a restricted free agent for the St. Louis Blues, who are set to open training camp in less than three weeks. He's coming off his three-year entry-level contract and said Monday that he's been operating under the assumption that he and his agent, Don Meehan of Newport Sports, will strike a deal with the Blues so he can be in training camp on time.

CALGARY -- Washington Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner isn't sure what his chances are of making the Canadian Olympic team, but he gave NHL.com some insight into his thought process for how he may convince executive director Steve Yzerman and coach Mike Babcock to pick him.

CALGARY -- San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton was invited but decided not to come to Canada's Olympic orientation camp this week because of a family matter.

---

CALGARY -- The cost of insuring the roughly $1.5 billion worth of NHL player contracts here at Canada's Olympic orientation camp was prohibitive, so the players are not allowed to go on the ice. That didn't stop them from getting in a workout complete with drills Monday morning at the Markin MacPhail Centre at Canada Olympic Park.

The coaching staff broke up the 45 players in camp (Joe Thornton and Claude Giroux were invited but could not attend) into two groups and had them doing ball hockey drills on the Olympic-sized rink, which was covered in boards that resemble an international ice sheet.

The purpose of the workouts was to show the players how Canada plans to play on the big rink in Sochi for the 2014 Olympics and to go over some of the terminology coach Mike Babcock and his assistants will use.

CALGARY -- San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton was invited but decided not to come to Canada's Olympic orientation camp this week because of a family matter.

ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun reported on his Twitter account Monday that Thornton remained home because his two-month old boy was in the hospital. LeBrun added that Thornton's baby is now out of the hospital, but Hockey Canada fully understands his reason for not attending the orientation camp.

Thornton joins Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux as the two players not in attendance despite being invited. Giroux is not here because he is rehabbing his surgically repaired finger.

CALGARY -- The one thing missing from Canada's three-day Olympic orientation camp is actual hockey. The players will not be taking the ice as they have in previous camps because of the prohibitive cost of insuring their NHL contracts.

It's actually a bummer to some of them even though it's August and NHL training camps won't open for another 2 1/2 weeks.

"Unfortunately we're not going to be going on the ice, which is a shame a little bit," goalie Roberto Luongo said, "but the fact that we're getting together just gets us excited for what's down the road here."

CALGARY -- Ralph Krueger's extensive experience coaching teams on the larger international ice surface helped the former Edmonton Oilers coach land a job on Mike Babcock's staff for the 2014 Canada Men's Olympic team.

Krueger, who coached the Oilers last season, has been hired by Hockey Canada to serve as an adviser to the coaching staff that will represent Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, when the tournament will be played on rinks that are 15-feet wider than they are in North America. Krueger is from Manitoba but played and coached in Europe for three decades before joining the Oilers staff as an associate coach in 2010.

BOSTON -- No team wins the Stanley Cup without injuries, but they rarely, if ever, disclose them while the ride is ongoing.

The Chicago Blackhawks' doctors and trainers were certainly busy throughout the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and coach Joel Quenneville revealed some of what they had to deal with shortly after Dave Bolland's goal in the final minute completed Chicago's historic come-from-behind 3-2 Cup-clinching win against the Boston Bruins in Game 6 Monday at TD Garden.

Quenneville said Marian Hossa was dealing with a bad back; Michal Handzus had injuries to his hand and knee; and Bryan Bickell, who scored the tying goal Monday, suffered a Grade 2 knee sprain at the end of the Western Conference Final against the Los Angeles Kings. All Quenneville would say about Jonathan Toews, who played in Game 6 after sitting out the third period of Game 5, is that "he got his bell rung, he was fine."

BOSTON -- Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron is in the lineup for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on Monday (NBC, CBC, RDS), delivering on the confidence of his coach, Claude Julien, who said Monday morning Bergeron would be able to play.

BOSTON -- Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron did not take the morning skate Monday, but will take the pre-game skate according to coach Claude Julien, who is "confident" Bergeron will be able to go in Game 6 against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS).

"Patrice will dress for warmup tonight and I'm feeling confident that he will play," Julien said.

Carl Soderberg skated in Bergeron's place on the second line in between Jaromir Jagr and Brad Marchand at the morning skate.

The Bruins trail the best-of-7 series, 3-2.