Reading List: Taking a breather

With Rogers Arena switching for hockey to music for a couple of days (Supertramp on Thursday; Bruno Mars on Friday), the Canucks and Bruins had the first of two days of practice and rest before the Stanley Cup Final resumes Saturday night (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, RDS).

Both teams worked out at the University of British Columbia, undoubtedly trying to find ways to generate more goals without sacrificing the kind of defense that led to only one goal being scored in the opener, a 1-0 victory by the Canucks -- just the 11th 1-0 win in the Final in the last five-plus decades.

With another day off on Friday ahead of Game 2, here is your daily NHL.com Reading List, a set of quick links to some of the stories you won't want to miss:

Sedins confident entering Game 2
Vancouver won Game 1 despite not getting any offensive contribution from Henrik or Daniel Sedin, their two big guns. But the twins say the only thing that mattered was getting the win -- and as Dan Rosen reports, both said they weren't intimidated by Boston's big defensive duo of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg.

Hansen finds his role
Vancouver's Jannik Hansen gets kidded by his teammates that he's the best practice player on the team. But the native of Denmark has found his niche with the Canucks, and as Dan Rosen notes, he was one of Vancouver's best players in Game 1.

Boston's little big man
Andrew Ference was supposed to be too small to be an NHL player -- and as an eighth-round pick 14 years ago, he wasn't expected to make much of an impact if he even made the League. But Ference has played more than 600 NHL regular-season games, and Corey Masisak writes that Ference has played his way into a valuable role with the Bruins.

Julien likes his power play
Boston's power-play percentage this postseason is barely above Massachusetts' state income tax rate, and the Bruins were 0-for-6 in Game 1. But as Dave Lozo reports, coach Claude Julien was happy with his power-play unit, and especially with the use of 6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara as a screen in front of Roberto Luongo -- even though it didn't produce a goal.

Cory's story / Behind the Rask
Both of the backup goaltenders in the Final -- Vancouver's Cory Schneider and Boston's Tuukka Rask -- are sharing their thoughts with NHL.com readers via blog.

Nugent-Hopkins getting comfortable with Oilers
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the Oilers could be headed for a marriage at next month's Entry Draft, so it's probably a good idea that they find out if they're compatible. Mike G. Morreale reports from the NHL Scouting Combine in Toronto that the top-ranked North American player in Central Scouting's ratings says he's growing comfortable with the Oilers after their interview sessions.

Final exams
After four days of interviews, prospects at the NHL Scouting Combine in Toronto are ready for the next step -- two days of physical testing. Adam Kimelman talked to several top prospects to get their thoughts about what lies ahead.