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Bruins aim to keep things simple ahead of training camp, Cup Qualifiers – NHL.com

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The Boston Bruins are going to keep things simple heading into training camp and the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, coach Bruce Cassidy said Monday.

No major changes. No revamping systems.

The Bruins just want to get back to where they were when the NHL paused the season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. They went 16-4-0 in their last 20 games before the pause, which helped them finish the regular season with the best points percentage in the NHL (.714) and win the Presidents’ Trophy.

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“We’re not going to introduce a whole lot of new concepts, obviously,” Cassidy said. “Even though you’ve had a lot of time to dream up a lot of different things, I don’t know if it’s the best time in a short turnaround with a lot on the line to start messing too much with your game.

“So we’re going to try to keep it as simple as we can, as consistent as how we finished early on. Then we’ll make the adjustments as we go and that’ll be that.”

[RELATED: 5 questions for Bruins in Stanley Cup Qualifiers]

Training camp, which is part of Phase 3 in the NHL Return to Play Plan, is expected to open July 10. When Phase 4 begins at a date and hub city to be determined, the Bruins, as one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference based on points percentage, will play in the round-robin portion of the qualifiers against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers to determine the conference’s top four seeds for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Given the Bruins’ success this season, Cassidy said it’s unlikely there are going to be lineup changes.

“The obvious scenario is necessity, which is injury or if there’s positive (coronavirus) tests within the group,” he said. “Otherwise we have confidence in our guys. Obviously we had a strong regular season. We used different players. We had depth. Probably realistically 15 forwards, eight defensemen all played.

“So in that regard they would have to excel to push someone out who’s done a good job for us to this point.”

Cassidy said that if a player is not in the right place with his conditioning given the extended time off during the pause, he believes that the team can get him there by the time games start. But that could be another scenario where a young player could be used in place of an established player. The Bruins will have the numbers to have that option.

“It looks like we’ll be 30 skaters (at training camp). We’ve got a list of 28 and 30, because I knew that those were the two numbers, plus four goaltenders,” he said.

Cassidy confirmed that the Bruins will have goalies Tuukka Rask, Jaroslav Halak, Maxime Lagace and Dan Vladar available for the round-robin and playoffs. Rask (41 starts) and Halak (29) shared the William M. Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals allowed with 167 (2.39 goals allowed in 70 games). Lagace and Vladar played for Providence of the American Hockey League.

Video: BOS@PHI: Rask earns 50th NHL shutout on 33rd birthday

The coaching staff will begin to consult with veteran leaders, including captain Zdeno Chara and center Patrice Bergeron, between now and the opening of training camp to “make sure everyone’s in a good place, get a temperature from those guys.”

“I think the message for us hasn’t changed in terms of what our ultimate goal is,” Cassidy said. “Our unfinished business is to be Stanley Cup champions. But inside that message will be a lot of the unknown and how we have to be prepared to deal with that as it comes at us, which can be difficult.”

But in the end, Cassidy said he’s glad the Bruins will get a chance to complete the season, participate in the playoffs and attempt to finish the goal they left unfinished last season when they lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final to the St. Louis Blues.

“We’ve got to be grateful for the opportunity to play for the Cup,” Cassidy said. “Might infringe on a little bit of what you’d like to do away from the rink, but that’s the sacrifices we make. There’s always sacrifices in playoff hockey and these ones are going to be a little bit different than in years past.

“That’s going to be our message. We’ve got to make the appropriate sacrifice to get our name on the Cup and hopefully guys are accepting of that.”

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

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Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

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LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

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Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

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