to widen the league beyond the current 30 franchises he su

NEW YORK -- In advance of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final, the coaches put on a show. First Rangers coach Alain Vigneault fired back at the Canadiens, dismissing the assertion by Montreal counterpart Michel Therrien that there is a gentlemans agreement among coaches that they not watch the other team practise on off-days. And he said Therriens comments that Montreal knows where Rangers forward Derick Brassard was hurting might come back to haunt the Habs coach. "Let me put it this way. I just hope nothing happens to (Brassard) or Michel could be in trouble," a feisty Vigneault said. The coaches friendship, he suggested, was on hold. "I think (Therrien) said prior to the series, for this two-week period, were not really friends and hes probably right," Vigneault, whose smile seemed a little forced, said after the morning skate Sunday. Vigneault was followed by a grinning Therrien, who looked to kill his rival coach with kindness. "Alain Vigneault, first of all hes a good friend," said Therrien. "Im privileged to be one of his friends. Hes an important person in my life. Hes one of the guys that pushed for me to get into pro hockey. And I will respect that. "And over the years, we become great great friends. And Ive got tons of respect for him. And hes a good coach. But right now were battling for the same thing ... Weve got to put our friendship aside, for what two weeks? But Im sure when everythings done and over, as soon as get a chance to see each other, were going to have a nice cold beer, like we did in the past. "Nothing is going to change, but right now were competing for the same goal. And thats normal." Vigneault, renowned for his calmness, has had a bee under his bonnet in recent days. In three games -- the Rangers led 2-1 going into Game 4 -- there has been one surgery, two suspensions and a lot of talk. The Rangers coach seemed to have a chip on his shoulder Sunday. He has lamented the officiating that led to a Game 3 flare-up which resulted in Brandon Prust breaking Derek Stepans jaw and Rangers forward Dan Carcillo being suspended for jostling a linesman in the aftermath. "Were trying to play whistle to whistle," Vigneault said. "Were trying to do the right things. I know in the hockey world we were painted as dishonest and dishonourable. Were not. We follow the rules. We follow the rules on the ice, and we will follow the rules off the ice." The Habs have complained about the Rangers play, questioned some of their injuries and looked to get under their skin at every turn. "Hockey is a beautiful game," Vigneault said. "Its done by great competitors on both teams. I wish a lot of this stuff didnt happen." It has been a series where the two coaches have hardly said a word without considering their impact. While Prust was awaiting a league sanction for his hit, Vigneault detailed the extent of Stepans injury. After Carcillo asked that his 10-game ban be reviewed by commissioner Gary Bettman, Vigneault questioned the role of linesman Scott Driscoll in the play. Therrien dismissed the suggestion that the Habs may be looking to capitalize on Brassards return to the lineup from injury. "Hes a good player. There is no free pass. Were in the playoffs. But the intention is not to hurt the guy. I mean, come on," he said. "We have to play Derick Brassard hard like we have to play all those New York Rangers hard with emotion and the best playoff hockey," he added. Therrien said he was giving Vigneault some of his own medicine. "I was saying the same thing Alain said about Carey Price, that he knew before, he knew what the injury was and that the hockey world its a small world," he said. "Its true, its a small world. So we knew exactly what happened to Derick Brassard. And by the way, hes a good player. Hes an important player." As for the Canadiens asking the Rangers assistant coaches to leave Montreals practice Saturday, Vigneault responded Sunday by saying his staff was treated unfairly. "There is no rule. There was no agreement between both teams. That is the exception not the rule." If there is a deal, its only because the opposing coach or GM calls to ask for it. "Never happened," he added. Vigneault called the Montreal behaviour regrettable, adding it was lucky the situation did not escalate. Therrien stuck to his guns, although he did say perhaps there was a breakdown in communication. According to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun, NHL Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell met with Therrien and Canadiens GM Marc Bergervin on Sunday to discuss the issue. "My staff and my coaching staff were under the impression that there is a gentlemans agreement. So probably there was a miscommunication. ... But from our standpoint, we still believe that there is a gentlemans agreement." Asked about personnel, Vigneault said Stepan was recovering at home from surgery although he had visited his teammates Sunday morning. Dominic Moore was expected to move up and replace Stepan with J.T. Miller replacing Carcillo on the fourth line. Therrien was asked zero questions about his lineup, with all the talk on the gamesmanship in the series. Michael Bournival is expected to replace Prust, who was suspended for two games for the Stepan hit. NOTES: Sunday marked 20 years since Mark Messier, after promising the win, scored a natural hat trick to help the Rangers defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final. Custom Atlanta Hawks Jerseys . Ronaldo netted his 14th goal of the season in Europes top competition to give Madrid a clear advantage ahead of next weeks quarterfinal return leg in Germany. But it came at a price as the Portugal forward, who came into the first-leg nursing a sore left knee, came off in the 80th minute. Custom Basketball Jerseys Outlet . An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. http://www.customjerseysbasketball.com/ .com) - No Sidney Crosby, no problem. Wholesale Custom Basketball Jerseys . Bryce Harper? He also came into Wednesday without a long ball and hadnt driven in a run. He was hitting .160, had nearly three times as many strikeouts as hits and was dropped to seventh in the batting order. Sale Custom Basketball Jerseys .Simon will work with head coach Gord Dineen and associate coach Derek King behind the bench of the Toronto Maple Leafs American Hockey League affiliate for the 2014-15 season.NEW YORK, N.Y. - NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is flattered that North American cities without hockey teams are interested in adding one to their towns, but it just isnt in the plans.Bettman isnt quite sure what fuels the talk that the NHL is looking to widen the league beyond the current 30 franchises he suggested perhaps slow news days in the summer. He is pleased with the health of the league, and there have been no internal discussions about adding teams.It doesnt mean that it wont happen down the road.If we go through a formal expansion process, then we will have to evaluate that very question, Bettman said Tuesday during an interview with The Associated Press inside his Manhattan office. What we are doing is continuing to listen to expressions of interest, and were pleased that there are lots of expressions of interest, but we havent and are not ready to deal with them in a very structured, formal way and make that decision.Before any expansion discussions can be held, the NHL will have to decide how many teams is enough, and if adding others will water down the product.That would require us to do an analysis we havent done, Bettman said. If you look around, there is no list on the wall ranking cities where were not. Were listening. There is apparently a lot to listen to, but at this point thats all were dooing.dddddddddddd.And now that the Coyotes are again firmly entrenched in Arizona, there is no immediate risk of any team moving, either.There is no reason to relocate, Bettman said. The 30 franchises have never been healthier, never been better owned, never been more stable.But back in 2013, the Coyotes were in flux and a candidate to switch cities. A story in the Seattle Times said that the Coyotes were hours and one city council vote away from being sold and packed up to Seattle.The Seattle Times reported that if the Glendale City Council hadnt voted 4-3 in favour of an arena lease agreement with IceArizona, buyers from Seattle were in position to buy and relocate the team the next day.Bettman disputed how close that transaction really was to coming to fruition.I think that is a bit of an exaggeration, he said. We were at one point considering options, but it never got that close to anywhere, and Seattle wasnt the only place that was talking to us. But it made for a good story in Seattle.In the 1990s until the turn of the century, the NHL grew from 21 teams to 30 the most recent additions being the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild in 2000. The last team to move was the Atlanta Thrashers, who relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2011 and became the second generation of the Winnipeg Jets. 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