by Jared Klein, team handicapper at www.sportsmemo.com

Toronto Maple Leafs Defensemen Tomas Kaberle skated yesterday for the first time since suffering his March 2 concussion, he sounded hopeful, but made it clear he's not quite himself.  "There were no headaches," said Kaberle, before adding, "Obviously, I'm not feeling myself quite yet. The main thing is no headaches."  It is still unknown when he will return to the lineup. 

The Philadelphia Flyers shut down left winger Simon Gagne, who has a strained left hip flexor, after his workout with the Phantoms in South Jersey went badly yesterday. He is questionable for tomorrow's home game against Atlanta.

New York Rangers Forward Brendan Shanahan returned to practice for the first time on Tuesday with his teammates.  "I'm tired, but I feel good," said Shanahan, who spent 20 minutes shooting and passing and another 25 minutes on conditioning drills with two coaches. "So far, no symptoms, and that's a positive sign ... I pushed myself to complete exhaustion out there ... no vertigo," he said. "The only side effect is heavy breathing."

Goaltender Rick DiPietro underwent tests on his injured head that forced him to leave Tuesday's game in the first period. No results have been released at this time, so it is unclear how long DiPietro will be out of the Islanders' lineup.

Brian Gionta (groin) did not skate and won't play tonight or tomorrow night against the Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C. "One of the issues is you want to make sure there is no setback because you are so close to the playoffs," Gionta said.

The last-place Philadelphia Flyers gave general manager Paul Holmgren a two-year extension through the 2008-09 season Wednesday, giving him more time to make Philadelphia a Stanley Cup contender again.  I think that is a great move for the Flyers.  He did a tremendous job getting young talent back for aging veterans. 

Starting this season, the four conference finalists will get the bottom four picks in the NHL's entry draft, according to multiple reports.  Previously, only the Stanley Cup winner was assigned the final pick in each round. Now, regardless of their regular-season record, the 29th selection in each round will go to the Cup runner-up, the paper reported. Losers of the conference finals will draft 27th and 28th, with the team with the better regular-season record drafting in the lower spot.

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