Ailing Toews should be ready for Game 1

A few eyebrows were raised when the Blackhawks took the ice for practice Thursday with everyone present and accounted for ... except for captain Jonathan Toews.

No cause for concern, though, according to Hawks coach Joel Quenneville.

"He's fine," Quenneville said. "He's a little under the weather, but he'll be more than fine (for Game 1)."

Toews had 3 goals in the St. Louis series - all game-winners.

Who's it gonna be?

The Minnesota goalie roulette continued when Darcy Kuemper, who missed the final seven games of the regular season and Games 1 and 2 against the Avalanche, was injured in the third period of Game 7 on Wednesday.

Ilya Bryzgalov replaced Kuemper for the rest of regulation and into overtime of the Wild's series clincher.

On Thursday, Minnesota coach Mike Yeo was asked for an update on Kuemper's condition.

"I don't have any updates," he said.

So there you go.

Loving it:

How does Joel Quenneville feel about playing the Wild for a second consecutive season in the playoffs?

"I would say that's how you build rivalries," Quenneville said. "They're in our division this year and you get to see them a little bit more. I think that's one way of getting enemies on the other side and creating some animosity."

He'll be back:

Minnesota forward Matt Cooke has three games remaining to serve on his suspension for a knee-to-knee hit on Colorado's Tyson Barrie, and his coach can't wait to get the veteran back in the lineup.

"This is a guy that we really value because of what he can add in the playoffs," Mike Yeo said. "His physicality, I think, could be a factor in this series."

He said it:

"What a game - hats off to both teams. Minnesota went down four times by a goal and competed to get back. We have a big challenge ahead of us. We saw how good they were throughout that series, but especially (Wednesday).

- Ben Smith on the Wild's wild 5-4 OT victory in Game 7 over Colorado