NHL Stanley Cup results - first games of the first round (best-of-7): Philadelphia - New Jersey 2:1, Ottawa - Pittsburgh 5:4, Detroit - Phoenix 2:3, Colorado - San Jose 2:1.
Game schedule for Thursday, April 15: Montreal - Washington, Boston - Buffalo, Los Angeles - Vancouver.

Exhibition games: Switzerland - Sweden 4:5 shootout (0:2, 3:0, 1:2 - 0:0). Goals: 23. Wick, 25. Monnet, 30. B. Plüss, 53. Duca - 11. Granström, 20. Persson, 50. Weinhandl, 57. Rundblad, winning shootout goal Ömark.
Slovenia - Denmark 3:5 (0:0, 1:1, 2:4). Branky: 35. Mursak, 45. B. Golicic, 54. M. Rodman - 33. & 51. Hardt, 53. Damgaard, 54. M. Christensen, 60. Madsen.
German DEL play off semifinal result - 3rd game: Wolfsburg - Augsburg 6:1, series 1:2.
Division III World Championships - group A (Luxembourg): Greece - United Arab Emirates 7:1 (2:1, 1:0, 4:0), Ireland - Luxembourg 6:4 (0:0, 5:1, 1:3). Group B (Yerevan, Armenia): Mongolia - North Korea 1:22 (0:7, 0:9, 1:6), South Africa - Armenia 2:9 (1:4, 1:3, 0:2).

Results from the Under 18 World Championships in Belarus - Sweden - Belarus 7:0 (0:0, 5:0, 2:0). Goals: 21. a 24. Rensfeldt, 36. a 41. J. Larsson, 32. A. Larsson, 34. Friberg, 45. Thorell.
Czech Republic "18" - Slovakia "18" 4:3 (1:0, 2:0, 1:3). Branky: 20. Vachovec, 22. Zamorsky, 28. Frk, 56. Uher - 57. a 60. Simcak, 55. Tvrdon.
Slovak Extraliga play off final - 1st game: Slovan Bratislava - Kosice 2:5.
Results form the Division II group B World Championships in Narva, Estonia: Israel - China 2:7 (2:2, 0:1, 0:4), New Zealand - Romania 1:14 (0:2, 1:8, 0:4), Iceland - Estonia 1:6 (1:3, 0:1, 0:2).

The first Finnish player from the NHL to join the national team for the World Championships is Jussi Jokinen. According to the paper Ilta Sanomat the head coach Jukka Jalonen made the agreement with the forward after the end of the NHL regular season as Carolina didn't make the play offs. Even though Jokinen was left off the Olympic roster he accepted the offer to represent at the World Championships.

Russian team Traktor Chelyabinsk is looking for a new head coach to replace Andrei Nazarov who left the team few days ago. According to the Russian media the new head coach could be Andrei Sidorenko, currently the coach of Dizel Penza of the Russian league. Traktor reportedly approached Valeri Belousov, however the former Magnitogorsk coach declined their offer.

German national team goalie Dmitrij Kotschnew might be moving within the KHL, according to the paper Sport-Express. Apparently, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is the front runner for the Spartak Moscow goalie's services. The Lokomotiv current starting goalie Georgi Gelashvili might be leaving for SKA Saint Petersburg.

Even though the Lithuanian-born Russian defenceman Darius Kasparaitis has not played in over a year due to a serious injury, he is considering transfer to Swedish team AIK Stockholm from KHL team SKA Saint Petersburg. According to the Swedish website hockeyexpressen.se Kasparaitis stated that it's not a question of money but rather family, as his wife and kids live in Stockholm and he would like spend more time with them and less time travelling.

Atlanta Thrashers have made some management changes. After not making the play offs this season the club fired the head coach John Anderson and his assistants Randy Cunneyworth, Todd Nelson and Steve Weeks. Don Waddell was named the team president, and Rick Dudley will take over as the general manager.

Under 18 World Championships in Belarus results - group A: Switzerland - USA 1:5 (1:1, 0:2, 0:2). Goals: 12. Hofmann - 13. a 25. Czarnik, 40. Arnold, 49. Clendening, 53. Zucker.
Group B: Latvia - Russia 0:9 (0:2, 0:4, 0:3). Goals: 8., 23. a 26. Namestnikov, 21., 41. a 44. Kuznetsov, 6. Nestorov, 34. Zheldakov, 58. Shalunov.

Davis Payne, who just finished his season with St. Louis Blue after joining as the head coach in January will be the head coach for the next season. The 39-year old coach, currently the youngest NHL coach, was officially named to the function today, according to the paper The St. Louis-Dispatch. Payne lead the team to 23 wins in 42 games this season.

Former NHL forward Josef Beranek officially retired today. The 34-year old player made the announcement at a press conference in Prague. He will be coaching the Slavia Prague junior team and also will be the first team assistant to head coach Vladimir Ruzicka.

The Swiss national team coach Sean Simpson will have to do without more players from his original roster of invitees for the World Championships in Germany. After Severin Blindenbacher and Patrick von Gunten, defenceman Rafael Diaz is also not going to join the team due to torn ligaments in his foot, which is also the case for his colleague Fabian Schnyder.

Naturalized Austrian defenceman Darcy Werenka is leaving Vienna Capitals after seven seasons, according to local paper Krone. The team has not offered a new contract to the 37-year old Edmonton-born player. The paper has stated that Werenka confirmed this in a recent interview with the paper.

The German national team coach Uwe Krupp will not be able to utilize the services of Manuel Klinge at the World Championships. The 25-year old Kassel forward excused himself as he's having problems with a slipped disc and his doctors recommended against his start. Also, Florian Busch, who has a bruised chest, is uncertain to join the national team. The club doctor is skeptical about his current condition improving enough for Busch to be able to join the team.

Czech forward Vaclav Prospal will not be joining his national team for the upcoming World Championships. The New York Rangers forward is battling fatigue and knee problems and thus turned down the invitation from the Czech national team coach Vladimir Ruzicka.

New York Rangers star Marian Gaborik and Tampa Bay defenceman Andrej Meszaros will not join the Slovak national team at World Championships in Germany in May. Both players received a recommendation against their start by their teams due to health issues. New Slovak national team coach Glen Hanlon will have to find replacements elsewhere.

Defenceman Brooks Orpik (leg) and forward Chris Kunitz (shoulder) participated in Pittsburgh Penguins practice on Tuesday, however their start in the first play off game of the series against Ottawa is still uncertain. It appears that the final decision will be made at the pre-game warm up.

Andrew Ference, who missed last nine games of the regular season due to a hamstring injury should be ready to return to play for Boston Bruins on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres. The defenceman played in 51 regular season games this season registering eight assists.