Most diminutive players are forced to take the long road to NHL arenas, if they get there at all. The Habs Brendan Gallagher waited until the fifth round to hear his name called at the 2010 draft. Teammate David Desharnais never heard his name called and needed to ply his trade in the ECHL before the Habs took notice and signed him as a free agent. Mike Weaver was similarly undrafted. Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec went in the third round of their respective drafts. St. Louis was passed over by midget teams, ironically, ignored by the QMJHL, undrafted, signed by the Flames but later bought out after being exposed and unselected during the 2000 expansion draft, signed by Tampa Bay, and then became a surefire first ballot Hall of Famer, Stanley Cup winner, and Olympic gold medalist. But too small to play in this mans NHL, for sure.(h/tNational Post)If smaller skaters are in tough against the closed-mindedness of hockeys front offices, then life is near impossible for wee goalies. If the hockey community had its way, Dustin Tokarski would be working the take-out window at a Tim Hortons in Saskatchewan. At 511, he is everything the scouts are not looking for in a goalie. He is not the prototype. He is not Carey Price. Tampa Bay scout Charlie Hodge (himself a small, 56, NHL goaltender who accomplished nothing in the league with his limited stature other than six Stanley Cups and two Vezinas) had to beg the Lightning to draft Tokarski in the fifth round. And while, despite Montreal folklores contention, the legend of Tokarski is still being written, his play in the Eastern Conference Final is argument for a less structured approach to the game in both drafting and roster building.In a league that clings desperately to intangibles like "grit", "sandpaper", and "hockey sense", its laughable that they ignore these very qualities in players simply because they couldnt look Chris Pronger in the eye if standing on a barstool. And perhaps its the fact that they are ignored that makes them the players they are, products of adversity. More likely its a lack of ambition and creativity in front offices, which denies ambitious and creative players the opportunity to play in the league, and to better the game.The argument in favour of a broader notion of what makes an NHLer is on the ice this postseason, and in particular in the Rangers-Habs series and their respective runs to the Conference Final. Desharnais has been arguably Montreals best forward, if not their most consistent. Gallagher is proving that strength comes from within, and not gigantism. Tokarski has gone from relative obscurity to revelation. Weaver is more adept at blocking shots than Peter Budaj. Sixth-rounder Hagelin is proving to be perhaps the fastest skater in the league. Zucarello, affectionately nicknamed the Hobbit, is a force with his speed and creativity. And the grandfather of them all, St. Louis, is authoring a tale for the ages, the kind of postseason story that makes the playoffs so compelling.(h/t 5 Minutes For Fighting)Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull and son Brett were 510. Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr were measured at 6, but they were wearing their shoes. Guy Lafleur was also listed at 6, but at least two of those inches were hair. At some point during the 90s, when scouting staffs inflated and Eric Lindros arrived, the NHL experienced a sea change in philosophy. They became infatuated with size and believed they could manufacture skill and scoring through systems. The result was lower scoring, issues with concussions, and endless tinkering with rules in order to create the very scoring that they themselves had diluted. In witnessing one of the most entertaining and compelling postseasons in recent memory, one hopes that the NHL can again changes its ways, and value skill no matter what size the package it comes in. 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China Shoes Black Friday . With the Rangers already leading 2-0, Carey Price was taken down early in the second period of New Yorks 7-2 pounding of the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Saturday afternoon. Wholesale Shoes Black Friday Free Shipping . If one fighter gases, he usually gets beat up pretty bad from that point on.CHICAGO -- Jeremy Guthrie was pleased with the way he was pitching over the previous two months. He just didnt have anything to show for it. He wasnt happy with much of his performance Friday night, but it was good enough to snap an 11-game winless streak. Lorenzo Cain had a two-run double to highlight a five-run first inning, Guthrie pitched into the sixth inning and the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to five games with a 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. "Baseball is a very funny game," Guthrie said. "This is a very ironic way to pick up a win after a long stretch -- not pitch very well, not pitch too deep in the game, but do enough to help the team win." Guthrie (3-6) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings. Before Friday, he had gone at least seven innings in four of his last five games. His last win was on April 9, against Tampa Bay. "This is probably the worst game hes had in this streak," Royals manager Ned Yost said. The right-hander had pitched well enough to win on several occasions, but received the lowest run support in the AL (2.59) during that span. That wasnt an issue Friday. Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler each had two RBIs, including a run-scoring single in the first inning, for Kansas City. Jose Quintana (3-7) never recovered from the slow start, allowing six runs and eight hits in six innings. Jose Abreu went 1 for 4 with an RBI for the White Sox. The Royals staked Guthrie to a five-run lead before he took the mound. The first four batters -- Nori Aoki, Omar Infante, Hosmer and Butler -- all singled to make it 2-0 and fifth-place hitter Alex Gordon followed with a double to right field to make it 3-0. After Quintana struck out Salvador Perez for the first out of the game, Cain stroked a double to left to drive in two more and made it 5-0. "In the past Qs always been a little slow coming out of the first inning," Chicago manager Robin Ventura said. "But they were swinging it. They barrelled him up and it happened fast." The White Sox got a run back in the bottom of the fiirst on a sacrifice fly by Abreu.dddddddddddd The Royals got it back in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by Hosmer. Chicago loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the inning as Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo singled and Alejandro De Aza walked, but the White Sox pushed across just one run -- on a walk to Adam Eaton -- to make it 6-2. "I didnt come out aggressive enough," Guthrie said. "A couple of walks and I loaded the bases in the second. I was very fortunate to get out of the first two innings with just a couple of runs and then I was able to settle down down the stretch." Guthrie struck out Tyler Flowers with no outs and then struck out Gordon Beckham with one out following the walk to Eaton. Conor Gillaspie then flied out to centre to end the inning. The starters then settled down and neither team scored over the next four innings. "He was at 74 pitches through three and I was like, OK, if you can just get us through five with the lead, thats going to be a heck of a job," Brewers manager Ned Yost said of Guthrie. "He ended up throwing 14 pitches in the fourth inning, six pitches in the fifth and got two outs in the sixth." Kansas City added a run in the seventh on Hosmers run-scoring single to make it 7-2. NOTES: Royals SS Alcides Escobar left the game in the eighth inning with a cramp in the left calf. "If he feels tightness tomorrow, well probably give him the day off," Yost said. .The White Sox have signed RHP Henry Rodriguez to a minor league contract. Rodriguez, released by Miami earlier this season, has been assigned to Triple-A Charlotte and will begin on the DL. ... The last time LHP Chris Sale had a high pitch count he landed on the DL for a month, but Ventura had no problems with the Chicago ace throwing 116 on Thursday. "He felt great going there and he didnt have that inning where he really had to fight through it and battle," Ventura said. ... LHP Danny Duffy (3-5) takes on RHP Hector Noesi (2-4) in the second game of the series Saturday. ' ' '