From Eagle to Penguin to...?

DETROIT - Brooks Orpik hails from the Buffalo area and lives in Pittsburgh during the season, but in the offseason he considers himself a Bostonian.

"I'll always go back there," said the Pittsburgh defenseman, who resides in Brookline in the offseason.

Orpik, a three-year star at Boston College (he won an NCAA title in 2001), has several ties to Boston. He played with current Bruins Chuck Kobasew and Bobby Allen in college. His strength and conditioning coach at BC was John Whitesides, who now fills the same position with the Bruins. His younger brother Andrew will be a BC senior in 2008-09.

Orpik also works out at BC during the offseason, one of a group of ex-Eagles (recent alums include Hingham's Brian Boyle and Marblehead's Cory Schneider) that returns to campus and skates at local rinks (one favorite has been the Fessenden School in Newton).

Orpik, however, might be looking for a new in-season home next year. The 27-year-old defenseman will be an unrestricted free agent, and with Pittsburgh's priorities centering on re-signing restricted free agent Marc-Andre Fleury and perhaps re-upping UFAs Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone, there might not be enough cash left for Orpik.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 219-pound defenseman, currently on a deal that pays him just more than $1 million per season, entered Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals last night as the NHL leader in hits during the playoffs, having been credited with 62 over the first three rounds. Orpik was averaging 19:12 of ice time per game in the postseason, more than two minutes above what he averaged in the regular season (16:57).

During the regular season, Orpik ranked third in the NHL in blocked shots (125) and sixth in hits (239). If he doesn't re-sign with Pittsburgh, teams seeking strength and depth on the blue line will come calling July 1.

Reinventing himself

It's hard to look at Chris Osgood and not make comparisons to Tim Thomas.

Both wear No. 30. Both prefer cage-style headgear over the traditional mask. Both are veterans (Osgood is 35, Thomas is 34) who have been underestimated for much of their NHL careers.

And because of their age and build (Osgood is 5-10, Thomas is 5-11), both have had to tweak their games to fit today's NHL.

In their early years, neither Osgood nor Thomas was trained in the butterfly style that is preferred today. Both have said they were taught simply to stop the puck, with no thoughts of the manner in which they performed the task.

But Thomas has calmed down his athletic style and incorporated basic techniques into his game. Same for Osgood, who adjusted his methods during the lockout year of 2004-05.

"I always try to do what I need to make myself a better player - to take what I knew before and add some new stuff to make myself a more complete player," said Osgood (11-2, 1.48 goals-against average, .935 save percentage). "I think I did that during the lockout and during the last two seasons.

Bettman holds court

Prior to last night's 4-0 victory by the Red Wings in Game 1, commissioner Gary Bettman took questions for approximately 30 minutes. Some of the topics:

The NHL could not adjust the dates for Games 1 and 2 to avoid conflicting with the Celtics-Pistons matches (Games 3 and 4 of the NBA's Eastern Conference final) because of TV scheduling. "They were quoted as saying, 'It was locked in concrete over a year ago,' " said Bettman, quoting NBA executives.

The NHL has instituted a $10,000 fine for swinging an octopus on the ice - Joe Louis Arena Zamboni driver Al Sobotka has twirled them over his head once they land - because of concerns about ice conditions.

Bettman reiterated that the NHL wants to keep the outdoor Winter Classic a special event by not scheduling one regularly. Yankee Stadium (with a Bruins-Rangers match being the showcase) was under consideration, but there are concerns about the facility's aging infrastructure.