Off Wing Opinion

If the Detroit Red Wings are going to turn things around in their playoff series with the Calgary Flames, they're going to have to do it without their captain, center Steve Yzerman. After getting struck in the face by the puck during Saturday's loss to Calgary, Yzerman had to undergo more than four hours of surgery today to repair a scratched cornea and a broken left eye socket.

Vancouver Canucks Op Ed has an interesting post on visors, and the history of protective equipment in the league. That's an issue we examined briefly back in December 2002, in the aftermath of a nasty injury suffered by Buffalo's Jochen Hecht.

POSTSCRIPT: Please note that Vancouver Canucks Op Ed is not on hiatus, just posting more sporadically until they complete a redesign in time for next season. Be sure to stop by.

Is there any better example of why players should wear a visor than the shot Steve Yzerman just took in the Flames-Red Wings game in Detroit?

While it might be too early to tell, it appears Yzerman was struck on or near his left eye. More later.

Think the NHL is going to be a big winner with the growing penetration of HDTV in American households? According to Thomas Heath in today's Washington Post, you may have to think again:

"I don't think high-definition is a panacea," said Kenneth Schanzer, president of NBC Sports, which also plans to broadcast the first all-high definition Summer Olympics from Athens in August. "It will certainly enhance the viewing experience for the fan. But I don't think it generates any new viewers or any new revenues anywhere. In my heart of hearts, I don't think it will increase ratings."

The reason, many television and sports executives have concluded, is that all the new technology in the world won't make a sport more compelling if the product on the field, track, court or ice isn't already compelling.

"It doesn't wave a magic wand and make a sport any better," said David Hill, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox Sports Television Group.

"It's the quality of the game that matters. You have to have the goods," said Steve Bornstein, executive vice president of media for the National Football League.

In other words, if you're a "garage league" in standard definition, you'll be a garage league in high definition too. I've gotten a chance to watch hockey in high definition on the showroom floor a few times, and while it is incredible to watch (I could see a scratch in Peter Forsberg's visor), it's not a cure for a lot of what we're seeing on the ice these days.

To see what I mean, I'm going to refer once again to one of the biggest backers of high definition, Mark Cuban. Cuban, besides being the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is also the biggest investor in HDNet, the first television network to broadcast exclusively in high definition. Although Cuban is talking about basketball in the following passage, he might as well be talking about hockey as well:

[W]hy in the world do we allow secondary defenders to take charges? What is the point of just stepping in front of a guy as he is going for a layup or dunk? Or for that matter, if he is dribbling up court and a defender just steps in front of him, all for the sole point of taking a charge?

Think about it. Is throwing your body in front of another player you are not guarding

A couple of years ago, the CBC tried to force Hockey Night In Canada co-host Ron McLean out the door, but relented when confronted by a surprising viewer backlash. Now, with Don Cherry possibly headed out the door, McLean might ask out as well.

Steve Simmons at the Winnipeg Sun looks at the story behind the story of Cherry's possible departure:

The question is: How will people react to Cherry's imminent departure and will Canadians, a second time, pay more attention to a hockey personality than anything else that sells for news in this country?

The same CBC people who happily spend the Hockey Night revenue on other programming have always been offended by Cherry. But they have, in essence, played the part of television pimps, party to and profiting from what they truly disdain.

Now with Cherry at age 70, with a possible NHL lockout looming and the network revenue streams in doubt, they figure the time has come to do what they've wanted to do for years.

And, rest assured, Don Cherry will not go quietly.

At the Globe and Mail, an online poll on the subject was a near run thing, with a slight majority saying they wouldn't miss Cherry if he were fired. And if he is, there won't be any shortage of suitors for his services. Here was an interesting factoid I pulled from another article in the Winnipeg Sun:

While ratings for hockey have slipped, HNIC still averages 1.286 million viewers per week, skyrocketing toward 4 million during The Toronto Maple Leafs playoff run. Aside from Canadian Idol, it is the only Canadian-produced show among our nation's Top-20 and the only CBC show to average more than a million viewers.

So, let me get this straight: the CBC has an established track record of producing programming nobody wants to see. So they take their highest rated program, the one that produces more revenue than any other, and kick its star attraction out the door.

How in the world do those executives keep their jobs? Colby Cosh might have some answers.

Where does Don Cherry get his outlandish shirts, click here to get the word from the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Looking for a potential replacement? How about Brett Hull?

Tampa Bay 3 Montreal 1: If things don't change soon, the folks in Tampa Bay are going to start thinking that winning a playoff series ain't no big thing. So far, they've played nine games, have eight wins (seven straight since losing Game Two of their first round series to the Islanders), and two series wins. They've looked dominant most of the time, and in the rare instances where they haven't, hot goaltending and smart fundamental hockey have bailed them out.

So, has Stanley Cup fever gripped the Tampa area? Here's some words from Tampa Tribune columnist Martin Fennelly:

Fear the Bolt.

Let Philadelphia and Toronto bloody themselves silly.

Let them tear themselves to pieces for another week.

The Lightning will be waiting.

Together.

Wow. Almost 100 percent content free. Well, that's at least one resident of Tampa who's gone Cup Crazy.

As for the Canadiens, it was a somber end to a season they ought to be proud of. If all the team had managed to do this season was make the playoffs, they would have had to call the season a success. Instead, they made the playoofs with plenty of room to spare, developed a former goon (Sheldon Souray) into a legitimate threat offensive threat on the blue line, and managed to knock the #2 seed in the conference out of the playoffs.

Head coach Claude Julien and GM Bob Gainey have laid the foundation for this team to challenge in the East for as long as Jose Theodore wears the bleu, blanc et rouge. They've got young talent (Ribero, Ryder, Komisarek), along with a top line that's still in its prime (Koivu, Kovalev, Zednik).

Gainey has made me a believer. And kudos to the Montreal fans who stayed in their seats until the end and gave the Canadiens a standing ovation as the clock wound down with the result already decided. The future is bright in Montreal.

Tampa Bay wins series 4-0.

Detroit 4 Calgary 2: The next time somebody asks me why I love ice hockey, I'm going to want to reach for the videotape of those 18 seconds last night when the Saddledome rocketed from somber to supersonic. When Ville Nieminen faked Curtis Joseph out of his jock strap to score just moments after Martin Gelinas got Calgary back into the game, I rocketed out of my chair.

But as great as the moment might have been, I'm left wondering if it won't be Calgary's high-water mark this season. After all, Detroit took their best punch on the road, and was still able to secure a solid win on enemy ice. We're down to a best of three, with two of those games coming in Detroit.

They've won there before, but can they do it again? Dan Toth of the Calgary Sun is wondering:

The chance to take control of the series slipped through their fingers and Martin Gelinas knows it. "It was a 2-2 game, we battled back from a 2-0 deficit and we had 20 minutes to make it happen -- that's a huge opportunity but we didn't make it happen. We didn't pull through. We didn't have everybody going the way we had the previous game," the veteran Flames winger suggested after last night's 4-2 loss to Detroit, evening the best-of-seven series.

"We need to get back to our game. We need everybody to compete, play well and we need to play for 60 minutes."

Martin Gelinas -- grizzled hockey veteran, proven cliche machine. Catch him on the ice on Saturday afternoon.

Series tied 2-2.

From this morning's Toronto Globe and Mail:

The love-hate relationship between the CBC and Don Cherry is so strained that the two sides are preparing to sever their 23-year relationship at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

CBC brass is apparently fed up with trying to keep Canada's best-known bombast in line and on a politically correct leash. But if he goes, Mr. Cherry's departure will polarize the country, which is invariably delighted or infuriated by this 70-year-old iconoclast's recurring bouts of foot-in-mouth disease.

More later.

Link via Ben Wright at The Net Files.

The Hockey Rodent has been watching Robyn Regehr at work in the Calgary-Detroit series, and doesn't like what he sees:

I switch to the Red Wings and Flames in time to see a special description of The Tunnel of Death, a boarding move manifested by Calgary defenseman Robyn Regehr where he grabs the shoulder of an enemy forward from behind and rides the victim face-first into the boards twenty feet away!

While this is all very entertaining stuff to viewers of Vince MacMahon's Saturday morning fare, it is not hockey

Shame of Steve Levy for not denouncing it for what it is: boarding.

For us sleepy folk on the East Coast, PJ at Sharkspage has created a handy list unsung heroes on the Sharks. Color me guilty, as I turned in at 10:45 p.m. EDT last night. Still licking his wounds after seeing the Sens get bounced by Toronto, Black, Red and Gold is thinking over Ottawa's options in goal next season.

Blasphemy in Edmonton:

Oilers fans cheering for the Calgary Flames? Say it ain't so, Joe.

It would never have happened in the 1980s and early '90s when the two clubs waged wild Battles of Alberta that set a standard for gritty, no-holds barred, hockey.

But in the land of fading bumper stickers that proclaim "ABC: Anybody but Calgary," some Oilers fans are begrudgingly climbing onto the Flames bandwagon.

Mario Lemieux has resumed skating -- but who will he play for next: the Penguins, or Team Canada at the World Cup. Back in the States, the NCAA has revised eligibility rules for the NHL Entry Draft.

Steve Ovadia of Puck Update is getting married. Congrats to Steve and the new Mrs. Ovadia. Now if he's just moves out of Queens and gets a nice house in Scarsdale everything would be ok.

Toronto 4 Philadelphia 1: There are many things we can count on in this world, probably too many to chronicle. And one of these things we can count on is that when a Pat Quinn-coached team has its back against the wall, they can generally be counted on to thug it up. And with the Flyers leading their Eastern Conference Semifinal series 2-0 last night, that's exactly what the Maple Thugs did:

NECESSITY BEING the mother of invention, the Bay Street Bullies were reborn last night. Down 2-0 in their series against the Philadelphia Flyers, a pale imitation of the original Broad Street Bullies, the Maple Leafs put on their gorilla suits and drummed out a 4-1 victory.

After being frustrated in back-to-back games by Flyers goalie Robert Esche and his makeshift defensive corps, Toronto came out in Game 3 with the clear intent to physically manhandle the Flyers in general, with special emphasis on their depleted defenders.

It's not as if the notion of playing physical hockey just occurred to Pat Quinn and his team. They do it all the time. But seldom do they play it with such ferocity, from top to bottom in the lineup.

The point man in last night's game was veteran Alexander Mogilny, who supplemented his goal-scoring performance with a pair of hits on defensemen Denny Markov and Marcus Ragnarsson which could charitably be described as "borderline." With the Leafs ahead 4-1 in the third period, the Flyers decided it was time to retaliate:

The revenge appeared to begin after the hit on Markov. Within seconds, Roenick went after Mogilny in defense of his teammate, and both of them went to the penalty box for roughing.

Then, later in the third, came the most exacting bit of revenge. With the Flyers already trying to kill a five-on-three penalty situation, Ragnarsson took a big, two-handed swing at Mogilny and nailed him in the back of the legs. Ragnarsson received a slashing penalty and Mogilny limped off. Mogilny missed one shift, but played two more at the end of the game.

Things were fairly uneventful after that. And now, we head to Game 4 with the snarl everybody expected all along. If it was a little late in arriving, well, it's now officially here.

It's not like we haven't seen this all before. Two years ago, the headlines in and around the first round series between Toronto and the Islanders centered around Darcy Tucker's vicious takedown of Michael Peca. What didn't get nearly as much attention was Gary Roberts' hit from behind on a defenseless Kenny Jonsson that sidelined him for the rest of the series.

Can you tell my blood is up? And I'm not even a Flyers fan. The only person who's probably happy with this news is Tampa Bay head coach John Tortorella. Whatever team makes it past this round is going to be easy pickings for the Bolts.

Philadelphia leads series 2-1.

Colorado 1 San Jose 0 OT: It's just one game, right? Nothing to worry about here, the Sharks are still up 3-1 on the Avalanche, and only two teams in NHL history have ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win.

Here's what Sharks head coach Ron Wilson should tack to the locker room door as the Sharks get ready for Game Five:

True, the Sharks are still two games to the good in this Western Conference semifinal series, needing only one win from a maximum of three tries to advance to the third round for the first time ever. But they also go home knowing that they can be outplayed, big time.

Because they were.

The Avalanche earned this result, to be sure, but in the parallel universe of style points, the Avalanche had played a game more in keeping with a 5-1 win, 5-2 tops. They had done to San Jose what they seemed either unwilling or incapable of doing in the first three games, using their speed, their power and their willingness to fight for control of the middle of the ice. As a result, they behaved as if they finally understood the depth and breadth of their predicament, and faced their seeming doom with remarkable resolve.

Or, for those of you who like their news a little punchier, they dope-slapped the Sharks but good.

Ouch. Here's hoping Wilson uses some of the Sharks advanced technology to blow up that last quote. On the bright side, the Avalanche victory delayed, at least for one game, the inevitable departure of Peter Forsberg from the NHL for the Swedish Elite League. Here's the Denver Post's Terry Frei:

After years of battling injuries, of mounting frustration for the state of the game in North America, and relentless turns of the calendar pages that have left him on the verge of turning 31, some of what seemed to be a kid's love for the sport has evaporated.

It is a job. A job he loves, most of the time. Banged up, though, he skips practices when he can do so, or needs to.

And make no mistake, while he has set this up to be able to play in Sweden next season, some of the talk about Forsberg over the past few months has bordered on the comical.

Shh, we heard, Forsberg might be leaving!

He gets one more game.

San Jose leads series 3-1.

UPDATE: Think the Battle of Ontario was tough? Well, here's it's first and only casualty:

An Ottawa sports broadcaster who was suspended earlier this month for making "distasteful" comments about the wife of Toronto Maple Leafs enforcer Tie Domi will not return to The Team 1200.

Assistant program director Dave Mitchell couldn't say whether an offer to return was extended to Don (Dandyman) Romani, but noted the decision was made by the seasoned broadcaster and that both parties agreed it was in both of their interests.

Referring to Domi's wife Leanne during a broadcast of Afternoon Drive With Dandy and Buzz, Romani said: "One would suspect that she could take a good punch."

He later added: "I'll bet you (Domi's) idea of aerobics is to bang her around a bit once a week."

I'm sure he'll be missed.

Over at The Hockey Pundits, Christian McAlonan has an interesting breakdown of last night's Toronto-Phlliy game.

Rob Blake may be out for the remainder of the Sharks-Avalanche series, which looks to be somewhere around 60 minutes of hockey. Out in Denver, some are trying to draw inspiration from the 1975 New York Islanders:

Denis Potvin remembers the hopeless feeling he had taking to the ice for practice the day before Game 4 of his New York Islanders' second-round playoff series with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975.

The 1974-75 Penguins, a team that had nine players with 20 or more goals, led the series 3-0. Islanders fans thought it was over. The Penguins thought it was over. The media thought it was over. As much as he tried to have hope, Potvin thought the series was, well, over.

"It's hard to believe that you're going to be able to do it," Potvin said Tuesday from his Florida home. "It's hard to feel good about anything at that point. I mean, at that time, only one team had ever come back from 3-0 down and won a series."

Soon enough, that number would be two. If you root for the Avs (which almost were named the Rapids, more on that later), I wouldn't get your hopes up. Meanwhile in the San Jose locker room, head coach Ron Wilson was taking a look back at a piece of Washington Capitals history a local like me would rather forget:

"It happens more often than not that those trade-deadline deals make things worse instead of better," Wilson said. "I remember when I was in Washington, things were pretty well set up one year (2001) for us to play Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs, so we made what we thought was a really smart deal, Dainius Zubrus and Trevor Linden for Richard Zednik and Jan Bulis. It was a great deal on paper, at least that's what it seemed like to us.

"Then we lost the first five games after we made the deal, and we ended up playing Pittsburgh instead (losing in six games), and the chemistry was gone. I'd make the trade again tomorrow and be happy with it, but that's what happens sometimes."

This was the year of the infamous schedule change, where the Penguins asked the league to adjust the format because the Penguins wouldn't be able to use Mellon Arena for Game Three because of a conflict with a dance troupe called, "Burning The Floor". The result: a cock-eyed playoff series, where the Caps hosted Game One, while the Pens got Games Two and Three. As it turned out, "Burning The Floor" was cancelled, and the Caps were blown out on home ice in Game One, and were never really back in it.

And yes, we'd be happy to have Bulis and Zednik back too.

With the Leafs offense looking anemic, Pat Quinn is shaking things up -- moving Alexander Mogilny to the top line with Mats Sundin and Gary Roberts. And once again, Joe Nieuwendyk will not be in the lineup.

NHLPA head Bob Goodenow and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will take in tonight's Flyers-Leafs game in Toronto, and then meet again on Thursday to see if they can jumpstart the CBA negotiations.

Click here for the latest from ESPN's John Buccigross.

Tampa Bay 4 Montreal 3 OT: Oh, what might have been. How many times have you thought just that about your favorite team? You know what I'm talking about. One moment, the way to the promised land is open, the next, it's shut forever. For me, that moment came in Game Three of the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals. Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York. Islanders-Canadiens. Isles down 2-0 to Montreal in the series, but it's much, much closer as Game Two went into OT before a Canadiens victory.

Sure, we're down 2-0, but this Canadiens team is vulnerable. They can be taken, especially since we've got them on home ice.

Game Three goes into OT as well, tied 1-1. Islander Pierre Turgeon, miraculously healed after a Dale Hunter cheap shot in the first round, beats Patrick Roy with a wrist shot.

A shot that clangs off the crossbar like Big Ben at Noon.

Not long after, Guy Carbonneau sticks the dagger into the Isles. New York rallies to win Game Four at home, but the outcome really isn't in doubt. By some cruel quirk of fate, I pick up the French language broadcast of Game Five on my car radio as I drive back to Washington from my brother's college graduation. The Islanders haven't won a playoff series since.

I'm guessing that's how the fans of the Habs are feeling this morning. Down 2-1 last night, they engineered a hard earned comeback in the third period, overcoming Tampa Bay's stifling defense to score twice in the third and take the lead.

But fate had other plans. What else could you say after Vincent Lecavalier's goal with just 16.5 seconds left to tie the game? Another goal scored from between a player's legs? Twice in just a few days? And then to have Brad Richards end it in OT on a shot he banked off the back of Jose Theodore?

Red Fisher:

In the end, this Canadiens team left the ice heads down, shoulders slumped and looking for all the world like people with the windmills of their minds spinning out of control.

In the end, after this stunning 4-3 loss 65 seconds into overtime left them trailing their best-of-seven series 3-0, what could they be thinking?

I think I have an idea. Philadelphia better hope they finish off Toronto in a sweep.

Tampa Bay leads series 3-0.

Calgary 3 Detroit 2: How much fun are they having in Calgary right now? In the third period of last night's game, the cooperative operators of the rink aimed their video cameras at the one and only Theo Fleury -- out of hockey, but never far from the thoughts and prayers of the hockey faithful in Calgary. The place absolutely erupted with chants of "THEO! THEO! THEO!" It was a great moment, one that unfortunately ESPN neglected to show us on camera.

Like just about anyone else watching this series, I know the fate of the Flames is tied up in the performance of Jarome Iginla and Mikkaa Kiprusoff. But the prominence of those two players is obscuring the contribution of some other players who are more integral to Calgary's success than you might realize. Last night, it didn't seem like there was one shift where Calgary defenseman Robyn Regehr didn't hurt somebody. The boy is a beast, and I'm sure Pavel Datsyuk was consumed with nightmares about him after his head hit the pillow this morning.

The other player you ought to be watching is Calgary center Craig Conroy. The guy seems to skate the entire length of the ice and back on every single shift. He's speedy, and a maniac on the forecheck. Grab a list of everything a hockey player is supposed to be doing when they're away from the puck, and Conroy checks off everything on the list. And I've given up counting the number of times a poke check from Conroy has broken up a Detroit breakout.

Players like that carry the load too. And now it appears that it's going to be enough to take the Wings to the limit. Even if Detroit comes back to win this series, it looks as if they'll have a well-rested Sharks squad waiting for them in the Western Conference Finals.

Calgary leads series 2-1.

With 23 seconds remaining in regulation of tonight's Tampa Bay-Montreal playoff game, Montreal held a 3-2 lead. With a faceoff in the Montreal defensive zone coming up, ESPN color commentator Neil Smith said it might be a good idea for Canadiens head coach Claude Julien to call a timeout to give his goalie a chance to take a breath. Smith pointed out that Julien had passed up a chance to call timeout in Game Two, and that he shouldn't repeat the mistake.

Julien passed on the timeout. Six seconds later, Vincent Lecavalier re-directed a shot past Montreal's Jose Theodore to tie the game, 3-3.

UPDATE: And only 1:05 into OT, Brad Richards grabbed his own rebound, and banked a shot off the back of Theodore's skate for the game winner.

And once again, the play was set into motion by a neutral zone turnover.

San Jose 1 Colorado 0: When I went over the boxscore for last night's game, I was stunned to find that the Avalanche had outshot the Sharks 33-17. Now, even though I might have only been casually watching last night's game, it didn't seem for a moment as if the Avalanche had dominated the run of play nearly that decisively. All the offense the Sharks needed came in the third period when wily veteran Vincent Damphousse caromed a shot off David Aebischer's back and into the net for a 1-0 lead. With Rob Blake out since the first period with an "upper body injury," defenseman Karlis Skrastins was forced to log more than 20 minutes of ice time, and was on the ice for Damphousse's goal. Skrastins has been on the ice for nine of San Jose's ten goals during this series.

As for Colorado's vaunted offense, they've been MIA this series, with head coach Tony Granato going so far as to make Teemu Selanne a healthy scratch for last Saturday's game in San Jose. Selanne returned to the lineup last night, and would have scored in the third period if not for a spectacular diving stop by Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabakov.

The San Francisco Chronicle's Ray Ratto says it's time to turn out the lights on Colorado:

Well, that's pretty much that.

It's not entirely that yet, but rest assured that it will be soon enough. The San Jose Sharks will go to their first Western Conference championship series because the Colorado Avalanche threw their best game at them and scored zero times.

That, children, is what poker players call a tell. You don't have to see the hole cards -- what's face-up is sufficiently instructive.

And here's what's face up this morning: The Sharks, with Monday's 1-0 victory over Colorado, are in. They're up 3-0, which means that they're so in that they aren't even trying to make a terribly compelling argument against the assumption.

With the loss, the Avalanche have no dropped three straight playoff games at home going back to last season. Unless head coach Tony Granato can rally this team back from the abyss (something that's only been done twice in NHL history), Granato can kiss this job goodbye.

San Jose leads series 3-0.

POSTSCRIPT: Since the start of the playoffs, I've listed hometown newspapers in each playoff city that I've been linking to. This morning I dropped the San Jose Mercury News in favor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Why? As it turns out, the registration process at the Mercury News embeds your email address into every hyperlink you see at the Web site -- a real pain for a blogger like me who wants to share hyperlinks far and wide. Now, I know there are ways I can avoid doing this, but it's simply something I don't want to have to think about.

In yesterday's Rink Notes post, Colby Cosh made a trenchant observation about the proposed schedule change that would shave 10 games off the schedule and eliminate interconference play:

Anything that limits the burden of travel in the NHL would, of course, be more disproportionately good for my Oilers than for any other team. It still seems deeply impractical, since it means half the league will never see a given star on home ice. No more Habs or Leafs visits to Edmonton, and no more chances for fans in the US northeast to see Sakic, Forsberg, Naslund, or Iginla live. No more chances for old Nords fans to root for the Avs in Montreal. A whole category of Original Six matchups (Chicago-New York, Detroit-Boston) permanently relegated to oblivion. That's all pretty hard to swallow. Hasn't the league gone quite far enough in this (essentially corner-cutting) direction already?

For a good primer on how the scheduling system works currently, click here for a Gary Thorne Column from USA Today last Spring that discussed some of the problems with the current schedule, as well as examined the possibility of the eliminaton of interconference play altogether. The current schedule is as follows:

Teams play division opponents six times.
Nondivisional conference opponents play each other four times.
There are 15 interconference games -- which means interconference games rotate sites each year.
Teams also play three discretionary against interconference rivals, with teams submitting their preferences to the NHL schedule makers for consideration.

The proposed new schedule looks like this:

Each plays its four division rivals eight times for a total of 32 divisional games.
In addition, it will play its 10 remaining conference rivals four times each for a total of 40 conference games and a grand total of 72 games.

In a second comment, Colby continued:

Or, to put it another way, think about draft day. "The Washington Capitals choose Alexander Ovechkin first overall. [Cheers] Too bad you fans in Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Vancouver, and Los Angeles will probably never get to see your teams play against him. In fact, he might as well be in a totally different league. Sorry about that!" Marketing genius at work!

I see Colby's point, but as it stands today, NHL fans only get to see the superstars from the outside their conference once every other year anyway. The bigger problem for the NHL is the interminable length of the season -- one that starts in the midst of the baseball playoffs and the first few weeks of the NFL season, and finishes off its championship when most folks are thinking about heading to the beach.

I was on IM last night with Jeff Grimshaw, and he mentioned that there was a time when hockey started in October and finished in May. There was a time when every playoff series played on back-to-back nights, with days off only for travel. We used to have playoff series that were over in a matter of days, not better than a week and a half.

We've got to get back to a more compact schedule. So here's the challenge Off Wing readers: devise a 72 game schedule that preserves interconference matchups in one form or another. Some ideas: why not take a look at the way the NFL handles things, with teams splitting their non-divisional schedule based on where they finish in the standings. Leave your ideas in the box below.

One item I missed over the weekend was the news that we might not see NHL players in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy if a labor crisis eats up too much of the 2004-05 regular season. As far as I'm concerned, I'd be happier if the NHL never sent another player to the Olympics ever again. Instead, the brains that run international ice hockey should just substitute the Olympics for the World Junior Championships in Olympic years, and give a new group of young and hungry players an opportunity to excel on the world stage.

Another news item that leaked concerned the proposal to trim 10 games from the regular season schedule beginning next year. Turns out you can lose those ten games by simply eliminating interconference play, and setting up a schedule that more closely resembles Major League Baseball before the advent of interleague play. Like Tom Benjamin, I'm for it, especially if it means avoiding competing head on with baseball playoffs every year. There have been more than a few years when I've felt the start of the NHL season has gotten lost in the mix media-wise, and a later start can only help. And that doesn't even begin to examine the potential benefit from more reasonable travel schedules, and how that might keep players healthier for the playoffs.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post is reporting that ownership in Ottawa is trying to hire Scotty Bowman to replace the deposed Jacques Martin, a move that might also involve Dominik Hasek. Brooks also talks about how the Rangers might try to sign Canucks goalie and former Rangers prospect Dan Cloutier, a possibility that Tom Benjamin examines here. Speaking of coaches, ex-Blues and Team Canada head coach Joel Quenneville had to leave the team at the World Championships last week after he was hospitalized for exhaustion. Anaheim's Mike Babcock has taken his place. Here's hoping Quenneville, one of the league's good guys, and one who has been mentioned in connection with the Rangers job, enjoys a speedy recovery. For all the news on the least significant international hockey tournament, click here.

Vancouver Canucks Op Ed is going on hiatus for the Spring and Summer. Congratulations to Jeff and Allanah on a great first season.

And finally, if you're not reading Colby Cosh's NHL Playoff Page, you're making a big mistake.

It hasn't taken all that long for the playoff joy in Montreal to be replaced with dismay, as the Lightning have jumped all over the Canadiens in the first two games of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series, outscoring the Habs 7-1 in the process. Vincent Lecavalier, who was invisible during the first round series with the Islanders, broke out with two goals in Friday night's 4-0 shutout -- the fourth playoff shutout for Nikolai Khabibulin in just six playoff starts. Then Lecavalier scored twice again on Sunday afternoon, helping Tampa Bay to a 3-1 victory. The backbreaker on Sunday came with mere seconds left in the second period, when Lecavalier stripped Canadiens defenseman Sheldon Souray of the puck in the neutral zone, and streaked into the Montreal zone unmolested for a score:

``We outplayed them for most of the period,'' Souray said. ``When you have a turnover like that and misplay the puck and it comes back with two seconds left and they score, obviously it's a little demoralizing.''

Souray began damaging team morale from the onset with his presence - or lack thereof. With rookie teammate Michael Ryder already serving a roughing penalty, Souray was whistled for cross- checking at the 2:25 mark of the first period to create a two- man advantage for the Bolts. Ten seconds later, Lecavalier netted the third of his four goals in two games against his hometown team.

``It's going to be better next game,'' Souray said.

The balance returned to the world, or at least it did in Detroit, as the Red Wings evened their series with the Flames after a 5-2 home ice victory. Steve Yzerman scored a pair for the hometown team, but the Wings lean on their captain for a lot more than that:

Yzerman doesn't always make himself available to the news media. But he does it more often this time of year, especially after losses.

Let's face it: He doesn't love giving interviews, and he might feel it's less important for him to comment after a November victory over Columbus than it is after a pivotal playoff game, especially if he wasn't an important player on that particular night.

But it's more than that. He knows more reporters are around now. He knows if he speaks, his teammates won't have to say as much. And he also knows when he speaks, people listen. He can try to set the tone, to keep people from overreacting to the ebbs and flows of a series.

When the Wings ran into trouble in the first round against Nashville -- losing two straight, allowing the series to be tied -- Yzerman did what he had done so many times before. He said he wasn't surprised, the Predators were a good team, the Wings knew this would be tough, and so on.

When the Wings lost the second-round opener to Calgary on Thursday night . . . you guessed it. Without being asked, Yzerman came out, grabbed a sports drink, stood in front of the cameras, microphones and notebooks, and said the Wings would be fine if they stayed patient and played their game.

"He's definitely the leader," Darren McCarty said.

On Saturday afternoon in San Jose, the Sharks pummeled Colorado again, this time 4-1 to take a 2-0 lead in their series. Patrick Marleau, Vincent Damphouse and Jonathan Cheechoo all had a goal and an assist each, with Cheechoo undressing Colorado's David Aebischer:

During a power play, Brad Stuart took the puck low and made a slow pass in front to Cheechoo, who put his stick between his legs, trapped the puck behind his back and flipped a shot past Aebischer's glove in one fluid motion. Coach Ron Wilson didn't believe his eyes until he checked the Sharks' replay monitor on the bench.

"I don't think I've ever even practiced that," Cheechoo said with a sheepish grin. "I was just running out of options. Their sticks were in the way, in the way, in the way, and I had to try something."

Right now, it looks like Colorado is running out of options. Back East, the Flyers seemed to put a hammerlock on their series as well, defeating Toronto 2-1 and taking a 2-0 series lead. What's the difference this year? Goalie Robert Esche is, having only allowed 11 goals on 205 shots so far in the postseason. On the other side of the ice, frustration is mounting in Toronto, with the Leafs convinced they've outplayed Philly in every facet of the game:

When time ran out on the Maple Leafs last night, Alexander Mogilny smashed his stick in frustration and quickly left the Wachovia Center ice.

The broken blade, like the puck, went nowhere near the Philadelphia net.

It was that kind of evening for the Leafs. And it has become that kind of series for what are now the underdog Leafs. "We all felt like that," Tie Domi said. "We all felt what he was feeling."

Angry, frustrated and believing they deserved better, the Leafs flew home late last night with this second-round playoff series very much in peril. They did everything last night but kill penalties, score on their chances and even up their playoff series with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Everything but get a win.

The Leafs will have plenty of time to think about what went wrong, as they don't take to the ice again until Wednesday night back home in Toronto.