10 NHL Questions

10. Does the NHL have a 'Tim Donaghy' moment on their hands?
Following Monday's Vancouver/Nashville game Alex Burrows basically lobbed a grenade at the league office when he flatly stated that referee Stephane Auger was carrying out a personal vendetta when he made two calls against him during the third period. A few years ago this wouldn't have been that big a deal, but after the Tim Donaghy scandal that rocked the NBA, the NHL has a serious question to ponder: Do they fine and suspend Burrows for his comments and side with the ref even though the player seems to have ample proof (a pre-game conversation, video footage of the questionable calls and a detailed history between the two) of his side of the story or do they validate the players claims, suspend the ref and risk opening pandora's box?

9a. Is the Detroit dynasty over?

Okay, first of all it hasn't really been a dynasty for the Wings. Yes, they won 4 championships in 12 years but they were spread out across two decades. A dynasty is multiple championships in a row or nearly in a row. Like three in four years. Not to say that Detroit won't make the playoffs this year or even next, but their run of 9 straight 100+ point seasons and being either the first or second playoff seed in the Western Conference is very much in doubt. And losing 6-0 to the Islanders? The Islanders? That never would have happened if Pavel Datsyuk were still alive.

9b. What happened to Nicklas Lidstrom?
When you watch him play he looks the same and continues to eat up a lot of minutes, but after 17 seasons the 39-year-old Lidstrom is finally showing his age. The Captain of the Wings has averaged 13 goals and 59 points a season over his illustrious career but has only a single goal and 20 measley points (ranking 34th among NHL defencemen) this year.

8. Is Barry Trotz invisible?

The only coach Predator fans have ever known, the man who guided the franchise from expansion infancy to 100 point seasons and perennial playoff appearances, continues to coach in relative obscurity. All Trotz does is win in Nashville, and yet nobody ever notices. The Preds have hosted postseason games in four of the last five years and will again be in the fight for a playoff spot in the West this season despite having the league's third lowest payroll ($44.4M, behind PHX $41.7M and NYI $44.3) and one of it's most un-inspiring rosters. Casual hockey fans would be hard-pressed to name more than a couple of Nashville players yet Trotz always seems to over-achieve with his crew. If this team was located in Hamilton or the Toronto area (where it absolutely should be, but that's another story) Trotz would be the second-coming of Scotty Bowman.

7. Is the moustache here to stay?

During the 70's and 80's, NHL players routinely sported 'lip foliage' but the trend nearly disappeared in the 90's and the early 00's. However, over the last few years many of the league's heaviest hitters (George Parros, Dan Carcillo) have brought the 'nose neighbor' back, and some of the league's younger players have jumped on board and started rocking the 'soup strainer'. And if you're thinking maybe I included this question just so I could slip-in a bunch of cool moustache nicknames, well, you might be right.

6. Why did it take Andrei Markov getting injured for Marc-Andre Bergeron to get a job?

The 29-year-old Bergeron had seasons of 15, 14, 9 and 14 goals following the lockout and yet somehow found himself without a contract when training camps began last September. During those four years, only six defencemen scored more goals (Phaneuf-65, Souray-64, Chara-63, Lidstrom-55, Boyle-55, and McCabe-54) than Bergeron's 52. With 10 goals so far this year, Bergeron trails only Mike Green in scoring by defencemen.

5. When will GM's learn to stop paying for goalies?

Craig Anderson has been stellar in Colorado and was signed for only $1.5 million last summer. Antti Niemi continues to take games away from Cristobal Huet in Chicago while Jonas Hiller does the same to J.S. Giguere in Anaheim. Tuuka Rask has badly outplayed Tim Thomas in Boston, making Peter Chiarelli's decision to give the 35-year-old journeyman Thomas a four year $20 million contract even more perplexing. Philadelphia picks up Michael Leighton off waivers and he goes 8-0-1 in his first 9 starts. The LA Kings have been in a playoff position all year in the West and will spend a total of $1.32M combined on Jon Quick and Erik Ersberg. Same thing with Nashville, who will pay Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne $2.7M total. The lesson: If you're not employing Martin Brodeur or Roberto Luongo, don't pay for goaltending.

4. Is it absolutely killing Leaf fans to be headed towards their 5th straight spring without playoffs? Is the fact that Toronto has no first round picks in either of the next two drafts threatening to drive members of Leafs Nation on a multi-province killing spree? Has Brian Burke aged roughly 20 years in the 15 months he's been in charge of the Maple Leafs?

Yes, yes and yes. And while we're here...the Leafs are purposefully trying to be the worst penalty killing team in history, right? There's no way they could honestly be that bad, it has to be an inside joke or a plea to get Ron Wilson fired. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

3. What is going on in the Calgary dressing room?

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea. But I do know how to speculate...and read between the lines. On the ice, the Flames have enjoyed a solid first half of the season and certainly appear headed for a playoff birth and potentially home-ice advantage in the first round. But off the ice there appear to be some problems. First there was the shouting match back in November between Brent Sutter and Dion Phaneuf that has lead to continued trade rumours surrounding the defenceman, and now, a new report from the New York Post suggests there is a growing rift between Jarome Iginla and Sutter due to the coach bringing too many Junior hockey tactics to the big leagues.

2. Who will win the scoring race?

No, not the Art Ross for most points, the Rocket Richard trophy that is given to the player who leads the league in goals. Normally this wouldn't even be a question. Alexander Ovechkin is hands down the best scorer in hockey. He's averaged 55 goals a season over his four year career but has already missed 8 games this year due to injury and suspension. With 27 goals so far, Ovechkin is still the odds-on favourite, but with the way he plays and the reputation he now has, another suspension is always right around the corner. And that brings a finally healthy (but for how long?) Marian Gaborik, a suddenly re-tooled Sidney Crosby (including the playoffs he has 44 goals in his last 70 games) and two-thirds of the Shark line (Heatley and Marleau) all into the equation.

1. Is Ilya Kovalchuk destined for the KHL?

The fear of the escrow tax combined with the uncertain stability surrounding the Thrashers (and perhaps the enormous shadow of a certain countryman and NHL rockstar with the initials A.O.?) might be enough to push Kovalchuk home to Russia when his contract expires after the season. He reportedly loves Atlanta but has turned down several contract extensions that are rumoured to be in excess of $10 million a year and worth over $100 million total. Well, something doesn't add up and all signs point to the motherland.

The Fan Confidence Scale V2.0

Roughly a quarter of the way through the NHL season...time to again break-out the fan confidence scale.

7.8 - Calgary Flames

The Flames, on paper, are easily the most formidable of Canada's six NHL teams. They have a top five talent in Jarome Iginla, excellent secondary point producers (Jokinen, Bourque, Langkow) and a rock-solid defensive unit that includes three premier players (Bouwmeester, Phaneuf and Regehr). When you combine new coach Brent Sutter and perhaps the best group of foot soldiers in hockey (Boyd, Dawes, Glencross, Nystrom, Giordano), this is a blueprint for post-season success. They'll need to find a way to keep Kiprusoff fresh for playoffs (he's started 19 of 21 games), especially in an Olympic year, but my money is on Calgary being the last Canadian team standing in 2010.

6.2 - Ottawa Senators

Overall, the Sens have played slightly above their heads through the first quarter of the season and much of that is due to Mike Fisher finally earning some of his $21 million contract. Maybe Carrie Underwood is to Fisher what Kate Hudson is to A-Rod? Some might argue Sens fans should have a higher rating, that they are a confident bunch right now. But the schedule has been soft (multiple wins against Toronto and Tampa) and heavily loaded with home games (15 of 21). And to everyone who anointed Pascal Leclaire the best goalie in Senators history before he ever played a game for Ottawa - care to change your vote? I'm not saying he can't be the answer, goalies heat up and cool off all the time (sort of like the Canadian dollar or Lindsay Lohan) but a .900 save percentage and 2.71 GAA are very close to his career stats (.906 and 2.81). He is what he is: A decent goalie who can potentially steal a few games but cannot be counted on to provide consistently stellar performances. Anyone who thought Jonathan Cheechoo might benefit from a change of scenery (Bryan Murray...Buhler?) was proven wrong. He's on pace for 8 goals and 16 points, which would be his fifth straight season with declining totals in both categories. Thankfully for Ottawa, this is the final year of his contract (but $3.5 million for 8 or so goals can't look very good to owner Eugene Melnyk).

5.6 - Vancouver Canucks

The 'Nucks weathered the storm nicely while Luongo was out and now that they have him and Daniel Sedin back in the line-up, fans are hoping they can snap out of the funk that has seen them alternate 3 game winning and losing streaks and put together a more consistent effort. Speaking of goaltending, it would seem that with Luongo signed through 2022, now might be the time to trade Schneider. No, not Matthew. Top goaltending prospect Corey Schneider (who has been dominant in the AHL with a 58-26-3 career record, a 2.12 GAA and .920 SV% and led his Manitoba Moose to within one win of a championship) is clearly ready to make the next step and is too valuable to be stuck in a back-up role for the next decade. GM Mike Gillis made a couple of underrated moves when he added Mikael Samuelsson (9G, 9A) and picked up Christian Ehrhoff (5G, 10A, +11) from the salary-dumping Sharks. Together with the growth of Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler, Ehrhoff has really solidified the defence. If they can get Pavol Demitra back and finally ice a healthy line-up the Canucks will be knocking on the Calgary door.

5.1 - Montreal Canadiens

From the department of 'How Shocking' - Scott Gomez has 2 goals on the season. I would love to wonder aloud how long it will be until Hab fans and the media partner up to run him out of town, but his contract makes that an impossibility. Gomez has a better chance of being bought out than traded again. So instead, we can wonder: how long until Carey Price is run out of town? Because you know it's going to happen. Price has been on thin ice with the fans since the day Gainey pushed him onto Guy Carbonneau's team and then forced him into the starting position by trading Cristobal Huet at the 2008 trade deadline. If I were a NHL GM I would constantly be in Gainey's ear trying to swindle him out of Price, who will be a terrific goalie when he reaches the magic 'goalie maturation date' of 26 or 27. Price is 22 right now. The standings say Montreal is a .500 team, but in reality they've won four shootouts and four more overtime games. That's three regulation wins in 23 games. They pushed Guillaume Latendresse out of town amid 'character' issues and just re-called Sergei Kostytin who demanded a trade in October and, with his brother, was at the center of 'character' issues last year. In short: The dressing room continues to be a mess. The only current bright spot for Canadiens fans is the colossal disaster that is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

4.4 Edmonton Oilers

It's extremely disappointing for Oiler fans that neither Sam Gagner nor Andrew Cogliano has progressed into the bonafide point producer they were projected to become. Gagner is two years younger and still has the potential to be a genuine top-6 forward, but Cogliano looks more and more like a third line center. As for the guy who seemingly has progressed and developed, Dustin Penner, well I'm not quite ready to pencil him in for 30 goals and 80 points. Penner absolutely looks quicker and more confident on the ice, but if you take away his two big games (4 points vs. Detroit on Oct. 29 and 5 against Columbus on Oct. 22) he has 17 points in 22 games. Decent numbers for sure, but anyone suggesting a roster spot on the Olympic team is within reach should go ahead and have their head examined. Twenty games does not a player make. Nikolai Khabibulin is a difference-maker in net, but he hasn't played 60+ games since the 2002-03 season in Tampa and the Oilers need him to play close to 70 if they are going to have a shot at the playoffs.

0.8 - Toronto Maple Leafs

Vesa Toskala is trying (and succeeding) to play himself out of the league, free-agent signings Francois Beauchemin and Mike Komisarek have somehow made the defence worse (a combined -20) and Luke Schenn looks "Land of the Lost" bad. Which, for anyone who hasn't seen it, is truly awful. Up front Toronto has Phil Kessel and eleven guys who should be in the minors. Or retired. Or doing anything besides being paid to play hockey. The two highest paid forwards besides Kessel, Jason Blake and Lee Stempniak, have 7 total goals and are rumoured to be days (or hours) away from being put on waivers. When Ian White is your team MVP at this stage of the season you better hope you're playing in the AHL. Or the ECHL. If the Leafs would've just held on to Anton Stralman (4G, 11A with Columbus) or not signed Colton Orr (and Jeff Finger) or only traded one of their next two first-round picks...things wouldn't be so bad. I'll let Dwight Shrute take it from here. "If onlys and justs were candies and nuts, then everyday would be un de donkfest". And there you have it.

The Fan Confidence Scale

After a quarter of the NHL regular season, how much confidence should fans have in their favorite Canadian team?

8.7 - Montreal Canadiens
Despite their team not playing anywhere close to their capability, most Habs fans are feeling pretty good about their team, and rightfully so. Montreal can get outplayed or dig a deep hole yet they’ve shown they have the ability to battle back and win, even if they don’t put in their best effort. The Canadiens have remarkable balance and depth throughout the line-up, most notably in net where Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak make up the best goaltending tandem in the league. Bob Gainey has constructed a talented veteran roster that is well insulated with cheap, young fringe players, and Guy Carbonneau, now in his third full season, has grown into a presence behind the bench.

They clearly have another gear, but the Canadiens seem happy to continue along at a ho-hum pace, not creating too many unnecessary waves at this point in the season. With the jersey retirements, 100th Anniversary celebrations, and all the other hoopla that constitutes day-to-day life in hockey-crazy Montreal, it would be extremely taxing for the Habs to play from ahead all year long. They know the true test begins in April, and that's when Gainey and Carbonneau want their team to peak.

6.9 - Calgary Flames
In Jarome Iginla and Dion Phaneuf, the Flames continue to feature the best forward/defence 1-2 combo in hockey, which has made it reasonably simple for Darryl Sutter to sufficiently fill in the rest of the roster. And while neither the Todd Bertuzzi signing (16 points but a minus 10) nor the Mike Cammalleri trade (20 points but afraid of going anywhere near the net) has been an overwhelming success, they haven’t been awful mistakes either. Both guys were brought in to take scoring pressure off Iginla, which they along with dependable veterans Daymond Langkow and Craig Conroy, have done. Throw-in the surprising contributions from Curtis Glencross and Rene Bourque, and a defence unit that as a whole is tough, versatile and certainly capable of providing above average play, and Calgary appears to be in very good shape.

But there's a problem…in net. This is the fifth straight season Miikka Kiprusoff has seen his GAA go up (1.70, 2.07, 2.46, 2.69, 3.05) and his save percentage go down (.933, .923, .917, .906, .895). Calgary hasn't won a playoff round since advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. Unless Kipper regains his form, that streak will continue.

6.1 - Vancouver Canucks
With Roberto Luongo this team has a chance to win every game. Without him, they are the Vancouver Blue Jackets. The Sedin twins should remember that when they’re holding the Canucks hostage next summer during contract negotiations.

As for this season, Canucks fans would be wise not to get too comfortable in their current surroundings, because even if Luongo returns from his groin pull relatively soon, Vancouver isn’t likely to continue leading the Northwest division much longer. The team is playing well above it’s head and is relying on unsustainable production from a streaky Kyle Wellwood and foot soldiers like Alex Burrows, Jannick Hansen, and Willie Mitchell. The Sedins are putting up decent but not outstanding numbers, as usual, but if making the playoffs this year means a seven or eight year contract for the brothers, maybe the Canucks would be better off losing?

The $15 million combined that the Sedins want in addition to Luongo’s contract would tie up nearly 40% of Vancouver’s cap room on just three players. That could be enough to push Luongo out the door the following year if he suspects the team won’t be able to surround him with enough talent to realistically compete for the Stanley Cup. I'm not sure two Sedins and a bunch of pluggers fit that bill.

5.5 - Ottawa Senators
For a long time the Sens were a good team that made consistent progress year after year. They were young, talented, full of potential, and were earning their playoff scars that would eventually take them to the next level. After all those good regular seasons and playoff disappointments, Ottawa finally reached the Cup finals two years ago only to be throttled by Anaheim. Then Pittsburgh destroyed them in the first round last year after the Sens backed into the playoffs, and now the window of opportunity for this team is shut. Boom. Locked, boarded up, it's over. The Senators can continue to switch coaches like George Steinbrenner in the 70’s, but there isn’t a band-aid big enough to fix this problem. They're not a bottom-feeder, but the days of being a true contender are over. Time to blow it up.

You have to wonder how different things may have been if Ottawa had decided to pay Zdeno Chara the extra $2 million a year and keep him instead of Wade Redden?

4.9 - Edmonton Oilers
Most of the blame for a disappointing start has been focused on goaltending and the lack of offense from forwards not named Ales Hemsky. But how does Kevin Lowe get let off the hook? He was the one who signed a still unproven Dustin Penner to an outlandish contract. It was Lowe and Steve Tambellini who traded for a clearly on-the-decline Eric Cole (who peaked in 2006 and has never been the same since the Brooks Orpik hit), and have allowed their team to play a quarter of the season with a three-headed goaltending monster that has produced several storylines but few big wins. Scary indeed.

One player who shouldn’t be singled out is second year forward Sam Gagner. The 19 year-old is another Oiler struggling mightily this year after unrealistic expectations were created following his 49-point rookie campaign. All of a sudden this year he was ‘penciled’ in for 60+ points and when you put a young player in a situation like that, if he doesn’t get off to a good start it can be nearly impossible to get on track.

To sum it up: Blame Kevin, not Sam.

2.8 - Toronto Maple Leafs
This spring will mark the fourth straight season that Toronto has missed the playoffs, but with the hiring of Brian Burke as the new GM, Leaf fans finally have a reason to be optimistic about the future. Not the immediate future mind you, because the current roster is a mess and the lack of draft picks (10 total over the next two drafts) make this re-building effort at least a two-year project, maybe three. Still, Burke has the personality and stature to deal with the demanding Toronto media, and gone, supposedly, are the days of the evil MLSE board having to approve any and all hockey transactions, making the path back to credibility decidedly less tumultuous..

If my calculations are correct and Burke continues to clear cap space as expected (good-bye: Antropov, Kaberle, Kubina), the Leafs should have more than enough room to sign both Lebron James and Chris Bosh in 2010.