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.

Stanley Cup Storylines

Now that the Red Wings and Penguins have officially avoided what would've been a disastrous (for the fans…and the League) nine day layoff between the 3rd and 4th rounds, the hockey world can focus exclusively on the marquee matchup the hockey gods have presented us with.

Without further ado, here are five storylines to watch as the Stanley Cup Final unfolds:

1) A Repeat?
In North-American major professional sports, no team has won back-to-back titles since the NFL’s Patriots in ‘04 and ’05. The last NHL team to repeat as champion was the Wings themselves back in ’97 and ’98. They will be attempting to win their 5th Stanley Cup in 13 years (and only 12 seasons), which as a Leafs fan pretty much makes me want to cry.

I think the long long-term contracts to Zetterberg and especially Franzen will eventually hinder them, but you have to hand it to Ken Holland and his entire front office who have been the best in the business for almost 15 years. A fifth Cup, including two back-to-backs, elevates them again historically. By the way, the Wings spent a total of $2.2 million on goaltending this year.

2) The Playoff Goal-Scoring Record
The all-time single season playoff goal-scoring record is 19 and held jointly by Jari Kurri and Reggie Leach. Sidney Crosby (14 goals) is within reach and Evgeni Malkin (12) has an outside shot of breaking the mark. The two have combined to score 40% of the Pens playoff goals and have pushed each other in a way no two teammates have since Mario and Jagr almost 20 years ago. Zing!

(Sidenote: How many players would pass up an empty net goal, like Crosby did in the dying seconds of game four versus Carolina, while chasing such a colossal record? Not many. And certainly not Malkin or Ovechkin.)

3) Benedict Hossa
That was the name given to Marian Hossa by a friend of mine (obviously a huge Pens fan) after Hossa spurned Pittsburgh’s $50 million offer and chose instead to sign a one-year deal in Motown for “a better chance at the Cup”. The next 10 days will ultimately determine whether Hossa made the right choice, but one thing is absolutely certain: Hossa is the only athlete that we can truly believe when he says “it’s not about the money”.

4) Team Canada’s Olympic Goaltending Situation
Two weeks ago Cam Ward was the “it” goalie and received considerable ink (ahhh, type?) as the best option for third goaltender on next year’s Canadian Olympic roster. Now, I’m not sure why the third stringer for a tournament that doesn’t start for another nine months has suddenly become such a hot topic, but it has. And Marc-Andre Fleury is now getting his turn as flavour of the day and you can be sure that should Chris Osgood collect his fourth ring (3rd as starter) many will speculate that he too deserves consideration. There is no disputing the numbers Osgood has put up over his career, and Stanley Cups are why you play the game, but these Detroit teams that he backstopped haven’t exactly depended on him for greatness. I wouldn’t say he has won Stanley Cups as much as he hasn’t lost them.

Anyway, so much can happen in the four months of NHL hockey prior to the Olympics that all anyone can say for sure is that behind Brodeur and Luongo are several capable possibilities. And Osgood isn’t one of them.

5) The Grizzled Rookie
Winnipeg native Darren Helm is on the verge of earning his second Stanley Cup ring and amazingly will still enter next season as an NHL rookie. The game five overtime hero for Detroit has played just 23 regular season games total over the last two years (versus 34 playoff contests) meaning he’ll be perhaps the most decorated rookie ever to play in the NHL.

Here is how the 22 year-old Helm has spent his last five springs: two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals (’09 & ’08); one loss in the Memorial Cup Final (’07), third round (’06) and second round (’05) losses in the WHL playoffs; and a Junior “B” championship with the Selkirk Fisherman.

Oh, and he also won back-to-back World Junior Championships for Canada.

Winning is all the guy knows.

NHL Trade Deadline 2009

As trades roll in throughout the day the CSJ will provide updated commentary in live blog format, so check back in for continuing analysis--or sarcasm and ridicule, depending on the nature of the deals.

But before I get started dissecting all of the trade deadline movement, I wanted to address the current landscape of the league. Most of the hype surrounding the NHL season has focused on three teams who have compiled incredible records: Boston, San Jose and Detroit and rightfully so. Those teams have been atop the standings all year long and have each had lengthy streaks of near-perfect hockey and have positioned themselves as the overwhelming favorites heading into the playoffs.

The Bruins went 39-8-6 through February 5th and could end up with as many as seven 20 goal scorers up front and another two defencemen with 15 or more goals. The Sharks played 21 home games before they finally lost in regulation on January 15th and were an astonishing 36-6-5 through their first 47 games. They are blessed with two of the top 10 scorers in the game, an All-Star goalie, and a big, mean, talented supporting cast that leaves no holes in their line-up.

However both squads may have peaked too soon. Boston has won only 3 of their last 11 games while San Jose lost 6 of 7 in early February and neither is a sure bet to regain their form with only a fifth of the season remaining.

The defending champion Red Wings have finished with at least 108 points every year since 1998-99 and are well on their way to topping that total again this season, but Chris Osgood has been brutal in net and although the Wings have proven they don't necessarily need elite goaltending to win the Cup, asking Ty Conklin to front the load may be too much. Also working against the Wings is the fact that no NHL team has been able to repeat as champions in more than a decade.

In my opinion, that leaves the New Jersey Devils as the team to beat. Zach Parise is playing superstar level hockey, carrying his team at times while consistently putting up numbers and scoring crucial, game-changing goals. Jamie Langenbrunner and Travis Zajac are having career years, and Patrik Elias is on track to top 30 goals and a point-per-game for the first time in five years. Brian Gionta has rebounded following two disappointing campaigns, Brian Rolston is a known quantity, and Brendan Shanahan provides depth scoring and Stanley Cup experience. And their glue guys, the Maddens, Pandolfos and Holiks are close to the best in the business.

As a whole the defence doesn't have a lot of sizzle because there aren't those big-name players they've had in the past: no Stevens, Niedermayer or Rafalski, but the entire unit is confident, dependable and comfortable with their roles. Colin White (in his 9th season with the Devils) and Paul Martin (his fifth) set the tone and both have developed into solid players who rarely give an inconsistent effort. Johnny Oduya, the 27 year-old Swede who arrived two years ago, is another beautiful find for the NHL's best GM Lou Lamoriello, while Andy Green, Mike Mottau, and the newly acquired Niclas Havelid round out a group that shouldn't be taken lightly.

And then there is a certain star goalie who is about to become the all-time winningest netminder in NHL history and just surpassed 100 career shutouts. After missing four months with a shoulder injury Martin Brodeur will be fresh heading into the playoffs for the first time in...well, ever. With three Stanley Cup wins already to his credit, that is positively terrifying news to the rest of the league.

When you add in the superior coaching of the unheralded (or ignored?) Brent Sutter, who should be a final candidate for the 2010 Canadian Olympic team, and the upward trajectory the Devils find themselves on, New Jersey now finds themselves in the pole position.