Today is a little like the night before Christmas eve for NHL fantasy leaguers and poolies.
The gifts – in this case the start of the 2009-10 NHL season on Thursday – are piled under the tree waiting to be opened by hyped up and often overly-enthusiastic grown-up kids. It’s the most eagerly-anticipated time of the year for fantasy leaguers and poolies, of which I count myself as one.
A little research and preparation prior to your draft if necessary if you hope to unwrap the best presents – the players who will allow you to show off your superior hockey knowledge. With that in mind, here are four caregories that will help you come out a winner in your fantasy league. Now, if I can only remember to follow my own advice.

STUDS
Only a hockey noobie won’t know who the best fantasy league players are so I won’t go into great detail in this category.
Alexander Ovechkin – Listen, if you have the first pick in your league and don’t take Ovie, you deserve to lose. He had a league-high 56 goals, was second in points with 110 and virtually lapped the field in shots on goal with 528. Even though his plus-minus was nothing to brag about, the guy is fantasy gold.
Sidney Crosby – Again, I shouldn’t have to tell you to take Crosby. He had 33 goals and 103 points last season but his offensive upside is unlimited. Sid the Kid is another super stud who can’t be passed over.
Evgeni Malkin – Gino actually led the league in scoring in 2008-09 with 113 points. He should be capable of 120 or more points in this, his fourth season in the league.
Mike Green – The Washington Capitals defenceman finished 30th overall in league scoring a year ago. His 73 points were slightly better than forwards like Dany Heatley, Corey Perry, Marian Hossa and Vincent Lecavalier. Green must be the first D-man taken off your draft board.
Nick Backstrom/Roberto Luongo – Draft either of these stud goalies and you’ll be set between the pipes. Both put up impressive fantasy numbers and should be the stopper you build around.

BE CAREFUL
There are plenty of players you need to be wary of heading into your draft.
You know the type: they exceeded everyone’s expectations last season and likely allowed a poolie with inferior knowledge (the doofus who drafted them) to actually finish in the money. If you finish yourself saying, “Really, he had that many points,” you might not want to use that first-round pick on him.
I’m not saying to avoid these guys, just be cautious about taking them too early in the draft.
Zach Parise – After putting up a previous-best point total of 65 in 2007-08, Parise exploded for 94 points last season. Sorry, I’m just not convinced the 25-year-old is really a 90-plus point getter. And with defensive-minded Jacques Lemaire taking over behind the New Jersey Devils bench, Parise will be on a much shorter leash than he was with Brent Sutter.
Mike Cammalleri – I really can’t see how an off-season move to the Montreal Canadiens will help Cammalleri equal the 39 goals and 82 points he had with the Calgary Flames a year ago. He’s another of the red-white-and-blue-clad Smurfs the Habs have up front. The beating he’s bound to take will definitely have a negative effect on his output.
Jarome Iginla – I really like the way Iggy plays and actually had him on my fantasy team in ’08-09. But he’s been a little inconsistent during his career and he’s coming off three straight seasons of 89 points or better. It worries me that he might be due for a stinker. Plus, he’s taken a real pounding in his 12-year career – that’s what made him a true power forward – so I’m not sure he should be a first-round pick this time around.
Henrik Zetterberg – Over the last five seasons, Zetterberg’s point totals have gone bad, good, bad, good, bad (if you call a 73-point season bad), so there’s a good chance he’ll approach his career-best 92 points in ‘09-10. Then again, maybe not. He’s never played a full season (77 games last year but he was hurting a lot of the time) and he didn’t play in the pre-season due to a groin injury. He’s got first-round talent but, isn’t durable enough to warrant the pick.
Marian Gaborik – Skill-wise, few players in the NHL can match Gaborik. But, honestly, I wouldn’t draft him before the fourth round, maybe even later. He’s been injured so much over the last few seasons, you’d be nuts not to let Gaborik slide. He’s the kind of player who will crush your hopes … or win you the league.
Scott Niedermayer – Yes, the Anaheim Ducks’ greybeard finished fourth in scoring by defencemen last season with 59 points. But, if you missed that earlier remark, Niedermayer is nearing the end of a stellar career. OK, he’s old. And he doesn’t have Chris Pronger alongside him, either. I’d rather draft Shea Weber, who is 12 years younger.
Tim Thomas – If you aren’t convinced Thomas is as good as his gaudy numbers from ’08-09 suggest, welcome to the club. Yes, I know he won the Vezina Trophy. So did Jose Theodore and Jim Carey. You wanna roll the dice that Thomas will again be better than the likes of Luongo, Backstrom and Lundqvist?

SLEEPERS
Every season there are players who step up and contribute a lot more than anyone expected.
Those are the sleeper picks, guys you might want to take a flyer on later in the draft. More often than not, they are the players that will let you cash in at the end of the season.
Sometimes the best sleepers are players who were injured for much of the previous season and fall through the cracks when poolies are plotting draft strategy. Occasionally, they are rookies. And sometimes, things just click for players.
Brenden Morrow – After getting off to a slow start last season, Morrow tore a ligament in his right knee and had season-ending surgery. The thing that makes Morrow a sleeper is the 32-goal, 74-point season he had in 2007-08. The Stars forward is certainly worthy of a later-round pick.
Paul Stastny – Like Morrow, Stastny missed a good part of last season due to injury. But he was coming off back-to-back 70-plus point seasons. Good bloodlines – he's the son of Hall of Famer Peter Stastny – are also a factor in his sleeper status.
Derick Brassard – Before dislocating his shoulder last season, Brassard looked to be in the mix for the league's rookie of the year award. He had 10 goals and 25 points in his first 31 games. A 70-point season this time around isn't out of the question.
Blake Wheeler – As a rookie last season, Wheeler finished with 21 goals and 45 points. Not bad output for a first-year player. But when Phil Kessel was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, it opened up a spot on the first line. There's a chance Wheeler, a 6-foot-4, 220-pounder, will fill that void and take advantage of Marc Savard's vision.
Drew Doughty – If you've got no idea who Doughty is, you haven't been paying attention. At 19, he was the youngest player invited to the Canadian Olympic team orientation camp over the summer. He's also the key to the Los Angeles Kings' blueline corps and gets a ton of power-play time. Doughty finished his rookie season with six goals and 27 points. He could easily double that total this time.
Steve Mason – How could a player who won the rookie of the year award and was nominated for the Vezina be a sleeper? Well, a lot of people might not be convinced he's the real deal. Believe it. This kid will only get better too, now that Dave Rook, his goalie coach with the junior London Knights, has been added to the Columbus Blue Jackets' staff.
Miikka Kiprusoff – The Kipper could very well be a fantasy stud this season. He was no slouch last year but with the Calgary Flames unpgrading their defence – Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr form a pretty impressive top three – his stats could become downright unbelievable.

DUDS
Just as astute drafting of sleepers in the later rounds will lead to a winning team, avoiding duds, particularly with early or middle-round picks, will do the same.
Pick these players at your peril. You have been warned. Heartbreak abounds with these fellas.
Scott Gomez – If you start thinking of Gomez as a 30-goal scorer, you're bound to be disappointed. He's hit that mark just once in his career and his last three goal totals read like this – 13, 16 and 16. Sure he's logged a lot of assists but do you want to roll the dice on a player who can't finish? Perhaps a move to the Montreal Canadiens will help but I seriously doubt it.
Nik Antropov – A perennial disappointment with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Antropov was dealt to the New York Rangers last season and wound up with 28 goals and 59 points. The Atlanta Thrashers signed big Nik during the summer but don't expect a repeat of his career highs in '08-09. It's unlikely Antropov will ever be more than a 20-goal, 45-50 point forward.
Daniel Alfredsson – Now 36, Alfredsson is in the twilight of his career. He had 24 goals and 74 points in 2008-09, a big dropoff from the previous year. Dany Heatley is gone and Alex Kovalev won't be the same kind of impact player so the pressure will be on Alfie. Don't expect big things, that's all I'm gonna say.
Ryan Smyth – Like Alfredsson, Smyth seemed to show his age with the Colorado Avalanche last year. Unless the LA Kings have the fountain of youth filling the water bottles on the bench, that trend will continue. But, hey, if you're happy with a 50-point forward, be my guest and draft Smyth.
Loui Eriksson – One of the biggest surprises of last season was the 36-goal, 63-point totals put up by Eriksson. I actually added Eriksson to my fantasy roster last year and the move paid dividends. But this season, I don't know. Call it a gut feeling but I think I'll take a pass.
Alex Edler – A revelation for the Vancouver Canucks last season, Edler had 10 goals and 37 points, not bad production for a blueliner. I'm expecting Edler to take a step back offensively with Mattias Ohlund, the Canucks' best defenceman last season, now in Tampa Bay. Edler will likely need to focus on his own end and the point totals will suffer.
Carey Price – This really is a make-or-break season for the young Montreal Canadiens netminder. His overall numbers were not bad in '08-09 but he really struggled on the road. I wouldn't want to bet that Price will get back on track. Wait for next year if you really want to draft him. Then the picture should be much clearer.

They likely won’t win the Stanley Cup this year, but if their pre-season is any indication, at least the Leafs will put up a bit of a fight.

Literally.

While it is still pre-season it was nice to see the Buds drop the gloves with relative frequency, because let’s face it, that something the team has been sorely lacking in recent years. Not to say that fighting is the be-all-end-all of hockey, but having someone, or multiple people, who are willing to back up the rest of your team is a refreshing change.

And it may well impact their chances at a playoff berth.

The club last made the post-season in 2003-04 while Pat Quinn was still behind the bench and Mats Sundin was both captain and leading scorer. We’re talking a time when Bryan McCabe was still considered a team favourite, and Gary Roberts still amongst the top five scorers.

It was a team that was ranked third in the league in penalty minutes with 1,452. One who had five players surpass the 100 PIM mark with Domi, Nathan Perrott, Owen Nolan, Wade Belak and Bryan Marchment.

And Belak? Through only 35 games he’d earned 109 PIM’s, so it’s safe to say the majority of them weren’t minors.

The entire look of the team was different then. Less youth, more brawn.

And it worked- in a limited capacity. The club actually made the playoffs that season, something they haven’t been able to manage since. And though the club was ousted in the second round by the Philadelphia Flyers, at least there was a post-season in Toronto.

There’s a lot to say for skill- the Red Wings are consistently at the bottom of the league in terms of penalties, but when you’ve got some of the best scorers in the league in your lineup, that’s intimidating enough.

I mean, lining up against Nik Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk is likely just as scary for opposition as facing off against Georges Laraque.

But when your top line centers around a player like Matt Stajan? You should probably find another way to keep teams from walking all over you.

Calgary, AB - Calgary Flames General Manager Darryl Sutter announced
today that Theoren Fleury has been released from his try-out agreement.



"I believe Theoren did a great job and should be proud, especially
considering all the factors including age, time away from the game and
lifestyle change," said Sutter. "This is not a hockey story; it's a life
story. Our agreement with Theoren was that he had to be one of our top
six wingers and there were never any intentions of assigning him to the
American Hockey League."



"I am very thankful to Darryl and the Flames organization for following
through on the commitment to provide me with this opportunity," said
Fleury. "I said in the beginning that no matter what the outcome, this
would be a success story. I intend to take the next few days to review
this experience and make decisions with my family regarding next steps
in my life."

No Theo Fleury when the Flames took to the ice Friday.
No Cory Sarich, either, but was told by a source Fleury was at the arena and left before practice.
Whether Fleury was released, signed and sent to the AHL or needing "maintenance" we're not sure, but we're digging to find out.

Retro jerseys and third jerseys are battling for your hard-earned bucks with the latest home and away silks the NHL's 30 teams wear every season.

You've got different shades of red, blue, green, purple and orange, along with a lot of black, but one colour missing among the league's teams that should make a comeback is yellow.

No, I'm not talking about the mustard colour of the Predators' third jersey a few years ago. I'm talking about the shade of yellow worn by the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings during the 1970s and '80s. And let's not forget the California Golden Seals in the early '70s.

The Canucks had the awesome "V" on their jersey starting in 1978 -- yellow was their primary colour until 1990 even though the jersey design changed -- while the Kings had the royal colours (purple and yellow) with a simple crown logo.

I thought both teams were the rebels of the league, bucking the trend of white home jerseys. I remember collecting hockey cards and stickers and thinking what a cool colour to have on a jersey.

And that sentiment is still intact to this day.

In recent times, the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins also had a yellow jersey.

But for the 2009-10 NHL season, you won't see any of those jerseys on the ice.

That's a pity.

Statement From Wayne Gretzky
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Phoenix, Ariz.)–Wayne Gretzky announced today that he is stepping down as Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations of the Phoenix Coyotes Hockey Club, effective immediately. “This was a difficult decision that I’ve thought long and hard about,” said Gretzky. “We all hoped there would be a resolution earlier this month to the Coyotes ownership situation, but the decision is taking longer than expected. Since both remaining bidders have made it clear that I don’t fit into their future plans, I approached General Manger Don Maloney and suggested he begin looking for someone to replace me as coach. Don has worked hard and explored many options. I think he has made an excellent choice, and so now it’s time for me to step aside.

“The Coyotes scouting staff has put together a great group of young and talented players who are going to improve tremendously over the next few years,” continued Gretzky. “I’m proud of the team we’ve assembled, the organization with which I’ve been associated and the thousands of dedicated fans who have never wavered in their support of this young team. I’m confident that the best is yet to come for hockey in Phoenix.

“I want to thank every staff member of the Phoenix Coyotes, past and present. It was a real pleasure to work with each and every one of you. I’ve always said that Phoenix is a great sports city and deserves nothing but the best. I still believe that. As a young boy, I learned to play hockey in Southern Ontario, and I know what great fans they have there. It’s my hope they too will have an NHL franchise in the not too distant future.

“I often said it was the greatest honor and privilege I could imagine to be able to play in the National Hockey League. I feel the same way about being an NHL coach. I’ve loved the four years I spent coaching the Coyotes. Not a day went by when I took it for granted, and I will miss the competition of the NHL dearly. It was an honor to hold the position, and I will always consider myself especially fortunate to have had this opportunity.”

The paring of the Flames roster continues Thursday, and if you believe the internet, Mikael Backlund is headed to Abbotsford.
On his blog (http://nya.bloggis.se/mickis89) Backlund said he's headed to the minors.

He said: "of course disappointing but I (get) to play a lot which is good for my career."
Backlund, the team's first-round pick in 2007, said the coaching staff added: "I have to work on some things" and will play a lot in the AHL rather than the fourth line in the NHL.

Backlund was better in camp and the pre-season compared to last season, but is still a year away from full-time NHL game.
He has skill, but has to work on his strength and competitive level.

We'll let you know who else is sent down as soon as we find out.

****
A source has confirmed Backlund has been reassigned.


Brett Sutter, who had a very strong camp as a checking forward and penalty killer and defenceman Matt Pelech, the 2005 first-round draft choice, were also sent to the minors.

Once again, Theoren Fleury is mobbed while other Flames like Olli Jokinen — who's having a fantastic pre-season in case anybody is wondering — can sit back and watch quietly.
Fleury again told his amazing story of coming back from the bottle to take a last kick at the can.
The 5-foot-6 winger is suiting up for his fourth pre-season game Wednesday night on a line with centre Jamie Lundmark and flanker Curtis Glencross.
The other Flames lines look like this ...

Freddie Sjostrom - Olli Jokinen - Jarome Iginla
Nigel Dawes - Daymond Langkow - Rene Bourque
Colin Stuart - Jason Jaffray - Brandon Prust

On defence ...
Robyn Regehr - Jay Bouwmeester
Mark Giordano - Dion Phaneuf
Adam Pardy - Anton Stralman

In goal ...
Miikka Kiprusoff is expected to start and Curtis McElhinney could mop up.

Senators GM Bryan Murray is selling. This week he's going hunting for buyers ... for a player or two.

Murray said today he's going to start working the phones to try and move a couple of players he feels are underperforming this fall. In part, his motivation is to open up a spot for centre Peter Regin, who is having a strong training camp. Another factor is to lighten the team's contract load, which is currently very close to the league's salary cap.

Ideally, the Senators would like to find new homes for defenceman Christoph Schubert and possibly centre Chris Kelly.

"It's a hard time of year because a lot of organizations have lots of young players that are going to be looked at," said Murray. "Very definitely it's going to be worth my while to make some calls and find out if there's anybody that wants to give someone a chance."

The Senators gave most of their players the day off after returning from their 3-1 win over Tampa on Monday night in Regina. The Senators have only one exhibition game remaining, against the Boston Bruins on Friday. Only seven players were on the ice this morning.

Murray said he's not sure when the club will cut down its roster to 21 or 22 players.

He also noted that rookie defenceman Erik Karlsson is still fighting for a spot.

"We know he's a very talented young man, but there's a few things we'd like him to do better on the power play," said Murray.

REGINA _ The fans in the Queen City paid a heavy price tonight and they aren't getting their money's worth.
While the only big names left at home by the Senators was Daniel Alfredsson and Pascal Leclaire, the Tampa Bay Lightning should be ashamed of what they've put on the ice at the Brandt Center.
The Senators had Jason Spezza, Mike Fisher, Chris Phillips, Nick Foligno and others.
The biggest name for the Bolts was Brandon Bochenski.
"You're going to see a lot of guys fighting for jobs on the third and fourth line," said coach Rick Tocchet this morning.
No Vincent Lecavalier.
No Victor Hedman.
No Martin St. Louis.
No Steve Stamkos.
Lecavalier played hockey at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame _ not far from here _ and isn't going to get to play in what's almost a home game. The tickets were $120 each for some of the patrons here.
This is the Bolts' home game and they should have given the fans here more bang for their buck. You can bet the promoters here will think twice when they get a chance to host another game.
Yes, the Lightning are playing five games in five nights, but surely they could have found a way.
Tocchet said he wasn't aware that Lecavalier played in the area.
"I'm sorry i didn't know," said Tocchet.
The place was jammed. Opportunity missed.

Finally, a marketing campaign I can get behind.

Never mind all the fancy promotions sports teams tend to put on in an effort to draw in fans. Give the people what they want, I say.

The Buffalo Bills apparently are thinking along the same lines.

The Bills, clearly hoping to have more Canadian fans pour across the border for games in Buffalo, have announced a partnership with Tim Hortons that will make our beloved breakfast brew the “official coffee” of the team and Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Starting Sunday, when the Bills host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fans at The Ralph will be able to buy a Timmy’s – for the surprisingly low, “discounted” price of $1.75, I might add – to enjoy with their NFL experience. In addition, you’ll be able to pick up Bills-branded Tim Cards and chow down on team-coloured donuts.

As far as I’m concerned, Timmy’s is the perfect choice for Canucks jonesing for a coffee fix while watching some hard-hitting, American-style football. Blue-collar coffee for a blue-collar game.
Starbucks schmarbucks. Second Cup is second rate. Give me Timmy’s any day.

Serving Tim Hortons at the stadium makes perfect sense to me. I can see it being a huge success, especially when the weather turns bitterly cold.

The Bills already have a significant Canadian connection. A large fan base exists north of the border and, thanks to the Bills in Toronto Series, it could wind up growing.

So the market for Tim’s is already seated in the stadium. People accustomed to drinking coffee from those familiar brown paper cups make up a good portion of the audience attending Bills games.

(Of course, it might take getting used to seeing people bouncing around the stadium on caffeine high instead of passing out in their seats. Not sure if security will be any happier dealing with hopped up caffeine-heads than drunks. But, I digress. )

This, folks, is an idea whose time has come. Bully to the Bills for being so savvy.

Bravo. And I’ll have a large double-double.

Maple Leafs

Forwards

Niklas Hagman, Lee Stempniak, Christian Hanson, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ben Ondrus, Jay Rosehill, Nikolai Kulemin, Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, Viktor Stalberg, Rickard Wallin, Mikhail Grabovski.

Defencemen

Luke Schenn, Mike Komisarek, Tomas Kaberle, Carl Gunnarsson, Andy Rogers, James Blacker.

Goalies

Joey MacDonald, James Reimer.

Flyers

Forwards

Matt Clackson, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, Jeff Carter, Arron Asham, Dan Carcillo, Jon Kalinski, Darroll Powe, Riley Cote, Blair Betts, Mika Pyorala, Jared Ross.

Defencemen

Kimmo Timonen, Braydon Coburn, Danny Syvret, Logan Stephenson, Ryan Parent, Oskars Bartulis, Joonas Lehtivuori.

Goalies

Johan Backlund, Brian Boucher.

Tip of the hat goes to the Flyers and Marlies announcer John Bartlett.

One thing I noticed is that the Leafs' Rosehill is listed as a defenceman, but will play forward tonight. Another Ian White in Toronto?

Morning session at Flames practice on Wednesday and Brent Sutter is already in an owly mood.
The 15 skaters and two goalies, almost all played last night, have already received a few tongue-lashings from the coach.
• First drill: First few passes are bad. Sutter whacks his stick against the glass and tells his charges "Wake xxxxxxx up!"
• Second drill: Line changes are happening before players get to the bench. Sutter stops the session and says, "Treat it like a game situation."
• Third drill, one-on-one battles in the corners: No intensity. Sutter stops the session again and tells them to start putting in the effort. The next two to hit the corner for the puck are Staffan Kronwall and Dustin Boyd. Kronwall hits Boyd hard and the tone finally changes.

Also from the morning session, left winger Rene Bourque started with a yellow jersey, but was told to switch to blue and is now taking contact.

Well after the group suiting up for Tuesday's game against the Oilers left the ice, Theoren Fleury took to it for the third time.
Skating again with centre Daymond Langkow and left-winger Curtis Glencross, the 41-year-old took part in drills mapped out by AHL Abbotsford Heat head coach Jim Playfair and his staff.
Some of them were fairly intense. Specifically an offensive-zone drill that pitted the 5-foot-6 Fleury against much bigger bodies in the corners as they battled for puck possession.
The little guy didn't look out of place, using his stick and hustle to make up for a lack of strength.
He took a lot of direction from Playfair as far as positioning, and was often spurred on by a very vocal Dion Phaneuf — who had Fleury lined up for a heavy check in an early drill but courteously pulled up.

Theoren Fleury is going to have to wait to get into game action as the Flames "ease" him into the lineup.
His own words.
His fitness scores from Saturday were strong, however, coming in at around 8% body fat and a stellar 57 score in the VO2 bike test — Jarome Iginla typically tests in the 60 range.

It hasn't yet been confirmed by the Flames, but here's what the lineup is expected to look like against the Oilers tomorrow ...

Forwards
Nigel Dawes-Dustin Boyd-David Moss
Eric Nystrom-Garth Murray-Brandon Prust
Kyle Greetree-Jamie Lundmark-Kris Chucko
Colin Stuart-Jason Jaffray-Cam Cunning

Defence
Staffan Kronwall-Adam Pardy
Anton Stralman-Matt Pelech
John Negrin-Brett Palin

Goaltenders
Leland Irving
Matt Keetley

Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment took the opportunity on Friday to give local media a sneak-peek at the upgrades and additions made to the Air Canada Centre over the summer.

“Standing still is simply not an option at the Air Canada Centre,” Richard Peddie, CEO and President of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment said to the gathered crowd. “We thought it was time to really step-up.”

If by ‘step-up’ Peddie was referring to over $48 million spent on, for the most part, aesthetics, step-up they did.

They gave the 10-year old facility a pretty good facelift, centered mainly around 320 brand new LCD monitors, of various sizes, scattered throughout the arena.

The west side of the arena, which looks onto the newly developed Maple Leafs Square, holds the ‘piece de resistance’ with a 30 X 50 foot outdoor Hi-Def display. Coupled with an enlarged west atrium, which includes a street-level broadcast studio for Leafs and Raptors TV, and LED ribbon boards, the changes add size to the previously cramped Gate 5 entrance.

The only functional improvement, from my point of view, are the changes made to some of the lower bowl seating which now moves electronically to allow conversion from hockey to basketball in 90 seconds where it used to take a crew of 10 people two hours to complete.

While I can appreciate fancy lighting, open spacing and minimalistic designs, it feels almost presumptuous on their part to spend that kind of money on frivolous upgrades to what was still considered a new arena.

Let’s face it, most hockey fans would be happy to do without the added pomp and circumstance, as long as the Leafs win the Cup sometime during their lifetime.

It’s a band-aid solution for a perenially underachieving corporation. And now they’re $48 million out of pocket with no marquee forward or goaltender.

Although Paul Kelly’s dismissal from his post as executive director of the NHLPA has dominated headlines the last couple of weeks, Alexander Ovechkin seems to know very little about what happened that night in Chicago.

I had a chance to talk to Ovechkin – briefly, very briefly – during a corporate meet-and-greet put together by Energizer to announce the NHL star’s new “Power of 8” campaign (The winner will have Ovechkin attend a practice for a kids' team and Energizer will donate some moola) today at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, so, naturally, I wanted to know how he felt about the ouster of Kelly’s.

Turns out, like the rest of us he’s pretty much in the dark about exactly what went down.

“I don’t know what happened,” Ovechkin said, adding that he was in Russia when the NHLPA’s executive board canned Kelly on Aug. 31. “I didn’t talk with the guys. When I go to Washington I’m going to talk to (Capitals’ player rep) Brooks Laich.

“I don’t know what the situation is so I don’t know if it’s a good decision or a bad decision.”

I got the impression Ovechkin didn’t seem overly concerned about why Kelly was axed but that could have something to do with the type of event he was attending.

I doubt he expected to be pestered with questions about the NHL PA and its inner workings while standing a few feet from somebody dressed up as the Energizer bunny. Shaking hands, signing autographs and having his picture taken with awe-struck Energizer employees, err, fans, was more likely the agenda he was expecting.
Still, he didn’t seem entirely comfortable with the whole thing.

Relaxed, yes. Comfortable, no.

“My life has changed a lot, I’m a more public guy,” Ovechkin said of the off-ice transformation to superstar. “I still just want to play hockey. This is something new for me. I’m just a hockey player. Not an actor.”

And with that, Ovechkin headed off for more grip-and-grin photos, proving he does at least have a little politician in him.

With all the off-season talk centred around the Phoenix Coyotes and the NHLPA firing its leader, Paul Kelly, New York Times hockey blogger Stu Hackel brought up a very good issue that barely made news: Stephen Walkom resigning as the NHL's director of officiating. Walkom is returning to the ice as a referee after triggering an out clause in his contract that he could do that if the off-ice job was not to his liking.

And this just in: NHL names Gregson Senior VP and Director of Officiating.

Although not a sexy issue among hockey fans and the media, I get the feeling the league has slowly curtailed its crackdown on interference and stickwork since the NHL came back from the lockout that flushed the 2004-05 season down the toilet. A few years ago, it was not uncommon to see double digit power-play opportunities for teams on a nightly basis. The infractions included having your stick anywhere on the opponent's body and holding up a player without the puck while using your stick or body. The league might still call those penalties, but not at the 2005-06 level.

In 2005-06, NHL teams averaged almost 523 minor penalties. The following year it dropped to 427. The last two seasons, the average went further down, to 392 and 382 minors respectively.

So either players are respecting the “new” rules or the referees are calling fewer penalties.

Glass half full or glass half empty?

* Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier finds it hard to make a deal in the NHL these days.

* The New York Rangers are offering Brandon Dubinsky $522,000 for the unsigned Group II free agent.

* Tampa Bay Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier is finally finding happiness in Florida's Gulf Coast.

* Boston Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli explains his side of the bargaining table on unsigned star forward Phil Kessel.

* The New Jersey Devils will likely keep Jamie Langenbrunner as captain this season, even though new coach Jacques Lemaire has not talked to him yet.

* Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin will be behind the wheel of a new vehicle next week. He will drive a Zamboni in New York on Wednesday to the NHL store for a promotional event.

* Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson spoke about the Dany Heatley situation on Friday. He would like to see Heatley dealt before the club opens camp next Saturday.

* Detroit Red Wings captain Niklas Lidstrom is taking the time to decide his future in the NHL. He currently has one year left on his contract.

Stop the presses.

The Toronto Blue Jays are about to make their post-season push!

The struggling club has called up the big guns by promoting Joe Inglett, Brian Wolfe and… Dirk Hayhurst?

Is it any wonder that Roy Halladay wants out if, following a horrid second half, these three are the big roster moves with a month to go?

It actually sounds like the lineup for a grapefruit league game, you know, where it doesn’t really matter who wins as long as we give the kids a shot?

It may well be solidarity. The Leafs are getting set to start training camp, and pre-season, which means fans will be seeing a lot of Wayne Primeau, Jason Allison and Joey MacDonald.

It’s year-round mediocrity in Toronto.

Just as the Jays season ends, once again without a post-season berth, the Leafs will hit the ice at the Air Canada Centre, give the fans a mere glimpse of hope, and then decide they’d rather spend the summer months on the dock of their Muskoka cottages than hunkered down in the never-ending NHL playoffs.

Harsh? Perhaps. Short-sighted? Maybe.

Untrue? Only if they prove me wrong this year.