WHAT!

Denis Savard is gone?

This has to be one of the most surprising and premature firings that I can imagine and Dale Tallon would be asking to wear this for a long time to come. Firing a coach who has done a great deal to revitalize the team since coming in two seasons ago barely a week and a half into the season is ludicrous. Throw in the fact that the team is probably still gelling around its new acquisitions of Brian Campbell and Cristobal Huet and you can't help say the Savard deserved more time. And he does or did as is the case now. And after a win?!

The only, and only by the barest of slivers of credibility, saving grace here is the fact that Joel Quenneville brings the experience and reputation that he has behind the bench. It remains to be seen if the team will respond to Quenneville given these circumstances.

This might prove to be a bad move for Tallon. If the season does not go as well as expected Tallon's neck ought to be on the block. He has failed to resolve the goaltending situation by keeping Khabibulin on the payroll and the Huet signing might look bad if Khabby continues to outplay is netmate. Apart from that the firing will only unleash a lot of second-guessing in Chicago about a variety of Tallon's recent moves, even including giving the captaincy to sophomore Jonathan Toews.

The temperature just went up in Chicago.

Whew: More Joe

Joe Sakic has decided to return to the Colorado Avalanche for one more year. The press conference scheduled for Thursday before his charity golf tournament gave me a feeling that he was coming back. It is hard to make the emotional announcement of retirement and then invite everyone for a round of 18.

Sakic's return helps bolster the Avs, who find themselves amongst a rank of depleted or declining rivals in the Northwest. With the Canucks looking at only 4 or 5 20 goal scorers, the Flames moving sideways and the Avs headed for a long season of goaltending questions, the Wild and rebuilding Oilers look like the best bets. Sakic's scoring and leadership will help the Avs get the divisional point they need to stay in the race through the winter.

The next question is where will Sundin land? Bob Gainey feels the Habs are not in that race and the Rangers keep being mentioned. Stay tuned.

Random Thoughts at the End of July

The Kings and the Salary Cap: The Kings have to get over the salary cap by the end of the summer. The Kings tried to make a splash in last year's free agent market and people are still trying to figure out what happened with the performance of Ladislav Nagy before his neck injury and Michael Handzus. The Kings are probably not going to make much of an effort to get over the cap with a free agent signing, given the slim pickings that are left but they still have to do a lot to make up the $13 million between their current commitment and the salary floor. Ergo trade rumours galore. Neither Khabibulin nor Gerber are the answer in nets, especially when they hope Bernier takes another run at the starting position in training camp this year. Any other trade would cost them some of the prospects that they are hoping to build around. I don't think Dean Lombardi likes the post-lockout definition of rebuilding.

J Bo: He'll be out of Florida by Groundhog Day. IE. The Panthers will not make a serious run for the playoffs.

Sundin to Vancouver? - I don't buy that scenario unless he has a deep yearning to be called Mats Sedin. Montreal is less travel and a better shot at the cup. The Habs are not only Canada's best shot at the cup but to be more accurate the best shot at a playoff spot.

(Glen) Murray hits the streets

The Boston Bruins have placed Glen Murray on waivers. This is not a surprising move given the signing of Dennis Wideman to a salary-cap-bumping contract and the fact that the only plans the Bruins have had for Murray were to move him. He might be an interesting gamble and but might find himself in Providence for all I know. The Flames, still short of bodies might be give him some thought but Murray's not certain to be a successful reclamation project.

Other notes:
The Sundin Saga continues. I still don't see him going to Vancouver, though.

Randy Carlyle gets a two-year contract extension. Good move by the Ducks.

Question Answered

So Terry Murray is the next coach in LA. Dean Lombardi is familiar with Murray from the time they worked together in Philadelphia. An interesting choice and someone who basically flew in under the radar.

I suspect that the Isles next choice will be a questionable one. The move to let Ted Nolan go over "philosophical differences" leaves a pungent smell in the air. Nolan got a great deal out of a team that was gutted last year and it looks like it will be a long time before he gets another chance behind an NHL bench. Too bad. The Isles' loss in my opinion and I suspect that Garth Snow will go with a coach who will not challenge him as GM. Read: it ain't gonna be Quenneville, Dale Hunter or Randy Cunneyworth. Paul Maurice, Bob Hartley and John Tortorella have been bandied about and their profiles would fit Snow's (lack of?) game plan.

Feaster Out in Tampa

You know that guy in your fantasy pool? The one who starts chasing after unpicked rookies who got a few assists on opening night? The one who dumped Jarome Iginla the same week because of his slow start?

Well he's the leading candidate for the GM chair in Tampa Bay.

The silliness continues in Florida. Odds are the new ownership just wants someone to let them play with their team and rebuild the rolodex that Jay Feaster took with them. By Christmas time Gary Bettman is going to be wishing the shady consortium Phil Esposito lead in 1991 was running the Lightning.

Feaster meanwhile ought to land on his feet somewhere. No, he won't be going to Toronto. They are still focused on someone with a bit more sex appeal than Dave Nonis.

Other questions:
When will the Kings hire a coach? The first rumour was they were going in-house for Mike Johnston. If that was the case they would have moved by now. Maybe they are looking at Joel Quenneville or the other usual suspects who were on everybody's list a month ago. I suspect they are looking for somebody who hasn't been considered before or the process is in full swing and the hockey writers in LA are waiting the next flame from Brian Burke.

Is the NW the new SE?
Given the steps backward or sideways the teams in the Northwest are taking right now, they might all be playing for the number 3 seed in the west. I find it hard to believe there will be even two playoff teams there.


Sundin prediction
Montreal.

Radulov to Russia?
The Preds suffer a significant loss as they try to ice a team at a reasonable budget.

Enough Piling On

Hypothetical situation:

A 26-year-old goalie follows up a lengthy playoff run with an injury-thwarted off-year and loses his starting job and is available on the free agent market. Looking back over the years there are plenty of goalies who broke through and stood on their heads in one playoff year only to struggle the next regular season: J.S. Giguere after the Ducks' run in 2003, Khabibulin after 2004, Cam Ward and Dwayne Roloson after their showings in '06, and even Jose Theodore after his Hart Trophy season.

After a lengthy playoff run, goalies, entire teams for that matter, have a hard time putting themselves back on track. The Senators seemed to have broken that pattern last fall but for one reason or another the team unraveled in a manner that will leave the hockey detectives scratching their heads for years as they try to figure out what happened.

The most popular theory going around will be "It was Ray Emery's fault." Emery does indeed have attitude and maturity issues if he isn't a complete headcase, but it was something the Sens were riding with and thriving on during the the first half of 2007.

Odds are, Emery will be back in the NHL in a back-up capacity in 2009-10 after a decent bounce-back season in Russia that proves he can be steady in the net and more importantly the highway and dressing room. The Sens will tweak rather than blow-up and rebuild and fail to recapture their Fall 2007 performance.

Demitra, Bert & Jason Smith

Well Todd Bertuzzi is a Flame. The big question is whether or not Calgary fan will take to the guy or not. Once they realize how often Bertuzzi snuffs power-plays with bad penalties, they'll be on his back. Circle October 15th on your calendar.

The Flames' move was not surprising. They need to fill out their second line and he is a gamble that might pay off nicely. Younger than Owen Nolan, but his body might be just as fragile. If it blows up, cross management off Jarome Iginla's post-playing career list.

Vancouver holds steady at 4-5 20 goal scorers for next year with Brendan Morrison gone and Pavol Demitra keen to head to Gastown.

The Sens did not exactly make a splash but the Jason Smith signing was a great move. The question is why this didn't happen sooner. In a similar move, the Capitals have retained Sergei Federov.

The Lightning's move to add Mark Recchi makes the team much deeper up front but Matt Carle and Paul Ranger need a bit of help, say someone like... Jason Smith.

And the Sabres got...?

Steve Bernier is now back on the west coast. The Sabres' return in the Brian Campbell trade is gone after 17 games with Buffalo. Two years ago the Sabres were looking promising after a playoff run that included the demolition of the Flyers and a signal of what post-lockout hockey was to become. Now, the Sabres' caution signing their own talent has started to make Darcy Regier look less like a genius than he did in the summer of 2006. They are continuing to accumulate draft picks and they have a strong group of youngsters in the minors but they are going to leave their fans yearning for the 2006 roster. If you want to make a serious playoff run, you can't do it on a shoestring and a batch of youngsters. Retaining Ryan Miller will be a necessary move and some deft UFA moves will also help. If the Sabres current management have a hard time spending money, that might I suggest moving someone other than the Bills from Buffalo to TO.

This move will definitely help the Canucks, who will likely put Bernier on the Twins-Line-Audition-Carousel. With Naslund gone and Morrison next, Bernier will stand out as one of the Canucks' 4 or 5 20 goal scorers next season.

Other notes:
Jagr's gone to Russia. He can still be a force but it is really up to him whether he wants to or not. For 15-20 inspired games a season he is not worth the money any NHL team would be tempted to throw him. For the Russians, it is the kind of signing that will earn the league a bit more serious consideration in the future and if they want to rival the NHL down the road this is the kind of gamble they have to make.

Kristian Huselius has moved from Mike Keenan's doghouse to Ken Hitchcock's. The man needs a new agent or a Finnish language edition of The Hockey News.

Sharks load up

The San Jose Sharks have added Rob Blake and apparently Dan Boyle. Blake seems a bit overpriced at $5 million after his seeming decline in LA last season, but might give them the edge that the underachievers have needed. The addition of Boyle gets them close to filling Brian Campbell's skates. Probably the best moves they can make to shore up their defence. The bigger problem in my opinion was the stalled progress of their younger talent such as Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Christian Ehrhoff. Blake will earn is money mentoring those guys.

When I grow up I want to be Ken Holland

Marian Hossa ends up in Detroit on a one-year contract. This, this of all additions to a team that is going to remain in tact for a few years. Detroit is one of those teams that you can always count on to make a big splash at the trade deadline. Back in the capless era it was nothing for them to ship a prospect off for a playoff rental. You know somebody like Chris Chelios, Robert Lang or Todd Bertuzzi. One would always whisper that the Wings would run out of prospects or that they would not be able to run the table in the age of the salary cap. And then they land Hossa. This is not the kind of stuff that you'll find in GMing for Dummies.

Interesting move with Nikolai Zherdev going to the Rangers. Team chemistry will be an issue again at the start of next season as the significant new faces try to work their way into the Rangers room and the delights of the Big Apple. The Jackets also losing Ron Hainsey, which is a bit of a setback for the team. Hainsey won't find the playoffs any sooner in Atlanta unless John Anderson can get more out of his team.

Good moves by the Pens locking up Orpik and Malkin. They have to, however, add new bodies to make up for the loss of Malone, Hossa, and Colby Armstrong. Their farm team looks to be loaded with talent so a few faces will move up but there are big shoes to fill.

FA Winners and Losers

Whew

The first day of free agent season was not for the faint of heart or anyone with short attention spans. A list of the winning and losing teams in my opinion.

Winners

NY Rangers: Significantly bolstered their D-corp by resigning Roszival, and adding Redden and Rissmiller. (There is a 3-R joke in there, but I'll leave it for a New York scribe to come up with in November.) They also got through the day without losing Jagr and Avery.

Chicago - picked up Campbell and Huet. They might have paid too much for these guys, especially Huet but they have definitely taken a significant step toward playoff contention. The NW division with NOT be sending four teams to next years playoffs.

Capitals - Started the day by signing Mike Green and add Jose Theodore. A high price tag of Theo but the shorter-term deal reduces the risk. If Theo captures regular season 07-08 form the Caps'll compete with the Canes for the SW title.

Oilers - adding Gilbert Brule and Vitali Visnevsky give the Oilers more of what they have in spades, youth up front, and mobile D. Erik Cole will give MacT a few more options for his top two lines. Kudos to Kevin Lowe for getting these three with the bargain chips he had and sparing himself the "nobody wants to play in Edmonton" saw.

Isles - Mark Streit is a good addition and about what they could hope for. Also a sharp contrast to being gutted last year by actually adding to the roster.

Devils - Recycle Holik and Ralston and hang on to their UFAs. Not quite the splash some might have been anticipating but they keep with the character of their team and probably aren't the right fit for the bigger UFAs like Campbell and Hossa.

Columbus - Adding Mike Commodore is a step toward strengthening their blueline. Adding Raffi Torres from the Oil may not seem to be a significant move but it brings in a bit of experience and grit. There are more moves to come. If RJ Umberger builds on his playoff performance and the Jackets sign a few of their UFAs like Hainsey, they can pinch another spot away from the NW. They also need to add a few more forwards to really gear up for next season.

Losers

Leafs - They spend $14 million on Jeff Finger, a move that sent most of their fans headed to the archives to find out who he used to play for. The TO media will be feasting on him first chance they get and have his dissected remains run-out of town on a buyout. Maybe Finger is the loser. Niklas Hagman is a good add and Cujo will bring stability to the locker room and crease. He'll be the most interviewed back up since... Cujo in Detroit as Hasek's back-up.

Avalanche - bring in Tucker and Raycroft, lose Theodore and Finger. Hang on to Liles and Foote. Put them behind the Oilers and in next spring's lottery for John Tavares.


Bolts - Bold moves for Malone and Roberts quickly strengthen them up front. Their real needs are on the blueline and perhaps in net and for all the splash they need something to strengthen the backend. Adding Radim Vrbata and Adam Hall (more forwards) won't help much on the back end. Kolzig is a great bargain and might just challenge for the starting job. The rumours of putting Dan Boyle on the market do not bode well, however.

Other thoughts
By getting a prospect and a draft pick for Marek Zidlicky, the Predators are managing their talent quite effectively. Zidlicky was probably drifting down their depth chart with Shea Weber and Ryan Suter maturing and it was a better chance for MZ to get more power play time. Good addition for the Wild too.

The Flames looked to be moving sideways, making little change to a roster that barely scratched into the playoffs but shouldn't have. Without a lot of talent coming up they will be in for a long battle to make the playoffs.

Metropolit will be a good fit with the Flyers.

The Bruins overspent on Michael Ryder at $4M a year. Did they fall out of the race for Hossa and start moving their money elsewhere?

The Wings served themselves well by securing Brad Stuart and Ty Conklin.

I'm not sure why the Kings traded so much for Denis Gauthier, who the Flyers had waived.

Uh Oh

The Lightning seem to be in bad hands again. Putting Barry Melrose behind the bench might not be the complete bonehead move it appears to be but there where so many other worthwhile candidates. Stay tuned for the continuing story of a franchise that has gone to the dogs.

Just make it no-touch, damn it

The NHL has tweaked its rule on-icing and has refrained from going with a no touch icing rule. Instead it has declared: "Any contact between opposing players while pursuing the puck on an icing must be for the sole purpose of playing the puck and not for eliminating the opponent from playing the puck. Unnecessary or dangerous contact could result in penalties being assessed to the offending player."

This rule still allows for interpretation of what unnecessary or dangerous contact is. All this really does is give referees a bit more encouragement to call a penalty in an icing situation. This may only put a minor dent in the risk to injury on this play.

The NHL will continue to move at a glacial pace on this and it will prove not to be an appropriate measure. Given the frequency with which the debate heats up we will likely see this rule around for a good 10 years before they finally go to no-touch.

Changing of the coaching guard?

With the Kings' firing of Marc Crawford coinciding with the hiring of Ron Wilson in Toronto, the openings on the NHL coaching carousel remains steady. Atlanta, Florida, Tampa, Ottawa, and San Jose continue searching for new behind the bench talent and rather than the same-old same-old, newer names are cropping up and are getting serious consideration. Red Wings' assistant Todd McLellan is getting interviews and appears to be the Sharks' first choice, Ottawa is closing in on Peter Deboer it seems and the Kings are rumoured to be giving the reins to assistant coach Mike Johnston. John Anderson's Calder Cup win with the Chicago Wolves ought to give him a bit more consideration in Atlanta or free up his schedule for interviews for other positions. Kevin Dineen, Randy Cunneyworth and Craig Hartsburgh are also candidates that deserve a bit more consideration.

The likes of John Tortorella and Marc Crawford may not find a coaching spot for the 2008-09 season. Their styles have not been that endearing and their most recent performance has not been that impressive. The infusion of fresh coaching talent might be a key step in the evolution of the "new NHL." Joel Quenneville ought to get land a bench sometime before the fall but the other recent fired coaches will likely remain in the rumour mills until well into next season when people start to call for shake-ups to slow-starting teams.

All told, with the changes that are taking place, the Leafs' hiring of Ron Wilson may end up assessed in the same manner as a squandered first round draft pick. His hiring does not indicate fresh thinking for the franchise and his bristling with the Toronto media and his sarcastic sniping at his players will stir a lot of bad blood in the locker room. Hopefully he will watch some video of Paul Maurice's dealings with the TO scribes.

Leclaire in play?

There have been suggestions that Pascal Leclaire's negotiations with the Blue Jackets have been not running smoothly. Given the small number of UFA goalies available this spring, it is conceivable that a team tries to sign Leclaire to an offer sheet. They have short term insurance in Frederik Norrena, who has played well for the Jackets over the years and filled in for them in Leclaire's absence during the last few weeks of the 2007-08 season and a long-term possibility in the form of World Junior gold medal keeper Steve Mason. Both sides believe they are negotiating from a position of strength and Jackets GM Scott Howson might think that Ken Hitchcock's defense-first scheme might suit a lesser goalie. I suspect this negotiation might drag on a bit and could be still on during the draft or even after July 1, allowing teams to make an RFA offer.

Another goalie who could end up in play would be Kari Lehtonen. He has fared well but has not brought the Thrashers to the next level. Given the injuries he's had and the emergence Ondrej Pavelec for the Thrashers, Lehtonen might be on the goalie carousel looking for a chance to reset himself as a first stringer or find himself bouncing around as a back up. Watch him go somewhere looking for goaltending depth during the draft. If he stays in Atlanta he will see a much lighter load next year.

Granato In

The Avs go back to Tony Granato. It seems like a decent, though uninspired, move on the Avs part. Granato had a solid record during his first turn behind the bench at 72-33-28 over a season and change and stepped aside when Quenneville became available. He is familiar with the younger players on the team and likely spent quite a bit of time with them as assistant. He knows the dressing room and will get the most out of whoever he has on hand come September. I suspect that he'll do better work this time around, but won't have the high powered names to result in a better record.

Osgood Vs Fleury

Excuse the absence. Let me explain in two words: Stag weekend. Besides, last week was a little slow.

I must say that I am impressed with the accomplishments of the cup final goaltenders. Osgood has gone 5 weeks of brilliant relief of Dominik Hasek since and has reminded people that he did indeed backstop the Wings to a Stanley Cup in the past rather than leave people questioning whether or not he had the mental toughness to go all the way. Much has been said of his efforts to reinvent himself and prove himself and to do it at this point of his career has been tremendous. He can stand proud of what he has done and ought to erase any doubts about his ability to be a first-string keeper (but will he really?).

Fleury has matured significantly since his return from ankle injury and has left everybody forgetting that there was a potential goaltending controversy brewing in Pittsburgh around the trade deadline. Who is his back-up again? Fleury has turned me into a believer with his play of late and it looks like he is in the right headspace to steal games when they count.

So who will win it? The early money would likely be on the Red Wings, but given the struggle they had closing the series with Dallas, there is reason to question their determination and ability to finish. They big thing they've had in their favour has been experience, but it's Datsyuk's and Zetterberg's first final. They've got experience in guys like Lidstrom, Chelios, Draper, Holmstrom and Osgood but there is quite a bit of youth there as well.

The main question about the Penguins is experience. They have managed to come through the first three rounds relatively untested which means that either they have the talent to overcome that lack of experience or the Sens, Rangers and Flyers did not bring what would have truly tested them. They are healthier than the Red Wings and showed with their 6-0 win over the Flyers that they have the killer instinct required. They also have the foot soldiers who can go in and do what has to be done to win a series as well. I'd give the Penguins the edge on offence and in net and give the Wings the edge behind the bench, on defence and the slightest, ever so slightest edge on special teams on the strength on their penalty killing. Prediction: a long series with the Penguins and Wings each winning one high score affair each, and four tight games that will go down to the last two minutes. Wings in 6 or Pens in 7.

Wilson out

The San Jose Sharks needed to let Ron Wilson go. If the old adage is the goalie or the coach, well Evgeni Nabakov proved he would be harder to replace.

Ron Wilson has the credentials to land a coaching job fast for next season and he was a good fit when the Sharks first hired him, but this is a team that has stalled and simply needs something to shake them up. The Sharks will fill the vacancy in a relatively brief period of time.

Quenneville out

Joel Quenneville clearly knows there are greener pastures out there. Given his success in Colorado and prior to that, the Avs had little reason to give him the heave-ho. Will they give Tony Granato another shot at the position or look for fresh blood. I have a feeling that the Avs are anticipating a transition to a younger team with the question marks hovering over Sakic, Forsberg, Foote and the crease. If the veterans stick around, Giguere might be comfortable bringing in a rookie coach which would definitely generate a new enthusiasm for the team. A more tried a true coach with a young lineup might actually struggle a bit. With all of the changes and uncertainty in the Northwest, don't be surprised if the usual NW suspects give up a playoff spot or two to the bridesmaids in the Central.

Perhaps the Stars have aligned once again

During the predraft fuss over Brian Lawton in 1983, someone suggested that his hype was was based on nobody seeing him in enough games to see the rough spots in his game. Brunnstrom racked up a whopping 9 goals in the Swedish Elite League this year.

At least the Stars won't be burning a draft pick that could have been used for Steve Yzerman or Pat Lafontaine this time around. Just a top-six spot and cap room. The first big mistake for the Hull-Jackson combo.

Fletch needs to give his head a shake

When Cliff Fletcher says that the TML coaching is a plum I can't help but ask how. If the roster was as stocked with the grinding nastiness and passionate, bloods-aboiling competitiveness as their beat writers, maybe, just maybe it would be a job worth having. Instead, all the Leafs have to offer is a line-up that is 3 top-six forwards and a 3-4 defensive pairing away from contending. There isn't a lot of soon-too-blossom youth in the system like the LA Kings or Columbus Blue Jackets have to get excited about either.

Fletch has nothing more to make that assumption on than the Leafs' history and status as a business entity that is trying to trade on the last remnants of the cache given it by Foster Hewitt, Conn Smythe and Darryl Sitter's 10 point night. The corporate level chaos at MLSE makes Leaf fans look fondly back on the Harold Ballard days and puts the Leafs in a situation where a marquee calibre GM will be the only one to steer clear of the T-boned egos of Larry Tanenbaum and Richard Peddie. The attitude toward filling the GM position is part of the same culture that has insisted that the Leafs have to make a big splash because they are the Leafs. If you want a big splash, just look back on the cannonball that the past season turned into. Before too long the Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft deal will be an even more vivid reminder of the Leafs' refusal to bite the bullet and rebuild from within.

Rather than trying to make a big splash and falling for the brain-addling allure of Leafcentric thinking, it is time for Fletcher and the higher-ups at MLSE to go with a solid hockey guy who has a clear vision of what is the best way to build the Leafs franchise and stick to it. The past dreams of getting Scotty Bowman, or the current obsession with Brian Burke are pipedreams and the Nonis-will-beget-Burke dream is evidence of how badly hung up people are on the big name. The Leafs have to get over themselves and their star f***ing and get on with the fundamentals of presenting a competitive team.

Reality check!

If the egos at MLSE were aligned... If... If... the leafs might be well served by someone like Vancouver's Steve Tambellini or Detroit's Jim Nill or someone else who has served a similar apprenticeship and is ready to take the next step. Won't happen though.

Maurice fired! (Lucky Bugger)

Paul Maurice has finally been relieved of his duties as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He probably will not get a fair assessment for his efforts in TO but he did quite well despite the limited supporting cast. He has a great deal to offer a team and I'm certain that he will land on his feet. He will certainly end up in a better place. I'm not sure if he will get a seat on the NHL coaching carousel this summer and end up in Florida or Atlanta for instance for the start of the 2008-09 season - there are too many Dale Hunters and Randy Cunneyworths out there at the moment - but perhaps he'll do the same as he did post Carolina. A bit of TV work, and eventually an AHL seat while he waits for his next shot.

If you see him, buy him a beer for me.

(Hmmm, I wonder if this was meant to coincide with the slow hockey news day for TSN and G&M.)

Semi Final Preview

I would have to say that the finals will be a lot closer than some might imagine. The smart money would likely be on a Wings-Penguins finals but there are reasons to give the underdogs their day. Question marks surround all four goalies as none of them has that sparkling playoff resume that adds that mystique that gets into an opponents heads.

Martin Biron might have the fewest questions because of his shorter resume. At the other end of the rink, Marc-Andre Fleury will be under closer scrutiny. He has fared well so far in the playoffs but the pressure will be up a little higher this time around. Having failed to close the deal in the World Junior Championships in 2005, the QMJHL title or a Memorial Cup, there will be questions in his own head about whether or not he can carry the Pens all the way this time around. His game has improved and he is far more solid than he was before his ankle injury but his focus and his ability to handle the pressure remains untested.

In the west, Chris Osgood has made great strides this year in overtaking the reality show that is Dominik Hasek. While he had a regular season good enough to warrant an appearance in the All Star Game and a contract extension with the Wings (at a bargain, I might add) there are still questions if only because he has been considered a back-up for so long or because he has had his share of playoff failures. Marty Turco is all too familiar with that but has done a great deal in this post-season to match his elite regular season performance.

Both the Flyers and Stars head into the series with the hotter goalies and the reputation to play a more physical game. I have a funny feeling that one of them will actually make it to the finals but I can't say which one.

In the saw it coming category: Mike Richards will likely be captain of the Flyers next year. His play through this year's post-season has solidified his leadership credentials on the team.

Sharks Stew

During the epic Game 6 of the Dallas-San Jose series there was a moment when the camera lingered on Ron Wilson for a while and then switched to Dave Tippett. The thought crossed my mind that whoever lost the game would be in lined for the Atlanta Thrashers position. As coaches of perennially fragile playoff teams there would be a lot of pressure on both men to "get somewhere" during the playoffs and whoever did was certain to face the axe. Granted, Tippett was probably in a bit less trouble going in than Wilson was. He had managed to get the Stars into the second round for once and Marty Turco finally had a playoff performance worthy of his regular seasons. He did that in 2007 against the Canucks but just didn't stand on his head long enough to get a 4th shutout against Luongo. But I digress.

Even with a quadruple OT loss, the Sharks were a disaster and for some reason have a hard time finding their adrenal gland during the playoffs. They occasionally brushed up against it during the first round against Calgary and let themselves be pushed to 7 games by a team far too inconsistent for its own good. The struggles in the second round might be underplayed by commenting on how many games went to OT but that kind of talk is reserved for also-rans who pretend to be satisfied with moral victories. Leadership was dearly lacking in San Jose and through 13 games of playoff hockey it seemed that the Sharks were intent to proceed on their Stanley Cup run as they did through their regular season - they thought they would just turn it on when they had to. Up until February, there were questions about when the real Sharks were going to show up and dominate the way everyone anticipated. After seeing the performance in the playoffs it might be reasonable to argue that it was the real Sharks that we saw from October to February.

There is, by no means, a shortage of talent on the Sharks roster, but there is a feeling that some of the players who made such splashy arrivals in the NHL had taken a step backward. Christian Ehrhoff, and Marc-Eduoard Vlasic for starters did not seem to be playing at the level that they did a year earlier. Joe Pavelski had a great playoff but maybe he was one of the few who got the memo that the regular season was behind them.

A lot of pressure will fall on Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau for how things went and there will be questions about the chemistry of the team with the two of them leading the team and centring the top two lines. Marleau might just be trade bait and this is a team that might need more than a bit of tinkering and trade deadline bolstering to shake them out of their doldrums. Ron Wilson is likely the safest experiment with the chemistry of the team, but I'd recommend that Doug Wilson be confident enough with his pipeline of talent to make bolder moves. Marleau is the likely candidate as he is in as many trade rumours and Ron Wilson firing rumours and a bold move along the lines of the Sundin for Clark trade might be just what the Sharks need. Let Marleau clearly establish himself as a first line centre somewhere else and bring in a grittier sparkplug in the mold of a younger Mike Ricci. The Sharks as they hang together right now will be far too fragile come next April and Doug Wilson's going to be the next one on the hot seat.

However, I suspect Doug Wilson will tread gingerly and not make such a bold move. He'll even pass on adding UFA wonderpest Sean Avery, who has just the edge the Sharks need.