I actually took a micro economics class in college, but it never really stuck with me. My teacher kept talking about beer and tomatoes and showing us all the graphs and I just really wanted to learn the economics of very small products, like remote control cars and puppies.
With that in mind, here's Forbes' chart of hockey valuations (login:puckupdate; password: puck).
This article explains the chart a little bit.
I threw it all into Excel and came up with some interesting factoids, too.

• The Canucks are a great deal. They're currently (as of December 3, with games in hand not factored in) second in the West in points, yet ranked 26th in value. A lot of bang for your buck.
  
• Edmonton isn't bad, either. Ranked last in value, they're sixth in the West in points
  
• Buffalo's value is reflected in the standings. They're 29th in value and last in points.
  
• The Rangers and Penguins are tied in points in the East. The Rangers have the second highest value in the NHL while Pittsburgh is 18th.

I'll try and post my chart when I have some free time to code. It's really interesting stuff.

Maybe I'm getting older and mellowing, but I just don't see what the big deal is about the Darcy Tucker/Michael Peca reunion this Friday.
Sure Tucker ended Peca's season, and the start of this season, and sure it was a dirty hit, but it wasn't personal. That's just how Tucker and the Leafs play. Come Cup time, they're just a dirty team. Just ask Scott Niedermayer about it. So this isn't anything new. The Leaf's post-season is defined by cheap shots.
The whole thing feels like wrestling-style trash-talk to me. Especially when you factor in Dave Scatchard's "We've got a little vendetta to settle with the Leafs from the playoffs" comments, which might actually be an outtake from GOODFELLAS.
I almost wonder if the NHL isn't orchestrating all this to bring some fans into the tent.

Speaking of drama (see above), Theo Fleury has been cleared to play. Coincidentally, this happened right before the Hawks were supposed to play the Rangers, Fleury's old team. But don't worry. Things are still weird in Chicago. Defenseman Boris Mironov has requested a trade and he won't play until he gets it (which is something future employers really love to see). No one seems to know what brought this on. I kind of wonder if Mironov knows.

Have you ever met a Might Ducks fan? I know I haven't, but I bet there are a ton in Buffalo. After all, the Ducks let Buffalo beat them 4-0. I didn't see this game, but I can imagine the thrilling hockey action of two sub-par teams going at each other.

Jose Theodore was lit for five goals against Dallas. I feel pretty comfortable saying there's a goalie problem in Montreal. Everyone can pretend there isn't, but there really is.
Also, congrats to Star Jason Arnott on his hat trick. Arnott was part of the famed Devils' A Line that also featured Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias. That line got dispersed around the league and none of them have really been performing. I still don't really understand why New Jersey broke that line up (except for the fact that the three players seemed mildly obsessed with each other — they would even hold private A Line only meetings).

Ron Wilson is the new coach of the Sharks. I wonder if the Sharks are too talented for Wilson. He seems to thrive with bare-bone teams, but give him some stars, and he's useless.

Seriously. When is Theo Fleury returning to the ice? I don't understand this process. I don't understand what the NHL is waiting for. A sign? They need to just get Fleury's return over with. Preferably before he plays the Rangers next week.

The NHL is all about the fast start. Tampa Bay had one and now they're entrenched atop the Eastern Conference, despite the fact that they seem to have stopped playing defense. Goalie Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 44 shots against Toronto, as Tampa Bay went down 3-4 in overtime.
The Lightning have only won one game in their last seven.
Tampa Bay kind of reminds me of the Islanders. A strong team that can't finish. Leads mean nothing. The game kind of ends right after the second intermission.

The Chicago Trib dissects the Hawks recent skid. Among the factors? A bad power play (although does anyone in the NHL have a good power play anymore?), no back-up goaltending, and no impact players. The interesting thing is you could say all this about New Jersey and they're doing great. I don't know what the Blackhawks expected this season. They let their best player (Tony Amonte) go and didn't really add on anyone else. Even if Theo Fleury had a career season, surpassing everyone's expectations, it still wouldn't have been enough.
Speaking of Fleury, LA fans were torturing him while he watched the Blackhawks get blown out. Fleury still hasn't been cleared to play, although he has been practicing. I hope he's cleared soon — I have tickets to Hawk-Rangers next week.

I hesitate to write about Calgary. It's just a mess over there. Jarome Iginla is slumping and Greg Gilbert is out as coach. And through it all, Calgary still beat Colorado last night.
I feel bad for Iginla. It's very obvious he has the wait of the world on his shoulders. His super-season last year wasn't a fluke, but also wasn't representative of future seasons. His team is adrift, and he seems to see it as a reflection on his own abilities. I love that he cares so much, but I'm scared it's just going to end his career.

OK. OK. I get it. Montreal has two really good goalies. Now I'd like to stop reading about it every five minutes. For the sanity of the hockey-loving public, the Habs need to either play Jeff Hackett more or deal him. But I'm so tired of this goalie controversy. It just reminds me of FRIENDS, when they kept going back and forth with Ross and Rachel.

Interesting. Pittsburgh doesn't care about Jaromir Jagr. No one showed up to see him play. And those that did show up booed him, which I can understand. Poor Jagr. His career has been a little sad since leaving Pittsburgh. Not really bad. Just sad.

Why are the Canucks so good? Here are some theories. One of them is that Vancouver is deep. I like that theory. The Canucks are a great model for making a team work without a lot of cash or superstars. They're just a bunch of hard-working guys. Four solid lines for 60 solid minutes, skating on solid water. And the Canucks are lucky enough to play in a market where winning is everything. As oppose to say Los Angeles, where no one will go to a hockey game unless there are some marquee players on the ice.
Another reason for Vancouver's success is Dan Cloutier. Cloutier is also November's NHL Player of the Month. Sure it's not quite as sexy as being the Playmate of the Month, but at least he doesn't have to sleep with Hugh Hefner.
Also, I'm just going to be honest and admit I still haven't seen Vancouver play this season. It's on my list, though.

Big week for Boston Bruin Joe Thornton. He's the NHL Player of the Week and he got a one-year contract extension from Boston.
The one year isn't very surprising. Boston is obsessed with not signing anyone past 2004, when the collective bargaining agreement expires. The Bruins are pathalogically terrified of giving a player more money than they might have had to. They're also content to ruin a team for a salary cap that might never come along. But at least they managed to sign Thornton, a solid player.

You know I try hard not to focus on the Rangers, even though I'm in New York City. But really. I have to talk about them. They looked fantastic in their victory over Tampa. I can't remember the last time I saw the team so cohesive and focused, although granted it was only for about 18 minutes out of the 60 they played. But still. The potential was there. The team is deep, too. Each line they rolled looked great. And that was without Bobby Holik in the line-up. Dan Blackburn, their 19-year-old goalie, looked tired, though. He gave up a lot of rebounds. The kid needs a rest (the Rangers are rumored to be shopping for a veteran to back-up Blackburn — including Washington's Craig Billington, who seems to always get pulled).
Also, what's up with Ranger coach Bryan Trottier and Glen Sather busting on Pavel Bure for not playing defense. Did they think he was some kind of two-way player when they acquired him from Florida? Bure is a goal scorer (in theory, anyway). Trottier should understand that. His famous line-mate Mike Bossy wasn't a defensive presence — that's not what he was paid to do. And that's not what Bure is paid to do. Bure's scoring touch might finally might be warming up. The Rangers shouldn't squander it.

Talk about an accurate headline. The Toronto Sun had "Bitter Ciger bolts NHL." And bitter is the right word. Zdeno Ciger, who played in the NHL for New Jersey, New York, Edmonton, and Tampa, is very vocal about his problems with the Lightning's management. To be honest, I don't really understand the problems he outlines. It's this SOPRANO-esque web of trades and trainers and lies and hurt. But the Sun is right. Ciger is bitter.

When a team that looks good on paper isn't playing well, what do you do? Fire the coach. Or the whole coaching staff. That's what the underperforming San Jose Sharks did.
And don't forget that this is the same San Jose that didn't get key players signed and in the line-up until the season had started.

Oiler goalie Tommy Salo is hot for the first time in a long time (or so it seems to me). No real explanation for it. Sometimes you're hot, sometimes you're not. And I think his problems in the Olympics sort of stayed with him through the end of last season and the start of this season.
In other Edmonton news, George Laraque returned to the line-up after his car accident. I can't find any stories on his return against Colorado, but maybe I'm just not looking hard enough.