Can this even be true?
The New York Times is reporting that the Rangers are now gunning for Calgary's Jarome Iginla. The Rangers would probably put up Jamie Lundmark or Radek Dvorak. Lundmark is a great young player the Rangers seem to have no interest in developing. They've yo-yo'd him between the NHL and the AHL all season, with no rhyme or reason (pardon the poetry). I'd also throw young goaltender Dan Blackburn into the trade pot since Calgary could use some stronger goaltending. But how crazy are the Rangers? Who has that much money to spend?
Of course, The Globe and Mail says Iginila isn't going anywhere. He's not having a great season and he's too important to Calgary. Of course, he's not having a great season because he is Calgary, and I think that's pretty well known throughout the NHL. And if the Rangers did acquire him, he'd be a third-liner. No pressure there. Just score your 50 goals and go home.

What's with St. Louis' Doug Weight? Does he have any good luck? Do the Blues have any kind of good luck? Just a couple of weeks after Weight hurt himself in the All-Star Game (that's right. In the All-Star Game), he's gone and broken his jaw. He'll either be out one to three weeks or even longer, depending upon who you believe.
I can't think of a time St. Louis has had all its players healthy this season. Maybe for team pictures, but nothing else. It's pretty amazing that they're in third place in the West.

You know you're good when they turn you into a verb.
Avalancheite Peter Forsberg is now a verb.
Teams all over the NHL are getting Forsberged. Webster's might define it as the process of having a six-foot Swede score all over you. At least that's how a lot of teams the Avalanche have faced lately have been describing it.
Forsberg started the season cold as ice — just like the rest of his team. But with Joe Sakic out, Forsberg has been more than picking up the slack.
(Except last night against the Canucks).

Ottawa goalie Patrick Lalime's virus continues. This time he shut-out Edmonton.
If this is what being sick is like, most goalies don't ever want to get well.

Ottawa goalie Patrick Lalime lost 10 lbs. in just one day! You can too! It's easy. Just get the Norwalk virus that's sweeping across the Ottawa bench. Lalime's been sick for the past two games and was starting to feel antsy. But maybe the virus had some positive side effects. Lalime shut out the Penguins, 3-0. Of course there's no one really left on the Penguins but defensemen and Mario Lemieux, so it's a bit of a hollow victory.

I love Montreal. Whoever's playing backup for them always thrives. First Jeff Hackett and now Mathieu Garon, Hackett's replacement as Montreal's back-up. Garon held off Boston, Hackett's new team, 3-1.
If there's one thing you can say about Boston, it's that they're just not quite there yet. It's always something with them. Right now it's their power play and their defense. But earlier in the season it was their offense and goaltending. Boston is good, but not good enough. Not yet, at least. And tight-fisted Boston management isn't going to upgrade in a meaningful way any time soon.
Oh well. At least Hackett doesn't have to face his old team for the rest of the season.

Obviously as a hockey fan, I'm a little nervous about a potential lockout next year. But don't worry. There's a back-up plan. Everyone can play in Europe. The Russian Superleague, which I thought only involved superheroes, is trying to figure out how to bring the striking NHLers over to play in Russia. Sweden, Finland, and the Czech Republic are also trying to figure out a way to bring striking NHLers into their respective leagues.
So really, as long as the US and Canada can get TV rights for the foreign leagues, the strike won't effect me. In fact, I think it might be cool to see NHL players picked up and re-scattered.

Sergei Fedorov continues to talk. I wish he wouldn't.
Over the weekend, Fedorov complained about his ice time. Monday morning, he back-peddled. Sort of: "It doesn't make sense me going against the coaches after all this time, all these years we've been through together. It's just frustration...Steve [Yzerman] talked to me this morning. He said, 'Everything you said is fine, but at the end of the day, the best idea is not to talk to the media. Go talk to the coach.' I agree with him 100%. It's been kind of unwritten rule."
Maybe it needs to be a written rule for Fedorov.

Of course, everyone is still talking about Alexei Kovalev getting traded to the Rangers. The big issue? How the NHL could let the Rangers buy the Penguin forward. Especially when the league has struck down similar cash-for-player deals in the past (see the then cash-strapped Islanders trying to sell Ziggy Palffy to the New York Rangers back in 1999). The New York Post reports that NHL GM Gary Bettman struck down a deal that would have had the Sabres give the Flyers Miroslav Satan and Alexei Zhitnik for Pavel Brendl (who instead went to Carolina for Sami Kapanen) and defense prospect Jeff Woywitka.
So it seems the NHL is trying to protect the integrity of some teams, but not others.
How come? I mean, even Flyer GM Bobby Clarke thought the Kovalev deal seemed fishy.
Bill Daly, the NHL's executive VP told the New York Times "The league does have limits. They are not hard and fast limits. Each situation is assessed on a case-by-case basis...The bottom line is the Penguins were determined to move this player. They were going to cut the best deal they could possibly get."
And the NHL didn't go crazy with the deal. They set a hard ceiling of $4 million for Kovalev. Not a penny more. So the Rangers gave Pittsburgh $3,999,999.99.
Larry Brooks, from the Post, speculates the NHL knows the Pittsburgh Penguins are not long for this league, which is why they don't care if the team sells off its assets to make payroll.
Pittsburgh sure isn't looking like it'll make it through the week. Aleksey Morozov might miss the rest of the season after having wrist surgery.
And Mario Lemieux isn't sure he'll come back to play next year. Attendance is already down for the Penguins this season. Without Lemieux (or Kovalev or Jaromir Jagr, etc), attendance will plummet. But Lemieux is said to be a little disenfranchised with the defensive/trapping system low-payroll-no-superstar teams like the Penguins need to adapt to survive in the NHL.
When the Islanders tried to sell Palffy to the Rangers, the NHL kept an eye on the whole deal. As the Boston Globe reported at the time: "The league wants to avoid the appearance of the Isles essentially cashing out at the poker table, stripping assets, and running what amounts to a minor league franchise while charging major league ticket prices."
Looks like the league isn't that worried about that appearance anymore.

Mike Modano played his 1,000th game as a Star/North Star last night. He became only the second American player to play 1,000 games with one franchise (Ranger defenseman Brian Leetch is the other one).
While free agency has made players spending 1,000 games with a team a pretty rare thing, a salary cap could make it even worse. Teams would shed players as the players improved since improvement equals cash. Not that that's a reason not to have a cap in the NHL. It's just something to consider. A cap could mean the end of homegrown talent.
Modano's 1,000th game wasn't an enitrely happy win. Marty Turco hurt his ankle. Coach Dave Tippett called the injury minor, but then again, it wasn't his ankle.

I know I seem obsessed with the Devils lately and maybe I am. But this is so cool. Every New Jersey Devil in the game gets $1,000 every time the Devils shut a team out. Everyone gets $500 for a one goal game. If you played in every one of those one goal or no goal games this season, you've eanred $15,500 this season.
I have no idea how long the Devils have been doing this, or whose idea it is, but it's brilliant. It's fun. It motivates players. And it makes the Devils sometimes, um, deliberate, playing style a lot more exciting for the players.
Seriously. Is there anything not to love about the Devils this year?

Just last week Sports Illustrated quoted no less than Wayne Gretzky on his former coach/GM and the Rangers' current GM/coach, Glen Sather:
"Deep down I think [Sather's] disillusioned at what he's spent," the Great One told SI, referring to the Rangers' payroll. "I think it's killing him."
Well either Gretzky doesn't know Sather as well as he thought, or Sather is trying to kill himself.
The Rangers picked-up Alexei Kovalev.
The Rangers gave up role-players Mikael Samuelsson, Rico Fata, Joel Bouchard and Richard Lintner. Oh yeah. And $4 million (although no one will admit that). They got right-winger Dan LaCouture and defensemen Janne Laukkanen and Mike Wilson from the Penguins. Oh yeah. And Alexei Kovalev.
So basically the Rangers got a great player, from a division rival no less, without giving up anything besides cash. It's quite a deal.
As a Ranger fan, it's exciting to think about Kovalev on Broadway. But let's be honest. We all know what happens to star players when they come to the Rangers. And to make matters worse, this will be Kovalev's second stint with the Rangers. His first tour of duty, from 1992 to 1998, ended with Kovalev being traded for current Ranger Petr Nedved. The reason for the trade? The Rangers just didn't like Kovalev and felt he was underperforming (racking up 275 points in 402 games), which it turns out he was.
But maybe Kovalev will like playing in New York this time.
Another problem with Kovalev coming to New York is the Rangers' defensive scheme. They don't have one. And Kovalev isn't known for playing systems (which is part of the reason the Rangers traded him) or defense. So the rest of the team will have to work harder to compensate for him. And they haven't really been able to compensate for themselves for most of the season (check out their penalty kill situation). When/if Pavel Bure returns to the line-up, they'll have two forwards who don't play back. Making matters worse, their defensemen aren't much better. Tom Poti, Brian Leetch, and Darius Kasparaitis are not known for their positional playing. So basically, by taking Kovalev, the Rangers are giving up on defense.
The Penguins were trading defenseman back and forth all week. Their Ranger acquisitions are all solid players, but nothing too exciting. Although to the Penguins, shedding payroll is exciting.
But Kovalev's return to New York is very exciting. Whether he maintains his fine Pittsburgh form or whether he implodes, like so many Rangers do, it'll definitely be great to watch. The Rangers can't make the playoffs, but they sure do know how to put on a good show.

There actually was other hockey news yesterday (see above). Brett Hull finally got his 700th regular season goal. And in true Brett Hull form, the goal wasn't some sort of screened, trickle-in, banked-off-some-guy's-skates goal. Nope. This was a patented Brett Hull slapshot, with Hull shooting from the patented limbo position, his back almost parallel to the ice.
Only five other NHL players have reached 700 goals: Wayne Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801), Marcel Dionne (731), Phil Esposito (717) and Mike Gartner (708).
And in case you're interested, the Wings beat San Jose 5-4.

The New York Post also says Martin Brodeur doesn't get enough respect. I complained about the same thing yesterday, so I wanted to bring in some people who agree with me.
Support Martin Brodeur!

So Carolina has given up. They put goalie Arturs Irbe on waivers and traded Sami Kapanen to the Flyers. The Hurricanes got back Pavel Brendl, perhaps the laziest player in the NHL, and defensman Ryan Bast.
Carolina wasn't trying to get players or to even lose players, though. They're trying to change the chemistry of a team that's gone from the Stanley Cup finals to losing 12 of their past 13 and 22 of their last 27. They're a toxic team. GM Jim Rutherford needs to exorcise his team.
No one was really surprised Kapanen was traded. It was a crappy situation for Carolina, though. They knew he's a great player. They knew he'd thrive wherever he went. But they couldn't trade based on how he would play. So Philadelphia got a real deal. And Kapanen got his first Philadelphia goal, hours after stepping off a plane from LA. He was probably just glad to be out of North Carolina, where the tension between players and coach Paul Maurice is growing every day. Right before Kapanen left, Jeff O'Neill called Maurice's methods "a joke." Of course this was after Maurice singled out O'Neill and other Hurricane "stars" to skate after practice.
So yeah. There are problems in North Carolina (besides their following the Rolling Stones on tour).

Did you ever wonder where the Detroit Red Wings will be in like three seasons?
They'll be here.
In the Ontario Hockey Association's Senior 'A' League. Where a lot of older NHLers go when they leave hockey.
Where else can you see players like Rick Vaive, Steven Rice, Peter Zezel and Grant Ledyard?
Actually, it sounds pretty cool. Most hockey players get smarter as they get older. But their bodies also lose a few steps. So it must be nice to see players who are able to execute the complicated ideas running through their heads.
And NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman must love that the players make between $5 and $30 a game. It's like his dream league.

So it's looking like maybe Sergei Fedorov won't be re-signing with the Red Wings.
He's pretty pissed about his ice time.
Now I'm a big Fedorov fan. I think he's one of the league's most talented players. But even I think he sounds absurd here: "As far as I'm concerned, it looks like it's been like that the whole season now...Four lines, never mind the best players playing as many minutes as they possibly can" (Incidentally, this is the same argument Fedorov used to prevent Anna Kournikova from breaking up with him).
Now this four-line concept Fedorov just noticed is how Detroit won the Cup. It keeps a lot of very, very old legs fresh.
The Red Wings are also complaining about Saturday's loss to Colorado. Peter Forsberg bumped goalie Curtis Joseph in the crease, knocking him out of the play and allowing Colorado to score. The whole thing gave Cujo an idea: "It would be nice to be able to call up and have a challenge like they do in the NFL...We would have challenged that, unmistakably. You can't make the save with guys bumping you, especially when the shot's coming. Make it like the NFL where we can challenge at least one."
Yeah. Hockey games need more interruptions. How about Cujo sticks to stopping the puck?

I'm sure no one outside of New Jersey will talk about this, but Devil goalie Martin Brodeur won his 30th game for the eighth straight season.
Brodeur continues to be a monster goalie, but no one really talks about him anymore. Even as his team surges up the East, closing in on Ottawa for the best record. But no one talks about the Devils. No one even goes to their games. It's really sad. I don't even find their system that boring. A lot of teams play the trap a lot more monotonously.

When Wayne Gretzky isn't busy with hockey, he likes to pretend he's a doctor.
Who doesn't?