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Southeast Division Watch

Every week, we’ll provide updates for each division. The biggest contenders and/or closest races will receive the greatest amount of attention.

Bold = playoff contender; Italics = likely lottery fodder.

Southeast Division outlook (February 21 -27)

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (34-18-7 for 75 pts; 59 Games Played)

Current streak: Three straight losses.

Week ahead: Home vs. Phoenix (Wednesday), home vs. New Jersey (Friday) and @ NY Rangers (Sunday.)

Thoughts: After a bad week, the Lightning are now only 5-3-2 in the first 10 games of their mammoth 12-game homestand. That being said, two wins would mean that they earned 16 out of a possible 24 points. They need to stock them up, because the Capitals are starting look like their old, dangerous selves again.

2. Washington Capitals (31-19-10 for 72 pts; 60 GP)

Current streak: One win.

Week ahead: @ Pittsburgh (Mon), home vs. Rangers (Fri), @ NY Islanders (Sat).

Thoughts: Tonight’s game against the Penguins will determine how this road trip (currently 2-2-0) went, but Tampa Bay’s stumbles dictates that it wasn’t a disaster. The Lightning still have the advantage, though.

3. Carolina Hurricanes (28-24-8 for 64 pts; 60 GP)

Current streak: One loss.

Week ahead: Home vs. Rangers (Tues), home vs. Pittsburgh (Fri) and @ Montreal (Sat).

Thoughts: The Canes still have plenty of space in front of the surging Devils, but they didn’t make a compelling statement about their superiority by losing to them twice last week. They need to eke out points against three teams currently above them in the Eastern Conference standings this week or they might find themselves looking up at Buffalo or Atlanta.

4. Atlanta Thrashers (25-25-10 for 60 pts; 60 GP)

Current streak: Three losses.

Week ahead: @ Buffalo (Wed), home vs. Florida (Fri) and home vs. Toronto (Sun).

Thoughts: It hasn’t been a very happy 2011 for the Thrashers, unless you’re Dustin Byfuglien’s accountant. They only have five wins in 19 games since the new year began.

5. Florida Panthers (25-27-7 for 57 pts; 59 GP)

Current streak: One loss.

Week ahead: @ Ottawa (Wed), @ Atlanta (Fri) and home vs. New Jersey (Sat).

Thoughts: The Panthers aren’t totally out of the playoff run right now, but they shouldn’t be buyers during the trade deadline either. In fact, it would probably be wise if they tried to get something for Tomas Vokoun, unless they decide that he’s still their goalie of the (immediate) future.

 

Reshuffling Avalanche to get Matt Duchene Back on Tuesday

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Matt Duchene is back on the ice for the sinking Colorado Avalanche and willing to lend a helping hand — even if it’s injured.

The team’s leading scorer can hold a hockey stick again, more than enough progress for the All-Star forward to pronounce himself fit for a return Tuesday night in St. Louis.

The Colorado Avalanche are expected to get forward Matt Duchene back for Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

Duchene sat out two games after hurting his left hand in a 9-1 loss to Calgary last week. He’s eager to climb back into the lineup, especially with the team mired in a 10-game skid, the longest winless streak since the franchise moved to the Mile High City before the 1995-96 season.

“Sometimes in this league, when it rains it pours,” Duchene said after practice Monday. “Half of them we played pretty good hockey and could’ve won the games. It’s disappointing.

“It’s hard to be detached from (the team) and have to sit in the background and watch it. But it’s good to be back.”

The Avalanche have tried everything to slip out of a slump that began shortly after Peter Forsberg joined the squad to test out his chronically injured foot and continued once the former NHL MVP ended his comeback bid after just two games.

Benching players hasn’t worked. Neither has shifting around the lines or calling up minor leaguers.

So Colorado turned to an even more drastic solution — shaking up its roster by pulling off two big trades late last week.

First, Colorado swapped one scuffling goaltender for another, picking up Brian Elliott from the Ottawa Senators for Craig Anderson. Then, the Avalanche acquired defenseman Erik Johnson, the top pick in the 2006 draft, and Jay McClement from the St. Louis Blues for rising youngsters Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk.

Anderson was dazzling in his debut with the Senators on Saturday, lifting them to a 1-0 shootout win over Toronto. Stewart made quite an impression with his new squad as well, scoring twice as the Blues beat Anaheim on Saturday.

The results haven’t been that quick and forthcoming for Colorado.

Elliott has yet to join the team as he sorts through immigration issues, while Johnson and McClement were solid for Colorado at San Jose, but the results were far too familiar with another loss.

“We have to find a way to get a win. When we do that, I really believe that we’ll put some wins together and put a streak together,” Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. “Right now, it’s a matter of finding that first win.”

Colorado was originally scheduled to be off until hosting last place Edmonton on Wednesday. But thanks to severe weather earlier this month, the Avs had their game at St. Louis postponed and moved to Tuesday.

Now Johnson and McClement get to face their old teammates just days after leaving them. This will also be a chance to tie up loose ends, such as packing more clothes and saying final farewells to friends.

All things Johnson and McClement didn’t have time for after their hasty, late-night departure following the trade.

“It’s going to be weird coming into your old rink, on the other side of the barn — seeing your old trainers, and coaches, teammates,” Johnson said. “But I think it’s going to be fun more than anything.”

On Sunday, the 22-year-old Johnson took a quick tour of his new city, stopping long enough to gaze into the distant mountains as he contemplated what exactly transpired in a trade that caught him completely off guard.

“The peaceful energy around here helps out,” Johnson said with a grin.

So did a chat with Blues general manager Doug Armstrong, who reassured the rugged defenseman it was nothing personal.

“He said, ‘This is a thing where you have to give up something of great quality to get something of great quality. This is no reflection of what we saw in you as a person or a player,'” Johnson recounted. “I totally understand.”

Instead of landing with a contender, Johnson bounces from one struggling squad to another.

Not that long ago, Colorado was near the top of the standings and boasted one of the highest-scoring teams in the league.

The recent skid has knocked the Avs into the bottom of the Western Conference. What’s more, their vaunted offensive attack has been bottled up.

“We have to find a way to generate some offense, without sacrificing defense at the same time,” said Sacco, whose squad is 0-23-3 this season when scoring two goals or fewer.

As for how trying this injury-plagued season has been on him, Sacco simply shrugged.

“These are the things you’re going to have to deal with during the course of your career,” Sacco said. “You sign up for this when you take on a coaching job.”

–The Associated Press

 

Wayne Gretzky’s 50th Birthday Ignored as Quiet Dispute with NHL Continues

Wayne Gretzky hits the big 5-0 on Wednesday and you’d think the NHL would fete one of the greatest players to ever play, if not the greatest, with a birthday party at the All-Star Game in Raleigh, N.C., this weekend.

But unless there’s a sudden thaw in relations, that’s not about to happen.

As bizarre as it sounds, Wayne Gretzky is not connected to the NHL these days. The holder of four dozen NHL records has stepped away from the NHL over the Phoenix Coyotes saga.

The history books will show that the NHL basically threw Gretzky under the bus during its court battle with Jim Basillie when he tried to wrest control of the Phoenix Coyotes in bankruptcy court.

Gretzky was coach of the Coyotes at the time and he stepped back from the fray and it cost him. He’s owed at least $8.5 million in guaranteed money, and the total could jump to $20 million when all is said and done.

Gretzky, as is his custom, has been mum on the subject since he walked away after being deemed an unsecured creditor in Phoenix.

He had every right to sue the league and he didn’t. And he had more than enough ammo to embarrass the NHL.

But that is not his style. Never was and never will be.

The NHL hopes to complete the purchase of the Coyotes in the near future, although several hurdles remain. The NHL bought the Coyotes for $140 million in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court auction in October 2009, and could have as much as $175 million invested now, since it covered the Coyotes’ losses through this summer.

In other words, the NHL will be lucky to break even, and the spin will be that they did.

That leaves Gretzky in limbo and while there is no need to hold a tag day for him, he’s owed what he is owed.

It’s absolutely ludicrous for Gretzky not to be part of the NHL. It makes no sense at all, and the owners know it.It’s absolutely ludicrous for Gretzky not to be part of the NHL. It makes no sense at all, and the owners know it. Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet in Toronto reported this week that at least two NHL governors, Philadelphia’s Ed Snider and Dave Checketts of St. Louis, stood up at a recent board meeting and said the NHL has to pay Gretzky and get him back on board.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman likes to boast how the NHL is on track for record revenues of $2.9 billion this season, and you’d think he’d find a way to use some of that cash to do the right thing. It’s a small price for doing business.

Bettman probably wouldn’t be commissioner if it weren’t for the impact Gretzky had on hockey in the United States.

Gretzky introduced hockey to more people that the NHL would care to admit.

There are three teams in California, and teams in Sun Belt cities like Miami, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, and Florida, along with franchises in Nashville and Atlanta. Have they all been a success? No.

Will one of them move? Most likely yes and to Canada, and that’s brings up something else for Gretzky. Would he move to Canada if a team were relocated to Winnipeg, for example?

That’s a moot point, however, given how the NHL and Gretzky are not talking.

Gretzky should be at the All-Star Game, and the Winter Classic and the NHL Draft. He’s the best and greatest ambassador the NHL has ever had.

There is only one No, 99 and it’s criminal that he’d not making his way to the All-Star Game to blow out the candles on his birthday cake.

Bettman should make mending the fence with Gretzky — the man who provided hockey fans with countless memories from his 20-year NHL career — his No. 1 priority.

It’s just bad form for the NHL to be at odds with The Great One.

Kiprusoff Bests Temps, Pucks, For First Outdoor Shutout

CALGARY — Until the Montreal Canadiens brought the heat with 21 shots in Sunday’s second period, the challenge for Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames wasn’t stopping frozen rubber, but avoiding frozen fingers and toes.

Kiprusoff faced just eight shots in the opening 20 minutes the 2011 Tim Horton‘s Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium, but then turned aside all 21 shots the Canadiens unloaded at him in the second period on the way to a 4-0 Calgary win.

All told, Kiprusoff made 39 saves on the way to his fourth shutout of the season, No. 38 of his career and the first recorded in the six games the NHL has staged outdoors.

“They had a pretty slow start,” Kiprusoff said, talking about Montreal’s inability to get on track offensively. “They didn’t shoot that many in the first.

“I was a little nervous, like if they get some 2-on-1s or something. I was pretty cold in the first, but I had something under my stuff. During the second, they started shooting more, too. I felt better there.”

Kiprusoff didn’t have a lot to do early, particularly in the first 10 minutes of the game as the Flames carried the play. The Flames held a 13-3 edge in shots when Rene Bourque scored to make it 1-0 at 8:09.

There was no standing around for Kiprusoff in the second period as the Canadiens came out firing. Montreal’s 21 shots set a single-period shots record for the six outdoor games, eclipsing the 19 the Flames directed at Montreal’s Carey Price in the first period.

“He played great; “especially early,” Calgary captain Jarome Iginla said of his goalie. “He didn’t get a lot of shots, but all of a sudden there would be a point-blank shot.

“I think he made a couple of leg kicks early when he had to be pretty stiff, but he looked great. It’s funny because as hard as it is for players to get used to it (the cold) off the start, it’s got to be way harder for the goalies staying warm.

“We’re on the bench. We’re coming to the bench and we’re warming up and stuff. You forget, they’re stuck out there.”

So, what was more difficult, finding a way to stay warm during without much to do during a chilly first period or turning aside all that rubber in the second period?

“The first period was real cold,” said Kiprusoff, who retreated to the warmth of the Calgary bench every opportunity he got during play stoppages. “We had to stand outside there a little bit and there were some problems with the ice.

“Those guys had a pretty nice set-up there. It was warm. They were nice enough to give me a little room there to sit down.”

With extra layers on, the challenge for Kiprusoff early was to keep his fingers and toes warm.

“My toes,” Kiprusoff said. “My hands felt alright. That was one worry, too. It’s not fun to catch the puck if you have cold fingers. We knew it was going to be a cold day.”

Blackhawks Continue Playoff Push Without ‘Q’

CHICAGO — Their coach remains in the hospital, but the Chicago Blackhawks don’t have the luxury of worrying about Joel Quenneville‘s continued absence.

Instead, the defending Stanley Cup champions are preparing for another tough home game Friday at the United Center against a Central Division rival, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Columbus is just two points behind the 11th-place Blackhawks in the Western Conference, while Chicago is just four points outside the top eight.

“You look at the standings, like we have every day for the past two weeks, and things aren’t changing that much,” Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp said. “The points are valuable and we want to make sure we keep these guys behind us. At this point, I think it’s still a little too far out to start solidifying those playoff spots. Anything can happen down the stretch. If we play our best, we like to think we control our destiny.”

‘Canes Raise Brind’Amore’s No. 17 To The Rafters

Former Carolina captain Rod Brind’Amourdonned his jersey one more time before his No. 17 was raised to the rafters of the RBC Center before Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Players on both teams wore No. 17 jerseys in warmups and during the 35-minute ceremony — then the real No. 17 saw his a banner bearing his number raised to the roof to joinGlen Wesley‘s No. 2 and Ron Francis‘ No. 10.

“The banner that means the most to me, that means more than an individual banner, and obviously you know what I’m talking about, is the Stanley Cup championship,” Brind’Amour said during his speech while looking up at the 2006 championship banner.

Pens, Caps Wrapping Up Season Series on Versus

After a memorable season series in the ever-intensifying rivalry between the Capitals and Penguins, the two teams will face off for the final time in the regular season Monday night, with the puck dropping at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast nationally in the U.S. on Versus, as well as on TSN2 and RDS in Canada.

Over the past few years, Washington and Pittsburgh have faced off in a tight playoff series and more recently the 2011 Winter Classic, but with their final meeting this season, both teams will be looking to gain some stability as the season winds down. Both the Capitals and Penguins appear safe bets to seal up a postseason berth — Washington is 12 points ahead of the ninth-place Buffalo Sabres, while the Penguins have a 17-point cushion — and if things hole the two squads would face off again in the first round of the playoffs. But before that happens, both Pittsburgh and Washington are likely seeking a much more consistent style of play before the postseason begins.

Washington may have regained some footing with a 2-1 win Sunday afternoon in Buffalo during the inaugural Hockey Day in America, but it was just the Caps second win in their past six games. Things might be even more dire in Pittsburgh, which, after losing in Chicago Sunday, has not won in regulation since Feb. 4.

‘Hockey Day in America’ A Smashing Success

Four exciting games Sunday afternoon, combined with Lord Stanley’s return to the city of Chicago — made NBC’s “Hockey Day in America” a smashing success across North America.

Over the course of roughly six hours, hockey fans were treated to exciting games, two of which required a shootout to determine the winner.

In Buffalo, the Washington Capitals needed a power-play goal from Marcus Johansson midway through the third period to earn a 2-1 victory against the Sabres at HSBC Arena. Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves for the Capitals, who pulled within three points of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Southeast Division.

Price’s Early Heroics Not Enough To Save The Habs

CAREY PRICE

GOALIE – MTL

RECORD: 27–20–6
GAA: 2.42 | SVP: 0.919

CALGARY — A passing glance at the final score of the 2011 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic would indicate a lopsided game. But without a strong effort from Carey Price, especially in the first period, the Montreal Canadiens‘ 4-0 loss to the Calgary Flames at McMahon Stadium could have been a lot worse.

Price faced 19 shots in the opening 20 minutes and allowed only one goal, a redirection by Rene Bourque during a 5-on-3 power play for the Flames. His early heroics provided the Canadiens with a chance to turn the game around, and they peppered Miikka Kiprusoff with shots early in the second period but couldn’t solve him.