Get out the magic crystal ball. We’re about to embark on a long journey. Thirty teams get a fresh start where they can dare to dream of winning Lord Stanley. The most spectacular trophy in all of sports which arguably is the hardest to win.

It’s not just because you have to gut out an 82-game schedule which at times can be trying due to the tireless back to backs, three in four nights and even seven in 11 days the Rangers have beginning with tomorrow’s home opener versus Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and the Blackhawks following a hectic preseason concluding with a two-game sweep of the overmatched Lightning in Croatia.

Such can be life in a league which seems to be pointed for expansion towards Europe emphasizing just how global the game has become with the Penguins and Senators also splitting a series in Stockholm last weekend.

Finally, the other 26 get started including an improved Devils team who dialed up Doc Brown’s time machine and went Back To The Future literally to the year of their first Stanley Cup luring free agent centers Brian Rolston and Bobby Holik for one more run while Martin Brodeur’s still good enough.

For other teams like the Islanders, the immediate future doesn’t look so bright with new coach Scott Gordon behind the bench where returning leading scorer Mike Comrie had only 49 points on what’s a rebuild around Rick DiPietro and young former No.1 Kyle Okposo. They’ll try to overachieve in an ultra competitive Atlantic where the Flyers fresh off a run to the Conference Finals losing to the Pens appear to be the favorite while Pittsburgh lost Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone and are without top D Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar for at least the first three months.

Can the new look Rangers featuring Nikolai Zherdev, Markus Naslund and Wade Redden make fans forget Jaromir Jagr or did Glen Sather slip up?

Are the Panthers ready to qualify for their first postseason since Pavel Bure was the league’s best finisher or will their revamped blueline not be enough without departed captain Olli Jokinen? Can Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals do it again even with Jose Theodore in net?

Meanwhile in Carolina, the injury bug has already hit infecting Justin Williams, Scott Walker and Rod Brind’Amour making the loss of Erik Cole big though Joni Pitkanen was brought into help anchor the D. Will Barry Melrose’s return to the NHL bench be ruined by the Lightning’s apparent weak blueline?

Should the Thashers even bother taking the ice? They’ll have company in Columbus, St. Louis and Los Angeles who all should be ticketed in the John Tavares sweepstakes. Are the Leafs going to be in this process too without Mats Sundin? Maybe Toronto fans should hope.

Can Carey Price recover from last Spring to lead what looks like an even stronger Habs roster into serious contention? Are Craig Rivet and the return of Teppo Numminen enough to get a talented Sabres team back to the postseason? Is Tim Thomas a fluke and will Patrice Bergeron be the same in Beantown? Can the Senators continue defying logic despite losing another key cog?

These questions and more will get answered in due time along with whether Hossa’s addition is enough for the Red Wings to become the first repeat winner since they did it a decade ago. They’ll have plenty of stiff competition in the loaded Stars, Sharks and Ducks with maybe a couple of newcomers sneaking into the parade.

This is how we see it:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

*1.Flyers- plenty of talent in Richards/Carter but can Biron build off last year’s run?

*2.Canadiens- adding Lang and Tanguay up front makes them scarier but it all depends on Price.

*3.Capitals- the game’s best player, a healthy Nylander plus Green and Backstrom should be enough.

4.Senators- best line in game plus deep forward corps and tougher D help despite questions in net.

5.Devils- Rolston and Holik should boost scoring, D remains question but can’t bet against Brodeur.

6.Rangers- Drury leads an improved transition game. could miss Jagr and Avery but Lundqvist helps.

7.Penguins- Crosby and Malkin get them in but we don’t like Satan or Fedotenko. Hard to take seriously.

8.Sabres- balanced scoring led by Pominville, Vanek, Roy plus better D and steady Miller in net.

9.Bruins- Ryder added to solid forward corps but it’s dependent on Thomas and system.

10.Panthers- love their new look with Ballard and McCabe but who’s scoring the goals up front?

11.Maple Leafs- Wilson will get them to play hard but there’s just not enough there to get in.

12.Hurricanes- injuries already taking toll. Laviolette’s a fine coach but Ward needs to be consistent.

13.Lightning- Stamkos should win Calder and they’ll score but the D is brutal and will tire out goalies.

14.Thrashers- Schneider was good addition but they’ll have to outscore teams until Lehtonen improves.

15.Islanders- they’ll work hard but they’re young and don’t have enough scoring even with Streit.
PLAYOFFS

Flyers over Sabres in 6

Habs over Pens in 7

Rangers over Caps in 6

Devils over Sens in 5

Flyers over Rangers in 6

Devils over Habs in 7

Flyers over Devils in 6

WESTERN CONFERENCE

*1.Red Wings- until proven otherwise, they’re the best team and add Hossa to mix. Conklin’s solid backup.

*2.Stars- play in top division but Avery, full year of B. Richards should be plenty. Need Zubov healthy.

*3.Canucks- scoring could still be tough but like changes and see Luongo bouncing back big time.

4.Sharks- Marleau with Thornton, Boyle, Blake plus Nabokov make them awfully tough.

5.Flames- nice additions including Bertuzzi/Keenan reunion but they’ll be hardpressed to win a round.

6.Ducks- Teemu’s back plus Getzlaf/Perry, Niedermayer/Pronger and Giguere make them lock.

7.Avalanche- Sakic takes one more shot with Tucker added but can Budaj or Raycroft do job?

8.Blackhawks- Campbell and Huet help young core led by Kane/Toews. Huet could get them in.

9.Oilers- bolstered scoring with Cole and Visnovsky. Lots of young talent but what about goalies?

10.Predators- Radulov’s departure hurts scoring. Solid D but can Ellis repeat? Trotz is a great coach.

11.Wild- possess nice blueline led by Burns/Zidlicky and Gaborik’s great but is there enough scoring?

12.Coyotes- Jokinen helps but D is thin past top 3 and they’re depending on too much young talent.

13.Blue Jackets- Umberger and Huselius boost Nash plus revamped D and Leclaire but who else will score?

14.Blues- Love Boyes and Kariya’s due for bounce back season but they’re extremely young.

15.Kings- top line of Brown, Kopitar and O’Sullivan will be fun but LaBarbera in net? They can’t be serious!

PLAYOFFS

Wings over Hawks in 5

Stars over Avs in 4

Ducks over Canucks in 6

Sharks over Flames in 6

Wings over Ducks in 6

Stars over Sharks in 5

Wings over Stars in 7

Stanley Cup Red Wings over Flyers in 7

NHL Awards

Conn Smythe- Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit

Hart- Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit

Vezina- Roberto Luongo, Vancouver

Norris- Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit (renamed The Lidstrom)

Calder- Kyle Okposo, Islanders

Selke- Mike Fisher, Ottawa

Byng- Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit

Adams- Denis Savard, Chicago

Yes. It’s true that if you count the games in Europe this past weekend, the 2008-09 season already begun. I just don’t think it becomes official until the rest of the league gets going beginning later tonight when eight teams start up.

Here are the four games excluding the area locals with the Devils hosting the Islanders at The Rock Friday night before visiting the defending Eastern Conference champion Penguins, who should be well rested from their two-game split with the Senators in Stockholm:

Toronto at Detroit 7 ET, Versus, CBC- the defending Cup champs raise their banner along with new star addition Marian Hossa against a Mats Sundin-less Leaf team expected to finish near the bottom of the East with the immortal Jeff Finger their big offseason move. =-O :-\

Boston at Colorado 10 ET, Versus- the second half of a VS doubleheader pits two playoff teams against each other from opposite conferences. Can Tim Thomas have a repeat for Claude Julien and how will the 2000-01 Avs plus Paul Stastny fare with Andrew Raycroft and Peter Budaj splitting duties in net under Tony Granato?

Anaheim at San Jose 10:30 ET, CI- a classic Pacific rivalry renewed as the Sharks and Ducks clash in a possible playoff preview. How will Teemu Selanne look and what about Patrick Marleau on the same line as Joe Thornton under a new coach. Rob Blake also on the blueline led by big acquisition Dan Boyle? Figure it to be highly entertaining with two of the NHL’s elite netminders in Vezina runner-up Evgeni Nabokov and Cup winner Jean-Sebastien Giguere getting tested.

Calgary at Vancouver 10:30 ET, CI, CBC- another fun filled rivalry takes place when Northwestern Canadian rivals get together for the first of six action packed battles. Will Todd Bertuzzi be healthy enough to debut for the Flames under familiar coach Mike Keenan with also key pickup Mike Cammalleri teaming with Jarome Iginla up front? How will Pavol Demitra mesh with The Sedins on a revamped Vancouver team minus Markus Naslund looking for redemption. Can Steve Bernier help out the scoring relieving pressure from Roberto Luongo?

Fasten your seatbelts! It should be exciting to finally see some other teams get underway with the Devils and Islanders on deck under fairly differing expectations.

We’ll have more stuff later on on the 2008-09 season including where I’m ranking teams. So stay tuned.

In a predictable move, the Rangers traded fourth line antagonist Ryan Hollweg to the Maple Leafs yesterday in exchange for a 2009 fifth round pick.

The 25 year-old Downey, California native who the Blueshirts made a 2001 eighth round pick played three seasons on Broadway bringing his spunky physical hitting style and edgy play with him becoming a fan favorite despite a penchant for undisciplined penalties. In 200 career games as a Ranger, Hollweg finishes with 12 points (5-7-12) while racking up 311 penalty minutes.

His best season was in 2005-06 as a rookie when he netted five points (2-3-5) in 52 contests while playing what became known as the HMO Line (Hollweg, Moore, Ortmeyer). It was the trio’s solid forechecking style and energy which became popular with Ranger fans who hadn’t seen a team qualify for the postseason since 1996-97. While that line didn’t finish a lot of plays, they helped set the tone in what became the Original Six club’s first playoff berth in nine years.

The last couple of seasons, Hollweg played with checking center Blair Betts and club enforcer Colton Orr. They also had solid chemistry but it was clear that Ryan’s days were numbered due to better players in their system such as former first rounders Lauri Korpikoski and Hugh Jessiman, who both could finally be ready to crack the lineup this Fall. Team President and GM Glen Sather also went out and added depth players like Aaron Voros, Dan Fritsche and Patrick Rismiller which also helped spell the end for the left wing who also shifted out of position to center when needed.

Though expendable and easily replaced, I along with many other Ranger fans will miss Hollweg as he was fun to watch and very entertaining off the ice going by the tag Hollywood for his hilarious movie character impersonations and crazy style. That white tux outfit at the team celebrity poker function was comical epitomizing what kind of character he was.

Best of luck in Toronto buddy. I’m sure he’ll fit right in.

Okay. So I usually like jot down a whole bunch of thoughts about what’s going on. But tonight at this hour, I’m all out of ideas but came across a bizarre pic on TSN which I couldn’t stop laughing at. It’s just so freaking comical.

Judge for yourself:

Okay. I know. I reaaaallly shouldn’t be laughing at or making fun of current Maple Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher. The man’s been around FOREVER. I mean look at him! God. He looks like he could’ve been hanging out with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson back in 1776.

Would you want someone who looks like that running your organization’s offseason?!?!?!?!?! I know how it sounds but I just can’t contain myself.

No wonder they’re referred to by Brian as the Maple Laughs. Because they sure are providing plenty of laughs these days!

Here’s our sponsor for this entry:

If you were a Buffalo Sabre fan last night, the last place you wanted to be was in a shootout against the loathed Maple Leafs with your team’s season hanging by a thread. Or maybe I should say goalpost since there were a couple in the OT and the skill competition before Maxim Afinogenov kept his team’s feint playoff hopes alive with a wonderful two deke classic forehand finish in Round Six- allowing the Sabres to dream a little with a topsy turvy 4-3 comeback road win in Toronto.

“I had a couple of plans in my mind,” the skilled Russian said after bailing his desperate team out improving them to just 4-9 in shootouts this season. “But that was the move I wanted to make.”

“That was an important goal. … And the move was one of his best,” added Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff who along with his club will be hoping for lots of help tonight from New Jersey (hosts Boston) and Pittsburgh (hosts Flyers). They’ll be pulling hard for the Devils and Penguins to win in regulation. Though a point for the two teams in front doesn’t eliminate the Sabres just yet.

The formula is quite simple: Win their final two games at Montreal tomorrow and Boston Saturday in regulation and get help to possibly allow an improbable shootout win a la the Islanders last year around the same time to propel them into a third consecutive postseason.

“We’re still alive,” Afinogenov pointed out despite a career low 10 goals and club worst minus-14 rating.

“Maybe the other teams will be a little shaken, and hopefully it’ll be good for us.“

If karma is on their side and it certainly seemed to be as Leafs’ legendary broadcaster Harry Neale noted of, “lady luck being on their side” after a couple of near misses by Toronto which included a Tomas Kaberle laser in OT which had Ryan Miller beaten if not for his best friend, the crossbar.

In particular, Miller came up large denying a pointblank Leafs’ chance which would’ve ended his team’s season early in overtime before overcoming nerves in the shootout by stopping the last five Toronto shots after getting abused by Kaberle in Round One before teammate Ales Kotalik had his back with a smooth backhand deke finish against rare Toronto starter Andrew Raycroft.

“We absolutely needed it, so I was happy to come through,” the winning Buffalo starting netminder stated after finishing with 19 saves. “Maybe it’s a starting point, that we can feel like we can play with a little more pressure on us.”

It might not have gotten to that point if Thomas Vanek hadn’t scored his 33rd in front on the power play responding almost immediately to a nice Leafs’ go-ahead tally off the stick of Alex Steen setup by some splendid defensive work by rookie call-up defender Anton Stralman.

Instead, Vanek’s tying power play marker with 5:21 left in regulation allowed them to get at least one point before needing that second one to keep their season alive. That it even required a shootout was kind of sad. Handed a four-on-three on a bogus crosscheck love tap with an exasperated Pavel Kubina in the box, the Sabres proceeded to do their best Ranger impersonation passing the puck around the perimeter as if it were a game of hot potato.

If my best friend Brian Sanborn had seen this which luckily he didn’t cause he lives in Long Beach, Cali, he might’ve gone over the edge. They showed little urgency. You’d think they would have stuck with what was working such as the three simple passes they made on the prior one before a seeing eye shot found Vanek’s stick. That’s the NHL these days where logic even on power plays never seems to apply.

I loved Neale’s call before the power play as he talked about “perhaps lady luck is really on the Sabres’ side.”

And boy if he sounded a little irked, he wasn’t alone. You just don’t make such weak calls. The positioning of the ref who made it was also abominable as he was away from the play calling it from the top of the blueline. Yikes.

Glad it didn’t end that way as it didn’t deserve to. For the Sabres, they can just be happy to finally have some luck go their way in the shootout. Just maybe they’ll get a whole lot more tonight.

Hopefully for poor Sabre fans like Sanborn, they will keep hope alive. Where’s Reverend Al Sharpton when you need him?

AP Photo Courtesy Getty Images by Tom Mihalek

Maybe they just don’t know the word quit. Or at least it’s not in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ vocabulary.

You can say whatever you want about how a mess the Original Six franchise still is because of the joke that is upper management axing John Ferguson, Jr. and bringing in the retired Cliff Fletcher to run it. And it’s true he did fail miserably to get any of his big five star players to waive their no-trade clauses and return valuable assets for the organization’s future.

Instead, there’s team captain Mats Sundin leading the charge as the desperate Leafs try to make an improbable run at the postseason. If you recall last year, they tried something similar with third string goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin sparking them before falling short.

This time, Sundin and Co. are finally healthy and playing their most inspired hockey of a disappointing season. They ran their mark to 9-3-1 by once again defeating the eighth ranked Flyers 3-2 last night in the City of Brotherly Love. Well, there might not be a whole lot of love if Philly somehow tanks down the stretch.

How in the hell do you blow a three-goal third period lead the previous night to this team and then lose yet again this time in regulation no less by a 3-2 margin? No truth to the rumor that the Flyers are doing their best to keep the Sabres, Capitals and suddenly hot Panthers plus the Maple Leafs alive for that final playoff berth.

The slumping Bruins aren’t exactly in the clear either at 80 points having won just once in their last six (1-3-2) headed into tonight’s home game against the last place Lightning.

Six points separates seventh ranked Boston from a 10th place log jam which has the Leafs, Caps and Panthers (five straight wins after a 4-2 home triumph over the looking finished Islanders).

There’s still plenty of games left for these teams to make up the ground and sneak in. Especially if the Bruins and Flyers continue to struggle. The Leafs it should be noted have a huge home-and-home against Boston coming up in less than a week. That btw follows pivotal games against the Sabres (home/road) with the Isles sandwiched in.

So, how did Toronto manage to win their latest game to inch closer in this playoff race? By getting another big goal out of now healthy defenseman Pavel Kubina 69 seconds into the third via the man-advantage.

The same Kubina also provided his team with a huge extra point Tuesday night at the Air Canada Center by centering one off Martin Biron to complete a miraculous three-goal comeback keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.

It helped overshadow a strained groin muscle to Sundin who missed the final 40 minutes. He was listed as day-to-day for their next game versus Buffalo, who blew a chance to gain ground on the Flyers by getting smoked by the Sidney Crosby-less Pens 7-3.

How is that possible? Talk about self destructing. Lindy Ruff’s club hasn’t been the same since their latest loss to the Rangers. In any event, that’s a big game up in Toronto on Hockey Night In Canada. The Sabres will also play Carolina the night before trying to bounceback.

So. Can the Leafs make it? If the teams in front of them keep losing, anything’s possible. For now, we’re just tipping our cap for how hard they’ve continued to compete on a nightly basis.

AP Photo Courtesy The Canadien Press by Ryan Remjorz

The game ended a while ago but it really was over once Carey Price shut the door on the Devils in the fateful second. His timely stops kept the usually feisty Atlantic leaders from getting back in the first place Eastern tilt at Bell Centre tonight.

By the end of the night, the 20 year-old Canadien rookie netminder had his second NHL career shutout turning away all 38 Devil shots including 20 in a busy first and 33 through the first 40 minutes before his teammates finally clamped down making the last five saves routine.

Fourth liner Michael Ryder produced the final goal of the night finishing off a strong shift by Maxim Lapierre for his 13th with 2:21 left. If the Devs played hard for 40 minutes, they essentially mailed in the third. Or maybe it was a combination of them being resigned to their fate and the Canadiens elevating their game outshooting Brent Sutter’s first place Atlantic club 15-5.

Fyi…on that Ryder tally, the immortal Karel Rachunek was victimized badly for the second instance. On the third goal, the former traffic cone foolishly stepped up leaving his partner naked for Lapierre’s tap-in off a two-on-one. The ex-Ranger on the Habs’ final tally decided it would be a novel idea to vacate the goalcrease where the battle for the puck was going on. It made it an easy finish for Ryder with Marty Brodeur left to fend for himself.

Sure. The game was long over by this point but it was nice to see that Rachunek showing why he was hated across the river. Oh. And I’m sure quite a few Devil fans can’t wait to see his role diminish once Paul Martin and Colin White return. Plus so far deadline acquisition Bryce Salvador has been steady playing his physical style which is more popular. Mike Mottau’s also better than Rachunek and before the season, he was a nobody. Amazing.

So, was losing to Les Habitants crushing for a third straight time marking this season the first once since 1992-93 that Montreal took a season series and we all know what happened that year. Well, every Canadian supporter sure does no matter who they root for when it comes to Lord Stanley.

I mean when you consider the Devs didn’t have Martin- their best blueliner and White- a physical D who makes opponents pay the price- maybe it’s not so damaging. However, to not even score once on Price has to hurt. Especially when it’s possible they could see the 20 year-old former Mtl first round pick late this Spring. We shall see.

What hurts most is a lost opportunity to pick up ground on both the Pens and Rangers, who are closing fast. Three points still separates first from third in the Atlantic race and won’t be decided probably until that final week.

As for the Habs, I’ve been a broken record here and will continue to be. This is the best team they’ve had since the 24th Cup was hoisted by the great Patrick Roy. If you saw tonight’s game, you know why. Even with their No.1 ranked power play failing to connect on just two chances, they capitalized on some bad NJ turnovers. Their transition game is very dangerous. It just might now be better than Ottawa, who got a Dany Heatley hat trick to stay two back with each Northeast rival having 11 remaining.

This Habs team is a superb skating one which can hurt you offensively and can put the clamps down defensively when called upon with the omnipresent Mike Komisarek everywhere getting in the path of shots and freight training into opposing forwards.

They also seem to feed off a frenzied home crowd. Just ask the Rangers at 5-0 last month.

Home ice would be significant for the Original Six franchise. Just imagine those French Canadian fans going nuts cheering on their team and Price as they chase a league record 25th Cup.

If you’re a Ranger or Devil fan, maybe it’s better off you don’t.

Lecavalier tricks Isles: Vinny Lecavalier snapped out of his recent funk in a big way, netting a hat trick in a crushing 8-4 home win over the fading Islanders. Last year’s Rocket Richard winner scored a five-on-three goal in the first and twice more in an explosive third which saw the Lightning break open a two-goal game with a ridiculous three consecutive goals in a 42 second span.

Having already notched his second of the night early in the period, the electrifying Tampa center completed it when he converted a Marty St. Louis pass at the goalmouth beating Rick DiPietro for his 36th at 17:43. The Bolts then added two more before Islander leading scorer Mike Comrie closed out the scoring with his 21st at 19:23 ending another disappointing night.

Despite the Flyers blowing a three-goal third period lead in a 4-3 OT loss at Toronto, the eighth seeded Flyers moved to eight points ahead of the Isles and four clear of the Sabres.

The conclusion of regulation also featured one of the coolest things ever. With his team desperate to get the first of an all or nothing home-and-home, Leafs’ coach Paul Maurice pulled Vesa Toskala for an extra attacker in the last minute giving his team who was already on a power play an unusual seven-on-four advantage. However, they couldn’t find a way to beat Martin Biron, who got away with tossing his stick to deny a rebound out of mid-air.

The wild drama made for an entertaining end to regulation leaving the Air Canada Center buzzing at what they’d seen. I remember being told stories such as this by my Dad where teams needed to score a certain amount of goals to qualify for the playoffs back in the old days. This was just awessssome!

Maurice’s team did pull it out in overtime when Pavel Kubina banked one in off Biron from behind the net with three Leafs in front. They still trail the Flyers by seven points with one less game (11) remaining. They must get that rematch at Wachovia Center tomorrow night in regulation.

With a goal and an assist in his team’s miraculous comeback, Toronto center Mats Sundin now has 16 points in the last nine games. What a player!

Congratulations to Tampa coach John Tortorella on becoming the winningest American-born coach with his 235th career victory behind an NHL bench.

Since I’m not able to go to tonight’s Thrashing of the Rangers (yeah that’s what I said), I figured what better time than now to give you the hockey fan some of my total randomness. In no particular order:

1.When is the NHL going to stop allowing their star players to walk all over them? No. We’re not talking about Gary Bettman’s new CBA with a rising cap where teams are panicking and signing their own players to ridiculously long contracts. What I am referring to is the latest news about the upcoming All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Why should a star player such as Martin Brodeur be allowed to miss a game which is for the fans? You think he’s going to miss any upcoming starts between tonight in Philadelphia when he does what he usually does to them and Sunday?!?!?!?!?! It is an absolute joke that the league doesn’t step in and do the right thing by the fans who want to see the league’s marquee stars lace’em up in a fun-filled skills competition.

Unless you’re out with an excuse (injury, family crisis, health issue), it should be your obligation to take part in the All-Star Game. Especially if your own fans voted you in as a starter. Brodeur is still the best netminder in the conference and plenty of people want to see him. Even now as the three-time Vezina and Cup winner gets older, the Montreal native is still one of the NHL’s biggest stars. Someone who is marketable and treats fans and writers alike with nothing but class. No.30 should be in net for that first period in Atlanta. No if’s, and’s or buts.

That also means you Roberto Luongo! The fans deserve to see the Vancouver netminder at the opposite end of the rink against Marty. The fact that the two league’s top goalies were elected and won’t participate for unknown reasons looks bad. They’re what this game should be about.

This goes for any player who is elected. Unfortunately, the league already lost their most identifiable star in Sidney Crosby due to a high ankle sprain which appears will keep the 2006-07 Hart winner out at least six weeks. And losing one of the bright young stars out West in Paul Stastny due to injury doesn’t help much. Neither does one of the game’s best players in Henrik Zetterberg for no other apparent reason than wanting to rest due to recurring back spasms.

If the league wants to be taken seriously, put out the best players for this game and make it a priority. The encouraging news is at least Evgeni Malkin replaced Crosby and Tim Thomas is now in place of Brodeur. The surprising Boston No.1 goalie certainly was worthy of making it.

On the other side, Corey Perry and Mike Ribeiro will get to take part. They certainly both belong. Scott Niedermayer was also tabbed probably as a league selection due to his veteran status. He certainly hasn’t disappointed since returning to the defending champion Ducks posting 11 points in 17 games and helping lead his team to the top of the Pacific.

2.Hell or high water, Tom Renney has to go. His message clearly isn’t getting through anymore to the underachieving Blueshirts. There’s little effort. No discipline. And zero accountability. The affable coach is good at analyzing the team’s problems. The problem is he never punishes his best players and that’s not a good recipe for success. This team is severely lacking and has become softer than a box of Twinkies.

If the Ranger organization wants to save their season, they must bring in a tough cop. Pat Burns would be perfect. So too would John Tortorella if he ever gets fired down in Tampa. It’s more likely that Jim Schoenfeld takes over if the Rangers don’t get a win tonight or on Brian Leetch night against Atlanta.

3.Speaking of which, how is it possible that the Rangers host the Thrashers twice in a row??? What are the schedule makers doing? If it were a traditional home-and-home like the games against the Bruins, that would make more sense. Give both fanbases a chance to see a rivalry formulate.

4.Rookie Nicklas Backstrom continues to play extremely well on the resurgent Caps who now are over .500 and just three points behind first place Carolina and the eighth seeded Islanders. The former 2006 Caps’ fourth overall selection became the first rookie in league history to record back-to-back four assist games. He assisted on four Washington goals in a come from behind 6-5 shootout win over Pittsburgh last night. With nine goals and a team-leading 31 helpers, his 40 points place him second to only Chicago rookie forward Patrick Kane, who has 45 points (12-33-45).

Backstrom’s strong play along with NHL-leading goalscorer Alexander Ovechkin (38 goals), the reemergence of Alexander Semin (5 goals in last four contests) and Mike Green (14-16-30; 14 pts in last 10 GP) have Bruce Boudreau’s Caps thinking playoffs.

5.Now that John Ferguson, Jr.’s finally been giving his walking papers in Toronto, when does the Original Six franchise realize their problems are a lot more than just one executive???

6.Can anyone think of any good reason how Mats Sundin was passed over for the East?

7.If he gets the Bruins in the playoffs despite no Patrice Bergeron and other regulars out, does former Devil coach Claude Julien win the Jack Adams?

8.Tomas Vokoun’s a good goalie but he’s not better than Florida captain Olli Jokinen.

9.Remember when Bill Guerin was a bad move for the Islanders? How’s that turning out?

10.Speaking of which, Dainius Zubrus: 47 games, seven goals. He’s still got another five years left on his deal in New Jersey. Somehow, the Devils are still winning games. Brodeur and first-year coach Brent Sutter are the biggest reasons why.

With it being a very busy Saturday in the league, we figured we’d throw out some other extra stuff as well from other games:

-Toronto captain Mats Sundin’s two goals in his team’s 3-2 home loss to the Flyers gave him 20 for the season- making it the 17th consecutive season the 35 year-old Swedish pivot has scored at least 20 in his brilliant NHL career.

Sundin, who was taken first overall by the Quebec Nordiques in 1989 has tallied 408 of his 543 with the Maple Leafs since coming over in a trade for Wendel Clark. No.543 last night moved him past Stan Mikita into sole possession for 25th on the NHL’s all-time goalscoring list.

Swedish Finisher A Magnificent Mats (Most Consecutive Seasons of at least 20 goals-or-more)

Gordie Howe 22 seasons

*Brendan Shanahan 18 seasons

Marcel Dionne 17 seasons

Brett Hull 17 seasons

Mats Sundin 17 seasons

+Jaromir Jagr 16 seasons

*still active needing five goals to reach 19 straight

+active and needs nine more for 17 in a row

-Emergency third string goalie Ty Conklin continued his amazing story stopping all 35 Panthers shots in backstopping the suddenly surging Pens to a 3-0 shutout- their sixth consecutive win.

The 30 year-old journeymen who’s with his third organization in two years has been utterly brilliant since being recalled from AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In six straight starts, he’s allowed only eight goals. In fact, he’s now seven-for-seven when he gets the nod in net for Pittsburgh, which trails first place New Jersey by just a point.

“Its nice, mostly because the team’s been plying so well,” Conklin told the Associated Press after yesterday’s latest stellar performance. “Everything’s a lot more fun when you win.”

“When you have a goalie that can make the saves, he’s giving you a chance to win, and this is what he’s doing right now,” Pens’ coach Michel Therrien added.

It sure is a lot simpler when you’ve got a hot goalie. That it would come from such an unlikely source due to a high ankle sprain which has sidelined starter Marc-Andre Fleury makes it even more special for the Penguins.

Conk-ering All (Ty Conklin this season with Pens)

8 GP 7 GS Record: 7-0 2.00 GAA .939 Save Pct 2 SHO

-With another goal (No.32) plus two assists, Calgary captain Jarome Iginla remained red hot in leading his Flames to a 6-4 win over the NHL’s worst team the LA Kings.

After a slow start under new coach Mike Keenan, the admirable 30 year-old power forward has turned it up carrying his team to wins in 11 of their last 14 to move up to 49 points- one fewer than division leader Vancouver.

In fact, when Iginla tallies, the Flames have a pretty good record this season improving to 16-4-3 after last night.

Iginla Lighting The Lamp With Regularity (A breakdown of Iginla’s goalscoring this season)

October 12 GP 8 goals

November 14 GP 5 goals

Two month total 26 GP 13 goals

Since Dec. 1 17 GP 19 goals

Notes:

-Iginla has only failed to score a goal in five of the 17 games.

-The Calgary franchise has six multi-goal games during the stretch including a hat trick in a 9-6 win over Tampa Bay on Dec.13.

-Included was a five-game goalscoring streak from 12/11 - 12/18 in which he lit the lamp eight times.

-The goal last night made it three straight games with a goal (5 total). He’s tallied eight times in the last six contests.

More Iginla (Goalscoring leaders for 2007-08 season)

Ilya Kovalchuk, Atl 33 goals

Jarome Iginla, Cgy 32 goals

Alexander Ovechkin, Wsh 32 goals

-With his OT winner in a 2-1 victory over the Islanders, Marek Svatos continued his bounce back season. After scoring only 15 times in 2006-07, the 25 year-old Avs’ right wing already has one more goal than he did in 66 games last year.

Svatos has three goals in his last two games and six in his past seven.

Marek’s Turnaround In 2007-08

2006-07 66 GP 15 goals

2007-08 38 GP 16 goals