hockey

No one has been able to make the NHL All-Star Game a meaningful exercise for going on two decades now, no matter how much they tweaked and adjusted and tried to convince you that the light-hearted shinny they play bears even a reasonable facsimile to the way the game is played, night-after-night, through a grueling 1,230-game regular season.

As a hockey fan, how odd is it to watch New Jersey and not see Devils goalie Martin Brodeur? How weird is it to see the Rangers without Jaromir Jagr?

Brodeur is out at least three months with an elbow injury. Jagr has taken his game to Russia.

Solving the National Hockey League's problem of hits to the head requires a varied approach because, unlike fighting or hits from behind, it is not a black-and-white issue.

CALGARY -- So naturally, your first thought is, what could they possibly be thinking?

It's tempting to call the $57.12 million for defenseman Brian Campbell or the $23 million for goaltender Cristobal Huet crazy money, but really, what constitutes crazy money any more in today's National Hockey League?

It isn't often an National Hockey League coach hosts his own conference call, but it's clear the Barry Melrose era is going to be different right from the beginning.

If you stroll by venerable Maple Leaf Gardens this time of year, you can almost hear Toronto Maple Leafs super fan John Arnott of yesteryear from his seat high above the ice holler "Come o-n-n-n, Teeder."

Why this time of year? Well, this is when the NHL hands out its hardware.

Unlike the Pittsburgh Penguins, who will be in a mad scramble to keep their roster together this summer, the Detroit Red Wings are nicely positioned to follow up their Stanley Cup championship with another and another and perhaps still another after that.

PITTSBURGH -- Two-time Stanley Cup champion Bob Errey, as recognizable a hockey name in Pittsburgh as just about any short of Lemieux and Crosby, laid out the hard truth before the Stanley Cup final.

"Only one team can win," he said. "Two weeks from now, you'll either be the happiest guy in the world or the forgotten bridesmaid."

PITTSBURGH -- Few remember anymore, but nine years ago, Nicklas Lidstrom thought about leaving the Detroit Red Wings to return to his native Sweden.