Okay, so it took a while for Jose Theodore to show why the Colorado Avalanche stunned everyone by trading for him at the deadline. Now all he has to do is keep it up.

Theodore is a former league MVP and Vezina winner who essentially played himself out of Montreal this season. He didn't look very good either when he finally got into the Avs lineup late in the season after returning from a foot injury and was arguably his team's biggest question mark heading into the playoffs.

Theodore didn't ease those concerns for the first four games of Colorado's first-round set against Dallas, but his team played well enough in front of him to keep it from really mattering. Especially with his Stars counterpart Marty Turco struggling even more.

But Theodore earned a reprieve in the series clincher on Sunday, particularly in the overtime period. He was brilliant in the extra session, frustrating the desperate home-town Stars who kept sustained pressure on him and dominated the first 10 minutes of play. Dallas had several great chances to win, but failed to solve Theodore and seemed destined to be the victims of series upset.

Of course, Turco made it seem inevitable as well. Turco has been one of the league's top regular-season goalies for the last three season, but his previous playoff efforts have left a great deal to be desired. This time around was no different and in fact, his game Sunday might have been the worst of all.

Turco looked like a fish out of water --literally-- all afternoon flopping around on his belly and get beaten on all three goals by being caught badly out of position. It was pretty ugly when you come right down to it and likely won't do anything to stem rumors already floating that he is done in Dallas.

No one is saying that about Theodore. At least not for now.

The Detroit Red Wings were the league's runaway best team this season. They have a great offense, defense and special teams, and most of their players have been around the block a couple or 10 times. And you know what, the Edmonton Oilers really don't care.

Why should they? After pushing the Red Wings to the brink of elimination Saturday, the Oilers have proven that in spite of finishing 29 points behind Detroit in the regular season, they can play with Presidents' Trophy winners. And beat them. Even if they make it tougher on themselves than necessary.

What's been clear in this series Edmonton leads 3-2 going home is that the Oilers can handle themselves quite nicely thank you when the teams are at even strength. Despite what it says on paper, they are not overmatched, their goalie Dwayne Roloson is doing a better job than Detroit's Manny Legace and the Oilers can actually shut down the Red Wings effectively by using the trap.

Edmonton has been outsmarted though from time to time, failing to adapt as well as the veteran Red Wings to how refs are calling particular games. It has cost them because Detroit has scored seven power-play goals -- half its overall total in this series -- on 36 chances, but on Saturday, the Oilers killed off four Red Wings power plays in the first period, frustrating the home and giving them the opportunity to turn the momentum.

They took a big lead and then shut down Detroit, and left the Red Wings in a position to start re-living the nightmares of the last three seasons. In case you don't remember, those were campaigns in which the Red Wings coasted to first-place finishes each time only to suffer the indignity of early exits to underdog teams. Twice Detroit went down in the first round, and the third time, they went down in the second round.

Looks like it could happen again.

A goal would be nice, a win even better, but at this point, Rangers fans would probably be happy if the team played a truly feisty Game 4 Saturday in what should be their last appearance of the season at Madison Square Garden.

Not that it's going to make a difference in this series, mind you. Even if the Rangers manage to extend things by pilfering the game, they don't have enough to come back against a Devils team that is head-and-shoulders above it at this point in time. Still a spirited effort, successful or not, would at least make the New York's final image of the season a better reflection of how far the team has come in this post-lockout campaign.

The Rangers were expected by just about everybody to be among the worst teams in the league for the eighth consecutive season, and they've justified those predictions over the last three weeks. After reaching their goal of clinching a playoff spot earlier than expected in April, New York emotionally unraveled and ended the season on a listless five-game losing streak which cost them the first-place Atlantic Division finish that was theirs for the taking.

It also caused the Rangers the misfortune of a first-round faceoff with New Jersey, the league's hottest team coming into the playoffs and the differences have been stark. New Jersey has beaten the Rangers decisively in every area of play, and handled New York so methodically Wednesday to take a 3-0 series, it seemed the Rangers knew they were beaten after falling behind less than two minutes into the game.

They were.

The reality is that the Rangers are spent. They are hurting, confused and look like there's no gas left in the tank. They had Jaromir Jagr and Martin Rucinsky back in the lineup Wednesday despite injuries, but neither was able to do much good. Their Superman rookie goalie Henrik Lundvist must have touched some kryptonite lately because he's lost his powers, the team's weak defense is lying naked and coach Tom Renney seems to have run out of magic potions.

Too bad really. The Rangers had a very good season until Jagr and the large contingent of Czechs on the team broke for a gruelling Olympic tournament in Turin, and brought the franchise back to respectability. They won back a lot fans and developed a bond by finishing wins at home with a unique stick salute at center ice.

That's the way they should go out on Saturday.

Until they win actually win a Stanley Cup, the Ottawa Senators will always be hounded by questions about whether they really have the DNA of a champion. So you have to take their win in Tampa Bay on Tuesday, a game in which Ottawa showed all the requisite skill, grit and discipline necessary to win it all, with a grain of salt

The Senators played a very good game, displaying their best offensive side against the Lightning's shaky goaltending duo of John Grahame and Sean Burke, and turning in a very smart defensive game, especially on the penalty kill, when the outcome was still in doubt. When the victory was assured, the Senators showed even more moxy in the way they stood up to the intimidation tactics of the Lightning who were trying to send a message for the next meeting, especially with their efforts to run Ottawa goalie Ray Emery.

As a result, Ottawa regained the home-ice advantage they squandered a couple of nights earlier because of an impressive demonstration of character which at this point, is probably as important as winning the game.

There's little doubt that Ottawa has the talent to win it all, but after nearly a decade-worth of great seasons followed by playoff busts, the Senators have a lot to prove. To their fans, to their opponents and most of all, to themselves. It didn't help that after finding a way to win the series opener, the Senators looked lackluster in Game 2 and sparked anew all the concerns about missing playoff intensity they have faced in recent years. But the way the team rebounded in the third game says a lot.

Expections were very high in Ottawa heading into this season, and they remained so heading into the playoffs even though Dominik Hasek, the veteran goalie they acquired to lead their run, has been injured since February.

Ottawa hasn't felt that loss because rookie Emery has played exceedingly well, and has shown himself capable of winning for this team if the outstanding collection of players in front of him does their job.

This team has the ability, they just have to show they really have the will.

Like they did Tuesday.

Funny how some things work out. The Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche both blew out their opponents in the first period, let each get back in and then needed overtime to head home with 2-0 leads in their respective series. It's makes you wonder about a lot of things.

Such as:

1. Will the New York Rangers win another period, let alone another game this season?

You have to doubt it after watching them get thoroughly disassembled again by a really finely-tune Devils team. Even if Jagr and the other injureds return, the Rangers look spent.

2. What has become of the Carolina Hurricanes?

They don't look like the team tha t was among the league's best most of the season. Carolina has now lost three critical games in a row and the 'Canes are seeing several flaws in their game, especially the problem goalie Martin Gerber has with high shots, exposed by a well-prepared Montreal team.

3. Which goalie is the bigger danger in the Colorado-Dallas series?

That seems to change from period to period. Colorado's Jose Theodore was horrible earlier this year in Montreal and has not looked sharp since joining the Avs, and certainly not in this series. Meanwhile, the Stars' Marty Turco, a perennial Vezina candidate who never seems to keep it going in the playoffs, has now allowed at least three goals in each of his last eight postseason starts. In other words, neither goalie is giving their team a lot of confidence, making it likely the winner will be decided despite, rather than because of either netminder.

4. Is Buffalo better than New Jersey in the East right now?

The Sabres are at least as good and if they do get an edge, it's because they are manhandling a team that is much better than the one New Jersey is facing. Everything is clicking so far for Buffalo, who are just too fast for the Flyers to keep up with. But New Jersey isn't riding a 13-game winning streak for nothing, even if they are being challenged by the Rangers. There is absolutely no flaw with any part of the Devils game right now.

Generally speaking, Saturday was a pretty good day for the men wearing road uniforms. Well at least for those three white-jerseyed teams that saw their hopes for a deep run in these Stanley Cup playoffs get a boost from their performances.

The Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens drew first blood in their respective series, while the Philadelphia Flyers found out they can deal with the speed of the Buffalo Sabres largely because they have a goalie Robert Esche who looks like he can come up big at this time of year. At the same time, the other team starting the playoffs away from its own building was humiliated by the New Jersey Devils, but since the New York Rangers only had to cross the Lincoln Tunnel to play their game, maybe they weren't entitled to the "road-ice" advantage the others had going for them.

What's worse is that the Rangers may have to do without superstar Jaromir Jagr because of an unspecified "upper body injury." Jagr let his frustration get the better of him late in the game and appeared to have dislocated his shoulder in an awkward attempt to shove New Jersey's Scott Gomez behind the play. He may not return in these playoffs, which would be a mortal blow to a club that has seen its play deteriorate so much over the last two week, it is already on life support.

Meanwhle, the chances of the other clubs had new life breathed into them.

The Colorado Avalanche barely managed to sneak into the playoffs as the West's seed, but the produced a major upset by easily rolling over the second-seed Dallas Stars after falling behind by two goals. Had their goalie Jose Theodore not looked so shaky in the first period, Colorado would have been doing cartwheels after this one, but the way the Avs managed to thoroughly outwork and physically outmuscle Dallas means they match up a lot better against the Stars than the regular-season standings suggest. And Colorado won't be hurt either if Stars goalie continues to haunted by his post-season demons.

Back East in Carolina, the No. 7 Canadiens steamrolled the No. 2 Hurricanes, who got their loud home crowd charged up by scoring less than a minute into the game. That was all there was to cheer about in Raleigh, where the 'Canes have to be wonderinng how long they can stick with starting goalie Martin Gerber. Gerber was one of the league's top netminders before the Olympics, but he has looked dangerously bad over the last two weeks and was beaten at least three times by Montreal shots he should have stopped Carolina's power play has lost its juice lately as well, and with Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet looking sharp, the chances of an upset in this series looks very real.

And up north in Buffalo, you have to wonder if it would be an upset for the Philadelphia Flyers to beat the Sabres. Buffalo won the opener in double overtime against the lower-seeded Flyers, and showed the kind of problems they will cause for the plodding Philadelphia defense with its speed. But the Flyers are largely a veteran team with several players who have the leadership skills necessary to keep this team patient and focused. Those factors played a major role in allowing Philadelphia to get the game into overtime, where they came within a Sami Kapanen shot off the goalpost from winning it, but the big confidence booster had to be Esche, who answered all questions about his playoff-worthiness with an incredible 53-save night. That's the kind of goaltending that steals a series.

Not that any of it will matter if the New Jersey Devils don't come back to earth. The Rangers looked horrible, but the Devils played a near-perfect game and took advantage of every miscue. They've been doing that a lot lately, which isn't a surprise considering New Jersey haven't lost in nearly four weeks. It could be a while before they do.

The Flames and Red Wings are breathing sighs of relief this morning while the Predators and Senators are likely feeing pretty good about themselves. Funny thing is they're all in exactly the same situation, ahead one game in their respective first-round playoff series and still holding the key home-ice advantage.

That's not always an easy thing especially at the start of the playoffs. In fact, there are many coaches who say they'd prefer to begin the post-season away from home and the pressure of performing right away in front of their own fans. Get a couple of games under your belt, maybe steal a game and then come home on a roll and with some momentum.

When the script goes according that plan, all is good, and for the four losers in Game 1, things could still work out that way before they get back to their own buildings. But in the four series openers, even if things didn't go according to their plans, at least they worked out the way everyone thought they would.

Want examples? Of course you do. Okay, well how about goalies John Grahame of Tampa Bay and Dwayne Roloson of Edmonton wilting at the wrong time, while rookies Ray Emery of Ottawa and Chris Mason of Nashville were handling themselves as well as any veteran could. There was no surprise in probable Vezina-winner Miikka Kiprusoff of Calgary making the difference for this team when it was largely outplayed by Anaheim, or Vesa Toskala solidifying his status as the go-to guy for San Jose between the pipes.

Still, the goaltending was only part of the story in each of the four openers. Ottawa's win over Tampa Bay was more notable for the offensive explosiveness the Senators demonstrated in pulling away from the befuddled Lightning in the third period, while Edmonton showed it could skate and match the physical force of the Red Wings, at least through 60 minutes.

Anaheim looks pretty confident that it can take all the punishment Calgary will try to dish out in this series, although if they can't figure out Kiiprusoff, all they'll up doing is feeing pain. And then there's little Paul Kariya, who looked like he was releasing years of pent-up frustration against the Sharks by skating like a buzz saw all night and setting up all four of Nashville's goals.

The Predators and the Sharks played the most entertaining game of the night in what is shaping to be a super series between two really fast, aggressive and up-tempo teams. The pace and the flow was incredible all night and the game could have gone either way, which is something that could probably be said about the series as a whole. But San Jose has to figure out a way to get Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo a little more operating room. Nashville's game plan obviously centered in containing the league's top two offensive players and the Predators did that very well.

If San Jose's guys can't adjust, the Sharks lose all their bite.

The NHL conducted a series of conference calls this week with the captains of each playoff team and all of them agreed that any of the 16 qualifiers has a realistic shot at winning the Stanley Cup.

Steve Yzerman of the Presidents' Trophy-winning Red Wings argued there isn't "a huge difference between the No. 1 seed and the No.8 seed" in either conference, while New Jersey's Patrik Elias suggested the new collective bargaining agreeement has ensured there are "a lot of teams very much at the same level." And Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour chimed in by saying that the tough part is getting to the playoffs and once there, no team has any real advantage.

Tell that to the teams who do not have Martin Brodeur or Miikka Kiprusoff between their pipes. You could probably add Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere to the that group because he did win a Conn Smythe Trophy once in a losing effort, but heading into the post-season, there is an axiety factor for majority of contenders who do not goaltenders with many playoff battle scars. In the context of the intense atmosphere of the playoffs, many wonder how far their guys are capable of taking them.

"I definitely think it's over-emphasized," said Flyers captain Derian Hatcher. "When it comes down to it, all the goalies ahve experience at some level. They've all played in big games, they've always obviously excelled and that's why they're where they are at.

"We don't have anyone who's been to the Stanley Cup, but they've been in big-pressure situations before."

That's the logic Jaromir Jagr said to dismiss concerns about the Rangers having rookie Henrik Lundqvist carry their mail. Jagr said the Olympics were just as pressure-packed a situation for Lundqvist.

"It might be his first year in the NHL, but he's not 18, he's 22 years old," Jagr said. "He was playing a lot in the Swedish league and on the international level. We've got a lot of confidence in him because he showed us in the year he can stop pucks and win games for us."

Of course he still has to prove his mettle in the playoffs, the way Brodeur has by leading the Devils to three Stanley Cups and Calgary's Kiprusoff and Giguere have by taking their teams to Game 7s of the Stanley Cup Finals. Having guys with those resumes is a bonus for their teams, and a place where most of the other playoff goalies in this year's tournament have to reach, despite the talents they've displayed in the regular season.

No doubt Marty Turco has been a very good goalie for the Dallas Stars, but not in the playoffs. The Colorado Avalanche aren't sure if the Jose Theodore they traded for can every regained the Vezina form he showed four years ago in Montreal, while Edmonton's Dwayne Roloson and Detroit Manny Legace can either make or break reputations over the next two months.

Philadelphia is letting veteran Robert Esche have the first shot, while Buffalo is going with a rookie Ryan Miller. Montreal will probably start that way as well, giving Cristobal Huet the first crack over David Aebischer, whose only previous playoff experience wasn't particularly impressive, while Carolina is hoping their superb season isn't undone because the normally-reliable Martin Gerber is having trouble stopping beach-balls lately.

Then ther's the Ottawa Senators, who will use rookie Ray Emery to replace Dominik Hasek. Emery has actually played very well since Hasek hurt his groin at the Olympics, but the veteran free agent signed specifically to lead them to the Stanley Cup and it doesn't look like he'll be there.

"(Ray) has got to start somewhere," said Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson.

Guess you gotta make the best of it. At least there is company.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says penalties will be called tightly in the playoffs, and I for one believe him.

He's never lied to us, you know. At least not that I can remember. And if turns out he is telling truth, then it will be a big change from the old days. Could make these playoffs the most exciting they've ever been. And that take some getting used to though.Change isn't always easy.

Fortunately though, some things about the postseason will always stay true to tradition.

Take the reporting of injuries for example.

Back when hockey was a man's game that forced players to clutch and grab and claw and elbow their way through every inch of space while refs just "let them play," the grunts didn't let the public know about little things like them being hurt. A broken finger here, a cracked rib there, hey that's what they invented novocaine for. Players gritted their teeth, reached for some tape and expected their teams to be complicit in keeping things under wraps.

So when someone limped off the ice after taking a two-handed chop to the ankle, you would later learn he was suffering from an "upper-body" injury. Or that a player who went head-first into the boards was being held out the next day not because of a concussion, but by flu-like symptoms.

That's the way things will be again starting Friday night in the new fan-friendly NHL and Bettman sees no problem. In fact, he thinks the reporting procedures are perfectly fine, thank you. Why tell the customers if their favorites are not up to snuff, just because they've paid through the nose for a ticket?

"Teams need to at least generally indicate if there is an injury issue and we are comfortable with that standard," Bettman said. "This is a very physical game and if somebody is playing with an injury, we don't see any reason to increase them as targets."

I believe him because some things never change.

What did you think, the Maple Leafs would stay out of the news just because they didn't make the playoffs?

C'mon they live at the center of the hockey universe. Everybody who understands the game knows it. So what if the charge to the Stanley Cup is shaping up to be a great tournament, why shouldn't the Toronto organization grab some of the spotlight the NHL needs concentrated on its showcase event? It's not like they have anything to gain by the league being better off overall.

Really. Whatever happens, works for the Leafs. They made a lot of money before the lockout and even more when a salary cap was imposed on them.

Either way, they never got very far on the ice, and at some point, you have to at least create the impression that you believe the fans deserve better. So less than 48 hours after a very strong finish to a very disappointing season, the Maple Leafs rushed to announce they had fired coach Pat Quinn but kept general manager John Ferguson Jr. But even if the corporation that owns the team believed he was to blame rather than Ferguson, who has made few productive moves in his two years on the job, it could have waited for a more appropriate time than a day before the first playoffs in two years is set to begin.

As long as Ferguson is staying and getting ready for the draft and free agency, there was no real rush other than the one the new guard got by casting aside Quinn, who lost a power struggle for the first time a decade of dealing with internal corporate politics of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. It's fair to say he was due on severeal levels including being relieved of his duties.

After a dozen seasons behind the bench of the Flyers, Kings and Canucks, Quinn landed in Toronto in 1998 as coach of a team that had missed two consecutive playoffs and he became GM as well the next season. Quinn's teams always made it to the post-season, but never came close to providing the Leafs with their first Stanley Cup since 1967. As GM, he had differences of opinion with then team president Ken Dryden, and when Quinn was forced to relinquish the GM duties to Ferguson in 2003, there were strains of a different nature.

Through it, Quinn remained known as a player's coach, someone who was loyal to his troops and who could get a lot of them. He was never blessed with overwhelming talent, although the organization did provide him with stars like Mats Sundin and some decent supporters in some prime years, but the team invariably failed to reach the level that was always optimistically anticipated.

And the 2005-06 version of the Maple Leafs, an aging, slow and impractical team ill-suited for the new NHL and assembled by Ferguson, was the last straw. The Maple Leafs were eliminated from the playoffs on the final weekend after making a very strong late run using a lot of callups from the minors, but when the post-mortem was done immediately, the suits upstairs, who have never been averse to let their feelings on how the team is run be made public, decided that it was time to put the 63-year-old Quinn out to pasture.

Really, they couldn't have fired themselves now could they? Too bad. Would have been an even bigger story.

Okay, what the New Jersey Devils have done is ridiculous.

Without question. No argument. They just can't be this good at this time.

Taking an 11-game winning streak into the playoffs is one thing, but falling behind three goals and then coming back to win the Atlantic Division at the wire is just an amazing last chapter to what has been a remarkable story this season in New Jersey.

Can anybody stop them in the East? Judging from Tuesday's final night of the schedule, when all the playoff matchups were set, it won't be easy.

The Buffalo Sabres might be able to. They won their fifth straight game, their goaltending is back on track and overall, the Sabres and have been looking very good lately. Ottawa has to be reckoned with as well, especially after the Senators snapped to attention in time and finished first in the East. They're missing Dominik Hasek, but Ray Emery can do the job when they play as well as they did in the finale against the Rangers. That should concern others.

Everyone else in the East hits the second season wondering about themselves. The Philadelphia Flyers struggled but still nearly won the Atlantic by edging the Islanders, ending up fifth and getting a date with Buffalo, while the Hurricanes not only blew first place in the conference, they saw goalie Martin Gerber again fail to escape the costly downward spiral he has been on for several weeks.

The New York Rangers, who should have won the Atlantic Division, lost their fifth in a row and looked nowhere near good enough to compete with the likes of Ottawa. Of course the Rangers won't have to worry about that because the way they are playing, they won't survive the Devils in round one.

And don't think the Montreal Canadiens aren't shaking their heads aftergetting in through the back door. Montreal lost several chances to clinch their spot last week, getting in when Atlanta's valiant late charge ran out of time. The Thrashers miss secured a post-season spot for defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay, a team that has shown flashes of 2004 brilliance, but too often gets undone by unreliable goaltending.

Don't expect that to change in the playoffs.

Do expect to see New Jersey and Buffalo fight to represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Los Angeles Kings acted with class and rather mercifully when it came to firing general manager Dave Taylor.

It's been a foregone conclusion for several weeks that Los Angeles would part company with the man who ran things for nine seasons, but the Kings allowed Taylor the dignity of finishing the season and then didn't let him linger.

Taylor got the news the day after the Kings finished their schedule in 10th place, a disappointing season for which the general manager is not necessarily to be blamed. But it's hard to argue that some new blood is needed to stir things up again in La-La Land, and maybe even some star appeal.

That's why Wayne Gretzky's name keeps popping up from time to time. He say he's committed to coaching again in Phoenix where the team is run by his very good buddy and former agent Mike Barnett, and he is supposed to have a stake in the Coyotes, although the specifics of that have never been too clear.

Still, with recent changes in the Coyotes ownership structure, and Gretzky's assumed desire to return to the Los Angeles area where he has his primary residence and family being talked about, it makes for interesting speculation.

Several obstacles need to be overcome for anything to happen, and the Kings might not wait long before hiring another candidate such as former Sharks GM Dean Lombardi, who is thought to be in serious consideration, but there could be worse things for the league than having Gretzky try to revive things in the important Southern California market.

Even his wife would bet on that.

Joe Thornton will probably win the NHL scoring title, he might be named league MVP and for now, he is the offensive co-player of the week. With his red-hot San Jose Sharks team headed for the playoffs in no small part because of his contributions, Thornton figures to be much in demand over the next little while by those who seek words of wisdom and deeper meaning to the goings-on they see before them on the ice.

Too bad.

Thornton might be a thoughtful and good-natured fellow, but he's mastered the art of playoff hockey-speak, an annual virus that tends to affect players, coaches and GMs around this time of year and only gets worse as they get deeper into the post-season. Symptons include answers to questions that offer absolutely nothing in the way of information, insight or inflammatory potential and Thornton gave a fine example to reporters from around the country in a conference-call ruminating about several subjects with equal aplomb.

On whether he expects first-round opponent Nashville to shadow him or high-scoring linemate Jonathan Cheechoo, Thornton offered the illuminating response of: "I don't know, I guess we'll find out Friday or Saturday."

On why he has clicked so impressively with Cheechoo, he said: "I like to pass and he likes to score."

On whether he's rather win the Hart Trophy, the MVP award voted on by writers or the Pearson, which is voted on by players: "I never really thought about, but they're both special."

Thornton did admit he realizes he should shoot more, the Predators are a good team and that he believes there there will be some upsets in the first round. He just couldn't predict any. Nor did he cop to any ill-will toward the Bruins organization, which traded him so unceremoniously back in November. "Zero, absolutely none," he said.

Fortunately, Thornton does make things exciting on the ice.

Things have been really tough in Washington this year, even for the hockey team that plays there. But at least the Capitals left town on a high note Monday, winning their final home game of the year and ruining division-rival Atlanta's chance at the playoffs at the same time.

It was a sweet finish for the Caps and in particular goalie Olaf Kolzig, a 36-year-old lifer with the team who could have gone to a contender at the deadline had he desired. Instead, he chose to stick it out with a team made up of a budding superstar in rookie Alexander Ovechkin and a group of mostly AHL players and went through a lot of frustrating nights as a result.

The way things began Monday, it seemed like Kolzig was in for another one. The Thrashers,on fire over the last two weeks in their desperate late playoff run, scored only 11 seconds into the game and looked like they were smelling blood. If they did, it was on the hands of their goalie Mike Dunham, who was as bad at his end of the ice as Kolzig was good at his.

Kolzig was the difference in this game, making 38 saves and stoning Atlanta in the second period when the Caps allowed four power plays and were outshot 16-5. He came up just as big in the third period when Atlanta threw everything they could in their last gasp attempt to stay alive.

Of course Atlanta would still be alive if Dunham hadn't picked this night to completely tank. He was so shaky that coach Bob Hartley pulled him less than five minutes into the first period after he allowed his second weak goal, but his team picked him up and got Dunham a second chance, which he blew in the third period by giving up two more eye-rolling goals that cost his team the lead.

Too bad because Atlanta made a great and dramatic 11th-hour charge to the post-season, going 5-0-1 before the Washington debacle. The Thrashers are talented, especially offensively,but this team has been hurt all year by goaltending. Their best goalie, rookie Kari Lehtonen, spent way too much time on the disabled list, and none of the other four netminders they've used really did the job, as Dunham highlighted in a critical situation.

Still, it was nice for the Caps and especially for Kolzig to give their fans a nice send-off to the summer.

Atlanta has the kind of offensive firepower that gives opposing goaltenders nightmares, and almost all of it comes from the high-flying forwards on the first two lines. This week though the new scoring sensation has been defenseman Andy Sutton.

Huh? The big blue-liner has been in the NHL since 1999 and has never hit the double-digit mark in goals, but in this the most crucial week in Thrashers history, Sutton has turned into a major lamp-lighter who has kept Atlanta's ever-improving playoff hopes alive.

Sutton scored twice in a very important Thrashers win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday and added another pair including the winner today as Atlanta came back to beat Boston 4-3. The win temporarily moved the hard-charging Thrashers into a tie with the Lightning for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East and kept up the momentum for a team that seemed dead in the water at the Olympic break.

Sutton now has six goals on the season, a total that won't make anyone forget that his main function on the team is to take care of business in his own end and to be a physical force. Actually, Washington's Ivan Majesky won't forget either after he was flattened by a brutal, but entirely clean hit by Sunday in a game against Atlanta on Thursday.

Sutton didn't score that night, but the Thrashers won anyway. So don't be surprised if Altanta is still playing when the post-season begins next week. No one would have believed it a month ago (me included) but then again, who figured Sutton could score?

Never let it be said that there isn't a pack mentality in the world of sports journalists, particularly when it comes to the flavors du jour. Maybe that's why two of the key individual awards to be handed out this season have been all but ceded to Jaromir Jagr of the Rangers and Washington's Alexander Ovechkin for several months already.

And quite honestly, I've been among those who have long believed that Jagr should win the Hart Trophy as the league MVP and Ovechkin the Calder as the top rookie, but heading into the final weekend of the season, I'm starting to have some doubts.

Both Jagr and Ovechkin have been great throughout the season and neither wouldn't diminish the trophies by getting their names inscribed on them, but the finishes being engineered these days by San Jose's Joe Thornton and Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby really bear consideration.

Thornton has been nothing short of amazing since he landed with the Sharks in November and has not only carried his team to a playoff spot which seemed so unlikely before he got there, he has put himself in position to beat out Jagr for the scoring title. Jagr has been a major force and a superb leader in New York as well, but the Rangers are stumbling into the playoffs while the Sharks are charging in and looking ready to take a big bite out of anyone they will face.

As far as the top first-year player goes, Ovechkin's 50-goal, 100-point campaign would make him a runaway Calder Trophy winner in any other season. Only 20, he might already be the NHL's most exciting individual player, he's physically tough and the goal he scored in Phoenix in January while lying on his back goes down without argument as one of the greatest in league history. Even Wayne Gretzky said so. But the reality is that the Russian-born Ovechkin, whose English is limited, has not faced anywhere near the pressure that 18-year-old Crosby has because there hasn't been any surrounding the Capitals this season.

Crosby has been been under the microscope from the day he arrived at the Penguins camp to join Mario Lemieux and a revamped Pittsburgh team that was supposed to make some noise this season. It didn't. In fact the Penguins tanked almost immediately, but certainly through no fault of Crosby's. Moreover, "Sid the Kid" has been the target of many, shall-we-say jealous, types around the league who have tried to test his mettle through on-ice intimidation and off-ice suggestions that he is a whiner.

None of that has phased the youngster, nor has the fact that Ovechkin's game and certainly his production totals have been a lot flashier. But Crosby has just sucked it up and is finishing the season with such a flourish that it might be hard to argue that the Washington player's stats are really better and more deserving of the best freshman's honor. Crosby has scored 17 points in his last seven games, including a brilliant four-point night against the Rangers on Thursday, and now only needs three more to reach the 100-point mark and become the youngest player in NHL history to do so.

Don't bet against him doing in in the final few days and then making it very difficult on those who decide the award winners. Just like Thornton has done recently.

I'm just glad I don't have a vote.

At least the Edmonton Oilers used the front door to get into the playoffs.

I didn't think that would happen after watching them and the Vancouver Canucks over the last couple of weeks go through their supposed dog fight in a way that was sooooo Canadian and polite. Both teams had chances to take control of their own destiny, but instead played Alphonse and Gaston with their 'you take it, no you first, no after you' shtick, losing games they needed to win and making it look like the one that finally did grab that last playoff spot would be the one that backed into it.

Instead, the Colorado Avalanche did that, clinching their post-season spot Thursday in a loss to Calgary and setting themselves up to face Dallas in the first round. Edmonton earned its spot by winning against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to get in with a win, while the Canucks were blowing a lead in the third period in San Jose and frittering away their last hope. And as it stands now, the Oilers will get to face Detroit, the league's best team, in the first round of the playoffs. Lucky them.

Luc Robitaille deserved a better ending to his long and illustrious career with the Los Angeles Kings, but he has no one to blame besides himself for not getting it.

The truth is that 'Lucky Luc' should have announced his retirement long before today and gone out on his own terms instead of being pushed out the door by a struggling organization that had no room for an aging player several years past his 'best before' date. Robitaille finally did accept reality with his decision to pack it in Tuesday, it's just too bad it took the embarrassment of being repeatedly scratched from the lineup over the last couple of weeks to do so.

While you can't really blame the Kings for the way they treated Robitaille of late because he wasn't able to contribute anything to their desperate and basically futile attempt to make the playoffs, it's not unreasonable to argue they made a mistake bringing back a 40-year-old for reasons that had little to do with anything but public relations. So did Robitaille for trying to squeeze out another $1 million from a game that had clearly had started to pass him by prior to the lockout.

Robitaille didn't need the money and he had already fashioned an outstanding legacy before this season, despite the fact that most teams didn't want to know from him during his 1984 draft year.The reason was that nobody thought he could skate well enough to play in the NHL. Even so, the Kings took a chance 171st pick back then and he rewarded them by becoming the NHL's highest-scoring left wing during a career that spanned 20 seasons, most of them during three stints with the Kings where he became one of the most popular players in franchise history.

But the situation was different this time, largely because the NHL game has gotten so fast, it was impossible for Robitaille to keep up anymore. In years past, his savvy and skill let him overcome his skating shortcoming, but this season the flaws were too apparent and too much for coach Andy Murray and his successor John Torchetti to tolerate. They couldn't take up space in the lineup and Robitaille didn't couldn't accept it, so he raised a fuss with the GM and let his frustration be known to the media.

It made him look sad and bitter, which is not the way Kings fans should remember him. And it didn't have to be that way.

Isn't it nice when you can turn to Washington for help with some financial burdens? The New York Rangers think so, because the Capitals are helping them pay for the player turning out to be the most valuable in the league this season.

We speak of course of Jaromir Jagr, who is leading the league in scoring and the Rangers to a possible Atlantic Division title, while collecting 30 percent of his $8.36 million salary this season from the Caps. That was the deal Washington made in January 2004 when they cut their losses and shipped Jagr to New York for Anson Carter, before watching him produce the kind of numbers they dreamt about when they had him for nearly three seasons.

Lots of things went wrong for Jagr in Washington, who ended up there because Pittsburgh GM Craig Patrick was forced into a fire sale and found one way to make himself feel good was to keep the superstar from getting to Broadway as he wanted. The Caps turned out to be a horrible fit for Jagr, who clashed with coach Bruce Cassidy about playing style throughout his time there and suffered several groin problems to boot.

Things have been much different obviously in New York, who made what has turned out to be incredible deal with Washington before the lockout. And it gets even better because according to the Washington Post, if Jagr wins either the scoring title, MVP award or Conn Smythe Trophy in the playoffs, it will trigger an additional year on his contract, leaving the Caps to pay him until 2009.

Well, at least Washington has Alex Ovechkin.

The New York Rangers are in the playoffs. Sounds strange, doesn't it?

Not for long. This is a team that has gotten better as the season has progressed and won't be a pushover with the 'real' season begins. New York is now assured of getting to the postseason for the first time since 1997 after beating Philadelphia 3-2 in a shootout Tuesday in what was a tremendously played game by both teams.And at the same time, the Rangers took a big step toward finishing first in the Atlantic Division by moving three points ahead of the Flyers. Each team has seven (there's that number again) games left and they'll meet one more time on the final weekend, but the Rangers are now clearly in the driver's seat.

It wasn't easy getting there though. This was a battle for 65 minutes plus by both teams with lots of fast-paced end-to-end action, hitting and some super goaltending at each end. Actually, I thought Robert Esche was going to steal this one for the Flyers because of the way he had Jaromir Jagr's number all night thanks to his lightning-quick catching glove. The Rangers most valuable player was flying and trying to get a team-record 53rd goal, but by the end of the night, he was just talking to himself.

Bet Rangers goalie Kevin Weekes was too.In a good way.

He doesn't start very much at home because New York fans have really been on him this season, but with Henrik Lundqvist out with a hip flexor, Weekes got the call. He didn't have much to do early and his best save in the first half came on Nikos Dimitrakos and looked like he made it by accident, but with things tied at 2-2 in the third period, Weekes rose to the occasion. He made three tremendous stops including a game-saver on Sami Kapanen's late breakaway, got the Madison Square Garden crowd back on his side, and held tough in the shootout to give his team the win.

And now the Rangers are officially in the playoffs. Yeah, still need to get used to it.

April Fools has come and gone so you can be sure that the small group of NHL players' association dissidents are very serious about continuing to challenge the legitimacy of union leader Ted Saskin's appointment last summer. If nothing else, give them credit for persistence.

Detroit veteran Chris Chelios remains the most outspoken leader of the movement, which he told the Detroit News is supported by 14 of the 30 NHL teams. The dissidents have several complaints about how the collective bargaining agreement was reached last summer and how Saskin got an annual $2 million contract to take over from Bob Goodenow, and has even taken its case to the National Labor Relations Board.

Essentially, the group believes Saskin is a little too cozy with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, and that the union chief has not been acting in the best interest of his group. Those are serious allegations they have not been able to conclusively demonstrate the general membership, but Chelios said he's circulating a petition among players and believes he can get enough signatures to force Saskin to resign.

It's probably not the kind of thing most fans want to deal with as the playoffs approach, but it's an issue that won't go away it seems any time soon.