When Garth Snow was named the New York Islanders general manager in July, most cynics, me included, thought the team's owner was suffering from a summer time brain freeze by giving the job to someone who spent last season as the team's spare goalie. After all, the NHL is not supposed a fantasy league, right?

But since Charles Wang has always marched to the beat of his own drummer, he defended his choice, insisting that Snow was a quick learner and someone who had the brains to earn an MBA from the University of Maine as well. So what if he didn't have the traditional background of scouting and player development?

So what indeed. Obviously Snow really does know how to crunch the numbers that count, because in the last couple of days, he's made some moves that set his surprising team up nicely for the second half of the season.

Trading defenseman Alexei Zhitnik to the Flyers last weekend for Freddie Meyer certainly wasn't earth-shattering and neither was a follow-up deal with Philadelphia this morning that saw center Mike York go for forward Randy Robitaille. Neither newcomer is an impact player and in fact, both of them could end up in the minors in short order.

But in the world of business, this would be considered a year-end bonus because it brings a real cash value. The Islanders were paying Zhitnik $3.5 million this season and doling out $2.5 million to York. Those are pretty big numbers for players who aren't producing any. In Meyer and Robitaille, New York is taking on only $1.125 million in combined salaries, and since the team was already a couple of million below this year's salary cap limit, the Islanders now find themselves in pretty good shape to make some signficant moves in the second half.

Right now, New York is sixth overall in the Eastern Conference, but the Islanders are only three points back of the division-leading Rangers and have three games in hand. The Islanders have been one of the NHL's bigger surprises this season, and the way Snow has positioned them in the last few days, they could have a few more in store before it's all over.

Conspiracy theorists must be saddened to learn that the weekend turmoil surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins pending sale wasn't a plot to pressure area politicians after all.

There were some who speculated that prospective owner Jim Balsillie's 11th-hour change of heart about buying the team was simply a ploy designed to help the company that promised to pay for a new arena would be awarded the slots license it needed to do so. Especially since Balsillie said afterward that he was still interested in moving forward.

Well fuhgeddaboudit, says current Penguins ownership group head Mario Lemieux. The former Penguins playing great made no secret of his displeasure a the late about-face, saying he was "shocked and offended" that Balsillie backed out at the last minute.

"We can say unequivocably the deal with Mr. Balsillie is dead," Lemieux said, adding that his group intended to keep the deposit because it believed the suitor had breached the agreement.

Sounds like a lawsuit in the making since Balsillie is known to be someone who won't shy away from that route, but the bigger issue for Lemieux and friends is what happens if Isle of Capri doesn't win the slots license on Wednesday.

"We will have to consider all our options," Lemieux said.

And Balsillie won't be among them.

Ken Hitchcock was comparing the challenge of taking over a team in mid-season as opposed to the summer.

"It's a lot different," the new man behind the Columbus Blue Jackets bench said. "We're trying to win games, but I'm also trying to find places to live, trying to find my way around the city and trying to get to know all the players in the same week."

Actually, Hitchcock said his familiarity with many of the Jackets players from all his years in the league helped him, and added that he thinks the biggest reason the team is playing so well is that they were ready for a change.

"Players are open and willing to accept the information," he said. "If it makes sense, they'll listen, and especially if they see success, they will buy in."

Hitchcock has been helped by vets like Sergei Fedorov, Adam Foote and Anson Carter who have been re-juvenated since he arrived, but said it was the improved positional play of his team that has impressed him most.

"We're a lot better when the other team has the puck and our checking is better so its giving us a chance to stay in games," Hitchcock said.

One difference noticed by Hitchcock coming over to the West from Philadelphia was the physical play of the conference.

"It's an element," he said. "Several teams play nasty. Toughness is a major factor and you have to be ready to mix it up every night."

Under Hitchcock, the Blue Jackets have been.

I can understand when teams from up north want to get as much extra time in South Florida as they can during the winter. It's been pretty miserable for weeks in Buffalo, so for the Sabres, having off-days between road games against the Lightning and Panthers is definitely appreciated. But it does them no good.

My own unscientific theory is that NHL teams suffer when they have days off before games against the Panthers. I've seen many teams, good ones too, look sluggish in games over my seven seasons here, and I think the many local distractions have a lot to do with it. The Sabres certainly have done nothing to disprove me. They dropped both of their games here last season after having days off in Florida before them, and did so again Thursday.

Granted they haven't been playing all that well lately, but a little slump in the course of a long season wasn't their problem Thursday. Especially since the Sabres are a really good team that has a great chemistry. But their effort against Florida was less about typical adversity in a season than about a group of guys who probably spent too much time by the pool.

The Sabres flew out to Tampa right after losing to Washington last Saturday, and had a couple of summer-like days off before a pedestrian win over the Lightning. Buffalo flew to Fort Lauderdale right after that game, and made its way to a beach-front hotel for a couple of days of 84-degree temperatures. The Sabres held an off-day skate on Wednesday, but took the morning on game-day Thursday. They looked awful losing to the Panthers, and coach Lindy Ruff said "we weren't ready to play. Our heads weren't into it."

Maybe that's why Florida is a nice place to visit, but a lousy place to play. Or maybe it's just Daniel Briere's theory that makes the most sense.

"The ice was really bad."

What the NHL needs is for Brett Hull to do some promos for NBC broadcasts before they start in January. With the right script of course. None of the lame stuff that pass for commercials on the dish broadcasts these days, but something that shows off his caustic wit - - in a family-friendly way of course.

Could create some buzz you know, espcially since Hull will be doing between-period analysis for the network. NBC made the announcement a little while ago, only hours after the St. Louis Blues held a number retiring ceremony for him. If he does what he is being hired to do, Hull will be a lot of fun to watch.

Anyone who paid attention to the future Hall of Famer during his playing career has heard several blunt gems come out of his mouth, the kind that tend to ring true because they usually alienate as many people as they please. Remember the one about "75 percent of hockey players being overpaid" a few months before the lockout? The union bros loved that one.

There is a danger of course that Hull becomes a bit of a stuffed shirt once he goes national. That happened to Tie Domi earlier this season on a Canadian network that hired the straight-forward former Toronto Maple Leafs winger to provide unvarnished opinions. Instead, viewers got a steady stream of cliches that seemed like everything else they'd heard from the current athletes.

But Hull showed he still has it last week during a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast when he mentioned that new Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock, who coached Hull in Dallas, hasn't grasped the new NHL and won't succeed until he does. And then the Golden Brett added that Mike Keenan, who coached Hull in St. Louis, "ruined more players' careers and enjoyed doing it."

Those kinds of works make people sit up and listen. Maybe a few more will even watch.

Initially, Montreal defenseman Serge Savard became known for his full-circle moves in the late 60s and early 70s, but it was not until Denis Savard played years later in Chicago did "Savardian spins" really become part of hockey's lexicon.

The new Blackhawks coach made spin moves with dramatic flair during his hey day with the team in the 80s, so its ironic his impressive start behind the bench ended wit one.

This time though, it came from Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard, who turned right around to baffle Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin in a shootout for the deciding marker. The Blackhawks still got a point, which means they've picked up 7 of the 8 available since Savard became coach last week.

He deserves credit too. I didn't think Chicago make a great move with this hiring, but the Blackhawks are winning because they are a lot better under Savard. He has them showing far more energy, forcing the play and moving the puck with authority.

The organization has made a commitment to Savard as a result, extending his contract through next season. Too bad Savard couldn't celebrate the new deal with a win, but Chicago got a point, and deep down, the coach had to be impressed by the spinorama.

Even though he left the St. Louis Blues somewhat unceremoniously eight years ago, it was really a no-brainer for the organization to finally retire his number.

For one thing, it was a good way to sell out a building in the middle of the week. But the honor was entirely deserved because during his decade with the Blues, Hull became one of the most prolific marksmnen in NHL history. He scored 86 goals in one season, more than 70 in two others and a pair of 50-goal campaigns and a couple with at least 40.

Those are special numbers. So the Golden Brett got special treatment from several St. Louis alumni members, including center Adam Oates and one-time coach Brian Sutter, who were both instrumental in Hull's success with the team.

His brother were there along with his ex-wife and three kids, his current wife, mom and step dad and most notably, his father, the great Bobby Hull. The presentation, at nearly 53 minutes, got a little tedious near the end, but as usual, Brett livened things up simply by opening his mouth.

In this case, as part of his thank you messages, Hull mentioned the media before correcting himself and say they should actually thank him for making their job so easy.

We do.

It's safe to assume that New York Islanders coach Ted Nolan is happy to have Viktor Kozlov around these days.

Not too many coaches can say that about the towering center who was the sixth overall draft pick in 1993 because Kozlov has been a disappointment for much of his career. He has bounced around, signing with the Islanders as a free agent near the end of training camp at a cut-rate price, but has earned every cent he gets in the last few weeks after Alexei Yashin was injured. Kozlov has scored seven goals and nine points in those four games and he had a career weekend a couple of days ago, with four goals in a game against the Rangers and two more against Pittsburgh.

So Kozlov is the big story around the Islanders these days, along with the fact they are tied for first later than they have been in five years, which is a good thing for Ted Nolan. It gives him and everyone around him something to focus on.

Nolan hasn't been able to completely avoid having his past with Ottawa GM John Muckler re-hashed, but in tonight's first meeting between the two teams, it has been reduced to a foot note. Especially since Muckler, who was Buffalo's GM in 1997 when Nolan last had a coaching job before this year, felt compelled to try to put an end to the so-called "blacklisting" controversy" by telling Ottawa beat writers he didn't fire Nolan back then.

Nolan didn't have to go there. He has Viktor Kozlov to talk about.

Alexander Ovechkin is a god-send to the NHL marketing machine, a supremely-talented young player with an outgoing and infectious personality. Naturally he gets treated really well by the establishment, even if it means they have to overlook some bonehead things he does.

The NHL gave Ovechkin only a slap on the wrist for running Buffalo Sabres star Daniel Briere into the boards from behind on Saturday night, most likely because no serious injury occured. Briere stayed down after crashing head first, but he didn't miss a shift while Ovechkin was ejected from the game.

That, and the $100 fine, were Ovechkin's only penalties.

But he should have been suspended because it would send a strong message the NHL won't tolerate reckless behavior from players. And it was a pretty cheap shot. Briere had already dumped the puck, and Ovechkin came late and it seemed from nowhere to make a dangerous hit. Ovechkin said he wasn't trying to hurt Briere, and considering his track record he deserves the benefit of the doubt. But the young Washington franchise player is always aware of the ice, and if he wasn't at that particular moment, he should have been.

Fortunately Briere didn't get hurt. And Ovechkin would certainly like that hit back. But with hits to the head, and hits from behind and hits that aim to hurt being a dangerous rage in hockey, it wouldn't have have been a bad thing for the NHL to show that everyone, even superstars, need to think.

Does anyone else think NHL referees are being quite liberal in calling penalty shots this season?

It's an exciting play, but it has lost some of its panache now that shootouts frequently settle tie games. Penalty shots during the game are almost overkill, but with 21 having been called so far this season -- and only six resulting in goals - - it seems that the zebras are interested in giving a shooter the opprortunity every time they can.

It certainly looked that way in Florida's game against Atlanta on Saturday, when Panthers forward Gregory Campbell was taken down after gaining a step on Thrashers defenseman Steve McCarthy.

McCarty made the right play for someone in pursuit, sliding and knocking the puck off Campbell's stick first before he hit the player, but to no avail.

"It was a quick turnover at the blue line so I dove and just mentally made a note to try to hit the puck first, " McCarthy told me after the game. "I thought I did, but the ref was in a tough position. He was moving the same time the play

After the game, Atlanta coach Bob Hartley said he wasn't suprised by the call.

"I believe at one meeting early on this year we were told it doesn't count anymore whether you touch the puck first," he said. "If the guy goes down, its still a penalty shot."

Fortunately for the Thrashers, goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped Campbell, and even better, he wasn't hurt when the Florida forward crashed into him on the preceding play. Lehtonen leaped to avoid Campbell, coming down hard and remaining on the ice for about a minute. He said he just had the wind knocked out of him.

This is really sad.

My wife clipped out a column about hockey from a New York Times feature section this morning and I got was intrigued because it was written by someone who dealt with the problems he had finding anyone to share his enthusiasm for the sport when he lived in Los Angeles.

Being in a similar land of year-round sunshine in Florida, I could commiserate.

The writer, who I won't embarrass my mentioning his name (you can look it up if you want), claimed to be a major Los Angeles Kings fan and detailed his frustration being in a place where the Kings took a back seat to the Lakers, Dodgers, Trojans and just about everyone else, even during their best season in history.

That would be in 1992-93 when the Wayne Gretzky-led Kings made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to lose in five games to Montreal. For anyone who remembers, that was the series in which Los Angeles won the first game on the road and was en route to capturing the second when Kings defenseman Marty McSorley was caught using an illegal stick late in the third period. The Canadiens tied the game on the subsequent power play, won it in overtime and swept the next three games to win the Cup.

Unfortunately, the writer mentioned the incident as having taken place against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the SEMIfinals. He actually wrote that Los Angeles lost that series, somehow forgetting the Kings won it in seven before going on to lose to Montreal.

And he's supposedly a fan. No wonder it's hard to sell this game in the lower 48.