Anderson could join US Olympic mix

The 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver are still four months away, giving a handful of hockey players who weren't invited to the U.S. orientation camp over the summer plenty of time to impress the powers that be enough to earn spots on the Olympic team.

One of them could be Colorado Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson, who is from Park Ridge, Ill., and makes his offseason home in Chicago.

Anderson isn't thinking a whole lot about the Olympic team at the moment, but he has to be opening some eyes in the American camp, including those of Olympic team general manager Brian Burke.

Burke, who also is GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, watched Anderson make 30 saves against his team earlier this month at the Air Canada Centre when the Avalanche skated to a 4-1 win.

Anderson has continued his extraordinary play, starting all 11 of the Avalanche's games -- he'll be in the crease again Tuesday night when Colorado visits Edmonton -- while posting an 8-1-2 record with a 2.14 goals-against average and .936 save percentage.

Anderson's numbers certainly stack up well with the three goalies who took part in the orientation camp: Buffalo's Ryan Miller (6-0-1, 1.69, .940); Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick (8-3-0, 2.91, .897) and Boston's Tim Thomas (4-3-0), 2.97, .902).

"I'm getting wins, and that's all that really matters," Anderson said. "The goal is to get 'W's' and try to find a way to win, and right now I'm seeing the puck well and the guys are getting goals for me. I'm just doing my job, and my job is to stop the puck."

St. Louis' Ty Conklin (2-1-0, 2.40, .918) is another possibility. He won 25 games with Detroit last season, and it was a surprise when he wasn't invited to the orientation camp.

This much is certain: it looks like the Americans, while decided underdogs in Vancouver, should be pretty solid in goal.

Canada deserves more NHL teams

Hard to argue with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who would like to see more NHL teams in the land of the maple leaf.

Canadian fans watched two franchises relocate to the U.S. -- Quebec to Denver and Winnipeg to Phoenix (now Glendale, Ariz.) -- in the mid 1990s, and BlackBerry mogul Jim Balsillie was thwarted in his attempts at bringing an American franchise to Hamilton, Ontario.

You probably could build a hockey rink in the middle of nowhere in Canada, and the team would sell out every game.

Of course, a fan base has never been the problem in Canada. The Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets did very well, thank you, drawing fans to their respective arenas.

But the problems were two-fold: both cities had antiquated buildings, and the teams didn't have enough corporate support.

That isn't necessarily the case today.

The old Winnipeg Arena, which featured perhaps the best press box view in the league and a large picture of Queen Elizabeth, has been replaced by the 15,000-plus seat MTS Centre, which opened five years ago. The American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose call the place home, and it'd be a fine place for an NHL team.

Over in Quebec City, Mayor Regis Labeaume has hired an engineering firm to conduct a feasibility study regarding a state-of-the-art arena to replace Le Colisee, once home to the Nordiques (and the best hot dogs in the NHL or any other league). The Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League now play in the arena.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, in a recent interview with the Toronto Sun, said "the door has always been open (to Canada)," adding that the league isn't planning at the moment to move any teams.

"But if we relocate or if we expand," Bettman continued, "we are going to consider all of the opportunities in Canada that should be considered, assuming people want to own franchises in any one of the possible markets."

Interestingly, Bettman has met with Mayor Labeaume, he said, "because he asked for a meeting and we were interested in what he had to say."

Said league deputy commissioner Bill Daly: "We are encouraged by the mayor's announcement on the new arena and we believe it will be a very good thing for the city of Quebec. While there are no guarantees that an NHL franchise can return, certainly a new arena will enhance those prospects significantly."

Plenty of U.S. franchises are experiencing problems on and off the ice, including Atlanta, Florida, Nashville, Phoenix and Tampa Bay.

A brand new arena is sitting in Kansas City and there supposedly are plans to build one in Las Vegas, but if any of these troubled teams have to relocate, Canadian cities ought to get first dibs.

Thrashers need to sign Kovalchuk

If the Atlanta Thrashers ever hope to make serious inroads in Georgia's sporting landscape -- is it even possible to compete with the Braves, Falcons, college football and NASCAR? -- they can't afford to lose their most exciting players.

Hockey is a tough sell in the South as it is, which is why the Thrashers had better find a way to keep star left wing Ilya Kovalchuk in town. Either that, or trade him for a bushel of talent.

Of course, you might ask why the talented Russian would want to keep playing in a city that doesn't really appreciate hockey and for a team that has missed the playoffs six times in his first seven NHL seasons.

At any rate, Thrashers general manager Don Waddell, who somehow manages to hang onto his job despite the club's ineptness just about every year, is trying to sign Kovalchuk to a new contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.

That might not be so easy, considering Kovalchuk is being paid $7.5 million in the final year of his contract, already a ton of loot for a team like the Thrashers.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pounder is an offensive force, having scored between 41 and 52 goals in each of the past five seasons. He's off to a splendid start this year, too, with seven goals in the Thrashers' first five games.

Kovalchuk is just 27, so his best years could still be ahead of him, if that's even possible.

He reportedly likes being in Atlanta -- no pressure, I suppose -- but you'd think he'd enjoy playing in a more traditional hockey city even more, especially for a team with a legitimate chance at winning the Stanley Cup.

It's still early, so Waddell does have some time to get his man re-signed. If Waddell isn't able to accomplish the feat before the March 3 NHL trading deadline, he'll need to put the big guy on the market and get what he can in a trade rather than lose him to free agency and receive nothing in return.

Trust me, there would be plenty of suitors.

Wild looking pretty mild

They've got a new general manager, new coach, some new players, and they opened the season with a brutal road schedule.

The Colorado Avalanche? Well, yes, but first-year coach Joe Sacco and his troops have gotten off to a surprising 6-1-1 start and will take a four-game road winning streak into Wednesday's visit to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

The Avalanche will take on the Minnesota Wild, which also has a new GM in Chuck Fletcher, new coach in Todd Richards, some new players in forwards Kyle Brodziak and Martin Havlat, and defensemen Shane Hnidy and Greg Zanon.

The Wild also has a 1-6-0 record and is coming off a disastrous five-game road trip in which it lost every game.

Maybe he wouldn't have re-signed with Wild at any price, but electric forward Marian Gaborik, who has had injury problems and was stifled under former coach Jacques Lemaire's defensive system, left as a free agent to sign a five-year, $37.5 million contract with the New York Rangers.

Gaborik is off to a torrid start with six goals and six assists in eight games. The Rangers have been equally strong with seven wins.

The Wild? Its major free agent acquisition was Havlat, who was given a six-year, $30 million deal after collecting 29 goals and 48 assists in 81 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. Havlat also had 15 points in 16 playoff games for the Hawks.

Havlat hasn't exactly gotten off to a scintillating start with the Wild. He has one goal, four assists and a minus-6 plus/minus rating. He's currently day to day with a groin strain.

Then again, usually-reliable defenseman Brent Burns is an awful -9, and fellow blue liner Nick Schultz is a minus-6.

The Wild still can't score much. Andrew Brunette has five of the team's 15 goals and no one else has more than two.

Goaltending has been a strength in the past, but not so much so far this season. Niklas Backstrom has a solid .913 save percentage to go along with a mediocre 2.82 goals-against average. Josh Harding has lost both of his decisions, and it's easy to see why. He owns a 5.50 GAA and his .738 save percentage is simply embarrassing.

Looking for a spark, Fletcher acquired gritty forward Chuck Kobasew from the Boston Bruins in exchange for minor leaguer Craig Weller, prospect Alexander Fallstrom and a second-round pick in the 2011 NHL entry draft.

Kobasew has scored between 20 and 22 goals in three of the past four seasons. He had 21 in 68 games for the Bruins a year ago. He has no goals and one assist in seven games this year and will have to start playing a lot better to make any sort of impact on this struggling squad.

Young Avs are NHL's biggest surprise

So what's the deal with this young bunch of Colorado Avalanche?

Who would have thought these guys would be 5-1-1 through the season's first seven games, with a 3-1-1 record in the first five games of what could have been a disastrous seven-game road trip?

Not me, and probably not anybody else, either.

The Avalanche was coming off a last-place finish in the Western Conference; team president Pierre Lacroix fired just about everybody in the front office and coaching staff; longtime captain Joe Sakic retired; and co-scoring leader Ryan Smyth was dispatched to Los Angeles.

So much for expectations.

I know it's ridiculously early, but free-agent pickup Craig Anderson has been splendid in the crease; the Avalanche has a potent top line in Wojtek Wolski, Paul Stastny and Milan Hejduk; 14 different players already have scored goals; 18-year-old rookies -- yes, there are two -- Matt Duchene and Ryan "Radar" O'Reilly sure look like they belong; defenseman Kyle Quincey, acquired in the Smyth trade, has been a force at both ends of the ice; and the special teams have been, well, special.

The Avalanche boasts the fifth-youngest roster in the league with an average age of 27.043 years. Ten regulars, four of whom are rookies, are between the ages of 18 and 25.

No problem, apparently.

"We're a young team, but we bring a lot of energy," rookie center T.J. Galiardi, 21, said. "We're just trying to do the right things."

This team hasn't done much wrong lately, though Saturday's visit to Joe Louis Arena to face the Detroit Red Wings will be a stern test.

"You saw what happened last year and we're a lot younger team and there probably aren't high expectations," said Paul Stastny, who's in his fourth NHL season but is just 22. "We're trying to prove ourselves after last year, and we're enjoying the challenge."

The NHL hands out more hardware than any professional league on the planet, but it's too bad it doesn't present one for the best coaching job in the first month of the season.

If there was, it would go to first-year Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco.

Hands down.

Laraque in hot water over ad

Georges Laraque usually gets into trouble on the ice as an enforcer with the Montreal Canadiens. The 6-f0ot-3, 253-pound right wing began his 12th NHL season this year with 52 goals and 1,098 penalty minutes in 667 career games.

Now, the 33-year-old is in hot water with the league and women's groups for appearing in a commercial for an alcohol drink that shows him playing street hockey with several scantily-clad women.

The commercial has no dialogue and can be viewed at 33mag.com.

According to Article 25.1 of the league's collective bargaining agreement: "No player shall be involved in any endorsement or sponsorship of alcoholic beverages (excluding malt-based beverages such as beer) and/or tobacco products."

Laraque told Montreal reporters that he regrets appearing in the commercial, adding that he donated the proceeds to an animal-rights group and intends to work for women's causes in the future.

Laraque said he wasn't aware of the script when he arrived for the shoot and that he agreed to appear because it offered a nice payday for charity.

"This is one more example of sexist advertising," Alexa Conradi, of
the Federation des femmes du Quebec, told The Canadian Press. "Why is it that when we're trying to market a campaign toward men aged 20 to 35, we always use this kind of ad? What does that say about our concept of masculinity?"

No rocking chair for Chelios

Gordie Howe did it, so why not Chris Chelios?

Chelios, age 47, is hoping to continue his playing career with the hometown Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League, possibly with the intention of eventually returning to the NHL.

Howe -- Mr. Hockey -- was 51 when he scored 15 goals in 80 games for the NHL's Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, so anything is possible.

To say that Chelios is a workhorse in the gym would be quite the understatement. He's still a rock solid 6-foot, 190 pounds and probably would embarrass plenty of players half his age when it comes to workouts.

The three-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's best defenseman was limited 28 games last season with the Detroit Red Wings because of a broken leg he sustained in an exhibition game, but he played in six playoff games and isn't ready to retire.

Chelios wasn't offered a new contract by the Red Wings or any other NHL team for this season, and he's expected to skate with the Wolves on Monday after the team returns from a road trip.

Chelios is still popular in Chicago -- he spent parts of nine seasons with the Blackhawks -- and the Wolves would be wise to sign him to a contract. No, he can't log 20-plus minutes a game anymore, but he'd provide veteran leadership and solid minutes when called upon.

This wouldn't be Chelios' first stint in the minors. He played in 23 games with the Motor City Mechanics in the United Hockey League during the 2004-05 lockout season.

"Cheli is a guy who knows how to play and how to help your locker room and so to me he'll be a perfect fit for someone," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said.

Former Red Wings teammate Nicklas Lidstrom, who knows more than a little about playing defense at an elite level, is in Chelios' corner.

"It's amazing that someone at his age still has the drive and the love of the game and wants to continue to play," Lidstrom said. "All the power to him for still being able to play. He can still contribute to a team, especially with his leadership."

Chelios began his NHL career in 1983-84 with the Montreal Canadiens. He's collected 185 goals and 763 assists in 1,644 career games, the most by an American-born player. He's won three Stanley Cups, played in 11 NHL All-Star Games and been a member of four U.S. Olympic teams.

Loose lips costs Leafs a fine

Score one for the Vancouver Canucks ... well, sort of.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were fined an undisclosed amount today by the NHL because, league deputy commmissioner Bill Daly said, coach Ron Wilson violated a league by-law "relating to inappropriate public comments by speaking generally to his club's potential interest in negotiating with Daniel and Henrik Sedin" before the Canucks forwards had officially become free agents.

The Sedins eventually re-signed with the Canucks, getting five-year contracts worth $6.1 million a season.

However, Daly ruled that the league "found no evidence whatsoever" to support the Canucks' concerns that the Leafs might "have engaged in any other conduct of activities" regarding the Sedins that would have been in violation of its rules relating to tampering.

Wilson told Toronto radio station The Fan 590 on June 30, the day before the NHL's free agent period began, that the Leafs would be interested in signing both players.

"You're hearing right now, and this sounds very contradictory, but there's a real possibility, I would think, thet we would be going after the Sedins," Wilson told the station. "Let's just speculate there."

If the Leafs had been found guilty of tampering, they could have been fined $1 million and forced to give the Canucks a first-round draft pick.

Too early to panic in Vancouver

Hey, what's the deal with the Vancouver Canucks? Picked by many -- but not me, I like Calgary -- to finish first in the Northwest Division, the Canucks have lost their first three games and haven't looked very good while doing it.

The biggest problem: subpar work by star goalie Roberto Luongo, who was yanked in Monday's home opener against Columbus after allowing goals on three consecutive shots to begin the second period.

Luongo actually played OK in Saturday's 3-0 loss in Denver, but he was medicore at best in Vancouver's season-opening defeat in Calgary and awful against the Blue Jackets.

Luongo is the Canucks' best player -- at least, he should be -- and he's just too talented to keep playing the way he has. Vancouver has outshot the opposition by a wide margin in each of the first three games, yet has nothing to show for it.

Luongo was in goal for 33 of the Canucks' 45 wins a year ago and is a perennial Vezina Trophy candidate, but he hasn't played like one so far this season. Assuming he starts Wednesday against Montreal, he'll take a 4.55 goals-against average and .820 save percentage into the game.

It doesn't get much uglier than that.

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault isn't pushing the panic button yet. Nor should he, not with 79 games still to play.

"Roberto is one of the best goaltenders in the league and definitely one of the hardest workers in this league, so he's going to find his game like he always does," Vigneault told Vancouver reporters. "The other parts of our game are pretty good. Obviously, we're making a few mistakes, but we are generating a lot. And we're not that far away."

I wouldn't worry too much about the Canucks. Luongo will get back on track, the Sedin twins will pop in a few goals, that first win will come and all will be well in beautiful British Columbia.

For a day or two, anyway.

A shrine for Sakic

The Colorado Avalanche certainly did it up big Thursday night for former captain Joe Sakic, whose No. 19 jersey was officially retired at the Pepsi Center before the season-opening 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.

A banner with the digits was raised to the arena's rafters to conclude the 45-minute tribute, joining those of Patrick Roy (No. 33) and Ray Bourque (No. 77).

"To see it up there with Patrick and Ray, it's a tremendous honor," said Sakic, who was accompanied by his parents, his wife Debbie and their three children.

Not only that, the Avalanche surprised Sakic by creating a shrine at his old corner locker.

Here's a picture I snapped -- not bad for a fairly no-frills cell phone -- after the game. Sakic's jersey, helmet, skates, stick and other equipment have been encased in plexi-glass, to be viewed by present and former Avalanche players as inspiration.

"They didn't even give me a heads-up on that," Sakic said. "When I walked in the room and saw that, I did a double-take. Honestly, when I saw that, I almost broke down. I got a chance to really look at it (after the ceremony). Never in my life or in my dreams could I imagine that. That's something I really appreciate."

During his tribute, Sakic teased the sellout crowd during his speech that he was "kind of getting that itch" to play again. The fans roared with approval.

But Sakic, who retired on July 9, later told reporters he wasn't really serious about pulling a Brett Favre.

"It was in the moment," he said. "You do look forward to opening night, especially at home. When I played and trained, you couldn't wait for the game to start. I know I'll be up in the stands watching and there are going to be parts of me saying, 'I wish I was out there.' But, no, there's actually no itch to come back."

Sakic, 40, began his NHL career in 1988 with the Quebec Nordiques, who moved to Denver in 1995 and were renamed the Avalanche. He leaves as the owner of practically every significant offensive record in franchise history, including 625 goals, 1,641 points, 84 playoff goals and 188 playoff points.

Sakic won two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche and an Olympic gold medal for Canada in 2002. He captured the Conn Smythe Trophy as postseason MVP in 1996 when the Avalanche won its first Cup, along with the Hart and Lady Byng trophies in 2001 when Colorado collected its second league championship.