Penguins captain Sidney Crosby commands great respect among his peers as their smartest and toughest player to face, best role model, and top franchise building block. (Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Among the most interesting news out of All-Star Weekend — certainly more interesting than the game — was the Hockey Night in Canada-NHLPA Players’ Poll in which Sidney Crosby was recognized as the game’s top player. The players polled also said, almost unanimously, that they want to keep fighting in the game, but they also strongly support the current instigator rule.

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While Devin Setoguchi and the Sharks have struggled to find their usual regular-season dominance, goalie Jonas Hiller has kept the surprising Ducks in the playoff hunt. (AP Photos)

By Stu Hackel

It’s the All-Star break and the stretch run is nearly upon us. Each NHL team has played in the neighborhood of 50 games, a fairly strong sample to gauge what kind of club it has this season. The trade deadline is about a month away so things could change, but let’s pose a simple question today: How happy are the fans of each NHL team at this point in the season?

Here’s how the fans of the Western Conference teams might be feeling. (Click here for my take on the East.)
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While Matt Carle’s Flyers have soared, Dustin Byfuglien’s Thrashers have seen the air steadily go out of their surprisingly strong start to the season. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

It’s the All-Star break and the stretch run is nearly upon us. Each NHL team has played in the neighborhood of 50 games, a fairly strong sample to gauge what kind of club it has this season. The trade deadline is about a month away, so things could change, but let’s pose a simple question today: How happy are the fans of each NHL team at this point in the season?

Here’s how the fans of the Eastern Conference teams might be feeling. (Click here for my take on the West.)
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Wayne Gretzky, who is enjoying time with his kids (left to right) Tristan, Trevor and Paulina, doesn’t need the NHL as much as the NHL needs him. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

By Stu Hackel

Like the character Philip Nolan in Edward Everett Hale’s short story “A Man Without A Country,” Wayne Gretzky is, on his 50th birthday, now at sea, officially estranged from the league that gave him everything and to which he gave everything. Both were guilty by association but unlike Nolan, who in his fictional trial was accused of being an accomplice with the treasonous Aaron Burr, Gretzky’s punishment is the result of corporate happenstance, his minority ownership stake in the Phoenix Coyotes, and not his own willfully treasonous sentiments.

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By Stu Hackel

Wayne Gretzky, who many believe was the greatest hockey player ever, and unquestionably the greatest offensive player of all time, turns 50 years old today (Jan. 26) and to hockey fans of a certain age, it doesn’t seem very long ago that he was just a teenager — “The Kid,” as he was called then — playing for the Edmonton Oilers.

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Though players are taught to protect themselves from onrushing checkers by keeping their heads up, it’s not always possible when they’re looking for the puck. (Jeanine Leech/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

Marc Savard has another concussion and Sidney Crosby will not be taking part in this weekend’s All-Star festivities as he continues to recover from the one he suffered. These news items may or may not further ratchet up the discussion on how the NHL deals with hits to the head, although it’s hard to imagine the debate being more polarizing than it is at the moment.

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It took two weeks for Jacques Lemaire to turn the shaken, out-of-shape Devils around and make them the team they were expected to be before the season started. (Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Here’s an indication of just how bad the Devils played for the first part of the season: They’ve won six of their last seven games (the loss was in overtime, so they’ve taken 13 of a possible 14 points) and are still last overall in the NHL – 20 points below a playoff spot. But thanks to the guy who has often been hailed as the best coach in the game — Jacques Lemaire — there are strong signs that the Devs are becoming the team many thought they’d be in the preseason, although the postseason is most likely out of sight.
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The Blues and especially the Red Wings are among several NHL teams that have had to soldier on in the wake of injuries to their key players this season. (Mark Buckner/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Every season, teams get hit with injuries. They’re a fact of life in the NHL. But they seem to be increasing in length and severity and some teams are particularly hard hit. Adam Proteau of The Hockey News thinks he knows why: The season is too long with too few breaks.
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By Stu Hackel

The Kings are struggling, having lost 10 of 12, so this goal, credited to the Coyotes’ Martin Hanzal, which broke a scoreless tie in the second period and was ultimately the game winner on Thursday night, was not likely to go over well.  It surely looked like a bad goal to the Kings and their fans, having been knocked in by a high stick, but it counted and the reaction from GM Dean Lombardi may prove a bit costly.

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The Ducks are afloat in the tempestuous Western Conference thanks to goaltender Jonas Hiller weathering a storm of pucks each night. (Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

The Western Conference continues to be a marvelously cluttered game of chutes and ladders, and in the last few weeks, the two southern California clubs have been headed in opposite directions. The Kings have won only two of their last 10 games and sit in the 12th spot. Rumors are flying and being denied that coach Terry Murray is in trouble.
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