The Great One is rumored to be looming over Toronto’s perennially fallen Leafs.  (Nick Turchiano/Icon SMI/Getty)

By Allan Muir

• Purple Monkey Dishwasher. Does Wayne Gretzky want to be president of the Toronto Maple Leafs? Probably not, but someone speculated about it on the radio, then the internet got ahold of it, so apparently now it’s a thing.

• Don’t jump! Is this the first suspendable hit of the season? Nick Kypreos was the first to report on Twitter that Brayden Schenn would hear from Brendan Shanahan today after he leapt off the ice just prior to making contact with Anton Volchenkov. Hard to determine the first point of contact from this video, but it doesn’t appear to be the head. Still, there’s a desire to eliminate hits that involve leaving the ice, and since there was no penalty called on the play, the guess here is that Schenn will face a fine if nothing else.

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Brett Hull’s controversial Stanley Cup-winning “foot in the crease” goal from 1999 is surely one of hockey’s most memorable photos. (Elsa Hasch/Allsport/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

There’s not much coming out of New York on the CBA negotiations — and perhaps no news is good news (except when it’s not). So let’s go elsewhere for today’s post. On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated rolled out its Top 100 sports photos of all time on SI.com, images that have appeared in the magazine and elsewhere, culled from thousands that the editors considered. It’s a fantastic gallery that you should view. Some are iconic and well-known, others not as much, but all are excellent examples of sports photography, if not breathtaking then at least historically momentous.

Of the 100, five were hockey photos. They included Bobby Orr’s Stanley Cup-winning goal against the Blues in 1970 at Number 80; the 1980 Miracle on Ice U.S. Olympic team’s victorious moment against the Soviet national team at Lake Placid at Number 78 (an SI cover that, as I recall, is one of the few that had no words on it beside the magazine name); Wayne Gretzky waving goodbye to fans after his final game at Madison Square Garden in 1999 at Number 74; and Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante crouching to find the puck in a 1957 game against the Rangers, another SI cover shot, at Number 60. Gretzky scoring his 802nd career goal against the Canucks in 1994, making him the top professional goal scorer of all time, was the highest rated hockey photo at Number 14.

One of the points of a list like this is to spark discussion and debate, and I’ll gladly comply.

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The Devils have a 3-0 lead in Stanley Cups over their cross-river rivals since the Rangers last won the chalice, but trail badly in fan popularity and media coverage. (Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

The Rangers visit New Jersey on Saturday afternoon for Game 3, and on Monday Night for Game 4, of their Eastern Conference Championship series and a case can be made that this is the biggest series in Devils franchise history.

Yes, of course: the match-ups that the Devils won in 1995, 2000 and 2003 to win the Stanley Cup count as huge series, monumental in scope. But now they have a chance to repay New York for that memorable third round defeat in 1994, the decision coming in the second overtime period of Game 7, which sent the Rangers on to the Cup final and thrust the Devils back into their shadows. That was the game ended by Stephane Matteau and it gets played and replayed endlessly on MSG Network, the TV home of the Rangers and the Devils.

And even though the Devils can claim three Cups to the Rangers’ one since 1994, in the Broadway Blueshirts’ shadow they remain — maybe not in the hockey world, where the Devs are a respected franchise, but on their home turf in the New York metropolitan area. The Rangers dominate the scene over the Devils as well as the somnolent Islanders and a head-to-head victory in this round might earn New Jersey a bigger, long-deserved share of the spotlight.

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Refs seem to have rediscovered the idea that sending a player to the box and leaving his team in a potentially costly penalty-kill is one of the best ways to curb on-ice mayhem. (Mark Goldman/Icon SMI)

By Stu Hackel

Perhaps Wednesday will go down as the day the NHL regained some control over the Stanley Cup playoffs and did it in the most logical manner – having the referees call penalties rather than “let the boys play.”

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Big and tall, yet a graceful skater, the legendary Jean Beliveau was the personification of a classy player. (Denis Brodeur/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

In this darkest of seasons for Canadiens fans, the bad news continues to pile up. Their loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday night dropped them three points behind the Islanders and Hurricanes for last place in the East. They were unable to peddle anyone other than the disappointing Andrei Kostitsyn on Monday’s trade deadline day, prompting The Montreal Gazette’s Red Fisher to write, “Once, teams would line up looking for help from this franchise. The view was that if a player was good enough to wear the CH, he surely had something to offer. Now, the franchise is in disarray from the top down. Now, it’s an embarrassment unworthy of attention. Where has the talent gone? Where has the pride gone?”

And then the news came that Jean Beliveau, the man who personifies talent and pride — not just for the Canadiens, but all of hockey — had suffered a stroke, the latest of his many health setbacks. The living symbol of everything this franchise has wanted to stand for — excellence, achievement, dignity, class, respect — had been laid so low that Fisher concluded his Wednesday Gazette article on Beliveau with the three words he often reserves for those whose health is at grave risk: “Pray for him.”

Those of you born well after Beliveau’s playing career ended in 1971 may well wonder, “Who is this man I’m asked to pray for?” and it’s a legitimate question.

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Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby have been the NHL’s marquee stars for six years, but only Ovechkin has been hit with the charge that his fame has negatively affected the level of his play. (Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

I know very little about what goes on in the NBA — as a hockey guy, some of that is by necessity and some by choice — but it’s impossible to avoid Jeremy Lin. This young basketball player has come out of nowhere to emerge as an instant worldwide breakout celebrity on the basis of two weeks’ worth of  performances for the New York Knicks and his name and his image are seemingly everywhere. You can’t miss him if you try, even if you have no clue (as I did until a few days ago) about what he’s done to deserve all the attention and acclaim.

The question here is: why doesn’t something like this happen more often with hockey players? What follows isn’t meant to supply any answers as much as probe the question itself.

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The Flyers and Rangers have been at each other’s throats since the days of Dave Schultz and Philly’s infamous Broad Street Bullies. (Rusty Kennedy/AP)

By Stu Hackel

After months of buildup and promotion, the Winter Classic is finally upon us. It is, of course, nothing more than Game 569 of the regular season schedule, worth the same two points in the standings as any other game — or (sigh) two for the winner and one for the loser if it ends in a regulation tie.

But the exposure and popularity this unique game has brought to hockey during the past four years can’t — and shouldn’t — be denied. For that we must credit the NHL’s partnership with NBC. Their deal may be far less lucrative for the league’s teams than the ones enjoyed by other major pro sports, but it’s the best the league has ever had, especially because
NBC and its offshoots respect the product and help create new ways to expose it.

The same can be said for the NHL’s deal with HBO which, through its”24/7″ series, provides an unprecedented look at the run-up to the game. Nothing has ever come close to bringing viewers inside the NHL as it really is, looks and sounds.

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As great as Wayne Gretzky was in his prime, his overall offensive impact on the Oilers wasn’t as great as Sidney Crosby’s has been on the Penguins. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

Some days it’s a challenge to find something new or different to say about Sidney Crosby, and he isn’t helping. We featured him here 10 days ago, but he just keeps plowing through the NHL and everyone, including SI.com’s Michael Farber, is justifiably raving about his play.

On Wednesday night, Crosby scored two more goals in Pittsburgh’s 5-2 dismantling of the Maple Leafs, who showed their truculence by ineffectively running at him. (He stood up for himself and was not thrown off his game at all.) Then the Leafs got beat and beaten up by Crosby’s teammates.

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Alex Ovechkin has always been prone to slumps, but not this early in a season. (Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

By Stu Hackel

What’s wrong with Alex Ovechkin?

Ovie has been Novie more often than not lately. Last night in New Jersey was the fourth game in his last six in which he didn’t register a point. Perhaps not coincidentally, three of those four games were on the road. Overall in those six games, he’s produced a goal and two assists and is a minus-3.

Everyone has bad stretches, but stats aside, Ovechkin’s characteristic passion and explosiveness are absent. What made the hockey world fall in love with Ovie was his all-energy, all-the -time performances, regardless of who he’s playing against. Even his detractors would admit that he’s hockey’s most exciting player when he’s on his game.

But when his team is flat, Ovechkin is the guy that coach Bruce Boudreau relies upon to re-inflate the Caps. Hasn’t been happening lately.

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