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NHL QUICK SHOTS:
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Tale of Two SoCal Cities, Part II; Plus! Mike Grier is Money and Steve Bernier Catches Fire LOS ANGELES: If the Kings keep going this way, Andy Murray and Dave Taylor will face serious questions for the first time in their respective tenures. During the spring of 2004, Coach Andy Murray watched his club slide through the last quarter of the year and miss the playoffs for the second straight season. Murray could have been seriously considered for the Jack Adams trophy that season had the late slide not occurred (John Tortorella of the Tampa Bay Lightning wound up winning the award). This season is a different story, however. The Kings have no injury excuses like they had from 2002-04, when the club was so decimated that no one could have expected them to conquer the league with most of the guys in the infirmary. Alex Frolov and Jeremy Roenick were injured at points this season, Pavol Demitra is out due to a concussion right now, but most clubs endured the loss of some key names, so the Kings don't have that excuse at their disposal if they tank a promising season. For the first time, if the squad fails to qualify for the playoffs after starting the season so hot that the conference finals (at least) seemed their destiny, Murray will be scrutinized like never before. ANAHEIM: The Regier Prize is given annually by Hockeytalk (starting now!) to the NHL GM who "Stumps the Hockey 'Experts' to a Degree Exceeding All Expectations." This season's winner is Brian Burke.
Interesting to note which players from the 2002-03 Stanley Cup final loss to New Jersey remain: Ruslan Salei, J-S Giguere, Rob Niedermayer, Samuel Pahlsson (photo), Vitaly Vishnevski. All of these players have a significant role with the current club (In addition, Andy MacDonald, Jonathan Hedstrom were Ducks that year, although neither saw action in the 2002-03 playoffs). The club won't rise to the conference's elite, but if the club stays close to playoff position, new owner and Burke employer Henry and Susan Samueli will surely be satisfied. Mike Grier Wins Games
"It was a tough night for us, but I think it's something that we needed," said Grier, who scored the game-winner with 11:46 to play. "We've been a little bit loose defensively the last few games, so just seeing how hard they were working made us pick our game up." The Sabres, who have dropped three of four this season to Ottawa, will face the Hasek-less Senators on Saturday, March 18, in the biggest heavyweight fight of this NHL week. With the Sens at 94 points, the Nickel City Sabres with 93, this one's going to the wire. Steve Bernier Catches Fire
Steve Bernier (photo), drafted by the Sharks in the 1st round (16th overall) in 2003. Perfect timing, too. Of late, with the Sharks making a concerted push for playoff position, Bernier has been on fire. The RW has five goals in his last five games, including two in a key victory over Edmonton and two more over St. Louis Thursday. The kid has played but 21 NHL games. Just 20 years old, 6' 2", 220 lbs. Big kid who doesn't back down and regularly hits veterans with relish. He reminds us of Dustin Brown in LA. Bolts' Ongoing Saga in Net Say hello to the AHL's Gerald Coleman, Lightning fans, because the John Grahame show is fixin' to close in Tampa. "I think we've given John Grahame a lot of opportunities to carry the load," GM Jay Feaster told the Tampa Tribune. "You saw that John Tortorella had Sean Burke in there in consecutive games [Saturday against Toronto and Monday against Montreal]. In terms of John Grahame, there's nothing that's a given. He's going to have to earn his ice time. It's an opportunity for Gerald Coleman, too." Vancouver: Where do we go from here? Mysterious white powders being sent to club offices, five straight losses, Todd Bertuzzi suit filed again by Steve Moore, Bert not scoring, no answer in nets for loss of Dan Cloutier in sight unless Mika Noronen surprises everyone. Problems abound in Vancouver. ''We had hoped Noronen would come in and have a good game, and he didn't,'' Vancouver coach Marc Crawford told the Canadian Press after the Canucks were crushed Thrursday (March 16) by Nashville. The answer is between the ears, according to Crawford, who recommends the power of positive thinking. ''We're not performing at our top level, and we have to eliminate as much negative thought as possible.'' Interesting position for a stagnant hockey team, unable to meet its immense promise of prior NHL campaigns. At least the Sedins are scoring (Henrik: 67GP; 17-48-65; Daniel 67GP; 17 42 59) and Anson Carter is resurgent. Dear Santa: Great Product, but is "Ultimate" Gretzky an Ultimate Hustle? Ok, so about two years ago Santa Claus brings me "Ultimate Gretzky," a DVD with lots of ultra bitchin' footage and interviews. It had footage of some of The Great One's best games mixed in with the interviews (conducted brilliantly by John Davidson). Now, however, another edition of "Ultimate Gretzky" is hitting the shelves, this time including the entire games that were covered in the original "Ultimate" Gretzky. So, which was the "Ultimate Gretzky," the one two years ago or this one? And why weren't the full-length games included in the first one? Why do I have to ask Santa Claus TWICE for the same thing? FINALLY: Enjoy the Ray Ferraro interview. New Audio Feature Coming Soon!
2010 Western Hockey Network
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NHL QUICK SHOTS!
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Burke
dealt away big names Sergei Fedorov and Petr Sykora. Late in the season, Keith
Carney and Sandis Ozolinsh were shown the door. The expectation? Disaster.
The result? The Ducks are challenging for a postseason spot. 
Four
of 
Strong
surge in San Jose for sturdy forward 
