We should have learned everything we needed to know about Tommy Salo back in February at the Olympics.

	Tommy Salo didn't run and hide after giving up a flukey game-winning goal to Belarus.

After surrendering the flukey goal to Belarus that bounced off his head and sealed the demise of Team Sweden, he didn't hide or pout. He walked out to the media mix zone and stood with his arms crossed wearing a beret that defiantly screamed "SWEDEN" across the front and answered every question the press could throw at him.

Yes, it was his fault. Yes, it was painful. And yes, he still was proud to pull on the sweater of his country and was proud of everything he had given to that sweater.

Throughout one of the toughest losses an athlete has had to endure, Tommy Salo showed a backbone that few could match. And that should have taught us something.

But, nope, there we were again at the beginning of the season, ready to cross off the Edmonton Oilers' goalie from the list of the elite, having failed to carry his team through tough times. When Salo stumbled to a 2-5-3 start, the critics came out all over the place.

But just as he did back in February, Salo has stood with arms crossed, this time with a crest that defiantly screams "OILERS" and led his team back up the rough Western Conference standings.

Before Thursday's 3-2 loss in Tampa Bay, Salo was on a 7-1-1 roll with a 1.10 goals against average and a .960 save percentage in that span. And just like that, the Oilers are back in the playoff picture and able to play with a looser grip around their sticks. While teams in Calgary and Chicago and San Jose and Phoenix have to worry about every single point when it's only December, Salo has given Edmonton the luxury of just relaxing and playing.

"He's the reason we win," said teammate Dan Cleary. "That's it. He's been awesome."

We should have known.

	CHIRPIN'
	"It's up to us whether he plays or not. I was going to be coy and leave it up to Brian Sutter, (but) in all probability he'll be in the lineup (Friday)." -- Blackhawks GM Mike Smith on the news that Theo Fleury has been cleared by the NHL to return to play.
	THE NUMBER
	.896 The Blues' team save percentage, an indication the goaltending hasn't been that great. The reason for the team's surprising success is its 3.44 average goals per game.
	WHO'S HOT
	Talk about a rebirth. Defenseman Jason Woolley has stepped right in with the Red Wings. He has a goal and four assists in his past four games and is a plus-5 in that span
	WHO'S NOT
	While the Ducks start to slide back down the muddy slope that is the Western Conference, it's easy to look at winger Petr Sykora, who has no goals, one assist and is a minus-4 in the past seven games while the Ducks are 1-3-3.
	THIS WEEK'S SIGN ...
	... the Blues have a tough decision in their future: Fred Brathwaite has put together two spectacular performances, allowing just one goal, while Tom Barrasso is out with back spasms. So do you keep Brathwaite or take a risk on Barrasso once Brent Johnson is healthy?

Finding the fun
Ron Wilson can be as prickly as the next guy -- and, no, he doesn't like to lose.

But what the new coach of the San Jose Sharks can do that the old one couldn't is make the game a little more fun for his superstars. San Jose is loaded with goal-scoring talent in the form of Teemu Selanne and Owen Nolan and Vincent Damphousse and Patrick Marleau -- and Wilson should help those players take a few more chances offensively.

It's the way of the West this season, and something that Sharks management has obviously noticed. The Stars are third in the league in goals per game after hiring Dave Tippett. The Blues are tied for first with Joel Quenneville letting a little more swerve into the game. Detroit could always score. So could the Canucks. So if you look at who you have to beat in the West and how you have to do it, planning on those 2-1 victories in the playoffs doesn't look so easy anymore.

A team with aspirations to move on has to be able to score ... and a team with frustrated goal scorers has to be given a little room to waggle.

Don't expect Wilson to just cast aside the defensive system. He won't. But, as Tippett has done in Dallas, expect him to loosen the responsibilities and allow the creative players to be creative.

And that could make all the difference.

Stars in alignment
Speaking of the Stars, their offense received a big boost during the past two weeks as coach Dave Tippett put Jason Arnott on a line between Pierre Turgeon and Scott Young. All three players had struggled earlier in the season and Tippett had done a good deal of scrambling trying to get each out of his respective slump. Ironically, the solution was putting them all together.

"They've fought through a lot, those three guys," said teammate Bill Guerin. "Hey, sometimes you need other guys to help you out when things aren't going great. And right now, they're helping each other out."

In the past five games, the trio has combined for nine goals and 21 points. Since being united 13 games ago, the line has 17 goals (including six game winners) and 19 assists and is a plus-28.

Arnott is playing well despite a broken finger, but the real key has been Turgeon. The shifty center has adapted well to the left wing and is seeing the ice as well as he has since joining the Stars as a free agent last season. He entered play Friday on a five-game assist streak in which he had 10 helpers.

"He's on his forehand, so he's got the whole picture in front of him," Tippett said of Turgeon's move to the wing. "And he's a pretty good painter when you give him the whole canvas."

Roy's anniversary
Though it has been seven years to the day (Dec. 6, 1995) that Patrick Roy was traded from the Canadiens, it seems like just yesterday for the Colorado Avalanche goalie. That's why it's even more fun that Roy will be facing Montreal on Friday night on the seventh anniversary of his departure.

"I know it means something to me to be playing Montreal," Roy told reporters in Denver. "For me, playing Montreal is different from a lot of guys. I played there 10 years. It is always special to be involved in those games."

And Roy usually makes it special for his teammates, too. He is 7-1-2 with a 1.67 GAA in games against Montreal.

Depth chart