Don't look now (it could be distracting, players will tell you), but Sergei Fedorov's next contract could be the most significant deal in the NHL during the past 10 years.

	CHIRPIN'
	"This was embarrassing. It's one of those games you want to forget as soon as possible." -- Teemu Selanne after the Sharks' lost 9-3 to the Senators Thursday. It was the most goals allowed in a game by San Jose since 1995
	THE NUMBER
	-13 The special teams differential of the Colorado Avalanche (23 power-play goals and 1 short-handed goal for, 33 power-play goals and 4 short-handed goals against), which is tied with Montreal and Buffalo for worst in the league. It's new coach Tony Granato's top priority.
	WHO'S HOT
	With center Jason Allison back in the lineup after missing a month with a knee injury, winger Ziggy Palffy has taken off for the Kings. He has five goals and seven assists for 12 points in the past seven games. The Kings are 5-2-0 in that span.
	WHO'S NOT
	After carrying the Oilers on his back for a month, Tommy Salo has hit a bit of a skid. He's 1-2-0 in his past three appearances with a 3.63 goals against average and an .866 save percentage.
	THIS WEEK'S SIGN ...
	…the kids are all right: The three biggest news-making goalies in the West the past month are: Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Vancouver's Dan Cloutier and Dallas' Marty Turco. Maybe the next class is stepping forward.

The Red Wings center, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, said he doesn't want to talk about the contract right now, because he's studying how he wants to negotiate -- with his current agents, with new agents or just with a lawyer. It's smart for the 33-year-old veteran to get his house in order. He's not sure if he's happy with his agents, Mike Liut and Brian Lawton, so why not straighten out that situation before pulling up to the bargaining table.

After all, if reports are true that Detroit has a five-year, $50 million contract already drawn up, who needs agents anyway?

But while Fedorov reorganizes his files, now is a good time to ask if this is the right offer to the right player at the right time. The Red Wings have the money. They also have the demand from fans to keep the team together. And Fedorov has been a good soldier in the battle to win three Stanley Cups.

But has anyone looked at the guy's numbers? He had 68 points (31 goals, 37 assists) in 81 games last season, 69 points (32 goals, 37 assists) in 75 games the year before, 62 points (27 goals, 35 assists) in 68 games the year before. Even this season when he has been the team's No. 1 center while Steve Yzerman has been sidelined, Fedorov is on pace for a modest 72 points.

Fedorov is a special player who makes sacrifices to play within the team system, but is that worth $10 million a year?

If it is, the league really is in trouble.

The Rangers' signing of Bobby Holik set a bad precedent. So did the St. Louis deal with Doug Weight. Now, you have to ask yourself who else is a $10 million player? Mike Modano of Dallas has to be when his contract comes up in 2004. How about Toronto's Mats Sundin? Surely, Alexei Kovalev fits into the category. So does Todd Bertuzzi. Is Glen Murray the league's next seven-digit-income player?

Fedorov will get his money. He should. The Red Wings have made enough off of him and he is a point-per-game player in the playoffs. But the circumstances around the negotiations make for an interesting case study.

Heck, I wouldn't be in a hurry to sign, either. Wait around for a couple of months and the going rate might jump a million or so.

Modano upset about hit
Mike Modano wasn't exactly calling out Jeremy Roenick for giving him a concussion for the second time in the last three years with a hit from behind, but he also wasn't happy about the play.

"You would just think people would know in certain situations, with guys away from the glass and with their backs to the ice … That's what we're trying to get rid of in the game," Modano said.

Modano, who has complained of lingering headaches, did not pass all of his baseline tests Thursday in Detroit, so he is being held out until at least Dec. 26, team officials said. This is Modano's fourth or fifth concussion and his first since 1999. However, he said he is hoping the league looks at outlawing all hits to the head.

"There should be no blows to the head, nothing of that nature," he said. "We should address it that way. Even shoulder hits to the head should be fines or suspensions."

Cujo missing teeth
It wasn't the perfect week for Detroit goalie Curtis Joseph. He was pulled after allowing two soft goals in a 2-2 tie with the Islanders and then he didn't get a chance to start a nationally-televised game Thursday against Dallas.

So are there problems with the Red Wings' new savior in net? Coach Dave Lewis says no, and Joseph's numbers say he has done everything that Dominik Hasek did through three months. Joseph has a 2.65 GAA and a .903 save percentage. Hasek had a 2.41 GAA and a .907 save percentage.

But Joseph said he expected more.

"I can play better, and I haven't," he said.

When the dam breaks
Not only did Jean-Sebastien Giguere see his franchise-record shutout streak come to an end this week, he saw his Mighty Ducks of Anaheim obliterated in a 5-4 loss to the rival Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Giguere pushed his streak to 237 minutes, 7 seconds -- third longest of the modern era -- in a 5-2 win over St. Louis Wednesday. However, two late goals against seemed to suck momentum out of Anaheim and it showed against L.A.

Giguere gave up an early goal and two in the second period to go down, 3-1, but the Ducks rallied to make it 4-3 Anaheim with 12 minutes remaining.

Still, Anaheim couldn't keep its five game winning streak going and fell to 0-6-3 in its last nine meetings with the Kings.

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