It's difficult to believe immensely skilled players making millions of dollars really need a kick in the pants now and then. But the numbers in the NHL back up just such a claim.

	CHIRPIN'
	"If you don't put in the effort he demands, you'll be butting heads with him. And believe me, this is a man with a very hard head." -- Retired NHL defenseman Gary Suter on new Flames coach Darryl Sutter
	THE NUMBER
	45 The number of power-play goals allowed by Sharks penalty killers this season. It's by far the most in the league (San Jose is also worst in percentage of penalties killed at 77.4%), and it's almost as many as they allowed all of last season (54).
	WHO'S HOT
	Take your pick among Western Conference goalies. Entering Friday, Sean Burke (Phoenix) was on a 3-0-0 run with a 1.29 GAA, Jocelyn Thibault (Chicago) was on a 3-0-2 run with a 1.35 GAA, Roman Turek (Calgary) was on a 2-0-1 run with a 1.30 GAA and Curtis Joseph (Detroit) was on a 3-0-1 run with a 1.33 GAA.
	WHO'S NOT
	Defensive defensemen always get the worst of the who's not, and this week is no exception. As the Mighty Ducks have started to fall, the easiest target is No. 1 defenseman Keith Carney, who has no points and is a minus-6 in the past four games. Just so he has company, Anaheim forward Patric Kjellberg is minus-8 in the past five.
	THIS WEEK'S SIGN ...
	…the world still revolves around Patrick Roy: Backup goalie David Aebischer plays great in protecting a lead for the flu-ridden Roy on Wednesday but then falls apart when he gets his own start Thursday. Roy said the win against Nashville (his 528th career victory), in which he played 20 minutes, still doesn't make up for the games in which he has been cheated out of victories when coaches replaced him to get an extra timeout. "Still one short," Roy said.

To put it in simpler terms, NHL teams should fire a lot more coaches.

Of the Western Conference teams that have cut loose their bench bosses this season, all three have seen great surges in their record and, maybe more interestingly, great surges from key superstars.

In San Jose, the Sharks are 6-5-2 under new coach Ron Wilson, and winger Teemu Selanne has four goals and four assists in the past six games. Selanne and Wilson had a great working relationship in Anaheim a few years back, and now Selanne seems to be thriving under his guy again. So does that mean he's playing harder for Wilson than he did for Darryl Sutter? Or does Wilson just know how to better utilize Selanne?

In Colorado, the Avalanche appear as if they have been set free from a chain gang. Peter Forsberg has five goals and eight assists for 13 points in the past five games. Milan Hejduk has 14 points in the past seven. Alex Tanguay has nine points in the past seven, and Tanguay has doubled his season's goal output since Bob Hartley was canned and replaced by Tony Granato.

But what is Granato doing now that he isn't an assistant coach? Is he simply showing confidence in his skill players and they're responding with confident play? Or is this a matter of the message coming to the players not from the new coach, but from the actions of management?

Darryl Sutter was 2-0-1 in his first three games with the Flames. Key to that was the fact Jarome Iginla had two goals and an assist with 10 shots on goal. Did Sutter whisper something magical in the ear of last season's Lester Pearson Award winner? He must have. Iginla and his teammates had already gone through the trauma of seeing Greg Gilbert fired. The Flames have known their season has been slowly spiraling down the drain. Yet under Sutter they are suddenly reborn.

You want an explanation. You want to understand. But maybe we can't. Maybe the game and its intricacies are too darn complicated for the common man. How can Sutter not motivate in San Jose and yet be just the right tonic in Calgary? How can Granato be ineffective as an assistant and yet an offensive genius as the head coach?

We'll never know. But if the trend continues, maybe we could just start alternating coaches every three months or so to keep the players interested.

Burke picks up (Coyotes) where he left off
Here's one phenomenon that requires little explanation: The Phoenix Coyotes are better with Sean Burke in the lineup. The veteran goalie, who finished third in Vezina Trophy voting last season, returned and immediately pushed the Coyotes to a 3-0-0 run.

His performance in Washington on Wednesday was nothing short of spectacular. He stopped 31 shots while his teammates mustered only 14 in a 2-1 overtime victory for Phoenix.

"Guys just feed off him," winger Tony Amonte said. "He came back, was ready to play from Day 1 and I think he sent a message to all his teammates -- 'Let's get this thing going in the right direction.' "

Burke, who has a 1.29 GAA and .955 save percentage in his past three games, has never been one to mince words. So after the win against the Capitals he issued a public challenge to his team. The Coyotes were set to play at Detroit on Friday.

"If we play the same way we played tonight, it's not going to be very easy to get a win," Burke said Wednesday.

Naslund: Captain Consistent

	Naslund

Never mind powerful Todd Bertuzzi or thundering Ed Jovanovski. The player who might be the most feared on the Canucks is quiet captain Markus Naslund. While the talented Swede is connected at the hip with Bertuzzi and center Brendan Morrison, it is Naslund who continues to make the biggest plays at the biggest times.

Naslund did it again Thursday, scoring twice to lead Vancouver to a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. His second goal was a thing of beauty, a drive from the left wing in which he deked goalie Jose Theodore and went to the backhand before diving a la Bobby Orr.

"He did absolutely everything that a leader and a captain and a superstar player can do," said Canucks coach Marc Crawford.

Maybe it's time we start realizing that Naslund is indeed one of the most consistent stars in the league.

Depth chart