Win or lose, hockey players tend to give credit where credit is due, which is why a few teams chipped in to buy Craig Berube a motorcycle on the occasion of his 1,000th NHL game.

	Craig Berube Left Wing Calgary Flames Profile
	CAREER STATISTICS GM G A PTS +/- PIM 1000 59 94 153 -78 3049

There was actually some dismay on the part of Berube and his teammates on Thursday night when he was not in the lineup for the Flames opener against Vancouver. Berube had brought several members of his family into Calgary for what he thought would be his 1,000th game. However, the Flames management knew that the visiting Flyers would be in town next, and they were among the former teams that chipped in for the Harley Davidson.

Berube is a case study in what the NHL might start missing as it heads toward its sometimes-not-so-brave new era of speed, along with guys who want to draw penalties for simply being touched. The NHL was built on the broad and strong shoulders of Western Canadian products such as Berube. He was more a fighter than most, but he has lasted this long because he is a solid teammate, and he respects and knows the game.

Now, there are far more marginal players making rosters because of finesse rather than toughness. And when it comes right down it, more fans would rather watch a Berube-style player on a team's depth chart than some pretty player.

The day when teams no longer carry a player of Berube's style might not be too far off -- and the league will be the worse for that.

Stick-y issue in Atlanta

	Kovalchuk

He might be a great player in the making, but Atlanta's second-year forward Ilya Kovalchuk deserves a heavy fine and severe discipline from his team for using an illegal stick and costing it a point during Saturday night's home loss to Florida. Kovalchuk was called for the infraction last season against Edmonton. After the Oilers failed to score on the ensuring power play, Kovalchuk emerged from the penalty box and scored a go-ahead goal. This time, the Panthers waited until overtime to have the stick checked, then scored a three-on-three goal for the victory.

In that victory, coach Mike Keenan benched goalie Roberto Luongo for half the game after he gave up a goal five minutes in. It sets up what could be a fiery relationship between the goalie and coach who has a reputation for the quick hook.

By the way, the Panthers had not won an overtime game since January, 2001.

McLaren to Blues?
Here's a scenario to watch for: With St. Louis under severe pressure to win, and defenseman Chris Pronger now only probable to return at midseason, the Blues could take a chance and make a deal for Boston's unhappy defenseman Kyle McLaren. The deal could get bigger and involve goalie Byron Dafoe as a free agent.

Connolly and Pyatt delivering for Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are off to an unexpected fast start, and GM Darcy Regier must be smiling about the play of both Taylor Pyatt and Tim Connolly -- both products of the trade that sent Michael Peca to the Islanders. Connolly has toughened up. One of the raps against him was that he was not emotional enough, and thin-skinned about any criticism. In fact, the Islanders were so worried about his psychological make up that they went out of their way to squelch trade rumors that might worry Connolly.

No such problems with Peca, who won't be available for at least a couple of months for the Isles, who appear intent on rewriting the record book for penalties this season.

Another note on Buffalo, forward Chris Gratton is playing on a broken foot, and playing well. The better Gratton plays, the better chance he has of being traded.

Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.