| | People always talk about how irrelevant the regular season is in the NHL. There may be some validity in their arguments, yet already, some compelling matchups take place just a week into the season.
How will Dallas handle playing without Mike Modano when the Stars travel to Detroit on Tuesday? And look out when the Stars meet Anaheim again on Friday. In addition, Grant Fuhr faces the Blues -- who traded him to Calgary in the offseason -- on Wednesday in Calgary.
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Montreal at Vancouver, 10 p.m. ET Saturday --
Vancouver made the Stanley Cup finals in 1994, and the Canadiens have won a Cup in every decade since anyone reading this has been alive. It seems that no one associated with either organization can remember what winning feels like. Bad teams need to beat bad teams to be considered mediocre. |
Dallas at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPN2)
Dallas rolls into Detroit as the defending Stanley Cup champion. And Detroit won the two previous Cups. Unfortunately, this won't be a matchup of the best vs. the best because of some ill-fated injuries over the previous weekend.
Modano and Darryl Sydor are out indefinitely from questionable plays in the
Stars' 2-0 win over Anaheim on Saturday. Modano suffered a concussion, a
broken nose and strained ligaments in his neck after defenseman Ruslan Salei
pushed him headfirst into the boards.
"It was an absolutely ridiculous play and was disgustingly cheap," Brett Hull said of the hit on Modano. "As far as I'm concerned, (Salei) should be out of the league."
It will be interesting to see how the Stars respond to the adversity because
Modano is one of the best two-way players in the league. As for the Red
Wings, they can't feel sorry for Dallas. They have to try to pound them and
send a message of their own, although don't look for Detroit to do it like
the Ducks did Saturday.
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TALE OF THE TAPE |
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Chicago at Vancouver,
10:30 p.m. ET Wednesday
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Donald
Brashear |
Bob
Probert |
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Age: |
27 |
34 |
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Ht., Wt.: |
6-2, 220 |
6-3, 225 |
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Shoots: |
Left |
Left |
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History: Brashear had 211 penalty minutes last season and 372 in '97-98. He is a polished brawler and never sends a mixed message. When he wants a piece of somebody, he goes right after him.
Probert doesn't fight nearly as much as he used to, and might not even be
the guy who tangles with Brashear on Wednesday night. The Blackhawks have plenty of bruisers, including Reid Simpson, Dave Manson and Brad Brown. And don't forget Nathan Perrot, an unknown rookie, who amassed 69 PIMs in the preseason, which is pretty tough to do. "I don't have skills some of the other guys have out there, but I work hard and I'll do what it takes," Perrott told the Chicago Sun-Times.
But if called to action, Probert can win -- and lose -- with the best of them. He's a veteran who knows what conditioning is needed to be a successful fighter, and he trains for it.
If the Blackhawks carry their rough style into the regular season, don't be surprised if both are busy doing the pugilistic tango in Vancouver. |
Ottawa at N.Y. Rangers 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday
For all the millions spent on free agents, the Rangers began the season with some old familiar habits, namely little scoring and no wins.
During an opening weekend when Rangers fans expected Theo Fleury, Valeri Kamensky and the gang to rack up the numbers, the Blueshirts managed just two goals in a tie and a loss.
"I think we feel the need to win some games," defenseman Brian Leetch told the New York Daily News. "That third game is a lot bigger than it was two games ago."
The Rangers, who are 0-for-12 on the power play thus far, will need to jell, but it better be quick.
The Senators, on the other hand, look OK without two of their best players, holdout Alexei Yashin and injured goalie Ron Tugnutt.
Patrick Lalime played his first NHL game since 1997 and stopped 17 shots en
route to shutting out the Flyers on Saturday.
The irony of it all is that rumors continue to circulate that if Yashin is
ever traded, the Rangers might be first in line -- especially if they don't
win a lot of games early -- for his services.
St. Louis at Calgary, 9 p.m. ET Wednesday
No ill will seemed to be associated with St. Louis trading goalie Grant Fuhr to Calgary.
Regardless, when the Blues travel to face the Flames a lot of St. Louis
fans will monitor the starting goalies in the hope that Roman Turek is as
good as Blues GM Larry Pleau had hoped.
Conventional wisdom would dictate that the future hall of famer would be
better used on a contender, but the Blues believe they have a winner in
Turek.
Dallas at Anaheim, 9:30 p.m. ET Friday
Not much to explain here. The Mighty Ducks clearly wanted to send a message
to the Dallas Stars, mainly that the days of being a Mickey Mouse opponent
were over.
The Stars likely will be without Modano and Sydor, but they might be so
pumped up that the strategy may backfire.
Trying to spark a rivalry is one thing, but intent to injure makes it personal.
It seems that a bubbling dislike for Dallas has been brewing for some time in the Anaheim locker room. The Ducks' franchise record against Dallas is 7-20-1.
Expect it to get nasty and for the talented Stars to try to beat the Ducks
on the stat sheet and the stitch count. | |
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