Nhl Western Conference

Sporting News, The, Dec 18, 2000 by Paul Grant

WHO'S HOT

All Doug Weight does is plod along anonymously in the frozen tundra that is Edmonton (send rebuttals to tsnmail@sportingnews.com). Since trading the spotlights of Broadway for the Northern Lights in '93, Weight has averaged 0.97 points a game. In his latest streak he has three goals, eight assists and 11 points in eight games. Bill Guerin, Anson Carter, Jimmy Carter ... they'll all score on his line.

WHO'S NOT

Teemu Selanne is used to scoring lots of goals. In his eight-year career, he has led or tied for the NHL lead in goals three times. Unless he regularly plays against the ... well, there isn't a team the Ducks own this season, so that won't work. Through last Saturday Selanne, who once scored 76 times in a season, had 11 goals and hadn't scored in his last eight games. No wonder the Ducks are cooked.

CHALKDUST

The West has the best (Edmonton) and worst (San Jose) ice in the civilized NHL. The Sharks say their ice has never been worse, and that whining is coming from a club that is winning. The NHL is taking it to heart, asking players across the league to rate the ice, by period, after each game. The hope is the info will affect change so teams won't have to develop different strategies for different rinks at different times of the game (and give those guys with the shovels a break).

GAME OF THE WEEK

As is the case each week in the West, every game is worth watching. This week the sentimental favorite is the Wild-Stars tilt on Sunday, which marks the first time Dallas has played in Minnesota since 1993, when it called the Twin Cities home. The South Stars have gone 290-198-80-1 (through Saturday) and brought Texas a Cup since moving, so you can understand if Minny fans hold a grudge. But hockey in the state has recovered, as the sellouts--no, not Norm Green--will attest.

STICKS & STONES

Steve Smith, meet Eric Lindros. Smith packed his bag for the last time last week, retiring after 37 seasons (roughly) in the NHL. Smith aggravated a serious spinalcord injury, and doctors told him a life of bingo and pension checks was a better idea than blades and bodychecks. Smith had returned once before from a serious injury. Sound familiar?

DROPPING THE GLOVES

"Sometimes we start slow, but we always feel like we're the better team and that we can come back." --understatement provided by Blues center Jochen Hecht