Chris Nichols

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.

@Nichols_NHLPool on Twitter for timely NHL & poolie info, along with occasionally snarky comments.

Live blogging nightly: line combos, defensive pairings, analysis, statistical trends and more from every game on the NHL docket. Refresh the 'Live NHL Recap' page while the games are on to get new info as it is added.

Send in a brief fantasy hockey question, including all relevant league info, and it may be included in a future Hockey Hearsay blog during the week. One per person, please. Send it via Twitter for a possible response in the blog, or send via email (include your first name and hometown to represent!) if you'd prefer. chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

It's virtually impossible for you not to know that today is Wayne Gretzky's 50th birthday. As it should be for a hockey icon on a milestone occasion, coverage has been plentiful this week and today's the big day.

Rather that pick out one piece on it for today's Hockey Hearsay, hockey fans of all ages should really just take a little time today or in the coming days to read some of the coverage. We have plenty of it at Sportsnet, naturally, but it's all over the web and elsewhere.

Everyone of a certain age has their own memories of seeing No. 99 play and I'm no different, having had the privilege to grow up in Edmonton during the glory years and see his legendary career unfold before my very eyes. We all knew it was special at the time, but as each year passes you tend to gain even a little more perspective on just how extraordinary everything about him was. And is.

But if you're a younger hockey fan and you only know Gretz as this abstract mythical figure, you really owe it to yourself to read the varying takes from hockey writers in all circles as they share their own stories. The staggering nature of his hockey records is one thing - one truly amazing thing - but one important reason Gretzky still resonates with hockey fans so many years after his retirement from the game in 1999 is that he's remained as special a person now as he was at a young age... despite the overabundance of media and fan attention and accolades he's received throughout his life.

The Nashville Tennessean indicates that Shane O'Brien is focused on things other than his past here.

The Predators defenceman is looking beyond his party boy image, beyond the harsh words he had for Canucks coach Alain Vigneault after Vancouver traded him to Nashville in October.

"The main thing is we have to find a way to get two points, and they're the best team in the Western Conference," the normally outspoken O'Brien said. "It's a good challenge for us."

This is a far cry from O'Brien's scorched earth approach on the way out of Vancouver. O'Brien was not pleased with the way his former coach handled his public persona. O'Brien was known to enjoy the Vancouver nightlife. He was also reportedly "exiled" from the Canucks after coming back from the Olympic break last season overweight.

"But the thing that really made me upset is you look around an organization and there's always stuff that goes on during the year, and they try to keep it behind closed doors," O'Brien told the Vancouver Sun following the trade. "With me, AV just went right to the press and buried me and that made it worse."

The Tennessean believes that with the Predators, who face the Canucks tonight, O'Brien has altered his image and taken a calmer approach.

He has limited his penalty minutes to 43 through 47 games (He had 79 in 65 last season and 196 in 76 in 2008-09, all with the Canucks). He has also turned into one of the Predators' top penalty killers.

"He has been very good since he got here. We haven't had any problems at all," defensive partner Cody Franson said. "He has been good in the locker room. He's a pretty upbeat guy, real vocal; he gets the guys going a little bit. He's good in that sense, he lightens the mood a little bit and guys respect him."

Asked if he would talk to Vigneault, O'Brien said: "I haven't thought about it, to be honest with you."

He told The Tennessean that he's just thankful that GM David Poile and coach Barry Trotz gave him an opportunity with the Predators and that it has worked out in a positive way.

"Coach Trotz and David Poile have made it real easy to come here, and also my teammates, in the dressing room," O'Brien said. "It's fun to come to work every day and win hockey games."

The Calgary Herald points out that when the St. Louis Blues come marching into the Scotiabank Saddledome tonight, Miikka Kiprusoff will stand ready for the challenge in what will be his 500th game in the National Hockey League.

In this day and age, it is a milestone of considerable sorts. Especially when you consider the workload he has shouldered since arriving in Calgary during the magical Stanley Cup run of 2003-2004.

After being lightly used by the San Jose Sharks, there were 38 games that first season and a gaudy 1.70 goals against average with a career-high .933 save percentage. Then he went to work . . . 74 starts in each of the two seasons following the lockout season of 2004-05 followed by 76 starts the next two seasons and 73 last season.

There's been 41 appearances this season.

Since Kiprusoff doesn't talk before game starts, The Herald let others talk about his value to the team.

"You can call him a workhorse, but he's more than a workhorse because he's in there and he's dominant," said captain Jarome Iginla, whose team will try to ring up a fourth straight victory tonight before breaking for the all-star weekend. "It's his consistency . . . when I think over the course of his career how many games he plays.

"When he's had maybe a tough week or didn't feel good, it's such a shock. Teams go through that with goalies all the time and we don't ever go through it. He's just in there. He's been one of the top goalies for however many years."

Foes know how good he is, how tough it is to get a puck past him.

"Everyone knows he's a great goalie, but the biggest thing that stands out from other goalies is he's such a battler," said Tom Kostopoulos, a recent arrival from Carolina. "Sometimes when you think you've got him beat, he comes out of nowhere, reaches with his glove, pad or stick and finds a way to make the save.

"That's what I remember from playing against him and from what I've seen since I've been here."

The Herald notes there have been many highlight reel saves by the 34-year-old redhead, many which will forever stick in the minds of his teammates and those players he stoned.

"He's such a well-rounded goalie," said veteran defenceman Cory Sarich, "and he's a great puck mover, which makes our job easier. He's always solid in there, a huge competitor. He's out there trying his best every night and that's all you can ask of a guy.

"He keeps himself in good shape, goes about things the right way. You never hear the guy complain. He's probably one of the best teammates you can have and one of the best guys in our locker-room."

The Tampa Tribune observes that winger Simon Gagne is beginning to heat up -- at last.

He scored the first goal Tuesday. He scored two goals in the game before that, Make it six goals in the last eight games. He had three in his first 24 games this season.

"They're starting to go in," Gagne said. "It's fun."

The first part of this season wasn't fun for him. Oh, the Bolts were winning, surprising everyone, and Gagne loved it, but he was dragged down in preseason by what turned out to be a nerve injury to his neck. Then he got off to a dreadful start, with no points in his first eight games, and a minus-11 rating.

But here's the thing: If Gagne starts rolling, it'll be as if he's some sort of midseason acquisition.

"A little bit," Gagne said with a soft smile. "Like a trade that just happened at the trade deadline."

Like a booster shot, someone else to score, a new dimension to go with All-Stars Steven Stamkos and Marty St. Louis.

"Oh, he's playing great," coach Guy Boucher told The Tribune. "I've seen this guy play for a long time and he has always been an outstanding player. He makes a difference. It was sad to see at the beginning of the year when nobody knew what was going on with him. When we found out he was playing injured without telling people, you could figure out why he wasn't at his best."

It could be a special stretch run.

"It's the best hockey of the season, the last stretch," Gagne said. "You want to be at your top. I feel right now it's coming, especially at the end of the season, when big hockey is going to happen."

There were times early this season when nothing went right for him … nothing.

"I don't know how many times this year I jumped on the ice and the other team was scoring a goal," Gagne said with a smile. "What's the expression, when it's raining, it's pouring."

He smiled again.

"Now it's starting to be sunny and nice."

According to The Orange County Register, it was a milestone night for the Ducks' Jason Blake on a big evening for his team.

Blake celebrated his 800th game in the NHL on Tuesday night by scoring his 200th career goal in the third period, providing the Ducks with the eventual winner in a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

The veteran winger capped a lengthy shift by picking up Saku Koivu's pass behind the net and stepping out to flip an impressive backhander past Blue Jackets goalie Steve Mason to give the Ducks a two-goal lead early in the third period.

"I thought we had great shifts all game long," Blake said, referring to linemates Koivu and Teemu Selanne. "I just think for our line, if we keep doing the things that make each of us successful as far as using our speed, chipping the puck in and forechecking, sooner or later, if you do good things hopefully something good happens out of it."

The Register points out that the goals haven't been plentiful in number since he arrived in Anaheim nearly a year ago, but Blake's 10th goal of the season allowed him to reach double digits for the eighth consecutive season.

More important, Blake reached 200 even though he didn't become a full-time NHL player until he was 26.

"Yeah, it's special," he said. "'Obviously it's a great achievement for both of them. To be in the league that long and obviously I've played with a lot of great players throughout the years. Like I said, it's a great achievement.

"Who cares about that? It's about the team win and a good feeling going into the All-Star break."

“It’s not necessarily to say something,” Thrashers Craig Ramsay told The Atlanta Journal Constitution Tuesday when asked to clarify his comments following Sunday's loss, where he said to turn around the team’s current losing streak he need the players and leaders in the locker room to step forward.

”It’s easy to say something. It’s easy to yell. It’s easy to pick fault with people. We are a little banged up. It’s up to [Dustin Byfuglien] not to worry about his points but to worry about his defense and to encourage his teammates to continue to push and to show that courage he has to join rushes and shoot pucks and then be good defensively.

“[Rich Peverley] has to work on his draws. He has to be a good penalty killer. He has to shoot the puck.

“[Brent Sopel] has to be up and talking. He’s very good when he talks. He helps other players when he talks.

“Ron Hainsey has to join rushes and be good without the puck.

“It’s up to each person to look at themselves and not look at other players and say ‘Geez, he’s not playing very well. What can I do better? What can I do to support my teammates better?’ That’s leadership throughout the team. They have to want to be here. They have to want to be part of a winning group. If they really take care of themselves, if they really push themselves to be the best they can be, then they lead by example. It’s leading by example from everyone that, to me, is the ultimate leadership quality of an organization and a team.”

The Boston Globe wonders what now for Marc Savard?

Trouble is, nobody — not the doctors, not the Bruins, not even Savard himself — can project when the concussed centre can return to action. On Monday, after seeing doctors in Boston, Savard was diagnosed with a moderate concussion.

It’s anyone guess as to whether Savard misses weeks, months, or perhaps the rest of the season. It will be up to the front office to come up with solutions to address Savard’s absence.

In Monday’s 2-0 loss to the Kings in Los Angeles, coach Claude Julien went with David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin, and Gregory Campbell as his four centres. If management and the coaching staff want to shift Seguin back to wing, that could mean a promotion for Zach Hamill or Joe Colborne, who could serve as skilled centres.

If Savard is out long-term, the Bruins could place him on long-term injured reserve, where he started 2010-11. He would have to miss at least 10 games and 24 calendar days, but by slotting Savard there, the Bruins could exceed the salary cap by his $4.007 million annual hit. That would free up money for the Bruins to pursue some assistance on the trade market.

But The Globe suggests that the Bruins wouldn’t necessarily shop for a centre if they placed Savard on long-term injured reserve. Like most clubs, they’re sniffing around for a puck-moving defenceman. They could also use some up-front jam to work the dirty areas.

Or the Bruins could hold their ground and lean on their current group. Bergeron, who has eight goals and seven assists in his last 11 games, has been humming along and developing chemistry with Brad Marchand and Mark Recchi. Seguin continues in his quest to become more comfortable and translate his offensive flammability from the junior ranks to the NHL.

“I hate to put the onus on one player,’’ said Julien told The Globe when asked whether Seguin could pick up the pace. “I think it’s more the team that has to step up and do the job in his absence.

“I thought David Krejci really played a good game [in Colorado Saturday]. If he continues to play that way, that helps.

“Can Seggy help? Absolutely. He’s a great skater. He’s a playmaker. When he has space on the ice, he usually makes good plays. So he can help as well.

“Overall, I don’t want to lean on one guy. I think we need to lean on the whole team.’’

Michigan Live reports that Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom skated by himself before practice this morning, just doing some laps, not doing any stick-handling or shooting as he waits for his broken right hand to heal.

Holmstrom didn't rule out the possibility of playing in the first game following the all-star break, a week from today in Ottawa, but chances are he won't return until a few days after that.

“Who knows, maybe I can (play Feb. 2). It's just how I can handle the pain,'' Holmstrom said. “Hoping a week can make it good. Hold onto the stick and manage the pain. It takes three weeks to heal the bone. So hopefully around that time.''

He was injured Jan. 14 against Columbus.

“Maybe I can just cut the stick up and hold it with two fingers because I got such good hands, it's not going to bother me,'' he said.

Devils coach Jacques Lemaire told Fire & Ice this morning that there is no chance he will change his mind and come back to coach the Devils again next season.

Why?

“Bcause I find it’s tough.” he said. “I find it’s tough. It’s hard. I’m not at the end of the season yet. I still have two, three months to go and will have tough days. I get back from road trips and I get more tired than when I was 40.”

Lemaire, 65, confirmed that he told Red Wings coach Mike Babcock at the Olympics that he planned to retire at the end of the 2009-10 season.

“I talked to him at the Olympics that it would probably be my last year because of the way I felt getting more tired,” Lemaire said. “It’s just tougher. I said you feel there’s a time and I think it’s coming.”

Lemaire says he feels “great” right now.

“You get back in and it’s a game that I played and that I coached for 15 years, 16 years and one day you decide to retire, it doesn’t mean that if you get a chance to get back, it doesn’t matter the reason, the fire that you had inside you stays there,” he said. “You’ve just got the pilot and then you turn up the valve and then you get that fire. That’s what happened.”

Lemaire told Fire & Ice his goal now is to set a foundation for the team to build on in the future after he’s back in retirement.

“This is what I always try to build up every team I coach,” Lemaire said. “I want the guys to know what he has to do to win and that is the foundation of the team, knowing what you have to do to win and trying to go with every practice and work hard so you can get better. This is what I’m trying to get—confidence back to the players so they believe in themselves.”

Darren in St. Louis: "chris, i would like to add gerbe to my 20 team league, 10 keeper per team, team. h2h, standard plus hits. the players who i could potentially drop for gerbe are as follows: horcoff, seguin, parenteau, knuble, rolston, clitsome, nabokov(who i just used a waiver wire pick up on), bernier and poulin. seguin is my least productive player but i used my first round pick on him this year...trying to trade him but have received no feedback. thoughts? thanks."

Chris: We'll see what happens with Nabokov over the All-Star break, but I'd keep him for now. As I look through the list of players you think might be droppable, I think I'd rather have all of them more than Gerbe looking down the stretch run.

As far as Seguin's trade value, you'd expect that somewhat for now. But with 200 keepers per season league-wide, his value is going to rise toward the summer as people look between choosing older guys and younger ones with his immense upside.

Ken in Kennebunk: "Hi Chris- With the break after Wednesday night's games and then 10 weeks left, thought I would submit a team eval.

9 team standard roto keeper (4) league with 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G plus 4 on the bench. We use G, A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG; W, GAA, SV%, SO. After some waiver pickups mainly in net, my roster now looks like:

C: P.Bergeron, Kopitar, Grabovski; LW: Steen, T.Ruutu(&RW); RW: Malkin(&C), StL(&LW), Perry; D: Green, Doughty, Letang, Pronger, Streit(IR); G: Rinne, Hiller, Crawford, Roloson

Notable FAs: Oshie, Marchand, Tavares, Shattenkirk, Tyutin, Jordan Staal, MAB and Foppa

My netminders helped me scrape from the middle to the top and the only weak category I have at the moment now is Gs.

Appreciate your take as always. BTW, will you be grading Team Staal and Team Lidstrom after Friday night's draft?

Thanks!"

Chris: Ken, I definitely won't be doing anything over the weekend related to the All-Star game since I'll be fully enjoying five straight nights off. Hockey Hearsay will still run as normal Thursday, Friday and Monday though. That said, I'm sure I'll have a tweet or two in lieu of the live blogging being on hiatus.

Also, in terms of your non-blog question... I'll definitely consider it or something along those lines.

Onto the eval. I guess it partly depends on the roto limits in net because four goalies seems like a lot. If it's just jamming in two in per night if you can, then I guess I could see the advantage to keeping them all. I'd love to see you try to turn one of them and a hot guy like Steen into a LW option on which you know you'll be able to depend down the stretch. Steen has been on a great run, but...

The bonus of that is that you could then slide Forsberg into a wing position when he plays because that's likely where he'll be playing, rather than centre. Just like his comeback a few years ago.

For now, I'd at least drop Grabovski for Tavares. +/- hasn't really been an issue for awhile and JT is a better talent. Plus, the Isles have Okposo healthy now and that at least helps PP1 theoretically. If you don't want to chance losing out on Forsberg, then you could swap Grabovski for Forsberg and work that trade angle... then add Tavares.

Drew: "Hey Chris, what do I do about Nabokov now that I got him and he has been suspended? Will he play for the next 2 months or cut bait and move on? 1 year, H2H, unlimited moves, no trade, 14 teams with points for G, A, PPG, PPP, PiM, +/-, GWG. "Fredo was weak and stupid! He shouldn't have eaten that key!!" Thanks."

Chris: Wow, that's a pretty obscure Seinfeld quote but they all work. :-)

I would advise virtually any Nabby owner to wait out the All-Star break and see what happens. I don't know what the Isles hope to gain from suspending him aside from a potentially resentful player on the roster, but whatever. It's their right and Nabokov left himself open to it.

If there has been no movement after the ASB, then H2H owners especially will have to carefully weigh the pros and cons. The higher you are in the standings, the more you can afford to wait out the situation and hope for a positive situation that can help the stretch drive and/or playoffs. But even him playing for the Isles wouldn't necessarily be horrible. The unknown is that since he's been off for so long now, how good can be with any team right away anyway?

Anyway, with no games beyond tonight until next week there's no harm in waiting and seeing what happens.