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

The Vancouver Province reports that always cagey about his injury status over the years (he's had lots of practice being cagey, obviously), Canucks defenceman Sami Salo wasn't giving up too much this morning before he boarded the team flight to Dallas at YVR.

Salo, who tore his Achilles tendon playing floorball last July, has been practising with the team for several weeks, but said he's still not close to returning – even though the back surgery for Alexander Edler clears cap space to get him back on the roster.

“It doesn't change my schedule at all,” said Salo. “When I'm close to returning I'll let you know, but it hasn't changed anything. I'm still on the same track. I'm still working on the ice and off the ice."

Asked if now it's when, not if he'll return, Salo said:

“I don't know. Maybe not yet.”

Salo said his conditioning is “great” but that his injured leg isn't where he wants it.

“I need a little more strength,” he said. “It's not quite there, where I need to be.”

You also may have heard that hot prospect Cody Hodgson has been called up to hopefully make his NHL debut tomorrow night. He has 10-6-16 in 28 GP with Manitoba in the AHL. If you can't catch the game, check in with the live blogging to see his line assignment, etc.

The Orange County Register believes that six years into his NHL career, Corey Perry has emerged as one of the league's top players and with that comes more and more interviews with the winger often being the subject. Talking about himself is something the native of Peterborough, Ontario, welcomes as much as a root canal but Perry is becoming more at ease with being in the spotlight.

"It's part of the job," Perry said. "You got to be comfortable with it. Every one you do, you become more and more comfortable talking in front of people and talking to people.

"It's one of those things that you've got to learn. Sometimes it takes a little bit longer than others."

The hockey thing is something Perry, 25, seems to have down pat. No other Ducks forward has approached Perry as far as production and consistency. He leads them with 25 goals and 51 points even with usual top-line mate Ryan Getzlaf out for all of January because of a facial injury.

"He's led our team in grit and determination and scoring prowess," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "He gets the dirty goals and goes to those dirty areas. He's been a leader for our team.

"One thing about Corey Perry is you can always ask for more. He's not a guy that says I've given you everything. He always reaches back and finds a way to give you more."

The Register notes that Carlyle leans on Perry, who is among NHL leaders in ice time for a forward with an average of 21 minutes, 29 seconds. For the first time in his career, Perry is playing every situation as he's now taking regular turns on the penalty kill.

Perry said he appreciates the trust his demanding coach has in him.

"When time does come where he does ask for that little extra effort, you know that he can count on you and you can count on him to get you out there in those situations," Perry said. "It's a tremendous honor to hear those words from him.

"If you play hard for him and you go out there and do everything he asks you to do, he's going to reward you. He's done that with me."

“I’ve been spending as much time as I can with Marty St. Louis,’’ Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas told The Boston Globe over the weekend of one of his All-Star weekend perks. “That’s always nice. Basically, these All-Star Games are the only times we get to see each other. That’s been it the last couple years. That and getting to meet a lot of new guys is always very fun. I wish I had more time to spend to talk to them. I’m always impressed with how nice the other guys are. When you play against them, you turn them into villains a little bit in your head. It was a good experience.’’

Following last night's game, where he came into action in the third period with his team nursing a 7-6 lead, he joked, "“Going into the third, I knew I had to let in one to get the win. But then I let that one in and I couldn’t stop them from going in. There’s a lot of good players out there. My team came through for me.’’

He stopped 11 of 15 shots to earn his third All-Star win.

Looking around at the different last names etched above the All-Star lockers, Philly.com relayed that Flyers forward Claude Giroux said he needed to pinch himself a little bit.

"I was just glad I didn't embarrass myself out there," Giroux said with a laugh. "I never thought I'd be able to be here. Just to be picked, it's a great honour. The best players in the world are here, I feel pretty lucky."

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said, who coached against Giroux yesterday, offered this: "There's no question he belonged. He's had an All-Star year and he is an All-Star player. Certainly his performance this year, he's warranted it."

The way Giroux has consistently produced for the Flyers since last year's playoff run - already matching his point total (47) in the first 50 games that he put up over 82 games last regular season - it's sometimes hard to remember that Giroux is still just 23.

"We all saw it out there [yesterday]," Danny Briere said. "He was confident, he made some plays just like any of the top players were making. I hope it makes him realize that he belongs among the best players in the NHL."

Philly.com notes that out of the 42 players in yesterday's game, only six players are younger than Giroux, and none of them spent a single day in the AHL on their way to the NHL. Giroux is one of the 85 percent of NHL players who spent time honing his craft in the AHL.

It has been a process, one that he readily admits is still a work in progress. Consider this past weekend - an unbelievably well-hosted event in an untraditional market in Raleigh - a big part of that learning curve.

"I'm still a young guy, I'm still learning every day," Giroux said. "When you come to an event like this, I think you can learn a lot. It's a great experience.

"It was a great show. It's special when you see a guy like [Zdeno] Chara shoot that hard, or a guy like Ovechkin dangle the puck. It's impressive. These are the best players in the world."

Now, as Giroux officially enters the second half of the season tomorrow night as the Flyers' leading point-getter, the challenge will be for him to continue his playmaking dominance at a consistent pace.

Giroux will do so, though, knowing that his dream in Raleigh was very much a reality. He has the jersey he asked his teammates to sign to prove it.

"Hopefully he uses this weekend to his advantage," Briere said, "And he realizes that he's already one of the best players in the NHL."

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that because first impressions are so difficult to shake, Brent Burns' name still brings to mind the shaggy-haired 18-year-old who showed up for Wild training camp in 2003 with boundless energy, limitless potential and absolutely no need of a razor.

Man, how things change.

That version -- let's call it Burns 1.0 -- was mentioned after a recent practice. And Burns, a 25-year-old with boundless energy, limitless potential and -- until shaving it off this week -- a beard fit for a ZZ Top tribune band, smiled. He remembers that guy, too.

"We've come a long way," Burns said. "I think everybody talks about how fast it goes, and you don't really think about the little changes. Everybody sees you as the same. It's weird to think that it's been that long. I'm not really a rookie anymore."

That first fall in Minnesota, he was so young he lived with a local family. Now he has a family of his own. He and his wife, Susan, have one child (9-month-old daughter Peyton) and another due this summer.

It's easy to look at Burns' season, his All-Star selection and his growing stature in the league as a natural progression. But Burns said changes off the ice have precipitated improvement on it.

"It's such a difference," he said. "I think you grow up a lot. Well, in this profession you have to grow up pretty quickly anyway. But I know how lucky I am. It's awesome to go home every day and have an amazing family. It's fun."

The Star-Tribune believes this all has fundamentally changed Burns' priorities.

"You start to realize hockey is just a game, and I think that's good," Burns said. "I think that helps you get over things. You don't take things as hard. Things even out a lot more. In hockey, confidence is so important. If you have a couple of bad games, it's hard to bounce back from it. Before I had a family, a kid to go home to, it was a lot harder. I'd dwell on things. Now it's easier to forget about things.

"I think the good times are still really good. But the bad times? It doesn't matter how terrible I played the night before. When I get up to wake my daughter up in the morning and she's smiling? You forget about it. You start again, start new."

One of the particularly interesting parts of the article was his take on his path to the NHL.

He counts his blessings. He came to Minnesota when highly drafted talent was put on the fast track.

"I'm so lucky to get here," Burns said. "There are so many people better than me, more talented. But you get lucky to have played a couple good games when the right person was there. Maybe if I'd have gotten drafted in, say, Detroit, which is a really deep team, I might not have gotten the chance to play before the lockout. I am lucky to be where I am right now.''

That goes for everything. On the ice and off.

"It's been great to grow up in Minnesota," Burns said. "It's been a long time, but it's been fun. But I still know there are a lot of things to learn and I still have to grow a lot, learn a lot. Hopefully, it all will happen here."

The Tampa Tribune has quotes from Lightning stars Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis, who played with former Lightning Conn Smyth winner Brad Richards, at Sunday's All-Star game. The three combined for two goals and four points, despite receiving the least amount of ice time on their team.

"It was a treat to be back with Marty,'' said Richards, who picked up an assist in his first All-Star appearance. "It was awesome. Even in warm-up we caught each other going back to the same routine we did, and it was probably 2006 the last time we really played together, so we did the same routine and we both remembered.

"And on the ice, it was fun to look for him again. I was trying to get him one all night. I even felt bad for Stammer sometimes, because I was looking for Marty. But it was fun and I'm happy I got to play with Stammer, too, the leading goal scorer in the league.''

The idea of reuniting Richards (UFA this summer) and St. Louis on a regular basis might end up being a pipe dream, but it was reality enough Sunday when the trio took the ice for the opening faceoff.

"To get to play with a teammate was great, and to get to play with an ex-teammate in Brad Richards, it was a fun game,'' said St. Louis, an alternate captain and part of the group that selected the teams in the fantasy draft Friday. "I'm glad that when it all got announced, and I knew how it was all going to go about with the draft and everything, I was hoping that this would be the scenario and I could lobby for Richie to play with us. It worked out and it was a lot of fun.''

The day was fun for Stamkos, as well, after he became the second player in franchise history to record a goal in an All-Star Game, finding a tight hole from the side of the net off — what else? — a St. Louis feed from behind the net at the 14:11 mark of the second period.

"We were buzzing all game, had lots of chances but we weren't burying them. So I saw Marty go behind the net, I knew he was looking for me and I knew I had to get it up quick and fortunately it went in,'' said Stamkos, who had two shots on goal and hit the crossbar in the first period. "I thought it might end up being one of those games where you end up getting eight or nine shots and nothing, but it was nice to get one. And to play with Marty and Brad Richards, to get an opportunity to play with those guys was fun and we made it fun out there."

In case you missed it over All-Star weekend, The Toronto Star says the FBI is on the case of the missing puck.

Last June, Chicago Blackhawks sniper Patrick Kane juked around Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Kimmo Timonen and launched a wrist shot from a severe angle that snuck its way into the net to win the Stanley Cup.

It seemed Kane was the only person in the arena that knew the puck went in. The Philadelphia crowd went silent, confused after the puck disappeared; the announcers were lost, the referees bewildered. Kane was certain, though, and he took his celebration to the other end of the rink, where the rest of his team joined in the festivities.

Video replays finally showed the puck lodged between the padding of the goalpost and the net. It hasn’t been seen since.

A Chicago restaurateur placed a $50,000 (U.S.) bounty on the puck last year. Now forensic specialists from the FBI’s Chicago office are volunteering their time and expertise to track it down.

“The people who are doing this are doing it on their own time,” Rice said. “They feel they are a part of history.”

The article notes that Grant DePorter, CEO of Harry Caray’s restaurant in Chicago, offered a $50,000 (U.S.) reward for the puck. When a Philadelphia resident recently sent him a puck purporting to be the one in question, DePorter enlisted the services of the FBI to authenticate the claim, according to the Tribune.

“Ross Rice from the FBI agreed to help in the authentication process, DePorter said. “This has felt like an episode of CSI. NBC helped by getting the super high-def, unedited footage from NBC New York — that part took some time.”

The FBI used the footage to prove the puck sent from Philadelphia wasn’t the real deal.

DePorter began searching for the puck last summer when he began designing a hockey theme for a new Harry Caray’s Restaurant on Navy Pier with partners Kane and Blackhawks great Bobby Hull, according to the Tribune.

And yes, The Star notes that Chris Pronger - who openly admits to taking the game-winning puck from Game Two and will sell it for money that'll all go to charity - has an alibi for the Cup-winner. He was on the bench at the time.

“Oh . . . my . . . God,’’ Gary Roberts stammered when shown a photo by The Calgary Herald of his June 19, 1984 draft date, where it seemed his physique had been moulded from a shipment of Wonderbread, not chiselled from a block of Carrara marble. A photograph taken more than 26 years ago, grip-and-grinning with GM Cliff Fletcher at the Montreal Forum, a Flames’ jersey slipped over his head, still elicits a cringe. “I KNEW you were going to mention that. The Gary Roberts ‘before’ part of the ad, right? The prototype for the skinny/fat junior hockey player. Honestly, I should show that photo to the kids I work with now. Scary thing is, that’s how 90 per cent of junior teams still allow their kids to eat.

“Everybody’s so focused on training, training, training, and I’m not downplaying that in the slightest. But nutrition is the one area in hockey that really needs to be addressed and upgraded. You can’t eat double Big Mac combos at McDonalds and be a professional athlete. Not anymore. You can’t eat three meals a day. You can’t stop between the ninth and 10th holes and have a dog and couple beers in the summertime.

“I see the way Sidney Crosby takes care of himself, at his age, and Stamkos and so many other players, and it knocks me out. Not all of them, but more and more. I played hard, I played physical, but I wasn’t strong. I was 185 pounds. And weak? Weak, weak, weak.’’

Jen in California: "Greetings, I could sure use your input. 14 team H2H league, daily unlimited moves, no trades, season ends in 2 months when NHL regular season ends. Points for G, A, +/-, PiM, PPG, PPP, GWG and W, GAA, SV%, SHO. Roster consists of 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G, 1U plus 6B and 2IR. When I heard Edler was hurt, I needed to help my D so I dropped Oshie, picked up MA Bergeron hoping he'll get recalled to Tampa after the break and also added Streit and Salo to my IR after hearing they're back skating.

I also have Nabokov wasting away on my bench after using a high waiver pick on him thinking he was bound for Detroit. Will Edler be back within 2 months or drop him? If he'll return and I move him to IR, do I drop Salo or Streit from IR? I can also just keep one on the roster and see what happens in the near future but that's burning another roster spot and with Nabokov and Bergeron that would be 3 guys out of 19 not playing in a H2H which is tough. Here's my roster:

LW - Neal, Clowe, Kovalchuk (also RW) C - Skinner (also RW), Sharp (also LW), Ryan (also LW) RW - Recchi, Byfuglien (also D), Kessel D - Weber, Yandle, Shattenkirk, Edler, MacDonald, MA Bergeron G - Bryzgalov, Pavelec, Rinne, Nabokov IR - Streit, Salo

I do OK in most stats except for +/- and PiMs. Many thanks."

Chris: Always nice to hear from you Jen. Although the potential is there for MAB to produce in a PP1 role for TB, we have no real timeline for him to be called up right now. He's played 11 games so far and has 4A. I'd rather see you drop him and add another forward for the time being, at least until we get something from the team.

With Nabokov, there was unfortunately nothing that happened over the All-Star break. In a roto situation I'd give it more time, but you're forced into needing points now each night. It's too bad things have played out the way they did, but it comes down to how much you could get from a FA in your league at any position vs. how long you can afford to wait. With no playoffs, your league has more of a roto feel and you need to keep making progress each week.

For the IR, it certainly seems as if Salo (no real timeline, but seemingly closer than anything Edler would approach) and Streit (March is the target and he's skating already) will beat Edler (likely a few months away) and seem like better late-season gambits.