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

Michael Grabner is enjoying NHL life to the fullest for the first time in his life and The Vancouver Province believes he thinks he may have figured out why his training camps have been so bad.

You know, bad enough to have him in the minors in the Florida system had the Islanders not taken a flyer on him when they picked him up on waivers.

"Every year I come into camp around 195 pounds because I lose weight over the season," Grabner was explaining Wednesday from Long Island after he had bagged his 25th goal of the year to continue a torrid pace, scoring in his last six games as the Isles' top goal-getter.

"I've been talking to a couple of people and they think that's the problem I've had early in a season. I trained the same way I did the year before this time but I was drinking a lot of protein shakes and using stuff to gain weight and when I get to camp nothing seems to go for me. But now I'm down around 182 or 183 and I feel a lot better and I have the explosive speed and the puck is obviously going in for me. I've just been carrying around a lot of weight that I don't need."

The Province writes that what's amazing about Grabner's success is that he has three shorthanded goals, and one of the reasons Vancouver included him with Steve Bernier and a first rounder for Keith Ballard this summer was the fact they felt the more expensive Mason Raymond could do more things for the club. Under Alain Vigneault, nobody can even remember Grabner getting a shift on the PK as he was cast as exclusively an offensive player. Now he's a plus-11 and doing just about everything on the Island as his career finally gets out of low gear at age 23.

The Canucks would probably want to wait longer for more proof before admitting to a mistake, but Grabner's emergence might give some indication why GM Mike Gillis kept most of the scouts when he took over. More and more it appears the problem was as much player development as it was picking the wrong guy, although it appears Patrick White was definitely a clanger. Another reason why Grabner was traded was the fact he's not a great playmaker and the team felt he had to be top six to be effective in the league. It's hard to play a guy with Ryan Kesler or Henrik Sedin if he's not great at making a play, and things have turned out pretty well with the local squad without him.

"Earlier in the year I thought I was playing well, you know, when I first got here that is, because I was getting the chances and nothing was happening. Now it's going really well and I'm getting more and better chances. I was sad to leave Vancouver but then I realized I was going to get more of a chance to show but my camp . . . It was the same as always. Nothing happened."

Grabner's timing couldn't be better. He's just finishing up his contract, which has him making $843,000 this year, and suffice it to say, since it looks as if he'll at least hit 30 goals, he's in for a pretty substantial raise.

"I'm really lucky it's been this year but I've had the old [contract] for five years now so I guess it's time I tried on a new one."

The Detroit News writes that he doesn't want it to be a big deal because in the larger scheme, it isn't. It's just one game. It also happens to be the first time Steve Yzerman's storied past intersects with his burgeoning future.

When the Red Wings visit the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, Yzerman will face his former team, and he's trying to make the strange event feel as normal as possible.

Yzerman, 45, has jumped quickly into his job as vice president and general manager of the Lightning, and has had an immediate impact. For 27 years he was a Red Wing, 23 as captain. After four years in the front office, he was offered an opportunity too good to pass up.

Here are some of the highlights from The News' interview:

Q. Now that you've been in charge, is it totally different than working under Ken Holland in the Wings' front office?

A. Yeah, it's way different. It's really easy to pop in and make suggestions and say, "Oh we need to do this and do that, there ya go Kenny, see you later!" I had all sorts of ideas, but I wasn't the guy making the decision.

Q: Everyone talks about the Red Wings model, but I imagine there are different things you want to do. Did you and Kenny ever have any huge disagreements over a decision?

A. No, never. No. I'd listen. Kenny's pretty common sense. He's been around a long time and knows what's realistic and what's not realistic, and he doesn't waste a lot of time on things he knows can't happen or won't happen. It's like calling the radio station — everybody's got these great trades. I used to have those ideas too and I learned after a while, it's funny.

Q. You still talk to Holland quite a bit. Obviously, you could make a trade with him, but wouldn't it be strange because you can't share everything now?

A. You know what, the brief period I've been a GM, you learn you don't try to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. I get Kenny's opinions on a lot of things, so I'm not gonna deceive him or hide anything.

Q. You acquired a goalie on New Year's Day, Dwayne Roloson, and he's been great. Holland tried to get a goalie, Evgeni Nabokov. Have you crossed paths pursuing players?

A. Not so far. We're in different circumstances, different conferences, so whether they were or weren't interested in Dwayne Roloson, I don't know. I had a lot of cap space, so I could make that move.

Q. They do keep humming along. What do you think their key to success is, now that you're putting your own team together?

A. From the Ilitches to Jimmy D. (Devellano) to Kenny to Jimmy Nill to their scouting staff, then to Scotty Bowman and now Mike Babcock — there's continuity, they're all on the same page.

They know the type of organization they want, the type of team they want, the type of players they want. They like skilled players, and they go out and find them and keep them. It's just a really good organization of smart people who work hard. And they don't have egos. Not a lot of — for lack of a better word — BS in that organization. It's not simple but it is simple.

Q. Are you just eager to get this over with?

A. Yeah, pretty much. I'm not on the ice, I'm not coaching. This isn't about me. It's a chance to see how we match up with one of the best teams in the league.

Q. You've said working in the Wings front office was almost like going to a university. What's the biggest trait you picked up?

A. Patience as a manager. You can't rush young kids to the NHL. Kenny preached patience, patience, move slowly, don't overreact to situations. And I've found so far here, if you're uncertain about something, if it's not the right deal, something better is gonna come along.

Q. You're a first-year GM with a pretty good team — you must feel like you know what you're doing now?

A. I still leave here every day thinking, OK, I didn't make any major mistakes, I didn't violate the CBA, it was a good day. I'm still trying not to screw up. But I'm confident in myself.

Q. You must have self-confidence because you went and hired the youngest coach in the NHL (Guy Boucher, 39). A little risky for a first-time GM, wasn't it?

A. I just go with the best guy for the job. I'm not afraid. I really believe he's the right guy, a smart guy. He's young and I'm a young manager, so we'll grow together and figure it out as we go along.

Q. Could you ever have a moment as GM that'd match the thrill of lifting the Cup?

A. Yep. Absolutely. When I retired and I got to sit with Kenny at games and watch the playoffs and how stressful it is, I got a whole new appreciation for the position. And being at the world championships and the Olympics made me understand how rewarding it is to build your own team. I enjoy this as much as I did playing. I really do.

Q. Do you think you'll ever look back and regret you didn't finish your front-office career with one franchise, or have you already reconciled that?

A. Well, I had to make that decision eight months ago. Once I leave, it's never the same, you know? I wanted to look ahead. I didn't want to sit there and be the Captain forever. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate everything that went on there. I appreciated every minute of my career in Detroit.

According to The Edmonton Journal, Ales Hemsky skated on a leg and a prayer the last time the Edmonton Oilers faced the Montreal Canadiens.

The veteran winger willed himself to a goal and two assists in 18-1/2 minutes of work in the Oilers 5-4 overtime rally at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Dec. 1.

But Hemsky limped back to the bench a couple of times and later in the dressing room admitted he was really hurting. It turned out it wasn’t just a groin pull, but a groin muscle tear.

He ended up missing a month.

“Looking back, I shouldn’t have played. I wanted to because that’s what I like doing, you know, playing hockey ... and I had the injury last year (shoulder surgery) and didn’t want to miss more games. I had already sat out three,” said Hemsky. “I thought I’d battle through it, then I ended up missing four weeks.

“Did I tear the muscle during the game or before? I don’t know.”

The Journal posits that’s the thing about Hemsky. He always wants to play, but his body doesn’t always agree. But when Hemsky’s healthy and when he’s flying, as he was against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, you see just how good he can be.

On nights like this, you wonder why his name would ever come up in trade talk. But, of course, it’s because he has just one year left on his contract after this season and he’s an unrestricted free agent. The clock keeps ticking, with the trade deadline on Feb. 28, just six Oilers games away.

But, as Hemsky has said, that’s out of his control. Tonight, he’ll be playing with two good wheels against the Canadiens as the Oilers try to win two straight games for the first time since their four-game winning streak (Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto on the road and St. Louis here) in late November, early December.

The Montreal Gazette paints a portrait of Canada's landscape climbing majestically as you head from Alberta into British Columbia before you slip back down to the salty surf of the Pacific, moving west out of the prairies where, as the old joke goes, you can watch your dog run away for a week.

So how is it that, for the past decade, the Canadiens have found these two western-most provinces to be a crater from which escape is nearly impossible?

Here is the gruesome truth as the Habs begin their mostly annual trip to the 780, 403 and 604 area codes -truly the Alberta badlands and a gorgeous town in B.C. where it seems Montreal last won in the years BC:

In the Canadiens' most recent 24 games in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, since they went 3-0 in 1998-99, they have four wins, 16 losses, two ties and two overtime losses.

Montreal hasn't won beneath a roof in Edmonton or in Vancouver since 2000-01. Of course, this doesn't include the points-awarding 2003 Heritage Classic semi-exhibition at this city's skeleton-chattering Commonwealth Stadium.

In Calgary, you'll have to rewind to 1999-2000 for a two-point night.

The Gazette notes that in the eight-season span beginning that year, excluding the 2004-05 lockout and no trips west in 2006-07 or '07-08, it would be to understate things to suggest the Canadiens have struggled.

Edmonton, where the three-game swing begins tonight: two wins, five regulation losses and one defeat in overtime.

Calgary, site of Sunday's game in the fresh air of McMahon Stadium: one win, five losses, two ties.

Vancouver, where the trip ends next Tuesday, Montreal next at home vs. Toronto a week from tonight: one win, six losses and an OT loss.

Broader history doesn't paint a picture so grim. The Canadiens are 76-43-15-4 in these three cities -17-9-0-2 in Edmonton, 26-18-7-1 in Calgary and 33-16-8-1 in Vancouver.

At the Bell Centre this season, Montreal has taken five of a possible six points from Canada's three western clubs, so maybe they can just pretend to see a CH painted on the ice of the three rinks out this way.

The Gazette believes the next 180 or so minutes of hockey in what has been a western wasteland should be a bit of a long-distance homestand for the Canadiens, given the number of Canadiens jerseys always worn in these time zones.

The visitors tonight will face a bottom-feeder playing fiercely for pride, then a Flames team that remarkably had scrapped its way into a playoff berth, having won seven of its past 10 before last night's visit by Dallas, and finally the NHL's best team in Alain Vigneault's Canucks.

Let's call this a very important trip, to places where the geography can be beautiful even if recent history is cruel.

Watch the Canadiens' chemistry at work the next three games, then we all can do the math where six points would be a perfect grade, and even three wouldn't be half bad.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette points out that the NHL trade deadline is less than two weeks away and, no, Penguins general manager Ray Shero doesn't expect to be just an interested onlooker between now and then.

That doesn't mean he is poised to make a personnel move anytime soon.

"Not unless it's a call-up from Wilkes-Barre," he said, laughing. "I'm good at those."

Shero should be, with all the practice he has had in the past few weeks.

But bringing up guys from the American Hockey League is a short-term response to injury problems. A trade before the Feb. 28 deadline would have longer-lasting implications, especially if Shero doesn't settle for adding "rental" players whose contracts expire after this season.

"Everything you do, you have to keep in mind how that's going to affect us moving forward," he said Wednesday.

The Post-Gazette indicates that at this point, he seems willing to consider deals that would bring in guys who are on the cusp of free agency as well as those for players with time left on their contracts. It is unlikely either will happen until he can get a complete read on the market, and that isn't possible yet.

"There aren't a lot of guys who are selling players [yet], so it's not like players are getting thrown at me, left and right," he said. "I have an idea of what I want to do and what price I might want to pay -- and not overpay, obviously.

"I have a decent idea [of who might be available] from talking to a number of the teams. For some teams, it's still a little early to decide if they're going to make a move with somebody "

The Penguins' primary target is believed to be a goal-scoring winger, although the idea of pursuing a centre to fill in for Evgeni Malkin, out for the season after knee surgery, apparently hasn't been ruled out.

Shero would neither identify the players in whom he is interested nor reveal how many there are.

"We can have some names [to target], but if teams don't want to move [that individual] ... I'm sure teams would like Jordan Staal, but he's not getting traded," he said.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune believes that Wild goaltender Jose Theodore continues to be one of the most laid-back goaltenders imaginable, especially before games.

He learned a long time ago that if the goalie is uptight, it can trickle down and be contagious for the team.

"In Montreal before games, Stephane Robidas and me invented a game with tennis balls off the wall," Theodore said. "We had all these rules and bets, like who's buying dinner. I'd play all the way almost through warmups. Sometimes I'd have 10 minutes to get dressed and be all sweating.

"Guys would be like, 'Theo, you've got to focus.' I'd be like, 'I'm focused, don't worry.'

When Mike Ribeiro got to Montreal, we'd play street hockey. I'd be a forward and we'd have breakaway contests right up to warmups. When I got traded to Colorado, I kind of calmed down. You can't say to Joe Sakic, 'Want to be my goalie?'"

With the Wild, Theodore, who's 10-8-2, does lots of stretching before games like all goalies, but he'll also participate in the Wild's soccer hacky sack contests and uses two tennis balls against a wall to test his reflexes.

Fire & Ice says that Devils coach Jacques Lemaire is still taking the Jim Mora approach to the nearly-daily questions about his team possibly coming all the way back to make the playoffs this season.

Yes, the Devils have closed what was a 27-point gap from the final playoff spot in the East to 12 points after tonight’s 3-2 win over the Hurrricanes, but Lemaire still seems to believe that discussing the idea of overcoming the rest of that deficit isn’t worth his time.

“Playoffs?” Lemaire asked sarcastically. “What’s that?”

Qualifying for the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season will still take a bit of a miracle for the Devils, but they players are no longer denying that they think they might be able to pull it off. They’ve won five in a row, are 7-0-1 since the all-star break and 13-1-2 in their last 16 games.

“It’s in the back of our minds,” left wing Brian Rolston said of the idea that they can make the playoffs. “We have to be realistic and we have a long way to go, but I wouldn’t say that there’s not player in here that doesn’t have it in the back of their mind.”

The article notes that the Devils still have a game in hand on the eighth-place Hurricanes and another meeting with them on Saturday at RBC Center. They also have a home game Friday night against the Rangers, who they trail by 14 points for seventh place with a game in hand.

“Every game is a big game, but those games are four-point games and the next two games will be the same,” left wing Ilya Kovalchuk said..” It’s nice to play in big games like that.”

A month ago, the Devils didn’t believe they would play in any more big games this season. But each win makes the next game more meaningful.

“We’re excited, believe me,” Rolston said. “I just don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We dug ourselves a huge hole and it’s going to take a lot o get out of it. We’ve been playing great. We can’t be satisfied because we can’t afford to lose. It’s that simple. I think we’re taking that mindset in every game and we have a lot of confidence as a team. We are very excited.”

Fire & Ice points out that the Devils had a hot streak in the first half of last season—a 19-4-1 run from Oct. 29 to Dec. 21—but this is their best hockey they’ve played siince then. They look like a completely different team from the one that went 10-29-2 in the first half.

“Last year we were pretty good,” said Kovalchuk, who did not arrive last season until his Feb. 4, 2010 trade from Atlanta. “It’s exactly the same guys. I don’t know what was going on the first 30 games, but it’s the exactly the same team from last year, plus we got a couple of great (defencemen) and (Jason Arnott). So, we expect that from ourselves and we still believe and we’re going to go there every night and show up.”

Rangers Rants writes that when Wojtek Wolski first arrived in New York, he spoke about how excited he was to play in an up-tempo, offensive system. Marian Gaborik was asked how quickly coach John Tortorella got across the point to Wolski that defence was the first priority.

“Very quickly,” Gaborik said. “I think he got it.”

Don’t you sort of have to get it with Tortorella?

Gaborik just laughed.

“It’s his way or the highway,” Gaborik said.

Philly.com catches that it was around this time, almost 4 years ago - during the season that shall not be named - that Braydon Coburn was welcomed to the Flyers.

The deal, moving aging defenceman Alexei Zhitnik back to Atlanta in exchange for Coburn, remains the best of Paul Holmgren's tenure as the Flyers' general manager. It will be hard to top.

Zhitnik, now 38, has been out of the NHL since being bought out by the Thrashers in 2008.

And it's hard to believe now, watching Coburn's polished finish as a 25-year-old, that Atlanta would have ever given up so soon on the 6-5 bruiser whom they had selected eighth overall only 4 years prior.

"I've been here for a while now," Coburn said yesterday. "I think I've been able to get more confident as a player, so I think I've grown that way in the fact that I'm more comfortable with my game as a whole."

The article says that Coburn credits a lot of his confidence on the ice - whether it is rushing the puck, making a solid outlet pass, or most recently laying the lumber on opponents - to playing with experienced partners. Coburn's five brothers of the blue line have combined to play nearly 4,000 career games.

"I've had some great partners along the way," Coburn said. "As a defence corps, we've got some veteran guys back that. I think we're able to help each other out and we're pretty balanced. We have three solid pairings."

But as much as Coburn has been aided by playing as a cog of the deepest defensive unit in the league, his stock is sometimes overlooked when viewed as part of the whole.

His coach, Peter Laviolette, is able to view Coburn, though, in his own light. Same with Paul Holmgren, who signed Coburn to a 2-year, $3.6 million extension last season.

"I see a real good defenceman, with real steady play," Laviolette said. "He does a lot of real good things for us. I think you constantly learn, constantly gain experience, you gain experience from watching players with experience. I think Braydon continues to grow that way."

Laviolette told Philly.com that Coburn was "every bit as good as any one" of the Flyers' defencemen during last year's playoff run to the Stanley Cup finals. Quietly, Coburn is having as solid of a season as any defenceman for the Flyers. He has 10 points, has played in all 56 games and is a plus-14.

Coburn chalks it up to playing more confident. That's what happens when you fit in just fine - even with all of the big names.

"I just try to do things that are in our system that make us successful," Coburn said. "I try and be physical, skating and always moving the puck. I try to focus on those aspects. I just feel more comfortable and more confident in my abilities and what I'm doing out there."

According to The Arizona Republic, many factors go into a five-game win streak. For the Coyotes, one has been dominant: an all-out defensive effort that likely will be the key to making the playoffs. During the current streak, four of the victories have been by one goal.

The Coyotes host Atlanta Thursday night before starting a five-game road trip. They led the Pacific Division before the start of Wednesday's games and were third in the Western Conference.

And although there have been some nice offensive contributions of late, it's defence that will dictate the stretch run.

"It's a hard-nosed mind-set," coach Dave Tippett said. "It's a hard style, defend first. I think it's how we have to play to win. It's a strong mind-set, how you have to win in the playoffs.

"You have to have good goaltending, you have to have players that are willing to sacrifice to play a hard game and block shots and defend well, and our guys have done a pretty good job of it. There were some times this year where I think we got away from it a little bit, but right now our mind-set is pretty strong."

The Republic notes that Atlanta left wing Dustin Byfuglien, a converted defenceman, has taken the third-highest number of shots in the NHL this season, and the Coyotes are ready for an onslaught of wicked shots.

"He's a big body, and he shoots it hard, so I'm sure they're telling him with a shot like that, shoot as many times as you can," Tippett said. "He's given their team a different dimension.

"It's a very important game for us because there's a very tough road trip after that one. We've been fortunate, we're wining some games here, we've won some close games that pushed us along in the standings, but the last one at home before a long road trip you want to make sure you play well."

Ian: Hi Chris, Back for a bit more advice please.

Keeper league that counts G, A, +/-, and PIM. I have Datsyuk and a very strong keeper list, but because of injuries, etc. I'm not in the running this year, but certainly will be next year. The GM that's in first place just had Duchene go down, and has floated the idea of putting him in a deal with some kind of draft pick for Datsyuk. How would you compare their values heading into next year? Should I consider this???

Thanks as always Chris."

Chris: If the draft pick is decent (you should be able to negotiate a good one since this other owner wants to lock up a championship this year) and this isn't a really shallow league then you should at least consider it Ian, yes.

This is really a philosophical question for your team as much as anything. Datsyuk is the better fantasy player right now because he's the more consistent point threat and he'll have a better +/- on Detroit. The downside, clearly, is that he'll be 33 this summer. Duchene is just getting his feet wet in the league and while already having good point totals, he's also just scratching the surface of his potential. The Avs look HORRIBLE right now, but this team has plenty of young talent up front and there's every reason to be optimistic about the future of the team and Duchene's fantasy value. They have a really good top six.

The more keepers you have per team, the more I'd be inclined to favour the younger player. With a smaller keeper list, it's easier to replace the older talent each summer with a similar level of player. You have to carefully weigh who your potential keepers would be with or without the deal, obviously.

As an example, I traded Jarome Iginla away from my team within the last month or two to land Tampa prospect Brett Connolly. In most keeper situations that'd be a really stupid deal on my part because it could be years before Connolly makes a fantasy impact. In our specific league though, as I'm sure you know from years of reading, we not only hold onto 17 active roster keepers but we also have a farm system of up to 40 guys each. So I won't even have to call Connolly up permanently until he's played three full seasons (246 actual games) at the NHL level. Since I'm not going to win this year, why not sacrifice one of the last few elite years of Iginla to land a guy many scouts felt could have challenged for the top spot of his draft year had he not been hurt? Plus, I have this feeling that Connolly is going to make the team next year and might be one of the impact rookies right out of the gate.

But again, this was a situation specific to my team. Once it became clear that my chances of winning this season were slim, I made a conscious effort to shave a lot of years off my roster by dealing away Daniel Alfredsson, Brian Rafalski, Iginla and Chris Pronger. Hopefully I became younger without affecting my chances to win in '11-12.