Chris Nichols

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

Twitter: @Nichols_NHLPool/ Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

The twitter feed has timely NHL & fantasy info with a few funnies along the way. Inane babble is generally kept to a minimum and known starting goalies will be posted leading up to the first games of the night, where possible.

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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that the emotional angst that swept through the streets of Montreal last June when the Canadiens traded playoff hero Jaroslav Halak to the Blues only intensified when the goaltender sprung out to an 8-1-1 start with his new team.

Halak's success made Montreal's already unpopular decision to part with him and stay the course with Carey Price, who was underachieving by most accounts, made it easy for Habs fans to say "I told you so."

While Halak was being cheered in St. Louis for leading the Blues to a string of narrow wins, Price was dealing with boo-birds in Montreal after a subpar preseason. That prompted the No. 5 overall pick from the 2005 draft to remind his detractors that the Stanley Cup was never won in September.

The Price may have been right.

Eight months later, as the Blues and Montreal meet for the first time since the summer blockbuster that sent prospects Lars Eller and Ian Schultz to the Canadiens for Halak, the Habs' decision to hang on to Price now looks to have been the correct decision. Price has the most wins in the NHL this season with 32 and the sixth-best save percentage with a mark of .924, and he played in this year's All-Star game. Halak, meanwhile, had 19 wins and a .907 save percentage and had missed 13 out of 17 games with a hand injury before returning to the lineup Wednesday night in Columbus.

The Post-Dispatch continues that the early returns are being analyzed enough that this week, the normally laid-back Halak cautioned his team and his fans to be patient.

"I think it's easy to say right now when you look at the season, I haven't been playing my best all the time," said Halak, who is in the first season of a four-year, $15 million contract. "Carey has been playing good. It's easy to say (Montreal) made the right decision, but you know, I've still got three years on my contract. I just need to focus on this season, finish this season strong and then who knows what's going to happen next year."

Although tonight's game has been circled on many calendars, particularly in Montreal, the hype may fizzle if speculation is true that backup Alex Auld will start for the Canadiens. But even if Price is in net, both members of the Habs' former tandem say there will be no extra juice in their first encounter.

"It's just one more hockey game," Price told Montreal reporters. "We're going to play each other many times, hopefully, over who knows how long. It's not so much me vs. him."

Said Halak: "I have to be honest, I wasn't really paying attention (to the schedule). I knew we played them in March, but I didn't mark this date or anything. It's just a regular game for me."

The Post-Dispatch points out that Halak, who has won only 11 games since early November, has been dealing with the pressure of being a No. 1 netminder for the first time in the NHL.

"It is harder," Halak said. "This season has also been a learning (experience) for me. You always need to be mentally fresh for all the games. It's not anything with the conditioning. That's fine. If you stay mentally fresh, that's the key."

The verdict on the Halak-Price debate hasn't been turned in yet, and it won't be delivered tonight. But one day it will come.

"It's just like anything, you can't take a small snapshot and be completely right when there's a volume of work yet to come," Blues coach Davis Payne said. "I think the scope needs to be widened out here in this situation."

According to The Vancouver Province... ask most young hockey players about the rest of the conference or league and you often draw long delays, followed by an answer which indicates they have no idea.

Ask Logan Couture about the Vancouver Canucks, or the Western Conference, and he gives you chapter and verse, complete with insight into the team you watch every night.

This guy has the Canucks pegged. The San Jose Sharks rookie talks about their terrific season, how they've pushed through injuries on the D, which they're still dealing with, how difficult they are to play against, given the Sharks' three solid lines -- and occasionally a fourth -- and what a challenge his Sharks are expecting Thursday night. Then he's on to Detroit, with a rundown about how the Sharks were lucky to be able to jump them right after their long series against Phoenix in last season's playoffs, how tough they are and what a handful they'll be for any team getting them in the playoffs.

Couture is just like Cody Hodgson was before all his undiagnosed injury problems, when the young Canuck chosen a year after Couture's 2007 draft, in about the same position, had to be so much more careful what he said. Couture is one impressive kid and if Hodgson gets a chance to shine next season, perhaps he'll be able to put together a terrific Calder Trophy run like this young Shark is staging.

The Province believes the stats speak for themselves. Couture has 25 goals, eight of them game-winners, to go with 19 assists and a team-best plus-17. When you consider Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau are minus-6 and minus-10 respectively, no wonder the only question he seems reluctant to answer was what happened that the Sharks were able to turn a miserable season into another beauty.

“I wish I could put my finger on it,” said Couture, before going on to talk about how the team re-committed to playing their system properly, and taking on responsibility which they had let slide. But some, including Sharks coach Todd McLellan, believe that this kid, who will be 22 later this month, was responsible, carrying this team through some rough stretches almost singlehandedly. It was even to the point where McLellan was showing veterans video and telling them to be more like Couture.

“Being disappointed last year in the Chicago series again, for some of the guys who have been here longer, was hard,” said Couture, trying to further nail down the team's slow start. “When you start the season you have to play another whole 82 games to get to the playoffs to get another shot. It can seem like a long road.

“For me, getting a taste of the playoffs last year after I was called up just kind of got me ready for this season. I came to camp to make the Sharks for the whole year and it's been a lot of fun.”

The Washington Post writes that to say no one knew when Alex Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson would stop passing when an Oiler turnover gave them a 2-on-0 in the Edmonton zone last night might be an understatement. Everyone from Ovechkin to Johansson to Coach Bruce Boudreau joked about it, but after four passes the Capitals' star left wing wrapped up the display with a goal early in the third period.

Over the course of the season when Johansson has had the opportunity to skate alongside Ovechkin, he has occasionally looked nervous and tried to force plays that weren't open. It's something that happens to any number of players with varying degrees of experience Boudreau has said previously, but against the Oilers the Capitals' rookie center relaxed.

"Usually young guys get with Alex and they feel obligated every time they touch the puck to give it to him," Boudreau said. "Marcus just played the way he plays and Alex played off Marcus and I thought that made it work a lot better.

"His game is not forcing passes," Boudreau said when asked to expand. "If he's got an opportunity to pass it to Alex and he's open, give it to him...Guys that play with [Ovechkin] have a tendency, if you're not used to him, as soon as you get the puck whether he's covered or not covered you're looking for him because he's such a dominant personality on the ice. I thought Marcus just played the way he plays."

The comfort level Johansson showed against the Oilers may simply be a sign as to how far the 20-year-old Swede has come over the course of 68 NHL games. He's stood out with his speed and creativity lately, which is part of the reason he was given the chance to play with Ovechkin in Nicklas Backstrom's absence.

"I think both of us kind of knew what we were gonna do," Johansson said of Ovechkin's goal. "It was very fun to play [Wednesday]. Alex and Mike [Knuble] and everybody had a good game, so it was very simple to play today. We got the puck deep and did what we need to do. That's when you can make those better plays later on."

Every once in a while I like to go through my Twitter lists and see what NHL players have been tweeting. I believe I've done my due diligence in making sure these are all legit accounts.

NateThompson44 (Nathan Thompson): I'll be shaving my head in April to raise money for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. More info on Friday on how to support. 2 minutes ago

jonesry28 (Ryan Jones): Another day brings another opportunity! Saw the Chara hit for the first time..That damn glass piece needs to go. Prayers for a fellow CCHA'r. 57 minutes ago

jonesry28 (Ryan Jones): I'll leave opinions to the the fans.. What matters most is that MP heals! However,I do not believe in criminal charges stemming from on ice. 36 minutes ago

Rupper17 (Mike Rupp): Wanted to shut it down early tonight... Then one of my top 5 movies interrupted that! Good Will Hunting. 11 hours ago

Rupper17 (Mike Rupp): Gladiator / Major League / Good Will Hunting / Glory / Talladega Nights .... In no order! 10 hours ago

EricFehr16 (Eric Fehr): Thanks for all the tweets! It felt good to be back out there with the guys. Enjoy the wings...... #caps. 11 hours ago

JohnCarlson74 (John Carlson): #winning feels great. 95th consecutive sellout is something to brag about too #caps fans! 12 hours ago

JVReemer21 (James van Riemsdyk): not sure what was more impressive. @ICole28 first career goal or his "#56" delay of game penalty for shooting it out of the rink. 12 hours ago

JVReemer21 (James van Riemsdyk): thoughts and prayers with Patch, hopefully he has a speedy recovery. 13 hours ago

RealStamkos91 (steven stamkos): Good karma from the twitter tonight. Great crowd, great game. Marty St.Louis with one of the best shootout moves EVER. #FACT. 12 hours ago

BRichards_1991 (Brad Richards): Can't wait for tonight...... Feel like a rookie again! 19 hours ago

MCammalleri13 (Michael Cammalleri): To all the fans who have asked to pass there thoughts on to Patch. Thank You. We will. 20 hours ago

MCammalleri13 (Michael Cammalleri): À tous les partisans qui ont demandé à ce que l'on transmette leurs pensées à Max, merci. Soyez assurés qu'on le fera. 20 hours ago

BRichards_1991 (Brad Richards): Good to see my buddy James Neal get his first goal tonight as a penguin........ @krysbarch will go silent during homestand 8 Mar

BrentSopel (Brent Sopel): First off every say a pray for Patch. Hope he's doing good. Huge win for us tonight. I love playing at the Bell Centre. Great job boys. 8 Mar

Logancouture (Logan Couture): Thinks it's hilarious how many people have asked me if we are playing Carrie Underwoods husbands team tonight. Yes yes we are... 8 Mar

The Edmonton Journal notes that Alex Ovechkin is a human highlight reel, but is he the best Russian NHL player ever?

“No,” said Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, an astute judge of Russian hockey talent.

“Sergei Fedorov is.”

Khabibulin, who faced Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals Wednesday, loves Ovie’s swash and buckle, as well as his strength and skating ability. Not to mention how he punctuates almost every goal with a fist pump, a slide across the ice or a dive into the glass.

Ovechkin is great for the game.

As for the 38-year-old Oilers goalie, he’s old school. He likes players his own age, players with long resumes, and guys who have won something.

Fedorov, playing out the string in Magnitogorsk in Russia, won three Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings. He’ll also go down in history as one of the game’s greatest players — with and without the puck — winning the Hart Memorial Trophy as league MVP and the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward in the same 1993-94 season.

The Journal says that if you ask Fedorov, now 41, about Ovechkin, his eyes light up.

“The best hockey player in the world ... Sasha Ovechkin,” Fedorov said in 2009, his last year in Washington.

Khabibulin, however, is an unabashed Fedorov fan.

“Offensively, Ovechkin has more game than Fedorov had, but Ovechkin has only been in this league six years. Fedorov played 18 years, something like that.

“He won a few Cups, he was MVP in the league and won the Selke ... he was the best all-around player,” said Khabibulin, who was on the Russian 2002 Olympic team and might get an invite to play for his country in the worlds in Slovakia this spring.

“Who knows, maybe five years from now, Ovechkin might have won four Cups in a row. Then we will be talking about this again,” he said.

Khabibulin does gets a charge out of Ovechkin’s exuberance.

“It’s fun to watch players like him ... I can see why they (Capitals) have full buildings now. He scores goals, he hits hard, he skates hard, he celebrates like crazy when he scores,” said Khabibulin.

Great angle from The Journal piece: Fedorov also played defence for a time in Detroit in the late ’90s when coach Scotty Bowman threw him back on the blue-line.

“I’m convinced,” said Wings vice-president Jimmy Devellano, “that Sergei could have won a Norris Trophy if he had played there for a season.”

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune indicates that on Wednesday most of the Wild players had the day off. But over at the arena at St. Thomas Academy, a few players were skating, including two who could be big pieces of a possible playoff puzzle: winger Cal Clutterbuck and center Mikko Koivu.

Unfortunately, it's not certain when either will be able to suit up again. Both, however, accompanied the team to Nashville, where the Wild will begin a crucial four-game trip against the Predators Thursday night. That game is followed by games at Dallas, Vancouver and San Jose.

The best news was that Clutterbuck is back on the ice. He had not been feeling well -- he has missed the past two games -- since being hit in the head by the New York Islanders' Trevor Gillies on March 2, but the Wild has not classified Clutterbuck's injury as a concussion.

After skating Wednesday, Clutterbuck didn't discuss his injury in much detail either. But he did say he felt good on the ice.

"It hasn't been that long, so it still felt pretty familiar to me," he said. "It was good to get out there and feel the cold air.

"I don't know whether I'll be in the lineup [Thursday in Nashville], or for any of the games. Right now I couldn't tell you."

The Star-Tribune notes that Koivu couldn't either, though he indicated he would not be in the lineup against Nashville.

The team would love to have both back sooner rather than later on a trip that could decide the team's playoff hopes.

The Wild is in ninth place in the Western Conference with 77 points. Nashville has 76 points, while Dallas, in sixth, is three points ahead of Minnesota in a crazily close conference race.

Clutterbuck said he saw the doctor Tuesday, though he added that he hadn't needed any official clearance to return to practice.

"It was more to see how I was doing," Clutterbuck said. "It wasn't anything formal. I don't think I've been put in a situation where I need to be formally cleared to play. It's up to me and how I'm feeling. We'll go from there, I guess.

"I felt OK out there. I felt like I hadn't been on the ice in a couple days, but that's normal. I didn't feel like I'd lost any conditioning or anything, or any feel for the puck or anything. So that was a good sign for me. I'm just going to make sure everything is good to go before I get back in the lineup, because I want to make sure that, once I am in the lineup, I'm there [for good]."

According to The Nashville Tennessean, the Predators have played 38 road games; the most of any team in the NHL.

The reward? A bunch of home games as the regular season nears an end, with a playoff spot still on the line.

"We're one point out of the pack and we've got 12 home games," coach Barry Trotz said. "We have to make a move at home here, and if we do we'll make the playoffs. If we don't, we won't."

After picking up four points during their recent four-game road trip, the Predators (33-24-10) can settle in at Bridgestone Arena and try to claw up the Western Conference standings. A five-game home stand begins today against Minnesota (35-25-7).

After Wednesday night's games, the Predators were 11th in the Western Conference, three spots below the cut line for the playoffs. But a nice run at home could vault them up the standings — Nashville has 76 points, just five fewer than fourth-place Chicago.

The Predators will play 12 of their 15 remaining games on home ice, where they are 15-7-7. Seven of the remaining 15 games are against teams in the playoff hunt.

The Tennessean points to another reason for optimism: Since 2005-06, the Predators have amassed 146 home victories, sixth-most in the NHL.

According to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the typical NHL coach has the shelf life of a bruised pear.

Those who work for the Penguins often do not last nearly that long.

Dan Bylsma, who Wednesday signed a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2013-14 season, is the franchise's 23rd coach since it entered the NHL in 1967. Only two, Red Kelly and Ed Johnston, spent three consecutive full seasons and part of a fourth on the job.

But, while the position doesn't have a legacy of security for the guy holding it, general manager Ray Shero seems confident Bylsma is capable of defying those 4 1/2 decades of precedent.

"I think we've got the right coach," he said. "Ownership recognizes that. I certainly recognize that.

"The successful organizations have a plan in place, and a belief in the people they have, and they stick to that. ... Dan is the right coach for this hockey team moving forward, in the short term and the long term."

The Post-Gazette writes that Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien as coach in mid-February 2009. (Therrien, it should be noted, had signed a three-year contract in the summer of 2008 and will remain on the Penguins payroll for a few more months, even though he hasn't been behind their bench in nearly 25 months.) The Penguins won a Stanley Cup about four months after Bylsma took over and are 104-52-19 under him. He already shares the franchise record for playoff series won (5), which speaks not only to his success but to the frequent turnover in his job over the years.

"I've been made aware several times of the longevity of Pittsburgh Penguins coaches," Bylsma said. "I might not be smart enough to have it dawn on me that that should be something I should be concerned about."

Actually, there doesn't seem to have been much reason for him to fret about it. Back when the Penguins were sputtering through the early weeks of this season, Shero let Bylsma know that the job was his.

"The team wasn't doing very well, but I sat down with him and said, 'Listen, you're my coach. I'm going to talk to you about a new contract at some point here,' " Shero said. "I was pretty sure we had a pretty good team back in October and November. I was 100 percent sure we had the right coach."

The Tampa Tribune reflects how Martin St. Louis skated down right wing, cut toward the net, then spun himself around before stopping in his tracks and lifting a backhander into the net to the roar of a sold-out Forum on Wednesday night.

The goal itself won't count on his stats and will be a blip on the radar in the box score compared to the one he scored earlier in the game. But to the Lightning, it meant as much as any goal he might score at any point this season as his shootout conversion lifted Tampa Bay to a 4-3 victory against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, who had an eight-game winning streak snapped the previous night.

The victory snapped a four-game winless stretch for Tampa Bay and kept the Lightning within two points of the Washington Capitals for the Southeast Division lead. It also marked the first time since Feb. 23 that the Lightning scored more than two goals.

St. Louis rescued the victory for the Lightning by doing something he had never tried until Wednesday morning, racing back out to the ice following a team meeting, sans jersey, to practice the move on goaltender Mike Smith before the morning skate ended.

"I guess it's like a chef coming up with a recipe. Sometimes you experiment,'' St. Louis joked.

But in all seriousness, The Tribune says that St. Louis mentioned after the All-Star game skills competition, in which he scored twice during the elimination competition, that perhaps he needed to be more loose and just try to be creative; as he's done in the past with his move where he backs in and lifts a shot over the goaltender. Wednesday's move was a bit of a hybrid of that approach.

"That's exactly the approach I had, just have fun with it,'' said St. Louis, who was 5-for-27 lifetime in shootouts, including 0-for-3 this season, entering the game. "Keep it simple and don't regret that you tried something. I tried something. I wasn't scared to try. And even if I didn't score, I wasn't scared to try and I could look myself in the mirror and say that I tried. Sometimes, I keep it too simple and I don't try the stuff that makes me sneaky, I guess.''

The decision to use St. Louis, along with Stamkos and Vinny Lecavalier, came one game after Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher received a fair amount of criticism for using Adam Hall and Dominic Moore — the team's most successful shootout players this season — in a 2-1 shootout loss to Washington.

"We exhausted them as opportunities at the beginning of the year and we never got anything out of it, so I changed it and went with some other guys and we won like that,'' Boucher said. "They knew in advance (they were going) and I had them practice. So they were prepared for it and they went with their best moves and so I congratulated them, because there's a difference between being scared to lose and acting on it and being hungry to win. That's an attitude and it's not just in regulation time and overtime, it's in the shootout, too.''