Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

Gary Bettman's talk of expansion only teases Canadians.

Gary Bettman should know better.

While trying to deflect attention away from the many financially troubled franchises in his league the NHL's commissioner drops an E Bomb that surely gets the hearts of many Canadians racing faster than Jonas Gustavsson's ticker on a Tuesday night in Montreal.

"The fact is we're not seeking to relocate any franchises and as a result expansion would be the way to satisfy that interest," Bettman said.

There it is, The E word.

In an attempt to cover his tracks, Bettman followed up with, "But in this economic climate, I'm not exactly comfortable that this is the right time to be expanding."

He's right, of course, but hasn't he put Canadians through enough grief lately? This country is propping up the league while many American-based teams are struggling to meet payroll. The Phoenix Coyotes, as we all know, are in a mess with the league holding title to the team while the Tampa Bay Lightning, I hear, could be next. The Florida Panthers, Dallas Stars and Atlanta Thrashers are also on thin ice.

Canada, meanwhile, could probably support a couple of more teams in either Winnipeg, Quebec City, Southern Ontario or, perhaps, a second team in Toronto. Frankly I don't expect that to happen any time soon.

I don't have a beef with the commish who is doing his best to steer his way through this nasty chapter of his league's history. Attendance is a huge concern in many American cities and shaky ownership should be keeping him up at night. In the meantime, how about a little honesty?

Instead of, "All is well in our league," how about some, "We have some areas of concern that we are addressing."

That isn't likely to happen. It's not the Bettman way. In any case, no more talk about expansion, even if you do a little backstroke after saying it. Strangely enough, we here in Canada tend to get a little touchy when the subject is mentioned and then summarily dismissed.

HURRAH FOR HUET The Chicago Blackhawks get kudos for just about everything except their goaltending. That's because their main man between the pipes, Cristobal Huet has never been able to forge an identity as a bona fide No. 1 stopper in the NHL, though he has certainly been given plenty of opportunity. With stops in Los Angeles, Montreal and Washington before his arrival in the Windy City, Huet has produced decent regular season numbers, but owns a 6-10 playoff record. He was 2-4 with the Kings, 3-4 with the Habs and is 1-2 with the Blackhawks.

This season, though, that may change. The Blackhawks currently have the second best goals-against average in the NHL allowing a mere 2.15 goals per game. As for Huet, he's fifth in GAA at 2.16. His save percentage of .909 ranks just 22nd and is slightly below his career average, but when you play on a team with the fire power the Blackhawks possess, it should be good enough to gain a victory most nights.

Naturally all of this means nothing if he falls flat on his face in the playoffs. The point is, maybe he's in a similar situation as Chris Osgood the past few years: He doesn't have to play well enough to steal games every night; just don't play bad enough to give games away.

MIKE WHO? Who would have guessed in a million years that at this stage of the season, Pittsburgh's Mike Rupp would have more goals than Jason Spezza, Martin St-Louis, Vinny Lecavalier, Nik Antropov and Pavel Datsyuk? That's right, with a career-high eight goals already, the journeyman winger for the Penguins is outscoring some of the best gunners in the league.

Prior to this season the 29-year-old 6-foot-3, 230-pound native of Cleveland, OH, had never scored more than six goals in a season. Although he scored the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in 2002-03 when he was with the Devils, Rupp is probably best known for his grinding and fighting exploits. Funny thing is, he may not score often, but he makes his goals count. Of his 35 career goals, six have been game-winners.

Looks like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin aren't the only Penguins the opposition needs to keep in check.