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Wednesday, November 10
All three California teams could make postseason

By Al Morganti
Special to ESPN.com

You might call it "California Dreamin'" because there is a chance that, for the first time in league history, all three California-based teams will make the playoffs. Mind you, it is still very early, but all the signs point to the fact that San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim will make a playoff run, and all could wind up among the top eight teams out West.

In Los Angeles, the Kings have to deal with the coming struggle of having both Luc Robitaille (broken foot, out six weeks) and Jozef Stumpel (hernia, eight to 10 weeks) off the first line until around Christmas. But the fast start under first-year coach Andy Murray and the play of defenseman Rob Blake has given them the early boost they will need to earn a spot in the playoffs.

The Kings should also be heartened by the fact that the second line of Bryan Smolinski, Glen Murray and Donald Audette has produced a large part of the early offense. The crucial element is that the second line can't wilt under the pressure of being counted upon to produce a majority of goals, rather than being a "bonus" situation.

That "second" line started cranking when Audette was switched back to his accustomed position at right wing. He had started on the left side, but a move back to the port side picked up his scoring pace.

Most of all, what the Kings desperately need to avoid is the record of 2-10-1, which they put up last November. Well, that and an injury to Blake.

Meanwhile, a bit further down the freeway, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have poked their heads over .500, and with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, they are a lurking menace.

Up north, the San Jose Sharks, with veteran goalie Mike Vernon getting more playing time, have a crucial rematch in Philadelphia this weekend. The Sharks, who are still feeding off their fast start, are in the midst of what should be a telling 7-game road trip.

The closest the NHL has come to a California triple play occurred in 1997-98 when both San Jose and Los Angeles were in the playoffs, and again last season when San Jose and Anaheim were in the postseason. The rare combination would be having both the Ducks and Kings in the playoffs, something which has not happened in any season since the Ducks joined the NHL for the 1993-94 season.

Philly's good flight out West
The success of those California teams makes the Philadelphia Flyers recent road trip out west even more impressive. The Flyers, who limped through the early season, got a tie in Anaheim, and then went on to get victories in both San Jose and Los Angeles.

The keys to the Flyers turnaround are the solid play of goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, the improved play of defenseman Eric Desjardins, who is coming off knee surgery, and the improved health of Eric Lindros.

Lindros did not want to make a big deal out of a viral infection he had early in the season, coupled with an iron deficiency in his blood, the lingering result of the collapsed lung he suffered last spring.

Lindros thought it would look like he was making excuses for his poor play if he complained about the problems. As a result, he looked just awful in two games before he was finally ordered out of the lineup to get some rest. Since that time, he has rediscovered his power game, and the Flyers have rediscovered winning hockey games.

Biron has been solid backstop iron
Those who predicted doom for the Buffalo Sabres when goalie Dominik Hasek suffered a severe groin injury forgot one small matter -- rookie Martin Biron has been groomed as the goalie of the future.


	For some time, Biron has been groomed to be a starter.

The official word out of Buffalo is that Hasek will be out for about two months. Well, after checking with several sources around the Sabres, you can figure that two months is the absolute minimum, and you may not see Hasek again until after the All-Star game.

Into that situation arrived Biron, the 22-year old who was named top goalie in the AHL last season with Rochester, and who led the Amerks to the Calder Cup finals with a 2.16 GAA in 20 playoff games.

Now, the talk changes from Calder Cup to Calder Trophy as Biron could well be among the most elite in what is truly a remarkable crop of rookies. Barely into November, there have already been 108 players eligible as rookies this season, including eight goaltenders.

There is certainly no lack of confidence on the part of Biron. He's a kid who wanted to wear number 00, and actually wore it in a brief three-game stint with the Sabres in 1996 -- pretty bold for a goalie. But the NHL changed its rules in 1998 to allow only numbers 1-99 (and now only 1-98).

Biron arrives under stressful circumstances in Buffalo, but there has never been any doubt that he was going to be the guy to take the place of Hasek, especially since Hasek announced before this season that 1999-2000 would be his last campaign in the NHL. The fact of the matter is that Biron played well enough at training camp to earn a spot with the Sabres, but there was little room behind Hasek for a kid who needed to play.

"He was not happy when we sent him down, nor should he have been happy," said Buffalo general manager Darcy Regier. The GM and the rest of the Sabres front office are careful not to rave about Biron's potential. "We've got to be very careful about not piling on here, we've got to be very respectful of that for two reasons:

"First, I just think it's unfair. Second, it's a position that isn't the easiest position to predict. It's much different coming in when you know Hasek is healthy, and you get put into a game.

"But in this case, Marty has done pretty well going into games knowing there is no Hasek back there. He knows that the expectations are on him."

The best "expectations" are that Biron will allow the Sabres to get back into the playoff race, and in a spot to win the Stanley Cup they thought was taken from them by the Dallas Stars last spring. The least of the expectations are that Biron will hold the fort until Hasek comes back. The bigger picture is that the Sabres can proceed as an elite team even if Hasek cannot come back, and certainly after he retires.

"The first couple of games, I think he was very nervous," said Regier. "And, frankly, the team played well in front of him. I think that alone was something we needed. Now, he's really settling into the kind of goalie we think he can be."

And what kind of goalie would that be?

"There was one situation in training camp when we were playing Detroit and there was one sequence where I think he showed what he could be like down the road," said Regier. "It was a one-on-one kind of a showdown with Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan circled the net and with his experience, he was waiting and kept waiting for Marty to go down, and Marty held and made a real good glove save.

"I would like to think he'll be a pretty good goaltender in the NHL for a number of years. Let's put it this way, if he was a stock, you'd probably be buying it now."

Roy's Colorado days numbered?
Hasek isn't the only future Hall of Fame goalie who is looking over his shoulder.

In Colorado, legendary goalie Patrick Roy is worried that when his no-trade clause is voided in January, he could be moved to pave the way for rookie Marc Denis. Not to worry, the Avalanche won't make that move until after the season.

However, the fact that general manager Pierre Lacroix actually moved Claude Lemieux to New Jersey for Brian Rolston last week should be an indicator that Lacroix is all business when it comes to the future of his team. And whatever personal relationships he has ever had with Roy (remember, he was Roy's agent before he was a general manager) will be out the window if Denis is a star goalie at a much lower price.

The Avalanche have some good news on the injury front as Adam Foote is scheduled to come back from his shoulder injury for Thursday's game in Los Angeles. In addition, center Peter Forsberg will make the three-game trip to L.A., Calgary and Vancouver and begin to participate in contact drills with the team at practice.

Forsberg has not played this season because of shoulder surgery, and is still not expected back in the lineup for games until early December.

Goalie glut in Boston
In Boston, the return of goalie Byron Dafoe, coupled with the strong play of rookie John Grahame during Dafoe's absence, might force the club to trade backup Rob Tallas.

The Bruins' 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday was their sixth consecutive victory, the club's longest winning streak since leaving the Boston Garden for the new digs. It was also the first victory of the season for goalie Byron Dafoe, recently back from his contract holdout.

Dafoe is just the latest Group II free agent to come to the conclusion that management holds virtually all of the cards in these situations. Dafoe was up against even bigger odds in that he was facing Boston general manager Harry Sinden.

Although there has been no formal notification like "you're fired," it certainly appears that Dafoe did the job without agent Ron Salcer, whom Dafoe said would get the money due to him.

Dafoe became the second free agent to get a deal done without an agent, following Darius Kasparaitis, who sat down with Pittsburgh general manager Craig Patrick without agent Mark Gandler. As it turned out, Gandler did get the paper work and made sure all the t's were crossed and i's dotted, but the bigger message was to go in and see management face-to-face, and avoid the middle man.

Now, the Carolina Hurricanes are hinting broadly that Keith Primeau would be smart to simply come in and talk to GM Jim Rutherford face to face, and the pressure is also on in Phoenix with goalie Nikolai Khabiboulin.

Lightning show some life
Under first-year coach Steve Ludzik, the Tampa Bay Lightning are showing signs of life and have already beaten the last two Stanley Cup champs, Dallas and Detroit. The key to the Bolts future is second-year center Vincent Lecavalier, who has already put together a five-game goal-scoring streak, and continues to develop into a franchise player.

Also of note is the fact that Ludzik's emphasis on conditioning appears to be paying off. The Bolts have outscored their opponents in the third period of games, 15-9, including two third-period goals to beat Detroit over the weekend.

Brittle Bure
Since Pavel Bure's arrival in Florida he has scored 19 goals in 19 games. The bad news, he's also missed 37 games due to injury, and came into this week nursing a broken pinky finger. The problem isn't so much the fracture, which can be taped together under a glove, but it is still an open wound, which is in danger of infection, especially when in contact with the inside of a sweaty hockey glove.

For Florida's sake, it's better to have Bure getting injured now than in March or April.

Mr. Smith may go to Chicago
Despite his success with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, former assistant GM Mike Smith had a rocky road in his dealing with club president Ken Dryden. Smith offered this bit of philosophy about his future in the game:

"One thing I am sure of is that I would prefer to work in what you would call a real hockey market," said Smith last spring. "You know, a market with some tradition like Toronto, Boston, wherever."

With that in mind, don't be surprised if Smith is mentioned in terms of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks are struggling again, and the recent snafu in which general manager Bob Murray did not agree with owner Bill Wirtz on an offer made to Boris Mironov (surprise, Wirtz ruled) should be an indication that Murray is on thin ice.

Smith is presently working as an advisor to several teams.

Coyotes hungry out of the gate
While everybody is agog at the start by the Phoenix Coyotes under first-year coach Bob Francis, let's take a quick check of recent history. Yes, the Coyotes got off to a great start at 8-3-3 this season, but wasn't it just a year ago that the Coyotes raced out of the gate under Jim Schoenfeld?

Check out the stats, and you will see that Phoenix was 14-2-2 at the end of November, and they were at the end of an eight-game winning streak, and a 14-game unbeaten streak (12-0-2). The Coyotes were 10-0-1 in November of 1998, and after a 4-1 loss in the season opener, they went 17 games in which they did not give up more than two goals.

They piled up a ton of points early, and Scheonfeld was an assistant coach for the World Team at the All-Star game in Tampa Bay. But the Coyotes failed in the playoffs, and Schoenfeld was gone.

True, the Coyotes are winning this season despite the fact that Khabiboulin is still unsigned. Then again, Jimmy Waite was 6-0-2 in his first eight decisions last season, all within the first 22 games.

Lemieux trade an odd one for Devils
The Devils made an odd move last week when they re-acquired Claude Lemieux from the Avalanche for young forward Brian Rolston. The addition of Lemieux will add some sandpaper to the Devils on-ice demeanor, but the club's management should also worry about a grating effect in the locker room.

The Devils have all sorts of issues inside their room, the most prevalent being the open request of second-year forward Brendan Morrison to get traded. Perhaps, Edmonton will be the destination, the same port to which unhappy forward Bill Guerin was shipped in the past.


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