NHL life goes on outside of the Stanley Cup finals

	Minnesota's Phil Kessel is no longer the center of attention after mediocre outings at the World Juniors and NHL combine. Jeff Gross/Getty Images
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Fans may be focused on the big games in Edmonton this weekend, but there's plenty of activity going on in the world of hockey outside of the Stanley Cup finals. As a public service, here are some stories you may have missed.

News: Count another strike against super-prospect Phil Kessel as he fares poorly on physical tests at the NHL scouting combine.

The Level-Headed Observer Says: There are far more powerful indicators of a player's long-term potential than his lung capacity at age 17. Mario Lemieux didn't exactly dazzle the scouts with his fitness levels, and he managed to develop into a fairly serviceable NHL player.

Still, it's interesting to watch another step in the deconstruction of Kessel, a player who last season was considered by some to be neck and neck with Sidney Crosby and a sure bet to go first overall in the 2006 entry draft. While rumors continue to fly about his attitude, work ethic, meddling parents and conflicts with teammates, his draft stock has taken one more hit.

That first overall slot is out of the question now. Defender Erik Johnson has it all but sealed up, and the presence of talented but far less scrutinized prospects such as Kyle Okposo and Nicklas Backstrom may drop Kessel out of the top five. Still, this comes off as yet another attempt to find flaws in Kessel rather than focusing on a skill set that screams top 10 scorer. If he does slip in the draft, say to Boston at five or Columbus at six or the Islanders at seven, he's going to have a lot of fun over the course of his career proving teams wrong for passing on him.

News: Islanders introduce Ted Nolan as their new head coach.

The Level-Headed Observer Says: Well, at least we won't have to watch Nolan play the race card one more time to explain why he doesn't have an NHL job.

Sadly, that's the self-created cloud that has hung over Nolan for the last decade, the angle that he wouldn't let die. It's also preposterous. He earned a job in the league before, and was honored as Coach of the Year in 1997. Then, all of a sudden, every GM turned into a racist?

What a crock.

If you've got the chops to be the next Scotty Bowman, you can have green skin and two heads and no one will think twice about it. It's about two things in the NHL: winning and playing nicely with your bosses. No one ever quarreled with Nolan's ability to do the former.

But that's all in the rearview mirror now as someone, finally, is giving Nolan the second chance that comes to nearly every ex-coach. And soon one of two things will happen: He'll either prove everyone wrong for overlooking him all these years ... or he'll prove them right. But whatever happens, the color of his skin will have nothing to do with it.