NOMINEE	THE SKINNY
	Overrated	Colorado Avalanche	The team of the '90s became the team of 90 or so points. The Avalanche have the best one-two punch at center with Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic, a Hall of Fame goalie in Patrick Roy, a perennial playoff hero in Claude Lemieux, a superb power-play quarterback in Sandis Ozolinsh and still managed to blow a 3-1 lead to Edmonton in the first round, quitting at home in Game 7.
	Underrated	Teppo Numminen, Phoenix	He has been among the top 10 NHL defensemen for years. His primary problem is he played in Winnipeg and now plays in Phoenix. His secondary problem is his name looks like a typo.
	Annoying	The in-the-crease rule	Before the NHL shaved the crease this fall, this rule was being called without a lick of common sense. The Bruins had their playoffs short-circuited when a winning overtime goal against Washington was disallowed when Tim Taylor had the tip of his skate in the crease nowhere near the play.
	Breakthrough	Washington Capitals	The Capitals, far less dependable in the spring than Washington's cherry blossoms, beat back their demons and reached the Stanley Cup finals.
	Uplifting	The Czech Republic	Think the Olympic hockey tournament was a waste of time? Tell that to the burghers of Prague.
	MVP	Dominik Hasek, Buffalo and Czech Republic	Won an Olympic gold medal and a well-deserved second straight Hart Trophy. This might be the first era in NHL history when the acknowledged best player is a goalie.
	Storyline to Follow in 1999	A new goal	Will the goals-per-game average, down to a near record low 5.3 last season, bounce back? (If you've never seen .3 of a goal, you are not watching the Tampa Bay Lightning.)