SI.com's David Vecsey tackles three issues from around the league:

1	Has anybody ever seen Chris Pronger and Barret Jackman in the same room at the same time?

Barret Jackman Elsa/Getty Images/NHLI Coming into the season, the big question in St. Louis was how the Blues were going to overcome the absence of Chris Pronger. A team just doesn't replace an MVP defenseman who logs about 30 minutes a game. Right? Enter Barret Jackman, seemingly out of nowhere, to team up with Al MacInnis and emerge as a front-runner for the Calder Trophy as the league's rookie of the year. The 17th overall pick in 1999, Jackman had all of two NHL games under his belt before this season. But he has picked up right where Pronger left off with 18 points, 143 penalty minutes and a plus-19 rating through 72 games. And he plays just a shade under 20 minutes a game. "The management in St. Louis, they feel he probably has played better this year than any time in his career, whether it was in juniors or at Worcester last year," said the veteran MacInnis. "Here's a guy who has a lot of poise, he shows a lot of control with the puck, always seems to make a good first play, has a tremendous amount of composure out there for a young guy. "Honestly, he plays like a guy who has been in the league for 10 years. He's strong on the puck. He protects the puck well. You know, again I can't say enough about the impact this guy has had on our team. He's literally been an impact player." MacInnis wasn't shy about casting his vote for Jackman as the "hands-down" rookie of the year. And he'd be a good one to judge. He was right next to Pronger when he emerged as an impact player, culminating with an MVP award after the 1999-2000 season. MacInnis said the key to Pronger's development was the trial-by-fire treatment of then-head coach Mike Keenan. And Jackman got similar treatment this year from Joel Quenneville … even if it was out of desperation and not by design. "What Mike Keenan did with Chris gave him a lot of confidence," MacInnis said. "I think what happens, with a young defenseman, obviously they are going to make mistakes. You can't play being afraid to make a mistake. Keenan did that with Chris. Regardless of how many mistakes, he kept throwing him out there, throwing him out there. He gained a lot of confidence from that. Certainly his career took off. "Mike Kitchen, who is the defense coach for us here in St. Louis, has done the same thing for Barret. He's given him a lot of confidence, created an environment not to be afraid to make a mistake because we all make mistakes. He knows he's going to get back out there. I think that's where the confidence comes from." If Jackman does pull in the Calder Trophy, he will be the only the fifth blueliner to win the award since 1980, joining Ray Bourque, Gary Suter, Brian Leetch and Bryan Berard. "I can't say enough about the year he's had," MacInnis said. "He's a throw-back. He's a physical defenseman. He's a tough defenseman. He fights. He certainly has made his mark around the league."

2	What do we make of new Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano?

B. Thomas Golisano AP Above all, Golisano possesses the one trait that a pro franchise owner needs to have these days: the willingness to blow millions of dollars on a losing product. Witness his failed campaign to become the governor of New York at a cost of a record $75 million. Seventy-five million dollars to lose? Yes, I think he'll fit in quite well in the NHL. They say politics makes for strange bedfellows, but consider the twist of fates involved in the purchase of the Sabres. Had Golisano won the governor's race, then it would have been to him that former prospective Sabres buyers Mark Hamister and Todd Berman would have petitioned for state assistance in refurbishing the area around HSBC Arena. Instead, it was Gov. George Pataki who turned away the request, prompting Hamister and Berman to abandon their quest to buy the team. Back comes Golisano, who already had been rejected by the league once because his first bid was $13 million less than Hamister and Berman's bid. This time, Golisano offers up a potential $92 million offer, which included paying off some unsecured creditors -- something he would not have been legally bound to do. No wonder commissioner Gary Bettman gushed over his "white knight" last week. Golisano, for his part, seemed to appreciate the funny chain of events. "I want to thank all of you who voted against me in last November's election," Golisano said Friday. "Because if I had been elected, I wouldn't be here today." But with that in mind, let's hope that Golisano isn't just using the Sabres as a way to curry favor with New York voters as he continues to eye a career in politics. Let's see how commited Bettman's "white knight" is in the next election year before we give him the keys to the castle.

3	Whose firing was more surprising: Dean Lombardi or Robbie Ftorek?

Robbie Ftorek AP Call it a push at this point. I know, I know: Two weeks ago, I wrote in this very space that the other shoe was about to fall on Robbie Ftorek in Boston. So it shouldn't have been surprising at all. Yet, two weeks ago was two weeks ago. There are nine friggin' games left in the season now. The Bruins are all but in the playoffs now, having won five of their last eight under Ftorek. With the fire in his face, Ftorek pulled it together when he had to. Then Mike O'Connell pulled the carpet out from underneath him. Remember, this is the second time Ftorek has been fired in the waning days of the season. The last time, the Devils parlayed the momentum switch into a Stanley Cup championship under Larry Robinson in 2000. But Robinson -- and any other coach this side of Ted Nolan -- would be crazy to take the Bruins job now if it is offered. If the Atlanta Thrashers waited about two months too long to fire Curt Fraser earlier this season, the Bruins waited about two weeks too long to fire Ftorek. It'll be really interesting to see how O'Connell steers this ship into the playoffs. As for Lombardi, the GM jettisoned by the Sharks in this first-to-worst season, the biggest surprise is that the team let him make all these major trades in the weeks before getting rid of him. Lombardi built this team from scratch, and many people probably felt he could do it again after this year's fiasco. By definition, it's not surprising for a GM to lose his job over a season like this. But, like the firing of Ftorek in Boston, it was the timing that made it seem so strange.

 

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