Checks and balances

Senators showing off political power in Eastern Conference

More in this column: * Granato gets Avs going * Fedorov eyes the market * Big bird with bite * Rumor mill * Worth noting * Shameless plug

The Ottawa Senators are filibustering the rest of the Eastern Conference.

The Sens have won six of their past seven, and have gone 14-2-3 since getting blown out 7-1 loss at Boston on Nov. 9.

With its incredible six-week run, Ottawa has gone from 5-6-1 to 19-8-4 to tie Boston atop the East at 42 points.

So how are the Sens doing it?

It starts with an abundance of offense.

Eight players scored in Thursday's 9-3 demolition of the Sharks. Head coach Jacques Martin has incredible balance up front, and has been getting great efforts from pivots Radek Bonk, Mike Fisher, Shaun Van Allen and Todd White.

"We know it's not easy to do and I think we remind ourselves before we go out every game," captain Daniel Alfredsson said Thursday. "We want to give ourselves a chance to win every night. We know we're going to go through streaks where we're not going to be as successful, but putting a streak like this together the last 20 games it allows you to come over those slumps and bounce back."

Remember, this team is so deep that 2001 No. 2 overall pick Jason Spezza is back in the AHL so that he can get the ice time he needs to develop.

"The one thing I think we've really found in the last month is our consistency," White told the Ottawa Sun. "We're doing a lot of good things right now and we're getting contributions from everybody."

Sure, everybody is pitching in, but Marian Hossa is doing more than his fair share.

After teasing us with his talent in his first four full seasons with an average of 26.8 goals, Hossa is finally emerging as a star scorer. With 20 goals in 30 games, he is just 12 shy of his career-high and is on pace to net 54.

"The major difference is that early on we had trouble scoring goals," Martin told The Ottawa Citizen. "When you look back, we were getting chances and we were out-chancing teams, but we weren't finishing. Like [Marian] Hossa. He was getting plenty of chances, but they weren't going in the net for him."

The Sens' Slovkian sniper is currently locked in a fierce battle with Wild left wing Marian Gaborik not only for the goal-scoring lead, but also for the title of the league's best Marian. Lest we forget Vancouver's Markus Naslund, whose presence makes it a clean sweep for the top three spots among Europeans with an M name.

But it's not just Hossa's nifty stickwork and wicked wrist shot that is carrying the team.

For another answer, look to the sky.

No, not divine intervention. Rather, 6-foot-9 defenseman Zdeno Chara.

Acquired in the Alexei Yashin deal on draft day of 2001, Chara gave Ottawa something it was lacking during its first-round exits in 1999, 2000 and 2001: a towering tree who keeps the slot clean.

On the heels of Yashin's Tin Man imitation the previous postseason (he showed no heart), Chara's first postseason experience with the Sens was a winner. He was a team-best plus-5 in the first-round win over the Flyers, helping Patrick Lalime tie an NHL record with three straight postseason shutouts.

Chara has made the Sens a tougher team to match up against, especially once the grueling postseason rolls around. His ability to protect the superb skating, but soft European forwards gives Ottawa an exciting dimension it has lacked in the past. The only Eastern players with a prayer of dueling Chara in a wrestling match in front of the net are Bobby Holik, Eric Lindros, Keith Primeau and Mats Sundin. That will give the Sens a huge advantage come April and May.

Martin is bringing together this mix of finesse and brawn expertly. He knows when to turn his team loose to skate freely and when to ready them for a bruising brawl. Right now, he's pushing all the right buttons and can just step back and enjoy the show.

Because these Senators show no signs of ending their filibuster soon.

If Tony Granato was nervous for his head coaching debut on Thursday, he sure didn't show it.

Then again, having battled back from brain surgery to continue his playing career, Granato is a pretty hard guy to rattle.

The Avalanche responded well in their first game under Granato, playing with a vigor and sense of urgency that wasn't present in the first 31 games under the ousted Bob Hartley.

"The guys responded very well to me," Granato said. "There was a lot of energy in the room, the leaders stood up and said what they had to say. I don't know that I had an impact at all. I'm awfully proud of the way the guys responded to a tough situation."

Patrick Roy came within 1.2 seconds of posting his first shutout of the season and Alex Tanguay remembered what the back of the net looks like, scoring for the first time since Nov. 10.

It's probably not a coincidence that Tanguay played his best game of the season with Hartley absent, since the former head coach rode him pretty hard during his recent struggles. Tanguay said during the first intermission that he felt like a 50-pound weight had been lifted off his shoulders after finally finding the net, but he just as easily could've been talking about the transfer of power to the new coaching regime.

"Tony really brings a lot of excitement," Tanguay said. "He's happy to be there and he's excited and I think you can see that. I think it reflected on all of us."

For his part, Hartley wasn't bitter when he spoke to Fox Sports Rocky Mountain on Thursday. Hartley believes his team wasn't getting the breaks it usually had during his first four seasons, but he still fully expects the Avs to be in the playoff hunt once Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg return to the lineup.

"This is a great hockey club," Hartley said. "Those guys will be flying and I'm just sad that I won't be a part of it."

A five-year, $50 million contract offer from the Red Wings is reportedly on the table, so why is Sergei Fedorov balking at signing it?

Probably because he could break the bank if waits to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. He hit the jackpot with his last contract six years ago, getting what amounted to a $26 million lump payment after the Wings matched the creative offer sheet offered by the Carolina Hurricanes. If he continues his excellent offensive pace, Fedorov could fetch offers in the $12 million neighborhood.

Fedorov said in a league conference call this week that he is excited about the prospects of free agency, but he also said he hopes a deal can get done with the Wings before July 1.

Negotiations have been put on hold and Fedorov may be considering ditching his agents, former NHL players Brian Lawton and Mike Liut of Octagon.

"I'm planning just to think it over again because it's very important decision for me at this point," Fedorov said.

The decision isn't important to him alone. With the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement up on Sept. 15, 2004, Fedorov's contract will be a standardbearer for the NHL Players' Association.

With 45 points in 32 games, 23-year-old Joe Thornton is proving that he is worthy of Hart Trophy consideration this season.

But with his emerging offensive skills, Thornton hasn't lost the toughness that he has displayed since his second season in the league.

Thornton has sat out seven games in the past two seasons due to suspensions for cross-checking incidents. In the past two weeks, he has speared Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov and gone after Habs captain Saku Koivu, though he avoided punishment for either act of aggression.

"You definitely have to have an edge out there," Thornton said. "When I have an edge, I play a little bit better out there. It just seems to give me a little more room that I need."

Ottawa is dangling Curtis Leschyshyn, since it has a surplus of blueliners. ... Joe Nieuwendyk finally scored a goal on Thursday, but the Devils could still move him since he's not offering a lot of bang for the buck at the moment. ... The Thrashers are hoping that Milan Hnilicka's resurgence with AHL Chicago could spark interest in a deal. Since getting sent down, Hnilicka is 6-0 with a 2.33 GAA and a .920 save percentage.

Pacific has made quite a splash in the hockey card industry in its six years on the market. But its latest hockey set may be its best one yet.

Pacific released its Exclusive hockey brand on Wednesday, replacing its disappointing Vanguard line of the past two years.

Exclusive has a 200-card base set, as well as 40 serial-numbered rookies. But the highlight of the brand is that one autographed rookie card comes in every hobby box. Rookies Rick Nash, Jay Bouwmeester, Alexander Frolov, Stanislav Chistov, Chuck Kobasew, Alexei Smirnov, Alexander Svitov and Henrik Zetterberg each signed 1,000 serial-numbered cards.

"This is a great product that delivers a lot of value to the collector," Pacific director of marketing Jeffrey Morris said. "The autographs have been popular, and the two game-worn jersey cards per hobby box give the product a great box break."

A hobby box of Exclusive containes 20 six-card packs, and at $5.99 per pack, the product isn't cheap. But the high-quality cards and excellent rookie and game-worn jersey cards make this premium product a winner.

Jon A. Dolezar covers the NHL for CNNSI.com.

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