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New image Sakic inspires injury-riddled Avalanche
Colorado captain Joe Sakic never has been considered among the NHL's great leaders, but his reputation deserves a second look as the Avalanche continue their stellar play. Colorado was missing four significant, injured players -- forwards Peter Forsberg and Chris Drury and defensemen Adam Foote and Aaron Miller -- but still went 6-2, thanks largely to the quiet Sakic taking this team by the hand and guiding it through a perilous stretch when it could have coasted on its fast start. Head coach Bob Hartley, who has fiddled with his top lines, has settled on Sakic's wingers -- the swift Milan Hejduk and spectacular sophomore Alex Tanguay. They are the only line with all three players in the top 20 in scoring.
Therrien gets Habs' attentionMichel Therrien might not cut an imposing figure behind the Montreal Canadiens bench nor have an impeccable hockey pedigree, but the Canadiens seem to have responded to his passion, improbably taking five of six points on a recent West Coast swing. Therrien is best known as a fiery junior coach who, in an earlier life, was a technician for a telephone company and a driver and bodyguard for Canadian pop singer Roch Vosine. If his background seems unusual for the coach of one of the NHL's heritage franchises, consider two previous Montreal coaches, Jacques Demers and Pat Burns. Demers was driving a Coke truck before his break came in the old World Hockey Association and Burns was a police officer before diving into hockey full-time. Therrien has instituted a more aggressive forecheck and promoted rookie defenseman Stephane Robidas to the No. 1 pair with Eric Weinrich, moves that have paid early dividends.
Good time to get hotMats Sundin always has been a grand talent in need of the occasional prodding, and the Toronto Maple Leafs captain might have received it in the spectral form of estranged Philadelphia Flyers star Eric Lindros. While Toronto erupted into a frenzy over Lindros' stated desire to play for his hometown Leafs, Sundin awoke from a drought of 13 games without a goal to score four in his next three, an unspoken reminder that Toronto already has a big No. 1 center. Sundin dismissed the timing of his goal outburst as coincidence, albeit a happy one for the Leafs. Sports Illustrated senior writer Michael Farber covers the NHL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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