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Hurting Habs Montreal turning into frozen M*A*S*H unit
Stick a splint on the Montreal Canadiens -- they're done. The beleaguered Canadiens now have lost their leading scorer, Brian Savage, for the season with a broken thumb. After setting a record with 536 man-games lost to injuries last season, Montreal management demoted Gaetan Lefebvre, their long-time athletic therapist, and figured things couldn't get worse. Well, they have. The Canadiens are homing in on 300 man-games lost. With the injury to Savage, Montreal is missing 11 regulars and should shatter the dubious mark it set last season. Only three Canadiens -- defensemen Eric Weinrich and Patrice Brisebois and forward Oleg Petrov -- have played in every game.
Net gainsVancouver general manager Brian Burke should be executive of the year for slicing the Canucks' payroll while improving the team. He now faces yet another a critical decision, this one about his goaltending.Burke acquired Felix Potvin from the New York Islanders 13 months ago, installing The Cat as the No. 1 goalie. But the $2.7 million Potvin, who hasn't had a winning season since 1995-96 with Toronto, has never sparkled in Vancouver for an extended period. With veteran backup Bob Essensa playing well in the first half Potvin's problems sometimes were overlooked. But with Essensa cooling off, Burke has to decide if Potvin can carry the team a few playoff rounds or if he should trade for another goalie.
Wily CoyotePhoenix center Daniel Briere is small, but someone should have noticed he was missing when the Coyotes' bus pulled away from the Pond in Anaheim last week. After all, Briere, generously listed as 5-foot-10, has been driving the team since he returned from the minors. He had scored in six straight games heading into Tuesday, a dollop of good news for a franchise mired in a messy sale.Briere was demoted early in the season, but he worked hard on face-offs and defensive play and returned to Phoenix revitalized. Incidentally, Briere made his flight. He bummed a ride from two Coyotes fans, who left him at a convenience store where an airport security car picked him up. 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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