Race Is On for Rest of the West

Eight points separate the six teams battling for the final four playoff spots in the West as play resumes after the All-Star break, and here’s what it boils down to:

The Dallas Stars are the hottest, the St. Louis Blues the coldest. The Calgary Flames have the heaviest road schedule, the Nashville Predators perhaps the easiest schedule. The Kings must keep scrapping and the Minnesota Wild is the longest shot to scrape up enough points to get in.

“There’s a real logjam at 60 points and we’re only a little on top of there,” Dallas goalie Marty Turco said of his team’s 63 points and the tie among the Blues, Flames, Predators and Kings at 60. “It’s going to be a lot of fun and there’s going to be a lot of scoreboard watching.”

The Stars were 8-1-1 before the break, powered by Turco and Mike Modano. But to maintain that pace, the Stars will have to improve their road record. They’re 11-14-4-0 for 26 points on the road, ninth-best in the conference. Turco is confident the team’s roll can continue.

“We trust each other and believe in each other, and you have to have that mental edge,” he said. “Everyone is making timely plays and getting points and we’re going to have to raise the bar even higher.”

The Blues were 0-7-1 before they scratched out a 2-1 victory at Calgary on Thursday, and they celebrated by giving Coach Joel Quenneville the green hardhat usually awarded to the most diligent player. Quenneville apparently hasn’t lost his players’ respect but he must push them to battle through shaky goaltending and injuries that have ravaged their defense. The Blues, who acquired defenseman Eric Weinrich from the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday for a draft pick, have made the playoffs 24 consecutive seasons, the NHL’s longest streak.

“This is a playoff push for us and we have to make sure what we did against Calgary is the start,” defenseman Chris Pronger said. “There are no easy games in this league.”

The Flames, who have been out of the playoffs the last seven seasons, have 11 home games and 17 road games, including trips of five and four games. They visit Colorado and Detroit twice each.

“This is a position our team hasn’t been in for a long time, and it feels good,” Jarome Iginla said. “I think we’re ready and we’re all looking forward to it.... There’s been an electricity in our building this year that’s the best I’ve seen.”

The Predators, who have never made the playoffs, have 12 home games and 16 on the road. But they have 16 games against teams that have fewer points than they do now, including six of their first seven after the break. That’s their best chance to break that logjam.

The Kings must continue to limit opponents’ shots and hope Roman Cechmanek finds a measure of consistency. Losing so many skilled players has forced them to be gritty and resilient, qualities that will stand them in good stead.

“We’ve had enough successful results to know that we’ve got to keep doing that to give ourselves the best chance,” right wing Trent Klatt said.

The Wild scored eight goals in winning its last two games before the break, but it had won only one of eight games before that. If Marian Gaborik (six goals, 16 points in 39 games) picks up his production, it could be a wild finish, if not a Wild one.

So, Canada?

The Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks are among the NHL’s top teams and are considered Stanley Cup contenders. The Montreal Canadiens are a surprising seventh in the East and the Flames are seventh in the West.

Of the six Canadian teams, only the Edmonton Oilers aren’t in a playoff position, the exception in an otherwise impressive showing by teams that face a costly currency disadvantage and other financial and competitive drawbacks

“In this country, there is no other sport that matters like hockey,” said Roy Mlakar, president of the Ottawa Senators. “They watch one football game a year and that’s it. The passion for hockey is like nothing else.”

That passion survives even though no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since the Canadiens in 1993 and none has reached the final since the Canucks in 1994. The Flames haven’t won a playoff series since their 1989 Cup triumph and the Maple Leafs haven’t won the Cup since 1967.

“The Stanley Cup coming to Canada would be a huge thing,” Canuck center Trevor Linden said. “I think it is important for Canadian fans. Last year, we easily could have had Ottawa in the final, and a lot of people thought Ottawa was going to win it all. It would be fun for Canadians for a Canadian team to win it.”

Ottawa had a league-leading 113 points last season but lost to New Jersey in the conference finals. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton are among the NHL’s top teams in paid admissions -- a distinction they share with Detroit, Philadelphia and Colorado -- which means postseason play can make a big difference to each club’s financial health.

“For our team in particular, it would be a tremendous boost for season tickets, which we always seem to be struggling with,” said Mlakar, whose team has about 10,000 season tickets and ranks among the top 10 in paid attendance for the first time.

“For Calgary to make the playoffs, it would be a huge positive after seven years of not making it. It would be a significant boost for the franchise, and you have to credit the people in Calgary for sticking with a plan to build with youth. Vancouver went up only modestly in salary [from about $32 million last season to $38.7 this season] and Brian [Burke, the Canucks’ general manager] has been very supportive of Marc Crawford and his long-term plan.

“Since Bob Gainey got to Montreal, they started to bring a lot of kids into the lineup and they’ve been doing well. One common denominator of all six teams is building around youth and not making major free-agent signings.”

Kevin Lowe, the Oilers’ general manager, said the generally smaller size of Canadian cities makes success an issue of large market-small market more than Canada versus the U.S.

“It would be huge if a team from a smaller market won it,” he said. “It’s kind of good news-bad news. If Calgary wins, it would be dreadful for us.”

Taking a Flyer on Burke

Flyer General Manager Bob Clarke told the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier this season that although most teams build from the goal out, he starts up front and goes back. That misplaced emphasis might explain why the Flyers haven’t had Cup-caliber goaltending in too long -- and why Clarke’s acquisition of Sean Burke, forward Branko Radivojevic and the rights to prospect Ben Eager from Phoenix on Monday for Mike Comrie won’t bring them closer to the Cup.

Burke hasn’t won a playoff series since 1988. His 2.81 goals-against average ranks 40th, and he hasn’t won a game since Dec. 23, a span of six starts. He’s not an elite goalie and he won’t get much help behind a spotty defense.

Clarke was put in a tough spot when Robert Esche sprained a knee and Jeff Hackett was pushed near retirement by severe vertigo. But Clarke is fooling himself -- again -- if he believes Burke is the solution.

Slap Shots

After seeing teammate Jaromir Jagr traded to the Rangers, Washington’s Robert Lang expects he or goalie Olaf Kolzig will be next to go.

“Payroll has been their concern for a little while, and now, with the NHL’s economy, they need to cut some payroll,” he said. “They never really tell you why. It’s not the best situation. It’s been tough for a lot of guys because there have been a lot of rumors. You just hope they would do deals and tell you later.”

Derian Hatcher, who tore a knee ligament three games into his Red Wing career and had surgery in early November, has been traveling and skating lightly with the team. However, no date has been established for his return. If he can play at anything near full strength he’ll give the Red Wings a huge boost.

Commissioner Gary Bettman said last week he favored the use of visors and would like to see them phased in as helmets were. Players new to the league were required to wear them but those who’d reached the NHL before a certain date were permitted to opt out, a process that could work with visors.

However, he’s not going to press the issue because it would have to be approved by the players’ association, and the Sept. 15 expiration of the labor agreement comes before everything else.