Canucks, Avs battle for Western Conference supremacy

Despite the lack of on-campus ESPN, the National Hockey League's season has been underway for about a month. Though this meant little change in many of our daily lives, it marks the beginning of something we should all be excited about -- every team's quest for the most coveted trophy in sports (or at least hockey), the Stanley Cup.

The first question on everyone's mind about this season is whether anyone beat the Colorado Avalanche. After free-agents Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne were added to the roster, along with the one-year resigning of superstar Peter Forsberg, most hockey fans couldn't help but salivate. The offensive duo originally together on the Anaheim Ducks has been interjected into an already formidable cast of players, including Joe Sakic, Rob Blake, Alex Tanguay and Milan Hejduk.

The Avs have become the Lakers of the NHL, but with less drama. Instead, Colorado has gotten down to business -- winning nine of their first 15 games. The one question mark for the team heading into the season was concerning the man in between the pipes. After 18 seasons of dominance, Patrick Roy hung up the skates after last season, leaving a huge void for Colorado to fill. 25 year-old David Aebischer has been filling in thus far. Though clearly not as intimidating as Roy, Aebischer has been holding his own, in the nets for 8 of the team's 9 wins with one shut-out while tallying a 90.6 save percentage.

Currently though, the Avs are trailing the Vancouver Canucks in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference by three points. Vancouver (with a league-leading 22 points) has their own showcase of offensive talent in left-wing Markus Nasland (18 points) and right-wing Todd Bertuzzi (14 points), both of whom are coming off 45 plus-goal seasons.

In off-ice news, Florida Panther coach Mike Keenan was fired only 15 games into the season after a stormy row with management, namely general manager Rick Dudley. Keenan, who has appeared in four Stanley Cup Finals (losing all but one), just signed a six-year contract last year, and as a result, doesn't really need to coach again. But there's no doubt Keenan will be back eventually. In the team's first game after the firing, Dudley acted as interim coach while the Panthers blanked a strong Tampa Bay Lightning squad 4-0.

Mario Lemieux's successful comeback from Hodgkin's disease in 2000 was inspirational, but now it seems that the future Hall-of-Famer is finally feeling the effects of old age. The 38-year old has been struggling to return from a strained left hip flexor muscle since Nov. 1.

Now, reports from the Pittsburgh Penguins indicate that the injury is not responding to treatment and that Mario is now looking at a Nov. 19 return at best. Trying to picture number 66's legendary 1988-89 season, when he scored a whopping 85 goals and had 114 assists, is becoming harder by the day. After an embarrassing 9-0 loss to the Lightning on Saturday, it's clear that the Penguins (second to last for points in the league with nine) desperately need Lemieux's on-ice presence.

Any analysis wouldn't be complete without a review of the defending champion New Jersey Devils' season thus far. Led by arguably the best and most consistent goalie in the business, Martin Brodeur, the Devils have started slower than they would have liked.

Their 7-3-3-0 record, however, is still good enough for second in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team lacks a real offensive superstar, and that's the way they seem to like it. Though Patrik Elias and Bryan Rafalski can wow the crowd at times, the team's focus is on winning the battles in the corners with grit and team unity. Too many things have to go right for the Devils if they are to repeat, but their roster is full of role players working hard to prove the critics wrong.

Unfortunately, no matter what exciting stuff happens on the ice this season, the biggest story of the year will undoubtedly be that of the inevitable lock-out next year. Many teams have already begun to prepare for the financial ramifications of such a labor disagreement. The sad truth is that this year's Stanley Cup winner might be able to keep possession of the Cup for at least one extra year.