While you were freezing at home, the NHL heats up

When I wrote last, the NHL season was not even half over. But after a long winter break full of professional hockey, teams are officially gearing up for the playoffs -- most with only about 30 games left. For some teams (the Penguins, Capitals, Blackhawks and Bluejackets come to mind), it is become painstakingly clear that this was just not their year and any hope for playoff success will have to be deferred to next season (if there is a next season). For most other teams though, the season is just now heating up -- the last playoff spot in both conferences will undoubtedly come down to the final week of the season while the rest of the playoff-bound teams jockey for position.

The hottest team over the break was indisputably the Ottawa Senators (64 points). After prophetically calling for their rise to prominence in my last article, the Sens have heeded the call by earning 32 points in their last 20 games.

Suddenly, the team that earlier in the season was last in their division is vying for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Its biggest boost came around Christmas time during which the team went undefeated for 11 games, winning nine and tying two.

There's no real secret to the Senators strategy - offense is the name of their game. They lead the league in total goals scored at 167, roughly 3.4 a game.

The surprising thing about the Senators is its equally strong defense this year. They're second in the league in total goals against with 102 (that's a 2.1 team goals against average for those scoring at home).

Additionally, Ottawa is one of only two teams in the league to have an astounding ten players with ten or more goals (the Colorado Avalanche is the other). Leading their charge has been 22-year old Martin Havlat. The skilled winger has scored eight of his 15 total goals in the month of January alone (reminder: it's still January).

Ottawa's success seems to be an aspect of a greater trend - Canadian teams are competing again, maybe even for the Cup. If the season ended today, five of the six Canadian teams would make the playoffs (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, with Edmonton the only disappointment).

One such Canadian success story is that of the Toronto Maple Leafs (65 points). The Leafs are tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for the lead of the Eastern Conference thanks in large part to the play of veteran goalie Ed Belfour. On Monday, Belfour was named NHL Defensive Player of the Week after winning all three of his team's games while giving up only three total goals and saving 95.2% of shots faced. Belfour's most recent victory on Saturday marked his 423rd career win, tying him with Tony Espositio for fourth place on the career victory list.

In the Western Conference, the San Jose Sharks (61 points) have made some serious waves. Predicted by most to flounder in the bottom of the standings, the no-name Sharks have made a surprising surge to the top of the Pacific Division (for yet another example of this reporter's trend-predicting prowess, see "Inside the NHL" from 12/3/03).

Since the Tufts winter break officially began on Dec. 19, the Sharks are 13-3-1-1. In one week alone, this Silicon Valley squad beat the conference-leading Colorado Avalanche (66 points), Detroit Red Wings (65 points) and Vancouver Canucks (63 points).

In off-ice news, All-Star Jaromir Jagr is now a New York Ranger, traded from the Washington Capitals on Friday. In return, the Capitals got forward Anson Carter and much needed financial wiggle room by unloading a good bulk of the largest player contract in the league (according to reports, Washington will have to pay between $16 and $18 million of Jagr's remaining $44 million salary over the next four seasons).

The Capitals were surely disappointed with Jagr's contributions on the ice during his two and a half year stint with the team. Though he scored a respectable 83 goals during his career in D.C., his numbers were no where near those we had been putting up in Pittsburgh. Though Jagr's first game as a Ranger was an embarrassing 9-1 loss to Ottawa, he was sure not to disappoint the New Yorkers at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, where he scored three points in the Rangers' 5-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

Ultimately though, this deal was about money and, as Washington owner Ted Leonsis describes it, the "new economic reality" of a league facing a daunting lockout next season, during which teams could begin losing money at an alarming rate.