Kiprusoff ... Backstrom ... Rinne?

Finland has sent its share of goaltending talent to the NHL in recent years.

Perhaps it’s time to add Pekka Rinne to that list.

He made 30 saves to earn his 20th win and sixth shutout of the season Saturday night as the Nashville Predators rolled to an 8-0 rout of the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

“It’s not going to happen every day that you have a game like that,” Rinne said. “We just executed really well. We were well prepared for this game. But after leading 5-0 in the first period we were wondering what was going on.”

Still, that may have helped the 6-foot-5 Rinne, an eighth-round pick taken 258th overall in 2004, cement rookie of the month honors. In February, he went 9-2-1 with a 1.72 goals-against average, and will enter March having recorded two whitewashes in his last four starts.

“When you have a chance to have a shutout you do everything you can to keep a zero on the scoreboard. At the end that was my personal motivation," Rinne said.

More important, Rinne appears to have moved ahead of Dan Ellis to become the starter for longtime coach Barry Trotz as the Predators make a push for a playoff spot in the crowded Western Conference - the one in which just 13 points separate fifth place from dead last.

At 26, Rinne is not a youngster, but he seems to be looking more like Miikka Kiprusoff or Niklas Backstrom than Vesa Toskala or Kari Lehtonen.

Joy and sorrow on both sides of the Hudson

On one side of the Hudson River, there was joy Thursday night.

On the other side, there was that eerie calm before the hurricane – tornado, tsunami, pick your disaster – hits.

In Newark, Martin Brodeur made a triumphant retun from elbow surgery that sidelined him since early November by stopping 24 shots to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

Not only was it Brodeur’s third shutout in 11 games this season, it was also the 99th of his career, leaving him five short of breaking Terry Sawchuk’s NHL record. Brodeur, who missed 50 games after suffering the first major injury of his career, also posted his 545th regular-season victory, and needs seven more to break Patrick Roy’s all-time mark.

Like he never left, right?

"It was an exciting night to get out there and perform," Brodeur said. "I was really anxious all day, more nervous that I thought I was going to be. We pulled it off. It was nice to score early in the game. I didn't get much work. It was a nice game to play."

On Seventh Avenue, meanwhile, John Tortorella watched his team self-destruct … AGAIN.

Tortorella fell to 0-1-1 as coach of the New York Rangers after a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden.

One night earlier in his debut behind the Rangers bench, Tortorella saw them fall 2-1 in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Following that loss, Tortorella – he of the legendary temper – said he was concerned about his club’s conditioning after they blew a one-goal lead in the third period.

He backtracked a little after seeing the Rangers allow two goals in a one-minute span late against the Panthers.

“I'm not upset with them ... we just are struggling to score a goal,” Tortorella said. “I'm looking forward to keep growing with the team, because I think they have picked up how we want to play very well. We just can't finish.”

You think? New York has dropped 12 of 14, and has been held to two goals or less in 12 of them – all losses.

Torts will try again for his first win on Saturday against Colorado. The Rangers have lost three straight at home to the Avalanche, all by one goal and two in overtime.

Toy run '09 ....

It's time for another run ... and for those who have no idea what I'm talking about just click here

Question is how do I get over the border this time??

You're fired (no, not me)

The start of this season saw the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins play in Sweden while the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning took the ice in the Czech Republic.

Today, the four coaches of those clubs are all out of work.

The underachieving Rangers on Monday fired Tom Renney with the team mired in a 2-7-3 skid. Earlier this season, the Lightning axed Barry Melrose after 16 games, the Sens pulled the plug on Craig Hartsburg after 48, and the Penguins let go of Michel Therrien less than a year after he guided them to the Stanley Cup finals.

After 12 seasons away from coaching, Melrose was a bad fit. The same can be said for Hartsburg in Canada’s capital. Therrien? You’d think that any team with players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the roster would translate to job security – instead the Penguins proved they desperately miss a veteran scorer like Marian Hossa.

For the Rangers, this was a move that needed to be made, but shouldn’t be the last either. General manager Glen Sather needs to be shown the door as well.

Chris Drury and Scott Gomez for more than $80 million? Wade Redden – six years, $39 million? That’s why.

Keep in mind the Blueshirts opened the post-Jaromir Jagr/Brendan Shanahan era with five straight regulation wins, and while an overall mark of 31-23-7 is not bad, they’re one of four teams without a 20-goal scorer, joining Minnesota, Edmonton and the New York Islanders.

In fact the Rangers have lost 11 in a row (0-8-3) when scoring two goals or less. Kind of brings into focus why they’re closer to being out of the playoff mix rather than contending for the Atlantic Division.

No three-hour practice is going to fix that.

Now that Stanley Cup-winner John Tortorella is behind the bench, the Club Med days on Seventh Avenue will end immediately. (Cue Altruda – “I’m tired of the whining…”)

Tortorella doesn’t expect respect – he commands it. But, there is no Vincent Lecavalier on this team, so it will be interesting to see how much patience Tortorella will have.

Rangers ax Renney ... now, why hasn't Sather joined him?

From ESPN.com ... one down, one to go.

The New York Rangers have fired Tom Renney after five seasons at the helm of the suddenly struggling team.

The New York Rangers hired Tom Renney during the 2003-04 season.

The Rangers had dropped to 31-23-7 after a stretch in which they lost 10 of their past 12 games, slipping to sixth place in the East after starting the season winning 10 of 13.

Renney was 164-121-42 with the Rangers.

The top eight teams of each conference make the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The team had not announced Renney's replacemen.

The Rangers also fired assistant coach Perry Pearn. Assistant Mike Pelino and goalie coach Benoit Allaire remain with the team.

The Rangers lost 3-2 in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs in New York on Sunday.

"We played hard," Renney said Sunday night. "We outshot this team significantly, we made a couple of mistakes that are in our game right now that we're going to continue to try to rectify.

"We are going to keep playing hard and we're going to stay the course and go after wins."

The Rangers conclude a four-game season series with the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night in Toronto.

Last week, division rival Pittsburgh fired coach Michel Therrien.

Sundin couldn't script it better

You have to wonder if Mats Sundin is mentally flipping off Cliff Fletcher.

What’s Swedish for “waive this”?

The revolving door in Philly

I read a piece yesterday on TSN.ca that stated the Philadelphia Flyers are considering a deal for Atlanta Thrashers goaltender Kari Lehtonen.

The Flyers probably are entertaining this deal to end a revolving door in net that’s been spinning for more than 21 years. If general manager Paul Holmgren is smart, though, he won’t just stay away from this one - he’ll run and not look back.

Don Waddell on Line 1 from the 404? Click.

Indeed, the Flyers haven’t had a truly top-notch option in goal since 1987. That’s when Ron Hextall won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP – even though Philadelphia lost in the Stanley Cup finals to the Wayne Gretzky-Jari Kurri-Mark Messier-led Edmonton Oilers.

Since then? Besides Hextall, breathe deep because this list is impressive…

Roman Cechmanek, Dominic Roussel, Robert Esche, Antero Niittymaki, Martin Biron, John Vanbiesbrouck (affectionately known as Johnny Vaneyebrow by former New York neighbor Jimmy Bienkowski), Brian Boucher, Ken Wregget, Garth Snow, Tommy Soderstrom (also known as Jon Palmieri’s boy), Sean Burke, Jeff Hackett, Mark LaForest, Pete Peeters, Bruce Hoffert (who??), Stephane Beauregard, Wendell Young, Michael Leighton, ECHL- and IHL-refugee Frederic Chabot, Marc D’Amour (who, part deux??), Martin “Don’t call me Rejean” Houle, Neil Little, Maxime Ouellet, and finally, Jean-Marc Pelletier.

…and exhale.

The Flyers have won 791 regular-season games starting in the fall of ’87, with Hextall recording 203. No other goalie has cracked 100, as Cechmanek – still playing in the Czech Republic at 37 - won 92 from 2000-03.

But Kari Lehtonen?

After wrapping up their third season in 2002, the Thrashers thought they’d laid down a cornerstone of their foundation by selecting the 6-foot-4 Lehtonen second overall.

And with good reason. Playing with Jokerit in his native Finland in 2001-02, Lehtonen had a 1.79 goals-against average and .941 save percentage in 23 games. He also took MVP honors in the postseason, and led his country to a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships, where he was named the tournament’s top netminder.

According to Lehtonen’s draft capsule from SI.com: Despite above-average height for a netminder, he has impressive quickness and excellent reflexes. Employs primarily a standup style but can go to the butterfly when needed. Possesses a calm and cool demeanor and plays with confidence. Anticipates and reads the play well.

Fast-forward six years, and you have a goalie that looks nothing like what was described.

True, he’s played on a team that would be the worst If not for the New York Islanders. But after making 37 saves through overtime in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday, Lehtonen fell to 11-17-3 with a 3.16 GAA and .908 save percentage in 32 games.

The career numbers aren’t a whole lot better: 86-78-17 with a 2.88 GAA and .912 save percentage in 190 games.

As for that ‘calm and cool demeanor,’ it’s yet to be seen in the postseason. He gave up 11 goals while losing both starts to the New York Rangers in the 2007 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

The rumor is the Flyers would give up James vanRiemsdyk in the proposed deal, and If I’m Atlanta, I’m all over that. Selected second overall in last season’s draft behind eventual Calder Trophy-winner Patrick Kane, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound New Jersey native had six goals and four assists for the fifth-place US team at recently completed the World Juniors.

As for Lehtonen … playing in front of fans in a city that booed Santa Claus – hell, they’d boo an autopsy – they’d eat the Finn like he was one of their famous cheesesteaks.

And the Flyers would still be on the hunt.

It was six years ago today ....

Sometimes, I will step away from writing about hockey. For the remainder of my life, Feb. 18 will be one of those days.

Six years ago today, I had surgery that ultimately changed my life. You can my look back at my past entries on it here, here, and
even here.

The true benchmark of bariatric surgery is how the patient is after five years. Given that even now I still wear shirts that go from medium to large rather than 2XL to 3XL, and pants with a waistline that doesn't start with a 5 – or even a 4, for that matter – I can say that it's been a success.

That's not to say that the last year has been difficult.

I rarely get sick from eating anymore, and can now have pretty much anything I want – something all the doctors told me would happen eventually. I don't throw up anymore, instead, there have been a couple of near-instances – spitting up and heaving some; what I call being in distress – but nothing more.

On my last visit to New York City earlier in the month, I went out to dinner on consecutive nights with two women – lucky me, right? – and found one thing still holds true: I continue to eat small.

At one Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side, I had about 75 percent of a chicken dish with mustard sauce, some broccoli, and a couple pieces of tube pasta. The second night in New Jersey, about a half order of a really good Bolognese dish. Thank goodness for doggie bags.

What I have continued to find is I still have a raging sweet tooth, a holdover from my old days. Cookies, cake, ice cream, candy – all these things in moderation, which means not buying a bag and going through it in one shot.

Case in point, the restaurant in New Jersey. Dessert was a chocolate soufflé with ice cream. Maybe half of it was gone. It's enough to taste and savor, but not so much to gorge on.

To this day, though, no soda with sugar in it, and I am trying to cut back on the diet stuff. More coffee. More flavored water.

So what to do going forward? I need to get back into the gym. One of the things I have neglected from year 5 to 6 has been the time taken for myself to exercise, to reflect, to concentrate. Each time I want to go back, I find it too easy to talk myself out of it.

For someone who's gone through all this, and the maintenance, you wouldn't think this is a problem. It is. The mind can play bad tricks, and there needs to be some strength there, a backbone.

I will go back. Soon. I need to, if for nothing else, to make sure I don't ever revert to the way I was. I had this done to make sure I wouldn't be dead by 44.

That's just over six months from now.

A look at the NHL's wild West

Sure, the Eastern Conference has the league’s best team (Boston Bruins), its most exciting player (Alex Ovechkin) and some of the best rivalries around (Rangers-Devils, Penguins-Flyers, Canadiens-Maple Leafs and so on, and so on …)

But have you seen what’s going on out West?

Ten of the bottom 15 teams are separated by only 10 points. The difference between fifth and 10th places is just two points. While that’s odd enough to start with, and much can happen between now and the end of the season, consider some of these nuggets …

The St. Louis Blues – a last-place finisher in the Central each of the last two seasons - still have a chance to get into the playoffs for the first time in five years.

While there’s still hope in the Gateway City, that would be an even more remarkable feat after having lost highly touted defenseman Erik Johnson to a season-ending knee injury in September, sparkplug forward Andy McDonald for 36 games with a broken ankle, extended absences of Paul Kariya, Jay McKee and Eric Brewer and the release – finally - of starting goaltender Manny Legace.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are usually long out of the postseason chase by this time, but thanks to likely Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason in goal, they’re tied for sixth place as they seek the first playoff berth in the franchise’s eight-year history.

The Dallas Stars woke up after sleepwalking to a 7-11-4 start over the season’s first six weeks with Sean Avery in tow. Starting with their first back-to-back wins in late November, Dave Tippett’s club has gone 20-10-3 – and has allowed six goals in their last six home games.

Even also-rans like the Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes are still in the hunt for their first playoff spots since 2002.

The Colorado Avalanche are last with 51 points, but are one hot streak away from being right back in it. All they need is an upgrade in goal over Peter Budaj and Andrew Raycroft – a latter-day Jim Carey.

With less than 30 games to play – and the trade deadline coming up - it’s going to be a fun sprint to the finish.

No butterflies this time for Sharks' Thornton

Few feelings in the world are worse than being told you’re not wanted. Doesn’t matter who says it to you or the situation, it is the closing of one door in your life.

On the flip side, it’s also the opening of another.

In the NHL, few have made the most of a new beginning than Joe Thornton has with the San Jose Sharks.

He’ll lead the Western Conference’s top team into Boston on Tuesday night to face his former team, the Bruins. It’s been more than three years after the former top overall pick was shipped west, and where he’s enjoyed the success that was expected after lighting up scoreboards throughout the Ontario Hockey League.

More than a dozen years ago, Thornton filled up stat sheets in juniors. Playing for Sault Ste. Marie in 1996-97, the 6-foot-4 Thornton scored 122 points in just 59 games and also displayed a nasty edge by picking up 123 penalty minutes.

That was more than enough for the Bruins, who finished last in the Eastern Conference with 26 wins and 61 points, giving them the top overall pick for the first time since taking Gord Kluzak 15 years earlier.

The impact Thornton was expected to provide? That didn’t come so quickly. At just 18 years old - and 180 pounds – he spent a good portion of his first NHL season battling injuries. A broken forearm. Cellulitis in one ankle. A viral infection

His totals as a rookie: three goals and four assists in 55 games.

But as Thornton matured and hit the weight room, he started to blossom, leading the Bruins with 37 goals in 2001. In 2002-03, he had his first 100-point season and played in his second straight All-Star Game.

All that changed on Nov. 30, 2005. With the Bruins having lost nine of 10 and the Sharks stuck in an 0-7-3 slide, the teams pulled off a blockbuster trade.

Boston sent Thornton to San Jose for Brad Stuart, Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau. For Thornton, the news was somewhat shocking.

“I never in juniors had gotten traded,” he said. “It was a little weird, a little emotional to be leaving. But really, after I got traded, from that night on, it was tough, and then the morning came and I flew and I met my new teammates with the Sharks.

“I think after really that first 24 hours, I think it wasn't hard, it was just back to business, I think. It wasn't too tough after that.”

He certainly made an immediate impact with his new club, scoring three goals with 11 assists in his first six games with the Sharks, all wins. Since the trade and through Saturday, Thornton leads the league with 359 points, including 276 assists.

That’s more than fellow No. 1 picks Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Ilya Kovalchuk and Vincent Lecavalier.

Though he split time between the east and west coasts in 2005-06, he finished with 125 points to win the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer, and Hart Trophy as its most valuable player.

“I think it's worked out well for me, obviously,” Thornton said. “But you know, I thought it was going good in Boston, as well, though. I don't think there was anything wrong there to be honest with you.

“I was young then and now I'm just maturing to be an adult now. So I think just maturity-wise you get to know the game a little bit better, you get more confidence, and you just know your body a little bit more. I think it just really is two parts of a hockey player that I was.”

Paired with Patrick Marelau and rookie Devin Setoguchi, Thornton again leads the Sharks with 45 assists and 57 points this season. Going back to Boston this time, however, he also will hope for a little more ice time than he got in January 2006.

That was when he returned to the TD Banknorth Garden. Just 5:13 into the contest, though, Thornton was given a major and a game misconduct for checking 6-foot-7, 250-pound defenseman Hal Gill from behind.

While conceding his return to Beantown was awkward, Thornton doesn’t expect to have any butterflies this time.

“There's not too many ex-teammates over there, and it's just really an important game in the schedule,” he said. “They're the best in the east, and we're the best in the west. So it's an important game that way rather than I'm playing against friends, I think.”

As for any extra motivation to beat his old team – either on Tuesday or, perhaps, in the playoffs – Thornton says there is none.

“You just play hockey, and that's what I do. I'm a hockey player,” he said.

Rangers consider bringing back Avery

Just when you think the Sean Avery affair was dead and buried, published reports on Friday have the New York Rangers – Avery’s former club – exploring the possibility of bringing him back.

Who says you can’t go home again?

Avery has always been the kind of player who you adore when he’s on your team, but hate when he’s playing against you.

Here’s the rub … Avery is a prick. Plain and simple. And he’s an equal-opportunity prick, whether it’s drawing the ire of a black player (see: Laraque, Georges) or future Hall of Fame goaltender (Brodeur, Martin) or disparaging a former girlfriend with his now-infamous ‘sloppy seconds’ comment that ended his career with the Dallas Stars just 23 games into a four-year, $15.5 million deal.

Bad boy behavior aside, he also brings something with him. An edge, a fire, some passion, something the Rangers have been sorely lacking for much of this season.

Call it what you want – that lack of emotion was never more evident than on Friday night when the Rangers looked overmatched and, at times, disinterested in a 10-2 loss to Dallas.

The 10 goals were the most allowed by New York in one game since April 9, 1993 when Mario Lemieux scored five and Joe Mullen added three in a 10-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

New York hadn’t allowed 10 on the road since March 6, 1993 in a 10-2 defeat to the Quebec Nordqiues.

Coach Tom Renney was saying all the right things on Friday, not making any effort to hide his disgust.

“The message is loud and clear,” he said. “We have to get back to square one. You can’t be any more disappointed than what happened tonight. We want to be a playoff team.

“We all have to step up. Right now.”

After giving up six goals in the final 20 minutes, they cannot to take any more steps back. New York is in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, but have just a two-point lead over the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres.

The Rangers acquired Avery from the Los Angeles Kings just over two years ago. His career with the Broadway Blueshirts lasted all of 86 games after they chose not to resign him.

New York’s record with Avery: 50-23-13.

But getting him back won’t guarantee anything – the Rangers also had Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan around to provide offense while Avery hasn’t scored more than 18 goals in a season.

Plus, there’s a maze that must be completed before Avery ever sets foot on an NHL rink.

Avery must complete NHL-NHLPA behavioral modification program: So now more referring to players as monkeys, or waving sticks in their faces, or spilling bedroom secrets.

Must be placed on waivers and clear them: This will likely happen. If there were another team other than the Rangers who were interested in Avery and could handle his salary, a deal almost certainly would have happened.

Must be assigned to an AHL affiliate: The Stars don’t have one since leaving Iowa prior to this season. Avery could end up anywhere from Hartford to Grand Rapids to Houston.

Loaned to another AHL affiliate, but remains property of the Stars: I’m waiting for him to be exiled to Manitoba. (Nothing against the fine folk in Winnipeg, mind you.)

If he’s claimed while in minors, new team and Dallas must each pay half his salary: Each club would be on the hook for roughly $1.9 million.

For the Rangers, this could be the equivalent of selling their souls. Given their recent play, they may need to do so in order to save their season.