So who's in the news at the tail end of the year 2000? Gretzky, brand new owner of the Phoenix Coyotes. Mario, soon-to-be an on-ice Penguin again. Meanwhile, Lindros takes a back seat; though he hasn't landed on his head for a while, he can't seem to land a job anywhere.

"I don't wanna play in Sault Ste. Marie, I wanna play in Oshawa near Mummy and Daddy... I don't wanna play in Quebec, I wanna play in a big U.S. market so I can make even more money..."

Why do teams continue to indulge this guy? Especially now that he is -- literally -- such a head case?

The difference this time may just be Pat Quinn. Eric has put him in an almost impossible situation. Does he really want the big guy on the team? If he says yes, the media are all over him and there's tension in the dressing room -- who gets shipped to Bob "don't call me Bobby" Clarke's house of horrors? If he says no, the media are all over him because he won't take a chance on one of the league's marquee players.

This is the fourth CTVSportsnet.com hockey newsletter of the season, and already the Philadelphia Flyers have been in our doghouse and in our hothouse. This week, we'll just poke 'em with a big stick.

A big goalie stick, to be precise. In back-to-back home games this week, Philly faced two of their rejected netminders and the results weren't pretty, unless you're Garth Snow and Sean Burke.

Pittsburgh's Snow made 36 saves and recorded his first shutout of the season, while Burke's 35 saves helped the Coyotes win their first game in Philadelphia since 1997. Never mind that John LeClair was back on the ice. Never mind that another Bob "don't call me Bobby" Clarke ghost, Eric Lindros, has been cleared by doctors to play for some other team sometime soon.

The Flyers are like the Steinbrenner Yankees of another era... loaded with talent, whiny prima donnas and enough wonky management to trip up another playoff run before it gets off the ground. Then again, that's this week. Stay tuned next week to the see the drama unfold in Bob Clark's (or is it Aaron Spelling's?) City of Brotherly Love.

One word: Relegation. It works for the biggest sport on the planet (soccer) and it's about blinking time the NHL came around to this method of rewarding/punishing teams.

Right now, the NHL is made up of 5 divisions, based on Money, Management Structure and Whimsy. The first is the We Have Lots Of Money And Our Owner/GM/Coach Is Top Quality division. It includes Toronto, NY Rangers, Washington, St. Louis, Detroit, Colorado and Dallas.

Then there's the We Have No Money Whatsoever But Our Owner/GM/Coach Keeps Us Competitive division. Members are Ottawa, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, New Jersey and Edmonton.

Here's the injury list for the streaking Colorado Rockies:

Peter Forsberg - Rib
Chris Drury - Knee
Adam Deadmarsh - Concussion

Here's the injury list for the mediocre Philadelphia Flyers:

Keith Jones - Concussion
Jody Hull - Foot
Mark Recchi - Concussion
John LeClair - Back

And here's Eric Lindros - Concussion

Hmmm.

Sean Burke is the King of the Pipes™. Between the pipes, that is.

While Patrick Roy is making all the headlines with his record-breaking wins and door-breaking sins, the big Coyote has quietly become the best goaltender of the young hockey season. This modern-day Suitcase Smith (he's protected the mesh for New Jersey, Hartford/Carolina, Vancouver, Philly, Florida and Phoenix) has been a perennial disappointment, dropping into each new clubhouse pegged as "the one to get 'em past the first round."

The NHL must have issued a gag-order on publicly dissing hockey in Dallas in June. Everyone keeps telling us the ice is just fine. Larry Robinson said it. Brett Hull said it. And all the announcers on both networks broadcasting the games keep saying it's a non-issue. Hmmm. Then why is it that the puck seems to be smothered in tapioca pudding just 10 minutes into the fray? When we watched a quick snapshot clearing attempt barely get over the red line we thought, "oh it must be late in the period because the ice looks like a banana daiquiri." But the clock said there was still 9 and a half minutes left. Ooops, sorry! The ice is just fine!

Maurice "Rocket" Richard:
Icon. Competitor. Humble. Dangerous. Feared. Father. Brother. Habitant. Fierce. Exciting. Fighter. Controversial. Intense. Superstar. Winner. Hero.

Words will never fully describe him. How could the presence of someone most of us never saw in action make such an impact on us? That's the magical, mysterious power of a true hero, a power that spans generations, gender, cultural backgrounds, politics...

Maybe you have the words to explain the unexplainable, to let us all know what The Rocket meant to you. Visit our fan forums and leave your thoughts at:

[retired link]

But come on... a couple of weak games late in an explosive season does NOT bode badly for the La-La-Lakers. Good teams lose sometimes. The Lakers have lost 13 all season. 13! Stop the presses! As if! Make no mistake, the Lakers are the best team with or without Mr. O'Neal. Believe any hype you want about their greatness or their fallibility, but believe it when we say they'll be in the finals come June!

Some people say Toronto will live and die by how its superstar plays. Some say no, it's not a one-man team, the talent is spread all the way down the bench. There are 9 games left in this season of hot and cold flashes. Which Raptor team will we see down the stretch?

We don't care if you're sick of the Vince Carter love-fest in the media and the odd newsletter. We don't care if you think he's a ball hog, a show boater, a hot dog, a selfish narcissistic limelight lover. The guy is fun to watch. These days even people who don't give a flying hoot about basketball pause to watch the highlight reels on the television. What we're watching here, kids, is an explosive talent, a pure superstar. And even if you don't love him, can't bear his antics, We bet you can't take your eyes off him when he's driving for the net.

And lo, there was a bright new star in the east, and the masses came to wonder at it. They came from the almighty kingdom of NBC to worship the incredible flying man, the saviour of the NBA. They came from Hollywood to sit courtside and be on TV bowing down to the bright star. The incredible flying man's mother looked down from above on her son and saw that she had done good, while the omnipresent Costas, the High priest of NBC preached the from the book of Vince. And how did the young star react to the lofty platitudes of the many? No false prophet, he, as he sailed and soared, swished and dunked in a miraculous 51-point game. For on that day, this one bright star outshone a galaxy of Suns and ascended to that higher place in the kingdom of Jordan.

Well, L.A. does have a weakness or two... really! Think about a back-up centre, for instance. The Big Man (TM) can't play every minute of every game. And their shooting...? Glen Rice is good, but there are far better perimeter snipers out there.