Look, up in the air! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's..... SuperBlogger! Howard, did I just see you on the United commercial on the Laker game? Or is that another guy with the same name. Come to think of it, I'm a United 1K flyer, where the hell is my camera crew!

Too much of a good thing: I agree with you, Eric. Part of the reason that the NHL is stuck in second gear is that even the smooth Gary Bettman hasn't been able to bring the league into the 21st century.

The hockey playoffs are so exciting because the games mean something. Unlike, say, the regular season. Less is more.

A Day Without Puck Is Like A Day Without Sunshine: Which is exactly what we have today thanks to the schedule makers and the lords of television. I'm sure that Saturday afternoon game between Detroit and Colorado on Memorial Day weekend in the States will be drawing big numbers. It's days like this one that make me wish we could magically contract the NHL's worst eight teams and lop 20 games off the schedule. The professional game would be a whole lot healthier for it.

More coaching changes: Mike Babcock, who coached Anaheim's minor-league team in Cincinnati the past two seasons, was hired as the Mighty Ducks' coach Wednesday. Babcock replaces Bryan Murray, who gave up the job in April to become the NHL team's senior vice president and general manager.

Meanwhile, good ol' boy Andy Moog returned to the Dallas Stars as an assistant coach.

Montreal Canadiens Take Two of Three NHLFA Awards: The NHL Fan Association awards were announced today.

Best Bang for the Buck went to Jarome Iginla of the Calgary Flames. At a salary of $1.7 million, Jarome is a bargain by NHL
standards. He topped the NHL in goals
(52) and points (96) this season while playing in all of the Flames 82 games.

"I am honored to be recognized for an award selected by the fans. They are the most
important part of making our game successful and their support is very much appreciated,"
Jarome Iginla said.

The NHLFA's choice for MVP was Jose Theodore, standout goaltender for the Montreal
Canadiens, while the Best Role Model went to another member of the Montreal Canadiens,
Saku Koivu.

Last year, San Jose Shark goaltender Evgeni Nabokov won the "Best Bang for the Buck" award, while Colodaro's Ray Bourque and Detroit's Steve Yzerman shared the award for Best Role Model, and Joe Sakic netted the MVP award.

Watching classic puck:
Thursday 8pm and 11pm - Jacques Plante SportsCentury
Friday 8pm - Bobby Hull SportsCentury
Friday 8:30pm - Eric Lindros SportsCentury

Sat May 25:
7 p.m. - Classic NHL
1994 Eastern Conf. Quarters, Game 2 Washington Capitals @ Pittsburgh Penguins

Tuesday May 28 7:30 am to 9:30 am :
1993 WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS, GAME 5 KINGS VS. LEAFS

Bye Bye Eddie! The Dallas Stars say "Take off, eh?" to goalie Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour.

The Face Of Victory: Something tells me that even if you happen to be a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, you can't help but admire the guts and determination shown last night by Carolina Hurricanes right winger Jeff O'Neill. Sure, the score sheet this morning shows that O'Neill, a thirty-goal scorer in the regular season, came up big scoring in overtime to give Carolina a 2-1 win in Toronto and a 2 games to 1 lead in the series.

But what the box score can't show, and won't show, was the sheer force of will O'Neill needed to summon to even finish the game, never mind score the game winner in OT. With less than five minutes left in the first period, O'Neill was struck in the eye with the puck off a clearing attempt by Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe.

After struggling to the bench, the Carolina medical staff tried to ice his face to get the swelling down, but eventually had to use a needle to drain enough blood so O'Neill could see again. Even after that, he had to deal with bouts of dizziness for a while once he returned to the ice. A few days ago, I mentioned that at times, critical mental mistakes can cost teams a shot at a championship. It's nice to see the flip side, where raw guts can make the difference too.

For Fans Of Puck In The States. . . ESPN2's NHL2Night is the most valuable 30 minutes on cable television. More often than not, ice hockey highlights, outside of marquee matchups get horribly short shrift, even on cable sports reports. There have been more than a few nights every Spring where I'll see endless minute and a half college basketball highlight packages from games between mid-major bottom feeders; meanwhile, I should feel lucky to get a highlight-free boxscore on as many as four NHL contests a night.

Lucky for us, NHL2Night helps fill the void. A chronic insomniac, I've never had a problem with the show's late U.S. East Coast start time, though I can see how others might. Over the past two seasons, John Buccigross has more than grown into the job as the show's host, providing just the right combination of expertise and irreverence to the job. He's also proved he can work with a variety of co-hosts (rotating between Barry Melrose, Darren Pang, as well as a host of other current and former players), and looks to be ticketed for bigger things at the cable network (though after watching him for two seasons, I'd have to conclude that he really would be happiest sticking with the NHL). In any case, Buccigross writes a column for ESPN.com that is pretty damn entertaining. Add it to your weekly hockey reading list.

At The Request Of Fellow Puck Hogger. . . Lawrence Haws, I'm announcing Colorado as my pick for taking the title from the remaining four. Not that I'm going out on a limb or anything.

Sure, Colorado Won Tonight. . . But for the second game in a row, Patrick Roy made a major puck handling blunder that cost the Avalanche another goal, and almost the game. Sure, having a goalie with superior puck handling skills can be a real plus, but with Roy, it always seems to be a matter of time before he makes a major mental mistake.

Fortunately for Colorado, Dominic Hasek seems to be just as prone to the same sort of mental breakdown as Roy. When it comes to Hasek, his most famous breakdown came in the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals against the Caps. After Peter Bondra brushed Hasek in the corner and sent the goalie flying, Hasek got up wanting a piece of the Slovakian sniper. With Bondra scooting away at high speed, Hasek flung his blocker at him. A great moment, and one that proved that sustained pressure on net can cause Hasek to come unglued.

Postscript: Look for the NHL to enforce some sort of rule on the placement of water bottles after a potential review was obscured by Hasek's water bottle. Something tells me the refs won't be letting that happen again.

Canes to win Cup. With my favorite teams out of the running, and after much indecision, I've determined to start cheering for the Carolina Hurricanes to win the Stanley Cup this year. Not because the club hails from the Hockey Mecca that is Raleigh, North Carolina, but for no other reason than I used to watch Erik Cole play Junior A hockey in Iowa for the Des Moines Buccaneers.

The New York native was only second in scoring for the Bucs in '96-97, but the NHL rookie sensation who is the "C" in the Canes' high-scoring BBC line (with Brind'Amour and Battaglia) set a playoff record for most goals scored by a rookie in the second round (4).

At least I think that's a record. If not, one of my fellow editors will surely slap me down quicker than a Patrick Cote comeback.

Police blotter: Police charged former NHL loser (fighter) Patrick Cote with possessing more than 30 pounds of marijuana Friday.

Ottawa GM takes off, eh? Although coach Jacques Martin will stay on, Senators' General Manager Marshall Johnston will not.