Ron Wilson is back coaching -- in San Jose: After his unceremonious firing from the Capitals this summer, Ron has returned as the new head coach of the Sharks.

Hlinka gets the bum rush: Atlanta Thrashers goalie Milan Hnilicka became the odd man out Wednesday. With the Thrashers flailing in front of him, he started the season 0-9-0 with a saves percentage of .882. After Atlanta signed free agent Byron Dafoe, Hnilicka became expendable and was sent to the minors when he went unclaimed on waivers. His record was only part of the problem; he was due to make $1.2million this season, three times what backups get in the NHL.

Peca Vs. Tucker, Redux: Friday is shaping up to be a big night in the NHL, as the Toronto Maple Leafs head to Long Island to play the New York Islanders. But it looks like more is going to be at stake than just two points, as this game will mark the first since the team's met in an especially brutal playoff round last season -- and the first time that Darcy Tucker and Michael Peca have met since Tucker low-bridged Peca sending him into a painful regimen of surgery and physical rehabilitation that lasted until only a few weeks ago.

Over at the Hockey Pundits, Leafs fan John Campea is wondering what all the fuss is about:

Was it a dirty hit? Should Tucker have been suspended? Here's my thoughts, keep in mind I am a Leafs fan so take it with a grain of salt. I've seen the hit about 200 times now and not once did I think it was a dirty hit. Was it rough? Yes. Was it maybe too rough? Yes. But was it dirty and deserving of a suspension? No way. As a matter of fact no one would have even looked twice at the hit had Peca not been injured by it.

First of all, as the result of the hit, the NHL created a brand new penalty for clipping -- one that will earn you a five minute major and a game misconduct. Further, any such penalty will be reviewed by NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell to see if a suspension is warranted. (Ironically, just a week ago in a game against Ottawa, Peca was penalized for just this on a hit he delivered to Senators defenseman Zdeno Chara.)

Before the season, the league distributed a videotape that featured just the sort of hits that would result in a player being suspended. And what hit was featured as exhibit A? That's right, it was Tucker's hit on Peca.

In fact, to find another shot as dirty as Tucker's, you need to go back to the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Western Conference final between Detroit and Colorado. It was then that the Avalanche's Claude Lemieux checked Detroit's Kris Draper from behind, sending him crashing face first into the boards, and into the hospital for reconstructive surgery. At least the league had the sense to suspend Lemieux for two games after that hit.

But then again, according to John's standards, nobody would have noticed that hit either if Draper hadn't gotten injured, right?

Over the past few weeks, Peca has taken the high road (Real Player required), saying he won't be seeking revenge on Friday night because he can't play that way. That's not a problem, really. After all, it was Darren McCarty who eventually went to town on Lemieux's face while his buddy Draper watched nearby.

But once McCarty was done beating on Lemieux, the tension was gone and the situation resolved. Certainly, Lemieux will be reviled by Detroit fans until the day he dies, but the bloodlust was gone once a pound of flesh had been exacted. I suspect the situation will be much the same when it comes to Tucker on Friday night. If anything, the Wings effort to prove they could stand up to Lemieux and the Avalanche gave birth to one of the most contentious rivalries in professional sports today. Here's hoping we see the birth of a similar rivalry starting Friday on Long Island.

Calgary fires the coach too: Calgary fired head coach Greg Gilbert Tuesday morning, then ended a four-game slide in the evening by beating the Avalanche 2-1 with interim coach Al MacNeil behind the bench. Gilbert got the axe after getting just six wins in 25 games -- and just one victory in the last 12 games.

As the coaching carousel heats up, please note that firing the coach is no surefire way to get back to winning. As I explained a few years back in this LCS Hockey article, the regression effect ensures that perceptions weigh more heavily than reality in judging success:

Generally, it is true that teams tend to perform better after firing the coach or manager. But that upswing in performance is not “caused” by the firing, even if it may be correlated. Certainly there are cases where the dumping of an unpopular coach (Hey, calling Iron Mike Keenan) may have some causal effect on a team’s playing level, but that improvement could just as likely be accounted for by the regression effect. Especially since they are usually fired when a team has hit rock bottom, there is only one way to go - up.

Flordia scumbag to go to jail -- at end of season: Florida Panthers left wing Peter Worrell received a 10-day jail sentence, one year of probation and a five-year suspension of his driver's license after pleading no contest to driving under the influence.

Broward County Judge Joel Lazarus issued the penalties Monday, ordering Worrell to report to jail on April 7, 2003, one day after the Panthers' regular-season finale. Worrell was arrested June 16 and charged with DUI property damage, leaving the scene of an accident, and criminal mischief. He also received traffic citations for failing to use due care, expired tags, and no proof of insurance.

Worrell was not available for comment Monday.

Worrell was convicted in 1998 of DUI and lost his license for six months, attended a DUI school, and performed 50 hours of community service.

Leclair down and out: The Philadelphia Flyers will be without star forward John LeClair for as much as 12 weeks. LeClair and Simon Gagne were sidelined in their 3-0 loss to Toronto on Friday. LeClair said he will undergo surgery next week for a dislocated shoulder. The team estimates he will be out 10-to-12 weeks.

"There was a tear in the labrum,'' LeClair said Friday. "That can heal on its own; it's not a guarantee, though. Sometimes they pop back out. We'll get (surgery) done and hopefully it heals properly.'' LeClair, who has 11 goals and six assists, underwent MRI tests Friday and they revealed more damage than originally thought. He will undergo surgery on Wednesday at Hahnemann University Hospital.

The Fighting Habs: The Montreal Canadians are fighting each other.

San Jose looking for a new coach: The San Jose Sharks fired coach Darryl Sutter and assistants Lorne Molleken and Rich Preston on Sunday. Hey, it ain't cool to diss a Sutter brother!

Doug Wilson, the Sharks' director of pro development, and scout Cap Raeder will run the team until a new head coach is hired. Raeder will be the nominal head coach, though general manager Dean Lombardi doesn't expect his search to last more than a few days.

The Sharks are off to a terrible 8-12-2-2 start, putting them 13th in the Western Conference and last in the Pacific Division, which they won last season before losing the conference semifinals in seven games to Colorado.

Welcome back, Reid! The Nashville Predators on Monday re-signed tough guy Reid Simpson, who had been without a team since he became a free agent at the end of last season. A 33-year-old left wing, Simpson had five goals and 69 penalty minutes in 26 games with Nashville last season after being claimed off waivers from Montreal on Jan. 30.

Columbus and Atlanta swap useless unknown players: The Columbus Blue Jackets traded right wing Chris Nielsen and the rights to defenseman Petteri Nummelin to the Atlanta Thrashers on Monday for right wing Tomi Kallio and defenseman Pauli Levokari. Kallio is expected to join the Blue Jackets for Tuesday's game against the Rangers in New York. Levokari has been assigned to the Syracuse Crunch, Columbus' AHL affiliate.

The 25-year-old Kallio had two assists and four penalty minutes in five games with the Thrashers this season. He had eight goals, 14 assists and 12 penalty minutes in 60 games with Atlanta during the 2001-02 season and 14 goals and 13 assists as a rookie two years ago. He represented Finland at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

The 24-year-old Levokari is a 6-foot-7, 260-pound Finn who has yet to play in the NHL.

Nielsen, 22, had six goals, eight assists and 38 penalty minutes in 52 games with the Blue Jackets during the last two seasons. He has spent the entire 2002-03 season with Syracuse, where he had a goal and three assists in 19 games.

The 30-year-old Nummelin spent the 2000-01 season with the Blue Jackets, picking up four goals and 12 assists with 10 penalty minutes in 61 games. He returned to the Swiss Elite League following the season.

Florida trades Dmitri Yushkevich for a bag o' pucks: The Florida Panthers traded defenseman Dmitry Yushkevich to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday for center Jaroslav Bednar and defenseman Andreas Lilja. The Kings also received a fifth-round pick in next year's entry draft.

Yushkevich, who signed a one-year contract with the Panthers in July, will be a free agent at the end of the season and Panthers general manager Rick Dudley said his future with the club was uncertain. An All-Star with Toronto in 2000, Yushkevich has a goal, six assists and 14 penalty minutes in 23 games with the Panthers this season. In a 10-year NHL career with Philadelphia, Toronto and Florida, Yushkevich has 41 goals, 177 assists and 627 penalty minutes.