or Hall, Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz all have been playing and thriving in the American Hockey League. They have chemistry. Nugent-Hopkins was named the top forward at the World Junior Championship. Top draft pick Nail Yakupov will be joining the Oilers, who have finished 30th, 30th and 29th, respectively, in each of the past three seasons.Minnesota makeover: The clock will start on the matching 13-year contracts that free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signed with the Minnesota Wild in early July. But the question is whether all the hubbub over the deals lead to excitement about playoff hockey in Minnesota? The Wild haven't made the playoffs since 2008 -- they haven't won a round since 2003 -- and they finished 12th in the Western Conference last season after a promising start. They opened the checkbooks to rectify the problem.Leaning on Bryzgalov: It was an agonizing and, at times, hilarious first season in Philadelphia for goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. He did not live up to expectations, and he seemed to anger general manager Paul Holmgren, who famously said in May, "His job is to stop pucks and help us win. It's not Comedy Central." The Flyers, though, are going to lean on Bryzgalov. They traded Sergei Bobrovsky to Columbus,Sidney Crosby Jersey, leaving Michael Leighton as the backup goalie. Bryzgalov still has eight seasons left on the contract he signed last summer.Avoiding the Blues: The St. Louis Blues' goaltending and defense basically defied logic by how good it was last season. St. Louis didn't score a lot, but behind Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak it seemed like the Blues won every night. St. Louis finished second in the Western Conference after challenging for the Presidents' Trophy; both coach Ken Hitchcock (Jack Adams Award) and general manager Doug Armstrong (GM of the Year Award) won at the annual NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas. The pressure is on to avoid a letdown and prove that last season was no fluke.---
VANCOUVER - L'attente sera bient?t termin��e pour Jim Vandermeer, ainsi que pour tous les autres joueurs de la LNH qui sont encore libres.Maintenant que le lock-out dans la Ligue nationale a ��t�� r��gl��, Vandermeer et d'autres joueurs autonomes sans compensation verront leur avenir ��tre d��cid�� une fois que la nouvelle convention collective sera ratifi��e par les joueurs et les propri��taires. Depuis que le lock-out a commenc�� le 15 septembre, et m��me avant, lui et ses homologues se retrouvent dans une situation n��buleuse.?Les gars ont de 30 �� 35 ans, plusieurs d'entre eux sont des d��fenseurs et ils ont tous ��t�� forc��s d'attendre avant de voir comment ?a se passerait, a not�� Vandermeer, un Albertain de 32 ans qui a fait ses d��buts dans la LNH en 2002-03. Ils ont parl�� �� des ��quipes avant le lock-out, et en gros ils ont eu la m��me r��ponse que moi.?Ce serait bien si les ��quipes pouvaient donner une r��ponse, dire si elles ont vraiment de l'int��r��t. Mais ?a d��pend ��videmment de l'espace qui leur reste au point de vue du plafond salarial...?La fin du lock-out pourrait signifier la