Top Line: Jaromir Jagr aims at Gretzky; Big job for new Jets coach; more links
Jaromir Jagr reckons if anyone can play in the NHL until age 70, he can. (Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:
• Now that he's passed his old buddy Mario Lemieux on the NHL's all-time scoring list, Jaromir Jagr has his eyes set on Wayne Gretzky, even if it takes him until he's 70 to catch him. He was joking … we think.
• The way Martin Brodeur is playing, Jagr might have some company along the way to an active old age.
• It's a good thing that Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz are scoring for the Penguins, because pretty much no one else is.
• Speaking of the Penguins, Third String Goalie digs up a 1999 episode of the PBS show Frontline that looks back at the attempt of former Pittsburgh owner Howard Baldwin to rescue the legendary Russian Red Army team from bankruptcy … until the Russian mafia got in the way.
• Here's how to read between the lines of what Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said during Sunday's press conference so you'll understand what he really meant while announcing the firing of coach Claude Noel and the hiring of Paul Maurice.
• Players who skated for Maurice in Carolina expect him to work wonders with the Winnipeg Jets.
• Mark Spector says solving the dilemma of "immature freelancers" Dustin Byfuglien and Evander Kane will be Maurice's greatest challenge.
• Here are six areas of concern that Maurice has to address to get the Jets back on the right flight path. Yep, only six.
• Wayne Gretzky will end his self-imposed four-year exile from the game to be front and center at the Stadium Series outdoor game between the Kings and Ducks later this month. Equally awesome: Vin Scully is scheduled to take part as well. It's probably just me, but I'm more excited about this game than I was before the Winter Classic.
• As much as they're looking forward to their al fresco rendezvous with their local rivals, the Kings have more pressing concerns at the moment, like their inability to score. Unfortunately, reinforcements aren't coming, so the answers have to be found inside the room.
• Meanwhile in Anaheim, netminder Jonas Hiller blanked the Red Wings to move within three games of an amazing NHL record.
• The rest of the world should be very concerned next month. Over the past 10 games, Sabres/Team USA goalie Ryan Miller has a save percentage of .950, the best rate during any 10-game segment of his career, thanks to stops like this:
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• The stalemate between the Sabres and top prospect Mikhail Grigorenko is over. Here's what happens next.
• This has to be one of the most brilliant Children's Wish Foundation moments ever.
• It's time to reconsider the reputation of one of hockey's top coaches. Here's why.
• It's tough for David Clarkson to live up to expectations in Toronto when coach Randy Carlyle barely plays him.
• Patrick Kane scored a must-see empty-netter last night. Too bad it was into his own net.
• Ilya Kovalchuk says he doesn't care about wearing the C for Team Russia next month in Sochi … but he might have some fancy new moves to show off.
• Adrian Dater explains how Colorado's Gabriel Landeskog is emerging as one of the most effective captains in the game. Bonus marks to AD for working in Nobel Prize winner Albert Schweitzer.
• Eric Duhatschek ponders Pittsburgh's trade deadline plans, the excitingly bad Edmonton Oilers, and the unbeatable Ducks in his Monday morning musings.
• Thomas Vanek says he's enjoying life on Long Island, but he won't discuss a new contract until he sees what direction the Islanders franchise takes before the trade deadline.
• It wasn't that long ago that British Columbia was a hockey hinterland. Now, it is a hotbed of the game, producing some of the best talent Canada has to offer.