Monday morning musings

A few points to ponder on a Monday morning:

Of the eight teams still alive in the NHL playoffs, only two have goalies who were starters in February. That would be New Jersey (Martin Brodeur) and Buffalo (Ryan Miller).

Vesa Toskala (Sharks) Ilya Bryzgalov (Ducks), Ray Emery (Senators), Cam Ward (Hurricanes) were backups on their current clubs, while Dwayne Roloson was sharing the job in Minnesota with Manny Fernandez and Jose Theodore had lost the No. 1 position in Montreal to Cristobal Huet.

With the Ducks up 2-0 on Colorado and the Sharks looking sharp in their series opener against Edmonton, the possibility of only the second all-California playoff series in NHL history is looming larger.

The first came in 1969 when the Los Angeles Kings, coached by Red Kelly, played the Oakland Seals. The Seals led the series 3-2, lost Game 6 and then lost Game 7 on home ice. The Kings then went on to be swept in the next round by the Blues. The attendance was horrible, with the Seals drawing audiences of 5,449 and 5,232 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena for the first two games. For all the seven games, not one crowd hit the five-figure mark.

You can bet that the Argonauts will never agree to terms with Dolphins running back Ricky Williams unless he is willing to publicly disavow any ongoing drug use rather than casually admit to enjoying marijuana as he has in the past.

Quite simply, the Argos have done too much work in the community, particularly with their "Stop the Violence" campaign, to put themselves in the position of hiring an unrepentent Williams. No other pro team in the GTA has been as effective in reaching the grass roots than the Argos, and they can't afford to throw that away on a running back who can't catch and might well not do well in the CFL.

Meanwhile, Dolphins coach Nick Saban isn't saying whether he likes the idea of Williams playing in Canada, while one of the players auditioning to assume Williams' spot in the Miami backfield is Gerald Riggs Jr., son of the former Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl runner.

An intriguing choice by Team USA for the world championships in Latvia was 18-year-old Phil Kessel of the University of Minnesota. Kessel was once the hands-down favourite to go first in the NHL draft this summer, but his stock has fallen and he could go as low as fifth. That didn't stop U.S. general manager Paul Holmgren from inviting him to Riga, which is either an indication that Holmgren believes Kessel is a star in waiting or was having a heck of a time convincing American NHLers to play in the tournament.

What's with the NBA? First the Arizona Republic breaks the news that Steve Nash is going to named the league's MVP for a second straight year, and now the Associated Press is reporting that Detroit's Ben Wallace will be named the league's top defensive player for the fourth time in five years.

Does the NBA not care this stuff is leaking out? Can it not control these very basic news stories that every other league in North America seems to be able to handle without a problem?