Faceoff: No-touch icing, East favorite, best 1-2 goaltenders - NHL

1. dbacksfan44 asks: Should the NHL enforce a no-touch icing rule?
Wes Goldstein	Greg Cimilluca
The issue moved front and center again last week when Minnesota defenseman Kurtis Foster's leg was broken in a collision on an icing and predictably drew a distinction between the players who overwhelmingly are in favor of this kind of rule for safety reasons and the GMs who like things the way they are. These opponents believe that no-touch icing would take away an important and exciting element of the game that races for the puck produce, but I side with the players here. While an attacking team can generate a scoring chance if its player outraces a defender to the puck, those instances are rare. So are the accidents like Foster's, who was hit from behind by San Jose's Torrey Mitchell -- but when they do happen, they have the potential for severe consequences. Hockey has enough inherent risks that it can afford to minimize one that really wouldn't affect the quality of the game.	Listen, I understand it has been a lukewarm button issue in the NHL for a while now, and as soon as a minor injury occurs on a potential icing situation, the rumblings begin. They build all season long until the crescendo is reached in the form of a more serious injury (that's you, Kurtis Foster). I feel badly for the Foster types whose only fault is hustle, but I think the current icing situation is a part of the game, and the injuries that occur from the effort are the same that would occur on the sideboards or anywhere else. The game breeds serious hits and serious injuries as a result of legal play. Sometimes the rules need to be adjusted, but I don't think the few incidents per season justify the change. There are more significant injuries happening more frequently because of plays not related to icing that should be addressed first. Hits from behind are increasing and becoming more serious (that's partially you, Torrey Mitchell) and addressing that belongs ahead of this theoretical rule change.

2. pittsports85 asks: Who do you think is going to finish first in the East?
Wes Goldstein	Greg Cimilluca
Who'd a thunk anyone would even ask this question after Ottawa got off to its blazing 15-2 start? But the Senators have crashed back to earth and now have to worry about just holding on to their playoff spot because the five-point gap between them and the eighth-seeded team is the same spread the conference leaders now hold over them. Until a few days ago, I thought New Jersey would hang on to the top spot if only because goaltender Martin Brodeur gives them an intangible advantage, but the Devils offense has disappeared over the past four games and their chance for a conference crown along with it. It's now a two-team race between Montreal and Pittsburgh, and I like Penguins to squeak this out because their schedule seems a little more favorable and Sidney Crosby should be back in the lineup before it's over.	Montreal and Pittsburgh have used an improved second half to keep themselves atop or near first place in the East. Both teams have also gone with the "two goalies are better than one" theory, mixing up [edit]Cristobal Huet and youngster Carey Price for the Canadiens and Ty Conklin and youngster Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins. While the Habs and Pens seem willing to give No. 1 status to the young guns, a fair amount of their teams' success has come with their backups between the pipes. With five games remaining, Montreal has a slim one-point lead over Pittsburgh, but we can call that even -- so heading into the home stretch, who has the advantage? I have to give the edge to Montreal. It has four games against non-playoff teams while Pittsburgh has just the opposite, four teams in the top eight. Should be a great final week regardless of who nabs the No. 1 seed.

3. Which team has the best goaltending tandem?
Wes Goldstein	Greg Cimilluca
This concept is rare in the modern-day NHL because the position is so crucial and teams generally believe they are best served when one guy can stand up and carry the load. Everyone wants a good backup, of course, if only for emergency purposes, but under ideal circumstances, the goal is have the No. 2 guy essentially spell the starter. Still, not everyone has a true workhorse and the ability to rotate goalies even on a semi-regular basis has been useful for several teams like Philadelphia, Minnesota and Montreal. The tandem that stands out to me, though, is in Detroit, where aging veterans Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood have been perfect complements for each other. Hasek is the Red Wings go-to guy, but he tends to get hurt often at this stage of his career. When he does, even for an extended period, Detroit doesn't lose a beat with Osgood.	Boy, if only the previous question allowed me to touch upon such a thing ... oh wait, it did! Both Montreal and Pittsburgh have effectively used two goalies to help vault them atop the East and without having that second to go to, I do not think they would be there or even close to it. Heck, at times, each used a third for extended periods (Huet in Montreal -- now in Washington -- and Sabourin in Pittsburgh), so doing the goalie shuffle has suited those teams well. But I can't think in recent memory what team has really done as good a job as Detroit has in using a true goaltending tandem. While the numbers don't always tell the truth, I believe this time there can be no more convincing argument than the following: Chris Osgood, 27-9-3, 2.01 GAA, .917 save percentage; Dominik Hasek, 24-9-3 2.17 GAA, .900 save percentage. Obviously the Red Wings top to bottom are pretty darn impressive, but no other team can boast a pair of goalies who have matched each other as well as the performance of their teammates.
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