Just a few things that caught my eye:

• Marian Hossa -- goat, goon or god? Discuss.

• Free agent rumors in Canada start the day after a team bows out to of the playoffs. And it chases the team's first-round loss off the front of the sports websites. Wow, Anton Volchenkov is one powerful dude.

• The most important Joe in San Jose ain't Jumbo -- he just plays that way. Joe Pavelski put the Sharks on his back and carried them the way the other Joe just can't. Pavelski will be the next captain of toothed teal wonders. And he'll change the way that team carries itself. He already has.

• Round one -- Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton delivered a lump sum of one goal and nine assists; almost none were "important" points. And Heater wasn't even the goal scorer. Hmmmm...

• Pascal Leclaire may have actually earned a measure of redemption with the last two games; a third would have gained him a real chance to re-earn the starter's job.

• We came close to another Richard Zednik on Saturday night. It wasn't a throat but Sidney Crosby came painfully close to severing every forearm muscle and tendon in his right arm when he fell on Leclaire's skate in the crease. NHL teams spend a lot of time trying to prevent foot/puck injuries but they don't with blade injuries. What gives?

• I'm not a huge fan of the Toronto Star's Damian Cox but he made an interesting comparison in today's column. He put Alexander Semin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Phil Kessel in the same skates. And they are. Great stats; not much for the team.

• The Kings will kick ass next season. Mark my words. I'm sad to see them out.