Friday, November 3 Veteran goaltenders not surprised by trade talk By Rob Parent Special to ESPN.com

They have followed varied career paths, discovering unparalleled success and repeated failure, championships won and lost, riches great and unexpected. All three are now kicking their way into middle age, which in sports often leads to a regression of objectivity.

No one likes to get old, but for athletes, age is never something that develops gracefully. It's a career killer best ignored.

So when Dominik Hasek's groin goes a-poppin' at 35, it's no reason to think he can't return faster than suggested so that he can fulfill commitments for a new endorsement deal, and make it easier for his team to trade him.

And when John Vanbiesbrouck, at 36, doesn't see shots coming at him as well as he used to, it has nothing to do with the eyes or the reflexes or nervous anticipation. It's just happens. Of course, the media would never understand something like that.

	With Trevor Kidd's impending return, could Mike Vernon be on the move?

Oh, and if Mike Vernon's fuse has shortened at 36, that's because those cretins with microphones and tape recorders are stoking things that shouldn't be talked about.

Here, we have the strange cases of three aging goaltenders, all of whom still have a lot left to give, but nonetheless experiencing age's little aches and pains. When Hasek is healthy, he can still be the most dominating performer of anyone not named Jaromir. He proved that all over again on Feb. 8, shutting out Colorado on the road.

Now that he's had a long injury absence, the Sabres have had a mediocre season, and Hasek has had an on-again, off-again relationship with his groin, the speculation is greater than ever. Especially since Hasek just signed a three-year endorsement deal with Louisville. Making matters worse is the way Hasek is leaving the Sabres guessing. He's admitted that he's in the process of perhaps reconsidering the retirement but addresses it only in vague terms. And while he says he wants to play, he also says he's not sure how his groin will react on day by day basis.

So, Hasek says he might have to play "maybe once a week, I don't know" until the playoffs. And exciting rookie goalie Martin Biron is thus left holding the bag.

"It's not only difficult for me, but for my teammates," said Hasek. "They see me play a game and not practice for two days, (and) I don't know how they'll be about it. I don't think it's right. I should practice every day and play every day."

That's exactly what Mike Vernon thought he was going to do when the Florida Panthers traded for him at midseason. It seemed right for him, since he was unhappy with losing his starting position to Steve Shields in San Jose.

Although Trevor Kidd had received a long-term commitment from the Panthers, he was also hurt in a ridiculous accident in the team's skills competition show, and appeared out for the year. But now Kidd appears nearly recovered from his shoulder injury, and Vernon will likely be soon left to rust. Perhaps miffed by this development, Vernon has been letting his feelings be loudly known.

On the same day that Hasek was testing his groin against the Ducks on Feb. 1, Vernon was testing the mettle of management, as a Panthers beat writer overheard Vernon offering assistant general manager Chuck Fletcher a sharp suggestion: "We need defensemen," Vernon was quoted as saying. When he read what he'd said, Vernon accosted the writer, saying very logically, "You want a quote from me, talk to me."

Apparently not venting enough of his frustration, Vernon then launched into some lovely unprintable sentences before challenging the writer to a fight. Hmmm ... Napoleonic complexes make great competitors, but they do have their down sides, eh?

"Mike better just do what he does best, which is play the net," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "Maybe someday, Mike will be a GM and make those kind of moves. But he's not now."

No, he's a goalie who fears for his immediate future, while not appreciating the lack of defensive support he's gotten in the recent past.

Though he's never voiced it as a sarcastic suggestion, Vanbiesbrouck has made pointed comments about "the quality of shots the other teams have had" against him, and usually in the wake of a game in which a soft goal has cost the Flyers a win.

Overall, Vanbiesbrouck hasn't been a disappointment. Though his 19-11-7 record, 2.27 GAA and .901 saves percentage are far from sparkling numbers on today's goaltending charts, he hasn't allowed the kind of poor, short-side goals that he did ... like, three weeks ago.

After hearing from afar that much of the talk over All-Star Weekend centered around rumors that both the Flyers and Los Angeles Kings had made trade overtures toward Buffalo for Hasek, Vanbiesbrouck spent much of his first day at work letting loose some hot talk of his own.

Asked if the rumors -- which in Philadelphia extend back a couple of months -- about a Hasek trade bothered him, Vanbiesbrouck retorted, "No, it's a good challenge ... How's that? I gave you something else to write about now."

Thanks, John. Much appreciated.

"Your typewriter can float another way now," added Vanbiesbrouck, perhaps still a fan of the "Lou Grant" show. "But that's OK. I'll take the good with the bad. I've had a lot of good ... The rumor mill happens right around now. Some people have a tendency to like you and some people don't. I don't know why they're taking it personally against me, but I kind of feel like I'm prepared for this.

"I was down a couple of weeks ago, because there were some people saying some things about me, but I've been encouraged by my teammates, by a lot of people. I think that encouragement can go a long way. I think that gives you the fuel to finish the season strong. I've been around this game a long time. It's happened to me everywhere I've been."

Very true. In fact, such rumors and interview sessions with an edge were commonplace for Vanbiesbrouck in two other places -- Florida and New York ... right before he left both the Panthers and the Rangers.

But who can blame any of these thirty-something goalies for being on edge? They are all at a career crossroads, and that's a very insecure place to be. What's interesting is how their crossing paths seem to be intertwining in each other's twilight.

Hasek is straddling the path between health and $7.5 million in welfare. But rather than retire, he may soon find the road to contractual recovery in another city ... Such as Philadelphia, where Vanbiesbrouck has occasionally lost his way on the ice, though his vision sees no change in what was once a technically astute goaltender covering all the angles, which is when he read no criticism from the uninformed ... Which brings it all back to Vernon, who only wants to read what he says when he's saying only what he wants everyone to read, instead of what he and the other two goalies-(up)-in-arms are really feeling: Anxiety. Frustration. Insecurity.

It can be hell, growing old in a young man's game.

Don't.

Ivan Hlinka has been named the new "associate head coach" of the team. The coach of the Czech national team, who led them to the Olympic gold medal in 1998, has decided to forego staying with the team for a tournament in the early spring, instead planning to come right over and join the club for a game against Florida next week.

He's expected to be a solo head coach next season, though Patrick only paints that supposition as "a possibility."

"Pittsburgh's offer was very serious," said Hlinka, who had been brought in earlier this season to assess and consult Patrick on the Penguins. "That's why I accepted it."

Want to know why he was offered it? Because Patrick, a blood member of one of North American hockey's most famous families, is a European at heart. Why else would this former Team USA gold medal coach stockpile 11 European players on a 23-man roster?

And of those cross-ocean 11, six of them are Czechs, including that aforementioned best player in the world named Jaromir (Jagr) and fellow building blocks Martin Straka, Jiri Slegr and Robert Lang.

To them, Hlinka is no less than a hero. Not only is he revered as a coach, but he had a successful two years as an NHL player, freed from the communist hold of then-Czechoslovakia to score 42 goals and 123 points in 137 games for the Vancouver Canucks in 1981-83.

"I was watching him play when I was a kid," said Jagr. "He was an idol."

But how can the kids in Pittsburgh relate to him and all the other European faces and accented voices on this team? During an interview after an All-Star practice Saturday, Jagr addressed that with a shrug and a smile.

"That depends on how we play," he said simply. "If we do OK, and we start scoring goals again, it's not going to matter where we're from."

As for Hlinka's presence mattering to current coach Herb Brooks, this move can't be a shock. Two weeks ago he started talking about how the NHL should give European coaches a chance. Not that he knew this move was coming or anything.

"I hope to be in Craig Patrick's employ next year, doing something," said Brooks.

So, Curt Fraser is learning how to have fun. Almost like a kid in a science fair, he is moving around his test subjects without regard to outside opinions and resisting the urge to play favorites.

You loyal hockey fans who love to spend your money at that beautiful new building down there, try to understand that your team never had a chance to make the playoffs this year, and go with the Fraser flow. Understand that on an expansion team, it doesn't quite matter that the head coach opts to make a healthy scratch out of the team's leading point-producer, as Fraser did in a recent 2-1 loss in Pittsburgh.

Taking a seat for that game was Andrew Brunette, who had already set career highs with 18 goals and 38 points, but hadn't scored a goal in the last five games.

So, let's just dissect him from the lineup for a game, alrighty?

"I know I haven't been playing as well as I should be playing," said Brunette. "But ... I don't know. It's not my decision."

Correct! You're part of the experiment. Not the experimenter.

And while it may seem all fun and games to be a coach of a team that's won 11 of its first 52 NHL outings, Fraser's personnel moves are said to be the result of a coach who's annoyed with some of his players' work habits. Of course, it's never polite to point at anybody in public.

"He's had a terrific season," Fraser said of Brunette. "But he has to maintain that level of play, and it's dropped off the last five games. Everybody has to be accountable on our team."

That wrapped up a three-game road trip in which the Thrashers had more transactions (four) than goals scored (two), and was part of a three-game stretch in which three different rookie goalies (Scott Fankhouser in Pittsburgh, Norm Maracle in Dallas and Scott Langkow in a 6-3 home loss to the Rangers) manned the crease for the Thrashers.

Fun times, indeed. What, you'd rather be coaching in Tampa Bay?

Carolina Cuts
A way-less-than-stellar showing in the first year of that basketball gym they call a new multi-purpose facility in Raleigh has resulted in drastic measures by Carolina Hurricanes owner Pete Karmanos -- he's dropping ticket prices.

According to The News and Observer, the least-expensive seat at the 18,730-seat Entertainment and Sports Arena is currently $17. Sitting in that seat will cost the lucky hockey fan $12 next season. The cheapest season-ticket plan is $820. It will cost $504 next season. Lower-level and mezzanine seats priced at $44-59 will drop to $35-45. The highest-priced ticket will continue to be $99.

Why all the drastic fuss? Because all of one Hurricanes game was a sellout this season, and that was the gala opening night event at the Arena on Oct. 29. Carolina's average home attendance is 12,070, which is a lot compared to the past two years in Greensboro, but still is 4,000 below league average.

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