JOURNAL HALL OF FAME HOCKEY WRITER JIM MATHESON ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS ON THE NHL ...

Jacques Lemaire

Photograph by : Reuters, File

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Q: Who is the best defenceman in the league right now? Is it still Nicklas Lidstrom? Or is there somebody new who might win the Norris trophy?

(Bill Kuchera Jr., Fort McMurray)

A: Lidstrom has won six Norris trophies and been runner-up three times, and, in some ways, he's like a heavyweight fighter. You have to knock him out to take away his belt. Lidstrom, to me, is still No. 1 even if his stats in Detroit this season aren't as gaudy as normal. Nobody makes the game look easier than Lidstrom, 38. But, there are a couple of young guys who could take a shot at him -- Shea Weber in Nashville and Dion Phaneuf in Calgary. Weber's the whole package (tough, big shot, 25 points, he can play against the other team's top players) and he's plus-12. Phaneuf, 21 points, is a carbon copy (Phaneuf and Weber partnered in the world juniors), but his plus/minus (minus-6) needs work. Andrei Markov in Montreal, Zdeno Chara in Boston and, a personal wild-card, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who plays on the best team in San Jose, plays the most minutes of any defenceman there (plus 11), are in the running too. It's a long season. If Lidstrom finishes with, say, 60 points and is plus 30, I think he'll win again.

Q: I cannot figure out for the life of me why the NHL feels it needs Sean Avery. When I think of Orr, Gretzky, Richard and the class and effort they brought to the game, it really irritates me that he gets to play. He's gone out of his way to make a jerk of himself and disrespect himself and the game, so many times, yet he still gets a paycheque. Does this say more about the way the world's going and us, more than him?

(Daniel Kroshewsky, Sylvan Lake)

A: You make some very good points. The NHL seems torn on Avery. They know he's a smart aleck and needs his wrists slapped, but he's also somebody fans talk about. It's like girls being attracted to bad boys, no matter how many times they're told to avoid them. Avery has little respect for the game or anybody he's ever played for. Just ask some of his former teammates and coaches what they think of him. It's all about Sean, every minute, every day. The game has been full of trash talkers inside the boards for years -- Kevin McClelland was one of the NHL's best when he played here -- but he was smart enough to leave it at the rink. I don't pretend to be a psychologist, but Avery seems emotionally needy to me. He has to get his face-time. If he doesn't clean up his act, though, he's going to run out of hockey teams to play for, and he can get on with what he'd rather do: Talk fashion, work at Vogue, go to parties.

Q: Do head coaches have a certain system they're comfortable with teaching their players and they utilize that no matter what team they're coaching? Or does a coach stand back, evaluate his players (highly skilled vs. pluggers) and develop a system around their abilities?

(Allen Wong)

A: When coaches get hired by general managers, the GM usually has a game plan for how he wants his team to play, and he hires accordingly. It's his vision, and the coach follows through.