In The Crease

During a poor performance against the Devils last week, Blackhawks defenseman Boris Mironov was told by first-year coach Brian Sutter to leave the bench because he was done for the night. Mironov, who has played well under Sutter after underachieving last season, refused. Sutter eventually put him back on the ice, and a fuming Mironov immediately leveled New Jersey's Scott Stevens with a bodycheck. Sutter was happy with Mironov's response, proving again that he's a master at getting the most from his team, which through Sunday had the West's second-best record....

At the Penguins' practice on Jan. 29, defense-man Darius Kasparaitis and forward Krzysztof Oliwa engaged in a stick-swinging, punch-throwing melee before teammates broke it up. Apparently what started as good-natured ribbing earlier this season has simmered into a feud....

Ken Hitchcock's firing by the Stars last week may give Team Canada a boost in Salt Lake City. Last Friday in Los Angeles, Hitchcock, an assistant for Team Canada, watched seven hours of videotape of NHL players and European teams with coach Pat Quinn. The next day Hitchcock took in eight more hours with Wayne Fleming, another assistant. If nothing else, the Canadians will be prepared....

Trainers around the league are concerned about the increasing number of broken feet and toes they are treating. There are two theories about those injuries: 1) Many players now use boots that are so form-fitting that there's no give when the foot is hit, and 2) the carbon-fiber sticks, which have become the rage, greatly enhance the speed of shots, causing more damage when a flying puck hits a foot.