Time to Focus on NHL Playoff Chase

Friday, January 26th 2007, 6:40 am

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ After all the focus on young sensations Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin at the NHL All-Star game, a couple of old-timers have their teams leading the chase to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Buffalo's Lindy Ruff and Nashville's Barry Trotz are the league's two most-tenured coaches _ and their teams are tops in their respective conferences.

After the best year in franchise history last season (49 wins, 106 points), the Predators come out of this All-Star break leading the NHL with 34 wins and 71 points.

``I think everybody in the hockey industry knows we've got a pretty good team and we've been pretty consistent,'' said Trotz, the only coach Nashville has had in its eight-season history. ``Everybody from our scouts and coaches and players have all been involved in having some consistency and growth in the last couple of years.''

The Predators, who have been to the last two playoffs without winning a postseason series, were 8-1 in their last nine games before the break. That pushed them into the lead in the Western Conference _ and NHL overall. They play their next four games on the road, starting Friday at Chicago.

Buffalo, which began the season with 10 straight victories to match an NHL record, went through one of its toughest stretches just before the break _ losing four of six.

Ruff spent the break coaching the Eastern Conference All-Stars, including three of his own players in the starting lineup: goaltender Ryan Miller, defenseman Brian Campbell and right wing Daniel Briere, the All-Star MVP with a goal and four assists in a 12-9 loss.

``Coming out of this week, teams will build off some momentum,'' said Ruff, in his ninth season as Buffalo's coach. ``We've had players here that had a a great experience, and we don't participate any letdown. We want to use this to build momentum.''

Despite their recent slump, the Sabres' 70 points are seven more than New Jersey in the East, where the Philadelphia Flyers are the only one of the 15 teams without a realistic chance of making the postseason.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, with 19-year-old superstar and NHL leading scorer Crosby, are eighth in the East with 50 points. They have games in hand over the New York Rangers and Toronto, both also with 50 points.

Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals are 13th in the East, but only three points out of the eighth spot _ the lowest that makes it to the postseason.

``Edmonton made it into the playoffs on the last game of the season and came one game away from winning the Stanley Cup,'' Rangers left wing Brendan Shanahan said. ``So the goal is to get in.''

Crosby will remain one of the more intriguing individual stories the rest of the season in his bid to become the youngest MVP since Wayne Gretzky _ the only other teenager to lead the league in scoring.

His 72 points are six more than Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis, who has only a one-point edge over the trio of his teammate Vincent Lecavalier, Ottawa's Dany Heatley and Ovechkin _ who last season beat out Crosby for Rookie of the Year honors.

Crosby had 17 points in the 10 games before the break, but was scoreless in the All-Star game despite playing most of the night on the same line with Ovechkin, the 21-year-old Moscow native.

For all the comparisons already made of Crosby to Gretzky, there is now another. At age 19 in his All-Star debut in 1980, Gretzky also finished without a point.

While he struggled in the All-Star game, Crosby led the East to a victory in the skills competition Tuesday night when he made two of his three shots in the final individual shootout. He is 0-for-5 in shootouts for Pittsburgh this season.

``Hopefully that will build the confidence for the second half,'' Crosby said.

Crosby didn't have to travel after the All-Star game, and instead waited in Dallas for his teammates to join him for the Penguins' game Friday night against the Stars. But he wasn't sitting around.

``Obviously when you have a break like this and then every game means so much, it's important to make sure you're ready,'' Crosby said. ``So I'll try to find some ice (Thursday).''