If you're looking for the next John Tavares or Steven Stamkos, and you can't spend your winter scouring the North American junior leagues and the European circuit, the holiday season offers a convenient alternative.

Woefully unappreciated everywhere except Canada, the World Junior Hockey Championship brings together the best teenage hockey players in the world.

(Except, of course, those already toiling in the NHL.)

The tournament has its weaknesses.

But the terrible blowouts can be forgiven when top teams like Canada, Russia, and the United States provide so much heart-stopping drama.

There are those who dismiss the tournament as an over-hyped media circus - these are just kids, after all.

But the enthusiasm and often spectacular skill are absolutely genuine. And isn't hockey, like all sports, ultimately a kid's game?

The next edition begins Boxing Day in Saskatchewan. As usual, only Canada has television coverage so far. We'll let you know when USA viewing options become available.

Update: The NHL Network is carrying 16 games in the tournament (U.S. viewers only), including all USA games and all medal round games.

Now that Martin Brodeur has tied Terry Sawchuk's all-time career record for NHL shutouts, he can now set his sights on becoming the true all-time wins leader in NHL history.
- Ken Campbell, The Hockey News

At this point in his career, it seems Brodeur sets a new all-time record every year or so.

He's fully deserving of the superlatives that come his way. But the milestones don't tell us much about his place in history.

We'll stick by an argument made a few months ago: While worth noting and fun to talk about, all-time NHL records are meaningless.

Hockey has changed so much through the years that it's pointless to compare players from different eras.

Like the Hockey Hall of Fame, the record book is a highly flawed chronicle of NHL history.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Sometimes the players answer the wake-up call and respond with passion and renewed focus. But just as often, players decide they are bulletproof. Why worry? If things go wrong, it will be the coach, not them, taking the fall.
- Phil Sheridan, Philadelphia Inquirer

On the NHL Network last Friday, somebody opined that if changing the coach doesn't work for the Flyers, we all know what comes next: "change the players."

Except, as Sheridan points out, that's not the way it is these days.

Sheridan sees Philadelphia as "a young, unformed team that seems perfectly content with mediocrity and no other options."

So although John Stevens deserved better, "it makes perfect sense to change coaches."

Indeed, the numbers indicate that almost every significant member of the Flyers makes a lot of money under a contract that runs beyond this season.

Plus, the team has little salary cap room. Even if they wanted to, the Flyers probably can't trade cheap young players for not-so-cheap veterans.

So unless GM Paul Holmgren wants to gamble big - Give up on 24-year-old Jeff Carter? Dump Simon Gagne at a discount? - all he can do is tinker at the margins of his roster.

For Flyers fans, the only real option is to assume Sheridan's dire prognosis is wrong, and the current slump is a mere aberration. Because the team is what it is.

Other teams are in the same boat: stuck up against the cap; hoping for the best-case scenario on their long-term contracts.

In a capped league, players earning big money for a couple of years to come are almost untradeable. (The occasional Brad Richards deal being the exception that proves the rule.)

But teams keep signing huge contracts.

Chicago is the latest team to hand the keys to the franchise to a core of young stars. For now, it looks like a decent investment.

But 17 months ago, Vinnie Lecavalier looked like a decent "lifetime" investment too. Then he fell off the map.

When a player is handed a lengthy, expensive contract, it's both good news and bad news for fans of the team.

The good news: this guy isn't going anywhere.

The bad news: this guy isn't going anywhere.

(Photo: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

I wish it was Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Martin Brodeur, or anyone else on skates.

But like it or not, the NHL's dominant personality of the last ten years has been the man they call "The Count."