Quote:Olympic foes once again NHL teammates


NHL players have one grueling tournament behind them. Another looms seven weeks from now.


The NHL regular season resumes after a 12-day break with 13 games tonight, with five more to follow Wednesday.


The Stanley Cup playoffs begin on April 17, and there is little rest for the NHL Olympians who spent nearly two weeks fighting for three medals.


Canada, the United States and Russia finished 1-2-3 in the Salt Lake City Games, but now, many players on those teams must resume competing for an NHL postseason berth just two days after the Olympic championship game.


Tuesday's highlight is the matchup between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.


It is not yet known whether Team Canada goalie Martin Brodeur will start for the Devils or if Team USA goalie Mike Richter will play for the Rangers. But the game will still feature plenty of Olympians -- including five others who played Sunday.


The Rangers lean heavily on stars Eric Lindros and Theo Fleury, who helped win gold for Canada, as well as silver medalists Brian Leetch and Mike York.


The Devils will likely play Brian Rafalski -- who scored for Team USA on Sunday -- in hopes he can help New Jersey make it out of Madison Square Garden with a victory.


Team Canada teammates Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic both scored twice in the 5-2 victory over the United States, but will quickly become opponents when Calgary plays in Colorado.


The Flames' Iginla leads the NHL scoring race with 64 points. Colorado's Sakic, the Olympic tournament MVP, is eighth in the scoring race with 56 points.


Also Tuesday, Detroit heads to Tampa Bay, where goalie Dominik Hasek, who backstopped the Czech Republic in the Olympics, could face bronze medalist Nikolai Khabibulin, the Russian goalie.


In other games, Florida plays in Washington, Boston visits the New York Islanders, Los Angeles travels to Columbus, Chicago plays in Philadelphia, Buffalo heads south to play Atlanta, Ottawa heads to Montreal, Carolina plays in Toronto, San Jose is in Nashville, Dallas is in Phoenix and St. Louis plays at Vancouver.


The Stars, locked in a tie for eighth with Vancouver and with their first five games against teams trying to secure Western Conference playoff berths, have five Olympians, including Canadians Ed Belfour and Joe Nieuwendyk and American Mike Modano.


"It would be nice to think they would have a little bit of time to breathe," Stars coach Rick Wilson told The Dallas Morning News. "But we don't have that luxury. We need them and we need them in impact fashion right off the bat.


"They're coming off a tremendous emotional intensity. Will they be able to jump back with the same focus and emotional passion that we were seeing before the break? We're hopeful. We need it."


For Nieuwendyk, memories of Salt Lake City are separate from winning the Stanley Cup in 1999 with the Stars and being named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner.


"This is a different feeling," he said. "When the whole country is watching. It's a special feeling of pride."


Modano said he understood Team Canada's relief.


"There's certainly a lot more pressure on them than there is on us," the Dallas center said. "Their whole country talked about this thing for the last year."


After Tuesday night's heavy schedule, the Kings, Red Wings, Flyers, Devils, Canadiens and Blackhawks play again Wednesday night.


League general managers will also get busy, trying to improve their teams by the March 19 trading deadline.


The race for playoff spots is particularly tight in the East, where Philly and Boston are tied atop the conference with 75 points. Three other teams -- Toronto, Ottawa and the Islanders -- are within eight points of the leaders.


In the West, the Red Wings are still the clear leaders with a 15-point cushion over the second-place team -- Chicago -- and a 17-point edge on Colorado.


Yet, with 11 Olympians and several key players over 35, the Red Wings could tire in the final weeks, setting both conference races up for exciting finishes.


But a good sign for Detroit came shortly after Canada's win in Sunday's gold medal game. Just after the medal presentation, Canadians Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan and Americans Chris Chelios and Brett Hull came together to pose for a picture and to talk.


"The game is over and the four Detroit Red Wings get together at center ice for a picture," Detroit general manager Ken Holland said. "That tells you something."