Frozen Ponderings

No wonder Rangers GM Glen Sather is getting itchy to make some trades with Phoenix. It's been well documented that the Rangers have struggled, but it's alarming how close they are from falling completely out of the playoff picture before the All-Star break. If the season were to end Saturday, the Blueshirts would miss the playoffs by seven points -- Carolina would sneak in at No. 8. No team below the Rangers in the conference standings poses much of a threat, but above the Rangers, one team in particular might be difficult to leapfrog. Mike Keenan's Bruins – who beat the Rangers 4-1 on Saturday – are getting healthy, and if Byron Dafoe can play consistently well, Boston might win just as much as a trade-boosted Rangers club. In the 10-year history of the Sharks franchise, the team has never finished the season over .500. Through 42 games, the Sharks are 26-10-6-0. That means San Jose only needs 13 wins in the final 40 games to finish with a winning record. Tampa Bay forward Brad Richards – with an 11-point lead – looks to be running away with the rookie scoring title. What's more impressive is the balance to his game. New Jersey's Scott Gomez, last season's Calder Trophy winner, scored 19 goals and added 51 assists. Gomez's 19 goals were certainly solid, but his 51 assists display that he's more playmaker than scorer. Richards, however, leads rookies in both categories -- and he's on a far weaker team. Although Richards isn't on pace to eclipse Gomez's point total, his numbers project to around 24 goals and 44 assists. Even though Eric Lindros is one of the few legitimate gate attractions in the NHL, don't expect the league office to intervene with the stalled trade negotiations involving Lindros. "Where a player plays and what trade the team may or may not make are issues between players and the clubs," Bettman said.

The All-Star Game next month marks the fourth meeting between the World Team and the North American Team. The NHL is the only league out of the big four that doesn't split the game between natural intra-league boundaries. Instead, the NHL splits its All-Star teams within world boundaries.

The rationale for it makes perfect sense. Despite the recent influx of international talent in both baseball and basketball, the NHL remains the most international of all North American professional sports leagues.

"There were actually a couple of reasons we thought about changing the formats (three years ago)," commissioner Gary Bettman said. "We were looking to take the All-Star Game to a new level of entertainment and excitement. Secondly, we were going to the Olympics and wanted to emphasize one of the great strengths of our game -- the great diversity of our international talent."

Fine and dandy. The game itself has been a little more interesting because of the format – and because, sometimes, teammates end up facing each other. But the game is largely the same thing, namely a high-scoring, no-checking affair where the goalies are lucky to get out of there without their egos destroyed. Or in the case of Mike Richter last season – who still suffers lingering affects of a knee injury sustained in last year's Skills Competition – without their bodies damaged.

So, the question arises about whether this format will survive long-term, or whether the NHL might, one day, return to an East-West affair -- perhaps, even North-South?

"It has been an unqualified success," said Bettman when asked about the new format. "The game is probably more emotional and competitive that normal All-Star games. It's 'Where I come from' vs. 'Where you come from'. But I'm a fairly flexible guy and a traditionalist. I'll always look at things that are new and exciting. The Olympics are next year, and we'll do this again.

"After the Olympics in 2002, we'll look at the international component and the All-Star format."

Mailbag
During the season, I'll try to answer a question or two from ESPN.com users for every edition of In the Corners. If you want to get a question answered, click here and ask away.

Question from Brian Thaw, North Babylon, N.Y.: How is Mike Milbury still the GM of the New York Islanders? He is disgracing our once proud organization. He said that if the team wasn't drastically better by the mid-way point, then "off with my head". Why has this not come true? How much worse does this team need to be before he either gets fired or better yet, takes just a little bit of pride and resigns a la Rick Pitino?

Response: Mike Milbury always has been an emotional person and has never been shy about expressing his emotions in the media, so a lot of melodramatic quotations from Milbury need to be taken with a grain of salt. For a long time before the new ownership group came in, it was rumored that he actually wouldn't mind getting fired, so he could be rid of the misery of leading the franchise. Quitting means he doesn't get paid for the life of his contract. The new owners are still learning about running an NHL franchise, and even though the team continues to languish at the bottom of the NHL – the Isles' 26 losses are tied for the NHL's highest total – Milbury might have a longer grace period.

Yes, the Isles have lost a lot, but there's still some good, young talent on the team. Learning how to win is a process. Maybe Milbury and coach Butch Goring aren't the guys to teach them how to win, but they also need a few lucky breaks – and they haven't received many this season.

Brian A. Shactman covers the NHL for ESPN.com. He can be reached at brian.shactman@espn.com.