Wow. Over in Anaheim, Rob Niedermayer is in coach Randy Carlyle’s dog house. You don’t often see a respected veteran benched like Niedermayer was. I’m most surprised because of Niedermayer’s connection to his brother, Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer.

It’s well-documented that Scott joined the Ducks to play with his brother. If his brother isn’t playing, will he still be interested in staying in Anaheim? Or will he try and find a way out? And would this be happening if Scott wasn’t probably going to retire next season?

Also, I hate those salary-cap-saving reassignment moves. They save teams some money, which is good, but it can be horrible for the players getting reassigned. Witness the tale of Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan and Brett Festerling, who were recalled from the AHL (Iowa), sent to the ECHL (Bakersfield), only to be recalled back to Anaheim.

I hope Mats Sundin appreciates their sacrifices.

The Avs lost 4-1 to the Flames last night, with one unlikely hero emerging for Colorado: the much maligned goalie Peter Budaj.

Adrian Dater said it might be the worst Avs game he’s ever seen. Budaj at least kept it close.

The Avs can’t expect the calvary to come any time soon: there’s no update on when Joe Sakic will be back or if Peter Forsberg will return to hockey.

A game like last night’s is particularly frustrating because the Avs have played plenty of games this season where the weak link was goaltending. To get a strong goaltending game going only to have the rest of the team collapse is just brutal.

Speaking of goaltending, over in Detroit, backup goalie Ty Conklin is minding the store while Chris Osgood works through some goaltending issues. I think Conklin has the potential to be a great NHL backup, much the way Manny Legace was for so many years. I wonder if Conklin’s made peace with a role like that or if he wants the pressure of a starting gig. It hasn’t worked out for him in the past.

Larry Brooks had a column recommending the Devils figure out a way to unload Patrik Elias and his relatively ginormous contract.

I’m shocked that Elias, once an offensive powerhouse, now has a regular shift on the Devils checking line.

But what do the Devils do? Brooks operates on the assumption the Devils can trade Elias for goaltending, but who wants to commit that much money to a player who could be irreparably broken? And would Elias even waive his no-trade clause?

Devils GM Lou Lamoriello has made some very questionable moves over the past few years, from somehow allowing Brian Rafalski to get away, to signing defenseman Vladimir Malakhov, to the ill-fated re-signing of Alexander Mogilny, who eventually lost his job to Elias, when Elias returned to the Devils line-up after recovering from hepatitis A. And right now, Bobby Holik and Brian Holston aren’t looking like great moves.

It’s early in the season and even with all of the Devils problems, they’re still in the thick of the playoff race, so things aren’t dire. Yet. Moving Elias could help but you have to wonder a) if he would agree to leave; b) what Lamoriello would bring in; and c) if any teams would be interested in Elias in the first place.

Oh. And the worst part about Barry Melrose getting fired? The NHL has to stop showing this NHL.com commercial featuring him. Oddly enough, in the commercial, Melrose wonders about the value of his assistant coaches. Awkward!

Last night was a tough night for goalies.

Over in Buffalo, goalie Manny Legace was pulled less than six minutes into the game after giving up three goals on seven shots. Legace doesn’t seem worried, telling Jeremy Rutherford, “If I could tell you [why I had a bad game], I would never play awful…I’d never have a bad stretch in my career…I’d be making $100 million a year.” I don’t know if that would all be hockey money or if maybe he’d get some kind of stipend from a Fortune 500 company, or if Legace meant he’d be playing in the KHL.

Out in New Jersey, goalie Kevin Weekes was pulled, mostly as a show of mercy, as the Devils took hundreds of penalties against the Rangers. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw such undisciplined Devils’ play. The loss of goalie Martin Brodeur for the next few months is going to be a test for the team. They have a huge lack of confidence without Brodeur available and it’s manifesting in boneheaded penalties. Weekes is a perfectly capable goalie, but not if his team in playing short-handed the whole time.

Down in North Carolina, Capitals goalie Brent Johnson left the game early with a tweaked hip. Johnson says he doesn’t think the injury is serious. Goalie Jose Theodore, who stepped in for Johnson, still remembers how to skate and goaltend, which was encouraging. I hope Johnson is OK because you have to love the story of a goalie who basically seemed completely washed-up five years ago clawing his way back to a starting job.

Brian Burke stepped down as GM of the Ducks and Bob Murray is taking over. Burke is expected to take over the Leafs.

Both GMs will have similar issues: capped-up teams with a lot of obvious holes and not a lot of salary maneuverability to fix them. Burke is a smart guy, though. He really pushed for Murray to take over for him, so he should have at least one open-minded trading partner to work with.

I imagine this is all quite confusing to Mats Sundin, who recently had a sit-down with the Ducks. Will Burke try and bring Sundin back to the Leafs? Will Sundin notice he’s not playing in California? All of these scenarios hinge on Sundin making a decision, so obviously, it’s pretty theoretical at this point.

Also, Keith Carney officially retired from the NHL. It seemed kind of a given when he didn’t sign with any teams in the off-season. Carney’s 38 with four kids (including a set of triplets), so he’ll have plenty to keep him busy. How old is Chris Chelios, though? According to that article, he mentored Carney when Carney first came to Chicago. Does Chelios age? Is he related to that guy from LOST? I bet somewhere there’s a picture of Chelios mentoring Bobby Hull.

I’d love to know the Versus ratings on last night’s Red Wings/Penguins game. It seemed liked everyone was watching it. The Wings blew a three-goal lead and were pretty much single-handedly beaten by Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal.

Staal has a lot of offensive talent for a natural shut-down center and he struggles with balancing the offense and the defense. In the past, I’ve been in favor of Staal indulging his defensive side, but watching him explode like that in an emotionally huge game for the Penguins, I wonder if coach Michel Therrien doesn’t have the right idea in using Staal as a top six forward.

Some more Western Conference news: Joe Sakic seems to have a slight disc inflammation and Peter Forsberg had another round of foot surgery. I understand Forsbeg’s wanting to extend a brilliant career that feels a bit too short, but at a certain point, he just has to realize his mind wants what his body can’t give him. Unless he’s in severe pain, in which case I understand his wanting to get that fixed.

Also, two interesting articles:

• New Times Broward-Palm Beach had a great look at Jay Bouwmeester’s career in Florida so far. Thomas Francis argues Bouwmeester hasn’t lived up to expectations, which might be true to a certain extent, but I really don’t think there’s an NHL GM that doesn’t consider Bouwmeester a fantastic, NHL-quality defenseman. And once he gets out of Florida, he’ll get the chance to show what he can do.
• A hockey team in Brooklyn? What could be better? Actually, a hockey team in Queens would be better, but minor league hockey in New York City is still a very cool thing.

Even with all of the goalie drama in Chicago, there’s something very likeable about the team. I think it has to do with how young everyone is.

Last night, captain Jonathan Toews got his first goal of the season. His teammates had a great reaction:

One retrieved the puck, ready to deliver it to him as if Toews had scored his first NHL goal, or his 100th or 200th instead of just his first of a long season.

“Now I don’t have to hear him on the bench saying, ‘Kaner, I was open on that play,’ said [Patrick] Kane in jest.

Speaking of Kane, he’s pioneering the point-streak beard. It’s like a playoff beard, only it correlates with a point-scoring streak. This could be just the innovation the NHL has been looking for. I think a lot of people will be watching this development very closely.

Also, how deep is Detroit? The Wings put defenseman Kyle Quincey on waivers, mostly because they didn’t have a place for him, and now Quincey is thriving in LA, the team that claimed him. If I were an NHL GM, I think I’d have a standing order for anyone Detroit puts on waivers. Except Darren McCarty. Sorry dude.

What the heck goes on in St. Louis that they can’t keep players healthy? Paul Kariya is the latest casualty. He’s the 10th Blues player to miss a game this season.

Speaking of injuries, the Caps’ Shaone Morrisonn and Sergei Fedorov both left last night’s win over Carolina with injuries. Coach Bruce Boudreau usually has the option of using Fedorov as a defenseman, but not this time.

Still speaking of injuries, Jim Kelley had an interesting column on the NHL’s new policy of not being specific about player injuries. Kelley brought up the issue that by not revealing the full extent of injuries, GMs and organizations are in a position to force players to play when it might be in their best interest to sit.

In the spirit of that, I have revised PuckUpdate’s injury policy and will now conclude each post with an injury report.

INJURY REPORT: Paper cut, thumb.

So the wheels really seem to be falling off the Sean Avery Experiment in Dallas.

This week’s mailbag with Stars beatwriter Mike Heika is practically all questions from fans asking about how and why Avery is ruining the team. Heika is very good about not putting the Stars troubles on Avery, but Avery’s salary does make it harder for the Stars to fix their problems.

The good news for Dallas is that defenseman Sergei Zubov was out at practice yesterday and could be back Friday. But is that enough?

Don’t forget. Before Dallas’ surprise surge into the playoffs last season, coach Dave Tippett’s job was on the line every game. This season he’s dealt with a lot of injuries and some awful goaltending, but he also hasn’t integrated his GMs’ big off-season acquisition into the Stars system, and that’s really on Tippett. He needs to reach his team – everyone on his team – soon, or he might find himself out of a job. I don’t know if Tippett knows this, but you can’t fire the whole team.

Things aren’t going so great in Colorado, either. In fact, the only real consistency over their 5-7 record has been their inconsistent play. While goaltending has also been an issue for the Avs, Terry Frei says Peter Budaj is not the root of Colorado’s problems. Of course, Frei then goes on to suggest the Avs trade for Nikolai Khabibulin, so it’s not a ringing endorsement.

Of course, another issue for Colorado has been Joe Sakic’s production: he has just two goals on the season. I haven’t watched enough of the Avs to diagnose Sakic’s problem, but knowing his temperament, he’ll fight his way out of the slump or die trying.

A few quick things:

• Bobby Clarke visited the Flyers to give the team some faceoff tips. Players were a bit surprised that he kept saying “Here’s another tip. You don’t need goaltending. It’s overrated. So is speed. You’ll see. You’ll all see…”
• SportsHubLA has a great interview with Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times. The talk centers on the Ducks, but there’s also some Kings talk in there, too.
• From Andrew Sherburne, the producer of the new film POND HOCKEY: “I wanted to let you know about a special screening of our film Pond Hockey, which has a one-night NYC showing next Friday Nov 14. I’ll be traveling with the film to do a Q&A. The film examines the outdoor hockey tradition and our changing sports culture. Along the way we interview rinkrats and hockey greats (Gretzky, Crosby, Broten, Kane, etc) about their love of the outdoor ice.” The trailer can be seen here. The screening will be here, at the Symphony Space/Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre.