Back in 2004, a Minnesota high school star named Blake Wheeler was the first-round pick of Wayne Gretzky and the Phoenix Coyotes. Eyebrows were raised, as Wheeler wasn't projected by anyone to be a potential top pick.

Four years later, it appears Wheeler will finally get a chance to play professional hockey.

The Minnesota Gopher junior is expected to sign a deal to join the Coyotes organization, forgoing his final year of eligibility at Minnesota. Wheeler starred at Breck School, a private school in the Twin Cities area, leading them to the 2004 Class A state championship. He played one year of junior hockey in the USHL before joining Minnesota, where he has tallied 42 goals in his Gopher career.

Some Gopher fans have been disappointed with Wheeler's production, expecting more out of a guy Gretzky was so high on when he played in high school. But Wheeler has rounded into a nice player, and he's the kind of guy whose size and hands make for a constant threat. If there's one negative to his game, it's his tendency not to play strong on his skates. Wheeler isn't a diver, but he can look like one at times, and that's as bad as actually being one.

In other signing news, we're still waiting for 2005 first-round pick T.J. Oshie to sign with St. Louis. Oshie just completed his junior year at North Dakota, helping his team to a fourth straight Frozen Four appearance. I would be lying if I said I thought Oshie would return to school, but I thought the same thing last year.

(A tap of the stick goes to Western College Hockey.)

(UPDATE: WCH now reports that Wheeler has withdrawn from classes at Minnesota and has 30 days to sign with Phoenix before becoming a free agent.)

Finishing out a season where there wasn't a whole lot to cheer about, the St. Louis Blues had an opportunity to forget about the impending end of their NHL season when they were able to celebrate the 500th goal of Keith Tkachuk's career.

The goal, an empty-netter, came with just 1:34 remaining to salt away a 4-1 win for St.Louis over the Blue Jackets. The goal was his 27th of the season.

While "Walt" deserves a pat on the back -- he's lost in the crush of his teammates in that photo to the right -- I can't help but think about his achievement in terms of many of his American-born contemporaries in the NHL.

This season we saw Jeremy Roenick pot his 500th goal as he found a reason to keep skating in San Jose, while Mike Modano managed to take the all-time scoring lead for American-born players while continuting to play a diminished role in Dallas.

Simply put, we're watching a whole generation of American-born players in the twilight of their careers. All three were part of the post-Lake Placid generation of players who were inspired by the Gold Medal win in 1980, and all three wore Team USA colors in the inaugural World Cup of Hockey, helping that team to a victory that shocked the entire hockey world, Canada in particular.

But now there are fewer days ahead than behind, and one wonders if the new generation of Americans, represented by players like Patrick Kane, Jack Johnson and Kyle Okposo, among others, will be able to represent the Red, White and Blue as ably in international play.

As of today, the Chicago Blackhawks are six points out of the final Western Conference playoff berth. The St. Louis Blues are also six points out ... of last place in the conference. Yet the war of words between the two teams is at playoff intensity.

In a 4-3 overtime win by the Blackhawks on Sunday, the Blues got physical with star rookies Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. This didn't sit well with Chicago coach Denis Savard, who singled out Barret Jackman and David Backes of St. Louis in his postgame diatribe:

"I'm ticked off at a bunch of their players taking shots at us, free shots," Savard said. "After whistles, taking cross-checks behind the head, behind their backs. Jackman a few times ... Backes goes after Niklas Hjalmarsson. How tough is he? We'll figure it out someday."

Jackman offered his candid rebuttal on Monday, in a rant that ended with "sorry that we hurt their feelings."

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Back at the season's midpoint, Eric Duhatscheck of the Globe and Mail made the case that Calgary's Jarome Iginla was the leading candidate for the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP. Over the weekend, Ross McKeon over at Yahoo! tried to nail it down for the Edmonton native, saying that while both Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin have had great seasons, Iginla has demonstrated the additional intangibles that make him Hart-worthy:

Iginla is a fierce leader who is the best money player in his sport. When the game is on the line, Iginla is going to do something to help his team. He is clutch. Saturday night, for example, he scored a natural hat trick when his team was down a goal to put them ahead in a must-have home game against rival and division-leading Minnesota Wild.

[...]

Iginla is on pace for 99 points and will appear in all 82 games for the Flames as long as he doesn't miss one of the last seven. Nine of his 48 goals have been game-winners.

But Iginla's game goes beyond numbers. He's the only captain among the top three candidates. He's tough as nails, a willing combatant if he feels he needs to drop the gloves. He's engaging, inspiring, relentless, the total package.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Prior to last night's action, the Edmonton Oilers were suddenly looking like they might just be able to sneak in and grab the 8th and final spot in the Western Conference playoffs. Despite a putrid goal differential of -15, the Oilers were just five points out of a playoff spot and had an essentially .500 record.

After four straight wins, the Oilers went to 8-2 in their past 10 games, and had that dangerous 'nothing to lose' mentality that helped their players relax and just play their guts out.

Of course, being five points out in this point in the season is a dangerous proposition, and one big loss, such as the 4-1 defeat the Oilers were handed by the Vancouver Canucks last night, can pretty much end your playoff aspirations faster than you can say 'Kevin Lowe Sucks!'

My FanHouse buddy JP has a great St. Patrick's Day-themed hockey post today, updating the annual list of the Top 10 Patricks in Hockey History. Much like Pat Falloon, Brendan Shanahan didn't make the cut, but the Rangers forward is obviously one of the most prominent players of Irish heritage in the League. His parents were born in Ireland, and Brendan kissed the Blarney Stone for the first time as a 16 year old; Shanny's actually cited his stone-smooching for his gift of gab.

And what a gift it is, as this classic clip from ESPN2 shows. (Man, could anything this loosey-goosey/"hey kids, let's put on a sports interview" ever appear on the WWL today?) From his days with the St. Louis Blues, Shanahan talks about his impression of Dino from the "Flintstones," turns some Gary Thorne prop comedy into double-entendres about "sax before a game," and discusses the historic name of his cottage in Ireland. Enjoy the goofiness; I can think of no better way to celebrate America's transformation of a traditional Irish family holiday into an excuse to yak up gallons of green beer.

For most Division I college hockey teams, the postseason hasn't even started yet. However, there are two teams in Division I who failed to qualify for their league tournament. In Hockey East, they only take eight of the league's ten teams. This year, Merrimack (no surprise) and Maine (big surprise) failed to crack the top eight of the league table, so their seasons are over.

So let's get started on the early departures, shall we?

Not counting the well-publicized in-season departures of Minnesota's Kyle Okposo (Islanders) and Denver's Brock Trotter (Canadiens), Maine is the first to lose a player before his eligibiliy expires. Beanpole goaltender Ben Bishop has signed a deal with the St. Louis Blues. Bishop, who stands 6-foot-7, posted superb numbers on a Maine team that was a superb disappointment off back-to-back Frozen Four runs.

Despite finishing 13-18-3 this season, Bishop had a save percentage of .920 on a team that just couldn't score. The Black Bears were either shut out or held to one goal in 13 of their 18 losses.

Of course, the story here isn't that Maine's offense stunk, or that they missed the Hockey East tournament one year after going to the Frozen Four. The story is the continued trend of college players bypassing eligibility to turn pro.

It's a trend that we all expect to continue.

If you thought the pinnacle of Pamela Anderson's relationship with hockey peaked when she swapped spit with the Vancouver Canucks' mascot, think again. The woman who launched a million bedroom wall posters and worn-out pause buttons on VCR remotes is teaming up with a former NHLer from her hometown to help develop a collection of eco-friendly condominium-townhouses. From the Times-Colonist:

Celebrity friends Pamela Anderson and Geoff Courtnall have teamed up at plenty of charity events over the years. Now they're working together to develop a residential project on Anderson's grandparents' property in Ladysmith. "It is something that Pamela is going to get very involved in - in the promotion and marketing of the project," Courtnall said yesterday.

When news of plans for the 83-unit, condominium-townhouse development appeared on Anderson's website last year, 150 calls of interest poured in, he said. Movie and television star, sex symbol and animal-rights advocate Anderson was raised in the historic community of close to 7,000, between Duncan and Nanaimo. Victoria native Geoff Courtnall coaches the Victoria Grizzlies, following a career as a professional hockey player with the National Hockey League.

Courtnall said the two became friends during his 19-year career as Russ Courtnall's older brother. Pammy has also appeared at the Courtnalls' charity golf tournament. What's interesting about their team-up for this project, however, is the criticism Geoff Courtnall has received over the years for the activities of his logging operations around Vancouver. Back in 2003, one local publication claimed he was living "a bit of a double life" as spokesperson for the British Columbia Wildlife Federation while cutting "down trees for fun in Jervis Inlet." I trust Pam has vetted her business partner; then again, thinking of her track record with the fellas...

As the Canucks pull into Anaheim tonight, the team is on the crest of a three-game winning streak, one that's being authored in part by a rather unlikely duo. I'm talking about Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows, a pair of hard nosed forwards who have combined for 15 points in the last eight games as the Canucks have gone 4-2-2 and kept themselves inside the safety zone in the Western Conference playoff race.

Heretofore, Kesler was best known as a smooth skating prospect the Canucks had to overpay to keep thanks to Bobby Clarke, while Burrows was best known for staying in shape in the offseason thanks to plenty of ball hockey. But now, the emergence this season of both as players who can be responsible in their own end while still chipping in with some offense once in a while has given the Canucks an added boost while allowing them to save some money by shipping former uber-pest Matt Cooke to Washington rather than re-sign him.

The pair managed to shine the brightest in Vancouver's two most recent games, with Burrows striking for a goal and two assists against St. Louis on Saturday, while Kesler scored both the game-tying and game-winning goals in a 2-1 OT win over Los Angeles last night.

As a former first round pick, it wasn't entirely unexpected to see Kesler round into form. As for Burrows, a 26-year old bilingual native of Montreal, the route to a steady NHL job wasn't always as clear, with Vancouver head coach Alan Vigneault telling him as recently as the end of last season that if he didn't pick up his game, he might be starting the season in Manitoba:

"I told him at the exit meetings last year that if he didn't pick it up there was a chance he wasn't going to start with the Canucks. He did everything he could to come to camp in great shape."

Last season, Burrows had all of nine points for the Canucks. As of today, he's got 29, including 11 goals, with 13 games to play. And their teammates are noticing the difference, with the recently returned Brendan Morrison saying that the play of the pair has made all the difference now that the team's big guns are misfiring.

For more on the transformation of Burrows into an uber-pest, go visit the invaluable Orland Kurtenblog.

Whenever sportswriters opine about a coach "losing the locker room," it's a delicate declaration. Conditions can change with a single week's winning streak, and the off-the-record grumblings of a fourth-liner are just empty gripes if the coach has the backing of the team's power structure. St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz wonders if coach Andy Murray has "lost the room," as the once-promising Blues drop like a stone in the conference standings:

The grumbling is intensifying over Murray's many meetings and other matters. For his part, Murray has publicly questioned the players' effort. This isn't a happy group. The players responded dramatically when Murray took over for Mike Kitchen on Dec. 11, 2006, but the charm has worn off. Since March 3, 2007, the Blues are 34-35-14. Since Dec. 9 of this season, the Blues have the fewest wins in the league. The talent level hasn't dropped, but the morale seems to be sinking.

This accusation might be dismissed as a byproduct of the team's overall disappointment, rather than its catalyst. But as Steven Ovadia pointed out, that would ignore the fact that Murray's tenure in Los Angeles ended when the players tuned him out. As Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period wrote in his eulogy back in 2006, it was "doubtful anyone in the locker room will be shedding a tear for the man":

Insiders say that the Murray's controlling nature and exacting detail took a toll on the team, especially veterans like Luc Robitaille and Jeremy Roenick. "Andy scripted out everything and that might work for 50-60 games but to have a player's every movement on and off the ice planned, it leaves no room for creativity. I think that wears on the veterans in the group as the season progresses," said a source close to the team.

Whatever the case, Murray has enough support from management to return behind the St. Louis bench again next season. He was signed to a "long term" contract when he replaced Mike Kitchen in Dec. 2006.