NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE.(brief notes on National Hockey League team and tournaments)(Brief Article)

WHO'S HOT

It's amazing what adding a superstar to your line does for your stats. When the season started, Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr believed all the type written about him. With Mario Lemieux's return, he's finally living up to it. Jagr had six points and was plus-7 in games with Mario in key wins against conference rivals Toronto and Ottawa; Jagr had two assists and was plus-1 in the two games before Mario.

WHO'S NOT

Leafs were looking forward to a cushy holiday schedule of a bunch of games vs. bad teams. But something happened along the way: Curtis Joseph proved mortal. Before he helped his team to a 4-1 win last Saturday in Florida, he was 1-4, allowing 19 goals on 123 shots in that span. Joseph has won many a game by himself in 2000, so this slump is a bad sign for the Leafs.

CHALKDUST

Craig Ramsey was fired partly because there was a perception the Flyers weren't adhering to their rich Broad Street Bullies heritage. At one point, the Flyers were the least-penalized team in the league, which is like seeing anal Gore bumper sticker on a pickup truck--rare. Under Bill Barber, the Flyers are slowly falling in (or climbing, depending on your viewpoint) the penalty rankings, and ...