A huge week off the ice: the NHL Scouting Combine doesn't get the attention the NFL's annual blowout receives--but It's every bit as vital to the league, its teams and the prospects involved.(KNOW IT ALL)

Top NFL prospects routinely skip the Scouting Combine. NBA lottery types wouldn't be caught dead at the various predraft camps. But that attitude doesn't fly in hockey. When the world's best prospects gather May 30 to June 3 in Toronto, every NHL team will get total access to the 2006 draft class.

But the players won't be there to skate, handle the puck and stop shots. They'll be there so NHL general managers, coaches and scouting directors can get to know them on a more personal level.

Each team submits a list of players it wants to meet; interviews last 30 minutes apiece. To crack language barriers, NHL Central Scouting provides translators. "Most of the kids from Sweden and Finland speak terrific English," says Al Murray, amateur scouting director for the Kings. "The Czechs and Russians are getting better all the time. If we're interviewing 20 Europeans, five will need interpreters, certainly no more than 10. Half these kids speak better English than I do."

Then players go through three hours of tests and examinations to get physical measurements, evaluate fitness and ferret out problems. The NHL is on alert for heart conditions, especially after this season's collapse of Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer.

Yankee doodle dandies

The quality of American players continues to improve. A record eight American-born players were first-round picks in 2005, and this year Johnson, Kessel and forward Peter Mueller are top 10 prospects. At least three more ...