NHL Labor uncertainty adds different feel to All-Star contest

The upcoming trade deadline and the possibility of a lockout next year lie ahead.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- As the players and coaches streamed into the Twin Cities on Friday for the NHL All-Star game, there was a perceptively different feel than for most of these show-off-the-stars events.
It's not that there's any greater concern on either side whether the Western or Eastern Conference wins or loses Sunday's game -- the outcome rarely matters. Instead, there is an edgy air of uncertainty about what's to come next in a sport where the participants are accustomed to following rigidly set schedules and rarely altered lifestyles.
Trade deadline nears
The March 9 trade deadline is barely a month away, and it is then that the initial fallout from the pending labor negotiations that threaten to darken North America's hockey arenas next season probably will be felt.
Last year, all but three of the 30 NHL made deadline deals as contending teams maneuvered to get stronger for the stretch run, and out-of-the-running clubs shed salaries. But there could be less movement next month because players who otherwise would be attractive pickups might stay with their current teams.
Players such as Coyotes goalie Sean Burke ($4.25 million player option for the 2004-05 season), Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig ($6.25 million base salary for '04-'05), Hurricanes forward Rod Brind'Amour ($5 million in base salary each of the next two seasons) and Sabres forward Miroslav Satan ($5 million base salary in '04-'05) could prove difficult, if not impossible, to trade.
Yet, at the same time, aging teams such as the Red Wings, who have left numerous stars unsigned beyond this season because of the labor uncertainty, are feeling more pressure than ever to win and win now.
After all, this Stanley Cup winner could reign not just for one year, but maybe two.
"Our team is a veteran team -- we have 10, 11 guys who are over 30," said Red Wings coach Dave Lewis, who will coach the Western Conference all-stars. "We have guys that possibly could be in their last year of professional hockey. So our approach is that we have to put every effort into trying to win the Stanley Cup this year, regardless of what's going to happen next year."
No Penguins on team
The shifting labor climate is evidenced by the absence of any Pittsburgh Penguins players -- only the second time that's happened in the franchise's 37-year history.
Since the early 1990s, the Penguins have had more All-Star game starters than any other team as players such as Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr were regularly voted into the lineup.
But Lemieux is hurt, Jagr is long since gone -- he's now on his second team since being dealt by Pittsburgh for financial reasons -- and the Penguins' only All-Star last season, Alexei Kovalev, was traded only days after the game was played.
Now, the Penguins will be represented at Xcel Energy Center only by rookies Ryan Malone and Brooks Orpik, who will play in Saturday night's YoungStars game. The Penguins shed nearly all their million-dollar salaries as they try to ride out the pending labor talks.
Different labor climate
Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn, who will coach the Eastern Conference all-stars, said it clearly is a different labor climate than in past seasons.
"There would be teams that a year ago would step up and sign long-term multimillion dollar contracts that really don't want them right now and probably they will try to slough them off on some other teams," Quinn said. "There are some teams that can take it on but, again, philosophically, they have already made decisions (to do so)."
As a result, the All-Stars -- they range in age from 19-year-old Columbus scoring star Rick Nash to the 43-year-old Mark Messier -- might want to savor the moment a little longer than normal. After all, they have no idea when they will be playing in their next All-Star game.