The NHL and the NFL have a common problem, and unfortunately for the NHL, it isn’t how to count billions of dollars in TV revenue. It’s concussions, the collisions that cause those concussions and the culture that causes those collisions.

Something has to change, and though both leagues are taking bold new steps to effect that change, we’re seeing resistance. NFL players loudly decried the crackdown their league began making this week, saying the sport is going soft by threatening suspensions for illegal hits, with Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison even threatening to retire if he can’t play the way he was trained to play. NHL players haven’t been as vocal about their league’s new head-shot rule, but they might be just as stubborn.

Take Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson(notes). He received a two-game suspension for a concussion-causing hit from behind on Buffalo Sabres winger Jason Pominville(notes). Hjalmarsson has played three games since serving his

CHICAGO – Duncan Keith(notes) fired the puck up ice, and Marian Hossa(notes) broke in alone. The fans rose to their feet at the United Center. Hossa had a chance to give the Chicago Blackhawks a dramatic overtime victory over the rival Vancouver Canucks, a team that needed no more drama.

Then goaltender Roberto Luongo(notes) got his blocker on the shot, and the puck fluttered straight up into the air harmlessly. No, the Canucks didn't come back and win Wednesday night. Luongo failed to stop all three shots he faced in the shootout, and the Canucks lost 2-1. But after all they've been through lately – Luongo struggling, the defense hobbling, forward Rick Rypien(notes) crossing the line by grabbing a fan, the team losing three out of four games – even a little heroics go a long away.

"Obviously our guys bounced back and played a real strong game against the Stanley Cup champions," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said.

This was as big as a game gets in October. This was the defending

CHICAGO – Can't do it. You just can't do it. You just can't touch a fan, can't even grab and shake and let go, can't even if you're in the heat of battle and he's clapping and he's wearing the same sweater as the guys you were fighting a few seconds before and it all happened so fast.

The NHL already has acted quickly to address Tuesday night's incident, suspending Vancouver Canucks forward Rick Rypien(notes) for his altercation with a Minnesota Wild fan. Rypien will not play Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks. After holding a hearing, the league surely will – and certainly should – extend the suspension for several games.

If poor taste is worth a two-gamer, as it was for New York Islanders defenseman James Wisniewski's(notes) lewd gesture toward New York Rangers agitator Sean Avery(notes) on Oct. 11, then this is worth much, much more. This isn't offending our sensibilities. This is getting physical with a paying customer, crossing quite another line entirely.

Let's keep it in

Brenden Morrow(notes) came to the rink for a preseason game and found a picture hanging in his locker. He didn’t describe the picture. Let’s just say it was a prank, and he wanted to find out which member of the Dallas Stars would dare mess with the captain.

The only player who had arrived before Morrow was Kari Lehtonen(notes), the quiet, stone-faced goaltender. Couldn’t have been him. So who was it then? One of the coaches? The trainer? The strength guy?

“I find out a week later it was Kari Lehtonen,” Morrow said, smiling. “He flies under the radar a little bit, but he’ll zing you when you least expect it.”

Overlook Lehtonen at your own risk. Injuries might have sent him into obscurity with the Atlanta Thrashers, but he’s off to a strong start with the Stars, showing the kind of player and person he can be. He has performed so well that the Stars are one of only two NHL teams with an unblemished record – the Toronto Maple Leafs are also 4-0 – and he has felt so comfortable that he

The hockey world is a small world, and the goaltending fraternity is an even smaller world within it. Hockey people run into each other all the time. Goaltenders watch each other and watch out for each other, from near and far.

So it was that David Oliver, the director of player development for the Colorado Avalanche, and Chris Osgood(notes), a goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings, ended up chatting in the summer of 2009. They spend their off-seasons in British Columbia. They don’t hang out a lot, but they bump into each other occasionally at the golf course. And one day, Oliver asked Osgood what he thought of free agent Craig Anderson(notes).

“I said, ‘Sign him,’ ” recalled Osgood. “I told him, ‘You give him a chance, he’s going to play good.’ And (Oliver) actually thanked me this summer for the recommendation. He’s a good goalie.”

Osgood isn’t saying that he’s the reason the Avalanche signed Anderson or that he knew what would happen. He isn’t a scout, he isn’t an agent and it

DALLAS – The tribute was short and sweet. The night was long and bitter.

Less than seven minutes into the game on Thursday, the Dallas Stars showed Mike Modano(notes) on the scoreboard screens at American Airlines Center. In small type, their message said simply: “THANK YOU, MIKE.” Modano received a standing ovation, but it was more polite applause than loud roar. He waved. He held up his stick. And that was it.

Modano’s new team was already behind by one at that point. The Detroit Red Wings went on to lose, 4-1, and though Modano said it felt great to be back, he seemed relieved to be leaving.

“Now we can move on and get into the season,” Modano said. “I’m glad it was early and [we could] get it over with.”

Even self-described die-hard Stars fans felt torn. Paul Wilson wore a Stars hat, and he and his girlfriend, Kim Hartless, wore Modano jerseys. But they weren’t old No. 9 Stars jerseys. They were new No. 90 Wings jerseys – protests against the Stars’ decision to part with the face

If one moment can sum up a 16-season NHL career, for Kirk Maltby(notes), this is it: Game 5, Western Conference semifinals, 2002. The Detroit Red Wings were trying to eliminate the St. Louis Blues. Maltby was killing a penalty.

Blues defenseman Al MacInnis, who had one of the most fearsome slap shots in hockey, broke Maltby’s stick with a blast from the point. But Maltby didn’t give up. He positioned himself like a goalie, crouched, hands out. He blocked another shot. And another. Joe Louis Arena roared, the fans chanting his name as if he were a superstar scorer: “MALT-BY! MALT-BY!”

“I think I was on the ice with him, and I was chanting his name, too,” recalled Wings center Kris Draper(notes). “He’d do anything to help the team win. That’s why you miss a guy like that.”

Maltby retired on Tuesday, and the game lost more than just another grinder. It lost another member of the Grind Line, Detroit’s beloved blue-collar checking unit, and it lost a type of guy that was already rare and is

It shouldn’t happen in a beer league. For it to happen in the big leagues is inexcusable.

Imagine you’re playing in a men’s league down at the local rink. Three guys don’t show up for a game. Whatever the reasons – a meeting ran long, got caught in traffic, the dog ate my schedule – it doesn’t matter. Everybody’s got problems, and the guys who manage to deal with life like adults end up huffing, puffing and double-shifting, while the opponents, with a full complement of players, kick their butts.

Now look at what happened Monday in New Jersey. The Devils were missing three forwards for a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Whatever the reasons – a suspension, injuries, salary-cap constraints – it didn’t matter. Every team deals with the same things, and the guys the Devils did put on the ice couldn’t get the job done, losing, 3-1.

This is the NHL. The Devils have been a premier franchise, winning three Stanley Cups in a nine-year span from 1995 to 2003, racking up at least 100 points