Scott Burnside @ ESPN on Salei, Andy

In his weekly Power Play column, Burnside offers thoughts on the Coyotes, Chelios and Samuelsson.  He also has a few things to say about a couple of Avs that you might find interesting...

4. An illustration of the Olympic debate

One of the treats of covering the Olympics was getting a chance to chat with Ruslan Salei, the captain of the Belarus team. Eloquent and passionate about the game and the importance of the tournament to his home country, Salei nonetheless illustrates one of the reasons some, if not most NHL owners, hate the NHL's involvement in the Olympics.

The Colorado Avalanche are paying the veteran defenseman $3.275 million this season. He played one game, on Oct. 8, and sustained a back injury that required surgery and did not play again until the final NHL game before the Olympics. Salei then logged big minutes for Belarus, which lost in a shootout to Switzerland in a qualification game. Post-Olympics, Salei played three full games, then reinjured himself after playing just 4:01 in the Avs' fourth game. When he might return to the lineup is unknown.

Now, would Salei, officially designated as having a "torso" injury, have been injured even if he hadn't taken part in the Olympics? Perhaps. But it's a fair suggestion had Salei not rushed back into action for the Games, he may have been more durable for the Avs, who are headed to the playoffs after a surprising season.

If Salei cannot return to action for the postseason, what will his loss mean to a Colorado team that has little in the way of playoff experience? Time will tell, but those are the kinds of questions that, when posed to owners, lead to a reluctance to commit to the Olympics going forward.

5. Anderson has Hart

Speaking of the Avs, it's funny how Colorado netminder Craig Anderson's name never pops up in conversation about the Hart Trophy, yet is there a player who has been more important to his team's success?

The journeyman netminder, who finally landed a full-time starting gig with Colorado this season, leads the league in shots against by a considerable margin. He has started 60 of the Avs' 68 games and has them firmly entrenched in a playoff spot after many picked them to finish at or near the bottom of the West standings. His .924 save percentage is fifth in the league and his 35 wins put him sixth among all netminders. On Sunday, as though to emphasize his importance to the team, Anderson made 48 saves in a 5-3 win in Dallas.

Food for thought come voting time.

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Important week for playoff hopefuls, Coyotes