The Colorado Avalanche: News from around the NHL - March 13th, 2014

Roy wanted to surprise the hockey world, and the players bought into it.

The Colorado Avalanche may lead the National Hockey League in “Who?”

But it isn’t necessarily the who, it’s the what: And what the Avalanche have been doing this season with who they have on their roster has been a source of endless fascination for many who closely follow the league. Featuring many players that couldn’t find an opportunity in other organizations, the Avs have had a firm grasp on a playoff spot in the Western Conference all season long under first-year head coach Patrick Roy.

To be sure, Colorado has an excellent young core with top draft choices like Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. But without little-known names like Marc-Andre Cliche and Nick Holden making contributions every night, a glance at the standings might not be so friendly for the remainder of the group.

Unsurprisingly Peverley is not expected to play the rest of the season.

Rich Peverley will not play again this season after collapsing on the bench during a game.

Whether the Dallas Stars’ forward will ever play again won’t be known until after more extensive work is done to evaluate his irregular heartbeat.

Peverley appeared briefly at a news conference Wednesday, reading nervously from a statement that thanked “the number of people that saved my life” after he went down in the first period of a game against Columbus, stunning players, coaches and fans.

The NHL wants all teams to get their information during the Scouting Combine, as such they are making changes to what can and cannot happen with potential draftees.

Here's what is allowed:

"After the combine, you can bring a player to your city, interview him, take him out to dinner, medically test him, MRI him, whatever you need to do," said NHL senior executive vice-president Colin Campbell. "But you can't physically test him, you can't put him on the ice, you can't do any of that."

Players who are not invited to the combine can be brought to a city and physically tested and/or put on ice.

So what's the punishment for team's that break the rule?

"It's a significant fine," Campbell said. "[Commissioner Bettman] has to get approval from the board of governors to do that. In the past, it was a smaller fine... Our guys even talked about the possibility of attaching a draft choice to it, to make it significant. We didn't go there."