A half-decade ago, the conventional wisdom in the NHL was that anyone who wanted a No. 1 goaltender ought to go and draft one, because no one was silly enough to trade one -- thinking that led to a wave of goalies being drafted early, like Roberto Luongo and Rick DiPietro. Now, they're available for anyone willing to sign the check. Curtis Joseph cleared waivers Friday. Olaf Kolzig, under barrage behind a miserable Washington Capitals defense, will be asking for a trade shortly, if he hasn't already.

The success of last weekend's outdoor game in Edmonton between the Oilers and Montreal Canadiens -- 57,167 filled Commonwealth Stadium despite sub-freezing temperatures -- had two genuine impacts on the NHL. First, it provided the indelible image of Habs goalie Jose Theodore playing with a ski cap stretched over his goalie mask, a sight that evoked hockey's roots and everything pure about the game.

Jeremy Roenick has no plans to wait out a lockout. In Raleigh this week to play the Carolina Hurricanes, the outspoken Philadelphia Flyers center said he was considering playing in Germany -- or even the upstart WHA -- if there's a lockout next season. "There is no way I am going to take a year off and not play," said Roenick, 33. "I would first look at my options here. If not here with the WHA, then I would try to get over to Germany. But if the WHA gets up and running, I would be willing to play for them next year."

The NHL will head outdoors for the first time on Saturday when the Edmonton Oilers host the Montreal Canadiens in front of 56,169 at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. More than 700,000 people applied for 7,000 available seats and Wayne Gretzky agreed to make his first old-timers' appearance in an Oilers-Canadiens alumni game on the outdoor rink Friday night.

The bad news continues in Atlanta, where Thrashers center Marc Savard is out at least eight weeks after surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his left ankle. Savard had picked up a lot of the responsibility shouldered by Dany Heatley before Heatley was injured in the car crash that killed teammate Dan Snyder.

Maybe Marty Turco and Jean-Sebastien Giguere need to get on the phone with Jose Theodore. Like Theodore did in 2001-02, they both had breakthrough seasons last year that brought their teams playoff success.

The Colorado Avalanche will honor retired goalie Patrick Roy on Tuesday in Denver, and only two players scored more goals against Roy than the Carolina Hurricanes' Ron Francis. Francis scored 16 goals against Roy, tying him for third. Owen Nolan's 19 are the most.

There finally may be an answer to the eternal hockey question, "Who own da Chiefs?" With the $5.2 million the Canes owe new Johnstown Chiefs goalie Arturs Irbe, he can buy the team and move it to Florida.

There's no better way to begin a hockey season than with a phone call from Martin Gelinas. Gelinas' personality and work ethic on and off the ice were sorely missed last season by the Carolina Hurricanes.

That giant wooshing sound you'll hear coming from West Raleigh at about 5:30 p.

The least shocking disclosure of the week: Boston's players didn't really like fired coach Robbie Ftorek.

San Jose Sharks general manager Dean Lombardi held onto Teemu Selanne, Vincent Damphousse, Mike Ricci and Scott Thornton at the trade deadline.