It has been proven time and again there are many paths to the National Hockey League, and plenty of players take an unconventional route.

The college hockey season has reached its own "March Madness" with the final weekend of conference tournaments starting in a couple days and the NCAA Tournament beginning the following weekend.

That also means it is time for college hockey's version of a free-agent frenzy, as players who weren't drafted prior to turning 20 get ready to sign professional contracts.

The Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday reportedly recalled defenseman Jake Gardiner and sent blueliner Korbinian Holzer to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

Gardiner has spent most of this season in the minors after scoring seven goals and finishing with 30 points in 75 games as a rookie in 2011-12 with the Maple Leafs. He has 10 goals and 31 points in 43 games for the Marlies, going scoreless in two games for the Maple Leafs.

For the past couple of weeks NHL.com fantasy hockey insider Pete Jensen has taken over The Front Line graciously, but after a two-week absence, I am here for you again and ready to jump back into the fantasy hockey pool.

So what did I miss? Sidney Crosby is still the best. Chris Kunitz is quite valuable himself, ranking second among all players in Yahoo! fantasy leagues. No one is even close to as good as a duo as Crosby and Kunitz, who have recorded a point on the same goal 28 times (seven more than the next best NHL duo, Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis).

What else? Mike Ribeiro is tied for the NHL-lead with 16 power-play points (Andrei Markov). Evander Kane leads the NHL in shots on goal with 126 -- 10 more than Alex Ovechkin, who's second on the list. Jiri Tlusty is the only NHLer with five multi-goal games (Kunitz, Marian Hossa and Patrick Marleau all have four). Other than Crosby, St. Louis is the only other player to have at least 30 assists (he has 31; Crosby has 35).

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin skated with the team at practice Tuesday and afterward told reporters he hopes to play in the next game, Friday at the New York Islanders.

Malkin will not play Tuesday against the Washington Capitals, the sixth straight he'll have missed due to an upper-body injury. The team has said this injury is not related to the concussion he sustained last month.

Frank Selke Jr., who served as president and general manager of the Oakland Seals, died Monday. He was 83.

Selke, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer and former Montreal Canadiens GM Frank Selke, worked at the Montreal Forum in various roles, rising to the role of vice president of marketing and promotions.

He also worked in radio and television in Montreal and was the TV host for "Hockey Night in Canada."

The Tampa Bay Times reported Monday that the injury sidelining Tampa Bay Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier is a broken bone in his left foot.

In addition, forward Ryan Malone is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury, and defenseman Victor Hedman is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. They were injured in Monday's 4-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers.

ST. LOUIS -- When Jake Allen was a teenager, he had quite the dilemma on his hands. It had nothing to do with everyday teen issues.

Allen was faced with the prospect of sticking with hockey or trying to become the next great golfing sensation.

As it turned out, becoming the next Tiger Woods only was a dream, apparently.

"I wish," Allen told NHL.com. "I love golf. I absolutely love it, but you finally have to pick one sport and go with it. I think I finally realized when I was like 15, I sort of stuck with hockey and it's worked out."

Worked out may be understating it a bit for the Fredericton, New Brunswick native, who not only has stabilized the St. Louis Blues' goaltending situation, but has become somewhat of a fan sensation in the Gateway City.

ANAHEIM – They were born six days apart and have been in lockstep with each other for all of their pro hockey careers.

Corey Perry

Right Wing - ANA

GOALS: 9 | ASST: 15 | PTS: 24
SOG: 61 | +/-: 14

"He talked to me and asked me what my thoughts were," Perry said. "At that point I was still undecided, but it was definitely a huge factor that he did stay here and he's committed here.

"It means a lot. We've been through a lot of things together. We're great friends off the ice, and on the ice he's been there every game I've played. When something like that happens, it definitely helps. I called him last night right away when I found out what was going to happen. It's an exciting time for both of us."

Steven Stamkos scored the 200th goal of his NHL career when he hit the empty net to cap Tampa Bay's 4-2 victory against Philadelphia on Monday night.

Stamkos, the Rocket Richard Trophy winner last season with 60 goals, hit the empty net with 3.0 seconds remaining for his League-leading 21st goal of the season in the Lightning's 29th game. The milestone goal came in the 354th NHL game for the first player selected in the 2008 NHL Draft.

VANCOUVER – Daniel Sedin believes the Vancouver Canucks need to stop thinking so much about their struggling power play.

That's probably a good idea, considering their drought with the man advantage has reached a mind-boggling 11 games, easily the longest funk in the 15 seasons of team data available on NHL.com. It's been more than a decade since the Canucks' next longest slump, which lasted eight-games back in 2001-02.

Given the personnel involved, it's becoming hard to wrap the mind around a nearly month long donut on the power play. Sedin thinks maybe they should stop trying.

"We've done a lot of things in practice to get things going, but we're just not playing with confidence," Sedin said. "When you are struggling, you are probably putting too much thought into it. We're at our best when we go out there and don't think, move the puck, get shots and get to those rebounds."