TORONTO -- Ken Hitchcock has a theory on how to deal with his team not scoring a lot of goals. . "Just not talk about it," he said. "Talk about something else." Thats the approach the Stanley Cup-winning coach is taking with his St. Louis Blues, who have gone through a mini scoring slump. Of course they still lead the Western Conference, which is based on large part on being one of the NHLs stingiest defensive teams. "Ive always believed, like a lot of coaches, if youre not scoring, talk about checking. If you check better, youre going to get more chances," Hitchcock said Monday at Air Canada Centre. "The structure of our game, were just going to weather the storm. The structure of our game has got to stay solid like it is right now, and then well weather it and well come out on the other side fine." An 82-game regular season is a totally different animal than the Olympics, but a similar philosophy guided Team Canada to gold. Worries about a lack of offence from star forwards -- at least externally -- lasted well into the playoff round, but those were quieted by dominant play on the puck. "Its about controlling the hockey game. And you dont control the hockey game with offence, you control it with checking," said Hitchcock, who was one of Mike Babcocks assistants in Sochi. "We were tied or leading by one goal -- we werent concerned with the way we were playing that we werent scoring. It doesnt matter if youre leading 5-4 going into the third period or 1-0 as long as you have the lead youre in good shape." Like with Canada, Hitchcock said he feels comfortable seeing the Blues checking well because it means theyre "committed to the right things." One of those things hes proud of is that for a couple of games in a row St. Louis has displayed a high work standard. To Hitchcock, thats a bigger deal -- the way the Blues play -- than having an offence thats always rolling or a power play thats constantly clicking at a high rate. As far as special teams go, hes more concerned about the penalty kill and what that could mean come playoff time. "Ive seen a lot of (teams) who have had bad power plays do really well in the playoffs, but Ive never seen any team play worth a damn if you cant kill penalties," Hitchcock said. "Its more on can you kill the penalty at the right time because you can live with poor power plays and still win hockey games. But you cant survive if you cant kill penalties because your whole game falls apart, youre nervous, youre uptight, you panic and weve got to be great killing penalties." That would also follow Canadas blueprint. The gold-medal-winning Canadians converted on just 16.67 per cent of their power plays in six games, middle of the pack in the tournament, yet led the Olympics with a 93.75 per cent penalty-killing rate, giving up one goal on 16 chances. Hitchcock, though, must guide the Blues through choppier waters than Canada endured at the Olympics. Sixteen playoff victories are required to win the Stanley Cup, and most of those wont be by large margins. Perhaps thats one way the Blues balance plays in their favour. The have no one player in the top 35 in the league in scoring, but 10 with at least 30 points, led by Alex Steen and T.J. Oshies 54. St. Louis isnt built on scoring, which means they could be built to withstand droughts like this. "Youre going to go through stages where youre not scoring, and youre still going to have to win hockey games," Hitchcock said. "If youve got to win for a week or 10 days, youve got to win 1-0, 2-1, youve got to do it until you get back engaged where youre going to score again." Until then, the Blues are happy to talk about -- and execute on -- checking well and frustrating opponents in the process. .com) - Thursday marks the official debut of a new dirt racing surface at Meydan Racecourse. . Modin, 36, tallied seven goals and three assists in 36 games with the Thrashers this season. The Sundsvall, Sweden, native has posted 232 goals and 230 assists in 894 career NHL games with Toronto, Tampa Bay, Columbus, Los Angeles and Atlanta and has appeared in 57 post-season contests, helping the Lightning capture the 2004 Stanley Cup Championship.Last May, the NBAs Detroit Pistons signed head coach Stan Van Gundy to a five-year contract reportedly worth $7 million per season. And the Pistons havent qualified for the NBA playoffs since 2008-09. And while all coaches are grateful for the money they earn, the National Hockey League by comparison remains well behind the other major sports. Salaries for coaches and general managers in the NHL have always been managed by supply and demand - and the supply always seems to exceed the demand. Rookie coaches and the unemployed have very little leverage, so depending on the market, the owner and the position of the club, theres a significant difference from top to bottom on the salary scale. Some NHL teams insist on confidentiality clauses which forbids coaches from sharing salary information. But to some degree, word still filters from one bench to another. However, not all coaches understand the importance of sharing, which has also contributed to the relative slow growth of standard coaching contracts. That said, Mike Babcock can come up with a number of reasons to stay in Detroit - an organization thats treated him and his family incredibly well over the years. But beyond seeking the best opportunity to win another Stanley Cup, Babcock has earned the right to investigate what the market will pay and perhaps the veteran coach also feels some responsibility to push the benchmark as high as he can for those who follow. The NHL Coaches Association would one day love to see a level of compensation that is relative to annual salary cap increases. Thats not likely to happen, so work will continue on other forms of compensation the league might consider. George Kingston, past president for the NHLCA, is expected to be meet with deputy commissioner Bill Daly next week to further discuss the need for a better pension plan and medical benefits for all non-playing team personnel. While improvements have been made in these areas over the years, coaches, assiistant and associate coaches along with team training and equipment staff are deserving of more. . Some believe that off-ice leadership positions in the NHL are seriously undervalued. Mike Babcock cant change that with the stroke of a pen, but he might be able to move the line a bit. Greening hoping for greener pastures Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray is hoping to dump a contract while doing Colin Greening a favour in the process. Earlier this week, Murray sent a memo to all NHL GMs offering Greening up for trade. Greenings availability has been widely known since the start of the season, but Murrays memo kicks his interest in moving the 28-year-old forward up a notch. Its believed the Senators would be happy with a mid-to-late round draft pick, but moving Greenings contract (which includes the remainder of this season at $2 million, plus $2.75 million next year and $3.2 million in the final year of the deal) is going to be tough. Murray may also want to move some money to bolster a budget that takes a hit by owing former head coach Paul MacLean approximately $2.5 million on the remainder of his contract. Morin on the move? Chicagos Jeremy Morin remains in Rockford on an American Hockey League conditioning stint. Morin was assigned to the IceHogs on Tuesday after an extended stay in the Blackhawks press box. Theres trade interest in Morin (a second-round pick in 2009), with Pittsburgh and Montreal believed to be among the teams intrigued by the possibility. He has been used sparingly by Hawks coach Joel Quenneville, but is young enough that the potential of him developing into a productive top nine winger is reason to consider such a move. Its unclear as to what Chicago wants in return for Morin, but one team has suggested that a prospect might get a deal done. Tune in on Tuesday for the latest on the NHL news and trade front with the latest edition of Insider Trading on SportsCentre and TSN.ca. ' ' '