Matchups are a big deal in hockey and one of that will bear watching in the next few months is the value of the Canadian dollar versus its American counterpart.

The loonie has been slipping in value against the greenback for the last few months. After basically being on par with the U.S. dollar for the last couple of years, the loonie has dropped into the 94-cent range recently.

The Canadian dollar hit $1.0707 Wednesday, its lowest value since May, 2010. It hasn't been on a par with the U.S. dollar in 10 months or so as any snowbird has been getting ready for their flight south can tell you.

Some economists are forecasting a further slide for our currency.

U.S. investment banker Goldman Sachs is predicting the Canadian dollar will fall to the 88-cent range next year.

Commodity prices are lower and concerns about the U.S. debt crisis have eased somewhat, putting downward pressure on our buck.

That's good news for Canadian manufacturers, whose goods are cheaper in the U.S., but bad news for the snowbirds and the NHL.

The slip in the Canadian dollar is significant because a good deal of the growth in NHL revenues over the last three or four years can be credited to the increasing value of the Canadian dollar.

The seven Canadian franchises have done way more than their share when it comes to increasing revenues and driving up the salary cap, which is a function of hockey-related revenue. Some of the most expensive seats in the NHL are in Canadian rinks, which, with the exception of the Ottawa Senators, have pretty much been sold out since the end of the 2005 lockout.

Fifteen years or so ago, the weakness of the Canadian dollar -- which was trading in the 64-cent range almost exactly 12 years ago -- had put some Canadian franchises in peril. Remember when there was concern over the future of the Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers? The business was so bad, they couldn't even find a Canadian taker to buy the Montreal Canadiens.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman championed the Canadian Currency Assistance Plan to subsidize the smaller market Canadian teams and help them deal with the disparity in the currencies.

Nobody thinks it's going to get that bad again, but it is interesting to note the impact of the Canadian dollar losing, say 12% of its value versus its American counterpart. It's going to put a drag on the growth of the revenue pie and not just for the Canadian teams.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly confirmed to NHL Saturday the league's new $5.2 billion television deal with Rogers Communications for the national rights in Canada will be paid in Canadian dollars -- all the NHL's national deals in Canada are done that way, he said -- so if the loonie loses another 5% in value, well, do the math.

HEAR AND THERE: With the New York Islanders having lost eight in a row, there are rumblings Isles coach Jack Capuano is on the hot seat. Speculation -- as it would be in any similar situation -- would have former Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss Guy Boucher as a leading candidate to replace him. Any such speculation would be putting the blame on the wrong guy since it was GM Garth Snow who traded away Matt Moulson and draft picks for Thomas Vanek, who has four goals in 13 games since the deal. What's harder to ascertain is what effect on chemistry the departure of the popular Moulson -- a good friend of Islanders captain John Tavares -- has had on the team. Stay tuned ...

THE BUZZ: You can't underestimate what the addition of forward Brandon Prust has meant to the Montreal Canadiens. The scrappy winger has helped make everybody on that team play bigger. He earned respect Thursday night. After getting slammed into the boards from behind by Boston Bruins rookie defenceman Dougie Hamilton, he scrapped with Bruins enforcer Shawn Thornton even though it was at the end of a shift ... Another example of players being their own worst enemies when it comes to player safety: Minnesota's Zenon Konopka got hit in the eye with a puck Friday, tried to come back, but couldn't take a pass. "Talking to the eye doctor, he said how hard I got hit and where, I was lucky I didn't have permanent damage," he said. "My eye couldn't focus. I was like, 'I can't see,' so I wasn't happy. You take a lot of things for granted and eyesight's one of them." So, of course after that near miss, he'll wear a visor, right? Nope. "So many years not wearing one, I just don't like it," he said.

JUST WONDERING: Is there a more suitable name in the NHL right now than the Minnesota Wild? They have won five of their last seven games with a winning goal scored in the final five minutes of regulation time.

JUST SAYING: Seeing the stats about players with the most points in their first 500 NHL games -- Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby played his 500th game the other night and has 706 points -- it's hard not to be totally in awe of what Wayne Gretzky did: 1,186 points in his first 500 NHL games. I know the game was different, I know the goalies wore pads stuffed with deerhair and a butterfly was something a caterpillar turned into back then. Still, wow.

THE LAST WORD: If Team Canada executive director Steve Yzerman needs some more scouts for Canada's Olympic team, San Jose Sharks forwards Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski aren't short on goaltender evaluations. Their take on Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury after Thursday night's meeting: "I don't think Fleury was that good tonight," said Couture. "He gave up a lot of rebounds and a lot of shots. He looked shaky." Said Pavelski: "He was fighting it all night. It felt like we could have had five (goals)." The two teams play again March 6 in San Jose, in case you were wondering.

GETTING TECHNICAL

A look at what makes a hockey team work ... or doesn't.

When you look at the Montreal Canadiens recent streak -- they are 8-0-1 in their last nine and moved into first place in the Atlantic Division with Thursday's win over the Boston Bruins -- it's easy to say goaltender Carey Price (winner of his last six starts with a 1.67 goals-against average and .945 save percentage) and forward Max Pacioretty (nine goals, including three game winners in his last nine games) are big reasons why. You wouldn't be wrong. But a big factor has been the return of defenceman Alexei Emelin, who missed the first couple of months of the season as he recovered from a torn ACL suffered last spring against the Bruins. Emelin's return has solidified the Canadiens defence as he has moved into the second pair with Josh Gorges. His strong play has allowed Canadiens coach Michel Therrien to keep Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban together on the top pair and they have become one of the best -- if not the best -- two-way combo in the league. They have been shutting down the likes of Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby while fuelling the Habs' power play, ranked fifth in the league, at the other end of the ice.

AMBULANCE CHASING

Injuries that are or could have a big impact.

The number of players who were at least questionable to play for their teams going into Thursday night's games hit 100, including about 40 on the injured reserve list, according to NHL game notes and various media reports. The peak for last season, as tracked by NHL Saturday, was 127 in the season compressed by the NHL lockout. There were only two teams who went into Thursday's games with no injuries to report: the New York Rangers and the Ottawa Senators. The teams reporting the most injuries were Tampa Bay Lightning with nine and the Pittsburgh Penguins with seven. That's a lot of money going out the door for injured players; whether they are on the roster or counting against the cap, they still have to be paid. That's about a quarter of a billion dollars in hockey players (based on annual average salary) in the training room.

BEST SEATS

A look at your best bet for quality viewing in the upcoming NHL week:

Saturday

Pittsburgh at Boston

A rematch of last spring's Eastern Conference final with the Bruins trying to get back to top spot in the Atlantic Division and the Penguins ruling the Metropolitan. The teams have split their first two games this season, each team winning at home.

Tuesday

Chicago at Dallas

This might be an interesting return match after Dallas forward Antoine Roussel had a scrap with Chicago's Andrew Shaw, elbowed 'Hawks captain Jonathan Toews and taunted the Chicago crowd after scoring on a penalty shot. Talk about poking the bear.

TOP 5

The New York Rangers made goaltender Henrik Lundqvist a richer man (some guys have all the luck, huh?) with a seven-year, $59.5 million contract extension this week, making him the best-paid goaltender in the game. Starting next season he will carry an $8.5 million cap hit, up from his current cap hit of $6.8 million. He will surpass Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins and Pekke Rinne of the Nashville Predators, currently with cap hits of $7 million each, for the top cap hit for a 'tender in the NHL. They are all fine goaltenders, but who are the good deals right now in the changing landscape?

Here's a look at the top five bargains in the NHL in terms of their cap hit this season and, in some cases, moving forward:

5. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks, $2.7 million: The reigning Stanley Cup champion is a huge bargain at his current cap hit. His extension will kick in next season and boost his cap number to $6 million, but if he continues to play at his current level, even that $6 million figure is going to look good over the longer term.

4. Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightning, $2.3 million: The lanky 27-year-old has found his game this season since turning pro out of the University of Maine in 2007. A small sample size (just 66 career games), but with 14 wins this season and a .932 save percentage he's trending in the right direction. He's got another year to go on this deal, too.

3. Steve Mason, Philadelphia Flyers, $1.5 million: The former rookie of the year is bouncing back after losing his game with the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets a couple of years ago and seeing his save percentage dip to .894 in 2011-12. It doesn't look like he will be as good a bargain next year when he is a restricted free agent.

2. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings, $5.8 million: The Kings benefited from the old rules, front-loading his deal which runs through 2023. While Quick makes $7 million for the next seven years, it falls off after that, lowering his cap hit. In light of where the cap is going in the next few years Quick's deal is looking pretty good.

1. Josh Harding, Minnesota Wild, $1.9 million: Probably the best story in the NHL this season, Harding is leading the league in goals-against average (1.52) and is third in save percentage (.935) while coping with multiple sclerosis. He has allowed two goals or less in 19 of the 23 games he's played this season. He makes $1.9 million again next year.

GO FIGURE

14

Whether because of injury or poor performance, that's the number of NHL teams that have already used three goaltenders in at least one game this season. The Washington Capitals and the Los Angeles Kings both used their third goaltender this week with the Caps tabbing Philipp Grubauer and the Kings dressing Martin Jones to give Ben Scrivens a break, who's been subbing for the injured Jonathan Quick.

161

The number of blocked shots and hits combined to lead the league by New York Islanders forward Matt Martin. He leads the league with 137 hits and has added another 24 blocked shots to lead the way in our "Block and Blue" award for guys who get in the way in more ways than one. Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Nicklas Grossmann is next with 75 hits and 72 blocked shots for a total of 147.

10

That's the number of regulation wins for the Buffalo Sabres in the 59 games since Lindy Ruff was fired as coach and replaced by Ron Rolston behind the bench, since been dismissed and replaced by Ted Nolan. That stat comes courtesy of Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. After Thursday night's loss to the New York Rangers, the Sabres are 2-6-1 under Nolan and have scored two goals or less in all but Nolan's first game back behind the bench.

11

The number of goals Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler has scored on the road this season to lead the league. Scoring goals on the road is a greater challenge given the opposing coach gets the chance to often have the matchup he wants against the visitors. Kesler has scored just three of his 14 goals at home. Next best is Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks with 10 of his 16 goals scored away from the Windy City.

chris.stevenson@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/CJ_Stevenson