21.   Other top Colorado defensemen are Rob Blake, acquired in a trade from Los Angeles, and Adam Foote, a veteran from the Quebec era.

22.   Paul has a real good shot at making the team as one of the top six defensemen.

23.   Rookie defenseman Daniel Tjarnqvist, one of seven Thrashers at the World Championships in Sweden, was named the top defenseman in the tournament. . . .

24.   So the next job will be to lure more first-line forwards and top defensemen.

25.   The Canucks received some bad news when top scoring defenseman Adrian Aucoin was lost for five weeks with a sliced tendon on the middle finger of his right hand.

26.   The Oilers are searching for a top defenseman.

27.   The top four scoring defensemen in the league, in fact, either were traded from the Kings or were acquired in deals that reaped Kings draft picks.

28.   The Wildcats lost Hobey Baker Award winner Jason Krog and maybe more important, three of their top defenseman.

29.   Top defenseman Calle Johannson is done for the season, following surgery last week to repair a torn rotator cuff.

30.   Paul Coffey, playing far below the level that made him one of the top defensemen in NHL history, was waived Tuesday by Boston.