'The board has no interest in expanding or relocating right now, but they are aware of the interest,' NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said after the first day of the NHL board of governors meeting. 'The board has no interest in expanding or relocating right now, but they are aware of the interest,' NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said after the first day of the NHL board of governors meeting. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

HNIC's senior online reporter Tim Wharnsby dishes out the latest news, buzz and inside information in the hockey world.

1. Same old Canadian content

Before we all get carried away that the NHL will relocate a franchise or will add an expansion team in Quebec City, Winnipeg, a second team in Toronto or southern Ontario, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman repeated a remark on Tuesday evening that he has made often since the 2004-05 lockout.

"The board has no interest in expanding or relocating right now, but they are aware of the interest," Bettman said after the first day of the NHL board of governors meeting.

2. Off to Europe

The NHL confirmed at the board of governors meeting that six teams will travel to Europe to begin the regular season next fall, as reported by ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun on Hockey Night In Canada last month.

The teams likely to begin overseas in Helsinki, Stockholm, and possibly Germany are the San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes.

3. Brodeur to tie another record

Last March against Montreal, Martin Brodeur tied Patrick Roy's record victory mark of 551.

When the New Jersey goalie steps on the ice for the Devils home game against Montreal on Wednesday, the 37-year-old Brodeur will play in his 1,029th game, which will match Roy's NHL record of most career appearances by a goalie.

Prior to last season, when Brodeur suffered a long-term elbow injury and was limited to 31 matches, he played in 70 or more games 10 years in a row.

Brodeur will make his 30th appearance of the season on Wednesday. But he's not the league leader in that department, and neither is Calgary's industrious Miikka Kiprusoff.

The games-played leader is Kings netminder Jonathan Quick at 33, followed by Colorado's Craig Anderson at 30. Brodeur, Kiprusoff, Evgeni Nabokov of San Jose and Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov are next with 29 games.

4. Calgary kid could make debut

New York Rangers rookie backup Chad Johnson (who is 1,029 appearances behind Brodeur and Roy) could make his NHL debut against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday.

Johnson hails from Calgary and after four years at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award last spring, he was traded to the Rangers by the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer.

The 23-year-old Johnson relayed a story about his first college game for Alaska-Fairbanks. It was played in one of the more hostile environments in the U.S. College ranks at the University of Minnesota.

Johnson yielded goals to future NHLers Ryan Potulny, Phil Kessel and Blake Wheeler, but managed to make 38 saves to steer his unranked team to a 3-3 tie against the No. 1 Gophers.

5. Six still in Olympic mix

According to St. Louis Fan 590 radio commentator Andy Strickland on Hockey Night In Canada's radio show on Tuesday evening, Blues goalie Chris Mason recently was told by officials that he is still in the mix for the Canadian Olympic team.

The others mentioned by Strickland were Brodeur, Vancouver's Roberto Luongo, Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury, Columbus' Steve Mason and Carolina's Cam Ward.