Color these Ray Bourque fans loyal

What's the hottest-selling sports jersey in Boston? Got to be Pedro Martinez, right?

Wrong.

The fastest-selling item is ... a Ray Bourque Colorado Avalanche sweater. Despite asking the Bruins to trade him after 20 years to a team capable of winning the Stanley Cup, Bourque retains an extremely loyal and extremely large New England fan base.

So large is Bourque's fandom that ABC is ignoring normal geographical considerations and pumping Colorado playoff games into Boston.

WRONG ST. PETE: The International Ice Hockey Federation intentionally scheduled its world championships for late April and early May to attract players whose NHL teams were eliminated from the playoffs.

One problem: The tournament is being held in St. Petersburg, Russia, a city not attractive to players already weary of dead-in-the-winter trips to Edmonton and Calgary. Sure, there's no snow on the ground, but the beaches aren't so great now, either.

The USA national team, for example, could talk only a dozen or so USA-born NHL players into playing, with others rejecting the chance to play primarily because they didn't want to go to Russia.

NO MORE NO GOALS: Trying to avoid yet another no-goal controversy, the NHL sent a memo to all playoff replay and off-ice officials instructing them to make sure nets are free of holes and in-net cameras are working for every game.

The league was embarrassed when a shot by John LeClair of the Flyers entered the side of the net in Game 2 of the series against Buffalo. The goal tied the game and the Flyers went on to win 2-1.