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Q: Has a coach ever won Coach of the Year without starting the year as the team's coach? If so, what is the fewest number of games coached before winning the award?

Paul Morosin, Hamilton, Ontario

MOLINARI: Presumably your question was inspired by the Penguins' remarkable 9-1-1 record since Dan Bylsma replaced Michel Therrien as coach Feb. 15, although it's probably a bit of a reach to suggest that he'll be a factor in next month's voting for the Jack Adams Trophy. (Then again, if he can defy logic and the odds and get the Penguins to pick up 19 of every possible 22 points for the rest of the season, anything is possible.

Bruce Boudreau did it in Washington when he replaced Glen Hanlon last season and, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, only one other has won the Adams when he didn't start the season behind his team's bench. That distinction belongs to Bill Barber, who replaced Craig Ramsey in Philadelphia 28 games into the 2000-01 season and compiled a 31-16-7 record the rest of the way.

Q: If the salary cap goes down, what happens to players already under contract? Do their salaries move back by the same percentage, or is that only if they end up being above the 20 percent threshold? Can a player and club renegotiate a contract at any time?

Nick Carter, Cook Islands

MOLINARI: Even if the salary-cap ceiling drops, as it seems almost certain to do for the 2010-11 season because of the ongoing economic crisis, a player's salary does not change unless it is high enough to consume more than 20 percent of his team's cap space. (Per the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, no player can earn more than one-fifth of the total his team is allowed to spend.) Also, the CBA does not allow for contracts to be renegotiated. Not at any time, not for any reason. Not if it's the player who wants to do it, and not if it's the club's idea. If there is a loophole in that part of the labor deal, no one has found it yet.

Q: During a game at the Verizon Center, when the Capitals kill off a penalty, the public-address announcer will say, "Capitals, full strength." Do you think this is fair? They do not announce anything when the visitors return to full strength.

Ray Dicaprio, South Side

MOLINARI: That kind of announcement isn't unique to the arena in Washington. It happens in a few markets, usually non-traditional ones where, presumably, team officials feel that a significant segment of the crowd would benefit from having that information relayed to it. It's hard to imagine the announcement is of any great value to the Capitals; if anything, it might help the opponents, in the unlikely event that everyone on the ice (and the bench) lost track of when their power play would be ending, thus leaving them vulnerable to giving up a breakaway when the Washington player leaves the penalty box.