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September 28, 2009
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
Minnesota
NEVER HAS there been so much uncertainty heading into a Wild season. When Jacques Lemaire was coaching, his defensive system at least assured that Minnesota would be competitive. But after an eventful off-season, the Wild enters with a new coach, Todd Richards, vowing a more attacking style; a new GM, Chuck Fletcher, vowing to be more aggressive; and, a new – and hopefully healthy – game-breaker, Martin Havlat, whom fans hope can make them forget all about Marian Gaborik. There are sure to be growing pains as the Wild transitions to a different style of play. “I’m sure we’ll be more in synch the second half of the year than we are the first half,” Fletcher said. Havlat has a history of injuries, but he was in good health last year and led Chicago…
San Jose
SHARKS COACH Todd McLellan doesn’t hide the fact that one of his goals in his second season behind the San Jose bench is to instill some much-needed mental toughness in his troops. “Skill-wise and system-wise, we’re close to where we need to be,” McLellan said. “The mental toughness that exists in that dressing room from Day 1 to the playoffs has to get stronger.” Part of that means changing the team’s culture and one way McLellan hoped to accomplish that was by taking the ‘C’ off Patrick Marleau’s jersey and the ‘A’ off Joe Thornton’s. Training camp, McLellan said, would dictate who fills those roles going forward. On the ice, McLellan plans to stick with the shoot-the-puck, crash-the-net style of play that enabled the Sharks to finish the 2008-09 season with 117 points…
Calgary
DEFENSE WINS championships – and that’s the recipe for the Flames. Stanley Cup hopes abound, but a big step will be simply to win a playoff series, which the team hasn’t done since its remarkable 2004 post-season run. The biggest focus for new coach Brent Sutter will be to cut down quality scoring chances against; the addition of Jay Bouwmeester to a blueline crew that includes Robyn Regehr and Dion Phaneuf will go a long way towards that goal. Last season, Calgary was the worst defensive team to make the playoffs – a major plummet from being the league’s No. 1 defensive team immediately after the lockout. For a squad that has been a perennial Stanley Cup hopeful – but ends up first-round fodder – it’ll be a big turnaround. Sutter will…
A MATTER OF PRIDE
DESPITE PANICKED BLEATING a few years ago of an imminent demise, Canada remains the world’s pre-eminent hockey nation. Its teams continue to win more than its share of international championships – men’s, women’s, junior and sledge – and its teenagers still comprise more than half of each NHL draft class. Invariably, at all of these tournaments, Canada is the team to beat. Sure, it niggles that none of the country’s six big-league franchises have captured the Stanley Cup for 16 years and counting. It’s a curious drought that will extend to disheartening if it doesn’t end in the next few years, assuming Calgary and Edmonton get proposed new buildings. If that transpires, it’ll mean none of the six rinks that house the Canadian clubs will have direct ties to a Cup champ. Vancouver,…
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