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.

January 3, 2011

The Hockey News - Jan-03-11

<div class="byline">BY DAVE FREDERICK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03649/9501040-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>WAITING IN THE WINGS</b></p><p><b>Ian Cole used a solid 2010 training camp to make a name for himself with St. Louis.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(DENNIS SIEVERS/PEORIA RIVERMENT)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02811/9501054-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="77" height="89"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he St. Louis Blues</b> were fully aware of the risks involved when they decided to trade up six spots and draft defenseman Ian Cole 18th overall in the 2007 NHL draft.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011164/9501047-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="128" height="128"></div><p>After selecting Erik Johnson with the first overall pick the previous year, Blues management firmly believed the opportunity to obtain another highly skilled defenseman would help solidify their depth at that position for years to come. The potential reward was simply too much to pass up.</p><p>Just three years later, the Blues&rsquo; decision in drafting the Ann Arbor, Mich., native appears to have been the right one. Cole made the most of his first training camp with the team in September and his competitiveness and natural ability forced St. Louis to keep him around until the final roster moves were announced.</p><p>Despite the difficult decision of sending Cole to the American League&rsquo;s Peoria Rivermen, the Blues are con-fident this is the right path for the talented prospect. &ldquo;One of his strengths is his ability to move the puck out of his zone and the neutral zone,&rdquo; said Bill Armstrong, the Blues&rsquo; director of amateur scouting. &ldquo;He puts the puck on the forward&rsquo;s stick. He&rsquo;s a puck-mover. He has the ability to play the power play and is well-rounded with his size and strength. Ian&rsquo;s a two-way defenseman who can play in all situations.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;He puts the puck on the forward&rsquo;s stick. He&rsquo;s a puckmover</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Bill Armstrong, Blues director of amateur scouting</i></b></blockquote><p>At just 21, Cole is already an intimidating presence on the blueline. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound graduate of the U.S. national team development program now must work on finding cohesion in his game that should eventually come with playing quality minutes in the AHL.</p><p>&ldquo;With young players that handle the puck a lot, there&rsquo;s a certain maturity time that takes place,&rdquo; Armstrong said. &ldquo;He needs to find the consistent pattern that he can be at every game. It takes time.</p><p>&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to put a timetable on it. It&rsquo;s just one of those things since it takes defensemen longer to develop.&rdquo;</p><p>After being drafted, Cole joined the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where he played for three seasons. He left school after his junior season to sign with the Blues organization. Cole joined the Rivermen for nine games at the end of last season where he got a taste of the pro game and posted a goal and five points.</p><p>He made strides in Blues training camp this season and left a lasting impression with both the players and management in St. Louis. So much so that Cole had been called up twice and seen action in six games already this season, playing about 14:30 of ice time, killing penalties and getting power play time.</p><p>&ldquo;Being around those kind of players, like David Perron, David Backes, Eric Brewer, Barret Jackman, I learned a ton from them,&rdquo; Cole said. &ldquo;I watched how they prepare. Just watching them in practice every day was great.&rdquo;</p><p>While Cole settled into his first full season as a pro, the Blues wasted no time in asking him to assume a prominent role on the farm team to ensure he&rsquo;d be prepared for full-time NHL duty the future. &ldquo;The team told me to go play big minutes in Peoria, to play in all situations and develop as a player,&rdquo; Cole said.</p><p>But he also knew things were looking good for the future. &ldquo;The last pre-season game I realized I could play in the NHL,&rdquo; Cole said. &ldquo;I can make the smart pass. I know I can play well in this league.</p><p>&ldquo;The NHL would be much faster, but with my solid training camp, I learned I can play in this league and be very successful.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>65 Cole&rsquo;s point total (17 goals, 48 assists) in 111 NCAA games with Notre Dame</b></blockquote><p><b>For more on the future, check out: <a href="http://thn.com/prospects">thn.com/prospects</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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IN THIS ISSUE

On the Path To the Big Time

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02827/9500008-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>THE GOLDEN GAFFE</b></p><p>MARC-ANDRE FLEURY & BRAYDON COBURN</p> <span class="photo-credit">(EUROPHOTO-PEKKA MONONEN/HHOF IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011276/9500015-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="199" height="251"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>B</span>raydon Coburn</b> has strength in numbers in the Philadelphia Flyers dressing room. And when it comes to the 2004 World Junior Championship, he needs all the strength he can get. After all, misery loves company.</p><p>The defenseman was on the most unfortunate end of arguably the biggest gaffe in World Junior Championship history. Current Flyer teammates Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were also Canadian juniors on that fateful day in Helsinki.</p><p>On the other side of the Flyers dressing room is Matt Carle, a defenseman on the American junior team that added a ton of gasoline to the Canada-USA rivalry by winning 4-3 in the Final to take its first-ever WJC gold medal.</p><p>The Canadians entered the third period with a 3-1 lead, one that was almost extended when Ryan Getzlaf was stopped on a breakaway. But USA got two goals back, setting the stage for one of the most bizarre finishes in tournament history. &ldquo;We could hear them hooting and hollering going into the locker room after the second period,&rdquo; Carle said. &ldquo;And we were hanging our heads. I remember our coach telling us, &lsquo;We&rsquo;re going to have to manufacture some goals. They&rsquo;re not all going to be pretty.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Mike Eaves turned out to be downright prescient. Patrick O&rsquo;Sullivan scored a beautiful goal with a wrist shot under the crossbar, then Ryan Kesler tallied to tie it. Which leads us to the fateful play.</p><p>&ldquo;And then that weird play,&rdquo; Carle said. &ldquo;It was a stretch play and &lsquo;Sully&rsquo; (O&rsquo;Sullivan) put it a little too far in front of him and (Marc-Andre) Fleury tried to make a play&hellip;&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;&hellip;and it hit me in the back and went in,&rdquo; Coburn said.</p><p>Carle said he watched the game on the NHL Network during American Thanksgiving and it quite nicely refreshed his memory of the events. Coburn, meanwhile, has never revisited the game on video for fairly obvious reasons. &ldquo;I was there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never really felt the need to relive it.&rdquo;</p><p>Coburn, Richards and Carter lived with the sting of defeat for the next year, but came together again in 2005 to win on American soil in Grand Forks, N.D. Aided by the NHL lockout, Canada was one of the most teams dominant in tournament history.</p><p>&ldquo;That year we had everybody,&rdquo; Coburn said. &ldquo;So, obviously, we had a lot of good players.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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A Big ‘Oops’

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05529/9499429-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="298" height="274"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GREGORY SHAMUS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;<i>How many penalty minutes do I have this year if I&rsquo;m that dirty? I mean, please. Show me all those dirty plays. It&rsquo;s a battle and he falls. I think &lsquo;Dubie&rsquo; has done his fair share of things out there that are questionable. I guess he&rsquo;s talking again. I&rsquo;m not surprised.</i></b><br><b>&ndash; SIDNEY CROSBY RESPONDING TO NEW YORK RANGER BRANDON DUBINSKY, WHO CALLED CROSBY A DIRTY PLAYER AFTER A PERCEIVED SLEWFOOT.</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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HE SAID what!?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021644/9499398-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>CHRIS NEIL</b></p><p><b>BROOKS ORPIK</b></p></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-031050/9499391-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="1066" height="1259"></div><p>For more <b>Top 10s</b> visit <b><a href="http://thehockeynews.com/top10">thehockeynews.com/top10</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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BigHITTERS

<div class="byline">PHOTOGRAPH BY ABEL IMAGES</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012141/9499008-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Save of the Season</b></h2><p><b>Boston&rsquo;s Tim Thomas leaps across his crease to rob Toronto&rsquo;s Francois Beauchemin in overtime Dec. 4.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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THEBIGPICTURE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012166/9499053-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="991" height="630"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JAMIE HODGSON/THN)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021839/9499046-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="291" height="305"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he</b>&nbsp;<b>&ldquo;if you build it,</b> they will come&rdquo; axiom has typically been applied to structures, but also works on a more intangible level in sports. Construct a winner and fans will flock. It&rsquo;s virtually fail-safe.</p><p>Virtually. The Atlanta Thrashers may be in the process of becoming an asterisk, the exception to the rule. Even as they scale the Eastern standings and boast a respectable core, a nucleus that includes our cover boy Dustin Byfuglien, there&rsquo;s persistent chatter they aren&rsquo;t long for Georgia.</p><p>Some reports suggest their likeliest destination is Quebec City, a move gilded with irony. Atlanta, a two-time NHL loser, forfeits its club to a town that could match the feat? Regardless of whether this happens, Quebec (along with Win-nipeg) has become a sexy choice as the league&rsquo;s next landing place, provided the townsfolk can figure out a way to get a new arena erected. Commissioner Gary Bettman has gone on record as saying he&rsquo;s open to the notion and fans in Canada would rejoice over a seventh franchise. Even NHLers embrace the idea; in a survey we conducted a couple months ago, players chose Quebec as their top pick when asked to which city the league should next go. But it begs the question: Does it make sense? What&rsquo;s changed since the Nordiques went to Colorado in 1995 to make us think it would be different this time?</p><p>For starters, the Canadian dollar is healthier. Far healthier. The 65-cent Loonie was a major factor in the Nordiques&rsquo; demise. There&rsquo;s also an expanded corporate base. Quebec isn&rsquo;t Toronto, Montreal or New York, but relative to some other NHL markets it&rsquo;s acceptable, has grown and has a greater innate buy-in for hockey. And the local economy is more stable. In 1995, unemployment was out of control in Quebec; today it&rsquo;s among the lowest in Canada.</p><p>Even with all this in their favor, a team in Quebec City could easily be a money-loser. But chances are, it&rsquo;d lose many millions less per season than the Thrashers, stemming the flow of red ink from a flood to a trickle. With few other attractive options, it&rsquo;s a move to which governors may feel compelled to say &ldquo;oui.&rdquo;</p><p><b>Goodbye, Jim:</b> The Hockey News extends its deep condolences to the family of Buffalo reporter Jim Kelley, a long-time and loyal contributor, who passed away Nov. 30. For more on the essence of a THN favorite, see Eric Duhatschek&rsquo;s reminiscences on pg. 10.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031480/9499039-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="456" height="245"></div><p><b>NEXT</b>&nbsp;<b>ISSUE</b> JANUARY 17, 2011</p><p><b>CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO SUBSCRIBE:</b> <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a></p><p><b>CONTACT US:</b> <a href="mailto:editorial@thehockeynews.com">editorial@thehockeynews.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Quebec Part Deux?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012393/9499115-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN VANBIESBROUCK</b> <span class="photo-credit">(VANBIESBROUCK: DENIS BRODEUR/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>In the last little while, I have been reading articles left, right and center about how hockey isn&rsquo;t working in the Sunbelt.</b></p><p><b>I am a supporter of hockey in South Florida and believe if the Panthers actually put a decent product on the ice, it would give the fans something to cheer about. I remember the year the Panthers marched all the way to the Stanley Cup final and seeing the enthusiasm the fans had.</b></p><p><b>Hopefully GM Dale Tallon can become the franchise savior and make us Panthers fans forget about the laughingstock our team became under the ownership of Alan Cohen.</b></p><p><b><i>Ryan Harder, Saskatoon, Sask.</i></b></p><h2><b>Eye for an Eye</b></h2><p>I am only 12 and have already suffered three concussions in hockey. My worry is how players get away with cheap shots in the NHL.</p><p>What confuses me is the length of suspensions for hits that cause serious injuries.</p><p>Suspensions should be simple to understand: The offending player should be out &ndash; and go without pay &ndash; for the same length as the player he injured. This will make players think twice about dangerous hits.</p><p><i>Sean McDonald, Winnipeg, Man.</i></p><h2><b>Deal Iggy? No Way</b></h2><p>It would be ridiculous if Calgary trades Jarome Iginla.</p><p>&lsquo;Iggy&rsquo; is the heart and soul of the Flames and draws crowds on his own.</p><p>I didn&rsquo;t like the Dion Phaneuf trade because they didn&rsquo;t get any big names in return. If they make that same mistake again, Calgary will be left without a true game-breaker.</p><p>I&rsquo;m 13 and I recognize this, can&rsquo;t GM Darryl Sutter?</p><p><i>Kody Farrow, Dalmeny, Sask.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04615/9499108-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="505" height="688"></div><h2><b>Stammer&rsquo;s no Sid</b></h2><p>The Dec. 6 issue that states Steven Stamkos is &ldquo;The NHL&rsquo;s New Best Player&rdquo; is a joke.</p><p>How can you say the guy is the league&rsquo;s best player when he hasn&rsquo;t competed for a Cup, won an MVP award or even a scoring title?</p><p>The guy can&rsquo;t even compete against Sidney Crosby, who has an Art Ross, Hart Trophy, Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup. And he got all of this before the age of 23.</p><p>I think people have to stop falling in love with a guy who has a lot of talent on a mediocre team at best.</p><p><i>Danny Churchill, Pittsburgh</i></p><h2><b>Honor a Great</b></h2><p>In the midst my Predators broadcast on Nov. 30, I was suddenly inundated with messages letting me know of Jim Kelley&rsquo;s passing.</p><p>His loss is a large one &ndash; for his family, lovers of the game of hockey, those who appreciate great journalism and for all of us who will miss him as a compassionate friend with a tremendous sense of humor.</p><p>Jim deserved to have an ego larger than that of Donald Trump; he had earned that right with all of his accomplishments. Still, he carried himself as he truly was &ndash; someone who enjoyed what he was doing and wasn&rsquo;t going to wait for any accolades.</p><p>I will never forget the class he demonstrated during the 1997 playoffs when he suddenly became a part of the story simply for doing his job. How he maintained a sense of calm continues to amaze me.</p><p>I am hoping his legacy will be honored by the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Perhaps they can honor the best in U.S. hockey journalism with a &ldquo;Jim Kelley Award.&rdquo;</p><p><i>Pete Weber, Nashville Predators</i></p><h2><b>Doesn&rsquo;t Add Up</b></h2><p>The NHL made a mistake keeping Carey Price off the All-Star Game ballot.</p><p>Here is a kid who is said to have one of the toughest jobs in the NHL, but despite that has been playing fantastic and has Montreal near the top of the Eastern Conference.</p><p>And if the ballot is based off of last year, why is Nikolai Khabibulin on there?</p><p><i>David Collins, Cape Breton, N.S.</i></p><h2><b>Broadway Show</b></h2><p>My 10-year-old son Ben and I had the pleasure of meeting former New York Rangers Dave Maloney and Vic Hadfield.</p><p>Dave couldn&rsquo;t have been nicer and Vic is a class act. Even at 70 he&rsquo;s not someone I&rsquo;d want to go into the corner with. If the younger players want to learn how to carry themselves, I can recommend an example.</p><p><i>Ron Wakefield, Southington, Conn.</i></p><h2><b>Spread the Love</b></h2><p>As a long-time Red Wings fan, I was delighted when Detroit was chosen for a Winter Classic game. The Classic has become a marketable product and a great opportunity to showcase NHL talents.</p><p>What annoys me, though, is the over-selling of the Pens-Caps rivalry. One of the 21 teams yet to play outdoors should have had a chance.</p><p><i>Tom Groves, Guildford, U.K.</i></p><h2><b>Looking Sharp</b></h2><p>With all the talk about Sidney Crosby and the red-hot Steven Stamkos, many people are overlooking the performance of Patrick Sharp.</p><p>Sharp is strong at both ends of the ice and his value to the Blackhawks is immense. How is it that we are a quarter through the season and no one is talking about this guy for the Hart?</p><p><i>Kyran Griffiths, Montreal</i></p><p><b>Submit your letter at: <a href="http://THN.COM/LETTERS">thn.com/letters</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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FUN IN THE SUN

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03959/9499146-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="523" height="540"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LIDSTROM: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Nicklas Lidstrom 44%</b></p><p>Dustin Byfuglien 22%</p><p>Kris Letang 11%</p><p>John-Michael Liles 7%</p><p>Zdeno Chara 5%</p><p>Jordan Leopold 3%</p><p>Brent Seabrook 3%</p><p>Dan Boyle 2%</p><p>Ryan Whitney 2%</p><p>Lubomir Visnovsky 1%</p><p><b>Vote on polls from everything top to bottom in the world of hockey at <a href="http://thehockynews.com">thehockynews.com</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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POLLRESULTS

<p><i>What&rsquo;s keeping you up at night, hockey fans?</i></p><p><i>If you&rsquo;ve got a question about the game, send it to columnist Adam Proteau at <a href="http://THN.COM/ASKADAM">THN.com/AskAdam</a></i></p><p><b>Hi Adam. I was wondering, with all the concussions NHL players are suffering, is the same situation happening to college and junior players?</b></p><p><i>Ralph McKenna, Braintree, Mass.</i></p><p>Hi Ralph. Hockey players at all levels, male and female, are experiencing concussions at a higher rate. For example, a recent Ontario Hockey Association-sponsored study monitored players on two unidentified junior teams. It found that, in only 52 games, 17 of 67 players suffered concussions. The word &ldquo;epidemic&rdquo; is being used more frequently by hockey doctors and rightfully so.</p><p><b>Hey Adam. The Canadiens were playing at an elite level in the playoffs last year. Now they are playing at an elite level in the regular season. Are the Canadiens truly an elite team?</b></p><p><i>Vincent Lauzon, Montreal</i></p><p>Hey Vincent. I&rsquo;m not sold on the Habs as Stanley Cup front-runner just yet. I want to see goalie Carey Price perform under sustained playoff pressure before he gets the benefit of my doubt.</p><p><b>Adam, When does Tampa Bay trade for a legitimate No. 1 goalie? They lack a goalie to make them a true contender. What can they offer for Tomas Vokoun? Or do they take a stab at Tim Thomas or Tuukka Rask? What&rsquo;s the most likely scenario?</b></p><p><i>Justin Thomas, Waukesha, Wisc.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012134/9499177-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="583" height="753"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DWAYNE ROLOSON</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ROLOSON: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Justin, First of all, there is no chance the Bruins trade Thomas. They were willing to deal him in the off-season, but with his return to Vezina Trophy form this year, it is very likely Boston GM Peter Chiarelli will hang on to both netminders.</p><p>If I were Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, I wouldn&rsquo;t target Vokoun, as the Panthers will probably demand a fairly high price for his services. Instead, I&rsquo;d rather acquire Dwayne Roloson from the Islanders. He&rsquo;ll come much cheaper and is a UFA after this season.</p><p>Read more <b>&lsquo;Ask Adam&rsquo;</b> every Friday at <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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ASK ADAM

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031224/9499222-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="829" height="532"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Percentage of NHLers who&rsquo;ve sported visors since 1998-99</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>or the first time</b> since THN began compiling visor statistics in 1998-99, the number of NHLers wearing eye protection has plateaued. And a pair of personal stories from two players on opposite sides of the issue sheds light as to why.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04685/9499229-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="122" height="138"></div><p>First, though, the hard numbers: of 647 players polled this year, 59 percent (381) wore a visor, while 41 percent (266) did not. That is the same percentage as our 2009 visor poll. Of course, the overall numbers of visor-wearing players has skyrocketed since 1998-99, when just 15 percent donned a shield, and the percentage had risen each year until now.</p><p>But in talking to current players who have put a visor on, or taken one off, the overall message is clear: players still want the choice. Washington defenseman Tom Poti began wearing a visor this season after sustaining a serious eye injury (and a temporary loss of vision) in the first round of the 2010 playoffs. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m wearing one now, but I don&rsquo;t try and influence anybody,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If another player was telling me what to do, I probably wouldn&rsquo;t have listened. Guys are going to do what they want and they need to make their own decisions.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-05484/9499215-1-eng-US/f0008-052.jpg" title="f0008-05" width="1127" height="1008"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>AGAINST THE GRAIN</b></p><p><b>Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais bucked a recent trend by dumping his visor this year.</b></p><span class="photo-credit">(GOAL LIGHT: ELIOT J. SCHECHTER/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; GERVAIS: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>A former player who suffered one of the more gruesome eye injuries in NHL history feels similarly about visors. &ldquo;I still think it should be the player&rsquo;s choice,&rdquo; said Bryan Berard, who lost most of the vision in his right eye after being clipped by Marian Hossa&rsquo;s stick in 2000. &ldquo;I think (mandatory visors) would lead to other problems, because guys will feel more protected. When you have that visor on, it&rsquo;s easier to hit other guys, because you&rsquo;re not worried about breaking your nose or your face getting hit.</p><p>&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s tough, because I don&rsquo;t want to see guys have to deal with any eye injuries. They&rsquo;re not fun to deal with.&rdquo;</p><p>Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais has made the opposite choice this season, taking off the visor he wore since he joined the NHL in 2005.</p><p>The 26-year-old is fully aware of the risk he&rsquo;s incurring, but feels the comfort of playing without a shield gives him an advantage on the ice. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had a visor for a while and I think wearing one is a good thing,&rdquo; Gervais said. &ldquo;I just wanted to change things up coming into this year, to change a few things and I tried playing without one and felt really comfortable. My mom wasn&rsquo;t too happy about it, but I don&rsquo;t regret my decision. Things happen out there no matter what you do. You just have to hope for the best.&rdquo;</p><p>That said, the scare put into Poti last spring made his decision to protect himself relatively easy. The 33-year-old was hurt in Game 6 of Washington&rsquo;s series against Montreal when a Mike Cammalleri shot deflected off the stick of teammate Shaone Morrisonn and hit him. &ldquo;Until you go through it yourself, you don&rsquo;t know how tough it can be,&rdquo; Poti said. &ldquo;Sometimes I look back and think, &lsquo;How crazy was I to not play with one?&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Added Berard: &ldquo;To be honest, once I did put my visor on, it saved me numerous times from cuts, stitches, sticks or deflected pucks. If I didn&rsquo;t get injured, I probably never would&rsquo;ve put the visor on. I was more comfortable without it, but I wanted to protect the one good eye I had left.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>9 Number of the NHL&rsquo;s top 10 scorers, as of Dec. 10, who wear a visor.</b></blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012283/9499208-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="192" height="339"></div><p><b>172</b> Of the first 400 NHL games played this season 56 were blowouts (decided by four or more goals), putting the league on pace for 172, 31 more than 2009-10<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

Surprise! No Visor Rise

<div class="byline">By Charlie Teljeur</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012051/9499260-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="791" height="891"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0009-01

The Instigator

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-05501/9499291-1-eng-US/f0009-052.jpg" title="f0009-05" width="684" height="656"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GUERIN: PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>+PLUS</b></h2><p><b>BILLY BOWS, LEHTINEN LEAVES</b></p><p><b><i>Bill Guerin</i></b>&nbsp;<i>and Jere Lehtinen turn the page on stellar careers. Guerin won Cups with Jersey and the Pens, while Lehtinen has a ring from Dallas&rsquo; 1999 title.</i></p><h2><b>&ndash;MINUS</b></h2><p><b>PESTS TICK OFF SAINT JOHN CHARITY</b></p><p><i>Quebec League&rsquo;s Sea Dogs forced to cancel Teddy Bear Toss due to bed bug scare.</i></p><h2><b>+PLUS</b></h2><p><b>MAKING HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES</b></p><p><i>Don Hay earns his 500th career Western League victory behind the bench, ranking the Vancouver Giants coach fourth on the all-time &lsquo;Dub&rsquo; list.</i></p><h2><b>&ndash;MINUS</b></h2><p><b>SECOND-PERIOD SNOWMAN</b></p><p><i>The AHL&rsquo;s Syracuse Crunch were lit up for eight second-period goals in a 10-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-05

PLUS MINUS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-07348/9499329-1-eng-US/f0009-072.jpg" title="f0009-07" width="373" height="82"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-06405/9499322-1-eng-US/f0009-062.jpg" title="f0009-06" width="245" height="313"></div><p><b>Oct. 23</b> Tough loss to the Panthers&hellip;we had a bad start to the game but got better as the game went on</p><p><b>Loss 5</b> Bad outcome tonight&hellip;we gotta regroup here and get 2 points tomorrow in Ottawa..need these points.</p><p><b>Loss 7</b> Good effort tonight couldn&rsquo;t get any bounces&hellip;back to work on Monday-gonna be a tough one&hellip;not very happy how I played personally!</p><p><b>Loss 8</b> I don&rsquo;t think there is anything to say anymore&hellip;we worked hard and out-played them&hellip;now we just gotta get our scoring touch back. Like f***</p><p><b>Loss 9</b> Another tight game&hellip;if you allow 2 goals in 2 games and get one point there is nothing to say&hellip;we can&rsquo;t buy a win.</p><p><b>Nov. 15</b> First practice under our new coach was good&hellip;fast pace&hellip;now it&rsquo;s time to execute the new game plan Wednesday.</p><p><b>Loss 11</b> Another loss&hellip;I am sorry but I don&rsquo;t know what I can say anymore.</p><p><b>Nov. 18</b> @jmarra9 I am not apologizing. I know that every single guy in the room hates losing and hates what&rsquo;s going on. it&rsquo;s not just hard on the fans</p><p><b>Nov. 20</b> Let&rsquo;s make this the day we change things around. Heading to the rink now. Hope I can tweet something positive tonight.</p><p><b>Loss 12</b> Wow, the streak continues. I gotta work on my finish. Should have had like 3 goals tonight and a couple last night. good game by DP.</p><p><b>Loss 14</b> Same sh*t different day&hellip;we gotta get a win&hellip;like what the f***&hellip; at least we got a point.</p><p>Follow The Hockey News on Twitter <b><a href="http://twitter.com/thehockeynews">twitter.com/thehockeynews</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-07

twitter

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he measure</b> of Jim Kelley&rsquo;s devotion to his profession can be summed up in one final defining moment. On the morning of the day he passed away at 61 after a valiant 14-month battle with pancreatic cancer, he wrote and filed his final column, detailing the ups and downs of Brian Burke&rsquo;s first two years as GM of the Maple Leafs.</p><p>This was Kelley to the end: A consummate pro who didn&rsquo;t let anything get in the way of the story. He was old school that way. Some, in modern era journalism, endlessly grind agendas. Some insert themselves into the middle of every story. Some feel the need to scream louder than the rest in order to be heard.</p><p>But Jimmy, who began freelancing for THN in the mid-1980s, was none of those things.</p><p>He was a man of great depth; a fair, honest and opinionated chronicler of events, someone who would happily engage anyone in a discussion of his point of view afterwards. He was also a good friend to many of us over the course of a three-decades long career as a hockey writer &ndash; for much of that time with the Buffalo <i>News</i>, until he ventured down a series of Internet and broadcast paths for the final 10 years of his career.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012255/9499360-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="368" height="427"></div><p>He was chosen as the Hockey Hall Of Fame&rsquo;s 2004 winner of the Elmer Ferguson Award, the highest achievement in the industry. Much celebrated for his confrontation with Dominik Hasek in the 1997 playoffs when the Sabres goalie got physical with him &ndash; he was always a bit sheepish that he&rsquo;d gotten into the middle of that story &ndash; Kelley also wrote hard copy about the controversial game-winning goal in the 1999 Stanley Cup final, scored by the Dallas Stars&rsquo; Brett Hull with his skate firmly planted in the crease.</p><p>By the standards of that year&rsquo;s rule interpretations (since greatly relaxed), the controversial goal shouldn&rsquo;t have counted &ndash; and Kelley wouldn&rsquo;t let the NHL off the hook easily with their half-hearted explanation of why the call was OK.</p><p>Much of the technology changed over the course of his career and he kept up with it, the way pros do. Another measure of Kelley&rsquo;s influence, also from the day he died: That same night he was a trending topic on Twitter in Canada, reaching No. 4. I&rsquo;m still trying to figure out if Jimmy would have seen that as a good thing &ndash; or laughed out loud at the outrageousness of it all. Probably both.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

Old School Hall of Famer

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012201/9499502-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="766" height="826"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021727/9499495-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="877" height="643"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>WHO GOT J.R.?</b></p><p><b>Jeremy Roenick endured some painful injuries in his career, one of which involved taking a slapshot in the chops.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(ROENICK BOTH: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>D</span>uring his two</b> decades playing in the NHL, star center Jeremy Roenick was renowned for his colorful quotes, but also for the gruesome injuries he suffered. The 40-year-old recently talked about the five worst injuries of his career:</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-031108/9499488-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="258" height="304"></div><p><b>No.</b>&nbsp;<b>5 The Stupidest Injury I&rsquo;ve Ever Had.</b> It was 1990 and I had a stupid injury &ndash; a real stupid injury that had nothing to do with the game, but it took place at the game. I was sitting on the bench in Vancouver and what I used to always do was take my gloves off and wipe my stick down and dry my hands.</p><p>I took them off and wiped my hands down and unfortunately I put my hand on the bench for some reason and Steve Larmer jumped over the boards and his skate hit me; he stood on my finger and pushed off and cut most of it to where it was hanging off. I had almost the whole top of my finger hanging by just the sliver of the bone. It was disgusting.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04660/9499481-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="523" height="184"></div><p><b>No. 4 In The 1989 Playoffs Getting A Stick In The Mouth.</b> That&rsquo;s when I had that nerve hanging out of my teeth. It was my first playoff game in St. Louis and in the second period, Glen Featherstone and I got into a little &ldquo;F---you!&rdquo; match behind the net; when I went to hit him, he cross-checked me in the mouth. I lost one whole tooth and the other ones got shattered. One of the ones that got shattered, that&rsquo;s where that nerve was literally hanging. It was terrible. And I already had a 15-stitch gash in my nose, because Larmer&rsquo;s skate sliced me right up the side of the nose in the first period. But I came out of the penalty box and tipped in the winning goal.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-05464/9499474-1-eng-US/f0012-052.jpg" title="f0012-05" width="257" height="304"></div><p><b>No. 3 When Derian Hatcher Got My Knee.</b> I tore my posterior cruciate, my interior cruciate and hyper-extended it. He came to hit me and I kind of jumped out of the way and went knee-to-knee. Almost blew it right out of its socket.</p><p><b>No. 2 The First Time I Broke My Jaw in 1999.</b> The first time I broke my jaw, I broke it in four places and broke my thumb a second before I broke my jaw. In one play I got slashed by (Stars defenseman) Craig Ludwig in the hand, broke my thumb, and then had my jaw broken by (Derian) Hatcher a second later. I guess when there&rsquo;s one pain, another pain doesn&rsquo;t bother it. I played 16 days later in Game 7 in St. Louis with that big monster helmet on.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-06378/9499467-1-eng-US/f0012-062.jpg" title="f0012-06" width="257" height="304"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-07312/9499460-1-eng-US/f0012-072.jpg" title="f0012-07" width="257" height="303"></div><p><b>No.</b>&nbsp;<b>1 The Second Time I Broke My Jaw in 2004.</b> I got that slap shot (from Rangers defenseman Boris Mironov) and my jaw broke in 22 places.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">130 <b>Regular season games missed over his career. Roenick also missed 15 playoff games due to injury</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-01

Battered Mouth

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-08263/9499533-1-eng-US/f0012-082.jpg" title="f0012-08" width="499" height="572"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KELLY: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>The Hockey News</b> You&rsquo;ve centered a quality trio with Chris Neil and Jarkko Ruutu for some time. What&rsquo;s at the root of your success?</p><p><b>Chris Kelly</b> They&rsquo;re a bit agitating and I try to keep the game simple and put the puck in good spots where they can get it and play their physical style. I just try to get open. Obviously, both of them can make plays as well. I just try to keep it simple for the most part.</p><p><b>THN</b> You played four American League seasons before finally cracking the NHL; what was paying your dues like?</p><p><b>CK</b> It was a great time. Some guys are ready to make that jump from junior to the NHL. I wasn&rsquo;t one of those. I learned a lot from the minors playing with men, being on your own, just the lifestyle &ndash; it was definitely a good experience and fun times at the same time.</p><p><b>THN</b> Your summer included a big development with the arrival of a baby girl. How are the early stages of fatherhood going?</p><p><b>CK</b> She&rsquo;s been sleeping really well. I don&rsquo;t have too many sleepless nights. My wife&rsquo;s great getting up with the baby, making sure I do get my sleep. It&rsquo;s just been a pleasure to have her around.</p><p><b>THN</b> Can we expect you to go soft now that you&rsquo;re a daddy?</p><p><b>CK</b> I&rsquo;m not really a bad guy on the ice &ndash; I can&rsquo;t be with those two linemates of mine. Someone has to be a nice guy.</p><p>For a video feature on Chris Kelly visit <b><a href="http://thn.com/kelly">thn.com/kelly</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-08

Proud Poppa

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ANTHONY PETRIELLI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011942/9499571-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>2010-11</p><p><b>SIDNEY CROSBY</b></p><p><i>26 home pts</i></p><p><i>22 road pts</i></p> <span class="photo-credit">(CROSBY: GREGORY SHAMUS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>t</b>&nbsp;<b>really is</b> amazing how some players simply can&rsquo;t get it done in certain situations, including top point-producers. Art Ross Trophy winners are pretty consistent game in and game out, but below you&rsquo;ll find some interesting home and away numbers from other NHL scorers over the years.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021356/9499564-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="1508" height="819"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0013-01

Homies and Roadies

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03983/9499609-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="334" height="625"></div><h2><b>Cory Clouston</b></h2><p><i>Coaches Ottawa Senators, whose No. 2 center is married to Carrie Underwood, a famous rich girl.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-04800/9499602-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="334" height="625"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HALL: LAWRENCE LUCIER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Daryl Hall</b></h2><p><i>Half of Hall & Oates, VH1&rsquo;s 99th greatest band of all-time, whose first No. 1 hit was &ldquo;</i>Rich Girl.&rdquo;</p><p><i>Submitted by</i> Adam Chaboyer from Winnipeg, Man.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-03

SEPARATED AT Birth

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-05621/9499640-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="303" height="711"></div><p><b>Dec. 3, 2010</b></p><p class="dropcap"><b><span>P</span>ETERBOROUGH, ONT &ndash; House league hockey coach Greg Walsh was suspended indefinitely after pulling his team off the ice when one of his 16-year-old players was taunted with a racial slur. The offending player and his coaches received three-day suspensions. A Hockey Canada rule for &ldquo;refusing to start play&rdquo; could see Walsh banned for up to a year.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-05

MISCONDUCT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021632/9499671-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>QUITE THE RIDE</b></p><p><b>Toronto&rsquo;s Clarke MacArthur has seen both jackpots and droughts in goal-scoring.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(GRAIGABEL/NHLI VIAGETTYIMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012174/9499678-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="206" height="245"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>hen Toronto Maple Leafs</b> left winger Clarke MacArthur talked to THN for this story, he was in the midst of a goal drought that eventually would stretch to 14 games.</p><p>&ldquo;When times are tough, you just have to dig in,&rdquo; MacArthur said. &ldquo;If you work hard, your chances will come &ndash; maybe not every night, but maybe you&rsquo;ll get a bunch in one game. It all evens out, I think.&rdquo;</p><p>Two days after that interview, MacArthur ended his scoring skid &ndash; with not one, but two goals against the powerful Washington Capitals. And therein is the beauty of playing in the world&rsquo;s top hockey league: the majority of NHL players are in the same boat &ndash; they&rsquo;re either trying to dig in their spurs and hang on to the bucking, unpredictable bull that is a hot streak, or attempting to free themselves from the shackles of a dry spell.</p><p>&ldquo;If you look at it, only a few guys can do it night-in and night-out every year,&rdquo; MacArthur said, referring to truly elite superstars such as Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos and Sidney Crosby. &ldquo;Whatever their secret is, they&rsquo;re not sharing it. But for the rest of the guys, that&rsquo;s the fun of the season &ndash; when you&rsquo;re down, you&rsquo;ve got to fight your way out of it. And you&rsquo;re battling basically the whole year.&rdquo;</p><p>It has been that way forever.</p><p>&ldquo;When things were going bad, I tried to work harder &ndash; shoot more pucks in practice, or stay out a little longer,&rdquo; said St. Louis Blues legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Bernie Federko. &ldquo;But when you get on a roll, it doesn&rsquo;t matter what you do &ndash; things bounce your way. And I don&rsquo;t know whether you call that luck or something else, but when everybody sees you&rsquo;re on a roll, they open up the gates and want to go on that ride with you.&rdquo;</p><p>The Hall of Famer doesn&rsquo;t count himself as one of the more superstitious players in NHL history, but he did hold tight to one crucial tool when fate was smiling on him. &ldquo;Everybody has some idiosyncrasies, especially when things are going good,&rdquo; said Federko, who scored at least 20 goals in all but one of his 13 full NHL seasons and retired with 369 tallies in 1,000 games. &ldquo;If I was doing well, I tried to use the same stick whenever I could; I would re-tape the stick every period, but even if the stick had a few nicks in it, I&rsquo;d use it as long as possible. When practice was going on, I&rsquo;d put that stick away and save it for game time.&rdquo;</p><p>If an NHLer isn&rsquo;t finding the net with regularity, it&rsquo;s also natural for his team-mates to try and nudge him in the right direction. &ldquo;When I had a winger who had trouble scoring, I would get to the point where I&rsquo;d over-pass to him, to get him back on track,&rdquo; Federko said. &ldquo;Guys try and rely on every-one around them for a little help.&rdquo;</p><p>MacArthur cautioned about being too charitable. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re feeling for a guy, so sometimes you&rsquo;re trying to get the puck to him,&rdquo; he said.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;They want to go on that ride with you</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Bernie Federko</i></b></blockquote><p>&ldquo;But that might not be the right play. That can make things so much worse.&rdquo;</p><p>Federko said one of the advantages modern-day NHLers have is the opportunity to go back and study a stretch of games when they were scoring.</p><p>&ldquo;The best players go into slumps for a few games here and there, but they understand the focus must go back to the areas that have made them successful before,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A lot of times you fool yourself into believing you&rsquo;re doing those things when you&rsquo;re really not. But one of the great things players have today that we didn&rsquo;t have is all the video; every team has a video coach you can go to and have them put together a tape of what a player was doing when he was scoring versus what he&rsquo;s doing when he wasn&rsquo;t. You can get a good idea of what you&rsquo;re doing wrong that way.&rdquo;</p><p>So don&rsquo;t get too upset if your favorite player isn&rsquo;t scoring at a regular pace. Ebb and flow is the natural order.</p><p>WANT MORE PROTEAU?</p><p>READ ADAM&rsquo;S BLOG ONLY ON <b><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-02

Boom and Bust

<div class="byline">By Ryan Kennedy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021492/9499709-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">JOHN CARLSON & BRAYDEN SCHENN <span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011943/9499716-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="199" height="251"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span>uch like</b> the legions of Toronto fans who trek down the highway for Sabres games, supporters of Team Canada will be in full throat when their boys take to the ice in Buffalo, site of this year&rsquo;s World Junior Championship. Running from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, the annual classic will be played at HSBC Arena and Niagara University&rsquo;s Dwyer Arena in nearby Lewiston, N.Y.</p><p>With Team USA defending its 2010 gold medal, there is a good deal of intrigue. Will Canada avenge its loss on home ice by repaying the Americans in kind? Can the Russians come together as a team, using their splendid talents to actually accomplish something? And when will Sweden&rsquo;s ascent translate into gold? Here&rsquo;s a primer on all that and more.</p><h2><b>GAMES TO WATCH</b></h2><h3><b>Russia vs. Canada</b></h3><p><b>Dec. 26 @4:00pm</b></p><p>The first game in the Group of Death pool pits hockey&rsquo;s two greatest historical rivals. But if the Russians wave the white flag early, expect more of last year&rsquo;s dysfunction. On the other hand, a loss by Canada puts the Canucks in a tough position going ahead. For a team used to getting a first-round playoff bye, it would make the road to the final much tougher.</p><h3><b>Slovakia vs. Germany</b></h3><p><b>Dec. 27 @7:00pm</b></p><p>The road to relegation begins here. A German victory would ultimately doom Slovakia, which has been trending downward for years. And based on the talent suiting up for Deutschland, it wouldn&rsquo;t be that much of an upset. Norway&rsquo;s tilt against the Czech Republic has similar ramifications and will take place on the same day. Will one or both Baltic teams take a fall?</p><h3><b>Canada vs. Sweden</b></h3><p><b>Dec. 31 @4:00pm</b></p><p>These teams met in two straight gold medal games prior to last year and will be challenging each other for pool position in the final game of the round robin. Even though Sweden has graduated some of its best prospects of late, there&rsquo;s still a lot of talent at every position for the Tre Kronor, so both teams will use this battle as a litmus test heading into the playoffs.</p><h3><b>USA vs. Switzerland</b></h3><p><b>Dec. 31 @8:00pm</b></p><p>The Americans get Finland in their first game, then several matches against teams they will beat handily. The Swiss meet the U.S. at the end of the first round and will at least provide a challenge, assuming goalie Benjamin Conz is on his game. The game will be a nice tune-up for the States and a chance for the Swiss to prove last year was no fluke.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-02

Bordering On War

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021302/9499768-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="333" height="475"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011699/9499775-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="200" height="251"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he</b>&nbsp;<b>members</b> of Team USA are sitting in a circle in their dressing room, basking in victory. Right winger Danny Kristo starts barking a military-style chant, with his teammates responding after every line:</p><p><i>Oh, Mama don&rsquo;t you cry/USA Hockey is do or die. Take a hockey stick in my hand/Go on off to a foreign land. When you said I&rsquo;d be a star/USA Hockey will go real far</i>. <i>Take the Gatorade in your glass/WE JUST KICKED YOUR F---ING ASS!</i></p><p>And with that, the room erupts. That team usurped the mighty Canadians in Saskatoon at the 2010 World Junior Championship and based on the mixture of returning players and new recruits, there&rsquo;s no reason to doubt a repeat by the Americans this year. Confidence, as the song above indicates, has never been a problem for the Americans. Sometimes it was their downfall, particularly in the early years of the national team development program when the U.S. had the talent, but not the coaching to best Canada or European powers such as Sweden. But in Saskatoon, Dean Blais had his troops focused and the University of Nebraska-Omaha coach handled his boys masterfully. In fact, if there&rsquo;s one concern about a U.S. repeat, it&rsquo;s whether new coach Keith Allain (Yale) can channel Blais&rsquo; magic.</p><p>PREDICTION <b>1st</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03930/9499761-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="334" height="215"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JERRY D&rsquo;AMIGO</b></figcaption></div><p>Pressure to win on home ice in Buffalo is obvious, but the American kids are looking forward to it. &ldquo;I was lucky enough to play as an underager at the under-18s in Fargo (N.D.),&rdquo; said goaltender Jack Campbell. &ldquo;Our fans were absolutely crazy; full house, they had the U-S-A chant going. I can&rsquo;t imagine 20,000-plus people chanting and standing in their seats in Buffalo.&rdquo;</p><p>While the scrappy underdog label has served Team USA well, this edition is favored for a reason. Along with Campbell, who stepped in for starter Mike Lee last year to guide the Yanks past Canada in the gold medal game, the U.S. returns key players such as Jerry D&rsquo;Amigo, Ryan Bourque and, potentially, Jeremy Morin. New additions such as Brandon Saad, a power forward slated to be a top-10 pick in the 2011 NHL draft, bolster the offense even further. That the core of the group has already shaken off the boogeyman that was Canada last year is also paramount. After losing a heart-breaker to the Canucks during the round-robin, it would have been easy for the Americans to wilts, but that wasn&rsquo;t their attitude. &ldquo;We were all filled with con-fidence,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Amigo said. &ldquo;We told ourselves, &lsquo;This wasn&rsquo;t going to happen again.&rsquo; We were going to stun the crowd.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04682/9499754-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="1127" height="1514"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>GOLD STANDARD</b></p><p><b>Jack Campbell returns to the crease for Team USA looking for back-to-back gold.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGEST)</span></figcaption></div><p>And stun they did. But now the Americans are expected to win. Campbell noted the U.S. always has a target on its back internationally, but it will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure of a home crowd that is actually cheering them on for once. &ldquo;I think we can handle it,&rdquo; D&rsquo;Amigo said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a challenge &ndash; it&rsquo;s not a long season, it&rsquo;s a short tournament.&rdquo;</p><p>Which means there&rsquo;s little margin for error. Fortunately for Team USA, the three other powerhouse teams are in the other pool (Canada, Russia and Sweden), meaning a bye to the semis is virtually guaranteed. As long as the Americans don&rsquo;t get overcon-fident, a repeat gold medal is well within reach. And afterward, the boys will surely chant again in the dressing room.</p><h2><b>USA PRELIMINARY ROUND SCHEDULE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-05478/9499747-1-eng-US/f0017-052.jpg" title="f0017-05" width="1127" height="334"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0017-02

The Rockets’ Red Glare

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021368/9499827-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="333" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRAYDEN SCHENN</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011822/9499834-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="199" height="251"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>or a while</b> it looked like Canada would enter the 2011 World Junior Championship without a returning forward from last year&rsquo;s silver medal squad. Hockey Canada head scout Kevin Prendergast even said that getting Los Angeles Kings rookie Brayden Schenn for the team would be an &ldquo;early Christmas present.&rdquo;</p><p>Thankfully for Canada, Schenn was all but confirmed by Hanukkah when the youngster was sent back to the Western League&rsquo;s Brandon Wheat Kings by L.A.</p><p>But even with Schenn in the lineup, Canada&rsquo;s squad will look very different from past editions, where marquee names such as John Tavares, Cody Hodgson and Jordan Eberle led the way up front. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how dynamic we&rsquo;ll be,&rdquo; said coach Dave Cameron, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;ll be a deep team, one that can wear other teams down.&rdquo;</p><p>PREDICTION <b>2nd</b></p><p>Prendergast backed up the bench boss. &ldquo;This is going to be a blue-collar team,&rdquo; he said.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03987/9499820-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="334" height="215"></div><p>All of which plays right into Cameron&rsquo;s strength behind the bench. His day job is helming the Ontario League&rsquo;s Mississauga-St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors, the top major junior team in the nation for most of the season. And wouldn&rsquo;t you know it, the Majors are a team without a superstar.</p><p>Mississauga, which also hosts the Memorial Cup this year, has no first round NHL picks on its roster, or a top-20 OHL scorer. What the Majors do have is a commitment to Cameron&rsquo;s system, which praises hard work and hockey smarts. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s definitely going to be intense,&rdquo; said goaltender J.P. Anderson, who plays for Cameron in Mississauga. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to push all four lines, keep the pace high, have guys playing physical and committed to &lsquo;D&rsquo; and paying attention to detail. Those are the main things when you&rsquo;re talking about a Dave Cameron team.&rdquo; The one place Canada is stacked is on defense. Aside from Schenn, the only returnees from 2010 are defensemen Jared Cowen, Ryan Ellis and Calvin de Haan. And while Cowen&rsquo;s impact on the team was limited last year, Cameron was quick to point out that blueliners such as Ellis and P.K. Subban before him improved dramatically once they had a world juniors under their belt. For de Haan, whose tournament was limited to four of six games after he was hit from behind in a game against the Swiss, experience is paramount. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a long process,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s a lot of fun to become family with all the guys; you become a brotherhood.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04668/9499813-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="1127" height="1514"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>RETURNEE ON &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></p><p><b>Ryan Ellis, in his third WJC, is expected to lead Canada&rsquo;s blueline offensively.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>This year in Buffalo, that brotherhood&rsquo;s mission is to wrest the gold medal back from the Americans, who swiped the title from Canada on home ice in Saskatoon, Sask., last year. The fact Buffalo is just across the border from hockey-mad Southern Ontario makes the task a little less daunting. &ldquo;I think it will be almost a home game for us,&rdquo; Cameron said.</p><p>Canada&rsquo;s round-robin opponents include European powers Sweden and Russia and a medal-round rematch with Team USA is cosmically inevitable, so that defensively structured game will be necessary against those elite teams.</p><p>Whether it&rsquo;s enough to win that final game again remains to be seen.</p><h2><b>CANADA PRELIMINARY RD. SCHEDULE</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-05460/9499806-1-eng-US/f0018-052.jpg" title="f0018-05" width="1127" height="334"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0018-02

Cameron’s Kid Canucks

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-021214/9499970-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="593" height="801"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ADAM LARSSONT</b> <span class="photo-credit">(LARSSON: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011615/9499977-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="200" height="251"></div><h2><b>SWEDEN</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>E</span>urope&rsquo;s beacon</b> of junior excellence lately, the Swedes will once again have the talent and depth to challenge for the top. All eyes will be on draft-eligible defenseman Adam Larsson, a po-tential top-3 NHL pick, but he won&rsquo;t be the only jewel in the crown.</p><p>PREDICTION <b>3rd</b></p><p>The Swedes return several key members from last year&rsquo;s bronze medal squad, including defenseman Tim Erixon, who will suit up at the world juniors for a third straight year. Also back is potential captain Anton Lander and crashand-banger Carl Klingberg. Robin Lehner, plying his trade in the American League for Binghamton, gives the Swedes their annual star goalie. Despite losing some top-notch talent to the NHL, Goran Stubb, head of NHL Central Scouting Europe, still thinks the Swedes will be strong. &ldquo;They have guys playing big roles in the Swedish League,&rdquo; he said. Don&rsquo;t be surprised if Sweden crashes the gold medal game at the expense of one of the favorites.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03835/9499963-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="334" height="215"></div><h2><b>RUSSIA</b></h2><p><b>The Russians</b> sulked their way to sixth last year, but a coaching change has the kids singing a different tune: Vladimir Plyuschev is out, Valery Bragin is in. Key returnee Maxim Kitsyn has already sung Bragin&rsquo;s praises and proved his love by helping the Russians stomp the CHL in their first Subway Series title to date. Undrafted left winger Nikita Dvurechensky tied Kitsyn for the scoring lead during the Series and the Russians didn&rsquo;t even have their full complement on hand (of course, it should be noted the Canadians were broken up into three squads). Watch for NHL draftees such as St. Louis Blues first-rounder Vladimir Tarasenko and Washington Capitals pick Evgeny Kuznetsov to join the party in Buffalo. As always, success depends on attitude. &ldquo;The question is the same every year,&rdquo; Stubb said. &ldquo;Will they play as a team or as individuals? If they play for the scouts and spectators, they&rsquo;ll be in trouble.&rdquo;</p><p>PREDICTION <b>4th</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04640/9499956-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="593" height="801"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MAXIM KITSYN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(KITSYN: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-05479/9499949-1-eng-US/f0019-052.jpg" title="f0019-05" width="334" height="215"></div><h2><b>SWITZERLAND</b></h2><p><b>Last year&rsquo;s</b> darlings (sorry, Latvia) have a big rep to live up to now that everyone knows they&rsquo;re coming. The Swiss rode the hot goaltending of Benjamin Conz and the never-say-die attitude and scoring prowess of Nino Niederreiter all the way to the bronze medal game in Saskatoon and both players are back. This time, &lsquo;El Nino&rsquo; will have Portland teammate Sven Bartschi along for the ride and based on the diminutive right winger&rsquo;s offensive numbers in the Dub, he&rsquo;ll be a difference-maker. All-around center Gregory Hofmann and defender Dean Kukan are both looking to impress during their draft year. &ldquo;I think, in a way, they&rsquo;ve passed the Czechs and Slovaks,&rdquo; Stubb said of the Swiss. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve worked hard on their junior program.&rdquo;</p><p>PREDICTION <b>5th</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021139/9499942-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="333" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NINO NIEDERREITER</b> <span class="photo-credit">(NIEDERREITER: AARON BELL)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03814/9499935-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="334" height="215"></div><h2><b>FINLAND</b></h2><p><b>The Finns</b> always seem to be a man short lately. Last year, it was Teemu Pulkkinen and his wrist injury. This year, it may be Mikael Granlund. The Minnesota Wild first-rounder missed a hit in a game earlier this season and concussedhimself on the boards. He went off for the rest of the first period, but came back for the second and third, a mistake that worsened his condition. &ldquo;If they miss him, it&rsquo;s really tough,&rdquo; Stubb said. &ldquo;Without him as a leader and playmaker, they go from going for a medal to just happy to make the playoffs.&rdquo; Pulkkinen&rsquo;s healthy now and Sami Vatanen was leading the Finnish League in scoring by a defenseman and overall plus-minus. Right winger Joonas Donskoi will also be a key contributor, while Calgary pick Joni Ortio returns in net.</p><p>PREDICTION <b>6th</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-08174/9499928-1-eng-US/f0020-082.jpg" title="f0020-08" width="334" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TEEMU PULKKINEN</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-09127/9499921-1-eng-US/f0020-092.jpg" title="f0020-09" width="334" height="215"></div><h2><b>SLOVAKIA</b></h2><p><b>Hot-housing</b> the country&rsquo;s best juniors  on a team that competes in the top men&rsquo;s league was an innovative strategy to jump-start a moribund program, but returns have not been good. The Orange 20 side has been kicked around in the Slovak Extraliga, earning just one point in its first 20 games and getting outscored 95-25. But roster spots were left open for as many as eight CHLers, who traditionally have been the best players for Slovakia. Richard Panik will lead the offense again while Martin Marincin has been a tower of power (and points) from the blueline for Prince George this season. Look for draft-eligible Tomas Jurco, too. Effort will not be an issue with the Slovaks. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll do their darndest to make themselves and their country proud,&rdquo; said one NHL scout.</p><p>PREDICTION <b>7th</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-04560/9499914-1-eng-US/f0020-042.jpg" title="f0020-04" width="333" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARTIN MARINCIN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(MARINCIN: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-05350/9499907-1-eng-US/f0020-052.jpg" title="f0020-05" width="334" height="215"></div><h2><b>GERMANY</b></h2><p><b>The</b>&nbsp;<b>Germans</b> have always played fierce defensive hockey internationally and while the results have been middling, this squad has a chance to make noise. Memorial Cup-winning goal-tender Philipp Grubauer will be between the pipes, just as he was during last year&rsquo;s Division 1A triumph, while fellow CHLers Tom Kuehnhackl and Tobias Rieder (2011 draft eligible) provide offensive punch up front. Big 6-foot-5, 210-pound blueliner Konrad Abeltshauser is a San Jose Sharks pick and led Team Germany with a plus-9 rating in last year&rsquo;s tourney. That the Germans have been working on their junior program is a plus, even if the nation&rsquo;s junior league is still weak. &ldquo;I think Germany will bring some surprises,&rdquo; Stubb said.</p><p>PREDICTION <b>8th</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1096/9499900-1-eng-US/f0020-102.jpg" title="f0020-10" width="334" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PHILIPP GRUBAUER</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1172/9499893-1-eng-US/f0020-112.jpg" title="f0020-11" width="334" height="215"></div><h2><b>NORWAY</b></h2><p><b>Promoted from</b> Division 1B, the Norwegians  will, unfortunately, be without some of the key members of last year&rsquo;s team due to age restrictions.</p><p>But the cupboard isn&rsquo;t entirely bare. Sondre Olden is a 6-foot-4 Toronto Maple Leafs prospect who can score and, like all good underdogs, the Norwegians do have an ace up their sleeve in goaltender Lars Volden, who dazzled at the worlds last year. &ldquo;Volden has played really well this year,&rdquo; Stubb said. &ldquo;If he&rsquo;s hot, Norway can surprise.&rdquo; Avoiding relegation is the first goal and the team has a fighting chance if Volden can steal a game.</p><p>PREDICTION <b>9th</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-06286/9499886-1-eng-US/f0020-062.jpg" title="f0020-06" width="333" height="475"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SONDRE OLDEN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GRUBAUER+OLDEN: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-07238/9499879-1-eng-US/f0020-072.jpg" title="f0020-07" width="334" height="215"></div><h2><b>CZECH REPUBLIC</b></h2><p><b>In</b>&nbsp;<b>2007,</b> the Czech under-18s crashed out of the top rung of the worlds and were embarrassingly relegated. While these aren&rsquo;t the same kids, they are the same generation, one which has been slipping for years. To compound the pain, the Czechs will likely be without top 2011 draft prospects Dmitri Jaskin (knee injury) and David Musil (foot). Politics kept Ottawa 67s goalie Petr Mrazek off the roster, so the Czechs won&rsquo;t even be putting their best foot forward in Buffalo. Halifax power forward Martin Frk, draft eligible in 2012, is one intriguing piece to watch, however.</p><p>PREDICTION <b>10th</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1256/9499872-1-eng-US/f0020-122.jpg" title="f0020-12" width="334" height="475"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARTIN FRK</b> <span class="photo-credit">(FRK: DAVID CONNELL)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-1341/9499865-1-eng-US/f0020-132.jpg" title="f0020-13" width="335" height="215"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0019-02

World Junior Championship Preview

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011463/9500074-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span>ne thing you should know about Marshall Johnston is he&rsquo;s one of those under-appreciated hockey geniuses who works largely in the shadows. He doesn&rsquo;t wear the buttoned-down suits or have the fancy GM haircut, but he&rsquo;s one of those through-and-through hockey guys and among the most astute talent evaluators the game has ever seen. Johnston was instrumental in building the New Jersey Devils into a Stanley Cup champion and the Ottawa Senators into an offensive juggernaut and was director of pro scouting for the Carolina Hurricanes when they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. Still is, in fact.</b></p><p><b>S</b>o it should come as no surprise that eight years ago, Johnston went looking for Braydon Coburn and saw what nobody else could in a 280-pound behemoth named Dustin Byfuglien. What might surprise you was that it was love at first &ndash; and only &ndash; sight.</p><p>Johnston was scouting for the Chicago Blackhawks and the way he tells the story, he was decamped in Portland for a weekend to watch Coburn, whose Winter Hawks were playing Friday and Sunday. With nothing better to do on Saturday, he decided to take a drive to Seattle to watch a Thunderbirds game against Prince George. That&rsquo;s what hockey people do. Without trying to pay attention to anyone in particular, Johnston couldn&rsquo;t keep his eyes off No. 4 for the Cougars.</p><p>&ldquo;I needed a program to find out what his name was, but I didn&rsquo;t need a program to see what he was doing,&rdquo; Johnston recalled. &ldquo;Here is this guy playing forward, playing defense, skating, shooting, handling the puck and he was such a big guy. So we get to the draft in Nashville and it&rsquo;s later on in the (2003) draft and (former Blackhawks GM) Mike Smith was like, &lsquo;Does anybody like anybody?&rsquo; And nobody said anything so I said, &lsquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;ve got a guy I like.&rsquo; So we took him.&rdquo;</p><p>And so began the odyssey of Byfuglien, the most mis-pronounced, misunderstood and, until this season, miscast player in the NHL in a long time. And that&rsquo;s saying something, since he was pretty darn good as a left winger for the Blackhawks in last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup run. But anyone who has seen Byfuglien play this season for the Atlanta Thrashers would have to concede that the big fellow was a defenseman in forward&rsquo;s clothing.</p><p>Byfuglien&rsquo;s mother Cheryl travelled from the hockey-mad northern Minnesota town of Roseau to Atlanta to watch her son play during American Thanksgiving weekend and noted, &ldquo;he looked like he was playing when he was in squirts.&rdquo; Only a lot bigger. Byfuglien was a defenseman all his life until he came to the NHL and was turned into a forward on a Blackhawks team that was looking for size up front. And since, at a glance, Byfuglien didn&rsquo;t exactly scream skill and hockey sense, then-Hawks coach Denis Savard moved him up.</p><p>&ldquo;Denis Savard is a real good friend of mine, a real sharp hockey guy,&rdquo; said Thrashers GM Rick Dudley, who was Chicago&rsquo;s director of player personnel for much of Byfuglien&rsquo;s tenure there. &ldquo;We had arguments about it all the time. After the first year, Denis said, &lsquo;See Duds, he got 19 goals, he&rsquo;s a forward.&rsquo; And I said, &lsquo;Denis, what would you rather have, a 19-goal forward or a 15-goal defenseman?&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>You&rsquo;d rather have Byfuglien as he stands now, the leading scorer among defensemen in mid-December and a guy who was making Dudley&rsquo;s prediction of 15 goals look far too conservative. With 10 goals and 29 points in 28 games, Byfuglien was on pace to score 29 times and notch 85 points this season.</p><p>That Byfuglien has moved back to the blueline and developed into a legitimate Norris Trophy candidate in the first season of his rebirth is due to a confluence of many things, but it all begins with Byfulglien&rsquo;s deceptively high talent level. Dudley claims Byfuglien has a Shea Weber-type shot to go with his superior skating skills and ability to read the play. With the Thrashers, he is paired with Tobias Enstrom, a typical no-maintenance Swede who has an ego level so low he&rsquo;s happy to drop back and sacrifice offence to allow Byfuglien his wild rushes up the ice and risky pinches at the blueline. And in Craig Ramsay, the Thrashers hired the perfect coach for Byfuglien&rsquo;s transition. Ramsay has long served as an assistant coach specializing in working with defensemen and has a long list of players who went from borderline NHLers to millionaires under his tutelage.</p><p>&ldquo;The beauty of Craig is he accepts the fact that some people aren&rsquo;t perfect,&rdquo; Dudley said. &ldquo;As long as they&rsquo;re giving the team more good than bad, he will work with the bad and make it a little better, but he&rsquo;s not going to take away the good.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011408/9500067-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="1127" height="1844"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>TONGUE-TIED</b></p><p><b>Dustin Byfuglien is a man of few words whose play has screamed volumes this year.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>For his part, when Ramsay watched Byfuglien play defense during camp, thoughts of Doug Harvey didn&rsquo;t exactly go dancing through his head. But he and Dudley had made a commitment when Byfuglien was acquired from the Blackhawks over the summer to give him a legitimate shot at the position and if they approached it as an experiment or short-term attempt, it would be doomed to fail.</p><p>&ldquo;I was thinking, &lsquo;Holy cow, he hasn&rsquo;t been playing defense for a while,&rsquo; &rdquo; Ramsay said. &ldquo;His timing was off on his rushes, his gap control wasn&rsquo;t good, he was looking at the puck rather than the man and was caught reaching and pushing for pucks. But he got better because he has such a feel for the game. He knows where the puck is going and he has a tremendous stick. He can pick off passes, he can pokecheck people and once you get into the zone he&rsquo;s such a big body that when he bumps people off the puck, they stay off the puck.&rdquo;</p><p>Byfuglien&rsquo;s play has spoken volumes this season, even if he doesn&rsquo;t. The attention of playing in Chicago and winning the Stanley Cup has certainly helped him come out of his shell, but for public consumption, Byfuglien remains a man of painfully few words.</p><p>&ldquo;He takes on a different persona when there are cameras or media around because I don&rsquo;t think he likes it,&rdquo; said Thrashers captain Andrew Ladd. &ldquo;But you see him walk into the room with Kermit the Frog shoes and a Kermit the Frog lime green hat and you&rsquo;re thinking, &lsquo;Well for a guy who doesn&rsquo;t like that much attention&hellip;&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Perhaps that is part of what has led people to under-estimate him over the years.</p><p>Not only was Byfuglien extremely shy as a child, he was not the least bit interested in anything to do with school. Teachers would work with him 1-on-1 and more than a few suggested he had attention deficit disorder and should be on medication. Byfuglien would always show up for school and nod when the teachers spoke to him, but deep down he had no academic inclination.</p><p>That prevented him from being academically eligible to play high school hockey for the powerhouse Roseau Rams, which prompted him to embark on a journey that saw him leave his hometown at 15 and take a far more circuitous path to the NHL.</p><p>&ldquo;I really wasn&rsquo;t (the academic) type of kid,&rdquo; Byfuglien said. &ldquo;I really loved the outdoors and loved my fishing and hunting. I just kind of went with the flow.&rdquo;</p><p>The Byfuglien grassroots story was well-documented during the Blackhawks&rsquo; run to the Stanley Cup final last year. It centers on Byfuglien and his mother, a woman who drove a forklift at the Polaris factory in Roseau and lived with her son in a trailer behind her parents&rsquo; house. There were stories of renting skates and financial hardship, but also of perseverance.</p><p>Almost all those tales make only a passing reference to Ricky Spencer, Byfuglien&rsquo;s biological father. The story goes that Cheryl left Roseau after high school to work as a hairdresser in St. Cloud and there she met Spencer, a native of Alabama who was on a football scholarship and ran track at St. Cloud State University. Cheryl gave birth to Dustin in 1985 and went back to Roseau four years later after splitting up with Spencer. End of story.</p><p>However, Spencer insists he passed on more than just athletic genes to his son. But goodness, he did have those. Although he dropped out of St. Cloud after one year, he was the defensive freshman of the year on the football team, leading the squad in interceptions and finishing third in tackles. He ran the 100 and 200 in track and had made the baseball team, but quit before the season started. Spencer admits he &ldquo;had a lot of kid in (him)&rdquo; and was forced to grow up quickly after Dustin was born, but resents the fact he has been portrayed as having almost nothing to do with Dustin&rsquo;s success.</p><p>&ldquo;People just portrayed me as a deadbeat nobody,&rdquo; Spencer said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how it got out there that I haven&rsquo;t been a part of his life. I&rsquo;ve been a part of his life since he was born. Moral support, financial support, it was all there. All you have to do is pull up his records and see that child support and everything came right out.&rdquo;</p><p>Since turning pro, Byfuglien has made his off-season home in Minneapolis, where Spencer lives with his wife and Byfuglien&rsquo;s three half-siblings and works as a mechanic at a Caterpillar plant. Byfuglien sees them often and Spencer said that when Byfuglien was younger, he spent a month one summer with his half-sister at Spencer&rsquo;s parents&rsquo; house in Alabama. Spencer and his family were in Chicago for the Stanley Cup final and parade and made it to Roseau for Byfuglien&rsquo;s day with the Cup.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011249/9500060-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="1849" height="1288"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>COMFORT ZONE</b></p><p><b>Moving back to defense has allowed Byfuglien to maximize his underrated skill set.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Cheryl said Spencer would call every Mother&rsquo;s Day to thank her and tell her what a good job he was doing with Dustin. Spencer did keep in touch and would sometimes travel to watch Byfuglien play, but most of the child-rearing responsibilities fell to Cheryl. It was against that backdrop that she made the agonizing decision to let her son go to Chicago to play midget hockey, and essentially abandon any hopes of a high school education, at the tender age of 16.</p><p>&ldquo;I was just saving his life,&rdquo; Cheryl said. &ldquo;He was just getting to that age where boys can get into trouble and I thought, &lsquo;No, we&rsquo;ve got to do something.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Shortly after Byfuglien began playing junior in the Western League, Cheryl became romatically involved with Dale Smedsmo, who operates a sporting goods store in Roseau and is something of a Minnesota legend. A shoulder injury kept him off the 1972 U.S. Olympic team that won a silver medal, but he did go on to play four games in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs and another 110 in the World Hockey Association. As a pro, he developed into a fourth-line intimidator and when he saw teams trying to do the same with Byfuglien, he convinced the young man he could be more than that.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got arthritis in my hands so bad now I can barely move them and I have to run them under warm water in the morning just to get them going,&rdquo; said the 59-year-old Smedsmo. &ldquo;My hands are shot. I probably hurt myself more than the other guy when I hit him. It&rsquo;s not the way to make a living. I see some of the fights in the NHL now and I say, &lsquo;Oh my God.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>It was after a trip to watch Byfuglien play in Prince George that Smedsmo began spreading the word to his family and friends that he would have a long NHL career. What Marshall Johnston saw in his one viewing of Byfuglien, Smedsmo was also seeing.</p><p>&ldquo;I thought to myself, &lsquo;This kid is way better than I anticipated and he&rsquo;s going to go a long way,&rdquo; Smedsmo said. &ldquo;I told all his uncles and his grandfather and the old hockey coaches here, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re going to be surprised. This kid is going to play in the NHL a lot of years.&rsquo; I could tell right away. Of course, that&rsquo;s easy to say now.&rdquo;</p><p>Smedsmo and Dudley were road roommates when they played together for the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA and Smedsmo was one of the first people Dudley called after making the deal with the Blackhawks over the summer. Smedsmo told Dudley that Byfuglien preferred to play defense and Dudley assured Smedsmo that was precisely where he would be skating.</p><p>The move back to the blue-line has undoubtedly brought out the best in Byfuglien. Not only is he thriving, he&rsquo;s playing more than 20 minutes a game and is wearing an &lsquo;A,&rsquo; an indication he has taken another step in his career. Unlike the situation in Chicago, Byfuglien is having responsibility and pressure heaped on him and he has responded brilliantly. He is the kind of player who wants to have the puck at crucial times and craves the opportunity to be a difference-maker. When Byfuglien played forward, he looked dominant at times, but would also go stretches where he wouldn&rsquo;t have much of an impact at all. The consistency of effort and results is much more evident with him playing his natural position.</p><p>&ldquo;To me, it almost seems like he has something to prove,&rdquo; said Ladd, one of four Thrashers who played for the Blackhawks last season. &ldquo;People have doubted him and I think he&rsquo;s really been more intense this year than I&rsquo;ve seen in the past.&rdquo;</p><p>Opening up so much of the ice for Byfuglien has allowed him to fully exploit his underutilized talents. Instead of passing to Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews or dumping the puck into the zone, Byfuglien is getting more chances to carry the puck up ice. The instincts he developed playing forward have allowed him to jump into the rush and his shot from the blueline, Ladd opines, is as hard and heavy as any in the league. His shot was measured at 98 miles per hour at the American League All-Star Game a few years back and there&rsquo;s a good chance he&rsquo;ll get an opportunity to have it clocked again at this year&rsquo;s NHL event. Dudley said he once saw Byfuglien score top corner from center ice in junior hockey and it&rsquo;s nothing for him to fire it over a goalie&rsquo;s glove from the blueline. Of course, that also means it is sometimes up around the ears of his forwards, something that has drawn the ire of center Bryan Little in particular on several occasions.</p><p>&ldquo;Sometimes he scares the hell out of guys,&rdquo; Ladd said.</p><p>&ldquo;I hear about it all the time,&rdquo; Byfuglien said. &ldquo;I just tell them to stick their mouth-guards  in and it will all heal up. I&rsquo;ve stood there, so I know. I&rsquo;ve taken a couple and as long as your mouthguard is in, you&rsquo;re all right.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011423/9500053-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="1574" height="882"></div><p>It&rsquo;s always something with this guy when it comes to being around the net. TSN recently did a funny bit with Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo where they dressed him up to look scholarly and had him recite poetry. Among them was this beauty about Byfuglien:</p><p><i>Human eclipse, rhinoceros hips,</i><br><i>Who will laugh last when I slash your calf?</i><br><i>Bring me peace, make it cease,</i><br><i>Get your big ass out of my crease.</i></p><p>When the Canucks travel to Atlanta to face the Thrashers March 25 in their only meeting this season, there&rsquo;s a good chance Luongo won&rsquo;t have a big No. 33 obstructing his view.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll be standing in any crease anytime soon,&rdquo; Byfuglien said, &ldquo;except my own.&rdquo;</p><p>And on that front, Byfuglien remains a work in progress, but the work is leading to progress. It&rsquo;s interesting to watch a player that large be able to get back into defensive position so quickly and while he certainly isn&rsquo;t a bonecrusher, particularly for a guy of his size, he willingly plays the body in the defensive zone. Ramsay continues to display confidence in Byfuglien and is learning more and more about his skill set with every passing game. With Byfuglien logging so much ice time, he and Enstrom are often out in crucial situations against the opponent&rsquo;s top line and in the Southeast, that means a steady diet of Washington&rsquo;s Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom; Tampa&rsquo;s Steven Stamkos and Martin St-Louis; and Carolina&rsquo;s Eric Staal.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011330/9500046-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="1399" height="925"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>DUSTY TRAIL</b></p><p><b>Byfuglien&rsquo;s teammates show him love, except when his heavy shot goes too high.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t agree with that sometimes,&rdquo; Byfuglien said of the matchups, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve got a job to do and I try to do my best.&rdquo;</p><p>If Byfuglien keeps doing his job, it wouldn&rsquo;t be a stretch at all to see him on Team USA&rsquo;s blueline in the 2014 Olympics if the NHL allows its players to participate.</p><p>Byfuglien will not yet be 29 then, an age where most defensemen just begin entering their primes. And in the short term, why not talk him up for the Norris? Former Blackhawks teammate Duncan Keith, Capital Mike Green and the Kings&rsquo; Drew Doughty &ndash; the three finalists from last season &ndash; might not even make the top three in voting this season and the race for top defenseman honors is more wide open this season than it has been in years.</p><p>To win the Norris would be an enormous validation for Byfuglien, the kid who couldn&rsquo;t stay home to play hockey because he couldn&rsquo;t handle school. Last summer during the parade in Roseau, Byfuglien&rsquo;s eyes welled up as he addressed a crowd of 2,000 at the Roseau Memorial Arena, where Byfuglien would have played if he had been able to suit up for the Rams. It was Stanley&rsquo;s first visit to Roseau, despite the fact native son Neal Broten won the Cup with the New Jersey Devils in 1995.</p><p>&ldquo;When I left, I left with a purpose,&rdquo; Byfuglien said. &ldquo;And every time I went home, I wanted to come home with a better story.&rdquo;</p><p>When it comes to native son Dustin Byfuglien, the stories for the good people of Roseau, Minnesota just keep getting better and better.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-01

TRANSFORMER

<p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen the Atlanta Thrashers opened the season with what&rsquo;s believed to be a record five black players on their roster, it was interpreted in some quarters as an attempt to reach out to the city&rsquo;s sizeable African-American community.</p><p>After all, the 1.4 million who live in the Atlanta area make up about 35 percent of the population, one that has gone largely untapped by the Thrashers.</p><p>Over the summer, Atlanta traded for Dustin Byfuglien and picked up Nigel Dawes on waivers to add to an organization that already had Evander Kane, Johnny Oduya and Anthony Stewart. Dawes has since been relegated to the minors.</p><p>But Thrashers GM Rick Dudley said the result is nothing more than random chance.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s an organization, a coach, a GM who gives a damn what color a guy is,&rdquo; Dudley said. &ldquo;You just want him to play. If that happens to get more people to the games, that&rsquo;s wonderful.&rdquo;</p><p>Dudley points out Byfuglien was acquired because he was a needed component. Oduya was the same last season in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal. Kane was an easy choice at No. 4 overall in 2009 and Dudley drafted Stewart back in 2003 as GM of the Florida Panthers and thought Stewart could contribute if he worked on his conditioning.</p><p>&ldquo;What we have to do is excite the population there with what we&rsquo;re putting on the ice,&rdquo; Dudley said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no different than what we did in Chicago. We put a hell of an exciting team on the ice and people came. And they&rsquo;ll come in Atlanta.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Skill Trumps Ethnic Bonus

<p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Dustin Byfuglien looks at his defense partner on the Atlanta Thrashers, he sees the guy who was taken six picks before he was in the 2003 draft.</p><p>Byfuglien went 245th overall to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2003, a pick so low down the draft list that it doesn&rsquo;t exist anymore. Tobias Enstrom went 239th to the Thrashers, but both have done very well since. Actually, the &rsquo;03 draft had some real quality at the bottom end. You could put the following starting lineup together with players picked after No. 200 in that draft:</p><p>Goal &ndash; Jaroslav Halak (271st to Montreal)</p><p>Defense &ndash; Byfuglien and Enstrom</p><p>Forward &ndash; Joe Pavelski (205th to San Jose), Matt Moulson (263rd to Pittsburgh), Kyle Brodziak (214th to Edmonton)</p><p>But that wouldn&rsquo;t be the best group of starters to go south of 200 in the same draft. Check out the class of NHLers selected in 1994:</p><p>Goal &ndash; Tim Thomas (217th to Quebec)</p><p>Defense &ndash; Kim Johnsson (286th to Rangers), Dick Tarnstrom (272nd to Islanders)</p><p>Forward &ndash; Tomas Holmstrom (257th to Detroit) Steve Sullivan (233rd to New Jersey), Richard Zednik (249th to Washington)</p><p>In fact, the ninth round of that draft turned out to be a treasure trove for goaltending. Aside from Thomas, Johan Hedberg went 218th to Philadelphia, Evgeni Nabokov 219th to San Jose, Tomas Vokoun 226th to Montreal and John Grahame 229th to Boston.</p><p>Missing out on our starting lineup for the lower-than-200s in 1994 were Bill Muckalt (221st to Vancouver), Eric Boulton (234th to Rangers), Tyson Nash (247th to Vancouver) and Sergei Berezin (256th to Toronto).<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

Stars are Born In All Rounds

<div class="byline">BY RYAN DIXON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02988/9500153-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ROMAN HAMRLIK <span class="photo-credit">(HAMRLIK: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011404/9500167-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03743/9500160-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="193" height="129"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>t seems somehow</b> appropriate that a guy nicknamed &lsquo;Hammer&rsquo; reserves a special spot in his soul for heavy metal music. Not that Roman Hamrlik doesn&rsquo;t enjoy quieter endeavors, too. &ldquo;He loved fishing and AC/DC,&rdquo; said Terry Crisp, Hamrlik&rsquo;s first NHL coach with Tampa Bay.</p><p>His need to head bang, at least on one occasion, caused him to butt heads with a strong-minded member of the organization.</p><p>&ldquo;It might have been his first year there, when he had to go to the &lsquo;Young Guns Game,&rsquo; &rdquo; Crisp recalled. &ldquo;I remember him and Phil Esposito, our GM at the time, talking and Roman said, &lsquo;I can&rsquo;t go. I have tickets for the AC/DC concert and I don&rsquo;t want to miss it.&rsquo; You can imagine Phil&rsquo;s answer to that.&rdquo;</p><p>More than 18 years after being the first entry draft selection in Tampa history &ndash; and the first pick of the 1992 draft &ndash; Hamrlik is still going strong. Though, at age 36, his tastes have softened a bit. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m still sticking with Metallica, Disturbed, Papa Roach,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It hasn&rsquo;t changed, but getting older I like Madonna. I went to see Celine Dion with my daughter in Prague, Madonna here in the Bell Centre.&rdquo;</p><p>When he&rsquo;s not nodding his head to dance music at his home rink, he&rsquo;s forcing opposition forwards to keep their heads up and often times it&rsquo;s the other team&rsquo;s best skaters. With Andrei Markov out for the season after re-aggravating a knee injury, Hamrlik &ndash; who missed two games with a knee injury himself to start the season &ndash; and fellow veteran Czech Jaroslav Spacek have once again become Montreal&rsquo;s shutdown pair; just as they were when Markov missed big chunks of last year. Former Canadien Mario Tremblay sees a lot of Hamrlik in his role as an analyst for the French-language sports station RDS. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing against the top lines all the time and with a lot of success,&rdquo; said Tremblay, who was an assistant coach in charge of defense with both the Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils. &ldquo;He knows the game well, he has good positioning in front of the net and he&rsquo;s physical, too. So even if he&rsquo;s 36, because he knows the game so well, that&rsquo;s why he&rsquo;s successful.&rdquo;</p><p>Craig MacTavish was an assistant coach when Hamrlik was with Edmonton in 1999-2000. Now an analyst with TSN, MacTavish cited Hamrlik&rsquo;s diversity as a huge asset. &ldquo;The driver of value for NHL defensemen is minutes and Hammer can eat up a lot of minutes in a lot of situations,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>How those minutes are consumed now as opposed to when he was a rookie has certainly changed. Hamrlik averages just more than 21 minutes a night for the Habs, second only to Josh Gorges. He kills penalties, mans the point on the power play and, through 26 games, was on pace for 46 points, his highest total in 10 years.</p><p>Back when he was an 18-year-old who spoke no English breaking in with the Bolts, Hamrlik&rsquo;s ice time tended to come in large increments, at least according to his old roommate, Marc Bergevin. &ldquo;We used to think he had an oxygen tank because he would take such long shifts,&rdquo; Bergevin chuckled.</p><p>For a number of reasons, that&rsquo;s no longer the case. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re young you can stay there forever and you never get tired,&rdquo; Hamrlik said. &ldquo;Now the game has changed the last four or five years. I try to have short shifts because the legs are getting tired a little bit sooner.&rdquo;</p><p>Hamrlik, who&rsquo;s eligible to become a UFA this July, may not have had the impact expected from a first overall pick, but managed to carve out a very respectable career. &ldquo;Roman was smart enough to realize what made him successful and he adjusted his game to be able to play in the NHL for a long time and be a good player,&rdquo; Bergevin said.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-02

Roman Warrior

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04540/9500198-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="242" height="483"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LAPERRIERE: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>R. Hamrlik</b></p><p><i>1,258</i></p><p><b>I. Laperriere</b></p><p><i>1,083</i></p><p><b>K. Maltby</b></p><p><i>1,072</i></p><p><b>S. Gonchar</b></p><p><i>1,020</i></p><p><b>J. Smith</b></p><p><i>1,008</i></p><p><b>S. Yelle</b></p><p><i>991</i></p><p><b>C. Stillman</b></p><p><i>980</i></p><p><b>A. Aucoin</b></p><p><i>957</i></p><p><b>M. Straka</b></p><p><i>954</i></p><p><b>M. Norstrom</b></p><p><i>903</i></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>46 Roman Hamrlik was on pace for 46 points, his highest total since 2000-01</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0028-04

Draft DIVIDENDS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011239/9500313-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02852/9500306-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03611/9500299-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="782" height="800"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRANDON DUBINSKY</b><span class="photo-credit">(DUBINSKY+KOVALCHUK+AVERY: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>B</b>randonDubinsky has been Mr. Everything for the New York Rangers this season.</p><p>Through 29 games, Dubinsky led the team in goals (12), points (23), power play goals (four) and time on ice among forwards (20:19). &ldquo;I try to be reliable,&rdquo; said Dubinsky, 24. &ldquo;The biggest thing for me this year was trying to stay consistent. Even if I&rsquo;m not scoring, I&rsquo;ve got to make sure I&rsquo;m having a solid game in other areas.&rdquo;</p><p>If he stays healthy, the Anchorage, Alaska native will destroy his previous career highs of 20 goals and 44 points, set last season.</p><p>But Dubinsky isn&rsquo;t just an offensive force. &ldquo;What I love about him is he&rsquo;s as much of a beast defending as he is when he&rsquo;s got the puck,&rdquo; a scout said. &ldquo;You can see he honestly gives a damn out there. He wants to be a leader. And that&rsquo;s something that team has been in short supply of.&rdquo;</p><p>Dubinsky, who doesn&rsquo;t regret clashing with team brass over his salary (and missing part of training camp and the pre-season) two years ago, hopes to avoid a similar situation when he becomes a restricted free agent again this summer.</p><p>Certainly, his strong play will put him in line for a healthy raise from the $2 million he&rsquo;ll earn this year.</p><p>&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want to let the team down, but at the same time, you want what&rsquo;s right for you,&rdquo; Dubinsky said of the contractual squabble. &ldquo;But I think both sides have gotten over it. And at the end of the day, this is the place I want to be and the place I want to play.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04459/9500292-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="753" height="602"></div><h2><b>FOR THE RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05383/9500285-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="327" height="551"></div><p>Through 26 games this season, <b>Ilya Kovalchuk</b> was a teamworst minus-17. But this is nothing new for the Russian sniper: he was a minus player in each of his first seven NHL seasons (all with the Thrashers), averaging a minus-12. His worst was a minus-24 in 2002-03. In nine career playoff games, he&rsquo;s minus-1</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06319/9500278-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="753" height="602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-07253/9500271-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DIPIETRO: MIKE STOBE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Like the rest of the Islanders, goalie <b>Rick DiPietro</b> isn&rsquo;t having a banner season. Through 11 games this year, DiPietro posted a 3.76 goals-against average and .874 save percentage; in the four NHL seasons in which he&rsquo;s played at least 50 games, DiPietro&rsquo;s worst numbers were a 3.02 GAA and .900 save percentage.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-08214/9500264-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-09176/9500257-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="327" height="551"></div><p>After 29 games, left winger <b>Sean Avery</b> had been assessed 103 minutes in penalties &ndash; tops in the NHL. That was also a PIM pace that, if maintained, would blow away Avery&rsquo;s previous career high of 261 in 76 games, set in the 2002-03 campaign with the L.A. Kings. Last season, Avery had just 160 in 69 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-10152/9500250-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-11129/9500243-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RICHARDS: ABELIMAGES/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Mike</b>&nbsp;<b>Richards</b> scored the game-winning goal against New Jersey on Dec. 4, continuing his pattern of success against one of Philadelphia&rsquo;s main Atlantic rivals. The 25-year-old center and team captain is the Flyers&rsquo; active leading scorer against the Devils, with seven goals and 28 points in 36 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-12109/9500236-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1389/9500229-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ASHAM: JAMIE SABAU/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Few players know the Atlantic Division as well as right winger <b>Arron Asham</b>. He is in his first season as a Penguin, but for the past seven years, he has worn the uniform of every team in the Atlantic other than the Rangers. The 32-year-old has played 300 games for the Islanders, 150 for Philadelphia and 77 for New Jersey.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-01

Dubinsky Doing it All

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN DIXON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03712/9500421-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011413/9500428-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02969/9500414-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="658" height="789"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NATHAN HORTON</b><span class="photo-credit">(HORTON+LEE+ARMSTRONG: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>M</b>any North Americans will tell you their winter is made better by moving south to Florida. Nathan Horton is happy to be the exception.</p><p>An off-season trade shifted Horton from sunny Miami up the east coast to Boston and the adjustment to playing in an Original Six city is one the 25-year-old has embraced. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a lot of fun,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely different from what I&rsquo;m used to. I&rsquo;m still trying to get comfortable. But so far it&rsquo;s been good; great bunch of guys, good coach, great training staff, everybody has been unbelievable.&rdquo;</p><p>The Panthers failed to make the playoffs in each of Horton&rsquo;s six seasons there, so landing on a team many believe can hang with the best in the Eastern Conference is a breath of fresh air for the guy picked third overall in the 2003 draft. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s different from Florida,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Just to be here and be part of that (winning environment), it&rsquo;s exciting for me and it&rsquo;s been a lot of fun.&rdquo;</p><p>At times, Horton&rsquo;s up-and-down play was seen as part of the reason the Cats could never quite crack the East&rsquo;s top eight. He now has a tremendous opportunity to make good on his potential, especially when playing on Boston&rsquo;s top trio with David Krejci and Milan Lucic. Through 25 games, Horton was tracking a 30-goal season.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s been what we all expected him to be,&rdquo; Lucic said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got a great shot, he uses his speed and also he&rsquo;s a big body and is not afraid to throw it around.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04528/9500407-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="753" height="602"></div><h2><b>FOR THE RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05407/9500400-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RECCHI: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Mark Recchi</b>, who turns 43 Feb. 1, is on pace to become the oldest player to record 50 points in a season, besting Gordie Howe by two months. Recchi, Nick Lidstrom and Teemu Selanne were all at least 40 on opening night and all have a legitimate shot at 50 points, something that has happened just six times previously.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06339/9500393-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="753" height="602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-07270/9500386-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CONNOLLY: DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Tim</b>&nbsp;<b>Connolly</b> has some pretty sweet hands, but his feet are a different story. The oft-injured Sabres center found a new way to harm himself when he hurt his eye backstage at a charity event. Connolly was attempting to dance like Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal did at the NBA All-Star Game in 2009 and took a tumble in the process.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-08222/9500379-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-09181/9500372-1-eng-US/f0030-092.jpg" title="f0030-09" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DARCHE: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Mathieu</b>&nbsp;<b>Darche</b> has been a valuable contributor for the Habs this season, playing a gritty game and chipping in more offense than expected. Success has been a long time coming for Darche; he&rsquo;s played for five NHL clubs and the 34-year-old has 552 AHL games on his resume, second-most of any current NHLer.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-10156/9500365-1-eng-US/f0030-102.jpg" title="f0030-10" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-11130/9500358-1-eng-US/f0030-112.jpg" title="f0030-11" width="325" height="551"></div><p>Daniel Alfredsson is the NHL&rsquo;s longest-serving captain; until <b>Brian Lee</b> replaced him, that is. After going unclaimed on waivers, Lee suddenly found himself with a &lsquo;C&rsquo; taped on his practice jersey. As part of the gag, the good-natured defenseman skated on a line with Peter Regin and Jason Spezza for a big-time practice &ldquo;promotion.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-12119/9500351-1-eng-US/f0030-122.jpg" title="f0030-12" width="764" height="603"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-13107/9500344-1-eng-US/f0030-132.jpg" title="f0030-13" width="327" height="551"></div><p>He may be a third-liner, but <b>Colby Armstrong</b> clearly impacts the Leafs&rsquo; fortunes. With Armstrong out nursing a broken finger, Toronto went 3-10-3. With him, the Leafs were 7-2-1. Maybe it&rsquo;s because in addition to his toughness on the ice, Armstrong keeps things loose with a great sense of humor in the dressing room.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-03

Warm Front In Boston

<div class="byline">&#x2013; LUKE DECOCK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011294/9500543-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03664/9500536-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02868/9500529-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="660" height="796"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>IAN WHITE</b> <span class="photo-credit">(WHITE: JAMIE SABAU/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>T</b>hroughout his career, Ian White has been a defenseman with a license to roam.</p><p>White entered the NHL with an offensive bent before developing the two-way game to stick. And Carolina is leaning on his defense.</p><p>One of the reasons the Hurricanes acquired White from the Flames in mid-November was they thought he was capable of playing with Joni Pitkanen, who likes to improvise a little bit, to say the least. That makes White the anchor while Pitkanen goes walkabout. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s new for me,&rdquo; White said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been paired with the opposite.&rdquo;</p><p>Given the change in roles, White was still trying to find his footing as the calendar turned to December after struggling on a struggling team in Calgary. In Carolina he plays about two more minutes per night and, at any rate, he&rsquo;s a substantial upgrade over Anton Babchuk, who went the other way in the trade.</p><p>While this kind of assignment usually goes to a bigger player than the 5-foot-10, 200-pound White, his coach is pretty sure he can handle it &ndash; Paul Maurice coached White in the American League and NHL when the two were with Toronto.</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s his game,&rdquo; Maurice said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what you&rsquo;re seeing.</p><p>&ldquo;He reads off a partner really well because he understands the game well and Joni has a different style to his game. He&rsquo;s up the ice an awful lot, he&rsquo;s in motion an awful lot. You need someone who can read that and Ian does a really good job.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04516/9500522-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="753" height="602"></div><h2><b>FOR THE RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05411/9500515-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BOULTON: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Coach Craig Ramsay&rsquo;s penchant for rolling lines meant only one regular, <b>Eric Boulton</b>, averages fewer than 10 minutes of ice time. That helped explain why the Thrashers are the NHL&rsquo;s comeback artists this year &ndash; tops in winning percentage when trailing first in games and in victories when trailing after the second period.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06347/9500508-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="753" height="602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07286/9500501-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STAAL: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>In early December, coach Paul Maurice announced he will forego a permanent set of wingers for scoring leader <b>Eric Staal</b>. Maurice decided instead to match wingers with the big captain depending on the defense pairings expected to check Staal; more brawn for shutdown duos, speed and skill against a puck-moving pair.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-08230/9500494-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-09192/9500487-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(WEISS: ELIOT J. SCHECHTER/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>In a nod to their Jewish fan base, the Cats celebrated Hanukkah by handing out official Florida Panthers yarmulkes to fans Dec. 7. It wasn&rsquo;t all <i>kosher</i>, though. Confusion reigned as to who exactly was eligible for them and the team ran out. As a consolation, <b>Stephen Weiss</b> scored in overtime to secure a 4-3 win versus the Avs.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-10153/9500480-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-11120/9500473-1-eng-US/f0031-112.jpg" title="f0031-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ST. LOUIS: ABELIMAGES/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Who&rsquo;s the best &ldquo;old man&rdquo; in the NHL? How about <b>Marty St-Louis</b>. At 35, he was on pace for 100 points (secondmost in his career and more than his Hart and Art Ross Trophies season of 2003-04) and was set to take the franchise lead in assists. He also led the team in ice time, a feat no other NHL forward can claim.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1290/9500466-1-eng-US/f0031-122.jpg" title="f0031-12" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1374/9500459-1-eng-US/f0031-132.jpg" title="f0031-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CAPS FANS: LEN REDKOLES/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Hoping to &ldquo;tap&rdquo; into a new group of fans, the Caps sponsored a pre-game Single&rsquo;s Night Dec. 9 at a local D.C. establishment. For $20 fans received, &ldquo;drinks (beer and wine), appetizers and ice-breakers to help get to know the others in the room.&rdquo; No word yet on any lasting relationships or newfound fans.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0031-01

Winds Of Change

<div class="byline">BY AARON PORTZLINE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03685/9500574-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK NASH <span class="photo-credit">(NASH: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011388/9500588-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02934/9500581-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="195" height="131"></div><p><b>Blue</b>&nbsp;<b>Jackets coach</b> Scott Arniel pinpointed his biggest challenge with his new club just one week into the season.</p><p>At the first sign of adversity, he saw stooped shoulders on the ice; when the going got rough, glassy eyes on the bench. Even falling behind 1-0 early would prompt the soft shaking of heads expressing a &ldquo;here we go again&rdquo; attitude.</p><p>&ldquo;There has been no other way here,&rdquo; Arniel said of Columbus, which has one playoff berth (2009) and no playoff wins in nine full NHL seasons. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s happened here. They haven&rsquo;t (often) made the playoffs here. Until you turn it around, you have nothing to lean back on (for experience).</p><p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re fighting against. That&rsquo;s what we have to overcome. And we will get there.&rdquo;</p><p>But all is not doom and gloom in Columbus. Far from it.</p><p>The Jackets got off to the best start in franchise history the first two months of the season, battling for the Western Conference lead on the final day of November. They had beaten all four 2010 conference finalists, enjoyed their first ever three-game sweep through California and had held their own in the NHL&rsquo;s toughest division.</p><p>Clearly there is enough talent on the roster to compete.</p><p>Captain Rick Nash, on pace for a 40-goal year, remains one of the NHL&rsquo;s underrated talents. It has looked, at times, as if center Derick Brassard and right winger Jake Voracek were ready to keep pace.</p><p>The Blue Jackets have enjoyed career arrivals and career revivals. Marc Methot has blossomed into the club&rsquo;s top defenseman, while original Jacket Rostislav Klesla owned one of the NHL&rsquo;s top plusminus ratings. Goaltender Steve Mason, while not quite back to his Calder Trophy form, looks better than last year&rsquo;s model. When he has struggled, Mathieu Garon has been steady and, at times, brilliant.</p><p>&ldquo;We know we&rsquo;re a good team,&rdquo; said right winger R.J. Umberger. &ldquo;We can play physical with anybody. We can move the puck up the ice against anybody. Our goalies can play against anybody.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re for real and people are going to start realizing it.&rdquo;</p><p>Arniel and his young staff &ndash; Brad Berry, Bob Boughner and Dan Hinote &ndash; deserve credit for taking the Blue Jackets from a 4x4 plow horse under previous coach Ken Hitchcock to a sleeker, speedier club more fit for today&rsquo;s NHL.</p><p>Still, the biggest gap to fill &ndash; along with a power play quarterback &ndash; is the void of confidence with a handful of Blue Jackets players. Umberger, Antoine Vermette, Sammy Pahlsson, Ethan Moreau, Chris Clark, Mike Commodore and Garon have all enjoyed long playoff runs in their pre-Columbus careers, but surrounding them are young players &ndash; four among the top six forwards and six of the top seven defensemen &ndash; who have yet to experience winning at its highest level. When the heat gets turned up, they tend to melt.</p><p>In several games, especially at home, the Blue Jackets have fallen apart after falling behind early. Following fast starts in games against Detroit and Pittsburgh, they seemed awed by their fellow NHLers and simply unraveled.</p><p>Arniel has had to juggle his lineup on a handful of nights when young players seemed to simply check out. How does the bench boss get them over it?</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s repetition,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Trying to keep them focused, leading them down the right path. That&rsquo;s how they learn, how they become seasoned veterans.</p><p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want this to be a two-year project. I want the lessons we&rsquo;re going through in the first 25 games to not be an issue in the final 57.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-03

Something To Cheer For

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04519/9500619-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="257" height="552"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DAVID VYBORNY</b> <span class="photo-credit">(VYBORNY: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>R. Nash</b></p><p><i>241 goals</i></p><p><b>D. Vyborny</b></p><p><i>204 assists</i></p><p><b>R. Nash</b></p><p><i>442 points</i></p><p><b>R. Klesla</b></p><p><i>129 &lsquo;D&rsquo; points</i></p><p><b>J. Shelley</b></p><p><i>1,025 PIM</i></p><p><b>J. Hejda</b></p><p><i>plus-29</i></p><p><b>M. Denis</b></p><p><i>84 wins</i></p><p><b>M. Garon</b></p><p><i>2.59 GAA</i></p><p><b>R. Tugnutt</b></p><p><i>.910 SP</i></p><p><b>S. Mason</b></p><p><i>16 SO</i></p><blockquote class="pullQuote">.445 <b>Columbus&rsquo; points percentage its first nine seasons. It was .596 this year</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0032-04

GOOD Soldiers

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ROB TYCHKOWSKI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011237/9500734-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03669/9500727-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02850/9500720-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="655" height="800"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ALEX STEEN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(STEEN: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he trees with the best branches always have the best roots. Same goes for self-made point-getters. The best ones start from a solid defensive foundation and expand their game from there.</p><p>In the end, you wind up with a guy like Alex Steen, someone a coach feels confident throwing out there in any situation.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s done a number of tasks for us, from penalty killing to shu-tdown assignments to key offensive situations to the power play,&rdquo; said coach Davis Payne. &ldquo;His ability to fill all those situations, with a certain amount of intensity and work ethic, is a really clear example. You can call it the conscience of a hockey team.&rdquo;</p><p>Steen has paid close attention to both ends of the ice his whole career, which has continually resulted in a longer leash. Players less likely to be scored on usually become a coach&rsquo;s go-to guy, especially when the hands catch up to the head. &ldquo;I take a lot of pride in both sides of the game,&rdquo; the 26-year-old said. &ldquo;As a player you strive to be given more responsibility, you want to be growing as an individual and a player. The Blues organization has helped me do that.</p><p>&ldquo;Playing on a line with B.J. (Crom-been) and Jay (McClement), who both take the same type of pride in the defensive part of the game, helps. We&rsquo;ve found some good chemistry. We&rsquo;re able to balance it out and go on the offense when we get the chances, but the first priority, especially last season, was the defensive side of the game.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04544/9500713-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="753" height="602"></div><h2><b>FOR THE RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05460/9500706-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CRAWFORD: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Backup <b>Corey Crawford</b> is pushing veteran Marty Turco for playing time, posting a better save percentage and goals-against average and putting together a seven-game winning streak (and counting). Turco&rsquo;s SP on the Hawks weak penalty kill is particularly troubling; his .854 mark ranked 48th among NHL netminders.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06402/9500699-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="753" height="602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07337/9500692-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(UMBERGER+WILSON: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>R.</b>&nbsp;<b>J. Umberger</b> doesn&rsquo;t get the same amount of ink as captain Rick Nash, but in some ways he&rsquo;s just as valuable. This season, the 28-year-old leads Jackets forwards in time on ice, plays key minutes on both special teams, was a Columbus-best plus-9 and set a club record by assembling a 10-game scoring streak.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-08271/9500685-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-09218/9500678-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CLEARY: DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Versatile <b>Danny Cleary</b> cites improved health as the key reason he&rsquo;s tracking towards a career year. The Wings player of the month for November, Cleary, who has topped out at 20 goals in a season twice, is on pace for about 40 in 2010-11. Injuries have limited Cleary to an average of 67 games the past three seasons.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-10185/9500671-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-11163/9500664-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="327" height="551"></div><p>Right winger <b>Colin Wilson</b> has improved his game after a rough start to the season and is being rewarded with top-six minutes. The seventh overall pick in 2008 is playing with more of an edge and providing needed offense. The key, as with any young player: can he maintain his confidence and find consistency?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-12145/9500657-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-13120/9500650-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JACKMAN: PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Barret Jackman</b> and Alex Steen spent a recent off-day helping rescue dogs from abandoned homes in St. Louis and found four canines. While Jackman gets a big assist for helping in the community, he wouldn&rsquo;t mind the occasional goal. Through early December, the steady blueliner hadn&rsquo;t scored in 51 straight games.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-01

Becoming Mr. Do-It-All

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MICHAEL RUSSO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03773/9500842-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011404/9500849-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02972/9500835-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="727" height="792"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARTIN HAVLAT</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>t&rsquo;s the Minnesota Wild&rsquo;s version of the chicken and egg theory. Has Martin Havlat&rsquo;s improved play been a by-product of more ice time or has Havlat received more ice time because of his elevated play?</p><p>Whatever the answer, it makes no difference. Havlat&rsquo;s been the Wild&rsquo;s best player since late October, exactly the type of playmaker and, at times, game-changer the Wild expected him to be when he signed a six-year, $30-million contract July 1, 2009.</p><p>Coincidentally or not, Havlat&rsquo;s play picked up precisely the time his agent, Allan Walsh, emailed the Minneapolis <i>Star Tribune</i> with gripes about the Wild&rsquo;s use of his client.</p><p>&ldquo;Marty has been used in a purely secondary role,&rdquo; Walsh wrote.</p><p>In 16 games from Nov. 2 to Dec. 4, Havlat averaged close to 20 minutes a night, scored seven goals and 20 points and tied consecutive games in the third period against Calgary and Dallas to earn the Wild points.</p><p>The run got Havlat back to being a point-a-game player and scoring leader for the offensively deficient team. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if (Walsh&rsquo;s) comments were to try to get me going or to try to get his client going, but it&rsquo;s worked,&rdquo; said coach Todd Richards.</p><p>Havlat&rsquo;s been a force, engaged nightly, shooting more (43 shots during one 10-game stretch) and creating chances with speed and skill. On a team where scoring&rsquo;s a chore, the Wild desperately need Havlat&rsquo;s play to continue. &ldquo;I feel good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to do my best every night to help the team win.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04624/9500828-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="753" height="602"></div><h2><b>FOR THE RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05515/9500821-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(IGINLA: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Jarome Iginla</b> scored his 450th goal Nov. 22 versus the New York Rangers, which places him 10th among players who&rsquo;ve only suited up for one team in their careers. Detroit&rsquo;s Alex Delvecchio is next on the list at 456. Iginla was traded as a prospect from Dallas in December of 1995 for Calgary&rsquo;s Joe Nieuwendyk.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06464/9500814-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="753" height="602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07399/9500807-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="327" height="551"></div><p><b>Chris</b>&nbsp;<b>Stewart</b> (drafted 18th overall in 2006) and brother Anthony (25th in &rsquo;03) have combined for nearly 300 NHL games, but haven&rsquo;t played together on NHL ice. The two were scheduled to square off Nov. 30, but Chris broke his hand in a fight the game before. Anthony scored the OT winner in a 3-2 Thrashers win.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08344/9500800-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09286/9500793-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STEWART+GERBER: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Oilers won three games in a row from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 with a different goaltender in net for each one. <b>Martin Ger</b>-<b>ber</b>, Devan Dubnyk and Nikolai Khabibulin teamed up for the feat. The last time this was achieved in the NHL was in 2003, when Ottawa pulled the trick with Ray Emery, Patrick Lalime and Martin Prusek.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10257/9500786-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11231/9500779-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LEMAIRE: DALE MACMILLAN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Minnesota hasn&rsquo;t made the post-season since 2008 under then-coach <b>Jacques Lemaire.</b> The Wild made the playoffs three times and reached the conference final once under Lemaire, but how would they have done with Dave Tippett? The reigning Jack Adams winner was the runner-up for the coaching position in 2000.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12214/9500772-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-13189/9500765-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="327" height="550"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HAVLAT+LUONGO: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>When <b>Roberto Luongo</b> inevitably passes &lsquo;Tiny&rsquo; Thompson for No. 30 on the all-time wins list, he will join Dan Bouchard, Evgeni Nabokov, Mike Liut, Sean Burke and Curtis Joseph as the only goalies in the top-30 to never play in a Cup final. Luongo is 20th in shutouts and joins Roy Worters as the only non-final goalies on that list.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-03

Lost Game Found Again

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011308/9500964-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03766/9500957-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02925/9500950-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="652" height="799"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KYLE TURRIS</b> <span class="photo-credit">(TURRIS: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span></b>n draft day, Wayne Gretzky announced that Kyle Turris would join Phoenix as the No. 3 pick of the 2007 draft. Seeing a rail-thin playmaking center with oodles of potential standing alongside The Great One, people couldn&rsquo;t help but connect the dots. If Turris delivered a fraction of the things Gretzky did for the Oilers, the Coyotes would be well on their way to a turnaround.</p><p>But Turris wasn&rsquo;t physically mature enough to transition right away. And in the go-go nature of NHL development, there was a temptation to ask what was taking so long? Thank-fully for Turris, 21, his coach now in Phoenix is Dave Tippett, someone accustomed to taking the long view when it comes to young players &ndash; and their NHL-adjustment timetable. &ldquo;There have been some games where I&rsquo;ve played him bigger minutes and some games when I&rsquo;ve backed him off a little,&rdquo; Tippett said. &ldquo;You want to put him in situations where he can have success, but I don&rsquo;t want him to get crushed, either.&rdquo;</p><p>Turris says two things, good health and getting stronger, have made all the difference for him: &ldquo;Physically, I&rsquo;ve come a long way in terms of being able to protect the puck and hold my own in 1-on-1 battles. That was a big thing for me &ndash; because I had back surgery a couple of years ago and I wasn&rsquo;t able to work out and kind of lost a year. This past summer was the first summer I could really do everything (conditioning-wise). I put on weight. I feel bigger and stronger now.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04628/9500943-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="753" height="602"></div><h2><b>FOR THE RECORD</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05535/9500936-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LUPUL: DEBORA ROBINSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>After nearly a calendar year on the sidelines, <b>Joffrey Lupul</b> returned to the ice for the Ducks Dec. 6. The veteran right winger was out with a back injury and subsequent blood infection. Lupul did a conditioning stint with AHL Syracuse and even posted pictures of the team playing Big Buck Hunter on his Twitter page.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06483/9500929-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="753" height="602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07413/9500922-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LEHTONEN: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Kari</b>&nbsp;<b>Lehtonen</b> is already thinking about his next goalie mask design. The Finnish stopper, whose past art has traded heavily on pop culture, currently features Chuck Norris. The inspiration? Lehtonen typed &ldquo;Dallas&rdquo; and &ldquo;Texas&rdquo; into Google when he was traded and the <i>Walker, Texas Ranger</i> star&rsquo;s name popped up.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08355/9500915-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09307/9500908-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MITCHELL: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>How much of a difference can one player make in a team game? Ask <b>Willie Mitchell.</b> The rock-steady blueliner broke his wrist on Nov. 6 and the Kings went into a freefall, dropping seven of their next 10 games before rebounding at the beginning of December. Helping the cause was rookie call-up Alec Martinez.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10264/9500901-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-11223/9500894-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PRUCHA: DALE MACMILLAN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>When Dave Tippett took over coaching duties in 2009-10, he immediately sent players to the minors if he felt they needed it. Success hasn&rsquo;t changed Tippett&rsquo;s ways, as the bench boss has already demoted veteran <b>Petr Prucha</b> to AHL San Antonio this year. The Czech was averaging less than 12 minutes of ice time this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-12192/9500887-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="753" height="601"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-13165/9500880-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BOYLE: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>A big question in San Jose this summer was who would replace the retiring Rob Blake. The answer so far, has been no one. <b>Dan Boyle</b> has been the only Sharks blueliner producing offense, as the rest of the &lsquo;D&rsquo; corps has struggled. In fact, it took until game No. 28 for Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Douglas Murray to pot goals.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

Young Yote Adjusting

<div class="byline">BY TIM CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02875/9501002-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>LOOSE MOOSE</b></p><p><b>Cody Hodgson has found his game as a rookie pro and is working toward a promotion.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(COURTESY OF MANITOBA MOOSE)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011304/9501009-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he temptation</b> is always great when a blue-chip prospect is performing well in the American League, but the Vancouver Canucks are resisting the urge to call up center Cody Hodgson. For now.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03721/9500995-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="129" height="129"></div><p>&ldquo;We want to make very sure it&rsquo;s the right time when we bring him up,&rdquo; said assistant GM Lorne Henning. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing a lot of hockey and he&rsquo;s getting better all the time. He&rsquo;s just getting his feet under him again from sitting out all those months.&rdquo;</p><p>All those months refers to back trouble that started in the summer of 2009, persisted into the 2009-10 season and was further complicated by a broken foot. The back issues were convoluted by an at-times daily soap opera about who knew what, when.</p><p>Hodgson missed a final world juniors and only managed 24 regular season and playoff games for Ontario League Brampton, meaning last season was a near write-off  in terms of development. But Hodgson&rsquo;s progress as a rookie pro this fall is encouraging. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s played some phenomenal games, his pace has picked up,&rdquo; Henning said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got such great vision in making plays. We are very happy and he&rsquo;s been getting better every game.&rdquo;</p><p>Hodgson, Vancouver&rsquo;s first pick in 2008 (10th overall), has said very little about the controversy over his back. &ldquo;I think the goal coming in was to get healthy and to enjoy playing the game again,&rdquo; said the 20-year-old Toronto native.</p><p>&ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;ve accomplished that so far. I&rsquo;m feeling light and strong again. It&rsquo;s been a while since I&rsquo;ve been able to feel that way. I&rsquo;m not hurting anymore. This is something I enjoy now. Just being able to make a pass, to stop and start without pain.&rdquo;</p><p>The result was an early hot streak (eight goals and 13 points in 10 games between Oct. 22 and Nov. 13). He&rsquo;s cooled down, due in part to a flu bug, but still had 16 points in 24 games. He has fielded more than a few questions about a promotion.</p><p>&ldquo;To tell you the truth, I&rsquo;d like to be called up as soon as possible, like everybody else,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But the reality is that it&rsquo;s not up to me. I just focus on what I can do to get better.&rdquo;</p><p>Moose coach Claude Noel has high praise for Hodgson. &ldquo;The biggest thing I&rsquo;ve learned about him is that he&rsquo;s a very self-managed player,&rdquo; Noel said. &ldquo;He has really good self-assessment of his play and what he needs to do to continue to improve. I&rsquo;m a big believer in you reap what you sow and he makes a pretty big investment on the ice and off the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Noel said one of his biggest concerns for Hodgson was the perception there&rsquo;s a rush on his development. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a difficult task when you miss all that time,&rdquo; Noel said. &ldquo;I think you have to be patient with yourself because people aren&rsquo;t going to be patient with you. You can&rsquo;t get wrapped into what people say and I think he&rsquo;s done a good job of that.&rdquo;</p><p>Noel believes the Canucks will be rewarded for their patience. &ldquo;I think they sense this is a good place for him right now with all that&rsquo;s gone on,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>All that said, Hodgson isn&rsquo;t likely to have a long stay in the AHL. &ldquo;We are just going day to day and if he keeps improving who knows where he&rsquo;ll be before Christmas, after Christmas,&rdquo; Henning said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re letting him grow and we&rsquo;ll make that decision when the time is right.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;s three or four months from now, it could be anytime. We haven&rsquo;t put a timetable on it. I talk to Claude all the time. He&rsquo;s very happy with Cody and he&rsquo;s playing lots and he&rsquo;s in the right environment right now. And with our situation, we have the luxury to give him some time because we&rsquo;ve got some pretty good centermen ahead of him.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">0 <b>Hodgson is the only top-10 pick from the 2008 draft who had yet to play an NHL game</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0036-02

Back In the Mix

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02866/9501092-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>SLICK SMITH</b></p><p><b>Reilly Smith is a puck-hawking RedHawk, which has made him a big CCHA threat with Miami.</b></p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011263/9501099-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>hat he</b> was named to Team Canada&rsquo;s world junior selection camp roster may have caught Reilly Smith off guard, but it was no-brainer to those who see the Miami (Ohio) University RedHawks star regularly. &ldquo;Reilly is no surprise to anybody,&rdquo; said Miami coach Enrico Blasi. &ldquo;I think (Canada head scout) Kevin Prendergast did a great job of doing his work thoroughly.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03696/9501085-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="137" height="135"></div><p>Smith, a 2009 third round pick (69th overall) of the Dallas Stars, and linemates Carter Camper and Andy Miele are among the CCHA scoring leaders, with the sophomore Smith posting 22 points through 17 games.</p><p>Only four NCAA players were named to Canada&rsquo;s final camp, providing more reason for the RedHawks right winger to be taken aback by his inclusion, especially since he was not invited to the summer edition of the camp.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty remarkable,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;At the start of the season I didn&rsquo;t think there was any possibility in the world of making the team.&rdquo;</p><p>But it is something Smith had been dreaming about, just like most elite young hockey players in the country. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s crazy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know I was beyond-belief jealous when my brother got his camp invite.&rdquo;</p><p>That brother is Brendan Smith, who didn&rsquo;t crack the squad, but did have an exemplary career at Wisconsin before joining the AHL ranks this season. Brendan, Detroit&rsquo;s first pick in &rsquo;07 (27th overall) has always given Reilly someone to keep up with.</p><p>&ldquo;Since minor midget I&rsquo;ve looked up to him,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve really tried to follow his footsteps. And he gives me a lot of good feedback.&rdquo;</p><p>And the older bro has been particularly helpful amping up his younger kin for the Canadian camp. &ldquo;His advice was not to take any time off,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;As soon as you step on the ice, you have to prove something.&rdquo;</p><p>Which is something Smith has done early on in his career, anyway. At six-foot, 157 pounds, size is not his top asset. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a real thick kid, but we thought he had underrated skill,&rdquo; said Tim Bernhardt, director of amateur scouting for the Stars. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always around the puck, always around the play. He&rsquo;s one of those persistent, relentless players.&rdquo;</p><p>Blasi cited skating and vision as strengths and Smith, who still wants to improve on his puck protection, is also conscious of his responsibilities on the ice. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re looking for offensive opportunities,&rdquo; Smith said, &ldquo;without being a defensive liability.&rdquo;</p><p>Smith, 19, often lines up against players four or five years older and more physically mature. He has simply used his mind over their matter to succeed. &ldquo;The division of strength is overwhelming at times,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That really caught me off guard early on.&rdquo;</p><p>He has refined his game, angling off bigger players he can&rsquo;t necessarily bowl over.</p><p>And with brother Brendan being a blueliner, Smith has been learning good defense &ndash; not to mention pragmatism &ndash; since the two battled on frozen ponds as kids. &ldquo;I learned that the game wouldn&rsquo;t end until he was up,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;Last goal wins as long as it&rsquo;s his last goal, right?&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0038-02

RedHawk Rising in Ohio

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04565/9501130-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="523" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: COURTESY OF MIAMI UNIVERSITY)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>L</span>ook at the scoring leaders in any college conference and you won&rsquo;t find a lot of first round NHL draft picks. Simply put, NCAA players enter the game at different ages and leave at different times. The NHL sure-things come in early and leave early. Players such as Miami&rsquo;s <b>Carter Camper</b> and <b>Andy Miele</b> are the opposite, which explains why both seniors will be seeking out pro contracts this summer.</p><p>They&rsquo;re 1-2 in CCHA scoring, but neither player is more than 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds. Stature isn&rsquo;t the only factor in their undrafted free agency, however. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always a total package, not just size,&rdquo; said one NHL scout. &ldquo;To me, they both have dynamic qualities as offensive players, but they can&rsquo;t be a defensive liability.&rdquo;</p><p>Coach Enrico Blasi has heard from NHL suitors regarding both stars, but the scout believes an American League contract is more likely than a Matt Gilroy or Christian Hanson deal.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-04

Ready to Step Up?

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011159/9501168-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>TRIPLE THREAT</b></p><p><b>Gabriel Landeskog does it all; he&rsquo;s elite in both ends of the ice and leads by example.</b></p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03597/9501175-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he Kitchener</b> Rangers made it pretty clear just how important left winger Gabriel Landeskog was to their team when the Swedish import was named captain this season. He&rsquo;s the first European to carry the &lsquo;C&rsquo; in team history and a Canadian Hockey League rar-ity. The fact he&rsquo;s only in his second season with the team compounds the honor.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02761/9501161-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="262" height="89"></div><p>&ldquo;For me he&rsquo;s in the Mike Richards territory with leadership and I fully believe he&rsquo;ll be a captain in the NHL one day,&rdquo; said Kitchener coach Steve Spott. &ldquo;On the ice, he&rsquo;s a powerful weapon every time he&rsquo;s out there; he can score goals he can defend, he&rsquo;s a 200-foot player, a complete player. At the same time, he&rsquo;s our leader and deserving of being our captain.&rdquo;</p><p>Not only was Landeskog one of the top scorers in the Ontario League through early December, but he was also consistently throwing stiff hits, blocking shots and even fighting when he felt a team-mate had been wronged. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about doing whatever it takes to win the game,&rdquo; Landeskog said. &ldquo;If I have to drop the gloves to protect a teammate, that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m going to do.</p><p>&ldquo;Blocking shots, that&rsquo;s a big part of our penalty kill.&rdquo;</p><p>So, much like Richards, who helped Kitchener to a Memorial Cup in 2003 before turning into one of the top young leaders in the NHL with Philadelphia, passion runs deep with Landeskog. But how does the coach feel about his star offensive forward risking a broken hand by duking it out? &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want him fighting,&rdquo; Spott said. &ldquo;I want him playing physical, but that&rsquo;s an area I&rsquo;d like him to tone down. But that&rsquo;s what makes him special. He plays with a ton of emotion.&rdquo;</p><p>At 6-foot-1, 207 pounds, Landeskog already has NHL size and his late birthday makes him older than most players available for the 2011 draft. Both Central Scouting and International Scouting Services ranked him as the top Ontario League player, which makes the Swede&rsquo;s master plan of heading to North America as a 16-year-old look pretty smart.</p><p>&ldquo;I felt that was the right thing to do for my development,&rdquo; Landeskog said. &ldquo;I had two years ahead of me for my draft, so I think it was a good thing for me: One year to adapt to the style of play and the life over here, then this year just keep it rolling.&rdquo;</p><p>And adapt he has.</p><p>Landeskog speaks English with no perceptible accent, a trait he comes by humbly. He&rsquo;s been studying English since Grade 3 in Sweden. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s small things, like not using subtitles when you watch movies from America,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Obviously, music is a big part of it, too.&rdquo;</p><p>Landeskog has diverse music tastes and has discovered country since joining Kitchener, something the other Rangers turned him on to.</p><p>As for his off-ice demeanor, Spott had big praise for his young captain.</p><p>&ldquo;He speaks English better than some of the guys in our dressing room, I can tell you that,&rdquo; Spott said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s well-versed and he&rsquo;s a vocal leader. Mike Richards led by example, Derek Roy led by example&hellip;Gabriel&rsquo;s a guy who not only leads by example, but he&rsquo;s also vocal.&rdquo;</p><p>The Rangers are getting the message, loud and clear.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0039-01

Blueprint For Success

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04498/9501206-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="481" height="510"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NAIL YAKUPOV</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: CHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>1. NAIL YAKUPOV, RW</b></h2><p>Sarnia Sting (OHL)</p><p><i>Dynamic Russian has speed and vision, but isn&rsquo;t draft eligible until 2012</i></p><h2><b>2. MARTIN MARINCIN, D</b></h2><p>Prince George (WHL)</p><p><i>Big Slovak putting up big points for the Cougars; drafted by Oilers</i></p><h2><b>3. SVEN BARTSCHI, RW</b></h2><p>Portland (WHL)</p><p><i>Swiss wizard is the top rookie scorer in the Dub and it&rsquo;s his draft year</i></p><h2><b>4. ANDREJ NESTRASIL, RW</b></h2><p>P.E.I. (QMJHL)</p><p><i>Detroit prospect from Czech Republic leads Rocket in scoring</i></p><h2><b>5. ALEXANDER KHOKHLACHEV, LW</b></h2><p>Windsor (OHL)</p><p><i>&lsquo;Koko&rsquo; uses smarts and skills to pile up points, but he&rsquo;s also developing his defensive game</i></p><h2><b>6. TOMAS JURCO, RW</b></h2><p>Saint John (QMJHL)</p><p><i>Talented Slovak has tailed off a little lately, but his hands and skills can&rsquo;t be denied</i></p><h2><b>7. RICHARD PANIK, RW</b></h2><p>Guelph (OHL)</p><p><i>On his third OHL team, the Tampa pick is lighting it up for the Storm</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0039-04

Great Find

<div class="byline">BY RORY BOYLEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02536/9501244-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>CENTER OF ATTENTION</b></p><p><b>Austin Watson embraced the chance to move from Windsor to Peterborough last season.</b></p></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01857/9501251-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span>ost major</b> junior players face leaving home for the first time as fresh-faced teenagers. And while Austin Watson had to move from Ann Arbor, Mich., in 2008 to join the Ontario League&rsquo;s Windsor Spitfires, it was an adjustment he was prepared for. &ldquo;When I was 12, my parents moved to Florida and I stayed with my grandparents,&rdquo; the 6-foot-3, 187-pounder said. &ldquo;I got used to living away from home.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03412/9501237-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="262" height="89"></div><p>Watson, 18, is the oldest of 10 children, nine boys and one girl, whose parents moved south for economic reasons. And even though his mother was less than a month away from giving birth to No. 10 during the 2010 NHL draft, his entire family made the cross-country trek to Los Angeles where Watson was selected 18th overall by the Nashville Predators.</p><p>&ldquo;His size is very attractive to us,&rdquo; said Predators GM David Poile. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very competitive, never gives up, has a lot of good details to his game in terms of blocking shots. He&rsquo;s a player the coaches really like and hopefully his offensive game, which showed some sparks last year, will come along also.&rdquo;</p><p>Watson had a no-trade clause in his contract with the Spits, so when they dealt him to the Peterborough Petes last season &ndash; for Sabres 2009 first-rounder Zack Kassian &ndash; Watson had to give the green light. Buried on a deep Windsor team and recognizing the new challenges the move would introduce, Watson uprooted again and joined the storied franchise.</p><p>&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s a tough situation when you&rsquo;re called into the room and asked whether you&rsquo;re going to accept the trade or not.&rdquo; Watson said. &ldquo;You basically feel like there&rsquo;s one way to go. I accepted the trade and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to go into Peterborough and accept a larger role offensively and as a leader on the team.&rdquo;</p><p>The center finished last season with 20 points in 10 Petes games, but his numbers have dipped this season, with only 23 points through 28 games. Much of that can be chalked up to the young Petes struggling for wins, so it surprised Peterborough coach Mike Pelino when Watson wasn&rsquo;t named to Team USA&rsquo;s world junior preliminary roster. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s mature enough to understand you can&rsquo;t control everything,&rdquo; Pelino said. &ldquo;I believed, with how he was coming on recently and based on my conversations with Team USA, that he was definitely going to be considered for the team.&rdquo;</p><p>While Watson looks to Jordan Staal of the Pittsburgh Penguins as having the type of style he&rsquo;d like to employ at the NHL level one day, Pelino envisions another NHLer, a former Memorial Cup all-star: &ldquo;I see him as more of a Mike Richards-type of guy who can play both ends of the ice and is responsible from a defensive standpoint.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>106 Watson&rsquo;s total points in 143 OHL games split between Windsor and Peterborough</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0040-02

Far From Home, Close to Success

<p><b>Good prospects often land on stinky teams. Here are five examples</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04333/9501282-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="481" height="429"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MARK SCHEIFELE</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: CHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>1. MARTIN FRK, LW</b></h2><p>Halifax (QMJHL)</p><p><i>The Mooseheads got off to a train-wreck start, but Frk, a Czech with a power forward future, has been one of the few positives. The 2012 draft prospect has led Halifax in scoring all season.</i></p><h2><b>2. MARK SCHEIFELE, C</b></h2><p>Barrie (OHL)</p><p><i>The Colts are rebuilding, but Scheifele&rsquo;s not going anywhere. The 6-foot-3 rookie had four multi-point games to end November and leads the team in scoring.</i></p><h2><b>3. JORDAN WEAL, C</b></h2><p>Regina (WHL)</p><p><i>Diminutive Kings draft choice topped 100 points last season and he&rsquo;s scoring in bunches again this year for the woeful Pats.</i></p><h2><b>4. MYLES BELL, D</b></h2><p>Regina (WHL)</p><p><i>Incredibly strong D-man can hold off opponents when he&rsquo;s got the puck and punish them physically when he doesn&rsquo;t.</i></p><h2><b>5. DANIEL CATENACCI, C</b></h2><p>Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)</p><p><i>Speedster is an ace on faceoffs and plays in all situations for the Grey-hounds. Has been on a scoring tear lately, too.</i></p><p>Read more of Ryan Kennedy&rsquo;s <b>&lsquo;The Hot List&rsquo;</b> Tuesdays at <a href="http://THN.com">THN.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0040-04

Too Bad

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN GLEW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01743/9501313-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>TRUE CHAMPION</b></p><p><b>Ken Morrow was the first player to win Olympic gold and the Stanley Cup in the same year.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGEST)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>hirty</b>&nbsp;<b>years later</b>, it&rsquo;s still hard for Ken Morrow to believe in miracles. In a packed arena in Lake Placid on Feb. 22, 1980, Morrow and 19 other amateurs comprising the U.S. Olympic team stunned the powerhouse Soviets 4-3 in what has become known as the Miracle on Ice.</p><p>Now 54, the laid-back Flint, Mich., native said he didn&rsquo;t grasp how momentous the victory was at the time. &ldquo;I still pinch myself,&rdquo; Morrow said.</p><p>Morrow was a steady, shutdown defenseman on Herb Brooks&rsquo; squad. Playing in the Olympics was a dream come true for the 6-foot-4 defender who had grown up close enough to the Canadian border to watch <i>Hockey Night in Canada</i>. When he was six, he began playing on his backyard rink with big brother, Greg.</p><p>Morrow honed his skills and earned a scholarship to Bowling Green State University in 1975. Drafted by the New York Islanders the following year, Morrow had no intention of turning pro until he completed his four-year tenure at university.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;The Miracle on Ice resonated with everybody</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Ken Morrow</i></b></blockquote><p>Brooks coveted Morrow for the Olympic team, but the coach&rsquo;s strict no-beards rule appeared to pose an obstacle.</p><p>But the coaching legend never asked Morrow to shave, reportedly out of fear his prized defenseman would turn pro. For his part, Morrow was unaware of Brooks&rsquo; policy until years later. &ldquo;I would&rsquo;ve shaved my beard if he had asked me,&rdquo; Morrow said with a chuckle.</p><p>Being a young kid from Michigan and playing on a grand stage for the first time, Morrow learned a lot playing for Brooks.</p><p>&ldquo;Herb was a master psychologist,&rdquo; Morrow said. &ldquo;He knew what made players tick. He knew how to get the best of a player, whether it was getting the player mad at him or whatever. So he was able to treat 20 guys differently and still get a great result.&rdquo;</p><p>After recording four wins and a tie in the preliminary Olympic round, the USA faced the Soviets in the medal round. &ldquo;We had the home crowd,&rdquo; Morrow said. &ldquo;We were the huge underdog. The pressure really wasn&rsquo;t so much on us as it was on them.&rdquo;</p><p>The U.S. team trailed 3-2 heading into the third, before Mark Johnson and Mike Eruzione scored to put them ahead. Eruzione&rsquo;s tally came with 10 minutes remaining. &ldquo;I got to play a lot out of the last 10 minutes and I was actually on the ice for the last minute-and-a-half,&rdquo; Morrow said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where you want to be as a player, you don&rsquo;t want to be sitting on the bench.&rdquo;</p><p>What&rsquo;s often forgotten is the team still had to beat Finland two days later to win the gold medal. When team members reported for practice the day after the Soviet game in a celebratory mood, Brooks quickly laid down the law, telling his players they would take a loss to Finland to their graves. Though the Americans trailed 2-1 after two periods, they rallied to beat the Finns 4-2.</p><p>Six days later, Morrow was playing for the Islanders. His steady defensive efforts helped New York secure its first Cup. In the process, Morrow became the first player to win Olympic gold and a Stanley Cup ring in the same season. It was the first of four consecutive championships Morrow claimed with the Isles, a group that won 19 consecutive playoff rounds, a professional sports record. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that record will ever be broken,&rdquo; Morrow said. &ldquo;I think you can put that in the books with the Joe DiMaggio 56-game hitting streak. In today&rsquo;s world, that would take a team winning five Stanley Cups in a row.&rdquo;</p><p>Morrow played 10 seasons for the Islanders before a knee injury forced him to retire. He coached the IHL&rsquo;s Kansas City Blades in 1990-91 and is now the director of pro scouting for the Islanders. For all his NHL success, Morrow still gets letters almost daily asking him about that game against the Soviets. &ldquo;The Miracle on Ice resonated with everybody,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Even people who aren&rsquo;t hockey fans, when they find out that I played on that team, they know about it and want to talk about it.&rdquo;</p><p>FOR MORE TALES OF PAST HOCKEY GREATS, CLICK ON <b><a href="http://THN.COM/BACKCHECKING">THN.COM/BACKCHECKING</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0041-01

Miraculous Morrow

<div class="byline">BY NICOLAS CHABOT</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span>AKING</b>&nbsp;<b>IT</b> to &lsquo;The Show&rsquo; takes a lot of hard work and development, even for the most gifted phenoms. The World Junior Championship, which takes place over the holidays and into the New Year, has gained in popularity over the years precisely because it has become <i>the</i> place to see the stars of tomorrow today.</p><p>Recently, players such as John Tavares, Steven Stamkos and Carey Price have been at the fore of the tourney, but don&rsquo;t forget the guys behind the bench. For Canada this year, it&rsquo;s Dave Cameron, whose work in the OHL is already garnering him NHL buzz. Team USA counters with Yale coach Keith Allain. Will either follow in the footsteps of Tampa&rsquo;s Guy Boucher, an assistant for Canada in 2009?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01783/9501358-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="403" height="687"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JOHN TAVARES & P.K. SUBBAN WJC 2009</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02500/9501351-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="559" height="689"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03391/9501344-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="1457" height="784"></div><p>CAN&rsquo;T GET ENOUGH NUMBERS?</p><p>VISIT OUR ONLINE <b>&lsquo;STATS&rsquo;</b> SECTION EVERY DAY AT <b><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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WORLD JUNIORS STEPPING STONE

<div class="byline">BY MATT KREBS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01670/9501389-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>CHECKS & SWINGS</b></p><p><b>Nyjer Morgan had brief stint in the WHL, but decided he&rsquo;d rather hit a ball than heads.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(COURTESY OF WASHINGTON NATIONALS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>or most people,</b> the dream of playing professional sports dissolves in their early teens when they realize they simply don&rsquo;t have the required skill set. Nyjer Morgan is not most people.</p><p>Morgan is the center fielder and leadoff hitter for the National League&rsquo;s Washington Nationals. A demon on the base path, he made his Major League debut in 2007 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and, now 30, has compiled a .283 career batting average.</p><p>But his road to MLB was covered with ice. An African America who grew up in sun-splashed San Jose, Calif., Morgan was drawn to hockey at a young age. &ldquo;When I was seven years old I saw a U.S.-Canada game and basically that was it. I was hooked,&rdquo; said Morgan in reference to the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. &ldquo;I immediately turned to my dad and told him I wanted to play.&rdquo;</p><p>Morgan had to find the necessary equipment and a venue to play in, which wasn&rsquo;t easy. &ldquo;We had to mix and match; we rented some gear and bought some stuff,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As soon as I stepped on the ice though, I fell in love with it.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;I can do a little bit more than just fight</b><br><b><i>&ndash;Nyher Morgan</i></b></blockquote><p>A natural athlete, Morgan picked the game up quickly and was playing on a house league team the following year. He steadily improved and, by the time he was 15 years old, with opportunities to further develop at home dwindling, he decided to move to British Columbia and pursue his hockey dream. He landed with the North Okanogan Kings &ndash; a Junior B team that played in Enderby, B.C. &ldquo;I was a third-liner; crash and bang,&rdquo; Morgan said. &ldquo;I was kind of like a (Dan) Carcillo, but I could score. The fans loved me.&rdquo;</p><p>So, too, did baseball scouts. As he improved in that sport and found himself increasingly pigeonholed as a fighter in hockey, he became torn. &ldquo;All they wanted me to do was come in and drop the mitts,&rdquo; Morgan said. &ldquo;I was like &lsquo;I can do a little bit more than just fight.&rsquo; I really loved the game, loved being in Canada, and I thought I was one of those highly touted players.&rdquo;</p><p>In 1998, Morgan realized one of his professional dreams; he was selected 1,260th overall by MLB&rsquo;s Colorado Rockies. He opted not to sign in order to give hockey one more try and was rewarded when the Western League&rsquo;s Regina Pats expressed interest.</p><p>&ldquo;I had heard that there was a young fellow ripping up the Junior B league in B.C.,&rdquo; said Pats scout Todd Ripplinger. &ldquo;He could fight and he had speed. He played with a lot of energy and fire. I&rsquo;d compare him to a Sean Avery; he had some skill and wasn&rsquo;t the biggest guy, but boy did he know how to get under guys&rsquo; skin.&rdquo;</p><p>Ripplinger extended a tryout offer to Morgan and in the blink of an eye he was in Regina. He came in guns blazing. In his first game against the Moose Jaw Warriors, he scored two goals and had a fight in a 10-5 romping of their divisional rivals. He was named the game&rsquo;s first star.</p><p>That, however, was the highlight of Morgan&rsquo;s hockey career. After hitting a player from behind in his second game and getting pummeled as a result, Morgan was a marked man and didn&rsquo;t want to jeopardize his future in baseball. He hung up his skates and focused on bats and balls. A few years later, the Pirates snared him in the 33rd round.</p><p>Despite leaving hockey behind, Morgan hasn&rsquo;t lost his feistiness. This past base-ball season, he was involved in a bench-clearing brawl after being thrown at twice in a game and subsequently charging the mound. Morgan was suspended for a sizable eight games.</p><p>So how did Morgan&rsquo;s brief hockey career impact his play on the diamond? Some say negatively. His days as a tough-guy playing hockey in Western Canada were called into question as the source of his aggression. Others say that&rsquo;s just Morgan.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just a hard-nosed guy,&rdquo; Ripplinger said, &ldquo;who plays with his heart on his sleeve all the time no matter if that&rsquo;s on the diamond or the ice.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Crash & Bang and Line Drives

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01574/9501420-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg"></div><p><b>ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ISSUE AND AT</b> <a href="http://THN.com/">THN.com/</a><b>xword</b></p><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1 Home of college hockey&rsquo;s Black Bears</p><p>8 The Spitfires are holders of this Cup</p><p>9 Delay</p><p>10 He&rsquo;s THN&rsquo;s editor in chief</p><p>11 Owen ___ Attack</p><p>14 Position in seven-man hockey</p><p>15 Leaf GM ___ Burke</p><p>20 ___ Arena was Caps&rsquo; old barn in Landover</p><p>21 Pest</p><p>22 Former netminder ___ Weekes</p><p>23 The Patty ___ Award goes to the NCAA&rsquo;s top female player</p><p>24 Sarnia&rsquo;s OHL team</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>2 Nik ___ is now with Atlanta, pictured</p><p>3 Michael ___ got 83 points in 2006-07</p><p>4 State with NHL hockey since 1993</p><p>5 Detroit is the &lsquo;___ City&rsquo;</p><p>6 Lidstrom and Libett</p><p>7 Smith who briefly coached the Leafs</p><p>12 One showing great promise</p><p>13 Player very skilled at puckhandling</p><p>16 Jacques Plante was dubbed &lsquo;Jake the ___&rsquo;</p><p>17 Food item popular at arenas</p><p>18 Host nation for the 1998 Olympics</p><p>19 Behaved badly: ___ up</p><p><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION ACROSS</b> 1. TOEWS, 8. HAMILTON, 9. MYERS, 10. COLORADO, 11. UPPER, 14. SCOUT, 15. STEVE, 20. BRUCE, 21. HAT TRICK, 22. HICKS, 23. SPENGLER, 24. AGENT <b>DOWN</b> 2. OLYMPICS, 3. WARMED UP, 4. AARON, 5. MINOR, 6. STEAL, 7. ANTON, 12. STARTING, 13. OVECHKIN, 16. CHASE, 17. STEEN, 18. BRAGS, 19. McGEE<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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CROSSWORD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02374/9501458-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="991" height="1294"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Detroit trainer &lsquo;Lefty&rsquo; Wilson tries to rouse Red Wings goalie Terry Saw-chuk with smelling salts.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BLAST: IMPERIAL OIL-TUROFSKY/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-03314/9501451-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="150" height="150"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Blast from the Past from The Hockey Hall of Fame

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-04278/9501489-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="654" height="664"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JERSEY: LELANDS.COM)</span></figcaption></div><p>A nice vintage sweater, this game-worn jersey from Leland&rsquo;s auction house has a lot of cool little details.</p><p>Along with the professional-looking silhouetted Mohawk mascot in the logo, the sweater also features a slim patch two-thirds up the way on the left arm that simply reads &ldquo;Cincy.&rdquo;</p><p>Even though the Mohawks had a Boston Bruins color scheme, the logo and striping is original enough that it doesn&rsquo;t necessarily evoke a Bruins sweater right off the bat. And you never go wrong with tie-up laces on the collar.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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JerseyHound

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01576/9501527-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="311" height="545"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>hen your trusty</b>&nbsp;scribe sat down with Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson in mid-November to discuss the challenges facing the game, Nicholson made it clear the governing body for minor hockey in Canada has some radical plans in store for the future.</p><p>One of them Nicholson sees coming as clear as the light of day would be the establishment of two tiers of hockey in Canada &ndash; one for players who want to play with bodychecking and one for players who don&rsquo;t. &ldquo;I truly believe, and we&rsquo;re headed this way, kids should have a choice between bodychecking and non-body-checking,&rdquo; Nicholson said. &ldquo;But you take that to Flin Flon, you don&rsquo;t have a choice if you only have 13 kids registered. But here in the big cities, come on; kids should have a choice.&rdquo;</p><p>Hockey Canada is trying to find a way to get more kids engaged in the game and if they see this as one way to do it, well, OK. But Nicholson also acknowledges that if he had a magic wand to solve the situation, he would mandate that everyone teach the skill of bodychecking properly.</p><p>There are no easy answers, but one thing is clear: The hodge-podge that is body contact is a mess. In Alberta, boys can bodycheck right from atom (ages 9 and 10) hockey, while Quebec doesn&rsquo;t allow it until players hit the bantam level (13 and 14). Most juris-dictions in Canada prohibit bodychecking until peewee (11 and 12), but having it all over the map serves nobody properly.</p><p>My anecdotal evidence comes from my 11-year-old son, who moved up to the peewee level this season. He plays in a house league, but also plays for a select team, which represents his house league in citywide competition against other rep teams.</p><p>He and the vast majority of his teammates on the Ted Reeve Tornados have never been exposed to bodychecking before this season. In house league, they are not allowed to bodycheck, but they do have contact in the select league. That means kids who have been playing since they were seven years old are suddenly placed in a situation 22 times a year when they can hit each other. The result? Complete and utter disaster. What I see when I watch his team play scares me sometimes. I look out on the ice and see a bunch of kids who have absolutely no clue what they are doing when it comes to body contact. These kids come into hits with their arms and elbows high. They nail vulnerable players with their backs turned right in the numbers. Occasionally they even deliberately fall to the ice with the intention of having their opponent trip over them. In seven games in the select league, our team has had three ejections for illegal bodychecks.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02365/9501520-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="1181" height="781"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>What that tells me is the people who administer minor hockey have to come to a consensus on this issue. Perhaps they could mandate that bodychecking is abolished at all minor hockey levels with the exception of AAA. Perhaps they could offer a choice.</p><p>Or maybe, just maybe, they could allow bodychecking at all levels of hockey and ensure that children are taught to do it properly and with respect. After all, the pure intention of a bodycheck is to separate the opponent from the puck and is there really anything wrong with that at any level in hockey? You could also argue that clean, effective contact is a skill that is every bit as important as skating, scoring and defensive play.</p><p>Kids start playing Pop Warner football as young as five years old in leagues that have no restrictions on legal blocking and tackling. The key is, however, coaches receive extensive training in how to properly teach the technique.</p><p>But while there has been a lot of hand-wringing over the issue in hockey circles, there has never been a comprehensive program focused on teaching how to apply and receive a bodycheck. If those who run minor hockey on this continent really want to avoid injuries and ugly incidents, wouldn&rsquo;t it make sense to instill the proper method right away rather than wait until the players are at a stage where their bodies are changing and testosterone is racing through them to give them their first exposure to body contact? Former NHLer and TSN analyst Ray Ferraro, whose son plays in the Western League, once opined that once kids get a little bit of hair on their bodies, they start taking runs at everything. That&rsquo;s not a good time to give them their first opportunities to hit.</p><p>Years ago, hockey&rsquo;s braintrust was trying to find a way to make the game faster. Now it might be too fast. Players are bigger and faster and stronger, even as kids. Concussions are on the rise as the hockey world searches for answers. It had better find some solution, because what it has now isn&rsquo;t working.</p><p>CAN&rsquo;T GET ENOUGH CAMPBELL?</p><p>CLICK ON <b><a href="http://THN.com">THN.COM</a></b> FOR KEN&rsquo;S EXCLUSIVE BLOG<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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January 3, 2011

On the Path To the Big Time

A Big ‘Oops’

HE SAID what!?

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