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.

April 30, 2012

The Hockey News - Apr-30-12

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03225/9610507-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="908" height="1183"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-05161/9610514-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="135" height="136"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-04206/9610500-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="543" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PETER HAND</b></figcaption></div><p><b>INDIANA ICE</b> | 2011-12</p><h2><b>JerseyHound</b></h2><p>The Ice have gone through numerous variations on their jersey, with throw-backs to the old IHL Racers tossed in for good measure. And though grey and even gold have been used, blue is the team&rsquo;s primary color and this third sweater makes good use of it.</p><p>Baseball-style lettering has been seen on jerseys before, but the addition of Indiana&rsquo;s Yeti mascot just below adds just enough to make things original. The grey striping on the sweater is also a nice contrast to the white logo and brings a bit of retro feel.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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IN THIS ISSUE

Blast from the Past from The Hockey Hall of Fame

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BRUCE GARRIOCH</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011429/9609553-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-013100/9609560-1-eng-US/f0034-0132.jpg" title="f0034-013" 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/f0034-02993/9609546-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="658" height="806"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CHRIS PHILLIPS</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>C</b>hris Phillips could have been handed his get-out-of-jail-free card last February.</p><p>With the Ottawa Senators struggling, in the middle of what looked like a massive rebuild from the outside, the veteran defenseman was given the option of being traded to a Stanley Cup contender by GM Bryan Murray.</p><p>Instead, Phillips, drafted No. 1 overall by the Senators in 1996 and bleeding Ottawa red, signed a threeyear extension to stay and help the young players through what was expected to be a long, difficult year.</p><p>Phillips, 34, wears an &lsquo;A&rsquo; on his chest, but he doesn&rsquo;t get a lot of notoriety in Ottawa. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a real bounce-back season,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a big contributor for us.&rdquo;</p><p>And, as captain Daniel Alfredsson noted, Phillips is one of the players helping to lead the charge in the dressing room.</p><p>On top of the Senators&rsquo; surprising success, this year was special for Phillips because he suited up for his 1,000th NHL game, Feb. 9 against the Predators, becoming one of only 48 players to reach that mark with one franchise. He couldn&rsquo;t have envisioned reaching the milestone or making a post-season run anywhere else. &ldquo;Making the playoffs is great,&rdquo; Phillips said. &ldquo;Not only for the sake of being there and to have a chance, but to prove a lot of people wrong.</p><p>&ldquo;A lot of people certainly didn&rsquo;t give us much of a chance at the start of the season to be where we are right now.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>UNSUNG HEROES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03788/9609539-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="756" height="628"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04639/9609532-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Chris Kelly</b> averaged fewer than 15 minutes a game for the Bruins, making his contributions even more impressive. He set a new career high in goals (19), was second among Bruins with a plus-31 rating and was tied for the team lead in game-winners. Those stats may cause another team to offer the soon-to-be UFA a contract too rich for Boston&rsquo;s liking.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05521/9609525-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06470/9609518-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Jordan Leopold</b> never gets the recognition afforded to fellow Sabres D-men Tyler Myers and Christian Ehrhoff, but the veteran is an important member of the blueline corps. The 31-year-old Leopold was second on the team behind Robyn Regehr in shorthanded ice time per game (2:18), but whereas Regehr was a minus-13, Leopold was a plus-3.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07404/9609511-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08348/9609504-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Alexei</b>&nbsp;<b>Emelin</b> didn&rsquo;t over-shadow other Canadiens blue-liners with his offensive totals, but on a team that wasn&rsquo;t rugged enough, the Russian stood out as Montreal&rsquo;s most aggressive player. The 25-year-old led the team in hits with 225, far surpassing the second-and third-most contact-fond players, Erik Cole (177) and Josh Gorges (123).</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09289/9609497-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10260/9609490-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="327" height="551"></div><p>He is buried under the hype that surrounds emerging star defenseman Erik Karlsson, but <b>Filip Kuba</b> has solidified the Senators&rsquo; back end in many areas this season. The 35-year-old Czech, who&rsquo;ll be a UFA this summer, led Ottawa in blocked shots (142) and plus-minus (plus-29) and was second only to Karlsson in average time on ice.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11234/9609483-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12217/9609476-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="327" height="551"></div><p><b>Carl</b>&nbsp;<b>Gunnarsson</b> is in only his second full NHL season, but he&rsquo;s become extremely important to the Maple Leafs defense. The 25-year-old Swede was behind only partner Dion Phaneuf in ice time per game for Toronto and his above-average hockey sense and smart positional play are two reasons why Phaneuf can jump in on offense so easily.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Sentence Served

<div class="byline">BY KERRY FRASER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011425/9609150-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="984" height="2077"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>n my last pressure-packed game</b> working as a referee in the NHL on April 11, 2010, the Flyers hosted the Rangers on the last day of the regular season to determine which team would secure the eighth and final playoff spot. The Flyers won that season-defining game in a shootout and marched to the Stanley Cup final before losing in six games to the eventual-champion Chicago Blackhawks.</p><p>For players, performing at their highest level and limiting mistakes is the difference between team success and failure in the post-season. Increased pressure and scrutiny bring out the best and worst of people and causes players, coaches and GMs&rsquo; emotions to become raw. Most teams sequester their players to limit external distractions, including family demands, which can interfere with game preparation and focus.</p><p>Referees and linesmen who are fortunate enough to be selected to work the post-season experience similar challenges, but must deal with them without the benefit of sequestering. It becomes their individual responsibility to prepare themselves so they can be at their very best in every game. Their success and potential selection to the Stanley Cup final depends on it.</p><p>Away from the rink, an official must prepare himself by being rested both physically and emotionally. Maintaining proper nutrition levels and physical conditioning, as well as managing injuries, are an official&rsquo;s responsibility alone and can&rsquo;t be overlooked.</p><p>In preparing on a game day, a meeting with the working and standby officials is typically conducted around noon by the series supervisor. He provides information from previous games played between the teams and offers relevant developments in the series they should be made aware of. This info is not offered up to have the referees pre-judge the game. It&rsquo;s more like the scouting report assembled by teams &ndash; it provides officials with an added sense of awareness.</p><p>From this point forward, an official must rely on his experience and trust in his ability (both in relative doses) as he maintains a quiet confidence. An official is expected to keep his emotions in check despite the intense pressure he might feel as the game unfolds. The more experience I gained, the better I became at being in control of my emotions instead of allowing my emotions to control me.</p><p>In 1985, in just my third year in the Stanley Cup playoffs, I was assigned to work Game 7 in the Battle of Quebec between the Canadiens and Nordiques. I left Sarnia, Ont., early the day before to prepare myself for this big game. From the time I landed in Montreal, I was bombarded by fans who recognized me and wanted to talk about the game the next night. I could not even go for a walk to escape the madness. Eventually, I cocooned myself in my hotel room and ordered room service and tucked in for bed early.</p><p>I awoke with big, itchy red welts from my neck to my feet: a horrible case of hives brought on by nervousness. I went to the Forum early that night and was dressed in my long underwear before the arrival of my colleagues, John D&rsquo;Amico and Ray Scapinello, so they wouldn&rsquo;t notice my affliction. Once I dropped the puck it was business as usual and a tremendous game. The series finished with an overtime goal by Peter Stastny to secure a Nordiques victory.</p><p>Back in the dressing room after the game, I cautiously removed my underwear to discover all the welts had vanished. It became a defining moment for me in dealing with pressure and my emotions. I was selected to work the Stanley Cup final for the first time that year. Each of the 12 finals I worked presented their own unique pressures and challenges, but I felt equipped to handle any situation. The strength comes from within.</p><p>The game demands an official&rsquo;s full attention throughout. He must not become distracted, dwell on a call he might have missed or a decision that, in hindsight, he felt was made in error. When the fans boo or throw debris onto the ice in protest (or chant &ldquo;Fraser Sucks!&rdquo;), a ref must attempt to remain calm so rational decisions and judgments can be rendered. When negativity and aggressiveness come his way, a ref must allow the situation to pass through his thought process. He must always remain in the moment or risk missing something else. Intense concentration is demanded of an official every second the puck is moving, and often times when it isn&rsquo;t, throughout the entire game.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>I awoke with big itchy welts, from my head to my feet</b></blockquote><p>There are times when an official must stand tall in the face of adversity (even if you are only 5-foot-7 like me) and demonstrate courage to do what the job demands. At the end of the second period in Game 6 of the 1986 Campbell Conference (now the Western Conference) final between Jacques Demers&rsquo; St. Louis Blues and Bob Johnson&rsquo;s Calgary Flames, two huge St. Louis policemen grabbed me and escorted me off the ice. They advised me they had received a traced call from a fan within the arena who said he had a gun and would shoot me if I came out for the third period. It was their duty to inform me of the death threat and recommended I not go back onto the ice. But abandoning the game was not an option for me &ndash; nor would it be for any other official.</p><p>Given the intensity of playoff games, an official must expect (and sometimes accept) the aggression that comes his way from players and coaches. He needs to remain calm in the face of the tempest to defuse a volatile situation and bring the temperature down. This objective is best achieved when an official can maintain an internal calm he can often transfer to his potential adversary through voice, body language and self-control. The first and best option an official has is to treat disrespect with respect in an effort to control hostilities before laying the hammer down. Solicited cooperation with the threat of penalty reprisal often worked best for me. Players came to know what to expect.</p><p>Finally, it is vital the referees maintain a consistent standard of enforcement throughout a game and an entire series. The more loose or inconsistent the standard set by the referees is, the greater opportunity there is for criticism of their work. They must exercise sound judgment and not buy into the old philosophy of &ldquo;let the players decide the outcome of the game,&rdquo; which really means let the players cheat.</p><p>When the game is over, there is no better feeling than when an official can look in the mirror and honestly say, &ldquo;I gave the very best of myself to the game and its participants. I did my job.&rdquo;</p><p><i>Kerry Fraser refereed nearly 2,200 NHL games during his 37-year career. He now works as an analyst with TSN and NBC.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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MIND OVER MATTER

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021445/9608324-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="236" height="355"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>+PLUS</b></h2><h3><b>SMITTEN WITH SMITTY</b></h3><p><i>Phoenix&rsquo;s</i>&nbsp;<b><i>Mike Smith</i></b>&nbsp;<i>sets an NHL record by stopping 54 shots in a regu</i>&nbsp;<i>shutout win versus Columbus.</i></p><h2><b>&ndash;MINUS</b></h2><h3><b>J-BO&rsquo;S ANNUAL FLAME OUT</b></h3><p><i>Calgary D-man Jay Bouwmeester will now go at least 799 games before his first playoff game if he is healthy for all of 2012-13.</i></p><h2><b>+PLUS</b></h2><h3><b>RUDY VS. RUDY</b></h3><p><i>Union and Ferris State faced off in all-underdog Frozen Four semifinal; neither team had an NHL draft pick.</i></p><h2><b>&ndash;MINUS</b></h2><h3><b>SWARMED OVER</b></h3><p><i>Despite a new high-profile coach/GM in Jacques Beaulieu and a bevy of splashy trades, Sarnia is knocked out in first round of OHL playoffs.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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PLUS MINUS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012165/9608027-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANCOIS LACASSE NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>April 30, 2012 <b>|</b> Vol. 65 <b>|</b> No. 23</p><p><b>Can&rsquo;t Stop What You Can&rsquo;t See</b></p><p><b>David Desharnais tries to blind the backstopper as he turns goalie Sebastien Caron into a snow drift.</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/f0004-012196/9608072-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="907" height="580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021866/9608065-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="302" height="374"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he</b>&nbsp;<b>Thrashers&rsquo; migration</b> to Manitoba was good news for Win-nipeggers and embraced by most Canadians. It also helped facilitate a notorious piece of NHL history: In 2011-12, for the first time ever, five Canadian clubs missed the playoffs. On two occasions, players on four teams from the Great White North emptied their stalls without competing in the post-season, but never have we had the Futile Five.</p><p>At first blush, this may register on your &ldquo;who cares?&rdquo; scale. Why should fans in Vancouver give pause to whether the Jets qualify? Why would supporters in Edmonton have any interest in the Sens&rsquo; fortunes? In fact, a good portion of the nation feels mirthful <i>Schadenfreude</i> over the fact the Maple Leafs have been on the outside looking in every year since the lockout.</p><p>But what if this CanCon dearth in the spring &ndash; it has been consistently low six years running &ndash; were representative of a trend and not a cycle? What if it were tied to, even loosely, stigmas some players hold about playing in Canada?</p><p>Don&rsquo;t think that doesn&rsquo;t exist. While the No. 1 factor for players who have the privilege of deciding where to play tends to be tied to winning, there are other considerations. Geography is among them. Whether you feel it&rsquo;s valid or not, climate in places such as Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa can play a role. The pressure of expectations and media scrutiny in Toronto and Montreal can weigh on a player&rsquo;s choice. The friendlier tax rate in most of the United States can also be part of the equation. It&rsquo;s not cut-and-dried, but it&rsquo;s also not coincidence that most of the huge unrestricted free agent contract signings of recent years &ndash; Brad Richards, Christian Ehrhoff, Ilya Bryzgalov, Ilya Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik &ndash; have been with American-based clubs. Canadian clubs have still netted good players &ndash; Dan Hamhuis, Erik Cole, Sergei Gonchar and Mike Cammalleri, for instance &ndash; but the truly big fish have been swimming south.</p><p>And as the league&rsquo;s demographics change, as an increasing number of Americans inevitably earn big-league jobs at the expense of Canadians, the dynamic could become exacerbated. Will big-time UFAs such as Zach Parise (featured on pg. 26) give much thought to coming north?</p><p>We&rsquo;re not suggesting there is a crisis looming, just that we wouldn&rsquo;t be surprised to see a pattern persist &ndash; and for a few more people to care about it.</p><p><b>NEXT</b>&nbsp;<b>ISSUE</b> MAY 14, 2012</p><p><b>CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO SUBSCRIBE:</b> <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a>&nbsp;<b>CONTACT US:</b> <a href="mailto:editorial@thehockeynews.com">editorial@thehockeynews.com</a></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031502/9608058-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="414" height="222"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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Do Patriot Games Matter?

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span>aying that David Krejci is the one vital to the Bruins success is way off (&ldquo;The Straw Stirring Boston&rsquo;s Drink,&rdquo; April 2). You are overlooking the much-overlooked Patrice Bergeron. Krejci&rsquo;s play this year has wavered while Bergeron has been one of the most consistent players on the team. Bergeron also has a much bigger role. If he decides to not show up for a game, it will not only cost the team a loss in offensive production (as is the case for Krejci), but the other team&rsquo;s top line will probably score one or two more goals because Bergeron is always the man assigned to shut them down.</b></p><p><b><i>Brett Giroux, Chazy, N.Y.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012423/9608141-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="986" height="1160"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PATRICE BERGERON</b> <span class="photo-credit">(FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Template Given&hellip;</b></h2><p>Every other letter since the Top 50 players issue (March 19), is about the list. Since almost all of them are complaining about their favorite player being too low or missing, I have created a template that will make it easier to complain. I was ___ (insert term of shock) that ___ (insert favorite player name) from the ___ (insert favorite team) was ranked ___ (insert rank of player). He obviously should have been ___ (insert rank you think he should be here). Without him, the ___ (insert favorite team) would not be ___ (in the playoff race, winning the division, ranked fifth, etc.).</p><p><i>Jeremy Russell, Mississauga, Ont.</i></p><h2><b>&hellip;Template Used</b></h2><p>Are NHLers out of their mind? Placing Marc-Andre Fleury at 40th on the NHL top 50 list behind Tuukka Rask? If the Penguins didn&rsquo;t have Fleury they wouldn&rsquo;t be the team they are, they&rsquo;d just be another Tampa Bay Lightning.</p><p><i>Eric Duncan, Toronto</i></p><h2><b>Two-Way Prayer?</b></h2><p>Ken Campbell&rsquo;s comment about David Backes and his &ldquo;basic Christian values, but not in a wacko-religious-right sort of way&rdquo; was uncalled for (&ldquo;Captain Underdog,&rdquo; April 2). Would he have made a comment like &ldquo;but not in a wacko-liberal-left sort of way&rdquo; if Backes was a tree-hugging, anti-oil, global-warming-believing person?</p><p><i>Jeff Pyle, Meridian, Idaho</i></p><h2><b>Blue Made Of Gold</b></h2><p>No lie, I was planning to write and complain about the lack of coverage The Hockey News had given the best team in the league, the St. Louis Blues, when the April 2 issue arrived with David Backes on the cover. Congrats to Ken Campbell on a well-rounded article spotlighting Backes&rsquo; immense contributions both on and off the ice. He is a great role model and one of those special athletes who understands his true role is to &ldquo;give back&rdquo; to others. Hopefully more fans will be talking about him as a result of your fantastic coverage. All is forgiven.</p><p><i>Russ Thibeault, Norwood, Ma.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021644/9608134-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="458" height="625"></div><p>I&rsquo;m not a Blues fan (Go Pens!) but I am now a huge fan of David Backes. Three weeks ago my dog passed away, which really makes watching games hard because he would sit on the couch with me as we ate snacks. I rescued him, too. It is so nice to know that someone with Backes&rsquo; talent and status is being so unselfish and doing what he is doing for those animals. If the Pens don&rsquo;t win the Cup, I hope you do so you could serve all those babies a big helping of Dog Chow in the best bowl they could eat out of.</p><p><i>Jason Marsala, Tampa, Fla.</i></p><p>St. Louis fans aren&rsquo;t singing songs of sorrow for the departed Albert Pujols and they&rsquo;re not joining in dirges for the dismal Rams. The only tune in St. Louis is for David Backes and the Cup-contending Blues.</p><p><i>Kenneth Heard, Jonesboro, Ark.</i></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03972/9608127-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="108" height="108"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>@thehockeynews: WHO ARE THE BEST FANS IN HOCKEY?</b></h2><h3><b>@2Cheez:</b></h3><p>Red Wings Fans. They&rsquo;re willing to smuggle octopi into the &lsquo;Joe&rsquo; and sit with it for the majority of the game.</p><h3><b>@mcgraw79:</b></h3><p>Bruins Fans. We are old school, no excuses, in your face and bleed Black and Gold. And turn away games into home games.</p><h3><b>@JPTiki:</b></h3><p>Ranger fans are the best. Why? Anyone who has ever been to the Garden for a big game need not ask. #DevilsSuck</p><h3><b>@OhCeciliaMay:</b></h3><p>Maple Leaf fans. They have enough class to wear bags over their heads when it&rsquo;s deserved. #THN Inbox</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>

f0006-01

THAT’S KREJCI TALK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012153/9608179-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="527" height="93"></div><p>Who, excluding Nick Lidstrom, Martin Brodeur and Teemu Selanne, is the most desirable UFA this summer?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021460/9608172-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="484" height="503"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Zach Parise 58%</b></p><p>Ryan Suter 24%</p><p>Alexander Semin 4%</p><p>Shane Doan 4%</p><p>Jaromir Jagr 3%</p><p>Others 7%<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0007-01

POLLRESULTS

<p><b>Adam, Do you see the Red Wings making any big moves? Will they make a bid for Ryan Suter, Alex Semin or Zach Parise?</b></p><p><i>Nick Gabbs, Livonia, Mich.</i></p><p>Nick, With Nicklas Lidstrom not far from retirement and Brad Stuart rumored to be looking to relocate back to the West Coast, I have no doubt Holland (and 28 other GMs) would love to acquire Suter. Semin&rsquo;s reputation has taken a big hit, but Parise would also be coveted, although, again, Detroit won&rsquo;t be the only one making a pitch. But I also think, depending on how quick an exit Detroit makes in the playoffs, there could be a coaching change in store. Mike Babcock has had an excellent run behind the bench, but even Stanley Cup-winning coaches lose their effectiveness after a while.</p><p><b>Adam, if a European or U.S. prospect wants to play in the Canadian League, but has never been drafted, how does he get in?</b></p><p><i>Joe Cordova, Burnaby, B.C.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03909/9608210-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="872" height="748"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE BABCOCK</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Joe, Teams can only have two Europeans on their roster, so it rare a player not taken in the import draft would find his way onto a CHL roster. All major junior teams have invitation-only training camps, so any player, regardless of nationality, would have to convince an official they&rsquo;re worth a look or attend a Jr. A or Jr. B team&rsquo;s tryout camp and show what they can do in a less-skilled league. Scouting is so thorough, there&rsquo;s little to no room for walk-on miracle sports stories anymore, I&rsquo;m afraid.</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>

f0007-03

ASK ADAM

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021764/9608262-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="396" height="111"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012313/9608255-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="273" height="272"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BILL WIPPERT/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>here was a run</b> of coaching changes this season and though many of the subs were known names &ndash; Ken Hitchcock, Bruce Boudreau, Darryl Sutter and Randy Carlyle &ndash; not every team seeking a new skipper tabbed one with experience in &lsquo;The Show.&rsquo; Andthat&rsquo;ll almost certainly be the case again this off-season as Montreal, Columbus and whoever else decides it&rsquo;s time for a fresh voice goes on the hunt for new guidance behind the bench.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04704/9608248-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="111" height="126"></div><p>As usual, the AHL boasts a list of coaching prospects, starting with John Hynes in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where the former U.S. national team development program coach has prepared his charges perfectly for life in Pittsburgh when the Penguins have run into injury trouble. &ldquo;He does a really good job,&rdquo; said one NHL exec. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just about helping them be the best player, but preparing them if they go up &ndash; being the square peg in the square hole.&rdquo;</p><p>Even the players on the parent club have noticed the job Hynes has been doing with the Baby Pens, who clinched a playoff spot early despite a lineup constantly in flux due to call-ups. &ldquo;John Hynes has done a really good job down in Wilkes-Barre,&rdquo; said defenseman Brooks Orpik. &ldquo;When those guys come up, there is no transition in terms of systems.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031246/9608241-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="1023" height="1033"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>HYNES&rsquo; FIELD WORK</b></p><p><b>John Hynes, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s AHL coach, gets rave reviews for his ability to prepare players.</b> Bench bosses booted since Lindy Ruff &ndash; the longest-tenured coach</p> <span class="photo-credit">(HYNES: AFC MEDIA)</span></figcaption></div><p>Another name in the mix is Ron Rolston of the Rochester Americans. Like Hynes, Rolston did time with the NTDP and helmed several U.S. world junior squads. In a short period, he&rsquo;s inspired admiration from his pro troops. &ldquo;The biggest thing Ron brings is communication,&rdquo; said Sabres rookie Marcus Foligno, who spent most of the season in Rochester. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s great with video and drawing things up on the board so you can get a visual. But the biggest thing is if you&rsquo;re a young player that makes a mistake, a lot of coaches would put you on the back burner and leave you out to dry. In his case, he&rsquo;ll let you know what you did wrong and then put you back out there to correct it. He gives you confidence.&rdquo;</p><p>Toronto&rsquo;s Dallas Eakins was in the news a lot, particularly since many Maple Leafs fans thought the Marlies mastermind would get the call when Ron Wilson was axed in March. That Eakins led the Marlies to a division title doesn&rsquo;t hurt, plus his ability to get the most out of prospects is also a checkmark.</p><p>GMs can&rsquo;t look solely in the win column if looking to the AHL for a coach. Wins are always nice, but may not be priority No. 1. &ldquo;Not every team is built to win the Calder Cup,&rdquo; said the NHL exec. &ldquo;Sometimes it&rsquo;s more about development.&rdquo;</p><p>Jon Cooper has both sides covered as he&rsquo;s helped groom several of the Tampa Bay Lightning&rsquo;s future stars and steered the Norfolk Admirals historic winning streak in the final third of the season.</p><p>And though junior coaches haven&rsquo;t had much NHL luck lately (Dale Hunter&rsquo;s Capitals scraped played below expectations, while Cory Clouston and Brent Sutter also struggled), their names still circulate. Mike Vellucci of the OHL&rsquo;s Plymouth Whalers brings a great track record of development (Tyler Seguin, James Neal) and a tacit stamp of approval from Plymouth/Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos.</p><p>Ryan Huska is a rising star in the Western League with Kelowna and was an assistant on Canada&rsquo;s world junior team, while Steve Spott took the reins in Kitchener when Pete DeBoer left and has brought similar success. And of course, there are the rumors surrounding Patrick Roy, current major domo of the Quebec League&rsquo;s Remparts.</p><p>Keep an eye on the University of North Dakota&rsquo;s Dave Hakstol, though as the NHL exec noted, &ldquo;sometimes those college jobs are life jobs.&rdquo;</p><p><b>171 B</b>ench bosses booted since Lindy Ruff &ndash; the longest-tenured coach in the NHL &ndash; was hired by the Buffalo Sabres July 21, 1997.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-02

Fresh Blood Behind Bench

<div class="byline">By Charlie Teljeur</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012069/9608293-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0009-01

The Instigator

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JAMIE ROSS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012284/9608362-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>JOYOUS JUBILEE</b></p><p><b>The historic McGill program can finally put a University Cup in its trophy case.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(RICK DENHAM/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>It was a championship</b>50 years in the making and it couldn&rsquo;t have unfolded in more dramatic fashion.</p><p>Nearly one year to the day after losing in the 2011 University Cup final, the McGill Redmen found themselves back in the final of the Canadian Inter-university Sport men&rsquo;s hockey championship. This time, they emerged victorious in a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the Western Mustangs, giving McGill its first-ever national men&rsquo;s hockey title in the 50-year history of the University Cup.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021667/9608355-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="146" height="99"></div><p>Fifth-year captain Evan Vossen played hero for McGill, beating Mustangs goaltender Josh Unice six minutes into the extra frame on what would be the last shot he would ever take in a Redmen uniform.</p><p>The Swift Current, Sask., native said scoring that game-winning goal is the highlight of his career &ndash; a moment that will stay with him the rest of his life. &ldquo;Without a doubt,&rdquo; said Vossen, who made his fifth consecutive nationals appearance. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t write this better. To be able to do it for the team, for the program. It&rsquo;s surreal. It&rsquo;s a storybook ending.&rdquo;</p><p>The Redmen, with the taste of their 2011 final defeat still lingering in their mouths, expected to meet the No. 1 ranked defending champion University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds in the final for the second straight year. But the dark horse fourth-seeded Mustangs shocked the host team with a 3-2 upset on Day 3 of the tournament, setting the table for a rematch of the Queen&rsquo;s Cup (Ontario University Athletics final).</p><p>CIS regular season scoring champion and tournament all-star Keaton Turkiewicz gave Western an early one-goal lead in the final and the teams traded markers throughout the contest before Turkiewicz scored again, tying it up with just over six minutes remaining in the third period. But Vossen broke the Mustangs&rsquo; hearts in the extra frame. &ldquo;Josh (Unice) was our best player here,&rdquo; said Western coach Clarke Singer of his goaltender, who stopped 36 shots in the final a day after he stole the game from UNB with a 35-save performance. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of our whole group. To not win, it&rsquo;s very, very disappointing.&rdquo;</p><p>Coach Kelly Nobes, in just his second year behind the Redmen bench, was proud to give the school its first ever University Cup championship. &ldquo;This is for all our alumni, our former Redmen and our friends of McGill hockey,&rdquo; Nobes said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s such a great feeling.&rdquo;</p><p>McGill game-worn jerseys, gloves, helmets and socks were donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame to commemorate the Redmens&rsquo; feat 50 years in the making.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0010-01

McGill’s Thrill

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ANDREW MENDLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-031070/9608400-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="823" height="593"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MIKE DEMBECK/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04743/9608393-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="194" height="194"></div><p class="dropcap"><i><span>T</span>he Montreal Stars captured the 2011-12 Clarkson Cup with a 4-2 victory over Brampton HC in a final featuring 10 Olympians from Canada and the U.S. In the tournament&rsquo;s short history, Montreal has dominated, winning three of the four titles, including the past two. Stars forward and three-time Canadian Olympic gold medalist Caroline Ouellette was named tournament MVP. Meghan Agosta set a scoring record this season with 41 goals and 80 points in 27 games.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-03

STAR-STUDDED

<div class="byline">&#x2013; AM</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05541/9608431-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="488" height="872"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(COURTESY ACADIE-BATHURST TITAN)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>0 PIM</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><i><span>W</span>hen his team was eliminated from the playoffs April 1, Acadie-Bathurst right winger</i>&nbsp;<b><i>Zach O&rsquo;Brien</i></b>&nbsp;<i>did something no player had done before: finish his entire career in the Quebec League without recording a single penalty minute. O&rsquo;Brien played 126 regular season games and 10 playoff games without sitting a second in the sin bin. In 2011-12, the 19-year-old Titan winger finished second in league scoring with 101 points in 63 games.</i></p><p><i>A similar streak occurred in the NHL. Kyle Wellwood went 159 games, spanning parts of four seasons, without a trip to the box. He received a penalty April 11, 2006 as a Toronto Maple Leaf and didn&rsquo;t take another until Feb. 17, 2009 when he was a Vancouver Canuck.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-05

NUMBER Crunch

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JAYSON HRON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011916/9608476-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="654" height="744"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MINNESOTA 1974 NCAA CHAMPIONS CIAU</b> <span class="photo-credit">(MINNESOTA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021390/9608469-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="624" height="706"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WATERLOO 1974 CIAU CHAMPIONS</b> <span class="photo-credit">(UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO ATHLETICS ARCHIVES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he Canadian university champ</b> was crowned in late March and the winner of the Frozen Four emerged in early April. Imagine if the NCAA agreed to send its national champion to face its Canadian counterpart for a North American title match. Well, it almost happened &ndash; nearly 40 years ago.</p><p>The NCAA tabled the championship format on Nov. 1, 1973, outlining a plan that would match the 1974 NCAA and CIAU champions in the first-ever North American Ice Hockey Championship. It was to be played at the Canadian champion&rsquo;s home rink one week after the NCAA title game, with the host country to alternate annually. Details were precise,  right down to the number of players (17 plus goaltenders), the hardware (a symbolic trophy suitable to honor the North American champ) and prizes (all players would receive a commemorative watch).</p><p>Minnesota and Waterloo (Ont.) emerged as the would-be combatants, both first-time national champions from playoffs marked by upsets. The Golden Gophers, coached by Herb Brooks, became only the second team comprised entirely of Americans to win an NCAA title. It was the quintessential Brooks team &ndash; reaching the pinnacle without a single all-American. Waterloo was similarly snubbed, failing to place any of its players on the all-Canadian team.</p><p>But both squads had ample talent, as evidenced by the brilliant goaltending of Minnesota senior captain Brad Shelstad, who was named tournament MVP, and the Warriors troika of Ron Hawkshaw, Russ Elliott and Mike Guimond. Together they amassed 262 points in 35 games, led by Hawkshaw&rsquo;s 50 goals and 41 assists.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03935/9608462-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="347" height="139"></div><p>The CIAU told Waterloo coach Bob McKillop about what was happening stateside and after his Warriors secured the title, he celebrated with his players before exiting for an NCAA planning call. Waterloo&rsquo;s university newspaper was already teasing the news of an impending battle for North American college hockey supremacy and the Toronto <i>Star</i> was also reporting about the proposed showdown, but with a different tone. According to the <i>Star</i>, Minnesota said it wouldn&rsquo;t play.</p><p>McKillop waited in the CIAU hotel room for a call that cam two hours late. &ldquo;It was an &lsquo;NCAA official&rsquo; and it was a very short call,&rdquo; McKillop recalled. &ldquo;I only heard one side of it. We were told that &lsquo;some issues still needed to be resolved&rsquo; and they would be in touch.&rdquo;</p><p>Whatever the issues, they were never resolved or fully disclosed to McKillop, who returned to Waterloo with more questions than answers, telling his team the game against Minnesota was cancelled.</p><p>Curiously, the Minnesota players had never been informed of the game. They knew nothing of how close they came to playing for the North American championship. &ldquo;I never heard anything like that then or since,&rdquo; Shelstad said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t even recall ever hearing rumblings about it. There was never a plan for it that we were aware of.&rdquo;</p><p>Gophers&rsquo; Mike Polich echoed his captain&rsquo;s recollections. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all news to me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We never heard about it.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

Showdown Shot Down

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-04705/9608521-1-eng-US/f0011-042.jpg" title="f0011-04" width="602" height="1188"></div><h2><b>Caption</b>&nbsp;<b>CONTEST</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-06459/9608514-1-eng-US/f0011-062.jpg" title="f0011-06" width="623" height="632"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TRAVIS ZAJAC</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-05546/9608507-1-eng-US/f0011-052.jpg" title="f0011-05" width="179" height="152"></div><p><b>To win, submit your entry at <a href="http://www.thn.com/caption">www.thn.com/caption</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-04

OVERTIMEOVERLOAD

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DENIS GIBBONS</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>f you&rsquo;ve got two</b> uncles in the Hall of Fame and your father played for Canada in the World Championship, there&rsquo;s a good chance plenty of knowledge of the game rubbed off on you.</p><p>E.J. Bauer has been putting some of that savvy to work as director of business development for Sport Systems Unlimited, a Waterloo, Ont., firm that has been retrofitting NHL rinks to improve player safety. The renovations follow the severe concussion and vertebrae injuries suffered by Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens when he was checked by Boston&rsquo;s Zdeno Chara and collided heavily with a stanchion during a game at the Bell Centre in March 2011.</p><p>Bobby Bauer won two Stanley Cups with the Boston Bruins playing on the famous &lsquo;Kraut line&rsquo; with Milt Schmidt and Woody Dumart. Father David Bauer coached Canada to an Olympic bronze medal in 1968 and E.J.&rsquo;s father Ray was a member of the Sudbury Wolves club, which earned a silver medal for Canada at the 1949 World Championship. The Bauer family also once owned Canada&rsquo;s most famous skate manufacturing company.</p><p>As a result of the Pacioretty incident the NHL did a facilities audit of all 30 rinks, hired an engineering firm to design the changes it wanted, then asked companies to submit quotes to all 30 teams for doing the work. The league mandated the changes be made prior to the start of 2011-12.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012230/9608552-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="492" height="633"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JIM MCISAAC/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Twenty-two teams, including the Canadiens, selected Sport Systems Unlimited, which sent 12 different crews on the road in September to do the alterations. Upright stanchions which formerly held rigid glass panes in place at the end of the players benches, at a right angle to the glass surrounding the ice surface, have been moved back 18 inches and reinforced with extra padding. The glass panes themselves have been replaced with shock-absorbing curved acrylic panels so that when players hit them their bodies are deflected. The glass pane in front of the area where TV commentators stand also has been removed.</p><p>David Staines, Sport Systems Unlimited&rsquo;s director of sales and marketing, estimates it cost each team between $20,000 and $25,000 to improve safety conditions. &ldquo;Every single rink has an unique and different situation,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Donald Beauchamp, director of communications for the Canadiens, said the new configuration at the end of the benches was flawless. &ldquo;Comments from the players were unanimous,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They all applauded the initiative.&rdquo;</p><p>Pierre McGuire, who hosts <i>Inside The Glass</i> for NBC telecasts, said not having glass in front of him has not been an issue in terms of protection. &ldquo;What it has done is give <i>Inside The Glass</i> even more access to what is happening on either bench,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The players and the coaches have been amazing.</p><p>&ldquo;Not the safest place to work and it never was.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

Pad The Problem

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MICHAEL STEPHENS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021751/9608590-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="273" height="390"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>WILFRED McDONALD</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-031127/9608583-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="342" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LIONEL CONACHER</b> <span class="photo-credit">(HHOF IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span>N MARCH 31, 2012,</b> Liberal MP Justin Trudeau defeated Conservative senator Patrick Brazeau in the charity boxing match Fight for the Cure. But, despite reports suggesting otherwise, it&rsquo;s not the first time Canadian politicos have taken a pugilistic turn for a good cause.</p><p>On Jan. 25, 1952, at the inaugural NHL Old-Timers game in Bracebridge, Ont., former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Wilfred &lsquo;Bucko&rsquo; McDonald chucked knuckles with former Montreal Maroons defender Lionel &lsquo;Big Train&rsquo; Conacher. Both men just happened to be sitting members of parliament for the Liberal Party of Canada. The fight started out staged, but ended in haymakers to the delight of the 2000 fans in attendance. The event also had the distinction of being the first hockey game filmed for TV.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-02

PHILANTHROPIC FISTICUFFS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ALAN BASS</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>magine if a GM</b> could predict how many goals his team will score each game, based on statistics. Brian MacDonald, assistant professor of mathematics at the United States Military Academy, said it&rsquo;s possible and in a recent research paper he created a formula to do just that.</p><p>His work, presented at the 2012 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in March, showed how goals, shots, hits, hits against and total faceoffs predict how many even-strength goals a team will score.</p><p>MacDonald found hits against, not hits for, are the key body-contact statistic needed for predicting goals. When a player hits someone, he takes himself out of the play for a few seconds, allowing a brief counter rush, so the team that receives a hit often benefits from the play. A hit against also means the team has possession of the puck, which often leads to a goal.</p><p>The number of faceoffs that occur in a game also significantly predicts when a goal will be scored, since a faceoff is one of the few times in an even-strength scenario that a structured, practised play occurs as opposed to the typical free-flowing motion that makes up the majority of a game.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012203/9608621-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="666" height="925"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>ZACH-BOGOSIAN</b></p><p><b>FORETELLING FORMULA</b></p><p><b>A university prof was just shy of a perfect prediction for how many goals Atlanta would score in the second half of 2010-11.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Plugging these five statistics into his formula, MacDonald predicted the 2010-11 Atlanta Thrashers would score 2.21 goals per game (at even strength) for the second half of the season. He came close: They scored at a 2.31 clip in their remaining 41 games.</p><p>Statistics are helpful in many aspects, but there are still a number of executives who believe they are more bothersome than revolutionary, including Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke. &ldquo;Statistics are like a lamp post to a drunk,&rdquo; he said at the conference. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s for support, not illumination.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Stats Crunch

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-10201/9608659-1-eng-US/f0014-102.jpg" title="f0014-10" width="704" height="285"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-11175/9608652-1-eng-US/f0014-112.jpg" title="f0014-11" width="630" height="209"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE NHL&rsquo;S PENDING</b> CBA negotiations aren&rsquo;t just of interest to players, owners and fans. They&rsquo;re also being closely monitored by heads of state.</p><p>In February, newly re-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin met with NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr and IIHF chief Rene Fasel in Moscow. While no details of the talks were made public, most believe NHL player participation in the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games &ndash; something that will be a bone of contention between NHL owners and the NHLPA &ndash; topped the agenda.</p><p>League commissioner Gary Bettman continues to express concern that stopping the 2013-14 season for games taking place in the wee hours of the night in North America wouldn&rsquo;t serve the NHL&rsquo;s best interest. However, the absence of the best players from the Olympics would be a major blow to the host country. For these labor talks, the stakes are unprece-dentedly high.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-10

CBA WATCH

<div class="byline">BY MICHAEL STEPHENS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021654/9608739-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="258" height="183"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-031119/9608732-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="128" height="232"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>TROPHY</b></h2><p>THE RAY MIRON PRESIDENT&rsquo;S CUP</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04764/9608725-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="359" height="226"></div><h2><b>STATES REPRESENTED: 9</b></h2><p>1 ARIZONA, 2 SOUTH DAKOTA, 3 KANSAS, 4 OHIO, 5 INDIANA, 6 ILLINOIS, 7 MISSOURI, 8 OKLAHOMA, 9 TEXAS</p><h2><b>WEIRDEST TEAM NICKNAMES</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05524/9608718-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="129" height="114"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>MACON WHOOPEE (defunct)</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06407/9608711-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="120" height="119"></div><p>RIO GRANDE KILLER BEES</p><p>YEARS OF OPERATION 20</p><p>NUMBER OF TEAMS</p><p>14 ACTIVE 26 DEFUNCT</p><p>PLAYOFF FORMAT</p><p>8 OF 14 TEAMS QUALIFY &ndash; 4 PER CONFERENCE THREE ROUNDS OF BEST-OF-SEVEN SERIES</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-07315/9608704-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="552" height="243"></div><p>ALL-TIME LEADERS:</p><p>TOTAL POINTS: 985</p><p>RW JOE BURTON</p><p>TOTAL GOALS: 565</p><p>RW JOE BURTON</p><p>TOTAL ASSISTS: 639</p><p>LW DOUG LAWRENCE</p><p>TOTAL PIM: 1,964</p><p>LW DOUG LAWRENCE</p><p>NHLERS: NICK STAJDUHAR, CHRIS FELIX, JASON LAFRENIERE, BATES BATTAGLIA, DAMIEN SURMA, LARRY HOPKINS, TAYLOR HALL (NOT THAT TAYLOR HALL), MIKE BERGER, DON MACIVER, KEITH AUCOIN, RAITIS IVANANS, DAVID SCHLEMKO, BRAD LUKOWICH</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08259/9608697-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="230" height="149"></div><p>OTHER TIDBIT: WICHITA THUNDER AND TULSA OILERS ARE THE ONLY TWO ORIGINAL FRANCHISES LEFT. WICHITA HAS TWO TITLES WHILE TULSA HAS ONE. NEITHER HAS WON SINCE 1995.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-09225/9608690-1-eng-US/f0014-092.jpg" title="f0014-09" width="228" height="115"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-02

GET TO KNOW YOUR LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011973/9608770-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GREGORY SHAMUS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>EAD INJURIES HAVE BEEN NOTHING BUT A HEADACHE FOR THE NHL AND ITS FANS AS SUPERSTARS CONTINUE TO FALL. BUT THE NEWS ISN&rsquo;T ALL DOOM AND GLOOM; SOME OF THE STORIES DO HAVE HAPPY ENDINGS. IN THE ENSUING PAGES, WE FOCUS ON SOME OF THE PLAYERS &ndash; PRO AND AMATEUR, ACTIVE AND RETIRED &ndash; WHOSE CAREERS WERE EITHER TEMPORARILY SIDETRACKED OR PERMANENTLY DERAILED BY CONCUSSIONS. ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, THEY&rsquo;VE ALL FOUND THEIR WAY BACK INTO THE GAME<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-01

HEAD STRONG THE CONCUSSION COMEBACK KIDS

<div class="byline">&nbsp;&#x2013; ROB ROSSI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011716/9608801-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="369" height="353"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>OR SIDNEY CROSBY, the Stanley Cup playoffs began with him having played fewer than 25 games over a span of 15 months. Another way of looking at it is that he missed more than 100 games played by the Pittsburgh Penguins from Jan. 6, 2011 until Game 1 of this post-season.</b></p><p><b>Seven of those absences weighed on him most, those being the three wins and four losses by the Penguins in Round 1 of the 2011 playoffs.</b></p><p><b>A long concussion ordeal seemingly behind him &ndash; Crosby finished this regular season having appeared in the Penguins&rsquo; final 16 games &ndash; another chance to chase the Cup was front-and-center on the mind of a player long considered the face of his franchise, if not the sport. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m even more excited if that&rsquo;s possible,&rdquo; Crosby said of returning the playoffs for the first time since the Penguins closed Civic Arena with a Game 7 loss at home to Montreal in Round 2 of the 2010 post-season.</b></p><p><b>&ldquo;Having watched last year, it&rsquo;s fair to say there&rsquo;s a little extra motivation and a little extra excitement about being able to be a part of it this year.&rdquo;</b></p><p><b>Crosby has always thrived in the postseason pressure cooker. His career playoff numbers are impressive: 30 goals and 82 points in 62 games. And, of course, there are the trips to the Cup final in 2008 and 2009 &ndash; the latter a playoff run that ended with him being the youngest captain to raise the chalice.</b></p><p><b>Concussion symptoms that first arose in January 2011 and prevented him from playing for 11 months, then another three after a three-week return in November 2012, appeared behind him as the regular season wrapped.</b></p><p><b>Crosby, who returned from that second concussion-symptom absence in March, finished on a 1.7 points-per-game pace.</b>&nbsp;<b>That was better than his track for his in spiring pre-concussion run of 41 games in 2011-12. Then, Crosby had 66 points in 41 games, a 1.61 pace.</b></p><p><b>Statistics did not tell the story of Crosby&rsquo;s return to form, however.</b></p><p><b>The eye test did.</b></p><p><b>Upon his first return in November 2011, Crosby relied heavily on his trusted backhand and often sought contact &ndash; as if to prove to himself he could take that anticipated first big hit. Upon the second comeback three months later Crosby acknowledged he had let the game &ldquo;come to him&rdquo; more.</b></p><p><b>Long-time linemate and Penguins winger Chris Kunitz noticed the same thing. Kunitz said Crosby&rsquo;s first game back, when Crosby scored two goals and racked four points against the New York Islanders on Nov. 21, was &ldquo;something to write stories about.&rdquo; But the season-closing stretch by Crosby was more, well, Crosby-like. &ldquo;His mental state in the locker room was a positive push we really needed,&rdquo; Kunitz said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been able to be Sid, just go on the ice and show the guys how to play the right way, not only say the words but be the guy that goes out and shows it.</b></p><p><b>&ldquo;There was a game when (winger Steve Sullivan) had a couple of goals, you could see Sid drawing guys towards him, pucks going by him to another guy in the slot and another guy sitting in the slot waiting for it. That&rsquo;s Sid, just taking what is there and making guys better. And then you see the energy everybody else gets from those plays he makes, even letting a puck go by him to an open guy, and suddenly we&rsquo;re playing with speed up and down the lineup.</b></p><p><b>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what Sid brings, that&rsquo;s what we missed, that&rsquo;s what makes him, you know, Sid. And it&rsquo;s how he&rsquo;s looked on this comeback.&rdquo;</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

SIDNEY CROSBY

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021384/9608846-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="352" height="298"></div><p><b>THE ST. LOUIS BLUES&rsquo; TENT IS</b> bursting with phenomenal stories, but David Perron&rsquo;s could be the best.</p><p>Forced to the sidelines for nearly 400 days by post-concussion symptoms, Perron returned to action Dec. 3 and scored on his first shot on net against Chicago, the same team on which he scored his first career NHL goal in 2007. He called that night &ldquo;the most nervous I&rsquo;d been in my entire career,&rdquo; but the real turning point in his return to the game came some four months earlier, far from the eyes of fans and Blues officials.</p><p>In August, during a breakfast meeting in the Sherbrooke, Que., area with his agent, Allan Walsh, Perron was at a low point. He hadn&rsquo;t strapped on equipment since November 2010. And he told Walsh his brother was playing in a local pickup league run by former NHLer Yanic Perreault and that he ached to be out there with him.</p><p>To Perron&rsquo;s utter shock, Walsh suggested he don his equipment and go play that afternoon. Almost like the old Bugs Bunny cartoons where a character leaves nothing but a white puff of smoke from racing away so quickly, Perron was gone and off to get his hockey bag. &ldquo;By that point I&rsquo;d just started doing some really light bike rides, but I wasn&rsquo;t feeling really bad or really good,&rdquo; Perron said. &ldquo;So you&rsquo;re wondering when it&rsquo;s time to take that next step. The last thing I thought when Allan visited was I&rsquo;d be skating that afternoon, but when we talked for a while, he said, &lsquo;Why don&rsquo;t you try it? It&rsquo;s not a big deal. Just go out, see how you feel and you&rsquo;ll at least know where you&rsquo;re at.&rsquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011851/9608839-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="1243" height="1593"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>IMMEDIATE IMPACT</b></p><p><b>David Perron scored on his first shot on goal in his return from a concussion.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(JAMIE SABAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;I did and ended up playing pretty much a full session. It was more like shinny hockey, but that got my recovery going and after a couple of weeks of doing that, I was feeling better every single day.&rdquo;</p><p>Since he returned to the NHL, Perron has averaged the fifth-most minutes (18:19) of any Blues forward, but is second on the team in goal production, netting 20 in 55 games. The two other Blues in the same range &ndash; David Backes (24) and T.J. Oshie (19) &ndash; have played 25 and 23 more games, respectively. Perron also had St. Louis&rsquo; fourth-best plus-minus (plus-20). But the return wasn&rsquo;t as productive in his next few games, as his 394-day absence from the league began to show in his conditioning. &ldquo;The first game back was incredible,&rdquo; the Sherbrooke native said. &ldquo;I had a ton of energy. But in the next few weeks, reality kicked in and I was pretty tired at the end of games. When you aren&rsquo;t able to work out as long as I couldn&rsquo;t, it catches up to you.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed, Perron&rsquo;s early totals on offense weren&rsquo;t at all eye-catching. He had a 13-game goal-less streak through mid-January and by the end of the month, he had amassed only four goals in 24 games. By Perron&rsquo;s own admission, he was still too hesitant on the ice, still too cognizant of his head and all he endured to rehabilitate it.</p><p>To compound matters, his own teammates were starting to get ahead of themselves in terms of expecting him to step back in and step his game up right away. But he doesn&rsquo;t consider that a negative.</p><p>&ldquo;After a while, they don&rsquo;t see you as going through a process anymore,&rdquo; Perron said of his Blues teammates and the organization. &ldquo;They want you to be a dominant player and play to your potential. When you don&rsquo;t do that, they get on you right away. The first couple times they did that around the 10-15 game mark, I was still thinking a lot about the injury and I was like, &lsquo;Give me a break, I&rsquo;m just getting back and trying to get back up to par.&rsquo; But I&rsquo;m glad they did it that way, because it makes you part of the team right away and they aren&rsquo;t treating you any differently. The way they handled it, it made me work harder and helped me a lot.&rdquo;</p><p>The all-star break gave Perron the chance to re-evaluate where he was at in his recovery, to tell himself he could play the game again, only this time, without that hesitancy. And in the 31 games that followed, he scored 16 goals and 24 points, providing the Blues with another dangerous scoring option as the team rose to the pinnacle of the Western Conference standings.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">EVERY GAME HE&rsquo;S ABLE TO PLAY, HE SEES AS A GIFT<br>- Allan Walsh</blockquote><p>While he&rsquo;s just 23, Perron is an extremely mature young man and his concussion ordeal has turned him into arguably the most well-read-and-researched NHLer when it comes to head injuries. His time away from the ice stoked what already was a burning fire to compete &ndash; and now that he understands the game could be taken away from him or any elite player at any moment, he is more driven to contribute than ever. &ldquo;When you have someone as passionate about the game as David is and you go through what he&rsquo;s gone through, you appreciate everything more than you did,&rdquo; Walsh said. &ldquo;Every game he&rsquo;s able to play, he sees as a gift.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011631/9608832-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="1391" height="917"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DILIP VISHWANAT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>If hockey is a gift to Perron, he is one to hockey. He&rsquo;s happy to see the NHL make progress in its efforts to curtail concussions and make the on-ice environment safer for players, but thinks the league can go further in that regard. Yet what&rsquo;s most admirable is his all-encompassing love for the sport.</p><p>Although it sounds like a tired clich&eacute;, he isn&rsquo;t in the game for the money &ndash; he still lives in a renovated attic above his parents&rsquo; home in Sherbrooke during off-seasons &ndash; but for the opportunity to do something he loves more than anything. &ldquo;The injury was the first big one I&rsquo;ve had,&rdquo; Perron said, &ldquo;and it gave me a lot of time to think how much I love being on the ice and competing. I loved the game before, but I don&rsquo;t think I could love it any more than I do now.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-02

DAVID PERRON

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021154/9608891-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="316" height="312"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HOUGHT TO BE STANLEY CUP</b> contenders after an off-season spending spree under new owner Terry Pegula, the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; season came crashing down when Boston Bruins power forward Milan Lucic barrelled into star netminder Ryan Miller. That mid-November incident shelved Miller with a concussion and had the Sabres questioning their own moral fiber when no one stood up to Lucic in the ensuing scrum. With Miller laid up, the Sabres went 3-5-1 before he returned to beat Nashville Dec. 3. But the team struggled long after and only stellar play by Miller made up for a lack of offense and cohesiveness. &ldquo;As good as a goaltender can play, the team needs to be responsible and score goals,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;It goes back months when we were finding it hard to put a complete game together. It got to the point where enough was enough.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011603/9608884-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="1398" height="965"></div><p>After his return, Miller played in all but six games for the Sabres, with backup Jhonas Enroth seeing spot duty. With the post-season looking out of reach, the Sabres put their faith in Miller and were rewarded in March, when he was named the NHL&rsquo;s third star of the month and went 10-3-2 as the squad hunted the Washington Capitals for eighth in the Eastern Conference. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s done a great job staying in the zone,&rdquo; said right winger Drew Stafford. &ldquo;There have been some games where he&rsquo;s had 40-plus saves and is still playing cool out there. He&rsquo;s the backbone of this team and gives us a lot of confidence when he&rsquo;s back there.&rdquo;</p><p>Buffalo is a different team with Miller between the pipes and those first-half memories are ones the Sabres hoped to banish as the campaign wound down. &ldquo;It was a weird part of the year,&rdquo; said center Tyler Ennis, who formed a sizzling line with Stafford and rookie Marcus Foligno down the stretch. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a good time. We were losing and we were down. It was a big change when he came back and he was just on fire ever since. He&rsquo;s been the backbone and he&rsquo;s been charging. He created a confidence in our room.&rdquo;</p><p>Backbone. Confidence. No surprise Miller&rsquo;s teammates have similar thoughts about his impact on the team. But the lanky field general still had to battle his own body in order to get them in that place. &ldquo;I was anxious to get back,&rdquo; Miller said. &ldquo;You feel healthy, but in a (head injury) situation we&rsquo;re learning more about, it was a tough time.&rdquo;</p><p>The 31-year-old goalkeeper revealed his headaches from the concussion went away fairly quickly, but a disc issue in his neck had doctors cautioning a speedy return. Even when Miller did get back in the crease, the mountain took a while to climb. Buffalo piled up losses in December and January, with almost all the setbacks coming in affairs decided by more than one goal. The team wasn&rsquo;t burying pucks and Miller wasn&rsquo;t stopping them. &ldquo;I definitely wasn&rsquo;t at the top of my game, but I was healthy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a certain amount of time when you have to get your feel for the ice back. The concussion was a setback for me in terms of awareness and focus, in tracking the puck.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011295/9608877-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="656" height="834"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>SPRING AWAKENING</b></p><p><b>Ryan Miller caught fire in March, going 10-3-2 as the NHL&rsquo;s third star of the month.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BILL WIPPERT/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Once those skills returned, Miller was lightning. His save percentage steadily climbed in March, back to a career-normal .917 and the team was rolling. Although he was aware of the seriousness of his condition, Miller&rsquo;s competitive juices meant he wouldn&rsquo;t stay on the bench any longer than he had to. &ldquo;I made a good decision coming back when I did,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;With the team&rsquo;s situation, everything stood out a little more.&rdquo;</p><p>Was it too little too late? Needless to say, the Sabres did not challenge for the Northeast Division crown the way many pundits thought they would before the campaign began and being punching bags in more ways than one for the Boston Bruins didn&rsquo;t help matters. The B&rsquo;s owned the division again and dealt the Sabres several of their worst losses. That included the infamous Lucic game and the collision Miller will not forget. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t agree with the hit,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Not a big fan of the play, but it&rsquo;s hockey. You&rsquo;re gonna get hit, you&rsquo;re gonna get roughed up.&rdquo;</p><p>It was a mad dash to the final playoff spot in the East and the Sabres know they have only themselves to blame for the position they were in. The Lucic hit may have been a flashpoint, but poor overall campaigns from offensive weapons such as Derek Roy, Brad Boyes and Ville Leino didn&rsquo;t help matters when Miller was shutting the door and still losing by a goal or via the shootout. All of that is cold comfort for the former Michigan State standout if he finds himself at the World Championship instead of deep into a playoff run. &ldquo;Compared to the first half I feel better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have an identity and confidence right now.&rdquo;</p><p>Confidence. There&rsquo;s that word again.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-02

RYAN MILLER

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03822/9608929-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="303" height="293"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE HIT ITSELF WAS A</b> headliner in junior hockey, a companion to the elbow Patrice Cormier delivered to the head of Mikael Tam in the Quebec League. Halloween, 2009, Kitchener&rsquo;s Ben Fanelli was clearing a puck from behind the net when Erie goon Michael Liambas drove him into the boards face-first, resulting in a fractured skull and brain trauma that kept the Rangers defenseman off the ice for nearly two full seasons. He returned to the lineup this year to an incredible ovation and hasn&rsquo;t looked back, registering 15 points and a plus-19 rating in 67 games. Needless to say, it was the days right after the hit that were the toughest for the teen. &ldquo;From what I was told by doctors, my life was going to be flipped upside-down,&rdquo; Fanelli said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to go to school for a year. I was always athletic, go-go, but that would stop.&rdquo;</p><p>But Fanelli&rsquo;s symptoms began to go away sooner than expected and with a measured pace of rehab, the skies were clearing. After four or five months, he even started to think about hockey again (he also returned to school earlier than expected). As he recovered, Fanelli used to trick himself to get in the right frame of mind. &ldquo;I tried to make every little positive into a huge deal,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It kept my confidence up.&rdquo;</p><p>But he still took things slowly and two days before camp started for the current campaign, Fanelli and his parents had a meeting in coach Steve Spott&rsquo;s office at the Kitchener Auditorium: He was coming back. &ldquo;That was the happiest moment in my life since getting drafted by the team &ndash; knowing I would get to play for the Rangers again,&rdquo; Fanelli said.</p><p>Born in 1993, Fanelli was passed over at the NHL draft in the summer, but he&rsquo;s still eligible this year and there has been interest. Formerly an offense-minded D-man, the 19-year-old has modified his game since the incident to play more responsibly in his own end. Off the ice, he helped found Head Strong, a charitable organization dedicated to growing awareness about brain injuries. The Rangers and the Brain Injury Association of Canada are also integral players in the group. &ldquo;I try to get out to the community as much as possible,&rdquo; Fanelli said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of people coming forward now.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02835/9608922-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="1391" height="1085"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>REINVENTED</b></p><p><b>Ben Fanelli&rsquo;s career is back on track and there may be interest from the NHL.</b></p><span class="photo-credit">(MILLER: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; FANELLI: CHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>That includes NHLers, a group Fanelli naturally looks up to, but also now feels a real kinship with. &ldquo;It brought me down to earth,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re humans just like me, they have brains just like me.&rdquo;</p><p>The Rangers were making noise in the playoffs and Fanelli was a part of the charge this time. But it&rsquo;s his work with Head Strong that may have led to his most poignant moment: &ldquo;There was an 11-year-old who asked for donations to Head Strong for his birthday,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;instead of gifts.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-03

BEN FANELLI

<div class="byline">&#x2013; STEVE ZIPAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-021097/9608974-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="312" height="312"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE LATE-AFTERNOON</b> air was crisp in Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and Marc Staal was assessing the territory like a bear coming out of hibernation: slowly and cautiously.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011491/9608967-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="1391" height="1040"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SCOTT LEVY/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>He admitted feeling a little lost. But on his cream-colored Winter Classic sweater, the &lsquo;A&rsquo; was back, the ice was firm under his boots, the crowd noise in his ears. The 25-year-old defenseman, who had missed his summer workouts, training camp, the exhibition season and 36 regular season games with post-concussion symptoms, had returned to the fold. &ldquo;To be back in the lineup and part of the team and around the guys is a relief,&rdquo; Staal said after playing just 12:41, about half his average when healthy, in a memorable victory over the Flyers.</p><p>Slowly, Staal&rsquo;s ice-time increased and nine games later, when the Penguins visited the Garden on Jan. 19, the shackles were off. Coach John Tortorella played him 24:58, yet the up-and-down performance was a foreshadowing of the next few weeks. Still tentative and struggling with stamina and defensive reads, Staal played effectively the first two periods, then committed errors rare for the former first-pair matchup monster.</p><p>With the game tied early in the third period, Staal tried to hold the puck in the zone along the left boards, but missed, triggering a 3-on-1 that Richard Park converted. Less than five minutes later, Evgeni Malkin charged in off a turnover and roofed a shot over Henrik Lundqvist to make it 3-1. Game over. &ldquo;The pinch was the wrong read,&rdquo; Staal said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have any support coming back and if I backpedal there I make it at least a 3-on-2. The last one, the check was behind me and the puck was coming along the boards and before I knew it, it was between my legs and right on his stick.</p><p>&ldquo;As far as me being back to where I need to be, that kind of happened early on. I&rsquo;m starting to feel better on the ice, though, but obviously a loss isn&rsquo;t good enough.&rdquo;</p><p>Defenseman Dan Girardi was sympathetic: &ldquo;I thought some of the plays he was making, the self reverses you know he&rsquo;s good at&hellip; I thought he played a good game. When his minutes go up, he feels more into the game.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough when you miss that much time. Even if you miss one game, your timing gets off. I&rsquo;m sure as the games go on, he&rsquo;s going to get more opportunities to play.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011290/9608960-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="658" height="900"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>FROM STALLED TO HIGH GEAR</b></p><p><b>The Rangers are counting on a rejuvenated, confident Marc Staal in the post-season.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Fast-forward to March, more than a year since Staal sustained the concussion in Carolina. He played all 17 games that month, on the second or third pairing and also on the penalty-kill, logging more than 20 minutes in 14 of them. He was becoming more assertive and aggressive, but sometimes over-thinking and tentative &ndash; fatal flaws for a blueliner in Tortorella&rsquo;s system.</p><p>In Minnesota March 27, the coach&rsquo;s frustration led to a benching for the final 10:28 of a 3-2 win against the Wild and a 1-on-1 conversation afterward. The message? Initiate, don&rsquo;t react. Just play and use your instincts.</p><p>After all, the Rangers need Staal&rsquo;s experience to have any success in the playoffs. His 22 post-season games are second only to Girardi&rsquo;s 32 among their defensemen. Michael Del Zotto, Anton Stralman and Stu Bickel have zero post-season games under their belts. Ryan McDonagh has five.</p><p>But Staal said his game are coming around. In the 5-2 win in Philadelphia April 3 that clinched the No. 1 seed in the East, Staal recorded his first power play assist on Marian Gaborik&rsquo;s second-period goal. &ldquo;The last three or four, I feel my confidence is back up there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m making plays with the puck, so it&rsquo;s a good time to start feeling good and hopefully, it&rsquo;s going to start getting better.&rdquo;</p><p>In fact, Staal&rsquo;s remarks on how the Rangers managed to survive a gruelling March could be a self-assessment. &ldquo;There were no easy games,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everyone was gunning for us. I thought we handled it very well when we lost a couple of games. We&rsquo;re confident &ndash; we&rsquo;ve been playing well. We&rsquo;ll iron out some things in the next week or so and hit our stride come playoff time.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-02

MARC STAAL

<div class="byline">&#x2013; AP</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03815/9609012-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="288" height="282"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>D</span>URING HIS 15 SEASONS</b> in the NHL, Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine watched a lot of teammates and fellow players leave the game with a certain degree of bitterness over perceived slights and/or unfortunate circumstance. But the man who arguably is the greatest U.S.-born-and-raised player in history was determined not to leave the game that way &ndash; despite a slew of concussions that forced him into retirement at age 33.</p><p>Even now, some 14 years after his final game &ndash; and in spite of the combustible decision by New York Islanders ownership to excommunicate him &ndash; LaFontaine has kept his reputation as one of the classiest players the sport has ever seen. And not surprisingly, in addition to his extensive charity work, he&rsquo;s giving back to the game in a manner most players of his ilk never have the opportunity to do: by coaching his son&rsquo;s Long Island area midget national team to a New York State championship this spring.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like I tell the kids on the team your reputation is what other people think about you, but character is who you really are,&rdquo; said LaFontaine, who, along with fellow Isles alumnus Steve Webb, coached the Long Island Royals to glory in early April. &ldquo;Although my time in the NHL didn&rsquo;t end the way I wanted it to, hockey has given so much to me and my family over the years, there&rsquo;s no way I could say anything derogatory about it.&rdquo;</p><p>LaFontaine, who in 1997 founded the Companions in Courage Foundation to finance playrooms in hospitals across North America, began coaching his son Daniel&rsquo;s team eight years ago. He and Webb worked diligently to make their players better on the ice, but more importantly, better people off it. That included having the kids go against much older players so they&rsquo;d be able to dominate when their chance came to win an under-16 title. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m so proud of these young guys,&rdquo; said LaFontaine, 47. &ldquo;They really absorbed the messsages Steve and I were trying to convey to them: hard work, character and giving back. The team has become a real family and to have them accomplish what they&rsquo;ve accomplished this year, it&rsquo;s one of the most gratifying experiences I&rsquo;ve ever had in hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>After LaFontaine&rsquo;s most recent experience in the NHL &ndash; when he stepped down from his unpaid role as a senior advisor to Isles owner Charles Wang in a dispute over the team&rsquo;s direction &ndash; the pure joy of a non-professional championship has meant the world to the Michigan native. He&rsquo;s had such a blast with the Royals that he could see a return to the NHL in a coaching or management capacity someday. But for now, he&rsquo;s happy to continue his charitable work and his diligent efforts to cut down on concussions.</p><p>LaFontaine, who suffered six concussions in seven seasons before hanging up his skates with 1,013 points in 865 regular season games, isn&rsquo;t about to harshly criticize the NHL for not doing enough in its decisions. He believes the league and Brendan Shanahan should be credited for their work on the game&rsquo;s most pressing issue, yet believes further steps can be taken. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no excuse for any hits to the head in our game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Change the rules and players will adapt. And we need to adapt, because in all the things I&rsquo;ve learned about concussions, I know the brain only has so much protective gas in the tank, so to speak, and each time a concussion drains that gas, you can&rsquo;t get it back. Now we&rsquo;ve got kids who&rsquo;ve suffered multiple concussions before they even get to the pros, so they have even less of a full tank. We&rsquo;ve got to keep doing as much as possible to get a better handle on this problem.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02929/9609005-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="1390" height="835"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0022-03

PAT LAFONTAINE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-021032/9609043-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>&lsquo;HITCH&rsquo; IN THE PLAN</b></p><p><b>Ken Hitchcock is favored for the Jack Adams Award, but has stiff competition.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011433/9609050-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="189" height="222"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he NHL awards</b> are always guaranteed to leave some fans, media and team employees feeling their favored candidates have been ripped off. This year, there will be thousands of fans upset when three of Shea Weber, Zdeno Chara, Erik Karlsson and Alex Pietrangelo lose out on the Norris Trophy. Similarly, when the Lady Byng is presented &ndash; likely to a previous winner such as Pavel Datsyuk or Martin St-Louis, or a newcomer such as Jordan Eberle &ndash; many will feel a serious injustice has been committed.</p><p>But there&rsquo;s no tougher competition than the one for the Jack Adams Award. As many as one-third of coaches deserve consideration as NHL coach of the year.</p><p>For many, the clear frontrunner is St. Louis&rsquo; Ken Hitchcock. Indeed, when Hitchcock took over for the fired Davis Payne on Nov. 6, the Blues were meandering along, looking much like the team that has underachieved the past few years. Since then &ndash; and as evidenced by the 42-14-10 record Hitchcock built through the end of March &ndash; the Stanley Cup winner has instilled a disciplined system his players have bought into.</p><p>That said, if Hitchcock is your preference for the Jack Adams, you&rsquo;re preferring to play down what Paul MacLean has done in Ottawa. Virtually no one gave the Senators a chance to come close to a playoff berth, but under the rookie coach the Sens have been a revelation and gave the defending-champion Bruins a run for their money for the Northeast Division title.</p><p>It&rsquo;s unfair not to acknowledge what MacLean has achieved, but since there can be only three finalists for the Adams, some members of the NHL Broadcasters&rsquo; Association (the only ones who cast a ballot for the award) might do just that. After all, there&rsquo;s a certain coach of the Nashville Predators named Barry Trotz to consider. He has yet to win the Adams, yet year after year, Trotz makes more lemonade out of relative lemons than any of his colleagues. I mean, late in the 2011-12 campaign, Trotz had just three players who posted 50 points or more &ndash; and two of his top five scorers were defensemen. Sure, those blueliners (Weber and Ryan Suter) are two of the best in the game, but the system and culture Trotz has developed in Tennessee is envied around the league.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>One-third of coaches could be considered</b></blockquote><p>Another veteran bench boss, Detroit&rsquo;s Mike Babcock, has two Stanley Cup championships on his resume as well as the record for consecutive home wins (23) that his Wings established this season. Guess what he doesn&rsquo;t have? That&rsquo;s right &ndash; a Jack Adams Award. Sooner or later, someone has to give the man his props.</p><p>Another rookie coach, Kevin Dineen, has achieved a lot with a Florida Panthers team many saw as a patchwork group of youngsters and veteran castoffs. Phoenix&rsquo;s Dave Tippett, who won the award in 2009, once again has worked wonders with the budget-conscious, league-owned Coyotes. And Dallas&rsquo; Glen Gulutzan took a team that had been stung by the departure of its best player (Brad Richards) and guided them into a spirited battle for the final playoff berth in the West.</p><p>Meanwhile, last season&rsquo;s Adams winner, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, steered Pittsburgh to success despite lacking Sidney Crosby&rsquo;s presence most of the current campaign. Bylsma&rsquo;s Atlantic Division rival and Rangers bench boss John Tortorella inspired his team to the top of the Eastern Conference and the Blueshirts&rsquo; best regular season record since they won the Cup in 1994. And Peter DeBoer, another coach working in the New York area, has rescued the New Jersey Devils from their one-season playoff absence and turned them into my pick as the most dangerous post-season dark horse team.</p><p>So don&rsquo;t get too irate if your Adams favorite isn&rsquo;t honored. If there&rsquo;s any award that could be cut up into pieces and mailed out across the NHL spectrum, the coach of the year is the one.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-02

Coach Of The Year Conundrum

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011265/9609081-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>e charted each coach based on his style and there&rsquo;s clearly more than one way to helm a winning team. Taskmakers like Ken Hitchcock have Stanley Cup rings, but so do tacticians like Mike Babcock. Many coaches also incorporate more than one style.</p><p>The lack of rings for players&rsquo; coaches suggests coddling doesn&rsquo;t breed champions.</p><p><b>1</b> Bruce Boudreau (ANA)</p><p><b>2</b> Claude Julien (BOS)</p><p><b>3</b> Lindy Ruff (BUF)</p><p><b>4</b> Brent Sutter (CGY)</p><p><b>5</b> Kirk Muller (CAR)</p><p><b>6</b> Joel Quenneville (CHI)</p><p><b>7</b> Joe Sacco (COL)</p><p><b>8</b> Todd Richards (CLB)</p><p><b>9</b> Glen Gulutzan (DAL)</p><p><b>10</b> Mike Babcock (DET)</p><p><b>11</b> Tom Renney (EDM)</p><p><b>12</b> Kevin Dineen (FLA)</p><p><b>13</b> Darryl Sutter (LA)</p><p><b>14</b> Mike Yeo (MIN)</p><p><b>15</b> Randy Cunneyworth (MTL)</p><p><b>16</b> Barry Trotz (NSH)</p><p><b>17</b> Peter DeBoer (NJ)</p><p><b>18</b> Jack Capuano (NYI)</p><p><b>19</b> John Tortorella (NYR)</p><p><b>20</b> Paul MacLean (OTT)</p><p><b>21</b> Peter Laviolette (PHI)</p><p><b>22</b> Dave Tippett (PHX)</p><p><b>23</b> Dan Bylsma (PIT)</p><p><b>24</b> Ken Hitchcock (STL)</p><p><b>25</b> Todd MacLellan (SJ)</p><p><b>26</b> Guy Boucher (TB)</p><p><b>27</b> Randy Carlyle (TOR)</p><p><b>28</b> Alain Vigneault (VAN)</p><p><b>29</b> Dale Hunter (WSH)</p><p><b>30</b> Claude Noel (WPG)</p><p>WANT MORE PROTEAU? READ HIS EXCLUSIVE WEB COLUMN THURSDAYS AT <b><a href="http://THN.COM/PROTEAU">THN.COM/PROTEAU</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0025-01

Skipper Scale

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011445/9609119-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>Z</span>ACH PARISE USUALLY PARKS HIS</b> $275,000 Aston Martin Coupe in a corner space behind Newark&rsquo;s Prudential Center. It helps to avoid dings in the doors.</p><p>Just kidding. Parise drives an Audi S5, a nice luxury car but not one in which you&rsquo;d find James Bond behind the wheel.</p><p>Not that Parise can&rsquo;t afford an Aston Martin. He is in the final season of a one-year contract with the New Jersey Devils that pays him $6 million and he&rsquo;ll be the most desirable free agent on the market if and when he becomes unrestricted July 1.</p><p>Word around the NHL is the Detroit Red Wings plan to come hard after Parise. But they will most likely be up against the New York Rangers and Parise&rsquo;s home-state Minnesota Wild.</p><p>Oh, and there&rsquo;s the Devils. Although he stopped talking about his contract and impending free agency several months ago, Parise still maintains the Devils are his first choice. The 27-year-old left winger claims his decision will hinge just as much on whether he feels a team can win a Stanley Cup as on how much money is thrown his way. And his teammates want to believe him. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re starting to build something really good with Kovy,&rdquo; goaltender Martin Brodeur said, referring to Parise&rsquo;s $100-million linemate, Ilya Kovalchuk. &ldquo;If you go somewhere else, that doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;s going to happen. There are a lot of good things for him here.</p><p>&ldquo;But, at the end of the day, he&rsquo;ll have his fate in his own hands and he&rsquo;ll decide what he wants. Personally, I think it&rsquo;s a really good fit for him here, but he&rsquo;s going to make the decision.&rdquo;</p><p>The guess is it will take at least $45 million over five seasons to get Parise. He is worth that to the Devils, who made him captain before this season, but one vital question is whether ownership will have the money.</p><p>Chairman and managing partner Jeff Vanderbeek, who owns 47 percent of the team, is struggling to find an investor that will allow him to keep his share. The Devils are facing possible bankruptcy when the playoffs end.</p><p>As for Parise, he is engaged to be married and bought a new home in Minnesota. He&rsquo;s managed to bounce back from a knee injury that limited him to only 13 games last season and became only the second player in history to score 30 or more goals five times for the Devils, joining John MacLean. &ldquo;It feels good,&rdquo; Parise said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an easy thing to do. I&rsquo;ve been pretty fortunate to find some good chemistry with some players. It&rsquo;s rewarding, but most importantly I want us to do well in the playoffs. That&rsquo;s most important because that&rsquo;s what has been missing.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011343/9609112-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="1656" height="1762"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PAUL BERESWILL/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;HE&rsquo;LL HAVE HIS <b>FATE IN HIS OWN HANDS</b> AND HE&rsquo;LL DECIDE WHAT HE WANTS&rdquo;&ndash;MARTIN BRODEUR</blockquote><p>He also moved past Bruce Driver into ninth place on the Devils&rsquo; all-time scoring list with 400 points. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a great year,&rdquo; said coach Pete DeBoer. &ldquo;People underestimate how tough it is to take basically a year off from the game and jump back in after a slow start. When you look at the last 50-60 games, he&rsquo;s been great.&rdquo;</p><p>Parise says not discussing his contract every day has helped. &ldquo;At different times your mind wanders,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But my agents did a really good job kind of helping me through it. It can be hard. You go to Canadian cities and certain cities and that&rsquo;s the first thing the media asks you about, so you have to be able to kind of block that part out.</p><p>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re repeatedly asked about it, at times it can be hard to block it out. After a while I had to say I&rsquo;m not going to answer questions about it any more. It&rsquo;s gone the way I expected it to go.&rdquo;</p><p>Parise joked he will keep a close watch on upcoming collective bargaining negotiations, hoping players get a private hotel room on road trips after 600 games. He just passed 500.</p><p>There is, however, one CBA issue that is dear to his heart. He wants to play in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. &ldquo;I feel very strongly &ndash; it&rsquo;s important,&rdquo; Parise said. &ldquo;I would love to be able to go back. Just the experience alone is something else. Maybe a lot of it has to do with how we did as a team and how close we were to winning. We got a taste of it. I would love to see the NHL go back.</p><p>&ldquo;You come a goal away from surprising everyone and winning a gold medal &ndash; you want another crack at it.&rdquo;</p><p>Parise would be a key member of Team USA, perhaps even captain. But a lot will happen in his life before the Olympics or a new CBA. First, there are the playoffs. He&rsquo;s never advanced past the second round since he broke in with the Devils in 2005-06 and no one will play a bigger role for the Devils this spring. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a great season and he&rsquo;s the heartbeat of our team,&rdquo; DeBoer said. &ldquo;He shows up and plays the same way every night, regardless of the building or the opponent or the schedule or how tired he is. He drives the bus for us.&rdquo;</p><p>OK, so it&rsquo;s not an Aston Martin.</p><h2><b>ALL-UFA TEAMS 2012</b></h2><h3><b>FIRST TEAM</b></h3><p>LW ZACHPARISE</p><p>NJ, $6,000,000</p><p>C OLLIJOKINEN</p><p>CGY, $3,000,000</p><p>RW ALEXANDER SEMIN</p><p>WSH, $6,700,000</p><p>D RYANSUTER</p><p>NSH, $3,500,000</p><p>D DENNISWIDEMAN</p><p>WSH, $3,900,000</p><p>G TOMASVOKOUN</p><p>WSH, $1,500,000</p><h3><b>SECOND TEAM</b></h3><p>LW RAYWHITNEY</p><p>PHX, $3,000,000</p><p>C PAULGAUSTAD</p><p>NSH, $2,300,000</p><p>RW JAROMIR JAGR</p><p>PHI, $3,300,000</p><p>D BRADSTUART</p><p>DET, $3,800,000</p><p>D BARRETJACKMAN</p><p>STL, $3,600,000</p><p>G JOSHHARDING</p><p>MIN, $750,000<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

Zach Attack IN FULL GEAR

<p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>e all know fighting goes down in the playoffs, but what other penalties get whistled more or less often? We broke down all the various calls since the lockout for both the regular and post-season to come up with a percentage of each type as part the total number of infractions. For example, hooking penalties made up 20.3 percent of all regular season calls over the past six seasons. In the post-season, however, that number drops to 14.7 percent. And that&rsquo;s not the only discrepancy that emerges come spring.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011257/9609202-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="470" height="310"></div><h2><b>REGULAR SEASON</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02863/9609195-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="546" height="558"></div><p><b>Hooking 20.3%</b></p><p><b>Tripping 10.9%</b></p><p><b>Roughing 10.1%</b></p><p><b>Holding 9.4%</b></p><p><b>Fighting 8.9%</b></p><p><b>Interference 8.4%</b></p><p><b>High-sticking 6.0%</b></p><p><b>Slashing 5.4%</b></p><p><b>Cross-checking 3.2%</b></p><p><b>Other 17.4%</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03618/9609188-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="472" height="313"></div><h2><b>PLAYOFFS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04466/9609181-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="546" height="560"></div><p><b>Hooking 14.7%</b></p><p><b>Tripping 10.3%</b></p><p><b>Roughing 16.9%</b></p><p><b>Holding 8.4%</b></p><p><b>Fighting 2.5%</b></p><p><b>Interference 10.0%</b></p><p><b>High-sticking 5.8%</b></p><p><b>Slashing 6.3%</b></p><p><b>Cross-checking 5.3%</b></p><p><b>Other 19.8%</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0029-01

Whistle Work

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02988/9609240-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="582" height="545"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVEN STAMKOS</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011436/9609247-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="187" height="223"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he</b>&nbsp;<b>phrase &ldquo;Dead Puck Era&rdquo;</b> has a lot of negative connotations to it. When you hear it uttered, you picture slow-moving board play, a lack of scoring chances and just a dreadful overall entertainment experience. The NHL spent a year trying to move away from this style and the hockey we were left with when the 2005-06 season began was fittingly dubbed &lsquo;The New NHL&rsquo; and provided a fresh take on the age-old league.</p><p>Coming out of the lockout, goals were soaring. The 6.05 goals per game in 2005-06 was the highest average since 1995-96 and this was viewed as a victory for all.</p><p>Ever since then, the entertainment value has been held up to this number, which was derived from what was essentially a tryout season for the new rules. As goals per game dropped in the following seasons the idea the Dead Puck Era was on its way back began to percolate and, once latched onto by the knee-jerk world of social media, caught fire and became a major talking point.</p><p>But this thought is flawed. Those deriding the game&rsquo;s current incarnation are only taking goal numbers into consideration when the issue goes much deeper.</p><p>Goals per game is down from 2005-06, but one passing glance at today&rsquo;s game and one hard look at the numbers shows the Dead Puck Era is not on the verge of returning. Let&rsquo;s get one thing straight: The low goal totals of the Dead Puck Era were due to the overwhelming amount of obstruction that was allowed, which hurt the league&rsquo;s speed immensely. The era should be defined by the slow pace of play, rather than strictly by the amount of goals being scored.</p><p>So don&rsquo;t compare the flowing game we have now to the stalled one we had eight years ago.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>We now have a good balance of goals and difficulty level</b></blockquote><p>Goal scoring may be down from 2005-06, but this is a result of fewer power plays being handed out. And fewer penalties do not mean the &lsquo;Dead Puck Era&rsquo; is back.</p><p>The one common ground where we can compare 2004, 2006 and today is at even strength, where there are actually more goals being scored now than were in 2005-06. In fact, only 108 more goals were scored at even strength in 2005-06 than in 2003-04 and this year&rsquo;s markers eclipsed both (see chart).</p><p>Now, you might point out that because there are more even strength minutes being played now over 2005-06 there would, of course, be more goals scored. But consider even strength time is up 6.8 percent and even strength goals are up 8.1 percent and you&rsquo;ll see the rate at which they&rsquo;re scored is still higher today.</p><p>Is obstruction creeping back into the game? When you compare it to how the game was called fresh off the lockout, yes. But let&rsquo;s not get carried away: The NHL isn&rsquo;t reverting to what it was in the dark ages. Too many penalties for inconsequential plays were being called in 2005-06 (i.e. minor, unobtrusive stick taps) and there&rsquo;s now a happy medium between that and the over-whelming pre-lockout levels of obstruction. We now have a good balance of goals and difficulty level. This, in turn, is good entertainment value.</p><p>Power play opportunities per game jumped by 1.7 in 2005-06, but are currently being handed out less frequently than they were in the year before the lockout. However, this has not had an adverse impact on goal totals at even strength. So how can one argue clutching and grabbing has returned to pre-lockout levels &ndash; or even that it&rsquo;s headed in that direction? If fewer penalties are being called and Dead-Puck-Era obstruction was back, 5-on-5 goals would suffer, not swell.</p><p>Entertainment value depends on your opinion. If all that keeps you interested in games are goal totals, then constant passing around the perimeter with the man-advantage is right up your alley. But if every other facet of hockey is something you enjoy as well, this version of the NHL is still in a good spot. If you like battles for the puck, earning every inch of ice and every goal scored, the current incarnation of the NHL is for you.</p><p>Let&rsquo;s cut out this idea the Dead Puck Era is back. Being annoyed at a lack of overall goals is one thing, but comparing the game we have now to the one we had before the lockout is flat-out wrong.</p><h2>GOALS PER GAME</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03723/9609233-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="1457" height="727"></div><p>*Total 5-on-5 time based on PP OPP being full two minutes</p><p>READ MORE FROM RORY BOYLEN EVERY TUESDAY AT <b><a href="http://THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM/BOYLEN">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM/BOYLEN</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0030-02

Goals Alone Not The Goal

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03696/9609292-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="250" height="185"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011412/9609299-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02951/9609285-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="1297" height="1113"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAYNE SIMMONDS <span class="photo-credit">(FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>ew teams in recent</b>&nbsp;memory tore up their foundation like the Philadelphia Flyers did June 23, 2011. In two startling blockbusters, they traded captain Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings and top sniper Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets. GM Paul Holmgren took a huge risk shipping out the cornerstones of a team one year removed from reaching the Stanley Cup final.</p><p>Flash-forward a full season and Carter has joined Richards in L.A. after the Columbus experiment flopped. Richards had 17 goals in 71 games, while Carter&rsquo;s 21 goals in 55 games put him on track for his lowest total since his 2006-07.</p><p>Meanwhile, a player the Flyers received in the roster overhaul had more goals than Richards or Carter. Was it Jakub Voracek, the slickstick handling  2007 first-rounder acquired for Carter? Sean Couturier, who Philly drafted eighth overall with a pick they received in that same Carter deal? Blue-chipper Brayden Schenn, who came over from L.A. in the Richards trade?</p><p>Nope. The guy outperforming everyone else who changed teams that fateful day was the supposed afterthought: Wayne Simmonds, whose 27 goals are a career high.</p><p>Simmonds, a big, physical right winger who arrived with Schenn, was an energy player in L.A. who chipped in 15 or so goals a season. In Philadelphia, he&rsquo;s blossomed into a vital part of the Flyers&rsquo; offense, a master of scoring from the blue ice. His 10 power play goals were second on a star-studded team &ndash; more than Jaromir Jagr, Claude Giroux and Danny Briere.</p><p>The person least surprised by Simmonds&rsquo; coming-out party: Simmonds. &ldquo;They traded for me for a reason,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They knew what I brought to the table and I just had to make sure I came in and delivered my end of the bargain.</p><p>&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t surprised myself. I had the offensive upside &ndash; I just wasn&rsquo;t being used in certain situations in L.A. I was being played differently. They had a lot of good players ahead of me who had that puck presence. I just tried to learn from those guys. I got an opportunity when I came to Philadelphia and I&rsquo;m trying to make the best of it.&rdquo;</p><p>He&rsquo;s also making the most of his new city after leaving California&rsquo;s beautiful weather for a hockey-mad metropolis. &ldquo;The fans are quite a bit different,&rdquo; Simmonds said. &ldquo;We have a lot more diehards in Philadelphia. Not taking anything way from L.A., but it just seems Philly is much more of a sports town.&rdquo;</p><p>That town has embraced Simmonds &ndash; as have his teammates. Ask one Flyer about Simmonds and two answer you. Everyone wants to talk about him &ndash; and joke about him. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s only gonna get worse,&rdquo; deadpanned Voracek, his roommate, when asked how much more Simmonds could improve.</p><p>Overhearing the banter, center Max Talbot couldn&rsquo;t resist chiming in with a sarcastic grin: &ldquo;Oh, he&rsquo;s definitely reached his ceiling.&rdquo;</p><p>They kid about a guy they clearly like &ndash; Voracek described his roomie as simply &ldquo;a cool dude&rdquo; &ndash; but they seriously appreciate Simmonds&rsquo; game, too. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had a breakout season,&rdquo; Talbot said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been put in front of the net on the power play and he&rsquo;s doing great. There&rsquo;s a reason why he&rsquo;s there. Whether it&rsquo;s tipping in pucks or rebounds, finishing his checks, stepping up for his teammates &ndash; he&rsquo;s a complete player and a big part of this team.&rdquo;</p><p>In one season, he&rsquo;s gone from grinder to premier power forward. Fifteen goals were his norm and now 30-plus are well within reach. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s 23 years old,&rdquo; Voracek said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to get better, faster, stronger&hellip;It&rsquo;ll be fun to watch.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05412/9609278-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="154" height="149"></div><p><b>Watch Matt Larkin&rsquo;s full interview with Wayne Simmonds at <a href="http://thn.com/simmonds">thn.com/simmonds</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-03

Wayne Excels In New World

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04529/9609330-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="256" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SCOTT HARTNELL</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Scott Hartnell</b></p><p> Philadelphia <i>36 G, 134 PIM</i></p><p><b>Corey Perry</b></p><p> Anaheim <i>36, 127</i></p><p><b>D. Clarkson</b></p><p>New Jersey <i>30, 138</i></p><p>&nbsp;<b>W. Simmonds</b></p><p>Philadelphia <i>27, 110</i></p><p><b>Milan Lucic</b></p><p>Boston <i>24, 133</i></p><p><b>Nick Foligno</b></p><p>Ottawa <i>15, 118</i></p><p><b>Chris Stewart</b></p><p>St. Louis <i>15, 100</i></p><p><b>Steve Downie</b></p><p>Colorado <i>14, 137</i></p><p><b>Chris Neil</b></p><p>Ottawa <i>13, 174</i></p><p><b>Derek Dorsett</b></p><p>Columbus <i>12, 218</i></p><p>3 <b>Career power play goals for Simmonds before he scored 10 in 2011-12</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-04

Gritty GOALS

<div class="byline">- STEVE ZIPAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011255/9609445-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03679/9609438-1-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/f0033-02865/9609431-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="708" height="804"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RYAN McDONAGH</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span></b>n the New York Rangers&rsquo; NCAA March Madness pool, defenseman Ryan McDonagh took a lot of grief from another former Badger, Derek Stepan, and others, for picking against Wisconsin. &ldquo;I just didn&rsquo;t think they had much of a chance to go far,&rdquo; McDonagh said.</p><p>The same can&rsquo;t be said for the 22-year-old blueliner, who has taken enormous strides in his first full campaign. When Marc Staal&rsquo;s concussion symptoms sidelined him to start the season, McDonagh joined Dan Girardi on the top pair and hasn&rsquo;t budged.</p><p>With three games remaining in the regular season, the shutdown specialist was tied for sixth in blocked shots, fourth among defensemen with a plus-27 and 14th in average ice time at 24:50 per game.</p><p>And the former Minnesota high school senior player of the year is developing offensively. He posted six assists in an 11-game stretch in March. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a guy who wants to extend himself offensively,&rdquo; said coach John Tortorella. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s made tremendous improvements. He and Danny have been our steadiest defensemen all season. The minutes he racks up, the players he&rsquo;s playing against at such a young age &ndash; it&rsquo;s really good.&rdquo;</p><p>McDonagh points to tasting the playoffs as a rookie as an epiphany. &ldquo;You grow up watching them on TV, but the level was so much higher. It just stunned me. So this year, I guess it&rsquo;s confidence, knowing that you&rsquo;re good enough, able to take the next step and be consistent.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>UNSUNG HEROES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04554/9609424-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="753" height="629"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05469/9609417-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Superstars Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise and rookies Adam Henrique and Adam Larsson get the headlines, but pending UFA <b>Bryce Salvador</b> is also key, shutting down opponents&rsquo; big guns. He&rsquo;s the biggest reason why the Devils had the No. 1-ranked PK. His 3:08 of average shorthanded ice time per game and plus-16 were tops on the team.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06411/9609410-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07345/9609403-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Despite being just 21, <b>Travis Hamonic</b> is a blueline staple. The 2008 second-rounder (53rd overall) has put together two nearly identical solid seasons, logging more than 20 minutes per game while maintaining a plus-minus rating above the freezing mark on one of the NHL&rsquo;s worst defensive teams. Plus he&rsquo;s top-20 in the league in blocked shots.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-08278/9609396-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-09224/9609389-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="327" height="551"></div><p><b>Brandon Prust&rsquo;s</b> emergence made Sean Avery redundant. Prust is an agitator who, unlike Avery, will drop the gloves with those he annoys. And Prust has the trust of coach John Tortorella, who plays him 12-plus minutes per game, much of it while shorthanded as one of the team&rsquo;s best PK forwards. He has seven SH goals the past two seasons.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-10191/9609382-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-11169/9609375-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Sean Couturier</b> has been a bottom-six, checking stud after tearing up the Quebec League with back-to-back 96-point seasons. Coach Peter Laviolette pressed the junior scoring star to develop his defensive game and give the Flyers safe minutes. Couturier is second on the team at plus-17 yet still managed 12 goals, four of them game winners.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-12151/9609368-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-13125/9609361-1-eng-US/f0033-132.jpg" title="f0033-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Derek Engelland</b> has made the Matt Carkner-like transfor-mation from AHL goon to NHL blueliner, giving the Pens a solid 5-6 pairing with Matt Niskanen. He was best known for his YouTube knockouts, but has since cut down his fighting majors and more than halved his PIM from &rsquo;10-11. His ice time increased as coach Dan Bylsma&rsquo;s faith in him solidified.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0033-01

Understudy To Lead Role

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011328/9609675-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-14147/9609682-1-eng-US/f0035-142.jpg" title="f0035-14" 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/f0035-02944/9609668-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="671" height="797"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JUSTIN FAULK</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span></b>e doesn&rsquo;t lead the league in rookie scoring and his team missed the playoffs by a country mile, but don&rsquo;t tell teammates Justin Faulk doesn&rsquo;t warrant at least consideration for the Calder Trophy.</p><p>Fresh off a national title with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Faulk played 22:55 per night, more than a minute more than the nextbusiest freshman in the NHL. &ldquo;I came in knowing I had to work hard every day,&rdquo; Faulk said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect to make the team by any means, I just wanted to get a chance to compete.&rdquo;</p><p>Playing mostly with Jay Harrison, Faulk, 20, had a great mentor to steer him through a hairy season in Raleigh, complete with a coaching change and a four-win November. Though to hear his partner tell it, Faulk didn&rsquo;t need much guidance. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been pretty seamless,&rdquo; Harrison said. &ldquo;That consistency in his game is pretty good for a man his age. He has incredible poise and that&rsquo;s the most impressive part of his jump from college. To perform in all the big pressure situations is incredible.&rdquo;</p><p>Faulk&rsquo;s five power play goals tied with fellow young blueliner Jamie McBain for second on the team, so at least the Canes know the future is bright. &ldquo;We have some pretty good depth and a good core,&rdquo; Faulk said. &ldquo;And when you have Cam Ward in net you always have a chance to win.&rdquo;</p><p>Having Faulk in front of Ward won&rsquo;t hurt, either.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03784/9609661-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="155" height="151"></div><p><b>For more on Faulk&rsquo;s college days and surprise NHL impact, watch his Q&A at <a href="http://thn.com/faulk">thn.com/faulk</a></b></p><h2><b>UNSUNG HEROES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04644/9609654-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="753" height="629"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05548/9609647-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="327" height="551"></div><p>There&rsquo;s nothing special offensively about <b>Chad LaRose</b> &ndash; he&rsquo;s your typical 30-point player &ndash; but the 30-year-old brings it every night and was tied with Jeff Skinner to lead the team with five game-winners. The Fraser, Mich., native created opportunities and notched a career high in shots. He didn&rsquo;t score a ton of goals, but he made them count.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06495/9609640-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07424/9609633-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="327" height="551"></div><p>When the Panthers got off to their quick start, the first line was unexpectedly pouring in goals at a furious clip. When the team was among the East&rsquo;s best in December, Jason Garrison led all NHL &lsquo;D&rsquo; in goals. But while both those storylines ebbed and flowed, <b>Brian Campbell</b>, the league&rsquo;s leading minute-muncher, put together an incredible 82 games.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08365/9609626-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09316/9609619-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Eric Brewer</b> drew a lot of press for what he added to the Lightning&rsquo;s playoff run last season, but when 2011-12 went sour, defense and goaltending took the blame. Lost was the steady hand of Brewer, who guided the PK and logged the most overall minutes on the team. He was a prolific shot-blocker and was almost an even player on a porous team.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10273/9609612-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-11232/9609605-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="327" height="551"></div><p><b>Brooks</b>&nbsp;<b>Laich</b> took a downturn in his points production, but he still contributed in many of the little ways a leader does. He had the highest average penalty kill time and most blocked shots among Capitals forwards. He also posted a ton of shots and got second line power play time. His four game-winning goals tied him for third on the team.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-12201/9609598-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-13172/9609591-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Raise your hand if you knew <b>Kyle Wellwood</b> posted a career year. Not much was expected from him, but the San Jose coaches loved what he did in the 2011 playoffs and this found-again confidence went a long way towards an underappreciated season with the Jets. He was a plus player on a team that allowed more goals than it scored.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0035-01

No Fault With Faulk

<div class="byline">BY JEREMY RUTHERFORD</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03742/9609720-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="250" height="185"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011330/9609727-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02898/9609713-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="1297" height="1160"><figcaption class="caption-body">BARRET JACKMAN <span class="photo-credit">(MARIANNE HELM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>B</span>lues coach</b> Ken Hitchcock insists defensemen Barret Jackman should get paid. Jackman will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but Hitchcock wasn&rsquo;t referring to his contract.</p><p>Now 31, Jackman has been a steadying force in an organization that has been grooming young defensemen the past several years. Headliners Alex Pietrangelo, 22, and Kevin Shattenkirk, 23, will soon be paid handsomely. Both have eclipsed 40 points the past two seasons &ndash; Pietrangelo 50 this year &ndash; and are key reasons the Blues are Central Division champs and back in the playoffs.</p><p>&ldquo;What &lsquo;Jacks&rsquo; should do is he should send those guys a bill for babysitting,&rdquo; Hitchcock joked. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s babysat a lot of players through here. (Ten) years with the same organization,  that&rsquo;s a long time. He&rsquo;s got to feel awfully proud about watching the growth of these guys. He&rsquo;s had a big part in that nurturing process, but I think he&rsquo;s also held his own.&rdquo;</p><p>Jackman, who many people forget beat out Detroit&rsquo;s Henrik Zetterberg for the Calder Trophy in 2002-03, is the only remaining connection to the Blues&rsquo; glory days. Once teammates of Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger, he&rsquo;s the lone player left in the organization who was a part of 25 consecutive trips to the post-season, a professional sports record that ended in 2004.</p><p>&ldquo;It does seem like a lifetime ago, but it also feels like it&rsquo;s flown by,&rdquo; Jackman said. &ldquo;You get spoiled if you go (to the playoffs) your first couple of years. You know it&rsquo;s a battle, but you don&rsquo;t realize how quickly a streak like that can be taken away and things can go the other way. There have been hard times in St. Louis, but now things are going well.&rdquo;</p><p>A native of Trail, B.C., Jackman is playing arguably his best hockey since the lockout. A stay-at-home defensemen who once relished in the physicality in front of the net, he was a plus-21 on a club that ranked No. 1 in the NHL in goalsagainst average heading into the final week of the regular season. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s played a lot better,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;I think when his legs are tired, he&rsquo;s moved the puck. That&rsquo;s been a big step. When his feet are moving slow, because he&rsquo;s played heavy minutes, he&rsquo;s still moved the puck quickly and got us out of trouble. When he plays like that, he&rsquo;s really effective.&rdquo;</p><p>Pietrangelo added: &ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t win rookie of the year for no reason. He&rsquo;s good at what he does. He knows how to play at this level. He&rsquo;s been so successful. And being in St. Louis for 10 years, too, he&rsquo;s helped us make the transition living here. He&rsquo;s been a big help for me the past couple of years, teaching me the ropes. Any team is lucky to have a guy like Jacks.&rdquo;</p><p>Teaching the ropes, or babysitting? &ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a little bit of a different culture,&rdquo; Jackman said, smiling. &ldquo;I was in the transition part of that. You shake your head at some things, but you get a chuckle out of others. It&rsquo;s a great group of guys and it&rsquo;s fun to be in the locker room.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just gratifying to see the way the team has been playing and the success we&rsquo;re having. It gets you up in the morning. Everything has been exciting, coming to the rink and being a part of good times and then the rebuilding process and then back to the way it is now. I can&rsquo;t imagine anything better than playing hockey into June in St. Louis. We have that opportunity.&rdquo;</p><p>And right now, that&rsquo;s much more important than getting paid. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something you take care of in the off-season,&rdquo; Jackman said. &ldquo;St. Louis is my home and I&rsquo;d love to finish my career here and be part of something special for years to come.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-03

Adventures In Babysitting

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04593/9609758-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="283" height="435"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ANZE KOPITAR</b></figcaption></div><p><b>Los Angeles</b>&nbsp;<i>4.28</i></p><p><b>St. Louis</b>&nbsp;<i>4.33</i></p><p><b>Minnesota</b>&nbsp;<i>4.67</i></p><p><b>NY Rangers</b>&nbsp;<i>4.88</i></p><p><b>Florida</b>&nbsp;<i>5.01</i></p><p><b>Phoenix</b>&nbsp;<i>5.01</i></p><p><b>Colorado</b>&nbsp;<i>5.04</i></p><p><b>Calgary</b>&nbsp;<i>5.05</i></p><p><b>New Jersey</b>&nbsp;<i>5.10</i></p><p><b>San Jose</b>&nbsp;<i>5.16</i></p><p><b>Anaheim</b>&nbsp;<i>5.17</i></p><p><b>Dallas</b>&nbsp;<i>5.17</i></p><p>2 <b>D-men who&rsquo;ve won the Calder Trophy in past 13 seasons (B. Jackman, T. Myers)</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-04

GOAL-FREE Zone

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011185/9609873-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-13134/9609866-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" 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/f0037-02831/9609859-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="712" height="806"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KEVIN KLEIN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JOHN RUSSELL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>hea Weber and Ryan Suter deservedly get the hype in Nashville, but the Predators have also benefitted from the less heralded contributions of their other D-men, such as veteran Kevin Klein.</p><p>Like most players on the roster, the 27-year-old Klein, now in his fourth full NHL season, won&rsquo;t blow your mind with his offensive statistics. But he averages more time on ice (19:56 a game) than any Predator other than Suter and Weber while taking home a modest salary ($1.35 million) in his second-pairing shutdown role. For a budget team like Nashville, that&rsquo;s an important balance to strike. And for Brent Peterson, the team&rsquo;s hockey operations advisor and former assistant coach who ran the defense corps, Klein&rsquo;s diligence in improving his game makes his success well earned. &ldquo;His game has come a long way,&rdquo; Peterson said of Klein, a 2003 second round pick (37th overall; 12 spots ahead of Weber). &ldquo;His decision-making and positional play are better and he&rsquo;s a very coachable player. He&rsquo;s an important part of this organization.&rdquo;</p><p>A Kitchener, Ont., native, Klein tied his career high with four goals and set a new personal best with 19 points, but another number &ndash; 145 blocked shots &ndash; is a better indicator of what he can do. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with how my game has grown,&rdquo; said Klein, who led the team in blocked shots until Hal Gill was acquired. &ldquo;Our whole group has improved and we still think we can do more, myself included.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>UNSUNG HEROES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03668/9609852-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="753" height="629"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04572/9609845-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>When you share a depth chart with Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp, it&rsquo;s hard to get noticed. It&rsquo;s also hard to get any PP minutes. But that didn&rsquo;t stop <b>Viktor Stalberg</b> from being extremely valuable. His 39 even-strength points were the most by any NHLer who didn&rsquo;t have a single special teams point.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05517/9609838-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06459/9609831-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Management wants to forget everything to do with 2011-12, but will look closer at <b>Nikita Nikitin&rsquo;s</b> body of work. The pending RFA blueliner battled injuries, but produced at nearly a 40-point pace and clicked with Jack Johnson down the stretch. Nikitin was a big help on the PP with James Wineskin losing time to injury and suspension.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07393/9609824-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-08306/9609817-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MIKE RIDEWOOD/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Raise your hand if you thought <b>Jiri Hudler</b> would score more goals than superstars Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. The Czech equalled his career-best 23 goals in two fewer games than it took him in 2008-09. And his 21 even-strength tallies ranked him ahead of luminaries Rick Nash, Zach Parise and Claude Giroux.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-09249/9609810-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-10211/9609803-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="327" height="551"></div><p>Goals are precious for the stingy Preds, so they appreciate every one <b>Patric Hornqvist</b> contributes. Of his team-leading 25 markers, seven came in 11 March games during Nashville&rsquo;s playoff push. Hornqvist surpassed the 20-goal plateau a third straight season, but was overlooked as Alexander Radulov&rsquo;s return took center stage in Music City.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-11175/9609796-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-12151/9609789-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="327" height="551"></div><p>As amazing as Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott have been, their GAAs were so miniscule partly because St. Louis allowed fewer shots than any other team. Instead of the net, shots repeatedly hit <b>Roman Polak</b>. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Czech specialized in dirty work, ranking second on the Blues in blocked shots and hits.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0037-01

Need To Talk About Kevin

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BEN KUZMA</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011290/9609981-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-14134/9609988-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" 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/f0038-02890/9609974-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="658" height="786"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CHRIS HIGGINS</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span></b>hether on the AMEX line with fellow Americans in Ryan Kesler and David Booth or being a strong two-way presence on the third alignment with Samuel Pahlsson and Jannik Hansen, Chris Higgins has been one of the Canucks&rsquo; most consistent forwards with 17 goals and 42 points through 68 games.</p><p>But his bounce-back season hasn&rsquo;t come without its battles.</p><p>Two bouts of staph infections ballooned his foot and hand in December and forced Higgins to spend two nights in hospital and miss five games. Then, flu-like symptoms triggered by an adverse reaction to antibiotics to address the lingering infections scratched Higgins from six games in February.</p><p>Following a four-game road trip in January, he experienced a range of symptoms. &ldquo;It was being dizzy, nauseous and sweating after games constantly and just generally sick,&rdquo; Higgins said. &ldquo;I would just break out in sweats at odd times of the day and I would get dizzy a lot &ndash; especially during games and after shifts. The energy level and getting my weight back up was a battle.&rdquo;</p><p>Once Higgins got over the infections, his game returned to a level of consistency evident when he was acquired in a deadline deal last season. &ldquo;When I was traded to this organization, I thought this was probably the best chance to win the Cup,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You just have to do your part because there is so much talent and focus on this team.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>UNSUNG HEROES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03719/9609967-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="759" height="634"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04584/9609960-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRAD WATSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>It&rsquo;s tough to fathom a player whose goal production dipped 90 percent being the team&rsquo;s unsung hero, but <b>Tim Jack</b><b>man&rsquo;s</b> value goes way beyond offense. Jackman is a supreme energy player who led the team in hits &ndash; and passion &ndash; and was eighth in the league in fights. Coach Brent Sutter used Jackman regularly and he always delivered effort.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05470/9609953-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06402/9609946-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>J-S Giguere</b> has maintained in recent seasons he sees himself as a regular goalie, not just a stopgap to act as mentor/goalie coach. The 34-year-old veteran served both roles posting excellent numbers in 31 games when Semyon Varlamov faltered and also helping the young stopper with mechanics and mental approach to the game by example.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07339/9609939-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-08276/9609932-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Ladislav Smid</b> had a career season on a defense corps that drew a lot of criticism. The ninth overall pick by Anaheim in 2004 led the Oilers in hits and blocked shots and was the go-to defender against the opposition&rsquo;s top line. He came out of it all No. 2 in ice time and was one of just four Oiler regulars to finish as a plus. His five goals are a career high.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-09236/9609925-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-10200/9609918-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="327" height="551"></div><p>An ex-energy player in Edmonton, <b>Kyle Brodziak</b> keeps raising the bar in Minnesota and qualifies as the unsung hero a second straight year. Brodziak improved upon a breakthrough 16-goal season in 2010-11 with a team-high 22 markers to go along with special teams duty. That earned him a threeyear deal worth $2.8 million annually, a big raise from $1.2m.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-11176/9609911-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-12163/9609904-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="327" height="551"></div><p>A lot of &rsquo;Nucks headlines come and go without the name <b>Dan Hamhuis</b> in them. But there isn&rsquo;t a better D-man in the NHL, according to analyst Daryl Reaugh, at stopping the opposition from gaining the blueline. Hamhuis is well compensated ($4.5 million) and he&rsquo;s a key figure in the room, but his unassuming shutdown style doesn&rsquo;t bask in the spotlight.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-01

Higgins Hits Back

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MIKE HEIKA</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011180/9610103-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-14112/9610096-1-eng-US/f0039-142.jpg" title="f0039-14" 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/f0039-02781/9610089-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="657" height="771"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ERIC NYSTROM</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>E</span></b>ric Nystrom starts most games like he&rsquo;s been shot out of a gun and finishes &rsquo;em that way, too. It&rsquo;s part personality and part circumstance for the 29-year-old left winger. &ldquo;His details of the game are so true and honest and you can trace that to his bloodlines,&rdquo; said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan of the son of former New York Islanders great Bob Nystrom. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a really solid player and he does things right, night in and night out.&rdquo;</p><p>But as much as Nystrom has genetics on his side, he also has motivation. Sent to the American League by the Minnesota Wild earlier in the season, Nystrom was given to the Stars in October to unload his $1.4-million contract.</p><p>After a couple of weeks building anger in the minors, combined with the gratitude to the Stars for the second chance, the scrappy scud missile has been on a mission. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just the way I try to play every game, but there is an appreciation there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know how tough it is to play this game and how rare the opportunity is, so I want every game to be special.&rdquo;</p><p>Nystrom has been rewarded this season with a career-high 16 goals in 72 games, ranking fifth on the Stars. In doing so, he might have found a home for good. &ldquo;We definitely miss him when he&rsquo;s out of the lineup,&rdquo; Gulutzan said. &ldquo;He brings an energy and an urgency to the game that spreads throughout the lineup. He&rsquo;s happy to be playing and you can sense that in him.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>UNSUNG HEROES</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03615/9610082-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="753" height="629"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04514/9610075-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Yet to miss a game in his NHL career, <b>Andrew Cogliano</b> was there for the Ducks every night, using his speed and filling in on whichever line needed him. The fifth-year pro gave the team some depth scoring and though he isn&rsquo;t producing like he did as a member of the Oilers, his role is different now. &lsquo;Cogs&rsquo; even chipped in on the penalty kill.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05432/9610068-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06358/9610061-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GLENN JAMES/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Though he&rsquo;s a third-liner, <b>Vernon Fiddler</b> has been a coveted asset in recent years, so it&rsquo;s natural Dallas wanted him in free agency. The undrafted center took more shorthanded faceoffs than any other Stars pivot, stole the puck 38 times (while giving it away just 13) and blocked 63 shots through 79 games, more than any other forward on the squad.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07313/9610054-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08264/9610047-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="327" height="551"></div><p>The Kings had one of the top penalty-kill units in the NHL and <b>Jarret Stoll</b> was a frequent contributor to that force. Once again, the veteran center was great on faceoffs and most importantly, he was winning more draws than he lost when the team was shorthanded. Overall, his 54.7 win percentage was tops on a team that has a few aces in the dot.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-09213/9610040-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-10182/9610033-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="327" height="551"></div><p>As a group the Yotes are unsung, but <b>Boyd Gordon</b> takes it to another level. The fourth-line center leads the team in faceoff win percentage at nearly 57 percent while his 83 blocked shots led the forwards. The former Washington Capital also led the Dogs in shorthanded ice time at 2:45 per game. Rare for a forward to win that category.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-11159/9610026-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-12143/9610019-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="327" height="551"></div><p>On most other teams, <b>Marc-Edouard Vlasic</b> would get a good amount of pub, but on the name-heavy Sharks defense, he flies under the radar. It&rsquo;s a shame, too, because only Dan Boyle logged more ice time and Vlasic did a lot more penalty killing. His 156 blocked shots were also most on the team, in part because of injuries to Douglas Murray.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0039-01

Nice One For Nystrom

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01882/9610134-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span></b>ll sports fandom starts somewhere. Maybe it&rsquo;s passed on from your parents. Perhaps you fall in love with a team after moving to a new city.</p><p>But choosing a squad to support isn&rsquo;t always that simple. What happens if you&rsquo;re completely new to hockey, with no preconceived allegiances? What if you&rsquo;re so disenfranchised with your team that you boycott and start from scratch?</p><p>We&rsquo;ve built a flow chart to help you make that important decision. Are you a bandwagon fan who wants everything peachy right away? Or would you rather start from the bottom with a beaten-down underdog? Are the frills around a team &ndash; the game experience and night life &ndash; just as important to you as the on-ice results? Answering these questions will tell you plenty about yourself and the team you&rsquo;re destined to support.</p><p>Have at it.</p><p>FANS: LANCE THOMSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES SEDIN: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; BAR: <a href="http://SXC.HU/XRAMNET">SXC.HU/XRAMNET</a>; BOOTS: <a href="http://SXC.HU/HARPER07">SXC.HU/HARPER07</a>; BEER: <a href="http://SXC.HU/ASTERISCO">SXC.HU/ASTERISCO</a>; FOOTBALL: <a href="http://SXC.HU/PENNYB">SXC.HU/PENNYB</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0040-01

PICK YOUR NEW TEAM

<div class="byline">BY ANDREY OSADCHENKO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01810/9610172-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>MAJOR MOVE</b></p><p><b>St. Mike&rsquo;s Sergey Kuptsov brought his game to the CHL and says more will follow soon.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(AARON BELL/OHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05282/9610179-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>ith Capitals</b> blue-chip prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov still wavering over whether he&rsquo;ll leave the Kontinental League after this season, the &ldquo;risk vs. reward&rdquo; debate over drafting homegrown Russians prospects is once again at the fore.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02519/9610165-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="168" height="90"></div><p>In the KHL, 16-and 17-year-old junior players must sign five-year deals with parent clubs, which own their negotiating rights until they turn 29. If a player doesn&rsquo;t make the roster &ndash; which is often the case for youngsters &ndash; he&rsquo;s stuck with the junior team or a farm club unless a trade occurs.</p><p>Partly because of those rules, some young Russians, specifically those who are NHL-focused, are opting to come overseas as teenagers to ply their trade in the Canadian League. &ldquo;If you play in the CHL, you&rsquo;re on display for the scouts so you have a better chance to get drafted higher,&rdquo; said Mississauga-St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors right winger Sergey Kuptsov. &ldquo;Also, I believe the Russian junior league is behind a little bit compared to the CHL in terms of organization.&rdquo;</p><p>Many Russian youngsters choose to stay home, however, much to the dismay of those who believe the CHL is a much better route for their development, whether or not they stay for the long haul. &ldquo;The KHL brainwashes these kids,&rdquo; said Kuznetsov&rsquo;s former agent Sergey Bogdan, who has a number of clients in the CHL. &ldquo;They tell them: &lsquo;Why do you need to leave the country if you can play here? Why would you want to have to speak English or French when you can speak Russian?&rsquo; Still, there are quite a few kids who want to play in the CHL.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very good experience for young hockey players to play in North America. They can build a base on which they will rely. And it&rsquo;s a good base. They come back to the KHL more mature and better players than the guys who never went overseas.&rdquo;</p><p>But just how much, if at all, a player&rsquo;s progress is impacted by playing in Russia is unknown. Kuznetsov, who at one point was reportedly set to join the Quebec League&rsquo;s Drum-mondville Voltigeurs, has played entirely in Russia, but that didn&rsquo;t stop the Capitals from drafting him in the first round in 2010 (26th overall). Nor did it stop the St. Louis Blues from picking Vladimir Tarasenko 16th overall that same year. In THN&rsquo;s Future Watch 2012, Kuznetsov is ranked first among all prospects and Tarasenko is sixth.</p><p>Jay Grossman, an agent for Nashville winger Alexander Radulov and highly rated prospect Mikhail Grigorenko, who plays for Quebec in the QMJHL, doesn&rsquo;t see a detriment to youngsters developing in Russia. &ldquo;The good thing for these players &ndash; whether they play in the CHL or not &ndash; is that they are going to be selected by teams that want to select them and want them to be in their organization,&rdquo; Grossman said. &ldquo;That to me is a huge benefit for a hockey player. Regardless of any outside factors, they&rsquo;re interested in the player.</p><p>&ldquo;Certain organizations will work to make those players fit in their team. They will create a proper culture for those players to succeed. They will give them the tools and create an environment for them to succeed.&rdquo;</p><p>Kuptsov, however, is sure more and more Russians will come to the CHL. In fact, a few of his friends are coming over next season. &ldquo;Guys who want to get drafted by the NHL teams,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;they make it their priority to play in the CHL first.&rdquo;</p><p>8 <b>Russians drafted since 2009 who haven&rsquo;t played in the CHL</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0042-01

The Russians Are Coming?

<div class="byline">BY RORY BOYLEN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02544/9610217-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="959" height="1441"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>NOT HIS TIME YET</b></p><p><b>Cameron Gaunce didn&rsquo;t play for Colorado in 2011-12 despite an 11-game call-up last season.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(MICHAEL MARTIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGESI)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-05303/9610224-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>f</b>&nbsp;<b>you see Cameron</b> Gaunce walking down the street, you probably won&rsquo;t recognize him. In fact, when he was presenting the Most Sports-manlike Player Award at the OHL Awards ceremony in 2011, he was introduced as a member of the Anaheim Ducks rather than the Colorado Avalanche, the NHL team for which he played 11 games the same season. But if you follow the Avalanche, he&rsquo;s certainly on your radar. The 6-foot-1, 203-pound defensive defender far and away led the Lake Erie Monsters, Colorado&rsquo;s American League affiliate, in plus-minus this year and was a crucial player for the team all season long.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01792/9610210-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="197" height="113"></div><p>Because of how important he is to the AHL squad, it was a benefit to the Monsters that Gaunce didn&rsquo;t get the NHL call-up he did a year ago. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s so very reliable for us in a variety of areas,&rdquo; said Monsters coach David Quinn. &ldquo;We play him in all situations. He takes a regular shift, plays the penalty kill and power play, so when you get a guy who does all that, we&rsquo;d miss a lot without him.&rdquo;</p><p>Since Gaunce received no NHL time in 2011-12 after getting a cup of coffee last season, some will conclude his trajectory took a downturn. Not so. Even though defensemen Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliott, both drafted a year after Gaunce, earned significant NHL time this season, Quinn said their ascension wasn&rsquo;t a knock on Gaunce. He noted their callups were about a difference in style &ndash; Barrie and Elliott excel on the offensive side of the puck, while Gaunce trends towards the defensive side. &ldquo;He and I had a conversation about this when those guys got called up,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;I drew an analogy with Cameron. I said, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s the equivalent of when the Toronto Blue Jays&rsquo; first baseman gets hurt. They don&rsquo;t call up the shortstop, they call up the first baseman. The shortstop may be having the better year, but they don&rsquo;t call him up because that&rsquo;s not the position they need.</p><p>&ldquo;Not that he doesn&rsquo;t have the ability to create offense, but he&rsquo;s probably not going to be a power play defenseman. Tyson Barrie and Stefan Elliot, that&rsquo;s how they&rsquo;re going to make their living.&rdquo;</p><p>An Avalanche second round pick (50th overall) in 2008, Gaunce is part of a promising future on the blue-line in Colorado. The team&rsquo;s prospect pipeline ranked fourth overall in THN&rsquo;s 2012 Future Watch and was topped by Duncan Siemens, who&rsquo;s still in the junior ranks with the Saskatoon Blades. Erik Johnson was acquired in 2011 to be the anchor for years to come and Ryan Wilson took giant steps in the direction of a stay-at-home defenseman.</p><p>And of course there are Barrie and Elliott, who Gaunce has a good relationship with from their time in Lake Erie, even if they were indirectly competing for an NHL call-up. &ldquo;I get along with them very well,&rdquo; Gaunce said. &ldquo;I played with both this year. I started with Elliott as my defense partner, then he got called up and I played with Tyson. Right now they&rsquo;re both up and I&rsquo;m between partners I guess.&rdquo;</p><p>Blessed with a quick wit, Gaunce said he&rsquo;s not much of a practical joker on the team, though he confesses to &ldquo;stirring the pot&rdquo; when guys are having conversations. &ldquo;I might be the team hype man in that sense,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>And though Quinn laughs and says Gaunce is much more outgoing with his teammates than his coaches, the Monsters coach also noted he&rsquo;s a great team player with the work ethic to get to the NHL. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a smart kid,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;He listens. He tries to take in what the coaches tell him to do and improve on what we need him to improve on.&rdquo;</p><p>In another year or two, no one will forget which team Cameron Gaunce mans the blueline for.</p><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>

f0043-02

Monster In The Mountains

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01687/9610262-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="967" height="1092"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>ROAD SCHOLAR</b></p><p><b>Jordan Schmaltz juggles his hectic hockey schedule with online high school courses.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BOTH: GREEN BAY GAMBLERS)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-05223/9610269-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he 4-for-1 trade</b> that sent Jordan Schmaltz from Sioux City to Green Bay in November was a land shaker in the United States League, especially since the  Gamblers knew they would lose the gifted defense-man to college at season&rsquo;s end. But when the defending champs had a chance to bolster an already impressive roster, the trigger had to be pulled. &ldquo;Looking to the playoffs, we have a team that can compete for a championship,&rdquo; said coach and GM Derek Lalonde. &ldquo;He was the final piece of the puzzle.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02434/9610255-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="176" height="55"></div><p>For the past two seasons Schmaltz, ranked 54th among NHL draft eligible prospects by International Scouting Services, has been the premier offensive defenseman in the USHL. He led all blueliners in scoring last year with 13 goals and 44 points in 53 games and is near the top again now, though playing on a deeper team has curbed his numbers slightly. That might be a blessing in disguise, however. &ldquo;It helped Jordan that he didn&rsquo;t have to be the go-to guy here,&rdquo; Lalonde said. &ldquo;He was playing 25-30 minutes in Sioux Falls and if he didn&rsquo;t produce, they didn&rsquo;t have success.&rdquo;</p><p>Ordinarily, moving to a new state during the school year would be a hassle, but Schmaltz had two things going for him. First off, he&rsquo;s from Wisconsin, so Green Bay represented a bit of a homecoming from Iowa. Secondly, Schmaltz takes his high school courses online, so class is wherever he has an Internet connection. &ldquo;I take six classes and work two or three hours a day,&rdquo; Schmaltz said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bunch of tests and assignments, plus I have a tutor for math. It was more flexible and works with the USHL schedule. I can go at my own pace; if I want to speed up, I speed up. If I need more time, I slow down.&rdquo;</p><p>Not much slows Schmaltz down on the ice, though he still wants to get more physical in the corners and be harder to play against. Lalonde would like to see him more engaged in battles, but lauds his young star for his instincts and vision. Right now, Schmaltz is 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, so he&rsquo;s still a lanky teen. Talent evaluators are projecting his upside right now and factoring in his need to fill out. &ldquo;His height right now, in a way, is detrimental,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;But he has figured out ways to be a dominant force.&rdquo;</p><p>Committed to the University of North Dakota, Schmaltz comes from a long line of athletes who have donned the Green and White in Grand Forks. His father played football at UND, as did two uncles. And younger brother Nick Schmaltz &ndash; one of the top 1996-born prospects &ndash; will be joining Jordan on the hockey team. Nick played 11 games for the Gamblers this season before going back to minor midget. &ldquo;I had never played with him in a real game,&rdquo; Jordan said. &ldquo;My junior season (at UND) would be his freshman year, so that would be cool.&rdquo;</p><p>In the meantime, Schmaltz has a playoff run and an NHL draft to consider. He&rsquo;s been to all the usual benchmarks of a top prospect&rsquo;s season, suiting up at the NHL&rsquo;s Research and Development Camp in August and helping Team USA to bronze at the World Jr. A Challenge just before his trade to Green Bay. A cut-up on Twitter, Schmaltz often quotes Caddyshack and is a big Will Ferrell fan. His coach even sees Schmaltz&rsquo;s personality traits in his hockey style. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s laid back and that translates to poise on the ice,&rdquo; Lalonde said. &ldquo;The things he does, you can&rsquo;t teach.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0044-01

Green Bay’s Great Gamble

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03326/9610300-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="424" height="372"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NICK SCHMALTZ</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s happy as the Gamblers are with Jordan Schmaltz, they&rsquo;ll likely get even more use out of his younger brother Nick, who had a goal and four points in 11 games for Green Bay before heading back to his minor midget team, the Chicago Mission. &ldquo;Part of acquiring Jordan was hoping to acquire Nick,&rdquo; Lalonde said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a special, dynamic offensive player. His skill level and creativity are very good.&rdquo;</p><p>Nick turned down an invitation to join Team USA&rsquo;s national team development program in order to suit up with the Gamblers, so it&rsquo;s fair to say he&rsquo;s serious about what he wants to do in the United States League next year.</p><p>The 5-foot-11, 170-pound center makes his linemates better and will be one of the top players available in the 2014 NHL draft. Schmaltz had nine goals and 20 points through 13 games in the High Performance League with the Mission.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0044-03

Wisconsin Nick Fit

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01599/9610331-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg"></div><p><b><a href="http://THN.COM/DIGITAL">THN.COM/DIGITAL</a></b></p><p><b>GET IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS,</b> CUTTING OPINIONS AND <b>END-TO-END COVERAGE</b> OF ALL 30 NHL TEAMS <b>AND BEYOND!</b></p><p><b>ACTIVATE YOUR DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION TODAY!</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0045-01

STAY CONNECTED ANYTIME, ANYWHERE

<div class="byline">BY BRIAN COSTELLO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0046-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01605/9610369-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>TRIPLE PLAY</b></p><p><b>Bill Mosienko rang a fourth shot off the iron just a few seconds after his miracle hat trick.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span>n the first day</b>&nbsp;of spring, 1952, the last-place Chicago Black Hawks took the Friday train to Toronto for a Saturday night game against the Maple Leafs.</p><p>Nine-year Hawks vet Bill Mosienko was wrapping up his best offensive season since his rookie year and, having the night off, decided to look up an old friend. They got together for a drink, a meal and a gab session that rainy evening, then relaxed around a collection of hockey books. &ldquo;We were thum-bing through the NHL record book,&rdquo; Mosienko recalled a few days later, &ldquo;and I remarked how nice it would be to have my name in there with some of the hockey greats. But I just figured it would never happen &ndash; and then it did, 48 hours later.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>It could&rsquo;ve been four goals in 28 seconds</b></blockquote><p>After a Saturday night game in Toronto, in which Mosienko scored two goals, including the winner, in a 3-2 upset of the third-place Maple Leafs, the Black Hawks left immediately for the season finale in New York on Sunday, March 23, 1952.</p><p>Because the Sunday game was a match of two non-playoff teams, the Rangers closed the mezzanine and balcony at Madison Square Garden, leaving just the arena bowl open for about 6,000 spectators. &ldquo;That had to be the smallest crowd in the history of the New York Rangers,&rdquo; said long-time hockey journalist Stan Fischler, who was 19 at the time and vice-president of the Rangers fan club. &ldquo;It was a meaningless game not seen by a lot of people. The Rangers even put in their third-string goalie because Chuck Rayner and Emile Francis were worn down.&rdquo;</p><p>New York held a cushy 6-2 third-period lead when Mosienko went about putting himself in the record books &ldquo;with some of the greats.&rdquo;</p><p>He took a Gus Bodnar setup and shot past 20-year-old third-stringer Lorne Anderson at 6:09 of the third. Bodnar won the next faceoff, ragged the puck a few seconds, then fed a streaking Mosienko, who had split the defense. Mosienko beat Anderson at 6:20. On the next faceoff, Bodnar won the draw over to left winger George Gee, who laid a timing pass to Mosienko for another goal at 6:30 to narrow the score to 6-5 &ndash; and set the record for the NHL&rsquo;s fastest hat trick.</p><p>Remarkably, Chicago coach Ebbie Goodfellow kept the Bodnar line on the ice for another post-goal faceoff against the reeling Rangers. &ldquo;Bodnar won the draw again,&rdquo; Fischler recalled, &ldquo;somehow got the puck to &lsquo;Mosie&rsquo; and he took a shot that rang off the post. It could have easily been four goals in 28 seconds.&rdquo;</p><p>Legend has it, when Mosienko skated to the bench after that shot off the iron, Goodfellow barked at him: &ldquo;What the heck happened? You in a slump?&rdquo;</p><p>Chicago scored two more goals and went on to win 7-6. For Anderson, it was the third and final game of his career. He spent most of that 1951-52 season with the Eastern League&rsquo;s New York Rovers, but after the five-goal shell-shocking in the third period, he didn&rsquo;t return to pro hockey. &ldquo;The entire feat seemed to slip by under the radar,&rdquo; Fischler said. &ldquo;In those days, there were no post-game press conferences, there was no TV. And because it was a nothing game, there wasn&rsquo;t much of a media report from the game.&rdquo;</p><p>The passage of time, however, has turned Mosienko&rsquo;s three goals in 21 seconds into a mythical achievement destined never to be broken. Scores of players since have scored two goals in 17 seconds or less, but none have been able to eclipse the 21-second hat trick.</p><p>The closest anyone has come is 44 seconds by Jean Beliveau in 1955. Mosienko&rsquo;s three goals in 21 seconds bettered Carl Liscombe&rsquo;s 1938 record of three goals in 64 seconds. Said Mosienko, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1965: &ldquo;It was something to dream about.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02393/9610362-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="331" height="484"></div><h2><b>AMAZING RECORDS</b></h2><p>The story of Bill Mosienko&rsquo;s hat trick in 21 seconds appears in <i>Hockey&rsquo;s Most Amazing Records</i>, available at <a href="http://THN.com/records">THN.com/records</a> and at bookstores everywhere. Featured are the grand accomplishments of Wayne Gretzky, Martin Brodeur, the Montreal Canadiens and 125 more fantastic feats.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0046-01

The 21-Second Excitation

<div class="byline">BY DENIS GIBBONS</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he</b>&nbsp;<b>city was called Leningrad</b> while he was growing up there, as it was in its final months as part of the Soviet Union when he left to play in the NHL in 1990.</p><p>Now, after living in North America for 21 years, Alexei Gusarov is back where he was born, serving as assistant GM of the SKA St. Petersburg club of the Kontinental League. The city reverted to its old name in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.</p><p>The KHL is in its fourth season, yet Russia&rsquo;s second-largest city is still looking for its first Gagarin Cup. Two years ago, SKA placed second overall in the 24-team league, but was upset in the first round of the playoffs. Last year the team fell by the wayside in the second round. This year they were swept in the semifinal.</p><p>The Gusarov family moved to St. Petersburg last summer after Alexei was offered the job by SKA GM Alexei Kasatonov, another former NHLer. He and Kasatonov both grew up in Leningrad, but didn&rsquo;t get to know each other until they moved to Moscow to play for the Central Red Army Club. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy here,&rdquo; 47-year-old Gusarov said during the recent KHL all-star weekend during which he played in the legends game. &ldquo;I was able to keep myself in hockey and work in a business that I know.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>Besides Bourque, he was the best I played with</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Adam Foote</i></b></blockquote><p>In his new job Gusarov, who was nicknamed &lsquo;Goose&rsquo; by his teammates, is also in charge of SKA&rsquo;s teams in the Russian junior league and Russian under-18 league. In recent weeks he has been working behind the bench as an assistant coach of the KHL squad.</p><p>In his spare time, he&rsquo;s organizing a night recreational league in St. Petersburg.</p><p>Selected by Quebec in the 11th round (213th overall) in 1988, Gusarov was already 26 when he came to Canada to play for the Nordiques in 1990. He played 607 NHL games for Quebec, Colorado &ndash; where he won the Stanley Cup in 1995-96 &ndash; the Rangers and St. Louis before retiring in 2001.</p><p>On the international front, he won an Olympic gold medal with the Soviet Union in 1988 and a silver with Russia 10 years later. He played in six world championships, earning three gold medals, two Canada Cups and won gold with the Soviets in the 1984 world juniors in Sweden, where he was named the tournament&rsquo;s best defenseman.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01547/9610400-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="984" height="1348"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>GOLDEN &lsquo;GOOSE&rsquo;</b></p><p><b>Alexei Gusarov has an Olympic gold medal, Stanley Cup and world championship.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(DENIS BRODEUR/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGEST)</span></figcaption></div><p>In the Soviet Union, he was overshadowed by superstar blueliners like Kasatonov and Viacheslav Fetisov, but played smart on the blueline game-in and game-out.</p><p>During the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Gusarov was inducted into the IIHF Triple Gold Club as one of 22 players who have won Olympic and world championship gold medals as well as the Stanley Cup. The number has since risen to 25.</p><p>After retiring, Gusarov and his family lived in Evergreen, Col., where he founded and operated Goose Racing, a company that fielded teams racing late-model NASCAR cars.</p><p>He met his wife Sandra, who is Latvian, during a vacation in 1988. The couple has two sons &ndash; 19-year-old Vasily, an international business student at the University of Colorado and 14-year-old Alexander, who attends a Christian school in St. Petersburg.</p><p>In the Soviet national team&rsquo;s heyday under legendary coach Viktor Tikhonov, Gusarov often showed an offensive flair, but in the NHL he was a reliable, stay-at-home defender. Playing behind Sandis Ozolinsh, Uwe Krupp and Adam Foote on the Avalanche depth chart during the Stanley Cup run, Gusarov became an unsung hero of sorts. &ldquo;He looked very skinny, but he was very strong on the puck,&rdquo; recalled Foote, who was often paired with Gusarov. &ldquo;He made the game look so easy. It almost looked like he had a carefree attitude. But he didn&rsquo;t lose many battles for the puck.</p><p>&ldquo;I played with him when I was young and, other than Ray Bourque, he was the best all-around D-man I played with.&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>

f0047-01

From Russia, With Love

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02291/9610431-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="949" height="947"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ISSUE AND AT</b> <a href="http://THN.com/XWORD">THN.com/xword</a></p><p><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION ACROSS</b> 1. FLORIDA, 4. CLOUD, 7. ANTI, 8. EDMONTON, 10. KYLE OKPOSO, 12. SMYTH, 13. HEART, 14. CONNECTION, 18. STRUGGLE, 19. GOAL, 20. RINGS, 21. NIAGARA <b>DOWN</b> 1. FRANK, 2. OUTPLAYS, 3. ADD UP, 4. CROSS-CHECK, 5. OTTO, 6. DENTIST, 9. JOSH GORGES, 11. MANITOBA, 12. SPONSOR, 15. NILAN, 16. NHLPA, 17. IRON</p><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1 ___ Luongo is in goal in Vancouver<br>4 Rick ___ was coach in Pittsburgh<br>7 Works hard in the corners<br>8 They play at Scotiabank Place<br>10 He was Lady Byng winner three times, the last time in 2002<br>12 Mike ___ is on defense in Washington<br>13 The Flyers used to play at the First ___ Center<br>14 The &lsquo;B&rsquo; in CBA<br>18 Terry Sawchuk racked up 103<br>19 Sandis Ozolinsh hailed from this Latvian city<br>20 Gary ___ was Calder Trophy winner in 1986<br>21 Colorado ___ is home of the U.S. Olympic Committee</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>1 Michael ___ hoisted the Cup in 2011, pictured<br>2 Novice<br>3 Up against a single defender, ___-___-one<br>4 He&rsquo;s in goal in Edmonton<br>5 Bruce ___ was a long-time ref<br>6 An NHL conference<br>9 Rod ___ helped Carolina to a Cup in 2006<br>11 The Kings belong to the Pacific ___<br>12 Al Arbour wore them even as a player<br>15 Paid attendances<br>16 &lsquo;Gretz&rsquo; got 894<br>17 ___ Fraser was coach in Atlanta<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0049-02

CROSSWORD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01390/9610469-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="508" height="416"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(NAT TUROFSKY/HHOF)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>WINNER</b></h2><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;In Florida we had pool boys to deal with these things.&rdquo;</i></blockquote><p><b>NICK VALENTINO, TORONTO</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;Biggest. Q-tip. Ever.&rdquo;</i></blockquote><p><b>CHRIS WILLIAMS, BERLIN, MD.</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t always throw in the towel, but when I do I prefer the playoffs.&rdquo;</i></blockquote><p><b>HAYDEN STEWART, KINGSVILLE, ONT.</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;Thanks, I&rsquo;ll use this to cover my five-hole.&rdquo;</i></blockquote><p><b>DAVID WORTH, HALIFAX, N.S.</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;I think Cory is going to need this for mop up duty.&rdquo;</i></blockquote><p><b>BRUCE BOWERS, ST. CLOUD, N.Y.</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;Vancouver police would like to identify this individual for his role in the post-Stanley Cup riots.&rdquo;</i></blockquote><p><b>STEVE SWATMAN, WINDSOR, ONT.</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;I bet I can get good money for this authentic game-used towel complete with real Sedin sweat!&rdquo;</i></blockquote><p><b>ROBIN PADANYI, OTTAWA</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;Give this to coach Vigneault. He&rsquo;s been sweating a lot since he named me starter.&rdquo;</i></blockquote><p><b>STUART WYVILLE, LONDON, ONT.</b></p><p><b>SEE THIS WEEK&rsquo;S CAPTION CONTEST PHOTO ON PAGE 11</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0765/9610462-1-eng-US/f0049-072.jpg" title="f0049-07" width="527" height="93"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0049-01

Caption CONTEST

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01376/9610552-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="282" height="499"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>f you can believe it,</b> there has indeed been a time in history when the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs had a worse showing than this season. Well, technically, that&rsquo;s not accurate. The last time the NHL&rsquo;s two flagship franchises were this inept combined, the Maple Leafs were known as the Toronto St. Patricks and the NHL was still a couple of years away from implementing the forward pass.</p><p>Seriously, it&rsquo;s been that long. The season was 1925-26 and Hall of Famer Georges Vezina played one game for the Canadiens that year before being diagnosed with late-stage tuberculosis, leaving Howie Morenz, Aurel Joliat and Sylvio Mantha to lead the rebuild. Hall of Famer Jack Adams was winding down his playing career with the St. Pats, who were in the midst of a stretch in which they&rsquo;d miss the playoffs in six of eight seasons.</p><p>The Leafs (12-21-3) and the Canadiens (11-24-1) would occupy the bottom two spots in the seven-team NHL and combine for a winning percentage of .319. Since then, both teams had missed the playoffs in the same year only twice (1969-70, 2006-07) before this season. And in the 94 seasons each team has played, only 10 have seen them post a worse combined winning percentage.</p><p>To be sure, Canada&rsquo;s teams have become Canada&rsquo;s hockey punch lines &ndash; Leaf Abomination and Blew, Blanc et Rouge. And the two teams that have the most Stanley Cups between them are among the group of also-rans that have the most work to do in the off-season. The Canadiens already started their extreme makeover by firing GM Pierre Gauthier, the man who oversaw the Canadiens&rsquo; demise from (unlikely) Eastern Conference finalist to Eastern Conference bottom feeder.</p><p>So, the question remains, what do the Leafs do with Gauthier&rsquo;s counterpart in Toronto? That Brian Burke has overpromised and under-delivered is indisputable. He promised an accelerated path to being a contender, truculence and tenacity and not a single one of those has come to fruition. Since he took over as GM of the Maple Leafs Nov. 29, 2008, his teams have posted a sub-.500 record. And by the end of the regular season, his teams will have been out of a playoff spot for a full 550 of the 699 hockey-playing days he has been running the Leafs.</p><p>He&rsquo;s making $3 million a year on a six-year contract and has the most bloated executive team in the history of the game. All told, Burke has three former GMs &ndash; Dave Nonis, Rick Dudley and Cliff Fletcher &ndash; working under him, along with Dave Poulin and Claude Loiselle. These chaps don&rsquo;t come cheaply and how Burke can justify to the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment that this executive team deserves to be paid north of $5 million will be one of the interesting developments of the off-season.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02274/9610545-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="1082" height="732"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>You could argue the Leafs have regressed, not moved forward, since Burke took over. You could also argue he has done a good job of restocking what was once a scorched earth when it came to the organization&rsquo;s depth in terms of prospects. At least that&rsquo;s what the Leafs and their media apologists would have you believe, but is their stable of players really that good?</p><p>Well, some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry don&rsquo;t think so. In THN&rsquo;s annual Future Watch edition, a panel of scouts and directors of player personnel ranked the Leafs prospects and under-21 NHLers 20th. And if you look at our history in identifying top prospects, it&rsquo;s pretty darn good. Yes, the Toronto Marlies are among the best teams in the American League, but their top two scorers are 31-year-old journeyman Mike Zigomanis and Ryan Hamilton, a 27-year-old vet who played his first NHL games this season when the Leafs called him up after they had fallen out of the playoff race.</p><p>But nowhere did the dearth of quality future NHLers make itself more pronounced than when Burke signed center Mikhail Grabovski to a five-year, $27.5-million contract extension late in the season. Burke was forced to meet Grabovski&rsquo;s demands because he had nobody in the organization who could replace him. We keep hearing about what promising prospects Joe Colborne and Nazim Kadri are, but one was drafted four years ago, the other three, and neither has come close to filling the gaping hole the Leafs have for a first-or second-line center.</p><p>Some of what Burke has done has been good. More of it has been mediocre and poor. Say what you want about what he inherited, but there needs to be some progress, particularly in a results-oriented industry. The results have not been there and once the Maple Leafs ownership change is in place and they figure out who&rsquo;s running the place, that person&rsquo;s first order of duty should be to decide what to do with Brian Burke.</p><p>CAN&rsquo;T GET ENOUGH CAMPBELL? 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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April 30, 2012

Blast from the Past from The Hockey Hall of Fame

Sentence Served

MIND OVER MATTER

PLUS MINUS