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.

July 1, 2012

The Hockey News - Jul-01-12

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>&rsquo;ve been a subscriber for 15 years and never have I seen so much complaining. I go back to my father&rsquo;s copies from the 1970s and they are filled with stories on the players themselves; what they do in the summer, untold stories from the dressing room and other fun did-ya-knows. Fast forward to today and with every issue of THN that arrives I can expect to read angry letters from &ldquo;fans&rdquo; complaining about the game, as well as articles by THN writers (Can you rhyme?&hellip;Ben Sampbull) protesting violence in today&rsquo;s sport. Can we go back to celebrating this great game and the players who play it?</b></p><p><b><i>Kevin Whitwham, Halifax, N.S.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04624/9624904-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="727" height="1013"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03976/9624897-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="363" height="495"></div><h2><b>Erik The Inspiring</b></h2><p>Erik Drygas is a great role model who had everything then lost it due to an accident (&ldquo;The Model Of Resiliency,&rdquo; May 28). He&rsquo;s shown a positive attitude that&rsquo;s affected everyone he met. After reading about how he gave back to the community, it made me think how selfish I would be if I were in his shoes. Thanks for sharing his story.</p><p><i>Julie Yi, Pittsburgh</i></p><h2><b>Stop Stripes Sulk</b></h2><p>A three-referee system (Proteau Type, May 28)? How about having one ref for every player on the ice and two more hanging above the goaltenders to call interference? I am tired of hearing people blame the officials for everything wrong with hockey. Human error is part of the game. If you really want to take it out, go play <i>NHL 12</i> on your favorite console.</p><p><i>Benoit Guertin, Ottawa</i></p><h2><b>A-Plus For The &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></h2><p>First it was Tampa Bay&rsquo;s 1-3-1, now it is the Rangers&rsquo; shot-blocking approach that is upsetting offense-loving fans (&ldquo;Too Much Shot-Blocking?,&rdquo; June 1). The thought of discouraging or prohibiting a defensive style of play is comical. Every defense can be beat with the proper counterattack. Teams should not be criticized for their style of hockey, no matter how ugly. They are out there to win games, not make the game &ldquo;more exciting&rdquo; for the fans.</p><p><i>Steve Clowers, Grand Terrace, Calif.</i></p><p>OK, we get it. Ken Campbell doesn&rsquo;t like fighting and now he doesn&rsquo;t like shot-blocking. Please don&rsquo;t let him read the feature on hockey in India on page 46 or he&rsquo;ll insist players be suspended for using the boards to divert the puck.</p><p><i>Carol O&rsquo;Brien, Indianapolis, Ind.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-05488/9624890-1-eng-US/f0006-052.jpg" title="f0006-05" width="558" height="739"></div><h2><b>All-Around Game</b></h2><p>Thank you so much for your excellent article on hockey in the remote Himalayan region of Ladakh, India (&ldquo;Asia&rsquo;s Aspiring Hockey Hotbed,&rdquo; June 1). When I visited the town of Leh in the summer of 1981, the only sport to be seen was golf. And even then the course was wide open, grassless and with greens that were literally oil slicks with a pin in the middle. To think this tiny, unknown place in the middle of Asia would one day turn up in the pages of THN shows, be it golf or hockey, barriers of culture and logistics mean nothing when it comes to a great game.</p><p><i>Tim Noble, Anahim Lake, B.C.</i></p><h2><b>Nick Had A Knack</b></h2><p>The only way to really appreciate Nicklas Lidstrom was to see him perform every day. He never dazzled like Bobby Orr, checked opponents into another dimension like Scott Stevens or wound up with a 100 mph slapshot like Zdeno Chara. But he did all the right things&hellip;<i>all</i> the time. Name every characteristic you would want in a player and in a human being &ndash; honesty, dedication, perseverance, quiet leadership &ndash; we saw that for 20 years here in Michigan. Thanks for everything, Nick. You&rsquo;ve earned your rest.</p><p><i>Ronald L. Brown, Bay City, Mich.</i></p><p><b>Submit your letter at: <a href="http://THN.COM/LETTERS">thn.com/letters</a></b></p><p><b>SPILL FOR A DRILL!</b></p><p><b>The author of our lead letter</b>&nbsp;<b>next issue wins a Premium</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012428/9624883-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="193" height="61"></div><p><b>DEWALT 20V MAX* Hammerdrill!</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021648/9624876-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="273" height="366"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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IN THIS ISSUE

RAVE, NOT RANT

<div class="byline">PHOTOGRAPH BY HARRY HOW</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-012170/9624776-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Kings Quick Silver</b></h2><p><b>Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick start the Stanley Cup mob seconds after the final horn on the 2011-12 season.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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THEBIGPICTURE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02931/9625681-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011293/9625688-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="222" height="423"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES, CALIF.</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Willie Mitchell showed up with the Los Angeles Kings two years ago, he had four years of age on Justin Williams and proprietorial rights to the name &lsquo;Willie.&rsquo; So Williams lost his rather unimaginative nickname and was given a new one: &lsquo;Stick.&rsquo; But not for the reasons you might think. &ldquo;We call him that because he&rsquo;s pretty skinny,&rdquo; said Kings captain and linemate Dustin Brown.</p><p>At 6-foot-1 and 191 pounds, Williams is hardly an imposing figure, which makes it easy for him to fly under the radar. That&rsquo;s not a simple thing to do when you&rsquo;re on the first line of any team, but Williams finds a way. Brown has made a name for himself with punishing hits and pinpoint passes and Anze Kopitar is increasingly being recognized as one of the most physical, skilled and complete players in the NHL.</p><p>But you have to watch the game, really watch the game, to appreciate the kinds of things Williams brings to the Kings. Little no-look chips off the boards, taking hits to make plays, heads-up moves in the defensive zone &ndash; those are the situations where Williams makes his mark. When he&rsquo;s healthy, he can provide 20-25 goals a season and be counted upon to produce when it matters, the way he did with a goal and an assist in Game 3.</p><p>Williams has a long history of being overlooked and underestimated, so he doesn&rsquo;t take personally the dearth of individual accolades. For now, he&rsquo;ll have to be content being known as a winner. In fact, he&rsquo;s one of only six players &ndash; Mark Recchi and Shawn Thornton along with teammates Dustin Penner, Rob Scuderi and Colin Fraser are the others &ndash; to be a member of two Stanley Cup-winning teams since the lockout. That was the pedigree Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi was seeking when he swung a three-way deal with the Carolina Hurricanes and Edmonton Oilers to land Williams at the trade deadline in 2009. &ldquo;I probably go a little more under the radar because we have so many high-profile guys on our team,&rdquo; Williams said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m more than comfortable with that. It&rsquo;s helpful being under the radar if you can produce.&rdquo;</p><p>And he has done that for the Kings the past two seasons, after enduring three of misery that were largely brought on by injuries. But over the past two campaigns, Williams has scored a total of 44 goals and missed only nine regular season games. When he&rsquo;s at his best, he&rsquo;s playing a game built on grit and speed and making plays that go unnoticed, but are integral to goals being scored or a transition being made.</p><p>And Williams is an interesting case study in perseverance. Devils coach Peter DeBoer, who was once coach-GM of the Plymouth Whalers, took Williams 125th overall in the 1998 Ontario League draft when Williams was playing Jr. C for the Colborne Colts near his hometown of Cobourg, Ont. Of the 124 players drafted before Williams, only five of them &ndash; Jay Harrison, Brad Boyes, Tom Kostopoulos, Zenon Konopka and Raffi Torres &ndash; became regulars in the NHL. None of them, though, has played as many games as Williams, scored as many points, made as much money or won as many Stanley Cups.</p><p>In fact, DeBoer recalls Williams didn&rsquo;t even make the Whalers out of training camp the year after his draft and was dispatched to the Compuware Ambassadors Jr. A team to start the season. But DeBoer remembers a player who essentially willed himself into the OHL. &ldquo;He just kept hanging around,&rdquo; DeBoer said. &ldquo;You could tell he was a good hockey player, but he was about 150 pounds. The next year he came into camp, played one year for me, was a first round pick and I never saw him again. Great story of perseverance. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of time for Justin.&rdquo;</p><p>DeBoer couldn&rsquo;t have known Williams would be so integral in sticking a dagger into his team at the NHL level a decade later. He wouldn&rsquo;t have predicted it &ndash; just the way Williams likes it.</p><h2><b>GAME 3 L.A. 4 - N.J. 0</b></h2><p>New Jersey blows a beautiful chance to score first on a 5-on-3 in the opening frame. Quick holds the fort until the Kings awaken in the second with two goals. A pair of power play tallies in the third gives L.A. a 3-0 series stranglehold.</p><h2><b>THE WINNER</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03699/9625674-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="354" height="355"></div><p>After Dwight King hacks away several times at a loose puck under Brodeur&rsquo;s left pad, Alec Martinez swoops in to push it into the net for his first post-season goal.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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JUSTIN WILLIAMS

<div class="byline">WITH JASON KAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012201/9624821-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="991" height="630"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021871/9624814-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="291" height="352"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>J</span></b>ohn Tortorella&rsquo;s unique news conference style generated a lot of buzz during the playoffs as he stonewalled reporters and mocked the system. Big picture, it was a ripple in the season, having no impact on wins and losses, but it left an impression in the minds of scores of observers.</p><p>Reactions ranged from laughter to contempt to outrage. Some fans told us they felt offended, that the media are their conduit into what is happening with their favorite team and Tortorella&rsquo;s zipped lips robbed them of information.</p><p>Mostly, I felt indifferent. His life, his choice to non-conform. It&rsquo;s not like he was going to surrender state secrets even if he engaged reporters. But I also felt just a smidgen of jealousy. Who among us wouldn&rsquo;t love to behave any way we wanted in business and not worry about repercussions? Even just for one day?</p><p><i>(Fade out to dream sequence)</i></p><p><b>Reader:</b> Thanks for the free gift that came with your last issue, but the underwear doesn&rsquo;t fit. What&rsquo;s up with that?</p><p><b>JK:</b> Two words: Free gift. Three more: Size doesn&rsquo;t matter.</p><p><b>Reader:</b> What&rsquo;s in the next issue of THN?</p><p><b>JK:</b> None of your business. I&rsquo;m not discussing lineups.</p><p><b>Reader:</b> What about down the road &ndash; what can readers look forward to?</p><p><b>JK:</b> You&rsquo;re asking about lineups again. Not going there.</p><p><b>Reader:</b> Could you fire (insert name of THN writer you dislike here)?</p><p><b>JK:</b> Yes, I could. But I won&rsquo;t. You really ask stupid questions.</p><p><b>Reader:</b> You picked Ottawa last in the East. How&rsquo;d you mess up so badly?</p><p><b>JK:</b> I&rsquo;m not going to explain what happened. It&rsquo;s staying in the room.</p><p><b>Reader:</b> I got a Leafs keychain with my sub, but wanted a Habs. Can you help?</p><p><b>JK:</b> No.</p><p><b>Reader:</b> Is there going to be a lockout in the fall?</p><p><b>JK:</b> Well, I just spoke to Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr and they said a deal will be done Aug. 17 at 2:37 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. They also told me who&rsquo;ll win the Stanley Cup next year, because they&rsquo;ve agreed on that point, too.</p><p><b>Reader:</b> Why are you being such a jerk to us?</p><p><b>JK:</b> Because expressions of respect and courtesy might endear me to you. Why in the world would anyone want that?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031506/9624807-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="456" height="245"></div><p><b>NEXT</b>&nbsp;<b>ISSUE</b> AUGUST 1, 2012</p><p><b>CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO SUBSCRIBE:</b> <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a></p><p><b>CONTACT US:</b> <a href="mailto:editorial@thehockeynews.com">editorial@thehockeynews.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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If Only We Could Re-Tort

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-06348/9624935-1-eng-US/f0006-062.jpg" title="f0006-06" width="118" height="118"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>J</span>ames Hardie (@jrhardie):</b> He ranks #3 all-time. Bobby Orr is #1 and Doug Harvey is a clear #2. Ray Bourque makes it a challenging #3, however.</p><p><b>Adam Sears (@awsears25):</b> Lidstrom&rsquo;s #1 because, unlike Bobby Orr, he was able to avoid injury and be the best in the NHL for two decades.</p><p><b>G. Kessler (@jaccuzicasanova):</b>&nbsp;Lidstrom&rsquo;s third. Because Bobby Orr is one of a kind and I&rsquo;m a big enough homer to put Ray Bourque second.</p><p><b>Simon (@SimServ92):</b> I think he&rsquo;s 5th or 6th. Behind Orr, Bourque, Denis Potvin, Harvey. You can even throw in Eddie Shore & Larry Robinson.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

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@thehockeynews: WHERE DOES LIDSTROM RANK AMONG ALL-TIME ‘D’?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03913/9624973-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="325" height="55"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-012157/9624966-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="547" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(QUICK: NOEL VASQUEZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Yes 92%</b></p><p>No 8%</p><p>If not Quick, who?</p><p><b>Dustin Brown 49%</b></p><p>Anze Kopitar 20%</p><p>Drew Doughty 18%</p><p>Martin Brodeur 13%<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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POLLRESULTS

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span>i Adam, Tim Thomas choosing to &ldquo;take a year off&rdquo; prompts many questions. Will he still be property of the Bruins or will he be a free agent when he returns? If he still belongs to the B&rsquo;s, how does that affect their roster and salary cap next year? Has this ever happened before?</b></p><p><i>Louis Perrone, Tolland, Conn.</i></p><p>Hi Louis. Boston management could hold him to the final year of his deal in 2013-14 or let him walk. Regardless, his $5-million cap hit is on Boston&rsquo;s books for the upcoming season &ndash; unless the new CBA includes some sort of buyout provision. The other issue is whether or not Thomas&rsquo; decision is a negotiating tactic to control where the Bruins would trade him. Has a holdout of this ilk happened before? Look at the situation the Islanders faced with goalie Evgeni Nabokov after they claimed him on waivers in 2010-11. He refused to report, but the Isles wouldn&rsquo;t let him walk away from a one-year pact and he served the full term in &rsquo;11-12.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021464/9625004-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="997" height="908"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TIM THOMAS</b> <span class="photo-credit">(THOMAS: ABELIMAGES/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Hey Adam, have you ever seen a person as uncomfortable in front of crowds as Gary Bettman is when presenting the Stanley Cup? How did this tradition begin?</b></p><p><i>Ed Swort, Trumbull, Conn.</i></p><p>Hey Ed. The Cup always is presented by the NHL commissioner, but I&rsquo;d love to see a legend from the Cup-winning franchise or the captain of the previous season&rsquo;s champion hand it over. Nobody would boo as they boo Bettman.</p><p>Read more <b>&lsquo;Ask Adam&rsquo;</b> every Friday at <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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ASK ADAM

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BRIAN COSTELLO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021768/9625056-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="506" height="738"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PAVEL BURE</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BURE: CRAIG MELVIN/ALLSPORT)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he only thing we</b>know with a high degree of certainty entering the Hall of Fame selection committee&rsquo;s June 26 announcement is Joe Sakic and Brendan Shanahan will be part of this year&rsquo;s induction class.</p><p>Then again, we told you two years ago Joe Nieuwendyk was the only shoo-in for 2010 and that didn&rsquo;t happen. Instead, Dino Ciccarelli, who had been eligible since 2002, was the only inductee that year.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031250/9625049-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="122" height="139"></div><p>Nieuwendyk was forced to wait a year, but made it in 2011 along with Doug Gilmour, Ed Belfour and Mark Howe. Gilmour was bypassed in five previous induction years while Howe was first eligible in 1998.</p><p>In other words, expect the unexpected from hockey&rsquo;s selection committee. There&rsquo;s a gag order placed on the group of 18 hockey executives, journalists and retired players. They can&rsquo;t discuss what they talked about during their one-day induction session. They can&rsquo;t mention voting results or even drop names of players considered. It&rsquo;s the polar opposite of the 100-percent transparent baseball induction process. What we do know is there is turnover in the committee every year. In 2012, the board added Toronto GM Brian Burke, Montreal journalist Marc De Foy and former Swedish hockey great Anders Hedberg. They replaced outgoing Harry Sinden, Yvon Pedneault and Jan-Ake Edvinsson.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04707/9625042-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="1121" height="986"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>CLASS OF THE FIELD</b></p><p><b>Brendan Shanahan and Joe Sakic have five Stanley Cup rings between them.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(SHANAHAN+SAKIC: DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>If there&rsquo;s one characteristic the committee has earned over the years, it&rsquo;s that it doesn&rsquo;t mind making players wait their turn, regardless of credentials.</p><p>Pavel Bure is among the purest  goal-scorers in the history of the game. &lsquo;The Russian Rocket&rsquo; scored 60 twice and 50-plus three times and his .623 goals per game ranks third in the modern era behind Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux. Bure&rsquo;s been eligible for Hall of Fame induction since 2006 and is still waiting. Dale Hawerchuk had to wait a year. Cam Neely had to wait six years. Glenn Anderson had to wait eight years. Even Dick Duff, whose induction in 2006 shocked us, had to wait 31 years after being first-time eligible.</p><p>So take the following list of first-time eligible players with a grain of salt. If they don&rsquo;t get in now, it doesn&rsquo;t mean the window has closed on them. A maximum of four get in. In many cases, just one or two get the required 75 percent approval.</p><p><b>Joe Sakic</b> &ndash; Ninth all-time in points (1,641) and is well decorated with two Stanley Cups to go along with Hart, Conn Smythe, Ted Lindsay and Lady Byng Trophies.</p><p><b>Brendan Shanahan</b> &ndash; Prototypical power forward is 13th all-time in goals (656), with three Cups and a pair of first all-star team berths.</p><p><b>Mats Sundin</b> &ndash; No Cups or individual NHL honors, but won Olympic Gold in 2006 and is among the NHL top 35 in goals, assists and points.</p><p><b>Jeremy Roenick</b> &ndash; Third in all-time goals and points among American-born players.</p><p><b>Claude Lemieux</b> &ndash; Four Stanley Cup titles with three teams, including a Conn Smythe Trophy. The best two-way pest in NHL history.</p><p>Curtis Joseph, Gary Roberts, Olaf Kolzig and Bobby Holik are other first-time eligible players for the Hall, but are long shots. Previously passed over candidates can also be considered. Heading that list is Bure, Adam Oates, Eric Lindros, Guy Carbonneau, Alexander Mogilny, Sergei Makarov, Phil Housley, Mike Richter, Tom Barrasso, Theo Fleury, Steve Larmer, Alexei Kasatonov and Dale Hunter.</p><p>Buffalo Sabres broadcaster Rick Jeanneret was honored by the Hall with the Foster Hewitt award while acclaimed writer Roy MacGregor received the Elmer Ferguson award for excellence in hockey journalism.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012318/9625035-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="236" height="300"></div><p><b>2</b> | No. 8 seeds to reach the Stanley Cup final. The 2006 Edmonton Oilers fell one win short of glory; the 2012 Los Angeles Kings finished the job.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-02

Awaiting The Hall’s Call

<div class="byline">By Charlie Teljeur</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012072/9625087-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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The Instigator

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021447/9625118-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="260" height="373"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PARENT: LEN REDKOLES/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>+PLUS</b></h2><h3><b>FACE TO FACE</b></h3><p><i>After 41 years,</i>&nbsp;<b><i>Bernie Parent</i></b>&nbsp;<i>is reunited with his goalie mask, chucked into the stands at MSG during a brawl.</i></p><h2><b>&ndash;MINUS</b></h2><h3><b>ANTI-SOCIAL NETWORK</b></h3><p><i>Boston&rsquo;s Tim Thomas announces sabbatical over Facebook, repeating PR errors of past. Tim, seriously, just call a press conference.</i></p><h2><b>+PLUS</b></h2><h3><b>END OF A (VERY LONG) ERA</b></h3><p><i>Montreal</i> Gazette <i>reporter Red Fisher retires after six decades on the beat covering the Canadiens.</i></p><h2><b>&ndash;MINUS</b></h2><h3><b>IT&rsquo;S GONNA TAKE A WHILE</b></h3><p><i>Los Angeles media continue their hiccups during team&rsquo;s run. Brad Doty, Jonathan Swift and Anze Kopidor play for the Kings, right?</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-02

PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012289/9625149-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MICHEL THERRIEN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(THERRIEN: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>here&rsquo;s a growing sense</b> among hockey observers that the era of the taskmaster coach is over and NHLers need to be more coddled than ever. But if you ask a coach known to be demanding on players &ndash; someone like St. Louis Blues bench boss Ken Hitchcock &ndash; you&rsquo;ll see it&rsquo;s not nearly so easy to make such a generalization. One can point to the lack of success notoriously gruff Mike Keenan had in his final four NHL stops (going 187-189-42 with Vancouver, Boston, Florida and Calgary, with no playoff series wins) as evidence the old ways of guiding players are ineffective. That&rsquo;s one reason eyebrows raised when the Montreal Canadiens hired Michel Therrien as their new coach in early June. Some believed Therrien&rsquo;s history of brusqueness in his first go-round as Habs coach (and in Pittsburgh, where he publicly chewed out the team many times) made him a bad choice. But at his introductory press conference alongside new Habs GM Marc Bergevin, Therrien spoke of learning and evolving as a bench boss. &ldquo;To take a step back is never a bad thing,&rdquo; Therrien said. &ldquo;You analyze yourself, what went well and what went wrong and you try to be a better coach&hellip;I&rsquo;m certainly a better coach now than I was 10 or 15 years ago. I learned a lot about myself.&rdquo;</p><p>For Hitchcock, coaching has changed in one sense. &ldquo;Everybody talks about a sense of entitlement among players today, but I think the biggest change for coaches is that players of this generation, they want to know where they stand on a day-to-day basis, not a weekly or monthly basis,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the biggest change &ndash; providing consistent, constant awareness for players.&rdquo;</p><p>Although Hitchcock values player opinions, he says there&rsquo;s a more vital relationship to maintain to survive coaching&rsquo;s pressures. &ldquo;A lot of a coach&rsquo;s shelf life depends on his relationship with his GM,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;As a coach, in order to get players to do the things necessary for a team&rsquo;s success, you end up sticking your neck out a long way&hellip;that&rsquo;s where you need support.&rdquo;</p><p>Hitchcock says he also needs key veterans to help sell his message in the dressing room. When he won a Stanley Cup in Dallas, he got that from Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Keane and Craig Ludwig. In Philly, Keith Primeau and Sami Kapanen filled the role. In Columbus, Rick Nash was that guy. And now in St. Louis, players such as Jamie Langenbrunner, Jason Arnott, Scott Nichol and Barret Jackman have helped. &ldquo;When you have players like that, you don&rsquo;t need to go into the room much,&rdquo; Hitchcock said. &ldquo;You can send a message to the whole team through them. I&rsquo;ve always believed that whatever the players say to each other has way more impact than the coach. The formula for success was already in place when I got to St. Louis. The players had started to buy in. And because the top players are accepting of that, the buy-in here was smoother than I ever thought it would be.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

Taskmasters Change Tune

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021672/9625180-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="523" height="608"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HITCHCOCK: CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen Ken Hitchcock took over as coach, the Blues were 6-7-0 and in danger of falling out of the Western Conference playoff race. But after he replaced Davis Payne Nov. 6, the turnaround was incredible. The rest of the season, the Blues went 43-15-11, finished first in the Central Division and tied or set 13 franchise records, including 30 home wins in a single season and a 21-game home points streak. Thanks to that success, the 60-year-old became a Jack Adams Award finalist for the fourth time in his career &ndash; and his first in 13 years. Hitchcock, who has built a 576-365-169 record behind the bench, was the clear choice as THN&rsquo;s coach of the year, getting votes on all ballots and beating out runner-up Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators and third-place finisher Darryl Sutter of the Los Angeles Kings.</p><p><b>BEFORE</b></p><p>.462</p><p><b>AFTER</b></p><p>.703</p><p><b>GM</b>&nbsp;<b>OF THE YEAR</b> DEAN LOMBARDI &gt; <b>FULL STORY</b> PAGE 20<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-02

THN.COM COACH OF THE YEAR

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DAVID DORSEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021392/9625211-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="724" height="1021"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>MOST MISSED PLAYER</b></p><p><b>ECHL playoff MVP John Muse honors D-man David Fischer, who left during the playoffs to be with his dying mother.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(AL LARSON/FLORIDA EVERBLADES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>One most valuable player</b> honored another after the ECHL&rsquo;s Florida Everblades won their first Kelly Cup.</p><p>Everblades goalie John Muse had just finished stopping 41 shots in decisive Game 5 against the Las Vegas Wranglers, lifting Florida to its first title in its 14-year history with a 3-2 overtime victory and taking home playoff MVP honors. As the Everblades swarmed the ice, players draped the jersey of defenseman David Fischer, the team&rsquo;s regular season co-MVP, over the 27-pound trophy after he had left the team during the playoffs to tend to his ailing mother, who died the following week after fighting cancer. &ldquo;Even though David wasn&rsquo;t physically there with us, he was part of our team,&rdquo; Muse said. &ldquo;Regardless of whether he was with us or not, he was going to be a part of that celebration.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011918/9625218-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="152" height="149"></div><p>It was the third title in five years for Muse, who won two NCAA crowns with Boston College. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re all really special,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I definitely don&rsquo;t take it for granted. You never know if you&rsquo;re going to get an opportunity.&rdquo;</p><p>Everblades coach Greg Poss heaped credit upon his 5-foot-11, 175-pound goaltender. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s been a winner wherever he&rsquo;s been,&rdquo; Poss said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the kind of guy who&rsquo;s able to mobilize the players around him to play better.  He&rsquo;s not the biggest kid. He maybe isn&rsquo;t the most athletic. But when the game is on the line, he&rsquo;s the guy you want back there.&rdquo;</p><p>Muse had to step forward without the presence of his team&rsquo;s top defender and responded with an 11-2 post-season record. He went 16-6-3 in the regular season for Florida and 10-3-2 with Charlotte in the American League, for a combined record of 37-11-5 and a goals-against average of 2.08.</p><p>The performance arrived at the right time for the 23-year-old, whose lack of size was all that was keeping him from the NHL. But his MVP playoff campaign caught the eyes of the Carolina Hurricanes who inked him to a one-year deal shortly after his Kelly Cup run. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d compare him to a guy like Tom Brady,&rdquo; Poss said. &ldquo;When Brady came out of college, he was drafted very low (sixth round, 2000). Nobody wanted him. Now he&rsquo;s possibly the best quarterback of all-time.</p><p>&ldquo;John Muse is on a very similar path. Everywhere  he&rsquo;s been, he&rsquo;s won and got the job done. What he has, it&rsquo;s probably better than some NHL goalies.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-02

Invoking The Muse

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012235/9625249-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HASEK+ROBITAILLE: DENIS BRODEUR/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; DATSYUK: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; RECCHI: DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>EAMS TRADE</b> late round draft picks like kids used to deal hockey cards. But a quick history lesson will make them think twice. A look back through the annals of the entry draft since 1979, when the NHL and WHA merged, shows a surfeit of gems plucked in the later rounds. After poring through the draft, we&rsquo;ve put together our first-team all-star lineups from the fourth round on, including our all-time undrafted best.</p><p>POSITION 4TH ROUND</p><p><b>LW</b>&nbsp;<b>Mark Recchi (67th by PIT in &rsquo;88) 1,652 GP, 577 G, 956 A, 1,533 PTS, 1,033 PIM</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>Sergei Fedorov (74th by DET in &rsquo;89) 1,248 GP, 483 G, 696 A, 1,179 PTS, 839 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Jari Kurri (69th by EDM in &rsquo;80) 1,251 GP, 601 G, 797 A, 1,398 PTS, 545 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Rob Blake (70th by LA in &rsquo;88) 1,270 GP, 240 G, 537 A, 777 PTS, 1,679 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Ulf Samuelsson (67th by HFD in &rsquo;82) 1,080 GP, 57 G, 275 A, 332 PTS, 2,453 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Ron Tugnutt (81st by QUE in &rsquo;86) 537 GP, 186 W, 3.05 GAA, .895 SP</b></p><p>POSITION 5TH ROUND</p><p><b>Miroslav Satan (111th by EDM in &rsquo;93) 1,050 GP, 363 G, 372 A, 735 PTS, 464 PIM</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>Thomas Steen (103rd by WIN in &rsquo;79) 950 GP, 264 G, 553 A, 817 PTS, 753 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Alexander Mogilny (89th by BUF in &rsquo;88) 990 GP, 473 G, 559 A, 1,032 PTS, 432 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Sergei Zubov (85th by NYR in &rsquo;90) 1,068 GP, 152 G, 619 A, 771 PTS, 337 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Garry Galley (103rd by LA in &rsquo;83) 1,149 GP, 125 G, 475 A, 600 PTS, 1,218 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Miikka Kiprusoff (116th by SJ in &rsquo;95) 599 GP, 311 W, 2.45 GAA .914 SP</b></p><p>POSITION 6TH ROUND</p><p><b>LW</b>&nbsp;<b>Kevin Stevens (112th by LA in &rsquo;83) 874 GP, 329 G, 397 A, 726 PTS, 1,470 PIM</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>Pavel Datsyuk (171st by DET in &rsquo;98) 732 GP, 240 G, 478 A, 718 PTS, 186 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Brett Hull (117th by CGY in &rsquo;84) 1,269 GP, 741 G, 650 A, 1,391 PTS, 458 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Brian Campbell (156th by BUF in &rsquo;97) 708 GP, 58 G, 307 A, 365 PTS, 173 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Bruce Driver (108th by COL/NJ in &rsquo;81) 922 GP, 96 G, 390 A, 486 PTS, 670 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Ron Hextall (119th by PHI in &rsquo;82) 608 GP, 296 W, 2.97 GAA, .895 SP</b></p><p>POSITION 7TH ROUND</p><p><b>LW</b>&nbsp;<b>Henrik Zetterberg (210th by DET in &rsquo;99) 668 GP, 252 G, 372 A, 624 PTS, 271 PIM</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>Doug Gilmour (134th by STL in &rsquo;82) 1,474 GP, 450 G, 964 A, 1,414 PTS, 1,301 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Martin Erat (191th by NSH in &rsquo;99) 687 GP, 159 G, 301 A, 460 PTS, 400 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Pavel Kubina (179th by TB in &rsquo;96) 970 GP, 110 G, 276 A, 386 PTS, 1,123 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Stephane Robidas (164th by MTL in &rsquo;95) 799 GP, 50 G, 178 A, 228 PTS, 603 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Henrik Lundqvist (205th by NYR in 2000) 468 GP, 252 W, 2.27 GAA, .920 SP</b></p><p>POSITION 8TH ROUND</p><p><b>LW</b>&nbsp;<b>Randy Burridge (157th by BOS in &rsquo;85) 706 GP, 199 G, 251 A, 450 PTS, 458 PIM</b></p><p><b>C Pelle Eklund (167th by PHI in &rsquo;83) 594 GP, 120 G, 335 A, 455 PTS, 109 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Theoren Fleury (166th by CGY in &rsquo;87) 1,084 GP, 455 G, 633 A, 1,088 PTS, 1,840 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Dustin Byfulglien (245th by CHI in &rsquo;03) 407 GP, 87 G, 128 A, 215 PTS, 433 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Slava Fetisov (150th by NJ in &rsquo;83) 546 GP, 36 G, 192 A, 228 PTS, 656 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Pekka Rinne - (258th by NSH in &rsquo;04) 250 GP, 138 W, 2.35 GAA, .921 SP</b></p><p>POSITION 9TH ROUND</p><p><b>LW</b>&nbsp;<b>Luc Robitaille (171st by LA in &rsquo;84) 1,431 GP, 668 G, 726 A, 1,394 PTS 1,177 PIM</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>Pavol Demitra (227th by OTT in &rsquo;93) 847 GP, 304 G, 464 A, 768 PTS, 284 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Hakan Loob (181st by CGY in &rsquo;80) 450 GP, 193 G, 236 A, 429 PTS, 189 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Gary Suter (180th by CGY in &rsquo;84) 1,145 GP, 203 G, 641 A, 844 PTS, 1,349 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Mark Streit (262nd by MTL in &rsquo;04) 443 GP, 59 G, 202 A, 261 PTS, 226 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Tim Thomas (217th by QUE in &rsquo;94) 378 GP, 196 W, 2.48 GAA, .921 SP</b></p><p>POSITION 10TH ROUND</p><p><b>LW</b>&nbsp;<b>Tomas Holmstrom (257th by DET in &rsquo;94) 1,026 GP, 243 G, 287 A, 530 PTS, 769 PIM</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>German Titov (252nd by CGY in &rsquo;93) 624 GP, 157 G, 220 A, 377 PTS, 311 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW Anson Carter (220th by QUE in &rsquo;92) 674 GP, 202 G, 219 A, 421 PTS, 229 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Bret Hedican (198th by STL in &rsquo;88) 1,039 GP, 55 G, 239 A, 294 PTS, 893 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Kimmo Timonen (250th by LA in &rsquo;93) 970 GP, 106 G, 401 A, 507 PTS, 584 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Dominik Hasek (207th by CHI in &rsquo;83) 735 GP, 389 W, 2.20 GAA, .922 SP</b></p><p>POSITION 11TH ROUND</p><p><b>Valeri Zelepukin (221st by NJ in &rsquo;90) 595 GP, 117 G, 177 A, 294 PTS, 527 PIM</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>Igor Larionov (214th by VAN in &rsquo;85) 921 GP, 169 G, 475 A, 644 PTS, 474 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Ed Ronan (227th by MTL in &rsquo;87) 182 GP, 13 G, 23 A, 36 PTS, 101 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Vladimir Konstantinov (221st by DET in &rsquo;89) 446 GP, 47 G, 128 A, 175 PTS, 838 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Uwe Krupp (223rd by BUF in &rsquo;83) 729 GP, 69 G, 212 A, 281 PTS, 660 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Tommy Soderstrom (214th by PHI in &rsquo;90) 156 GP, 45 W, 3.63 GAA, .884 SP</b></p><p>POSITION 12TH ROUND</p><p><b>LW Ken Baumgartner (245th by BUF in &rsquo;85) 696 GP, 13 G, 41 A, 54 PTS, 2,244 PIM</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>Claude Lapointe (234th by QUE in &rsquo;88) 879 GP, 127 G, 178 A, 305 PTS, 721 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Sergei Makarov (241st by CGY in &rsquo;83) 424 GP, 134 G, 250 A, 384 PTS, 317 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Alexei Kasatonov (234th by NJ in &rsquo;83) 383 GP, 38 G, 122 A, 160 PTS, 326 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Rudy Poeschek (238th by NYR in &rsquo;85) 364 GP, 6 G, 25 A, 31 PTS, 817 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Andrei Trefilov (261st by CGY in &rsquo;91) 54 GP, 12 W, 3.45 GAA, .897 SP</b></p><p>POSITION UNDRAFTED</p><p><b>LW</b>&nbsp;<b>Chris Kunitz (8 seasons on three teams) (533 GP, 150 G, 201 A, 351 PTS, 450 PIM)</b></p><p><b>C</b>&nbsp;<b>Peter Stastny (16 seasons on three teams) 977 GP, 450 G, 789 A, 1,239 PTS, 824 PIM</b></p><p><b>RW</b>&nbsp;<b>Martin St-Louis (13 seasons on two teams) 931 GP, 323 G, 529 A, 852 PTS, 266 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Brian Rafalski (11 seasons on two teams) 833 GP, 79 G, 436 A, 515 PTS, 282 PIM</b></p><p><b>D</b>&nbsp;<b>Borje Salming (17 seasons on two teams) 1,148 GP, 150 G, 637 A, 787 A, 1,344 PIM</b></p><p><b>G</b>&nbsp;<b>Ed Belfour (18 seasons on five teams) 963 GP, 484 W, 2.50 GAA, .906 SP</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

LATEGreats

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011958/9625287-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="262" height="260"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>hen it comes down to it,</b> the draft is about assembling pieces and filling out future rosters with an infusion of talent. But who represents the best in this season&rsquo;s crop? We surveyed a number of scouts and NHL execs to find out which prospects bring the most to the table in a variety of categories. While the names below won&rsquo;t necessarily go in order in the draft, it won&rsquo;t hurt their stock and all should be considered first-rounders at this point. Past category winners include Cam Fowler (offensive defenseman) and Alexander Burmistrov (most intelligent), both of whom went straight to the NHL. Burmistrov&rsquo;s runner-up, Mikael Granlund, is coming over from Finland for 2012-13. <b>&ndash; RYAN KENNEDY</b></p><h2><b>GOAL-SCORER</b></h2><h3><b>NAIL YAKUPOV</b></h3><p>Sarnia&rsquo;s dynamic talent has shown a flair for the dramatic in his young career and potting goals has never been a problem. When you break Steven Stamkos&rsquo; rookie franchise record for points, you know you&rsquo;re cooking.</p><h2><b>PLAYMAKER</b></h2><h3><b>MIKHAIL GRIGORENKO</b></h3><p>One scout described Grigorenko as a man playing among boys in the Quebec League. His size is only one reason to fear him. He always makes something happen when he has the puck and doesn&rsquo;t make many mistakes.</p><h2><b>ALL-AROUND DEFENSEMAN</b></h2><h3><b>RYAN MURRAY</b></h3><p>He was the only underager on Canada&rsquo;s national junior squad, the only junior on its world championship team and Everett&rsquo;s youngest captain ever. His skating is excellent and he&rsquo;s surprisingly physical, too.</p><h2><b>OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN</b></h2><h3><b>MORGAN RIELLY</b></h3><p>The best playmaker from the blueline, Rielly is fearless when it comes to passing and exudes a calmness on the ice that allows him to make such decisions. His skating also sets him apart from many others.</p><h2><b>DEFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN</b></h2><h3><b>OLLI MAATTA</b></h3><p>Maatta was huge for London in the Ontario League playoffs with 23 points in 19 games, but it&rsquo;s his shutdown ability and effectiveness in clearing the puck that got him on the radar in the first place.</p><h2><b>POWER FORWARD</b></h2><h3><b>TOM WILSON</b></h3><p>Strong below the goal line and with underrated hands for a big man, Wilson is trending well in Plymouth, where he had New York Rangers first-rounder J.T. Miller as a great example to follow this year.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021368/9625280-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="841" height="1184"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NAIL YAKUPOV</b> <span class="photo-credit">(AARON BELL/OHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>FIGHTER</b></h2><h3><b>TOM WILSON</b></h3><p>A double category win for Wilson, who took part in the main event fight at the Top Prospects Game against Saskatoon&rsquo;s Dalton Thrower. He also took on several of the OHL&rsquo;s biggest goons this season.</p><h2><b>GOALIE</b></h2><h3><b>OSCAR DANSK</b></h3><p>A Swedish national who played at Shattuck-St. Mary&rsquo;s in Minnesota as a high-schooler, Dansk brings big-game coolness, especially on the international stage. Close win over Malcolm Subban and Andrei Vasilevski.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-01

SKILL SET

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DON LAIBLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012208/9625318-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>HARD TO BEAT</b></p><p><b>The &rsquo;67-68 Clinton Comets set a pro record for fewest losses (five) in a season.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(COMETS: COURTESY OF EDWIN ISENBERG)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>n early June, near</b> Utica, N.Y., nine smiling former Clinton Comets of the long defunct Eastern League sat sporting their brand-new 1967-68 championship rings. In that record-setting season, the Comets compiled a record of 57-5-10 &ndash; the only professional team in history to lose five games or fewer in a season. The team had three 60-goal scorers and six 100-point players on the way to its fifth EHL crown, but no rings were ever issued to the champs. Until 44 years later. &ldquo;I drove 792 miles from my home in Charlotte (North Carolina),&rdquo; said player/coach Pat Kelly, who logged eight seasons with the Comets. &ldquo;My ring is beautiful. It&rsquo;s wonderful what (the Utica Professional Hockey Alumni Association) did for the team. But why didn&rsquo;t I get the ring then?&rdquo;</p><p>The reasons why remain a mystery, but thanks to donations totalling $4,000, the UPHAA, led by former American League Utica Devils trainer Robert Bill and superfan Joanne Gerace, was able to right an extraordinary wrong. &ldquo;We wanted to do something special for the team,&rdquo; Bill said. &ldquo;And because of one huge Comets fan from that season, we were able to have the rings created.&rdquo;</p><p>Gary Kunath, who regularly visited the Clinton Arena as a child to cheer on the Comets, contributed $3,500 of the $4,000 needed. Kunath recalled wonderful memories of his favorite players taking the time to sign autographs and talk to him at games. Now a successful businessman, he jumped at the opportunity to give the Comets their well-deserved, long-overdue rings.</p><p>Goalie Ed Babiuk flew in from British Columbia  to receive his ring and catch up with his former teammates, some of whom he hasn&rsquo;t seen since their championship season, while left winger Howie Dietrich &ndash; who was third on the team in goals with 60 and fifth in points with 118 &ndash; drove from Waterloo, Ont. &ldquo;The reunion and getting a ring,&rdquo; Dietrich said, &ldquo;what a very special weekend this was.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

Rings Of Fire

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>here are</b> many tales of players drinking and eating from the Stanley Cup, but Dustin Brown is one of the few to potty-train his kid with it. Send us your funniest caption idea for a shot at some THN swag. We&rsquo;ll publish our favorites in the Sept. 10 issue. (See the May 28 issue&rsquo;s best on pg. 57.)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-031123/9625356-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="687" height="701"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021658/9625349-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="200" height="164"></div><p><b>To win, submit your captions at <a href="http://www.thn.com/caption">www.thn.com/caption</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-03

Caption CONTEST

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DENIS GIBBONS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04767/9625394-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="650" height="528"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KRUTOV/CAPTION: B BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>VLADIMIR KRUTOV 1960-2012</b></h2><p><b>DESPITE HIS LACK OF</b>&nbsp;success in the NHL, Vladimir Krutov had a brilliant career on the international stage.</p><p>Krutov died June 6 in Moscow, just five days after his 52nd birthday. He had been taken to the hospital with bleeding in his stomach.</p><p>Krutov was the triggerman on the &lsquo;KLM&rsquo; line with Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov and was part of the &lsquo;Big Five&rsquo; unit of the Soviet national team that dominated international hockey in the 1980s. He won two Olympic gold medals, five world championships and was a member of the victorious Soviet team that crushed Canada 8-1 in the final of the 1981 Canada Cup.</p><p>In 90 games at the Olympics and world championships, he scored 59 goals and connected for another 14 tallies in 22 Canada Cup games. He was nicknamed &lsquo;The Tank&rsquo; because of his knack for busting through the defense and driving to the net.</p><p>With his international career behind him, Krutov played 61 NHL games, scoring 11 goals and 34 points in the 1989-90 season with Vancouver before the Canucks bought out his contract.</p><p>Krutov was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2010.</p><h2><b>BRYAN RUFENACH 1989-2012</b></h2><p>Bryan Rufenach, an ECHLer for the Toledo Walleye and a Detroit Red Wings prospect, died while vacationing in Switzerland. Rufenach &ndash; a 2007 seventh-rounder and Toledo&rsquo;s fourth-leading scorer this season &ndash; was electrocuted while backpacking through Europe. The Barrie, Ont., native had a stellar NCAA career with Clarkson University before turning pro in 2011.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05525/9625387-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="169" height="162"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-04

Russian Tank

<div class="byline">ALL WORDS BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021514/9625439-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011720/9625446-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="222" height="423"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011978/9625432-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="117" height="216"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021316/9625425-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="849" height="1259"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DREW DOUGHTY</b> <span class="photo-credit">(CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-02

2012 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021387/9625484-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>METALS OF HONOR</b></p><p><b>JONATHAN QUICK (RIGHT) GOT HIS PAWS ON THE STANLEY CUP AND THE CONN SMYTHE TROPHY IN ONE MEMORABLE NIGHT.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011856/9625491-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="222" height="423"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES, CALIF.</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t was 2007, Jonathan Quick&rsquo;s rookie year as a pro, when he slept through the alarm one morning. He wouldn&rsquo;t be the first or last 21-year-old who showed up late for work, but that transgression made him miss a workout with Los Angeles Kings assistant goaltending coach Kim Dillabaugh. It also made him an instant member of the Reading Royals of the ECHL. That was not a good thing, considering he was tending goal for the Manchester Monarchs of the American League at the time. &ldquo;It was a hard lesson for him,&rdquo; said Kings goaltending coach and former NHLer Bill Ranford. &ldquo;But you know what? Maybe he wasn&rsquo;t ready to be up there at that point.&rdquo;</p><p>Fast-forward almost five years and Quick was ready. So ready that from the time the season started to his last save in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final, the 26-year-old put together a campaign that would be the envy of any goaltender who has ever played the game. His 1.41 goals-against average and .946 save percentage were the best ever for a goaltender playing 15 or more playoff games.</p><p>But it&rsquo;s his complete body of work that is so impressive. Over the regular season and playoffs, Quick compiled a 51-25-13 record with a 1.82 GAA and .933 SP. He&rsquo;s a finalist for the Vezina Trophy and will likely lose it to Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers, but if the GMs who vote on the trophy compared the regular season and playoff numbers, Quick would be a shoo-in. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never been a big believer in save percentage and goals-against,&rdquo; Quick said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been a believer in wins. Great goalies win games.&rdquo;</p><p>No argument there. Great goalies do win games, sometimes virtually by themselves the way Quick did numerous times this season, elevating Los Angeles from a middling team to a juggernaut. The Kings became the first champions to lose more games than they won during the regular season (40-42 with overtime and shootout losses) since the NHL went to the shootout in 2006. The average record of the Stanley Cup winners before this season was 50-32.</p><p>So we&rsquo;ve established that until the playoffs, the Kings weren&rsquo;t very good. But just as Quick was the primary reason they made the playoffs, his post-season performance was legendary. One that comes to mind for comparison&rsquo;s sake goes back 60 years, when Terry Sawchuk was almost perfect for the Detroit Red Wings, going 8-0 in the 1952 playoffs and allowing only five goals. His GAA that post-season was 0.63 and his SP was .978.</p><p>Is it a valid comparison? We think so. Yes, goaltending has evolved tremendously since that time and the goalies are protected better than ever before. But Sawchuk was playing against far inferior skaters who used straight sticks and whose idea of an arm curl was bringing a beer bottle up to their lips. And before you go thinking Quick is the product of a league where offense is at a premium, consider that his regular-season GAA of 1.95 was only slightly higher than Sawchuk&rsquo;s 1.90 from that season. NHL teams averaged 5.32 goals per game (not including shootout goals) in 2011-12, compared to just 5.19 in 1951-52. And that season the Red Wings finished the year with a 44-14-12 record for first place, 22 points ahead of their nearest rival. They also had a roster that included Hall of Famers Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel and Alex Delvecchio at forward with Red Kelly and Marcel Pronovost on defense.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>I DON&rsquo;T BELIEVE IN SAVE PERCENTAGE & GOALS-AGAINST. I BELIEVE IN WINS</b><br><b>&ndash; JONATHAN QUICK</b></blockquote><p>It&rsquo;s interesting Quick could be compared to Sawchuk, on a couple of levels. First, it was 45 years and five days prior to the Kings winning their first-ever Stanley Cup that they selected Sawchuk as the first player in team history in the expansion draft. Second, Sawchuk was and Quick is, well, a little&hellip;prickly. But that&rsquo;s not to suggest there&rsquo;s too much in common here. After all, Quick grew up in affluent Connecticut and attended a prep school that charges north of $40,000 a year for boarding students. Sawchuk was born fewer than two months after The Great Depression began and became a goaltender when he inherited his dead brother&rsquo;s pads. Sawchuk was a cantankerous chain smoker and heavy drinker who met a tragic end at the age of 40.</p><p>Quick is hardly the lone wolf type. He&rsquo;s just not all that forthcoming. At media day prior to the final, he wore a Kings cap with a hoodie pulled over it. He said then when he dreamed of the Stanley Cup final, he dreamed about actually playing the games, not having to answer questions. After winning Game 2 in overtime as the Kings took control of the series, Quick seemed downright cranky. (Of course it didn&rsquo;t help that coach Darryl Sutter insisted the Kings be on their charter by midnight, saying, &ldquo;Speed it up, son,&rdquo; to Quick while he was trying to get his equipment off and answer questions.)</p><p>At one point during the Kings&rsquo; run, Quick was asked whether he was enjoying the experience, because at times it looked as though he wasn&rsquo;t. &ldquo;You can be focused and enjoy the game at the same time,&rdquo; he said dryly. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s possible.&rdquo;</p><p>That doesn&rsquo;t make him a bad person, just a little bit of a standoffish one. We&rsquo;ll take his teammates at their word when they say he isn&rsquo;t like that in the dressing room. But when asked if he and his teammates were beginning to get recognized in public because of their playoff run, he suggested his teammates could better answer the question because he rarely goes beyond his house and the rink. &ldquo;He just likes to be one of the guys and hang out,&rdquo; said defenseman Rob Scuderi. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played with some goalies that like to be separate and like to do their own thing, but he&rsquo;s not that kind of guy.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011636/9625477-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="723" height="871"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>When someone asked Kings GM Dean Lombardi in training camp what he would do about his goaltending controversy, he almost did a spit-take. Having Quick and Jonathan Bernier was hardly a goaltending controversy. A goaltending controversy is when you have to go to a guy named Yutaka Fukufuji and the next year you use seven goaltenders. Quick was one of them. He played three games for the Kings that 2007-08 campaign, but there were concerns about his work ethic and his ability to wake up to an alarm clock. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel like my career was going down the drain,&rdquo; he said of being dispatched to the ECHL. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel like that at all. I was fortunate enough to get called up a couple of different times. I dropped the ball a couple of times and I ended up back there. It all worked out for the best.&rdquo;</p><p>Quick&rsquo;s numbers aren&rsquo;t the only things that draw comparison to past legends. He has an element of old-school goaltending about him that makes him unique and fun to watch. Instead of relying solely on mechanics and coaching, Quick is aggressive in and out of his crease and uses his athleticism and reflexes as much as his hockey sense. Even Devils goalie Martin Brodeur lauded Quick&rsquo;s style. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to see that he&rsquo;s competing,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;A lot of goalies out there are just so good technically that they don&rsquo;t need to compete just because of positioning and stuff. But this guy competes, let me tell you.&rdquo;</p><p>Instead of peering over a mass of bodies in front of him, Quick crouches down and looks under players and between legs to track pucks coming at him. He&rsquo;s almost always moving around his crease, using his strength and flexibility to go from post to post. He can get into almost any position in his crease and covers up the bottom of the net like a piece of plywood.</p><p>His Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy secure, the best could still be to come. If Quick can play this way for a team that finishes 29th in scoring, how good can he be for a team that gets its act together in the regular season? He&rsquo;ll have to be considered the No. 1 goalie at the moment for USA in 2014 if the NHL goes to Sochi.</p><p>Perhaps Quick&rsquo;s performance was best summed up by Kings center Jarret Stoll, lost for words the day after they took a stranglehold on the series with a 4-0 shutout by Quick. &ldquo;Hmm,&rdquo; Stoll ruminated. &ldquo;All-world, out of this world? He&rsquo;s just good. Sorry, but that&rsquo;s all I&rsquo;ve got.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-02

QUICK’S SLOW RISE TO GLORY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021157/9625522-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="840" height="1007"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011608/9625529-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="222" height="423"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES, CALIF.</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>very summer, Dean Lombardi goes back to his hometown of Ludlow, Mass., to hang out with guys he used to play hockey with in high school. It seems that every summer, one or two more of them has lost his job. His 82-year-old father, Paul, recently had his pension reduced after the mill where he was a janitor went bankrupt.</p><p>Times are difficult in Ludlow. Lombardi has an appreciation for where he is in life and he&rsquo;s grateful that hockey paid for his education. He was a tenacious NCAA Division II player who made up for a lack of talent with immense desire and leadership skills. And he was sharp enough to get a law degree from Tulane University.</p><p>Since then, Lombardi has made his living off the game. Most of the time, it has been good. And for all the scrutiny he faces as GM of the Los Angeles Kings, when a buddy finds himself jobless in his mid-50s, that&rsquo;s real pressure.</p><p>For a while, it looked as though Lombardi would join his friends on the unemployment line. His Kings entered the season as projected Stanley Cup contenders and looked anything but. Had they missed the playoffs, there&rsquo;s almost no doubt he would have been fired. He had done some fine work, building a formidable roster and a solid stable of prospects, but it hadn&rsquo;t translated into a winning group.</p><p>With his team at 13-12-4 and sitting in 12th place in the Western Conference, that&rsquo;s when Lombardi fired coach Terry Murray and reached out to his old friend</p><p>Darryl Sutter. Any GM will tell you the most important aspect of the job is finding the right coach and when Lombardi did that, against the grain of conventional thinking, he hit his first home run of the season. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t imagine how many texts I got from players that had played for him who said, &lsquo;That&rsquo;s a great hire,&rsquo;&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the No. 1 thing for me. He&rsquo;s a player&rsquo;s coach, but he doesn&rsquo;t let the players run the team. Bryan Murray said it best, &lsquo;When you&rsquo;re a GM and you coached, you never stop coaching.&rsquo; And I believe that.&rdquo;</p><p>It wasn&rsquo;t just the Sutter hire, though, that provided the foundation. He has been in Los Angeles for seven seasons trying to find the right combination of talent to win the Stanley Cup. His three years as a pro scout for the Philadelphia Flyers turned out to serve him well. But it&rsquo;s not as though Lombardi had no body of work before then. He did an outstanding job with the San Jose Sharks, becoming the only GM in NHL history other than Bill Torrey to improve his team&rsquo;s point total in six straight seasons.</p><p>There have been enormous moves and smaller ones, but his most under-the-radar move is one on which actress-model Rachel Hunter deserves a big assist. Lombardi acquired center Jarret Stoll in the summer of 2008, in part because he wanted to be closer to fianc&eacute;e Hunter. Stoll later got a case of cold feet and called off the wedding, but his marriage to the Kings has endured.</p><p>The big deals have been well documented. Last summer, Lombardi acquired Mike Richards from the Flyers, then put his neck on the line by reuniting Richards with Jeff Carter when he took on Carter&rsquo;s 11-year, $58 million deal at the trade deadline. The moves were fraught with peril, since both players have long-term, big-money deals and had reputations in Philadelphia for their off-ice activities. But the development of D-man Slava Voynov gave Lombardi the luxury of being able to deal Jack Johnson to get Carter.</p><p>The Richards deal helped Anze Kopitar become more dominant because it gave him two-way support. It also moved Stoll to the No. 3 spot, where he is more effective. &ldquo;Richards was devastated &ndash; that&rsquo;s why I didn&rsquo;t bring him out to L.A. for a month,&rdquo; Lombardi said. &ldquo;But when you&rsquo;ve got a player that is that broken up about being traded, that means he was wearing his heart on his sleeve and eventually he&rsquo;s going to do the same thing for you.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-02

THE BUILDING OF A KINGDOM

<h2><b>MOST ROAD WINS IN A SINGLE PLAYOFF</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Kings earned 10 road wins in the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, tying the 1994-95 and 1999-2000 Devils as well as the 2003-04 Flames for most road victories in a single playoff season.</p><h2><b>CONSECUTIVE PLAYOFF ROAD WINS</b></h2><p>The Kings shattered the record for consecutive road wins for both single season (10) and multiple seasons (12). Their streak dates back to the opening round of the 2010-11 post-season.</p><h2><b>MOST 3-0 SERIES LEADS IN A SINGLE PLAYOFF</b></h2><p>The Kings are the first team ever to go up 3-0 in all four series in a single playoff year, though they&rsquo;re also the only one to miss out on three chances to sweep in the same spring &ndash; all at home.</p><h2><b>LOWEST SEED TO WIN THE STANLEY CUP</b></h2><p>No team lower than a No. 5 seed had won the Cup. The No. 8-seeded Kings also became the only team to defeat Nos. 1 (Vancouver), 2 (St. Louis) and 3 (Phoenix) to reach the final.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

L.A. KINGS, RECORD BREAKERS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02839/9625591-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDY MARLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011299/9625598-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="222" height="423"></div><h2><b>NEWARK, N.J.</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>here are a lot of things that separate NHL players from schmoes like us who get all worked up about scoring a nice goal in Thursday night beer league. Take Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar, for example. He gets the puck alone, thinks back to a goal he scored on a backhand almost six years ago, figures he&rsquo;ll mix things up a little this time, then goes forehand to win in overtime.</p><p>People who follow hockey on the West Coast love to talk about an Eastern bias when it comes to player recognition, as though nobody ever PVRs games these days or follows the game anywhere beyond their own little corner of the world. While it&rsquo;s true players such as Kopitar are often just starting to play by the time a lot of people have to go to bed in the East, people who watch and follow hockey closely know how good Anze Kopitar is.</p><p>They know that Kopitar has developed into one of the best two-way centers in the NHL. They&rsquo;re aware of his sublime skill and unique ability to combine force with finesse. And after watching him score the overtime winner in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, they also know his sense of recall is impeccable. Consider this: Kopitar had mere seconds to process his decision, which was based on him scoring on a backhand in a shootout attempt on Martin Brodeur a little more than a month into Kopitar&rsquo;s rookie season. That Brodeur later said he thought Kopitar would go backhand based on the same memory proves NHL players are on some sort of cosmic wavelength most of us will never be able to understand.</p><p>We shouldn&rsquo;t be surprised that Kopitar has this kind of mental capacity. After all, he does speak five languages. Among them is Swedish, which he was forced to learn at 16 when, with the goal of advancing his hockey career, he chose to play in the land of Volvos and Ikeas and took an apartment on his own. That sure came in handy during the first round of the playoffs when Kopitar owned up to eavesdropping on the on-ice conversations Daniel and Henrik Sedin were having.</p><p>As far as English is concerned, Kopitar was born and raised in Slovenia, but sounds as though he&rsquo;s from Lethbridge. There is no hint of an accent in his words. His command of English is due in part to the fact his grandmother was an English teacher. &ldquo;A lot of it is probably from TV,&rdquo; Kopitar added. &ldquo;I picked up a lot of it from there.&rdquo;</p><p>The hockey sense was picked up from his father, Matjaz, who played in three World Championships for Yugoslavia and Slovenia and currently serves as the coach of the Slovenian national team. Matjaz evidently taught his son well to be a 200-foot player, seeing as Kopitar is rounding out into a force at both ends of the ice. He won Game 1 with his skill, but saved the Kings from losing Game 2 when he got his stick on a clear shot from Devils sniper Ilya Kovalchuk with seven seconds left that went from being a sure goal to clanging off the crossbar. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t the best defensively the first couple of years,&rdquo; said captain Dustin Brown. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s starting to really learn that side of the game and you&rsquo;re starting to see him go into the corners and come out with the puck a lot more. A lot of it with &lsquo;Kopy&rsquo; was getting to off-ice conditioning and getting in shape to be a superstar in this league.&rdquo;</p><p>Now that Kopitar has accepted the challenge, he&rsquo;s become a far more dangerous player. Getting center Mike Richards last summer to support Kopitar has been a huge help, but for the most part, Kopitar has taken it upon himself to be the best all-around player he can be. &ldquo;Everyone sees his skill, but look at him in the defensive zone,&rdquo; said linemate Justin Williams. &ldquo;The reason we don&rsquo;t spend a lot of time in our end is he&rsquo;s so good in it. That gives us the opportunity to be in the offensive zone where he&rsquo;s at his best. He has some of the best hands I&rsquo;ve ever seen. You see him on a breakaway and you almost always know it&rsquo;s going in.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>GAME 1</b>&nbsp;<b>L.A. 2 - N.J. 1(OT)</b></h2><p>Both teams spend the bulk of the game feeling each other out rather than shooting the lights out. Colin Fraser draws first blood for L.A. and Anton Volchenkov ties it for New Jersey before Kopitar seals the win in overtime.</p><h2><b>THE WINNER</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03538/9625584-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="367" height="378"></div><p>Doughty chips the puck to center, then Williams passes to a wide-open Kopitar, who fakes to his backhand before going forehand over a sprawling Brodeur.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-02

ANZE KOPITAR

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-021100/9625636-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(NOAH GRAHAM/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011495/9625643-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="222" height="423"></div><h2><b>NEWARK, N.J.</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span>rior to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final, Drew Doughty was doing chest bumps in the corner with some of his teammates. Yeah, before Game 2 of the friggin&rsquo; Stanley Cup final. But here&rsquo;s a guy who sings along with the in-game music on the bench between periods.</p><p>Guys such as Doughty can get away with those things because their skill level and accomplishments have earned them the right to be a little different. You can live with Doughty&rsquo;s approach to the game because it brings out the best in him and, consequently, makes him one of the brightest young players in the NHL.</p><p>So you&rsquo;d think a guy who&rsquo;s already living the dream would have even more to smile about coming into the season with an eight-year, $56-million contract out of the way. But instead of making him happier, Doughty let the weight of the contract suffocate him and he was miserable. Conventional wisdom suggests when a young player like Doughty misses training camp the way the Kings star D-man did in his contract dispute, his game invariably suffers in the short-term. But that wasn&rsquo;t the case for Doughty. The reality was much worse. The weight of his contract dragged Doughty into a morass of mediocrity the entire regular season. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t happy coming to the rink every day,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was disappointed in my play and just disappointed that I wasn&rsquo;t playing up to the standards I had gotten myself into.&rdquo;</p><p>Doughty is the kind of player who plays best when he isn&rsquo;t putting any pressure on himself and lets the game come to him. But like Anze Kopitar before him, Doughty suddenly began to feel that he needed to live up to the contract and earn his money on every shift of every game. It&rsquo;s impossible to do that, which is something Doughty learned over the course of the season. His numbers and his performance were indisputably subpar and for the second straight year since 2009-10, when he won a gold medal for Canada and was a finalist for the Norris Trophy, his offensive totals declined.</p><p>But by the time the playoffs began, both Doughty and the Kings had everything figured out. And when Doughty made like Scott Niedermayer circa 1995 by carrying the puck coast-to-coast before scoring on Martin Brodeur, it put on full display the awe-inspiring offensive skills Doughty has to offer. At the age of 22. What hadn&rsquo;t received as much attention was the fact Doughty and defense partner Rob Scuderi had rendered Ilya Kovalchuk and, to a lesser extent Zach Parise, virtually impotent on the offensive side.</p><p>Doughty was just five years old when Niedermayer scored his virtuoso goal in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final against the Detroit Red Wings, but claimed to remember the goal in minute detail. Unlike Niedermayer, a player with great offensive instincts that were stultified by the Devils&rsquo; obsession with defense, Doughty isn&rsquo;t confined by the same shackles. Now that his season of semi-discontent is behind him, look for the Norris Trophies to start following him soon.</p><p>After a long run of players who took their sweet time winning their first Norris Trophies, guys such as Doughty and Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators are on the fast-track program. Nick Lidstrom and Niedermayer didn&rsquo;t win their first until they were 31 and Zdeno Chara was 32 when he won his. Even Duncan Keith had to wait until 26 to be named the NHL&rsquo;s best defenseman. It&rsquo;s difficult to imagine Doughty will have to wait that long, particularly after recalibrating his game in this year&rsquo;s playoffs. Even Doughty feels he&rsquo;s on the precipice of greatness. And you get the distinct feeling these playoffs are the beginning of greatness recaptured. &ldquo;I know in order to be successful, I have to be the best defenseman on the ice every night,&rdquo; Doughty said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m never satisfied with just being good. I want to be great.&rdquo;</p><p>Mission accomplished.</p><h2><b>GAME 2</b>&nbsp;<b>L.A. 2 - N.J. 1(OT)</b></h2><p>The Devils provide more push back than in Game 1 and control the play for stretches, but still can&rsquo;t figure out how to beat goaltender Jonathan Quick. Overtime belongs to Los Angeles and is ended by sniper Jeff Carter.</p><h2><b>THE WINNER</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03817/9625629-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="354" height="356"></div><p>After Carter&rsquo;s first shot is stopped, he circles the net and collects his own rebound. Chased by Bernier, he beats Brodeur blocker-side through traffic.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-02

DREW DOUGHTY

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-021036/9625726-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011438/9625733-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="222" height="423"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES, CALIF.</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>U</span>ntil this season, Martin Brodeur wore the same chest protector for 12 years. While his opponents were bulking up to look like those inflated sumo wrestlers you see knocking each other over between periods, Brodeur steadfastly refused to increase the size of his pads.</p><p>But sooner or later everyone breaks down, literally and figuratively. We&rsquo;re still waiting for the literal one with Brodeur. As far as his new pads, he assures us they fall well within the parameters set down by the league&rsquo;s equipment police. The new chest protector, he&rsquo;s happy to report, now means he doesn&rsquo;t even feel it when someone cranks a slapshot that hits him in the shoulder. &ldquo;I should have been smarter about that one a long time ago,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Time, for most elite athletes, is the mortal enemy. From the moment their careers begin, they&rsquo;re obsessed with slowing it down. But you get the sense that at 40 and knowing this may be his last Stanley Cup final, Brodeur is embracing the passage of time and the experiences that come with it. He is the oldest player on both teams. In fact, the only guy who&rsquo;s even close to him is his backup, Johan Hedberg. Brodeur has a son who turned 17 and got his driver&rsquo;s license during the Cup final. In Game 2, his father Denis made his first trip to New Jersey since having a baseball-sized tumor removed from his brain in February.</p><p>Most of Brodeur&rsquo;s teammates are too young to worry about their kids&rsquo; driver exams or their fathers&rsquo; health issues. None of them has five children at home, that&rsquo;s for sure, so it&rsquo;s hard for them to relate to the kinds of distractions Brodeur endures. But he didn&rsquo;t become the all-time leader in wins, shutouts, 30-win and 40-win seasons and just about every other statistical category for goaltending by allowing outside factors to affect his play. His 656 career wins is now more than 100 ahead of runner-up Patrick Roy (551) and his 119 shutouts is virtually double the next highest on the active list (Roberto Luongo has 60.)</p><p>Brodeur is smart enough to know those kinds of things aren&rsquo;t necessary for him to have the proper perspective on life and the game. But it would be inaccurate to suggest he hasn&rsquo;t become a little more reflective. After a couple of substandard seasons, Brodeur bounced back remarkably in 2011-12 and the playoffs, as evidenced by his 21-save performance in Game 4 when New Jersey needed him most. &ldquo;The most important thing is that it has just been a fun game for me to play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m enjoying what I&rsquo;m doing. If I&rsquo;ve stepped up my game, it&rsquo;s probably because of the enjoyment of it.&rdquo;</p><p>The equipment changes let Brodeur refine his game this season and gave him the confidence to go into the butterfly more often. He noticed a lot more odd-man rushes because of the Devils&rsquo; young defense corps, combined with the more up-tempo and aggressive style the team plays under coach Peter DeBoer.</p><p>But the upside is he also gets to play the puck a lot more than he has in recent years. &ldquo;We feed off his composure,&rdquo; DeBoer said. &ldquo;There are very few moments in a game where there&rsquo;s anxiety when the puck is in your own end or around your net because of his composure.&rdquo;</p><p>Brodeur can look around the dressing room and see players such as Adam Henrique and Adam Larsson, rookies already playing in the Stanley Cup final. These kids think they&rsquo;ll be here 10 more times before they hang their skates up, but Brodeur can get away with saying this will be his last Stanley Cup final. Even if he plays another season or two, post-lockout history tells us New Jersey won&rsquo;t get this far again for a while.</p><p>&ldquo;The pressure is not there as much as when I was younger in the middle of my career,&rdquo; Brodeur said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m enjoying this as much as I can with my friends and family while trying to do something great with my teammates here.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>GAME 4 N.J. 3 - L.A. 1</b></h2><p>On the verge of being swept, New Jersey doesn&rsquo;t blink. Elias and the Devils draw first blood in the third and Doughty ties the game for L.A. almost immediately, but young Henrique gets another clutch winner late in the period.</p><h2><b>THE WINNER</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03724/9625719-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="353" height="354"></div><p>The Devils break out quickly after an L.A. turnover. Clarkson threads a cross-ice pass to Henrique, who kicks the puck to his stick before beating Quick blocker-side.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-02

MARTIN BRODEUR

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-021044/9625771-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011450/9625778-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="222" height="423"></div><h2><b>NEWARK, N.J.</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>Z</span>ach Parise would have made a good Canadian. In fact, he sort of is one, seeing as father J-P played for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series. Almost took referee Josef Kompalla&rsquo;s head off in Game 8. Perhaps you remember it.</p><p>One thing is certain. Parise follows the rules, even when they&rsquo;re allowed to be broken. New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello prohibits his players from displaying facial hair during the regular season. But once the playoffs begin, the razors can hibernate. Andy Greene and Ilya Kovalchuk used the opportunity to rock some serious beardage, while David Clarkson and Adam Henrique removed theirs when the Devils went down 0-3 to the Los Angeles Kings in the final.</p><p>It&rsquo;s interesting, though, that the Devils&rsquo; two best players, Parise and Martin Brodeur, were as smooth as a baby&rsquo;s bottom through the playoffs. For Parise, the lack of facial hair was both a matter of superstition and good fashion sense. He started to sprout some hairs in the first round against Florida, but shaved after they came back in the series and decided to keep shaving after that. &ldquo;It would probably still look the same anyway,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Parise would give Sidney Crosby a good run for his money in the Worst Playoff Beard Ever contest. But that&rsquo;s hardly where the similarities end between Parise and Crosby. Both spent formative hockey years playing for J-P Parise at the hockey factory known as Shattuck-St. Mary&rsquo;s in Minnesota. And there aren&rsquo;t two players in the league whose skill and compete levels are as evenly matched as Parise&rsquo;s and Crosby&rsquo;s. That&rsquo;s what makes them so valuable.</p><p>It&rsquo;s also what allowed Parise to jump on a Jonathan Quick turnover and tuck the puck past him to open the scoring in New Jersey&rsquo;s Game 5 victory. &ldquo;They have a lot of similarities,&rdquo; said Devils coach Peter DeBoer of Parise and Crosby. &ldquo;Both smaller in stature than players like Eric Staal and Anze Kopitar, but so strong on the puck. They play a power game combined with skill. That&rsquo;s a fair comparison, especially in what he brings for us.&rdquo;</p><p>There has never been any quit in Parise&rsquo;s game, which served him well during the final when the effort was there, but the results non-existent. Parise was working just as diligently killing penalties, on the power play and 5-on-5, but the production that usually accompanied those efforts was nowhere to be found. But like Crosby, even when he&rsquo;s not producing tangibly, he&rsquo;s doing a lot of other things that contribute to the effort.</p><p>Parise&rsquo;s and Crosby&rsquo;s paths have crossed on a number of occasions. Parise is three years older and was leaving Shattuck&rsquo;s for the University of North Dakota just as Crosby was getting started there. &ldquo;As a fan of the game I watch him and you try to take things,&rdquo; Parise said. &ldquo;I mean, he&rsquo;s the best player in the game. I doubt he does the same with me. That&rsquo;s my game and I&rsquo;ve found that is what has worked with me. That&rsquo;s the way I have to play, that&rsquo;s all there is to it.&rdquo;</p><p>It is a style that will make Parise the jewel of free agency July 1. Collective bargaining agreement or no collective bargaining agreement, teams will be fully prepared to offer him a long-term, front-loaded contract that circumvents the salary cap and deal with the repercussions when the new CBA is negotiated. That will undoubtedly restrict the number of teams willing to bid on his services, but all it will take is a couple of franchises starting a bidding war to drive the cost and term higher.</p><p>Parise did an outstanding job of keeping the distraction of the new deal under control during the playoffs, save for the day during the conference final when his father publicly said he&rsquo;d look really good as a New York Ranger. But Parise gave an unequivocal response to that idea when the team returned to New Jersey after the Cup final: &ldquo;no way.&rdquo;</p><p>After all, rules are rules.</p><h2><b>GAME 5 N.J. 2 - L.A. 1</b></h2><p>It&rsquo;s a series again. Parise outsmarts Quick for the first goal before Williams ties it for L.A. Salvador gives Jersey the lead back and Brodeur takes over, making 25 saves, including a doozie on Richards in the dying seconds.</p><h2><b>THE WINNER</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03819/9625764-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="354" height="356"></div><p>Salvador sells a fake at the blueline, then flutters a wrister on net. As Voynov tries to clear Clarkson from the crease, the puck bounces off the L.A. D-man&rsquo;s chest and in.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-02

ZACH PARISE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02943/9625816-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011346/9625823-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="222" height="423"></div><h2><b>LOS ANGELES, CALIF.</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>hose who are close to Dustin Brown always tell his wife, Nicole, not to worry, that her husband would never have an affair because he&rsquo;d be too lazy to lead a double life.</p><p>The day after the Los Angeles Kings went up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final, he showed up at practice wearing a <i>Hockey Night in Canada</i> hat that was given to him when he was a guest on the post-game show. It was pointed out to him that it&rsquo;s bad form for Captain America to publicly wear <i>HNIC</i> headgear. &ldquo;I was too lazy to brush my hair and it was the first hat I saw,&rdquo; Brown said.</p><p>That&rsquo;s a fair bit of indolence right there. You have to assume, however, Brown is simply saving his birr for the games. Because there&rsquo;s usually a lot of pent-up energy that needs to get out once he hits the ice.</p><p>Surprisingly, it required all the energy Brown could muster to hoist just 35.5 pounds over his head when he became the second American-born captain to lift the Stanley Cup. That had something to do with the fatigue of the playoff marathon and how carrying the weight of difficult times can wear a guy down. &ldquo;It was heavier than I thought,&rdquo; Brown said after his three-point performance in Game 6. &ldquo;My knees were knocking quite a bit.&rdquo;</p><p>(Just before that, shortly before accepting the Cup, Brown said a very, very bad word for everyone to hear on the NBC telecast. Good thing ratings were down this year.)</p><p>For the first three rounds of the playoffs, Brown had placed himself firmly in contention for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs, though he didn&rsquo;t have the same effect on the Stanley Cup final until the last game. But it was the game that mattered most and Brown has always saved his best efforts for those kinds of situations. He finished the playoffs tied with linemate Anze Kopitar with eight goals and 20 points in 20 games. He scored points in 12 games, five of them being multi-point efforts, and almost every one of them was crucial.</p><p>Of the eight goals Brown scored in the postseason, six of them gave the Kings a lead or kept them ahead in a game. Three of them were game-winning goals, three were the all-important first goal of the game and four gave the Kings a lead they would not relinquish.</p><p>Of his 12 assists, two were on goals that tied games for the Kings. In the deciding game, Brown scored first, then assisted on the second goal by Jeff Carter, which turned out to be the game-winner.</p><p>All of that production made Brown something of a focal point throughout the playoffs, just as much as his physical play did. The Kings have something in Brown, a guy who can consistently score 20-25 goals a season and finish in the top three in hits, play on the top line and power play and make plays his linemates Kopitar and Justin Williams can finish.</p><p>But it will always be his bruising physical play that garners the most consideration. Early in the Stanley Cup final, Brown was talking about the attention the line was receiving for its play in the playoffs, though not for the same reasons. &ldquo;Kopitar draws most of the attention and maybe I draw some attention in the playoffs,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;Not from a scoring standpoint, but from an &lsquo;I want to kill you&rsquo; standpoint.&rdquo;</p><p>There are a lot of opponents who might contemplate that notion when it comes to Brown. After his hit on Michal Rozsival in Game 5 of the Western Conference final, let&rsquo;s just say not all the Phoenix Coyotes were wishing him good luck in the Stanley Cup final in the handshake line.</p><p>That&rsquo;ll make Brown a marked man next season. Opponents will be looking out for the Kings, a team poised to continue being a contender in part because of its captain&rsquo;s efforts.</p><h2><b>GAME 6 L.A. 6 - N.J. 1</b></h2><p>After Steve Bernier is slapped with a major penalty for boarding Rob Scuderi in the first period, the usually anemic Kings power play explodes for three goals. L.A. never looks back, capturing the franchise&rsquo;s first Stanley Cup.</p><h2><b>THE WINNER</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03682/9625809-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="347" height="349"></div><p>As L.A.&rsquo;s five-minute power play continues, Richards feeds Brown from behind the net, who outwaits the Devils &lsquo;D&rsquo; and shoots from the slot. Carter tips the puck in.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-02

DUSTIN BROWN

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02562/9625875-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>DEFINING D-MEN</b></p><p><b>Bobby Orr remade the &lsquo;D&rsquo; position, but Nick Lidstrom perfected it.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(ABELIMAGES/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01887/9625882-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="192" height="351"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>U</span></b><b>nless Apple begins</b> building hockey players, we&rsquo;re not likely ever to see a perfect NHLer. But of all the players of the current generation, one has come closer to full-on flawlessness than anyone else. Some of that superstar&rsquo;s teammates on the Detroit Red Wings even called him &ldquo;The Perfect Human Being.&rdquo; And now, in his understated, elegant way, that player has shifted into retirement while the sport knowledges his place as one of its all-time greats. acto  kick around anymore. Then again, it never really did. Lid-The hockey world won&rsquo;t have Nicklas Lidstrom strom was forever too canny, too quick, too smooth and too skilled to put himself in position for a pounding. He played two full decades with an unparalleled, elite-level-l consistency in the toughest pro sport on the planet and nobody can locate a single enemy he ever made on or off the ice. At some point, the Vasteras, Sweden native needs to be thoroughly examined to determine if the whispers are true and he had life breathed into him by the hockey gods after being carved from a block of solid class.</p><p>If Bobby Orr will always be regarded as the best liner to ever grace the sport because he redefinedd what-blue-it meant to be a defenseman, Lidstrom is the guy who perfected the position. He is the greatest European player to set foot on an NHL rink and the first Euro to both captain his team to a Stanley Cup championship (one of four he earned during his career) and to a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. He won seven Norris Trophies as the league&rsquo;s best D-man, tying Original Six-era superstar Doug Harvey for the second-most in history (one behind Orr&rsquo;s eight). Lidstrom retired with a plus-450 rating. The next-best NHLer in that regard over the last two decades is Jaromir Jagr at plus-284. To the eternal shame of the Professional Hockey Writers Association members who decide the Lady Byng Trophy as the league&rsquo;s most gentlemanly player, Lidstrom never won the award despite epitomizing what it represented.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01767/9625868-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="1175" height="1743"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>DURABLE &lsquo;D&rsquo;</b></p><p><b>Lidstrom played at least 78 games in 17 of 20 seasons and never missed more than 12.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(DOUG MACLELLAND/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>However, those accolades don&rsquo;t capture the essence of Lidstrom. What made him so special, what made him the cream of the crop of the crop&rsquo;s creme, was that he played against the opposition&rsquo;s top players for nearly 30 minutes a game and never failed to stay a step ahead of them mentally and physically. There was a clinical effectiveness and poise to his play no hockey coach in his life ever could have instilled in him. Like all the greats, he functioned on a higher plane than 99 percent of his fellow players. And no man carried himself with more dignity and decency regardless of whether he was dealing with teammates, opponents, fans or media.</p><p>But arguably more than any player before him, Lidstrom demonstrated a staggering degree  of durability during a more physically predatory NHL era where players were waylaid on the regular. Any team facing Detroit urged their players to put the body to No. 5 and make him pay for his success in breaks and bruises as did everybody else, but that request was like asking a player to bearhug a blast of cool air. That&rsquo;s why, in every season prior to 2011-12 (when he still played in 70 games), he never missed more than six games and played at least 78 in 17 of his 20 seasons. Even more impressive: most of the games he missed were one or two games at the end of each regular season when the team had to order him to sit out and conserve energy for the playoffs. Oh yeah, and he never missed the playoffs a single season.</p><p>A hockey writer could spend an entire story just listing Lidstrom&rsquo;s feats (which also include winning his final Norris at 41 and an Olympic gold medal with Sweden in 2006). But his teammates and employers who saw virtually every one of his 1,564 career regular season and 263 playoff games in a Wings uniform marvel as much about his superior skating ability as any individual honor he collected. &ldquo;Nick skated better than everybody else, so he had an extra gear,&rdquo; said Red Wings GM Ken Holland. &ldquo;You&rsquo;d think you had him as an opponent, then he&rsquo;d make a couple of quick pushes and he was gone. When he was under pressure, he had the ability to stutter his timing and then make a quick outlet pass and jump out of the way. He could move laterally almost as quickly as some people could skate.&rdquo;</p><p>Added former teammate and Wings goalie Chris Osgood: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of his most underrated qualities &ndash; he was an unbelievable skater. Especially in his younger days, he could gain speed without even taking strides. It was the way he pivoted that helped him. His skating was what set up everything he does. His skating was remarkable.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>"IN THE LAST 20 TO 30 YEARS, NICK IS AS CLOSE TO THE PERFECT PLAYER AS YOU'D WANT"</i><br>- <i>KEN HOLLAND</i></blockquote><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01815/9625861-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="1579" height="2290"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>NICK &rsquo;N&rsquo; NORRIS</b></p><p><b>Lidstrom won seven Norris Trophies &ndash; his last coming at age 41.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES FOR NHL)</span></figcaption></div><p>Also remarkable is the universal respect Lidstrom has from all corners of the hockey world. Think hard for however long you choose. Have you ever heard a credible criticism of the man&rsquo;s play or character? Let me answer for you: no, you have not. No fan ever made a sign that said, &ldquo;Lidstrom Sucks.&rdquo; Not only did no opposition player ever accuse him of untoward behavior, neither did the anonymous blowhards on the Internet whose existence is borne of soulless negativity. He was suspended one time in his NHL career &ndash; for one game in 2009 after he didn&rsquo;t play in that year&rsquo;s All-Star Game because he wanted to rest and recuperate for games that actually mattered. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t remember anyone ever saying anything bad about him,&rdquo; Osgood said of the now 42-year-old. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably the only guy I can think of besides Wayne Gretzky who guys didn&rsquo;t like to hit, or felt bad about hitting. Guys didn&rsquo;t want to hit him. It was almost like he was off-limits.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>''HE&rsquo;S THE ONLY GUY BESIDES GRETZKY WHO GUYS DIDN'T LIKE TO HIT. HE WAS OFF LIMITS"</i><br>- <i>CHRIS OSGOOD</i></blockquote><p>Added Wings &lsquo;D&rsquo; and fellow Swede Niklas Kronwall: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen him upset. He was very accountable and you knew whenever he was out there he&rsquo;d do the right thing, make the right play, be in the right position. He&rsquo;s just an outstanding human being.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s a sentiment shared by Holland, who didn&rsquo;t hesitate to answer when asked if Lidstrom was the next-best thing to a perfect player. &ldquo;Yeah, I think he is,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;He was the most valuable player of his era. There was no panic in his play. He had a tremendous respect for the game, for himself, for the opposition, for the work that needed to be done to play at the level he wanted to. He played the game within the rules. In the last 20-30 years, Nick is probably as close to the perfect player as you&rsquo;d want.&rdquo;</p><p>The turning point in Lidstrom&rsquo;s decision to retire now, even while he&rsquo;s still among the best blueliners in the league, came at the end of February when he took a puck off the ankle and missed a full month and 11 games with what turned out to be a hairline fracture. Prior to that, he had been a quick healer, but Holland felt both Lidstrom and the team would need to function at a high level (which, in fairness, they were doing until about the time Lidstrom was hurt) to have him return for the 2012-13 season. But that didn&rsquo;t happen. Detroit lost in the first round to Nashville and when Holland received a text message from Lidstrom in late-May &ndash; a couple weeks earlier than he was accustomed to having Lidstrom tell him he&rsquo;d be back for another year &ndash; he knew the end of a Hall of Fame career was at hand.</p><p>And even weeks after Lidstrom&rsquo;s May 31 retirement press conference, to hear Holland describe him and all the astounding nuances of his game is like listening to an art lover listing the subtleties of a Cezanne painting. &ldquo;People would say he&rsquo;s not physical, he didn&rsquo;t lay guys out with big hits, he doesn&rsquo;t hurt anybody,&rdquo; Holland said. &ldquo;But he never got beat 1-on-1. He had as good a stick-hand-eye coordination through the years as anyone. So many times the other team would come down through the neutral zone and try flicking the puck past him in a soft dump, but he&rsquo;d just bat it out of the air back into the neutral zone. Or the opponent would try to stickhandle the puck past him and Nick&rsquo;s stick would jut out like the tongue of a snake and poke-check it away from the guy who thought he had enough space.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01797/9625854-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="1155" height="1481"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>LEAVING A LEGACY</b></p><p><b>Lidstrom captured four Cups with Detroit and made the playoffs every season.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(LIDSTROM: DAVE SANDFORD/GETTY IMAGES/NHLI)</span></figcaption></div><p>In THN&rsquo;s Top 100 Players of All-Time by Position special edition magazine in 2010, Lidstrom was voted by an expert panel as the fifth-best blueliner in NHL history (behind Orr at No. 1, followed by Doug Harvey, Eddie Shore and Ray Bourque). But other people who had a much closer view of Lidstrom&rsquo;s brilliance ranked him even higher. &ldquo;I talked to Scotty Bowman just before Nick&rsquo;s retirement announcement,&rdquo; said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, &ldquo;He said, &lsquo;Orr changed the game, but Lidstrom and Doug Harvey controlled the game and passed to the right people all the time.&rsquo; And he did. Nick did it right every single day, from the way he handled himself in the weight room, to how he practised, to how he prepared for games, to the poise he had when things didn&rsquo;t go right, to the passion he had and the way he treated everyone. As much as he leaves a hole on the ice for the Detroit Red Wings, that&rsquo;s not our biggest concern. It is replacing someone who is a model like that every day. He did that as good as anyone who&rsquo;s ever played the game.&rdquo;</p><p>There are more elements to the Nicklas Lidstrom legend we shouldn&rsquo;t ignore: his important roles as a father to his four kids, as a husband to wife Annika and an incredible ambassador for Swedish hockey and the game in general. That&rsquo;s why nobody begrudges him for moving full time back to his homeland. There, he&rsquo;ll likely be allowed to continue his unassuming profile, simply because he&rsquo;s so good to so many people in all other regards. And if you think the hockey world, let alone the Red Wings, will soon find a total package like No. 5, you&rsquo;ve made a big mistake. &ldquo;There are very few players who retire in any sport you can call irreplaceable, but he was,&rdquo; Osgood said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll never be replaced here, ever.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0040-02

PERFECTION PERSONIFIED

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02498/9625941-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="373" height="447"></div><p>Vol. <b>51</b> Issue <b>16</b></p><p><i>December 26, 1997</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03404/9625934-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="371" height="449"></div><p>Vol. <b>51</b> Issue <b>37</b></p><p><i>June 19, 1998</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04350/9625927-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="373" height="448"></div><p>Vol. <b>56</b> Issue <b>05</b></p><p><i>October 31, 2002</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05316/9625920-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="358" height="444"></div><p>Vol. <b>61</b> Issue <b>12</b></p><p><i>December 18, 2007</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06274/9625913-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="336" height="445"></div><p>Vol. <b>64</b> Issue <b>19</b></p><p><i>March 7, 2011</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0041-02

THN Cover King

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BRIAN COSTELLO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02549/9625979-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="304" height="224"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span>OST IN THE SHUFFLE</b> of Nicklas Lidstrom&rsquo;s four Stanley Cups, seven Norris Trophies, one Conn Smythe and a dozen all-star team berths is an achievement once thought unattainable.</p><p>Late this season, during a 4-3 home-ice win over Philadelphia Feb. 12, Lidstrom passed fellow Red Wing great Alex Delvecchio  for most games played with one franchise (1,550). It&rsquo;s a feat that took 20 years to reach during an era when it would have been so easy to forego. The lowering age of free agency, the growing number of teams and the temptation to hit the jackpot as an unrestricted free agent once made Delvecchio&rsquo;s standard unreachable &ndash; presumably.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03457/9625972-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="434" height="598"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DELVECCHIO: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Delvecchio spent his entire career with one organization &ndash; 24 seasons spanning 1,449 regular season games from 1951 to 1974. Only nine other players in the history of the game had played that many regular season games, until Lidstrom matched and passed him, finishing his career with 1,564 games with one franchise. Like Delvecchio, things just worked out well in Detroit. There was never any reason to leave. &ldquo;It means a lot to me,&rdquo; Lidstrom said on the day he broke the record. &ldquo;Mr. Delvecchio was down here in the dressing room during the last game. I had a chance to meet him. It means a lot to me to be able to play with one team throughout my career and especially moving ahead of such a legend as Alex Delvecchio.&rdquo;</p><p>Lidstrom 1,564 games ranks 10th all-time, one spot ahead of Delvecchio.</p><p>On the list of loyal players who have the most games with one franchise, only three are active. Shane Doan, 35, is at 1,198 games with the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise and would need another four-and-a-half seasons with wherever the Coyotes wind up to reach Lidstrom&rsquo;s new record.</p><p>One other Lidstrom footnote that garnered even less attention than his loyalty record was him passing the $100 million mark in NHL salary. According to <a href="http://hockeyzoneplus.com">hockeyzoneplus.com</a>, Lidstrom&rsquo;s $6.2 million this season bumped him to $100,365,000 over the course of his 20-year career. Lidstrom started at $300,000 in 1991-92, saw a big spike to $1.5 million in 1995-96, then after modest raises jumped to $6 million in 1999-2000 and maxed out at $10.5 million in 2002-03. Only Jaromir Jagr ($101,338,851) has made more in the NHL.</p><h2><b>Longest Career with One Franchise</b></h2><p>&ndash; <b>GILBERT PERREAULT,</b> BUFFALO, <b>1,191</b></p><p>9. <b>MARTIN BRODEUR,</b> NEW JERSEY, <b>1,191</b></p><p>8. <b>SHANE DOAN,</b> PHOENIX (WINNIPEG), <b>1,198</b></p><p>7. <b>HENRI RICHARD,</b> MONTREAL, <b>1,256</b></p><p>6. <b>KEN DANEYKO,</b> NEW JERSEY, <b>1,283</b></p><p>5. <b>JOE SAKIC,</b> COLORADO (QUEBEC), <b>1,378</b></p><p>4. <b>STAN MIKITA,</b> CHICAGO, <b>1,394</b></p><p>3. <b>STEVE YZERMAN,</b> DETROIT, <b>1,514</b></p><p>2. <b>ALEX DELVECCHIO,</b> DETROIT, <b>1,549</b></p><p>1. <b>NICKLAS LIDSTROM,</b> DETROIT, <b>1,564</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0043-02

The Loyal One

<div class="byline">BY SARAH MCLELLAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02439/9626024-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="429" height="131"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01692/9626031-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03330/9626017-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="1292" height="1171"><figcaption class="caption-body">OLIVER EKMAN-LARSSON <span class="photo-credit">(EKMAN-LARSSON: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>hen the NHL</b> assumed control of the Coyotes three seasons ago, rescuing the franchise out of bankruptcy, the perks that follow with an ownership group went missing. No longer did the team have the chance to spend to the salary cap ceiling. The lure of free agency was hampered by a strict budget and a sales pitch that couldn&rsquo;t guarantee stability. Trades had to be executed to maximize the potential of each incoming player &ndash; at bargain prices.</p><p>With GM Don Maloney operating from a handicapped position, the Coyotes emphasized even more importance on an area they could control: drafting assets for the future. Developing homegrown talent has become a staple of the organization amid the uncertainty and the team&rsquo;s 2012 run to the Western Conference final revealed a youth movement already in progress for the Coyotes.</p><p>Forwards Mikkel Boedker (2008) and Martin Hanzal (2005) along with defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (2009) are all first round picks and their performance in the playoffs was critical to the Coyotes&rsquo; success.</p><p>With that experience and maturity in hand, all three are pegged to turn in breakout seasons in the fall. &ldquo;When they come back to camp next year, they&rsquo;ll take off from there,&rdquo; said coach Dave Tippett. &ldquo;Some of those young players really grew and we expect to see them continue to grow and become elite players.&rdquo;</p><p>Boedker&rsquo;s ascent was the most noticeable. He scored two overtime goals against the Chicago</p><p>Blackhawks to help the Coyotes win their first series since 1987, when they were the original Winnipeg Jets.</p><p>Aside from his clutch timing, Boedker&rsquo;s presence on the puck was stronger. Rather than play timidly, he held on to the puck, using his lower-body strength to open up shooting and passing lanes. He finished the regular season with just 11 goals, but recorded four in 16 playoff games.</p><p>Hanzal was affected by injury and a suspension in the post-season, but was a factor when on the ice. At 6-foot-6, Hanzal creates success for himself and his linemates when he uses his body and long stick to open up time and space. He deserves a great deal of credit for helping linemates Ray Whitney and Radim Vrbata reach 77 points and 35 goals, respectively.</p><p>Ekman-Larsson, however, steals the most attention. As a 20-year-old, he averaged the most minutes among Yotes D-men in the playoffs &ndash; nearly three more than any teammate. This came after suiting up for all 82 regular season games.</p><p>Hyped as an offensive defenseman, Ekman-Larsson improved in his own end. He was matched up against first lines and that&rsquo;s a job he enjoys. &ldquo;It was fun to play against Patrick Kane and Dustin Brown and those top guys,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I really like to do that more. I want to play against top lines.&rdquo;</p><p>Expect him to surpass his 13-goal, 32-point output from 2011-12. Although he managed only one goal in the post-season, Ekman-Larsson continually found offensive opportunities. Many of those chances started with a smooth outlet pass or a quick tip to get the puck out of the Coyotes zone. &ldquo;The biggest thing is I feel more confident,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I do that, I&rsquo;m a good player and I move the puck well and move my feet.&rdquo;</p><p>In his first full season, Ekman-Larsson became part of the core of Phoenix&rsquo;s blueline for years to come. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s already one of the premier defensemen,&rdquo; said captain Shane Doan. &ldquo;He has a chance to be something that an organization can be really grateful they have.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>DOUBLE</b>&nbsp;<b>Threats</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-04265/9626010-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="295" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SHEA WEBER</b> <span class="photo-credit">(WEBER: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>2011-12 D-MEN W/10 GOALS, 100 HITS</p><p><b>Shea</b>&nbsp;<b>Weber</b></p><p>Nashville</p><p><i>19 G, 177 hits</i></p><p><b>J. Garrison</b></p><p>Florida</p><p><i>16 G, 127 hits</i></p><p><b>N. Kronwall</b></p><p>Detroit</p><p><i>15 G, 133 hits</i></p><p><b>D. Byfuglien</b></p><p>Winnipeg</p><p><i>12 G, 112 hits</i></p><p><b>Zdeno Chara</b></p><p>Boston</p><p><i>12 G, 166 hits</i></p><p><b>Jack Johnson</b></p><p>L.A./Columbus</p><p><i>12 G, 107 hits</i></p><p><b>Dion Phaneuf</b></p><p>Toronto</p><p><i>12 G, 214 hits</i></p><p><b>Alex Edler</b></p><p>Vancouver</p><p><i>11 G, 143 hits</i></p><p><b>D. Wideman</b></p><p>Washington</p><p><i>11 G, 113 hits</i></p><p><b>M. Del Zotto</b></p><p>Rangers</p><p><i>10 G, 156 hits</i></p><p><b>Drew Doughty</b></p><p>Los Angeles</p><p><i>10 G, 124 hits</i></p><blockquote class="pullQuote">10<br><b>Even strength goals by Ekman-Larsson in 2011-12</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0044-02

Pups Could End Desert Drought

<div class="byline">&#x2013; STEVE ZIPAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02402/9626153-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01604/9626146-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-03338/9626139-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="650" height="803"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CHRIS KREIDER</b> <span class="photo-credit">(KREIDER: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>I</b>t was a baptism by fire and Chris Kreider burned some pages in the record books.</p><p>He signed with the Rangers days after finishing his junior year at Boston College and the 6-foot-3, 225-pound power forward was thrown into an intense first round series after Carl Hagelin was suspended. &ldquo;He has no fear &ndash; that&rsquo;s what I like about him,&rdquo; coach John Tortorella said of the 2009 first-rounder. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not here to test the waters. He&rsquo;s here to make a difference.&rdquo;</p><p>And he did. Kreider scored in Game 6 in Ottawa when New York escaped elimination, in Game 1 of the second round against Washington and in each of the first three games of the Eastern Conference final against New Jersey, snapping Eddie Mazur&rsquo;s 59-year-old NHL record for goals (five) and points (seven) in a post-season without playing a regular season game. &ldquo;There was almost a little bit of &lsquo;Linsanity&rsquo; going on,&rdquo; Tortorella said. &ldquo;I made sure to watch his interviews and I thought he handled himself tremendously.&rdquo;</p><p>After the whirlwind journey, the 20-year-old from Boxford, Mass., returned to college to finish his degree. &ldquo;It started quickly and ended too quickly,&rdquo; Kreider said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have a ton of expectations coming in, just wanted to play hard. I hope playing at that speed helps me in the transition.&rdquo;</p><p>Said Tortorella: &ldquo;He has a couple of tremendous attributes with his legs and size. He has a lot to learn about the game, but he is an intriguing one for next year.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>OFF-SEASON NEEDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-04294/9626132-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="570" height="30"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-05257/9626125-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="746" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1072/9626118-1-eng-US/f0045-102.jpg" title="f0045-10" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SALVADOR: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Despite New Jersey&rsquo;s &lsquo;D&rsquo; redeeming itself nicely in the playoffs, the blueline needs beefing up. One option is to rely on Mark Fayne, Matt Corrente and Matt Taormina to take bigger roles in 2012-13, but the Devils would do well by resigning UFA <b>Bryce Salvador</b>, who had a huge post-season, and adding a big-bodied, more traditional Devils-style D-man.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-06222/9626111-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1158/9626104-1-eng-US/f0045-112.jpg" title="f0045-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DE HAAN: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Islanders boast an exciting array of young forwards backed by a bona fide No. 1 netminder in Evgeni Nabokov. But the defense corp remains a mess. Mark Streit, Travis Hamonic and Andrew MacDonald are locks, while <b>Calvin de Haan</b> will get a serious look. But the Isles need a frontline offensive D-man to complement Streit and their talent up front.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-07195/9626097-1-eng-US/f0045-072.jpg" title="f0045-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1248/9626090-1-eng-US/f0045-122.jpg" title="f0045-12" width="327" height="551"></div><p>When <b>Dan Girardi</b> is your second-highest post-season scorer, your problem is obvious. As the post-season proved, the Rangers can only ride &lsquo;King Henrik&rsquo; and their shot-blocking prowess so far. The Blueshirts were 0-8 when allowing three goals or more in the playoffs. Expect them to push for Rick Nash or Zach Parise and also add better secondary scoring.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-08124/9626083-1-eng-US/f0045-082.jpg" title="f0045-08" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1343/9626076-1-eng-US/f0045-132.jpg" title="f0045-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRYZGALOV: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>It&rsquo;s the same-old, same-old in Philly. The playoff fizzle fell squarely on the shoulders of <b>Ilya Bryzgalov</b>. The Flyers got past the Pens in spite of their goaltending before the Devils exposed it. Solving their two-decades-long problem is no easy task with &lsquo;Bryz&rsquo; signed for nine years, but a more capable backup (Martin Biron?) is a necessary insurance policy.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0989/9626069-1-eng-US/f0045-092.jpg" title="f0045-09" width="753" height="584"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1438/9626062-1-eng-US/f0045-142.jpg" title="f0045-14" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GIRARDI+STAAL: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>As their exit in Round 1 showed, the Penguins aren&rsquo;t built for trench warfare. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and <b>Jordan Staal</b> are tough competitors, but need sandpaper on the flanks to support them. The free agent class is thin on wingers with size and skill, so Pittsburgh will have to dip into the trade market, increasing speculation Staal will be dealt.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0045-02

Rook Takes Manhattan

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0046-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02397/9626268-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01610/9626275-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-03273/9626261-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="658" height="757"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TYLER ENNIS</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>he Buffalo Sabres came achingly close to a playoff spot and a primary reason they even had a shot was the line of tiny Tyler Ennis centering mastodons Drew Stafford and Marcus Foligno.</p><p>Ennis had long been a winger, but switching to the middle invigorated him and his new linemates. &ldquo;I love that I&rsquo;m always moving,&rdquo; Ennis said.</p><p>&ldquo;Sometimes on the wing you can get locked in the D-zone, but at center you&rsquo;re always moving. Once you get it, you&rsquo;re usually breaking the puck out. You can go east, west, make a five-foot bump pass then jump to an open hole. It&rsquo;s fun being able to be creative like that.&rdquo;</p><p>Ennis made the full-time shift to pivot March 10 and in the last 14 games of the season, he racked up eight goals and 19 points &ndash; more than half his production in a campaign hacked down to 48 games by ankle problems. The Sabres went 8-3-3 during that run, missing the playoffs by just three points.</p><p>On the bright side, the team has an excellent scoring line, comprised of three players 26 or younger, all set for 2012-13. &ldquo;It happened pretty fast,&rdquo; Stafford said. &ldquo;It helps when you have early success because you can build on that, start getting a little bit of confidence with each other and the chemistry builds from there.&rdquo;</p><p>Listed at 5-foot-9 and barely 160 pounds, Ennis appears even smaller &ndash; though the Sabres know he&rsquo;s got a huge game in him and will be a key to returning the team to the postseason.</p><h2><b>OFF-SEASON NEEDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-04225/9626254-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="570" height="30"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-05180/9626247-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1055/9626240-1-eng-US/f0046-102.jpg" title="f0046-10" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RASK: TRAVIS GOLBY/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Tim Thomas&rsquo; decision to sit out 2012-13 means understudy <b>Tuukka Rask</b> will be placed squarely in the Beantown spotlight. The restricted free agent could receive an even bigger raise, too, now that Thomas isn&rsquo;t an option. Rask&rsquo;s expected backup, Anton Khudobin, is signed through next season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-06157/9626233-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1151/9626226-1-eng-US/f0046-112.jpg" title="f0046-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(EHRHOFF: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Sabres made a slew of major acquisitions last year, but don&rsquo;t count on any marquee, <b>Christian Ehrhoff</b>-like additions this year. They need scoring help more than anything else, but with only $11 million in cap space &ndash; and RFA forwards Tyler Ennis and Patrick Kaleta still to sign &ndash; they won&rsquo;t be among the big bidders for the top free agents.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-07130/9626219-1-eng-US/f0046-072.jpg" title="f0046-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1243/9626212-1-eng-US/f0046-122.jpg" title="f0046-12" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GOMEZ: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Canadiens have more than $25 million in cap space &ndash; much more if they can somehow dump <b>Scott Gomez&rsquo;s</b> onerous contract &ndash; but they also have only 13 players signed. They need to get bigger, stronger and meaner, but there aren&rsquo;t many free agent options in those regards, so expect new GM Marc Bergevin to be active on the trade market.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0891/9626205-1-eng-US/f0046-082.jpg" title="f0046-08" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1337/9626198-1-eng-US/f0046-132.jpg" title="f0046-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KARLSSON: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Star blueliner and RFA <b>Erik Karlsson</b> will be foremost on the minds of Senators brass, but Ottawa has other tough financial decisions to make. Veteran D-man Filip Kuba and tough guy Zenon Konopka are UFAs and will attract attention from many teams. Also, the Sens will have a huge leadership hole to fill if captain Daniel Alfredsson decides to retire.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0973/9626191-1-eng-US/f0046-092.jpg" title="f0046-09" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1431/9626184-1-eng-US/f0046-142.jpg" title="f0046-14" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ENNIS+REIMER: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>With due respect to <b>James Reimer</b>, the Leafs&rsquo; biggest focus will be improving their goaltending. GM Brian Burke has just $13 million in cap space to play with, but most expect he&rsquo;ll make a trade &ndash; perhaps for Roberto Luongo or Anders Lindback &ndash; and have Reimer and American Leaguer Ben Scrivens battle it out for the backup position.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0046-02

Tiny Tyler Walks Tall

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DAMIAN CRISTODERO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02361/9626397-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01552/9626390-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-03287/9626383-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="650" height="797"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>VICTOR HEDMAN</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>here is little doubt within the Lightning organization that Victor Hedman will be a star defenseman. Coach Guy Boucher said the big Swede&rsquo;s skill set puts him on a path similar to Boston&rsquo;s Zdeno Chara. The question is, when will Hedman join the league&rsquo;s elite?</p><p>The smooth-skating, 6-foot-6, 229-pounder was on his way before a December concussion sidelined him for 13 games. A subsequent upper-body injury that was never revealed also pushed back his development. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of those guys you want to hurry up and blossom,&rdquo; Boucher said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going one step at a time now, but he&rsquo;s climbing the ladder and looking really good.&rdquo;</p><p>Hedman, the No. 2 overall pick in 2009, signed a five-year, $20-million contract extension in November. The 21-year-old had 23 points with a career-best five goals in 61 games this season. He averaged 23:05 of ice time, second on the team, but was also a career-worst minus-9.</p><p>Part of that was Tampa Bay&rsquo;s poor goaltending and overall leaky defense, but Hedman also played against opponents&rsquo; top lines and admitted he struggled at times with when to hang back or join the rush.</p><p>With Hedman entering his fourth season after 214 NHL games, the Lightning expect those lessons will be better learned. &ldquo;Whatever happens,  I feel confident I can make plays on both ends of the ice,&rdquo; Hedman said. &ldquo;You want to keep adding on to become a very good &ndash; an awesome &ndash; two-way player.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>OFF-SEASON NEEDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-04221/9626376-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="570" height="29"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-05169/9626369-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="753" height="602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-1053/9626362-1-eng-US/f0047-102.jpg" title="f0047-10" width="327" height="551"></div><p>The Hurricanes need upgrades at a couple positions, but more than anything they need a two-way forward capable of substantial offensive contributions. That&rsquo;s why <b>Eric Staal&rsquo;s</b> brother Jordan has been at the center of so much trade talk surrounding the team. Carolina already has two Sutters and two Staals &ndash; might as well make it a full house.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-06139/9626355-1-eng-US/f0047-062.jpg" title="f0047-06" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-1144/9626348-1-eng-US/f0047-112.jpg" title="f0047-11" width="327" height="551"></div><p>Kris Versteeg and <b>Tomas Fleischmann</b> were among the few Panthers who overachieved offensively and it&rsquo;s difficult to expect a repeat. Florida faded down the stretch and needs some scoring stability. If UFA Jason Garrison vacates the back end, it muddies the issue further. Jonathan Huberdeau could be the answer up front if he makes the team.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-07109/9626341-1-eng-US/f0047-072.jpg" title="f0047-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-1238/9626334-1-eng-US/f0047-122.jpg" title="f0047-12" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HEDMAN+ FLEISCHMANN + GARON: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Subpar goaltending plagued the Lightning in 2011-12. If it isn&rsquo;t addressed with a major move, Tampa will be in deep trouble again. <b>Mathieu Garon</b> took over the No. 1 role when it became obvious Dwayne Roloson was done, but a team&rsquo;s hopes can&rsquo;t rest on a backup. And AHL playoff hero Dustin Tokarski isn&rsquo;t necessarily ready for everyday NHL duty.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0880/9626327-1-eng-US/f0047-082.jpg" title="f0047-08" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-1334/9626320-1-eng-US/f0047-132.jpg" title="f0047-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BROUWER: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>For years, the Caps were criticized for lacking sandpaper, so GM George McPhee improved that area by picking up <b>Troy Brouwer</b> and Joel Ward. But now they&rsquo;re leaning too far toward grit. Though good-as-gone UFA Alexander Semin managed only 21 goals, his loss will hurt Washington&rsquo;s attack, so McPhee must try and improve scoring, of all things.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0962/9626313-1-eng-US/f0047-092.jpg" title="f0047-09" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-1432/9626306-1-eng-US/f0047-142.jpg" title="f0047-14" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STAAL+LADD: JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Winnipeg roster is still budding, but the franchise has reached the point where it must push hard for the post-season. The Jets&rsquo; defense is deep and their goaltending is a strength. What they need is a more experienced scoring presence up front. Captain <b>Andrew Ladd</b> has filled that role, but Nik Antropov is no longer a good support option.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0047-02

The Next Big Thing

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JEREMY RUTHERFORD</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0048-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02273/9626512-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01425/9626519-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-03188/9626505-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="692" height="766"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JADEN SCHWARTZ</b> <span class="photo-credit">(SCHWARTZ: MARK BUCKNER/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span></b>hortly after Jaden Schwartz left Colorado College to sign with the St. Louis Blues in March, the talented winger was seen meandering the streets of downtown Chicago &ndash; alone. Schwartz, the No. 14 overall pick in the 2010 NHL draft, has plenty of friendly teammates, including Alex Pietrangelo, who invited Schwartz to live with him in St. Louis the remainder of the season. But two months into his pro career, he proved capable of navigating new territory.</p><p>Schwartz, who turned 20 after the season, found twine on his first two NHL shots, becoming the first teenager since Eric Lindros to score in his first two games. Once the Blues got healthy, Schwartz was a healthy scratch in the playoffs, but in only seven regular season games, he earned the club&rsquo;s attention. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing as good as anybody,&rdquo; said coach Ken Hitchcock late in the season. &ldquo;I know he&rsquo;s 19 years old and blah, blah, blah, but he&rsquo;s been a big-game player. He&rsquo;s got moxie. I think he&rsquo;s a helpful player for us because he&rsquo;s a smart, competitive on the puck, makes the right play. You only have to tell him once.&rdquo;</p><p>Actually, Schwartz doesn&rsquo;t have to be told. He used his idle time, even in the press box, to prepare for his next opportunity. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to make sure I&rsquo;m practising with a purpose and when I&rsquo;m watching the games, I&rsquo;ve got to make sure I learn how the other guys get ready for playoffs,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>It&rsquo;s a good bet he&rsquo;ll put that knowledge to use as a Blues regular in 2012-13.</p><h2><b>OFF-SEASON NEEDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-04153/9626498-1-eng-US/f0048-042.jpg" title="f0048-04" width="570" height="30"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-05111/9626491-1-eng-US/f0048-052.jpg" title="f0048-05" width="752" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-1032/9626484-1-eng-US/f0048-102.jpg" title="f0048-10" width="327" height="551"></div><p>Chicago needs a No. 2 center. Patrick Kane isn&rsquo;t comfortable in the middle, <b>Marcus Kruger</b> is too green and Dave Bolland thrives in a third-line role. Locking up Johnny Oduya at $3.4 million means the Hawks have committed more than $61 million already. Trading a D-man like Niklas Hjalmarsson, who lacks a no-movement clause, for a pivot makes sense.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0691/9626477-1-eng-US/f0048-062.jpg" title="f0048-06" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-1124/9626470-1-eng-US/f0048-112.jpg" title="f0048-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MASON: ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>After acquiring Jack Johnson, Columbus won&rsquo;t look defense-first in off-season spending. The Jackets will also be gunshy after last summer&rsquo;s aggressive moves &ndash; signing James Wisniewski and acquiring Jeff Carter &ndash; flopped. If Columbus opens its wallet, it should be for a high-upside free agent goalie like Josh Harding. <b>Steve Mason</b> simply won&rsquo;t cut it.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0775/9626463-1-eng-US/f0048-072.jpg" title="f0048-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-1219/9626456-1-eng-US/f0048-122.jpg" title="f0048-12" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DATSYUK: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Nicklas Lidstrom&rsquo;s retirement and the Brad Stuart trade leave gaping holes on the blueline and GM Ken Holland will pursue prized UFA Ryan Suter, among other D-men, to fill them. The Wings also need help up front with stars like <b>Pavel Datsyuk</b> nearing the end of their prime and have cap space to throw money at the coveted Zach Parise.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0851/9626449-1-eng-US/f0048-082.jpg" title="f0048-08" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-1316/9626442-1-eng-US/f0048-132.jpg" title="f0048-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KRUGER+WEBER: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>With 17 notable free agents, the Preds don&rsquo;t have team needs &ndash; the Preds need a team. To stop the bleeding, GM David Poile may have to cut his losses on UFA Ryan Suter and focus on signing RFA <b>Shea Weber</b> to a long-term deal. But if they qualify him again at $7.5 million, they&rsquo;ll relive the Suter situation when Weber becomes a UFA in 2013.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0938/9626435-1-eng-US/f0048-092.jpg" title="f0048-09" width="750" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-1415/9626428-1-eng-US/f0048-142.jpg" title="f0048-14" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(TARASENKO: RICK STEWART/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>St. Louis needs an elite scorer. No player topped 24 goals in &rsquo;11-12. <b>Vladimir Tarasenko&rsquo;s</b> signing helps and Jaden Schwartz has lots of potential, but the Blues can&rsquo;t depend on two rookies for offense. Zach Parise could be the missing piece, but don&rsquo;t count on it happening. The Blues&rsquo; post-lockout history tells us they&rsquo;re thrifty in free agent spending.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0048-02

Beyond His Years

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0049-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02296/9626634-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01395/9626641-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03229/9626627-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="656" height="796"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DEVAN DUBNYK</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DUBNYK: DEBORA ROBINSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ost people know goalies take longer to mature. Those who still aren&rsquo;t convinced need only look at the career trajectory of Edmonton Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk for confirmation.</p><p>The 26-year-old was drafted 14th overall by Edmonton in 2004, but needed time to develop. His initial taste of the NHL was under-whelming, with a 4-10-2 record, 3.57 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in 2009-10. He improved the following season, but it wasn&rsquo;t until 2011-12 that Dubnyk began to blossom, amassing a 20-20-3 mark, 2.67 GAA and .914 SP on a defensively suspect and inexperienced squad.</p><p>His games played has increased from 19 to 35 to 47 in that time. That will rise closer to 60 next season with 39-year-old Nikolai Khabibulin in the final year of his contract.</p><p>With Edmonton primed to surge on the strength of its young offensive stars, the Regina, Sask., native is set to take his game to the next rung on the competitive ladder. &ldquo;My first NHL experience didn&rsquo;t go the way most guys hope it goes,&rdquo; Dubnyk said. &ldquo;At this level, you have to be so precise in your movements and positioning or you&rsquo;ll be picked apart. But I always felt I was getting better and still do.&rdquo;</p><p>Between getting married in Hawaii and keeping himself in peak physical condition, Dubnyk has little time for rest. But he likes it that way. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a team that can be as competitive as anyone and that&rsquo;s exciting,&rdquo; Dubnyk said. &ldquo;I really can&rsquo;t wait to get going again.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>OFF-SEASON NEEDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-04210/9626620-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="570" height="30"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-05164/9626613-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1031/9626606-1-eng-US/f0049-102.jpg" title="f0049-10" width="327" height="547"></div><p>The Flames are thin down the middle in terms of proven scoring centers, but at least Roman Cervenka and underachieving <b>Mikael Backlund</b> have potential. The passive defense corps lacks an identity. It ranked 29th in hits (and hard-nosed UFAs Cory Sarich and Scott Hannan won&rsquo;t be back) and finished among the bottom few teams in goals from the blueline.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0690/9626599-1-eng-US/f0049-062.jpg" title="f0049-06" width="742" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1122/9626592-1-eng-US/f0049-112.jpg" title="f0049-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LANDESKOG: DALE MACMILLAN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>To complement a fine trio of skilled centers, the Avs would love some scoring wingers to spread out the defending checkers. <b>Gabriel Landeskog</b>, Steve Downie and Jamie McGinn made great impressions, but that&rsquo;s just a start. Milan Hejduk&rsquo;s stick has gone cold, so there&rsquo;s an opening or two to skate alongside a playmaking center.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0766/9626585-1-eng-US/f0049-072.jpg" title="f0049-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1219/9626578-1-eng-US/f0049-122.jpg" title="f0049-12" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(WHITNEY: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>It&rsquo;s too easy to say a suspect Edmonton defense is keeping its star-studded young forward corps from taking the team to the next level. Sure, the backline could use a top-notch minute muncher to anchor the group now led by <b>Ryan Whitney</b>, but there&rsquo;s also a need for a couple of experienced hands on the top few lines to set the agenda with poised leadership.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0844/9626571-1-eng-US/f0049-082.jpg" title="f0049-08" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1316/9626564-1-eng-US/f0049-132.jpg" title="f0049-13" width="327" height="551"></div><p>The loss of Brent Burns and Nick Schultz in the past 12 months has left a veteran void on the blueline. Inexperienced <b>Marco Scandella</b>, Nate Prosser and Justin Falk struggled in the dog days of the season, combining for a minus-52. Of course, it doesn&rsquo;t help that Minnesota&rsquo;s offense was the most anemic the league has seen in a decade.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0936/9626557-1-eng-US/f0049-092.jpg" title="f0049-09" width="752" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-1414/9626550-1-eng-US/f0049-142.jpg" title="f0049-14" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BACKLUND+SCANDELLA+KESLER: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Canucks won a second straight Presidents&rsquo; Trophy and did better than the rest of the West against a Los Angeles team that struck a golden seam of success. A healthy Daniel Sedin and <b>Ryan Kesler</b> will be a recipe for another winning season. There&rsquo;s room for size and grit on the wings as well as a D-man with Aaron Rome and Sami Salo both UFAs.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0049-02

Devan In Heaven

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0050-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02279/9626756-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01381/9626763-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-03153/9626749-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="657" height="799"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>EMERSON ETEM</b> <span class="photo-credit">(ETEM: JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGESH)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span>ockey in California owes its growth to Wayne Gretzky and inline skating, but the latter has been both a blessing and a curse for Emerson Etem.</p><p>The Long Beach native and Anaheim Ducks prospect got his start in roller hockey, but is still working the game out of his system as he prepares to step into the pro arena, preferably as an NHLer. In the wheeled version of the game, there is virtually no stopping, just turning &ndash; but that&rsquo;s not good for defense in ice hockey. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t allow me to get to the points to block shots,&rdquo; Etem said. &ldquo;It caught me out of position more times than I would have liked.&rdquo;</p><p>On the heels of a mammoth offensive season with Medicine Hat of the Western League, Etem is now more prepared for his next NHL training camp. His 51 goals in 50 games (61 in 65 games overall, with 107 points to boot) said enough about what he can contribute with his speed and hands, but there were other things on the agenda for the youngster as the season progressed. &ldquo;I worked a lot on my defensive positioning,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Finishing checks, using my frame in the corners. The biggest thing was the little things.&rdquo;</p><p>Though finding a job on Anaheim&rsquo;s wings gets a little easier with Jason Blake and Niklas Hagman gone, Etem will still have to grind and has a model in buddy Devante Smith-Pelly. The two met for sushi when Etem had a break after his stint with Team USA at the world juniors. California rolls, perhaps?</p><h2><b>OFF-SEASON NEEDS</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-04121/9626742-1-eng-US/f0050-042.jpg" title="f0050-04" width="739" height="28"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0582/9626735-1-eng-US/f0050-052.jpg" title="f0050-05" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1021/9626728-1-eng-US/f0050-102.jpg" title="f0050-10" width="325" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SELANNE: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Teemu Selanne</b> is always welcomed back in Anaheim, but how old do the Ducks want to be next season? Vets like Jason Blake, Niklas Hagman and of course the &lsquo;Finnish Flash&rsquo; need new deals, but youngsters such as Emerson Etem (see story on left) and Kyle Palmieri need ice time to develop. Anaheim has the talent, but must decide how to employ it.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0668/9626721-1-eng-US/f0050-062.jpg" title="f0050-06" width="753" height="594"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1117/9626714-1-eng-US/f0050-112.jpg" title="f0050-11" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ERIKSSON: BRAD WATSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>With new ownership bringing  deeper pockets, the Stars should add another scorer to the whiteboard. <b>Loui Eriksson</b> and Jamie Benn lead the charge, but after that the upside fades to a collection of solid contributors with limited ceilings. With nearly $30 million in cap space, the Stars can shoot for the moon on a marquee free agent.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0748/9626707-1-eng-US/f0050-072.jpg" title="f0050-07" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1215/9626700-1-eng-US/f0050-122.jpg" title="f0050-12" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(STOLL: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Sometimes a plan just works. The Kings are on top of the world right now and it won&rsquo;t be hard to keep the band together. <b>Jarret Stoll</b> and Dustin Penner headline the free agent class, which is long on grit, but short of high-end skill. All other pieces are locked up for next season and the emergence of Slava Voynov solidified the blueline quicker than expected.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0836/9626693-1-eng-US/f0050-082.jpg" title="f0050-08" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1312/9626686-1-eng-US/f0050-132.jpg" title="f0050-13" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DOAN: DALE MACMILLAN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Yotes proved you don&rsquo;t need elite scorers in the playoffs, but it would be nice not to rely on Mike Smith so heavily. <b>Shane Doan</b>, franchise mainstay, will be a necessity to re-sign, while other cagey vets such as Ray Whitney and Daymond Langkow follow. There&rsquo;s not much scoring coming up through the ranks, so inking a sniper is a big priority.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0925/9626679-1-eng-US/f0050-092.jpg" title="f0050-09" width="753" height="593"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-1411/9626672-1-eng-US/f0050-142.jpg" title="f0050-14" width="327" height="551"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MARLEAU: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>San Jose is going backward with its current core and the biggest need this summer is to break up the big-contract party, especially up front. <b>Patrick Marleau</b> is the most frequent name assigned to hypothetical locales, but the lifelong Shark has a no-movement clause in his contract. Punting Dany Heatley to the Wild didn&rsquo;t help, so the tweaking must continue.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0050-02

That’s How Etem Rolls

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0051-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-02228/9626801-1-eng-US/f0051-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>MEAN ON-SCREEN</b></p><p><b>Seann William Scott, right, plays Doug Glatt, the movie version of Doug Smith, inset.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(GOON STILL: COURTESY OF MAGNET RELEASING)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-01317/9626808-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="207" height="245"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-03160/9626794-1-eng-US/f0051-032.jpg" title="f0051-03" width="298" height="398"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PORTRAIT: COURTESY DOUG SMITH)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>here are few</b> professional hockey players who learned to skate on a pond at age 19. Even fewer of those late developers went on to become feared enforcers and win a championship at the pro level. And there is only one player who did both, then had a book and Hollywood movie written about his incredible life.</p><p>That man is Doug Smith, a native New Englander raised as a Golden Gloves boxing competitor before a series of rare opportunities gave him the chance to become a minor league goon at a level as high as the American League. The book of his life, <i>Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey,</i> was made into the recent film, <i>Goon</i> (now out on Blu-ray and DVD), starring Seann William Scott and Jay Baruchel. And for the now-47-year-old Smith, each experience he&rsquo;s had talking about the book or promoting the film has added to his fairy-tale-with-a-twist life story. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just a regular guy from a small town in Massachusetts, so even to be interviewed by</p><p>The Hockey News is a huge honor,&rdquo; said Smith, who has worked as a police officer the past 20 years. &ldquo;I realize what I did on the ice was a big accomplishment, but to have a book written and a movie based on me &ndash; a nobody who fell into something like this &ndash; it never gets old. I&rsquo;m humbled by it, trust me.&rdquo;</p><p>Smith was equally humbled at the start of his adventure, which began in 1988 when the ECHL&rsquo;s Carolina Thunderbirds saw enough in him &ndash; OK, maybe it was all in his thunderous punches and willingness to fight anyone bigger or smaller than his 6-foot-2 frame &ndash; to sign him for the final 28 games of the 1988-89 season. Amazingly, Smith and the Thunderbirds won the championship that year, earning the rookie a ring he cherishes to this day.</p><p>However, there was no Hollywood happily-ever-after angle to Smith&rsquo;s role in the win since he didn&rsquo;t play in a single playoff game. Just as you see in the NHL now, there was no room for a one-dimensional tough guy to play when the games really mattered. And Smith completely understands. He still sees the honor existent among the enforcer community, but he also realizes that times change. &ldquo;There were plenty of games I played in where there was no reason to fight,&rdquo; said Smith, who still holds fighters&rsquo; camps in the Boston area for NHLers and AHLers. &ldquo;The guy on the other side of the ice, he&rsquo;s the same as me &ndash; no reason to fight. So you&rsquo;ve just got two egos on the ice figuring, &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s see who the tougher guy is.&rsquo; I understand hockey&rsquo;s point of view in trying to eliminate that stuff, but I didn&rsquo;t have a problem with that. To employ a so-called goon in today&rsquo;s hockey isn&rsquo;t going to float anymore. I guarantee you if Doug Smith wanted to play hockey in today&rsquo;s day and age, he wouldn&rsquo;t make it. I was lucky 20 years ago they allowed that type of nonsense.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>I was lucky they used to allow that nonsense</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Doug Smith</i></b></blockquote><p>Smith played only 37 pro games over the course of five seasons, often going one or two years between opportunities and usually only receiving a one-or-two-game tryout before he moved on. But the <i>Slap Shot</i> fan got to play for the ECHL&rsquo;s Johnstown Chiefs &ndash; under famous Hanson Brother and then-Chiefs coach Steve Carlson &ndash; and played in Moncton and Spring-field of the AHL as well as Phoenix of the International League and Louisiana of the ECHL before he retired following the 1997-98 campaign.</p><p>He finished his pro career with 234 penalty minutes and one assist &ndash; and while the helper would have been a source of pride for some enforcers, Smith was disappointed. &ldquo;In the games I played, however many there were going to be, I wanted the statistics line to read: zero goals, zero assists, zero points and five or six hundred penalty minutes,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I just always had that dream. It was nutty, I know. But when I got the puck on my stick, it was like a hot potato. I couldn&rsquo;t get rid of it fast enough. So I&rsquo;m sure that assist was a complete accident.&rdquo;</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>

f0051-02

Art Imitates Life With Real ‘Goon’

<div class="byline">BY ANDREY OSADCHENKO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02192/9626853-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="396" height="284"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>SPURNED BY SPARTAK</b></p><p><b>Anton Zlobin&rsquo;s youth team let another KHL franchise draft him in return for a financial reward.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01311/9626860-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span>partak Moscow</b> hasn&rsquo;t produced a lot of star-caliber players in recent memory. Or is it more that the legendary Russian club produces them on its youth team, but fails to hold on to them in the Kontinental League? Spartak certainly has experienced a shortage of elite talent since Ilya Kovalchuk left for the NHL in 2001, but the team could have since restocked its depth with a number of young players had it chosen to.</p><p>One such player is left winger and Memorial Cup overtime hero Anton Zlobin (see sidebar), who tied for fifth in the Quebec League with 40 goals in 66 games. The 2011-12 season was Zlobin&rsquo;s second with the Shawinigan Cataractes, but both his campaigns, including this year&rsquo;s memorable run, never would&rsquo;ve happened had Spartak wanted to keep him at the 2010 KHL draft.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-03128/9626846-1-eng-US/f0052-032.jpg" title="f0052-03" width="408" height="438"></div><p>KHL teams can now protect up to five players from their system at the league&rsquo;s draft, but could only protect three in 2010 and the Red and White decided to pass on one of their best alumni. Zlobin was drafted by Dynamo Moscow instead, who as a result had to pay compensation to his former team. Spartak has experienced significant financial problems recently and selling its talented youth helps the team stay afloat. &ldquo;To be honest, I expected Spartak to draft me,&rdquo; Zlobin said in 2010. &ldquo;Had this happened, I&rsquo;d never have to leave the country. However, Spartak chose to sell me instead. After that I was 200 percent sure I would go to Canada. I didn&rsquo;t want to stay in Russia because of a five-year deal I had to sign. It&rsquo;s almost slavery. I would rather play a few seasons in Canada. We&rsquo;ll see what happens after that.&rdquo;</p><p>So he did just that, taking his talents to Quebec and scoring 23 goals and 22 assists in 59 games as a rookie before improving to 76 points as a sophomore. Obviously, there was a learning curve for Zlobin in the North American game, but he adjusted nicely. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t understand how to play hockey over here until the end of the (2010-11) season,&rdquo; said the 5-foot-11, 198-pounder. &ldquo;Before this season I made some adjustments in my off-season workload. I began practising for the camp on July 1. Besides, we hosted the Memorial Cup this season and thus we got a lot better as a team. That explains the boost in my numbers.</p><p>&ldquo;I was really lucky this season. Signing Kirill Kabanov was also a huge factor in my success. We built a great chemistry and it became much easier for me to play and to score goals.&rdquo;</p><p>Interestingly, Kabanov is one year Zlobin&rsquo;s senior and also a Spartak Moscow product. The New York Islanders prospect left for Canada in 2009 to play for the Moncton Wildcats in the &lsquo;Q,&rsquo; but trades bounced him to the Lewiston Maineiacs, then Shawinigan. Just like Zlobin, Kabanov was sold by Spartak (to Salavat Yulaev).</p><p>Zlobin and Kabanov never played on the same line back home, but they&rsquo;ve been united in Shawinigan, forming a trio centered by Blue Jackets prospect Michael Chaput. The line became so familiar even Chaput, a Montreal native, picked up some Russian words. &ldquo;Sometimes he even understands what we&rsquo;re talking about,&rdquo; Zlobin said. &ldquo;He can say a few things himself, too. Every now and then he goes, &lsquo;Pass it!&rsquo; or &lsquo;I&rsquo;m tired, I want to sleep.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>Going home isn&rsquo;t a priority for Zlobin, so the Russian spoken with his Shawinigan teammates may be the most the he hears for a while. He was passed over in the 2011 NHL draft, but his stock rose throughout this year. &ldquo;My agent deals with the teams that are interested in me, but he never mentioned any Russian teams among them,&rdquo; Zlobin said. &ldquo;As of now I just want to get drafted and try to make it to the NHL. I&rsquo;ve met with a few team representatives. Everybody told me the same thing: &lsquo;Keep working hard and score goals. If you do this, we&rsquo;re going to draft you.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>And based on his output, it&rsquo;s clear Zlobin took that advice to heart.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02198/9626839-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="844" height="1229"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0052-02

Zlobin’s Exile Ends In Ecstacy

<div class="byline">&#x2013; AO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-03137/9626905-1-eng-US/f0053-032.jpg" title="f0053-03" width="895" height="774"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ZLOBIN/MEMORIAL CUP+ZLOBIN/NARBONNE: TERRY WILSON/CHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01291/9626912-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-04118/9626898-1-eng-US/f0053-042.jpg" title="f0053-04" width="458" height="781"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(KABONOV: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0586/9626891-1-eng-US/f0053-052.jpg" title="f0053-05" width="874" height="543"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(TEAM PHOTO: ANDRE RINGUETTE/FRTEESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY/HHOF)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>K</span>irill Kabanov put it best: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s better than kissing the most beautiful girl in school,&rdquo; he said, tears in his eyes, shortly after hoisting the Memorial Cup at the Centre Bionest in Shawinigan, Que.</p><p>Kabanov&rsquo;s Cataractes, who were upset in the quarterfinal of the Quebec League playoffs, won Canadian major junior&rsquo;s most coveted crown for the first time in their history, despite being the only founding franchise left in the &lsquo;Q.&rsquo; They entered the league in 1969-70 as the Bruins, became the Dynamos in 1973 and settled on their current nickname in 1978.</p><p>But the Shawinigan squad didn&rsquo;t make it easy on themselves. Having lost to the Edmonton Oil Kings the first game of the tournament and then the rival Saint John Sea Dogs in their final game of the round-robin, they had to win two in a row just to reach the final. They demolished the Oil Kings 6-1 in a tiebreaker before taking their revenge on the Sea Dogs, winning the semifinal 7-4. A 2-1 overtime thriller in the final against the favored London Knights sealed the tournament win.</p><p>Anton Zlobin was the Cataractes&rsquo; hero, finishing the tournament with five goals and four assists and scoring both goals in the final, including the overtime winner. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t see the puck going in,&rdquo; said the Moscow native after the victory, wrapped in his nation&rsquo;s flag. &ldquo;I saw the red light behind the net and just lost it. I&rsquo;m told I crashed into linesman celebrating, but I didn&rsquo;t even feel that.&rdquo;</p><p>Zlobin&rsquo;s second and final tally of the game put the Memorial Cup in the hands of his Shawinigan teammates, the 94th winners of the elusive trophy. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievably heavy,&rdquo; Zlobin said. &ldquo;But hoisting it is much easier than winning it.&rdquo;</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>

f0053-03

The Wait Is Over

<div class="byline">BY ANDREY OSADCHENKO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0054-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02180/9626950-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>BEST FOR LAST</b></p><p><b>Stanislav Galiev lost most of 2011-12 to injury, but rallied to lead the &lsquo;Q&rsquo; in playoff scoring.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(GALIEV: CHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01303/9626957-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span>ad the Saint</b> John Sea Dogs won their second Memorial Cup in a row, you&rsquo;d think it would have been a perfect storyline for Stanislav Galiev. The Capitals prospect missed most of the season with a wrist injury only to return better than ever with 16 goals and 18 assists in 17 playoff games to lead the Quebec League in scoring.</p><p>But when asked how important it was for him to capture another title with Saint John after winning the tournament last season, the Moscow native gave a surprising answer. &ldquo;Actually, I don&rsquo;t set winning the Memorial Cup as my goal,&rdquo; he said before the semifinal game against the Shawinigan Cataractes. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to become a better player. I want to develop into a better player so I&rsquo;ll be ready for pro hockey next season.&rdquo;</p><p>When you look at Galiev&rsquo;s junior career, you can understand why he was more focused on his upcoming professional debut. In four seasons in North America he won two QMJHL titles and one Memorial Cup.</p><p>There&rsquo;s only one thing he didn&rsquo;t achieve that really bugs him. &ldquo;I regret I never played at the world juniors,&rdquo; said the Galiev, who added 12 pounds to his 6-foot-1 frame this year. &ldquo;I had a great chance to play there this season, but then the injury occurred. It&rsquo;s sad I will never play there, but I&rsquo;ve still got the Olympics.&rdquo;</p><p>Understandably, it was tough for the 20-year-old to come back after missing so much time due to injury, even if his numbers don&rsquo;t show it. &ldquo;It was terrible,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I stepped on the ice and didn&rsquo;t know what to do. Where am I supposed to go? What are we doing? I forgot everything. It took me three games just to adjust. After that I was getting better and was fully ready for the playoffs.&rdquo;</p><p>As the old saying goes, you&rsquo;ve got be good to be lucky and lucky to be good. In his North American major junior career, Galiev &ndash; ranked 73rd in THN&rsquo;s Future Watch &ndash; solely played for the Saint John Sea Dogs, a team that competed for championships year in and year out. So is it fair to suggest he&rsquo;s a lucky person? &ldquo;I think so, yes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re saying I&rsquo;m playing only on the winning teams, right? Can I ask you to mail this story to the Capitals?&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-03116/9626943-1-eng-US/f0054-032.jpg" title="f0054-03" width="408" height="438"></div><p>Another thing Galiev has working for him: Dale Hunter no longer coaches that Washington squad. &ldquo;When Hunter was named the new coach, I called my friend (London Knights center) Vlad Namestnikov,&rdquo; Galiev said. &ldquo;He told me their team was mainly about defense. That upset me. I&rsquo;m not used to playing dump-and-chase. It&rsquo;s not exactly my hockey. I like to dangle my way in the offensive zone.&rdquo;</p><p>What must Galiev do to secure a regular shift in the NHL? &ldquo;You have to be strong here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You need a lot of guts. You set yourself a goal and work toward it. It&rsquo;s very important.</p><p>&ldquo;Russians are not liked here, even in everyday life. Many coaches won&rsquo;t dress you for the games because of that, especially if you&rsquo;re young. They don&rsquo;t trust us and this is why you need to be strong. Plus, you have to work hard. It&rsquo;s a battle. Whoever wins it is the best.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0054-02

Never Satisfied

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0489/9626988-1-eng-US/f0054-042.jpg" title="f0054-04" width="242" height="282"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TOMAS JURCO</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JURCO: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>omas Jurco had his best season in junior with 68 points in 48 games for the Saint John Sea Dogs. The 19-year-old also posted eight points for Team Slovakia at the 2012 world juniors.</p><p>But leading up to the semifinal game of the Memorial Cup against the Shawinigan Cataractes, Jurco&rsquo;s sublime talent suddenly left him. &ldquo;Tomas Jurco can&rsquo;t f---ing score,&rdquo; he said, summarizing his goal-less round-robin performance.</p><p>Many know the Red Wings 2011 second-rounder as a viral video star and jokester, but he believes that sells him short. &ldquo;People call me a YouTube sensation, but that&rsquo;s not what I want to be known by,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to be known as a hockey sensation.&rdquo;</p><p>Jurco scored against Shawinigan, but his two-goal performance was for naught as the Cataractes won 7-4, eliminating their QMJHL rival from the tournament.</p><p>As for Jurco&rsquo;s future, he&rsquo;s staying in North America, most likely going to Detroit&rsquo;s American League affiliate, Grand Rapids, in the fall. He also knows exactly where his linemate Stanislav Galiev is going. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t want to tell anybody, but he&rsquo;s going to the KHL next season,&rdquo; Jurco said, deadpanning a few seconds until admitting it was a joke.</p><p>Tomas Jurco, true to the hype &ndash; jokes and goals included.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0054-04

Jurco’s No Joke

<div class="byline">BY RONNIE SHUKER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0055-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-02173/9627033-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>NO ORDINARY FOLK</b></p><p><b>The Admirals near pictureperfect season resulted in the photo all teams dream of.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(TEAM PHOTO: GRAIG ABEL PHOTOGRAPHY/AHL)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01264/9627040-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="77" height="87"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p><b>Jon Cooper</b> had mixed feelings as he watched his players celebrate shortly after winning the American League championship.</p><p>As the Norfolk Admirals coach looked on, he thought about his team&rsquo;s historical season. &ldquo;This day is one of the greatest days of my life,&rdquo; he said after Norfolk swept the Toronto Marlies in the final to capture its first Calder Cup in franchise history. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s also one of the saddest because I know this team will never be together as one ever again.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-03124/9627026-1-eng-US/f0055-032.jpg" title="f0055-03" width="151" height="130"></div><p>&ldquo;But we&rsquo;ve made a case for ourselves to be in the same breath as one of the greatest teams the AHL has ever seen.&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s difficult to disagree after Norfolk obliterated several AHL records. But it was a different story Feb. 5. The Admirals were having a middling season to that point, sitting third in their division and only on the fringe of the playoff picture. On Super Bowl Sunday, they blew a 2-1 third-period lead to the Falcons on the road and lost 4-2. &ldquo;The guys really took what happened in Springfield to heart,&rdquo; Cooper said. &ldquo;Instead of driving 10 hours home, we had a team gathering for the Super Bowl. It was great team bonding, a fun event. Ever since then the boys took off.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0493/9627019-1-eng-US/f0055-042.jpg" title="f0055-04" width="1128" height="558"></div><p>Norfolk didn&rsquo;t lose the rest of the regular season and that winning wave was buoyed in part by its unheralded freshmen, including wingers Cory Conacher, Richard Panik and Ondrej Palat and center Tyler Johnson. &ldquo;After that Super Bowl Sunday game, we were pretty low and down in the dumps,&rdquo; said Johnson, who had six goals and 14 points in 14 playoff games. &ldquo;But we showed a lot of character in our team. We never took a night off from then. And what we did is unheard of.&rdquo;</p><p>What they did was rewrite chapters of the AHL record book and put Norfolk among all-time leaders. The signature mark was a pro hockey record 28-game win streak.</p><p>The rookies filled key roles, with the coaching staff playing them a lot and putting them in critical situations. That was the plan from the beginning of the season, but it required the vets&rsquo; seal of approval. &ldquo;For your rookies to have success, your veterans need to buy into them,&rdquo; Cooper said. &ldquo;As an organization, we believe you have to play your rookies early to see how they are late. You have to go through their growing pains. You have to accept their mistakes.&rdquo;</p><p>Norfolk&rsquo;s NHL parent Tampa Bay doesn&rsquo;t boast any Grade-A prospects in its system, but has depth &ndash; lots of it &ndash; ranking sixth overall in THN&rsquo;s Future Watch. That depth was on full display throughout Norfolk&rsquo;s 43-3 run to finish the year.</p><p>It was an historic season and one playoff MVP Alexandre Picard won&rsquo;t soon forget. &ldquo;As I look back at it now,&rdquo; Picard said, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s the best year of my life.&rdquo;</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>

f0055-02

Norfolk Admirable

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0564/9627071-1-eng-US/f0055-052.jpg" title="f0055-05" width="576" height="770"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CORY. CONACHER.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(CORY CONACHER: STEVE POIRIER/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>MVP & ROOKIE OF THE YEAR</b></h2><h3><b>Cory Conacher, LW</b></h3><p>(Undrafted free agent signing): Led the AHL in goals (39); second in points (80).</p><h2><b>PLAYOFF MVP</b></h2><h3><b>Alexandre Picard, LW</b></h3><p>(Drafted 2004, 1st round, 8th): Tied for first in points (16); second in goals (9); first in PIM (48).</p><h2><b>DEFENSEMAN OF THE YEAR</b></h2><h3><b>Mark Barberio, D</b></h3><p>(Drafted 2008, 6th round, 152nd): Led all D-men in points (61); tied for third in goals (13).</p><h2><b>COACH OF THE YEAR</b></h2><h3><b>Jon Cooper</b></h3><p>(Second AHL season): Reg. season 55-18-3, .743 Pts % Post-season 15-3, .833 Pts %</p><h2><b>NAMED TO ALL-ROOKIE TEAM</b></h2><h3><b>Tyler Johnson, C</b></h3><p>(Undrafted free agent signing): Second in rookie scoring (68); seventh in goals (31).</p><h2><b>TEAM TROPHIES</b></h2><p>Calder Cup (American League)</p><p>Richard F. Canning (Eastern Conf.)</p><p>Frank S. Mathers (East Division)</p><p>Macgregor Kilpatrick (regular season)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0055-05

AHL Awards

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0057-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-02157/9627102-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg"></div><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1 Prolonged spell of poor play<br>8 Calgary&rsquo;s Mark ___<br>9 Heroes<br>10 &lsquo;Gabby&rsquo; is now in Anaheim<br>11 Crouch, like a goalie<br>14 Dickie ___ was Art Ross winner in 1958 and again in 1959<br>15 Goalie ___ Rinne<br>20 Plus-___ is an important hockey stat<br>21 &lsquo;Ovie&rsquo;<br>22 Barry ___ was with Minny and Atlanta in the 1970s<br>23 He&rsquo;s on defense in San Jose<br>24 Deke or fake</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>2 He has all but owned the Norris Trophy the past decade<br>3 Vancouver&rsquo;s Manny ___, pictured<br>4 Face shield<br>5 Of a frequent runner-up it is said, &ldquo;Always a brides-maid, never a ___&rdquo;<br>6 The Hobey ___ Award is big in U.S. college hockey<br>7 Additional money paid to a player<br>12 ___ Hat is home of hockey&rsquo;s Tigers<br>13 Flashy defenseman with the Habs<br>16 The best seats at old Maple Leaf Gardens<br>17 Vincent Lecavalier eats chicken, rice and ___ before every game<br>18 Direct the puck at the net (or a mild cuss word)<br>19 Uses up the playing time of a penalty</p><p><b>ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ISSUE AND AT</b> <a href="http://THN.com/XWORD">THN.com/<b>xword</b></a></p><p><b>LAST</b>&nbsp;<b>ISSUE&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION ACROSS</b> 1. BLAKE, 8. NOSEDIVE, 9. SKIRT, 10. BASEBALL, 11. REESE, 14. MINOR, 15. KEANE, 20. BRIER, 21. JOE LOUIS, 22. SQUAD, 23. CAROLINA, 24. LEVER <b>DOWN</b> 2. LAKE ERIE, 3. KARLSSON, 4. LOYAL, 5. PETER, 6. MILAN, 7. KELLY, 12. HENRIQUE, 13. UNDERAGE, 16. EJECT, 17. BEARS, 18. BOYLE, 19. RINNE<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0057-02

CROSSWORD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-03116/9627140-1-eng-US/f0057-032.jpg" title="f0057-03" width="991" height="1287"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BLAST: PAUL BERESWILL/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0495/9627133-1-eng-US/f0057-042.jpg" title="f0057-04" width="150" height="150"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0057-03

Blast from the Past from The Hockey Hall of Fame

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0557/9627171-1-eng-US/f0057-052.jpg" title="f0057-05" width="750" height="730"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>CLARK BYCZYNSKI</b> <span class="photo-credit">(JERSEY: LOUISIANA ICEGATORS/EDWARD LEGER PHOTOGRAPHY)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Southern Pro League&rsquo;s IceGators got off to a bit of a false start in the logo department, as the team&rsquo;s initial crest in 2009-10 borrowed heavily from the ECHL team of the same name from earlier in the decade. It was cartoonish and kinda dull, but the new version sizzles.</p><p>The current gator is realistic and aggressive,  slithering around the lettering to produce a unique logo. The team has a nice color scheme going and the piping that extends from shoulders to cuffs is original, too. Definitely a great reboot in Cajun country.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0057-05

JerseyHound

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01219/9627209-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="546" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CAPTION: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>WINNER</b></h2><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>I look good. I mean I look really good. Hey everybody! Come see how good I look.</i><br><b>ALEX WADE, PHOENIX</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;Should I turn left and give them the magnum or attempt a right with blue steel?&rdquo;</i><br><b>JAMES NIXON, PAISLEY, ONT.</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sexy and I know it&hellip;Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle yeah!&rdquo;</i><br><b>NICOLE ANAKA, LADNER, B.C.</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;My new comb-glove is fierce!&rdquo;</i><br><b>DAVID NEAL, FANWOOD, N.J.</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a bird. It&rsquo;s a plane. No, it&rsquo;s just my save percentage!&rdquo;</i><br><b>MIKE DUDEK, STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;C&rsquo;mon, Mom. I told you not to call me here.&rdquo;</i><br><b>BOB GERCHEN, ST. LOUIS</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;Wow, I really love this new shampoo. I can feel it tingling.&rdquo;</i><br><b>EDWARD R. SILVIA, NEW BEDFORD, MAN.</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;You look mah-velous&hellip;&rdquo;</i><br><b>JOSH SMITH, MANAHAWKIN, N.J.</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><i>&ldquo;Who ordered the pizza? Right over here, dude.&rdquo;</i><br><b>PAUL FERRERO, WEST ORANGE, N.J.</b></blockquote><p><b>SEE THIS WEEK&rsquo;S CAPTION CONTEST PHOTO ON PAGE 14</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0637/9627202-1-eng-US/f0057-062.jpg" title="f0057-06" width="165" height="29"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0057-01

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01236/9627247-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="311" height="541"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span>OS ANGELES &ndash;</b> Waiting to get into the Kings dressing room after Game 3, these A-and B-list celebrities passed by in succession: Mary Hart, David Beckham, Joshua Jackson, Tom Arnold and Matthew Perry. Then while entering Staples Center for Game 4, Janet Jones-Gretzky and family were having trouble getting past a security guard who asked her, &ldquo;Is your husband a player?&rdquo; I must say, Paulina Gretzky looks much better in person fully clothed than she does online, semi-naked surrounded by Jersey Shore wannabes.</p><p>As expected, the Kings bandwagon was bursting at the seams, largely because it was occupied with beautiful people and their entourages. There is no doubt that for a period of eight weeks, the Kings captured the imagination of the Southern California fan base by winning the Stanley Cup &ndash; something Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Marcel Dionne never did for L.A.</p><p>Through the Stanley Cup final, the media, or at least their bosses back at the office, were searching for the answer to the question: What does this mean for hockey in L.A.? To that end, the players were grilled on how often they got recognized in public and whether the magical run had translated into Kings fever.</p><p>From this corner, here&rsquo;s what Los Angeles winning the Stanley Cup means. It means the Kings achieved a monumental feat. It means they did something very, very special. It means that forever more, the Los Angeles Kings will go</p><p>down in history as the best team in the NHL in 2011-12. They&rsquo;ll take a place in the history books as one of the most unlikely, most dominant playoff champions in league history. What the Kings did was the equivalent to an NFL team squeaking out a wildcard spot on the final Sunday of the season, then winning all their playoff games and the Super Bowl by an average of 30 points. And given the recent history of Stanley Cup winners, it means the Kings won&rsquo;t win the Cup in 2013.</p><p>That&rsquo;s all. Thinking it will have any kind of deeper meaning or make Los Angeles more of a hockey town reminds me of what people think when someone runs his or her first marathon. But contrary to popular belief, it means only that person has the fitness and endurance to run 26.2 miles. It doesn&rsquo;t mean he or she can have another child, go back to school, change jobs or accomplish anything he or she tries.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>Don&rsquo;t expect Southern California to become a hockey-mad Mecca</b></blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-02157/9627240-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="619" height="821"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVID BECKHAM <span class="photo-credit">(NOEL VASQUEZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Kings will be the toast of the city for the summer and will see a spike in interest over the short term. But those who expect Southern California to become a hockey-mad Mecca will be disappointed. This team has been in the NHL 45 years and during its romp through the playoffs, the Los Angeles <i>Times</i> ran a front-page column explaining the rudimentary basics of the game. Among the pearls of wisdom: &ldquo;The Kings use four &lsquo;lines&rsquo; or platoons of players, each made up of three forwards, two defenders and a goaltender. Except for the goalie, they swap out every minute or so, in well-practised &lsquo;line changes&rsquo; that resemble Azerbaijan hostage rescues.&rdquo;</p><p>What is more likely to happen is the Kings will live off the fumes of this championship for a little while before settling into their usual existence as a team whose bottom line and recognition value depend on its on-ice success. And there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with that, nor is it unique. Times are wonderful for the Pittsburgh Penguins these days with their shiny new arena and star-studded lineup, but even that market has never, ever demonstrated a willingness to support that team when it&rsquo;s not successful.</p><p>The reality is the only non-Canadian franchises that can count on that kind of support are the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. Even Original Six members Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings have struggled during lean years. Until former owner Bill Wirtz died and the Hawks began to contend again, they were irrelevant in their market. And does anyone remember the early 1980s when then new Red Wings owner Mike Illitch resorted to giving a car away every game just to get people in the building?</p><p>Los Angeles is a big enough place that when the team is relatively good, it&rsquo;s easy to find 18,118 people who want to go to a game. And there is little doubt that, like many other U.S. cities, the Kings have a maniacally devoted community of fans. More and more NHL-caliber players are coming out of the area every year. But if you went anywhere beyond the perimeter of the Staples Center and L.A. Live on game day, you would have had no idea the Stanley Cup final was even happening.</p><p>This Stanley Cup won&rsquo;t have an enormous amount of staying power in what remains a niche market. And having Will Ferrell and Alyssa Milano show up in the playoffs won&rsquo;t change that.</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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July 1, 2012

RAVE, NOT RANT

THEBIGPICTURE

JUSTIN WILLIAMS

If Only We Could Re-Tort