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.

October 29, 2012

The Hockey News - Oct-29-12

<div class="byline">BY DONNA SPENCER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011457/9720645-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NEXT IN LINE Finland, the 2010 Olympic bronze medallist, has more than doubled its female playing population since 2006. (BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>WE CANNOT CONTINUE without improvement.&rdquo;Those five words uttered by International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver sparked a shift in attitudes toward women&rsquo;s hockey. Continued lopsided scores were undermining the sport&rsquo;s credibility at the Olympics and the head of the IOC noticed. The implied threat in Rogge&rsquo;s statement raised the ire of some, including Hockey Canada president Bob Nicholson. He didn&rsquo;t want the effort Canada&rsquo;s women put into winning their gold medal to be overlooked.But people in powerful hockey positions began to care about the women&rsquo;s game post-2010 when they didn&rsquo;t before and that includes the International Ice Hockey Federation. &ldquo;Those comments were definitely important in getting people&rsquo;s attention and getting us going,&rdquo; says Melody Davidson, coach of Canada&rsquo;s 2006 and 2010 Olympic teams. &ldquo;It rallied the troops for sure.&ldquo;Initially, our overall reaction for those of us who have been in the game a long time was fairly defensive. When you really look at it, his comments were probably directed at those countries that we need to step up &ndash; traditionally strong male programs, whose women&rsquo;s programs are either stagnant or non-existent.&rdquo;One key component of the IIHF&rsquo;s $2.1-million plan, &ldquo;Women&rsquo;s Hockey to Sochi 2014 and beyond,&rdquo; is recruitment of girls into the game. Europe and Asia may never match the 145,000 females currently playing in North America, but that&rsquo;s not necessarily a requirement to close the gap with Canada and the U.S. With the right development and resources, even a few thousand in a country&rsquo;s system is enough internal competition to produce a medal contender at the World Championship and Olympics. The trouble is, some countries have barely a few hundred girls on the ice.The IIHF expanded its inaugural World Girls&rsquo; Hockey Day last year to World Girls&rsquo; Ice Hockey Weekend. IIHF female hockey manager Tanya Foley, hired after 2010, says non-traditional hockey states such as Argentina, Macau and Malaysia are among the 28 countries participating in the event this month. It means these countries will find a way to bring girls and hockey together, even if all they have is sticks and balls. The IIHF provides recruitment materials and trains people from a country&rsquo;s hockey federation to run learn-to-play events. &ldquo;It is always better to teach people within nations how to run programs than to do it for them,&rdquo; Foley says. &ldquo;For many nations, they simply don&rsquo;t have the staff or experience to create their own programs from scratch, but they are able to take the basic information from the IIHF programs to create something that fits their unique needs.&ldquo;What we can do is provide camps and symposiums to reach a small number of global leaders and provide guidance and resources, but it is up to each nation to embrace developing the sport at home for there to be any success.&rdquo;Women&rsquo;s hockey is taking root and growing in some pockets of the world. Turkey, for example, designated one of its five summer development camps for girls. Switzerland hosted the women&rsquo;s world championship for the first time two years ago and won its first medal, a bronze, this year. It&rsquo;s unrealistic, though, to expect the Swiss to beat Canada or the U.S. at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. It takes years to learn the skills, training and nutrition to become an elite team in the world. If the Swiss, Germans or Czechs want to beat the North Americans, their most important players right now are under the age of 10.Davidson, now Hockey Canada&rsquo;s head female scout, says change takes time, but it is happening. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not sprinting by any means, but it definitely is not at the turtle or inconsistent pace of the past,&rdquo; she says.The established hockey country taking the biggest strides is Finland, with 5,000 girls now playing the game, more than double its numbers from 2006.Davidson is the IIHF&rsquo;s lead coaching ambassador and Team Canada captain Hayley Wickenheiser fills the same role for international players. The two meet with counterparts from other countries and provide expertise in all facets of the game. They hope the information they impart trickles down to the club level.While all seems rosy in women&rsquo;s hockey in Canada and the U.S., challenges remain. With more girls getting into the game, there&rsquo;s a greater demand for rinks and ice time. Davidson has observed more girls&rsquo; teams sprouting up in rural areas in Western Canada, as well as increased depth in the under-19 and under-16 leagues in the U.S., because of rising enrollment. &ldquo;Hockey men are having daughters and they see even before they&rsquo;re married or their babies are born that girls can play,&rdquo; Davidson says. &ldquo;When their kids are born, there&rsquo;s no hesitation. I get countless emails and texts saying &lsquo;We just had a 12-inch, 5.5-pound 2022 defenseman.&rsquo;&rdquo;The Olympics are the most important recruiting tool for women&rsquo;s hockey, so the sport must prove it deserves to stay there.Donna Spencer covers women&rsquo;s hockey for The Canadian Press. &#9632;

f0030-01

IN THIS ISSUE

The Fight For Sochi

Hi Adam! I am a huge Oilers fan and concerned while Daryl Katz seeks a new arena deal. I find it hard to believe the NHL would move such a storied team, but I worry. Is the Oilers&rsquo; future in Edmonton in jeopardy?Josh Black, EdmontonHi Josh! I saw Katz&rsquo;s Seattle sojourn as a transparent scare tactic directed at Edmonton city council. Katz has moved the financial goalposts on the building of a new arena to replace the decrepit Rexall Place and thinks local taxpayers should pay for it. That approach would have worked in past decades, but in an era when taxpayer financing of any project is scrutinized, it makes little sense to hand public money to a multi-billionaire like Katz. The Oilers aren&rsquo;t going anywhere. Either the city will give in, Katz will relent and pay for the increased arena costs himself or he&rsquo;ll sell the team.Hey Adam, how much are NHL refs paid?Joe Cordova, Burnaby, B.C.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03927/9719878-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="912" height="788"><figcaption class="caption-body">DARYL KATZ (KATZ: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Hey Joe. Unlike players, the league&rsquo;s officials don&rsquo;t publicly disclose their salaries. They are well compensated by &ldquo;normal&rdquo; standards &ndash; one former veteran official told me he lost a paycheck of more than $300,000 in the 2004-05 lockout season &ndash; but they also earn every penny dealing with abuse from fans, players and coaches. And their labor deal with the owners runs through the 2013-14 campaign, so we&rsquo;re at least a couple years out from any potential NFL-like financially related officiating fiasco.| Read more &lsquo;Ask Adam&rsquo; every Friday at <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a>&nbsp;| &#9632;

f0007-03

ASK ADAM

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021677/9720261-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg"></div>Balanced scoring. All coaches and GMs aim for it. They&rsquo;d prefer their forward lines not be too top heavy (Pittsburgh), nor do they want to depend too much on grunts for goals (Buffalo). But balancing the scoring scales isn&rsquo;t simple. Teams must optimize their offense, without sacrificing defense, to achieve equilibrium.Using our current NHL depth charts and 2011-12 scoring stats, we crunched the numbers for each team&rsquo;s projected top-six and bottom-six forwards to come up with estimated goals-per-game averages. (For rookies like Edmonton&rsquo;s Nail Yakupov and Florida&rsquo;s Jonathan Huberdeau, who were expected to stick with their big clubs this season, we used their projected goals from our Fantasy Pool Guide.) Teams are listed based on their combined ranking. &#9632;

f0014-02

SIX SIX

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03249/9721503-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="991" height="1294"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hall of Famer Cammi Granato scored 54 goals and 96 points in 54 games as a member of Team Usa. (BLAST: HHOF IMAGES)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-05179/9721510-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="150" height="150"></div> &#9632;

f0049-03

Blast from the Past

<div class="byline">PHOTOGRAPH BY YURY KUZMIN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012222/9719664-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(KHL PHOTO AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>His Talent Knows No Bounds</h2>New address, same &lsquo;Ovie.&rsquo; Alex Ovechkin celebrates with his usual passion after scoring for the KHL&rsquo;s Moscow Dynamo. &#9632;

f0004-01

THEBIGPICTURE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-012143/9719733-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="907" height="580"></div>When Angela James and Cammi Granato became the first women elected to the Hall of Fame in 2010, a buzz was born. Observers lauded them for their pioneering efforts, for paving a path for future female stars. Turns out, it&rsquo;s a road less travelled. More than two years later, James and Granato stand alone as women players in the Hall. And that&rsquo;s OK.The Hall has been scrutinized and sometimes heavily criticized for its choices over the years and has responded, for the most part, by making entry tougher in recent times. No more honored spaces for the simply very good, or very good friends. Only the truly elite, best-in-era types merit plaques. The same standard should be, and apparently is, applied to the women.Only, it&rsquo;s a little more complicated on the female side. For starters, they&rsquo;ve been competing at officially sanctioned IIHF world championships &ndash; the best barometer we have &ndash; since just 1990, with Canada and the U.S. dominating by galaxies. As a result, the pool of candidates is small. In addition, the women&rsquo;s season is short compared to the NHL, few games are televised and they&rsquo;re sparsely attended. The number of experts on the women&rsquo;s game is tiny, making assessments trickier. It has been suggested the selection process be turned over to those most intimate with the product, but the danger there is an uneven and perhaps diminished standard.We recommend patience; James and Granato will one day get company, possibly as soon as 2013. The 18-member Hall committee is allowed to select up to two women per year in the players category and the next best bet is Geraldine Heaney, the Irish-born, Canadian-bred, superstar defenseman with seven world championship gold medals on her resume. Hayley Wickenheiser, who is featured on pg. 22 of this, The Women&rsquo;s Issue, will be a shoo-in three years after her retirement. Angela Ruggiero, the American star who hung up her blades last year, merits strong consideration. Women, of course, are also eligible to be elected as builders &ndash; Fran Rider, anyone? &ndash; but there they compete alongside men for a maximum of one spot annually. What we don&rsquo;t want is a catch-up process, one that elects two women every year out of obligation or sentiment as opposed to worthiness. We trust the Hall is on the right road.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021563/9719726-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="414" height="222"></div>NEXT&nbsp;ISSUE NOVEMBER 5, 2012CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO SUBSCRIBE: <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a>CONTACT US: <a href="mailto:editorial@thehockeynews.com">editorial@thehockeynews.com</a><h2>LISTEN UP</h2>THE HOCKEY NEWS RADIO SHOWFRIDAYS 2-3 EST<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-031019/9719719-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="143" height="141"></div>XM 92SIRIUS 207 &#9632;</div>

f0005-01

Looking Out For No. 3

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04630/9719785-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTT LAUGHTON (LAUGHTON: IAN GOODALL)</figcaption></div>To start suspending players after 10 fights is a little ridiculous for the Ontario League (Inside Hockey, Oct. 15). As a general rule, fighting is a passion-filled, decades-old hockey tradition that, like it or not, is part of the game. You don&rsquo;t see Scott Laughton, a Philadelphia Flyers first round pick currently playing with my hometown Generals, dropping the gloves because he has to, but because he wants to. How will the guys defend themselves when and if they make it to the big league if they&rsquo;re being babysat like four-year-olds?Alexandra Hooper, Oshawa, Ont.<h2>Done With &lsquo;Done&rsquo;</h2>To all the people threatening to be &ldquo;done&rdquo; with the NHL, get over yourselves. The owners and players know these threats are hollow and if a handful of fans walk away, they will never notice. Please cease the empty wailing &ndash; no one in the NHL cares. The owners are not afraid of the fans&rsquo; reactions, nor are the players. If you choose to walk, then do so. But stop pretending it will impact the CBA situation one iota.Steve Giannangelo, Springfield, Ill.<h2>Job Eliminators</h2>News of many NHLers heading to Europe brings to mind Adam Proteau&rsquo;s &ldquo;Guilty of Negligence&rdquo; column (Sept. 17). He rightfully bemoaned the layoffs of hundreds of team employees. Now how many fringe skaters in Europe, who will be replaced by the financially restricted mil-lionaires, will also be victims?Rev. Glen Goodhand, Lindsay, Ont.<h2>Summit Plummet</h2>Ken Campbell&rsquo;s Overtime on the 1972 Summit Series was dead on (Oct. 1). The 2010 gold medal was by far a bigger achievement, as was Salt Lake City in 2002. And the &rsquo;87 Canada Cup was much better hockey. We had the two greatest players ever to play the game skating together.Jamie Couch, Windsor, Ont.I received the DVDs of the Summit Series a few years back and I was bored out of my mind after watching half of one period. No offense to the players, but they won with pride and guts, not talent and conditioning. You&rsquo;re right on the money, Ken, even if it ruffled a few feathers.Normand Tratt, Mascouche, Que.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021667/9719778-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="457" height="625"></div><h2>Top 20? Bottom Line</h2>THN&rsquo;s &ldquo;Top 20 by Position&rdquo; (Oct. 1) shows the salary cap hasn&rsquo;t created parity. One-quarter of the 100 players play for just four teams (Rangers, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vancouver). A pair of teams has fewer than two players (Columbus, Florida). A cap does not guarantee good scouting or smart drafting and trading.Pete Bauer, South Bend, Ind.Rick Nash? Best right winger? I don&rsquo;t think so. He has amazing hands, shot, speed and size, but, well, 59 points in a full 82 games last year? James Neal maybe doesn&rsquo;t have superman ability, but 81 points in 80 games speaks for itself. Or what about Phil Kessel? He had similar support to Nash, but had 82 points.Zack Goobie, Moncton, N.B.In your list of top 20 defenders you have Ryan McDonagh listed seventh&hellip;No. 7! How is he ahead of Duncan Keith, Keith Yandle, Alex Edler, Brent Seabrook or even teammates Dan Girardi and Michael Del Zotto? Dan Hamhuis isn&rsquo;t even on the list. I think you forgot to include Wade Redden, seeing as how the criteria seemed to be &ldquo;names we picked from a hat.&rdquo; Shake the rocks from your head.Nathan Kelly, Coquitlam, B.C.<h2>SPILL FOR A DRILL!</h2>The author of our lead letter next issue wins a Premium&nbsp;DEWALT 20V MAX* Hammerdrill!<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-1064/9719771-1-eng-US/f0006-102.jpg" title="f0006-10" width="194" height="61"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012452/9719764-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="180" height="244"></div><h2>THN INBOX</h2>Submit your letter and see rules at: <a href="http://THN.COM/LETTERS">thn.com/letters</a> &#9632;

f0006-04

FISTS FOR THE FUTURE

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03992/9719816-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="108" height="111"></div>Natasha Lenihan @gindy217: Meghan Agosta. Last year she set the CWHL scoring record, was league MVP, and won the Clarkson Cup &ndash; all as a &ldquo;rookie.&rdquo;D. Mercurio @DanielMercurio: @MeghanAgosta hands down. She&rsquo;s basically the love child of Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky (if that was possible).Mark Askelson @oncloud8: North Dakota&rsquo;s Jocelyne Lamoureux hands down. I mean, have you seen her dangle? @JoceLamoureux17A. Fowler @TCHIceQueen: Goalie Shannon Szabados. After playing against guys her whole life, she&rsquo;s at the top of her game. @ShannonSzabados &#9632;</div>

f0006-03

WHO IS THE WORLD’S BEST FEMALE PLAYER?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021480/9719847-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="479" height="379"><figcaption class="caption-body">(POLL: RICH LAM/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Nowhere 33%AHL 21%CHL 14%KHL/Europe 11%NCAA 8%Minor Pro (ECHL, etc.) 7%Minor/High School 5%CIS 1%USHL 1% &#9632;

f0007-02

POLLRESULTS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031270/9719923-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="772" height="388"><figcaption class="caption-body">(QUEBEC FANS: PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>After its cancelled2004-05 season, the NHL took the bitter aftertaste of a labor war out of fans&rsquo; mouths by bringing back a revamped, obstruction-free on-ice product. And after the current lockout ends, at least one source believes it will try to achieve a similar effect by a different dangling carrot: the addition of two Canadian teams.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04723/9719930-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="111" height="126"></div>According to a veteran player agent, once there is a collective bargaining agreement in place, the NHL will shortly thereafter announce it will expand the league to 32 teams by awarding franchises to Quebec City and a second Greater Toronto Area team in Markham, Ont. &ldquo;In a way, it&rsquo;s cake for everybody,&rdquo; said the agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity. &ldquo;Yeah, the players hate Gary and the league right now, but if at the end of the (labor battle), he can come to them and say, &lsquo;Hey, here are 46 more jobs for your union,&rsquo; maybe that anger subsides a little bit. And if Gary can come to Canadian fans and say &lsquo;Here are two more teams for your country,&rsquo; Canadians might not come to hate him so much.&rdquo;But let&rsquo;s be clear &ndash; adding two teams isn&rsquo;t intended to primarily benefit players or fans. Rather, it&rsquo;s for the people and/or corporations who own the NHL&rsquo;s 30 teams. They&rsquo;ll be the ones pocketing the incredible cash windfall of Canadian expansion. In the expired CBA, players received no share of any expansion or relocation fees and that isn&rsquo;t expected to change with a new labor pact.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-05515/9719916-1-eng-US/f0008-052.jpg" title="f0008-05" width="1032" height="917"><figcaption class="caption-body">OUTLOOK IMPRESS An NHL team in the proposed GTA Centre in Markham would benefit players and owners (GTA CENTRE: BBB ARCHITECTS)</figcaption></div>That&rsquo;s one reason Gary Bettman has fought so ferociously for the Phoenix Coyotes since they went bankrupt and the league assumed ownership of them in 2009. If he can keep them in Arizona or relocate them to Seattle, he can save Quebec and Southern Ontario. Indeed, considering True North Sports and Entertainment paid a $60-million relocation fee to the NHL to move the Jets from Atlanta to Winnipeg, it&rsquo;s hard to imagine the league would get anywhere close to that amount to send the owner-desperate Yotes to what would at best be a fledgling hockey market.Now, contrast that relatively small payout with the exorbitant expansion fees Bettman could charge for two Canadian teams &ndash; an amount easily into the hundreds of millions of dollars. It makes more business sense to expand to Canada than relocate there.Slowly and quietly, pieces are falling into place for that to happen. The NHL&rsquo;s initial league realignment (which was rejected by the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and will have to be negotiated in the new CBA) was unbalanced &ndash; as two of the proposed four conferences had eight teams and two had seven. The seven-team conferences were based in the east, meaning Toronto/Markham and Quebec City are perfect fits that would give all conferences an equal number of teams.In addition, Graeme Roustan, the man behind Bauer Hockey, stepped down from his position as chairman of the company to build a 20,000-seat, NHL-worthy arena in Markham. Roustan is mirroring the patient, behind-the-scenes-legwork pattern Mark Chipman and David Thomson followed in purchasing the Jets. While Roustan says he can successfully operate his building without an NHL tenant, it&rsquo;s widely believed he is maneuvering to bring a second big league club to the Toronto area.Regardless of who owns the new franchises, it&rsquo;s inevitable the league will grow. &ldquo;These owners have expanded the NHL a number of times before when overall league business was nowhere close to what it is today,&rdquo; the agent said.&ldquo;The money Quebec and Toronto will pay for franchises, the consumer hunger that&rsquo;s there for them, is too much for owners to resist.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012342/9719909-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="276" height="286"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BARCH: AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>$3.8M Krys Barch&rsquo;s career NHL earnings, excluding his current two-year, $1.5 million deal. He took to Twitter recently, lamenting his loss of employment during the lockout &#9632;

f0008-03

Attraction To Expansion

<div class="byline">By Charlie Teljeur</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012090/9719961-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0009-01

The Instigator

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021463/9719992-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="234" height="354"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PLEKANEC: EDUARD ERBEN/ISIFA/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><h2>+PLUS</h2><h3>HOME SWEET HOME</h3>Montreal&rsquo;s&nbsp;Tomas Plekanec&nbsp;racks up 14 points in his first seven games with Kladno (Cze.), a lockout best.<h2>&ndash;MINUS</h2><h3>PAT-ENTLY UNFAIR</h3>Jordan Eberle&rsquo;s jersey retirement in Regina is delayed because of lockout; Pats didn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;d be in Oklahoma City when it was planned.<h2>+PLUS</h2><h3>THE HOUSE</h3>Michigan freshman Jacob Trouba has already been given the &lsquo;MF&rsquo; nickname alum Jack Johnson held. That&rsquo;s &ldquo;menacing force&rdquo; right?<h2>&ndash;MINUS</h2><h3>AUTUMN CHILL</h3>NHL cancels the first two weeks of the season due to the lack of a CBA. &#9632;

f0009-02

PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012315/9720023-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIDDLE MAN Riley Armstrong is among the journeymen vets who are getting squeezed by the lockout. (SPEZZA: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>You never really think about how the lockout knocks over dominoes until you talk to a guy such as Riley Armstrong. It sure beats people thinking you are dead, the way they did for a brief spell around this time last year (more on that in a bit), but for Armstrong the NHL&rsquo;s labor imbroglio has had a definitive adverse effect.Instead of making a decent wage playing for Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss League this season, Armstrong is pulling down 600 large a week on a temporary contract with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL. And he has Max Pacioretty to thank for that development.Armstrong, the younger brother of Colby Armstrong of the Montreal Canadiens, went to Switzerland in the summer without a contract &ndash; missing his sister Tiffany&rsquo;s wedding in the process &ndash; and worked his way onto the Ambri-Piotta roster under former NHL coach Kevin Constantine. His agent was putting the finishing touches on a contract when the lockout hit and he was informed his spot in the lineup was being held for an NHL player, who turned out to be Pacioretty. &ldquo;Why wouldn&rsquo;t they take a guy like that over me?&rdquo; Armstrong said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;d be stupid not to do it. I realize that.&rdquo;But it also brings into focus a bigger issue. For every locked-out player who signs with a team in Europe or the minor leagues in North America &ndash; nearly 130 had done so as of early October, which does not include entry level players dispatched to the American League &ndash; that knocks a player off the bottom of the roster. That player, in turn, has to turn to another league for employment, thereby taking a job from a player on that team. And so it goes down hockey&rsquo;s food chain. In fact, Armstrong is fully aware that by going to Utah, he&rsquo;s taking the spot of a kid who is in Utah on a tryout. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt I&rsquo;m taking somebody&rsquo;s job here,&rdquo; Armstrong said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll probably be some guy who just came out of college and is hoping to start a little pro career himself and I&rsquo;m coming here and taking his spot. People would be amazed how much the NHL has control over hockey in the whole world.&rdquo;There is no easy answer here. Cynics suggest NHL players who bolt for Europe during a lockout are no different than people who would cross a picket line to play in the NHL if it decided to hire replacement players. There is merit to that notion, but the players argue they didn&rsquo;t ask to be locked out and are simply trying to stay in game shape for when the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association finally do come to an agreement.At 27, Armstrong has accepted his lot as a journeyman player, having played for 11 teams in six leagues &ndash; including two games with the San Jose Sharks &ndash; since 2004-05. His career has been so nomadic that when the Lokomotiv team plane crashed last September, killing everyone aboard save for one flight engineer, there were erroneous initial reports he was on the aircraft. He&rsquo;s still alive and doing relatively well, but his career is in a holding pattern until this thing gets resolved. &ldquo;People always say, &lsquo;Oh, the players in the NHL are getting screwed over,&rsquo;&rdquo; Armstrong said. &ldquo;But what about the guys in the middle of the road? They can&rsquo;t go to Europe because the NHL guys are there and they can&rsquo;t go play in the American League because they sent all their young guys and prospects down there. It&rsquo;s the middle of the road guys who don&rsquo;t have millions in their bank accounts and they want to get paid, it&rsquo;s kind of screwing them over.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

Pushed Down Hockey’s Food Chain

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021695/9720054-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="641" height="489"><figcaption class="caption-body">(ARMSTRONG: JOSIE VIMAHI/CENTERLINE ART & PHOTO)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;Spezza is not as great as Pavel Brendl because Brendl is great at one thing: scoring,&rdquo; a scout said. &ldquo;I do not see one area of Spezza&rsquo;s game that is exceptional.&rdquo; &ndash;&nbsp;FROM THN&rsquo;S 2001 DRAFT PREVIEW</blockquote> &#9632;

f0010-02

BOY, WERE WE Wrong!

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011935/9720092-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="709" height="880"><figcaption class="caption-body">MAX EFFORT Max Talbot is keeping in shape &ndash; and helping charities &ndash; with a series of exhibition games. (TALBOT: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Every NHLer survives the lockout in his own way. Some head overseas. Some are sent to the American League. Others, like Philadelphia Flyers Maxime Talbot and Bruno Gervais, start their own game &ndash; and for a good cause.The long-time friends created the La Tournee Des Joueurs (the Players Tourney), a tour of 5-on-5 games to be played at various rinks throughout Quebec. &ldquo;Our tour has three goals,&rdquo; Talbot said. &ldquo;To stay in shape and get ready for the season, to give back to fans with affordable tickets for a good show close to the players and to donate all profit to different charities.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021406/9720085-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="290" height="243"></div>Proceeds go toward a variety of non-profit organizations, including Les Petits Tresors, which supports autistic children; The Canadian Tire Good Start Program; Ronald McDonald House; and various minor hockey associations.The Tournee&rsquo;s games pit Team Montreal against Team Quebec and feature lineups of NHLers who will rotate in and out depending on their availability week-to-week. The tour&rsquo;s opener was a success, with more than 1,000 fans snapping up the $20 tickets to fill the Complex Multisport de Chateauguay to capacity Sept. 27.Talbot&rsquo;s Montreal side won 7-4, led by his two-goal performance, and included Gervais, Buffalo&rsquo;s Jason Pominville, Vancouver&rsquo;s Alexandre Burrows, Chicago&rsquo;s Corey Crawford, Montreal&rsquo;s Andrei Markov and Ottawa&rsquo;s Guillaume Latendresse. The Quebec squad boasted, among others, Boston&rsquo;s Patrice Bergeron, Los Angeles&rsquo; Jonathan Bernier and St. Louis&rsquo; Lars Eller and David Perron.Fans and players were pleasantly surprised at the quality of play. &ldquo;Someone asked me, &lsquo;Is it like an All-Star Game?&rsquo; and I said, &lsquo;No, it&rsquo;s more intense than that,&rsquo;&rdquo; Talbot said. &ldquo;We try to put on a good show for the fans.&rdquo;The next stops in early October included Saint-Hyacinthe and Sherbrooke. As long as NHLers remain locked out, the Tournee has no end in sight. Talbot and Gervais will continue soliciting rinks throughout the province to organize games.As much fun as they&rsquo;re having, however, they&rsquo;ll be happy to return to NHL action. &ldquo;It is a lot of work, but fun work for me and Bruno,&rdquo; Talbot said. &ldquo;We organize and decide everything, answer questions and emails, deal with everyone. But it will be good to get back to doing our main jobs as NHL players.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

Show Goes On

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03945/9720123-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="748" height="803"></div>GAME&nbsp;ACTIONphotography became the norm for hockey cards by the mid-1990s, replacing most of the awkward posed shots or boring warmup photos. Thus, a card of your favorite player might also feature an appearance by his teammate or an opponent.But Sylvain Turgeon&rsquo;s 1994-95 Pinnacle card includes a very special cameo appearance: a wide-eyed five-year-old Patrick Kane clad in a Buffalo Sabres jersey and seated in the front row of the team&rsquo;s old Memorial Auditorium. Not many cards can boast an appearance by a star a dozen years before his NHL career even started.By Sal Barry, webmaster of the hockey card site <a href="http://PUCKJUNK.COM">PuckJunk.com</a> &#9632;

f0011-03

IN THE Cards

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JOSEPH PHUNG</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012258/9720161-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021778/9720154-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="330" height="387"><figcaption class="caption-body">(WHITE: COURTESY THE AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE)</figcaption></div>Fans of EA Sports&rsquo; NHL series will undoubtedly be pleased with this year&rsquo;s incarnation. With NHL 13, the development team at EA Canada has come one step closer to making the perfect hockey game.The skating engine &ndash; True Performance Skating &ndash; received an overhaul and now looks and feels much more realistic in explosiveness, top-end speed and momentum. Explosiveness is how quickly a player accelerates from a stationary position or while gliding. Top-end speed is replicating how fast a player can skate, which is more noticeable with speedy players such as Phil Kessel, who can easily breeze up the ice. Momentum relates to the physics, so players can no longer turn on a dime when skating at full speed.The development team devoted a lot of time to improving the gameplay and it shows as matchups against AI are challenging, even on default difficulty. With the new EA Sports Hockey IQ, the opposition is more aware of what&rsquo;s around it and much better at identifying offensive and defensive situations, so you&rsquo;ll have to be on your &lsquo;A&rsquo; game since AI will capitalize on any mistakes you make.The goalies have also benefitted from the new IQ. They&rsquo;re now more efficient at identifying scoring threats and, when beaten, make desperation attempts to prevent a goal. That said, they still sometimes get solved with a top corner wrist shot, just like in last year&rsquo;s game.Other problems include the lack of infractions called even when the penalty slider is set to maximum. And the high passing accuracy of AI feels cheap, as it&rsquo;s common to see an opponent end a match with an accuracy rate of 85 percent or higher. Hopefully these issues will be addressed with a downloadable update or patch.One of the new modes is GM Connected, which allows you to play, manage and coach with or against friends in your own online NHL league for up to 25 seasons. There&rsquo;s also a mobile app you can download for your smartphone to help keep you in the loop of all stats and transactions happening in any of your leagues.Another mode worth playing is the new NHL Moments Live. Here, you&rsquo;ll replay various scenarios from last season and most of the time the goal is to change the outcome of each moment. This isn&rsquo;t an easy feat, as some scenarios are challenging, such as playing Sam Gagner&rsquo;s eight-point game against the Blackhawks. In this case, you&rsquo;ll have to get three points with five minutes remaining in the third period to break Darryl Sittler&rsquo;s record for most points in one game. When a scenario is completed, you&rsquo;re awarded EA Pucks, used to purchase packs of cards in the game&rsquo;s addictive Hockey Ultimate Team mode.If you&rsquo;re looking for a solo experience, the Be A GM mode is still available. Not much has changed other than the revamped GM intelligence, which now makes more realistic decisions for AI teams.Overall, NHL 13 is another great game that is sure to keep fans playing.Joseph Phung is a Toronto-based freelance writer. You can follow him on Twitter @TheGamer2400 &#9632;

f0012-01

The Push For Perfection

<div class="byline">&#x2013; NATHAN CADDELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-031147/9720199-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="465" height="599"></div>RIGHT BEFOREF the puck dropped on one of the most anticipated seasons in its 77-year history, the American League announced the 2013 inductees into its Hall of Fame.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-04686/9720192-1-eng-US/f0012-042.jpg" title="f0012-04" width="173" height="166"></div>Joining the league&rsquo;s past legends in enshrinement are goaltender Harvey Bennett, whose 260 wins rank fourth all-time; Ken Gernander, a veteran of more than two decades in the AHL, both on the ice and behind the bench; Jim Morrison, a seven-time post-season all-star and first president of the AHL Players&rsquo; Association in 1967; and Pti, a high-scoring forward who, along with Hall of Famer Bill Sweeney, holds the record for most scoring championships with three. White racked up 783 points in 747 AHL games, mostly with the Philadelphia Phantoms.The 2013 class is the eighth wave of inductees and will be honored in Providence, R.I., as part of the All-Star Game festivities. If the last NHL lockout was any indication, Rhode Islanders could be in for a starstudded affair: the 2004-05 game featured Eric Staal, Jason Spezza and Zach Parise. &#9632;

f0012-03

CLASS OF THE AHL

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JEFF DONER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012233/9720230-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="697" height="610"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK JANKOWSKI (JANKOWSKI: GREGORY SHAMUS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Stanstead College garnered attention from across the hockey world after center Mark Jankowski was drafted 21st overall by the Calgary Flames out of the program. But coach and director of hockey operations James Rioux wants to clear up one big misconception about the southeastern Quebec school: &ldquo;We do not play in a high school league.&rdquo;Stanstead is part of the Midwest Prep Hockey League, a circuit consisting of 10 prep schools from across Canada and the U.S., from Alberta to Vermont. The competition level in the MPHL is high despite its short 16-game schedule (which includes three playoff games) that runs from November to February. To help with travel issues &ndash; because the teams are spread so far apart &ndash; the season is broken up into tournaments hosted by different schools, in which teams play several games in a concentrated period of time.In addition to Jankowski, two other former MPHL players were selected in the 2012 draft. Hulking blueliner Mathew Dumba, a pillar on the Western League&rsquo;s Red Deer Rebels who also captained Team Canada at the under-18 World Championship, was selected seventh overall by the Minnesota Wild; Coda Gordon followed Jankowski to Calgary (165th overall).Home for Stanstead&rsquo;s boy&rsquo;s and girl&rsquo;s teams is the Pat Burns Arena, which opened in 2011 and boasts an NHL-sized rink along with weight-training and physiotherapy facilities. &ldquo;I hope that people will continue to look at our program as a bona fide option to getting to the next level,&rdquo; Rioux said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a wonderful school, campus and hockey program.&ldquo;I certainly think that we&rsquo;re a team to be taken seriously.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0014-01

Clearing The Air

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011937/9720292-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MOBILE OPERATION What&rsquo;s wrong with moving a business when barred from running it at home?</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-021371/9720299-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="194" height="229"></div>As the lockout has dragged on, a common gripe from some corners concerns the willingness of players to travel overseas and play in another pro league. The argument posits that well-heeled NHLers have no business taking jobs from lesser players who make far less money. Instead, the thinking goes, those locked-out players should underscore their union solidarity by staying in North America and not playing at all.I understand at least some of that sentiment. If it were me who had the choice &ndash; and the financial wherewithal to take care of my family when I wasn&rsquo;t working &ndash; I&rsquo;d be quite troubled by the prospect of unseating some poor schmuck at the tail end of some team&rsquo;s lineup just to keep in game shape. But here&rsquo;s what I also understand: players have every right to ply their trade elsewhere, given that this lockout was not the choice of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.In fact, for the most part I find it impossible to criticize players for heading to play somewhere outside the NHL. And I&rsquo;m particularly baffled if the people doing the criticizing are the same people who vehemently defend NHL owners&rsquo; right to lock out players as a matter of standard operating procedure.I have a question for those folks: are modernday players not businessmen unto themselves?We now see elite NHL players groomed for this industry from their preteens. They train yearround and view their bodies and their on-ice skill set as a means to create financial opportunities. If those are taken away from them by owners, why shouldn&rsquo;t they be permitted to look for other opportunities?<blockquote class="pullQuote">This lockout was not the choice of the NHLPA</blockquote>If you run a hot dog cart and you&rsquo;re suddenly told your permit to work in a particular area has been revoked, everyone who believes in free market enterprise believes you have the right to wheel your cart to another area.The same principle applies here.Truth is, the players would be fools to sit back naively and wait, especially when they&rsquo;ve already experienced the extremism of owners eight years ago. Union executive director Don Fehr said as much to us in a recent interview: &ldquo;Look, when you&rsquo;re an owner and you say there&rsquo;s going to be a lockout and you&rsquo;re a player and you see owners said they&rsquo;d lock out players last time &ndash; and they did and it lasted a year and you saw football and basketball do it and you saw the NFL do it with referees &ndash; then when the lockout starts, you tend to believe them.&rdquo; (You can read the full transcript of our wide-ranging one-on-one with Fehr at <a anchor_name="38;A" href="http://THN.com/fehrQ&">THN.com/fehrQ&A</a>)But at least for the moment, let&rsquo;s put aside the owners&rsquo; proven willingness to drive the league&rsquo;s bus over a cliff. Where is the outrage when teams choose to send down American League-eligible players during a lockout? Technically, the same domino effect takes place, leaving fringe players at the bottom of the food chain on the outside looking in.If you&rsquo;re angered by NHLers who willingly play below their level to stay active and game-ready, you should save some enmity for those hockey people who make young NHLers to do the same thing.The bottom line in all of this is this: professional sports are a never-ending process in which someone could take another player&rsquo;s job at any time. And again, it isn&rsquo;t as though NHLers have arbitrarily decided to don the black hat and target some worker bee player in Germany, Austria, Russia or any other country that is home to a pro league. They have been left with only a handful of choices, none of which would be their first choice.If you&rsquo;re going to be incensed on behalf of the low-on-the-ladder player unceremoniously bumped from his roster spot, don&rsquo;t be mad at the NHLers doing the bumping. Be mad at the people who put NHLers in that ugly position in the first place.WANT MORE PROTEAU? READ HIS EXCLUSIVE WEB COLUMN THURSDAYS AT <a href="http://THN.COM/PROTEAU">THN.COM/PROTEAU</a> &#9632;

f0015-01

Iron Fist Forces The Invisible Hand

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011730/9720365-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(JEFF VINNICK/HOCKEY CANADA IMAGES)</figcaption></div>The voice at the other end of the telephone line is a little more raspy than usual, but it&rsquo;s been a busy couple of weeks. First there was a week-long national team camp in Calgary, then it was a week of hanging out with P.K. Subban at the Nike World Headquarters campus in Beaverton, Ore. It sounds like fun, but long days of meeting important people like Lance Armstrong, hob-knobbing with executives and getting 3-D images of your feet to custom fit your shoes can take their toll.Such is life for 25-year-old Meghan Agosta, the best hockey player in the world you might not know. When most of us last saw Agosta, she and her Canadian teammates were a minor cause celebre at center ice in Vancouver, smoking cigars and drinking beer after winning the Olympic gold medal in 2010. But more importantly, it was in that tournament Agosta scored 15 points to lead all scorers and was named MVP and best forward. It was also at that point in time the torch passed from veterans Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford and Jennifer Botterill to players like Agosta, Marie-Philip Poulin and Tessa Bonhomme.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011879/9720358-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="2127" height="1008"><figcaption class="caption-body">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">I WANT TO BE THE BEST IN THE WORLD. TAKING DAYS OFF GIVES SOMEONE ELSE A CHANCE TO BE BETTER &ndash; Meghan Agosta</blockquote>NEXT ON THE AGENDA for Agosta is to become the most dominant player on the globe. The funny thing is she may have ticked that box off already. Last year, her first in the Canadian Women&rsquo;s League, she broke the single-season scoring record with 41 goals and 80 points in 27 games to lead the Montreal Stars to the championship. That was coming off a four-year college career at Mercyhurst when she established new all-time benchmarks for goals and points along with power play, shorthanded and gamewinning goals. She stands as the only NCAA player to score more than 300 career points. &ldquo;My goal is to be the best player in the world,&rdquo; she says unabashedly. &ldquo;And when you&rsquo;re trying to do that, you can&rsquo;t take any days off. When you&rsquo;re taking days off, that gives another person an opportunity to be better than you.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s fair to say Agosta isn&rsquo;t about to allow anyone to take that opportunity any time soon. This past summer, she trained with a group of Montreal-area players including Alexandre Burrows and goalies Jonathan Bernier and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who are coached by Marco Marciano, Agosta&rsquo;s husband as of Sept. 1 (more on him later). Agosta absorbed everything she could and the NHLers came away impressed with her talent and work ethic. She&rsquo;ll need it all in the fleeting world of women&rsquo;s hockey, where the players have much smaller pay stubs and limited options, with hundreds of talented players coming through the Hockey Canada pipeline every year.And as the women&rsquo;s Olympic team prepares to be sequestered in Calgary next season in preparation for the 2014 Games in Sochi, Agosta knows the heavy lifting, both literally and figuratively, has to be done now. That&rsquo;s why she chose to work out and skate and do yoga with the best male players in the world. But Agosta has always been comfortable competing with and against the boys, having established herself as a top AAA player on boys&rsquo; teams in Southwestern Ontario before joining the girls as a teenager. Like anyone as wildly gifted as Agosta, the prodigious talent began to show itself at an early age.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-021398/9720351-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="1032" height="682"><figcaption class="caption-body">WINTER WONDERLAND Meghan Agosta is already a two-time Olympic gold medallist, triumphing with Canada in 2006 and 2010. (BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>IT WAS A FRIDAY AFTERNOON at Queen of Peace Catholic School in Leamington, Ont., when Agosta&rsquo;s seventh grade teacher pulled her aside for a chat. It seemed every Friday afternoon she was leaving school early to go play in a hockey tournament out of town. The teacher explained to Agosta that Leamington was the Tomato Capital of the World &trade; and not a place where Olympic dreams were usually realized. She told Agosta to make more realistic goals, ones that involved getting an education and being around a little more on Friday afternoons instead of wasting her time playing hockey.A few years later, when Agosta was 19 and already had a gold medal around her neck from the 2006 Olympics, she had a chance encounter with that same teacher at the local Wal-Mart.<blockquote class="pullQuote">NO FEMALE PLAYER SKATES AS WELL AS MEGHAN. THERE AREN&rsquo;T EVEN MANY GUYS WHO SKATE AS WELL AS HER &ndash; Tessa Bonhomme</blockquote>The teacher hugged Agosta and offered a teary apology. &ldquo;She basically said she was sorry and she would never tell another student that again,&rdquo; Agosta says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfortunate that somebody could go to a young girl or boy and tell them that they should have a more realistic dream. Every time I talk to young boys and girls, I tell them to dream big and set goals. I&rsquo;m living proof that anything is possible if you work hard at something.&rdquo;But even Agosta has to acknowledge she had some God-given talents bestowed on her others didn&rsquo;t receive. Her father and mother were good athletes in their youth. Agosta&rsquo;s older brother, Jeric, played on a hockey scholarship at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and her younger sister, Jade, was a national jump rope champion. When Agosta was in the fourth grade, she was scheduled to run the 800- and 1,500-meter races at a track meet. But when one of the girls who was supposed to run the 400-meter became sick, the coach begged Agosta to take her spot. She had never run the 400 prior to that, so her father, Nino, told her to conserve her energy for her later races and only make a break if she thought she could catch the leader in the last 100 meters. She did exactly that and was at the finish line gasping for air when the convenor approached her. &ldquo;He came over and said, &lsquo;Congratulations, Miss Agosta, you&rsquo;ve just broken a record that stood for 25 years,&rsquo;&rdquo; Nino says. &ldquo;She always had a lot of talent. Everyone could see that. But she was also able to nurture it and she paid the price. She missed her first communion and her high school prom because she was away playing hockey.&rdquo;It was obviously time well spent for Agosta, who continues to develop into a more dominant player. She&rsquo;s just 25, which means her most productive days may still be ahead of her and depending on how long she wants to continue, she could conceivably be an impact player in three more Olympics. Like most players, she has learned to combine a high level of commitment on and off the ice with her prodigious talent level. All of which makes her teammate and good friend Bonhomme feel sorry for the defenders for Team USA, who have a long future of being turned inside out ahead of them. &ldquo;When people see her for the first time a lot of them are baffled because it&rsquo;s a bit of a mystery,&rdquo; Bonhomme says. &ldquo;They look at her and wonder how she can be that good. I don&rsquo;t even think Meghan can explain it. She does things that we can&rsquo;t even begin to understand how she did it or why.&rdquo;According to national team coach Dan Church, it is Agosta&rsquo;s first three strides that set here apart from almost any player in the world. She has developed a skating stride that is equal parts speed and power and gives her all kinds of open ice. Once she picks up the puck, she can create a good amount of separation between herself and defenders with that stride and when a loose puck is available, her explosiveness allows her to materialize from seemingly nowhere. &ldquo;I have yet to meet any female player who skates as well as Meghan Agosta,&rdquo; Bonhomme says. &ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t even many guys who skate as well as Meghan. We always say Meghan Agosta skates like a man.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011654/9720344-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="1121" height="1297"><figcaption class="caption-body">STUNNING DEBUT Agosta&rsquo;s first CWHL season netted her a scoring title, an MVP award and a Clarkson Cup title with Montreal. (BRANDON TAYLOR/CWHL)</figcaption></div>Like most players in the women&rsquo;s game, Agosta has improved her shot tremendously and it&rsquo;s often her stick skills that leave people with mouths agape. You don&rsquo;t score 300 points in college hockey and average roughly three points a game as a rookie in the CWHL without having some tremendous ability with the puck. &ldquo;She has uncanny vision and passing ability,&rdquo; Church says. &ldquo;She can make passes and thread the needle and find a stick through 10 other sticks. She sees things that most other people don&rsquo;t see, including coaches, when it comes to offensive creativity.&rdquo;IN THE MONTHS LEADING up to the 2010 Olympics they went out for the first time. Dinner and a movie in Calgary and constantly looking over their shoulders. Marco Marciano was the goaltending coach for the Canadian women&rsquo;s team and Agosta was the star forward. It started with long conversations on the phone, which led to secret dates, which led to secret trips to Canadian Tire to shop for things for the house.The way Marciano sees it, he tried his best for it not to happen. But in the end, you can&rsquo;t help the way you feel about someone. So for obvious reasons, he and Agosta kept their relationship secret, even to her teammates, until after the Olympics. They were engaged by the next Christmas and on a late-summer night in Leamington, they were married in front of 467 guests. &ldquo;At the end of the day, I just thought, &lsquo;You know what? I have such strong feelings for her that I don&rsquo;t care what people think,&rsquo;&rdquo; Marciano says. &ldquo;I want to be happy and Meghan makes me happy. Now we have a beautiful house and we want kids. It&rsquo;s great to wake up beside someone like her, someone who is so driven and always wants to be the best at what she does.&rdquo;Marciano is the goaltending coach for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec League and works with NHL goaltenders Bernier, Giguere, Corey Crawford and Marc-Andre Fleury. He hopes to one day parlay that into a job as a goaltending coach with an NHL team and that&rsquo;s where most of his energies will be devoted over the next couple of years. As for Agosta, she&rsquo;ll once again be sequestered with the rest of the Olympic team in Calgary.There is no set plan after that. Agosta will be faced with a crucial decision of whether to start a family or keep playing, not that she can&rsquo;t do both if she has the right support group around her. She&rsquo;ll be just 27 in Sochi and perhaps hitting the prime of her career. But there are so many other things to do. Along with all the scoring records, Agosta picked up a degree in criminal justice with a minor in criminal psychology and wants to become a police officer with the canine unit after she retires from hockey. She enjoys hunting and fishing with her father and his friends and tries to get out to hunt pheasant and rabbits whenever she has the time. &ldquo;I just love skeet shooting,&rdquo; Agosta says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s super fun and I&rsquo;m really good at it.&rdquo;For now, though, she&rsquo;s focused on shooting pucks past goalies, which she does better than any woman on the planet. Her scoring exploits in the CWHL were the stuff of legend last season and there&rsquo;s no reason to believe she can&rsquo;t become the league&rsquo;s first-ever 100-point scorer. She&rsquo;s that good.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011634/9720337-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="1186" height="1543"><figcaption class="caption-body">(PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Most of her time these days is spent on the ice or in the gym getting stronger and more agile. For players such as Agosta, the years after playing collegiately are difficult ones because while the CWHL provides post-university players with a place to play, it doesn&rsquo;t give them the constant on- and off-ice training they need to be world-class players. So it&rsquo;s up to the individualment to do that herself. It helps that Agosta receives a stipend from the Canadian Olympic Association as a carded athlete and endorsement money from Nike. Agosta and her agent are always looking for new opportunities, but nothing that would come at the expense of her hockey career.<blockquote class="pullQuote">WHEN I&rsquo;M ON THE ICE I WANT PEOPLE TO SAY, &lsquo;OH MY GOD, AGOSTA&rsquo;S ON THE ICE. WE HAVE TO WATCH OUT.&rsquo; &ndash; Meghan Agosta</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021174/9720330-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="1030" height="1306"><figcaption class="caption-body">SHE STANDS ALONE What separates Agosta from the pack &ndash; literally &ndash; is her ability to explode into open space behind defenders. (BRUCE BENNETT REMOTE/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Agosta says she has never had more fun training for a season that she did this past summer when the NHLers and a group of minor leaguers put her through her paces. It&rsquo;s preposterous that she played four years of college hockey and never won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in the women&rsquo;s game, though she was the runner-up each of those seasons. The CWHL was not about to make the same mistake, naming her the most valuable player in the league in 2011-12. It&rsquo;s an award to which Agosta could be laying claim for quite some time.Agosta is amply prepared to be one of the prominent faces of women&rsquo;s hockey in the future. As much as she has an embarrass of riches when it comes to personal accolades, talk to her teammates and you quickly learn she doesn&rsquo;t simply pay lip service to it being all about the team. If the mark of a truly great player is making those around her better, she is already in that category.Wickenheiser, who will play in her fifth Olympics in 2014, will captain the team, but Church says he can envision Agosta in that role in 2018 if she chooses to keep playing. As for Agosta, she knows she helps her team most when she scores, but in a game where players must constantly prove their worth, she isn&rsquo;t content being one-dimensional. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to be a hockey player who just puts the puck in the net,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I want to be an all-around hockey player. I want to be a dangerous player and I want to be the kind of player that when I&rsquo;m on the ice, people say, &lsquo;Oh my God, Agosta&rsquo;s on the ice. We&rsquo;re going to have to watch out.&rsquo;&rdquo;By all accounts, that time is here already.2.96&nbsp;Meghan Agosta&rsquo;s points per game during her rookie CWHL season, during which she set a single-season record for points with 80 in 27 games. &#9632;

f0017-01

TOP OF THE WORLD

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SPORTAK</div>WITH ALL Hayley Wickenheiser has accomplished, it&rsquo;s incredible to think the future still holds so much more for her. An icon of women&rsquo;s hockey, Wickenheiser has a trophy case which includes three Olympic gold medals, seven world championship titles and a litany of other honors, including being named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011.But she&rsquo;s not done. The 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia are on the horizon and don&rsquo;t be surprised to see Wickenheiser skating in the 2018 Games in South Korea.Yet the Team Canada star has made a lasting impact on the game, an incredible feat for somebody who turned 34 this summer. &ldquo;The best thing I can do is make it easier for young girls to play the game and get respect doing it,&rdquo; Wickenheiser says. That would be a nice legacy for me to leave.&rdquo;After bursting onto the national team scene at 15, she&rsquo;s been a mainstay there for two decades. She also has the distinction of playing parts of two seasons in Finland&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s leagues (2002-04) as well as the 2008-09 campaign with Linden HC in Sweden&rsquo;s.Along the way, she&rsquo;s done an incredible job changing how people look at women&rsquo;s hockey. &ldquo;Now, when you see a young girl walk into the rink with a hockey bag and hockey stick, nobody thinks twice about it,&rdquo; says Wickenheiser. &ldquo;As a kid, I&rsquo;d run into the bathroom as fast as I could so nobody would know I was a girl. There was so much stress to deal with.&ldquo;Most of the time now, the people who criticize our game have never seen a Canada-U.S. game live or spent any time around it, but say, &lsquo;Ah, it&rsquo;s just women&rsquo;s hockey.&rsquo; You still have those naysayers around and always will, but it&rsquo;s progressed in 20 years probably more than the men&rsquo;s game, because we&rsquo;ve had the men&rsquo;s game to model off from what&rsquo;s been put in place.&rdquo;To say women&rsquo;s hockey has evolved in the past two decades is an understatement. It&rsquo;s exploded thanks in big part to being an Olympic sport. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s gone from being a novelty to commanding respect, resources and time,&rdquo; Wickenheiser says. &ldquo;Anybody who&rsquo;s around the game and around the national team sees how well it&rsquo;s run and the professionalism that&rsquo;s put into it.&rdquo;Women&rsquo;s hockey is flourishing in Canada and the United States, despite the biggest knock on it being that no other country has ever threatened their dominance. But Wickenheiser remains optimistic the sport will continue to grow beyond the two powerhouses. &ldquo;There is development around the world, not just in four or five countries, but 10 or 15,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;In saying that, the men&rsquo;s game has only seven or eight countries where they&rsquo;re truly invested in hockey.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-021116/9720403-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="623" height="852"><figcaption class="caption-body">(HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011517/9720396-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="1032" height="1300"><figcaption class="caption-body">GOLD STILL GIVES HER A RUSH Three-time Olympic champion Hayley Wickenheiser is a shoo-in for Canada&rsquo;s 2014 team. And don&rsquo;t rule out 2018. (BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>If more countries catch up, is a more prominent pro women&rsquo;s league on the way? &ldquo;Getting the best players in the world in one league is really what needs to happen,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Maybe with the NHL lockout, there will be a chance to showcase the sport.&rdquo;For now, Wickenheiser is looking to her own future. She&rsquo;s currently in the final year of studies to earn a kinesiology degree at the University of Calgary with an eye on medical school. That quest would likely have to wait until she&rsquo;s done playing, which won&rsquo;t happen soon. &ldquo;All my friends, the ones who have retired say, &lsquo;Don&rsquo;t quit until they have to rip your skates off because you&rsquo;re going to miss it,&rsquo;&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to play through Sochi and probably after that. I don&rsquo;t have any plans to retire. I feel really good, feel I&rsquo;m playing my best hockey the last while and still enjoy it.&ldquo;People get hung up on age, but it&rsquo;s more about your mind and body and spirit. It won&rsquo;t be forever, but at some point I&rsquo;ll know when.&rdquo;Until then, Wickenheiser will continue to be a trailblazer for her game, something she takes pride in. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m one of the first group of women who came in when the national team started to grow and flourish, and because of the things I&rsquo;ve done &ndash; playing professional hockey &ndash; it&rsquo;s opened a few doors,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m one of many. There are a lot of women who came before me, people we don&rsquo;t know their names and played when it wasn&rsquo;t popular. Maybe I came at a time people were more willing to pay attention.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0022-02

Still Blazing The Trail

<div class="byline">BY RUSS BITELY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0023-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011312/9720441-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">TRAILBLAZER Julie Chu was the first Asian American ever to make the U.S. women&rsquo;s Olympic team. (DOUG PENSINGER/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>HOCKEY HAS PREDOMINANTLY been a male sport for decades. With its physical nature, many female athletes in the past took to a more civil and less abrasive sport played on ice: figure skating.That was the case for an eight-year-old Julie Chu &ndash; at least until she broke the stereotype and traded in her figure skates for hockey blades in 1990. &ldquo;It was only about two months into a learn-to-skate figure skating program when I was like, &lsquo;You know what? I&rsquo;m not really interested in this sport &ndash; I would much rather play a team sport,&rsquo;&rdquo; Chu says. &ldquo;After that first moment of skating at a clinic in hockey gear, I was sold on it.&rdquo;Chu, born and raised in Connecticut&rsquo;s Fairfield County, was blessed with supportive parents, even while playing a highly physical game against the much more aggressive opposite sex. &ldquo;She actually played her last summer on a midget team with the boys,&rdquo; says Julie&rsquo;s father, Wah Chu. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where we decided it was time to start focusing on women&rsquo;s hockey.&rdquo;But it might not have been possible without her brother. Had Julie not watched him play when she was a kid, she may never have become seriously interested in the sport. Before then, it wasn&rsquo;t really on her radar. &ldquo;Besides maybe watching the Rangers or Islanders play, it never even crossed my mind,&rdquo; Chu says. &ldquo;So in a lot of ways, hockey actually found me, because I did not ask to go play it. Soccer I asked to play. Thank goodness hockey found me because I wasn&rsquo;t that great at soccer.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02946/9720434-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="640" height="882"><figcaption class="caption-body">(TOM DAHLIN/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>USA Hockey is no doubt thankful as well. Chu, who normally plays up front but also skated on &lsquo;D&rsquo; last year in the Canadian Women&rsquo;s League, is a three-time Olympian, helping Team USA to silver medals in 2002 and 2010 and a bronze in 2006. The medal count does not stop there, either. In fact, between the world championships and Four Nations Cups, Chu has accumulated seven golds and 12 silvers, along with two Clarkson Cup victories in the CWHL.She is the all-time NCAA women&rsquo;s assists leader (196) and is second in points (284) &ndash; in 129 games &ndash; won Patty Kazmaier Award in 2007 (the Heisman Trophy equivalent for women&rsquo;s hockey), was a three-time NCAA All-American and an MVP of the Clarkson Cup &ndash; just to name a few honors.In conversation, though, you&rsquo;d never know what she&rsquo;s accomplished individually. She exemplifies unselfishness and humbleness, describing team triumphs rather than her own. &ldquo;She plays the game the right way, full of integrity&rdquo; says Katey Stone, Chu&rsquo;s coach during her four-season stint at Harvard (2002-07) and with the women&rsquo;s national team. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s a sports woman; she wins and loses with integrity and dignity. She&rsquo;s a great role model for her teammates and all young female athletes. Not just female athletes, but all athletes.&rdquo;Adds Chu&rsquo;s father: &ldquo;I really enjoy her humility. Given her achievement and so on, it doesn&rsquo;t get to her head. From all the things she actually achieved, what I am most proud of is her character. Also, her devotion as a team member, as I&rsquo;m not sure that is something anybody can really teach you, as it came from her heart.&rdquo;Those who know Chu paint a picture of her as consistent, smart, big-hearted, a team player, self-effacing and funny. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there are a lot of secrets to Julie,&rdquo; Stone says. &ldquo;The great thing about Julie is that what you see is what you get.&rdquo;While Stone hopes Chu will get to play in another Olympic Games, her dad foresees his daughter as an Olympic coach someday, too. &ldquo;&lsquo;Yeah, no pressure, dad,&rsquo;&rdquo; he jokes. &ldquo;That would be a very good objective for her.&rdquo;Chu will try to become a four-time Olympian in 2014 and earn a chance at the one gold medal that&rsquo;s eluded her. To get to Sochi, she&rsquo;ll battle the up-and-coming generation of U.S. prospects for a roster spot. Don&rsquo;t bet against her. At age 30, she is in top physical shape &ndash; a fact on full display when she appeared in ESPN&rsquo;s 2011 Body Issue wearing nothing but a fierce look.In the meantime, she&rsquo;s serving as an assistant coach at Union College and playing with her pro team, the Montreal Stars. &ldquo;She takes full advantage of her opportunities,&rdquo; Stone says. &ldquo;She doesn&rsquo;t take anything for granted and that&rsquo;s why she has been so successful.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0023-01

The Game Chose Chu

<div class="byline">BY DONNA SPENCER</div>WATCHING TYRA BANKS host America&rsquo;s Next Top Model, Tessa Bonhomme heard something that made her gasp. &ldquo;Tyra Banks critiqued this girl on a photo because her arm looked &lsquo;too strong,&rsquo;&rdquo; Bonhomme recalls. &ldquo;She said &lsquo;You don&rsquo;t want to look too strong.&rsquo; I remember thinking, &lsquo;This is the worst thing anybody could have televised.&rsquo;&rdquo;Bonhomme, a defenseman on Team Canada and the Canadian Women&rsquo;s League&rsquo;s Toronto Furies, can remember not telling anyone at school in Sudbury, Ont., she was a hockey player because no other girls played. But times change and Bonhomme boldly tells the world what she does now. She uses various platforms to prove a female hockey player can be anything she wants to be.She&rsquo;s been a glamor girl, with strong arms, in a Mad Men-themed photo shoot for Toro Magazine; she&rsquo;s been swatted into the water by a giant foam arm on the reality-television show Wipeout; she&rsquo;s a Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment analyst and reporter on Leafs TV and GOLTV; she put on figure skates and a really short dress and let David Pelletier helicopter her in the air on another reality TV show, Battle of the Blades &ndash; which she won.Audacious and adventurous, Bonhomme embraced offers and opportunities that came her way after winning Olympic gold with the Canadian team in 2010. &ldquo;I enjoy doing new things and I rarely say no to anything,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a firm believer that life is short and you should enjoy every opportunity that comes your way.&rdquo;Bonhomme has moved into the realm of athlete-celebrity, joining Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser and retired Cassie Campbell-Pascall as the faces of women&rsquo;s hockey. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s seen as the regular girl-next-door and that&rsquo;s really translated well for her,&rdquo; says Bonhomme&rsquo;s agent, Brant Feldman of American Group Management. &ldquo;Those guys at MLSE saw this bright, pretty, versatile hockey girl who has now had multiple television appearances between Wipeout and Battle. They wanted to bring a new kind of sportscaster into MLSE. Because of what she does with MLSE, she&rsquo;s been able to promote women&rsquo;s hockey. Leafs TV scrolls scores of CWHL games. She&rsquo;s able to feature stories on her teammates or her opponents in the CWHL. That&rsquo;s exposure they&rsquo;ve never gotten before.&rdquo;Bonhomme, 27, is the product of a generation comfortable expressing itself via reality TV and Twitter. Her sense of humour and ability to laugh at herself make her appealing on-camera. Yet she does feel a responsibility to represent her teammates and combat stereotypes she says still exist. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good if your shoulders are big,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;You worked all summer for that. It&rsquo;s not a bad thing to be a very talented athlete as a woman. We&rsquo;re trying to be as a gender more confident and more powerful in the workplace.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011460/9720479-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="531" height="817"><figcaption class="caption-body">(ANDY DEVLIN/HOCKEY CANADA IMAGES)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-021049/9720472-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="1025" height="1293"><figcaption class="caption-body">DIFFERENT SKATES, SAME RESULT Whether it&rsquo;s Olympic hockey or Battle of the Blades figure skating, Tessa Bonhomme is a proven winner. (ANDRE RINGUETTE/HHOF-IIHF IMAGES)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;You watch TMZ or any reality TV show and young girls aren&rsquo;t being given fair role models to look up to and strive to be like. Every day, I walk into my locker room and I think &lsquo;Look at all these amazing young women who are balancing school, a job, their family, a social life and training to be a world-class athlete.&rsquo; &ldquo;Athletes&rsquo; marketability is often tied to attractiveness. Bonhomme was included in a Canadian online sports magazine&rsquo;s 30 most beautiful athletes earlier this year. She doesn&rsquo;t feel she trades on her looks. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel like I market myself that way,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t see myself as any better-looking than the next girl in the change room. You could throw any person in the hair and makeup room and they come out looking completely different.&rdquo;Hockey and retaining her place on the national team for the 2014 Olympics remain the priorities for the 5-foot-7, 140-pounder. In April, her smart play contributed to the overtime goal that gave Canada its first world championship since 2007. With the U.S. caught on a bad line change, Bonhomme drove the net, took American players with her and distracted goalie Molly Schaus to create a chance for Caroline Ouellette, whose goal at 1:50 gave Canada the win. &ldquo;You just do what you&rsquo;re supposed to do and I did,&rdquo; Bonhomme says. &ldquo;Any one of my teammates would have done the exact same thing. I haven&rsquo;t really been on the ice for a goal like that with Team Canada before. I always watch the Jordan Eberle goal from the world juniors when he scored against the Russians (in 2009). I always wonder if he ever caught his breath and now I know you don&rsquo;t. You are screaming, you&rsquo;re so excited.&rdquo;Donna Spencer covers women&rsquo;s hockey for The Canadian Press. &#9632;

f0024-01

Hockey’s Poster Girl

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011285/9720538-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRANDON TAYLOR/CWHL)</figcaption></div>TO HAVE A CONVERSATION about professional women&rsquo;s hockey, it&rsquo;s important to note the best players in the world do not get paid and therefore technically aren&rsquo;t &ldquo;professional.&rdquo; But far from being a point of condemnation, it instead serves as a reminder of where women&rsquo;s hockey is today. &ldquo;We joke all the time that we&rsquo;re in A League of Their Own,&rdquo; says blueliner Caitlin Cahow, a two-time Olympian and member of the U.S. national team. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like the 1940s, trying to play pro sports as a woman.&rdquo;Cahow skates for Boston in the Canadian Women&rsquo;s League, a five-team circuit that includes teams in Toronto, Montreal, Alberta and Brampton, Ont. The 27-year-old is in law school at Boston College after graduating from Harvard in 2008, yet still endures 10-hour bus rides to games attended by maybe a couple hundred people. &ldquo;The days are really long,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing it because we absolutely love the game of hockey and want to play it at the highest level. Our sport is really young, but we&rsquo;ll keep reaching out.&rdquo;No doubt many out there would argue women&rsquo;s hockey is largely ignored because the product is inferior to the men&rsquo;s game, unless it&rsquo;s the Olympics, in which case people will watch crosscountry skiing as long as a flag is involved. But that discounts the most obvious cousin to the CWHL, basketball&rsquo;s WNBA. Though long a punchline for late-night talk show hosts, the women&rsquo;s league has been steady since its inception 15 years ago, with average attendance hovering around 8,000 fans per game. That in a league where the most theatrical of plays &ndash; the slam dunk &ndash; is rare. But Cahow sees the differences between women&rsquo;s and men&rsquo;s hockey as a potential draw. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fast, it&rsquo;s skilled and there&rsquo;s no fighting,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Every player is skilled and tough.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02904/9720531-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="339" height="340"></div>The challenge is proving it. Three-time Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Botterill, who retired in 2011, helped found the CWHL in 2007. Also a Harvard grad, she knows the uphill battle the sport faces. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s awareness,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the biggest challenge, getting people to know there is a league.&rdquo;Player agent Brant Feldman represents many of the top women in the game, including Cahow, Botterill, Julie Chu and Tessa Bonhomme. He sees a sport operated almost entirely by volunteers and hopes for a day when the support is given for some more infrastructure. &ldquo;The people who run this do it with a heavy heart,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They have a lot of limitations, but they have a tremendous amount of drive.&rdquo;Marketing is obviously the key missing ingredient. Feldman noted there were talks about women&rsquo;s involvement at this year&rsquo;s All-Star Game in Columbus and during Winter Classic festivities in Michigan, likely a Canada vs. USA game at Comerica Park, where the Ontario League and NCAA will hold games. Botterill attended a roundtable discussion with the NHL at last year&rsquo;s All-Star Game in Ottawa. But the NHL doesn&rsquo;t want a WNBA-type situation, where the women&rsquo;s circuit is bankrolled by the men. In fact, the NHL will not finance or even subsidize the CWHL, though it is interested in helping women&rsquo;s hockey in general. At this point, Feldman would be happy with the NHL doing the CWHL a solid favor by having teams send out promotional notices for CWHL games to their vast database of fans. &ldquo;You need to be able to reach out to people,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s where the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Canadiens could help and it doesn&rsquo;t cost them anything.&rdquo;Sometimes the women just have bad luck. Cahow recalls a setup last season when her Boston squad was supposed to play a double-header in Hartford with the American League&rsquo;s Connecticut Whale, but a blizzard cancelled everything. &ldquo;You put a lot of effort into a game like that and it&rsquo;s hard when it doesn&rsquo;t work out,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know when you&rsquo;re going to get another opportunity.&rdquo;While every season is important for a sport as young as the pro women&rsquo;s game, this campaign actually stands out because next year, the Canadian and American national teams will pull their players out of the CWHL to train for the Olympics. Though it sounds like a momentum killer for a league still trying to gain a foothold in the sports market, Botterill hopes the league can weather the loss of so much star power. &ldquo;It is a challenge,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Right now that&rsquo;s the reality of the league. You hope that down the road you have more players close to that level, more depth to make up for it.&rdquo;Not only that, but if women&rsquo;s hockey wants to replicate the success of the WNBA, there&rsquo;s a long road ahead. Val Ackerman should know; she was the first president of the WNBA and is currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University in New York. &ldquo;The prospects for a women&rsquo;s league are much more down the road than they are around the corner,&rdquo; Ackerman says. &ldquo;By definition the player pool is not too deep. The good news is the sport has made huge strides in the past 20 years.&rdquo;The bad news for those who want legitimacy now is basketball began to pick up steam in the 1970s, not the &rsquo;90s, as women&rsquo;s hockey did. That&rsquo;s because the government regulation on genderequal opportunities in college sports (Title IX) caught on much faster with basketball and spread down to the grassroots level easier: hoops can be played indoors or out, all year long and all you need to play is a pair of sneakers and a ball &ndash; the courts were already there for the boys. According to Ackerman, approximately 80 NCAA women&rsquo;s hockey teams &ndash; from Div. I to club level &ndash; exist today, compared to 1,000 basketball squads. Enrollment numbers at the grassroots level are similarly skewed.When the WNBA first tipped off in 1997, women&rsquo;s basketball was riding a wave of success that stemmed from the previous year&rsquo;s Olympics in Atlanta, where the U.S. ladies won gold. Rebecca Lobo was coming off a huge career at the University of Connecticut and was assigned through an allocation draft to the big-market New York Liberty. Thanks to the backing of the NBA (women&rsquo;s teams were owned by the NBA franchises in their cities, though now there are non-affiliated WNBA squads), the nascent women&rsquo;s league had national TV coverage on NBC, ESPN&rsquo;s channels and Lifetime, plus infrastructure already in place at arenas and front offices. Then there was the master stroke: a schedule that ran from summer to early autumn, thus falling in a dead time for sports where, most importantly, no men&rsquo;s basketball was being played. &ldquo;There were 15 or 16 prior attempts at a women&rsquo;s league before we came along,&rdquo; Ackerman says. &ldquo;They all failed.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011469/9720524-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="1424" height="1129"><figcaption class="caption-body">STARS MUST BURN BRIGHTER The CWHL must find better ways to sell stars like Tessa Bonhomme, left, and Gillian Apps, second from left. (BRANDON TAYLOR/CWHL)</figcaption></div>If there&rsquo;s a ray of hope for the CWHL, it&rsquo;s that television angle. Hockey Canada has been successful getting the women&rsquo;s national team broadcast on TSN (and hooked up with major corporate sponsors such as Molson) and there will be more opportunities for TV time thanks to an unlikely event. When media giants Bell and Rogers were in the process of buying Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (Toronto&rsquo;s corporate entity), the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission ruled $7.5 million would have to be spent on new sports content over seven years. That&rsquo;s a window for women&rsquo;s club hockey if the CWHL can capitalize.&ldquo;What women&rsquo;s hockey is going to need is for the players to be used in commercial ways,&rdquo; Feldman says. &ldquo;Look at USA soccer &ndash; Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach &ndash; they&rsquo;re used in mainstream commercials. Now it&rsquo;s just common, you expect to see them.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-021058/9720517-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="664" height="536"><figcaption class="caption-body">(CHRIS RUTSCH/BOSTON BLADES/CWHL)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">IT&rsquo;S LIKE THE 1940S, TRYING TO PLAY PRO SPORTS AS A WOMAN &ndash; Caitlin Cahow</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011363/9720510-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="1024" height="1361"><figcaption class="caption-body">INFIGHTING INHIBITS The CWHL pried Meaghan Mikkelson&rsquo;s Alberta team from the WWHL, but united leagues would serve the sport best. (DAVE HOLLAND/CWHL)</figcaption></div>Bonhomme, who also graces the cover of this magazine, has deals with Nike, McDonald&rsquo;s and Scotiabank, to name a few, but she&rsquo;s not the typical player. She also has a job as a reporter for Leafs TV and starred on CBC&rsquo;s reality figure skating show Battle of the Blades, which she won.The fractured nature of women&rsquo;s hockey also doesn&rsquo;t help legitimacy. The CWHL and Western Women&rsquo;s League used to be united under the National Women&rsquo;s League banner, but travel was a major issue. The CWHL recently snagged Alberta&rsquo;s squad from the WWHL, leaving only two teams &ndash; the Manitoba Maple Leafs and Minnesota Whitecaps &ndash; in that circuit. The two leagues have also squabbled in recent years over the Clarkson Cup, a national championship trophy.Infighting aside, women&rsquo;s hockey must convince outsiders it is worth investing in, because business is business, even if there&rsquo;s a noble goal involved. &ldquo;Initially sponsors saw the WNBA as a cause,&rdquo; Ackerman says. &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s just about metrics. I&rsquo;m not sure if the time has arrived for women&rsquo;s hockey to be viable, because I don&rsquo;t see the revenue streams right now.&rdquo;Until then, the best players in the world will continue to skate and continue to fight. The number of people watching remains to be seen. &#9632;

f0025-01

Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02955/9720569-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRANDON TAYLOR/CWHL)</figcaption></div>IF THE WOMEN&rsquo;S PRO GAME is going to gain any traction, it will be with direct support &ndash; both financial and moral &ndash; from the NHL. What is needed is a WNHL and the only question is whether it&rsquo;s something Gary Bettman and crew wish to get in on. But what would a WNHL look like? The WNBA has succeeded thanks to its ties with basketball&rsquo;s most famous men&rsquo;s circuit and franchises have usually been linked by ownership and, in many cases, nickname (The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx; the Washington Wizards and Mystics, for example). For this to be worth-while, the women would have to get paid a living wage &ndash; something they currently don&rsquo;t have in the largely volunteer pro ranks.But if NHL ownership groups are going to foot the bill on what is admittedly a risky venture, costs must be kept reasonable. Here&rsquo;s one way it could look: make player salaries a flat $50,000 in the inaugural season, with the understanding the best would also get endorsement money. Teams would be concentrated in the East for travel budget purposes, but as you will see, there&rsquo;s no avoiding certain key markets. If the Original Six took off, you could expand to Vancouver, Winnipeg, San Francisco and either Portland or Seattle. Teams would play a 40-game schedule beginning in August (no competition) and end around Christmas. Playoffs would commence early in the New Year. Here&rsquo;s the starting lineup:TORONTO SECORDS &ndash; It&rsquo;s hard to riff off &lsquo;Maple Leafs,&rsquo; so let&rsquo;s go historical tribute. Laura Secord was a Canadian hero in the War of 1812 and only has a chain of chocolate shops to show for it. For uniforms, you still go blue and white with a Maple Leaf crest, but maybe it&rsquo;s an intertwined &lsquo;TS&rsquo; logo in the middle instead of the traditional spelled-out team name.MONTREAL CANADIENNES &ndash; Just use the feminine version of &lsquo;Canadiens&rsquo; and maybe flip the colors of the world&rsquo;s most famous hockey jersey (red stripe on blue instead of blue stripe on red). Boom, there&rsquo;s Montreal. Outreach games could be played around Quebec and perhaps Ottawa.BOSTON&nbsp;GOLDEN BEARS&ndash; A haven for U.S. talent, Boston already has an impressive team. But a direct link to the Bruins and a name slightly different but not condescending (Honey Bears comes to mind) would reinforce the brand and expose the team to the legions of B&rsquo;s fans.MINNESOTA NORTHERN STARS &ndash; We walk the fine line of copyright infringement on this one, because it would be cool to see a green and gold team with a big &lsquo;N&rsquo; logo back in Minnesota. The strongest market in the league thanks to high school and NCAA tradition, Minnesota is an obvious American tentpole in the Midwest.DETROIT CRIMSON WINGS &ndash; Though not a lot of national team players are from Michigan right now, the state does boast a great tradition of grassroots girls hockey, giving a Detroit team a nice base to work with. Plus, a direct link to the Red Wings can&rsquo;t hurt.ALBERTA WILDCATS &ndash; The toughest in terms of marketing, as you don&rsquo;t want to take sides in the Calgary/Edmonton rivalry. Hence, &lsquo;Wildcats,&rsquo; which brings to mind the local oil industry&rsquo;s wildcatters (think gold rush 49ers, but with oil) and is strictly neutral. For the same reason, games would be played in both cities and the uniforms should probably be an amalgam of Edmonton blue and Calgary red. &#9632;

f0027-02

IMAGINING A WNHL ‘ORIGINAL SIX’

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011448/9720614-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MANAGEMENT MATERIAL Nicole Kupaks became a Central League GM in 2011 and deals with occasional pushback and raised eyebrows.</figcaption></div>ALTHOUGH THE WORLD of professional hockey has been dominated by men, women have been making some solid headway of late. And while there still is a long way to go before we&rsquo;ll see a more balanced degree of integration, there are women operating in various areas who someday will be regarded as pioneers. What follows are the stories of three of them:NICOLE KUPAKS might not have dreamed she&rsquo;d be a professional hockey GM as a young woman, but that&rsquo;s exactly what she was for the Central League&rsquo;s Laredo Bucks last season and that&rsquo;s what she remains for the St. Charles Chill, a new CHL team that will begin competing in 2013-14.Growing up in Austin, Texas, the 37-year-old Kupaks didn&rsquo;t have a natural connection to hockey, but came to love it after attending an Austin Ice Bats game and watching how players interacted with the community. She had toiled in the corporate world &ndash; first at Dell Computers, then as a recruiter for a culinary school &ndash; but realized that, when she was advising students to follow their dreams, she wasn&rsquo;t doing so herself. So she attended a CHL job fair in Dallas and got seven offers from teams before deciding on Laredo, where she started out in public relations in 2004 before becoming the franchise&rsquo;s vice-president of business operations in 2008.In June of 2011, Bucks ownership finally gave Kupaks the chance she&rsquo;d been working for when they hired her as the team&rsquo;s GM. Although the franchise folded this past May, she diligently worked to resuscitate it and found a new home for it in Missouri. And all along, she&rsquo;s had to let her work ethic and knowledge of the sport speak for her whenever some old-school man questioned her place in it. &ldquo;The pushback I get sometimes is from agents,&rdquo; Kupaks says. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll say, &lsquo;Really? You&rsquo;re the GM?&rsquo; I&rsquo;ll say yes. &lsquo;If I go to your team&rsquo;s website, I&rsquo;m going to see your picture?&rsquo; they&rsquo;ll say. Like I&rsquo;m a practical joker, like I&rsquo;m just the secretary answering the phones.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll walk into the occasional meeting and someone will say, &lsquo;Oh, you play?&rsquo; I don&rsquo;t look like a hockey player and I&rsquo;ll say no. &lsquo;Oh, you work in hockey on your son&rsquo;s team?&rsquo; becomes the next question. And I&rsquo;ll say, &lsquo;No, I run a minor professional men&rsquo;s team.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s when I get the double and triple-takes.&rdquo;A thick skin has helped out ANDREA SKINNER, another young hockey-loving woman and attorney. But not in the way you might think: Skinner &ndash; older sister of Jeff, the Carolina Hurricanes&rsquo; star left winger &ndash; works in municipal and Planning law for a Torontoarea firm, But on the ice, she&rsquo;s an up-and-coming linesman and referee, groomed by Hockey Canada, who worked the Canadian Women&rsquo;s League championship final last year.However, like her more famous younger brother, Skinner began her love affair with hockey as a player, when she and her twin sister Jennifer left the sport of ringette to follow friends into hockey. She had a solid if unspectacular NCAA playing career at Cornell (under former Team Canada women&rsquo;s coach Melody Davidson), but once she graduated and chose to pursue a law degree at the University of Ottawa, the chance to put on the stripes and still be involved in the game was appealing.For starters, it was a part-time job to help her stay active outside of her studies, but she also quickly learned to appreciate the role referees and linesmen play and was challenged right away by the technical elements of the job.&ldquo;The biggest adjustment when I first started was learning the positioning, the reasoning for the positioning,&rdquo; says Skinner, who has excelled as a linesman and is starting the next steps to becoming a referee. &ldquo;Like anything, when you first learn something, you have a tendency to focus solely on that. When I first started out, I was wondering if I was at the place at the right time. Gradually, I got to a point where the positioning comes much more naturally and it&rsquo;s more a question of how the game is flowing and the right decisions from a game management perspective.&rdquo;Skinner is one of Jeff&rsquo;s five siblings and here volution into officiating has affected her famous younger brother&rsquo;s attitude toward the zebras. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty impressive with all she has on her plate to take on that, too,&rdquo; Jeff says. &ldquo;If anything, that makes me second-guess myself when I get mad at an official or don&rsquo;t like a call. You&rsquo;ve got to realize they&rsquo;re doing the best they can.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-021018/9720607-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="470" height="615"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRANDON TAYLOR/CWHL)</figcaption></div>Skinner can continue to rise through the officiating ranks, working more CWHL games, Canadian Interuniversity championships and international tournaments if she&rsquo;s judged to be worthy. But her star is on the ascent, in part because she&rsquo;s taken her talents as a lawyer and used them to help her mediate matters on the ice. &ldquo;Mentally, it can be quite challenging, especially in the early years when you&rsquo;re dealing with coaches at the minor levels who may not be as refined and maybe think more off the top of their head and it doesn&rsquo;t come across in the most endearing manner,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m also lucky because I get to deal with conflict resolution in my career, so I feel there&rsquo;s a parallel skill set there.&rdquo;Whereas Kupaks is blazing a trail for women on one side of hockey&rsquo;s contract negotiating table, LAURA KEEGAN is doing the same on the other side as one of the game&rsquo;s first female player agents. As a member of Pat Brisson&rsquo;s hockey representation team at the Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency, Keegan is one of only two female agents currently accredited by the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.Keegan always knew she wanted to work in sports and after earning her law degree from the University of San Diego in 2006, the Boston native interned and networked and eventually was welcomed to Brisson&rsquo;s team in 2009. Once in a while, she realizes she&rsquo;s a pioneer of sorts, but she hasn&rsquo;t encountered any noticeable resistance to her presence in any negotiations or client relationships. In fact, it&rsquo;s quite the opposite: in addition to working with players on endorsement deals and marketing contracts, she has developed working relationships with players&rsquo; mothers, wives and girlfriends and offers a woman&rsquo;s perspective whenever it&rsquo;s called for. And, like Kupaks, she couldn&rsquo;t be happier to see her hard work pay off.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-011278/9720600-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="610" height="853"><figcaption class="caption-body">CREATIVE AGENT Laura Keegan flourishes as an agent and often connects well with clients&rsquo; mothers, wives and girlfriends.</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">WOMEN IN THE INDUSTRY NOW WILL OPEN DOORS FOR WOMEN IN THE FUTURE &ndash; Laura Keegan</blockquote>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of what I&rsquo;ve done and to be doing my dream job,&rdquo; says Keegan, 32. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how many people can say that. It&rsquo;s a perfect job, a perfect fit. From Day 1, I felt comfortable and was really well received.&ldquo;I never felt for a second I was treated differently because I was a woman. But a good sense of humor and thick skin have helped.&rdquo;All the women profiled above acknowledge hockey has made notable strides in assimilating women into all corners of the sport, yet all understand it will take many more years and much more pioneering before anyone can honestly claim there are equal opportunities for both sexes.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a lot of opportunities to coach now, far more than there ever were when I came through, and the next step would be the management positions, scouting and those types of things,&rdquo; says Davidson, now Hockey Canada&rsquo;s head scout for its women&rsquo;s national team program. &ldquo;But I still feel like we have a ways to go, because when I came out of (the 2010) Vancouver (Olympics), I didn&rsquo;t feel like there were a whole lot of options for me to stay in the game if I didn&rsquo;t want to coach.&rdquo;Women have been able to break several barriers to the hockey world over the years, but most know there are still many more to bust through. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to say it will be significantly different in the next 10 years,&rdquo; Kupaks says. &ldquo;But hockey is a very small world. It&rsquo;s still a good old boys&rsquo; club.&rdquo;Adds Keegan: &ldquo;It is a predominantly male-dominated industry and that won&rsquo;t change overnight. But women in the industry now are going to open the doors for a lot of opportunities for women in the future.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-01

Their Roots Grow Stronger

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011329/9720683-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">STRONG GET STRONGER Canada&rsquo;s Rebecca Johnston and USA&rsquo;s Kelli Stack are part of their nations&rsquo; next waves of great talent. (PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>THE EPIC CANADA-U.S. rivalry may have dominated the elite women&rsquo;s hockey scene for decades, but the consistent championship matchup between the two hockey super-powers continues to evolve. Just as importantly, the competitive depth of the women&rsquo;s game is increasing.With the 2014 Olympics in Sochi a little more than a year away, the average fan (and the below-average sportswriter) might assume it is destiny the American and Canadian women will square off for the gold yet again &ndash; with, yawn, Hayley Wickenheiser and Co. back at it against Angela Ruggiero and the Yankee contingent.All those assumers would be wrong. For starters, Ruggiero is now retired and the 34-year-old Wickenheiser, while still dangerous, isn&rsquo;t the dominant presence she was a few years ago. This is a new era for the Canadians and Americans.In the current era of Canadian women&rsquo;s hockey, the biggest threat is without question Meghan Agosta, the 25-year-old powerhouse who marauded through the Canadian Women&rsquo;s League in 2011-12, setting a new points record with 80 (41 goals and 39 assists) in 27 games (see pg. 16 for more).The Canadians are just as deep in net (veteran Charline Labonte is still only 29, while fellow 2010 Olympian Shannon Szabados is entering her prime at age 26) and although they still have an incredible amount of talent at forward (including Jayna Hefford and Gillian Apps), team brass is pleased to have increased depth on the blueline, including Tessa Bonhomme. There were more than two dozen women &ndash; including 25-year-old Catherine Ward, who Team Canada coach Dan Church called &ldquo;a superstar who can play 30 minutes a night and be an impact player&rdquo; &ndash; being considered for Canada&rsquo;s next national centralization pool.On the other side, the Americans possess as much if not more youthful talent on offense &ndash; most notably, 24-year-old dynamo Kelli Stack and 23-year-old twin sisters Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux &ndash; and can match the Canadians&rsquo; depth in all areas. &ldquo;Maybe in the past they&rsquo;ve had less depth, but they have the same thing as us now: 16 and 17-year-old girls who can play at this level,&rdquo; says Hefford, a national team member for 15 years. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re no longer a two- or threeline team. Each team has four lines that can play at this level and that&rsquo;s why the games are always so close.&rdquo;Although women&rsquo;s Olympic hockey came under fire after the 2010 Vancouver Games for some lopsided scores when Canada or the U.S. took on an opponent aside from each other, all involved with the women&rsquo;s game understand it is still in its relative infancy as an international sport and needs time to develop. &ldquo;As far as the high-scoring Olympic games go, it&rsquo;s so crazy how women&rsquo;s hockey gets mentioned negatively,&rdquo; says U.S. defenseman Gigi Marvin. &ldquo;Look at what happened (at the 2012 Olympic Games) in London: the U.S. men&rsquo;s basketball team pounded every opponent, but nobody was saying basketball shouldn&rsquo;t be an Olympic sport.&rdquo;Observers of, and participants in, the women&rsquo;s elite game have noticed a steady upswing in the quality of competition. And that goes not only for next-tier opponents such as Sweden or Finland, but in games between Canada and the United States as well. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been on the U.S. team since 2006 and our games are so much better than they were six years ago or even two years ago,&rdquo; Marvin says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a credit to the staff on both sides and to the players for continuing to push the envelope.&rdquo;Adds Hefford: &ldquo;Internationally, the game continues to grow and it&rsquo;s still a young sport, but I watch tapes of Olympic Games from eight years ago and it&rsquo;s night and day. Even in a four-year cycle, the level of play, you can barely compare it. Young girls now are way further ahead than I was at their age.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02898/9720676-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="998" height="1026"><figcaption class="caption-body">CATHERINE WARD (BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

Still Leading The Pack

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BROPHY</div>MANON RHEAUME finally feels a little relief.And it only took 20 years. On Sept. 23, 1992, Rheaume became the first woman to play in the NHL when she started in net in a pre-season game for the fledgling Tampa Bay Lightning against the St. Louis Blues. Did OK, too, allowing just two goals on nine shots in one period of work.Rheaume is quite proud of her performance, with the exception of one play &ndash; a goal by Blues defenseman Jeff Brown. &ldquo;That one really bothered me,&rdquo; says Rheaume, now 40 and living in Michigan. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re going to laugh, but it took me 20 years to realize something: it wasn&rsquo;t as long a shot as I&rsquo;d imagined it to be. I never really saw the game, just some highlights here and there over the years. I was so mad because for all those years I thought the shot was taken from outside the blueline and I should have stopped it.&ldquo;In the past few days with all the media I have been doing, I saw for the first time Brown&rsquo;s goal. He crossed the blueline, took a couple of strides before winding up for a slap shot &ndash; and he had one of the hardest shots in the league. I watched it and thought to myself, &lsquo;Oh, my gosh. I didn&rsquo;t look too bad on that goal, actually.&rsquo; It took me 20 years to realize he was almost at the top of the circle and not outside the blueline. He had a rocket for a shot.&rdquo;The inclusion of a female goaltender brought international attention to the NHL expansion team that it otherwise wouldn&rsquo;t have received. Rheaume, a native of Beauport, Que., caught the Lightning&rsquo;s eye the previous season as the third-string goalie for the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs of the Quebec League. Even though she was realistic in her aspirations of making the NHL, she wanted, at the very least, to inspire other female players.Rheaume had a summer job at the television station RDS while she went to university and her first assignment was at the NHL draft. A Lightning scout introduced her to then-GM Phil Esposito, who invited her to camp. &ldquo;At first I thought he was joking,&rdquo; Rheaume says. &ldquo;He says, &lsquo;Listen, I&rsquo;m going to send you an invite and you have two weeks to decide if you want to come to our camp.&rsquo; Obviously it didn&rsquo;t take me two weeks to make up my mind.&rdquo;And it wasn&rsquo;t simply a publicity stunt by Esposito. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t like she couldn&rsquo;t play,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I knew she wouldn&rsquo;t embarrass herself in a preseason game. This was her dream come true.&rdquo;The Lightning players, for the most part, embraced Rheaume and did whatever they could to make her feel welcome and comfortable. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t sure what to think about it at first,&rdquo; says former Lightning center Brian Bradley. &ldquo;Obviously, Phil was looking for a little PR. Once we met Manon and she started to scrimmage, she was a very elegant and classy lady and gained a lot of respect. In the scrimmage games, she was one of the top goalies.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011433/9720721-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="473" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">(HOCKEY CANADA IMAGES)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02970/9720714-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="1045" height="1476"><figcaption class="caption-body">BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS Manon Rheaume stopped seven of nine shots after starting a pre-season game for Tampa Bay in 1992. (AL MESSERSCHMIDT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>In fact, Rheaume&rsquo;s play in those scrimmage games was just as significant &ndash; if not more so &ndash; than her period of work against the Blues. Training camp was divided into four teams that played mini-games against each other and every goalie played at least a period of each game. In Rheaume&rsquo;s first time on the ice, she stopped all 14 shots she faced. &ldquo;I knew that the first impression was going to be really important,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;At the end of the mini-tournament, I finished in the top three or four goalies out of eight. I was not at the level to play in the NHL, but to have accomplished what I did in that tournament was a big deal.&rdquo;Twenty years later, Rheaume&rsquo;s most lasting memory is the effect it she&rsquo;s had on other female players. &ldquo;I still have young girls doing projects about me in school,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;They read about it or their parents talked to them about me. Kathleen Kauth, who played for the USA women&rsquo;s national team, told me she had my poster hanging on the wall of her bedroom and every time she would leave the room she&rsquo;d high-five the poster.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0032-01

20 Minutes, 20 Years Later

<div class="byline">BY TAYLOR ROCCA</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011276/9720752-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WILD WEST Shannon Szabados, a 2010 Olympic gold medallist, is the first woman to play in the Western League (2002). (HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>FOR KIRA HURLEY, playing with the boys wasn&rsquo;t about breaking barriers or setting records. It was always about personal achievement and striving to be the best she could be. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always wanted to compete at the highest level I possibly can,&rdquo; Hurley says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always tried to push myself higher.&rdquo;Shannon Szabados and Erin Whitten Hamlen will tell you the same thing.Unfortunately, opportunities aren&rsquo;t always abundant. Hurley was lucky. The Evansville Icemen of the now-defunct All-American Hockey League gave Hurley, a former ECAC goaltender of the year, a chance to play pro. And on Feb. 14, 2009, she etched her name into the record book when she assisted on a goal for the Icemen. She didn&rsquo;t realize she had become the first female goalie to record a point in a men&rsquo;s pro game. &ldquo;I was more excited to be in the game,&rdquo; Hurley says. &ldquo;I had an opportunity that a lot of women don&rsquo;t get. I got to play in a men&rsquo;s professional game and that in itself is an accomplishment for me.&rdquo;The Hockey Hall of Fame honored Hurley and her record, obtaining a handful of the goaltender&rsquo;s gear from that historic night, including her jersey, stick and the scoresheet.Still, despite her historic assist, Hurley isn&rsquo;t immune from having her gender take precedent over her play. Hurley is set to join the Federal League&rsquo;s Danville Dashers in October and Joe Pace, defenseman/assistant GM for the Dashers, admits to using it, at least in part, as a public relations stunt. &ldquo;Having a female involved with men&rsquo;s professional hockey, it has always got PR around it,&rdquo; Pace says. &ldquo;There are fans that feed off of it, but it always helps when that female can hold her own with the men. The risk factor is taken out when you know that player can play.&rdquo;Like Hurley, Szabados has trailblazed her own way into the men&rsquo;s game. She was the first woman to play in the Western League, getting into four exhibition tune-ups and one regular season game for the Tri-City Americans in 2002. She&rsquo;s also played men&rsquo;s hockey at the junior A and Canadian collegiate levels. Although she personally has made some headway, Szabados knows women often don&rsquo;t get the chances their talent deserves. &ldquo;Sometimes you aren&rsquo;t taken as seriously or given the opportunity,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Sometimes coaches or organizations don&rsquo;t know how to deal with the gender difference. Organizations sometimes would rather not have to deal with the hassle of having a girl and everything that may or may not come along with it. Sometimes we don&rsquo;t get the opportunities, in certain cases, that we should.&rdquo;On top of a lack of opportunities are some obvious and unavoidable hurdles. Whitten Hamlen got her chance to break into the men&rsquo;s pro ranks with the Toledo Storm of the ECHL in 1993-94. The Storm treated her well, but one of the things she noted was she wasn&rsquo;t able to establish as much camaraderie with her male teammates due to details as simple as having to change in a different dressing room. &ldquo;A lot of those guys on all the teams, they were like brothers in a sense,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t on the outside because they were putting me there. It was just the natural gender boundaries. Going out to bars or restaurants with the guys, it was just different. It was like having brothers, where brothers want to hang out with the boys a lot and they don&rsquo;t necessarily want to be with the girls.&rdquo;Hurley, Szabados and Whitten Hamlen aren&rsquo;t the only women to make notable strides playing alongside the boys. Manon Rheaume (pg. 32) became the first woman to play in the NHL when she suited up for the Lightning in a 1992 exhibition game. Hayley Wickenheiser (pg. 22) played with pro teams HC Salamat in Finland in 2002-03 and Eskilstuna in Sweden in 2008-09. Kelly Dyer won a Sunshine League title with West Palm Beach in the mid-1990s. And in 2005, Angela Ruggiero played alongside her brother, netminder Bill Ruggiero, for the Tulsa Oilers in the Central League. &ldquo;In a perfect world you take the best player available, whether it&rsquo;s female or male,&rdquo; Szabados says. &ldquo;Once female players can establish that they can play with the guys, it will become more common.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0033-01

Breaking Ranks

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-021015/9720783-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">I&rsquo;LL BE BACK&hellip;EVENTUALLY Hockey fans are furious over the lockout right now, but most are diehards and they&rsquo;ll forgive the NHL again after this stoppage. (CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011454/9720790-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="193" height="228"></div>BUMPED INTO AN OLD university pal recently at the gym where this temple of a body undergoes regular sculpting and maintenance. This guy is such a hockey fan that he named his son Lanny (in deference to McDonald) and his daughter Hanna (in deference to McDonald&rsquo;s hometown). He battles traffic through Canada&rsquo;s busiest city several times a week so his son can play AAA hockey. One time when we were playing Trivial Pursuit in university, he knew Borje Salming wore No. 5 in the 1976 Canada Cup because his No. 21 was taken by Dan Labraaten.But when it came to the minutia surrounding the lockout, he didn&rsquo;t know a thing, nor did he care. I had to explain to him that it&rsquo;s all about the percentage of hockey-related revenue, how the owners want more, and how the players want the owners to share more revenue instead. His attitude was basically, &ldquo;Wake me up when it&rsquo;s over.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">HOCKEY IS STILL BEING PLAYED ALL OVER NORTH AMERICA</blockquote>Nobody is about to advocate that fans ignore what&rsquo;s happening in negotiations just because it tends to make their eyes glaze over. That&rsquo;s because what transpires between now and whenever this imbroglio ends is going to have lasting effects. (However, if you think the NHL getting a bigger piece of the revenue pie will result in lower ticket prices, you&rsquo;re dreaming. Tickets prices always have, and always will be, dictated by supply and demand, not by player costs.)But you do get the sense there is far less outrage and far more a sense of ennui this time around. With the exception of a Finnish kid putting together a heart-tugging online plea for the two sides to settle, there hasn&rsquo;t been the same angst from the diehards. Perhaps that&rsquo;s because this has become a part of the sports landscape. Ever since baseball was willing to cancel the World Series in 1994 and the NHL wiped out its season 10 years later, we&rsquo;ve become all too familiar with the billionaires vs. millionaires showdowns. The NBA and NFL have had their own lockouts in the past couple years, so pretty much everyone has been through the drill. And we all saw this labor war coming for years, so we&rsquo;ve had time to prepare for it. In 2004, most hockey fans were shocked that it came to such drastic measures. This time, people would have been shocked if it hadn&rsquo;t.This is not to suggest the NHL, by locking out its players, is risking alienating its fans and pushing the sport even further to the fringes. Not going to happen. The reason is the NHL does not have many casual fans. It has diehards. And these people will come back to the game in droves like they did in 2005. It defies all principles of good business, but it seems the best way for the NHL to satiate its fan base is to take hockey away from it once in a while.The fans will return, but the distinct impression we&rsquo;re getting is they don&rsquo;t want to hear about the lockout. That&rsquo;s why The Hockey News and this correspondent in particular, will turn the focus to players who are actually playing. My plan is to use the same time I would attending an NHL game, typically one night a week, and spend it watching and chronicling games at the grassroots level. We begin the series this issue and we&rsquo;ll continue it as long as the lockout lasts. During weeks when the magazine does not publish, you&rsquo;ll find my weekly dispatch on our website, <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a>. One week it might be a compelling story about Jr. A or B, another might be from the women&rsquo;s game, another from an atom house league game.Those of us who follow the NHL tend to think just because it&rsquo;s not playing, there&rsquo;s no hockey. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hockey is alive and well and being played uninterrupted all over North America. If you haven&rsquo;t been to a minor hockey game in the past decade or so, you&rsquo;ll be amazed at what you see. There are some special talents doing some amazing things.But there are also very average kids who will never even come close to being elite players and whose futures as hockey players are beer leagues on a Saturday night with their best friends. Just because we&rsquo;ll never know who they are doesn&rsquo;t mean they enjoy the game any less or have any less compelling tales to tell.And that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ll be seeking over the next couple of months. We hope you enjoy them. We&rsquo;ll continue to chronicle and follow the lockout in the pages of The Hockey News and on <a href="http://THN.com">THN.com</a>. And don&rsquo;t worry, we&rsquo;ll wake you when it&rsquo;s over. &#9632;

f0034-02

The Game Rages On

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011350/9720821-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NOT YOUR AVERAGE HOCKEY PLAYERS Hilary Lloyd, Stephanie Sucharda and Kristyn Capizzano are part a Mississauga Jr. Chiefs club with a team average of 86 percent in academics.</figcaption></div>KRISTYN CAPIZZANO has quite a bit on her mind lately and that&rsquo;s saying something considering how much she can pack into her brain. And it&rsquo;s not as though she has a lot of time on her hands to ponder things, what with her being on the ice 12 times a week and all. She&rsquo;s leaning toward Harvard, but there are a few other Ivy League schools out there. And there&rsquo;s always Boston College or Boston University or any other of a number of institutions trying to attract her. &ldquo;It can be a little stressful,&rdquo; says Capizzano, captain of the Mississauga Jr. Chiefs, &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s always good to have options.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s the kind of quandary the teenagers who play for the Jr. Chiefs face on a regular basis. Perennially one of the top junior women&rsquo;s teams in Ontario, it&rsquo;s an organization that does not suffer from a lack of high achievers on and off the ice. In fact, the team picture might as well be a Mensa meeting. On this year&rsquo;s roster, the academic average per player is 86 percent in high school studies, topping out with defender Stephanie Sucharda and her 95-percent average in Grade 10. And with two Ontario championships and three bronze medals in the past five years, the Jr. Chiefs are not just a bunch of science nerds.Almost all of their graduating players for this season have committed to NCAA Div. I schools, including assistant captain Hilary Lloyd, who will be taking her 91-percent average to Harvard. The team&rsquo;s two goalies &ndash; 16-year-olds Amelia Boughn and Alysia DaSilva &ndash; don&rsquo;t graduate high school until 2014, but are already being heavily recruited by Princeton. Many Jr. Chiefs, such as Capizzano, attend academically challenging private schools where they also play hockey, which means most of their time is spent on the ice or in the classroom.<blockquote class="pullQuote">GIRLS WHO COMMIT TO SCHOOL GIVE BETTER WORK ETHIC AND GET BETTER RESULTS</blockquote>And that is not just dumb (or in this case, smart) luck on the part of the Chiefs, whose coach, Jerry Turi, acknowledges he targets high-achieving academic players for his program. The reason is simple. Players who aspire to combine a high level of academics and athletics are more motivated because their goal is to play at a Div. I school in the either on a scholarship or, in the case of an Ivy League school, financial aid.That&rsquo;s not as easy as you might think. Although the pool of players is smaller than for the men, so too are the opportunities. There are currently 59 Div. I men&rsquo;s programs in U.S. college hockey, compared to 35 for women. &ldquo;For the vast majority of these girls, realistically it&rsquo;s a four-year ride after this and then they&rsquo;re done,&rdquo; Turi says. &ldquo;So the important thing is to get the marks, get to a good school and get the education. I usually tell players if that&rsquo;s not their goal and they just want to play and have fun, they&rsquo;re probably better off playing somewhere else.&rdquo;The goal for most of the players is to have the best of both worlds, which means having their education paid for and being able to represent Canada internationally. Capizzano and Sarah Steele, a 17-year-old defender from Prince Edward Island who also attends the private Appleby College in Oakville, Ont., have played for Canada at the under-18 level and those in women&rsquo;s hockey circles think 15-year-old Sucharda is a top prospect for Team Canada. (One of the Jr. Chiefs&rsquo; veterans is 18-year-old Jillian Skinner, who&rsquo;s the younger sister of 2011 NHL rookie of the year Jeff Skinner.)Turi believes players who are more academically inclined aren&rsquo;t necessarily better players, but they are more committed. And it&rsquo;s the commitment as much as the talent that leads to the Jr. Chiefs being so successful. Some players come from as far as two hours away for practice, which includes 90 minutes of dryland training and two hours on the ice. &ldquo;They have to be good academically or they just won&rsquo;t be able to keep up,&rdquo; Turi says. &ldquo;The experience I&rsquo;ve had is the girl who is committed to school gives you much better work ethic and much better results.&rdquo;<div class="sidebar"><h2>Box score</h2>Oct. 2 &ndash; Iceland Arena, Mississauga, Ont.Mississauga Jr. Chiefs 3Ainsley MacMillan, Hayley Masters, Victoria BachOakville Jr. Hornets 1Michelle Quick &#9632;</div>

f0035-01

Minds Before Ice Matters

<div class="byline">BY ANDREY OSADCHENKO</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011355/9720922-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MALKIN MAGNETMagnitogorsk landed Evgeni Malkin because it was willing to ink his buddy Sergei Gonchar. (ROMAN KRUCHININ/KHL PHOTO AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>It took no time for Evgeni Malkin to find a new job after the NHL lockout began. Just a few hours after the collective bargaining agreement expired Sept. 15, the two-time Art Ross Trophy winner and reigning league MVP signed a deal with his old Kontinental League club, Metallurg Magnitogorsk.But it wasn&rsquo;t smooth sailing for Malkin to start his return to the KHL. Every team plays its heart out against Magnitogorsk and the Penguins&rsquo; superstar feels it. &ldquo;Honestly, this surprises me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Arenas in Ufa and Kazan were packed for our games. Fans cheered loudly and both games went into overtime. I agree with coaches who say it&rsquo;s like we&rsquo;re playing playoff hockey even though the season has just started. Everybody is battling for every point. This is what makes hockey so entertaining.&ldquo;KHL hockey is of a very high level. It&rsquo;s awesome that the league keeps progressing every year. The season is going to be really interesting if the lockout lasts long enough.&rdquo;According to various reports, Malkin originally was going to sign with CSKA, but his key condition was the club also had to ink his friend Sergei Gonchar. Allegedly, Red Army didn&rsquo;t want any defensemen and the deal was off. CSKA Moskva landed Ilya Bryzgalov, Mikhail Grabovski and Pavel Datsyuk. Malkin, Gonchar and Nikolai Kulemin signed with Magnitogorsk and there were reports the KHL club had been contacted by Sidney Crosby&rsquo;s representatives in mid-September.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good that I came here early,&rdquo; Malkin said after his second game. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to need a few games to get in the rhythm, though. I&rsquo;ll get better soon. Everybody is waiting for my first goal, including me. There&rsquo;s no reason to panic. I&rsquo;m not fully ready at this point. I&rsquo;ll score my goals in time, that&rsquo;s for sure.&rdquo;And of course, he did. In a home game against Lev Praha, Malkin finally found the back of the net. By the four-game mark, he had six assists and seven points. So while the lockout dragged on, Malkin had settled nicely into the KHL. Still, he&rsquo;d rather be back in Pittsburgh.&ldquo;Of course I&rsquo;m not happy about the lockout,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Players deserved the right to play. Now we have 30 teams that can&rsquo;t play hockey and a lot of fans who can&rsquo;t watch hockey. I don&rsquo;t think this is right. Gary Bettman has been in charge for 20 years. For 20 years we&rsquo;ve been losing money. I suppose he&rsquo;s responsible for making certain decisions, which led to this.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s all Malkin had to say on the topic. He&rsquo;s not getting hurt financially by the NHL labor war. Malkin is one of the few players making more money during the lockout. Russian sports newspaper Sport-Express reported he will earn $9.7 million, $700,000 more than his NHL salary for 2012-13. The KHL has a ceiling that caps salaries for NHLers at 65 percent of their NHL salary, so a large chunk of Malkin&rsquo;s KHL coin includes bonuses such as spending the entire season in the KHL and getting a certain amount of points.Malkin&rsquo;s comments, along with speculation of his sizable KHL paycheques, may concern some North American fans as he looks genuinely happy in Magnitogorsk. With players like Malkin back in the Russian league, the fallout of the NHL&rsquo;s labor conflict could get much more complicated.<h2>GEOGRAPHY LESSON</h2>The maps and lists on the ensuing pages indicate lockout destinations for nhLers. Included are any players who appeared in 10 or more games last season and have deals with out clauses should a new CBA be reached.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011207/9720915-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="304" height="324"></div><h2>Kontinental Hockey League</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02849/9720908-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="2423" height="1534"></div>1 Donbass Donetsk (Ukraine)Anton Babchuk, Cgy Alexei Ponikarovsky, Wpg Ruslan Fedotenko, Phi2 Dinamo Minsk (Belarus)Evander Kane, Wpg Pekka Rinne, Nsh3 Dinamo Riga (Latvia)Kaspars Daugavins, Ott4 SKA St. Petersburg Sergei Bobrovsky, Clb Ilya Kovalchuk, NJ5 Lokomotiv YaroslavlSemyon Varlamov, Col Dmitry Kulikov, Fla Artem Anisimov, Clb6 Atlant MytishchiAnton Khudobin, Bos7 CSKA MoskvaIlya Bryzgalov, Phi Pavel Datsyuk, Det Mikhail Grabovski, Tor8 Dynamo MoskvaAlex Ovechkin, Wsh9 Metallurg MagnitogorskSergei Gonchar, Ott Nikolai Kulemin, Tor Evgeni Malkin, Pit10 Barys Astana (Kazakhstan) Victor Hedman, TB Nikolai Antropov, Wpg11 Avangard OmskNikita Nikitin, Clb Andrew Ladd, Wpg12 Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) Andrej Sekera, Buf Lubomir Visnovsky, NYI13 HC Lev Praha (Czech)Jakub Voracek, Phi Zdeno Chara, Bos14 Severstal Cherepovets Tom Wandell, Dal15 Vityaz Chekhov Andrei Markov, Mtl<h3>VHL - Vysshaya Liga</h3>16 Sokol Krasnoyarsk Alexander Semin, Car<h3>&gt; DEL Germany</h3>Hamburg FreezersJamie Benn, DalAdler ManheimMarcel Goc, Fla Dennis Seidenberg, Bos<h3>2nd Bundesliga</h3>Eispiraten CrimmitschauChris Stewart, StL Wayne Simmonds, PhiBietigheim SteelersT.J. Galiardi, SJ<h3>&gt; EBEL Austria</h3>Vienna CapitalsCorey Potter, EdmGraz 99ersThomas Vanek, BufOlimpija Ljubljana Jan Mursak, DetHC InnsbruckAndreas Nodl, CarOrli ZnojmoBryan Bickell, ChiVillacher SVMichael Grabner, NYI<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05482/9720901-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="387" height="217"></div><h2>SM&nbsp;Liiga Finland</h2>1 Lukko Mikkel Boedker, Phx Philip Larsen, Dal Frans Nielsen, NYI2 TPSKris Russell, StL3 JokeritErik Karlsson, Ott Valtteri Filppula, Det4 HIFK Sean Bergenheim, Fla5 JYPRich Peverley, Bos6 KalPaCraig Smith, Nsh7 Karpat Jason Demers, SJ Jussi Jokinen, Car<h3>MESTIS</h3>8 Kookoo T. Wingels, SJ<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02913/9720894-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="884" height="1773"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03739/9720887-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="592" height="190"></div><h2>Allsvenskan Sweden</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04600/9720880-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="897" height="1804"></div>1 Sodertalje Matt Read, Phi Carl Hagelin, NYR2 DjurgardenDouglas Murray, SJ G. Landeskog, Col3 VasterasPatrik Berglund, StL4 MoraAnze Kopitar, LA<h3>ELITSERIEN</h3>5 ModoAlexander Steen, StL6 FrolundaMatt Duchene, Col<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05452/9720873-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="226" height="295"></div><h2>National League A Switzerland</h2>1 Kloten Brooks Laich, Wsh2 BernJohn Tavares, NYI Mark Streit, NYI Roman Josi, Nsh3 Ambri-PiottaMax Pacioretty, Mtl4 Langnau J. Spurgeon, Min Tyler Ennis, Buf5 BielTyler Seguin, Bos6 LuganoLuca Sbisa, Ana Patrice Bergeron, Bos7 RapperswilJason Spezza, Ott8 ZugRaphael Diaz, Mtl9 Geneve-ServetteYannick Weber, Mtl Logan Couture, SJ10 DavosRick Nash, NYR Joe Thornton, SJ<h3>NATIONAL LEAGUE B</h3>11 Red IcePatric Hornqvist, Nsh<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03637/9720866-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="1494" height="946"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04535/9720859-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="1471" height="869"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02806/9720852-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="321" height="122"></div><h2>Czech Extraliga Czech Republic</h2>1 HC PlzenTuukka Rask, Bos Michal Rozsival, Chi2 HC PardubiceAles Hemsky, Edm Jakub Kindl, Det David Krejci, Bos3 HC Vitkovice Roman Polak, StL4 KLH ChomutovMichael Frolik, Chi5 HC TrinecRostislav Klesla, Phx6 Bili Tygri LiberecOndrej Pavelec, Wpg Ladislav Smid, Edm7 HC KladnoTomas Kaberle, Mtl Marek Zidlicky, NJ Jaromir Jagr, Dal Jiri Tlusty, Car Tomas Plekanec, Mtl8 HC Sparta PrahaMichal Neuvirth, Wsh9 HC Slavia PrahaVladimir Sobotka, StL10 HC Ceske BudejoviceAndrew Ference, Bos &#9632;

f0036-01

No Place Like Home?

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RISTO PAKARINEN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011316/9720953-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="511" height="807"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEXANDER STEEN (JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption></div>Swedes famously like consensus, but sometimes too much of it is a bad thing.At least that&rsquo;s what Sweden&rsquo;s anti-trust agency, the Swedish Competition Authority, thought when it ruled the Swedish League clubs&rsquo; agreement to not sign NHL players to short-term contracts during the NHL lockout was illegal. &ldquo;The league&rsquo;s action can be likened to a cartel,&rdquo; said Per Karlsson, the SCA&rsquo;s head of the legal department in a release. &ldquo;The clubs&rsquo; mutual decision to discriminate against certain players is not allowed according to the competition laws.&ldquo;Each club must be allowed to take independent decisions on their investments.&rdquo;While the league has since appealed the SCA&rsquo;s interim decision to the Swedish Market Court, one club broke the silent agreement just days later, as Modo&rsquo;s GM Markus Naslund signed St. Louis Blues left winger Alexander Steen to a contract. According to some reports, Steen will play without pay, but the club will cover his insurance.That Modo was the first club to break free wasn&rsquo;t a surprise, since it was Steen&rsquo;s agent Kalle Boden who took the case to the SCA. Also, Boden&rsquo;s brother, Henrik, is on the Modo board.A second Elite League squad followed suit when Frolunda signed center Matt Duchene of the Colorado Avalanche. Rumors were flying that other deals were imminent.Several Swedish clubs have publicly stated they wouldn&rsquo;t sign NHLers, but with the door now legally open, the temptation to bolster the roster, even if just for a few games, may be too big for some. This is especially true in light of the fact fans of clubs from the secondtier HockeyAllsvenskan can see NHL stars on many of those teams (see above). &#9632;

f0038-01

No Captivity For NHLers

<div class="byline">&#x2013; STEVE ZIPAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011205/9720984-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="451" height="702"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK NASH (FREUNDLICHE GR&Uuml;SSE/DAVOS)</figcaption></div>In his third game for HC Davos of the Swiss League, Rick Nash hit the boards following a check by HC Lugano defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen.Nash went on for another shift, then took himself out of the 4-2 loss for precautionary reasons. The power forward, who joined Davos with pal Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks, was diagnosed with a bruised shoulder and expected to return a week later. The sigh of relief on social media from Blueshirts fans resonated throughout New York.To be sure, injuries are a risk for locked-out players skating in the Kontinental League and European leagues, but Nash and Thornton, who starred in Davos during the 2004-05 lockout, knew what to expect. &ldquo;Back then, they went in July,&rdquo; said Joe Resnick, who represents Nash and is business partners with John Thornton, Joe&rsquo;s brother. &ldquo;They knew each other, but they really became friends over there.&rdquo;Not only that, the pair was wildly successful. Thornton led the team to a championship with 54 points in 40 games and Nash had 26 goals and 46 points in 44 games.For Thornton, there are personal connections. He met his wife there, bought a place and trains in Switzerland every summer. So when the lockout began Sept. 15, the plans were sealed.Nash had been working out with some Rangers, but a return to Davos made sense. &ldquo;He wanted to compete and stay sharp in game competition,&rdquo; Resnick said. &ldquo;He and Joe played together on Team Canada, All-Star Games and there&rsquo;s a real good comfort level in Davos. The whole atmosphere and the fans are great.&rdquo;And apparently the magic was back. The pair combined for four points each (Nash with a natural hat trick) in their debuts. Now the trick is to stay healthy. &#9632;

f0039-01

Together Again

<div class="byline">BY MICHAEL SPATH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01909/9721029-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="447" height="445"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02583/9721022-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="1019" height="1253"><figcaption class="caption-body">JONNY BE GOOD Jon Merrill, a Devils secondrounder, is the Wolverines&rsquo; top all-around defenseman. (MERRILL: SCOTT R. GALVIN)</figcaption></div>A year ago, only nine of college hockey&rsquo;s 59 Div. I programs started a freshman goalie, with Denver&rsquo;s Juho Olkinuora and Western Michigan&rsquo;s Frank Slubowski leading their teams to NCAA Tournament berths.This season, Michigan coach Red Berenson will turn to a true freshman, either Jared Rutledge or Steve Racine, to backstop the Wolverines. But Berenson isn&rsquo;t worried about starting a rookie netminder for two reasons: the six true freshman goaltenders to start for Berenson previously had a combined .686 winning percentage and the Maize and Blue boast arguably the top defense corps in the country. &ldquo;We lost one really good defenseman in Greg Pateryn, but look at the experience of our upperclassmen &ndash; (senior) Lee Moffie and (juniors) Mac Bennett, Kevin Clare and Jon Merrill are four pretty good players,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;And then our young defensemen, (sophomores) Brennan Serville and Mike Chiasson, should be much improved this year. And Jacob Trouba could be an impact player for us as a freshman.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03452/9721015-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="165" height="107"></div>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have some size. We have some real strong defensive defensemen and we have some offensively inclined defensemen.&rdquo;The &lsquo;D&rsquo; is a big reason why the Wolverines are our pick as the No. 1 team in the nation.Merrill, a 2010 New Jersey Devils draft pick (38th overall), is the most talented allaround blueliner on the roster. The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder could be the NCAA&rsquo;s top offensive D-man since Wisconsin&rsquo;s Brendan Smith finished his career in 2010.Merrill has contributed nine goals and 27 assists in 61 games, but on this roster he will not serve as the only anchor. Moffie (San Jose, 188th in &rsquo;10) and Bennett (Montreal, 79th in &rsquo;09) have both been entrusted with the &lsquo;A&rsquo; on their jerseys and are veterans of 102 and 73 career contests.Meanwhile, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Trouba, selected ninth overall in 2012 by the Winnipeg Jets, is a throwback defender, capable offensively. But at heart he&rsquo;s a tough, hard-to-play against defenseman that might be the Wolverines&rsquo; most physical skater since NHL first-rounder Jack Johnson patrolled the blueline from 2005-07.It&rsquo;s a good bet Merrill and Trouba will start the season as partners. &ldquo;There are a lot of pairing options we&rsquo;ll be thinking about, but that&rsquo;s a natural because you have two very high-end talents that should play off each other&rsquo;s strengths,&rdquo; said assistant Billy Powers, in charge of U-M&rsquo;s defensemen. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re both big, strong kids, but Trouba plays with more of an edge to his game. He likes the physical side of it and that&rsquo;s something we want to see more of in Jonny&rsquo;s game.&rdquo;Michigan ranked fifth nationally in 2011-12 in defense, allowing only 2.17 goals per game, but did so behind senior netminder Shawn Hunwick, who set a program single-season record with a .932 save percentage. The Wolverines understand they have to be a sharper overall defensive team without a veteran to bail them out during stretches when they don&rsquo;t play well.&ldquo;As seniors, we want to go out with a bang,&rdquo; said center Kevin Lynch (Columbus, 56th in &rsquo;09). &ldquo;We know if we put our freshman goalie in a situation where he has to stop 30-40 shots every night, then we&rsquo;re not helping him and we&rsquo;re not going to give ourselves a chance to finish on a high note.&rdquo;For this team, coming up short again will not be tolerated after the Wolverines were upset and bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the first round a year ago. Michigan has qualified for a record 22 straight postseasons and has been to 11 Frozen Fours, but has just two championships to show for the incredible run (1996 and 1998). &ldquo;Making the NCAA Tournament is great, but it&rsquo;s about time we win a national championship,&rdquo; Bennett said. &ldquo;To see Boston College seemingly win it year after year just reminds us that we&rsquo;re getting close, but not getting all the way. And it&rsquo;s our time. &#9632;

f0040-01

Built From The Back End

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04363/9721081-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="447" height="445"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01788/9721074-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="946" height="1238"><figcaption class="caption-body">DIMUNITIVE DISHER T.J. Tynan, a Columbus Blue Jackets draftee, led the Irish in assists and points last season. (MATT CASHORE)</figcaption></div>It was a tale of two seasons for Notre Dame and neither was particularly fun. &ldquo;Last year was disappointing,&rdquo; said coach Jeff Jackson. &ldquo;We had a lot of missing pieces in being consistent. In the first half it was our goaltending, in the second half it was scoring &ndash; which is a pretty bad combinations if you think about it.&rdquo;But there is a solid foundation to build off. The Fighting Irish boast one of the strongest freshman classes in the nation, headlined by NHL picks Steven Fogarty (New York Rangers, 72nd overall in 2011), Thomas Di Pauli (Washington, 100th in &rsquo;12) and Mario Lucia (Minnesota, 60th in &rsquo;11). Lucia injured his leg during off-season training, so he won&rsquo;t be able to help until just before Christmas, but the team will still have plenty of firepower thanks to returning gems T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02515/9721067-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="142" height="120"></div>Interestingly enough, however, Jackson plans on splitting his aces. Lee played center before coming to South Bend and will return there to give the Irish depth down the middle (Billy Maday and Riley Sheahan are gone from last year&rsquo;s squad). &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be different,&rdquo; said Tynan, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect (66th in &rsquo;11). &ldquo;But it should be a good change. It means opportunities for other guys.&rdquo;And more headaches for the opposition. Tynan and Lee (an Islanders pick) were the top two scorers on the Irish last season and bring totally different skill sets to the table. &ldquo;Lee is going to be more of a power forward down the middle, like a Staal,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;T.J. is a dynamic center who can make his wingers better.&rdquo;Tynan is also 5-foot-9 and 167 pounds, while Lee comes in at 6-foot-3 and 227 &ndash; so they&rsquo;ll never be confused.The goaltending will be Steve Summerhays&rsquo; duty. He rebounded from a tough first half last year and enters as the go-to starter.Overall, this is going to be a bittersweet CCHA campaign, since it is also the last. Notre Dame will move on to Hockey East, where Boston College and Providence &ndash; rivals from other sports &ndash; will greet them. Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State will all help form the Big Ten, while other squads merge into the WCHA and NCHC. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot to reminisce about, but it&rsquo;s also disappointing,&rdquo; Jackson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a time to relish what we had.&rdquo;One more banner would be a great way to do it. Michigan, Western Michigan and Notre Dame are all preseason favorites and if the Irish can gel quickly, they&rsquo;ll have the talent to go the distance. Tynan already knows freshmen Di Pauli and Sam Herr from back home. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pretty cool Chicago connection,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They work really hard and they&rsquo;re all talented, so we can&rsquo;t wait to see what they&rsquo;ll do.&rdquo;The leg injury to Lucia is the one downer early on. He and Fogarty were teammates on the Jr. A Penticton Vees team that ran roughshod over the British Columbia League last season before claiming a national title at the RBC Cup. The Minnesota native (whose father Don coaches the NCAA&rsquo;s Golden Gophers) was expected to play a scoring role on the left wing, so watch for Di Pauli or a returning right winger to shift over until the big freshman is ready. Once the Irish have the full complement going, however, they&rsquo;ll have a golden opportunity to shine in South Bend.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03419/9721060-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="304" height="111"></div><h2>RANKINGS</h2>1. MICHIGAN2. WESTERN MICHIGAN3. MIAMI4. NOTRE DAME5. MICHIGAN STATE6. FERRIS STATE7. NORTHERN MICHIGAN8. OHIO STATE9. LAKE SUPERIOR10. ALASKA-FAIRBANKS11. BOWLING GREEN0 Div. I national championships in Notre Dame men&rsquo;s hockey history. The Irish were one win away from glory in 2008, when they fell 4-1 to Boston College in the national championship game. Notre Dame also reached the Frozen Four in 2011, losing in the semifinal. &#9632;

f0041-04

Gearing Up For Grand Finale

<div class="byline">BY MICHAEL RUSSO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04340/9721133-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="447" height="445"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01837/9721126-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="1732" height="1125"><figcaption class="caption-body">PINT-SIZED POWER Kyle Rau&rsquo;s small frame hasn&rsquo;t stopped him from lighting up the college ranks. (RAU: JERRY E LEE)</figcaption></div>Brian Skrudland&rsquo;s heart bleeds Florida Panthers. The first captain in their history, the gritty checking center guided the Panthers on a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup final in 1996. The franchise hasn&rsquo;t won a playoff round since, which is why Skrudland, presently the Panthers&rsquo; director of player development, pinches himself every time he walks into Mariucci Arena on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02542/9721119-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="176" height="103"></div>The Gophers reached the Frozen Four last year and we have them ranked No. 1 in their conference this season. They are led by two players Skrudland hopes will don Panthers jerseys for years: Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau. &ldquo;I get goose bumps because if they&rsquo;re not talking about Bjugstad, they&rsquo;re talking about Rau,&rdquo; Skrudland said. &ldquo;When I watch these two play, I get so damn excited. It just makes it like we&rsquo;re getting closer to achieving what we want and that&rsquo;s to bring a Stanley Cup to South Florida.&rdquo;Bjugstad (19th overall in 2010) and Rau (91st in &rsquo;11) grew up in the Twin Cities, with Bjugstad being named Minnesota Mr. Hockey in 2010 and Rau in 2011. Over the years, the prestigious honor has been awarded to players such as Ryan McDonagh, Paul Martin, Darby Hendrickson, Trent Klatt and Tom Chorske.Linemates with captain Zach Budish, a Nashville Predators&rsquo; prospect (41st in &rsquo;09), Bjugstad and Rau combined for 43 goals and 85 points last year, with Bjugstad turning down an entry level contract from the Panthers to return for his junior season.Why? &ldquo;To win a national championship,&rdquo; he said.Bjugstad, 20, stands 6-foot-6 and combines that intimidating size with stealth speed, as well as impressive hands and stickhandling ability for a big man. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s such a great player and draws so much attention to him,&rdquo; said Rau, who was named to the WCHA all-rookie team last year. &ldquo;It frees some ice up for me.&rdquo;Rau, 19, when standing next to Bjugstad, looks like his little brother at 5-foot-8, but don&rsquo;t let that fool you. &ldquo;Little Kyle Rau doesn&rsquo;t play so little on the ice,&rdquo; Bjugstad said. &ldquo;He plays physical and gritty and he&rsquo;s a little water bug all over the ice.&rdquo;The Gophers were supposed to finish in the middle of the pack last year, but wound up winning the Mac-Naughton Cup as the WCHA&rsquo;s regular season champ.They return six of their top seven scorers and all starting D-men. They also get freshmen blueliners Brady Skjei, a 2012 New York Rangers first round pick (28th overall), and Mike Reilly, a 2011 Columbus Blue Jackets fourth-rounder (98th overall). &ldquo;Look at us on paper, we&rsquo;ve got a great team,&rdquo; Bjugstad said. &ldquo;But that doesn&rsquo;t mean anything.&rdquo;The Gophers&rsquo; biggest question mark is in goal. Kent Patterson played all but 20 minutes last year, but this year junior Michael Shibrowski and freshman Adam Wilcox will platoon until somebody emerges as the No. 1. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll work that out themselves,&rdquo; said coach Don Lucia.The Gophers remember their blowout loss to eventual NCAA champion Boston College in the semis. They are motivated and ready embrace their lofty expectations. &ldquo;Last year didn&rsquo;t end the way we wanted it to,&rdquo; Rau said. &ldquo;We still got that bitter taste in our mouth. We&rsquo;re hungry.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03426/9721112-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="419" height="92"></div><h2>RANKINGS</h2>1. MINNESOTA2. NORTH DAKOTA3. DENVER4. WISCONSIN5. ST. CLOUD STATE6. MINNESOTA-DULUTH7. NEBRASKA-OMAHA8.&nbsp;MINNESOTA STATE - MANKATO9. MICHIGAN TECH 10. COLORADO COLLEGE11. BEMIDJI STATE12. ALASKA-ANCHORAGE19 Florida center Nick Bjugstad&rsquo;s overall rank in THN&rsquo;s Future Watch 2012. He joins Jonathan Huberdeau (No. 3) and Jacob Markstrom (No. 8) in a trio of Panthers cracking the top 20. &#9632;

f0042-04

Golden Opportunities

<div class="byline">BY BRION O&#x2019;CONNOR</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04363/9721185-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="447" height="445"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01816/9721178-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="1732" height="1250"><figcaption class="caption-body">GAUD AMONG MEN Speedy Johnny Gaudreau hopes to match the torrid pace he set during BC&rsquo;s dominant 2011-12. (GAUDREAU: JOHN QUACKENBOS)</figcaption></div>Last spring, Boston College freshman Johnny Gaudreau set the collegiate landscape on fire with a second-half performance that netted him Hockey East playoff MVP honors. If the New Jersey native can avoid a sophomore slump, the Eagles will build on their 2011-12 campaign, which ended with 19 straight wins and the program&rsquo;s fifth national championship and third in five years.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02568/9721171-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="153" height="139"></div>Gaudreau, a 2011 Calgary Flames pick (104th overall), was the Eagles&rsquo; catalyst. The diminutive forward &ndash; 5-foot-8 and 153 pounds soaking wet &ndash; registered a team-high 27 points during the streak. His stellar play was reminiscent of another recent Hockey East freshman: 2010 national rookie of the year Stephane Da Costa of Merrimack College, now with the Ottawa Senators. &ldquo;The one thing that he does that Stephane Da Costa would do is they just seem to create offense whenever they&rsquo;re on the ice,&rdquo; said BC associate coach Mike Cavanaugh. &ldquo;They just have unbelievable hockey sense. They know where everyone else is on the ice. They can make that soft, three-foot saucer pass or they can send a guy with a long, rink-wide pass. Johnny&rsquo;s got a great feel around the net. He&rsquo;s got a sneaky shot that can score goals.&rdquo;Despite losing top scorer Chris Kreider, who went on to have a record-setting playoff with the New York Rangers, the Eagles remain loaded up front and solid in net with senior Parker Milner returning. That explains why they were picked No. 1 in USA Hockey&rsquo;s pre-season poll, tied for the top spot with Minnesota. The Eagles&rsquo; offense by committee features local product Bill Arnold (Calgary, 108th in &rsquo;10) and Chicago Blackhawks first-rounder Kevin Hayes (24th in &rsquo;10). &ldquo;Arnold is to us what Patrice Bergeron is to the Bruins,&rdquo; Cavanaugh said. &ldquo;Any situation you put him in, whether it&rsquo;s killing penalties, down two men, on the power play, winning a big faceoff, playing the other team&rsquo;s top line, Billy&rsquo;s capable of doing that.&rdquo;The key position for BC will be the blueline, where the Eagles lost senior Edwin Shea and a pair of secondrounders in captain Tommy Cross (Boston, 35th in &rsquo;07) and Brian Dumoulin (Carolina, 551st in &rsquo;09; traded to Pittsburgh). Coach Jerry York needs returning defenders Patch Alber, Isaac MacLeod (San Jose, 136th in &rsquo;10) and Patrick Wey (Washington, 115th in &rsquo;09) to step up their games, but also expects big things from freshmen Teddy Doherty and Michael Matheson, a Florida Panthers firstround pick (23rd overall). &ldquo;Usually, those first-rounders are pretty good players,&rdquo; York said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s certainly going to have an impact for us this year. He skates very well, has good composure. We worked very, very hard during the recruiting procedure to attract him to BC and he&rsquo;s going to be all we thought he would be.&rdquo;Despite its off-season departures, BC remains a stacked program. Its talent pool will contend for a third national championship for the current crop of seniors. &ldquo;No BC class has done that and we want to be the first and get that sixth national championship for Boston College,&rdquo; said senior captain Pat Mullane. &ldquo;There is still a lot of motivation and still a lot for us to work toward.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03472/9721164-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="350" height="157"></div><h2>RANKINGS</h2>1. BOSTON COLLEGE2. UMASS-LOWELL3. BOSTON UNIVERSITY4. PROVIDENCE5. NEW HAMPSHIRE6. NORTHEASTERN7. MAINE8. MASSACHUSETTS9. MERRIMACK10. VERMONT142 Johnny Gaudreau&rsquo;s points per game during Boston College&rsquo;s 19-game winning streak last season (the longest in school history). Gaudreau had 13 goals and 27 points over that run. &#9632;

f0043-04

Winning Is The Only Way

<div class="byline">BY RUSS BITELY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-04275/9721237-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="447" height="445"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01715/9721230-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="1732" height="1218"><figcaption class="caption-body">HAPPY TO BEHERE Shayne Gostisbehere is thrilled to play for Union College, the school that discovered him. (GIL TALBOT)</figcaption></div>Just 15 miles northwest of New York&rsquo;s capital of Albany sits the quiet suburb of Schenectady. This small city is most known for founding American multinational conglomerate General Electric. Today, the energy can be found on the campus of Union College inside the Achilles Center &ndash; home of the Dutchmen, a hockey program that transitioned to the Div. I rank in 1991 and has struggled to find its way at the top collegiate level for almost two decades.<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02458/9721223-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="129" height="140"></div>Now the men&rsquo;s team has strung together back-to-back 26-win seasons. Not only that, it made school history during the 2011-12 campaign by winning the Cleary Cup, awarded to the ECAC&rsquo;s regular season champion, capturing the conference post-season tournament and punching its first-ever ticket to the NCAA Frozen Four.The newfound success is no fluke, either. The achievements have been in the works over the past several seasons and really started when current coach Rick Bennett was an assistant on the recruiting trail. Bennett and his staff discovered some top-notch talent in recent years, a challenging feat for a small, liberal arts school with an enrollment of about 2,200 students.&ldquo;You know our roster is not sprinkled with first and second round picks,&rdquo; Bennett said. &ldquo;We are going to have to travel and get out there, hit the streets and find the best possible player. More importantly, it has to be the right fit. That&rsquo;s our biggest focus.&rdquo;One true match came a couple years back when Union recognized an undersized, underdeveloped yet talented player in Shayne Gostisbehere while he was prepping at the South Kent School in Connecticut. The ECAC all-rookie defenseman had other looks, but it was Coach Bennett and Union who first came calling and Gostisbehere knew from the beginning it was a good fit.Like Union, Gostisbehere and his family paid their dues. Travel was frequent coming from the non-traditional market of Florida and his father worked two jobs to finance Shayne&rsquo;s out-of-state youth hockey trips.The puck-moving defenseman is a 2012 third round selection of the Philadelphia Flyers (78th overall) and could play for Team USA at the World Junior Championship. He will again be called upon to muster Union&rsquo;s offense from the back end like he did a season ago, though the mentality is team- and defense-first. &ldquo;We have a good group of returning players and a lot of depth,&rdquo; said Gostisbehere.As for his personal contribution? &ldquo;My strengths are being an offensive defenseman, but I also realize that&rsquo;s not all I need in my game to be successful.&rdquo;The pre-season polls have the Dutchmen ranked fifth nationally and unanimously first in the ECAC. According to Bennett, the winning formula for Union has been the whole over the sum of the parts. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a team game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We stress here with our current staff that we are all in this together. It&rsquo;s a tight group here, it&rsquo;s a family. Everyone treats each other with respect and you see the product on the ice.&rdquo;</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03346/9721216-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="379" height="117"></div><h2>RANKINGS</h2>1. UNION2. CORNELL3. HARVARD4. QUINNIPIAC5. CLARKSON6. YALE7. COLGATE8. ST. LAWRENCE9. DARTMOUTH10. RPI11. BROWN12. PRINCETON0.720 Union College&rsquo;s points percentage in 2011-12, the highest in school history and the leading mark in the ECAC. The Dutchmen also matched their best-ever win total with 26. &#9632;

f0044-04

Little Engine That Could

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01627/9721296-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="834" height="820"><figcaption class="caption-body">PURPLE PUCK EATER Niagara goalie Colby Drost impressed with a .928 save percentage as a freshman. (JIM ROSVOLD/NIAGARA UNIVERSITY)</figcaption></div>Thanks to RIT and Air Force, the Atlantic Hockey conference has officially become that small-but-scary opponent in the NCAA tournament, even if there&rsquo;s usually only a single representative via automatic bid. This season, it&rsquo;s the Niagara Purple Eagles with upsets in their eyes and they&rsquo;ll use past experience to build their case. &ldquo;All the teams do a good job with non-conference schedules,&rdquo; said sophomore goalie Colby Drost. &ldquo;Last year we played Michigan, Minnesota, tied Union and beat Colgate when they were ranked.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02418/9721289-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="218" height="93"></div>But the Eagles were downed by RIT in the second round of the playoffs, meaning no Frozen Four. To get into the field of 16 this time out, they&rsquo;ll also have to focus on dethroning a tough Air Force squad that returns three of its four top scorers and star netminder Jason Torf. &ldquo;Until someone beats them,&rdquo; Drost said, &ldquo;they&rsquo;re the top team.&rdquo;The Eagles lost one top netminder in Chris Noonan, but now have Drost to step into the breech after a freshman campaign that saw him post an impressive 2.35 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in six appearances. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a great start for him,&rdquo; said coach Dave Burkholder. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s really bought into the fitness and culture here. Nothing fazes him. Colby can make a great save or give up a bad goal and have the same pulse.&rdquo;The Purple Eagles will attempt to ride Drost and some holdover momentum from last year&rsquo;s 12-3-2 finish to bigger and better things this season, including statement games against Bowling Green and Michigan State. &ldquo;We had such a great second semester, you really can&rsquo;t put a price tag on that experience,&rdquo; Burkholder said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s given us some confidence this year. I can see the swagger.&rdquo;Enough to bounce the back-to-back conference champions from Air Force? That&rsquo;s the big question.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-05265/9721282-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="324" height="134"></div><h2>RANKINGS</h2>1. AIR FORCE2. NIAGARA3. BENTLEY4. RIT5. MERCYHURST6. CONNECTICUT7.&nbsp;&nbsp;ROBERT MORRIS8. HOLY CROSS9. CANISIUS10. SACRED HEART11. AMERICAN INTL12. ARMY<h2>INDEPENDENTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-03353/9721275-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="237" height="162"></div>Thanks to a leadership change at the school, the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers are back from the dead. New coach Kurt Kleinendorst brings a Stanley Cup ring (he was an assistant with New Jersey in 2000) and a Calder Cup title as coach of AHL Binghamton in 2011.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-04307/9721268-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="237" height="162"></div>The Penn State Nittany Lions are ready for Div. I, though they&rsquo;ll be on their own before joining the new Big Ten in 2013-14. In the meantime, coach Guy Gadowsky&rsquo;s squad will play future rivals Wisconsin and Ohio State among others and get their footing &ndash; because no one&rsquo;s going to take it easy on the new kids.81 Goals allowed by the Niagara Purple Eagles in 2011-12, fewer than any other Atlantic Hockey school. The Eagles also finished their season with a 12-3-2 run. &#9632;

f0045-01

Eagles Eye Top Spot

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-06230/9721327-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="664" height="459"></div><h2>GREAT LAKES INVITATIONAL</h2>- DEC. 28-29. DETROIT MICH. COMERICA PARK (OUTDOORS)MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN STATE, MICHIGAN TECH, WESTERN MICHIGAN<h2>HOCKEY CITY CLASSIC</h2>- FEB. 17. CHICAGO, ILL. SOLDIER FIELD (OUTDOORS)&nbsp;MINNESOTA VS. WISCONSIN, NOTRE OAME VS. MIAMI<h2>BEANPOT CLASSIC</h2>- FEB. 4-11, BOSTON, MASS. TD GARDENBOSTON U., BOSTON COLLEGE, HARVARO, NORTHEASTERN<h2>FROZEN l'01JR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP</h2>- APRIL 11-13, PITTSBURGH, PA. CONSOL ENERGY CENTER &#9632;

f0045-06

EVENTS TO WATCH

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-05186/9721379-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="370" height="133"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01631/9721372-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="1128" height="895"><figcaption class="caption-body">EASY &lsquo;A,&rsquo; NHL-BOUND The Hawks&rsquo; Ian McCoshen got the highest possible 2013 draft grade from Central Scouting.</figcaption></div>The Waterloo Black Hawks have done the bridesmaid thing to death. They&rsquo;re ready for their rings. And though it won&rsquo;t be a cakewalk, the team is stacked for a run at the United States League crown.Last season, the Black Hawks made a surprise crusade to the final only to lose to favored Green Bay. This summer, Waterloo was invited to play in the Junior Club World Cup in Omsk, Russia &ndash; an event featuring squads from throughout Europe plus the Ontario League&rsquo;s Sudbury Wolves.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02414/9721365-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="166" height="130"></div>In the end, it was an all-North American final, with the Hawks hanging tough but ultimately losing 2-0 to their Canadian counterparts. &ldquo;It was a great experience for the team and myself, going as far as we did with the little summer we had and the little experience we had,&rdquo; said defenseman Ian McCoshen. &ldquo;It was unbelievable competition, getting to play the (Canadian Hockey League). I thought it was a pretty even game, I&rsquo;m not going to lie.&rdquo;Though the Hawks have talent at all positions, Mc-Coshen is a focal point as the top 2013 draft prospect on the team. The 6-foot-3, 207-pounder is listed as an &lsquo;A&rsquo; prospect by NHL Central Scouting, meaning he&rsquo;s expected to go in the first round. The Hawks want to give him the freedom to use all his tools this season. &ldquo;He needs to continue to evolve as a physically dominant player,&rdquo; said coach P.K.O&rsquo;Handley. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got an NHL shot and we want to get him more involved in the offense.&rdquo;McCoshen wants to work on his skating, but is already adept at rushing up the ice when needed and providing that threat from the back end, as he did several times in the defeat to Sudbury.Despite the loss, O&rsquo;Handley was pleased with the Russian result. &ldquo;We couldn&rsquo;t have scripted a better training camp,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The intensity of the play, the media coverage locally, from the standpoint of a playoff atmosphere, it was invaluable.&rdquo;Which is good, because expectations are high. &ldquo;Last year in the playoffs, we were the hunter,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Handley said. &ldquo;Now we&rsquo;re the hunted.&rdquo;But they&rsquo;re not easy prey. Along with McCoshen, Waterloo boasts three more 2013 prospects in dazzling undersized center Taylor Cammarata and goalies Eamon McAdam and Cal Petersen. Then there&rsquo;s former Shattuck-St. Mary&rsquo;s star Zach Stepan, who Nashville took 112th overall in 2012, and smallish scorer Vince Hinostroza, picked up by the Chicago Blackhawks with the 169th pick. &ldquo;We have to work hard every single day to get better,&rdquo; McCoshen said. &ldquo;We have to go back to the final &ndash; that&rsquo;s required. Getting back to the final is our goal.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-03284/9721358-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="370" height="133"></div><h2>RANKINGS</h2>1. WATERLOO2. GREEN BAY3. INDIANA4. DUBUQUE5. LINCOLN6. FARGO7. YOUNGSTOWN8. OMAHA9. CHICAGO10. MUSKEGON11. TEAM12. TRI-CITY13. CEDAR RAPIDS14. SIOUX FALLS15. SIOUX CITY16. DES MOINES &#9632;

f0046-05

Second-best Won’t Cut It

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-04235/9721410-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="520" height="564"><figcaption class="caption-body">(MCCOSHEN: GIL TALBOT)</figcaption></div>With teams stretching from Alaska to New York, the North American League is expansive. But given three guesses, could you nail which state the Wichita Falls Wildcats call home?The answer is Texas and the reason to watch the Cats this year is Evan Cowley, who is hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow goaltenders Anthony Stolarz (Philadelphia Flyers, 45th overall) and Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets, 130th), both of whom were selected from the NAHL at this past summer&rsquo;s NHL draft.Cowley is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound product of Colorado by way of B.C. (he&rsquo;s a dual citizen). Scouts have likened his make-up to Carey Price&rsquo;s and he&rsquo;s also a Pekka Rinne fan. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m able to move pretty well even with my size, which is one of my better attributes,&rdquo; Cowley said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m quick &ndash; though I need to make some adjustments with my speed and footwork.&rdquo;No word on the quality of his Texas two-step, however. &#9632;

f0046-04

Riser In The Falls

<div class="byline">BY LARRY HUMBER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0049-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02317/9721441-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg"></div><h2>ACROSS</h2>1 Mystery, ___ stars Russell Crowe4 Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s dad9 Nickname of the late Brian Spencer10 Hobey Baker ___ is college hockey&rsquo;s top prize11 Take a series 4-012 Teemu ___ is back for another season13 National Collegiate Athletic Association15 Brad ___ was Norris runner-up six times18 Where the Fuscos played their college hockey21 ___ Bay was home of junior hockey&rsquo;s centennials23 Begins a season24 Teaches25 He&rsquo;s coach of the 2012 Cup winners26 Kerry ___ was a long-time ref<h2>DOWN</h2>1 Help in the scoring of a goal2 Still in contention3 Two-time nhl PIM king Zenon ___, pictured5 Futile, to no ___6 Frosty Forristall was Boston&rsquo;s ___7 Wade ___ was a Senator for a decade8 Semi-___ get paid, but not a lot14 Swift ___ is home of hockey&rsquo;s Broncos15 Florida&rsquo;s symbol16 As Foster Hewitt said, &lsquo;He ___, he scores!&rsquo;17 Team or individual in pursuit19 Aan ___ seat allows you easy access20 Aanother word for puckANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ISSUE AND AT <a href="http://THN.com/XWORD">THN.com/xword</a>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION ACROSS 1. PARISE, 4. CHOSEN, 9. SUDBURY, 10. SUTER, 11. ALONE, 12. NIKOLAI, 13. JARI, 15. MARK, 18. O CANADA, 21. SHERO, 23. DENIS, 24. TAIL END, 25. NETTED, 26. BRETON DOWN 1. PASCAL, 2. RODEO, 3. SCUDERI, 5. HASEK, 6. SITTLER, 7. NORRIS, 8. RYAN, 14. AGAINST, 15. MESSIER, 16. JORDIN, 17. GORDON, 19. AISLE, 20. ALTA., 22. EJECT &#9632;

f0049-02

CROSSWORD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01419/9721472-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="583" height="492"></div><h2>WINNER</h2>&ldquo;Come on! Don&rsquo;t you see it? It looks just like Gary Bettman!&rdquo;ROBERT WEBER, MIDLOTHIAN, VA.&ldquo;I call him Wilson.&rdquo;JONATHAN STRICKLAND, SURREY, B.C.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ll see the dots indicate the relative maximum and minimum in the Sinusoidal Line Shift patterns seen in the 2012 playoffs.&rdquo;JED PAULS, CHARLOTTE, VT.&ldquo;In my spare time I create limited edition hockey cards, like this one of Alex Ovechkin.&rdquo;STEPHEN LANGDON, ROCHESTER, N.Y.&ldquo;This is the face Gary Bettman made when we told him we&rsquo;re going to tie him up in the crease and take shots on the net.&rdquo;ANDREW THOMPSON, RUMFORD, R.I.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s Russian for KHL.&rdquo;BOB EDMUNDSON, BRANDON, MAN.&ldquo;How I feel when Canada beats Russia.&rdquo;GOLDA RYZER, RICHMOND HILL, ONT.&ldquo;Hockey players can do more than just play. It&rsquo;s a self portrait.&rdquo;JEREMY YORK, DALLAS, GA.&ldquo;Putting my money where my mouth is&rdquo;KYLE MCCANN, WINDSOR, N.S. &#9632;

f0049-01

Caption CONTEST

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-04230/9721541-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="676" height="689"><figcaption class="caption-body">(SEA DOGS JERSEY: DAVID CONNELL)</figcaption></div>The Quebec League&rsquo;s Sea Dogs have accomplished a lot in a little time. Two league titles and a Memorial Cup in less than a decade, to be precise.So even though the team&rsquo;s look can&rsquo;t possibly be described as old, a new third jersey takes the Dogs in a totally different direction and it&rsquo;s a pretty solid tack. The Sea Dog has been completely reimagined, clutching the town name in a nod to the old American League Saint John Flames dragon logo. Silver has been minimized in favor of black and blue, but pops on a nice &lsquo;SJ&rsquo; shoulder patch. &#9632;

f0049-04

JerseyHound

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02301/9721579-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="856" height="860"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL BISSONNETTE (BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01406/9721586-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="202" height="241"></div>I was introduced to hockey by my dad. But unlike a growing number of young girls, I never played.My dad, Dwayne, never ruffled my covers at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday to wake me for an out-of-town game. He never perched in front of me to lace my skates. We never celebrated a goal with a box of Timbits.What we did do, however, was watch the Edmonton Oilers from our hometown of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. I sat cross-legged on the living room carpet with him on the couch behind me. He explained. I listened. And we bonded as I adopted his allegiance.Even after I learned the game and began to appreciate it, it never crossed my mind to start playing it. I was always more comfortable being an observer, with a book in my lap and pencil and paper nearby. When I finally developed an interest in being athletic, my family had moved to Arizona and chasing a soccer ball along a flat desert seemed the obvious choice.Perhaps surprisingly, hockey became even more important to me through my adolescence. It was the language I used to communicate with my dad. He coached soccer to me in terms of hockey. He&rsquo;d say things like, &ldquo;Ryan Smyth scores goals because he goes to the front of the net. That&rsquo;s where you need to be. That&rsquo;s where the ball will be.&rdquo;And once my dad discovered I liked to dissect strategy and break the sport down into simple parts, he used that mindset to help me in other areas of my life, from solving math problems to facing peer pressure. &ldquo;Everything has a formula,&rdquo; he told me. &ldquo;All you have to do is figure out what it is and you&rsquo;ll know what to do.&rdquo;Maybe that&rsquo;s why I chose to become a hockey writer. This is the language I&rsquo;ve always understood. Or maybe I picked this career because I like to write down what I observe. Either way, I couldn&rsquo;t be more satisfied with my decision.I wish I could say my journey to becoming the Phoenix Coyotes beat writer for AZCentral Sports was easy, but nothing worth having ever is. But my struggles or the challenges I&rsquo;ve encountered have never been because I wear a skirt into the dressing room. They&rsquo;ve always been because I&rsquo;m young and I&rsquo;m learning and, ultimately, because I care what I attach my name to.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-03161/9721572-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="867" height="1165"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANTOINE VERMETTE (DANIEL CLARK)</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">The Challenges I face aren&rsquo;t because I wear a skirt</blockquote>As a female, I knew I&rsquo;d never be accepted into the fraternity that exists between boys and the game. And that&rsquo;s OK. But I did want to be respected and credible. I&rsquo;d like to think I&rsquo;ve accomplished both by asking the right questions, being diligent in my work and showing up every day.Last season, I asked Coyotes enforcer Paul Bissonnette what it was like being out of the lineup for so long during a lengthy stretch of healthy scratches. Thanks to social media, Bissonnette has a reputation as an uncensored, outrageous personality, but his answer was serious. He felt depressed, ostracized from teammates and had sought out the help of a psychiatrist. I parlayed his interview into a two-part feature on his plight and the issue of fighting in the NHL. I was proud of the stories, but I wondered how they&rsquo;d be received by Bissonnette and the Coyotes.As a journalist, I&rsquo;ve never believed my loyalty is to the team I cover. But I&rsquo;m mindful of what I publish because as much as I&rsquo;d like to believe my job is only about observing and writing, it&rsquo;s also about people. And if I want people to talk to me, I need to build their trust.Yet once the story ran, the firestorm I might have expected never materialized. That shouldn&rsquo;t have surprised me. Colleagues and editors and even my dad constantly remind me that my integrity will remain intact as long as I&rsquo;m responsible in my reporting and fair in my writing. Players and coaches respect that. In fact, they come to expect it out of the best.And that&rsquo;s my advice for aspiring hockey journalists. Write with accuracy and credibility, but also with a purpose. Mine has been to continue the conversation I started with my dad as a child. Using that as my compass has yet to fail me. &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

October 29, 2012

The Fight For Sochi

ASK ADAM

SIX SIX

Blast from the Past