The Instigator

Up In The Air

The Toronto Marlies have it good. Ricoh Coliseum is within walking distance of the Air Canada Centre, but for all other American Leaguers a call-up means packing a bag. In some cases, the drive is short, such as the 40-mile journey from Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, N.Y. to Bridgeport, Conn., but in other cases it’s several hours in the air, with layovers in between, like the 2,337 miles between Syracuse, N.Y., and Anaheim. Jean-Francois Jacques made that journey during his 16 call-ups and demotions last season. “It’s not easy,” he said. “It’s something that is getting more and more talked about around the league.” One four-day stretch (Oct. 26-29) saw him go up then down four days in a row. Luckily for Jacques, the NHL games he was called up for…

I’ve Been Everywhere

Dave MacIsaac is a long way from home, but that’s nothing new for a man whose hockey journey has taken him across the world. Consider him one of the sport’s true nomads. After playing junior in Nova Scotia, MacIsaac, a native of Cambridge, Mass., returned to the United States to play college hockey at the University of Maine. In his first season, 1992-93, MacIsaac and the Black Bears won the NCAA title with a record of 42-1-2. Among his teammates were future pros Paul Kariya, Garth Snow and Mike Dunham. “I never even dreamed about playing pro hockey,” MacIsaac says. “In college, I didn’t know about it until my senior year when I thought, ‘Yeah, you know, I can probably give this a shot.’ ” Bouncing around the minor pro ranks, including…

CROSSWORD

ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ISSUE AND AT THN.com/xword ACROSS 1 The ___ ___ Hounds are based in Saskatchewan 8 Not in anyone’s possession 9 Home of the 2007 Stanley Cup winner 10 ___ Nabokov is between the pipes 11 Former trainer ___ Forristall, he roomed with Bobby Orr 12 Goalie Antti ___, pictured 14 ___ Bay was home of hockey’s Centennials 17 Harry ___ won the Norris before Orr’s reign 19 ___ Baldwin was Hartford’s owner 20 Prime minister who greeted Team Canada 1972 on its return 21 2009 Calder winner ___ Mason 22 Wayne Gretzky played with the Toronto-based ___ ___, a Jr. B team DOWN 2 Mike Ilitch is Detroit’s 3 Go over again 4 The New York ___ News covers hockey in The Big Apple 5 Number worn by ‘Mess’ 6 Marked closely 7 The ______ is the next-to-last playoff round 11 A ___ player is one…