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.

December 17, 2012

The Hockey News - Dec-17-12

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-012092/9750871-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="261" height="228"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Scott Niedermayer 45%</b></p><p>Chris Chelios 38%</p><p>Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour 5%</p><p>Rob Blake 4%</p><p>Paul Kariya 4%</p><p>Owen Nolan 2%</p><p>Keith Tkachuk 2%<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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IN THIS ISSUE

POLLRESULTS

<div class="byline">BY JEFF BLAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01822/9752650-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>THERE&rsquo;S A TREND HERE</b></p><p><b>Like many young players, Brett Ritchie credits Gary Roberts' training for his breakout.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(RITCHIE: TERRY WILSON/OHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-1563/9752657-1-eng-US/f0043-152.jpg" title="f0043-15" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>It&rsquo;s not uncommon for the Dallas Stars to focus on developing bigbodied forwards who score and play with a physical edge.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02572/9752643-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="161" height="180"></div><p>From captain Brenden Morrow to budding youngster Jamie Benn, the Stars never seem to be short on raw talent &ndash; and prospect Brett Ritchie is no exception. &ldquo;He skates so fast and shoots so hard,&rdquo; said Niagara IceDogs coach-GM Marty Williamson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big physical specimen that will score you 20 goals and be a great second linetype guy in the NHL.&rdquo;</p><p>Sound familiar?</p><p>Much like the aforemen-tioned duo, Ritchie, a Stars 2011 second-rounder (44th overall), is known for his strength, size and offensive upside. Being similar in age and playing styles, Ritchie uses Benn as an example when shaping his own game.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been on the ice with him in camp and he&rsquo;s one of the top guys in the league now, so you learn a lot,&rdquo; Ritchie said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of similarities with our size, style and goalscoring abilities.&rdquo;</p><p>The latter skill is one Ritchie is having no trouble honing on the top line. After exemplifying his vision and playmaking skills with an assist-heavy start, Ritchie has been scoring goals in a monumental fashion.</p><p>In the first eight games of November, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound right winger amassed 16 goals and 22 points &ndash; with 10 goals and three assists coming over a three-game span. While it&rsquo;s natural to look for a reason behind the point explosion, Ritchie maintains he&rsquo;s just doing his thing. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of finally bearing down and putting the puck in the net,&rdquo; said Ritchie, who grew up in Orangeville, Ont., an hour northwest of Toronto. &ldquo;I never thought I&rsquo;d get 10 goals in one weekend, but I knew they were going to go in if I kept getting the chances.&rdquo;</p><p>Playing on a line with New York Islanders first-rounder Ryan Strome (2011, fifth overall) doesn&rsquo;t hurt Ritchie&rsquo;s cause. The pair have a history that traces back to minor bantam, where they played on a line together with the Toronto AAA Marlies.</p><p>The two are the most dangerous combination in the league since being reunited last season after Ritchie joined Niagara via trade with the Sarnia Sting. But success hasn&rsquo;t always come easily for the IceDogs alternate captain. Following his rookie season, Ritchie battled a couple of injuries in addition to a bout of mononucleosis, limiting him to 49 games in his draft year.</p><p>But he&rsquo;s bounced back in Niagara. Ritchie attributes his improved health to his extensive off-season training with retired NHLer Gary Roberts. &ldquo;He taught me a lot about how to maintain your body throughout the season and be more consistent with your energy levels,&rdquo; Ritchie said.</p><p>The knock on Ritchie is he doesn't always get involved physically, even though he&rsquo;s blessed with a power forward&rsquo;s frame. He could also do a better job when he doesn't have the puck.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great finisher and a great forechecker, but I think he can continue to work on making players around him better,&rdquo; Williamson said.</p><p>While the lockout prevented Ritchie from attending his second NHL camp, as a familiar name to Hockey Canada &ndash; playing for Team Ontario in the 2010 World Under-17 Challenge and Team Canada under-18 team in 2011 &ndash; you&lsquo;ll surely see Ritchie&rsquo;s name on the list of invites for Canada&rsquo;s national junior team in December.</p><p><b>For more on the future, check out: <a href="http://thn.com/prospects">thn.com/prospects</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Ritchie Rich On The Scoresheet

<div class="byline">BY GREG OLIVER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01573/9752847-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>ONE AND FUN</b></p><p><b>Darren Jensen has his name on a major NHL award despite playing only one full season.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>D</span>arren Jensen was called up to the NHL under the worst of circumstances. The Flyers Vezina Trophywinning goalie, Pelle Lindbergh, had died in a car crash Nov. 11, 1985, and Jensen was next on the depth chart.</p><p>Jensen was playing for the American League&rsquo;s Hershey Bears and was in Sherbrooke for a game against the Canadiens. Bears coach John Paddock gave him the news and drove Jensen to the airport, where a private jet whisked him away for a game against the Oilers. Flyers GM Bobby Clarke and coach Mike Keenan were waiting. &ldquo;I wanted to go on the ice in the morning, just to practise with the guys, get a feel of the NHL caliber before I went into the hornet&rsquo;s nest,&rdquo; Jensen says. &ldquo;They said no, there was too much press, &lsquo;You have to go back to the hotel.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;I had to learn the hard way about life</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Darren Jensen</i></b></blockquote><p>Jensen and Bob Froese, Lindberg&rsquo;s backup, made the best of a bad situation and actually came out as the William M. Jennings Trophy winners that season with a league-low 241 goals allowed. Jensen&rsquo;s sense of humor helped him fit in immediately with the tight Flyers squad, which had lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup final the season before.</p><p>But Jensen didn&rsquo;t find levity in everything. He was very selfconscious about his hair, which had betrayed him when he was 19. Froese remembers walking in on his teammate in a hotel room. &ldquo;I open the door and here&rsquo;s this guy who&rsquo;s probably three inches shorter than what I&rsquo;m used to seeing and looks really old,&rdquo; Froese laughs. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got his hairpiece in his hand and he&rsquo;s brushing it.&rdquo;</p><p>Standing up for his colleague, Froese protected Jensen from the traditional hazing ritual of shaving the rookie. For the rest of the year, the Flyers instead rubbed Jensen&rsquo;s head for luck.</p><p>When the Philadelphia brought in Chico Resch late in the year, Jensen&rsquo;s NHL run came to end. His career numbers: 15-9-1 with a 3.68 goals-against average, .884 save percentage and a pair of shutouts. The Creston, B.C., native concluded his career in the AHL and International League, but the love of the game was gone. &ldquo;I just started to collect a paycheck,&rdquo; Jensen says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d lost my passion, and that&rsquo;s when I knew it was the end.&rdquo;</p><p>Jensen, who was drafted 92nd overall in 1980 by the Hartford Whalers, had plenty of success before reaching the NHL. He backstopped North Dakota to two NCAA championships (1980 and 1982) and excelled with the IHL&rsquo;s Fort Wayne Komets in 1983-84. That season he led the league in GAA and was named a first-team all-star, rookie of the year and the league&rsquo;s MVP.</p><p>There was one final NHL tease with Vancouver in 1987-88. &ldquo;It was a really terrible situation because it was myself, Frank Caprice, Troy Gamble, Kirk McLean,&rdquo; Jensen says. &ldquo;Everybody had NHL experience. Politics played a part. They gave me a chance, I just didn&rsquo;t jump on it&hellip;My confidence was just, for some reason, shattered.&rdquo;</p><p>Still, Jensen helped the Canucks as a practice goalie for a little while and later taught young goaltenders at hockey schools.</p><p>Jensen&rsquo;s connections in Philly with hair replacement led to the now-defunct <a href="http://nhlhair.com">nhlhair.com</a>, where he helped the follicly challenged. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have a lot of business experience, so I went up and then I went down,&rdquo; chuckles Jensen, who has a marketing degree. &ldquo;It was kind of sad. I just had to learn the hard way about life. I made a lot of money and I lost a lot of money.&rdquo;</p><p>Today, the 52-year-old is living in British Columbia and lending his business experience to the website <a href="http://newcarselloff.com">newcarselloff.com</a>, which specializes in finding vehicles in Western Canada. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s quite unique,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I enjoy it.&rdquo;</p><p>FOR MORE TALES OF PAST HOCKEY GREATS, CLICK ON <b><a href="http://THN.COM/BACKCHECKING">THN.COM/BACKCHECKING</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Making Best Of Bad Times

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ANDREW BRETHAUER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-012240/9751161-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="334" height="374"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he Hockey Hall of Fame&rsquo;s</b>&nbsp;<i>Stanley&rsquo;s Game Seven (3D)</i> brings you on the ice, along the boards and behind the goal for an, ahem, critical Game 7 experience in one of the roughest games of pickup hockey you will ever witness. The story is about a bunch of hockey nuts meeting at a small-town rink for their weekly hockey game, except this game is for all the marbles. The prize: a miniature plastic Stanley Cup from a 24-pack of beer.</p><p>The film is a mix of original live action shots, computer-generated 3D animation and classic footage of historic moments in Stanley Cup history.</p><p>One of the film&rsquo;s best visuals puts you behind the puck on a slapshot taken from the blueline. Players, sticks and an outstretched goalie glove fly by as you go with the puck through traffic on the way to lighting the lamp. Openice hits and stickhandling through defensemen fit in perfectly with the overall 3D experience.</p><p>Unfortunately, as great as the visuals are, the excitement of the over-time-winning goal ranks just behind Patrick Kane&rsquo;s &ldquo;is it in?&rdquo; game-winner from the 2010 final. Expecting a fictional film to give you the excitement of Bobby Orr&rsquo;s famous 1970 Stanley Cup winning goal (one of the film&rsquo;s three re-created classic moments) may be wishful thinking, but the finish still leaves you wanting.</p><p>Lord Stanley&rsquo;s mug does make an appearance at the end of the 22-minute  film, which plays twice an hour at the Hall in Toronto, as the &lsquo;Keeper of the Cup,&rsquo; Phil Pritchard, walks out to replace the plastic Cup with hockey&rsquo;s Holy Grail.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Shinny In 3D Shines

<div class="byline">PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN ROSE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-012229/9750681-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Deutschland Dangle</b></h2><p><b>The Dallas Stars&rsquo; Jamie Benn doesn&rsquo;t discriminate. In the German League, he still dekes D-men like he&rsquo;s back home.</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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THEBIGPICTURE

<div class="byline">WITH JASON KAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-012459/9750726-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="907" height="580"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>H</span>ave you noticed</b> the days are getting shorter? OK, technically that isn&rsquo;t true; as always, each day is 24 hours long. But the amount of daylight to which we&rsquo;re exposed is steadily shrinking, prompting people everywhere to observe that yes, indeed, it&rsquo;s getting darker earlier. Just as it always does at this time of year. Without fail. We do this to fill the air in conversations, to help avoid awkward silences when we can&rsquo;t think of anything better to say or more direct ways to connect with an acquaintance or friend (or an audience for the Editor&rsquo;s Notebook). And there&rsquo;s something comforting in the pantomime, when the other party answers in the affirmative. Common ground is found, often providing a starting point for a more robust chat.</p><p>So why has it taken so long for the NHL and Players&rsquo; Association to realize the days are getting shorter?</p><p>Could the gloominess be causing fatigue? We know we&rsquo;re tired. Tired of four work stoppages &ndash; including three lockouts during Gary Bettman&rsquo;s tenure &ndash; that have held the game, the fans, our emotions and for some of us, our livelihoods, hostage. We&rsquo;re exhausted by the rhetoric and campaigning to try to curry favor. We&rsquo;re fed up with the disingenuous claims on both the players&rsquo; and owners&rsquo; sides of how much the fans mean to them and how sympathetic they are.</p><p>We&rsquo;re ground down by hockey-related revenue, escrow and make whole. We bite our lips and swallow hard when we feel compelled to chase the latest vibration in the negotiating charade. We shake our heads when a player who has made tens of millions of dollars during the course of his career uses social media to complain about a commissioner who has had a large hand in that incredible windfall. And we roll our eyes when that same commissioner who crusaded mercilessly for cost certainty during the previous lockout, and trumpeted it as the economic cure-all, refuses to take ownership for his systemic failure.</p><p>Through all the weariness, we try to see the bright side. There is still plenty of amazing hockey for us to watch and high-end prospects for us to follow. In fact, we&rsquo;ve spotlighted a host of them in this issue, beginning on pg. 34. And we know that, inevitably, as nature takes its predictable course, the days will get longer. They always do.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021674/9750719-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="414" height="222"></div><p><b>NEXT</b>&nbsp;<b>ISSUE</b>december 31, 2012</p><p><b>CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO SUBSCRIBE:</b> <a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a></p><p><b>CONTACT US:</b> <a href="mailto:editorial@thehockeynews.com">editorial@thehockeynews.com</a></p><div class="sidebar"><h2><b>LISTEN UP!</b></h2><p><b>THE HOCKEY NEWS RADIO SHOW</b></p><p><b>FRIDAYS 2-3 EST</b></p><p><b>XM 92</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03996/9750712-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="157" height="200"></div><p><b>SIRIUS 207</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0006-01

NHL Gloom, With A View

<h2><b>GREEN WITH ENVY</b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he Best of Hockey History collector&rsquo;s edition was great. We really liked the picture of the green Super Tack skates that belonged to Morris Mott when he was a member of the California Golden Seals. Morris is a customer of mine in our hockey shop and he still gets skates like them sharpened a couple times a year. He is now a university professor at our local school and still rips it up on the ice in his &ldquo;new&rdquo; Super Tacks.</b></p><p><b><i>Travis Gouldie, Brandon, Man.</i></b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021795/9750809-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="428" height="564"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-031275/9750802-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="983" height="1156"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MORRIS MOTT</b></figcaption></div><h2><b>Site To Behold</b></h2><p>I found it both historical and interesting that you mentioned former Dodgers owner Walter O&rsquo;Malley in the discussion of the Islanders future move to Brooklyn and the Barclays Center (Inside Hockey, Nov. 12). The Islanders&rsquo; new home will be on the exact site Walter O&rsquo;Malley pleaded to Robert Moses for a new ballpark. Brooklyn&rsquo;s loss in 1957 becomes Brooklyn&rsquo;s gain in 2015. Rangers-Islanders games will have new meaning. This will be fun.</p><p><i>Robert Strunck, Chicago</i></p><h2><b>Brooklyn Boo</b></h2><p>A big thumb down to Nassau County, Charles Wang and especially THN, which suggests the Islanders move to Brooklyn is a &ldquo;resounding win.&rdquo; I hear he Barclays Center has a fancy scoreboard, great skyboxes and superb food courts. These are things a real fan couldn&rsquo;t care less about. Nassau Coliseum has the best sight lines for viewing a game in the NHL. Add to the fact that the ushers allow fans to go down rinkside for warmups. Other arenas have the ticket Gestapo and heaven help any man, woman or child with a cheap ticket who dares to set foot in the corporate area. The only positive from this move is the fact I don&rsquo;t have to listen to some old guy crying about how his beloved Dodgers were stolen by L.A. Brooklyn, you stole our team.</p><p><i>Joseph Rossi, West Babylon, N.Y.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-04728/9750795-1-eng-US/f0008-042.jpg" title="f0008-04" width="523" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(NASSAU VETERANS MEMORIAL COLISEUM: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>For years the NHL and owners have given us the mantra they cannot make money unless they own or control their buildings and concession revenues. So I need some help with the math. Charles Wang is taking the Islanders to Brooklyn where he will not own the building and will be the secondary tenant. He will need to negotiate a cut of the revenues when the Islanders play (in the NHL&rsquo;s smallest building) and will get nothing on nights they don&rsquo;t play. Please explain how the Islanders can be financially viable.</p><p><i>Jeff McLaren, Ottawa</i></p><h2><b>Just AAA Not OK</b></h2><p>I have become more and more frustrated regarding the concussion &ldquo;solutions&rdquo; being offered (Overtime, Nov. 19). I agree wholeheartedly concussions are a problem for our youth and on the surface Ken Campbell&rsquo;s &ldquo;solution&rdquo; make sense. The problem is the hockey world is continuing to turn its back on real grassroots small-town hockey. To limit checking to only the AAA elite levels would prevent many kids from reaching their goals. There are kids playing in small centers who are as talented as any in AAA. Should they be forgotten due to geography or due to the fact their parents can&rsquo;t afford to shell out thousands of dollars a year for hockey?</p><p><i>Dave Jordan, Grand Valley, Ont.</i></p><h2><b>SPILL FOR A DriLL!</b></h2><p><b>The author of our lead letter next issue wins a Premium DEWALT 20V MAX* Hammerdrill!</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-10150/9750788-1-eng-US/f0008-102.jpg" title="f0008-10" width="194" height="61"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-012349/9750781-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="180" height="244"></div><p><b>Submit your letter at: <a href="http://THN.COM/LETTERS">thn.com/letters</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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THN INBOX

<p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ake The Hockey News come alive on your mobile device by scanning photos, as indicated on select pages, using the Digimarc app. Each scanned photo will take you to a video that complements the story you&rsquo;re reading.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-05518/9750840-1-eng-US/f0008-052.jpg" title="f0008-05" width="105" height="167"></div><p>Scan the image with your Digimarc mobile app to watch the video</p><p>Get the free mobile app at the <b>iTunes App Store</b></p><p><b>1</b> Download the Digimarc app on your mobile device from the iTunes App Store.</p><p><b>2</b> Launch the app and hold your device four-to-six inches above the image indicated on the page.</p><p><b>3</b>&nbsp;Wait for your device to focus and your web browser will open, taking you to the added content.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0008-05

NEW THIS ISSUE

<p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>dam, I was reading about &ldquo;Jock Tax&rdquo; that started in California and has since spread to a number of U.S. states. Could you explain it and how it affects NHL visiting teams?</b></p><p><i>Dylan Glaser, Grande Prairie, Alta.</i></p><p>Dylan, The tax applies to pro athletes who earn a portion of their money in particular states that have adopted it. For every day they&rsquo;re playing a road game in one of those states, a portion of their salary (usually pro-rated according to number of workdays in their season) takes a tax hit. It doesn&rsquo;t affect hockey players as much as, say, baseball players, who play a series of games in the same city for three or four days, but it still adds up and NHLers are aware of its impact.</p><p><b>Hey Adam, with buzz about a new arena in Edmonton and a soon-to-be Stanley Cup contender, do you think the NHL should organize a Battle of Alberta Heritage Classic?</b></p><p><i>Josh DeRose, Edmonton</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-03897/9750902-1-eng-US/f0009-032.jpg" title="f0009-03" width="915" height="717"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>2011 HERITAGE CLASSIC</b> <span class="photo-credit">(DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Hey Josh, a third Heritage Classic (following up on 2003 and 2011) would be a success, but there will be a decent wait, mainly because the NHL still has some markets to stage an outdoor event in before they get back to Alberta. For starters, there&rsquo;s the Detroit area, which had the 2012 Winter Classic cancelled because of the lockout. Then there are locales NHL brass are heavily rumored to be interested in, such as new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx or a to-be-determined spot in Southern Ontario.</p><p>Read more <b>&lsquo;Ask Adam&rsquo;</b> every Friday at <a href="http://thehockeynews.com">thehockeynews.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-03

ASK ADAM

<div class="byline">&#x2013; KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-031096/9750947-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="498" height="787"><figcaption class="caption-body">RICK NASH <span class="photo-credit">(NASH: MAURICE PARREE/HC DAVOS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>B</span>etween them, Joe Thornton</b> and Rick Nash would be making $14.6 million this season if the NHL were playing hockey. They have collectively led the league in goals once and assists three times and have a Rocket Richard, Art Ross and Hart Trophy between them. They were both picked first overall in the draft.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04758/9750954-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="111" height="126"></div><p>Damien Brunner, on the other hand, was never drafted and would have been making $925,000 had he played for the Detroit Red Wings this season, with the potential to earn up to $1.4 million with bonuses, but only $70,000 in the minors.</p><p>So it&rsquo;s at least a mild surprise Brunner is outscoring Thornton and Nash in the Swiss League. Not each of them. Both of them. Combined.</p><p>Through 21 games with Zug, Brunner had 12 goals and 34 points. Thornton and Nash had a combined 14 goals and 29 points in 34 games for Davos. For his part, Thornton stood 55th in league scoring with four goals and 13 points. Think about that for a minute. The last time Thornton finished lower than that in the best league in the world was 1998-99, his second year in the NHL, when he was 130th. If you add up the places in which Thornton has finished the past four seasons in the NHL you get 55, which is where he stood in the freakin&rsquo; Swiss League.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05550/9750940-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="1032" height="976"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>SWISS GEEZ</b></p><p><b>Joe Thornton is miles from home and the Swiss League scoring leaders.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(THORNTON: JAKOB MENOLFI/HC DAVOS)</span></figcaption></div><p>So what gives? Why are Nash and Thornton being outscored by Dario Burgler and Jacob Mickflikier? Why is it NHL journeyman Anthony Stewart is not only not the leading scorer in the British League, but he&rsquo;s ranked third among Stewarts? Of course, those guys fared better than Max Pacioretty, who scored once in five games in Switzerland before heading home and Evander Kane, who was dumped by his Kontinental League team for being unproductive and out of shape.</p><p>The reasons for the struggles are many. The tendency is to think locked out NHLers would just show up in Europe, lace up the skates, put on the pads and go out and dominate. But only the naive among us would believe these guys are going to go to a foreign land and make relatively little money and put out the same kind of single-minded effort it takes to play in the NHL. There is no way any of them is going to risk a serious injury in a situation where they&rsquo;re basically just trying to stay in game shape. Which brings us to another reason. For the most part, these guys have little or no emotional investment in their teams.</p><p>Some of it has to do with expectation as well, said former NHLer and Jokerit GM Jarmo Kekalainen. A lot of NHLers who have never played in Europe don&rsquo;t have an appreciation for how good the hockey is there. With the bigger ice, there&rsquo;s also an adjustment to curling off the boards and being eight strides from the net instead of five. Then there&rsquo;s the cultural off-ice adjustment.&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t the type of league where a guy can come and tear it up,&rdquo; Kekalainen said of the Finnish League. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as skilled and it&rsquo;s not NHL caliber, but it&rsquo;s very competitive. A big problem for guys is they come here and we&rsquo;ve already played 25 games and they&rsquo;re not in game shape. And psychologically, some of the guys think it&rsquo;s going to be easy.&rdquo;</p><p>It&rsquo;s similar to the principle that&rsquo;s in effect in world championships and Olympic Games. There are often times in those tournaments where small countries with only a handful of NHLers can give Canada or USA a stiff test. Kekalainen said in the Finnish League, the players relish the opportunity to go head-to-head with an NHL player to prove he can play on the same level with him.&ldquo;When that happens,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;the Finnish guys play their asses off.&rdquo;</p><div class="sidebar"><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-012322/9750933-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="267" height="214"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SUNDIN: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>5</b>&nbsp;Players elected to the IIHF&rsquo;s Hall of Fame. The class of 2013 is Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Teppo Numminen, Paul Henderson and Danielle Goyette.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0010-03

Not So Easy, Eh Boys?

<div class="byline">By Charlie Teljeur</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011938/9750985-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0011-01

The Instigator

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021408/9751016-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="234" height="343"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUST: CLINT TRAHAN &ndash; ABBOTSFORD HEAT)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>+PLUS</b></h2><h3><b>TRUST IN BRUST</b></h3><p><i>Abbotsford Heat goalie</i>&nbsp;<b><i>Barry Brust</i></b>&nbsp;<i>posts three shutouts in his first four games of the AHL season.</i></p><h2><b>&ndash;MINUS</b></h2><h3><b>SHAPED LIKE A HAND, BUT THUMBS DOWN</b></h3><p><i>Five of six worst teams in CCHA are from Michigan, including pre-season faves U. of M., Western Michigan.</i></p><h2><b>+PLUS</b></h2><h3><b>OPERATION HAT TRICK</b></h3><p><i>NHLers participate in charity game in Atlantic City to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy.</i></p><h2><b>&ndash;MINUS</b></h2><h3><b>DID I SAY THAT OR JUST THINK IT?</b></h3><p><i>They may not like Gary Bettman&rsquo;s style, but players cross the line when they resort to name-calling.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-02

PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MARK WRIGHT </div><div class="byline">BY ANDREW BRETHAUER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0012-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-012265/9751061-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>PERMISSION SLIP</b></p><p><b>The Fort Worth Brahmas have allowed Adam Hogg to miss practices and games as he pursues his teacher&rsquo;s certification.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(FORT WORTH BRAHMAS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>ort Worth Brahmas fans</b> know Adam Hogg as one of the Central League&rsquo;s top right wingers. But three young voices had a different way of identifying the Conestogo, Ont., native when he took the ice before a recent game: Mr. Hogg.</p><p>The voices belonged to pupils in his eighth-grade social studies class at North Ridge Middle School, about one slapshot and four miles from the Brahmas&rsquo; arena in suburban North Richland Hills, Texas.</p><p>Hogg, 29, taught a year at an all-boys boarding school before he began his CHL career with the Corpus Christi Rayz in 2007. He spends his days enlightening adolescents on the finer points of the Articles of Confederation and other aspects of U.S. history as a student teacher. At night, he tries to help the Brahmas earn points toward a playoff berth. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny &ndash; they&rsquo;re yelling out &lsquo;Mr. Hogg&rsquo; and it took me by surprise,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I got used to it when I was teaching in New Hampshire, but it&rsquo;s been awhile since someone&rsquo;s called me Mr. Hogg.&rdquo;</p><p>Last season, his fifth in the CHL, Hogg finished second on the Brahmas in goals with 22 and his nine game-winners were second in the league. But a summer of uncertainty in the Brahmas&rsquo; front office prompted him to seriously ponder life after hockey and whether that time had abruptly arrived. With roots firmly planted in north Texas &ndash; his wife is from Fort Worth and grandma is close by to help care for his 15-month-old son &ndash; Hogg wasn&rsquo;t enthused about signing elsewhere if the Brahmas failed to field a team for 2012-13. So he attended a three-week training program in July toward earning a teacher&rsquo;s certifi-cation for the state of Texas and in late August, Hogg began a 14-week teaching internship at North Ridge.</p><p>About the same time school started, the Brahmas announced the majority ownership had been sold to a local group headed by Fort Worth businessman Mike Atkinson. The season was saved, but Hogg had to figure out how to balance a suddenly frantic schedule. He&rsquo;s missed all but two morning practices so far and had to ask off a recent road trip that would&rsquo;ve made him to miss too many days of school.</p><p>Brahmas coach Dan Wildfong was willing to grade on a curve for Hogg, who served as captain in 2011-12, though he did dock Hogg a letter grade from a &lsquo;C&rsquo; down to an &lsquo;A.&rsquo; &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big part of our team,&rdquo; Wildfong said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an assistant captain this year, because he couldn&rsquo;t be around all the time and your captain needs to be there day in, day out to see what&rsquo;s going on. But even if he didn&rsquo;t have a letter on, he&rsquo;s a big part of the leadership group.&rdquo;</p><p>Hogg completes his teaching practicum in early December and shouldn&rsquo;t miss many more workouts the rest of the way. When he hangs up his skates for good, he plans to continue being a positive influence on young people by becoming a hockey coach or fulltime history teacher &ndash; or maybe a combination of the two. &ldquo;The nice thing is I enjoy both,&rdquo; Hogg said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost like it&rsquo;s not a job for me, because I&rsquo;m not digging holes. That&rsquo;s what you have to do in life &ndash; play hockey for a certain amount of years and then hopefully find something you enjoy doing after you&rsquo;re done playing.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021784/9751054-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="518" height="282"></div><h2><b>MISSISSAUGA</b></h2><p><b>League</b> OHL</p><p><b>Franchise History</b> Revived Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s Majors (1996); moved to Mississauga in 2007.</p><p><b>Record</b> 477-428-113</p><p><b>Accomplishments</b> Runners up at 2011 Memorial Cup (hosted tournament)</p><p><b>Franchise All-time Leader</b> Darryl Bootland 210 GP &ndash; 109 G, 125 A, 234 Pts</p><p><b>Former Players in Nhl</b> Devante Smith-Pelly</p><p><b>Closest Opponent</b> Brampton Battalion (9.9 miles)</p><p><b>Mascot</b> &lsquo;Sauga&rsquo; (Fish)</p><h3><b>VS</b></h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-031153/9751047-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="357" height="275"></div><h2><b>IDAHO</b></h2><p><b>League</b> ECHL</p><p><b>Franchise History</b> Expansion team in WCHL (1997); moved to ECHL in 2003</p><p><b>Record</b> 362-213-0-73</p><p><b>Accomplishments</b> 2 Kelly Cups &ndash; 2003-04, 2006-07 (ECHL champions)</p><p><b>Franchise All-time Leader</b> Marty Flichel 436 GP &ndash; 148 G, 260 A, 408 Pts</p><p><b>Former Players in Nhl</b> Zenon Konopka</p><p><b>Closest Opponent</b> Utah Grizzles (348.2 miles)</p><p><b>Mascot</b> &lsquo;Blue&rsquo; (Bear)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

They Call Him Mister

<div class="byline">&#x2013; LIZ BEVAN</div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011975/9751092-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="136" height="136"></div><p><b><a href="http://hockeyfights.com">HOCKEYFIGHTS.COM</a></b></p><p>The debate on whether fighting belongs in hockey is never-ending. But for those who love the blood-and-guts brawling of the game, this website is for you. It catalogs scraps in every notable league from the USHL to the KHL and of course the NHL, with fight logs going back as far as the 1957-58 season. There are videos of standout fights and you can search for a bout by player, team, season, league and even game schedule. The site tracks league leaders in fights and visitors can vote on who won and lost a given tussle. There is also a simple fantasy draft game in which make your picks and watch them fight. The added joy? A game called <i>Hockey Fight Pro</i>. The <i>Mortal Kombat</i>-style game is available on all Apple products and on the Android Marketplace for $0.99.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0013-01

CLICK THIS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ANDREW BRETHAUER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021380/9751130-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="376" height="212"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>C</span>all it Extreme Makeover:</b> Hockey Edition. Ducks staff, alumni and season-ticket holders recently assembled at Mattie Lou Maxwell Elementary School to construct a permanent street hockey rink on the playground as part of a rejuvenation project for the Anaheim-based school. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great opportunity for us to get hockey sticks, pucks and goals into the hands of the people participating for years to come,&rdquo; said Ducks chief marketing officer Aaron Teats. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good step forward for us to continue to grow hockey in Southern California.&rdquo;</p><p>Besides a new rink, Maxwell Elementary has new campus murals in Ducks colors. They align with the schools motto of &lsquo;Respectful, Responsible, Safe and Kind.&rsquo; &ldquo;This is a wonderful gift for our community,&rdquo; said principal Marcy Chant. &ldquo;The Ducks are providing a very special setting for our students to learn to develop their hockey skills and to celebrate being healthy and strong.&rdquo;</p><p>Maxwell Elementary is a participant of the Ducks SCORE (scholastic curriculum of recreation & education) program that benefits students through reading and writing, but also to provide a physical education component where they learn the fundamentals of hockey. Teats would love to see a day where street rinks are just as common on playgrounds as other equipment, allowing kids, especially in Southern California, a chance to play a game they may not otherwise have the opportunity to learn. &ldquo;We are not trying to replace other sports in the area,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We just want to expose them to what we think is a phenomenal opportunity and a phenomenal game.&rdquo;</p><div class="sidebar"><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-031002/9751123-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="103" height="166"></div><p>Scan the Ducks logo with your Digimarc mobile app to watch a video feature on the Ducks</p><p>See <b>page 6</b> for detailed instructions<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div></div>

f0013-02

Back To School

<div class="byline">&nbsp;&#x2013; CLIVE BRANSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021684/9751192-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="494" height="429"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he Chicago Blackhawks joined the NHL in 1926 as part of the league&rsquo;s first expansion into the United States. They were one of three American teams added that year, along with the Detroit Cougars (now the Red Wings) and New York Rangers. The team&rsquo;s first owner was coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin, who had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during the First World War. This division was nicknamed the &ldquo;Blackhawk Division&rdquo; after Chief Black Hawk from the Sauk Nation who was a prominent figure in the history of Illinois. McLaughlin named the hockey team in honor of his military unit, but for many years the name was spelled &ldquo;Black Hawks.&rdquo; This ambiguity was settled in 1986 when the club officially decided on the one-word spelling found in the original franchise documents.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-02

WHAT’S IN A Name?

<div class="byline">&#x2013; PETER STEEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011940/9751223-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>DIGGING DEEP</b></p><p><b>Westmount&rsquo;s new sports complex features two ice rinks 30 feet under the surface below an outdoor swimming pool.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(COURTESY OF THE CITY OF WESTMOUNT)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>he game is going</b> underground in Westmount as part of a new $38.5-million multi-sport recreation complex. It&rsquo;s slated to open in the Montreal suburb in 2013 and will feature two ice pads, built 30 feet below the surface, as well as three outdoor tennis courts and a 25-meter, eight-lane outdoor swimming pool.</p><p>It&rsquo;s the vision of Westmount&rsquo;s mayor, Peter Trent. He wanted to replace a large, aging rink with a new leaner and greener complex. &ldquo;Ice, over 30-feet underground, is always at the same temperature, even in summer,&rdquo; Trent said. &ldquo;The energy cost is radically reduced.&rdquo;</p><p>With excavation complete and construction underway for the new facility &ndash; and for the same price as building above ground &ndash; Westmount figures to save $100,000 a year by putting its new arena below the surface. Along with the economic benefits, building underground creates about an acre of new green space above the arena for adjacent Westmount Park.</p><p>The project is unique, though not unprecedented.  Gjovik, in Norway, built one into a mountain for the 1994 Olympics. And there&rsquo;s also a pad below Hartwall Areena, home of Jokerit hockey club of the Finnish league. It&rsquo;s for practice-use only and sits a few miles from downtown Helsinki.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

Sub-zero Hockey

<div class="byline">&#x2013; NATHAN CADDELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-012007/9751261-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>THEY RAISED HIM UP</b></p><p><b>Donations from people allowed Ty Ulmer to get the prosthetic leg he needed to play hockey.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(KIMBERLEY ULMER)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>y Ulmer lived much</b> of his early life in Japan, on the Misawa Air Force Base without much access to ice that didn&rsquo;t come in a glass. He skated once or twice, but, despite the fact his father was always a fan, didn&rsquo;t get into hockey, even after he and his family moved back state side, to Mountain Home, Idaho.</p><p>It was only after a personal disaster his love of the sport began. It started with the discovery a bump on the 13-year-old&rsquo;s leg in 2008. Ulmer was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a common type of bone cancer, in his right tibia. Options were assessed and on Jan. 22, 2009, Ulmer had his right leg removed.</p><p>Ten months of intense chemotherapy followed, with Ulmer living at the Primary Children&rsquo;s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the duration of treatment. While in the hospital, Ulmer was visited by members of a local hockey team. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been asked, &lsquo;If you could go back and keep your leg, back to before you were diagnosed, would you?&rsquo;&rdquo; says Ulmer, now 17. &ldquo;And my answer is &lsquo;No, I wouldn&rsquo;t,&rsquo; as crazy as that sounds. Because going through what I&rsquo;ve been through made me the person I am today.</p><p>&ldquo;If it weren&rsquo;t for that, I may never have become a fan of hockey or tried to do any of these things I do now.&rdquo;</p><p>The chemotherapy worked, the family moved to Boise and Ulmer was released into the world with a prosthetic leg. He&rsquo;d developed a love for hockey accentuated by watching the ECHL&rsquo;s Idaho Steelheads. He and his family went to games often and Ulmer got to meet the players. He was hooked, but something wasn&rsquo;t right. It wasn&rsquo;t enough. The urge to get out there and play grew. But to do that, Ulmer needed a sporting prosthetic that cost $3,500.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;Once you beat cancer, there isn&rsquo;t a thing that can&rsquo;t be done</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Ty Ulmer</i></b></blockquote><p>With money tight, a family friend and local news reporter advised the Ulmers to start fundraising online. An account called Ty&rsquo;s Leg Fund was made on the website <a href="http://Indiegogo.com">Indiegogo.com</a> in late July and slowly but surely the cash came in. It eventually topped the target and gave Ulmer the chance to trade his old prosthetic leg for one that allows him to not only skate, but also snowboard, bike, climb, water ski, dive and swim.</p><p>Ulmer was recently declared three years cancer-free and has been skating whenever he can, feeling good on the ice and making progress towards joining a team. While working his way through high school, he&rsquo;s also taken the time to be an ambassador for the St. Baldrick&rsquo;s Foundation, a group attempting to find cures for children with cancer. &ldquo;People need to see there is a life after cancer and once you beat it, there isn&rsquo;t a thing that can&rsquo;t be done,&rdquo; Ulmer says. &ldquo;And I like to think of myself as proof of that.</p><p>&ldquo;I love to be honored by the foundation. It really means a lot that my story can actually affect people I&rsquo;ve never met and hopefully help them in their battles.&rdquo;</p><div class="sidebar"><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021536/9751254-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="114" height="182"></div><p>Scan the Ulmer photo with your Digimarc mobile app to watch a video feature of Ty Ulmer skating</p><p>See <b>page 6</b> for detailed instructions<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div></div>

f0016-01

The Game Got Him To His Feet

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04828/9751292-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="751" height="785"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ANDRE RINGUETTE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-031117/9751299-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="162" height="162"></div><p><b>@BRANDONPRUST8</b></p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>GARY BETTMAN&rsquo;S AUTOBIOGRAPHY IS IN STORES NOW. IT&rsquo;S TITLED &lsquo;HOW I DESTROYED A SPORT AND A NATION&rsquo;</b></blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0016-04

HE SAID what?

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011733/9751344-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="486" height="936"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03942/9751337-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="1219" height="758"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-021323/9751330-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="663" height="873"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(COURTESY OF FROZEN POND)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>rtifacts from Maple Leaf Gardens were recently auctioned and several items fetched serious coin, with Toronto&rsquo;s &rsquo;67 banner commanding the most. Here are more from the MLG trove. (Check out our mock auction of other items on pg. 50.)</b></p><p>1967 Leafs Stanley Cup banner &ndash; <b>$34,000</b></p><p>Home penalty box bench and glass &ndash; <b>$10,250</b></p><p>Leafs dressing room front doors &ndash; <b>$8,000</b></p><p>Pair of front row gold seats &ndash; <b>$7,900</b></p><p>Bill Barilko retired No. 5 banner &ndash; <b>$7,503</b></p><p>1951 Stanley Cup collage &ndash; <b>$6,250</b></p><p>Toilet from the Leafs dressing room &ndash; <b>$5,300</b></p><p>Hot Stove Lounge sign &ndash; <b>$3,701</b></p><p>1933-34 team roster plaque &ndash; <b>$3,325</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-01

MAPLE LEAFS TREASURES

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011886/9751389-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>FREE <b>WHEELER</b></p><p>Isles defenseman Aaron Ness honed his game via occasional open, coach-free, referee-free playing sessions growing up.</p></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>t the top of Minnesota,</b> nearly into Manitoba, lies the small town of Roseau. There are 2,700 people and three rinks, meaning ice time is never a problem for the hockey-mad hamlet. But every night after 7 p.m., the North Rink is strictly for the kids. No refs, no coaches &ndash; just free hockey, where creativity and passion are nurtured away from the formalized grind of the organized game. Many believe it&rsquo;s part of the reason why the local high school team, the Roseau Rams, has produced multiple trips to the state tournament and a championship over the past few years and why there is an inordinate amount of elite players emerging from the program. New York Islanders defenseman Aaron Ness played for the Rams, as did Phoenix prospect Mike Lee, who won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2010 world juniors. Nick Oliver was taken by Nashville in the 2009 draft, while several other players went on to NCAA programs such as Providence and Air Force. &ldquo;We put in so many hours at the North Rink, it&rsquo;s not even funny,&rdquo; Ness says. &ldquo;It was great to have free ice &ndash; you just don&rsquo;t hear about that anymore.&rdquo;</p><p>But what could a bunch of kids and teens teach each other that experienced adults can&rsquo;t? &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the skating, the stickhandling,&rdquo; Ness says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s everything that you learn by yourself.&rdquo;</p><p>The more important question is, how smart were the adults to give those kids a venue to incubate their love of the game?</p><p>At no point in history has there been so much attention given to youth hockey. The stakes are high and the terms &ldquo;hockey dad&rdquo; or &ldquo;hockey mom&rdquo; have practically become epithets &ndash; the word &ldquo;crazy&rdquo; need not be prefixed. Kids have always dreamed of playing in the NHL, but there&rsquo;s a real mystery out there as to how to best develop those talents. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m often asked about the reason for my success,&rdquo; says agent Bobby Orr, a.k.a. the best defenseman of all-time. &ldquo;The answer is I loved the game. I couldn&rsquo;t wait to go to the rink, I couldn&rsquo;t wait to go to practice, I couldn&rsquo;t wait to compete. I had such a passion for the game. What we&rsquo;re doing to a lot of our kids now &ndash; with unruly parents, unruly coaches &ndash; is we&rsquo;re taking that passion away and that&rsquo;s one of the biggest mistakes we&rsquo;re making today.&rdquo;</p><p>Orr is a perfect case study from a bygone era &ndash; a prodigy who first skated in the junior ranks at 14 for the Oshawa Generals. Though his elite career got off to a quicker start than most, Orr believes structure and pressure are wrecking the game. &ldquo;People would tell my dad, &lsquo;Hey, your kid is going to play in the NHL,&rsquo;&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;My dad would come to me and say &lsquo;Look, go out and play, have fun and we&rsquo;ll see what happens.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s what I wish all parents would do.&rdquo;</p><p>And though No. 4 will never be confused with a flower-petting hippie (YouTube his fights), there is naturally going to be resistance to the idea competition is bad for youngsters. But are kids playing too many games these days? Does the hothousing of talent for travel teams really produce the best or is it just an industry churning out expensive jerseys and parental bragging rights?</p><p>For an alternative, travel to St. Catharines, Ont., and look at the work Darryl Belfry is doing. The long-time skills development coach has a roster of clients including John Tavares, Dan Girardi and Patrick Kane, the latter of whom has worked with Belfry since he was a precocious eight-year-old hopping across the border from Buffalo. (Kane was there this summer, too.)</p><p>Along with his NHL clients, Belfry has also started up his own development league, aimed at youth players coming into their primes when it comes to learning skills. &ldquo;I have no problem with kids playing games,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;The problem is they play a lot of games with a poor focus. When they&rsquo;re in prime development time, from eight to 12 years old, that&rsquo;s your best time to acquire skills. But kids, when they&rsquo;re in games and tournaments, the external pressures force them to only use their best skills.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-021178/9751382-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="378" height="532"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;PEOPLE WOULD TELL MY DAD, &lsquo;YOUR KID IS GOING TO THE NHL.&rsquo; HE WOULD COME TO ME AND SAY, &lsquo;LOOK, GO OUT AND PLAY, HAVE FUN AND WE&rsquo;LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS.&rsquo; THAT&rsquo;S WHAT I WISH ALL PARENTS WOULD DO&rdquo;<br><i>&ndash; BOBBY ORR</i></blockquote><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011640/9751375-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="1503" height="1968"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>KID IN <b>A SANDBOX</b></p><p>John Tavares&rsquo; development wasn&rsquo;t just about winning. He played lacrosse and much of his hockey training focused on skills, not games.</p></figcaption></div><p>That means winning at all costs, including at the expense of a player&rsquo;s growth. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not going to try something new because that could have a really negative result,&rdquo; Belfry says. &ldquo;We want to take that pressure off and make it OK for him to try those things, so that he feels that&rsquo;s his path: &lsquo;I need to try it, I&rsquo;m going to have to experience a level of failure, that&rsquo;s OK, because I&rsquo;m going to reach the other side.&rsquo; If you were able to create themes for each game, then I&rsquo;m in. But we&rsquo;re not doing that. We&rsquo;re playing for the sake of winning to be one point ahead in the standings and I&rsquo;m not sure that&rsquo;s what we need to do.&rdquo;</p><p>The best model for this philosophy is the Ajax youth academy in the Netherlands. The Dutch soccer team is renowned for developing talent that is eventually sold to teams across Europe once players are in their early 20s. In a New York <i>Times</i> magazine feature written by Michael Sokolove in 2010, Ajax&rsquo;s model of emphasizing skill development over game play went under the microscope. &ldquo;I am never looking for a result &ndash; for example, which boy is scoring the most goals or even who is running the fastest,&rdquo; says Ajax scout Ronald De Jong in the article. &ldquo;That may be because of their size and stage of development. I want to notice how a boy runs. Is he on his forefeet, running lightly? Does he have creativity with the ball? Does he seem that he is really loving the game? These things are good at predicting how he&rsquo;ll be when he is older.&rdquo;</p><p>The thrust of the <i>Times</i> article was that the United States, a nation with a big population and history of excellence in pretty much all other sports, was still dramatically behind in developing elite soccer players. In America, kids play tons of games and travel to lots of tournaments. At Ajax, they develop individual skills and emphasize touches &ndash; the more a youngster gets his boot on a ball, the better.</p><p>Now stop for a second and think about how much actual time in a hockey game the average player touches the puck. &ldquo;Americans like to put together teams, even at the Pee Wee level, that are meant to win,&rdquo; Sokolove writes. &ldquo;The Europeans build up the assets of individual players.&rdquo;</p><p>In the winter, children at Belfry&rsquo;s Pro Playmakers development league don&rsquo;t play in a traditional circuit. They practise twice a week, then play an intrasquad game on Sunday, where it is expected they show off the skills they learned in the previous two sessions. The staff then sets up a matrix to analyze if the kids got the message.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just &lsquo;go play a game and then it&rsquo;s whatever the score is&rsquo; that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re after,&rdquo; Belfry says. &ldquo;The goal is to transfer what they&rsquo;re learning into a game. What you learn you should have to apply. If you taught him a tight turn, how many times did he use it? You can play a hundred games, I don&rsquo;t care &ndash; if each one has a purpose, that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;re after. But I haven&rsquo;t seen that so far, so I had to create it myself.&rdquo;</p><p>Kids not playing league hockey in the winter? Heresy. This is an era of year-round hockey, no?</p><p>Perhaps not. All hockey all the time can make Johnny a dull boy, according to one of the game&rsquo;s greats. &ldquo;I prefer kids play hockey in the winter and another sport in the summertime,&rdquo; Orr says. &ldquo;Hang out with other coaches, other kids. I didn&rsquo;t attend a hockey school until I turned pro and when I did I was an instructor. You&rsquo;ve got to be hungry for the game. Look at Wayne Gretzky &ndash; golfer, baseball player, hockey player. Mario Lemieux, same thing. These guys are athletes.&rdquo;</p><p>Joe Nieuwendyk played lacrosse, as did John Tavares. Cam Fowler was a great baseball player in high school, only stopping when he went to USA Hockey&rsquo;s national team development program. Steven Stamkos plays outfield in a men&rsquo;s hardball league back home in Markham, Ont., in the summer.</p><p>Changing the paradigm of hockey development will be no easy task. Canada still develops an incredible amount of young talent, as evidenced by podium finishes at the World Junior Championship every year since 1998 (that eighthplace squad still featured Vincent Lecavalier, Roberto Luongo and Eric Brewer) and new is not necessarily seen as better in sporting circles.</p><p>&ldquo;From a scouting perspective, I like to see as many games as possible,&rdquo; said one major junior scout. &ldquo;There would be a lot of pushback from traditionalists.&rdquo;</p><p>But perhaps it&rsquo;s a worthy endeavor for kids in the eight-to 12-year-old sweet spot. Delaying that pressure to win a little longer could be the difference between a lifelong love of the game and a passion snuffed out by one too many games riding the pine on a travel team. Up in Roseau they&rsquo;re still happy about hockey and when the kids take to the ice at the North Rink, they know they can do no wrong out there.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-01

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-011320/9751420-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>ith the hockey season less than half over, the major junior ranks have already seen several players quit for personal reasons &ndash; not because they were unskilled or unloved on the team. Every industry is going to experience attrition, but in hockey it still shocks. Players spend most of their adolescent lives striving toward goals of skating in the NHL one day. Why give it up?</p><p>One player who knows that answer better than anyone is Manchester Monarchs right winger <b>Stefan Legein</b>.</p><p>In 2008, the Columbus Blue Jackets second-rounder was coming off his final year in the Ontario League, which also netted him a gold medal with Canada at the World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic. He played a couple games in the American League playoffs with Syracuse, but announced in the summer that he was stepping away from hockey. &ldquo;At that point I was playing for the wrong reasons,&rdquo; Legein says. &ldquo;It was a situation where I was doing what was expected of me. I had lost my passion and it wasn&rsquo;t fair to my coaches or my teammates.&rdquo;</p><p>During his break from the game, Legein still skated and worked out at the gym &ndash; fitness wasn&rsquo;t the problem, it was more of a mental fog he needed to lift. &ldquo;I was just being a 19-year-old kid,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I found happiness away from hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Legein still loved the purity of the game and never wrote off hockey altogether, but the harsh realities of the industry overwhelmed him at the time. As fun as signing your first pro contract is, there are also the responsibilities that come with it: the insurance, the bills you are now beholden to, the people you want to please. Legein stepped back and it turned out to be the best decision for him. After a hiatus, he returned to Syracuse in December of 2008 and hasn&rsquo;t looked back. His rights have been traded from Columbus to Philadelphia to Los Angeles and he is in his second campaign with the AHL Monarchs. The burnout that plagued him as a teen is gone. &ldquo;I feel good,&rdquo; Legein says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fun here. I can help the young guys on the team deal with the stresses of being a first-year pro.&rdquo;</p><p>Loved by fans for his speed, brashness and pesky nature in junior, Legein now has sobering advice for the next generation. &ldquo;I see young kids in the gym all day and skating all day,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I see hockey eating up their whole life and that&rsquo;s what you have to do &ndash; if it works, it works. But if you can&rsquo;t look in the mirror off the ice and be happy, then you won&rsquo;t be happy on the ice.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0021-01

FIND YOUR PASSION

<div class="byline">By Brain Costello</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-011524/9751451-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>OM PETTY ONCE sang about <i>The Waiting</i>. Chances are pretty good it had more to do with him and his girlfriend, but if you listen to the album backward it sounds like he&rsquo;s nasalizing something about Andreychuk, Shanahan and Lindros:</p><p><i>The waiting is the hardest part. Every day you guys see one more email. You take it on faith, you take it to the heart. The waiting for the Hall of Fame to call is the hardest part.</i></p><p>If there&rsquo;s any consolation for retired NHL greats such as Dave Andreychuk, Brendan Shanahan and Eric Lindros, it&rsquo;s the fact that after a bit of a wait, the Hall of Fame selection committee eventually gets around to making prudent decisions on players. The keyword is &ldquo;eventually.&rdquo;</p><p>Consider that of this year&rsquo;s four inductees, Pavel Bure had to wait until his seventh year eligible to break down the door. Adam Oates had been eligible since 2007. (Joe Sakic and Mats Sundin got in on their first attempts.)</p><p>In 2011, Doug Gilmour was up for the sixth time before making it. Mark Howe was 14th-year eligible. Joe Nieuwendyk had to wait just one year.</p><p>In 2010, Dino Ciccarelli was the only inductee in the players category. He had been eligible since 2002.</p><p>In 2008, Glenn Anderson finally made the cut in his ninth attempt. Igor Larionov was frozen out one year.</p><p>Pat LaFontaine and Cam Neely, two players with injury-shortened careers, were on the waiting list multiple years before getting the call in 2003 and 2005, respectively.</p><p>Hockey players are typically humble. This group of players would never admit it, but surely for them the waiting must have been the hardest part.</p><p>When it comes to the Hall of Fame, waiting is all part of the process. The HHOF&rsquo;s bylaws state a retired player must wait a minimum of three years before being considered for induction. The reason for that is simple. Three years gives the selection committee a chance to stand back and reflect on a player&rsquo;s career, taking the emotion of a retirement announcement, not to mention other mitigating factors such as the caliber of his team and teammates and off-ice indiscretions, out of the equation. The Hall used to have a clause opening the door for superstars to gain immediate induction upon retirement &ndash; Mario Lemieux in 1997 and Wayne Gretzky in 1999 were the last two &ndash; but did away with that in 2001 when it raised the limit of inductees every year from three to four.</p><p>So a retiring player knows he has to wait three years anyway. Does it really matter if that turns into five, 10 or even 34 years, as was the case when Dick Duff got inducted in 2006 after retiring from hockey in 1972?</p><p>Petty would say it feels like heaven or a dream. The HHOF&rsquo;s selection committee obviously agrees. The decade-long trend of making Hall-worthy candidates wait additional years hit a boiling point when Shanahan, 13th all-time in NHL goal-scoring, was rebuffed, while Sundin, a borderline Hall of Famer, made the grade. Shanahan had 92 more goals than Sundin and out-Cupped him 3-0.</p><p>Andreychuk has been waiting since 2009. He&rsquo;s the NHL&rsquo;s leader in all-time power play markers and is 14th overall with 640 goals. Lindros has been waiting since 2010. He was the game&rsquo;s best player for a few years in the mid-1990s and bona fide star for another five or six years. Claude Lemieux has been waiting since 2007. He&rsquo;s the game&rsquo;s all-time top-producing superpest with four Cups and a Conn Smythe Trophy. Cases can also be made for Sergei Makarov, the top Russian player of his generation, Guy Carbonneau, a three-time winner and two-time runner-up for the Selke, and Phil Housley, fourth in all-time scoring among defensemen.</p><p>No Hall shoo-in has waited longer than Dominik Hasek, but that&rsquo;s his own doing. Hasek retired in 2002, pegging 2005 at his induction year. But he came out of retirement in 2003, then again in 2009 and now is sure to be part of the 2014 class.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0022-01

Waiting For The Hall to Call

<p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>ome good Hall candidates will endure a wait in 2013 when a mixed field is up for election. Scott Niedermayer and Chris Chelios are sure bets, but there&rsquo;s a group of five first-year eligible candidates, plus a long list of holdovers, who will vie for one of the other two spots. Here are THN odds:</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-011316/9751489-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="604" height="750"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PHILLIP MACCALLUM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b><i>Brendan Shanahan</i> - <i>3: 2</i></b></h2><p>One of game&rsquo;s best-ever power forwards and a proven winner. Second year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Rob Blake</i> - <i>8: 1</i></b></h2><p>Crafty offensively, reliable defensively and best hip-checker of his generation. First year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Sergei Makarov</i> -</b>&nbsp;<b><i>10: 1</i></b></h2><p> One of six players voted to the IIHF&rsquo;s all-centennial team. The other five are in the HHOF. 13th year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Eric Lindros</i> -</b>&nbsp;<b><i>12: 1</i></b></h2><p>His size and skill made him an unstoppable force for a few years. Fourth year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Keith</i></b>&nbsp;<b><i>Tkachuk</i> - <i>15: 1</i></b></h2><p>Productive power forward second all-time in goal-scoring among U.S.-born players. First year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Phil Housley</i> -</b>&nbsp;<b><i>20: 1</i></b></h2><p>Ranks behind just Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and Al Macinnis in D-man scoring. Eighth year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Dave Andreychuk</i> -</b>&nbsp;<b><i>25: 1</i></b></h2><p>The game&rsquo;s No. 1 scorer on the power play of all-time. Fifth year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Claude</i></b>&nbsp;<b><i>Lemieux</i> - <i>30: 1</i></b></h2><p>Proven winner was always in demand because of his sandpaper style. Seventh year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Rod</i></b>&nbsp;<b><i>Brind'Amour</i> - <i>40: 1</i></b></h2><p> Two-way center great in the faceoff circle and a terrific leader. First year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Paul Kariya</i> -</b>&nbsp;<b><i>50: 1</i></b></h2><p>Methodical small man was creative and innovative. First year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Guy Carbonneau</i> -</b>&nbsp;<b><i>60: 1</i></b></h2><p>Next to Bob Gainey, the best defensive forward of all-time. 11th year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Tom</i></b>&nbsp;<b><i>Barrasso</i> - <i>75: 1</i></b></h2><p>Multiple award winner and 15th all-time in goalie wins. Eighth year eligible.</p><h2><b><i>Owen Nolan</i> -</b>&nbsp;<b><i>100: 1</i></b></h2><p>A big-game goal-scorer who led by example. First year eligible.</p><div class="sidebar"><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02949/9751482-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="113" height="183"></div><p>Scan the Shanahan photo with your Digimarc mobile app to watch a THN Puck Panel video on Hall candidates</p><p>See <b>page 6</b> for detailed instructions<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div></div>

f0023-01

Place Your Bets

<div class="byline">BY ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-011466/9751527-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-011288/9751520-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="1710" height="1218"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>RENE BOURQUE</b></p><p><b>20TH OVERALL</b></p><p><b>SHAWN HORCOFF</b></p><p><b>24TH OVERALL</b></p><p><b>JONATHAN BERNIER</b></p><p><b>1ST OVERALL</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>HERE&rsquo;S NO TELLING how another expansion draft would unfold in the event the NHL chooses to add one or two teams, but that&rsquo;s not stopping us from using our imaginations. The impetus for our mock draft stems from persistent rumors the league will expand to Quebec City and Southern Ontario (likely Markham, north of Toronto). As such, we asked two notable hockey figures with connections to each region &ndash; former Maple Leafs GM Gord Stellick and one-time Nordiques coach Jacques Demers &ndash; to pick a squad for each new franchise.</p><p>The rules of our mock draft didn&rsquo;t follow to the letter the 2000 expansion draft that stocked teams in Minnesota and Columbus. For instance, though we didn&rsquo;t let either expansion team select one defenseman and one goalie from the same NHL franchise, as was the case in 2000, we did permit all current teams to lose more than two players. And we didn&rsquo;t include a salary cap, as there was no cap 12 years ago, though we combined players&rsquo; current cap hits into a total payroll to give a sense of the price of talent each new team possesses. The end result provides insight into the type of rosters that would be assembled.</p><p>Before the mock draft, we compiled a list of protected players based on the NHL&rsquo;s 2000 guidelines. Back then, each franchise was given a choice: protect one goalie, five defensemen and nine forwards or protect two goalies, three defensemen and seven forwards. This time, that rule created conundrums for a few teams: for example, rather than expose a couple of their talented D-men, we thought the Los Angeles Kings would grit their teeth and dangle backup goalie Jonathan Bernier. Similarly, the Blues had a difficult choice, but left Brian Elliott unprotected to keep their deep blueline relatively intact. In Buffalo, with star goalie Ryan Miller two years from unrestricted free agency, it made more sense to protect him and backup Jhonas Enroth.</p><p>Once Stellick and Demers gathered to pick teams, it quickly became clear each hockey veteran was building his roster with a different mindset. A random draw gave Stellick&rsquo;s Ontario squad the first pick, which he used on Bernier. Demers also chose a goalie with his first selection &ndash; Vancouver&rsquo;s Roberto Luongo &ndash; as part of his plan to select a number of French-Canadian players for the Quebec City community. From there, both GMs primarily stocked their defense corps first and filled out their group of forwards and goalies later in the draft.</p><p>Stellick came away with a skill-challenged but hardworking group of forwards and a solid if unspectacular collection of blueliners. Demers, meanwhile, leaned to a much greater degree on veterans throughout his lineup. Accordingly, the salary cap hits for each team couldn&rsquo;t be more different. Quebec City&rsquo;s $60-million payroll might have to be whittled down depending on the salary cap maximum in a new labor deal, while Southern Ontario&rsquo;s relatively paltry $27-million payroll would almost assuredly need to add free agents to meet a cap floor.</p><p>That said, both GMs were pleased with their teams they decided on. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll take our lumps,&rdquo; Stellick says, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;ll build the right way &ndash; through the draft and free agency.&rdquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I want veteran knowhow,&rdquo; Demers says, &ldquo;and I got it.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0024-01

FANTASY EXPANSION

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-011475/9751593-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div><h2><b>DRAFTORDER</b></h2><p>1. <b>JONATHAN BERNIER</b> (LA)</p><p>2. <b>ROBERTO LUONGO</b> (VAN)</p><p>3. <b>CODY FRANSON</b> (TOR)</p><p>4. <b>JASON DEMERS</b> (SJ)</p><p>5. <b>ROBYN REGEHR</b> (BUF)</p><p>6. <b>NIKOLAI KULEMIN</b> (TOR)</p><p>7. <b>ERIK CONDRA</b> (OTT)</p><p>8. <b>RICH PEVERLEY</b> (BOS)</p><p>9. <b>ERIC WELLWOOD</b> (PHI)</p><p>10. <b>JAY BEAGLE</b> (WSH)</p><p>11. <b>ZAC RINALDO</b> (PHI)</p><p>12. <b>RYAN O&rsquo;BYRNE</b> (COL)</p><p>13. <b>BRIAN LEE</b> (TB)</p><p>14. <b>VERNON FIDDLER</b> (DAL)</p><p>15. <b>JUSTIN BRAUN</b> (SJ)</p><p>16. <b>KRIS RUSSELL</b> (STL)</p><p>17. <b>DUSTIN PENNER</b> (LA)</p><p>18. <b>MARTIN BIRON</b> (NYR)</p><p>19. <b>JUSTIN FALK</b> (MIN)</p><p>20. <b>RENE BOURQUE</b> (MTL)</p><p>21. <b>NICK SPALING</b> (NSH)</p><p>22. <b>SIMON GAGNE</b> (LA)</p><p>23. <b>ANDREAS NODL</b> (CAR)</p><p>24. <b>SHAWN HORCOFF</b> (EDM)</p><p>25. <b>RICHARD BACHMAN</b> (DAL)</p><p>26. <b>CARLO COLAIACOVO</b> (DET)</p><p>27. <b>KASPARS DAUGAVINS</b> (OTT)</p><p>28. <b>MARC-ANDRE BERGERON</b> (TB)</p><p>29. <b>DAVID SCHLEMKO</b> (PHX)</p><p>30. <b>DANNY CLEARY</b> (DET)</p><p>31. <b>JACK SKILLE</b> (FLA)</p><p>32. <b>DAVID STECKEL</b> (TOR)</p><p>33. <b>BRYAN BICKELL</b> (CHI)</p><p>34. <b>DANIEL PAILLE</b> (BOS)</p><p>35. <b>DREW MILLER</b> (DET)</p><p>36. <b>MATT STAJAN</b> (CGY)</p><p>37. <b>SHANE O&rsquo;BRIEN</b> (COL)</p><p>38. <b>MAREK ZIDLICKY</b> (NJ)</p><p>39. <b>MATT HALISCHUK</b> (NSH)</p><p>40. <b>TOMAS KABERLE</b> (MTL)</p><p>41. <b>MAXIM LAPIERRE</b> (VAN)</p><p>42. <b>DANIEL CARCILLO</b> (CHI)</p><p>43. <b>MATT BELESKEY</b> (ANA)</p><p>44. <b>MIKE KOMISAREK</b> (TOR)</p><p>45. <b>STEVE MONTADOR</b> (CHI)</p><p>46. <b>MARTY REASONER</b> (NYI)</p><p>47. <b>LELAND IRVING</b> (CGY)</p><p>48. <b>MICHAL NEUVIRTH</b> (WSH)</p><p><b>TORONTO QUEBEC</b></p><h2><b>TORONTO DEPTH CHART</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-021060/9751586-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="1169" height="347"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03830/9751579-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="296" height="411"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>GORD STELLICK</b></p><p><i>In 1988, he became the youngest GM (30) in NHL history when he took over the Maple Leafs.</i></p></figcaption></div><p><b>TOTAL CAP HIT:</b> $27,573,000</p><h2><b>QUEBEC DEPTH CHART</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04621/9751572-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="1169" height="424"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05475/9751565-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="1169" height="347"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06397/9751558-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="297" height="411"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>JACQUES DEMERS</b></p><p><i>Ex-Lightning GM coached five NHL teams, including Nordiques and the Cup-winning 1993 Canadiens.</i></p></figcaption></div><p><b>TOTAL CAP HIT:</b> $60,525,000</p><p><b>TO SEE EACH NHL TEAM&rsquo;S PROJECTED PROTECTED LIST, GO TO <a href="http://THN.COM/EXDRAFT">THN.COM/EXDRAFT</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0026-01

MOCK EXPANSION DRAFT

<div class="byline">WITH ADAM PROTEAU</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02957/9751631-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GRAIG ABEL/ABELIMAGES/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-011367/9751638-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="194" height="229"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>F</span>or years,</b> the fine people of the Canadian Women&rsquo;s League have quietly and persistently shaken the trees of business communities in the hope of building the infrastructure of their operation. They quickly discovered it wouldn&rsquo;t be nearly as easy for any female elite player to corral corporate support and attention as it is in the few months preceding and following any Olympic Games.</p><p>But they kept at it. And in mid-November, light at tunnel&rsquo;s end finally came, for two teams at least, in the form of fiveyear sponsorship commitments from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames. The money isn&rsquo;t enough to pay every CWHL player a living wage or catapult the league&rsquo;s franchises to the fore of the average fan&rsquo;s attention, but it is a beachhead of sorts, a base of support on which to grow. And it couldn&rsquo;t have happened without passion and input from progressive thinkers like Toronto Maple Leafs assistant GM Dave Poulin. &ldquo;This is a tremendous first step,&rdquo; Poulin said of the Leafs&rsquo; partnership with the CWHL&rsquo;s Toronto Furies. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a thrill for us to provide support for such dedicated athletes and great people who are involved in this league.&rdquo;</p><p>Poulin is in a unique position to help the women&rsquo;s game: the former NHLer attended Notre Dame University at a time when Title IX &ndash; an American educational mandate stipulating equal time and money be spent on men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s sports &ndash; was implemented. As a result, his NCAA men&rsquo;s hockey team was gutted as money was reallocated to Notre Dame&rsquo;s female athletes. But he&rsquo;s anything but bitter over the evolution. He&rsquo;s excited to spearhead the partnership, which will see the NHL team invest $30,000 per season in the Furies for the next five years and promote them via Toronto&rsquo;s formidable publicity machine. (The Flames have agreed to give the CWHL Alberta squad $20,000 per year the next four seasons.) &ldquo;The road to this began two years ago,&rdquo; said Poulin, noting a large number of women &ndash; including former CWHL player and current Furies GM Rebecca Davies &ndash; at MLSE who have affection for the women&rsquo;s game. &ldquo;Part of the uniqueness of a company like ours is it can put different components in play as part of a partnership package. In our case, we pulled in somebody from hockey ops &ndash; me &ndash; somebody from marketing and other people from within MLSE. So we put together a good group of people in-house as an ad-hoc committee to work with the different groups involved in the CWHL. You want to offer support, but it isn&rsquo;t up to us to guide the process. That&rsquo;s their job and they&rsquo;ve done well.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a thrill for us to provide support</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Dave Poulin</i></b></blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03691/9751624-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="664" height="517"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>TRICKLING DOWN</b></p><p><b>The Flames and Leafs have pledged $20,000 and $30,000 annually to CWHL&rsquo;s Alberta and Toronto clubs.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(BRANDON TAYLOR/CWHL)</span></figcaption></div><p>CWHL executives, including Canadian Olympian Sami Jo Small and commissioner Brenda Andress, deserve kudos for the league&rsquo;s accomplishments and achievements to come. (For instance, rumors remain NHL teams in Boston and Montreal will sponsor their local CWHL organizations.) But the Leafs and Flames also warrant a big tip of the hat for stepping up like no organizations before them have.</p><p>Best of all, the relationship is already paying dividends. The first CWHL regular season game played at Toronto&rsquo;s Air Canada Centre in mid-November drew a 5,000 people and was televised on the Leafs TV cable channel. And with strong advocates like Poulin &ndash; and the evolution of society&rsquo;s attitudes toward professional female athletes &ndash; the women&rsquo;s game will continue to get stronger. &ldquo;Years ago when you spoke with your buddies, odds were they&rsquo;d talk about their sons playing hockey,&rdquo; Poulin said. &ldquo;Now, their daughters are playing. The game is changing and you&rsquo;ve got to be aware of where it&rsquo;s headed. And we&rsquo;re happy and proud to be a part of this direction.</p><p>WANT MORE PROTEAU?</p><p>READ HIS EXCLUSIVE WEB COLUMN THURSDAYS AT <b><a href="http://THN.COM/PROTEAU">THN.COM/PROTEAU</a></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0027-02

One Small Step For Women

<div class="byline">BY JOSH YOHE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-011454/9751704-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MARK ZEIBERT)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-011462/9751697-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="1519" height="1456"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GREGORY SHAMUS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>T&rsquo;S A MONDAY MORNING <i>during the NHL lockout at the Pittsburgh Penguins practice facility in Canonsburg, Pa., and a familiar figure pushes a net across the ice for a scrimmage while his teammates take a breather.</i></p><p>HE ALSO COACHES the practice, handles interviews without team officials, co-ordinates travel plans around the continent, sharpens skates for himself and teammates, signs his daily barrage of autographs and somehow does it all with a smile on his face.</p><p>&lsquo;Sid the Kid&rsquo;? Nah, try &lsquo;Sid the Man.&rsquo;</p><p>At 25, Sidney Crosby has won a Stanley Cup, scored Canada&rsquo;s Golden Goal, reached the pinnacle of his sport, dealt with a career-threatening injury and now finds himself heavily though not happily involved in the lockout.</p><p>This isn&rsquo;t child&rsquo;s play.</p><p>Surviving a 15-month battle with a concussion put the smile back on Crosby&rsquo;s face. But the stigma of the league&rsquo;s continuing lockout has become extra-ordinarily-frustrating. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard for me to explain exactly all of what Sidney has been through during the past two years,&rdquo; says Pat Brisson, Crosby&rsquo;s longtime agent. &ldquo;When he was dealing with all the concussion problems, it was the worst time of his life. People don&rsquo;t even know what he went through. It was hell for him. Total hell.&rdquo;</p><p>Crosby&rsquo;s hell may finally be over, but heaven can&rsquo;t happen until the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association strike a new collective bargaining agreement.</p><p>If the lockout finally ends, Crosby plans on producing a season befitting of a hockey god. Whether he&rsquo;ll get a chance to do so this winter is anyone&rsquo;s guess. &ldquo;The whole thing is so frustrating,&rdquo; Crosros by says.</p><p> &ldquo;I just want to play hockey.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>THE CONCUSSION</b></h2><p>CROSBY STILL DOESN&rsquo;T like speaking about Jan. 1, 2011, when Washington&rsquo;s David Steckel delivered a blow to his head and triggered concussion symptoms that lasted 15 months. Until that point, Crosby&rsquo;s hockey life had gone according to script, &lsquo;The Next One&rsquo; living up to the name, his sport&rsquo;s biggest megastar since Mario &lsquo;The Magnificent&rsquo; Lemieux.</p><p>Then, Crosby&rsquo;s health was forever a story and it took more than a year to resolve. &ldquo;It was a scary time,&rdquo; Crosby says. &ldquo;One day I would feel good, the next day I wouldn&rsquo;t. I remember being on the beach in Florida while I was out with the concussion. All I could think about was how much I missed hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Crosby isn&rsquo;t particularly introspective. He doesn&rsquo;t spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about himself and he especially isn&rsquo;t interested in remembering the days when the concussion symptoms were peaking.</p><p>Brisson, though, speaks clearly of that dark period. &ldquo;I felt bad,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Hockey is secondary here. I felt bad for him because he was miserable and we didn&rsquo;t have an answer for a long time. He had one good day. Then he had a couple of bad days in a row. He had to stop working out. Then he felt better. It was the ultimate roller-coaster.</p><p>&ldquo;It was so hard for me seeing him that way. We tried different treatments, learned about different things. You think you&rsquo;re going in the right direction, and then he hurt some more. It was such a hard thing to see.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>A DIFFERENT SID</b></h2><p>FROM THE DAY he was drafted by the Penguins as a 17-year-old, Crosby has never failed to be anything other than polite. The fans and media in Pittsburgh adore Crosby, his easy smile and unfailingly friendly demeanor making him a rock star in Western Pennsylvania.</p><p>However, there was an uneasy edge to his persona in recent years. He almost went out of his way to be boring while being interviewed, avoiding hurting anyone&rsquo;s feelings with great precision while remaining a steady but quiet locker room presence.</p><p>These days, he speaks with more authority. He doesn&rsquo;t mind if he says something that ruffles NHL commissioner Gary Bettman&rsquo;s feathers.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-011333/9751690-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="1826" height="1560"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GREGORY SHAMUS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT HE WENT THROUGH. IT WAS HELL FOR HIM. TOTAL HELL</b><br>- <b><i>Sidney Crosby&rsquo;s agent, Pat Brisson</i></b></blockquote><p>Crosby is no longer flanked by team officials because of the lockout and the steadiest presence in his life &ndash; his dad, Troy &ndash; hasn&rsquo;t been visible at any of the dozens of workouts in Canonsburg that Crosby has participated in.</p><p>Additionally, his right-hand PR man, Frank Buonomo &ndash; a consistent presence during Crosby&rsquo;s first seven NHL seasons &ndash; was dismissed by the Penguins in July. This is a new world for Crosby in many ways, though he has remained typically poised throughout the process.</p><p>All alone during a strange time in hockey history, Crosby is quietly upset about the labor situation, but has never appeared more content with his life. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know exactly what it is,&rdquo; says Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen, &ldquo;but he does seem a lot different this year, and happier. You can see that Sid is in a very happy place right now. He seems like a different person. He&rsquo;s smiling all the time now.&rdquo;</p><p>Lemieux, no stranger to health ailments, once said, &ldquo;health is everything in a person&rsquo;s life.&rdquo; Crosby may not have understood before, but he sure does now. &ldquo;It was a tough time,&rdquo; Crosby says. &ldquo;But I feel great and I&rsquo;ve felt great for a long time.&rdquo;</p><p>So how has he spent his time during the NHL lockout? It&rsquo;s a simple life for Crosby, who practises with teammates four times a week. &ldquo;Just like anyone else in Pittsburgh,&rdquo; Crosby says, &ldquo;I watch Steelers games and other stuff on TV.&rdquo;</p><p>Crosby is also building a new house in Pittsburgh and has taken a great interest in even the minute details, which isn&rsquo;t surprising, given his almost spastic game-day routines and superstitions. &ldquo;It takes up a lot of my time,&rdquo; he says of his new home. &ldquo;I work on a lot of things during the day there.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>WHAT TO EXPECT</b></h2><p>ALTHOUGH CROSBY&rsquo;S cameo late last season ended in bitter disappointment against Philadelphia in the playoffs, his performance was typical. It may have gone unnoticed, but Crosby produced 37 points in 22 regular season games, a spectacular 1.68 points per game that translates to 138 points over 82 games.</p><p>Playing the final 14 regular season games and all six playoff games gave Crosby the peace of mind that his head was OK. Feeling confident in his health again, he worked out like never before during the summer. The results have his teammates beyond impressed. &ldquo;Sid has always been incredibly strong on the puck, probably the strongest guy in the league,&rdquo; says Niskanen, who has been practising against Crosby the past two months. &ldquo;And that hasn&rsquo;t changed. But what&rsquo;s different about him right now is how much faster he is. I&rsquo;ve never seen him this fast, making plays with the puck at this fast of a speed. I&rsquo;m telling you, it&rsquo;s pretty scary what he&rsquo;s going to do whenever we start playing again.&rdquo;</p><p>Speed has always been an asset for Crosby, but apparently he requires more. Before the concussion, he always picked one facet of his game to improve during the summer. One season it was faceoffs, the next his wrist shot.</p><p>In the summer of 2012, it was&hellip;</p><p>&ldquo;Just speed,&rdquo; Crosby says. &ldquo;I want to play the game at a faster speed, get back to that kind of game.&rdquo;</p><p>Crosby wasn&rsquo;t exactly slow last season, but he didn&rsquo;t often showcase his patented bursts of speed. Even though he was healthy enough to play late last season, the 15-month bout with the concussion robbed him of huge portions of conditioning.</p><p>Everything is back to normal now, as Crosby transformed his body during the summer. He returned to Pittsburgh in September following summer workouts in Nova Scotia and Los Angeles, his arms and shoulders noticeably bigger than before. &ldquo;We all know he&rsquo;s going to have a huge year,&rdquo; says linemate Pascal Dupuis. &ldquo;I mean, look at him. He looks amazing on the ice, just like always &ndash; maybe even more than before. He&rsquo;s doing whatever he wants to do out there.&rdquo;</p><p>The Penguins&rsquo; workouts have ranged from the seven players present to 17. Crosby has been there for the duration, and though the competition hasn&rsquo;t included an entire squad, his dominance is difficult to ignore. This has been a different Crosby, a player whose physical skills are still blossoming at 25. Even while practising against elite players like defenseman Kris Letang and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, Crosby looks like a man among boys in these workouts, drawing daily gasps from the crowd of Penguins fans who turn out to watch him make magic.</p><p>He routinely leaves defensemen in the dust during one-on-one drills and scrimmages, beats goalies in shootouts with ease and just looks different. He is bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty impossible to keep up with him right now,&rdquo; Niskanen says while shaking his head. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been around him for a couple of years now, and he&rsquo;s never looked anything like this. I mean, he&rsquo;s flying out there. Just flying. It&rsquo;s pretty hard to describe how incredible he looks right now.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>HE LOOKS AMAZING ON THE ICE, MAYBE EVEN MORE THAN BEFORE. HE DOES WHAT HE WANTS OUT THERE </b><br><b><i>-PascalDupuis</i></b></blockquote><p>Brisson expects Crosby&rsquo;s greatest hockey remains ahead. &ldquo;There is no doubt in my mind he&rsquo;s going to be better than ever,&rdquo; Brisson says. &ldquo;An athlete, a hockey player, usually hits his peak play between ages 25 and 29. Sidney hasn&rsquo;t scratched the surface. He has more experience now.</p><p>&ldquo;This season is going to be fun.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-011440/9751683-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="1380" height="1383"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>TIME TAKEN FROM PRIME</b></p><p>With 2013 fast approaching, Sidney Crosby has only played 29 games (including playoffs) the past two calendar years.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(JUSTIN K. ALLER/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>HIS LEGACY</b></h2><p>CROSBY&rsquo;S HEALTH scares made it easy to start pondering his career, where it has been and where it is headed.</p><p>Never once did Crosby admit his livelihood was in jeopardy because of his concussion problems, but of course it very much was. The truth is Crosby was dealing with headaches for more than a year, which is hardly a recipe for a long career in the NHL.</p><p>The greatest player of his generation refuses to consider his legacy, where it currently stands or where it&rsquo;s going. &ldquo;Not at all,&rdquo; Crosby says without a hint of expression. &ldquo;I guess there will be a time in my life when I sit back and look at what I was able to accomplish while playing hockey. But I&rsquo;m not there right now, not even close. I don&rsquo;t sit around and think about that kind of stuff. I really don&rsquo;t. I just want to play.&rdquo;</p><p>Ah, yes, Crosby wants to play. There&rsquo;s that familiar theme. And in many ways, Crosby&rsquo;s career is almost starting to mirror that of Lemieux&rsquo;s. It&rsquo;s an ironic twist, given Lemieux&rsquo;s and Crosby&rsquo;s respective on-ice styles couldn&rsquo;t have been more different.</p><p>But the two share a tragic trait.</p><p>Lemieux was never able to produce the numbers his talent should have allowed because he lost hundreds of games to back and hip injuries, along with a cancer bout.</p><p>Crosby has now missed almost two full campaigns at ages 23 and 24. He missed another large chunk of the regular season at age 20 with an ankle injury and even during the most memorable night of his NHL career, Crosby missed almost the entire final two periods in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup final because of a knee injury.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-011282/9751676-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="2409" height="1476"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>BOYTOMAN</b></p><p>Feeling healthier than he has in a few years Crosby has added noticeable bulk and strength to his frame.</p> <span class="photo-credit">(MARK ZEIBERT)</span></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>I'VE NEVER SEEN HIM THIS FAST, PLAYING WITH THE PUCK AT THIS SPEED IT&rsquo;S SCARY WHAT HE'LL DO WHEN WE START PLAYING AGAIN</b><br><b><i>-Matt Niskanen</i></b></blockquote><p>His health is finally right again and, given his supreme training regimen, he appears a far greater candidate for long-standing health than was Lemieux.</p><p>The feud between the NHL and NHL-PA, however, could change everything. When will Crosby play again and how will the game be different when he returns? And is so much time away from hockey helpful? Including the playoffs, Crosby has played in 29 games since Jan. 1, 2011. Athletes who endure such inactivity often struggle to find their peak performance again.</p><p>The history of sports is littered with performers who faced large stints of inactivity for many different reasons. Muhammad Ali was banned from fighting for three years because of his refusal to participate in the Vietnam War. Ted Williams was out of baseball for three years during his prime due to combat. And of course there&rsquo;s Lemieux, who missed three full seasons in his early 30s.</p><p>Will Crosby, who has already sat out so long, lose an entire season in his prime due to a labor dispute? &ldquo;I hope that isn&rsquo;t the case,&rdquo; says Crosby, who may play in Europe if a deal isn&rsquo;t reached. &ldquo;I want to play. We all want to play.&rdquo;</p><p>No one who has seen him play during these player-organized scrimmages believes he will perform less brilliantly than before his concussion problems. The truth is, not one person who has witnessed him play this fall has left without remarking that Crosby looks better than ever.</p><h2><b>HIS FUTURE</b></h2><p>THE WORKOUT is now over in Canonsburg. Crosby&rsquo;s teammates have long since departed the ice, leaving him alone to practice his shooting drills. And so, Crosby does what he has always done &ndash; stay on the ice well after everyone else has gone. If Wayne Gretzky was great because of his playmaking and Lemieux was supreme because of his physical talent, Crosby is the player of his generation because he simply outworks everyone else.</p><p>Wind sprints, stickhandling drills and shooting drills are part of his regimen on this day. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s great being able to play hockey again and not worry about how you&rsquo;re feeling,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Now, if we can just play.&rdquo;</p><p>When his work is complete, Crosby skates to the net, turns and methodically returns it to where it belongs.</p><p>With the whole rink before him and a few Penguins fans watching his every move, Crosby looks at them and smiles.</p><p>He, too, is back where he belongs.</p><p>If only the same could be said of the sport he loves.</p><div class="sidebar"><h2><b>WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN</b></h2><p>Think Sidney Crosby&rsquo;s stardom is overhyped? Think again. If you remove his injuries and pro-rate his yearly point totals over <b>82</b> games, he&rsquo;s 100-point man every time.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02902/9751669-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="1519" height="692"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></div>

f0028-01

SIDNEY CROSBY MAN OF STEEL

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03805/9751742-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALEX GALCHENYUK <span class="photo-credit">(GALCHENYUK: TERRY WILSON/OHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-011461/9751756-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-021020/9751749-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="230" height="158"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>t would have been</b> easy for the Sarnia Sting to pack it in this year. The long-forsaken franchise was coming off an all-or-nothing season featuring No. 1 NHL draft pick Nail Yakupov, hired guns Ryan Spooner and Brett Thompson and scoring import Ludvig Rensfeldt, all of whom are gone now.</p><p>But what they do have this season, is a healthy Alex Galchenyuk.</p><p>The third overall pick in 2012 missed all but two regular season games last year with a knee injury, but he has shown no ill effects so far, guiding Sarnia to a battle for first in the Ontario League&rsquo;s West Division with Plymouth. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a leader,&rdquo; said coach Jacques Beaulieu. &ldquo;He runs our power play, he&rsquo;s our captain; full of character and a big part of our team. Without him, we&rsquo;d be struggling.&rdquo;</p><p>Galchenyuk, whose father, Alex Sr., was an assistant coach with the team last year and a former teammate of agent Igor Larionov, is not an import player because he was born in Milwaukee, Wis., and lived in Chicago during his midget campaign. In between, he grew up all around Europe while his father played pro hockey, so the all-American kid has an accent that&rsquo;s not exactly midwestern. Still, his coaches and teammates believed he should wear the &lsquo;C&rsquo; as captain and he&rsquo;s happy to take on the role. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a vocal guy,&rdquo; said Galchenyuk, a natural center who is playing the wing. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m more on-ice. We have a lot of young guys and I want to show them what it takes on and off the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Galchenyuk has also seen for himself what lies ahead in the pros. The first player taken by the rebuilding Montreal Canadiens this summer, he has already seen the magic that comes with the bleu, blanc et rouge tradition. &ldquo;I went there for a pre-draft camp and you walk around the dressing room and see the logos and you think &lsquo;maybe,&rsquo;&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Then after the draft you go to development camp and it&rsquo;s yours and it&rsquo;s awesome.&rdquo;</p><p>For Habs fans, the thought of him in uniform as soon as possible should illicit glee. Compared to Marian Hossa for his excellent twoway play, Galchenyuk leads the Sting in scoring with 13 goals and 35 points through 22 games, putting him top 10 in the OHL. &ldquo;Alex is a very special kid,&rdquo; Beaulieu said. &ldquo;Offensively he&rsquo;s really good, defensively he&rsquo;s responsible and his hockey sense is second to none. We even put him on the point on the power play, he&rsquo;s that versatile.&rdquo;</p><p>Linemate Charlie Sarault, who had the good fortune of playing with Yakupov in 2011-12, is teaching Galchenyuk a bit of French for his upcoming career in Quebec. In the meantime the pair is making beautiful music on ice. &ldquo;You can tell he&rsquo;s a player on another level,&rdquo; Sarault said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s ready for the next step and he&rsquo;ll fit just right in Montreal down the road. He&rsquo;s a good guy to play with all-around.&rdquo;</p><p>Not only did Galchenyuk&rsquo;s knee injury keep him from the Sarnia lineup last year, it also prevented him from pulling on a Team USA jersey at the world juniors. He has played for the Americans at the under-18 Ivan Hlinka tournament before, but still could have chosen to play internationally for Russia since the Hlinka is a non-IIHF event. But it&rsquo;s stars and stripes all the way for the worldly center. &ldquo;I was born in the States and I like the people, the country,&rdquo; Galchenyuk said. &ldquo;I like the USA Hockey organization and it was a great decision.&rdquo;</p><p>Ironically, this year&rsquo;s WJC is in Ufa, Russia. At least Galchenyuk won&rsquo;t need a translator.</p><div class="sidebar"><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04656/9751735-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="115" height="183"></div><p>Scan the Galchenyuk photo with your Digimarc mobile app to watch a video feature on Alex Galchenyuk</p><p>See <b>page 6</b> for detailed instructions<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div></div>

f0034-03

Bleeding Red, White and Bleu

<p>*ACTIVE</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05530/9751787-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="242" height="413"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DENIS SAVARD</b> <span class="photo-credit">(SAVARD: BRUCE BENNET)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Denis Savard</b></p><p>1980</p><p><i>1,338</i></p><p><b>P. LaFontaine</b></p><p>1983</p><p>&nbsp;<i>1,013</i></p><p><b>Ed Olczyk</b></p><p>1984</p><p><i>794</i></p><p><b>Henrik Sedin*</b></p><p>1999</p><p>&nbsp;<i>747</i></p><p><b>S. Niedermayer</b></p><p>1991</p><p><i>740</i></p><p><b>B. Carpenter</b></p><p>1981</p><p><i>728</i></p><p><b>Mike Foligno</b></p><p>1979</p><p><i>727</i></p><p><b>Olli Jokinen*</b></p><p>1997</p><p><i>683</i></p><p><b>Don Lever</b></p><p>1972</p><p><i>680</i></p><p><b>Reggie Leach</b></p><p>1970</p><p><i>666</i></p><p><b>1.28 Alex Galchenyuk&rsquo;s career points per game in the Ontario League</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0034-05

3rd TIME’S a charm

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RORY BOYLEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-011355/9751895-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-15129/9751902-1-eng-US/f0035-152.jpg" title="f0035-15" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02963/9751888-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="657" height="772"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SCOTT LAUGHTON</b> <span class="photo-credit">(LAUGHTON: AARON BELL)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>s a smart, two-way center picked in the first round by Philadelphia, Scott Laughton will inevitably be compared to Mike Richards in coming years.</p><p>The third year Oshawa General&rsquo;s scoring is increasing as his team bounces back from a subpar 2011-12 to challenge for the lead in the Ontario League&rsquo;s East Division. Laughton has been a crucial contributor with his play on the ice and leadership off it. &ldquo;I just try and play a two-way hard game and help my teammates in any way, whether it&rsquo;s playmaking or being a leader in this room,&rdquo; Laughton said. &ldquo;Just trying to help the younger guys.&rdquo;</p><p>He even sounds like Richards.</p><p>Laughton played a defensive role on the third line and penalty-killing unit of Team OHL in the Super Series. While he was kept off the scoresheet, he also kept the Russian man advantage at bay in the narrow 2-1 loss.</p><p>A point-per-game player for Canada&rsquo;s bronze-medal entry at the under-18 world juniors a year ago, Laughton will undoubtedly serve his country again at the under-20s, mainly as a shutdown option.</p><p>And while he&rsquo;s one of the best defending forwards in the OHL, he also provides a bit of offense. He had five goals and 14 points through 15 games and would rank higher in the league had he not earned a 10-game suspension for blindsiding Ottawa&rsquo;s Daniel Walsh.</p><p>The Gens won just three games during his ban, proving how important he is to them.</p><h2><b>TOP 2012 DRAFT PICKS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03798/9751881-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="109" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</b></h3><p><b><i>Stefan Matteau, LW, 29th overall &ndash; Blainville-Boisbriand Armada (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p>The Devils like Matteau for his grit more than his scoring touch, but his switch from the U.S. NTDP to the &lsquo;Q&rsquo; has brought out his offensive potential. He had 12 goals in 22 games &ndash; more than he scored in two USHL seasons. Matteau has an NHL-ready frame at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds.</p><p><b><i>Damon Severson, D, 60th overall &ndash; Kelowna Rockets (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Severson started off strong with eight points in 12 games, but didn&rsquo;t have any in the next nine, putting him behind pace of his 37 points last season. He and the Rockets were second behind the sizzling Blazers in the B.C. Division.</p><p><b><i>Ben Johnson, LW, 90th overall &ndash; Windsor Spitfires (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Like several Spitfires, Johnson struggled to start the season with just three goals in 23 games, well off pace to reach the 18 goals of his rookie year.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04659/9751874-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="350" height="589"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05561/9751867-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="115" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></h3><p><b><i>Griffin Reinhart, D, fourth overall &ndash; Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)</i></b></p><p>The blueline was the Isles&rsquo; only priority in the draft, as they used all seven picks on &lsquo;D.&rsquo; Reinhart would&rsquo;ve had a shot to make the big club right away, but the lockout has proven he needs more time. After leading the Oil Kings to the whl title, he slipped to start 2012-13 with only eight points in 23 games.</p><p><b><i>Ville Pokka, D, 34th overall &ndash; Karpat (Fin.)</i></b></p><p>At just 18, Pokka has done well playing against men in the SM-liiga. He already had two goals and five points with Karpat after just three assists all of last season. He&rsquo;s a steady, smart and safe defenseman &ndash; just what the Isles need.</p><p><b><i>Adam Pelech, D, 65th overall &ndash; Erie Otters (OHL)</i></b></p><p> Like Pokka, Pelech projects to be solid stay-at-home D-man. The Isles didn&rsquo;t take him for offense, but he&rsquo;s already matched his 20-point sophomore season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06507/9751860-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SEVERSON+REINHART: MARISSA BAECKER/SHOOTTHEBREEZE.CA)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07434/9751853-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="110" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>NEW YORK RANGERS</b></h3><p><b><i>Brady Skjei, D, 28th overall &ndash; Minnesota Gophers (WCHA)</i></b></p><p> His M.O. is his mobility and ability to move the puck up ice quickly, but the transition to the Gophers has been rough for Skjei, who had just two points in 10 games. The offensive upside is there, but the Rangers would love for him to find a mean streak to complement his 6-foot-3, 200-pound body.</p><p><b><i>Cristoval Nieves, C, 59th overall &ndash; Michigan Wolverines (CCHA)</i></b></p><p>The man they call &lsquo;Boo&rsquo; made his transition to the Wolverines seamless with seven points in 11 games. His value to the team is clear: Michigan was 1-4-0 when he didn&rsquo;t get a point, 3-2-1 when he did.</p><p><b><i>Calle Andersson, D, 119th overall &ndash; Farjestad (Swe.)</i></b></p><p>Andresson was killing it on Farjestad&rsquo;s junior squad with nine goals and 17 points in 12 games, but had only one point in 18 games with the big club.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08374/9751846-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(NIEVES: MARTIN VLOET)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09324/9751839-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="123" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</b></h3><p><b><i>Scott</i></b>&nbsp;<b><i>Laughton, C, 20th overall &ndash; Oshawa Generals (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Showed defensive skill on third line and PK in Subway Super Series (see left).</p><p><b><i>Anthony Stolarz, G, 45th overall &ndash; Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks (WCHA)</i></b></p><p>The shift from Corpus Christi to the Omavs hasn&rsquo;t been easy for Stolarz, who went winless (3.03 GAA, .871 SP) in three starts as John Faulkner&rsquo;s backup. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound goalie likens his game to Pekka Rinne&rsquo;s.</p><p><b><i>Shayne Gostisbehere, D, 78th overall &ndash; Union College Dutchmen (ECAC)</i></b></p><p>His 22 points in 41 games last season were impressive, but he&rsquo;s upped his game in 2012-13, scoring at a point-per-game pace through nine games.</p><p><b><i>Frederik Larsson, D, 111th overall &ndash; Brynas (SweJr.)</i></b></p><p>The tall (6-foot-3), but frail (172 pounds) defenseman has been steady if unspectacular with Brynas&rsquo; under-20 team.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10280/9751832-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-11239/9751825-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="125" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</b></h3><p><b><i>Derrick Pouliot, D, eighth overall &ndash; Portland Winterhawks (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Pouliot has a lot of playoff experience in back-to-back runs to the final with the Winterhawks and he had them back on top of the U.S. Division, looking for another title shot. He was doing his part with nearly a point a game. He&rsquo;s in the mold of Kris Letang &ndash; an undersized D-man with good hockey sense.</p><p><b><i>Olli Maatta, D, 22nd overall &ndash; London Knights (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Maatta brings more mobility and defensive acumen to the Pens blueline pipeline. He showed some snarl in last year&rsquo;s world juniors and was proving he has offensive potential with a near point-per-game pace on the Knights.</p><p><b><i>Theodor Blueger, C, 52nd overall &ndash; Minnesota State Mavericks (WCHA)</i></b></p><p>The undersized (5-foot-11, 165 pounds) Latvian had five points in 10 games with the Mavs after graduating from the Shattuck-St. Mary&rsquo;s hockey factory.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-12208/9751818-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MAATTA: TERRY WILSON)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0035-01

On Scott’s Shoulders

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-011362/9752017-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-15169/9752024-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02926/9752010-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="658" height="784"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MALCOLM SUBBAN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(SUBBAN: AARON BELL/OHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>o give you an idea of how valuable goaltender Malcolm Subban has been for the Ontario League&rsquo;s Belleville Bulls, take a look at the standings: the Bulls passed Oshawa for first place in the East Division in mid-November despite scoring 32 fewer goals. They also gave up 26 fewer and that&rsquo;s where Subban, drafted 24th overall by the Boston Bruins in 2012, comes in.</p><p>The middle Subban brother boasted a 2.29 goals-against average and .928 save percentage, good for fourth and third in the league. This all points toward a star turn in net for Canada at the world juniors and for once, Belleville&rsquo;s international-sized ice surface will be an advantage, since this year&rsquo;s tournament is in Russia.</p><p>Donning the Maple Leaf is a goal for the youngster. &ldquo;It would be huge,&rdquo; Subban said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s every young Canadian goaltender&rsquo;s dream to represent their country and play well and that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m going to try to do.&rdquo;</p><p>While he&rsquo;s not a shoo-in to start, his strengths are tailor-made for the job. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my composure in the net,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I try to stay calm and not psych out the bench. It&rsquo;s good when your team has confidence in you.&rdquo;</p><p>His competition is Edmonton&rsquo;s Laurent Brossoit, Owen Sound&rsquo;s Jordan Binnington and Blainville-Boisbriand&rsquo;s  Etienne Marcoux.</p><h2><b>TOP 2012 DRAFT PICKS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03764/9752003-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="123" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>BOSTON BRUINS</b></h3><p><b><i>Malcolm Subban, G, 24th overall &ndash; Belleville Bulls (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Contender for Canada WJC team and big reason for Bulls&rsquo; success. (see left)</p><p><b><i>Matt Grzelcyk, D, 85th overall &ndash; Boston University Terriers (HE)</i></b></p><p>Parallels exist between ex-Bruin Greg Hawgood and Grzelcyk, a small but mobile offensive D-man. He makes up for his lack of size with great hockey IQ. Has earned Hockey East player of the week honors and averages a point per game.</p><p><b><i>Seth Griffith, C, 131st overall &ndash; London Knights (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Passed over in &rsquo;11, Griffith could be a &rsquo;12 steal for Boston. Second in OHL scoring and could crack Canada&rsquo;s WJC team. Strength is his hockey sense.</p><p><b><i>Cody Payne, C, 145th overall &ndash; Plymouth Whalers (OHL)</i></b></p><p> After impressing with his physicality and competitive instincts in Bruins development camp, Payne is showing a modicum of offensive aplomb this season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04609/9751996-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GRIFFITH: TERRY WILSON/OHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05514/9751989-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="133" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>BUFFALO SABRES</b></h3><p><b><i>Mikhail Grigorenko, C, 12th overall &ndash; Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p>Following a tumble down the rankings last year, Grigorenko signed with Buffalo after being drafted and has soared offensively, scoring 18 goals in 21 games. There&rsquo;s no denying his sublime skill level despite concerns about his ability to produce in crunch situations. He&rsquo;ll be a huge factor for Russia in the WJC.</p><p><b><i>Zemgus Girgensons, C, 14th overall &ndash; Rochester Americans (AHL)</i></b></p><p>Adjusting to the AHL is a challenge, especially for Girgensons, an 18-year-old who played in the Ushl last season. His offense needs work, but the Sabres are pleased with his all-around play after convincing him to bypass college.</p><p><b><i>Jake McCabe, D, 44th overall &ndash; Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA)</i></b></p><p>The body of work in college has been small, but McCabe, known for his good stick and skating, has adjusted well and is playing regularly as a sophomore.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06455/9751982-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GRIGORENKO: QMJHL ARCHIVES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07384/9751975-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="121" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>MONTREAL CANADIENS</b></h3><p><b><i>Alex Galchenyuk, C, third overall &ndash; Sarnia Sting (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Played just two games last season, but healthy and dominant now. (see pg. 34)</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Sebastian Collberg, RW, 33rd overall &ndash; Vastra Frolunda (Swe.)</i></b></p><p>Goal-less in 62 career games for Frolunda, Collberg plays his best against kids his age. His skills are undeniable, but his struggles against men indicate he must get stronger. His accurate, quick wrist shot is his greatest weapon.</p><p><b><i>Dalton Thrower, D, 51st overall &ndash; Saskatoon Blades (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Thrower&rsquo;s game is predicated on physical play and his blue-collar mentality. His toughness has given him a chance, but now he&rsquo;s showing he can also play.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Timothy Bozon, LW, 64th overall &ndash; Kamloops Blazers (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Overshadowed by teammates who are 1-2 in WHL scoring, Bozon is having a spectacular offensive season himself. He has a great shot and release.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08328/9751968-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(THROWER: STEVE HISCOCK)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09281/9751961-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="104" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>OTTAWA SENATORS</b></h3><p><b><i>Cody Ceci, D, 15th overall &ndash; Ottawa 67&rsquo;s (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Named a co-captain with Sean Monahan for the 67&rsquo;s, Ceci hasn&rsquo;t let the added pressure negatively affect his game. He is one of the OHL&rsquo;s top offense-producing D-men. He was drafted so high in large part because of his puck-moving and he hasn&rsquo;t disappointed this season, averaging a point per game.</p><p><b><i>Chris Driedger, G, 76th overall &ndash; Calgary Hitmen (WHL)</i></b></p><p> After trading Chris Glover to Seattle, the Hitmen handed Driedger the No. 1 job and he has responded well. Until this season, he had difficulty following up good performances, but he&rsquo;s been a steadying force for Calgary.</p><p><b><i>Jarrod Maidens, C, 82nd overall &ndash; Owen Sound Attack (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Nov. 30 marked a year since Maidens played a game. He was a first round prospect before a concussion last season. There is no timetable for his return.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10249/9751954-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(DRIEDGER: MARISSA BAECKER/SHOOTTHEBREEZE.CA)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11228/9751947-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="113" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</b></h3><p><b><i>Morgan Rielly, D, fifth overall &ndash; Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)</i></b></p><p> The only thing that might keep Rielly off Team Canada for the WJC would be an NHL settlement and a regular blueline gig for the Maple Leafs. The latter likely won&rsquo;t happen, but he&rsquo;ll get a look. After knee surgery limited him to 18 games last season, Rielly is regaining the speed that made him a high pick.</p><p><b><i>Matt Finn, D, 35th overall &ndash; Guelph Storm (OHL)</i></b></p><p> A solid defensive prospect, Finn is flashing offensive upside from the blueline as well. But his strength is still in his own end, where he plays a consistent, smart game and moves the puck out of his zone without incident.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Dominic Toninato, C, 126th overall &ndash; Fargo Force (USHL)</i></b></p><p> Drafted out of high school, Toninato averages a point per game in the Ushl and has committed to the University of Minnesota-Duluth next season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12212/9751940-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RIELLY: CODY KERR)</span></figcaption></div><div class="sidebar"><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13194/9751933-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="112" height="180"></div><p>Scan the Subban photo with your Digimarc mobile app to watch a 1-on-1 video with Malcolm Subban</p><p>See <b>page 6</b> for detailed instructions<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div></div>

f0036-01

Calming Presence

<div class="byline">&#x2013; BRION O&#x2019;CONNOR</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-011214/9752132-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-15102/9752139-1-eng-US/f0037-152.jpg" title="f0037-15" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02853/9752125-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="657" height="775"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MICHAEL MATHESON</b> <span class="photo-credit">(MATHESON: JOHN QUACKENBOS)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span>hen a Div. I coach lands a recruit with the talent of two proven NHLers, he&rsquo;s happy. That&rsquo;s why Boston College&rsquo;s Jerry York is all smiles about prized freshman Michael Matheson, a blueliner from Quebec who was the Florida Panthers&rsquo; first round draft choice (23rd overall) in 2012. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the grit and determination of a Brooks Orpik,&rdquo; York said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got that competitive fire in him. He also has defensive skills like Rob Scuderi.&rdquo;</p><p>The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Matheson has helped the No. 1 ranked Eagles (9-1-0) continue their championship form unabated from last season despite losing defensive stalwarts Tommy Cross of the Boston Bruins and Brian Dumoulin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. &ldquo;He brought tremendous hockey skills, but more importantly, he&rsquo;s brought an incredible work ethic to our program,&rdquo; York said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s here in the morning, skating, working on his puck skills and shooting. He&rsquo;s back in the afternoon for regular practice times. He&rsquo;s in the weight room. And he&rsquo;s been a model citizen in terms of academics and representing BC hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Senior captain Pat Mullane said the 18-year-old Matheson was impossible to ignore. &ldquo;There was a lot of hype about him coming in and so far everything&rsquo;s been true,&rdquo; Mullane said. &ldquo;The minute he stepped on the ice, I was taken aback by how phenomenal his skating was and how mature he is.&rdquo;</p><p>In Hockey East, that means the rich get richer.</p><h2><b>TOP 2012 DRAFT PICKS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03686/9752118-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="122" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>CAROLINA HURRICANES</b></h3><p><b><i>Phil Di Giuseppe, C, 38th overall &ndash; Michigan Wolverines (CCHA)</i></b></p><p> Di Giuseppe hasn&rsquo;t seen a production uptick, with four of his six points coming in two of 11 games. Last year, his longest scoring drought was six games and he failed to register a shot only three times. This year he was in the midst of a four-game pointless streak and had been held without a shot twice.</p><p><b><i>Brock McGinn, LW, 47th overall &ndash; Guelph Storm (OHL)</i></b></p><p>McGinn has been a Cy Young player the past two year seasons (10-4 and 12-6 totals), but he&rsquo;s reversed that pattern by posting a career-high in assists. He is showing no signs of a wrist injury that held him to 33 games in &rsquo;11-12.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Daniel Altshuller, G, 69th overall &ndash; Oshawa Generals (OHL)</i></b></p><p> One of the most relied-upon goalies in major junior, Altshuller was second in minutes played and fourth in saves among OHL goalies.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04588/9752111-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="350" height="589"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05531/9752104-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="126" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>FLORIDA PANTHERS</b></h3><p><b><i>Michael Matheson, D, 23rd overall &ndash; Boston College Eagles (HE)</i></b></p><p>Teammates and opponents taking notice of punishing physical game. (see left)</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Steven Hodges, C, 84th overall &ndash; Victoria Royals (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Hodges would be one of the team&rsquo;s point leaders if he hadn&rsquo;t missed eight games with a lower-body injury. He brings something to the table each game, as he managed 10 points in 12 games with only one multi-point contest.</p><p><b><i>Alexander Delnov, LW, 114th overall &ndash; Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Early returns indicate a successful first season in North America. Delnov sat third in rookie points among WHLers and second in goals with 8-9-17 totals.</p><p><b><i>Francis Beauvillier, C, 174th overall &ndash; Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p> Project player showing requisite improvement in offensive totals as fourth-year QMJhler. Was named to the Q&rsquo;s Super Series entry and scored an early goal.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06472/9752097-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="350" height="589"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07405/9752090-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="122" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING</b></h3><p><b><i>Slater Koekkoek, D, 10th overall &ndash; Peterborough Petes (OHL)</i></b></p><p> In Koekkoek&rsquo;s first game back after having shoulder surgery, he was caught by a hard hit and had to leave. It was just a bone bruise, so he didn&rsquo;t miss regular action. He&rsquo;s shown no ill effects and has become a top-10 scorer among OHL defenders. He continues to use his physical game as a deterrent.</p><p><b><i>Andrei Vasilevski, G, 19th overall &ndash; Tolpar Ufa (RusJr.)</i></b></p><p> Dominant in the Russian junior circuit with a 2.06 GAA and .926 SP, the big-bodied netminder impressed in international play. He bookended a 5-2 loss with 31- and 27-save games in a 6-2 win and 2-1 loss at the Super Series.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Dylan Blujus, D, 40th overall &ndash; Brampton Battalion (OHL)</i></b></p><p> Offensive totals are down on weak squad. It&rsquo;s clear the 6-foot-3 blueliner will skew towards the defensive side of the game, but he must use his size better.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-08317/9752083-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HODGES: MARISSA BAECKER/SHOOTTHEBREEZE.CA;)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-09261/9752076-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="143" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</b></h3><p><b><i>Filip Forsberg, RW, 11th overall &ndash; Leksands IF (Swe2)</i></b></p><p>He had nearly equaled his point total from all of last year. A minor hip injury forced him to miss the Four Nations tournament and a couple of league games, but he still managed to sit seventh on the team in goals. These developments bode well towards desired improvements in strength and consistency.</p><p><b><i>Tom Wilson, RW, 16th overall &ndash; Plymouth Whalers (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Showed off his much-ballyhooed physical game at the Super Series with a hit on Nail Yakupov that broke the Russian&rsquo;s helmet. Missed seven games with a hand injury, but one of two Whalers with better than a point-per-game average.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Chandler Stephenson, LW, 77th overall &ndash; Regina Pats (WHL)</i></b></p><p> Good start was interrupted by freak injury when his foot was stepped on during a game, severing a tendon. He won&rsquo;t be back until December.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-10220/9752069-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MCGINN+KOEKKOEK+WILSON: TERRY WILSON/OHL IMAGES;)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-11184/9752062-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="135" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>WINNIPEG JETS</b></h3><p><b><i>Jacob Trouba, D, ninth overall &ndash; Michigan Wolverines (CCHA)</i></b></p><p>Big part of Michigan&rsquo;s &lsquo;D&rsquo; as a freshman, sitting on the top pairing with 21-year-old Mac Bennett. His nine points in 10 games and team-leading three power play goals show off his offensive side, but he also leads with 42 penalty minutes and was handed a one-game bam for a high hit, advertising his physical side.</p><p><b><i>Lukas Sutter, C, 39th overall &ndash; Saskatoon Blades (WHL)</i></b></p><p>After a breakout 2011-12, it has been a difficult year. One of only three players from August&rsquo;s Canada-Russia Challenge to be left off Super Series roster. Known as a defensive player, so his minus-13 rating is disappointing.</p><p><b><i>Scott Kosmachuk, RW, 70th overall &ndash; Guelph Storm (OHL)</i></b></p><p> Point-per-game player for hot-and-cold team. Not backing down after breakout offensive season. He&rsquo;s recognized as one of league&rsquo;s better shot-blockers.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-12160/9752055-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SUTTER: STEVE HISCOCK)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0037-01

Head Of The Class

<div class="byline">BY SARAH MCLELLAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03740/9752170-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">HENRIK SAMUELSSON <span class="photo-credit">(SAMUELSSON+REINHART: MARISSA BAECKER/SHOOTTHEBREEZE.CA)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-011323/9752184-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02918/9752177-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="236" height="171"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>U</span>nlike the majority</b> of his class, Phoenix Coyotes prospect Henrik Samuelsson didn&rsquo;t sign an entry level contract following the 2012 NHL draft.</p><p>The Coyotes, who took the 18-year-old left winger 27th overall, instead had a specific script in mind for Samuelsson: return to the Western League, complete a full season with the Edmonton Oil Kings and continue to improve before marking pen on paper.</p><p>Two months into this season, Samuelsson has done nothing to steer off that schedule. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re really encouraged,&rdquo; said Coyotes GM Don Maloney. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s playing a lot. He&rsquo;s producing. He plays in every situation &ndash; power play, penalty killing &ndash; and we&rsquo;re just really happy with where his game is trending.&rdquo;</p><p>In his second season with the Oil Kings, Samuelsson has 11 goals and 23 points in 22 games. He joined the team late last season from Modo in Sweden, where he was playing for his dad, Ulf, an ex-NHL defenseman who spent five years on the Coyotes coaching staff. The transition to the North American game appeared seamless, in part, because the style suited Samuelsson. He was born in Pittsburgh, raised in the Phoenix area and thus learned to play the forward position with a grittiness that&rsquo;s not always advantageous in Europe, but is in Edmonton.</p><p>Last season, he accumulated 23 points in 28 games and added 14 in 17 playoff games in helping the Oil Kings win the WHL title and reach the Memorial Cup. He quickly jumped onto the Coyotes&rsquo; radar. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve likened his style to a Johan Franzen from Detroit,&rdquo; Maloney said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the kind of game. He&rsquo;s big. He&rsquo;s strong. He can shoot a puck. He has excellent offensive instincts, so to me it&rsquo;s just a continued maturation of his game.</p><p>&ldquo;He has to continue to work on getting his feet a little quicker and stronger as every young player does. What we&rsquo;re happy about is there hasn&rsquo;t been a sag, a step back, after being drafted.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s because motivation for Samuelsson hasn&rsquo;t tapered off. After participating in the team&rsquo;s development camp over the summer, Samuelsson returned to Edmonton with the goal of becoming an all-around player. He started killing penalties, which he did with Modo but not with the Oil Kings last season. &ldquo;I wanted to be one of those guys that they can put out in any situation,&rdquo; Samuelsson said. &ldquo;If they need a goal, they could put me out. If they needed somebody in the last few minutes just to shut (the other team) down, then they can trust me in that, too.&rdquo;</p><p>Being trustworthy is a helpful trait to have in a Dave Tippett system predicated on defense, but Samuelsson also chips in at the other end. He&rsquo;s found a niche alongside right winger T.J. Foster and center Curtis Lazar. &ldquo;We play really well together,&rdquo; Samuelsson said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got T.J., who&rsquo;s fast and he knows how to score goals, and Curt does hard work and gives us the puck when we&rsquo;re open.&rdquo;</p><p>Maloney and his staff have visited Samuelsson a handful of times this year to watch his game develop in person. Samuelsson has also been in regular communication with director of player development Sean Burke.</p><p>Depending on how each team&rsquo;s season pans out, there&rsquo;s a possibility Samuelsson joins the Coyotes&rsquo; American League affiliate in the spring to gain more experience. There&rsquo;s still no rush to integrate him into the pro game, but every step has the purpose of locking him into his first NHL contract and starting a successful future with the Coyotes. &ldquo;It would be a great milestone for my hockey career if I get signed,&rdquo; Samuelsson said. &ldquo;If it ever happens, I&rsquo;ll be ecstatic.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-03

The Best Of Both Worlds

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04601/9752215-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="242" height="413"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GRIFFIN REINHART</b></figcaption></div><p><b>G. Reinhart</b></p><p>(Paul)</p><p>&nbsp;<i>4th, NYI</i></p><p><b>H. Samuelsson</b></p><p>(Ulf)</p><p><i>25th, PHX</i></p><p><b>Stefan Matteau</b></p><p>(Stephane)</p><p><i>29th, NJ</i></p><p><b>Lukas Sutter</b></p><p>(Rich)</p><p>&nbsp;<i>39th, WPG</i></p><p><b>Tim Bozon</b></p><p>(Philippe)</p><p><i>64th, MTL</i></p><p><b>Jimmy Vesey</b></p><p>(Jim)</p><p><i>66th, NSH</i></p><p><b>Tanner Richard</b></p><p>(Mike)</p><p><i>71st, TB</i></p><p><b>C. Andersson</b></p><p>(Peter)</p><p><i>119th, NYR</i></p><p><b>Daniel O&rsquo;Regan</b></p><p>(Tom)</p><p><i>138th, SJ</i></p><p><b>Matt Benning</b></p><p>(Brian)</p><p>&nbsp;<i>175th, BOS</i></p><p><b>Christian Djoos</b></p><p>(Per)</p><p><i>195th, WSH</i></p><p><b>+23 Henrik Samuelsson&rsquo;s plus-minus over 51 career Western League games</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-04

FAMILY Tree

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RISTO PAKARINEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-011210/9752323-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-15104/9752330-1-eng-US/f0039-152.jpg" title="f0039-15" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02811/9752316-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="657" height="770"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TEUVO TERAVAINEN</b> <span class="photo-credit">(TERAVAINEN: MARKO HANNULA)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>euvo Teravainen debuted in the Finnish league last season 37 days after turning 17 and scored 11 goals and 18 points in 40 games with Helsinki Jokerit. Toward the end of the regular season, he played 16-18 minutes a game, scoring 12 points in the last 19 games. His six points in nine playoff games were tied for second on the team.</p><p>Then he had the under-18 World Championship, where he had eight points in six games; the NHL draft combine; the draft, in which the Chicago Blackhawks chose him 18th overall; Hawks prospect camp; and Finland&rsquo;s World Junior Championship camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. &ldquo;It was a hectic summer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was pretty tough on the body, too.&rdquo;</p><p>It was too much. This fall, he struggled out of the gate, going six games without a point. &ldquo;The travel and the effects of jetlag forced me to take things a little easier than I would have liked to,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>Goran Stubb, NHL director of European scouting, noticed the sag in Teravainen&rsquo;s play, but wasn&rsquo;t too discouraged. &ldquo;I expected a little more,&rdquo; Stubb said. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s got the skill set, the attitude and the will to become an NHL player.&rdquo;</p><p>Just as Teravainen hit his stride and scored five points in four games, he got hit by a puck and broke his finger. On the bright side, it gave him a chance to work on his strength and conditioning for a month, which will help him at the WJC. &ldquo;We have a great team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to have a big role on it.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>TOP 2012 DRAFT PICKS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03639/9752309-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="122" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</b></h3><p><b><i>Teuvo Teravainen, LW, 18th overall &ndash; Jokerit (Fin1)</i></b></p><p>Small, creative scorer compared to new teammate Patrick Kane (see left).</p><p><b><i>Dillon Fournier, D, 48th overall &ndash; Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p>Not a physical player despite a 6-foot-3, 180-pound frame, but Hawks love his slick puck-moving ability. His 10 points through 18 games were under-whelming, but his plus-9 is encouraging after he was minus-8 last season.</p><p><b><i>Chris Calnan, RW, 79th overall &ndash; South Shore Kings (EJHL)</i></b></p><p>Boston College commit was a darling at the draft combine. Big, strong athlete placed first in five events; no other player won more than two.</p><p><b><i>Garret Ross, LW, 139th overall &ndash; Saginaw Spirit (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Rugged, mean forward similar to Chicago&rsquo;s Andrew Shaw; the two even fought in junior. Coaches voted Ross most underrated in OHL last season.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04537/9752302-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(FOURNIER: QMJHL ARCHIVES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05454/9752295-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="115" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS</b></h3><p><b><i>Ryan Murray, D, second overall &ndash; Everett Silvertips (WHL)</i></b></p><p>All-around defenseman had support to go first overall. He&rsquo;s a smooth skater and poised puckhandler and tough to beat 1-on-1. Had 17 points in 23 games with Everett and was a lock to represent Canada at a second straight WJC, but a dislocated shoulder in November cast doubt on his availability.</p><p><b><i>Oscar Dansk, G, 31st overall &ndash; Erie Otters (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Third goalie drafted in 2012 has been hung out to dry on a bad Erie team, regularly facing 40-plus shots per game. Backstopping Sweden at the WJC will provide a better sense of how far along the tall, athletic netminder is.</p><p><b><i>Joonas Korpisalo, G, 62nd overall &ndash; Kiekko-Vantaa (Fin2)</i></b></p><p>The second straight goalie drafted by the Jackets stayed in Europe. Impressed with a .949 SP on Jokerit&rsquo;s junior team before being loaned to the second tier.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06377/9752288-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MURRAY: DEREK LEUNG/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07329/9752281-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="116" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>DETROIT RED WINGS</b></h3><p><b><i>Martin Frk, RW, 49th overall &ndash; Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p>The polarizing Frk couldn&rsquo;t spread his wings last year after a concussion limited him to 34 games. He&rsquo;s blessed with a laser of a shot, so the Wings see elite goal-scoring potential, but his skating needs work. Overshadowed on a stacked Halifax team this season, he quietly had 27 points in 20 games.</p><p><b><i>Jake Paterson, G, 80th overall &ndash; Saginaw Spirit (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Stood tall in last year&rsquo;s OHL playoffs to help Saginaw oust Nail Yakupov&rsquo;s Sarnia Sting. He also looked good for Team OHL in the Subway Super Series. Before he&rsquo;s NHL ready, however, he must improve his consistency.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Andreas Athanasiou, LW, 110th overall &ndash; Barrie Colts (OHL)</i></b></p><p> London Knights castoff has speed and skill to spare, as his 25 points in 22 games with Barrie show. He needs to improve defensively to advance.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08279/9752274-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PATERSON: TERRY WILSON/OHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-09227/9752267-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="143" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>NASHVILLE PREDATORS</b></h3><p><b><i>Pontus Aberg, LW, 37th overall &ndash; Djurgarden (Swe2)</i></b></p><p> The speedy Swede is a perfect fit for Barry Trotz&rsquo;s system &ndash; equipped with a sniper&rsquo;s touch, but also a responsible two-way player. His modest offensive totals with Djurgarden, who was relegated from the Elite League to the Allsvenskan, don&rsquo;t tell the whole story, as he&rsquo;s playing against grown men.</p><p><b><i>Colton Sissons, RW, 50th overall &ndash; Kelowna Rockets (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Sissons, snubbed in the WHL bantam draft, carries the same something-to-prove chip on his shoulder as the Preds franchise. He grew into his 6-foot-1 frame late, taking three seasons to become a point-per-gamer.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Jimmy Vesey, LW, 66th overall &ndash; Harvard Crimson (ECAC)</i></b></p><p>Son of ex-pro center Jim Vesey, he&rsquo;s a project &ndash; a big body who doesn&rsquo;t play big yet. He&rsquo;s impressed as a college freshman, leading Harvard in scoring.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-10196/9752260-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SISSONS: MARISSA BAECKER/SHOOTTHEBREEZE.CA)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-11172/9752253-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="96" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>ST. LOUIS BLUES</b></h3><p><b><i>Jordan Schmaltz, D, 25th overall &ndash; N. Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA)</i></b></p><p> The Blues see Schmaltz as a future power play quarterback. He was a hero for Green Bay in the USHL last season, leading the Gamblers to a Clark Cup, but his numbers have dipped this season as he adjusts to facing older competition in the college ranks. His defense and physicality are works in progress.</p><p><b><i>Sam Kurker, RW, 56th overall &ndash; Boston University Terriers (HE)</i></b></p><p> Kurker lit it up in high school, but doesn&rsquo;t project as an NHL scorer. He has a man&rsquo;s build already at 18 (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) and could flourish in a checking role someday. He was held off the scoresheet in six college games.</p><p><b><i>Mackenzie MacEachern, LW, 67th overall &ndash; Chicago Steel (USHL)</i></b></p><p>Michigan State commit turned heads with 90 points in 29 high school games last season. He&rsquo;s lanky with a long reach. The Blues love his powerful stride.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-12156/9752246-1-eng-US/f0039-122.jpg" title="f0039-12" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SCHMALTZ: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0039-01

Too Much Teuvo Time

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RORY BOYLEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01916/9752438-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1575/9752445-1-eng-US/f0040-152.jpg" title="f0040-15" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02587/9752431-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="658" height="779"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MATT DUMBA</b> <span class="photo-credit">(MOROZ+DUMBA: MARISSA BAECKER/SHOOTTHEBREEZE.CA)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>athew Dumba has a heavy shot, bruising shoulder and can bring it at both ends of the ice. Sometimes that means he tries to do too much with his skill set, but coach Brent Sutter chalks that up to a maturity process all prospects, especially high first round picks, deal with. &ldquo;You have goals to get drafted, then after you get drafted you have goals to play in the NHL,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;Matt has a lot of goals and, to some degree, he has too much focus on that. We need to help him with the process of accomplishing his goals.&rdquo;</p><p>Dumba&rsquo;s start in Red Deer has dipped off the pace of his 57-point 2011-12 season, but that&rsquo;s no reason to get discouraged about his future. Sutter wants him to become a more responsible player who continues to make himself part of the rush, but under a little more control and with defensive responsibility in mind.</p><p>Sutter replaced Jesse Wallin behind the Rebels bench in mid-November and Dumba knows the new/old coach will push and challenge him in all the right ways. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to make you work hard,&rdquo; Dumba said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll help the D-side of my game. He&rsquo;s been everywhere in hockey, so he&rsquo;s got a lot to teach.&rdquo;</p><p>While Dumba is focused on getting Red Deer&rsquo;s season turned around, the prospect of playing for Team Canada at the world juniors is hard to ignore. He was one of the first cuts last year, but as the leading scorer on the bronze medal entry at the under-18s in April, he has the inside track this time around.</p><h2><b>TOP 2012 DRAFT PICKS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03455/9752424-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="123" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>CALGARY FLAMES</b></h3><p><b><i>Mark Jankowski, C,</i></b>&nbsp;<b><i>21st overall &ndash; Providence College Friars (HE)</i></b></p><p>The youngest player drafted in June chose Providence over a season of development in the USHL. He got off to a slow start, but by the 10-game mark was tied for the team lead in goals (four) and tied for second in points (seven). Had Jankowski been born three days later, he&rsquo;d have had to wait until the 2013 draft.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Patrick Sieloff, D, 42nd overall &ndash; Windsor Spitfires (OHL)</i></b></p><p>After choosing major junior over a commitment to the NCAA, Sieloff is playing a stay-at-home defensive game with a young team. He already has a reputation as a feared big hitter and is third on the team with 40 PIM in 23 games.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Jon Gillies, G, 75th overall &ndash; Providence College Friars (HE)</i></b></p><p> Freshman Gillies has played all but 20 minutes in Providence&rsquo;s 10 games. He&rsquo;s been lights out with a 2.05 GAA and .924 SP, despite a 5-4-1 record.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04365/9752417-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JANKOWSKI: TOM MAGUIRE)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05310/9752410-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="126" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>COLORADO AVALANCHE</b></h3><p><b><i>Mitchell Heard, C, 41st overall &ndash; Lake Erie Monsters (AHL)</i></b></p><p>After a breakthrough junior season as an undrafted 19-year-old with Plymouth, Heard has had a quiet pro debut with the Monsters. With just one goal and two points in 11 games, mainly on the fourth line, Heard is playing a rugged style and getting involved physically.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Troy Bourke, LW, 72nd overall &ndash; Prince George Cougars (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Bourke easily led his dismal team in scoring last season with 18 goals and 56 points, but it&rsquo;s been a struggle for him and the Cougars so far. He has just three goals and 12 points in 18 games and needs to bulk up physically.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Michael Clarke, C, 132nd overall &ndash; Windsor Spitfires (OHL)</i></b></p><p>The Spits are rebuilding and the small pivot is part of the plan. Clarke gets to play with top draft prospects Kerby Rychel (2013) and Josh Ho-Sang (2014).</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06272/9752403-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HEARD: BEN HALL/LAKE ERIE MONSTERS)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-07237/9752396-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="120" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>EDMONTON OILERS</b></h3><p><b><i>Nail Yakupov, RW, first overall &ndash; Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik (KHL)</i></b></p><p>A battle was waged to determine if Yakupov would play for Nizhnekamsk in the khl or be forced to return to Sarnia in the OHL. After some strategic dithering, Hockey Canada signed his release and he&rsquo;s been averaging a point per game since. Critics panned him at the Canada-Russia Subway Super Series.</p><p><b><i>Mitch Moroz, LW, 32nd overall &ndash; Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Size, attitude and edge are the best way to describe Moroz and there&rsquo;s a need for that in Edmonton&rsquo;s lineup. He still requires a couple years to refine his game and he&rsquo;ll never play above the third line, but that&rsquo;s OK. He&rsquo;s got grit.</p><p><b><i>Jujhar Khaira, LW, 63rd overall &ndash; Michigan Tech Huskies (WCHA)</i></b></p><p>Has size, skating ability and is strong on the forecheck. He bangs bodies, has a mean disposition and decent puck skills &ndash; third in Michigan Tech scoring.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-08205/9752389-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="350" height="588"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-09154/9752382-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="128" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>MINNESOTA WILD</b></h3><p><b><i>Matt Dumba, D, seventh overall &ndash; Red Deer Rebels (WHL)</i></b></p><p> His offensive contribution has levelled off, but still involved physically (see left).</p><p><b><i>Raphael Bussieres, LW, 46th overall &ndash; Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p>Bussieres is a big reason why the Drakkar have shot up the QMJhl standings. He&rsquo;s scoring at nearly a 100-point pace after just 44 points in his draft year. He still plays a gritty style and is more composed overall.</p><p><b><i>John Draeger, D, 68th overall &ndash; Michigan State Spartans (CCHA)</i></b></p><p> The Shattuck-St. Mary&rsquo;s product has stepped right in and played significant minutes with an established college program. He&rsquo;s a bruiser with decent skills.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Adam Gilmour, RW, 98th overall &ndash; Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)</i></b></p><p>The lanky winger is committed to Boston College, but is putting in a USHL season first. He&rsquo;s just now getting caught up with a seven-inch growth spurt.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-10140/9752375-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg" title="f0040-10" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MALLET: ROSS DETTMAN)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-11123/9752368-1-eng-US/f0040-112.jpg" title="f0040-11" width="125" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</b></h3><p><b><i>Brendan Gaunce, C, 26th overall &ndash; Belleville Bulls (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Gaunce isn&rsquo;t wowing anyone with his scoring stats &ndash; 53-point pace after 68 points in his draft year &ndash; but he&rsquo;s been a hard-working, hard-nosed two-way force who leads by example. He missed eight games with a separated shoulder, but his commitment to fitness enabled him to return early.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Alexandre Mallet, LW, 57th overall &ndash; Chicago Wolves (AHL)</i></b></p><p>After being passed over in two drafts, Mallet used a bust-out 34-goal season to attract NHL attention. He plays with a lot of edge, so he can be useful even when he&rsquo;s not scoring. He has no points and one fight in eight AHL games.</p><p><b><i>Ben Hutton, D, 147 overall &ndash; Maine Black Bears (HE)</i></b></p><p>Another player passed over in a previous draft, Hutton has made a smooth transition to a struggling NCAA team. He&rsquo;s pushing for the team scoring lead.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-12112/9752361-1-eng-US/f0040-122.jpg" title="f0040-12" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(BUSSIERES: QMJHL ARCHIVES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0040-01

Goals-Oriented

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RORY BOYLEN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01793/9752553-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1548/9752560-1-eng-US/f0041-152.jpg" title="f0041-15" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02519/9752546-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="657" height="780"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TANNER PEARSON</b> <span class="photo-credit">(PEARSON: STEVE BABINEAU)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>A</span>fter leading the Ontario League&rsquo;s Barrie Colts with 91 points in 60 games last season, Tanner Pearson has had to work his way back onto the power play and earn key ice time for the American League&rsquo;s Manchester Monarchs. But for a player who&rsquo;s already stepped from obscurity to a first round NHL draft pick, that&rsquo;s not much of a hurdle. &ldquo;He started on the fourth line, then one game our power play wasn&rsquo;t great so I gave him a chance to play the net-front position,&rdquo; said Monarchs coach Mark Morris. &ldquo;One of our defensemen (David Kolomatis) shot it and he got a stick on it and it went in. Next shift the same defenseman took a shot and he tipped one in again.&rdquo;</p><p>With three goals and five points through 14 games, Pearson isn&rsquo;t the prolific scorer he was at the end of his junior career and that&rsquo;s to be expected. But the coach couldn&rsquo;t be happier with how coachable Pearson is. Morris called Pearson a finisher, but would like to see him improve his outside shot, so that he can become more dangerous when he rushes down on an opposing defenseman.</p><p>As for Pearson, his goal is to make the NHL, but did he realistically expect to jump right into the Los Angeles Kings lineup this season? &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to say it&rsquo;s out of the question,  but they got everyone back and won the Cup last year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But the NHL isn&rsquo;t going, so the AHL is the best league right now and I&rsquo;m happy to be here.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>TOP 2012 DRAFT PICKS</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03423/9752539-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="142" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>ANAHEIM DUCKS</b></h3><p><b><i>Hampus Lindholm, D, sixth overall &ndash; Norfolk Admirals (AHL)</i></b></p><p>One of the youngest players in the AHL, Lindholm is so loved by the Ducks they thought he might have jumped straight to the NHL, back when that was possible. The big blueliner has been on a steady upward trajectory for more than a year and had five points in 14 games for the Admirals.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Nic Kerdiles, LW, 36th overall &ndash; Wisconsin Badgers (WCHA)</i></b></p><p>Highly anticipated freshman got off on the wrong foot with a 10-game suspension thanks to NCAA violation involving his family advisor and hotel bills. Played two games for his old Team USA squad during the ban and sprained his knee.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Frederik Andersen, G, 87th overall &ndash; Norfolk Admirals (AHL)</i></b></p><p> Big-bodied Danish goalie was putting up decent numbers for middling squad. He was originally drafted by Carolina in 2010, but never signed.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04366/9752532-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LINDHOLM: JOHN WRIGHT)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05329/9752525-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="141" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>DALLAS STARS</b></h3><p><b><i>Radek Faksa, C, 13th overall &ndash; Kitchener Rangers (OHL)</i></b></p><p> A big, imposing talent who will be front and center on the Czech Republic&rsquo;s national junior team this year, Faksa had a so-so October and was off his points pace from his rookie OHL campaign. The Rangers in general are fighting for their place in what is likely junior hockey&rsquo;s toughest division.</p><p><b><i>Ludvig Bystrom, D, 43rd overall &ndash; Modo (Swe.)</i></b></p><p>Mobile and poised on the back end, Bystrom is playing in Sweden&rsquo;s top league against older competition and thriving. On a team rife with minus players, the teenager was above water at plus-2 through 18 games.</p><p><b><i>Mike Winther, C, 54th overall &ndash; Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Consistency was a question mark last year and the creative, undersized pivot still gets points in bunches, but at least there&rsquo;s more of them now.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06286/9752518-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="350" height="589"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-07246/9752511-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="129" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>LOS ANGELES KINGS</b></h3><p><b><i>Tanner Pearson, LW, 30th overall &ndash; Manchester Monarchs (AHL)</i></b></p><p>Late bloomer on a deep team is getting points via the power play. (see left)</p><p><b><i>Nikolai Prokhorkin, LW, 121st overall &ndash; Krasnaya Armiya (Rus.)</i></b></p><p>Fiery competitor with loads of skill had just one assist in eight games with AHL Manchester before heading back to the motherland, where he was set to make a return in the KHL&rsquo;s junior circuit.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Colin Miller, D, 151st overall &ndash; Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Tireless worker and captain was on nearly a point-per-game pace from the blueline, though he missed a chunk of games due to suspensions and injury.</p><p><b><i>Tomas Hyka, RW, 171st overall &ndash; Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p> Passed over in one draft, the skilled but smallish winger is one of the key offensive engines for the rebuilding Olympiques.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-08192/9752504-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PROKHORKIN: JULIANNE M. RAINONE)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-09143/9752497-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="108" height="38"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>PHOENIX COYOTES</b></h3><p><b><i>Henrik Samuelsson, RW, 27th overall &ndash; Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)</i></b></p><p>Chemistry with Curtis Lazar spurred great playoff run as rookie. (see pg. 38)</p><p><b><i>Jordan Martinook, C, 58th overall &ndash; Portland Pirates (AHL)</i></b></p><p>Snubbed in two drafts before his skill and scrappiness finally found him a home, though he has struggled to make an impact on the scoresheet as a first-year pro other than a fight and a couple minor penalties.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>James Melindy, D, 88th overall &ndash; Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p> Offensively inclined defenseman with size had seen his numbers decline this season on a middling Moncton squad.</p><p><b><i>Rhett Holland, D, 102nd overall &ndash; Michigan State Spartans (CCHA)</i></b></p><p>Three games into his college career, the hard-hitting blueliner hurt his shoulder, leading to season-ending surgery. He&rsquo;ll apply for a medical redshirt.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-10116/9752490-1-eng-US/f0041-102.jpg" title="f0041-10" width="350" height="588"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SAMUELSSON: DANIEL ST. LOUIS)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1195/9752483-1-eng-US/f0041-112.jpg" title="f0041-11" width="116" height="37"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>SAN JOSE SHARKS</b></h3><p><b><i>Tomas Hertl, C, 17th overall &ndash; Slavia Praha (Cze.)</i></b></p><p> A big-bodied playmaker who had his coming-out party at the world juniors for the Czech Republic, Hertl had resumed his excellent play back home, putting up solid points against older competition in the nation&rsquo;s highest league. Hertl had already approached his goal total from last season in half the games.</p><p>&nbsp;<b><i>Chris Tierney, C, 55th overall &ndash; London Knights (OHL)</i></b></p><p>Playing on loaded London&rsquo;s fourth line gave Tierney a little more prestige than the average bottom-sixer last year and he has an OHL championship ring to show for his efforts. On about the same offensive pace this season.</p><p><b><i>Christophe Lalancette, RW, 109th overall &ndash; Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)</i></b></p><p>Mid-sized playmaker is slightly ahead of his offensive pace from last season, playing for a subpar Titan squad.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1280/9752476-1-eng-US/f0041-122.jpg" title="f0041-12" width="350" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(FAKSA+TIERNEY: TERRY WILSON/OHL IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0041-01

He’s Got The Touch

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0042-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02548/9752605-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ZACH FUCALE</b> <span class="photo-credit">(HALIFAX MOOSEHEADS HOCKEY CLUB)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01844/9752612-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>E</span>ven on his morning ride to school, Zach Fucale gets the backseat. The netminder for the juggernaut Halifax Mooseheads is usually the third prospect on his team mentioned when the topic turns to the 2013 NHL draft, but it&rsquo;s no slight, since the first two will be gone within the first 10 picks.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04343/9752598-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="148" height="126"></div><p>Those forwards, Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, also happen to be Fucale&rsquo;s carpool mates, with potential No. 1 MacKinnon behind the wheel. Fucale&rsquo;s job during the commute is to look up trivia and assorted facts on his phone or provide updates on the world via Twitter. As he is on the ice, Fucale is behind his teammates, but there&rsquo;s no one they&rsquo;d rather see back there when a problem arises. &ldquo;Whenever they have a question, I look it up,&rdquo; Fucale said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the info guy.&rdquo;</p><p>Since we&rsquo;re on the topic of data, here are a few numbers to illustrate why Fucale is poised to be the first goalie drafted this summer: the Montreal native sported a 2.65 goals-against average (third in the league) and scintillating 15-2-1 record for the Mooseheads, who were ranked as the best team in the nation by the Canadian Hockey League several weeks in a row. Playing for a team that scores in bunches can mean an uneven workload for Fucale and with the Mooseheads scoring nearly twice as many goals as they concede, he could be forgiven for a Ken Dryden stick-lean here and there. But that&rsquo;s not the case. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s certainly different from last year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s no excuse. However many shots I face, I want to make sure I&rsquo;m sharp and stop every one of them. I want to be ready whatever the situation is.&rdquo;</p><p>Fucale first made a name for himself last season when he helped Halifax to a surprise playoff run as a 16-year-old, then doubled his fun by winning gold as a member of Canada&rsquo;s entry at the U-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament in Europe. &ldquo;He is really mature beyond his age,&rdquo; said Justin Goldman, director of goalie scouting for McKeen&rsquo;s Hockey. &ldquo;Goes about his job quietly. Not flashy, but that bodes well for him. He&rsquo;s so economical and conservative with his movements. He allows the puck and the play to come to him.&rdquo;</p><p>Citing Carey Price, Jonathan Quick and Henrik Lundqvist as netminders he likes to study, Fucale was again thrust into the spotlight at the CHL Super Series, where he played for the winning Quebec League side in Game 2 against a stellar squad of Russians who ended up taking the six-game tournament. &ldquo;That was great, a lot of good players coming together,&rdquo; Fucale said. &ldquo;We seemed to have a very good chemistry coming into the event and it was very competitive.&rdquo;</p><p>Last season, the Mooseheads were just a bunch of young pups frisky enough to erase a three-game deficit against the powerful Quebec Remparts, defeating Patrick Roy&rsquo;s chosen ones in seven. But a more experienced Rimouski Oceanic squad ran over The Herd in the third round of the playoffs, something MacKinnon noted was a tough lesson and evidence you can never take your foot off the gas in the post-season.</p><p>With expectations sky-high this time around, it&rsquo;s a good thing the Mooseheads have a netminder whose head is in the right space. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s calm and confident,&rdquo; said coach Dominique Ducharme. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an intelligent player and he sees the game well. Technically he&rsquo;s solid and the mental side of the game is what makes him really special.&rdquo;</p><p>Inspiring teammates from the crease is important to the young netminder. &ldquo;I try to stay calm and make sure I bring confidence to the team,&rdquo; Fucale said. &ldquo;I want to be in control and keep things simple out there.&rdquo;</p><p>Ranked No. 1 among goalies by International Scouting Services, Fucale takes a backseat to no one when it comes to net performance. So while Drouin rides shotgun in MacKinnon&rsquo;s car, the two offensive wunderkinds know they've got all the safety they need right behind them.</p><p><b>1 Zach Fucale&rsquo;s NHL draft ranking among goalies in the November ISS report</b></p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="sidebar"><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03431/9752591-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="115" height="182"></div><p>Scan the Fucale photo with your Digimarc mobile app to watch a 1-on-1 video with Zach Fucale</p><p>See <b>page 6</b> for detailed instructions<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div></div>

f0042-02

Moose Trust Their Caboose

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03477/9752688-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="481" height="450"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TOM WILSON</b> <span class="photo-credit">(Rena Laverty/Plymouth Whalers)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>1 BOONE JENNER, C</b></p><p> Oshawa Generals (OHL)</p><p><i>Columbus pick virtual shoo-in down the middle in shutdown role; captains the Generals</i></p><p><b>2. MARK MCNEILL, C</b></p><p>Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)</p><p><i>Blackhawks prospect puts up points and hammers enemies, as illustrated at Super Series</i></p><p><b>3. TOM WILSON, RW</b></p><p> Plymouth Whalers (OHL)</p><p><i>Capitals pick a first-rate trash talker who backs up his passionate play with assists and fists</i></p><p><b>4. JOSH LEIVO, LW</b></p><p>Sudbury Wolves (OHL)</p><p><i>Leafs prospect won international Junior Club World Cup in summer; consistent performer</i></p><p><b>5. TRAVIS EWANYK, LW</b></p><p>Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)</p><p><i>Oilers pick left Super Series with injury, but was blowing up Russians left and right before that</i></p><p><b>6. MITCH MOROZ, LW</b></p><p>Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL)</p><p><i>Much like his teammate Ewanyk but younger &ndash; also an Oilers selection.</i></p><p><b>7. BARCLAY GOODROW, RW</b></p><p>Brampton Battalion (OHL)</p><p><i>Undrafted leader of the Troops uses his frame to create offense.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0043-03

Power Up

<div class="byline">BY JOHN MATISZ</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0044-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01722/9752726-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>SHUTDOWN STATS</b></p><p><b>The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Nikita Zadorov led the Knights with a plus-15 rating in 22 games.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(CLAUS ANDERSEN)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1547/9752733-1-eng-US/f0044-152.jpg" title="f0044-15" width="77" height="89"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>R</span>ussian Nikita Zadorov is still learning the English language, but there&rsquo;s one phrase he&rsquo;s already mastered. &ldquo;I like big hits,&rdquo; said the hulking London Knights defenseman.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02464/9752719-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="158" height="181"></div><p>Through mid-November, Zadorov has played in 22 Ontario League games. His offensive numbers are modest at a goal and six assists.</p><p>Then again, that&rsquo;s not his game. The 17-year-old from Moscow prefers to crunch and clear. That is, crunch opponents between him and the boards and clear bodies parked in between him and London&rsquo;s goaltender.</p><p>This controlled nastiness has helped Zadorov lead the Knights in plus-minus since Game 1 on the schedule.</p><p>Projected as a first round pick in the next NHL draft, Zadorov has generated plenty of buzz about his potential to be a shutdown defenseman at the sport&rsquo;s highest level. London teammates Max Domi and Bo Horvat, both forwards, join him as a top-10 OHL skaters on Central Scouting&rsquo;s initial ranking of 2013 top prospects. &ldquo;First and foremost, he&rsquo;s 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds,&rdquo; said one NHL scout. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t teach that. That&rsquo;s an imposing blueliner in any league. He skates well, puck skills are decent, plays with an edge, likes to hit.</p><p>"He&rsquo;s still learning the game over here, but there&rsquo;s a lot of upside.&rdquo;</p><p>Zadorov, selected fourth overall in the Kontinental League&rsquo;s 2012 draft, decided to set up shop in North America partly because of the additional exposure to NHL teams. Knights GM Mark Hunter scooped him up in the 2012 Canadian League&rsquo;s import draft, ninth overall.</p><p>Entering the summer, there was a gaping hole between the pipes in London, with the Knights' all-time wins leader, goaltender Michael Houser, moving on to the American League. However, management opted to fill another substantial void in its lineup &ndash; created by the graduation of 6-foot-7 rearguard Jarred Tinordi to the Hamilton Bulldogs &ndash; by drafting Zadorov. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the big defenseman you always need to shut down the guns on the other team,&rdquo; Hunter said. &ldquo;You need some guys who can match their skill and size.&rdquo;</p><p>Since landing on Canadian soil in August, Zadorov has been trying to acclimate himself to many new places and faces. It&rsquo;s no easy task, but he&rsquo;s making the most of it.</p><p>It&rsquo;s not uncommon to walk in on a Knights practice and see the kid known to his teammates as &lsquo;Big Z&rsquo; playfully tapping on the glass with a grin, distracting a nearby photographer. Ten minutes later, he might unveil an overzealous celebration after scoring in a mock shootout, just to get a chuckle out of a player or coach. There&rsquo;s a big personality living inside Zadorov&rsquo;s big frame.</p><p>Fellow Knights D-man and 2012 Pittsburgh Penguins first-rounder (22nd overall) Olli Maatta has seen how Zadorov&rsquo;s outgoing, colorful ways have helped him acclimatize: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s done better than I did when I came over last year. He&rsquo;s doing really good. There&rsquo;s an adjustment period and I'm surprised how well he&rsquo;s done.&rdquo;</p><p>Zadorov dropped the mitts twice in his first two games as a Knight. A freshly implemented OHL rule states players are eligible for suspension if they reach 10 fights in a season, with the bans increasing beyond one game for each bout after 10.</p><p>The left-handed shooter hasn&rsquo;t fought since. But make no mistake &ndash; the heavy hitter has not backed down in the physicality department.</p><p>Zadorov still throws north of five bodychecks per game, sometimes reaching double digits. &ldquo;Coaches tell me to play hard every time, 100 per cent,&rdquo; he said, shrugging.</p><p>When asked what he needs to improve on, Zadorov and scouts are on the same page. &ldquo;Scouts say I need to have a better first step in the &lsquo;D&rsquo; zone,&rdquo; Zadorov said.</p><p>Added the NHL scout: &ldquo;Primarily, with young defensemen, it&rsquo;s their own-end skills that need polishing. He&rsquo;ll certainly get that figured out with the London Knights.&rdquo;</p><p>Zadorov could be under the microscope more than ever as the calendar year comes to a close. He was invited to Russia&rsquo;s pre-tournament camp for the 2013 world juniors and has a real chance of cracking the squad as an underager.</p><p>In early November, he wore red, white and blue against Team OHL during the Canada-Russia Super Series&rsquo; stop in Guelph, Ont. Previously, Zadorov suited up for Russia in under-17 and under-18 international tournaments.</p><p>And though Zadorov&rsquo;s future is largely unpaved &ndash; on the international stage and draft board &ndash; Hunter is more than pleased with his decision to draft the Russian version of Tinordi. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting better and better,&rdquo; Hunter said. &ldquo;Sky&rsquo;s the limit for him.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0044-01

Blueline Brick House

<div class="byline">BY DANIEL NUGENT-BOWMAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0045-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01633/9752764-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>KID CAPTAINS SHIP</b></p><p><b>Hunter Shinkaruk is the youngest to wear the 'C' in Medicine Hat&rsquo;s 43-year history.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(EUGENE ERICKS)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-1535/9752778-1-eng-US/f0045-152.jpg" title="f0045-15" width="77" height="89"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span>hortly after selecting left winger Hunter Shinkaruk 14th overall in the 2009 Western League bantam draft, the Medicine Hat Tigers invited their newest recruit to town.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02421/9752771-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="162" height="138"></div><p>Into the Medicine Hat Arena came a 14-year-old flashing a nervous smile lined with a freshly installed set of braces. His father, Roger &ndash; coincidently, the dentist of the rival Calgary Hitmen &ndash; was by his side for his first formal visit with the press and team officials.</p><p>Not only were the braces an unexpected addition, but his supposed 5-foot-8, 150-pound frame was perhaps a tad exaggerated. &ldquo;I probably wasn&rsquo;t more than five feet,&rdquo; Shinkaruk said with a laugh. &ldquo;I was a scrawny kid. One of the coaches had never seen me before I got drafted. I walked in and he looked at another coach and he couldn&rsquo;t believe that&rsquo;s who they picked.&rdquo;</p><p>No one second-guesses that decision now. In three years, Shinkaruk has gone from unknown face to face of the franchise. Ranked seventh for the 2013 NHL draft by International Scouting Services, Shinkaruk was named Tigers captain in September. That came almost a month before his 18th birthday, making him the youngest player in the franchise&rsquo;s 43-year history to wear the &lsquo;C.&rsquo; &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a positive person, has a great work ethic and is constantly working at ways to improve his game,&rdquo; said Tigers coach-GM Shaun Clouston. &ldquo;Those are things we want our players to embrace.&rdquo;</p><p>But Shinkaruk isn&rsquo;t just counted on for leadership abilities. He&rsquo;s also responsible for increasing his production. That&rsquo;s a tough task considering Emerson Etem is now playing for the American League&rsquo;s Norfolk Admirals. The pair combined for 110 goals last year, including Etem&rsquo;s WHL-leading 61.</p><p>But, after the Tigers were ousted in the second round of the WHL playoffs, Shinkaruk went to play for Canada at the under-18s. He had a hat trick and the overtime winner in the bronze medal game. The Calgary native then suited up at the Canada-Russia Challenge in August and was eyeing a national junior team spot in December.</p><p>Those experiences gave Shinkaruk some confidence to handle the tough defensive matchups without his old linemate. &ldquo;I was excited to come into this year to be the guy like &lsquo;Emmer&rsquo; was last year,&rdquo; Shinkaruk said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s taken a little while to get used to all that attention.&rdquo;</p><p>Shinkaruk potted 49 goals in 2011-12, narrowly missing a 50th in the final game of season as an empty-net attempt went wide. That&rsquo;s his goal this season, regardless of Etem&rsquo;s absence. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s still going through the maturation process for how to deal with it,&rdquo; said Tigers head scout and assistant GM Brad McEwen. &ldquo;I have no doubt he&rsquo;ll keep improving.&rdquo;</p><p>Considering the start Shinkaruk&rsquo;s had, that could be scary for the rest of the league. He tallied 35 points through 24 games, putting him sixth in WHL scoring, two points behind new running mate Curtis Valk.</p><p>Shinkaruk&rsquo;s ability to adjust doesn&rsquo;t surprise North American Central Scouting chief scout Mark Seidel. He said the now 5-foot-11, 175-pound Shinkaruk uses his smarts to find open spots and finish plays &ndash; important skills to possess when he makes the jump to the next level. &ldquo;A guy that can score is so absolutely valuable in the NHL,&rdquo; said Seidel, who slotted Shinkaruk 11th overall in his November rankings. &ldquo;This kid has proven at every level, every opportunity, that he&rsquo;s going to be a scorer.&rdquo;</p><p>That fact was first brought to light in bantam when Shinkaruk registered 63 points for the Calgary Royals Gold. McEwen believes Shinkaruk only slid to the Tigers in the draft because a right hip injury limited him to 27 games.</p><p>Expectations were tempered for his rookie season after Shinkaruk&rsquo;s broke his tibia and fibula in his right leg during his minor midget year, missing all but three games. But it took him just five matches to find his stride in 2010-11. Two days after he turned 16, Shinkaruk had a three-point game in Edmonton.</p><p>And he&rsquo;s been on a mission to leave his mark on the junior hockey-crazed market ever since. &ldquo;To see guys like Trevor Linden, Lanny McDonald and Tyler Ennis on the wall (outside the Medicine Hat dressing room)," he said, "you want to make sure your name is up there one day.&rdquo;</p><p><b>17 Goals for Hunter Shinkaruk through 24 games, third in the WHL</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0045-01

The Eye Of The Tiger

<div class="byline">WITH KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0046-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02416/9752809-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><b>NO STRANGER TO THE ICE</b></p><p><b>Jeff Buttle is a three-time Canadian figure skating champ and one-time world champ.</b></p> <span class="photo-credit">(KEN CAMPBELL/THN)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01638/9752816-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="207" height="245"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>t&rsquo;s no surprise Jeff Buttle went offside seven times in the first hockey game he ever played. Speed had something to do with it, but it was more a case of him thinking he could skate wherever he wanted on the ice because he didn&rsquo;t have the slightest clue what he was doing.</p><p>When it comes to playing hockey, the fact Jeff Buttle didn&rsquo;t take the game up until last year means he has no shortage of deficiencies. (And when we say he took up the game, we really mean it. Prior to last year he had never worn hockey skates or used a stick.) Skating is not one of those deficiencies, however. That&rsquo;s primarily because Buttle, who plays for The Blake House in the Toronto Gay Hockey Association, is a world-class performer on blades, with the 2008 men&rsquo;s world figure skating title and the 2006 Olympic bronze medal to show for it.</p><p>Buttle was born in Smooth Rock Falls, Ont., and was raised in the hockey hotbed of Sudbury. But he never played as a child, instead spending his time in rinks as a figure skater. Obviously, he made the right choice, winning the Canadian championship three times and forging a career as one of the greatest men&rsquo;s competitors the country has produced. But after retiring as an amateur in 2008 and moving to Toronto shortly after, Buttle was looking for a way to satisfy his competitive instincts in a team atmosphere. &ldquo;I had done an individual sport all my life, so I found on weekends I was watching TV by myself and not socializing,&rdquo; Buttle says. &ldquo;And hockey has been awesome. I actually find that it&rsquo;s helping my figure skating. I&rsquo;ve noticed that my power has improved.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;I can do this into my 60s if I stay healthy</b><br><b><i>&ndash; Jeff Buttle</i></b></blockquote><p>Buttle still skates competitively as a professional and makes his living as a choreographer for, among others, two-time world champion Patrick Chan. Buttle choreographs for Chan and professional ice shows when he is in Canada, but his performing takes him primarily to Japan, China and Korea. That forces Buttle on the road for about half the year and means he misses more hockey games than he would like, particularly since the learning curve has been a steep one. He&rsquo;s still very much a fixture in the figure skating world, but his long-term future is with recreational hockey. &ldquo;Things like this,&rdquo; Buttle says, pointing out to the refurbished arena that was once Maple Leaf Gardens, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be able to do into my 60s as long as I stay healthy.&rdquo;</p><p>Taking up a new sport at 29 can be a daunting proposition under ideal circumstances, but Buttle has found an understanding group of players in the TGHA, something he suspects he would not have found in another league with straight players. Even though it&rsquo;s 2012, Buttle acknowledges not everyone is comfortable with having a gay teammate. That&rsquo;s obviously not a problem in the 10-team TGHA, one of the few gay hockey leagues in North America. Although being gay is not a requirement for participation, organizers estimate &ldquo;99 percent&rdquo; of the players are gay men.</p><p>Not only did Buttle find a peer group with which he could feel comfortable, he was also encouraged that his teammates were patient with his lack of knowledge of the game. He still often finds himself leaning over to a teammate in the middle of a game to have a penalty explained to him, but the team atmosphere is something he has embraced wholeheartedly. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s fun to have people depend on you,&rdquo; Buttle says. &ldquo;It was totally new to me to have this feeling that you don&rsquo;t want to disappoint anyone. When I go out, obviously it&rsquo;s my fault if I screw up on the ice in figure skating, but in hockey you don&rsquo;t want to let the other guys down.&rdquo;</p><p>Now, after a year and a half playing the game, Buttle looks forward to the elusive first goal of his career. The feeling likely won&rsquo;t match winning a world championship or Olympic bronze, but it will be a crowning achievement. &ldquo;I have multiple assists, but no goals,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting close. I almost had one today.&rdquo;</p><p>A regular feature on grassroots hockey through the lockout</p><div class="sidebar"><h2><b>BOX SCORE</b></h2><p><b>Nov. 11</b> &ndash; Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens, Toronto, Ont.</p><p><b>The Blake House</b> 4 <b>XtraPark</b> 1</p><p>Paul Chan (4) Matthew Fawns<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0046-02

It’s Never Too Late

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-01425/9752878-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="523" height="708"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GUESS WHO: ANDY DEVLIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>&ldquo;I hoisted the Memorial Cup with the Windsor Spitfires in 2009 and 2010 and was tournament MVP both times.&rdquo;</i></p><p><i>&ldquo;I was cut for 30 stitches by a teammate&rsquo;s skate during a pre-game warmup last January.&rdquo;</i></p><p><i>&ldquo;I was the first of three straight No. 1 overall picks for the Edmonton Oilers.&rdquo;</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0049-01

Guess Who

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-03253/9752916-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="246" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(HODGSON: JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Cody Hodgson</b></h2><p><i>Plays key role on Sabres. Traded in Canucks&rsquo; roster remake. Looks to score, lets goons do the dirty work.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-04233/9752909-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="245" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SCHREIBER: ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>Liev Schreiber</b></h2><p><i>Played role of Sabretooth</i>. <i>Starred in</i> Manchurian Candidate <i>remake. Scored</i> Goon <i>gig as dirty Ross Rhea</i>.</p><p>Email your suggestions to <b><a href="mailto:sab@thehockeynews.com">sab@thehockeynews.com</a></b></p><p>WHO AM I: TAYLOR HALL<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0049-03

SEPARATED AT Birth

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0049-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-02322/9752947-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg"></div><p><b>ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ISSUE AND AT</b> <a href="http://THN.com/XWORD">THN.com/<b>xword</b></a></p><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1 He was Brett Hull&rsquo;s setup man in St. Louis</p><p>8 Playoff month</p><p>9 One who sells tickets at inflated prices</p><p>10 Aaron, Neal or Paul</p><p>11 Help in the scoring of a goal</p><p>12 Billy ___ was the last Islander to win the Smythe</p><p>14 Hockey Night in Canada&rsquo;s ___ Mellanby</p><p>17 The Flames used to play at the Stampede ___</p><p>19 Jabs with one&rsquo;s stick blade</p><p>20 An NHL division (or a time zone)</p><p>21 Defeat</p><p>22 One who is &ldquo;between the pipes&rdquo;</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>2 They were Cup winners in 2007</p><p>3 Evgeni ___ was Art Ross winner in 2009 and again in 2012, pictured</p><p>4 A free ___ is not under contract</p><p>5 Team that joined the NHL back in 1970</p><p>6 The &lsquo;B&rsquo; in Team GB, the U.K.&rsquo;s ice hockey team</p><p>7 &lsquo;Mr. Goalie&rsquo;</p><p>11 One who starts a fight</p><p>13 Battle province</p><p>15 Hockey great now better known for his coffee</p><p>16 Cape ___ is home of junior hockey&rsquo;s Screaming Eagles</p><p>17 Hit hard</p><p>18 Astonish, like a young Wayne Gretzky did</p><p><b>LAST WEEK&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION ACROSS</b> 1. BOBBY RYAN, 8. OWNER, 9. FANNING, 10. FREEZE, 11. SABRES, 12. STEEN, 14. NEALE, 17. RACERS, 19. DARIUS, 20. CLARKIE, 21. ACT UP, 22. SANDERSON <b>DOWN</b> 2. OMAHA, 3. BONERS, 4. RINKS, 5. NORRIS, 6. ANGELES, 7. GREENNESS, 11. SHANE DOAN, 13. GARRETT, 15. EQUIPS, 16. SCORER, 17. RILED, 18. RAIMO<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0049-02

CROSSWORD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-05182/9752985-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="991" height="1294"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>Bryan Trottier hoists his second of four straight Stanley Cups won with the Isles in the early 1980s.</b> <span class="photo-credit">(BLAST: HHOF IMAGES)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-06105/9752978-1-eng-US/f0049-062.jpg" title="f0049-06" width="150" height="150"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0049-05

Blast from the Past

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0777/9753016-1-eng-US/f0049-072.jpg" title="f0049-07" width="676" height="689"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JERSEY: SERENA DALHAMER)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span>ilitary tributes have become much more common in recent years and while straight-up camoflauge jerseys are usually pretty neat, the United States League&rsquo;s Fighting Saints went another route.</p><p>Using camo on just the arms and flanks, Dubuque still used a sandy color for the rest of the sweater, which featured the team&rsquo;s coat-of-arms logo on the chest instead of its usual spot on the shoulders.</p><p>All in all it was a sharp look and after the game the special sweaters were auctioned off, with proceeds going to the Veterans Freedom Center.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0049-07

JerseyHound

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01413/9753054-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="311" height="544"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span>nly in Toronto</b> would the toilet from the home dressing room at Maple Leaf Gardens go for more than $5,000 and have 49 bidders in an online auction. (Insert joke here.) But hey, it&rsquo;s not every day you get something that has had an intimate relationship with every bum who has played for the Maple Leafs over the years. And Lord knows, there have been plenty of them.</p><p>Personally, I would have been willing to pay that kind of money for the commode from the visitors&rsquo; dressing room. At least you knew Glenn Hall threw up in that one a couple hundred times.</p><p>But it&rsquo;s the Leafs and there&rsquo;s something about that organization that makes people immediately reach for their wallets. For example, a pair of gold seats went for $7,900. You can imagine the surprise of the winning bidder, who originally thought he was actually bidding on two seats for a Maple Leafs game. The home penalty box went for $10,250, a place that saw Tiger Williams&rsquo; bum more times than the aforementioned toilet. The dressing room doors sold for $8,000, a price that was inflated by the fact it still had the DNA of every coach in Leafs history who left it there by banging his head against it hundreds of times. Two men&rsquo;s washroom signs sold for a total of $1,229, which was almost $500 more than the ladies&rsquo; rooms signs fetched. That must have warmed the cockles of late-owner Harold Ballard, one of the most chauvinistic human beings to ever walk the face of the Earth. (See page 17 for more auction items.)</p><p>But there were many other items up for sale that did not do nearly as well. You won&rsquo;t be hearing about these, so we thought we&rsquo;d bring them to your attention:</p><p>&bull; The five-year plan GM Brian Burke claimed to have no patience for when he took over the Maple Leafs. There were rumors that Burke&rsquo;s actual master plan to make the Leafs a contender would be available for auction until it was discovered that nothing of the sort exists. Same thing for the pugnacity, testosterone and truculence Burke promised when he was hired in 2008.</p><p>&bull; The replica Norris Trophy that was being reserved for Tim Horton, then Carl Brewer, then Jim McKenny, then Ian Turnbull and Borje Salming, then Gary Nylund, then Bryan McCabe, then Carlo Colaiacovo, then Luke Schenn. If the NHL plays a season this year, the Norris will be awarded for the 59th time and for the 59th time, a member of the Maple Leafs won&rsquo;t win it. This item was not sold, so now it&rsquo;s being held for Morgan Rielly.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02305/9753047-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="894" height="801"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BRIAN BURKE</b></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;Something about the Leafs makes people reach for their wallets</b></blockquote><p>&bull; An updated Stanley Cup parade route, in pristine condition.</p><p>&bull; The actual machine the Leafs had in the basement of the building where they used to print money. The only drawback was that by the time they moved to the Air Canada Centre, it was printing dollars that were worth only 65 cents American.</p><p>&bull; The respect the Maple Leafs never gave to Gordie Drillon, a terrific player who won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1938. He was essentially shunned by former owner Conn Smythe because he didn&rsquo;t serve for Canada in the Second World War.</p><p>&bull; The grudge Dave Keon holds against the Leafs. It was pulled from the auction last minute when Keon refused to let go of it.</p><p>&bull; The scouting reports from 1988-89 that convinced the front office Scott Thornton, Rob Pearson and Steve Bancroft would be better first round picks than any three of Adam Foote, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, Sergei Fedorov, Pavel Bure, Vladimir Malakhov and Vladimir Konstantinov. As a bonus, you get pictures of the Leafs scouting staff being stranded in Belleville for the entire season.</p><p>&bull; The letter commemorating Salming&rsquo;s selection to the first all-star team in 1976-77, with a letter of authenticity from the NHL that states it has actually been 35 years since the Maple Leafs have had a top-six player in the league. Only Hartford/Carolina, Columbus, Minnesota/Dallas, Atlanta/Winnipeg and Minnesota have failed to have a first-teamer in that time and only the Stars have been in the league that long.</p><p>&bull; The scoresheet from the Leafs&rsquo; last playoff game, which is written in longhand since it predates the NHL&rsquo;s use of computerized summaries.</p><p>&bull; The cure for Blue and White disease, a mysterious and completely fictitious affliction that destroys teams in markets with a rabid fan base, with the exception of the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Lakers and Manchester United.</p><p>&bull; False hope. This, too, was withdrawn from the auction when organizers realized the Leafs have flooded the market with this commodity in Costco-sized portions for 45 years now.</p><p>CAN&rsquo;T GET ENOUGH CAMPBELL?</p><p>CLICK ON <b><a href="http://THN.com">THN.COM</a></b> FOR KEN&rsquo;S EXCLUSIVE BLOG<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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December 17, 2012

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