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.

March 7, 2016

The Hockey News - 3/7/2016

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FEATURES

SILENT SUPER STAR

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-03/2532-1-eng-US/f0053-032.jpg" title="f0053-03" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>1. ERIE OTTERS (OHL)</b></h2><p>Dylan Strome leads the team&rsquo;s dynamic attack with Alex DeBrincat</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-04/2525-1-eng-US/f0053-042.jpg" title="f0053-04" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>2. ROUYN-NORANDA HUSKIES (QMJHL)</b></h2><p>Waves of scoring starts with Ottawa pick Francis Perron</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-05/2518-1-eng-US/f0053-052.jpg" title="f0053-05" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>3. KELOWNA ROCKETS (WHL)</b></h2><p>Last year&rsquo;s finalist hasn&rsquo;t missed a beat and could win it all this time</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-06/2511-1-eng-US/f0053-062.jpg" title="f0053-06" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>4. RED DEER REBELS (WHL)</b></h2><p>Host team loaded up with Boston first-rounder Jake DeBrusk and others</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-07/2504-1-eng-US/f0053-072.jpg" title="f0053-07" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>5. LONDON KNIGHTS (OHL)</b></h2><p>Toronto&rsquo;s Mitch Marner and Arizona&rsquo;s Christian Dvorak lead the charge</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-08/2497-1-eng-US/f0053-082.jpg" title="f0053-08" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>6. VAL-D&rsquo;OR FOREURS (QMJHL)</b></h2><p>Nashville&rsquo;s Anthony Richard and 2016&rsquo;s Julien Gauthier bring scoring in bunches</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-09/2490-1-eng-US/f0053-092.jpg" title="f0053-09" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>7. KITCHENER RANGERS (OHL)</b></h2><p>Veteran lineup gets ace goaltending from St. Louis pick Luke Opilka</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-10/2483-1-eng-US/f0053-102.jpg" title="f0053-10" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>8. SHAWINIGAN CATARACTES (QMJHL)</b></h2><p>Isles pick Anthony Beauvillier leads a talented pack alongside Dmytro Timashov, a Leafs prospect</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-11/2476-1-eng-US/f0053-112.jpg" title="f0053-11" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>9. LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES (WHL)</b></h2><p>The outta-nowhere kids boast a great goalie in 2017 prospect in Stuart Skinner.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-12/2469-1-eng-US/f0053-122.jpg" title="f0053-12" width="55" height="55"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>10. WINDSOR SPITFIRES (OHL)</b></h2><p>Deadly with 2016 prospects Logan Brown and Mikhail Sergachev<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

DEPARTMENTS

CHL POWER RANKINGS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ROBIN SHORT</div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span><b>EBASTIAN COLLBERG KNOWS</b> playing golf for a living would have been a lot less taxing on his body than hockey, but the young New York Islanders prospect has no regrets with his career choice, even if he&rsquo;s been hurt more than he&rsquo;s been healthy, it seems, since coming to North America from Sweden two years ago. &ldquo;Getting injured really sucks,&rdquo; Collberg said, &ldquo;but there&rsquo;s nothing I&rsquo;d rather be doing than playing hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Collberg, 21, was the 33rd overall pick by the Montreal Canadiens in 2012, before he was dealt to the Islanders at the 2014 trade deadline in the Thomas Vanek deal.</p><p>There&rsquo;s lots to like about the junior star who helped Tre Kronor to a gold and two silver medals at the WJCs, but most impressive is his athleticism: Collberg was also a golfer and tennis player growing up in Mariestad, west of Stockholm. He toyed with the idea of pursuing golf and being the next Henrik Stenson, Jesper Parnevik or Carl Pettersson. &ldquo;I was good at golf &ndash; I have an eight handicap now &ndash; and it&rsquo;s mostly what I do in the summer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But hockey was my first love.&rdquo;</p><p>Last season, Collberg was hampered by three different injuries. He even started the season behind the eight-ball, coming off shoulder surgery. An assortment of ailments prevented him from playing any more than 13 games in a row with AHL Bridgeport.</p><p>After struggling to get into the Sound Tigers&rsquo; lineup to open the 2015-16 season, Collberg was shelved again for five games. Being a glass-halffull guy, he sees the upside of a press box perch. &ldquo;I feel I know the game better,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You learn by watching.&rdquo;</p><p>When he wasn&rsquo;t tearing up the golf course this summer, Collberg was working to add muscle. &ldquo;The game is way more physical over here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And you don&rsquo;t have much time with the puck here&hellip;So you need to be prepared.&rdquo;</p><p>He&rsquo;s hoping that prep keeps him on the ice.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-01/2568-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="245" height="561"><figcaption class="caption-body">SEBASTI AN <b>COLLBERG</b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-02/2561-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="110" height="102"></div><p><b>SEBASTIAN COLLBERG</b> POS RW AGE 21 HT 5-11 WT 196 lbs DRAFTED MTL, 33rd overall in 2012<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

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GETTING THE SWING OF THINGS

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BROAD ST. BALLOON

<div class="byline">WITH JASON KAY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-01/488-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="263" height="460"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>I</span>&rsquo;VE <b>OFTEN WONDERED WHAT IT WOULD FEEL LIKE</b> to be traded. A straight up 1-for-1, me in exchange for the guy who oversees the content for <i>Bowling Illustrated</i> out of Milwaukee or the editor in chief of <i>Rodeo Life</i> in Houston. OK, those are fabricated brands, but what if? What would I have to deal with?</p><p>For starters, I&rsquo;m guessing there would be shock and self-doubt. Why doesn&rsquo;t The Hockey News want me anymore? Are my skills eroding? Do they not feel I&rsquo;m worth the contract they signed me to? Can they not see how much of myself I&rsquo;ve given? Does someone in the organization have it in for me? Heck, I always thought I&rsquo;d end my career at THN, and now I have to go and prove myself someplace else.</p><p>Then there&rsquo;d be the logistics. Do I sell my home now? Do I wait until the end of the school year before uprooting my family? What is my wife&rsquo;s reaction going to be? If I&rsquo;m fortunate enough, as a professional athlete is, I&rsquo;ll have lots of help relocating, but I&rsquo;ll still have to get used to a new environment, new workmates, a new commute in an unfamiliar city. And what about my support system? Who&rsquo;ll help me and my family when we need it most?</p><p>And what if I had a child with special needs, like Jason LaBarbera does? The journeyman netminder, who has been dealt twice and played for 13 clubs in his pro career, is the focus of a feature beginning on pg. 28. His young son Ryder is autistic, and, as Jason Buckland reports, the LaBarberas have had to develop and adapt to Dad&rsquo;s absences even more acutely than most. Autistic children require meticulous routine and stability. It&rsquo;s a hard and heartwarming story of the strength of love.</p><p>Of course, the LaBarberas aren&rsquo;t alone. We&rsquo;ve heard various tales over the years of athletes who&rsquo;ve been faced with the challenges of ill or special needs children. And we know everyone faces crises in their lives; nobody gets spared. We&rsquo;re not suggesting anyone should weep extra tears for lords of the rink or giants of the gridiron. That said, there&rsquo;s a common notion that because of the enormous sums of money many of these athletes earn, they should be more immune than Average Joe to life&rsquo;s suckerpunches.</p><p>I don&rsquo;t buy it, on the whole. And I wholly understand why no-trade and movement clauses are so valued. I know I&rsquo;d want one.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-02/481-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="255" height="126"></div><p><b>NEXT ISSUE</b> FUTURE WATCH, 2016 <b>CUSTOMER SERVICE AND TO SUBSCRIBE:</b><a href="http://THN.com">thn.com</a><b>CONTACT US:</b><a href="mailto:editorial@thehockeynews.com">editorial@thehockeynews.com</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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KICK OF THE TRADE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-01/538-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="313" height="386"><figcaption class="caption-body">CORY <b>SCHNEIDER</b><span class="photo-credit">(SCHNEIDER 1: JOHN RUSSELL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; SCHNEIDER 2: JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="mon012.jpg" title="common01" width="125" height="141"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-02/531-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="513" height="646"><figcaption class="caption-body">CORY <b>SCHNEIDER</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span><b>ORY SCHNEIDER MORE OR LESS</b> literalized the expression &ldquo;holding court&rdquo; when he spoke to reporters in Nashville for the NHL All-Star Game&rsquo;s media day. He sat at an elevated podium, staring down at dozens of interviewers who came and went as they pleased. And Schneider, the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; franchise goaltender, flashed his gift of the gab. He talked and talked until he was hoarse and practically begging for a glass of water. He stepped down from the podium and walked two feet before someone stopped him to ask if he could talk some more. And so he did.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03/524-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="98" height="105"></div><p>It wasn&rsquo;t a coincidence so many people yearned to hear Schneider&rsquo;s words. He&rsquo;s one of the game&rsquo;s most cerebral characters. He majored in finance at Boston College. He made two Hockey East All-Academic teams. He&rsquo;s exactly what you&rsquo;d expect from someone who grew up idolizing brainy Blueshirt Mike Richter.</p><p>Here&rsquo;s a snapshot of the many hot hockey topics he tackled in front of the Music City masses. Call it The World According to Schneider.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>&gt; ON GOALIE EQUIPMENT&hellip;</b></h2><p>The NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association, via the competition committee, hope to introduce new standards for goaltender equipment before next season. Heading the project are NHL goaltending supervisor Kay Whitmore and, you guessed it, Schneider. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to come up with a way to define what we&rsquo;re trying to do as clearly as possible, which is harder than it sounds, because there are a lot of pieces, especially the upper body,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo; &lsquo;How do you protect this while taking away from that?&rsquo; It&rsquo;s almost like you know it when you see it. We&rsquo;re trying to get prototypes or have companies come up with stuff, and we&rsquo;ll say &lsquo;All right, more like this, less like that.&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;Ideally we&rsquo;d like to do this as quickly as possible. If we&rsquo;re waiting until the season&rsquo;s over, then it&rsquo;s almost too late. We&rsquo;re trying to push the Players&rsquo; Association, the league, the manufacturers, to at least have a semblance of an idea as to what we want to do. Because we all don&rsquo;t want to be caught with nothing in June, and then all of the sudden the season&rsquo;s around the corner.</p><p>&ldquo;Goaltending&rsquo;s an inherently insecure position. You&rsquo;re always checking your stuff. You look down at the other end of the ice, and you see a guy, and you think, &lsquo;Why does this guy look a lot bigger than I do when I know he&rsquo;s 40 pounds lighter than me?&rsquo; That kind of stuff for goalies naturally happens. It&rsquo;s not jealousy. It just comes with the position. I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a widespread issue of guys cheating or tampering, nothing like that. I just think everyone wants to know we&rsquo;re all on the same page here, that the guy I&rsquo;m playing against at the other end of the ice is doing the exact same stuff that I am.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>&gt; ON SCORING&hellip;</b></h2><p>Schneider wants to change goalie equipment but also believes it&rsquo;s fallacious to blame the gear for every offensive deficiency today. &ldquo;There are some 2-1 games that are just really exciting,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A 7-4 game isn&rsquo;t necessarily better than a 3-2 game. Stylistically, things may need to change just in terms of shot blocking and systems in the neutral zone to clog it up a little bit. You could look at those things and say those affect the game just as much as goalie gear.</p><p>&ldquo;I pride myself on being able to move and adapt. When they shortened the pads, I lost two inches off each pad. It almost helped me, though. It freed me up. I could move better because I had less there and wasn&rsquo;t tripping over myself at all.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>&gt; ON BIGGER NETS&hellip;</b></h2><p>The NHL&rsquo;s largest goaltender, 6-foot-7 Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning, is unsurprisingly the prickliest about shrinking equipment. He&rsquo;s said bigger nets are the only real solution to a scoring drought. Schneider could not disagree more. &ldquo;I would probably do whatever I could to not let that happen,&rdquo; Schneider said. &ldquo;Ben would fare pretty well, though. He&rsquo;s a big guy, so he&rsquo;d do just fine.</p><p>&ldquo;As the years go on the league&rsquo;s understood that, hey, sometimes things have to change. It just seems the net is something that&rsquo;s so fundamentally basic that it would be hard to just change and feel like it&rsquo;s the same game&hellip;it&rsquo;s like making the rims bigger in basketball or the hoop higher because guys are getting taller.</p><p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fundamental issue for goalies. Everything you do is predicated off where the post is going to be. And when that changes, it really changes your whole game. I guess, theoretically, you play the same game, but it&rsquo;s just that pucks that may have hit the post or gone just wide are going to go in now.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>&gt; ON PLAYING IN HIS FIRST ALL-STAR GAME&hellip;</b></h2><p>Fact: Schneider is the NHL&rsquo;s all-time leader in career save percentage at .926. He&rsquo;s also in his sixth full NHL season. So color us shocked that 2015-16 booked him his first trip to an All-Star Game. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great honor,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a privilege to be here. To be thought among your peers in this way is special. You almost have to sit back and realize it, because I talked about going to All-Star Games when I was a kid, the (1996) one in Boston, and watching them on TV. It&rsquo;s a pretty cool feather in your cap to be able to say that. When you look back and everything&rsquo;s said and done when you&rsquo;re 45, 50, you&rsquo;re going to say, &lsquo;Wow, that was a pretty special thing.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-01/517-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="787" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>IT&rsquo;S ABOUT TIME</b> Schneider is the NHL&rsquo;s career save percentage leader but just played in his first All-Star Game. <span class="photo-credit">(BRIAN BABINEAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>&gt; ON HIS DAYS SHARING A CREASE WITH LUONGO&hellip;</b></h2><p>The Canucks drafted Schneider 26th overall in 2004 and groomed him as their goalie of the future. A 2006 trade, however, brought star stopper Roberto Luongo to town. Schneider was a full-time NHLer by 2010-11, and so began their tug-of-war in the crease, with both guys too good for backup duty but Luongo getting the lion&rsquo;s share of starts. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a difficult job,&rdquo; Schneider said, &ldquo;especially on a really good team, because you sit there and watch Roberto rip off nine out of 10 wins, and now it&rsquo;s your turn. You don&rsquo;t want to be the guy who kills that momentum or loses the game when you know you&rsquo;re playing a bottom team in the league, and they come to your building, and you&rsquo;re saying, &lsquo;God, we can&rsquo;t lose this game.&rsquo; So you learn to cope with that added pressure, because you want to succeed, and you want to get another opportunity, and you only do that by playing well.</p><p>&ldquo;I had a great support system. I played on a great team as a young guy, which not everyone gets to do. A lot of kids get thrown into the fire, and they&rsquo;re sort of just left on their own to sink or swim. I was brought along the right way. I spent three years in the minors, played over 100 minor league games, 24 years old when I got to the league. Just where I was at in my life and my career, I was set up for success better than some other guys might be.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;YOU THINK, &lsquo;WHY DOES HE LOOK BIGGER THAN ME WHEN HE&rsquo;S 40 POUNDS LIGHTER?&rsquo; &ndash; Cory Schneider</blockquote><h2><b>&gt; ON LUONGO&rsquo;S STELLAR SEASON WITH FLORIDA&hellip;</b></h2><p>Sitting on another podium in the same room as Schneider, 29, was former teammate Luongo, 36, enjoying one of his best seasons ever as the Florida Panthers starter. They squeezed in a breakfast together during the all-star weekend to reminisce about old times. Schneider has immense respect for Luongo&rsquo;s professionalism and learned a lot from him when they were teammates. &ldquo;Watching him up close, you knew he was going to be an elite goalie for a long time,&rdquo; Schneider said. &ldquo;The way he plays, his technique, his mindset, you could tell this wasn&rsquo;t somebody who was going to fall off the map as he got older. I think he&rsquo;s gotten smarter.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s put so much time into his craft. Whether it&rsquo;s on or off the ice, mentally, he&rsquo;s dedicated to being the best goalie he can be and to winning a Stanley Cup. I think that&rsquo;s what motivates him. Secondarily to that is his style. When he was younger, he was a little more all over the place. The last five, six, seven years he&rsquo;s brought it in a bit to play a more efficient style that ages well. There are some guys who with the styles they play may not to be able to play forever, because they really need to rely on pure athleticism and reaction. Roberto is positionally sound, he makes good reads, and that lends well to getting older as a goalie.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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SCHNEIDER TALKS REPORTERS FLOCK

<div class="byline">BY SAL BARRY OF PUCKJUNK.COM</div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>RADING CARD COMPAN IES</b> used to perform a &ldquo;head swap,&rdquo; placing one player&rsquo;s head on another player&rsquo;s body, if an up-to-date picture wasn&rsquo;t available. Here are a couple of our favorites. Rogie Vachon, who was shipped from Montreal to the Kings in 1971, had his head slapped onto Ross Lonsberry&rsquo;s shoulders. The result fooled no one. And when Upper Deck released their 1992-93 set, Eric Lindros had yet to play, so they superimposed his head onto Mark Recchi&rsquo;s body. After that, the practice was retired.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-01/581-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="660" height="872"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-02/574-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="418" height="367"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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In The CARDS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; SAL BARRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03/610-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="177" height="286"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>Y</span>OU PROBABLY HAVEN&rsquo;</b> heard of former pro player Bill Keenan. Nor have you heard of most the teams he&rsquo;s played for. Don&rsquo;t let that deter you from <i>Odd Man Rush: A Harvard Kid&rsquo;s Hockey Odyssey from Central Park to Somewhere in Sweden &ndash; with Stops Along the Way.</i> Keenan&rsquo;s wit and attention to detail make his first book enjoyable.</p><p>Keenan&rsquo;s autobiography hilariously recounts his days as a hockey-obsessed boy raised in New York in the &rsquo;90s, converting his living room to a makeshift rink and pretending he was a Canadian named Guy while dreaming of playing for the Rangers.</p><p>His NCAA career was limited to six games with Harvard, however, after he saw only spot duty his freshman year, followed by three injuryplagued seasons. Unfulfilled, Keenan headed overseas, playing for several minorleague European teams, like the Turnhout White Caps in Belgium and Kramfors-Alliansen in Sweden.</p><p>In the 304-page book, he vividly depicts what it&rsquo;s like to be a stranger in a strange land, a naive young man trying to prove he can still play while attempting to fit into a new culture every few months. Keenan was a minorleaguer, but his storytelling is major-league.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

IRON BILL

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DEBRA RUGHOO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-01/639-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="787" height="501"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SPREADING THE LOVE</b> Coaching from former Canes, like Brind-Amour, has helped the North Carolina&rsquo;s minor programs. <span class="photo-credit">(GREGG FORWERCK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>H<b>OCKEY HAS COME A LONG WAY</b> in North Carolina since the Hartford Whalers moved south in 1997 and became the Hurricanes.</p><p>Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour joined the Canes in their third season and went on to play 10 seasons in Carolina, half of those as captain, before retiring in 2010. But when he first arrived in 2000, interest in the team was low. &ldquo;In my first day in Raleigh, I asked for directions to the rink,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;No one knew what I was talking about.&rdquo;</p><p>As the team started winning, however, interest began to build. Brind&rsquo;Amour first noticed it when the Canes reached the Stanley Cup final in 2002. They ultimately came up short, but interest soared afterward, and it continued to climb as the franchise finally won its first Cup in 2006. &ldquo;If you didn&rsquo;t grow up with hockey, it&rsquo;s tough to get behind it, unless you&rsquo;re winning,&rdquo; said Brind&rsquo;Amour, now an assistant coach. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what happened in Raleigh.&rdquo;</p><p>In addition to getting more people watching hockey, the Hurricanes&rsquo; first Cup got more people playing it, too. In the season after the Cup, participation jumped almost 20 percent (see sidebar).</p><p>To continue to grow the game in their non-traditional hockey market, the Hurricanes created Canes Youth and Amateur Hockey (CYAH), which runs a number of events and programs. Its In-School Program, for example, sends staff into elementary and middle schools in the Wake County area to teach kids the sport by providing them with the equipment and opportunities to play floor hockey. The CYAH team has also visited YMCA camps in the area and in Wilmington.</p><p>Shane Willis, a former Hurricane who played 141 games for Carolina, is the youth and amateur coordinator for the club. Through the youth program, Willis helps provide information about the Hurricanes and where kids can go locally to play hockey. Last October, the Canes hosted a Try Hockey For Free event for girls at the PNC Arena. &ldquo;Some had never stepped on the ice before,&rdquo; Willis said. &ldquo;But we gave them the opportunity to come to an NHL arena, get handed a hockey stick and learn some new skills they&rsquo;d never learned before.&rdquo;</p><p>The growth of hockey in the Tar Heel state has also been helped by some North Carolina converts. Several retired Hurricanes have stuck around and are involved in minor hockey. &ldquo;A lot of the guys are coaching their kids, and that has helped big time with the development of the hockey programs,&rdquo; said Brind&rsquo;Amour, who also coaches his 16-year-old son&rsquo;s team in Charlotte. &ldquo;If you can get kids to keep playing hockey during high school and then college, that&rsquo;s a success. There are a lot of kids from here playing college hockey, and I think there will be a lot more. And there will be a few, I&rsquo;m sure, that will make it to the NHL.&rdquo;</p><p>NHL prospects from the state include Charlotte native Bryan Moore, who signed with Anaheim&rsquo;s AHL affiliate, and Josh Wesley &ndash; son of former Canes D-man Glen Wesley &ndash; who made history in 2014 by becoming the first North Carolina-trained player to be drafted, 96th overall by the Hurricanes.</p><p>Amateur teams in North Carolina have being making their mark on the national stage as well. In 2013, the Greensboro Stars (Tier II U-16) and Charlotte Jr. Checkers (Tier II U-18) won national championships, while the East Coast Eagles captured the U-16 AA title in &rsquo;14.</p><p>Today, 10 years after the Hurricanes&rsquo; Stanley Cup, more North Carolinians are playing hockey than ever. A total of 6,677 registered players suited up in 2014-15, more than in Iowa, North Dakota and Indiana. &ldquo;There have been two or three more rinks that have popped up in Raleigh since I came,&rdquo; Brind&rsquo;Amour said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t sound like a lot, but there were only three when I got here, so that means that people are interested.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0009-01

CAROLINA’S NEW CROP

<p><b>THE TOTAL REGISTERED</b> players was slowly growing in North Carolina, but it really took off after the Canes won it all in 2006.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-02/668-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="238" height="409"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0009-02

SOUTHEAST UPDRAFT

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-01/704-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="696" height="312"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MICHIGAN MADE</b> Some former Wolverines are now making clothing for the unique hockey player frame</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-02/697-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="263" height="262"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>H</span><b>OCKEY PLAYERS OFTEN HAVE TROUBLE</b> finding clothes that fit their frames, so a group of University of Michigan alums and current pro players decided to do something about it.</p><p>State and Liberty Clothing Co. makes dress shirts out of Athletic Performance Fabric, which stretches more than cotton and also cools the wearer. &ldquo;We were always infatuated with dress shirts,&rdquo; said co-founder Lee Moffie. &ldquo;Big companies don&rsquo;t really design with athletes in mind.&rdquo;</p><p>Word of mouth has been great for the company, and NHLers Jeff Carter and Luke Glendening have done testimonials for the brand. (<a href="http://stateandliberty.com">stateandliberty.com</a>)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

LIBERATE THE SHIRT

<div class="byline">&#x2013; SAL BARRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03/733-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="262" height="261"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HERE IS A NEW PLAYER</b> in hockey collectibles. Toy maker Imports Dragon debuted its Premium Sports Artifacts line based on popular NHL players. This is the first time since 2001 a company other than McFarlane Toys &ndash; who no longer holds the license &ndash; will make realistically styled hockey figures. Imports Dragon released 16 six-inch scale figures in December and another 15 in January. They also released 56 different mini-figures, measuring three inches tall, with more coming soon. The small figures come in three levels of rarity and are made for play with a tabletop card and dice game. (<a href="http://nhlfigures.com">nhlfigures.com</a>)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-03

GO FIGURE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-04/762-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="352" height="362"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>he ACHA (Div. II) University of Oregon Ducks were headed into the playoffs, and they wanted a fresh look. Enter Rebirth Sports, a design company established in 2014 that churned out this throwbackinspired beauty for the team.</p><p>Oregon has a natural advantage in the school&rsquo;s bright color scheme, but how about that duck? That&rsquo;s super-sweet, right down to the Boy Scouts scarf. The shoulders feature the school&rsquo;s traditional &lsquo;O&rsquo; logo, and the Ducks are looking like world beaters thanks to this new outfit.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-04

Jersey HOUND

<div class="byline">&#x2013; SAL BARRY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-05/791-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="314" height="181"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(SH IRTS: COURTESY OF STATE AND LIBERTY CL OTHING COMPANY; JERSEY: OREGON HOCKEY; TOY: COURTESY OF NHL FIGURES.COM)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>T THE START OF THE SEASON,</b> the NHL was the only major pro sports league to not have a digital trading card app. But that changed recently when Upper Deck launched its new e-Pack platform, where collectors can purchase digital cards from their computer or, in the near future, from a mobile device running iOS or Android.</p><p>But these computerized cards come with a twist: any rookie card, insert, parallel, autograph or game-used jersey card pulled from a virtual pack has a corresponding physical copy that can be mailed to the buyer.</p><p>The 2015-16 Upper Deck Series I set is currently available on the e-Pack platform. Series II, as well as another yet-unannounced set, will follow later this year. While Upper Deck doesn&rsquo;t need to worry about other companies making hockey cards &mdash; they locked up exclusive licenses from both the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association &mdash; its new e-Pack platform provides a unique advantage over other digital card apps. Trading cards in Topps Bunt (baseball), Topps Huddle (football) and Panini Dunk (basketball) exist only in the virtual space. &ldquo;All of the other applications were basically selling air,&rdquo; said Chris Carlin, UD&rsquo;s senior marketing and social media manager. &ldquo;We felt that it was incredibly important to tie the digital experience to a physical trading card, because there is no replacing the thrill of pulling an autographed or game-used jersey card.&rdquo;</p><p>Should a collector get an autographed or game-used jersey card via e-Pack, they can have its physical counterpart delivered. They can also trade the card with other e-Pack users or sell them via online retailer Check Out My Cards. COMC warehouses the physical copies of the virtual cards and handles the shipping.</p><p>Common &ldquo;base&rdquo; cards, however, exist only in cyberspace. Collectors who accumulate 10 copies of any base card &ndash; or five copies of a Young Guns rookie card &ndash; can exchange them for a limited physical shiny foil version of the same card. This puts an interesting spin on common cards, which normally have little interest and almost no resale value in the secondary market. (<a href="http://upperdeck.com">upperdeck.com</a>)<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-05

HOCKEY CARDS GO DIGITAL ...

<div class="byline">BY BRENT BURNS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-01/820-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JAMIE SABAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>HELMET</b> CCM VECTOR 10</p><p><b>SHOULDER PADS</b> CCM U+ CRAZY LIGHT</p><p><b>SKATES</b> CCM TACKS (CUSTOM)</p><p><i>&ldquo;My skates are pretty normal. I put the shot blockers on, just in case I don&rsquo;t get out of the way in time and get hit accidentally (laughs). We have some amazing trainers. If you get issues with lace bite, little areas, little hot spots, they have their tricks. Honestly, those guys are unbelievable. I don&rsquo;t know how they do it. They can work that boot out. I&rsquo;ve had times where they cut the boot right out, and there&rsquo;s a hole, and they can mold something else to the outside.&rdquo;</i></p><p><b>ELBOW PADS</b> CCM TACKS</p><p><i>&ldquo;Just switched to the new elbow pads. They&rsquo;re great. I&rsquo;ve always had issues with elbow pads sliding down, and these ones are the best for not sliding.&rdquo;</i></p><p><b>GLOVES</b> CCM U+ CRAZY LIGHT</p><p><b>PANTS</b> CCM (CUSTOM)</p><p><b>SHIN PADS</b> CCM TACKS</p><p><b>STICK</b> CCM RBZ SUPERFAST (CUSTOM)</p><p><i>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been using the same stick for like seven years. I&rsquo;ve been a CCM guy for 11 or 12 years. I used to have a Lidstrom curve, the heel curve, so then I switched it over to more of a toe-style curve. I use a stiff stick. Around a 120, 125 (flex) for a while.&rdquo;</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

GEAR GUIDE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; WAYNE FISH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-01/870-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="787" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>HELP OUT HELPING OUT</b> The Flyers have more staff to aid Hextall these days, but part of that is to help cut the clutter.</figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>M</span><b>OST OF US SEEM TO ENJOY</b> living in the Information Age, but some, like the growing number of people employed by professional hockey teams, have to work hard to reap the benefits.</p><p>There&rsquo;s so much data out there and not enough time to figure out what is useful and what isn&rsquo;t. From a technological standpoint, it can be dizzying.</p><p>Imagine &ndash; or remember &ndash; what it was like 20 years ago at the dawn of cell phones and digital video. There wasn&rsquo;t a need for large staffs, mainly because so much of scouting, training, medical treatment and the like were done the old-fashion way, i.e., by the book. But when the book gave way to the Internet, everything changed.</p><p>Take a team like the Philadelphia Flyers. In 1995-96, the hockey operations staff &ndash; from owner down to equipment guys &ndash; totaled 21 people. Ten years later, that number jumped to 32. Today, the hockey ops roster has reached 43.</p><p>Through this expansion, the GM has had to be aware of what&rsquo;s best for his team. Hall of Famer Bob Clarke knew that when he was serving as GM in 1996. Paul Holmgren followed that lead when he took over in 2006. And Ron Hextall faces the biggest challenge of all as he completes his second full year running the show in 2016.</p><p>Hextall learned how important &ldquo;modernizing&rdquo; can be when he was assistant GM for the Los Angeles Kings, helping to build a team that won two Stanley Cups. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s data in everything,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of information out there and you have to streamline it. I&rsquo;m not talking about analytics specifically; I&rsquo;m talking about coaching, breaking down video.</p><p>&ldquo;You have to figure it out because there&rsquo;s so much out there. You have to narrow it down: &lsquo;This is important to us&rsquo;...There&rsquo;s more work, it&rsquo;s more complex than it used to be. I think it was a lot simpler 15 years ago.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-02/863-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="98" height="104"></div><p>Simpler, indeed. Going back to 1996, the Flyers had six fulltime scouts. Now they employ 18. &ldquo;Do you need more staff?&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;Yeah, you used to have a strength and conditioning coach. Now you have an assistant or maybe interns. Sweat studies. Sometimes the hardest thing is figuring out what&rsquo;s going to help us and what&rsquo;s clutter. You don&rsquo;t want too much video, too many studies.&rdquo;</p><p>Holmgren, now the president of the team, points out that a lot of additions to staff pertain to important areas, such as medical. For instance, 20 years ago, concussions weren&rsquo;t taken all that seriously. Now? &ldquo;We have a concussion spotter up in the press box,&rdquo; Holmgren said. &ldquo;It provides another view.</p><p>&ldquo;The medical staffs on each team today are greater than they used to be. I think we</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;It&rsquo;s 365 days a year, that gM&rsquo;s job. Twenty-four hours a day &ndash; Bob Clarke</blockquote><p>Director of sports medicine Jim McCrossin has been with the Flyers since the &rsquo;90s. He appreciates the advances in his field and the added personnel. &ldquo;We have more support staff,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s grown, from assistant trainers to a strength coach, where I used to be both. We&rsquo;re able to take care of the player on an individual basis.&rdquo;</p><p>In &rsquo;96, no one in hockey had heard of analytics. Now the Flyers, like many teams, have a manager of analytics (Ian Anderson). Even an old-school guy like Clarke can see the dividends. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t as refined back then,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;There weren&rsquo;t as many statistics. The analytical stuff is crucial now. How it&rsquo;s used by the manager or the coach is up to them. I think it&rsquo;s information that can be very useful.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03/856-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="238" height="251"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB <b>CLARKE</b></figcaption></div><p>&ldquo;You have to be on top of that. It&rsquo;s not going to change. It&rsquo;s going to get more advanced. Nothing in the world stays the same. Hextall&rsquo;s job now &ndash; I guarantee you he has to work to get a day off. And when he does take a day off, he&rsquo;s calling or texting on his phone. It&rsquo;s 365 days a year, that job now. Twenty-four hours a day.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-01/849-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="238" height="334"><figcaption class="caption-body">PAUL <b>HOLMGREN</b><span class="photo-credit">(HOLMGREN: DAVE SANDFORD/NHL I VIA GETTY IMAGES; SITTLER: MELCHIOR DIGIACOMO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>In turn, those coaches who used to burn the midnight oil can now make better use of their time simply by knowing what they&rsquo;re looking for.</p><p>Without question, the advance of technology has accelerated more over the past 10 years than it did for an entire generation before. &ldquo;Everyone works longer hours now,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;The coaches are probably the one thing in terms of hours that hasn&rsquo;t changed but their ability to micromanage a game is better than when they spent a lot of time doing probably 10 or 15 percent of what they do now. So they put in a similar timeline but they get more done. They critique the game more in the same amount of time. That&rsquo;s part of why the game is so tight now. Because of the coaching, they work hard and they do a good job. There&rsquo;s a lot of information for them to gather in a short period of time.&rdquo;</p><p>As for scouting, one would think there&rsquo;s not a need for so much personnel, but it&rsquo;s the opposite. Competition for players is fiercer than ever. Video scouting is great but doesn&rsquo;t tell the whole story. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s something about seeing a game live,&rdquo; Holmgren said. &ldquo;You get to watch a guy&rsquo;s mannerisms, body language.&rdquo;</p><p>All the more reason why the Flyers scouts&rsquo; head-and-shoulder photos take up nearly an entire page in their media guide. It&rsquo;s the age we live in.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0012-01

GROWTH INDUSTRY

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-03/928-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="311" height="484"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>S</span>TARING ACROSS A TABLE</b> at Hall of Famer and Toronto Maple Leafs legend Darryl Sittler, 65, you&rsquo;d never guess he accomplished his most famous feat four decades ago. His posture is perfect. He has the firm handshake of man who still works out at his local gym at least three times a week.</p><p>He flips through a February 1976 edition of The Hockey News like it&rsquo;s a pulpy novel he just can&rsquo;t put down. We&rsquo;ve unearthed the cover detailing his signature NHL accomplishment. It&rsquo;s now 40 years old.</p><p>Everything clicked for Sittler Feb. 7, 1976 when his Leafs hosted the Boston Bruins. The points kept pouring in. Maurice Rocket Richard&rsquo;s single-game record of eight points stood for 32 years and 9,453 games before Sittler smashed it with a 10 spot. His mark is still going strong. On Feb. 7, 40 years and 38,995 games had passed since he made history.</p><p>Sittler joined us to review video of all 10 points and reminisce about the events before, during and after that magical game.</p><p><i>Was there anything in Sittler&rsquo;s 1975-76 season before Feb. 7 that hinted at a breakout? His Leafs were on the edge of the Adams Division playoff picture, with a 21-20-11 record. They had one win in eight games. Sittler didn&rsquo;t necessarily feel something huge on the horizon.</i></p><p><b>SITTLER:</b> We had some good, young players like Lanny Mc-Donald coming up. Borje Salming was coming into his own. Ian Turnbull. They were all in their early 20s, so we were going to have a good team, At that time, I was only 25. So you&rsquo;re hopeful.</p><p>Leading up to the game, any time it&rsquo;s a Saturday night, <i>Hockey Night In Canada</i>, Original Six, there&rsquo;s more buzz in the media air, in the city, so to speak. Harold Ballard had made a comment in the paper, I don&rsquo;t know, three or four days before, &ldquo;If only he could find a center to play with Lanny and Tiger Williams,&rdquo; so obviously it was a bit of a shot toward me. But that was Harold, you know? And then, that night, everything just fell into place. Did that motivate me any more or any less? No. I always approached every game with the same mentality.</p><p><i>Professional hockey players are creatures of habit. Game days include morning skates, often a midday nap and, for seemingly every player, the same pre-game meal each time. Sittler took his morning skate at Maple Leaf Gardens, but the rest of his day wasn&rsquo;t routine.</i></p><p><b>SITTLER:</b> My wife, Wendy, she was out doing something and wasn&rsquo;t going to be home. I got behind schedule downtown for whatever reason. I thought, &ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;ll just run in and grab takeout.&rdquo; So I grabbed some Swiss Chalet chicken and fries. Because I wanted to get home and sleep, I was eating it while it was still hot, off the front seat of my car.&rdquo;</p><p>So a rested Sittler, belly full of roast chicken and fries, arrived at MLG to tangle with the Bruins in front of 16,385 fans. Game on.</p><p><i>Read the complete oral history of Darryl Sittler&rsquo;s 10-point game at <a href="http://THN.COM/SITTLER">THN.COM/SITTLER</a></i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0013-03

SITTLER’S STANDARD

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-00/957-1-eng-US/f0014-002.jpg" title="f0014-00" width="461" height="527"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span><b>HE AHL STARTED 80 YEARS AGO</b> with a merger between two small leagues, but it has turned into a 30-team continental force and arguably the world&rsquo;s second-best circuit.</p><p>The first AHL season had its lows and highs, from the Buffalo Bisons&rsquo; rink burning down after just 11 games to the Syracuse Stars winning it all. In the middle, Cleveland Barons owner Al Sutphin gave away a car at every home game.</p><p>In honor of its birthday, we&rsquo;ve unearthed eight great stories from throughout AHL history. Enjoy.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-00

8 AWESOME MOMENTS IN AHL HISTORY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-01/1000-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="512" height="535"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>E</span></b>ddie Shore first took ownership of the Springfield Indians in 1939 and, notwithstanding a couple of diversions to Buffalo and Syracuse along the way, he kept that relationship with the Massachusetts squad well into the 1970s. The Boston Bruins defenseman was nearing the end of his 14-year Hall of Fame career when he started to think about his post-hockey life.</p><p>After the AHL took over the Indians when the previous owner couldn&rsquo;t pay the bills,</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-02/993-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="108" height="105"></div><p>Eddie stepped in. He installed a new refrigeration system at the Coliseum in 1941-42, only to see the U.S. Army commandeer the arena during the Second World War. &ldquo;The army didn&rsquo;t let him put anything in the pipes to keep them from rusting,&rdquo; said Ted Shore, Eddie&rsquo;s son. &ldquo;So in 1946, when the water went back in, there were leaks, and the cement had to be chopped up. I&rsquo;ve got scars on my knuckles from doing it.&rdquo;</p><p>Ted did everything while his father ran the franchise, from taking tickets to shovelling snow. He even coached the team when Harry Pidhirny stepped down in December 1966. &ldquo;He quit on a Monday,&rdquo; Ted said. &ldquo;So on Wednesday or Thursday, I asked my father who would be coaching the game on Friday. He said &lsquo;You are.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Ted had plenty of experience, having run Springfield&rsquo;s junior program and clinics with his cousin, Jack Butterfield. Eddie brought his nephew into the game after Butterfield returned from duty with the Royal Canadian Air Force in England. Butterfield later became the longstanding president of the AHL.</p><p>Springfield&rsquo;s heyday was in the early 1960s, when the Indians won three straight Calder Cups under coach Pat Egan, a feat yet to be repeated. &ldquo;No parades but, boy, did people talk about it,&rdquo; Ted said. &ldquo;They filled the place, especially on Saturdays. It was a great time.&rdquo;</p><p>Eddie had a reputation for being fearsome and ruthless, but for his son, the arithmetic was simple. &ldquo;He was tough,&rdquo; Ted said. &ldquo;Meaning that if you didn&rsquo;t do your job, you&rsquo;d hear from him. Take care of it, make it work &ndash; that&rsquo;s what I remember. He was tough, but fair: Do your job.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03/986-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="238" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TURNING THE TRICK</b> Shore&rsquo;s Indians are the only club in AHL history to win three consecutive Calder Cups. <span class="photo-credit">(PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AHL)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0014-01

SHORE TO THE RESCUE IN SPRINGFIELD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-01/1036-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="787" height="876"><figcaption class="caption-body">TERRY <b>SAWCHUK</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span></b>HE INDIANAPOLIS Capitals of 1949-50 put themselves in the record book as the first AHL team to go undefeated in the playoffs. Helmed by player-coach Ott Heller, the Capitals gave up just 13 goals in eight games thanks to a strong defense and a young stopper named Terry Sawchuk.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02/1029-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="98" height="117"></div><p>The future Hall of Famer was stellar, outduelling another icon in the making, Cleveland Barons goalie Johnny Bower. Indianapolis had an effective weapon to handicap Bower &ndash; a &ldquo;sleeper&rdquo; stretch pass from defenseman Al Dewsbury to Pat Lundy that sprung the center for successful breakaways while Baron defenders were caught in the Caps&rsquo; zone.</p><p>Indianapolis swept a pair of two-game series against St. Louis and Providence before taking out Cleveland in four to earn the title.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0015-01

BATTLE OF FUTURE LEGENDS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-01/1072-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="237" height="313"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02/1065-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="135" height="106"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>P</span>ROVING ONCE AGAIN</b> to be a forward thinker, Montreal Canadiens GM Sam Pollock wasn&rsquo;t content with four Stanley Cups in his first five years on the job. He was instrumental in getting the Habs to purchase an AHL franchise, making them the first NHL team to do so. Originally slated to be called the Muskies, the team ended up being called the Montreal Voyageurs and played out of the famed Forum, beginning in 1969-70.</p><p>Led by player-coach Al Mac-Neil and top scorer Jude Drouin, the Voyageurs led the AHL in points that season but fell in the second playoff round.</p><p>The addition of a ninth team led to a divisional realignment, which could have been even bigger. The Detroit Red Wings considered setting up a team in Ottawa, while the Minnesota North Stars kicked the tires on a Kingston, Ont., franchise, but neither went through with the idea. Before then, NHL teams simply had affiliations with AHL squads.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0016-01

POLLOCK TURNS ANOTHER TRICK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03/1115-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="787" height="834"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FOR GOOD MEASURE</b> Because of a mixup, Marshall returned for another year to break the goals record, again. <span class="photo-credit">(PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AHL)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>HEN 40-YEAR-OLD</b> Willie Marshall finally departed the AHL for good after 10 games in 1971-72, he did so as its alltime leader in goals, points and games. Those 10 appearances helped push him past Fred Glover&rsquo;s mark of 1,201 games.</p><p>Marshall finished with 1,205 games, but that wasn&rsquo;t his chief reason for returning after moving over to the International League following 19 seasons in the AHL. See, he had been told Glover still held the goals record, even though Marshall had in fact eclipsed it the year prior. News &ndash; and stats &ndash; didn&rsquo;t travel as fast back then.</p><p>Had Marshall known he already had the goals record, he wouldn&rsquo;t have bothered coming back to pass Glover in games.</p><p>Nicknamed &lsquo;The Whip&rsquo; by Pittsburgh media thanks to the sharp turns he made after speeding down the ice, Marshall started his career with the Hornets but really found a home with the Hershey Bears. His wife came from one town over, and that&rsquo;s also where Marshall won his first Calder Cup. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a first-class organiza t ion ,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a stable franchise, and the arenas there have always been tops. When I played, the seats went straight up. It was pretty unique. Everybody had a great view.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-04/1108-1-eng-US/f0016-042.jpg" title="f0016-04" width="101" height="156"></div><p>Though Marshall had brief stints in the NHL with Toronto, he got on the bad side of owner Conn Smythe when he suited up for St. Mike&rsquo;s in junior instead of Smythe&rsquo;s preferred Marlboros. &ldquo;There was no union then, nobody to help you,&rdquo; Marshall said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way it was. But I wouldn&rsquo;t change eras for anything.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-01/1101-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="513" height="334"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DREAM SEASON</b> Marshall, back row middle, had 104 points in 1957-58, a career year topped with a Calder Cup.</figcaption></div><p>Marshall was a scoring machine in the AHL and also made stops in Baltimore, Providence and Rochester. His first pro games came in the early 1950s, and with only six NHL teams, the competition in the &lsquo;A&rsquo; was stiff. &ldquo;There was little difference,&rdquo; Marshall said. &ldquo;The difference was the superstars, like Gordie Howe. But when I was with Providence, we beat Montreal and Detroit (in exhibition play).&rdquo;</p><p>Marshall still holds major AHL records (goals, assists, points), and it&rsquo;s hard to imagine anyone ever catching him. Still going strong at 85, he lives near Hershey in Pennsylvania, where he is a poet and author devoted to Christianity. He is also working on an autobiography about his storied career.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-03

CRACKING ‘THE WHIP’ ONE MORE TIME

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-04/1144-1-eng-US/f0017-042.jpg" title="f0017-04" width="787" height="482"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PRACTICALLY PERFECT</b> The Cape Breton Oilers lost only twice, both in double overtime, during their 1993 Calder Cup run.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02/1158-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="104" height="105"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 104px"><span class="photo-credit">(HERSHEY: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>B</span>EFORE DAVE ANDREWS</b> was president of the AHL, he was GM of the Cape Breton Oilers. And one of the best trades he made was with none other than Barry Melrose.</p><p>One year before Melrose took over behind the bench of the Los Angeles Kings, he was guiding Adirondack to the 1992 Calder Cup. Along the way, he dealt Bill McDougall to Cape Breton for Max Middendorf. While McDougall would and Detroit (in exhibition play).&rdquo; Marshall still holds major AHL records (goals, assists, points), and it&rsquo;s hard to imagine anyone ever catching him. Still going strong at 85, he lives near Hershey in Pennsylvania, where he is a poet and author devoted to Christianity. He is also working on an autobiography about his storied career. miss the playoffs with Cape Breton that spring, he would not be denied the next season. He thrashed the AHL record books by putting up 52 points in 16 playoff games as the Oilers romped to the 1993 title. &ldquo;When he was focused,&rdquo; Andrews said, &ldquo;he was an exceptional player.&rdquo;</p><p>McDougall centered a line with Roman Oksiuta and David Haas, with the post-season serving as a buffet for the pivot. &ldquo;He had two big wingers with good hands,&rdquo; Andrews said. &ldquo;Bill&rsquo;s puck possession was amazing. He could deal the puck, and he could score.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-03/1151-1-eng-US/f0017-032.jpg" title="f0017-03" width="237" height="313"><figcaption class="caption-body">GEORGE BURNETT & <b>DAVE ANDREWS</b></figcaption></div><p>McDougall wound up with 26 goals and 26 assists, backing up his GM&rsquo;s assessment. As talented as he was, McDougall needed to be pushed to be effective, and his Oilers teammates were instrumental in that regard.</p><p>During Cape Breton&rsquo;s run (which also included future NHLers Kirk Maltby, Steven Rice and Shaun Van Allen), the Oilers dropped just two games &ndash; both in double overtime, one being the first game of the playoffs against Fredericton.</p><p>At the time, Eastern Canada and the Maritimes had a division (Atlantic), and rivalries were great thanks to a schedule heavy on divisional matches. Cape Breton &ndash; a Nova Scotian island &ndash; is now represented by the Quebec League&rsquo;s Screaming Eagles but holds a place in Andrews&rsquo; heart, despite its quiet, remote location. &ldquo;For some players, it wasn&rsquo;t the greatest,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was a challenge for the single guys. But for me and the coaches, it was great for focus and expectations. If you lost, you&rsquo;d hear about it the next day at Tim Hortons.&rdquo;</p><p>And winning a title for the residents was rewarding for the team, given the bond it had with the community. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if there would be a better place to win a title,&rdquo; Andrews said. &ldquo;It meant so much to them.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0017-04

A MARITIME OIL PIPELINE STRIKES IT RICH

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-01/1194-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="513" height="855"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>EYEWITNESS</b> Even Montgomery, a scorer, was drawn into the wild brawl between the Bears and Aces.</figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>T WAS THE CRAZIEST</b> series in AHL history but also one of the strangest. When the Cornwall Aces met the Hershey Bears for the second straight year in the 1995 playoffs, there was more than just a trip to Round 2 on the line.</p><p>Due to affiliation changes from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Colorado Avalanche, the Bears players would be moving to Philadelphia for the 1996-97 season, while Cornwall&rsquo;s skaters would be moving to&hellip;Hershey. &ldquo;There was a lot of hatred,&rdquo; said Bears center Jim Montgomery. &ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t know who the ownership of Hershey was really cheering for. There were a lot of politics.&rdquo;</p><p>On the ice, fireworks were basically guaranteed. Cornwall was coached by Bob Hartley, who had a well-earned repu tation as someone who didn&rsquo;t mind the odd scuffle. His Aces jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before the Bears took Game 4. Then, Hershey opened up a big lead in Game 5, and that&rsquo;s when things went off the rails. &ldquo;One of the things you never want to do against Bob Hartley is go up by three goals,&rdquo; said Montgomery, now coach at the University of Denver Pioneers. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s when the brawl started.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02/1187-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="80" height="136"></div><p>Montgomery, a highly skilled player who ran shotgun with Paul Kariya for NCAA champion Maine Black Bears, got caught out on the ice for that initial brawl but recalls opponent Paxton Schulte &ldquo;taking mercy&rdquo; on him. Elsewhere, it was pandemonium. Future New York Islanders GM Garth Snow launched himself &ndash; in full goalie gear &ndash; at Hershey left winger Jason Bowen, who was pounding on a prone Ace. Wade Belak was there for the Aces, as was Cornwall enforcer Serge Roberge. Hershey won the game, but Cornwall won the war in six games. An AHL-record 575 PIM were doled out in the series.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0018-01

ACES POKE THE BEARS, THE BEARS POKE BACK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03/1237-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="544" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE AHL)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE NHL&rsquo;S PAIN WAS</b> the AHL&rsquo;s gain in 2004-05, as the year-long lockout in The Show led to a fortuitous trickle-down of talent to the &lsquo;A.&rsquo; Many hot young NHLers spent the season with their franchise&rsquo;s top farm team, and the list is impressive. Eric Staal, Jason Spezza, Patrice Bergeron, Zach Parise and Jay Bouwmeester are just a handful of names who played in the AHL that season, which was unique and positive for many of the youngsters involved. Joffrey Lupul, for example, had spent the entire 2003-04 campaign with the Anaheim Ducks before finding himself decamping for Cincinnati. &ldquo;I just wanted to play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I had a decent rookie year in the NHL, but I thought I could build on that. We were forewarned that it could be an entire year, so I went down and had a great time.&rdquo;</p><p>Shobana1</p><p>Not only did the presence of top talents raise the level of play in the league, the fact there was no NHL to strive for at the time meant everyone&rsquo;s prospects were limited to the AHL that season. They thus weren&rsquo;t fighting for jobs with the big clubs, which made for a better sense of camaraderie. &ldquo;No one was looking to get called up,&rdquo; Lupul said. &ldquo;It was just truly a team. There was no inner competition. It was a fun group of guys and a really memorable year for me, actually.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-04/1230-1-eng-US/f0018-042.jpg" title="f0018-04" width="92" height="98"></div><p>Lupul&rsquo;s teammates that season included future NHL mainstays P-A Parenteau, Chris Kunitz and Dustin Penner, while Ryan Getzlaf joined the squad for the playoffs. There was plenty of Skyline Chili, NFL Bengals games and bonding dinners. &ldquo;Our team was so young,&rdquo; Lupul said. &ldquo;And we all lived in the same condo complex.&rdquo;</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-04/1223-1-eng-US/f0019-042.jpg" title="f0019-04" width="521" height="532"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ONE-YEAR MISSION</b> Lupul, Staal (opposite), Sharp and Spezza benefitted from a development season in the &lsquo;A&rsquo;.</figcaption></div><p>The playoffs ended up being a good indicator of future returns, too. The Philadelphia Phantoms won the Calder Cup on the strength of MVP goalie Antero Niittymaki, with Patrick Sharp and two kids fresh out of major junior &ndash; Jeff Carter and Mike Richards &ndash; joining the team late to make a powerful post-season charge.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0018-03

NHLERS LOCKED, AHL ROCKS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01/1280-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="787" height="522"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PUNCHING THE CLOCK</b> Potulny&rsquo;s winner halted play at 2:58 of the fifth overtime period in Albany, giving Philly a 3-2 win.</figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>HEN PLAYOFF</b> games go into multiple overtimes, they are basically just wars of attrition. We don&rsquo;t expect style points. We don&rsquo;t expect a lot of wheeling. We just want someone to put in that golden goal. During the 2007-08 post-season, the Albany River Rats and Philadelphia Phantoms went an incredible five overtimes before Ryan Potulny ended the festivities for Philly. Funnily enough, when the play developed, it first looked like it might be a roof-exploder. Phantoms defenseman Mike Ratchuk, who joined the team late in the year after his Michigan State career came to a close, zipped up the ice from deep in his own zone, cruising past River Rats before the puck was finally knocked off his stick near the hashmarks. Potulny scooped it up and fired a shot past Michael Leighton, who made an incredible 98 saves in the game. The contest lasted five hours and 38 minutes and gave Philadelphia a 3-2 series lead. The Phantoms won the series in seven games before falling to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second round.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02/1273-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="127" height="82"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03/1266-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="238" height="334"></div><h2><b>98</b></h2><p>Saves by Philadelphia netminder Michael Leighton in Game 5 of the 2008 East Division semifinal versus Albany, setting an AH L record. He faced 101 shots in total in what was the longest game in AH L history at 142:58.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0019-01

PHANTOMS, RATS WRITE NEVERENDING STORY

<div class="byline">BY JARED CLINTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01/1485-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="722" height="911"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p><i>KEITH</i><b><i>TKACHUK</i></b></p><p>15YEARS AGO</p><span class="photo-credit">(TKACHUK+CLARK: ELSA/ALLSPORT, FRANCIS: J GIAMUNDO/BRUCE BENNETT ST UDIOS/GETTY IMAGES, RECCHI: JIM MCISAAC/GETTY IMAGES, SHATTENKIRK: RICK LAM/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02/1478-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="86" height="87"></div><p><b>BLUES ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Keith Tkachuk</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03/1471-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="86" height="87"></div><p><b>COYOTES ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Michael Handzus</p><p>Ladislav Nagy</p><p>Jeff Taffe</p><p>2002 1st round pick</p><p>(Ben Eager)</p><p>THE COYOTES HAVE had to deal with financial turmoil for much of their existence, and it&rsquo;s always been an uphill battle for the Desert Dogs to keep their bigname talent. Five seasons after leaving frigid Winnipeg for sunny Phoenix, the Coyotes were already having to shed salary and attempt to build a winner on a tight budget. One of the first major casualties was Tkachuk, and almost everyone involved saw the writing on the wall.</p><p>Tkachuk and the Coyotes had a rocky relationship dating back to 1998, when he wanted his contract renegotiated. After failing to get a deal he felt was appropriate, Tkachuk initiated a holdout. He didn&rsquo;t show up for training camp, and it took 15 days for him to ink a new contract. But that deal was too rich for the Coyotes&rsquo; blood, and the team couldn&rsquo;t make the money work. Tkachuk, the Coyotes&rsquo; captain and four-time 40-goal man, had to be shipped out of Arizona. When he was eventually dealt, he landed in St. Louis where he became a fixture on the Blues&rsquo; top line. Post-trade, he told media he knew the deal had a lot to do with finances. Trading Tkachuk was the Coyotes&rsquo; doing what they had to, and while Nagy performed well in Phoenix, there was no replacing Tkachuk&rsquo;s production.</p><p>Over nine seasons with the Blues, Tkachuk had six 20-goal seasons, totalling 208 goals and 427 points in 543 games. The combined production of all four players the Coyotes received didn&rsquo;t eclipse Tkachuk&rsquo;s, and Eager didn&rsquo;t play a single game in Phoenix. Together, Nagy, Handzus and Taffe amassed 126 goals and 330 points in 508 games, but that&rsquo;s largely due to Nagy, who suited up in 321 games, with 92 goals and 249 points.</p><p><b>WINNER: ST. LOUIS BLUES</b></p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01/1464-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="277" height="335"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>RON</i><b><i>FRANCIS</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02/1457-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="86" height="86"></div><p><b>PENGUINS ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Ron Francis</p><p>Ulf Samuelsson</p><p>Grant Jennings</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03/1450-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="86" height="86"></div><p><b>WHALERS ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Zarley Zalapski</p><p>John Cullen</p><p>Jeff Parker</p><p>THE PENGUINS ALREADY had Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Paul Coffey, Mark Recchi, Kevin Stevens and veteran Bryan Trottier when they went out and added Francis to the mix. If he wasn&rsquo;t the piece that put the Penguins over the top in their championship chase, he was definitely the icing on the cake. In the playoffs, Francis chipped in seven goals and 17 points to help Pittsburgh to its first Stanley Cup in 1991, and he was back the next season and led the post-season with 19 assists as the Penguins won back-to-back titles. Francis had 164 goals and 613 points over eight seasons in Pittsburgh.</p><p>As for Hartford&rsquo;s return, Zalapski&rsquo;s 229 games with the Whalers were the most of all three players. He contributed 44 goals and 165 points but was flipped to Calgary almost three years later to the day.</p><p><b>WINNER: PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</b></p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04/1443-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="277" height="339"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>WENDEL</i><b><i>CLARK</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05/1436-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="86" height="86"></div><p><b>MAPLE LEAFS ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Wendel Clark</p><p>Mathieu Schneider</p><p>D.J. Smith</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-06/1429-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="86" height="86"></div><p><b>ISLANDERS ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Sean Haggerty</p><p>Darby Hendrickson</p><p>Kenny Jonsson</p><p>1997 1st round pick</p><p>(Roberto Luongo)</p><p>THE MAPLE LEAFS brought back one of the most beloved players in franchise history by acquiring Clark, but one has to wonder what could have been had Toronto held onto its first-round pick. The top end of the draft included players such as Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Olli Jokinen and Luongo, the player the Islanders eventually selected. Bringing Clark, Schneider and Smith didn&rsquo;t make much of a difference in Toronto. Clark had a 30-goal season in 1996-97 but was traded by Toronto the following year.</p><p>Jonsson actually had the most success in his new digs of any player involved in the deal. He was a top-pairing defenseman for the Islanders for the next nine seasons and had 57 goals and 232 points on Long Island.</p><p><b>WINNER: NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-07/1422-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="302" height="334"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>MARK</i><b><i>RECCHI</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-08/1415-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="86" height="86"></div><p><b>HURRICANES ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Mark Recchi</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-09/1408-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="86" height="86"></div><p><b>PENGUINS ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Krys Kolanos</p><p>Niklas Nordgren</p><p>2007 2nd round pick</p><p>(Kevin Marshall)</p><p>NO ONE WOULD have considered the deal that sent a 38-year-old Recchi to the Hurricanes to have much impact, and it sure didn&rsquo;t look like he was going to do much once he arrived in Carolina. In 20 regular season games, he had only four goals and seven points. But in the post-season, Recchi went on a tear, scoring seven goals and 16 points, six of which came in the seven-game Stanley Cup final victory over the Edmonton Oilers.</p><p>Recchi headed back to Pittsburgh in the off-season before again being traded again, this time to Atlanta. His 20 games in Carolina were 10 more than Marshall played in his NHL career, and five more than Nordgren, the only player to actually see time with the Penguins, played in Pittsburgh.</p><p><b>WINNER: CAROLINA HURRICANES</b></p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-10/1401-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="277" height="310"><figcaption class="caption-body"><i>KEVIN</i><b><i>Shattenkirk</i></b></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-11/1394-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="86" height="86"></div><p><b>BLUES ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Kevin Shattenkirk</p><p>Chris Stewart</p><p>2011 2nd round pick</p><p>(Ty Rattie)</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-12/1387-1-eng-US/f0027-122.jpg" title="f0027-12" width="86" height="86"></div><p><b>AVALANCHE ACQUIRE</b></p><p>Erik Johnson</p><p>Jay McClement</p><p>2011 1st round pick</p><p>(Duncan Siemens)</p><p>FIRST-OVERALL PICKS aren&rsquo;t often traded before they hit their prime, but the St. Louis Blues saw an opportunity to exchange defensemen by flipping Johnson, taken first overall in 2006, for Shattenkirk. Johnson had been largely disappointing in St. Louis and had an embarrassing off-ice accident involving a golf cart that cost him his entire sophomore season.</p><p>The trade worked out for both sides as the centerpieces of the deal &ndash; Johnson and Shattenkirk &ndash; have both turned into solid blueliners for their respective clubs, but the edge has to go to the Blues. Shattenkirk has earned himself some Norris Trophy discussion, has been the more offensively productive of the two blueliners and was an Olympian for the U.S. in 2014.</p><p><b>WINNER: ST.LOUIS BLUES</b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0026-01

TRADE DEADLINE REWIND

<div class="byline">By Jason Bukland</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01/1563-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"></div><p>NHL PLAYERS LIVE A CHARMED LIFE, NO DOUBT, BUT IT ISN'T ALL BLISS AND BIG BUCKS.</p><p>THE MONEY IS NICE, BUT THEIR YOUNG FAMILE&rsquo;S LIVES ARE OFTEN DICTATED BY THE WHIMS OF THE TRADE MARKET.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="mon022.jpg" title="common02" width="83" height="78"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">THE EMAIL ARRIVED AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.</blockquote><p>Kodette LaBarbera sank into the couch to read it.</p><p>It had been a milestone morning for her and her husband, Jason, the longtime NHL goalie, who was in his fourth and final season as a Phoenix Coyote. It was September 2012, and the couple had sent their first born, three-and-a-half-year-old Ryder, to his very first day of class.</p><p>What was a happy occasion quickly soured. Kodette recoiled as she scanned the note in her living room that night, a tersely worded directive from an official at Ryder&rsquo;s new school that the boy had already been considered a poor fit. &ldquo;They basically told us,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;that Ryder was a freak and he wasn&rsquo;t welcome back, that there was something wrong with him, that we should get him to a doctor.</p><p>Ryder had always faced unique challenges in life. As a toddler, he was a whiz at spelling, not merely marking out words like <i>cat</i> and <i>dog</i>, but requiring no counsel on more advanced ones, like <i>chicken</i> or <i>ladder</i> or <i>tractor</i>. But he had trouble with other things, those that seemed simpler. His social skills lagged. He was timid. By his first day of school, he was largely non-verbal.</p><p>In their hearts, Kodette and Jason knew Ryder was unlike other children, though to be told so bluntly of their boy&rsquo;s dismissal from school after just one day hurt them deeply. Was Ryder a freak? No, he was not. Not at all.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01/1549-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="488" height="584"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LABARBERA: LEN REDKOLES/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES, PUZZLE PIECE ICON: RI CHARD SCHUMANN/THENOUNPROJECT, STICK ICON: CREATIVE STALL/THENOUNPROJECT)</span></figcaption></div><p>What followed were countless tests, visits with specialists, and paperwork &ndash; mountains of forms and files to be completed before Ryder&rsquo;s diagnosis could be revealed. But the sting of the email never truly left the boy&rsquo;s parents.</p><p>Emotion still grips Kodette as she recalls the memory. Her voice quakes, loses its tone in places. &ldquo;That was heartbreaking,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;In my eyes, Ryder has always been perfect. He&rsquo;s still perfect. He&rsquo;s the most amazing little person I&rsquo;ve ever met in my life.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="mon022.jpg" title="common02" width="83" height="78"></div><p>Jason and Kodette LaBarbera met in Calgary in 2006 and were married in 2009. For years, the couple followed Jason&rsquo;s career path, which was that of a hockey journeyman. He&rsquo;s had NHL stints elsewhere in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Phoenix, Edmonton and most recently Philadelphia after a January call-up from the Flyers&rsquo; AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where he has played most of the season.</p><p>The travel in itself was never easy: the trades, the assignments, the promotions and demotions. But the arrival of Ryder in 2009 was another matter entirely. His was a joyous birth, and he was a wonderful baby, but his early years would not come without difficulty.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">TO RYDER, JASON WAS SOMEBODY WHO WAS NOT THERE YESTERDAY, OR THE DAY BEFORE THAT, AND HE NEEDED TIME BEFORE THAT. AND HE NEEDED TIME BEFORE HE WAS COMFORTABLE LETTING DAD BACK IN AGAIN, &ldquo;THAT PART,&rdquo; JASON SAID, &ldquo;WAS HARD.&rdquo;</blockquote><p>Within a month of his dis Within a month of his dismissal from school that September, the diagnosis was in: Ryder had autism. The news wasn&rsquo;t a shock to Jason and Kodette. The conclusion, when considered in hindsight, made sense of a lot of things. But that made it no easier to live with. Kodette, whose cousin had autism, had some experience to fall back on. Jason, by contrast, was a blank slate. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know what to think,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There was no sadness or no happiness. It was, &lsquo;OK, what&rsquo;s the next step? What do we do?&rsquo;&rdquo;</p><p>In a perfect world, he might have dropped everything. Yet Jason was a pro hockey player. By nature, he was always on the road, in for weeks at a time and then out seemingly as soon as he came. It was an imperfect arrangement, but it was the way he earned a living for his wife and son.</p><p>For any hockey family, the constant travel is a strain, though for the father of a young child with autism, the challenges were stark. Kids with autism thrive on routine, schedules and familiarity. Ryder would be at his best in the comfort of those he was around most often. So when Jason had to leave on the road, re-establishing himself into Ryder&rsquo;s life upon his return was never simple. &ldquo;When you come home, you&rsquo;re excited to see your kid,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Most dads see their kid, especially their son, they want to grab them and pick them up. I couldn&rsquo;t really do that.&rdquo;</p><p>To Ryder, it didn&rsquo;t matter that Jason was his father, or that he was smiling and happy, or that Jason so clearly had love for the boy shining right through his skin. To Ryder, Jason was somebody who was not there yesterday, or the day before that, and he needed time before he was comfortable letting dad back in again. &ldquo;That part,&rdquo; Jason said, &ldquo;was hard.&rdquo;</p><p>Jason and Kodette realized their boy needed help navigating his father&rsquo;s schedule. At home, Kodette took control. She hung a large map of North America, and below it a calendar. When Jason was away, she would track her husband across the continent with Ryder to anchor in the boy&rsquo;s mind where his father was. &ldquo;If Jason was in Colorado, then we&rsquo;d find Colorado on the map,&rdquo; she said.</p><p>Countdowns offered assistance, too. Three weeks till we see daddy. Two weeks till we see daddy. &ldquo;It helps,&rdquo; Kodette said, &ldquo;when he knows what to expect.&rdquo;</p><p>All the while, Jason&rsquo;s hockey career continued. Ryder was born during the family&rsquo;s greatest time of stability, a four-year period from 2009 to 2013 when Jason played exclusively with Phoenix (to date, Jason has appeared in games for a total of six NHL teams and six AHL squads, as well as one ECHL club at the start of his pro career). However, the very next season Jason was back to an itinerary that more closely resembled his earlier days in hockey.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01/1535-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="250" height="319"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(FAMIL Y PHOTOS COURTESY OF KODETTE LABARBERA)</span></figcaption></div><p>He was signed to a one-year deal by the Oilers, but by the time Ryder was set up with the services and therapists he needed in Edmonton, Jason was traded to Chicago. Kodette was spent. By then, she had given birth to her and Jason&rsquo;s second child, Easton, and the family had a choice to make. Rather than follow Jason to the U.S., where he might have had to change cities again without notice, they decided it would be best for Kodette and the boys to temporarily split from him. They would move instead to nearby Calgary, a familiar city the couple found comfort in.</p><p>It was there she broke down. One night in Calgary, as hockey again took Jason far away from the family, Kodette stared at the stacks of paperwork required to place Ryder on waiting lists for therapists and support workers all over again</p><p>She wept, the uncertainty of life finally overwhelming her. Kodette knew Ryder didn&rsquo;t deserve such disarray, the looming threat of having to move once more in a few months&rsquo; time. In fact, he needed stability to grow. She called Jason, and the pair came to a difficult resolution. They would stay in Calgary through the end of that season and the next after that, too. Wherever Jason had to be, for Ryder&rsquo;s sake the family could not be together.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="mon012.jpg" title="common01" width="125" height="141"></div><p>Jason is 36 now, the oldest player by several years on the Phantoms. He still chases full-time duty in the NHL, a league he has often grasped in his career but failed to pin down completely. Yet his time in Lehigh Valley has brought with it a much happier consequence. Kodette, Ryder and Easton have joined him once again.</p><p>Ryder&rsquo;s time in Calgary proved incredibly fruitful. He was accepted into a specialized services school, where he flourished, and the hours spent under the guidance of therapists changed him greatly. He began to speak for the sake of speaking. He and Easton grew into best friends. Ryder was ready for the move to Pennsylvania.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02/1521-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="624" height="563"><figcaption class="caption-body">To help Ryder, right, keep Jason in mind while he&rsquo;s on the road, Kodette uses a large map of North America to track the cities her husband plays in and has a calendar below it so Ryder can countdown the days until Jason returns.</figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;HE BRINGS ME HAPPY TEARS PROBABLY EVERY OTHER DAY, IF NOT EVERY DAY,&rdquo; KODETTE SAID. &ldquo;HE&rsquo;S GOT ONE LINE EVERY DAY THAT&rsquo;S LIKE, &lsquo;WOW, THAT&rsquo;S AMAZING!&rdquo;</blockquote><p>He is six now, and of course he still faces tests in life. Dinners out can be a challenge for Ryder. Changes to routine, like Jason suddenly picking him up from school where Kodette had done so before, can also upset him.</p><p>But he has come so far. With the help of an aide, he is able to attend a traditional first-grade class, and he enjoys school so much he often wonders why it cannot last all seven days of the week. When he gets into the car with Kodette, sometimes he will be the one to strike up a conversation, asking his mother how she is and how her day has been. They are tiny, fleeting moments, yet Jason and Kodette have also found that with Ryder these small markers deliver them an outsized sense of pride. &ldquo;He brings me happy tears probably every other day, if not every day,&rdquo; Kodette said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got one line every day that&rsquo;s like, &lsquo;Wow, that&rsquo;s amazing!&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03/1514-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="375" height="315"></div><p>Jason&rsquo;s career goes on, nearly a generation away from its beginning, in 1998, when the Rangers drafted him in the third round. It is able to continue, he said, because of Kodette, who has cared so ably for their two boys but to him wears a cape each day with Ryder. &ldquo;She was a rock,&rdquo; Jason said of his wife, who raises autism awareness as a cast member of the W Network reality series <i>Hockey Wives</i>. &ldquo;She&rsquo;s been a rock the whole time.&rdquo;</p><p>Where hockey takes Jason isn&rsquo;t known today. Yet for the first time, no matter where he is due to take the ice, he has found stability at home, where a little boy, once uneasy around his returning father, cannot wait for him to appear. &ldquo;Ryder asks for Jason now,&rdquo; Kodette said. &ldquo;All the time.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0028-01

FOR JASON LABARBERA

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01/1627-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LILES: DAVE SANDFORD/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;I said, &lsquo;Can I Still go out for warmup?&rsquo; &ndash; John-Michael Liles at the Winter Classic</blockquote><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE BUZZ FROM HIS CELLPHONE, WHICH HE NORMALLY TURNED OFF DURING HIS</b> pre-game nap, startled Mike Johnson. He quickly focused his eyes to see who was calling and saw it was Pat Quinn. &ldquo;Uh oh, I thought,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably not calling to see how my day was going.&rdquo;</p><p>It was Feb. 9, 2000, and the coach-GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, indeed, wasn&rsquo;t exchanging pleasantries. He was about to throw a wrench in Johnson&rsquo;s day &ndash; in his life, for that matter. &ldquo;The most surprising part was how fast the conversation was,&rdquo; Johnson recalled. &ldquo;He literally said, &lsquo;Hi, Mike. This is Pat Quinn. Listen, Mike, we made a trade. You&rsquo;re going to Tampa. You know to get something we have to give something. We really liked you here, all the best. Somebody from Tampa will call you. Good luck. Bye.&rsquo;</p><p>&ldquo;I was like, &lsquo;Excuse me?&rsquo; The call took 20 seconds. I did not for the life of me remember the team. I&rsquo;m thinking, &lsquo;Is it Boston?&rsquo; I sat there for 15 minutes not sure who I had been traded to.&rdquo;</p><p>And that is how quickly and drastically a pro athlete&rsquo;s life can change because of a trade. Sure, it&rsquo;s a part of the business. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean it doesn&rsquo;t rock a lot of worlds.</p><h2><b><i>GETTING THE NEWS</i></b></h2><p><i>Some players see the trade coming, others are shocked. When tough guy Jody Shelley was traded to the San Jose Sharks from the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2008, it hit him like a punch to the beak.</i></p><p><b>SHELLEY:</b> I was no longer a Columbus Blue Jacket. That was the amazing part for me. I called (Sharks GM) Doug Wilson, called my wife, said bye to everybody in the room, got all my sticks and equipment, and I was standing outside in the loading dock. The door closed, and I remember the feel ing I was no longer welcome in and a part of that room. That was the ice-cold feeling for me. I got in my truck, and when I drove home my wife was in tears. That loading dock moment was gut wrenching for me.</p><p><i>Bernie Nicholls was at the 1990 All-Star Game in Pittsburgh representing the Los Angeles Kings when he got the news he had been dealt to the New York Rangers.</i></p><p><b>NICHOLLS:</b> The Friday night after the skills competition Mike Vernon walked past me and said, &ldquo;I heard you were just traded.&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;What are you talking about?&rdquo; Sure enough, I met with (Kings owner) Bruce McNall and found out they traded me that night to the Rangers.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01/1620-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="696" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>BERNIE NICHOLLS</b><span class="photo-credit">(BARNABY+NICHOLLS: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES; JOHNSON: ROBERT LABERGE /ALLSPORT)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02/1613-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="330" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>JODY SHELLEY</b></figcaption></div><p>I was shocked. In the summertime, just after I had scored 70 goals, I went in to talk with McNall because I was looking to buy a house. It was a million-dollar house, and I had just signed a new deal with the Kings. Bruce said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never trade you&hellip;blah, blah, blah.&rdquo; Three months later, I get traded. I was absolutely blindsided and shocked.</p><p><i>The same thing happened to Nicholls in 1991 when he played for the Rangers.</i></p><p><b>NICHOLLS:</b> My wife was pregnant with twins when I got traded the second time. I told our GM Neil Smith I am about to have twins and I&rsquo;m thinking about buying a house. He said, &ldquo;Great idea. We&rsquo;re not looking to trade you.&rdquo; Deja vu, same thing again.</p><p><i>Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour knows the feeling.</i></p><blockquote class="pullQuote">He said, &ldquo;I&rdquo;ll never trade you&rdquo; ... blah blah, blah &ndash; Bernie Nicholls</blockquote><p><b>BRIND&rsquo;AMOUR:</b> In Philadelphia, I didn&rsquo;t buy a house for eight years because I was always thinking I was going to get traded. I finally bought a house, and then I got traded to Carolina three months later (in 2000).</p><h2><b><i>IT&rsquo;S ALL ABOUT THE TIMING</i></b></h2><p><i>John-Michael Liles knew his time was up in Toronto, but he hoped he could hang in long enough to play in the 2014 Winter Classic in Michigan. He nearly made it.</i></p><p><b>LILES:</b> When I got to Michigan Stadium, they let me know the trade to Carolina was going to go through. I said, &ldquo;Can I still go out for warmup?&rdquo; I wanted to be a part of this even if I&rsquo;m not playing. They said, &ldquo;Go ahead, the deal hasn&rsquo;t been finalized.&rdquo;</p><p>I was on the red line with Kyle Quincey and Drew Miller of the Red Wings, and they said, &ldquo;Hey, what&rsquo;s going on?&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;Nothing, I just got traded to Carolina.&rdquo; They were both dying laughing. There is actually a picture of me leaving the ice, and Drew has his arm around me laughing about the trade.</p><p><i>Some players simply aren&rsquo;t prepared to move. It was a one-game road trip in 2000, and the Philadelphia Flyers were travelling to Pittsburgh on a charter.</i></p><p><b>BRIND&rsquo;AMOUR:</b> I got the call at two in the afternoon, and it was Carolina coach Paul Maurice saying, &ldquo;Hey Rod, we got you a five o&rsquo;clock flight. You&rsquo;re with us now.&rdquo; That&rsquo;s how I found out. It was shocking to hear it like that. I was expecting to fly home after the game. So I fly to Carolina, and they say they&rsquo;ll fly me home to get my stuff the next day. Then they had the snowstorm of the century. Things were cancelled in Raleigh for about a week. I was stuck at a hotel with one suit and no money, and I&rsquo;m thinking to myself, &ldquo;What a great start to this place.&rdquo;</p><p><i>Trades can happen anywhere and at any time, as Johnson knows all too well.</i></p><p><b>JOHNSON:</b> Mike Ribeiro was traded by Montreal in 2006 during warmup. I was on the ice stretching beside him and we were chatting. All of a sudden, he just got up and skated away. I&rsquo;m like, &ldquo;Where are you going?&rdquo; Off he went to Dallas, and we played that game with just 19 players. With the Mike Cammalleri trade in 2012, we were playing in Boston. It was the second period, and he just walks off the bench. He had been traded in the middle of the game, and they pulled him out of the game because they didn&rsquo;t want him to get hurt.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03/1606-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="696" height="439"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MIKE JOHNSON</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01/1599-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="696" height="417"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MATT BARNABY</b><span class="photo-credit">(DIMAIO: ROBERT LABERGE/ALLSPORT; SHELLEY: CLAUS ANDERSON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><i>It isn&rsquo;t unusual for a player to find out from his mother-in-law or the media that he has been traded. Wendel Clark was traded four times. The first, at the 1994 draft, he was moved from Toronto to Quebec, a blockbuster that brought Mats Sundin to the Maple Leafs.</i></p><p><b>CLARK:</b> I turned my radio on at a gas station. I was filling up with gas after shooting a Cheerios commercial. We had no cellphones back then, so I turned the radio on to see who we drafted, and I heard I had been traded. Nobody knew how to get ahold of me to tell me about the trade.</p><h2><b><i>NEW TEAMMATES</i></b></h2><p><i>It is often strange for players when their enemies suddenly become their teammates.</i></p><p><b>JOHNSON:</b> There were always guys that you thought you probably wouldn&rsquo;t like or get along with by their reputation or by the odd exchange you had with them on the ice. I remember Matt Barnaby was one in Tampa. He was right in his heyday of being just insane with the whole shtick he had going on the ice. I figured I would not be able to relate to this guy on any level. He&rsquo;s crazy, and I find his act on the ice obnoxious and annoying. He turned out to be an unbelievable guy and a great teammate.</p><p><b>BARNABY:</b> I was that a--hole that everyone hated. Everyone used to say to me, &ldquo;If they only knew you off the ice, they&rsquo;d love you.&rdquo; When I went to New York from Tampa Bay (in 2001), I was aware I had said so many nasty things to Eric Lindros over the years. I was walking into this room following the battles we had between Buffalo and Philadelphia. They were epic. We had a lot of battles. I had fought him. That was the only time where I walked in and thought, &ldquo;This is going to be awkward.&rdquo; He ended up being my roommate, and we got along well. That first handshake was weird. He looked at me and said, &ldquo;Oh my God, we have to talk.&rdquo; I think he understood what happened between us before was just a part of the game, and I was just doing my job.</p><p><b>BRIND&rsquo;AMOUR:</b> There are guys you play against and you can&rsquo;t stand, then you become teammates and friends. One who stands out was Keith Jones. I hated playing against him when he was with Washington. I could not stand the guy. He joined the Flyers, and we became good friends.</p><h2><b><i>WHO WON THE DEAL?</i></b></h2><p><b>BARNABY:</b> Every time I got traded for someone, I remember looking at the stats every day to see if I was scoring more than the guy I was traded for. I was traded for Stu Barnes, and if he scored, I felt like I had to score. I was obsessed with that. I wanted my team to get the better of the trade. Barnes went into this awful slump &ndash; I don&rsquo;t think he scored for about 20 games after the trade. I was as happy as could be.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02/1592-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="330" height="395"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ROB DIMAIO</b></figcaption></div><p><b>JOHNSON:</b> I went to the arena in the afternoon I was traded to Tampa and got my gear, and then I was supposed to get my visa the next day. I got traded on Tuesday and didn&rsquo;t get the visa until Friday. For three days, I just sat in Toronto. All I wanted to do was get out of there. Darcy Tucker came to Toronto, and in his first game he scored a goal and had a fight and the fans loved him. I was sitting there thinking, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to get out of here. I can&rsquo;t watch this.&rdquo;</p><h2><b><i>THE GRETZKY FACTOR</i></b></h2><p><i>When Clark was traded from Toronto to Quebec, he quickly put the deal in perspective.</i></p><p><b>CLARK:</b> I was shocked on one hand, but on the other hand after Wayne Gretzky got traded we were all aware that anybody could get traded.</p><p><i>For Nicholls, the move from L.A. to New York meant leaving The Great One behind.</i></p><p><b>NICHOLLS:</b> I was absolutely devastated. I played with Wayne for a year, and I loved it. I wonder how amazing it would have been to play with Wayne for five, 10 years. It would have been incredible. To have the opportunity to play with him and then have it taken away from you was devastating. <i>For Johnson, being traded from Tampa Bay to Phoenix in 2001 had the opposite effect. Suddenly, he was joining a team coached by the greatest scorer of all-time.</i></p><p><b>JOHNSON:</b> &lsquo;Gretz&rsquo; called me from Phoenix to welcome me to the team, which was pretty cool. He was my favorite player when I was growing up. I played against him and maybe exchanged a hello with him once, but I didn&rsquo;t know him. To have him call me and welcome me&hellip;it was Wayne Gretzky, for heaven sake.</p><h2><b><i>THE SAD GOODBYE</i></b></h2><p><i>Rob DiMaio was traded four times and said he got used to it. The first time, however, when he was traded by Tampa Bay to Philadelphia in 1994, left a lasting impression.</i></p><p><b>DIMAIO:</b> Our coach Terry Crisp called me into his office, and Wayne Cashman was the assistant coach. I&rsquo;ll never forget this. Cash had tears in his eyes. Terry had tears in his eyes as he told me I was traded. I didn&rsquo;t know how to react, and when I came out of the room, my teammate Marc Bergevin was there. He knew what was going on. He was sitting on one of the players&rsquo; benches, and he had tears in his eyes. It was the most emotional time in my career, having to leave certain people.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0032-01

SHOCKED JOCKS

<div class="byline">BY MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01/1670-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="764" height="1432"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>A WAYS TO GO</b> Jones is still five trades behind his dad, Popeye, who was dealt six times in his NBA career.<span class="photo-credit">(JONES 1: JAMIE SABAU/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES ; JONES 2: HARR Y HOW/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span><b>ETH JONES HAS JUST SAT DOWN TO DINNER</b> in Nashville when his phone rings. It&rsquo;s Predators GM David Poile on the line. Jones has no idea why he&rsquo;s being summoned. Little does he know, he&rsquo;ll board a flight to a new home two hours from now.</p><p>Ryan Johansen knows exactly what&rsquo;s happening when his phone rings in Columbus. So does his girlfriend, Madison. They look at each other. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s done,&rdquo; he tells her.</p><p>Johansen heads to Nationwide Arena, two blocks from his apartment. Waiting for him are GM Jarmo Kekalainen and the rest of the Columbus Blue Jackets management team. The event every rumor mill, television panel and podcast predicted over the past few months is now a reality. Johansen has been traded.</p><p>Two talented players, both chosen fourth overall at the NHL draft and both considered franchise pillars as recently as last year, were swapped for each other Jan. 6 in an old-fashioned barnburner of a trade. One was blindsided, the other relieved after months of anticipation. Both experienced a whirlwind in the minutes, hours and days that followed. What exactly happens when you&rsquo;re dealt mid-season? We asked two people who could describe it perfectly: Jones and Johansen.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01/1663-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="869" height="1564"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIX &rsquo;N&rsquo; MATCH Johansen plans to blend Preds colors with Blue Jackets shades on his b-ball court back home.<span class="photo-credit">(JOHANSSEN 1: JOHN RUSSE LL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES ; JOHANSSEN 2: GERR Y THO MAS /NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Nashville Predators clicked their heels when they nabbed Jones fourth overall in 2013. He was a prodigy on defense, ranked in THN&rsquo;s preview as the draft&rsquo;s No. 1 prospect, the type of player a team selects and hopes to keep for his entire career. But something changed in Nashville, and it wasn&rsquo;t Jones&rsquo; fault. His fellow 25-and-younger blueliners, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm, got better and better. With all-world Shea Weber leading the group to boot, defense became a position of supreme depth and strength for Nashville. Expendable would be too strong a word, but Jones became available when Poile went looking for a top-line center. Jones was a painful but necessary casualty. &ldquo;It was a good trade for both sides,&rdquo; Jones said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really think it matters when you&rsquo;re drafted or how you&rsquo;re playing. There are very few guys in this league who are deemed untouchable. And even if you are, there could still be a trade that a team couldn&rsquo;t refuse. It&rsquo;s a business, and it&rsquo;s something you know is part of the game and part of pro sports. But you just can&rsquo;t prepare for it. It&rsquo;s impossible. So it definitely came to me as a shock. A lot of emotions were flying around when it happened.&rdquo;</p><p>Jones directed that emotion toward his mother, Amy, as soon as he received the news. She&rsquo;d moved to Nashville after he was drafted, and she lived with him his first two seasons. She got the first phone call. Jones&rsquo; father, retired NBA player Popeye Jones, texted him some support as well. &ldquo;New chapter, new start,&rdquo; Popeye told his son. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve still got five more trades to catch me.&rdquo; Jones laughed and told his dad he hopes he never catches him.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01/1656-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="626" height="563"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TIME TO KILL</b> Jones and Johansen hung out for half an hour at the airport in Columbus after the trade.</figcaption></div><p>Along with a text from Dad came a barrage from friends, family and teammates after the news broke. Jones&rsquo; phone &ldquo;was pretty much going crazy,&rdquo; as he put it. He had a radio appearance booked within 15 minutes of the trade announcement, too, plus he had to pack for a charter flight to Columbus. It was hectic.</p><p>Less so for Johansen. It was only a matter of time before the Jackets dealt him. The fit was never right from the minute coach John Tortorella blustered into town in late October and called Johansen out for poor fitness. All the goodwill Johansen built last year with a breakout 71-point season evaporated instantaneously. Rumors exploded. He couldn&rsquo;t ignore them. In this day and age, he said, with all the social media on top of TV and print, it was impossible. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s our job to go out and do the best we can for our teammates,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say it ever distracted me when I was on the ice, but away from the rink I&rsquo;d be getting phone calls from friends and family and text messages, saying &lsquo;Hey! What&rsquo;s going on?&rsquo; And that part of it&rsquo;s a bit annoying.&rdquo;</p><p>So the deal was more a weight off Johansen&rsquo;s shoulders than a gut punch. With the charter first carrying Jones to Columbus before scooping up Johansen to fly to Nashville, Johansen had a few extra hours to digest everything. He had a good, long talk with the Jackets management at the arena. &ldquo;They emphasized it was nothing personal at all,&rdquo; Johansen said. &ldquo;It was just a hockey trade, and it&rsquo;s part of the game. So now I&rsquo;m a Nashville Predator, and I couldn&rsquo;t be more excited to have an opportunity to play for them.&rdquo;</p><p>Johansen&rsquo;s first call went to his dad, Randall. Johansen then went home to pack a couple months&rsquo; worth of clothing, while some Columbus teammates came over to say goodbye. That part wasn&rsquo;t easy, even if Johansen knew the Predators were an ideal fit for him. He was comfortable in Columbus used to his routines. He described the city as a second home. He won&rsquo;t turn his back on the good memories despite this season&rsquo;s turmoil. Johansen&rsquo;s yard in his native Vancouver boasts a basketball court branded with Blue Jackets colors, and he has no intention of painting over all of it. He&rsquo;ll keep some Blue Jackets colors and add Predators blue and gold so the court represents his career progression.</p><p>The farewell was hard for Jones, too. It meant leaving his mom behind. She loves Nashville too much to leave. He&rsquo;s quick to point out it wasn&rsquo;t the first time they&rsquo;d been separated, as he left her for three years at 15, first for the U.S. National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich., then for the WHL&rsquo;s Portland Winterhawks. But it still stung to say goodbye again. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re very tight,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was probably tougher on her than it was on me.&rdquo; Jones only had time to pack a few suits but had the comfort of knowing his mom would meet him a few days later, driving all his belongings up to Columbus before returning to Nashville.</p><p>He caught his charter less than a hockey game&rsquo;s length of time after learning of the trade and, upon landing, his world collided with Johansen&rsquo;s. Literally.</p><p>The first person Jones saw when he stepped off the plane was Johansen. The pair captured the moment in a now-famous Instagram photo. They burst out laughing about the crazy business they work in. They&rsquo;re both Winterhawks alumni and, though their tenures never overlapped, they&rsquo;re friends, having met at various charity events. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great guy,&rdquo; Johansen said. &ldquo;We actually had a long chat. His car was waiting there to take him back, and they were refuelling my plane. I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;All right, man.&rsquo; And he&rsquo;s like, &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve got nowhere to go. Let&rsquo;s hang out for a bit.&rsquo; I was like, &lsquo;Perfect, sounds good!&rsquo; So we just sat there and chatted for a half hour about everything. He&rsquo;s a tremendous guy and an unbelievable hockey player. And the Blue Jackets really need a defenseman like him. He&rsquo;ll definitely help that organization big-time down the road.&rdquo;</p><p>They parted ways, Johansen boarded his flight, and each began the next phase of his career. Part of it included administrative tasks. Jones was up at 7 a.m. in Columbus for his physical. Then came the meet-and-greets with new teammates, which both players described as positive experiences. Johansen speaks proudly of the culture of quality people across the league and felt Nashville was no exception. Preds players gave him lots of recommendations of places to hang out and eat. They invited him to join them wherever they went. They were so welcoming he said he couldn&rsquo;t even single out one Predator who showed him the ropes.</p><p>Jones got a similar warm reception, though his heart pounded when he met his teammates the morning of Jan. 7. &ldquo;There were nerves for sure,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You walk into a locker room and it&rsquo;s pretty much like Step 1 again. I was in Nashville for two-anda-half years, had a lot of great friendships, and I&rsquo;m not going to lose those friendships by any means. You&rsquo;re stepping into a locker room with 21 or 22 new faces. I knew a couple guys, but not really. New coaches, new system, new management, so it took me a few days to really get the hang of it. But I&rsquo;m really comfortable now.&rdquo;</p><p>Comfortable is an understatement given how much each player has excelled with his new franchise thus far (see right sidebar). They&rsquo;ve found homes with teams that need them more than their previous ones did, and that makes all the sad sendoffs, hurried pack jobs, text-message bombs and charter flights worthwhile.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0036-01

TRADING PLACES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04/1699-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>HEELING AND DEALING</b><i>has declined overall since the turn of the century, and we&rsquo;ve seen a change in when swaps are made following each of the two lockouts, in 2004-05 and the shortened 2012-13 season.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-04

TRADE TRACKER

<p><b>THERE&rsquo;S NOTHING LIKE</b><i>a change of scenery to jump-start a career. Both Jones and Johansen have hit the ground running in their new cities.</i></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02/1735-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="304" height="414"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03/1728-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="319" height="416"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0038-02

BEFORE & AFTER

f0040-02

NHL TEAM REPORTS

<div class="byline">BY RONNIE SHUKER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01/2311-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="693" height="777"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>R</span></b>yan Bahl can swear in Cantonese, Czech, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and, of course, English, including a potpourri of American, South African, New Zealand and Australian slang. They&rsquo;re the first words he learns when landing in a new country, sticks in hand, hockey bag in tow. No matter where Bahl has travelled to play the game &ndash; Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America, and even Africa - profanity has proven to be the universal mode of communication. &ldquo;If you get into it on the ice, you can just use curse words,&rdquo; Bahl said. &ldquo;I try to learn the worst words possible and use them if it gets too heated.&rdquo;</p><p>That voluminous vocabulary of colorful metaphors has served him well over the past seven years bouncing around the globe.</p><p>Bahl is hockey&rsquo;s travellin&rsquo; man. He has played pickup or semi-pro hockey on every continent except Antarctica, and he&rsquo;s hard at work on a plan to complete the septet next year. His goal? To be recognized by Guinness World Records as the youngest person to play hockey on all seven continents.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-02/2304-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="447" height="322"><figcaption class="caption-body">SOUTH AFRICA</figcaption></div><p>His hockey nomadism began in 2009, when, at 20, Bahl had a decision to make. He had played youth hockey in his hometown, San Diego, where he faced off against the likes of Chad Ruhwedel, Alec Martinez and Jonathon Blum. But he knew the NHL wasn&rsquo;t in his future. He&rsquo;d had a tryout in the ECHL, but nothing came of it. Then came his aha moment. &ldquo;I was in no man&rsquo;s land,&rdquo; Bahl said. &ldquo;I would&rsquo;ve had to try really hard to make it into one of the lower-level pro leagues. But then I thought of this other alternative route of just playing overseas. It started with wanting to play in some of the European pro leagues, and it has transformed over the years into more travelling, doing it for fun, meeting new people and expanding my knowledge of the world and cultures.&rdquo;</p><p>If Bahl had bought a round-the-world ticket, his itinerary would have looked something like this: San Diego &ndash; Hong Kong &ndash; Canterbury &ndash; Zdar nad Sazavou &ndash; Sydney &ndash; Las Vegas &ndash; Stromstad &ndash; Cape Town &ndash; Madrid &ndash; San Diego &ndash; Punta Arenas &ndash; Istanbul &ndash; San Diego &ndash; Sydney &ndash; Antarctica &ndash; San Diego.</p><p>After playing in 10 countries on six continents, Bahl has just about seen it all and dealt with his share of occupational hazards. In South Africa, during an All-Star Game, he helped push a Zamboni off the ice when it broke down during an ice cleaning. In Chile, he played on a rink that had two corners missing, so whenever the puck was wrapped around the boards it would disappear and halt play. But the worst breakdown came while Bahl was playing in Spain. During a game in Barcelona, an opponent flipped the puck and hit the roof and about a dozen pieces came crashing down. Luckily, no one was hurt. The debris was cleaned up and the game went on.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-03/2297-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="489" height="327"><figcaption class="caption-body">SAN DIEGO</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-04/2290-1-eng-US/f0048-042.jpg" title="f0048-04" width="589" height="443"><figcaption class="caption-body">AUSTRALIA</figcaption></div><p>Bahl has experienced his share of oddities, too &ndash; some straight out of <i>Slap Shot</i>. He&rsquo;s seen photographers dressed up like Stormtroopers for team photos. He&rsquo;s seen coaches throw Gatorade bottles at teammates and fans dunk nachos all over visiting players. The goofiest came during a game in the Czech Republic after the referee had made what the hometown fans considered a bad call. Bahl looked up to see an entire section of the crowd, uh, showing its displeasure with the penalty. &ldquo;The whole section was mooning him,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re definitely crazy over there.&rdquo;</p><p>Now 26, Bahl has never received a salary for playing hockey, but his contracts have covered his accommodations, hockey-related expenses and sometimes even food and transportation. He finances his travel through his online gig as a creative director for a business marketing software company, which gives him the freedom to work, travel and play hockey wherever his wanderlust takes him in the world. Bahl has even combined his marketing savvy with his passion for the game in developing <a href="http://hockeyconnection.net">hockeyconnection.net</a>, a website that helps players, from beer leaguers to professionals, do what he does by finding places for them to play overseas.</p><p>Japan, Greece and back to Australia are places Bahl and his wife, Michaela, would still like to go to, but for now he is tapping into his connections in Chile to find a way to play on Antarctica. He admits it&rsquo;s a logistical nightmare, which includes shipping material down to set up a makeshift rink and getting enough participants to play 3-on-3 or 4-on-4, but Bahl is dead-set on completing his continental tour. After that, the couple will likely settle down in San Diego as soon as they&rsquo;ve had enough of their nomadic lifestyle. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll always be travelling at some point, but it&rsquo;ll slowly migrate into more shorter-term trips, maybe a few weeks or a month at most,&rdquo; Bahl said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;ll turn into playing in tournaments and local scrimmages or just going to visit friends. But I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll be doing full -season leagues for too much longer. It&rsquo;s hard to say. We&rsquo;re always so year-to-year, so you never know.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-05/2283-1-eng-US/f0048-052.jpg" title="f0048-05" width="359" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body">SWEDEN</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-06/2276-1-eng-US/f0048-062.jpg" title="f0048-06" width="275" height="360"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHILE</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-07/2269-1-eng-US/f0048-072.jpg" title="f0048-07" width="597" height="396"><figcaption class="caption-body"><p>TURKEY</p><p>What happens when you mix a serious dose of wanderlust with an incurable case of puck fever? Ryan Bahl can tell you. He has been bouncing around the globe with his wife, Michaela, playing semi-pro or its nearest equivalent everywhere they go. The hockey-mad couple, who met on the ice, got engaged on the ice and even had a puck-themed wedding, plan to wrap up their world tour in the White Desert.</p></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-08/2262-1-eng-US/f0048-082.jpg" title="f0048-08" width="2439" height="349"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0048-01

Have Stick will Travel

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-01/2361-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg" title="f0050-01" width="516" height="520"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>DEUCES WILD</b> NHL teams in need of scoring take note: Jost is averaging twoplus points per game this season. <span class="photo-credit">(GARRETT JAMES PHOTOGRAPHY)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>T</span>HE 2016 DRAFT SHAPES UP</b> to be very unique, and not just because an American kid playing in Switzerland is poised to go first overall. Another intriguing wrinkle concerns Western Canada, where the WHL is going to take a backseat for once. The top two players from that region play Jr. A in the British Columbia League.</p><p>Center Tyson Jost and defenseman Dante Fabbro both play for the Penticton Vees, a real heavy outfit that has scorched the BCHL this season and put together some insane streaks. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty special when you go 23 games without a loss,&rdquo; Jost said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to experience all that winning, but you have to keep focused and keep getting better.&rdquo;</p><p>Jost averages around two points a game and is also the captain of the team. He&rsquo;s a powerful skater with phenomenal hands and a shot to match, and he also captained Canada West&rsquo;s gold-medal team at the World Jr. A Challenge. That squad knocked off the perennial favorites from the U.S. in the round-robin and then Russia in the final. Jost was named MVP of the tournament. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got high-end quickness,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s got power on turns, agility, balance&hellip;I like the way he can get behind guys.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-02/2354-1-eng-US/f0050-022.jpg" title="f0050-02" width="98" height="105"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-04/2347-1-eng-US/f0050-042.jpg" title="f0050-04" width="142" height="85"></div><p>Though he was pursued by WHL Everett, Jost instead committed to the University of North Dakota, where he will join the Fighting Hawks next season and test out his skating at Ralph Engelstad Arena. &ldquo;North Dakota has such a great hockey program,&rdquo; Jost said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty special when you go into &lsquo;The Ralph&rsquo; and see how nice the rink is. I see so much growth and improvement for me at North Dakota, and they can develop me into an NHL player.&rdquo;</p><p>Fabbro has also been lightning this season. He also won gold at the WJAC with Canada West and has been one of the top-scoring blueliners in the BCHL, registering about a point-and-a-half per outing. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s basically an NHL player already,&rdquo; said the scout. &ldquo;I see him as a two-way guy with a shutdown look. His &lsquo;D&rsquo; zone coverage is high-end, and he closes in on guys quickly.&rdquo;</p><p>Fabbro is a WHL Seattle draft pick, but he&rsquo;ll be heading all the way across the continent next season to play for Boston University. That squad has once again become a magnet for talent under coach David Quinn. &ldquo;The biggest thing was fitting in with the coaches,&rdquo; Fabbro said. &ldquo;The players down there are pretty special, and they have some pretty good recruits coming in next year, so hopefully I can be a part of that and win a national championship someday.&rdquo;</p><p>Highly sought after by both WHL and NCAA programs, Jost and Fabbro could have picked their Jr. A locale, too, since there is no draft there. But Penticton won both their hearts, and the Vees have made a habit of winning big recruits lately. The team&rsquo;s coach and GM deserves a lot of credit. &ldquo;Fred Harbinson had a big impact on why I chose Penticton,&rdquo; Jost said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s such a professional coach and has such a world-class setup around him. He sat down with me and told me what he could do for me in my draft year and how he could help me better my play on and off the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Harbinson has been a master recruiter in recent years. NHL picks such as Mike Reilly, Mario Lucia, Steven Fogarty, Miles Gendron and James de Haas all made stops with the team before heading to college &ndash; and none of them hails from Western Canada. Jost and Fabbro are both B.C. boys and can also rip up the scoresheet &ndash; so it&rsquo;s been another sunny year in beautiful Penticton. The Vees have won two of the past four league titles and it could easily become three in five this season.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-03/2340-1-eng-US/f0050-032.jpg" title="f0050-03" width="258" height="346"><figcaption class="caption-body">DANTE <b>FABBRO</b></figcaption></div><p><b>2</b> Number of 1998 birthdays, Tyson Jost and Dante Fabbro, in the top 50 in BCH L scoring. Jost sat third despite playing 12 fewer games than No. 1, Sheldon Rempal, and seven fewer games than No. 2, Scott Conway.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0050-01

VEES ARE THE BEE’S KNEES

<div class="byline">BY SEAN SHAPIRO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-01/2404-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="513" height="530"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MONEY MOVE</b> Montour&rsquo;s San Diego Gulls are now one of the AHL&rsquo;s most financially successful squads.<span class="photo-credit">(MONTOUR: SAN DIEGO GULLS; MCKENNA: RICHARD T GAGNON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>TO UNDERSTAND THE AH L&rsquo;</b> standings you need a map and a calculator.</p><p>Instead of traditional points, teams are ranked on points percentage. So while a win is technically still two points, it&rsquo;s actually a slight uptick in points percentage while a loss lowers the percentage. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anyone really understands what a game will do in the standings anymore,&rdquo; said San Jose Barracuda coach Roy Sommer. &ldquo;I know you can&rsquo;t take losses. I look at it that way and then let the math handle itself.&rdquo;</p><p>You can blame California for the confusion.</p><p>Before the 2015-16 season, on an NHL-backed agenda, the AHL underwent a massive shift that impacted 11 of its 30 teams. Seven franchises were relocated, while another four teams changed NHL affiliations.</p><p>That could have been the end of it. New geography, larger footprint. Simple, right? But the California teams wanted fewer games and more time to practice. They weren&rsquo;t going to conform to the current schedule &ndash; a potential impasse that threatened the state of the league.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b>&ldquo;WE&rsquo;RE NOT SATISFIED WITH THE DIVISIONS PLAYING A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF GAMES</b> &ndash; Mike McKenna</blockquote><p>To save the 30-team league and avoid an &ldquo;unacceptable result,&rdquo; according to AHL president and CEO Dave Andrews, the AHL committed to Califor California. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about development, that&rsquo;s what this league is about, right?&rdquo; said Ontario Reign coach Mike Stothers. &ldquo;With less games, it might not be the most fair thing. But I&rsquo;m sure that&rsquo;ll work itself out.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-02/2397-1-eng-US/f0052-022.jpg" title="f0052-02" width="98" height="105"></div><p>For now, the five California teams might as well be on a distant planet from the northeastern United States that defined the AHL for the first 79 years of its existence. The California teams play eight fewer games than the rest of the league, 68 versus 76, which allows for more practice time and limits the number of dreaded threegames-in-three-nights stretches &ndash; a fact of life for most AHL teams but against the rules in the NHL. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like a college hockey schedule, just with more games,&rdquo; said Anaheim defense prospect Brandon Montour, who plays with the Ducks&rsquo; AHL affiliate in San Diego. &ldquo;We often play Friday and Saturday, so we can often practice Monday through Thursday.&rdquo;</p><p>The travel is also lighter for recalling players to the NHL club &ndash; the driving force behind the move. While navigating California&rsquo;s highways can be treacherous, it certainly beats a cross-country flight from Norfolk or Manchester.</p><p>The California experiment has also seen positive results off the ice. Andrews said all five California teams are having better financial seasons than they had in their prior locations. San Diego and Ontario have led the fiscal charge and rank among the top six teams in revenue, Andrews said, while both rank in the top four for attendance. &ldquo;You wouldn&rsquo;t think about hockey in San Diego and think of large crowds,&rdquo; Montour said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s really great to see the support we&rsquo;ve gotten. It&rsquo;s given it more of an NHL atmosphere.&rdquo;</p><p>While the players playing in California have raved about the setup, the rest of the league wants to see the number of games evened out, including Portland Pirates goalie Mike McKenna, who is on the Professional Hockey Players&rsquo; Association AHL executive committee. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not satisfied with the divisions playing a different amount of games,&rdquo; McKenna said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not fair, and going forward that&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;d like to see addressed.&rdquo;</p><p>It will be addressed, eventually. Andrews has no schedule changes planned for next season. He said the AHL committed to the California teams and will honor that commitment. The league will work toward a solution over time, which Andrews said will require the rest of the league to drop games while it might require the California teams to add to their schedule. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an issue I want to put on the front of our agenda right now,&rdquo; Andrews said.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-03/2390-1-eng-US/f0052-032.jpg" title="f0052-03" width="281" height="338"><figcaption class="caption-body">MIKE <b>MCKENNA</b></figcaption></div><p>But if there was any question, the AHL is committed to California and keeping NHL parent teams happy. If, or when, the NHL expands Andrews said the AHL would also expand. He also added he&rsquo;d like to see an AHL expansion team out west to further even the league&rsquo;s geographic footprint.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0052-01

CALIFORNIA PIPE DREAMIN’

<div class="byline">BY RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-01/2440-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="787" height="501"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NUMBERS GAME</b> The DeBrincat debate will revolve around his size versus his crazy scoring totals. <span class="photo-credit">(VAUGHN RIDLEY/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>S<b>PORTSWRITER BILL SIMMONS</b> called it &ldquo;The Ewing Theory.&rdquo;</p><p>Named after former NBA star Patrick Ewing, it&rsquo;s a phenomenon in which a team (in that case the New York Knicks) gets better without a crucial player in the lineup. That was the reality the OHL&rsquo;s Erie Otters faced this season with favorite son Connor McDavid off to the NHL.</p><p>And guess what? The squad is doing just fine. More than fine, really: Erie was the best team in the CHL heading into February, led by Arizona Coyotes firstrounder Dylan Strome, Toronto Maple Leafs second-rounder Travis Dermott and 2016 prospect Alex DeBrincat.</p><p>All are returning players from the team that fell to Oshawa in the OHL final last sea son, but now there&rsquo;s no Mc-David hype surrounding the squad. Let&rsquo;s not get caught up in plotlines, however. This edition of the Otters is just really good, period. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a credit to the coaches,&rdquo; Strome said. &ldquo;They know how to manage the game so well it&rsquo;s crazy. It&rsquo;s a credit to them how well we&rsquo;re playing and how much the momentum has carried over from last year.&rdquo;</p><p>Bench boss Kris Knoblauch points to a transition that began in 2014, when the Otters were coming out of desolation. The previous campaign netted just 19 wins, so Erie brought in character players such as Michael Curtis and Cory Genovese, while top-end players Connor Brown and Adam Pelech began to put their stamp on the team. Now Strome is captain, having learned from Brown and Mc- David. Meanwhile, DeBrincat is lighting the league on fire, especially 5-on-5. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s so shifty,&rdquo; Knoblauch said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s able to get a shot off in a tight space, and if somebody does take that shot away, he&rsquo;s very quick in stickhandling by him.&rdquo;</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-02/2433-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="98" height="105"></div><p>While DeBrincat will finish off penalty kills, he is generally saved for power plays and full strength, when he can terrorize with offense. While having McDavid and Strome as your centers may seem like a gift, not everyone can play with superstars (just ask the Pittsburgh Penguins). &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had to adjust, but it&rsquo;s easy playing with those types of guys,&rdquo; DeBrincat said. &ldquo;Connor is so fast and does everything with speed, while Dylan likes to slow the game down and play at his own pace. They&rsquo;re both so good.&rdquo;</p><p>Strome and DeBrincat live together, so the chemistry extends off the ice as well. And if they can continue posting up points at such a gaudy level, Erie could get that OHL title we all thought they would last year.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0053-01

NO MCDAVID? NO PROBLEM

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ROBIN SHORT</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-03/2597-1-eng-US/f0054-032.jpg" title="f0054-03" width="513" height="524"><figcaption class="caption-body">ZACH <b>FUCALE</b><span class="photo-credit">(COLLBERG: CHRISTOPHER PASATIERI/GETTY IMAGES; FUCALE: COLIN PEDDLE/ST. JOHN&rsquo;S ICECAPS)</span></figcaption></div><p>M<b>AYBE IT WAS ALL TOO</b> good to be true for Zach Fucale, seen by many as the goalie of the future for the Montreal Canadiens.</p><p>Fucale&rsquo;s start in the pros made for good copy, winning his first start with 31 saves as the St. John&rsquo;s IceCaps took their AHL home opener 3-1. In his next start, Fucale kicked out 40 shots and was the game&rsquo;s first star in a 3-2 win.</p><p>This was going to be a piece of cake. And then reality hit like a slapshot to the noggin.</p><p>The next week, in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pa., Fucale was lifted after allowing three goals. And in monumental meltdown, Fucale was victimized for four goals on eight shots in the third period as the IceCaps let an 8-4 lead on the Toronto Marlies slip away into a 9-8 overtime loss.</p><p>Welcome to the pros, kid. &ldquo;Guys here are stronger and smarter, and some have been playing pro the past five or 10 years,&rdquo; Fucale said.</p><p>Fucale gained fame in the spring of 2013, helping Halifax win its first Memorial Cup before being drafted 36th overall. Last Christmas, he went 5-0 while helping Canada win the World Junior Championship.</p><p>One of the things the Canadiens liked about Fucale was the similarity he shares with Price, an unflappable, wateroff-a-duck&rsquo;s-back attitude. &ldquo;If you have a good game, you have to forget it and get ready for the next one, the same as a bad game,&rdquo; said Fucale, 20.</p><p>Born in Laval, Que., Fucale naturally grew up a Canadiens fan. And he&rsquo;s OK if it takes him a few years to round out his game before pulling on that jersey for his first taste of NHL action. &ldquo;Yes, I&rsquo;d like to be in the NHL tomorrow, but you have to earn your way up to the NHL. That&rsquo;s how it works.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0054-03

ONE TO WATCH

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-01/2626-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="646" height="541"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TRUE BLUE</b> Tkachuk, a projected top-five pick in 2016, was born in Arizona but played his youth hockey in St. Louis.</figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-02/2633-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg" title="f0055-02" width="90" height="105"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>READ FEATURES FROM RYAN KENNEDY EVERY DAY AT <b><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a></b></p><p>Y<b>OU CAN&rsquo;T ALWAYS GET THE NARRATIVE</b> you want. The St. Louis Blues spearheaded an effort to get their city the world juniors in 2018, but fell in the final round to Buffalo, which has quickly become a hub for big events in the hockey world thanks to Sabres owner Terry Pegula&rsquo;s building spree.</p><p>The Sabres will again do an excellent job with the WJC, just as they did in 2011. But when you consider how good grassroots hockey has become in St. Louis, it&rsquo;s too bad the U.S. doesn&rsquo;t have another event for the Gateway Arch city.</p><p>Take a look at this year&rsquo;s draft rankings and you&rsquo;ll find Missouri flavor. Matthew Tkachuk leads the way as a topfive prospect, while fellow first-round hopefuls Logan Brown, Clayton Keller and Luke Kunin, plus potential secondrounder Trent Frederic, all hail from the area. Drafted natives include goalie Luke Opilka (St. Louis) and Ryan MacInnis (Arizona), both of whom play for the OHL&rsquo;s Kitchener Rangers. Simply put, it&rsquo;s getting hot in there. &ldquo;The growth in St. Louis is huge and it&rsquo;s because of the Blues, because of all the past players that are there helping,&rdquo; Tkachuk said. &ldquo;Youth hockey has gone through the roof there.&rdquo;</p><p>Many of those prospects have dads who played for the Blues &ndash; Keith Tkachuk, Al MacInnis and Jeff Brown &ndash; and stuck around once they retired. &ldquo;Quality of coaching is a critical success factor,&rdquo; said Blues president Chris Zimmerman. &ldquo;We have one of the biggest and most engaged alumni associations in the league.&rdquo;</p><p>To keep the momentum going, the Blues started an initiative called Hockey STL 2020. Over the next five years, the franchise will spend $2 million on youth hockey and rink development in the area. The goal is to introduce the sport to 25,000 kids per year and develop 5,000 into players. &ldquo;When the Blues came to St. Louis, there was one ice rink,&rdquo; Zimmerman said. &ldquo;Now there are 21. Our initiative is, &lsquo;Hey, what the next stage? How do we get new kids into the game?&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Having other elite teams in the area would help. St. Louis is geographically too far to land a major junior team, but the USHL would be a great fit. There&rsquo;s also the NCAA, which did feature the Saint Louis University Billikens (one of my favorite names) in the 1970s. That squad competed in the CCHA against the likes of Ohio State and Western Michigan, finishing first several times. Now the Billikens play Div. II in the ACHA, and it doesn&rsquo;t sound like there&rsquo;s movement to bring them back to Div. I or for a USHL team to spring up. Arizona State&rsquo;s partnership with the NHL&rsquo;s Coyotes has proven to be successful in terms of marketing and awareness, and the D1 Sun Devils aren&rsquo;t even a year old.</p><p>Of course, markets such as Dallas and Florida have been able to nurture elite talent recently without an elite junior or NCAA program, so it&rsquo;s not a prerequisite, but it stands to reason kids would find it cool to see players not much older than themselves donning hometown jerseys.</p><p>In the meantime, the Blues will continue to work the grassroots in Missouri and promote St. Louis as the &ldquo;Heartland of Hockey.&rdquo; Zimmerman wants St. Louis to be part of the U.S.&rsquo;s continuing growth, and he sees the elevated interest in the world juniors. Perhaps when it&rsquo;s time for another bid to come from the U.S., St. Louis will be the spot, and a hometown kid or two will be wearing the Stars and Stripes at Scottrade Center.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0055-01

SOLID FOUNDATION UNDER THE ARCH

<div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-03/2676-1-eng-US/f0055-032.jpg" title="f0055-03" width="58" height="29"></div><p><b>NICOLAS ROY</b> slid in the draft, but now the big center is ripping up the QMJHL for Chicoutimi</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-04/2669-1-eng-US/f0055-042.jpg" title="f0055-04" width="58" height="29"></div><p>Memorial Cup hosts Red Deer must do without <b>CONNER BLEACKLEY</b> for a while due to a knee injury</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-05/2662-1-eng-US/f0055-052.jpg" title="f0055-05" width="57" height="29"></div><p>Notre Dame sophomore <b>JAKE EVANS</b> has formed a deadly duo with Boston pick Anders Bjork</p><p>WANT MORE ON PROSPECTS? CHECK OUT RYAN KENNEDY&rsquo;S COLUMN EVERY TUESDAY AT <a href="http://THN.COM/PROSPECTNEEDTOKNOW">THN.COM/PROSPECTNEEDTOKNOW</a><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-01/2705-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="482" height="677"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>TRAVELLING MAN</b> Ashton&rsquo;s longest stay in any of his NHL cities was 222 games over three-plus seasons in Winnipeg. <span class="photo-credit">(DK PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>P</span><b>LAYERS LOOKING FOR ADVICE ON DEALING WITH TRADE</b> deadline fallout should call Brent Ashton. After all, he was dealt a remarkable eight times over his 14 NHL seasons.</p><p>Ashton began his NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks in 1979 after going 26th overall in the 1979 draft, then was shipped to the Colorado Rockies two years later. From there, Ashton&rsquo;s rollercoaster of a career took off as he would play for four teams in the four seasons to follow.</p><p>The shock of getting dealt never became easier to get used to as he moved from team to team in the &rsquo;80s. He dealt with the trades using a simple approach: become a chameleon. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all about adapting to a team,&rdquo; said 55-year-old Ashton, who now works as both a real estate agent and runs a sportswear company in Saskatoon. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the thing that&rsquo;s probably the hardest for many players: you get traded to a team, you don&rsquo;t quite fit in and it doesn&rsquo;t work out for you.&rdquo;</p><p>Ashton adapted by putting himself at the mercy of his new coach. Whatever role they put him in, he accepted. &ldquo;(Coaches) control your destiny most of the time,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>So too do GMs. Before the days of trade rumors swirling in the media, the surprise of being traded was very raw. Ashton would have to pick up and leave the day he&rsquo;d get the call, and landing in a new city was something he never warmed to. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s never fun living in hotels for six weeks, then trying to find a place to live,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A lot of times you&rsquo;re traded for another player, so you can just switch houses.&rdquo;</p><p>Ashton&rsquo;s career took a turn for the better when he was dealt from Minnesota to Quebec in 1984-85. He had spent the majority of his time on Minnesota&rsquo;s fourth line, scoring only four goals in 29 games. After the deal, he earned the trust of Nordiques coach Michel Bergeron and moved to the top line and power play unit, scoring 27 goals in 49 games.</p><p>The mid-&rsquo;80s represented the height of Ashton&rsquo;s offensive output, but the trades didn&rsquo;t stop. In 1986-87, Ashton was dealt to Detroit. He scored 40 goals that year and played with Steve Yzerman just as his star was on the rise. If you run down the list, Ashton spent time with some of the most gifted players of his time: Yzerman, Peter Stastny and Dale Hawerchuk.</p><p>It was when he was shipped from Winnipeg to Boston in 1991-92 that he suited up with Ray Bourque, who remains the player Ashton considers himself the most fortunate to have played with. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not until you actually play with a player that you realize how much he really cares for his teammates,&rdquo; Ashton said. &ldquo;And how much he goes out of his way to make you feel part of that team.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;IT&rsquo;S NEVER FUN LIVING IN HOTELS FOR SIX WEEKS, THEN TRYING TO FIND A PLACE TO LIVE &ndash; Brent Ashton</blockquote><p>He was traded one last time to Calgary in 1992-93. By the end of that season, Ashton was just shy of his 33rd birthday.</p><p>He admits now that without an agent, he wasn&rsquo;t properly represented entering 1993-94. With no contract, he waited for a call during training camp that never came. After 16 games with the International League&rsquo;s Las Vegas Thunder, Ashton was done.</p><p>But every season, when trade deadline day comes, Ashton recalls one of the eight times he was dealt. Just as he kept his head down and kept adapting through every trade, his advice to players to avoid being traded is quite simple: &ldquo;Make them tear the jersey off your back.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0056-01

WE’VE MADE A TRADE, BRENT

<div class="byline">MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-03/2748-1-eng-US/f0057-032.jpg" title="f0057-03" width="457" height="481"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-01/2762-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="112" height="178"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span>RAWFORD: BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES; DRAKE: KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/GETTY IMAGES; SCRIVENS MASK: STEVE NAS H/EYECANDYA <a href="http://IR.COM">IR.COM</a> ; SCRIVENS: MI NAS PANAGI OTAKIS/GETTY IMAGES</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h2><b>SEPARATED AT BIRTH</b></h2><h3><b>COREY CRAW FORD</b></h3><p>Works with a trapper. Started from the bottom, shot up depth chart. Hot play earned him Cup bling.</p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-02/2755-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg" title="f0057-02" width="112" height="178"></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><h3><b>DRAKE</b></h3><p>Works as a rapper<i>. Started From the Bottom</i> shot up music charts. <i>Hotline Bling</i> gets lots of air play.</p><p><b>Submitted by:</b> 22 Number retired Joseph G. Fernandez</p><p>Email your suggestions to <b><a href="mailto:sab@thehockeynews.com">sab@thehockeynews.com</a></b></p><h2><b>CROSSWORD</b></h2><p>By Larry Humber</p><p>ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE MAY 9 ISSUE AND AT THN .COM/XWORD</p><p><b>LAST ISSUE&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION ACROSS</b> 1 CATCHES, 4 JAMES, 7 RYAN, 8 MUSCULAR, 10 MANCHESTER, 12 THREE, 13 COACH, 14 STAMPEDERS, 18 RICK NASH, 19 SALO, 20 SPEED, 21 NICKLAS <b>DOWN</b> 1 CAROM, 2 TRAINERS, 3 SLUGS, 4 JACK EICHEL, 5 MILT, 6 SCRATCH, 9 THREATENED, 11 BASEBALL, 12 TAVARES, 15 MASON, 16 SHOTS, 17 ACHE</p><h3><b>ACROSS</b></h3><p>1 He&rsquo;s been OHL commissioner for decades</p><p>4 Leaf legend George &lsquo;Chief&rsquo; Armstrong&rsquo;s mother was part ___</p><p>9 An ___ ___ hit is away from the boards</p><p>10 Former Flame and King ___ Regehr</p><p>11 Mike ___ won Cups with three different teams</p><p>12 Game that&rsquo;s not at all close</p><p>13 U.S. college athletes play here</p><p>15 One of the Koivus, pictured</p><p>18 Detroit&rsquo;s Kyle ___</p><p>21 Washington&rsquo;s Michael ___</p><p>23 The Rangers call &lsquo;The Big ___&rsquo; home</p><p>24 Area between the bluelines is the ___ zone</p><p>25 ___ Bassin was owner of the Erie Otters</p><p>26 They show you to your seat</p><h3><b>DOWN</b></h3><p>1 ___ Orpik is also with the Caps</p><p>2 &lsquo;The Joe&rsquo; is Detroit&rsquo;</p><p>3 Veteran Jason ___ is another Cap</p><p>5 ___ Kekalainen is GM in Columbus</p><p>6 He&rsquo;s behind the bench in T.O.</p><p>7 Jason ___ won Cup in overtime for Devils</p><p>8 Kurt Russell played ___ Brooks in &lsquo;Miracle&rsquo;</p><p>14 Hurt badly</p><p>15 Where Hull and Oates made a splash</p><p>16 Crouches, like a goalie</p><p>17 Where Jim Nill is GM</p><p>19 ___-cut breakaway</p><p><b>20 Pull</b></p><p><b>22 Number retired by New Jersey</b></p><h2><b>Behind THE MASK</b></h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-04/2741-1-eng-US/f0057-042.jpg" title="f0057-04" width="472" height="321"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-05/2734-1-eng-US/f0057-052.jpg" title="f0057-05" width="226" height="323"><figcaption class="caption-body">BEN <b>SCRIVENS</b></figcaption></div><p><b>BEN SCRIVENS</b> | MONTREAL CANADIENS Scrivens is an Ivy Leaguer but a metalhead at heart. His mask honors Motorhead&rsquo;s Lemmy Kilmister, who died of cancer Dec. 28. The art by EyeCandyAir&rsquo;s Steve Nash includes Lemmy&rsquo;s likeness and an ace of spades, representing the band&rsquo;s famous song<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0057-03

LAST MINUTE OF PLAY

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-02/2791-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="559" height="467"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRENDAN <b>GALLAGHER</b> <span class="photo-credit">(GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-01/2798-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="85" height="105"></div><p><b>CAN&rsquo;T GET ENOUGH CAMPBELL ?</b> GO TO <b><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a></b> FOR DAILY UPDATES</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p>W<b>HEN THE NH L BEGAN TRACKING</b> blocked shots in 1997-98, teams averaged 676 that season. Ten seasons later, teams were blocking an average of 989 shots, and last season that number rose to 1,187. In &rsquo;97-98, there was not a single team that blocked 1,000 shots, and the New York Rangers led the league with 871. Last season, only two teams didn&rsquo;t block 1,000 shots, and the Detroit Red Wings were last with 908.</p><p>Over the past two decades, the number of shots blocked has almost doubled. The tactic has become so ingrained in hockey culture that the overrated Kris Russell will likely price himself off the Calgary Flames when he&rsquo;s a free agent this summer.</p><p>Watch any NHL game these days and what you see from every team is five players collapsing in front of their net in hopes the puck hits them before it does their goaltender. It has become a complete absolute in the NHL. You never pick your spots. You always just put your body in front of a frozen piece of vulcanized rubber going 100 miles per hour regardless of the score, the time of the game or the fact your goalie might have a 99 percent chance of stopping it anyway. You just do it. And if you don&rsquo;t, you&rsquo;re a soft player who lacks character. And none of that is ever, ever challenged.</p><p>Then you start to measure the cost. When Brendan Gallagher blocked a Johnny Boychuk shot from the point that had almost no chance of going in the net and broke his finger, his Montreal Canadiens were in the midst of a 16-4-2 run and in first place overall. As much as the Canadiens missed all-world goaltender Carey Price, they missed Gallagher just as much, going 5-11-1 without him. The Edmonton Oilers are now without the services of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins after he opened himself up and broke his hand blocking a shot in mid-January.</p><p>The problem is that teams see losing stars such as Gallagher and Nugent-Hopkins as the price you pay for a tactic that everyone sees as an absolute necessity to win hockey games. But is that really the case? After all, bad teams block a lot of shots, too. And if the Canadiens do end up on the outside of the playoffs looking in, they can at least attribute some of their demise to the loss of Gallagher when he was on a point-per-game pace.</p><p>Lost amid the NHL&rsquo;s obsession with shot blocking is the fact players are constantly sacrificing their bodies to stop shots before they get to the most athletic, best protected, best trained and most physically imposing goaltenders the game has ever seen. The Colorado Avalanche block more shots than any other team, in large part because they&rsquo;re a poor possession team, keeping them from hitting a goalie who they&rsquo;re paying $5.9 million per season on a long-term deal. Where is the sense in that?</p><p>Former NHL goalie Steve Valiquette is doing some really interesting things with analytics. Much of his work concentrates on the quality of shots. He did a study in January on the Rangers and found that 166 shots from above the tops of the circles yielded zero goals against and zero rebound goals against. &ldquo;So the Nugent-Hopkins injury is useless and only inhibits the goalie&rsquo;s ability to get a quiet eye on the puck,&rdquo; Valiquette said. &ldquo;The quiet eye is 500 milliseconds of clear sight before the release of the puck from the shooter&rsquo;s stick.&rdquo;</p><p>The area of the ice Valiquette is most concerned about is from the post diagonally to each faceoff dot with a line connecting the two dots. He said with a human reaction time of 200 milliseconds, a 75 mile-per-hour shot from that area of the ice is untrackable for a goaltender. &ldquo;If a guy blocks a shot in that area, that is a high-scoring area,&rdquo; Valiquette said. &ldquo;If a teammate blocks that shot for me, &lsquo;I love you man. I&rsquo;m hugging it out with you.&rsquo; But anything above the tops of the circles is an absolute muffin for the goalie.&rdquo;</p><p>In fact, Valiquette&rsquo;s data suggests that sometimes shot blocking has the opposite effect. His numbers indicated that if there is a single offensive player in front of a goalie screening him, one in every 22 shots from outside the danger area will result in a goal. Shots from the perimeter in which a defender tries to block a shot and screens his goalie end up in goals on one of every nine shots. And one in six shots from the perimeter go in where there are two or more players screening a goalie. So in reality, the more you get in front of your own goaltender, the worse chance you&rsquo;re giving him to save the puck if it makes it through the screen. &ldquo;The key for any goaltender is he needs to see the first two feet coming off the stick, then you can follow the trajectory of the puck,&rdquo; Valiquette said. &ldquo;But what players don&rsquo;t get is that if you don&rsquo;t see that, you start guessing right away.&rdquo;</p><p>It kind of makes you wonder why teams insist on having players block shots all the time in every situation, no questions asked.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;THE KEY FOR ANY GOALTENDER IS HE NEEDS TO SEE THE FIRST TWO FEET COMING OFF THE STICK &ndash; Steve Valiquette</blockquote><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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March 7, 2016

SILENT SUPER STAR

CHL POWER RANKINGS

GETTING THE SWING OF THINGS

BROAD ST. BALLOON