The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

October 26, 2015

The Hockey News - October 26, 2015

<div class="byline">&#x2013; ERIK ERLENDSSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0712/200171-1-eng-US/f0049-072.jpg" title="f0049-07" width="625" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(VICTOR HEDMAN)</span></figcaption></div><p>M<b>ANY AROUND THE HOCKEY WORLD</b> consider the 2015 playoffs a coming-out-party for Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.</p><p>Truth is, Hedman was already on the dance floor. He was just performing away from the spotlight. &ldquo;I think it was just because of being on the national stage that people got to see what he brought to the table,&rdquo; said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody was surprised in this room, we&rsquo;ve seen the development. I&rsquo;ve been here since Day 1 with him, so it&rsquo;s exciting to see him continue to develop.&rdquo;</p><p>Hedman has blossomed into the player many expected when he was selected second overall in the 2009 draft. The 24-year-old from the hockey factory of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, enters his seventh season on the short list of this year&rsquo;s Norris Trophy candidates.</p><p>If not for a fractured finger sustained in the first week of last season, which cost him 18 games, he may have been one of the Norris finalists. He had 10 goals and 38 points in 59 games and his points per game was 14th in the league. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of talk in our league about power forwards &ndash; Victor is a power &lsquo;D,&rsquo; &rdquo; said Lightning associate coach Rick Bowness. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the prototypical power &lsquo;D.&rsquo; He&rsquo;s big, he&rsquo;s strong, he can skate like the wind, has all the skills in the world, loves to play and has the passion. With that attitude and that passion, that size and that skating ability&hellip;&rdquo;</p><p>That package has always been in place. It&rsquo;s the reason the 6-foot-6 blueliner was drafted right after John Tavares. After some rough moments along the way in Hedman&rsquo;s first few seasons as the Lightning underwent ownership, management and coaching changes, the full package is now on display, even as some wondered if he would ever fulfill his promise. &ldquo;The process and development probably took longer than many people thought and people expected, but I&rsquo;m still pretty young,&rdquo; Hedman said. &ldquo;I was fortunate enough to come to this organization that believed in me and believed it might take time to develop into the player they thought I could be. But I always thought I could be a good player in this league. All those distractions stayed outside of my thought process, so I&rsquo;m focused on just trying to get better.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0049-07

DEPARTMENTS

TAMPA’S POWER ‘D’ CREATING BUZZ

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0147/199745-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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DOUBLE J’S MANY JERSEYS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT LARKIN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0521/200437-1-eng-US/f0057-052.jpg" title="f0057-05" width="411" height="377"></div><p><b>BRIAN ELLIOTT</b> | ST. LOUIS BLUES</p><p>Elliott blends two of his common mask motifs into one wild Dave Gunnarsson design. Casey Jones, the masked crimefighter of <i>Ninja Turtles</i> fame, returns to battle an angry moose. The latter is a tribute to one of Elliott&rsquo;s other talents: moose calling.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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Behind THE MASK

<div class="byline">&#x2013; STU HACKEL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0146/198744-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="787" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PLAYING IT SAFE</b> Longer wait times will be worth it if the NHL can avoid an incident like the one at a recent NBA game. <span class="photo-credit">(RUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>O</span><b>N THE LIST OF &ldquo;WHAT&rsquo;S NEW?&rdquo;</b> this NHL season, add a new wrinkle fans will notice before they even get to their seats. Each of the league&rsquo;s buildings will require patrons to pass through airport-style metal detectors to gain entry. About a third of NHL arenas were already equipped with these magnetometers, but new regulations have mandated them for all 30. In the eyes of the league, it&rsquo;s a move to improve the fan experience, providing a safer environment by using the best technology to make the screening process quicker and more efficient.</p><p>Leading up to the start of the season, teams began spreading the word though their websites, on social media, in press releases and by providing stories to the media that fans should be prepared for this change. &ldquo;People have been used to going through them from airports,&rdquo; said Dennis Cunningham, the NHL&rsquo;s executive vice-president for security. &ldquo;I suspect a sporting event it&rsquo;s going to be a different atmosphere, so there is a little learning curve for the screeners and the fans. But in the long run, it&rsquo;s safer and more convenient and is the right use of technology in the current environment.&rdquo;</p><p>Cunningham cited some of the more horrific incidents in &ldquo;the current environment&rdquo; &ndash; senseless shootings in movie theaters, houses of worship, elementary schools and shopping malls. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anyone can take the position that it is unlikely or unthinkable at a hockey game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It can happen anywhere. We don&rsquo;t needa horrific situation to occur before something has to be done. Our job is to anticipate and do something proactively. These machines are not intrusive or overbearing, and &ndash; outside of, perhaps, a minor inconvenience to the timeline fans are used to arriving &ndash; this is not too much to ask for the overall general safety.&rdquo;</p><p>In fact, fans have been subject to screening for the past few seasons by arena security attendants using hand-held wands. Cunningham said the wands turned up a surprisingly wide array of weapons, and not just firearms (often in the possession of off-duty law enforcement personnel). &ldquo;They had mace, brass knuckles, knives and other contraband,&rdquo; he said.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-0235/198737-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="334" height="334"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>EXPRESS CHECK-IN</b> Getting past security should actually be faster at arenas that were using wands already.</figcaption></div><p>One Western Conference team executive confirmed that Cunningham&rsquo;s findings reflected the results of the wand screening in his building, noting he had no doubt these objects had gotten into the arenas in the years prior to screening. &ldquo;People were able to bring in stuff that we didn&rsquo;t want in the building, sometimes innocently,&rdquo; the executive said. &ldquo;And some had it in there intentionally.&rdquo;</p><p>Last February, the league informed the teams it was best to transition to a more sophisticated setup, one which is not only more effective, but also easier on screeners and fans. If any teams balked at the expense &ndash; each machine costs between $3,000 and $3,500 &ndash; resistance likely evaporated after a March incident during an NBA game in Boston, when a fan was slashed with a box cutter during an altercation in the stands. Cunningham called that a &ldquo;tipping point&rdquo; in selling the NHL clubs on taking this next step.</p><p>Although the new metal detectors may speed up entry compared to the wanding, some teams are asking fans to arrive earlier in case there are delays. &ldquo;There might be some slowdowns at first, but fans are resilient and they&rsquo;ll make the necessary adjustments,&rdquo; Cunningham said. &ldquo;Fans don&rsquo;t mind inconvenience if they think the process is legitimate and it has a verifiable goal. They would feel angry if they waited 20 minutes, if it was done sloppily or it was a charade.&rdquo;</p><p>But, Cunningham added, the clubs have to put as much effort into training their screening personnel as they have communicating with fans. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s rocket science,&rdquo; Cunningham said, &ldquo;and we hope it&rsquo;s not tremendously intrusive to anyone.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0015-01

HEAVY METAL DETECTORS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-0157/198307-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="264" height="459"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span><b>HE BARBER WHO CUTS MY HAIR</b> (yes, seriously) has been doing the same job from the same location since 1951 &ndash; that&rsquo;s 64 years and counting. His two-chair establishment is tiny and cozy, decked out like a one-room, deep-woods cabin, replete with rustic knickknacks and quaint chachkies, most of which have probably been there since 1951. The conversation stretches from family to travel to entitled kids to world politics. It&rsquo;s an array of topics, but there&rsquo;s always conversation, and it&rsquo;s always warm. When Jack is asked about his entrenched roots, he replies, &ldquo;If you&rsquo;ve found something you like, someplace you like, why move around?&rdquo;</p><p>I can relate, having just marked my 26th year at The Hockey News. Most of my co-workers are in similar positions. They&rsquo;re passionate about this brand, they enjoy the company of their teammates and they love the subject matter. Their tenures here are typically long ones. Like Jack&rsquo;s situation, it&rsquo;s an anomaly in modern society, where devotion and loyalty are sometimes mistaken for inertia.</p><p>In the NHL, that type of longevity is all but extinct. Not that it was ever the norm, but it&rsquo;s rarer than ever, especially among the game&rsquo;s brightest stars, the players with whom we have the strongest emotional ties. A glance at the players inducted into the Hall of Fame over the past three decades is telling. From 1985 through 1997, 12 of 38 honored members (not including women or international-only players) were one-team men. That&rsquo;s 32 per cent. By contrast, from 1998 through 2015, just three of 50 stars (six percent) toiled for one franchise only, a list comprised of one of this year&rsquo;s inductees, Nick Lidstrom, as well as Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman.</p><p>Which players are most likely to join that rarefied air in coming seasons? There aren&rsquo;t any guarantees, but if we were betting, we&rsquo;d place money on Pavel Datsyuk, Sidney Crosby, Duncan Keith, Alex Ovechkin and the Sedins, in that order. Patrick Marleau and Shane Doan are on the bubble, primarily because they&rsquo;re long-shot Hall material.</p><p>In our NHL team notes beginning on pg. 44, we shine the spotlight on players with the longest tenures per franchise, guys who, for now, have their teams&rsquo; logos tattooed on their hearts. We&rsquo;re pretty sure most of that artwork was done with vanishing ink.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-0256/198300-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="255" height="126"></div><p><b>NEXT ISSUE</b> NOV. 9, 2015 <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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THEY ALWAYS LEAVE

<div class="byline">&#x2014; MATT CARLSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-0159/198357-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="522" height="356"><img src="mon2.jpg" title="common" width="188" height="207"></div><p>CONNOR <b>MCDAVID</b></p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-0222/198350-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="788" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>AT LEAST FOR NOW&hellip;</b> Bettman and King assure fans there are no plans for soccerstyle ads to go on NHL jerseys.<span class="photo-credit">(ADIDAS: DAVID DOW/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; ,MCDAVID: KEN ANDERSEN/NHLPA VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>I<b>N MOST OF THE WORLD, THE</b> team sport linked to Adidas is soccer &ndash; or &ldquo;football&rdquo; just about everywhere outside the U.S. and Canada. And Adidas&rsquo; new seven-year partnership as the NHL&rsquo;s &ldquo;authentic outfitter of on-ice uniforms&rdquo; figures to give the league&rsquo;s licensed apparel sales and global brand exposure a boost when it kicks in, starting in 2017-18.</p><p>With the deal, Adidas immediately became a hockey brand in jerseys, the NHL&rsquo;s signature merchandise category. But its parent Adidas Group didn&rsquo;t suddenly become a hockey company when the deal was announced this off-season.</p><p>The German-based corporation owns Reebok, the NHL&rsquo;s jersey provider the past decade, as well as sister-brand CCM, the century-old maker of skates, sticks and player protective and goalie gear. But the deal means the Adidas name and logo &ndash; the iconic &ldquo;Brand with Three Stripes&rdquo; &ndash; will appear on NHL jerseys in some form that&rsquo;s still to be determined, according to company and league execs. Players, coaches and training staff will also be outfitted in other Adidas-branded products.</p><p>NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he&rsquo;s thrilled by the resources Adidas will dedicate to the partnership, but the league isn&rsquo;t releasing financial terms on the deal that makes the global footwear and apparel company its marquee &ldquo;official supplier of licensed apparel and headwear.&rdquo; The key to the agreement: Adidas will make, brand and distribute authentic and high-end replica NHL jerseys, including best-selling Premier models, that fans are buying in increasing numbers.</p><p>But don&rsquo;t expect Adidas jerseys to resemble billboardlike, soccer-stylized hybrids. The first question to Bettman in a Sept. 15 conference call was about adding advertising to jerseys. His answer was an emphatic &ldquo;no,&rdquo; at least for now. And any drastic change to the look of jerseys is off the table. &ldquo;The history, tradition and respect that goes with NHL sweaters is something that we and Adidas are very respectful of,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So reinventing isn&rsquo;t something that we&rsquo;re about to embark upon, but if there are better fabrics that are more comfortable and help performance, that&rsquo;s one thing. We happen to like our jerseys a lot, and we think our fans do as well, as evidenced by the fact that when you go to one of our games you see how many people are actually wearing club jerseys.&rdquo;</p><p>Count among those customers both diehard and casual fans, as well as urban-chic fashionistas who dig the silhouette, colors and details of a garment that originated as a knit sweater. &ldquo;In terms of future growth, the potential is big,&rdquo; said Michael Rossi, president of Adidas Group Canada. &ldquo;The NHL is experiencing tremendous growth across the board, and we&rsquo;re excited to help the league continue this momentum.&rdquo;</p><p>Consider how many jerseyclad fans you see at the United Center, home of the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks, whose sweater sales lead the league. It helps to have a gorgeous logo and a team that&rsquo;s won three Stanley Cups in six seasons. But insights into the Blackhawks&rsquo; sales give an idea of just how big the jersey business is.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-0126/198343-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="788" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ICONIC AND COOL</b> Blackhawks jerseys, especially their home red duds, remain the NHL&rsquo;s best-selling sweaters.<span class="photo-credit">(SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES; BOTTOM: JASON O. WATSON/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>A Reebok-branded Blackhawks men&rsquo;s Premier sweater in red with Patrick Kane&rsquo;s name on the back &ndash; last year&rsquo;s No. 1 seller &ndash; costs $169.95 on <a href="http://shop.nhl.com">shop.nhl.com</a>. An authentic Edge version, the same model worn by him on the ice, runs $359.95. According to Laura Clawson, Blackhawks director of merchandising, the team&rsquo;s jersey sales increased 70 percent in dollars and 64 percent in units during 2014-15 compared to 2013-14. Throw in the playoffs, and sales increased 130 percent in dollars over the previous year. A surprising or deep post-season run can make jersey sales soar, as can the signing of a top draft pick or free agent, or a trade. &ldquo;It can be dramatically different from city to city,&rdquo; said Michael Cannon, Pro Hockey Life&rsquo;s associate vice president of purchasing. &ldquo;For example, in Edmonton there is obviously a lot of hype around (Connor) McDavid, and so the spectrum of fans wanting to purchase an Oilers jersey will be significantly different than say Vancouver or even Toronto.&rdquo;</p><p>Despite online availability, many customers want to touch and feel their jerseys before plunking down a credit card. Blackhawks fans lean toward buying at the United Center or team stores in downtown Chicago or in a suburban mall. In the arena store, fans can customize any adult jersey with lettering or add a patch on the spot. &ldquo;Our hope is fans are purchasing all or most of their Blackhawks apparel including jerseys from our store locations,&rdquo; Clawson said. &ldquo;Though it&rsquo;s unrealistic with e-commerce, we&rsquo;ve learned 37 percent of the time fans are shopping on <a href="http://shop.nhl.com">shop.nhl.com</a>.&rdquo;</p><p>Sales have also been boosted by jerseys tailored for women. Models for kids and even infants are selling well, according to the NHL.</p><p>There have been plenty of rumors about how Adidas may or may not tweak the look or fabrication of the jerseys players wear. We may not get an idea until Adidas unveils its jerseys for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The agreement for the tournament also involves the NHL Players&rsquo; Association. &ldquo;The hockey jersey is very traditional and very much a fabric of the game, and I think the integrity of that is very important to the dramatic shift from where the uniform is today.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s not the only jersey advantage Adidas offers. Placing NHL franchises overseas may be a ways off, but selling interest in hockey and the league around the world &ndash; especially in untapped Asian markets &ndash; is a lot closer. Adidas knows that foreign turf and has established distribution channels to reach it. Consumers in those places know the Adidas brand.</p><p>That&rsquo;s also important to the NHLPA, which shares in licensed merchandise revenue under the collective bargaining NHL, the Players&rsquo; Association and the game,&rdquo; said Mark King, president of Adidas Group North America. &ldquo;So this would be something that we&rsquo;d move more slowly on.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">REINVENTING THE JERSEY ISN'T SOMETHING THAT WE'RE ABOUT TO EMBARK UPON - Gary Bettman</blockquote><p>But King hinted that changes to help players perform better on the ice might be on the drawing board. &ldquo;If you look at what we do in U.S. football we use this Tech Fit technology, which is really light and a fit closer to the body,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;It allows more mobility and freedom. So that would be the No. 1 technology that we&rsquo;d look at. It&rsquo;s a agreement. &ldquo;Adidas&rsquo; strength in Europe and in markets like Russia&hellip; are really important to us,&rdquo; said NHLPA president Don Fehr. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re seeing it with the World Cup of Hockey and some of the other events that we have. They can really help lead us to grow that global brand, global business potential that the commissioner has been talking about.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-0223/198336-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="512" height="293"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>FORM FITTING</b> There won&rsquo;t be major changes, but hockey jerseys may get snug, like Adidas&rsquo; football offerings.</figcaption></div><p><b>130</b> Percent increase in dollar sales of Blackhawks jerseys last season, including playoffs, compared to 2013-14. Most of that comes from traditional in-store purchases, but more than one-third came from online sales at <a href="http://NHL.com">nhl.com</a>.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0006-01

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER?

<div class="byline">By Charlie Teljeur</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-0159/198393-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="591" height="742"></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

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THE INSTIGATOR

<div class="byline">BY SAL BARRY OF PUCKJUNK.COM</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-0241/198422-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="408" height="367"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>I</span>N 1949, FRANK ZAMBONI</b> of Paramount, Calif., debuted the ice resurfacing machine, known today simply as the Zamboni. It took nine years of trial and error to build the first working prototype, which featured a custom-built chassis, engine parts from an old army truck and a hydraulic cylinder pulled from a Douglas bomber plane. The task of resurfacing the ice, which took an hour and five people to finish, could now be completed by one person in 15 minutes. Upper Deck commemorated Zamboni and his machine on a trading card in 1991.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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In The CARDS

<div class="byline">&#x2013; LLOYD QUANSAH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-0332/198451-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="301" height="306"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>Z</span>ELLIO TOPPAZZINI HAD</b> a Hall of Fame career in the AHL. But in 1952-53, trading card company Parkhurst of Canada didn&rsquo;t foresee his future. Instead they featured his NHL brother, Jerry. Toppazzini&rsquo;s rookie card in the &rsquo;52-53 set had Zellio&rsquo;s background on the back of the card, but Parkhurst mistakenly placed Jerry&rsquo;s picture on the front.</p><p>The Rhode Island Reds Heritage Society has remedied the situation by creating a new trading card for Zellio, who passed away in April 2001. He holds Reds franchise records in games, goals, assists and points.</p><p>The not-for profit organization is looking to honor the 1955-56 Reds with a trading card set. In 2010, the Society of International Hockey Research anointed them with having &ldquo;the best minor league season ever.&rdquo; The &rsquo;55-56 club also featured Hall of Famer Johnny Bower, AHL rookie of the year Bruce Cline and the AHL&rsquo;s top three scorers (Toppazzini with linemates Camille Henry and Paul Larivee). The Reds ended the season 45-17-2, good for 96 points. They swept the Cleveland Barons in four games to win the Calder Cup.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0008-03

FIXING ‘TOPPER’

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0159/198536-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="788" height="396"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>MILE-HIGH FASHION</b> Gabriel Landeskog, flanked by Josh Kroenke and Joe Sakic, dons the Avs&rsquo; Stadium Series duds.<span class="photo-credit">(LANDESKOG: MICHAEL MARTIN/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; JERSEYS: REEBOK/CCM HOCKEY)</span></figcaption><img src="mon2.jpg" title="common" width="188" height="207"></div><p><b>HOCKEY JERSEY FASHION</b> mimics all fashion in that it&rsquo;s a game of rapidly changing trends.</p><p>Teams continue to bludgeon the ghosts of the 1990s &ldquo;Xtreme&rdquo; era, which yielded asymmetrical angles, predatory creatures and busy piping. New designs from the Yotes, Avs and Isles keep things classy. The Oilers blow us away with a color scheme they should&rsquo;ve tried years ago, while the Sharks and Capitals follow the fad of reviving defunct sweaters no one wanted to see go in the first place. How long before every team in the league re-adopts its inaugural uniform design?</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0239/198529-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="220" height="288"></div><h2><b>ANAHEIM DUCKS</b></h2><p>THIRD JERSEY</p><p>Perfect marriage of old-era masked duck, new-era orange.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0417/198522-1-eng-US/f0010-042.jpg" title="f0010-04" width="225" height="288"></div><h2><b>ARIZONA COYOTES</b></h2><p>HOME</p><p>Black arm striping spruces up the Desert Dogs&rsquo; look nicely.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-068/198515-1-eng-US/f0010-062.jpg" title="f0010-06" width="230" height="294"></div><h2><b>COLORADO AVALANCHE</b></h2><p>THIRD JERSEY</p><p>A gorgeous tribute to the old Colorado Rockies franchise.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-088/198508-1-eng-US/f0010-082.jpg" title="f0010-08" width="225" height="289"></div><h2><b>EDMONTON OILERS</b></h2><p>THIRD JERSEY</p><p>File this beauty under &ldquo;Why didn&rsquo;t they think of this before?&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0329/198501-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="224" height="289"></div><h2><b>MONTREAL CANADIENS</b></h2><h3><b>HOME</b></h3><p>Hockey&rsquo;s most storied franchise goes classic with the lace collar.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-0510/198494-1-eng-US/f0010-052.jpg" title="f0010-05" width="236" height="286"></div><h2><b>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</b></h2><p>THIRD JERSEY</p><p>Black-and-white scheme is very Brooklyn, echoing NBA Nets.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-078/198487-1-eng-US/f0010-072.jpg" title="f0010-07" width="232" height="284"></div><h2><b>SAN JOSE SHARKS</b></h2><p>25TH ANNIVERSARY</p><p>The Sharks revive a jersey we call the best of the best (see pg. 24).</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-098/198480-1-eng-US/f0010-092.jpg" title="f0010-09" width="224" height="288"></div><h2><b>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</b></h2><p>THIRD JERSEY</p><p>Like so many teams, Caps un-fix a design that was never broken.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0010-01

THE NHL’S NEW FALL LINE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-0147/198572-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="791" height="523"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>LIFE IMITATES ART</b> The Kings&rsquo; &lsquo;That &rsquo;70s Line,&rsquo; born in the 2014 playoffs, was inspired by the sitcom <i>That &rsquo;70s Show.</i> <span class="photo-credit">(NORM HALL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>W</span>ITH 67,000 POSSIBLE LINE</b> combinations based on numbers, the stars must align &ndash; figuratively and literally &ndash; to create a recipe worthy of numeric nickname status.</p><p>Hockey line nicknames based on jersey numbers, or &ldquo;numberlines,&rdquo; are a rare occurrence in the NHL. The most recent popular combination was coined during the 2014 playoffs, when the Los Angeles Kings put Jeff Carter (No. 77) between Tanner Pearson (No. 70) and Tyler Toffoli (No. 73) to create &lsquo;That &rsquo;70s Line.&rsquo; The name was inspired by the sitcom <i>That &rsquo;70s Show</i>, which aired on Fox from 1998 to 2006. While the line didn&rsquo;t last (Pearson broke an ankle midway through last season), the nickname evolved as Dwight King and his No. 74 took his place, creating &lsquo;That &rsquo;70s Line 2.0.&rsquo;</p><p>And do you remember 2002&rsquo;s <i>That &rsquo;80s Show?</i> Not many do, which may be why a mix of Chicago&rsquo;s Patrick Kane (No. 88), Marian Hossa (No. 81), Antoine Vermette (No. 80) and Teuvo Teravainen (No. 86) never caught on as &lsquo;That &rsquo;80s Line.&rsquo;</p><p>There have been only a few other witty and fitting numberlines in NHL history:</p><p>&gt; <b>&lsquo;The Deuces Wild Line&rsquo;</b> of Simon Gagne (No. 12), Peter Forsberg (No. 21) and Mike Knuble (No. 22), who toiled together with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2005 to 2007. Each sported No. 2 as part of his jersey number.</p><p>&gt; <b>&lsquo;The Crazy Eights Line&rsquo;</b> of Eric Lindros (No. 88), Mark Recchi (No. 8) and Brent Fedyk (No. 18) who played for the Philadelphia Flyers in the early 1990s. It referred to the card game with the same name and also that the wingers &ldquo;crazily&rdquo; played on their off wings.</p><p>&gt; <b>&lsquo;The Lucky 7s Line&rsquo;</b> of Shawn Bates (No. 17), Michael Peca (No. 27) and Mark Parrish (No. 37) who played for the New York Islanders in the early 2000s. Their jerseys all ended with a 7, forming 777.</p><p>&gt; <b>&lsquo;The 7-8-9 Line&rsquo;</b> of the early-1980s Quebec Nordiques, where Robbie Ftorek, Marc Tardif and Real Cloutier wore jerseys Nos. 7, 8 and 9. (Perhaps they should have been called &lsquo;The 6 Afraid of 7 Line&rsquo; because, of course, 7-ate-9.)</p><p>We&rsquo;re just a coaching decision away from the next great numberline. If a No. 65 lines up with a No. 72 and a No. 97, we could have &lsquo;The Pythagorean Line,&rsquo; since 65, 72 and 97 make up a Pythagorean Triple. Or, if a No. 52 teams with a No. 88 and a No. 96, &lsquo;The Untouchable Line&rsquo; will be born, because 52, 88 and 96 are untouchable numbers. With so many possible number combinations and many interesting names associated with particular numbers (Aliquot, Frobenius, Frugal, McNugget, Narcissistic, Superperfect, Powerful and others), coining the next numberline is a matter of time&hellip;and mathematics.</p><p><i>Egan J. Chernoff (@Matthew-Maddux) is an associate professor of mathematics education at the University of Saskatchewan.</i></p><h2><b>MOST AND LEAST WORN NUMBERS</b></h2><p>What digits, according to <a href="http://Hockey-reference.com">hockey-reference.com</a> have NHL players put on their backs, and sleeves, most and least often since 1950-51?</p><p><b>MOST WORN 20 464 PLAYERS BEST</b> Stan Mikita</p><p><b>MOST WORN 21 463 PLAYERS BEST</b> Luc Robitaiile</p><p><b>MOST WORN 22 460 PLAYERS BEST</b> Mike Bossy</p><p><b>LEAST WORN 98 1 PLAYER BEST</b> Brian Lawton</p><p><b>LEAST WORN 00 2 PLAYERS BEST</b> Martin Biron</p><p><b>LEAST WORN 69 PLAYERS BEST</b> Andrew Desjardins<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0011-01

LINES YOU CAN COUNT ON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-0159/198650-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="787" height="917"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>RUN OF THE MILL</b> OT Sports&rsquo; facility is based in an old textile factory town in North Carolina. <span class="photo-credit">(CHRIS GIGLEY/OT SPORTS)</span></figcaption></div><p>N<b>O TWO DAYS ARE EVER THE</b> same for Scott Gollnick. That&rsquo;s because no two jerseys his company makes are ever alike.</p><p>Gollnick is VP of sales and marketing for OT Sports, a Burlington, N.C., company that specializes in producing theme night jerseys for minor league teams. From special children&rsquo;s hospital charity jerseys that feature the art of a patient, to <i>Game of Thrones</i> jerseys celebrating HBO&rsquo;s hit TV show, OT has designed and produced those and everything in between.</p><p>Gollnick founded OT Sports in 1992 with his brother, Chris. At the time, North American customers believed the heavier the jersey the better it was. Traditionally, all crests, lettering and numbers are stitched on after the jersey itself has been put together.</p><p>OT, however, specialized in sublimated jerseys, in which all the artwork, lettering and numbering is bonded into the fabric. Sewing on panels isn&rsquo;t necessary. &ldquo;Sublimation was already commonplace in Europe back then,&rdquo; Gollnick said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where I became familiar with the technology in uniforms. It was not at all prominent in the U.S. The market is very traditional.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;WE&rsquo;VE SEEN A HUGE SWING IN HOLIDAY AND POP CULTURE THEMES &ndash; Scott Gollnick</blockquote><p>Sublimated jerseys are more durable because the heating process bonds the ink to polyester fibers, creating crisp, photo-quality designs that don&rsquo;t bleed, crack, peel or tear.</p><p>The Gollnick brothers needed just a year to gain a foothold with North American hockey customers. (Cracking baseball took another seven years.) Now, their company works with more than 100 junior and minor pro teams, including those in the CHL, ECHL and AHL. Last season alone, OT Sports produced 200 special jerseys for team theme nights, ranging from St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day promotions to breast cancer awareness to a jersey celebrating the popularity of the book and film <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i>.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-0240/198643-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="237" height="272"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTT <b>GOLLNICK</b></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0148/198636-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="788" height="458"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NO IDEA TOO CRAZY</b> Gollnick&rsquo;s crew works with amateur and minor pro teams to bring their theme dreams to life.</figcaption></div><p>With the Dec. 18 release of <i>Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens</i>, more ideas are coming fast and furious. One example being floated is a home-and-home concept for archrivals, with one team wearing Jedi Knight jerseys and the other wearing Imperial Stormtrooper sweaters. Gollnick expects <i>Star Wars</i> to be big all the way into the spring.</p><p>An order begins with a phone call from a team targeting a special event on its calendar. Teams get free art design services to give them the look they want that best coordinates with their event theme, though some teams have designs made internally or by an outside graphics company.</p><p>After OT designers create the initial mock-up, a back-andforth goes on until the team settles on the final design. Then it&rsquo;s off to the presses. Another set of designers takes the final mock-up and creates largeformat printouts that are cut and fed by hand into a sublimation machine that bonds the ink onto bolts of jersey fabric. The fabric is cut and stitched into proper jerseys by one crew of sewers, while another crew adds nameplates, patches and any other embellishments the team wants.</p><p>About a month after the team approved the design, finished jerseys are boxed and shipped from OT&rsquo;s unassuming factory on the outskirts of Burlington. It&rsquo;s no coincidence the company is based in an old textile factory town. The locals know what they&rsquo;re doing, which is important given their typical workload. The growing demand for special jerseys has the company constantly running at full speed. &ldquo;We average over 100 orders in our backlog on any given week,&rdquo; Gollnick said.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0244/198629-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="237" height="251"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0336/198622-1-eng-US/f0013-032.jpg" title="f0013-03" width="237" height="241"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0424/198615-1-eng-US/f0013-042.jpg" title="f0013-04" width="239" height="355"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;THIS TECHNOLOGY WAS ALREADY COMMONPLACE IN EUROPE&hellip;BUT IT WASN&rsquo;T PROMINENT IN THE U.S. THE MARKET IS VERY TRADITIONAL &ndash; scott gollnick</blockquote><p>And the workload should only increase this season with a major trend Gollnick said he&rsquo;s witnessing. &ldquo;We have seen a huge swing in special events from holiday themes to pop culture themes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This swing produced about a 20-percent increase in theme jerseys in minor pro baseball, and we predict that same pattern to carry over into hockey.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0519/198608-1-eng-US/f0013-052.jpg" title="f0013-05" width="303" height="406"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>KITSCH IS COOL</b> From movies to patriotism, themed jerseys abound to attract fans to minor pro games. <span class="photo-credit">(BAKERSFIELD CONDORS)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-0615/198601-1-eng-US/f0013-062.jpg" title="f0013-06" width="306" height="405"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GREENVILLE WARRIORS)</span></figcaption></div><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span>

f0012-01

THERE IS A JERSEY FOR THAT

<div class="byline">&#x2013; JARED CLINTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0157/198686-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="513" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>PLAYING SPOILER</b> Smith doesn&rsquo;t like to ruin jersey announcements but feels he can do so in a way that helps teams.<span class="photo-credit">(SMITH: COURTESY OF CHRIS SMITH; CREAMER: COURTESY OF CHRIS CREAMER)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>C</span><b>HRIS CREAMER AND CHRIS</b> Smith are the insiders whose names you don&rsquo;t know but whose websites have broken some of hockey&rsquo;s most colorful stories. Creamer and Smith &ndash; of <a href="http://sportslogos.net">sportslogos.net</a> and <a href="http://icethetics.info">icethetics.info</a>, respectively &ndash; are the McKenzie and Dreger of logo and jersey design.</p><p>But neither Creamer nor Smith sought to become a jersey insider. Both were hockey fans who fell into it through a love of design. &ldquo;(SportsLogos) was an excuse to learn how to make a website, really,&rdquo; Creamer said. &ldquo;Back (in 1997) there was no social media, so the only way to express yourself online would be to make a site that was a random collection of your own personal interests. I was really into computers, sports and team uniforms from a very early age.&rdquo;</p><p>Smith, a hockey fan without a full-time job out of college, created his site aimed at jerseys in 2007. It just so happened after Icethetics came to be, the NHL announced the switch to the Reebok Edge jersey system. Smith landed his first big scoop shortly thereafter when a source leaked a photo of the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; third jersey. &ldquo;That was the first time that I had something no one else did and put it on the site,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;It showed up in <i>The Vancouver Sun</i> the next day.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-0242/198679-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="238" height="230"><figcaption class="caption-body">CHRIS <b>CREAMER</b></figcaption></div><p>Creamer&rsquo;s first breaking story came a decade earlier when he got word the Los Angeles Kings were to switch from the Gretzky-era black and silver jersey to the purple and black sweater. &ldquo;In those days, I&rsquo;d be so excited about getting inside information that I&rsquo;d just post it right away,&rdquo; Creamer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve matured quite a bit since then and understand that consequences could come with revealing information like that &ndash; not only for myself but for the one who tipped me off.&rdquo;</p><p>That&rsquo;s a notion both men share. Sources range from those within an organization, retail workers or someone in the right place at the right time. Creamer and Smith know fans want to be the first to see jerseys or logos but understand the work that goes into every design. &ldquo;I try to never be the one to originally post a leaked graphic on the Internet,&rdquo; Creamer said. &ldquo;Honestly, most things sent to me have yet to be released to the public, but I just hold on to them rather than post it. With that I&rsquo;m able to use that knowledge, that image, to confirm or deny any other leak that may pop up from time to time.&rdquo;</p><p>Over the past several years, however, Creamer, whose site has grown to cover all sports, and Smith have broken numerous logo and jersey announcements. Smith landed the big scoop this summer when he displayed the Anaheim Ducks&rsquo; and Colorado Avalanche&rsquo;s new alternates. Smith, who works in marketing, knows the meticulous planning that can go into unveilings. He hates to ruin a surprise for a team, and he was called out on Twitter for stealing Colorado and Anaheim&rsquo;s thunder. &ldquo;I get that, and I understand, but the way I see it, if not me, then somebody else,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;If I can leak it, I can frame it in a way that might be more helpful to a team.&rdquo;</p><p>It has never been about becoming go-to sources but rather about providing a place for jersey nuts to share in their love of design. Smith hopes to make it a full-time gig. Creamer did in 2012.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0014-01

MEET HOCKEY’S JERSEY BOYS

<h2><b>CHRIS SMITH <a href="http://ICETHETICS.COM">ICETHETICS.COM</a></b></h2><p><b>1. HARTFORD WHALERS (1992-93)</b> Older fans prefer original green and white. I prefer blue with silver trim.</p><p><b>2. ST. LOUIS BLUES (1998-99)</b> Two-tone blue color palette and the angular shoulder stripes won me over.</p><p><b>3. DALLAS STARS (CURRENT GREEN)</b> I&rsquo;ve always said NHL needs more green. To see the Stars embrace was a treat.</p><p><b>4. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (1980-81)</b> Today&rsquo;s bland Vegas gold is depressing next to those uniforms from the 1980s.</p><p><b>5. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (1996-97 ALTERNATE)</b> Before the Lightning introduced the &ldquo;storm&rdquo; jersey in 1997, jerseys weren&rsquo;t really anything I noticed. My mind was blown.</p><h2><b>CHRIS CREAMER <a href="http://sportslogos.net">SPORTSLOGOS.NET</a></b></h2><p><b>1. MONTREAL CANADIENS (CURRENT RED)</b> The uniform people see when they close their eyes and think of hockey.</p><p><b>2. DETROIT RED WINGS (CURRENT WHITE)</b> Red pops off the white. Reverse shoulder yoke. Two colors. So simple, so great.</p><p><b>3. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (CURRENT RED)</b> Main logo color nowhere to be found on jersey and nobody notices. That&rsquo;s how good it is.</p><p><b>4. TORONTO MARLBOROS (OHL) 1980S (WHITE)</b> Yellow and red crown on blue maple leaf is such an underrated color scheme.</p><p><b>5. FLORIDA PANTHERS 1993-94 (RED)</b> First jersey I ever owned. Sometimes a favorite has to do with more than its design.</p><p><b><i>See all the jerseys with expanded explanations at <a href="http://THN.com/favjerseys">THN.com/favjerseys</a></i></b><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

5 FAVORITE JERSEYS

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-0157/198794-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(LANCE THOMSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>G</span></b>ranted, it&rsquo;s a Sunday afternoon and the weather in Winnipeg is unseasonably spectacular. For a city that has 10 months of winter and two months of bad skating, if you can wear shorts and a Tshirt and run the air conditioner in late September, it&rsquo;s a day to be outside doing stuff, not sitting in a restaurant. Still, it&rsquo;s strange to see Tyler Myers, all 6-foot-8 of him, walk into a downtown eatery wearing the standard hockey player&rsquo;s fashion statement &ndash; ball cap on backward, T-shirt, jeans and flip-flops &ndash; eat his lunch and leave without being singled out by anyone, including the waitress who&rsquo;s serving him. The irony is Myers had to go to one of the most hockey-mad cities in the world to get out of the glare. And that suits him just fine. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a guy who needs the spotlight or searches for it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty easygoing off the ice.&rdquo;</p><p>Myers has won over the fans of Winnipeg and rejuvenated a career that was stagnating in Buffalo. On the surface, it&rsquo;s a familiar story. A kid comes in and wows everyone, wins rookie of the year, signs a huge contract (which included a $10-million signing bonus) and then struggles to live up to it. All right, so it&rsquo;s not all that familiar. But that&rsquo;s a lot of coin. And a lot of responsibility.</p><p>That experience in Buffalo, which led to his trade last season to the Winnipeg Jets, was turning Myers into something of an Eeyore. He tried to be positive, but the body language looked like he was defeated. After all, it&rsquo;s difficult to stay positive when you&rsquo;re playing most of the game in your own zone. Winnipeg, by contrast, has been good to him, and he has been good to Winnipeg. &ldquo;You hear a lot about how the grass isn&rsquo;t greener on the other side,&rdquo; Myers said. &ldquo;But when I came to Winnipeg, it actually ended up being a little greener.&rdquo;</p><p>The truth is Myers was accepted with open arms because he isn&rsquo;t the player he was traded for. He is the anti-Evander Kane. Kane was a lightning rod for criticism in Winnipeg, a city where they like even their idols to be humble. It&rsquo;s one thing to piss off the fan base, it&rsquo;s quite another for the leadership group to make it crystal clear to management that a member of the team must go. And that&rsquo;s what the Jets did with Kane, which led to Myers and a mother lode of other talent coming their way last February. While Kane was spending the summer taking out billboard ads on Sunset Strip in L.A. in an effort to win his supermodel girlfriend back (true story, look it up), Myers was spending a quiet summer in Kelowna, B.C., with his wife and goldendoodle. &ldquo;You hear the stories the past few years and &lsquo;Kaner&rsquo; is more outgoing,&rdquo; Myers said. &ldquo;But as far as being the anti-Evander, I would just say I&rsquo;m a pretty reserved guy. I would say we&rsquo;re a little different off the ice, for sure.&rdquo;</p><p>(More irony. <i>Problem</i> by Ariana Grande was playing in the background when he said that. &ldquo;One less problem without ya.&rdquo;)</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-0149/198787-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="696" height="1214"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>GREENER GRASS</b> Myers admits he&rsquo;s happier with the competitive Jets than he was in his final days as a struggling Sabre. <span class="photo-credit">(LANCE THOMSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>On Valentine&rsquo;s Day, Myers was playing in just his second game with Winnipeg after coming over from Buffalo. The Jets were in the middle of a life-and-death playoff run and were in Detroit, trailing 3-1 in the second period. With the Red Wings carrying the puck in the neutral zone, Myers knocked it off Tomas Jurco&rsquo;s stick, gathered it up and beat Kyle Quincey to the outside, which gave him a clear close-in opportunity that Blake Wheeler converted on the rebound. Winnipeg went on to tie the game and win it in a shootout. &ldquo;That, for me, was when the game breaker came out,&rdquo; said Jets coach Paul Maurice. &ldquo;You could feel it. Basically, you could hear the guys on the bench say, &lsquo;Holy f--- is this guy a good player.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-0155/198780-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="1066" height="734"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>THE NEED FOR SPEED</b> Myers&rsquo; swift puck-moving ability perfectly suits Winnipeg&rsquo;s mantra of pushing the action from the back end. <span class="photo-credit">(JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>The Jets went 15-8-3 with Myers in the lineup to secure a playoff spot. Myers said he felt at home in Winnipeg and with the Jets almost immediately, and the feeling was mutual. The Jets have one of the tightest-knit dressing rooms in the league, with a strong leadership group and a coach who seems to have an incredible feel for his players. It helped the adjustment that the Jets were so much better than the Sabres. They were one of the best possession teams, and the Sabres were the worst. In Buffalo, just 34.5 percent of Myers&rsquo; 5-on-5 starts were in the offensive zone, which was 11.4 percent worse than his teammates&rsquo; percentage when Myers was on the bench. In Winnipeg, 53.1 percent of his starts were in the offensive zone, which was just 2.6 percent worse than his teammates&rsquo; when he wasn&rsquo;t on the ice. Clearly, Myers was being worn down by having to bail the Sabres out of defensive jams almost all the time he was on the ice, something Maurice noticed when he was an assistant coach with the Canadian team at the 2014 World Championship, a team Myers played for. One day during the tournament, Maurice and fellow assistant Peter DeBoer were discussing Myers when De-Boer made a very good point. &ldquo;We were talking about how he&rsquo;d fit on your team because he was a guy whose name was being bandied about (in the trade market) and (DeBoer) said, &lsquo;You know, when you&rsquo;re chasing the game all the time, you&rsquo;re not even allowed to play the game the right way. You&rsquo;re not allowed to go and play a smart game.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;<b><i>BASICALLY YOU COULD HEAR THE GUYS ON THE BENCH SAY, &lsquo;HOLY F---, THIS GUY IS A GOOD PLAYER&rsquo;</i></b>&ndash; Paul Maurice</blockquote><p>It&rsquo;s an assessment Myers concurs wholeheartedly with. Playing alongside Toby Enstrom for a coach who wants his defensemen to engage in the attack has done wonders for Myers&rsquo; confidence and his game. Myers has 10 inches and almost 40 pounds on Enstrom, but the two have a unique understanding of each other&rsquo;s game. Enstrom is an offensive defenseman who brings that kind of high-level thinking to the defensive side of the game. That gives Myers the freedom to be a risk taker on the offensive side, and knowing Enstrom has his back in the defensive zone is a lot less taxing on him. Myers averaged about one minute fewer per game for the Jets than with the Sabres. And the minutes he was playing were far less demanding. In Buffalo, Myers averaged 2:56 of shorthanded time per game. Winnipeg cut that down by a full minute.</p><p>With Dustin Byfuglien and Jacob Trouba also on defense, Myers doesn&rsquo;t have to do nearly as much heavy lifting as he did with the Sabres. It has allowed him to get back to being the defenseman he was when he won the Calder Trophy in 2010. Going into training camp, Maurice wanted to impress upon his D-corps the importance of jumping into the attack, the way teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks do. So he set out to put together a video compilation of Jets defensemen pushing the pace offensively and getting up the ice on breakouts, which he labelled &ldquo;D up the ice.&rdquo; Maurice came up with 15 clips and noticed an unmistakable trend. &ldquo;It was all Tyler Myers,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>The no-trade clause in the sevenyear deal Myers signed with the Sabres in 2012 doesn&rsquo;t kick in until 2016-17. There&rsquo;s no way of knowing whether Myers would have vetoed a trade to the Jets if he could&rsquo;ve, but he&rsquo;s happy where he has landed. Winnipeg knows it isn&rsquo;t a prime destination for free agents or players seeking trades, so the organization has done an outstanding job creating a family atmosphere in the dressing room. The Jets are protective of their players and treat them like gold, and it creates an environment where players feel comfortable and secure.</p><p>Much has been made of Winnipeg being the least desirable place in the league for players who can choose where to play, so the Jets have overcome that by bringing in an embarrassing number of good young prospects. It likely won&rsquo;t be enough to keep Byfuglien, who&rsquo;s a pending unrestricted free agent after this season &ndash; let&rsquo;s face it, Brent Seabrook signing an eight-year extension at $6.9 million per with the Blackhawks didn&rsquo;t help their cause one bit &ndash; so the Jets will rely more on Myers in the coming years.</p><p>If playing in Winnipeg is a hardship, however, it&rsquo;s an overrated one by Myers&rsquo; standards. He was born in Houston and lived there until he was 10, when he moved to Calgary, so the only minus-26 that bothers him was his plus-minus rating in his last full, and disastrous, season with the Sabres. &ldquo;I heard about how cold it was,&rdquo; Myers said. &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t bother me at all. I go from the couch to the rink and back to the couch. I don&rsquo;t go outside much during the season. Plus, it was 28 degrees (82 degrees Fahrenheit) here yesterday.&rdquo;</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-0143/198773-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="702" height="648"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>ARMY OF MANY</b> Myers plays a big role with the Jets but also doesn&rsquo;t have to shoulder all the defensive responsbility by himself. <span class="photo-credit">(LANCE THOMSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>In many ways, the Jets are getting more of a finished product in Myers. The bonus is the Sabres paid $21.4 million of Myers&rsquo; contract before trading him, meaning the Jets will pay him just $17.1 million for more than four years of work, though they do take on the entire $5.5-million cap hit. Having already gone through some difficult times in Buffalo has matured Myers as a player and given him an appreciation for how well things are going now in Winnipeg.</p><p>The Jets are a team on the rise, albeit one playing in arguably the NHL&rsquo;s toughest division. Their prospect list is to die for, and their current group looks promising. Even though they lost four straight games in the first round to the Anaheim Ducks last spring, the Jets led heading into the third period in each of the first three contests. Every game was entertaining and intense, with all kinds of speed and physical play. The Jets are looking to build on the success they had last season, and so is Myers. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get the sense he&rsquo;s driven by the money to play,&rdquo; Maurice said. &ldquo;I want him to enjoy his career and enjoy coming to the rink because if we can get that back, and we did last year, that&rsquo;s the key. I don&rsquo;t know what the ceiling is with this guy. I know what I thought it was when he was 18, but the biggest payoff for us is he&rsquo;s gone through these tough times, and now he&rsquo;s here.&rdquo;</p><p>Back at the restaurant, Myers is tucked away in a corner on a day when there aren&rsquo;t many people eating. Far from the autograph seekers and curious onlookers, Myers is relaxed and content, enjoying his chicken and wontons on a bed of rice with coconut sauce and a Santa Fe salad. He starts with chopsticks, but later abandons that plan and starts digging in with a fork. For a guy who looks like he should always be hungry, it takes him about 40 minutes to finish his meal. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a super slow eater,&rdquo; Myers said. &ldquo;My wife is usually done eating 20 minutes before I am.&rdquo;</p><p>Eating is just about the only thing Myers does slowly. His NHL career, now in its seventh season, has been flying by. If the Jets are going to go places, they&rsquo;ll need Myers to sometimes lead them, and he won&rsquo;t be able to do that by taking things slowly. And if the Jets go where some think they&rsquo;re capable of going, he won&rsquo;t be able to duck into restaurants and sit for 40 minutes without being noticed, either.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0016-01

FEATURES

CORRECTING COURSE

<div class="byline">BY: RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-0156/198865-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">COSTUME CHANGE This white design made the Leafs the first team to sport multiple jerseys.<span class="photo-credit">(LEAFS: HAL ROTH/HOCKEY HALL OF FAME; BRUINS: DAVE SANDFORD/HHOF IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>T</span>HE HOCKEY SWEATER, OR JERSEY, has evolved greatly in the past 100 years. As the NHL came into fruition and grew from a handful of teams to 30 modern squads, so too have the garments of battle been revolutionized. In the following pages, we take a spin through history to find out how hockey&rsquo;s tops went from being sweaters to jerseys &ndash; and where they might go from here.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-0146/198858-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="433" height="589"><figcaption class="caption-body">SWEAT IT OUT The NHL&rsquo;s first uniforms included actual &ldquo;sweaters,&rdquo; crafted to withstand frigid temperatures.</figcaption></div><h2><b>1917</b></h2><p>Hockey, as is lore, began as an outdoor sport, and you had to have a good, frozen pond to really fly out there. Originally, wool sweaters were worn thanks to the natural fiber&rsquo;s ability to keep players warm even when they got wet. When the NHL began play in 1917-18, the games were indoors, but the wool still kept players regulated. In the early days of the league, some teams, such as the Boston Bruins and Hamilton Tigers, even wore turtleneck-style sweaters on the ice.</p><p>Because of this original construction, it&rsquo;s not hard to see why hockey tops are to this day often referred to as &ldquo;sweaters,&rdquo; even though they barely resemble their forebearers.</p><p>Needless to say, logo designs were kept relatively simple back in the early days, though there were still some excellent and striking designs from a variety of leagues operating in the sport&rsquo;s pro infancy.</p><h2><b>1927-28</b></h2><p>The Toronto Maple Leafs were trailblazers when they became the first NHL team to feature two sweaters in their wardrobe &ndash; a blue version and a white one. The team had worn a white and green sweater before that, going back to their days as the St. Pats (it&rsquo;s hard to picture a green Maple Leafs crest now, but it did indeed exist for one season after Conn Smythe renamed the squad). But the dominant blue color could have caused confusion when playing the Rangers, so the second white sweater helped alleviate the problem. The New York Americans were next, trotting out a second sweater in 1932-33.</p><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0158/198851-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="1062" height="1059"><figcaption class="caption-body">THE DARK SIDE The NHL mandated colored road jerseys and white home threads early in the 1950s.<span class="photo-credit">(RED WINGS: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES; NORTH STARS: HHOF IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>1951-52</b></h2><p>While most teams had two sweaters by this time, the NHL mandated all home teams must wear white during the season, prompting the last holdout, the New York Rangers, to add a light edition to their wardrobe. Before that, the Blueshirts had lived up to their name by only wearing the one dark sweater. From an aesthetic point of view, the white home mandate ensured that fans got to see the widest array of colors possible from the visiting squads operating in the sport&rsquo;s pro infancy, though the arrangement was reversed a few seasons later.</p><h2><b>1970-71</b></h2><p>The Montreal Canadiens were the last NHL team to wear wool, as most franchises had switched to durene, a nylon/cotton blend, by this time. Durene began to take over the league in the early 1960s, and its biggest advantage was that it did not get as heavy and soggy as the natural wool sweaters. After a decade and a half of dark jerseys at home, the league again flipped its color palette in 1970-71, shifting the white sweaters to the home sides.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-0224/198844-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="249" height="345"><figcaption class="caption-body">TAKE A BREATHER Mesh nylon jerseys, known for their ventilation holes, took the market by storm in the 1970s.</figcaption></div><h2><b>MID-1970S</b></h2><p>Mesh nylon jerseys entered the market alongside durene. Aesthetically, the mesh nylon duds were a bit of a downgrade, but they certainly breathed well.</p><h2><b>LATE-1980S</b></h2><p>Knit jerseys, made of a nylon/polyester blend, came into fashion. These jerseys were more substantial than the mesh predecessors and closely resemble what is worn today.</p><h2><b>1991-92</b></h2><p>In honor of the NHL&rsquo;s 75th season, third jerseys debuted as the Original Six teams introduced throwback sweaters. Though these would not be the first &ldquo;alternates&rdquo; in NHL history &ndash; the Pittsburgh Penguins sometimes wore gold at home in the early 1980s, for example &ndash; the fact the effort was co-ordinated was unique. Teams such as Toronto, New York and Montreal didn&rsquo;t have to go far with their throwbacks, but the Red Wings went all the way back to their days as the Detroit Cougars for inspiration, while Boston&rsquo;s famed spoked-B was replaced by a block &lsquo;B&rsquo; that was originally worn in the 1930s. Chicago used a circle logo with lots of stripes, emulating the Black Hawks of the 1930s to mid-1950s.</p><p>This season also became the starting point for what, in more recent times, would become an obsession with throwback sweaters in hockey.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0140/198837-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="403" height="459"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE <b>YZERMAN</b><span class="photo-credit">(YZERMAN: BRUCE BENNETT STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES; HASEK:)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>1995-96</b></h2><p>In general, the 1990s were a wasteland for sweaters. A glut of expansion teams meant a cohort of new kids on the block were trying to distinguish themselves, and garishness was often the way to do so.</p><p>Perhaps fittingly, in 1995-96, five teams trotted out non-retro third jerseys. They ranged from acceptable (Pittsburgh) to horrendous (Anaheim) but tilted towards the latter sentiment overall.</p><p>The Penguins kept things simple with an alternate look they debuted a few years earlier, cribbing the Rangers&rsquo; diagonal lettering motif and calling it a day. The Bruins went bold gold with a realistic bear mascot that was quickly derided as the &lsquo;Pooh Bear&rsquo; sweater. Vancouver, which has somewhat of a reputation when it comes to jersey taste, trotted out a brutal red and black number that featured their primary skate logo. But it was hard to top the putrescence that emerged from California that year. Anaheim&rsquo;s entry featured mascot Wild Wing crashing upwards out of ice at the bottom of the Mighty Ducks&rsquo; sweater, while Los Angeles invented a new king&rsquo;s head logo that was accented with a bizarre scooping purple stripe on a white sweater. It would quickly become known as the &lsquo;Burger King&rsquo; jersey. Needless to say, neither California franchise stuck with the sweaters the following season.</p><p>As an even more bizarre postscript, that season also featured the introduction of the New York Islanders&rsquo; &lsquo;fish stick&rsquo; sweaters. Unfortunately, they had both home and away versions, so they couldn&rsquo;t escape them.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0223/198830-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="403" height="335"><figcaption class="caption-body">OLD IS NEW Detroit&rsquo;s Cougar jersey was one of many throwbacks that started an NHL fad in 1991-92. <span class="photo-credit">(DOMINIK HASEK)</span></figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-0315/198823-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="312" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body">DULL EDGE The sleek Reebok Edge jersey model had some flaws to fix when it debuted for 2007-08. <span class="photo-credit">(SHEA WEBER)</span></figcaption></div><h2><b>1998-99</b></h2><p>The league continued to expand, and marketing became more crucial as the NHL attempted to catch up to the other major U.S. team sports. A lockout in 1994-95 severely hurt that effort, but the NHL was bolstered by its first national TV deal in the U.S., partnering with Fox. Coincidentally or not, teams were into groupthink with their sweaters during the 1990s. Black was seen as intimidating, leading to 12 of 30 NHL teams having black sweaters &ndash; even when they had no previous history with the color. Buffalo and Calgary were perfect examples, while Phoenix and Dallas &ndash; teams that had departed Winnipeg and Minnesota, respectively &ndash; used the shade in their new palates</p><h2><b>2003-04</b></h2><p>The NHL reversed itself again, mandating that all road teams now wear white jerseys.</p><h2><b>2007-08</b></h2><p>The much-ballyhooed Reebok Edge Uniform System was introduced, promising greater wind resistance and a lighter jersey made up of technologically intimidating materials sure to blow minds. But the R&D on the sweaters turned out to be wonky, causing many problems when the players put them on for the first time &ndash; in the pre-season, with little time to correct any mistakes. Sure, the jerseys were water-resistant, but that just meant that sweat was being funnelled off sleeves and directly into players&rsquo; gloves, pooling inside. Reebok eventually removed the offending &ldquo;play-dry&rdquo; material and loosened up the fit of the sweaters, which players had complained was too snug.</p><p>Another noticeable change was that some teams, such as the Red Wings, had to move the captain&rsquo;s &lsquo;C&rsquo; and alternate&rsquo;s &lsquo;A&rsquo; from the left breast to the right, due to the construction of the jersey. But as the years went on, there was less and less talk about the uniforms themselves.</p><h2><b>2015-16</b></h2><p>Adidas won the NHL jersey contract with a long-term deal beginning in the 2017-18 season, reportedly more than doubling the $35 million the NHL earned in the previous pact with Reebok. That prompted rumors about Adidas&rsquo; trademark triple-stripe being used. But astute observers pointed out Adidas had the jersey contract for college hockey teams such as Michigan in the past, and the Wolverines sweaters never looked like track suits.</p><p>Advertisements on the jerseys were also raised as a possibility, though commissioner Gary Bettman poured water on the idea immediately, saying he would have to be brought &ldquo;kicking and screaming&rdquo; to the idea. Bettman doesn&rsquo;t want the NHL to be the first of the Big Four North American sports to dive down that hole, though he didn&rsquo;t shut the door on the World Cup of Hockey in 2016 being a petri dish for jerseys with ads on them. Adidas will produce the jerseys for that event as well.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0020-01

HISTORY OF JERSEYS (1917-PRESENT)

f0024-01

THE TOP 100

<div class="byline">BY DENIS GIBBONS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-0159/199644-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>T ONE TIME, DON EDWARDS WAS A PROUD CANADIAN,</b> thrilled to represent his country at the 1981 Canada Cup. However, its increasingly soft justice system, in his eyes, has driven the former NHL goalie to leave his homeland and try to start a new life with his family.</p><p>Born in Hamilton, Ont., Edwards has been living in Florida for the past seven years, where he has worked as the director of sales and marketing at Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Estero. He said dealing with Canada&rsquo;s legal system had a huge impact on his decision to move to the U.S. It may have put his parents&rsquo; murderer in prison for the past 24 years, but he has little faith it&rsquo;ll keep the killer there as he seeks parole for the third time. &ldquo;There are faults in the Canadian justice system,&rdquo; Edwards said. &ldquo;This individual killed two people. I anticipate we will have to go through another parole hearing. I would not wish this on anyone. There are much tougher courts in the U.S. Here, life means life.&rdquo;</p><p>On March 21, 1991, Edwards was at home getting ready to go to work at his real estate office in Buffalo, the city he&rsquo;d starred in as a goalie for the Sabres and where he won the Vezina Trophy in 1980. Just before 8:00 a.m., he received a call from his brother-in-law. Edwards&rsquo; parents had just been murdered. &ldquo;It was just shock and horror,&rdquo; Edwards said. &ldquo;We called our neighbors to ask them to keep an eye on our house. We called (my wife&rsquo;s) parents in Caledonia, Ont., because we needed them to come down and be home when the kids got off the bus from school, and we called a friend who worked for U.S. Customs and Immigration.&rdquo;</p><p>Within 20 minutes, Edwards and his wife, Tannis, were in their car headed for Canada. &ldquo;By that time there already was a lockdown at the border looking for the killer,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>About a month earlier, George Lovie had been released on bail after holding his ex-girlfriend &ndash; Edwards&rsquo; sister, Michelle &ndash; at knifepoint for more than five hours. On that fateful day in March, Lovie hid for four hours under Michelle&rsquo;s porch in Glanbrook, a suburb of Hamilton, just across the street from her parents&rsquo; house.</p><p>When Michelle came out to go to work, Lovie pointed a rifle at her. Fearing for her life, she ran across the street to her parents&rsquo; house, with Lovie on the chase, shooting at her before she entered her parents&rsquo; home. When he got there, he forced his way in then shot Don&rsquo;s mother, Donna, and stabbed his father, Arnold, five times in front of their daughter.</p><p>Lovie was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, as well as one count of attempted murder, and was sentenced to 25 years to life. He is serving his sentence at the Beaver Creek Institution in Gravenhurst, Ont.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-0149/199637-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="387" height="361"></div><p>That day still haunts the family. Edwards has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Relatives don&rsquo;t reveal their addresses, and their homes are wired with security alarms. Even now, nearly a quarter century later, Edwards and members of his family are often looking over their shoulders to see who may be following them. &ldquo;My wife, son, daughters, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles, neighbors, friends and supporters, together we share the same serious concern, that George Harding Lovie will once again devastate our lives and follow through with that next promise&hellip;the promise to kidnap and kill other family members, and possibly kill other innocent victims in a community,&rdquo; Edwards said in a victim&rsquo;s impact statement at a hearing in June. &ldquo;Nightmares, waking up in the night, finding yourself in a hot feverish sweat dreaming that you had just re-entered a caring and loving home, but instead to find a place of childhood that had been devastated with shattered glass, bullet holes throughout the kitchen door, kitchen cupboards, walls and window, pools of blood where you know our father and mother had been killed.&rdquo;</p><p>And those nightmares aren&rsquo;t over. In 2014, after serving 23 years, Lovie was granted escorted temporary absences. With the supervision of a corrections officer, he did community service work in Gravenhurst.</p><p>Then, this past April, Lovie sought permission to visit a halfway house in Sudbury. At a recent hearing, the Edwards family fought to have the request denied. They were successful &ndash; Edwards and the family managed to keep him from seeking parole to a halfway house in Peterborough a couple years ago, too &ndash; but it&rsquo;s only the beginning of what could be a lengthy battle, with another parole board hearing set for February 2016. For now, Lovie remains in prison. But as hard as Edwards has fought to keep him behind bars, he doesn&rsquo;t know how much longer he&rsquo;ll stay there. Ultimately, the family hopes Lovie will be declared a dangerous offender and never be set free. &ldquo;The incident has changed our lives entirely,&rdquo; Edwards said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been to two parole hearings. It just doesn&rsquo;t go away. It&rsquo;s always on our minds and something we have to deal with.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0038-01

FIGHT FOR LIFE

<div class="byline">BY JEREMY RUTHERFORD</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0157/199680-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NEVER SATISFIED</b> Tarasenko inherited his unrelenting drive to succeed from his father and grandfather. <span class="photo-credit">(CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="mon2.jpg" title="common" width="188" height="207"></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span>OMENTS AFTER TRADING</b> up to No. 16 overall in the 2010 draft and taking Vladimir Tarasenko, then St. Louis Blues&rsquo; director of amateur scouting Jarmo Kekalainen made his way to reporters at Staples Center. The Blues had already selected Jaden Schwartz No. 14 overall and surprised many by jumping up and double dipping in the first round. Schwartz was a tenacious, skilled forward and Tarasenko a thick-bodied goal scorer.</p><p>But one, Schwartz, was a Canadian kid who dreamt of playing in the NHL. The other, Tarasenko, had all the potential in the world, but with him living on the other side of the planet in Siberia, there were concerns about whether he would ever set foot in St. Louis. &ldquo;If his name was Walt Smith,&rdquo; Kekalainen said at the draft, &ldquo;he would have been long gone at 16.&rdquo;</p><p>The Blues, whom Tarasenko had told in broken English he too yearned to play in the NHL, weren&rsquo;t worried. And anyone who knew anything about his upbringing &ndash; from watching his father play pro to living with his grandparents &ndash; wouldn&rsquo;t have been worried either. Before he scored arguably the top goal of 2014-15 and before he signed an eight-year, $60-million contract with the Blues this summer, Tarasenko humbly learned how to play the game, vigorously approaching the hard work it took to become successful and graciously accepting the accolades once they came.</p><p>His father, Andrei, was on the road a lot, enjoying a 21-year career in the Russian Superleague, in which he won a scoring title in 1997-98. But it wasn&rsquo;t until late in Andrei&rsquo;s playing days that his son would see him play in person. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t realize a lot because I&rsquo;d never seen how he played,&rdquo; said Tarasenko, 23. &ldquo;I remember I was watching the tapes with his goals. But when he came back to Novosibirsk (in 2002) and he played in my hometown, I was at every hockey game.&rdquo;</p><p>Tarasenko recalled one particular game that had the city in a fever pitch. If Novosibirsk won, the club would be placed in the Superleague. In front of a full house, Novosibirsk triumphed 7-2 as the city celebrated its promotion to the RHL. After the game, Tarasenko remembers weaving his way to the dressing room to soak up the atmosphere. &ldquo;I just go down and tell security, &lsquo;Hey, can I come in?&rsquo; They&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;No,&rsquo; &rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Uh, my father is playing there.&rsquo; They&rsquo;re like, &lsquo;Who&rsquo;s your father?&rsquo; I say, &lsquo;Tarasenko, Andrei.&rsquo; They look at me like, &lsquo;Get out.&rsquo; I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;No, no, it&rsquo;s my father.&rsquo; But I find one guy who knows me and he&rsquo;s like, &lsquo;Let him go.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>If you were thinking Tarasenko wanted to be just like his dad, however, you&rsquo;d be wrong. His grandpa always told him he needed to be better than his parents. Tarasenko moved in with his grandfather, also named Vladimir, and grandmother, Valentina, before the age of three, following his parents&rsquo; divorce. His grandpa was the director of a local soccer school in Novosibirsk but gave up that job to spend more time with his grandson. Tarasenko played soccer but remembers the field being &ldquo;too big&rdquo; and felt there was &ldquo;too much running.&rdquo;</p><p>His grandpa took him to a rink for the first time when he was five, and he fell while taking his first steps. But Tarasenko fell in love with the speed of hockey and joined his first club. It would come with more lumps, however, as Tarasenko&rsquo;s teams early on lost games by scores of 34-2 and 19-0.</p><p>But Tarasenko, who continued going to the practice rink with his grandpa and spending hours in sub-zero temperatures, would eventually help turn those outcomes around. &ldquo;I had a point every game for like five or six years,&rdquo; Tarasenko said. &ldquo;I did not make a point one game &ndash; one game! &ndash; and my grandpa tell me, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re going to quit hockey, you&rsquo;re a bad player.&rsquo; Once in five years, no points. I tell him, &lsquo;Listen, other guys didn&rsquo;t score for like two months, and they&rsquo;re still happy.&rsquo; He told me, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re not going to be like other guys. Ten years later when other guys are going to stop playing hockey, you&rsquo;re still going to play.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>Tarasenko&rsquo;s dedication grew. And by his early teens, he was taking train trips to games by himself, some as long as twoand-a-half days. At 15, and still in school, Tarasenko began playing for Novosibirsk&rsquo;s second team. One game he scored seven goals, helping earn him an invitation the following preseason to play with the first team. That squad was coached by his father, whose playing career had already ended. Tarasenko made the roster, and at 16, playing in his first pro game, scored on his first shift.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0146/199673-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="516" height="523"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;MORE THAN ANYTHING, HE SEEMS TO BE HUMBLED BY HIS FATHER AND GRANDFATHER &ndash; Kevin Shattenkirk</blockquote><p>Speculation at the time was centering on the fact Tarasenko got his opportunity for one reason. &ldquo;Some people said my father paid for me, or I&rsquo;m on the team because of my father&hellip; this is all stupid talk,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;People, even fans, they don&rsquo;t recognize how much you need to work, how many practices you have, how much time you spend on the ice, in the gym, how hard it is.&rdquo;</p><p>As time went on, it was clear the genetics Tarasenko got from his father had more to do with it. &ldquo;His dad is one of the most skilled guys I ever saw,&rdquo; said Blues center Jori Lehtera, who was linemates with Tarasenko on Andrei&rsquo;s team in Sibir. &ldquo;We had penalty shot competitions with (Andrei), and I think he scored every time. &lsquo;Vladi&rsquo; is the same type of player. He makes some moves like nobody else.&rdquo;</p><p>Playing for his father wasn&rsquo;t easy for Tarasenko. Even if he had a good shift, his dad would often come to the son and say, &ldquo;It was good, but&hellip;&rdquo; and then bench him. There were even fights between the two on the bench. &ldquo;They were always punching each other, screaming at each other,&rdquo; Lehtera said. &ldquo;They had more like a playercoach relationship. It was different when they were home, Vladi respected his dad, but at the arena they were playercoach.&rdquo;</p><p>Tarasenko, who by then had moved back in with his dad, said he and his father have the same character and both hate losing. Never was that more evident in the younger Tarasenko than in 2011, when Tarasenko captained Russia to a gold at the world juniors in Buffalo. Trailing Canada 3-0 after two periods, Russia scored five thirdperiod goals for a 5-3 victory, the largest comeback in WJC history. Tarasenko sustained a rib injury and was helped off the ice with 4:29 left in the second period. But he returned in the third, scoring the tying goal and adding an assist on the goahead goal. &ldquo;I know what pressure means, and if you&rsquo;re captain and your team is down by three goals and you say before third period, &lsquo;Listen guys, I don&rsquo;t want to go there,&rsquo; what&rsquo;s going to happen?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to follow you if you&rsquo;re captain. You need to show them. You need to go. So we go there and win the game.&rdquo;</p><p>The next step for Tarasenko, already property of the Blues at that time, was the NHL. He played one more season in Russia before committing to North America. His arrival was delayed by the lockout in 2012-13, but in three seasons since, he has racked up 66 goals and 135 points in 179 games. Tarasenko&rsquo;s highlight-reel goal against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden last November left the hockey world in awe, as he dangled through the Rangers&rsquo; penalty killing unit and deked goalie Cam Talbot with a one-handed effort.</p><p>Fans may be in awe over Tarasenko&rsquo;s creativity, but it doesn&rsquo;t surprise his teammates. They&rsquo;re in awe of his modesty. &ldquo;More than anything, he seems to be really humbled by his father and his grandfather,&rdquo; said teammate and good friend Kevin Shattenkirk. &ldquo;Having those examples, for him, of how to act around a rink, how to respect the guys who work for the team&hellip;he had that right away. He wasn&rsquo;t a guy who we had to teach that. It goes a long way to the type of player your teammates view you as, and the type of person they view you as. For that reason, he&rsquo;s fit in well.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0040-01

BORN AND BRED TO BE A WINNER

<div class="byline">BY GEORGE RICHARDS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0157/199716-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="787" height="519"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JANA CHYTILOVA/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>O</span>N THE EVE OF TRAINING</b> camp, Jaromir Jagr saunters into a conference room at the Florida Panthers&rsquo; arena. Sipping on a Dunkin&rsquo; Donuts paper coffee cup while wearing blue workout shorts and a Panthers Tshirt with his No. 68 on the front, Jagr situates his 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame into a office chair and asks, &ldquo;What do you want to talk about?&rdquo;</p><p>With Jagr, you never know where a conversation is headed.</p><p>In this wide-ranging session, he talks about his legendary workouts as well as spending his summer on the ice in the Czech Republic before heading to Las Vegas and hanging out with the likes of LeBron James, Mike Tyson and pal Charles Barkley. &ldquo;I like those guys,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re the best.&rdquo;</p><p>With the Panthers missing the playoffs, Jagr&rsquo;s off-season &ndash; which included playing for his country on home ice at the World Championship &ndash; was way too long. &ldquo;For me, the perfect world is making the Stanley Cup final then playing two months later,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You get some rest then play again.&rdquo;</p><p>A few days into Jagr&rsquo;s first training camp in South Florida, a photo of him in what would be considered a compromising position with an 18-year-old model began circulating on the internet after first breaking in a Czech tabloid. For most public figures, this would be at least somewhat embarrassing. Jagr, however, apparently cared so much about the picture leaking he told his would-be blackmailer (for a reported $2,000 U.S.) he didn&rsquo;t care and to do what she wanted with the photos. Nothing, save for losing, seems to bother him.</p><p>Jagr, never married, has had hockey as a constant companion. On Oct. 10, at 43, he enters his 28th year of pro hockey. &ldquo;He was the No. 1 guy and still is the No. 1 guy the way people talk about him back home,&rdquo; said Martin Havlat, a fellow Czech in Florida&rsquo;s camp on a professional tryout. &ldquo;He was special and he still is. What is he, 42? Well, 45 or 42 doesn&rsquo;t matter to him. He&rsquo;s unique, let&rsquo;s just say that. Few can play at this level the way he does at his age. Basically, he&rsquo;s married to hockey.&rdquo;</p><p>Jagr, who turned pro in the Czech League when he was 16, made his NHL debut at 18 with the Penguins in 1990, three years before the Panthers played their first game. Not only has no active player been in as many NHL games as he has (1,752 including playoffs), the team he now plays for has competed in fewer games. And that&rsquo;s after he left the NHL in 2008 for a few years to play in Europe, returning to play with the Flyers in 2011.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;FEW CAN PLAY THE WAY HE DOES AT HIS AGE. BASICALLY HE IS MARRIED TO HOCKEY &ndash; Martin Havlat</blockquote><p>Jagr came to the Panthers, his eighth NHL team, before last season&rsquo;s trade deadline, and the acquisition helped them take a run at the playoffs. Florida ultimately came up short, but the team was much more exciting to watch with Jagr as he and his new linemates gave it a boost of energy.</p><p>Florida won 12 of the 20 games Jagr played as he and youngsters Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau &ndash; now a combined 42 &ndash; lit up the scoresheet. Jagr had six goals with 18 points while Barkov had seven goals and 15 points and Huberdeau six goals and 21 points. &ldquo;They have all the tools,&rdquo; Jagr said. &ldquo;I can help them with the experience, tell them how to take advantage.&rdquo;</p><p>The day after Florida played its final game of the season, the Panthers and Jagr agreed to a new one-year deal. Florida GM Dale Tallon, who helped build the Blackhawks into a perennial Stanley Cup contender and champion, knew he had something of an ageless wonder and worked quickly to keep him around a little longer.</p><p>Perhaps this next off-season will be a little shorter for Jagr and his Panthers. &ldquo;The great players love the game,&rdquo; Tallon said. &ldquo;I had the great pleasure of watching Michael Jordan practice a lot at the United Center, and that guy loved to play basketball. The great players &ndash; Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Magic Johnson, Dan Marino, John Elway &ndash; their preparation is second to none. That&rsquo;s why they are so great. That&rsquo;s what (Jagr) is. He&rsquo;s one of the great athletes of all-time.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0042-01

MARRIED TO THE GAME

<div class="byline">&#x2013; SARAH MCLELLAN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0240/199858-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="464" height="84"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0155/199851-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="625" height="456"><figcaption class="caption-body">MAX <b>DOMI</b></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span><b>HEN HE ARRIVED IN ARIZONA IN</b> August to skate alongside Coyotes players in preparation for the season, winger Max Domi didn&rsquo;t put down permanent roots.</p><p>Actually, he was still living out of a hotel in September once training camp rolled around, and he was jostling with the other up-and-comers for the attention of the coach Dave Tippett and his staff. But if the projections and early returns are any indication, Domi won&rsquo;t need to live like a nomad for long.</p><p>After wrapping an extremely successful junior career with the London Knights in the OHL, Domi seems to be equipped with all the necessary skills to transition to the Coyotes. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve taken a patient approach with our young players,&rdquo; said GM Don Maloney. &ldquo;We continue to do so, but I look at a Max Domi and say, &lsquo;He&rsquo;s physically ready, mentally ready. He has a skill set we need.&rsquo; &rdquo;</p><p>There are several prized prospects in the team&rsquo;s pipeline &ndash; the Coyotes had five players in THN&rsquo;s top 50 prospects in Future Watch 2015, and they added center Dylan Strome third overall at in June&rsquo;s draft &ndash; but Domi is the headliner.</p><p>Domi, who will turn 21 in March, didn&rsquo;t change his off-season workout routine on the brink of his first professional season, but he adjusted his mindset. Instead of focusing on simply making the team, he wanted to show he could help it win. &ldquo;There are a lot of great junior players that don&rsquo;t end up playing in the NHL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want to be one of those guys. You got to make sure you adapt on the fly. Obviously, coach Tippett has certain expectations that he holds his players to, and if you don&rsquo;t uphold that, then you&rsquo;re not going to cut it.&rdquo;</p><p>Since the Coyotes drafted Domi 12th overall in 2013, they&rsquo;ve continued to add talented players to their system. Not all of them appear ready to make for the NHL like Domi, but with that much potential brewing, the Coyotes are optimistic about their future. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s extremely exciting,&rdquo; Domi said. &ldquo;We all want to win, and we&rsquo;re all pretty confident that we&rsquo;re going to get a team together here that&rsquo;s going to bring some victories to the desert, and they deserve it. They&rsquo;ve been waiting a long time, and they&rsquo;ve got a great core group of guys here. Hopefully some young guys can step in and just help those guys out.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>LONGEST SERVING</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0327/199844-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="149" height="230"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 149px"><span class="photo-credit">(DOMI: CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES; PERRY: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES; DOAN: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES; BERGERON+ENNIS: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; GIORDANO: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>Corey Perry</b> and Ryan Getzlaf broke in at the same time a decade ago and top Anaheim in most categories. Getzlaf enjoyed a cushy lead in points and games the first four years, but Perry gained the lead and has held it since Getzlaf missed 16 games with a sprained ankle in 2009-10. Perry&rsquo;s at 722 games, 12 more than Getzlaf.</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/f0044-0422/199837-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="149" height="230"></div><p>When <b>Shane Doan</b> played in his first NHL game Oct. 7, 1995 (assisting on a Jason Doig goal), two future team leaders were still in diapers. Max Domi was seven months old and Anthony Duclair seven weeks old. In 20 years and 1,394 games with the organization, Doan has been more loyal than the team name &ndash; Winnipeg to Phoenix to Arizona</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/f0044-0518/199830-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="149" height="230"></div><p>Almost no one thought <b>Patrice Bergeron</b> would crack Boston&rsquo;s lineup as an 18-year-old second-round pick in 2003, but since the moment he stepped on the ice he&rsquo;s been the model of consistent two-way play. Now he&rsquo;s a 740-game veteran, and the Bruins need him to lead the way as they navigate something of a rebuild.</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/f0044-0615/199823-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="149" height="226"></div><p>Despite being one of the smallest players in the league, <b>Tyler Ennis</b> has proven a capable 20-goal scorer and creative playmaker in 345 games. The challenge now is to prove he&rsquo;s not just a good bad-team player and continue to contribute on a team where his offensive opportunities might be reduced because of an influx of talent.</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/f0044-0713/199816-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="149" height="230"></div><p>When <b>Mark Giordano</b> was named captain two years ago, the thinking was it was only a matter of time before he signed on for the long haul. His six-year deal doesn&rsquo;t kick in until 2016-17, but it carries through until he&rsquo;s 38. With 510 NHL games, Giordano will move into second all-time behind Jarome Iginla upon reaching 827.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0149/199809-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="464" height="84"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0238/199802-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="149" height="229"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 149px"><span class="photo-credit">(ANISIMOV: JONATHAN DANIEL/GETTY IMAGES; STAAL: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES; KEITH: MARIANNE HELM/GETTY IMAGES; MCLEOD+BENN: GERRY THOMAS/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; TYUTIN: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>He is their captain, best-known player and active games leader at 846. But how much longer will <b>Eric Staal</b> be a member of the Canes? The prototypical No. 1 center is in the final year of his contract and, with Carolina rebuilding, it almost makes too much sense for the franchise to trade its cornerstone up front before he hits free agency</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/f0045-0329/199795-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="149" height="230"></div><p><b>Duncan Keith</b> is signed through 2022-23. His 766 games to date thus make him a near shoo-in to pass Bob Murray (1,008) as the Blackhawks&rsquo; all-time leader in games for a D-man. To catch overall leader Stan Mikita (1,394), Keith must average 78.5 games over the rest of his deal. It would mean playing until he&rsquo;s 40, though.</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/f0045-0419/199788-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="149" height="230"></div><p>Raise your hand if you knew <b>Cody McLeod</b> had more games in an Avalanche uniform than Peter Forsberg. It&rsquo;s true, if you exclude Forsberg&rsquo;s one Quebec Nordiques season. McLeod&rsquo;s 549 games lead all active Avs. He&rsquo;s shown impressive longevity for a guy who plies his trade with his fists. He led the NHL with 19 fighting majors last season.</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/f0045-0514/199781-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="149" height="230"></div><p>On a team known more as a collective than for individual stars, <b>Fedor Tyutin</b> is the perfect representative. The Russian D-man kills penalties and blocks shots (often at the same time) while playing a shutdown role. He has also shown some offensive skill in his game and has been in Columbus since 2008-09, playing 492 games.</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/f0045-0613/199774-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="149" height="230"></div><p>The Trevor Daley trade made <b>Jamie Benn</b> Dallas&rsquo; longesttenured current player at 426 games. He fits the role perfectly since he&rsquo;s the Stars&rsquo; captain and the reigning Art Ross winner. Benn&rsquo;s 123-game lead over the closest Stars stalwart, Alex Goligoski, underlines how much GM Jim Nill has overhauled the roster since arriving in 2013.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0044-02

DOMI FINALLY IN THE DOG HOUSE

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MATT CARLSON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0712/199887-1-eng-US/f0045-072.jpg" title="f0045-07" width="620" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(ARTEM ANISIMOV)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>A</span>RTEM ANISIMOV HAS A HUGE</b> opportunity and a tough act to follow. The rangy, soft-spoken center is the key player the Blackhawks acquired when they sent Brandon Saad to Columbus in June.</p><p>Saad&rsquo;s passionate performances made him a hero in Chicago, but his contract demands put him on the trade block. Enter Anisimov, 27, who was surprised by the swap that sent him and stocky winger Marko Dano, 20, to Chicago.</p><p>How sure is GM Stan Bowman about Anisimov&rsquo;s upside? A day after the deal, he signed the Anisimov to an extension through 2020-21 that gives him a raise from $3.2 to $4.5 million per year. &ldquo;We definitely wanted to get a legitimate center with some size, and I look at our combination now of (captain Jonathan Toews) and Anisimov, and I feel very comfortable knowing we&rsquo;ve got a strong 1-2 punch,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a player that we have been trying to acquire for quite some time&rdquo;</p><p>In the pre-season, Anisimov&rsquo;s assignments included centering Patrick Kane and top prospect Teuvo Teravainen. Anisimov got power play time, parking his frame in front of the opponents&rsquo; net, and some 3-on-3 overtime work. &ldquo;I like him in the middle,&rdquo; said coach Joel Quenneville. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a presence there. He&rsquo;s responsible on both sides of the puck and has abilities.&rdquo;</p><p>In six full NHL seasons, Anisimov&rsquo;s top single-season marks are 22 goals and 44 points. He&rsquo;s never finished above 49.4 percent on faceoff wins. Anisimov admitted he wasn&rsquo;t exactly sure about what Quenneville expects but plans to fit in as a &ldquo;two-way forward.&rdquo; And he will be expected to leverage his 6-foot-4 frame. Last season, the Hawks&rsquo; most effective net-presence was 5-foot-11, 179-pound Andrew Shaw.</p><p>Anisimov grew up in Yaroslavl, Russia, and played for the Lokomotiv organization, whose KHL team was wiped out in a plane crash en route to its 2011-12 season opener. During the 2012-13 NHL lockout, Anisimov returned home and skated for Lokomotiv after the team was forced to withdraw from KHL play for a year. &ldquo;I went to play there and helped to rebuild the team a little bit,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A lot of young guys had no experience, and I tried to help them out. It was very emotional because I had grown up with those (perished) players.&rdquo;<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0045-07

LARGE TARGET ACQUIRED

<div class="byline">&#x2013; MICHAEL RUSSO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0153/200000-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="464" height="84"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0245/199993-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="628" height="476"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MIKAL GRANLUND)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>EVEN GM CHUCK FLETCHER SAID</b> bluntly the Wild aren&rsquo;t expecting Mikael Granlund to be an eightgoal, 40-point guy his entire career.</p><p>The uber-skilled Granlund, 23, is cemented between veteran scorers Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, so the Wild hope the pivot can finally break out this season.</p><p>It&rsquo;s been almost four years since Granlund created a stir with a lacrossestyle goal at the World Championship that ended up on a postage stamp in Finland. It&rsquo;s been years since he took the SM-liiga by storm and three since his long-awaited NHL arrival.</p><p>Now Wild fans are hoping Granlund, who has shown glimpses of greatness like his diving overtime winner against the Avalanche in the playoffs two years ago, can begin producing more than the 18 goals and 88 points he has amassed in his first 158 games. &ldquo;I do, too,&rdquo; Granlund said. &ldquo;I want to take the next step to be a better player. I feel I have still a lot of things I can improve, and I can take that next step. That&rsquo;s for myself the biggest thing. Do the work and do the things to make sure I can be more productive offensively. I have to add those things to my game.&rdquo;</p><p>Part of it is shooting more. Part of it is getting more time on the top power play unit, which will come this season. And part of it is staying healthy.</p><p>Granlund, 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, has dealt with concussions and, last year, a broken wrist that required surgery. Every time Granlund starts to get momentum, an injury pops up. &ldquo;Everyone wants to stay healthy and sometimes there&rsquo;s nothing you can do about it,&rdquo; Parise said. &ldquo;But I think a big thing for him will be that No. 1 power play unit. He&rsquo;s going to get more touches, he&rsquo;s going to get more assists and it&rsquo;s amazing what that does to the rest of your game. He&rsquo;s going to get the puck more and just for his psyche, that&rsquo;ll be really important. We know how good he is and how he can be.&rdquo;</p><p>Granlund signed a two-year &ldquo;bridge deal&rdquo; this off-season, and the hope from his end is he can show what type of player he really is so he can ultimately sign a home-run contract. &ldquo;The length he goes to in preparing himself is unbelievable,&rdquo; said goalie Niklas Backstrom. &ldquo;He wants to be great. Back in Finland, his training, his treatments, his nutrition, he really turns every stone to be a better player.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>LONGEST SERVING</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0327/199986-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="149" height="228"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 149px"><span class="photo-credit">(GRANLUND+DATSYUK+KULIKOV: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; EBERLE: RICH LAM/GETTY IMAGES; BROWN: HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES; KOIVU: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Detroit tends to keep its superstars a long time, and 887-game vet <b>Pavel Datsyuk</b> is no exception. &lsquo;The Magic Man&rsquo; still dazzles with bursts of creativity that astound those around him. He&rsquo;s had trouble staying healthy in recent years and started 2015-16 on the shelf. When he&rsquo;s in the lineup, the Red Wings are a perennial contender.</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/f0046-0424/199979-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="149" height="230"></div><p><b>Jordan Eberle&rsquo;s</b> first NHL goal was of the highlight-reel variety and came shorthanded against Calgary. It involved a toe-drag and backhand deke of Miikka Kiprusoff. Yes, it was a sign of more Eberle brilliance to come, but who could have guessed he would become the Oilers&rsquo; active leader in games fewer than four turbulent years later at 356?</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/f0046-0519/199972-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="149" height="230"></div><p>It&rsquo;s strange the man always in trade rumors has been around the longest for the Panthers. Defenseman <b>Dmitry Kulikov</b> goes into this season with three more games on his tenure (386) than goalie Roberto Luongo. With a big shot and good offensive instincts, Kulikov has done a nice job rounding out his defensive game.</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/f0046-0616/199965-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="149" height="231"></div><p><b>Dustin Brown</b> will be 37 by the time his contract expires in 2022. And if the hard-hitting winger is as durable as he&rsquo;s been for the past decade &ndash; just 15 games missed in 10 seasons &ndash; he will pass Dave Taylor as the franchise&rsquo;s leader in games at 1,111. Brown was at 802 going into this season and will get there in early 2019 if healthy</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/f0046-0714/199958-1-eng-US/f0046-072.jpg" title="f0046-07" width="149" height="225"></div><p>Finland&rsquo;s greatest hockey brothers are nothing if not loyal. Saku Koivu has the second-longest tenure as Habs captain behind Jean Beliveau, and <b>Mikko Koivu</b> is the lone permanent captain in the Wild&rsquo;s 15-season history. Mikko will beat Nick Schultz&rsquo;s franchise games mark of 743 if healthy enough to suit up 63 times in 2015-16.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0156/199951-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="464" height="84"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0244/199944-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg" title="f0047-02" width="149" height="230"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 149px"><span class="photo-credit">(PACIORETTY: MINAS PANAGIOTAKIS/GETTY IMAGES; MARKOV+GIRARDI: FRANCOIS LACASSE/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; WEBER+NIELSEN: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; ELIAS: LANCE THOMSON/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>A few years ago <b>Andrei Markov</b> wasn&rsquo;t a candidate to become the Canadiens&rsquo; longest-serving active player. He was injured too often. But the classy veteran Dman, now at 846 games, has not missed a contest due to injury in three seasons. He remains a force for Montreal, posting 50 points last season, the thirdhighest total of his career.</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/f0047-0334/199937-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="149" height="230"></div><p><b>Shea Weber</b> leads active Preds in games with the franchise at 685 and is three seasons into a 14-year deal, so no one&rsquo;s catching him. He is the top goal-scoring blueliner of his generation. Since his debut in 2005-06, his 146 goals are 13 more then the closest &ldquo;defenseman,&rdquo; Dustin Byfuglien, who spent chunks of that period at forward.</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/f0047-0430/199930-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="149" height="230"></div><p>A Devil for life, left winger <b>Patrik Elias</b> played his first full season in New Jersey in 1997-98. Since then, the classy Czech has amassed 1,224 games, won two Stanley Cups and an Olympic bronze, earned the captaincy, been stripped of the captaincy and even been felled by Hepatitis during an ill-fated KHL stint over the 2004-05 lockout.</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/f0047-0521/199923-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="149" height="231"></div><p>The Isles may be John Tavares&rsquo; team, but <b>Frans Nielsen</b> has actually played more games for the franchise with 525. The Danish center joined the squad in 2006-07 and has earned a reputation as an underrated NHLer thanks to his smarts and two-way play. Nielsen is a secondary scoring threat and a pretty good possession player.</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/f0047-0618/199916-1-eng-US/f0047-062.jpg" title="f0047-06" width="149" height="230"></div><p>Undrafted <b>Dan Girardi</b> proves hard work can forge a successful career. The steady D-man has a Blueshirts-best 651 games since joining in 2006-07. He&rsquo;s a key part of a core that also boasts Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal as longtime members. That crew helped New York to a Cup final and conference final the past two years.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0046-01

FINALLY TIME TO RUN WILD?

<div class="byline">&#x2013; PAT HICKEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0714/200029-1-eng-US/f0047-072.jpg" title="f0047-07" width="625" height="444"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(MAX PACIORETTY)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><b><span>M</span>AX PACIORETTY HAD HIS HANDS</b> full when the telephone rang earlier this month. &ldquo;I had one kid ready for bed and the other one in the bath when Marc called and told me to go to the front door,&rdquo; Pacioretty said. &ldquo;I opened the door and there was nobody there.&rdquo;</p><p>Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin and coach Michel Therrien planned to let Pacioretty know he was named captain by showing up at his home with a sweater bearing a &lsquo;C,&rsquo; but there was one glitch. &ldquo;We went to the wrong house,&rdquo; Bergevin said.</p><p>The decision to elect a captain ended what Bergevin described as a transition period that saw four players &ndash; Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov and Tomas Plekanec &ndash; wear an &lsquo;A&rsquo; as alternate captains. Bergevin and Therrien felt there was a leadership core, but they also decided no one player stood out, with the possible exception of Carey Price, who can&rsquo;t serve as a captain because he is a goaltender. &ldquo;Having four guys share the responsibility worked, but this season we felt it was time to have a captain, and the players voted for Max,&rdquo; Therrien said.</p><p>If management thought the team was ready for a captain, Pacioretty felt he was ready to assume the role. It&rsquo;s not something he would have thought earlier in his career. As a sniper who has scored 39 and 37 goals the past two seasons, Pacioretty went through streaks and slumps. He was his own worst critic and there were periods of self-doubt.</p><p>When asked why he felt he was ready to take on the captain&rsquo;s role, he offered a one-word answer: &ldquo;Maturity.&rdquo;</p><p>Pacioretty, 26, said the late Jean Beliveau taught him the qualities needed to be a leader, and Beliveau&rsquo;s widow, Elise, actively championed Pacioretty&rsquo;s candidacy. While Pacioretty is ready to lead, the question going into the season is when he will be ready to play. Pacioretty sustained a freak off-ice injury while training in Florida in July. &ldquo;I was sprinting, and I felt a tweak in my hamstring,&rdquo; Pacioretty said.</p><p>When he stopped abruptly, he heard a crack. What was widely described as a knee injury was a broken tibia just below his left kneecap. The prognosis for his recovery was 12 weeks.</p><p>When he does return, he&rsquo;ll do so as the 29th captain in Montreal Canadiens history<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0047-07

LEARNING FROM GENTLEMAN JEAN

<div class="byline">&#x2013; DAVID POLLAK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0155/200142-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="464" height="84"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0244/200135-1-eng-US/f0048-022.jpg" title="f0048-02" width="633" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(JOE THORNTON)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>A LOT NEEDS TO BE FIXED BEFORE</b> the San Jose Sharks can regain their status as legitimate NHL playoff contenders.</p><p>But there is evidence one repair job &ndash; healing last spring&rsquo;s public rift between star center Joe Thornton and GM Doug Wilson &ndash; has already occurred.</p><p>Thornton, for example, praised the moves Wilson made this summer &ndash; bringing in defenseman Paul Martin, right winger Joel Ward and goalie Martin Jones &ndash; as the Sharks try to rebound from missing the playoffs for the first time since 2003. &ldquo;I think Doug looked at our team and said, &lsquo;Hey, what do we need?&rsquo; Thornton said. &ldquo;And I think he was bang on.&rdquo;</p><p>Back in March, Thornton was far more critical. After the GM told seasonticket holders his former captain was known to lash out at teammates under stress, Thornton said his boss needed to stop lying and questioned Wilson&rsquo;s work ethic. Twenty-four hours later, both were saying fences had been mended, though outsiders were skeptical. A lengthy meeting in June on the team&rsquo;s future reportedly helped strengthen the relationship.</p><p>Thornton, 36, declined to discuss the meeting, but he repeated he and Wilson are in a good place. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re men, people can disagree,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all it comes down to. But we&rsquo;re fine.&rdquo;</p><p>Wilson also had good things to say about Thornton as camp opened. &ldquo;He played really well last year,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s come back in great shape again, and he&rsquo;s excited and ready to go.&rdquo;</p><p>Thornton did not reject the idea that San Jose was ready for a coaching change. &ldquo;Nothing against Todd (McLellan),&rdquo; Thornton said, &ldquo;but maybe it was time to get a new voice in here.&rdquo;</p><p>And he liked the hiring of Pete De-Boer, saying he heard only good things about him from former teammate Ryane Clowe, who played 56 games for DeBoer in New Jersey. &ldquo;He said he loved him, a great coach, lets you play,&rdquo; Thornton said.</p><p>The Sharks finished 12th in the Western Conference, and Thornton isn&rsquo;t yet ready to declare San Jose a serious Cup challenger. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a long ways to go,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to get through training camp, get through the first week. Day by day, we&rsquo;ll just try to get better. That should be our focus. We shouldn&rsquo;t focus on the end goal, because it&rsquo;s so far away.&rdquo;</p><h2><b>LONGEST SERVING</b></h2><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-0333/200128-1-eng-US/f0048-032.jpg" title="f0048-03" width="149" height="230"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 149px"><span class="photo-credit">(THORNTON + CROSBY: CLAUS ANDERSEN/GETTY IMAGES; PHILLIPS: JANA CHYTILOVA/FREESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES; GIROUX + MARLEAU: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; BACKES: JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>Defenseman <b>Chris Phillips</b> played only 36 games last season, the last of which in February gave him 1,179 as a Senator, one ahead of Daniel Alfredsson for the all-time franchise lead. This will almost certainly be Phillips&rsquo; last season in Ottawa and the NHL, and he will have a chance to add to his totals with spot duty on the Sens blueline.</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/f0048-0426/200121-1-eng-US/f0048-042.jpg" title="f0048-04" width="149" height="230"></div><p>It feels like yesterday Bobby Clarke strolled up to the 2006 NHL draft podium and promptly forgot <b>Claude Giroux&rsquo;s</b> name. It&rsquo;s a good thing Clarke got the words out. Giroux is now the Flyers&rsquo; captain and active games leader at 496. He&rsquo;s one of the most gifted playmakers in the NHL and helped Canada win gold at the 2015 worlds.</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/f0048-0519/200114-1-eng-US/f0048-052.jpg" title="f0048-05" width="149" height="230"></div><p>It&rsquo;s fitting <b>Sidney Crosby&rsquo;s</b> 627 games in Pittsburgh lead all current Penguins. After all, drafting &lsquo;The Kid&rsquo; first overall in 2005 turned around a floundering franchise and propelled the Pens to a Cup in 2009. With four more healthy seasons, Crosby can even pass the immortal Jaromir Jagr (806) and Mario Lemieux (915) in games.</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/f0048-0616/200107-1-eng-US/f0048-062.jpg" title="f0048-06" width="149" height="228"></div><p>Barret Jackman ranks second all-time in Blues games, but he&rsquo;s a Predator now. Captain <b>David Backes</b> becomes the elder statesman at 648 games. Backes remains a pillar in the St. Louis community, known for his tireless work rescuing stray animals. He&rsquo;s a UFA next summer, though, so his tenure with the team is in jeopardy.</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/f0048-0712/200100-1-eng-US/f0048-072.jpg" title="f0048-07" width="149" height="230"></div><p>The sad fact about <b>Patrick Marleau&rsquo;s</b> stats line is labor unrest may scupper his date with destiny. San Jose&rsquo;s leader in games with 1,329 is 36 and still needs five-and-a half seasons to reach Gordie Howe&rsquo;s NHL record of 1,767 games. NHL lockouts robbed Marleau of 116 games, which would have put Howe&rsquo;s record within reach.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0154/200093-1-eng-US/f0049-012.jpg" title="f0049-01" width="464" height="84"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0049-0245/200086-1-eng-US/f0049-022.jpg" title="f0049-02" width="149" height="230"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 149px"><span class="photo-credit">(HEDMAN: ANDRE RINGUETTE/FREESTYLE PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES; STAMKOS + SEDIN&rsquo;S: JEFF VINNICK/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; BOZAK: GRAIG ABEL/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES; OVECHKIN: RICHARD WOLOWICZ/GETTY IMAGES; LITTLE: JONATHAN KOZUB/NHLI VIA GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><p>All eyes will be on <b>Steven Stamkos</b> to see if he&rsquo;ll retain his status as Tampa&rsquo;s longestserving current player at 492 games. He enters the last year of his deal with the Lightning. Both sides have been negotiating an extension, but the longer the season goes without one being done, the greater likelihood Stamkos becomes a UFA.</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/f0049-0333/200079-1-eng-US/f0049-032.jpg" title="f0049-03" width="149" height="230"></div><p>When the 2015 off-season began, it seemed inevitable <b>Tyler Bozak</b> would be on the move. Instead, it was his best friend on the team and longtime linemate, Phil Kessel. Bozak has survived 378 games in Toronto on the strength of creativity and, despite his defensive deficiencies, will likely center one of the Leafs&rsquo; top two lines</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/f0049-0429/200072-1-eng-US/f0049-042.jpg" title="f0049-04" width="149" height="230"></div><p><b>Henrik or Daniel</b>? Which Sedin will go down as the Canucks alltime leader in games? Henrik is at 1,092, just 31 ahead of Daniel (1,061), whose 19 games missed in 2009-10 with a broken foot created the gap. We know stats are always close when it comes to the Sedins. They&rsquo;ve finished within five points of each other in nine of 14 seasons.</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/f0049-0521/200065-1-eng-US/f0049-052.jpg" title="f0049-05" width="149" height="231"></div><p>It&rsquo;s hard not to gawk at what <b>Alex Ovechkin</b> has done in D.C by 30. After 760 games he has a Calder Trophy, multiple Harts, Richards and Lindsays, numerous all-star designations, plus three World Championship golds. Being a big, fast guy with a crazy shot helps. The kooky Caps captain also got a sheep for his birthday. True story.</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/f0049-0617/200058-1-eng-US/f0049-062.jpg" title="f0049-06" width="149" height="230"></div><p>The Jets&rsquo; lineage traces to the Thrashers, not the original Jets. <b>Bryan Little&rsquo;s</b> 556 games date back to Atlanta, making him the active leader. On a team full of quotable personas, he keeps to himself and avoids social media. He&rsquo;s been a steady presence on the ice, with 24, 23 and 24 goals his past three full seasons and strong possession numbers.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0048-01

SHARK BITES TURN TO SMILES

<div class="byline">&#x2013; WAYNE GRETZKY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0050-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0050-0156/200207-1-eng-US/f0050-012.jpg"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b> &ldquo;BRUCE&rsquo;S EYE FOR IMMORTALIZING MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF THE GAME HAVE MADE HIM ONE OF THE BEST EVER BEHIND THE LENS.&rdquo;</b></blockquote><blockquote class="pullQuote"><b> &ldquo;THERE&rsquo;S A REASON WHY BRUCE HAS SHOT MORE THAN 5,000 GAMES AND BEEN AROUND FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS. HE&rsquo;S ONE OF THE BEST EVER AT WHAT HE DOES.&rdquo;</b></blockquote><p><b>&ndash; MARTIN BRODEUR</b></p><p>IN THE MID-1970S, A TINY HIGH <b>school</b> kid with cropped black hair swept to the side approached us about buying some hockey photos he&rsquo;d taken. Little did we know he&rsquo;d go on to become one of the sport&rsquo;s best shooters and that he&rsquo;d be recognized as the Albert Einstein of hockey photography, as much for his now wild gray mane as his genius behind the lens. But we&rsquo;re glad we bought those images. It was the beginning of a four-decades-long relationship that continues to this day.</p><p><i>Hockey&rsquo;s Greatest Photos</i> commemorates 246 of the best hockey photos ever taken over Bruce Bennett&rsquo;s 40-plus years chronicling the game, many of which came during his time as team photographer for the Islanders, Flyers, Rangers and Devils. Some of them are of memorable moments, while others are immortalized images of the game&rsquo;s superstars. But most are just flat-out cool photos of the world&rsquo;s greatest game (a few lucky shots are included as well). Every one of them captures something unique about the game across a wide range of emotions &ndash; from the glory of Stanley Cup victory (see pg. 50) to the agony of defeat.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0051-0147/200200-1-eng-US/f0051-012.jpg" title="f0051-01" width="218" height="158"></div><p>Hockey News PRESENTS</p><p><i>Our latest book is a tag-team effort with the Albert Einstein of hockey photographers, Bruce Bennett.</i> Hockey&rsquo;s Greatest Photos <i>features 246 of Bennett&rsquo;s best shots ever, taken over his 40-plus years chronicling the greatest game. On sale Oct. 6.</i><span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0050-01

HOCKEY’S GREATEST PHOTOS

<div class="byline">BY KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0052-0149/200250-1-eng-US/f0052-012.jpg" title="f0052-01" width="791" height="523"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NO HESITATION</b> Savage didn&rsquo;t think twice about uprooting his family to Austria to work for a hockey hothouse. <span class="photo-credit">(COURTESY OF BRIAN SAVAGE)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>F</span><b>ORMER NHLER BRIAN SAVAGE</b> has never been reticent about taking the road less travelled. After all, during the most formative years of his youth hockey career, Savage packed up his hockey equipment and didn&rsquo;t skate for two years to concentrate on golf and to play other sports. None of that prevented him from having an 11-year NHL career and making more than $16 million in the process.</p><p>So it should come as no sur prise that when Savage was presented with a unique opportunity this past summer, he didn&rsquo;t hesitate to uproot his family (his wife, Debbie, and three hockey-playing boys from Arizona) to join the Red Bull Hockey Academy in Salzburg, Austria. It actually began when the academy tried to recruit his 15-year-old son, Ryan, a bantam draft pick of the Everett Silvertips, and it mushroomed from there. Before he knew it, Savage was being offered a job and the chance to have his three sons develop their skills at an academy that offers more than any kind of hockey program in Arizona, or almost anywhere else in North America, could. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s basically a Shattuck or Notre Dame on steroids,&rdquo; Savage said. &ldquo;And it&rsquo;s brand new.&rdquo;</p><p>In a season in which top draft prospect and Arizonaborn phenom Auston Matthews shocked the world by playing his draft year in Switzerland, the hockey landscape is changing. Elite young players unwilling to slug it out for minimum wage in major junior are beginning to find there are other options available and they&rsquo;re taking them. With Savage being hired by Red Bull to do some aggressive recruiting in North America, that paradigm shift could go to another level.</p><p>Already, the Red Bull program has a pretty impressive roster of North American talent in its ranks. The oldest Savage boy is on track to possibly join the U.S. National Team Development Program next season and was a fourth-round pick in the WHL draft. Chris McQuaid (cousin of Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid) and Noah Dobson, top prospects for the 2016 QMJHL draft, are also on board. And Savage used his hometown connections to lure 6-foot-7 behemoth defenseman Nathan Lavallee, a prospect for the 2016 OHL draft, to play in Salzburg. &ldquo;His minor midget coach told me there was no way he could offer what Red Bull was offering,&rdquo; said Lavallee&rsquo;s father, Jason. &ldquo;Playing minor midget in Sudbury, he&rsquo;d be practicing three hours a week. There he can practice three hours a day.&rdquo;</p><p>The academy has been around for eight years now but has only recently stepped up its program. Much of the reason for that is a facility that opened last summer and cost $60 million to build.</p><p>The facility has two international-sized ice surfaces, two skating treadmills and five shooting areas, along with 72 dorm rooms, an organic cafeteria and a gym. There are sports psychologists and sports scientists on staff, the latter of whom take blood from the 180 players every day to read their levels. Each team has its own physiotherapist and off-ice coach, along with a dedicated skills coach. Combined with a soccer academy, it represents the dream of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who wants to build the No. 1 hockey academy in the world.</p><p>And unlike other hockey academies in North America that charge in excess of $50,000 a year to hothouse child prodi gies, the Red Bull program is free or inexpensive (around $280 per month) for any player who is good enough to play there. The costs are underwritten by the energy drink company. It does provide some branding for Red Bull, but it seems to largely be Mateschitz&rsquo;s passion that drives the program.</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0152/200243-1-eng-US/f0053-012.jpg" title="f0053-01" width="512" height="626"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SIZZLING TO SALZBURG</b> Arizona-born Carson Dimoff, left, is one of many North American prospects training at Red Bull. <span class="photo-credit">(COURTESY OF BRIAN SAVAGE)</span></figcaption></div><p>The academy is run by former NHL coach Pierre Page and has coaches from around the world. Ice time is always available and when the kids aren&rsquo;t spending their time in structured skill development, they can usually get a shinny game going. The program has teams spanning from under-8 to pro teams in Salzburg and Munich, with a heavy emphasis on the under-16, under-18 and under-20 teams. The U-16 and U-18 teams will be coming to play in tournaments in North America about once a month.</p><p>For his part, Savage&rsquo;s main job is to be the academy&rsquo;s international recruiter. He does some on-ice work with the players, but his main job will be to convince some of the best young players around the world &ndash; and their parents &ndash; that it is worth it to take a chance on the Red Bull program instead of opting for the more conventional routes through youth hockey, then junior hockey. It was that possibility that enticed Jason Lavallee, whose son was 6-foot-5 when he was 12. If he eschews major junior, he could be playing against men in the Austrian League as a teenager, the same way Matthews is playing in Switzerland. Nathan Lavallee is a raw talent who needs some work, but if he can develop his skills, who wouldn&rsquo;t be intrigued by the thought of having a 6-foot-7 defenseman? &ldquo;And that was one of the things that appealed to us,&rdquo; the elder Lavallee said. &ldquo;If he decides he would rather play NCAA instead of junior, it gives him some options for the next couple of years. It could make for a difficult decision, but that&rsquo;s not a bad thing.&rdquo;</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;IT&rsquo;S BASICALLY A SHATTUCK OR NOTRE DAME ON STERIODS. AND IT&rsquo;S BRAND NEW &ndash; Brian Savage</blockquote><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0053-0238/200236-1-eng-US/f0053-022.jpg" title="f0053-02" width="238" height="396"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(RYAN SAVAGE)</span></figcaption></div><p>It&rsquo;s not a bad thing for an elite young player to have options. As the game grows globally, so too do the choices for players. Savage finds the concept is still a tough sell on parents who fear the unknown, but he&rsquo;s only just getting started.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0052-01

RUNNING OF THE RED BULL

<div class="byline">BY CARTER BROOKS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0149/200286-1-eng-US/f0054-012.jpg" title="f0054-01" width="755" height="605"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>SHOT HEARD EVERYWHERE</b> Offense isn&rsquo;t holding Pulock back. Skating, aggressiveness and agility are areas of concern. <span class="photo-credit">(BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS)</span></figcaption></div><p>G<b>OING HOME TO EDMONTON, EH?</b> <i>That&rsquo;s awesome Griff! Good luck bud, I&rsquo;ll miss ya. Hope to see ya in the NHL soon.&rdquo;</i></p><p>That&rsquo;s a text message received by Griffin Reinhart the evening of Friday, June 26, moments after word got out he was traded on draft day from the New York Islanders to the Edmonton Oilers. It came from a person best described as a friend, a teammate, a roommate, a rival, a kindred spirit. It came from Ryan Pulock, who only saw the good in parting ways with his buddy.</p><p>Pulock viewed the trade as a great thing for Reinhart and himself. And though he can no longer call Griffin a Bridgeport teammate, he knows the swap moves both guys one step closer to making the NHL.</p><p><b>RYAN PULOCK</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0054-0235/200279-1-eng-US/f0054-022.jpg" title="f0054-02" width="120" height="112"></div><p><b>POSITION</b></p><p>Defenseman</p><p><b>AGE</b> 21</p><p><b>HEIGHT</b> 6-2</p><p><b>WEIGHT</b> 215 lbs</p><p><b>DRAFTED</b></p><p>NY Islanders,</p><p>15th in 2013</p><p>&ldquo;The move came as a surprise,&rdquo; Pulock said. &ldquo;We played against each other a fair bit in the WHL and ended up becoming friends in Bridgeport. We built a pretty good relationship. I wish him all the best in Edmonton.&rdquo;</p><p>Reinhart, 21, was traded to Edmonton for a pair of draft picks (Nos. 16 and 33) on the night of the draft. The fallout from that deal is Pulock moved one rung up the Islanders depth chart into a battle with Brian Strait for the No. 7 job on the blueline. Pulock knows there&rsquo;s work to be done before he can say he has an NHL job. &ldquo;Obviously the trade helped my chances, but at the same time it&rsquo;s not like I&rsquo;m going to get a free spot,&rdquo; Pulock said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s now one less guy I&rsquo;m battling, but by no means should I break focus.&rdquo;</p><p>Pulock, a 2013 first-rounder (15th overall), has an NHL body at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds and possesses one of the deadliest shots in hockey. There are areas he needs to improve, though.</p><p>Craig Button, TSN&rsquo;s director of scouting, said Pulock has to improve his skating and aggressiveness. &ldquo;There are some developmental aspects of a faster-paced NHL game that need to work their way into his play,&rdquo; Button said. &ldquo;We know about his booming shot, but if he shows patient play and agility, he can kick those doors down easily. He&rsquo;s not a first-round pick by accident.&rdquo;</p><p>The &ldquo;booming shot&rdquo; Button refers to is Pulock&rsquo;s trademark slapshot, which clocked in at 105 miles per hour at the skills competition of the Isles camp. &ldquo;My shot is something I use as a weapon,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>A 21-year-old possessing a shot with that velocity is almost unheard of. The NHL record, set by Zdeno Chara in 2012 is 108.8 mph. Pulock&rsquo;s father, David, credits his son&rsquo;s success to hours spent at the local arena in rural Manitoba as a child. &ldquo;We ran the kitchen at the community center,&rdquo; David Pulock said. &ldquo;It just so happened the rink was almost always unoccupied, so Ryan and his brothers would be out on that ice all day.&rdquo;</p><p>The more ice time Ryan mooched, the better the slapshot became. And other teams in the community noticed. David coached Ryan for some of those youth seasons and takes pride in how his son handled his big boomer. &ldquo;I remember the other team&rsquo;s coaches would say to me, &lsquo;Can you please tell Ryan no slapshots today? We want our goalie to last the full game this time.&rsquo; Ryan responded well. He agreed every time and held the shot back.&rdquo;</p><p>Pulock has yet to play in the NHL. After a rookie AHL season in which he had 17 goals and 29 points in 54 Bridgeport games, he&rsquo;s looking to take the next step.</p><p>Whether Pulock makes the Isles or not this season, he already has a piece of franchise history. The first goal scored at the Brooklyn Barclays Center in exhibition play last pre-season is credited to Pulock, who buried the puck in his trademark fashion.</p><p><b>17</b> Goals for Pulock last season with the AHL&rsquo;s Bridgeport Sound Tigers, dwarfing his 12 assists to produce a stat line extremely rare for a defenseman. Pulock had three seasons of double-digit goals with Brandon in the WHL.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0054-01

BOOM BOOM PULOCK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0237/200322-1-eng-US/f0055-022.jpg" title="f0055-02" width="685" height="645"></div><p>READ FEATURES FROM RYAN KENNEDY EVERY DAY AT <b><a href="http://thehockeynews.com">THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM</a></b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0055-0148/200315-1-eng-US/f0055-012.jpg" title="f0055-01" width="112" height="109"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 112px"><span class="photo-credit">(TIM SMITH/BRANDON WHEAT KINGS)</span></figcaption></div><p><b>LOST INTEREST</b> Less than a year after being tabbed as a potential first-round draft pick, Pilon is no longer playing hockey. </p><p>O<b>N PAPER, RYAN PILON&rsquo;S DRAFT PROFILE</b> didn&rsquo;t look right. The Brandon Wheat Kings defenseman had size, mobility and an offensive touch that helped him get 11 goals and 52 points in 68 games for one of the best teams in major junior. And yet, he was not considered a first-rounder for 2015. Central Scouting had him 24th among North American skaters (factor in Europeans and goalies and you&rsquo;re looking at a second-rounder), while TSN&rsquo;s Bob McKenzie was the most charitable prognosticator, ranking Pilon 55th overall.</p><p>I had the nephew of former NHLer Rich Pilon at No. 100 in Draft Preview 2015 &ndash; and part of it was to explain his riddle. Scouts were intrigued by his array of skills but also disappointed in the product. &ldquo;I almost want to decline comment,&rdquo; one scout told me at the time. &ldquo;The tools are there, but the engagement and passion are not always there.&rdquo;</p><p>A full year before his draft day, some prospect rating outlets were forecasting Pilon as a bubble first-rounder for 2015. After all, he had two WHL seasons and 125 games under his belt, and his play showed plenty of promise.</p><p>But on draft day this past June, the Twitterverse followed Pilon&rsquo;s plummet down the rankings until, eventually, the New York Islanders tabbed him in the fifth round, 147th overall. Was the 6-foot-3 two-way defenseman now considered a steal? Only time would tell.</p><p>As it turned out, that time was about three months.</p><p>Because at the beginning of Brandon&rsquo;s training camp, Pilon informed Wheat Kings GM Kelly McCrimmon he was stepping away from hockey. Still 18, Pilon had lost his passion for the game.</p><p>I reached out to Pilon through his agent, but to no avail. His (now former) teammates told me they were shocked, but at the same time they respected his decision. And I&rsquo;m on board with that.</p><p>The Wheat Kings will be gunning for a WHL crown and potentially a Memorial Cup this season. If Pilon wasn&rsquo;t fully engaged, his presence easily could have torpedoed the team&rsquo;s makeup and chemistry. You don&rsquo;t want someone on your team who doesn&rsquo;t want to be there. Interestingly enough, Pilon was originally a member of the doormat Lethbridge Hurricanes (he was taken third overall in the 2011 bantam draft) but had asked for a trade back in 2013-14 that led him to Brandon. It&rsquo;s not fair to speculate that Pilon&rsquo;s passion problem began in Lethbridge &ndash; a handful of players asked off the Canes, and they&rsquo;re still playing elsewhere &ndash; but clearly playing on a well-run Wheaties machine could not sustain his interest long-term, either.</p></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;THE TOOLS ARE THERE WITH RYAN PILON, BUT THE ENGAGEMENT AND PASSION ARE NOT ALWAYS THERE &ndash; NHL scout</blockquote><p>And that&rsquo;s fine for me. Major junior has become a big force in the sport and in Canadian culture. We Hoover up the World Junior Championship and pick through draft rankings with raccoonlike ferocity. The kids today are so well prepared and so physically mature I sometimes have to catch myself when an 18 or 19-year-old first-rounder doesn&rsquo;t make his NHL team&rsquo;s roster. Teenagers aren&rsquo;t supposed to be in The Show. The ones who make it are incredible.</p><p>Sure, it would have been nice for Pilon to realize he didn&rsquo;t want to grind through a lifetime of high-pressure hockey before the Islanders used a draft pick on him, but it was only a fifthrounder. You&rsquo;re basically taking flyers on kids at that point anyway, so GM Garth Snow just crosses off that flyer a lot quicker than usual.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0055-02

DONE WITH THE GAME

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0241/200358-1-eng-US/f0056-022.jpg" title="f0056-02" width="731" height="490"><figcaption class="caption-body"><b>NEW PHOTO COMING</b> Amerks player &lsquo;Red&rsquo; Dutton, left, and Big Bill&rsquo;s son William keep the relationship going. <span class="photo-credit">(B BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0056-0149/200351-1-eng-US/f0056-012.jpg" title="f0056-01" width="93" height="111"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 93px"><span class="photo-credit">(STRANGE BUT TRUE WITH STAN FISCHLER)</span></figcaption></div><p class="dropcap"><span>W</span><b>ILLIAM V. &lsquo;BIG BILL&rsquo; DWYER WAS THE LAST MAN YOU&rsquo;D</b> expect to save the NHL from extinction. Likewise, he was the first man you&rsquo;d want to meet for the best illegal booze during America&rsquo;s raucous Prohibition days of the Roarin&rsquo; 20s. What&rsquo;s more, Dwyer&rsquo;s gangster credentials were evident to everyone, including the six NHL owners who welcomed Big Bill to their fraternity in 1925.</p><p>According to <i>The New York Herald Tribune</i>, Dwyer was the &ldquo;biggest single figure in the underworld of bootleg finance.&rdquo; He also owned race tracks, nightclubs, a fleet of ships, trucks and warehouses for his booze. Justifiably, Big Bill was known as &lsquo;The King of Rum Row,&rsquo; and he was backed by a full-fledged gang who helped him with his fortune. &ldquo;Dwyer was awash in millions of dollars and looking to spend it,&rdquo; wrote J. Andrew Ross in his book <i>Joining The Clubs &ndash; The Business of the NHL to 1945</i>. And that&rsquo;s why the lords of hockey couldn&rsquo;t wait to welcome Dwyer to their ranks at a time when they needed him most.</p><p>In the end, it was Dwyer&rsquo;s willingness to toss part of his fortune in the direction of New York&rsquo;s first NHL team that saved the tottering eight-year-old league from extinction. Burdened with small arenas and bleeding-red franchises, the NHL needed a team in the continent&rsquo;s largest city to gain traction and expand. So what if this made-for-Hollywood sugar daddy was the Eastern Seaboard&rsquo;s answer to Chicago&rsquo;s Al Capone? Saving hockey&rsquo;s major league topped NHL president Frank Calder&rsquo;s priority list.</p><p>But Big Bill needed convincing hockey would be a hit at the 16,000-seat Madison Square Garden, then under construction. And where would he get a competitive team? Just then, a miraculous chain of events led to Dwyer finding a team for sale.</p><p>The NHL&rsquo;s first-place team and Cup favorite in 1924-25 was the money-losing Hamilton Tigers. Before the playoffs, however, the players went on strike for more money. Calder suspended them, then helped engineer the team&rsquo;s sale. For Big Bill it was petty cash: a $10,000 franchise fee plus $80,000 for the Tigers&rsquo; assets, which included Hall of Famers Billy Burch, &lsquo;Bullet&rsquo; Joe Simpson and &lsquo;Shorty&rsquo; Green.</p><p>No less pleased was &lsquo;Tex&rsquo; Rickard, the Garden&rsquo;s impresario, who needed a team to fill MSG. At last the dream of bringing major league hockey to New York was realized Dec. 15, 1925 when the Montreal Canadiens faced the newly created New York Americans. The hockey premiere was greeted with the same heraldry as the opening of the Metropolitan Opera House. Dignitaries jammed the arena, most wearing white tie and tails. Marching bands paraded impeccably across the ice, and then the Canadiens defeated the Americans 3-1.</p><p>The Boss enjoyed his team and his thriving booze business. As <i>The Herald Tribune</i> noted, &ldquo;Dwyer practically controlled the supply of imported liquor into the country from the Atlantic seaboard.&rdquo; Meanwhile, Big Bill&rsquo;s Amerks were doing so well at the gate, they inspired other U.S. entrepreneurs to buy teams. Tex Rickard urged MSG moguls to obtain a team of their own. A year later, Tex&rsquo;s Rangers were born.</p><p>Dwyer spoiled his players. As Americans defenseman &lsquo;Red&rsquo; Dutton observed, &ldquo;We loved Bill because every time we won, he&rsquo;d throw us a party.&rdquo; Unfortunately, the high living resulted in low standings. Or, as the Amerks liked to say, &ldquo;Join the Americans and laugh yourself to death.&rdquo;</p><p>But Big Bill&rsquo;s lavish parties didn&rsquo;t last forever. With the end of Prohibition in 1933, the bootlegger&rsquo;s fortune evaporated, as did many of his &ldquo;friends&rdquo; but not the loyal Dutton who had become player-coach and eventually ran the Amerks after the destitute Dwyer departed. &ldquo;Once,&rdquo; Dutton recalled, &ldquo;I had to lend Bill twenty grand when he was down in Miami Beach. He blew it all one night in a crap game.&rdquo;</p><p>By that time the NHL had become international, fortified with brand-new arenas in Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago and Detroit. From the league&rsquo;s uncertain future in the early 1920s, the league had grown strong, thanks, in part, to Big Bill the bootlegger and his starspangled skaters. Sadly, the Amerks folded in 1942, and Dwyer died just four years later, at 63.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0056-02

BOOTLEGGER’S HEROIC SAVE

<div class="byline">By Larry Humber</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0427/200408-1-eng-US/f0057-042.jpg" title="f0057-04" width="457" height="457"></div><h2><b>ANSWERS AVAILABLE IN THE NEXT ISSUE AND AT <a href="http://THN.com/XWORD">THN.com/XWORD</a></b></h2><p class="dropcap"><b><span>L</span>AST ISSUE&rsquo;S CROSSWORD SOLUTION ACROSS</b> 1. WANDERERS, 8. ARENA, 9. BLOWOUT, 10. ANGELA, 11. BROOKS, 12. SUOMI, 14. BURNS, 17. CLEANS, 19. HUNTER, 20. RANGERS, 21. LOOSE, 22. SHEA WEBER <b>DOWN</b> 2. ABLER, 3. DAWSON, 4. ROUTS, 5. SAINTS, 6. SEMENOV, 7. CANADIENS, 11. BOBBY HULL, 13. BRONCOS, 15. SWEDES, 16. LEAGUE, 17. CHARA, 18. NURSE</p><h2><b>ACROSS</b></h2><p>1 Vladimir ___ , pictured, is with St. Louis</p><p>8 Dallas&rsquo;s ___ Seguin</p><p>9 Tyler ___ is with the Kings</p><p>10 Directed the puck to a teammate</p><p>11 Jacques ___ was coach when the Habs last hoisted the Cup</p><p>12 A free ___ is no longer under contract</p><p>14 Carolina&rsquo;s team, briefly</p><p>17 ___ Eakins coached in Edmonton</p><p>19 Montreal&rsquo;s Alexei ___</p><p>20 Tape</p><p>21 Finnish-born goalie Pekka ___</p><p>22 Where 11 Down played and then coached</p><h2><b>DOWN</b></h2><p>2 Unmarked</p><p>3 One of a handful of Smiths in the Hall of Fame</p><p>4 Nashville&rsquo;s Ryan ___</p><p>5 Home of hockey&rsquo;s Silver Seven</p><p>6 Hits with one&rsquo;s stick</p><p>7 21 Across is with this team</p><p>11 &lsquo;Grapes&rsquo;</p><p>13 An infraction involving the lower body</p><p>15 Black eye</p><p>16 ___ <i>of Steel</i> ruled the 1980s hockey video game kingdom</p><p>17 Sudden-___ overtime</p><p>18 Position oneself to foil a shooter, play the ___</p><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0146/200401-1-eng-US/f0057-012.jpg" title="f0057-01" width="239" height="293"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(GUESS WHO: JIM MCISAAC/GETTY IMAGES; PITT: KMAZUR/WIREIMAGE FOR CONDE NAST MEDIA GROUP; MASK: DAVID GUNNARSSON/DAVEART.COM; JERSEY: SAM IANNAMICO/GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS)</span></figcaption></div><p>Guess <b>WHO!</b></p><p><i> &ldquo;The Pittsburgh Penguins selected me fourth overall in the 1986 draft. &rdquo;</i></p><p><i> &ldquo;I missed my shot at a Cup in 1991 when the Pens dealt me to Hartford at the deadline.&rdquo;</i></p><p><i> &ldquo;I played in one All-Star Game, and I&rsquo;m the only NHLer in history with the initials &lsquo;Z.Z.&rsquo; &rdquo;</i></p><p>Separated at <b>BIRTH</b></p><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0240/200394-1-eng-US/f0057-022.jpg" title="f0057-02" width="113" height="200"></div><p><b>DUSTIN BROWN</b> Lives in L.A. Hits D-men right on the button. Often visits sin bin. Plays for NHL&rsquo;s &lsquo;Moneypuck&rsquo; franchise.</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/f0057-0332/200387-1-eng-US/f0057-032.jpg" title="f0057-03" width="112" height="200"></div><p><b>BRAD PITT</b> Lives in L.A. Scored hit in <i>Benjamin Button.</i> Studies deadly sins in <i>Se7en</i>. Played a GM in <i>Moneyball</i>.</p><p>Email your suggestions to <b><a href="mailto:sab@thehockeynews.com">sab@thehockeynews.com</a></b></p><p>WHO AM I: ZARLEY ZALAPSKI<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p></div>

f0057-04

CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">&#x2013; RYAN KENNEDY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0057-0617/200466-1-eng-US/f0057-062.jpg" title="f0057-06" width="308" height="305"><figcaption class="caption-body">SCOTT CZARNOWCZAN <b>& JEFF HOGGAN</b></figcaption></div><p><b>GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS</b> | 2015-16</p><p>To be clear, the AHL&rsquo;s Grand Rapids Griffins had a pretty good logo and uniform already, but this latest iteration is a winner as well. Straight off the hop, that&rsquo;s an intimidating griffin. Look at the size of that thing. It will crush any other mascot that comes near the city or the arena. On top of that, the new mascot has a unique design to it. By no means a standard cartoon mascot, this look almost lends itself more to a graphic novel. Overall, the jersey has a clean design, with black replacing blue in the Red Wing affiliate&rsquo;s color scheme.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

f0057-06

Jersey HOUND

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0241/200495-1-eng-US/f0058-022.jpg" title="f0058-02" width="308" height="471"><figcaption class="caption-body"><span class="photo-credit">(CAN&rsquo;T GET ENOUGH CAMPBELL? GO TO THEHOCKEYNEWS.COM FOR DAILY UPDATES)</span></figcaption></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0058-0149/200502-1-eng-US/f0058-012.jpg" title="f0058-01" width="85" height="104"><figcaption class="caption-body" style="width: 85px"><span class="photo-credit">(TODO EWEN)</span></figcaption></div></div><div style="clear: both;"></div><p class="dropcap"><span>S</span><b>POILER ALERT: YOU WILL NOT READ</b> anything new in this column. Todd Ewen is still dead. So are Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Steve Montador. The hockey world has lost these five men in the space of a little more than four years. Given that prodigious rate, it&rsquo;s fair to assume more men will die, at the hands of their addictions or by their own hands.</p><p>How many more former players will have to die before this game does something real about the problems it faces?</p><p>Ewen is dead because he put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. His family talked of how he&rsquo;d been depressed, even if his friends and former teammates couldn&rsquo;t see that in Ewen. The police report pointed out he had mentioned committing suicide in the past. Ewen was a sick man who, by all accounts, suffered in relative silence. Depressed people rarely decide to commit suicide impulsively. It&rsquo;s something that is meticulously planned, often down to the last detail.</p><p>Was Ewen always depressed? Did he commit suicide because of the brain damage he may have suffered with the blows to the head during an 11-year NHL career that included 150 fights? Thankfully, Ewen&rsquo;s family has agreed to donate his brain to the Canadian Sports Concussion Research Project, so we may get answers. That is, if the powers in the game ever begin to acknowledge the link between repeated blows to the head and the onset of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman hasn&rsquo;t sounded convinced in the past there&rsquo;s a connection. &ldquo;(Bettman&rsquo;s) position is challengeable and it is gradually shrinking in validity,&rdquo; said Dr. Charles Tator, who heads up the CSCRP. &ldquo;Pretty well every month, there&rsquo;s another notch in the research mounting up making the connection. I think he&rsquo;ll change his mind eventually. I don&rsquo;t know whether it will be tomorrow or in a year from now, but he will change his mind because the evidence is mounting.&rdquo;</p><p>None of that will comfort Ewen&rsquo;s wife, Kelli, his children or grandchildren. None of that will comfort former teammates, some whom feel guilty they didn&rsquo;t see signs of depression in him. All we know is Ewen was depressed and killed himself. And it doesn&rsquo;t matter that we don&rsquo;t know anything more. Right now, the hockey world has to come together to give its players and former players the help some of them need.</p><blockquote class="pullQuote">&ldquo;THE HOCKEY WORLD HAS TO COME TOGETHER TO GIVE ITS PLAYERS AND FORMER PLAYERS THE HELP THEY NEED</blockquote><p>Hockey needs to get with the program. Theo Fleury knows all too well the pain Ewen endured. Because the only thing separating him from Ewen is Fleury didn&rsquo;t pull the trigger one night in Colorado in 2004. The barrel of the gun was in his mouth, his finger on the trigger. We should be listening to people like Fleury, who advocate for mental health awareness and acceptance, in the game and in society as a whole.</p><p>Fleury talked about one coach who would walk up to his stall before every game, look him in the eye and say, &ldquo;Are you f---ing ready tonight?&rdquo; &ldquo;Can you imagine if I said, &lsquo;No, coach. You know, I&rsquo;m feeling really sad tonight.&rsquo; Can you imagine the reaction? That&rsquo;s the way I felt some nights, but I had to suck it up.&rdquo;</p><p>Fleury talks about a group in Seattle called the National Alliance for Mental Illness. He says this group can do brain imaging and detect the chemicals in brains and determine whether or not they&rsquo;re working and provide an organic supplement. Fleury said he discovered through NAMI his brain is dopamine deficient and now takes a pure organic dopamine pill every day. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s changed my life,&rdquo; Fleury said. &ldquo;Big time.&rdquo;</p><p>I have no idea whether this kind of thing works, but I also know I&rsquo;ve never heard of NAMI and the work it is doing. I bet a lot of other people haven&rsquo;t either. Fleury said perhaps that&rsquo;s because the NHL, NHL Players&rsquo; Association and others might not have crossed paths with the same people he has.</p><p>The one thing I do know is it&rsquo;s time for everyone inside and outside hockey to stop expressing concern and mourning these deaths and instead do everything possible to prevent them. On the ice, it starts with banning fighting and making every head shot, deliberate or accidental, punishable with a suspension. Off the ice, it begins with removing the stigma around mental illness issues for players and addressing problems some have during and after their careers.</p><p>Men are dying. Young. Todd Ewen had so much more to give. He was a gentle soul who illustrated children&rsquo;s books and worked to improve the lot of other ex-players with his involvement in the St. Louis Blues alumni association. He was a caring father. But he couldn&rsquo;t or wouldn&rsquo;t help himself. Fleury didn&rsquo;t know Ewen but is emphatic in saying Ewen&rsquo;s death was &ldquo;completely preventable.&rdquo;</p><p>Funny, that&rsquo;s what everyone said about all the other deaths, too. It&rsquo;s time for the hockey world to stop talking and start acting.<span class="end-marker"> &#9632;</span></p>

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October 26, 2015

TAMPA’S POWER ‘D’ CREATING BUZZ

DOUBLE J’S MANY JERSEYS

Behind THE MASK

HEAVY METAL DETECTORS