An Off-Season Like No Other

The summer of discontent has slipped well into October. But, if you, for one moment, think the off-season woes that have complicated the Edmonton Oilers’ picture have also dampened their confidence, think again. Wayne Gretzky has a word of caution for the vultures circling overhead. The Oilers are still the Stanley Cup champions and therefore qualify as the team to beat in the National Hockey League. That’s how the Great Gretzky sees it, although there’s been justifiable cause for swooping down and picking the carcass clean. Consider… Randy Gregg, Kent Nilsson, Reijo Ruotsalainen and goaltender Andy Moog have all left; Mark Messier and Mike Krushelnyski didn’t settle contractual differences until the 11 th hour and, early in the new regular season, Paul Coffey remained stuck somewhere between a rock and a hard place. ‘We’re just here to…

A ‘Thumbs Up’ Sign For Devils’ Verbeek

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.-More than five years later it is still a source of embarrassment for the New Jersey Devils. With a first-round pick, eighth overall, in the 1982 entry draft, the Devils chose Rocky Trottier. On the day New Jersey, led at the draft table by Bert Marshall and Billy MacMillan, took Trottier and Ken Daneyko in the first round, they were so sure they had turned the franchise around that the selection of Pat Verbeek in the third round was a mere footnote. It is not necessary to recount Trottier’s struggle which resulted in a career of 38 NHL games and a halfdozen goals before he signed a contract this year to play in Europe. Verbeek, on the other hand, has become much more than a footnote in Devils’ history. “When he…

BC’s Ceglarski Keeps Going After 29 Years Of Coaching

Twenty-nine years of coaching haven’t diminished the enthusiasm of college hockey’s winningest coach, Len Ceglarski of Boston College. “I’m just as enthusiastic as ever,” said the 61-year-old mentor, who pas Michigan Tech’s John Maclnnes he all-time list with his 556th win last February—a 7-6 win over Harvard at the Beanpot Tournament. “When I start losing my enthusiasm, that will be it.” Ceglarski said each season has its own unique challenges. “Every year, there’s something different,” said Ceglarski, who entered htis 30th campaign with a career mark of 566-267-26 in 14 years at Clarkson and 15 at BC. “You lose a lot of kids and expect to be down but you wind up being pretty good. Or you think you’re going to be pretty good and it turns out that you aren’t very good.” He…

THE WAY WE WERE