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.

February 26, 1988

The Hockey News February 26, 1988

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01824/5438211-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Lemieux(Photo by Bruce Bennett, Photo by Don Dixon)</figcaption></div>Dave King Leads OlympiansINSIDE: Christianas Rebirth/5 Marvelous Marcel/19 Big Mac Attack/2 9 &#9632;

Cover-01

IN THIS ISSUE

THE KING OF CANADA

James Patrick, 24, (7-0-3-3) An All-American at University of North Dakota, he had two assists in Canada&rsquo;s 8-1 win over Austria. A first-round draft choice of New York Rangers, ninth overall in 1981, he has been a strong and durable NHL player. Led Ranger defensemen with 46 points at all-star break and topped all Ranger players With plus-12 rating.Craig Redmond, 22, (7-2-0-2) University of Denver standout scored winning goal in Canada&rsquo;s important 4-2 victory over Finland. Also tallied against Austria. Los Angeles took him sixth overall in 1984, but he&rsquo;s been major disappointment in the NHL. Suspended in November when he refused demotion to Kings&rsquo; New Haven farm team. Rejoined Canadian Olympic team but suffered charleyhorse and was cut at end of January. Kings gave him two weeks to reconsider joining New Haven.<h2>FORWARDS</h2>Russ Courtnall, 23, (7-1-3-4) Victoria Cougars&rsquo; center played for Canada at &lsquo;83 World Jr. Championships and then joined Olympic team. Scored goal and two assists against Norway but is remembered for hitting the goalpost on breakaway against Sweden with no score in bronze-medal game. Canada lost 2-0. Chosen by Toronto seventh overall in 1983, he had 21 goals and 44 points at all-star break.David Donnelly, 25, (7-1-2-3) University of North Dakota center started Canada on way to 8-1 victory over Austria with opening goal. Drafted by Minnesota (27th overall) in 1981, he was traded to Boston, and then Detroit. Chicago signed him as a free agent in September, 1986. Traded to Edmonton this past fall, he retired and is at University of Alberta.Patrick Flatley, 24, (7-3-3-6) University of Wisconsin right winger scored Canada&rsquo;s first goal 27 seconds into opening game against U.S. Also scored against Austria and Norway. First-round pick of New York Islanders in 1982, he has yet to realize potential. A separated right shoulder and knee injury have slowed him this year. He had nine goals at the all-star break.Dave Gagner, 23, (7-5-2-7) Brantford center was Canada&rsquo;s top goalscorer in Sarajevo with five. He had hat trick and two assists against Norway. First-round draft pick of New York Rangers (12th overall) in 1983, the 5-foot-10 forward was traded to Minnesota this season. He spent six weeks in Kalamazoo (AHL) and is now on the North Stars&rsquo; roster. He had two goals and two assists in 28 games.Vaughn Karpan, 26, (7-0-0-0) University of Manitoba left winger is only returning player on this year&rsquo;s team. In &lsquo;84, his steady defensive play helped Canada reach the medal round. A native of The Pas, Man., he led Manitoba and the Great Plains Athletic Conference in scoring with 27 goals and 22 assists in 1984-85.Darren Lowe, 28, (7-2-2-4) The University of Toronto right winger&rsquo;s backhand goal against Finland started three-goal comeback for Canada in 4-2 win. Added winner in the 8-1 triumph over Norway. Played eight games for Pittsburgh after Olympics, scoring once. Now with Muskegon of the IHL.Kirk Muller, 22, (6-3-1-4) Guelph center scored twice against Austria and once against Finland. Chosen second overall (behind Mario Lemieux) by New Jersey in 1984, he led New Jersey with 28 goals and 34 assists at all-star break. Played for Team Canada in &lsquo;87 Canada Cup.Dave Tippett, 26, (7-1-1-2) University of North Dakota center was team captain and scored against Austria. Signed by Hartford after Olympics. Had never missed NHL game. Up to the all-star break, Tippett had played in 312 consecutive games. Had 10 goals in 55 games.Carey Wilson, 25, (7-4-4-8) Helsinki center was Canada&rsquo;s top scorer in Sarajevo with eight points. Scored hat trick in victory over the U.S. Had a goal and two assists against Austria two days later. Drafted by Chicago in 1980, his rights were dealt to Calgary, where he had three solid years before Jan. 3 trade to Hartford. Had 15 goals and 27 assists at all-star break.Dan Wood, 25, (7-0-1-1) The Salt Lake right winger assisted on Carey Wilson&rsquo;s third goal in 4-2 win over U.S. An eighth-round draft choice of St. Louis in 1981, his NHL rights were sold to Quebec in June, 1984. He bounced around minor leagues between Montana (CHL), Springfield (AHL), Fredericton (AHL) and Peoria (IHL) before retiring prior to last season. Now as forestry apprentice for Ontario Hydro in Simcoe, Ont. &bull; &#9632;

Karpan Only Canadian Back For Games

<div class="byline">BY GYLE KONOTOPETZ</div>CALGARY&mdash;Do buzzards feed on popcorn and hot dogs?Not coach Terry Crisp&rsquo;s so-called buzzards, the Calgary Flames with the view from the top.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want them eating popcorn and munching on hot dogs in the press box,&rdquo; said Crisp of his designated sitters. &ldquo;I want them learning something while they&rsquo;re up there.&rdquo;Recently, the youngest Flame and the oldest Flame were getting a bird&rsquo;s eye-view, but their perspectives were worlds apart.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have to sit here and say I like it,&rdquo; said a grim-faced Lanny McDonald, 35. after sitting out his second straight game, Feb. 12 against Philadelphia.Rookie Brian Glynn, 20, who was six years old when McDonald started with the Toronto Maple Leafs, had a different perspective. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a learning experience.&rdquo;Joining McDonald and Glynn in the press box for games in Los Angeles on Feb. 7 and Philadelphia was 21-year-old left winger Gary Roberts, who has spent most of the season on the top production line with Joe Nieuwendyk and Hakan Loob.A three-game losing streak prompted the shakeup by Crisp.With Steve Bozek replacing McDonald, Colin Patterson moving into Roberts&rsquo; spot and Kevan Guy filling Glynn&rsquo;s role, the Flames won two straight against the Kings and Flyers.Bozek added speed to the fourth line with heavyweights Tim Hunter and Shane Churla.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve done everything asked of me,&rdquo; said McDonald, who met with Crisp to voice his concerns.When McDonald returned to action, Churla, who was pointless in 14 games as a Flame, was kicked upstairs.McDonald, who ranks 16th on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time goal-scoring list, with 486, will be hard pressed to become the 14th player to score 500. He had only seven goals in 49 games this season.Roberts said he was shocked when pulled from the lineup. &ldquo;My job is to prove they made a mistake in taking me out.&rdquo;Glynn admitted he played his way up to the press box.&ldquo;I lost my intensity,&rdquo; said the 6-foot-4, 225-pound native of Iserlohn, West Germany. &ldquo;I was floating around the ice.&rdquo;As Crisp requested, Glynn took mental notes, studying the play of seasoned veterans such as Calgary&rsquo;s Brad McCrimmon and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Mark Howe.The Flames are the envy of the NHL for their enormous depth at forward.With Perry Berezan on the verge of returning from a groin injury that sidelined him since Nov. 20, the Flames practised with five lines, with McDonald, Roberts and Berezan on the fifth line.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01614/5436644-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="177" height="136"></div>When Jim Peplinski left to join the Canadian Olympic team after the Flames&rsquo; Feb. 14 game in Washington,Calgary added another forward, winger Rich Chernomaz from Salt Lake City of the International League.Two more forwards are to join the Flames after the Olympics&mdash;Czechoslovakia&rsquo;s Jiri Hrdina and Canada&rsquo;s Brian Bradley.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t even bring that up,&rdquo; said Crisp. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard enough to tell two or three guys they won&rsquo;t be playing. We might have to hold a lottery to decide who plays.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk continued his assault on the Flames&rsquo; record book. His three points against Washington gave him 73, breaking Carey Wilson&rsquo;s rookie mark of 72 points in 1984-85&hellip;Goalie Mike Vernon set a personal record with 10 consecutive starts&hellip;After Jim Peplinski learned Feb. 1 he would join the Canadian Olympic team, he failed to register a point in six games before leaving the club.<h2>FLAMES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 14: Jim Peplinski, LW, loaned to Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team. Rich Chernomaz, RW, recalled up from Salt Lake City (IHL).<h2>ROSTER</h2>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Bullard, Joel Otto, Steve Bozek, Lanny McDonald.LW&mdash;Colin Patterson, John Tonelli, Gary Roberts, Tim Hunter, Rich Chernomaz.RW&mdash;Hakan Loob, Joe Mullen, Brett Hull, Shane Churla.LD&mdash;Gary Suter, Kevan Guy, Dana Murzyn, Brian Glynn.RD&mdash;Brad McCrimmon, Al Maclnnis, Ric Nattress.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Doug. Dadswell.<h2>INJURIES</h2>Perry Berezan, C, groin pull, indefinite.Jamie Macoun, D, nerve damage in arm and shoulder, indefinite.Paul Reinhart, D, back spasms, indefinite. &#9632;

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Flames ‘Buzzards’ Not Keen On New Nest

<div class="byline">BY CLAUDE SCILLEY</div>As if a 16-3-1 record isn&rsquo;t good enough, the Trois-Rivieres Patriotes are expected be an improved team next year.&ldquo;We want to be just a little bigger next year,&rdquo; said Patriotes&rsquo; coach Danny Dube, whose team was on a 10-game (9-0-1) Ontario Universities unbeaten streak. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re rebuilding the team. We need some toughness, especially on the road.&rdquo;Playing at the eastern extreme of the conference, Dube said frequent two-game, two-day road trips make it crucial the team have depth.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have time to take a rest between two games. You have 18 hours. It&rsquo;s really tough. We have to have 24, 25 guys. If you don&rsquo;t have that, it&rsquo;s impossible to win a game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02353/5437096-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="570" height="139"></div>&ldquo;We need two years, I think, to rebuild the team and, after that, hope for the best.&rdquo;Some observers believed Trois Rivieres might be in trouble this year. Fourteen players graduated from the 1987 national championship team.The Patriotes won their first five games this season, all against sub-.500 clubs, then lost three of five, including both games they played against ranked teams.They&rsquo;d been almost perfect since.The only blemish was a 4-4 tie with Western.The Patriotes have been successful the old-fashioned way&mdash;with the third-best defense in the country. And though they are the highest-scoring team in Ontario, the Patriotes don&rsquo;t have a man among the league&rsquo;s top 20 scorers.Leading the scorers was freshman Jean Bois, with 29 points through the team&rsquo;s first 18 games.<h2>TORONTO BLUES</h2>It has been a trying year at Toronto. Traditionally a national power, success for the Blues this year has been expressed in terms of a relationship with .500.Certainly there were problems Feb. 5 and 6, when the Blues were beaten twice at home&mdash;6-3 by Royal Military College and 8-3 by Queen&rsquo;s. The two Kingston schools went into the weekend with six wins combined.The win for RMC snapped a 14-game winless streak and, according to incomplete records at the college, was the first by an RMC team over Toronto since the schools began playing in 1906. A crowd of about 2,000 watched the game, from which proceeds went to hemophilia research.<h2>WILD-CARD CENTRAL</h2>It looks as if the wild-card team in the OUAA&rsquo;s new playoff format will come from the Central Division.Four teams from each of the three divisions enter the playoffs. The three division champions earn berths in a final-four tournament to be staged by the Central Division champion.The fourth team will be the division finalist with the best record in regularseason inter-divisional play. With two weeks left in the schedule, Waterloo and York were both 8-0-1 outside the Central Division, for a .944 winning percentage. Western, another Central team, and Trois-Rivieres, an East Division team, were next at .813.Wilfrid Laurier, a Central team that still did not have a playoff spot clinched, had an inter-divisional-play percentage of .777. The best inter-divisional record of the West Division teams was Windsor&rsquo;s .500.&bull; &#9632;

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The Colleges

Patriotes Look To Improve By Adding Size, Toughness

As the March 8 trade deadline approaches, our thoughts turn to that special fraternity of players who are regular members of the NHL&rsquo;s swap shop. They are the players who&rsquo;ve been traded more than once during their careers. Of those, the most prominent is Brent Ashton of the Detroit Red Wings.Ashton has hopscotched around the league. He&rsquo;s been traded by Vancouver, Winnipeg, New Jersey, Minnesota and Quebec. The Red Wings acquired him last year.We&rsquo;ll also look at early action from the Olympic Games. The USA and Canada have both iced medal-contending teams, and early results will have a major bearing on whether they live up to their potential.You&rsquo;ll also get our crack minor pro coverage, college and junior reports in the March 4 edition of THE HOCKEY NEWS. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011351/5435364-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Hartford players picked Washington&rsquo;s Dale Hunter as one of the NHL&rsquo;s worst cheapshot artists. Paul Gillis and Ken Linseman were also named.</figcaption></div>One of pro hockey&rsquo;s most successful coaches ever tells BLUELINES that he&rsquo;s not interested in an NHL spot. The Adirondack Red Wings&rsquo; Bill Dineen, who recently recorded his 500th career pro coaching win, does not want to leave his Glens Falls, N.Y. digs for the bigs.&rdquo;I&rsquo;m quite happy where I am,&rdquo; says Dineen. Bill&rsquo;s boss, Jimmy Devella-no, reveals that he considered hiring Dineen to replace Brad Park two years ago. &ldquo;Bill is an NHL-calibre coach,&rdquo; Jimmy D tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;and I could have moved him into Detroit. But I said to him, &lsquo;Bill, you&rsquo;ve raised a nice family; you&rsquo;ve got two boys (Kevin of Hartford, Gord of the Islanders) in the NHL. What do you need all the pressure for at your age (55)?&rsquo; I told him I&rsquo;d rather he stayed in Adirondack and he agreed.&rdquo;<h2>LOWE DIDN&rsquo;T DATE JONES</h2>Kevin Lowe denies a USA Today report that he once dated Janet Jones, teammate Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s fiancee. &ldquo;The real story,&rdquo; Lowe tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;is that when Wayne first met Janet, he liked her so much that he wanted me to meet her.&rdquo; Gretzky and Lowe have been close friends for almost a decade, and Lowe is a member of the Gretzky-Jones wedding party&hellip;Gretzky allows that the best advice he ever received came from the Rangers&rsquo; Marcel Dionne. &ldquo;He once told me, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re a hockey player, and don&rsquo;t try to be anything else. When you&rsquo;re done playing hockey, then get into something else. Take your money, put it in the bank. Don&rsquo;t try to be a real estate guy or a stockbroker. &lsquo;Now I give that advice to the young guys.&rdquo;&hellip;As part of the Kings&rsquo; swing in leadership from Jerry Buss to Bruce McNall, L.A. insiders expect a similar move in the dressing room, with the captaincy being switched next season from veteran Dave Taylor to young Jimmy Carson.<h2>EX-OLYMPIC COACH HAS TIPS</h2>Some insiders found the rumor amusing that Blues&rsquo; president Jack Quinn allegedy was the conduit in offering Scotty Bowman the St. Louis GM spot. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s ironic,&rdquo; chortles one NHL insider. &ldquo;At this point, Scotty wouldn&rsquo;t want to be GM, he&rsquo;d want what Quinn has&mdash;the presidency of the team!&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Having completed his second year coaching in Italy, 1984 U.S. Olympic coach Lou Vairo is convinced the NHL should follow the Europeans&rsquo; lead. &ldquo;The NHL should enlarge its rinks to international standards,&rdquo; says Vairo, a one-time Devils&rsquo; aide. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re getting more injuries in the NHL because of the smaller rink and bigger players. To compensate for lost seating, raise the prices on all seats.&rdquo; Vairo suggests that the NHL form &ldquo;two to four teams of specialists&rdquo; who would work with junior leagues, high schools, colleges and the minor pros. &ldquo;A few names come to mind,&rdquo; adds Vairo, &ldquo;like Stan Mikita, Ken Dryden and Sam Pollock.&rdquo;<h2>FOR HEAVY SHOTS&hellip;</h2>The Schenectady (N.Y.) Youth Hockey Association has been the spawning ice for a new training tool called &ldquo;The Slider.&rdquo; Designed and manufactured by Tom Kryzak, it&rsquo;s a 2.5-pound, regulation-size puck used to develop upper body strength. Mike DeRossi Sports in Albany has begun marketing &ldquo;The Slider,&rdquo; which is being used by RPI and several hockey schools&hellip;Friendly rivals Bill Torrey and Cliff Fletcher note they&rsquo;re both celebrating their 15th seasons in the NHL, Torrey with the Islanders and Fletcher with the Flames. &ldquo;Torrey,&rdquo; kids Fletcher, &ldquo;is much richer and much older than I am.&rdquo; To which Bowtie Bill squelches: &ldquo;Cliff is half-right; I am older, but not much.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Now that the football Cardinals have exited St. Louis, the Blues expect to benefit in the future to the tune of 2,000 to 3,000 fans more per game&hellip;Despite the accident that sidelined him early this season, Larry Robinson won&rsquo;t shy away from polo. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be starting my fourth year with the Montreal Polo Club,&rdquo; Robinson says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been riding horses since I was a youngster growing up on a farm.&rdquo;<h2>TOP CHEAP-SHOT ARTISTS</h2>Who are the NHL&rsquo;s worst cheap-shot artists? The Hartford Couranfs&nbsp;Jeff Jacobs polled some Whalers and produced three bad guys&mdash;Paul Gillis, Dale Hunter and Ken Linseman. Dishonorable mention went to Esa Tikkanen, Keith Acton, Laurie Boschman and Chris Chelios&hellip;After watching some sharpshooters crank up 100 mph slapshots, Wayne Cashman recalls the time when Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull was terrorizing the NHL, and Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston shared the Bruins&rsquo; goaltending. &ldquo;Before a game with Chicago, E.J. knew Cheesie was going to start in goal, so he pulled him aside and warned him that when Hull comes down the left side to come out and challenge him, way out and cut down the angle,&rdquo; Cash recalls. &ldquo;Midway in the game, Hull breaks free&mdash;only Cheesie doesn&rsquo;t move from the crease. The shot was just a bomb, incredibly hard and terrifying. It knocks Cheesie down and everyone figures he&rsquo;s out of the game. E.J. skates out from the bench and, talkin&rsquo; a mile-a-minute, tells Cheesie: &lsquo;I told ya to come way out. Just for that. I&rsquo;m not goin&rsquo; in the net for ya.&rsquo; And E.J. skated right back to the bench.&rdquo; (See page 51 for more on Hull and his slapshot.)<h2>HABS&rsquo; SMITH GOOFS UP</h2>The normally dignified Bobby Smith slipped out of character during a rousing Bruin-Canadien game. He had his back to an infraction called by ref Kerry Fraser and mistakenly believed that the penalty was against him. Upset, Bobby re-enacted a &ldquo;dive&rdquo; and skated to the penalty box although Fraser had whistled off Stephane Richer. When the penalty timekeeper asked the official about Smith being in the box, the ref snapped: &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t going to get a penalty, but he is now!&rdquo; Whereupon Fraser slapped Bobby with a 10-minute misconduct for his histrionics&hellip;The Sabres are reportedly interested in Edmonton&rsquo;s Kelly Buchberger&hellip;Why do Buffalo players like their coach? &ldquo;You can talk to Ted (Sator),&rdquo; explains Phil Housley&hellip;In Montreal, former Hab-turned-broadcaster Mario Tremblay is called &ldquo;The French Don Cherry.&rdquo; However, Tremblay tells BLUELINES, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t have as much punch as Cherry.&rdquo; Tremblay, who just inked a two-year commercial deal with Ford-Mercury, says he tries to be &ldquo;positive and objective&rdquo; when dealing with his former teammates. Tremblay says that he does not want to become a coach. &ldquo;I had enough pressure for 12 years as a player,&rdquo; he explains.<h2>FEDERKO CALMS WITH AGE</h2>NHL officials have detected a new calm coming over veteran Bernie Federko, who once was loathed by refs for his constant whining&hellip;Huntsville, Alabama, has dubbed itself &ldquo;The Hockey Capital of the South. &ldquo;The monicker became legitimate when the University of Alabama at Huntsville developed the only major college hockey program south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Playing NCAA Division I games, the Chargers average 3,800 fans per match at the Von Braun Civic Center rink. Travel is as much a problem for the Dixie skaters as it is for the L.A. Kings. On one two-week road trip, they were in Alaska, Colorado and Minnesota&hellip;Devils&rsquo; VP Max McNab rates Paul Coffey as a faster skater than Hall-of-Famer Bobby Orr. &ldquo;Coffey is the quickest-skating defenseman,&rdquo; McNab tells BLUELINES. &ldquo;On was a magnificent skater but, because of his great stickhandling and dekes, Bobby didn&rsquo;t need speed like Paul. When you look at Coffey&rsquo;s goal production, you have to chalk it up to his sheer blinding speed.&rdquo; Comparing Coffey to Norris Trophy-winner Ray Bourque, McNab notes, &ldquo;Bourque has both speed and strength and Ray can play a long time in a tough game. He&rsquo;ll still have speed late in the game. Bourque combines speed and strength as well as anyone.&rdquo;<h2>NIEUWENDYK&rsquo;S BODYGUARD?</h2>After Ron Hextail high-sticked Greg Adams of the Capitals in the face, Cap coach Bryan Murray declined to send a tape of the incident to the NHL. &ldquo;Of course it&rsquo;s serious,&rdquo; says Murray, &ldquo;but it is every night. It&rsquo;safarce. Nothing&rsquo;s going to be done.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The thinking among some Flames-watchers is that toughie Shane Churla will have to distract the foes more and more away from Joe Nieuwendyk, now that the Calgary sniper has become a checking target around the league&hellip;Bruin GM Harry Sinden chuckles when he&rsquo;s reminded that his club is regarded as one of the &ldquo;surprise teams of the NHL. &ldquo;Sinden tells BLUELINES: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been that way for the past 20 years. But actually there is a reason (for the surprise) and it has to do with our quick playoff exit last spring. When something like that happens, it puts us in low standing when people start making predictions for the new season. Another reason is that we&rsquo;re not flashy like some of the other teams.&rdquo; Bruin attendance is up and the club once again has pulled even with the NBA Celtics in fan attention in Beantown&hellip;Ranger GM Phil Esposito is expected to make an energetic attempt to retrieve the first-round pick he lost in obtaining coach Michel Bergeron last year. &#9632;

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Departments

Happy Down On Farm

MORE PREDICTABLE THAN Loch Ness but several times as frightening, the dragon reappears in February of the leap year.It comes out of its cave chanting &ldquo;USA! USA!&rdquo; It knows about as much about ice hockey as it does about field hockey. But it breathes fire if somebody it never heard of like Dave Peterson doesn&rsquo;t give it a winner.When Lou Vairo did not fulfill that minimum requirement in 1984, it devoured him and his dream of being a head coach in the NHL. Even the man who inadvertently gave birth to the dragon in 1980, Herb Brooks, was frightened to death of it breathing down his neck for the rest of his life.&ldquo;Hey, it was a one-shot deal,&rdquo; Herbie would say. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not asking to play the Russians again.&rdquo;Just in case the dragon was not leashed by the seventh-place finish in Sarajevo, Peterson, the U.S. coach, has jousted with it at arms length for eight months.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s very little we can do about the public&rsquo;s and media&rsquo;s expectations,&rdquo; he would say. &ldquo;We have a realistic shot at the medal round. We&rsquo;ll be disappointed if we don&rsquo;t get that. Anything after that will be gravy.&rdquo;This seemed only fair, about the same as the American chances. Peterson, a retired school teacher with no agent and no desire for an NHL career, appeared to be the right guy for this job. He had kept his team&rsquo;s head at non-toxic levels and seemed understanding of America&rsquo;s reach-for-the-sky ambitions.At least he did until about 15 minutes following the U.S. team&rsquo;s final tuneup game in Denver. That was when a generic question about his team&rsquo;s chances brought a recitation from Peterson that included every team in the tournament being considered a medal threat.When somebody gently giggled that those Frenchmen&mdash;and not the Canadian kind, either&mdash;might not quite rate the respect Peterson&rsquo;s all-inclusive preview gave them, the coach launched into a lecture.&ldquo;If any of you have ever been to a world championship, and seen France play, then you have a right to an opinion,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you want to voice that opinion after you see a team play in Calgary, then that&rsquo;s your right. But not before.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen any (American) scribe at the World Championships. Don&rsquo;t tell me your bosses won&rsquo;t let you go. If the baseball championships were in Japan, you&rsquo;d go.&ldquo;Every four years, everybody gets on the bandwagon. It bothers me. You don&rsquo;t understand that hockey is played around the world every year, not just every four years in the Olympics.&rdquo;Peterson stopped just short of giving us all detentions and sending us home with notes to our sports editors.His logic was flawed. He seemed to overlook the unlikelihood of reporters flocking to the Land of the Midnight Sun for an amateur championship during the World Series. The conflict with the Stanley Cup playoffs is one excellent reason why the flower of the American puck press spends its Aprils domestically.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011374/5435395-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="363" height="460"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption></div>But you can understand where Peterson is coming from. This columnist, who generally walks a pro beat, admits to feeling a little put out every four years, too. It bothers him that a professional U.S. Canada Cup team with far more talent than any Olympic amateur collection, playing in a tournament that is superior to the Olympic one, gets almost no American press attention. And yet the Olympic team brings them out of the woodwork from Tuscaloosa to Tallahasee, rooting for the red, white and blue.But that is the nature of the dragon. The Olympics have gotten so big, they bring out the beast in many of us. Sometimes it makes us swallow our young.Arguably, those silly expectations of a repeat of the 1980 miracle contributed to that tight, flat, opening loss to Canada in Sarajevo. That loss started the U.S. team on its way to doom. Inarguably, the reaction from the quadrennial hockey fans, both in the media and on the street, was misguided at best. And disgraceful at worst.&ldquo;I never bought the belief that we caved in from the expectations,&rdquo; said Peterson, who was an assistant to Vairo in 1984. &ldquo;We were a good team that lost a tough game to Canada, then another tough one to Czechoslovakia and that killed the medal chances right off the bat.&ldquo;It just didn&rsquo;t work out. Everyone was looking for that one magic thing that was wrong. I don&rsquo;t think there was one.&rdquo;The only thing really wrong was the reaction to nothing being wrong. The same flag that was to have been draped over these kids, was used to tie a tourniquet around their throats.The pros confuse our emotions and values far less. They aren&rsquo;t paid to play, they&rsquo;re paid to win. And it&rsquo;s understood that they will lose their jobs if they don&rsquo;t.In a lot of ways it&rsquo;s a much more pure outlet for our desires to root for the home team than hanging a bald eagle around some 20-year-old&rsquo;s neck and telling him to &ldquo;Bring Home the Gold.&rdquo;This is a hockey tournament. Nothing more and nothing less. Corey Millen, who played in Sarajevo, says the scars from the experience of four years ago are exaggerated. But six days before the U.S. opener with Austria, Millen was asked what he would tell the American public about his team&rsquo;s aspirations. A little wound reopened.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just going to do the best we can,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The real hockey people know what we&rsquo;re up against. We&rsquo;ve worked very hard. And no matter what happens, we won&rsquo;t have any reason to be embarrassed.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Jay Greenberg

Don’t Use Flag To Strangle Young Players

<div class="byline">BY RAY PARRILLO</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031076/5435426-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="590" height="1094"><figcaption class="caption-body">Murray Craven connected for three goals in a loss to the Maple Leafs.</figcaption></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The Philadelphia Flyers were reminded how perilous is their hold on the Patrick Division crown, two games after the all-star break.Certainly, the Flyers made a sensational rise to the top following their dreadful 6-13-3 start.But two mid-February losses left them with 62 points, just three ahead of the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, who were locked in battle for the last two playoff spots in the division. Second-place Washington, with 60 points, further crowded the picture.That was bad news for Philadelphia, a team that practically has to go into hard labor for every goal it scores.&ldquo;We just have a tough time finding the net,&rdquo; left winger Murray Craven admitted.The Flyers played back-to-back games against Calgary and Toronto on Feb. 12-13 and lost both of them even though they amassed a stunning 89 shots on goal.Despite all those shots, including a season-high 53 against Toronto in Maple Leaf Gardens, the Flyers managed only six goals in the two games. And three of those were scored by Craven against the Leafs, for the first hat trick of the season by a Flyer.To underline how desperate the Flyers are in their search for more goals as they await the return of Tim Kerr (who has been out all season while his shoulder mends) it wasn&rsquo;t until Feb. 12 that they finally produced a 20-goal scorer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021264/5435433-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="176" height="134"></div>Brian Propp scored his 20th in a 3-2 loss to the Flames. Propp also assisted on a Peter Zezel goal for his 50th point. Up to then, the Flyers were the only team in the league without a player who had at least 20 goals or 50 points.Without Kerr, the Flyers were 40 goals behind last year&rsquo;s pace after 56 games.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t had anyone pick up the slack for Timmy,&rdquo; captain Dave Poulin said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s keeping us aware of how important good defense is.&rdquo;The Flyers made an effort to generate more offense from the blue line by acquiring veteran defenseman Gordie Roberts from Minnesota for a fourth-round draft choice either this year or in 1989.Roberts has seen better offensive seasons. This year, he had a goal and 10 assists in 48 games as a North Star.The Flyers hoped Roberts, 30, would be rejuvenated by his move to a Stanley Cup contender and give them another puck-moving defenseman to complement Mark Howe.Flyer coach Mike Keenan immediately gave Roberts a steady shift and was encouraged by his play.&ldquo;He has good offensive skills and we have to find a way to utilize them,&rdquo; Keenan said of Roberts, who assisted on one of Craven&rsquo;s goals against Toronto and helped create some other scoring chances. &ldquo;So far I think he&rsquo;s played pretty well.&rdquo;Keenan has also tried a myriad of line combinations to get the offense going, including an all-center combo of Poulin, Zezel and Ron Sutter.&ldquo;When things aren&rsquo;t working for you offensively, you have to try different combinations,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it, any team that loses a 50-goal scorer such as Tim Kerr is going to feel it. But the reality is we haven&rsquo;t had him.&rdquo;In the meantime, the Flyers were prepared to keep grinding it out and hope goalie Ron Hextall could continue to carry them on his lean shoulders.NOTES&mdash;Gordie Roberts, who was named after Gordie Howe, assisted on the final goal of Howe&rsquo;s career, when both played for the Hartford Whalers. Howe&rsquo;s son Mark, the Flyer star, also played for the Whalers that 1979-80 season&hellip;Murray Craven&rsquo;s hat trick was the first for a Flyer at Maple Leaf Gardens in 19 years. Andre Lacroix had one on Oct. 22, 1969&hellip;Since Mike Keenan became coach four years ago, the Flyers had never lost more than nine home games in a season. They&rsquo;d already lost 11&hellip;Ron Hextall had started all but five games (43 of 48) since returning from his eight-game suspension at the start of the season. His goals-against average dropped from a high of 4.04 on Nov. 21 to 3.22.&bull;<h2>FLYERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 9: Gordie Roberts, D, acquired from Minnesota for a fourth-round draft choice in 1988 or 1989, at the option of the Flyers.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dave Poulin, Pelle Eklund, Ron Sutter, Peter Zezel.LW&mdash;Brian Propp, Murray Craven, Derrick Smith, Paul Lawless, Craig Berube, Nick Fotiu.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Scott Mellanby, llkka Sinisalo.LD&mdash;Mark Howe, Brad Marsh, Doug Crossman, Gordie Roberts.RD&mdash;Kjell Samuelsson, Greg Smyth, J.J. Daigneault, Bill Root.G&mdash;Ron Hextall, Mark Laforest.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kerry Huffman, D, calcium buildup in left leg, indefinite.Tim Kerr, RW, shoulder surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

f0004-03

Fivers Have Tenuous Hold On Patrick Title

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>LANDOVER&mdash;It&rsquo;s been eight years since Dave Christian was a gold-medal Olympic hockey hero, but he&rsquo;s still scoring goals for the Stars and Stripes.The veteran Washington Capital right winger has been hot in 1988, scoring 13 times in 20 games since the calendar turned. Christian ran his season total to 29, matching his secondbest campaign in the NHL. More importantly, he was a key figure in the Capitals&rsquo; turnabout from a team bordering on playoff elimination to one challenging for the Patrick Division lead.The Capitals rebounded from three straight defeats before the all-star break, running off three victories in four nights against the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Calgary Flames to move within two points of first-place Philadelphia.A key to the resurgence was the superb performance of the international line of Christian, Bengt Gustafsson(Sweden) and Michal Pivonka (Czechoslovakia). Christian collected three goals and Pivonka two during the three-game burst that marked an offensive renaissance for the Capitals. They rolled up 16 goals in the three contests, after managing only five in the previous four games.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;&hellip;I feel pretty good about my season.&rsquo; &mdash;Christian</blockquote>&ldquo;That line has played very well, with a lot of creative plays,&rdquo; said coach Bryan Murray. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve gotten a number of chances, they&rsquo;ve scored a few goals, and they seem to be building confidence in each other.&rdquo;Certainly, Christian was displaying the confidence of two years ago, when he rolled up a career-high 41 goals, rather than the tentative play of last season, when he slumped to 23.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011256/5435464-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="178" height="134"></div>It was suggested that Christian&rsquo;s problems last year centered around Gustafsson&rsquo;s decision to remain in Sweden, after their excellent partnership the year before. But Murray, trying to wake up a struggling team, used every line combination imaginable earlier this season&mdash;and it was only after the break that he put Christian and Gustafsson back together, after a lengthy separation.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t been playing with Gus, but I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s made that much of a difference,&rdquo; Christian said. &ldquo;Dale Hunter and Mike Ridley make good passes and handle the puck well, and I&rsquo;ve been able to work well with them, too.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve scored all season and I feel pretty good about my season. The season gets long and you do find yourself having ups and downs. You just try to keep them close together, to keep things as even as you can.Murray&rsquo;s only concern was with the consistency of Christian&rsquo;s performance.&ldquo;David is shooting the puck very well,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s had some consistent periods, but not long-term, and some games he&rsquo;s had trouble being there, as far as his play along the boards and his strength.&ldquo;It takes a guy like David playing well for our team to be successful. There&rsquo;s never been any question about his ability to score and check. It&rsquo;s just not been there every night and a lot of it goes hand-in-hand with team performance.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Scott Stevens recorded his 300th NHL point in a 6-2 victory over the Islanders. Stevens was on the ice for all six Washington goals, none by New York&hellip;Mike Gartner&rsquo;s overtime goal in a 5-4 triumph over Calgary was his 35th, a figure he has reached in all nine of his NHL campaigns&hellip;As part of the Last Wish program, a 12-year-old boy with three months to live was brought in to watch the Capitals play the Islanders, and to meet his hero, Larry Murphy&hellip;Grant Ledyard, obtained from Los Angeles as defensive insurance, found himself thrown into action when Rod Langway suffered a pulled thigh muscle. He responded with two strong performances.<h2>CAPITALS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 9: Craig Laughlin, RW, traded to Los Angeles for Grant Ledyard, D.Feb. 10: Bill Houlder, D, assigned to Fort Wayne (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bengt Gustafsson, Mike Ridley, Peter Sundstrom, Dale Hunter.LW&mdash;Michal Pivonka, Kelly Miller, Greg Adams, Yvon Corriveau.RW&mdash;Dave Christian, Mike Gartner, Lou Franceschetti, Bob Gould, Ed Kastelic.LD&mdash;Scott Stevens, Greg Smith, Grant Ledyard.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Kevin Hatcher, Garry Galley.G&mdash;Pete Peeters, Clint Malarchuk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>John Barrett, D, fractured left kneecap, March 1.Rod Langway, D, pulled muscle in right thigh, day to day. &#9632;

f0005-01

Hot Christian Helping Capital Stretch Drive

BY HIS OWN estimation. Emile Francis said &ldquo;1,000 times&rdquo; that Jack Evans would be his coach as long as he was in Hartford.Let the record show, Francis will not say it 1,001.On Feb. 7, Francis fired Evans, his close friend of nearly 40 years and his coach in Hartford for 374 games, and hired Larry Pleau.Just like that.&ldquo;Can you believe it happened so fast?&rdquo; Gordie Howe said.Believe it.In the end, it would be a media blunder that would do Evans in. He was so poorly equipped to deal with the media that exerts daily pressures on a professional coach. Maybe Evans could have explained things better if he had tried, but he seldom did. Like Francis, he perceived the media as a necessary evil, no more, and sometimes, much less. In their hidebound world, giving the scribblers and the yakkers five minutes is at least four minutes too many.What happened, basically, is that Evans offered an honest answer to an honest question, a definite no-no in Francis&rsquo; tight-lipped society. Sooner or later, all those who cross Francis taste the Cat&rsquo;s wrath, even the most loyal of the loyal, which Evans unquestionably was.Evans was asked a question by Jeff Jacobs of The Hartford Courant regarding his future plans, and in a rare burst of candor, Evans said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to retire at the end of my contract,and not one day sooner.&rdquo; meaning at the end of next season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be 61 then. That&rsquo;ll be long enough.&rdquo;When Francis heard of Evans&rsquo; comments, he went berserk.&ldquo;We should be thinking about the first shift against Pittsburgh, not what&rsquo;s going to happen two years from now.&rdquo; Francis said.All the nightmares of his final year in St. Louis came flooding back to Francis. He had been in a lame-duck situation before and under no circumstances would he endure another one.&ldquo;I never make decisions in anger,&rdquo; said Francis, who then made one.B-A-N-G, Jack Evans, coach, friend, faithful employee and lame duck, became a dead duck.Some people have speculated that: 1) Evans secretly wanted to be fired; 2) Francis was only waiting for an excuse to fire him; and 3) the whole affair was concocted in one way or another.Forget it. The Cat People do not plan three or four moves ahead. They are plodders, not prognosticators. In their minds, the future is comprised of the first shift of the first period of the next game. To them, that is the only reality.Evans simply made a mistake. He did not see the consequences of his statement. He meant no harm. He certainly didn&rsquo;t intend to rile his boss. He believed his comment to be innocent, and why not? Lots of people retire at 61.This was the perfect opportunity for Francisto stand up for Evans, something he had done amid media and fan criticism almost weekly for the last 4 1/6 years. Why? Because it would have been the right thing to do.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011438/5435495-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="419" height="474"><figcaption class="caption-body">Randy Smith</figcaption></div>But public honesty can&rsquo;t exist in the Cat&rsquo;s closed world. What the Cat really meant to say those &ldquo;1,000 times&rdquo; was that Evans would be his coach as long as they were in Hartford under one condition&mdash;that Evans kept his mouth shut.No man ever gave it a more valiant try.I will be irreversibly linked with Evans because he grabbed me one night in a Buffalo locker room two years ago. I insisted on a public apology, but Evans refused to give one. He was suspicious of my motives and Mother Whale&rsquo;s considerable power made it easy for him not to be accountable legally for his actions. The case was dismissed for &ldquo;lack of evidence.&rdquo;Alone together in a Buffalo legal office, however, Evans and I made a separate peace of sorts. I knew he was sorry for what he had done and he knew I was sorry it had happened. He&rsquo;s a decent man.Unofficially, Evans was fired Friday, Feb. 5. But there was that Pittsburgh game the next night, so Francis asked Evans if he would coach. Forever the loyal soldier, Evans said yes.&ldquo;Jack gave us no impression that anything was awry,&rdquo; Mike Liut said.The Whalers lost 5-4.Sunday, Francis called the players together and told them of the news. Evans was out. Pleau was in.My suggestion that Evans be allowed to resign with dignity at the end of last year may not appear as negative today. As a coach, Evans was overmatched and everyone knew it except Francis.The bottom line is this: Francis finally did the right thing for the wrong reasons.If Francis is setting Pleau up for a fall, it&rsquo;ll be an expensive one. Pleau was signed to coach this year plus two more. His contract won&rsquo;t expire until after the 1989-90 season.What will become of Evans, meanwhile, is anybody&rsquo;s guess. He&rsquo;ll be on &ldquo;special assignment&rdquo; with the Whalers until his contract expires. It wouldn&rsquo;t surprise me if the man never talked to anybody again.In the end, Evans discovered what many of us have known for sometime: You can take the Cat out of the alley, but you can&rsquo;t take the alley out of the Cat. &#9632;

f0006-01

Columnists

For Tex Evans, The Future Really Was Now

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div>UNIONDALE, N.Y.&mdash;With apologies to Bryan Trottier and Brent Sutter&mdash;who exemplify the New York Islander identity&mdash;the team will go only as far as Kelly Hrudey, Pat LaFontaine and Mikko Makcla take it.Yes, the Islanders need 19 guys working every night in order to win. But no, they won&rsquo;t last long in the Patrick Division playoffs (assuming they get there) if Hrudey, LaFontaine and Makela don&rsquo;t consistently excel alongside the indefatigible Sutter and Trottier.And for those three, that was the essence of coach Terry Simpson&rsquo;s post-game heart-to-heart meeting, after a deflating 6-2 loss in Washington Feb. 12. That game followed a hideous 4-3 loss at Toronto, in which Vincent Damphousse beat Hrudey with the tiebreaker on a wicked 35-foot slapshot with 22 seconds left.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re the guys that can swing a game,&rdquo; Simpson said, after the Islanders concluded an 0-2-1 week with a 4-4 tie against the Rangers at the Garden. Hrudey stopped 36 of 40 shots, Makela scored two goals and LaFontaine passed for three assists. The Isles outplayed the Rangers, but permitted three power-play goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021029/5435526-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="176" height="135"></div>&ldquo;Other guys will play bad games and it&rsquo;s not so telling,&rdquo; Simpson said. &ldquo;These guys have a responsibility.They&rsquo;re key players. It&rsquo;s sort of unfair, but I guess that&rsquo;s comes with being a key player. They make the big money, they get the big responsibility.&rdquo;After beating Edmonton 3-2 on Jan. 23 to run his record to 16-9-2, Hrudey was stung 2-1 by Minnesota four days later, with one second left. Then he looked awful in a 6-2 loss at home to Montreal on Jan. 30 and unspectacular in Feb. 11&rsquo;s loss at Toronto.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;I wasn&rsquo;t having much fun (against Montreal) and my confidence wasn&rsquo;t as high.&rsquo; &mdash;Hrudey</blockquote>&ldquo;I hit rock bottom against Montreal,&rdquo; Hrudey said after the Ranger game. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going out there to have fun lately. I wasn&rsquo;t having much fun and my confidence wasn&rsquo;t as high. My confidence level is a lot higher now than it was a week ago.&rdquo;LaFontaine, the little big-play guy, hadn&rsquo;t made many big plays lately. Although he did not score a goal for the fifth straight game he assisted on Greg Gilbert&rsquo;s tying goal against the Rangers at 0:15 of the third, and won a faceoff from Kelly Kisio that led to Gerald Diduck&rsquo;s go-ahead goal at 10:20.&ldquo;During the course of a long season, you can get caught in a rut individually and as a team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was one of the guys who had to work harder, who hadn&rsquo;t been contributing. What Terry said (in Washington), all the guys took to heart.&rdquo;Makela played poorly in Toronto and Washington partly due to painful back spasms that he chose not to publicize. Feeling better against the Rangers, he scored his team&rsquo;s first two goals, giving him 30 on the year.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to say it was my back, but it was hurting,&rdquo; Makela admitted. &ldquo;This game it felt okay. I hope I can go like that the next game and the next game and the next game.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Denis Potvin sprained his left knee checking Peter Sundstrom in Washington. The injury was not serious and Potvin felt he&rsquo;d be back by the end of February&hellip;Kelly Hrudey&rsquo;s personal part-time goalie instructor, Ian Young of Oshawa, Ont., made his first visit to Long Island during the all-star break. He worked with Hrudey at Bryan Trottier&rsquo;s Skating Academy, a rink Trottier owns in the Long Island town of Port Washington.<h2>ISLANDERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 14: Jeff Finley, D, recalled from Springfield (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bryan Trottier, Brent Sutter, Pat LaFontaine, Bob Bassen.LW&mdash;Derek King, Greg Gilbert, Rich Kromm, Dale Henry.RW&mdash;Mikko Makela, Brad Lauer, Alan Kerr, Randy Wood.LD&mdash;Steve Konroyd, Ken Leiter, Jeff Finley.RD&mdash;Gerald Diduck, Ken Morrow, Tomas Jonsson.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Billy Smith.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Neal Coulter, RW, fractured left thumb, March 1.Brian Curran, D, fractured jaw, March 1.Gord Dineen, D, sprained left ankle, day-to-day.Patrick Flatley, RW, sprained right knee, day-to-day.Denis Potvin, D, sprained left knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0006-02

Islander Success Depends On Trio Of Stars

<div class="byline">BY KARLO BERKOVICH Editorial Staff</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011283/5435557-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wales&rsquo; defenseman Denis Potvin, right, turns in front of Glenn Anderson. The 39th All-Star Game was the last for the Islanders&rsquo; star.</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Genius is something to be appreciated, not interpreted.So it was for Mario Lemieux after a stunning six-point performance at the NHL All-Star Game, where he earned six points, a second MVP award and truck and additional respect for his enormous skills.Skills that defy explanation.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard for me to explain what I do or how I do it,&rdquo; said Lemieux after scoring three goals and three assists. &ldquo;People always ask, but I just do it naturally. I just read the play.&rdquo;A North America-wide television audience, plus 17,878 fans at St. Louis Arena, looked on in awe Feb. 9.The Pittsburgh Penguin&rsquo;s all-star-record six-point performance led the Wales Conference to a 6-5 overtime win over the Campbell Conference in the NHL&rsquo;s 39th mid-season showcase.Tomas Sandstrom, Mike Gartner and Peter Stastny had the other Wales goals. Luc Robitaille with two, Dale Hawerchuk, Wayne Gretzky and Denis Savard replied for the Campbells. (For game summary see page 44.)Fittingly, it was Lemieux&rsquo;s goal at 1:08 of overtime that saved the Wales, giving them their 10th win in 12 games since the current interconference format was established in 1975.Lemieux, said Wales coach Mike Keenan, &ldquo;was the whole story.&rdquo;It has been a storybook season for Lemieux.Though he is acknowledged as the man who will eventually accept the torch from Gretzky, widespread respect was not granted Lemieux until the 1987 Canada Cup.He scored 11 goals during the fall tournament.Even then, it took until the fabulous three-game final series against the Soviet Union&mdash;and Lemieux&rsquo;s Cup-winning goal (assisted by Gretzky) before Mario and the Great One were mentioned in the same breath.During a pre-Canada Cup game against the Soviets, Lemieux scored every Team Canada goal in a 9-4 loss. But to fans in Hamilton&rsquo;s Copps Coliseum that day, Lemieux looked lazy doing so.Those days are over.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so good,&rdquo; said Mats Naslund. the shifty Swede who earned an All-Star Game-record five assists skating alongside Lemieux. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it would be embarrassing my Montreal teammates to say he&rsquo;s the best player I&rsquo;ve ever played with.&rdquo;Naslund has not played with Gretzky, who had the throne room to himself until this year. The knee injury and elevation of Lemieux&rsquo;s game have combined to give No. 66 a key to the door.At the all-star break, he led NHL scoring with 114 points on 52 goals and 62 assists in 54 games. Edmonton&rsquo;s Gretzky was second at 3365-98 in 12 fewer games.He outscored Gretzky 6-1 in the All-Star Game.&ldquo;That was a scary performance by one individual,&rdquo; said Keenan.Though not his most satisfying.&ldquo;The Canada Cup is certainly still the highlight of my career,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;To play with all those winners, and leaders, 1 learned a lot. Maybe a week from now or 10 years from now I&rsquo;ll think differently and look on this as a great moment in my life.&rdquo;And one in which he held the spotlight. But as Lemieux said while stabbing a piece of pork in the hotel buffet line that afternoon, the game was just a time to have fun.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I outshone him,&rdquo; Lemieux said of Gretzky, who scored once. &ldquo;He could have had three or four goals, but he hit the post once and Patrick Roy made some big saves on him.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy for him,&rdquo; said Gretzky. &ldquo;I think whatever he can do for hockey is great.&rdquo;Lemieux has given the game another megastar.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a guy who wears the flip side of those numbers (66 and 99),&rdquo; said Campbell coach Glen Sather. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s the greatest player the world&rsquo;s ever seen. This (Lemieux&rsquo;s performance) will keep him going.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-01

Magical Mario Star Of Stars

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Karlo Berkovich</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02902/5435595-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="722" height="966"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux set an AllStar Game record with six points.</figcaption></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;Mats Naslund&rsquo;s timing was bad.Any other All-Star Game and he would have driven home the truck given the most valuable player.As it were, his record five assists were overshadowed by Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s record six points. The previous assist mark was held by Ray Bourque, who had four assists in 1985.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to be involved in a record,&rdquo; said Naslund, who assisted on all three of Lemieux&rsquo;s goals, including the winner 1:08 into overtime. &ldquo;It was instant chemistry.&rdquo;But Wales coach Mike Keenan didn&rsquo;t spend much time in the laboratory on the formula.&ldquo;Naslund likes to move in and out of the holes,&rdquo; said Keenan. &ldquo;Other than that, putting them together was a stroke of luck.&rdquo;Campbell coach Glen Sather thought otherwise.&ldquo;It was a stroke of genius,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;Mike&rsquo;s being modest.&rdquo;On Lemieux&rsquo;s winner, Naslund drew two Campbell defenders to him while Lemieux found open ice in the slot. A quick pass and the game was over.&ldquo;He was unbelievable, the way he got two guys on him all night like that,&rdquo; Lemieux said of Naslund, the game&rsquo;s second star. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to have him on my left wing for 80 games.&rdquo;Los Angeles left winger Luc Robitaille wouldn&rsquo;t mind a center like Denis Savard all season.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re always open when he handles the puck,&rdquo; said Robitaille. &ldquo;I thought I better put it in because otherwise he&rsquo;d get mad at me.&rdquo;Robitaille put the puck in the net twice and added an assist to earn the game&rsquo;s third star. Ironically, Savard knocked himself right out of the balloting. With seven minutes remaining, he had a goal and an assist and was already announced as third star. But immediately after he and linemate Glenn Anderson set Robitaille up for the goal that forced overtime, the writers&rsquo; panel substituted the second-year King.&ldquo;It was a big thrill to play with guys I look up to,&rdquo; said Robitaille, who was named to the starting Campbell Conference roster in fan balloting. &ldquo;What really surprised me was how our guys really wanted to win.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03611/5435588-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="714" height="965"><figcaption class="caption-body">Detroit&rsquo;s Bob Probert, who has enjoyed a fine &lsquo;87-88, suited up for the Campbells.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0007-02

Naslund’s Assist Record Lost In Shuffle

CHRYSLER CANADA IS THE EXCLUSIVE SPONSOR OF THE DODGE-NHL PERFORMER OF THE WEEK, MONTH AND YEAR AWARDS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011371/5435626-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="555" height="815"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pete Peeters</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;Goaltender Pete Peeters of the Washington Capitals, who registered a 3-0-0 mark and a 3.07 goals-against-average last week, was named Dodge Performer of the Week for the period ending February 14.Peeters, who now leads all NHL goaltenders with a 2.62 average and a .903 save percentage, outdistanced two Pittsburgh Penguins&mdash;center Mario Lemieux and defenseman Paul Coffey&mdash;to earn the award.The Dodge and Chrysler Canada divisions of Chrysler Motors will donate $500 to the youth hockey organization of the performer&rsquo;s choice. The Dodge and Chrysler Canada divisions of Chrysler Motors also sponsor the Performer of the Month and the Performer of the Year Awards, for which the latter receives the Dodge vehicle of his choice.Peeters, a 10-year veteran of the NHL, began the week on the road leading his club to a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers (Feb. 11). The following night, he backstopped the Capitals to a 6-2 defeat of the New York Islanders. Facing the League-leading Calgary Flames (Feb. 14), the 30-year-old native of Edmonton stopped 30 shots in handing the Flames a 5-4 loss in overtime. The three wins moved Washington into second place in the Patrick Division, only two points behind the first place Philadelphia Flyers.Lemieux (1-5-6) and Coffey (2-3-5) each played in one game this week. &#9632;

f0008-01

DODGE NHL PERFORMER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY KARLO BERKOVICH Editorial Staff</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011329/5435657-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">National Hockey League president John Ziegler said lengthy suspensions for attempts to injure will be considered.</figcaption></div>John Ziegler said &lsquo;No&rsquo; often during a press conference held the afternoon of the All-StarGame in St. Louis Feb. 9.No to expansion, at least until broadcasting arrangements can be worked out.No to a change in an often-inequitable divisional playoff system. It hasn&rsquo;t even been discussed at board of governors&rsquo; meetings, the NHL president said.No to a National Basketball Association-style all-star break, during which a slam-dunk competition and oldtimer&rsquo;s game are held. Hockey equivalents such as penalty-shot shoot-outs and/or skills tests have been considered. Ziegler said the feasibility of such activities would continue to be explored, but cautioned that a way must be found to reduce the chances of injury.&ldquo;If we can highlight skills in a non-confrontational sense, we&rsquo;ll look into it,&rdquo; Ziegler said. &ldquo;You can have a shootout, but the goalie is at risk.&rdquo;Ziegler was adamant on the expansion question.&ldquo;There is no possible way this league can consider expansion without resolving the broadcasting question,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The board (of governors) is not presently considering it so it would be improper for me to discuss it. The No. 1 priority is to put together a club agreement with respect to broadcasting.&rdquo;The member-club agreement is an internal agreement among the 21 NHL teams which determines how monies from television rights are split up.The current member-club agreement, in effect since 1984, expires this year as do NHL contracts with Molstar (the production arm of Hockey Night In Canada) and ESPN.Other highlights from Ziegler&rsquo;s press conference:&bull; Chances are good that 10 to 12 games will be played next season between touring Soviet teams and NHL clubs. With respect to the games counting in the standings, Ziegler said that was only a suggestion. &ldquo;Nobody ever invited the Soviets to join the National Hockey League,&rdquo; Ziegler said.&bull; Ziegler said automatic 20- to 40-game suspensions &ldquo;perhaps should be considered&rdquo; for players who purposely injure or attempt to injure opponents. Discussions on the subject will be held with the NHL Players&rsquo; Association in June. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important that the players want it,&rdquo; said Ziegler. &ldquo;You want the citizenry to want those laws to be there.&rdquo;&bull; The NHL is close to a new working agreement with the three Canadian major junior leagues. The current agreement expires in June. A Jan. 6 Canadian Press report suggested NHL teams have proposed they be permitted to send 19-year-old drafted junior to the minor leagues. The report prompted angry responses from junior operators, while NHL vice-president of operations Jim Gregory termed it &ldquo;distorted.&rdquo;&bull; The NHL would consider payments to U.S. colleges and universities for player development, said Ziegler. However, &ldquo;the NCAA, in its wisdom, believes it (such payments) taints its athletes and programs.&rdquo;&bull; The board of governors approved the transfer of controlling interest in the Los Angeles Kings from Jerry Buss to Bruce McNall.&bull; Ziegler said the board would discuss the possibility of reducing rosters from 18 skaters and two goalies to 17 and two.<h2>STARS IN PITTSBURGH</h2>Pittsburgh will play host to the 1990 NHL All-Star Game.The event will coincide with the 30th birthday of the Civic Arena.&ldquo;This signifies we have achieved a certain amount of stability,&rdquo; said Penguins&rsquo; vice-president Paul Martha, who announced the Arena will undergo $12 million worth of renovations in preparation for the game.The game may be played partially under the stars, according to media reports in Pittsburgh.There&rsquo;s a chance two of the six &ldquo;leaves&rdquo; of metal that make up the Civic Arena roof will be opened during the All-Star Game.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing official on that,&rdquo; said a Penguins&rsquo; spokesman. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been speculation, but nothing has been announced out of this office. We just got the game.&rdquo;The roof is often opened for concerts and other events during the summer.The 1989 All-Star Game will be held in Edmonton.<h2>CICCARELLI CHARGED</h2>Minnesota North Star right winger Dino Ciccarelli was formally charged with assault Feb. 9 after giving himself up to Toronto police in connection with a Jan. 6 high-sticking incident involving Maple Leaf defenseman Luke Richardson.Ciccarelli was released without bail. He is scheduled to appear in Provincial Court in Toronto on May 30.Ciccarelli chose the NHL all-star break to surrender because he felt there would be less publicity. Police issued a warrant for his arrest on Jan. 8, after reviewing videotape of the Richardson incident. Police were expected to arrest Ciccarelli on Minnesota&rsquo;s next visit to Toronto, Feb. 24.<h2>BITS AND PIECES</h2>Montreal defenseman Larry Robinson has never been on the losing side in a Wales-Campbell All-Star Game. He&rsquo;s 7-0 since the format was adopted in 1975&hellip;Play in the slot has been Soviet hockey&rsquo;s &ldquo;weak spot,&rdquo; Soviet forward Sergei Makarov told the Toronto Globe and Mail. &ldquo;I think we are far from Canada at their best in front of the goal.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Montreal tough guy John Kordic and his Quebec counterpart Gord Donnelly have battled on numerous occasions. However, they appear together&mdash;bare-chested and in hip-hugging jeans&mdash;on a poster promoting a skate company.<h2>OVERHEARD</h2>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll miss Jerry, although he wasn&rsquo;t present at the board meetings. &lsquo;&lsquo;&mdash;NHL president John Ziegler, on former L.A. Kings &lsquo;owner Jerry Buss. &#9632;

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No Expansion For Now, Says Ziegler

THE FIRING OF Jack Evans as coach of the Hartford Whalers not only proves the heartlessness of Emile Francis, but his stupidity as well.It was Evans who molded the young Whaler talent into an Adams Division power. He was the only coach in club history to bring about steady progress.&lsquo;Tex&rsquo; Evans was a coach, not an actor. His knowledge, experience and wisdom put Hartford on the map of the hockey world.No offense intended, but Larry Pleau&rsquo;s 3166-21 record during his previous stint as Whaler coach is nowhere near Mr. Evans&rsquo; class performance.&lsquo;The Cat&rsquo; will feel regret for his actions when he sees Hartford regress to the cellar&mdash;a fate he truly deserves for his shameful action.I am really ashamed to have been a fan of the Hartford Whalers.John H. Markiewicz, Webster, Mass.<h2>SALVATION FOR LEAFS</h2>This letter is a personal appeal to the Toronto Maple Leafs and to anyone who cares about the greatest hockey team to ever play the game.As is well known, the mighty Maple Leafs have fallen on hard times. However, the situation is not totally beyond salvation.The answer to the Leafs&rsquo; problems is named &lsquo;Tiger.&rsquo;He has fallen on lean times. However, leaner for Dave Williams simply means meaner. Need I say more? Bring the &lsquo;Tiger&rsquo; home, where he belongs. As a playing coach.Perhaps as an assisant under the tutelage of Don Cherry? Is this a dream that might someday come true?Dan Huff, Ottawa, Ont.<h2>STICK TO HOCKEY</h2>What a surprise! I turned to the minor pro report on page 28 of THN&rsquo;s Feb. 5 issue, expecting to find some information about players and teams in the American and International Leagues.Instead, I found a list of cute gimmicks the IHL teams are using to increase attendance. I read about a wedding, a cash scramble, Chippendales dancers and bikini competitions.Well, I have news for the IHL. That&rsquo;s not hockey. That&rsquo;s vaudeville.Along with thousands of other THN readers, I am a real hockey fan. I don&rsquo;t go to a game to see a wedding, a few fights, a striptease, and maybe a mini-scrimmage in between&mdash;if there&rsquo;s time. No. I go to see fine athletes play the sport I love most.I&rsquo;m disappointed in the fans of the Salt Lake City Golden Eagles. Last year, their team was good enough to win the Turner Cup. That should be enough to draw a respectable crowd. If &ldquo;Hijinks and Hype&rdquo; are what it takes to sell tickets, maybe they should tear down the Salt Palace and open a massage parlor.There is a place for bikinis, male strip dancers and other hijinks, but its not on the ice. Real hockey fans want to keep the game the way it should be&mdash;a good, clean, honest game you can bring the kids to see. We don&rsquo;t need hype. We need good hockey.Stacey Thomann, Indianapolis, Ind.<h2>THANKS, ESPO</h2>Phil Esposito, you are the greatest! Your trade for Chris Nilan will benefit the Boston Bruins the most.Nilan, who I believe always wanted to play for the Bruins, disrupted Boston&rsquo;s game plan so much that he was a big factor in the Canadiens&rsquo; playoff dominance of the Bruins. With Nilan out of our hair, it&rsquo;s Boston all the way.Thanks, Phil. Once a Bruin, always a Bruin. When will Stanley Cup final tickets goon sale at Boston Garden?Art Caldwell, Denver, Colo.Let your voice be heard. Send your comments to Fan Forum, THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2. Include home and business phone numbers. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

Francis Will Pay Dearly For Dumping Jack Evans

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011410/5435712-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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Elston

BY NOW, WE should know better than to be surprised.I mean, if an Italian team can tie a Canadian team which includes Wayne Gretkzy (see 1982 World Championships), then is it not reasonable to assume a Polish team can come within one goal of knocking off a Canadian team which includes Merlin Malinowski (see Calgary Winter Games &lsquo;88)?No disrespect intended, but this is Olympic hockey. Six teams will play six games apiece, six others a total of eight. No team plays another more than once. The whole thing happens just once every four years.It is a tournament tailor made for the best team not to win. How else does one explain United States&rsquo; gold medals in 1960 and 1980?And what other explanation can there be for the early returns from Calgary?West Germany 2, Czechoslovakia 1; Switzerland 2, Finland 1; Canada 1, Poland 0.They are called upsets, or in the case of Canada-Poland, a near-upset, simply because they don&rsquo;t fit into the nice, orderly world that exists before the puck is dropped.But U.S. coach Dave Peterson castigates all those who snicker at mention of the powerhouse Poles or their weak sisters&mdash;Austria, France et al. He says that unless we&rsquo;re international hockey experts with first-hand experience, we should withold judgment until all the evidence is presented.In the case of West Germany over Czechoslovakia and Switzerland over Finland. the man has a point. They are upsets only because we make them so.Canadian coach Dave King all but predicted the two upsets before the Games began, so certain was he that the tournament wouldn&rsquo;t unfold according to any master plan.Czechoslovakia, in spite of its acknowledged standing as a second or third seed, is notorious for losing games to lower-ranked teams. More often than not. the West Germans are the bane of Czechoslovak existence.As for the Finns, we in North America assume that any nation which gave us Jari Kurri couldn&rsquo;t possibly fall victim to a country whose major claim to fame is cheese.Now, the Canada-Poland encounter, that&rsquo;s another story. You are left to wonder whether the Canadians should be admonished for a poor performance or the Poles lauded for true grit. Granted, the Poles are the World Championship &lsquo;B&rsquo; Pool winners, but&hellip;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021081/5435743-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="381" height="436"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McKenzie</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We do not have many people playing hockey,&rdquo; says Marek Bykowski, general secretary of the Polish Ice Hockey Federation. &ldquo;Maybe a maximum of 2,000 in the whole country.&ldquo;We have but 20 teams. Our problem is a lack of equipment. Only sticks do we get as we need. Other equipment, players try to get when they are abroad. And the International Ice Hockey Federation assists us when they can.&ldquo;I think it will be hard for our players playing in the Olympics. The force of our team is very weak.&rdquo;Not so weak that it couldn&rsquo;t keep a Canadian team on the ropes for a full 60 minutes. Much of it had to do with the netminding of Gabriel Samolej and prevent defense employed by coach Leszek Lejczyk.But when Krystian Sikorski rang a shot off the crossbar behind Andy Moog midway through the third period, and the Poles started to control the play and win battles along the boards, couldn&rsquo;t you just hear the Polish Al Michaels callingout, &ldquo;Czyty wiezysz wcuda?&rdquo;(Doyou believe in miracles?)Canada dodged that bullet, though, only to come under fire for its inability to deliver a knockout punch to a lightweight pretender. The criticism implied that if Canada could score but one goal against the Poles, then what hope could they possibly have against the true contenders?On paper, it&rsquo;s a valid question.But then if these Winter Games were played on paper, the gold medal would have been mailed to the Soviet Union a long time ago.And by now, we know better than to concede anything in the Olympics. &#9632;

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Olympics Allow underdogs To Have Their Day

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The Pittsburgh Penguins hit the home stretch having alternately sprinted and stumbled through the first three-quarters of the season.Their maddening inconsistency became especially evident after Christmas.They began an 0-6-4 streak in late December, and followed with a four-game winning streak. That led to a three-game losing streak, followed by a three-game winning streak.When the Penguins lost their final game before the all-star break and won their first after it, it marked the first time in nearly two months they were not on a streak of any length.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Once you start losing, it&rsquo;s very easy to get in a rut.&rsquo; &mdash;Meloche</blockquote>But while their inconsistency was easily observed, it was difficult to explain.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to point a finger at one thing,&rdquo; defenseman Doug Bodger said. &ldquo;I guess it&rsquo;s a combination of a lot of little things. When we&rsquo;re not doing the little things right, we tend to lose.&rdquo;At least part of the problem might be the Penguins&rsquo; inexperience. Their lineup has included as many as eight rookies.&ldquo;Experience teaches you to get ready every night,&rdquo; general manager Eddie Johnston said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re winning, sometimes you have a tendency to let up a little bit.&rdquo;Added veteran goalie Gilles Meloche, at 37 the oldest player in the NHL: &ldquo;Youth is one of the problems. You win a couple, and you think it&rsquo;s going to be easy. Then all of a sudden you lose two games and you realize you haven&rsquo;t been working as hard as you should have been.&rdquo;The Penguins&rsquo; post-Christmas freefall through the Patrick Division was the low point of the season, a time when the Penguins&rsquo; playoff prospects seemed to vanish.&ldquo;Once you start losing, it&rsquo;s very easy to get in a rut,&rdquo; Meloche said.&ldquo;You lose a couple and the next thing you know, everyone starts pressing. Instead of making the easy play, you try to do everything and it works against you.&rdquo;But almost everything had fallen into place since that exasperating 10-game slide and, by mid-February, the Penguins had climbed, albeit briefly, to the rarefied height of second place in the Patrick.Of course, with 10 points separating first place from sixth in the division, the Penguins were only a losing streak away from plunging back to the bottom.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011287/5435774-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="175" height="132"></div>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re at a point in the season where every game is extremely important,&rdquo; left winger Randy Cunneyworth said. &ldquo;With the division being so tight, every one is almost a must-win situation.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the kind of division where you don&rsquo;t want to have a bad weekend or anything,&rdquo; left winger Charlie Simmer said. &ldquo;Not for the rest of the season.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Mario Lemieux could have had a seven-point game, the first in franchise history, in a 7-5 victory at Los Angeles. But at the game&rsquo;s conclusion. he told the official scorer he did not deserve his sixth and last assist of the game. &ldquo;Everybody works hard for their points, and when you get one you should get it for real,&rdquo; he said. Lemieux surrendered the assist to Doug Bodger and settled for the third six-point game of his career&hellip;Left winger Wayne Van Dorp was forced out of the lineup indefinitely, after injuring his right knee in a collision with right winger Bryan Erickson during a practice.&bull;<h2>PENGUINS</h2><h2>TRANSACTIONS</h2>Feb. 11: Pat Riggin, G, assigned to Muskegon (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Dan Quinn, Dave McLIwain, Steve Gotaas, Rob Brown.LW&mdash;Randy Cunneyworth, Dave Hunter, Charlie Simmer, Mark Kachowski.RW&mdash;Jock Callander, Bryan Erickson, Dan Frawley, Lee Giffin, Troy Loney.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Jim Johnson, Doug Bodger, Phil Bourque, Chris Dahlquist.RD&mdash;Ville Siren, Randy Hillier, Rod Buskas.G&mdash;Frank Pietrangelo, Gilles Meloche.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Errey, LW, broken wrist, indefinite.Perry Ganchar, RW, knee, indefinite.Norm Schmidt, D, back, indefinite.Wayne Van Dorp, LW, knee, indefinite. &#9632;

f0011-01

Pens Know They Can’t Afford Inconsistency

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>Stapled to the bulletin board in Dave King&rsquo;s temporary office at Calgary&rsquo;s Father David Bauer Arena is a newspaper clipping from last summer.The story is headlined, In search of a miracle,&rsquo; and deals with Herb Brooks&rsquo; visit to the Canadian Olympic hockey team&rsquo;s training camp in early August.Brooks, architect of the original &lsquo;Miracle On Ice,&rsquo; was in Calgary trying to place a couple of Minnesota North Star prospects with King&rsquo;s team. Brooks talked about the Olympic experience and the way it can prepare a player for a professional career. He discussed it as a life experience, a chance to become not just a better player, but a better person.Just before he left, Brooks passed on one final piece of wisdom: It&rsquo;s important to be good&hellip;but it&rsquo;s better to be lucky.The advice stuck.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fragile thing, the difference between winning and losing,&rdquo; said King. &ldquo;You&rsquo;d like to think you&rsquo;ve got great game plans but boy, you don&rsquo;t make the decisions on the ice for the players. You help them. You try to assist them. But ultimately it&rsquo;s their decisions to make. If they make enough right ones, you&rsquo;re successful.&rdquo;That said, if Canada does execute a second &lsquo;Miracle On Ice,&rsquo; much of the credit will accrue to the man who has run the program the past five years.One side of King is reasonably well-documented: His high standing as a student of the game. Arguably, the 40-year-old who first earned widespread respect in 1982 when he led Canada to a gold medal at the World Jr. Championships is the most articulate man in hockey.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011385/5435812-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="724" height="1177"><figcaption class="caption-body">Center Marc Habscheid says Olympic motivation must come from within.</figcaption></div>Apart from knowing the game, however, King is also an innovator. His approach to playing the Soviets&mdash;a complicated system that relies on a player&rsquo;s ability to read the play and react to it&mdash;is the way everybody plays the Russian bear now. He concentrates on three elements of the game: Conditioning, tactics and preparation. He drives himself and expects the same from his players.He is not just the boyish, mild-mannered, Clark Kent-type that he appears to be in public. Behind closed doors, he becomes a hockey coach: A demanding, sometimes-angry man who can give Scotty Bowman a run for his money.He is not, however, an exceptional motivator. On King&rsquo;s team, that part of preparation must come from within.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the same no matter what you do in life, whether you&rsquo;re playing hockey or farming or writing newspaper articles,&rdquo; said Canadian Olympic center Marc Habscheid. &ldquo;You have to motivate yourself because that&rsquo;s your chosen job. If you can&rsquo;t motivate yourself, you&rsquo;re not going to be very good at it.&rdquo;Not everyone can play for King. In April, at the World Championships, Dino Ciccarelli disagreed with his emphasis on defense. Others&mdash;more than 100 players have worn a Team Canada uniform over the past three years&mdash;could not stand the early mornings and long days. Typically, King&rsquo;s teams practise twice a day during gaps in their schedule.In the end, the players that stick with King&rsquo;s programs begin to embody his ideals. They even start to sound like him a little.&ldquo;If you want to learn and if you&rsquo;re eager to work hard, he &lsquo;s a great coach, &ldquo;said Habscheid. &ldquo;You can learn a lot from him. Yes, he&rsquo;s demanding, but he puts those demands on himself too. It&rsquo;d be different if he did nothing and expected a lot from us.&ldquo;Plus, you can only gain from his demands. It&rsquo;s better to have a high-achieving coach than a low-achieving coach. By having him always push you on and on, you can&rsquo;t help but improve. In the long run, that&rsquo;s all that counts. If you improve, you get better as a team. You get better as a team, the victories will come.&rdquo;On the eve of the Olympics, King acknowledged that all his energy has been focussed on preparation for the Calgary Games. Sometimes, things that mattered to him were sacrificed so he could tend to his first two priorities: Family and hockey.&ldquo;When I first came into hockey, I thought the off-season must be nice because you get some time off,&rdquo; said King, an avid jogger who participated in the Canada-wide Olympic torch relay.&ldquo;I realize now that isn&rsquo;t always the case. I think at some levels of hockey you can do that. Some NHL coaches seem to get more time to do other things and I think that&rsquo;s wise. It&rsquo;s good for them to get away and not be pushing the pencil every day at their desks. It&rsquo;s good to get away and energize a little.&ldquo;It&rsquo;d be good for us too, but I don&rsquo;t think we have the same opportunities to do that. Administratively, this job becomes very demanding in the off-season. There&rsquo;s recruiting, scheduling, planning your training camp&mdash;things you do in the off-season that helps to make your season a success.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021155/5435805-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="1498" height="2525"><figcaption class="caption-body">Highly-respected coach Dave King has asked no more of his players than he has given to the Canadian Olympic program. (Photo by Dan Hamilton)</figcaption></div>In December, he took his son, Andy, to the Izvestia tournament. Yet, he doesn&rsquo;t spend as much time as he&rsquo;d like with his wife, Linda, and three kids, Andy, Jennifer and Scott.The future? It isn&rsquo;t a subject he cares to broach.Earlier, however, he acknowledged some frustration with the way the program is structured: Three years to prepare for one 15-day tournament.&ldquo;Sometimes, you&rsquo;d like to play for points,&rdquo; said King. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure our players feel the same way. It&rsquo;s nice to have the benchmark clearly in front of you in terms of your winning and losing record. Our benchmark has always been individual improvement of players, looking down the road two years, those kinds of things. There&rsquo;s no question it gets to be a bit repetitious, but I&rsquo;ve enjoyed it. It&rsquo;s been a great program for me.&rdquo;Is it enough to sustain him indefinitely though? He is expected to be a highly sought-after coaching commodity following the Olympics. The NHL will certainly come calling.&ldquo;You do have to look at what other options there are,&rdquo; he said, hesitantly. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m certainly not to the point where I feel I&rsquo;ve outgrown this program or I definitely have to leave. It&rsquo;s an excellent program and a good opportunity, but there&rsquo;s no question a guy should be aware of what might be out there in other things. Because I think coaching is like anything else. There comes a time where a person has to make a move.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that it&rsquo;s going to happen. But it could.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Demands Are High, So Is The Return

<div class="byline">BY ROD BEATON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011306/5435843-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Peterson, with 27 years of high school coaching experience behind him, is taking on the world at the Olympics.</figcaption></div>Dave Peterson doesn&rsquo;t have an image problem.He doesn&rsquo;t have an image.The U.S. Olympic hockey coach doesn&rsquo;t have the championship resume of Canada&rsquo;s Dave King, or the genius tag that goes with it.He doesn&rsquo;t have the personnel, the pressure, or the steely demeanor of the USSR&rsquo;s Viktor Tikhonov.He&rsquo;s not as quotable as Austria&rsquo;s Ludek Bukac.He doesn&rsquo;t even have the great PR of his predecessors: the flamboyant &lsquo;Badger&rsquo; Bob Johnson in 1976; the stem Herb Brooks of the 1980 gold-medal team; or the glib maverick of 1984, Lou Vairo.&ldquo;At 57 I can&rsquo;t worry about my image,&rdquo; Peterson said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t worry about who knows me and who doesn&rsquo;t. And I don&rsquo;t care what people think of me.&rdquo;He refuses to get caught up in the one-upmanship that goes on in international hockey.Take a reported incident from the 1985 World Championships in Prague, where Peterson took the USA into medal-round play for the first time in a non-Olympic world championship tournament.After it was over, a witness says Alan Eagleson approached him and said, &ldquo;Congratulations, Dave. Your name is Dave, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo;Eagleson had all week to get Peterson&rsquo;s name straight. The eyewitness said it was Eagleson&rsquo;s way of reminding Peterson that he was just a humble American coach.&ldquo;Never happened,&rdquo; Peterson said. &ldquo;Eagleson isn&rsquo;t like that.&rdquo;Whether it happened, Peterson is not going to have international clout until he can guide a U.S. team to a major championship. A gold medal. A world senior or junior title.&ldquo;My role is simple,&rdquo; said Peterson. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m charged with putting together the best possible team to represent the U.S. in the best possible way.&rdquo;It has been his mandate since 1985 when he was named coach of U.S. junior and senior teams at the World Championships for two years, with an option year &ldquo;out there as a possibility.&rdquo;The fourth-place performance in Prague and a first-ever medal (bronze) at the 1986 World Jr. Championships ensured he would draw the Olympic assignment. It&rsquo;s a long way from Minneapolis Southwest High School.You want dues? Peterson has paid them.He paid with a good, but obscure, career as goaltender at Harding High in St. Paul (Minn.), at Hamline University in St. Paul and as a minor pro with the Minneapolis Millers. He paid with 27 years at Southwest.&ldquo;Obviously I spent a long time coaching high school,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A couple of times I aspired to a college job I either didn&rsquo;t get or didn&rsquo;t feel was right for me. Both occurred.&rdquo;But another time, Peterson said that when he was younger he&rsquo;d have &ldquo;walked over broken glass for a more challenging job.&rdquo;But the opportunities weren&rsquo;t abundant, so he plunged into the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States (AHAUS), writing a couple of goaltending manuals and organizing clinics.Through AHAUS, he befriended, Vairo who was running the national coaching program. When Vairo was named to coach the 1984 Olympians he added Peterson as an assistant.Then Doug Woog asked Peterson to serve as an assistant with the 1985 national junior team. With the influential backing of Art Berglund, Peterson was tabbed for the national team job.&ldquo;I liked him because he&rsquo;s a gentle giant,&rdquo; said Berglund, director of international activities for AHAUS. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very mature, well-trained coach. He has learned in all kinds of situations how to deal with young men. He knows when to use the hammer. He knows when to be gentle.&rdquo;U.S. players sometimes grumble when Peterson gets tough but they fear him enough to keep it off the record and they never accuse him of deceit.&ldquo;He can be tough, but he&rsquo;s always up front with you,&rdquo; said Olympic team goalie Mike Richter. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very straight with you. Everyone knows what is expected.&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe in mind games,&rdquo; said Peterson, &ldquo;but if the hammer has to drop I have no problem dropping it.&rdquo;Ego isn&rsquo;t a problem. Peterson, for instance, is happy to delegate authority to assistants Ben Smith and Jack Blatherwick.Peterson frequently uses Smith as the good-guy intermediary when he wants to play the heavy. It&rsquo;s the same role assistant Craig Patrick held for Brooks in 1980 as Peterson is well aware. All aspects of conditioning are Blatherwick&rsquo;s bailiwick.Peterson claims minimal interest in super strategy sessions.&ldquo;Xs and Os are not as important to me as some other people,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The important thing is skill development. In other sports you can coach with more control. But that&rsquo;s the beauty of hockey. You can&rsquo;t take the game away from the players.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0013-01

A Stars And Stripes Straight Shooter

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011362/5435874-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wally Schreiber is one of Canada&rsquo;s top offensive guns but he&rsquo;s unable to beat Polish netminder Gabriel Samolej on this play. Samolej was steady, at times spectacular. (Canapress Photo Service)</figcaption></div>Canada and the United States emerged from their Olympic openers unbeaten but not necessarily unscathed.The wounds, mind you, were only superficial, although there was no way of telling if they could develop into something more critical as the Games unfolded.Czechoslovakia and Finland, meanwhile, were not so fortunate. Their opening-game losses, to West Germany and Switzerland, respectively, caused injuries that may not be so quick to heal.Canada, in its difficult 1-0 win over Poland on Feb. 14, ran into a hot goaltender and plodding-but-effective defense that left the outcome in doubt until the final buzzer.More importantly, though, the Canadian team&rsquo;s weakness&mdash;lack of goal-scoring&mdash;was never so apparent as it was against the Poles. On another day, against another more able opponent, the Canadians&rsquo; offensive show would have been woefully inadequate.But then this is a team that prides itself on playing disciplined, defensive hockey.Unbelievably, Marc Habscheid&rsquo;s goal at 4:22 of the opening period stood as the lone goal of the game.Canada, which outshot Poland 2917, missed numerous excellent scoring opportunities, hitting the post on several occasions and misfiring from close in.Polish netminder Gabriel Samolej was steady, at times spectacular, and was assisted by teammates who continually crowded the front of the goal. Many Canadian shots simply failed to make it through the Polish congregation.Canadian coach Dave King failed to appear at the post-game press conference, leaving assistant Guy Charron to explain what happened and why.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re a very patient team,&rdquo; Charron said of the Poles, who won the World Championship &lsquo;B&rsquo; Pool title last year. &ldquo;They crowd the net and it&rsquo;s tough to execute. It was very difficult to get shots and the rebounds were cleared.&rdquo;In other &lsquo;A&rsquo; Pool action, the Swiss pulled off a mild upset of the Finns, beating them 2-1, largely on the strength of outstanding netminding by Richard Bucher. Finland outshot Switzerland 33-15. Sweden, meanwhile, had no difficulty in disposing of France 13-2.As for the Americans, they were never in real danger of losing to Austria on Feb. 13. The final score was 10-6, which was flattering to the Austrian team mainly due to a three-goal outburst late in the third period.At the same time, though, the late rally exposed the Americans&rsquo; weak spot&mdash;defense.When it was over, U.S. coach Dave Peterson suggested a look at the bottom line. &ldquo;A win is a win,&rdquo; he said.And there was little question as to who was the better team. The U.S. held period leads of 2-1 and 6-1 and though they got sloppy at times, the outcome was never in doubt.In other &lsquo;B&rsquo; Pool action, the SovietUnion blanked Norway 5-0, but didn&rsquo;t look particularly overwhelming in doing so.&ldquo;You can see it on their faces that they&rsquo;re not happy playing as they once were,&rdquo; said Norwegian assistant coach Tore Jobs. &ldquo;They have had more fun on the ice.&rdquo;So have the Czechoslovakians.Heading into the tourney, they were seeded no worse than third. But the West Germans, ranked no better than seventh on most scorecards, played a disciplined game and escaped with a deserving 2-1 victory.The top three teams from the two six-team divisions advance to the medal round. &#9632;

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Canada Averts Disaster

<h2>Saturday, Feb.13</h2><h3>West Germany 2 Czechoslovakia 1</h3>Peter Schiller&rsquo;s goal at 12:59 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie in the West Germans&rsquo; come-from-behind victory. Jiri Hrdina scored in the first period for Czechoslovakia, but Helmut Steiger tied it in the second.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021065/5435961-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="593" height="615"></div><h3>Soviet Union 5 Norway O</h3>The Soviets outshot Norway 16-2 in the second period and scored three times to break a scoreless tie. Alexei Gusarov and Alexsandr Mogilny scored the first two goals 56 seconds apart. Sergei Mylnikov had the Soviet shutout.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03748/5435954-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="594" height="704"></div><h3>United States 10 Austria 6</h3>Corey Millen collected two goals and two assists as the U.S. blitzed Austria 10-6. The Americans were not without their troubles, however, allowing three goals in the final seven minutes. One-time Montreal Canadien first-round draft pick Robin Sadler scored for Austria.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04515/5435947-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="588" height="324"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05355/5435940-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="587" height="675"></div><h2>Sunday, Feb. 14</h2><h3>Sweden 13 France 2</h3>Sweden scored nine times on 18 shots in the second period and outshot France 44-17 in the game. LarsGunnar Pettersson led the Swedish attack with three goals and two assists while Hakan Sodergren added two goals and two assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06284/5435933-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="586" height="323"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-07228/5435926-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="600" height="816"></div><h3>Canada 1 Poland O</h3>In his Olympic Games debut, former Edmonton Oiler goalie Andy Moog stopped 17 shots to shut out the Poles. Marc Habscheid&rsquo;s first periodgoal was the only one of 29 shots to beat Polish netminder Gabriel Samolej. A shot by Poland&rsquo;s Krystin Sikorski got past Moog but hit the crossbar with five minutes to play.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08196/5435919-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="583" height="149"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-09180/5435912-1-eng-US/f0014-092.jpg" title="f0014-09" width="592" height="394"></div><h3>Switzerland 2 Finland 1</h3>Swiss netminder Richard Bucher stopped 32 shots and made two first period-goals stand up. The Finns scored early in the third period but couldn&rsquo;t tie the game on two subsequent power plays, including a two-man advantage in the game&rsquo;s final 30 seconds.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-10163/5435905-1-eng-US/f0014-102.jpg" title="f0014-10" width="590" height="614"></div> &#9632;

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SUMMARIES

The U.S. Olympic team&rsquo;s gold-medal glow of 1980 in Lake Placid dimmed substantially four years later in Sarajevo, while Canada&rsquo;s fortunes improved slightly. Winners of just one game in five (1-2-2) during the preliminary round, the U.S. finished fourth in Group B and failed to make the medal round. Canada, meanwhile, beatthe U.S. 4-2 in tournament-opening action for both teams and wentonto place second in Group B with a 4-1 record. The Canadians, who didn&rsquo;t qualify for the medal round in 1980, made it to the final four but didn&rsquo;t score a goal in losing all three games and finishing fourth. This week, Howard Berger looks at the 1984 Olympians, reviewing what they did at the Games (win-loss-tie records, goals-against-averages, games, goals, assists and points) and what they&rsquo;ve done since then. The players&rsquo; current ages are listed. &#9632;

Where Are They Now?

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011273/5436016-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The most prominent graduate of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team is Pat LaFontaine, who is now the New York Islanders&rsquo; top scoring threat.</figcaption></div><h2>GOALTENDERS</h2>Marc Behrend, 27, (0-2-1, 3.30) University of Wisconsin goaltender came within 21 seconds of Olympic win over Finland but yielded goal to Anssi Melametsa at 19:21 of third period, which produced a 3-3 tie. Fifth-round selection by Winnipeg in 1981, Behrend played 38 games for Jets between 1984 and &lsquo;86, compiling 4.93 average and one shutout. Played last season with Sherbrooke of AHL but was released by Jets&rsquo; organization prior to current campaign. Resides in Madison, Wise.Bob Mason, 27, (2-0-1, 3.75) University of Minnesota-Duluth goalie tied Norway, then triumphed over Austria and Poland. Signed by Washington as free agent two days after Sarajevo, he went on to play 60 games for Capitals, including 45 last season. Will always be remembered for excellent effort in quadrupleovertime loss to Islanders in 1987 playoffs. Signed by Chicago as free agent last June, he shares Blackhawk netminding duties with Darren Pang. In 28 games, he had a 9-14-3 record and 4.35 average.<h2>DEFENSEMEN</h2>Bob Brooke, 27, (6-1-2-3) Yale University defenseman/center appeared to give U.S. team victory over Finland when his goal at 19:22 of third period broke 2-2 deadlock. But Finland tied it 17 seconds later and finished one point ahead of U.S. in standings. Fourth-round draft choice of St. Louis in 1980, his rights were sold to New York Rangers after Olympics. Had 24 goals for Rangers in 1985-86. Traded to North Stars for Tony McKegney last season, he struggled with four goals in first 51 games this year.Chris Chelios, 26, (6-0-4-4) University of Wisconsin defenseman had four assists in 7-4 win over Poland. Second-round choice by Montreal in 1981 draft, Chelios joined Canadiens right after Olympics. Had 64 points following season and was named to NHL all-rookie team. Excellent offensive defenseman, he&rsquo;s on track for 20-goal season with Montreal. Had 12 goals and 29 assists in 48 games.Mark Fusco, 26, (6-0-3-3) Harvard University defenseman had three assists during victory over Poland. Signed as free agent by Hartford, he joined Whalers for 17 games after Olympics. Played 63 games for Hartford the next year, then suffered head injury in 1985 training camp. When asked to play in minors, he decided to quit hockey and go into computer business in Bedford, Mass. He&rsquo;ll attend prestigious Harvard Business School in September, 1988.Tom Hirsch, 25, (6-1-2-3) University of Minnesota defenseman scored goal in 7-3 romp over Austria. Hirsch was second-round draft choice of the Minnesota North Stars in 1981. He joined the NHL club after the Olympics, playing in 15 games. Suffered separated shoulder in preseason of 1985, which required two major operations. Did not play again till Jan. 5 of this year and re-injured shoulder in collision with Islanders&rsquo; Pat Flatley. Hopes to try another comeback before season is over.Al Iafrate, 21, (6-0-0-0) Joined U.S. national team in 1983 after playing season of midget hockey in Detroit. He was 17 years old. Inconspicuous during tournament. Drafted fourth overall by Toronto in 1984. Developed slowly in first three seasons but was impressive early this term. He cooled off, but had 16 goals and 20 assists at the all-star break. He played for the Campbell Conference team. &#9632;

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U.S. A.

<h2>GOALTENDERS</h2>Darren Eliot, 26, (1-0-0, 3.00) Cornell University grad took back seat to Gosselin at Sarajevo. He stopped 18 shots for his only Olympic victory, an 8-1 romp over Austria. Also played latter part of 8-1 blasting of Norway, allowing the only goal. Eighth-round draft choice of Los Angeles in 1980, he played 84 games for the Kings over three seasons. Signed by Detroit as free agent last summer, he has spent much of this season with Adirondack of the AHL.Mario Gosselin, 24, (3-3-0) Shawinigan goalie&rsquo;s brilliance paced Canada&rsquo;s charge to the medal round. Recorded victories over U.S. (stopping 37 shots), Finland and Norway. Lost final three games in medal round but Canada did not score a single goal. Third-round draft choice of Quebec in 1982, he joined Nordiques after the Olympics and has remained with them. Had 3.70 goals-against average after 42 games this year.<h2>DEFENSEMEN</h2>Warren Anderson, 35, (7-0-0-0) A veteran of the 1980 Olympic team, the all-Canadian University of Toronto defenseman was a low-key performer in 1984. Afterwards, he played for a year in Switzerland before returning to U of T. Now teaches high school at Lakeview Collegiate in Toronto.Robin Bartel, 26, (6-0-1) An all-star defenseman at University of Saskatchewan, his only point was an assist in 8-1 win over Austria. Signed as free agent by Calgary in July, 1985, he played mostly for Moncton in the AHL before again becoming a free agent. Vancouver signed him and he played 40 games for them last year. Broke his arm early this season with Canucks&rsquo; farm team in Fredericton and is currently playing his way back into shape.Jean-Jacques Daigneault, 22, (7-1-4-5) Longueuil defenseman scored against Norway and set up four others during tournament. Vancouver selected him 10th overall 1984 but traded him to Philadelphia in June, 1986. Daigneault played regularly last season but has split the current year with Flyers and their AHL farm team at Hershey. Had a goal and two assists in 21 games for Philly at all-star break.Kevin Dineen, 24, (7-0-0-0) University of Denver alumnus played defense for Olympic team. Hartford&rsquo;s third-round draft choice in 1982, Dineen has played right wing with the Whalers and is among NHL&rsquo;s best forwards. Strung together seasons of 25, 33 and 40 goals but intestinal disorder and strained shoulder have limited effectiveness this season. Had 18 goals at the all-star break. Was member of Canadian team that won &lsquo;87 Canada Cup.Bruce Driver, 25, (7-1-1-2) University of Wisconsin defenseman scored goal in Canada&rsquo;s 8-1 win over Norway. A 1981 sixth-round draft pick of Colorado, Driver joined the transplanted New Jersey Devils after the Games. Possessor of a good slapshot, he&rsquo;s enjoying his best NHL season with nine goals and 33 assists for New Jersey at the all-star break.Doug Lidster, 27, (7-0-2-2) University of Colorado standout was among team&rsquo;s steadiest performers in Sarajevo. Had assists against Austria and Norway, head-manned the puck with authority, and was solid on defense. Vancouver&rsquo;s sixth-round draft choice in 1980, he joined Canucks after Olympics and has played well on a bad team ever since. He led Canuck defenders with 28 points at the all-star break. &#9632;

Canada

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0016-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011153/5436071-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scott Bjugstad has experienced the ups and downs of a pro career since leaving the U.S. Olympic program</figcaption></div>David H. Jensen, 26, (6-0-3-3) University of Minnesota defenseman played well in Olympic opener against Canada (a 4-2 loss). Fifth-round choice of Minnesota in 1980, he spent most of three North American professional seasons in minors with Salt Lake (CHL) and Springfield (AHL). Had two assists in 18 games with North Stars and is currently playing in France.<h2>FORWARDS</h2>Scott Bjugstad. 26, (6-3-2-5) University of Minnesota center scored twice against Poland in consolation round and had earlier goal against Norway. North Stars&rsquo; 13th choice in the 1981 draft, he had 43-goal season in 1985-86-Missed 41 games last year with strained abdominal muscles and plummeted to four goals. Knee injury has limited his production again this term. Played in only 30 of North Stars&rsquo; first 54 games and scored 10 goals.Scott Fusco, 25, (6-1-3-4) Harvard University left winger scored U.S. team&rsquo;s final goal in 7-3 Olympic victory over Austria. Selected in 11th round of 1982 draft by New Jersey, his rights were traded to Hartford. He has never played an NHL game. He is one of two returning players for the 1988 Games (along with Corey Millen). Winner of Hobey Baker award as top U.S. college player in 1986.Steve Griffth, 26, (5-0-0-0) University of Minnesota left winger failed to make team at Olympic Festival but was chosen when roster spot opened up. Primarily penalty-killer during Games, he suffered a charleyhorse in the 3-3 tie against Finland and did not dress for consolation game with Poland. Never drafted or signed by an NHL team, he&rsquo;s been working as sales rep for Inner-City Paper in Minneapolis since the summer of 1984.Paul Guay, 24, (6-1-0-1) Providence College right winger scored the U.S. team&rsquo;s first goal in 3-3 tie with Norway. Minnesota&rsquo;s ninth-round draft choice in 1981, he went to Philadelphia for Paul Holmgren four days after &lsquo;84 Games. Had two goals in 16 games with the Flyers and was traded to Los Angeles in October, 1985. Has split current season between L.A. and the Kings&rsquo; farm team in New Haven.John Harrington, 30, (6-0-3) Oldest member of team at 27, Harrington joined Phil Verchota as only returnees from gold medal-winning team of 1980. Signed by Buffalo as free agent after &lsquo;80 Games, the right winger played briefly with Rochester Americans and then went to Switzerland for year. Has never played an NHL game. Has been an assistant to University of Denver head coach Ralph Backstrom since summer of 1984.David A. Jensen, 22, (6-5-3-8) Centerman from Lawrence (Mass.) Academy co-led the Olympic team (with Pat LaFontaine) by scoring five goals. Had both U.S. goals in opening 4-2 loss to Canada, then added another pair against Austria. A first-round draft choice by Hartford in 1983, he played much of first two seasons with Binghamton of the AHL. He appeared in 13 games for the Whalers in 198485, then was traded to Washington for Dean Evason. In 46 games with the Caps last year, he scored eight goals. Played five games for Washington this season, then was shipped to Fort Wayne of IHL.Mark Kumpel, 26, (6-1-0-1) University of Lowell right winger had lone U.S. goal in 4-1 loss to Czechoslovakia. Quebec&rsquo;s fourth choice in 1980 draft, he scored 19 goals over three seasons. His overtime marker in game one of 1985 Adams Division final started Quebec towards elimination of arch-rival Montreal. Traded to Detroit last season and then to Winnipeg early in 1988. Had two goals and three assists in 22 games before the all-star break.Pat LaFontaine, 22, (6-5-5-10) Leading scorer on Olympic team and its highest-profile player. Also, its most successful NHL graduate. Recorded only hat trick for U.S. team during Games, in 7-3 win over Austria. Third overall pick in 1983 draft by New York Islanders, his best pro moment occurred in game seven of Patrick Division semi-final last spring when his goal at 8:47 of fourth overtime period eliminated Washington Capitals. That ended fifth-longest match in NHL history. Had 59 points in 50 games leading up to All-Star Game, where he represented Islanders.Corey Millen, 23, (6-0-0-0) University of Minnesota center played support role, but promises to be more prominent this year. A WCHA all-star performer the past two years with the Gophers, he is coming off seasons of 41 and 36 goals. Third-round draft choice of New York Rangers in 1982, he has yet to play an NHL game.Ed Olczyk, 21, (6-2-7-9) A 17-year-old right winger, he paced team with seven assists, including four in 7-3 win over Austria. Chosen by Chicago third overall in 1984 draft, played three seasons in his hometown and then was dealt to Toronto in blockbuster trade. Has been bright spot for Leafs with 51 points in 52 games.Gary Sampson, 28, (6-1-3-4) Boston College left winger scored only Olympic goal against Poland in consolation round. Signed by Washington as free agent after Olympics, he played parts of four seasons with Capitals. Also spent time with Binghamton of AHL. Washington did not renew his contract this season so he went to play hockey in West Germany.Phil Verchota, 31, (6-2-2-4) University of Minnesota left winger returned to &lsquo;84 squad after playing on 1980 gold-medal squad. Had a goal and an assist in 3-3 tie with Norway. A fifth-round draft choice of Minnesota in 1976, Verchota never played an NHL game. He&rsquo;s currently a representative for Commercial Bank and First Bank Systems in Minneapolis. &#9632;

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Business School Is Part Off Mark Fusco’s Future

AS THE NHL homestretch reaches the ultra-serious stage, two things make you wonder about the Stanley Cup-champion Edmonton Oilers: (1) How come they haven&rsquo;t run away with the Smythe Division as they traditionally do? (2) Why do they lose games 7-2 to teams like the Los Angeles Kings, as they did early this month?Or, to put it another way: Can the Satherites win another Cup without Paul Coffey in the lineup? This is a question that has manipulated the minds of hockey&rsquo;s great thinkers, among them John Ferguson, Gerry Meehan, Harry Neale, Prof. Ron Caron and Harry Sinden.Few agree with my conclusion&mdash;that it will be absolutely impossible for Edmonton to repeat without Coffey&mdash;but their insights into the new Oilers are interesting nonetheless.Despite the fact that his rival, Glen Sather, obtained a busload of talent in exchange for Coffey, Jets&rsquo; GM Ferguson views the playoffs with renewed confidence whenever he scans the decaffeinated Oilers.&ldquo;It gives us a great deal of confidence that we can get out of our division in the playoffs,&rdquo; says Fergie. &ldquo;Look at it this way, they&rsquo;ve subtracted 100 points from their defensive scoring and they&rsquo;re now a different type of team.&rdquo;Buffalo Sabre GM Meehan wonders whether Sather will be able to compensate for Coffey&rsquo;s absence at playoff time.&ldquo;Paul meant to them what Phil Housley means to us,&rdquo; says Meehan. &ldquo;He gave them that dimension of a defenseman who could come from behind the play and who could break a game open. You don&rsquo;t easily replace that. A certain mobility element that the Oilers had is not there.&rdquo;However, Meehan suggests that a Coffey-less winter may have enabled Sather to compensate enough to retain the Cup.&ldquo;Defensemen like Steve Smith have picked up their game a lot, and Jeff Beukeboom has come along,&rdquo; adds Meehan. &ldquo;By losing Coffey, they may have captured the defensive dimension they never had. So, I&rsquo;d say their chances of repeating actually are good.&rdquo;Unlike Meehan, broadcaster Neale no longer views the Oilers as foes so his evaluation is less politically motivated.&ldquo;Can they win the Cup without Coffey?&rdquo; Neale asks rhetorically. &ldquo;Personally, I think Sather will make one more significant deal before the trade deadline to try to keep the Cup. It&rsquo;s not just missing Coffey that I&rsquo;d worry about if I was in Glen&rsquo;s shoes. What if Grant Fuhr gets hurt&mdash;or goes stale? And they still need a point man for the power play.&rdquo;Neale contends that the best move Sather made was not following through on a threat to trade defenseman Charlie Huddy.&ldquo;Charlie has proven that Edmonton was smart in not dealing him,&rdquo; Neale explains, &ldquo;because now the Oilers are more dedicated defensively and Kevin Lowe is playing the best defense of his career. When all is said and done, the point is that you can&rsquo;t replace a Coffey. That&rsquo;s why I think they&rsquo;ll make another deal that they think will guarantee them the Cup.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011052/5436126-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="330" height="441"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Fischler</figcaption></div>Listening to Prof. Caron in St. Louis, you&rsquo;d have to believe the Oilers may be mired in deep mud come April.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just because Coffey is gone,&rdquo; he explains, &ldquo;but Edmonton also is missing the dimension of the Europeans. Last spring they had Reijo Ruotsalainen to spell Coffey at the point and they had Kent Nilsson working with Messier and Anderson. That was the line that brought them even after they fell behind the Flyers in the seventh game of the finals.&ldquo;On top of that, they have to contend with a different, stronger Calgary team with a fresh coach and a nice blend of youth.&rdquo;Ever the pseudo-shrink, Caron senses a psychological advantage favoring Edmonton&rsquo;s foes unlike previous seasons.&ldquo;Just the knowledge that Coffey isn&rsquo;t in the Oilers&rsquo; lineup helps teams that are facing them. They&rsquo;re not as potent. When they had Paul, you could check Edmonton for 30 or 40 minutes like crazy and think you were doing a heckuva job and then, all of a sudden, Coffey would come out of nowhere and put them ahead. They don&rsquo;t have that and that&rsquo;s why they&rsquo;re weaker in my book.&rsquo;&rsquo;Does that mean they won&rsquo;t retain the Cup?&ldquo;True, they may be weaker but they still have the tools to achieve in a short series so you certainly can&rsquo;t rule them out.&rdquo;Sinden&rsquo;s Bruins, who have kept pace with Edmonton all season, could conceivably meet the Oilers in the Cup finals. Sinden wouldn&rsquo;t mind that, especially since he wouldn&rsquo;t have to worry about Coffey.&ldquo;Paul is irreplaceable,&rdquo; says Sinden, &ldquo;so there&rsquo;s no way any team can be as strong as it was without him in the lineup. Look at it this way: Coffey is one of the 10 best players the league has ever had.&ldquo;On the other hand, if any team can surmount such a loss, the Oilers can. I mean for us to lose Ray Bourque, the outcome would be a helluva lot more disastrous than Edmonton losing Coffey.&rdquo;Still, Sinden insists Edmonton must be regarded as the favorite to take the Cup.&ldquo;What they didn&rsquo;t lose is their goalie,&rdquo; says Sinden. &ldquo;Now, if Fuhr had been traded to Pittsburgh instead of Coffey it would be a different story. Then, Edmonton would no longer be the favorite.&rdquo;The conclusion is quite clear: Without Paul Coffey, they are the defending-champion Oilers, not the omnipotent Oilers. &#9632;

f0018-01

Decaffeinated Oilers’ Cup Chances Considered

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-03563/5436157-1-eng-US/f0018-032.jpg" title="f0018-03" width="598" height="1026"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Verbeek rounded back into form with a two-goal effort against Toronto.</figcaption></div>NEW JERSEY&mdash;No one could knock John MacLean for the job he did filling in for Pat Verbeek on the Devils&rsquo; No. 1 line.In the seven games Verbeek was sidelined with strained ligaments in his left knee, MacLean scored six goals and added three assists for nine points while the Devils went 4-3.Still, coach Jim Schoenfeld was counting the days until Verbeek&rsquo;s return.His comeback game was inauspicious. Schoenfeld played him sparingly, on a line with rookie center Brendan Shanahan and left winger Perry Anderson Feb. 12 in Detroit.But the next game, two nights later in Toronto, Verbeek showed his true form on being reunited with longtime linemates Kirk Muller and Aaron Broten. Verbeek responded with his 29th and 30th goals of the season in a 7-2 Devil rout. They were his first goals since Jan. 19.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02797/5436164-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="175" height="131"></div>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great to be back,&rdquo; said Verbeek, 23, who played with a brace. &ldquo;I really missed it. Sitting in the locker room watching is no fun at all. Every now and then I feel some pain. It&rsquo;s just something I have to get used to until I recover fully.&rdquo;It did not take him long to light a fire under his teammates or excite his new coach.&ldquo;Just look at the way Patty plays,&rdquo; said Schoenfeld. &ldquo;I think it speaks for itself. He&rsquo;s feisty and he ignites a lot on the ice in addition to scoring goals. He&rsquo;s a pretty complete player.&ldquo;Johnny (MacLean) was playing well. It&rsquo;s not that Johnny wasn&rsquo;t doing the job. I think we can get some production out of Sunny (Patrik Sundstrom) with Johnny back there and I also thought Kirk and Aaron got a boost from Patty. There&rsquo;s that chemistry. Those three players have that chemistry together.&rdquo;Since being united by former coach Doug Carpenter midway through the 1985-86 season, Muller, Verbeek and Broten have been among the league&rsquo;s best lines.&ldquo;I had some doubt I&rsquo;d be back on that line because Johnny was playing real well with those guys,&rdquo; said Verbeek. &ldquo;Right now Schoeny (Schoenfeld) has got everybody going and we&rsquo;re all excited to play. I don&rsquo;t mind playing with anybody, but I&rsquo;ve been playing with Kirk so long, we know what each other&rsquo;s going to do.&rdquo;Though the Devils missed Verbeek&rsquo;s goal-scoring, they missed his spark on the ice and in the locker room almost as much.Against Toronto, the Leafs&rsquo; Al Secord drew a fighting major after retaliating for a punch Verbeek delivered to his head. Verbeek, who did not respond, picked up a minor, Secord a minor-major.&ldquo;For Patty to be successful he&rsquo;s got to do certain things,&rdquo; Muller said. &ldquo;He needs that feistiness. The more he gets involved, the better he plays. He aggravates the other team. When he&rsquo;s working like that, all the other things come natural for him. Brotsie and I work harder. I know if I work hard in the comers and feed Patty there&rsquo;s a good chance he&rsquo;ll score.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Jim Korn underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder Feb. 12 to repair a cartilage tear and remove calcium and tissue on the rotator cuff&hellip;Bob Sauve started three straight games, winning two, as the Devils&rsquo; No. 1 goalie. &ldquo;Bob&rsquo;s an experienced veteran, cool under fire,&rdquo; said Jim Schoenfeld. &ldquo;We need that at this stage of the season. I feel maybe he&rsquo;s the guy to go with.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Andy Brickley (4-2-6 in five games since his recall from Utica) and Randy Velischek (six straight strong games since complaining about lack of ice time) have both enjoyed a rejuvention under Schoenfeld.<h2>DEVILS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 8: Dan Dorion, RW, assigned to Utica (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kirk Muller, Mark Johnson, Patrik Sundstrom, David Maley.LW&mdash;Aaron Broten, Perry Anderson, Andy Brickley, Doug Sulliman, Pat Conacher.RW&mdash;Pat Verbeek, John MacLean, Brendan Shanahan, Doug Brown.LD&mdash;Bruce Driver, Ken Daneyko, Randy Velischek.RD&mdash;Craig Wolanin, Tom Kurvers, Joe Cirella, Jack O&rsquo;Callahan.G&mdash;Bob Sauve, Alain Chevrier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Anders Carlsson, LW, strained right knee ligaments, indefinite.Jim Korn, LW, arthroscopic surgery left shoulder, indefinite.Claude Loiselle, C, separated right shoulder, indefinite.George McPhee, LW, groin pull, indefinite. &#9632;

f0018-03

Verbeek Back And Scoring Again For Devils

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0019-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02722/5436195-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordie Howe. Dionne overtook Ranger GM Phil Esposito on the all-time list.Marcel Dionne&rsquo;s determination had paid off in 719 National Hockey League goals&mdash;second only to</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;While Marcel Dionne overtook Phil Esposito for second place on the NHL&rsquo;s all-time goal scoring list, his joy was diminished by the fact that the sixth-place Rangers were having difficulty overtaking anybody in the Patrick Division.&ldquo;It would feel a lot better if we had won,&rdquo; was Dionne&rsquo;s reaction after scoring his 718th and 719th goals, leaving Gordie Howe&rsquo;s 801 as the only target remaining. Instead, the Rangers settled for a 4-4 tie with the Islanders on Valentine&rsquo;s Day afternoon at Madison Square Garden.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01975/5436202-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="174" height="135"></div>Because the Rangers remained a distant seven points out of fourth place, the six-time 50-goal scorer was in no mood to discuss his place in history and, instead, described the frustration.&ldquo;It starts to play little mind games with you,&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re in last place, there is just no time to relax. It is very difficult on the guys. When the teams above you keep winning, even if you come back to earn a tie, you&rsquo;re disappointed.&rdquo;Dionne hardly mentioned historic goal No. 718, a power-play deflection of a Walt Poddubny shot which Kelly Hrudey had stopped. Dionne swept the rebound off the goalie&rsquo;s pads from point-blank range, to give the Rangers a lead they couldn&rsquo;t hold.But the 17-year veteran did go into detail on No. 719, the tying goal at 13:48 of the third period.Michel Petit drilled a slapshot which Hrudey blocked. Dionne slipped past Ken Morrow, reached behind the goalie and banged it into the net.Esposito, now Ranger GM, seemed to enjoy the milestone as much as Dionne. He smiled, knowingly, when asked how his magnificent 36-year-old scoring machine had been able to deposit 719 pucks into the mesh.Esposito pointed to his head. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all in there,&rdquo; he said, and Dionne agreed.&ldquo;It is experience,&rdquo; Dionne explained. &ldquo;You learn how to circle out from the side of the net, to wait for just the right instant to move.&rdquo;He stood by the left post, absorbed a crosscheck, took a shove from Morrow, then jabbed the Islander defenseman off balance to release himself.&ldquo;A lot of people talk about going in front of the net but that&rsquo;s where the defenseman wants you,&rdquo; Dionne said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve watched John Bucyk and Vic Hadfield (top NHL wingers from Dionne&rsquo;s early pro days) and they did a lot of damage from just outside that left post.&ldquo;If you stay just out of reach, behind the man (the defenseman), he has to take a second to look around for the puck,&rdquo; the future Hall-of-Famer explained. &ldquo;But you&rsquo;ve got to want to get there. It takes determination and confidence. Those things, and consistency, is how I got to 718.&rdquo;And to 719.&ldquo;When I saw that puck, there could have been a bulldozer in front of me,&rdquo; Dionne said, &ldquo;and 1 would have gotten past it.&rdquo;The Rangers could use a bulldozer to clear their way to the playoffs. With 23 games left, all five Patrick teams remained tantalizingly catchable (10 points separated top from bottom), but the Rangers weren&rsquo;t gaining any ground.NOTES&mdash;The Rangers&rsquo; third straight tie with the Islanders marked the eighth time in 57 games the Rangers blew a lead after two periods (0-4-4)&hellip;Nineteen of Marcel Dionne&rsquo;s 26 goals had been scored on power plays, and he was closing in on Vic Hadfield&rsquo;s 1971-72 club record of 23&hellip;As a team, the Rangers were only one short of their club-record 84 powerplay goals, set in 1974-74.&bull;<h2>RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 11: Rudy Poeschek, D-RW, recalled from Colorado (IHL).Feb. 12: Poeschek assigned to Colorado.Feb. 14: Bruce Bell, D, recalled from Colorado.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kelly Kisio, Walt Poddubny, Marcel Dionne, Ron Duguay.LW&mdash;John Ogrodnick, Don Maloney, Joe Paterson, Paul Cyr, Jeff Brubaker.RW&mdash;Brian Mullen, Ulf Dahlen, Tomas Sandstrom, Jan Erixon.LD&mdash;Norm Maciver, Jari Gron-strand, Bruce Bell.RD&mdash;James Patrick, Michel Petit, David Shaw.G&mdash;lohn Vanbiesbrouck, Bob Froese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Lucien DeBlois, C, pulled thigh muscle, indefinite.Ron Greschner, D, strained neck, indefinite.Pierre Larouche, C, pinched nerve, lower back, indefinite.Chris Nilan, RW, sprained ligament, right knee, indefinite &#9632;

f0019-02

Records Fine, But Dionne Wants In Playoffs

1. Which NHL rink is nicknamed the &lsquo;Igloo&rsquo;?2. What current Norris Division player scored the last goal in WHA history?3. Who competed in the pole vault at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, then went on to captain the Toronto Maple Leafs?4. Prior to the 1988 Winter Olympics, which country had won the most silver medals in hockey?5. Name the three members of the 1978-79 NHL first all-star team still playing for the same clubs.6. How many goaltenders have won both the Vezina and Jennings trophies in the same year?7. Name the Canadian netminder voted top goalie at the World Championships in 1961, &lsquo;63, &lsquo;64 and &lsquo;66.8. Name the Italian club that former NHLer Kent Nilsson started this season with.9. Of goaltenders who played at least 500 minutes, who had the lowest goals-against average in the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs?10. Name the only NHL team that has never missed the Stanley Cup playoffs.<h2>ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ</h2>1. Pittsburgh Civic Arena. 2. Dave Semenko. 3. Syl Apps Sr. 4. The United States, 5. 5. Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin (NY Islanders), Larry Robinson (Montreal). 6. None. 7. Seth Martin. 8. Bolzano. 9. Ken Wregget, 2.29. l0. Edmonton Oilers. BONUS ANSWER: Bob Myers.<h2>BONUS QUESTION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03496/5436233-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="580" height="958"></div>BONUS: This NHL official raises prize sheep in the offseason. &#9632;

f0019-03

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE…

I COME NOT to bury Wayne Gretzky, but to praise Mario Lemieux.No. 66 has surpassed No. 99 as the No. 1 player in the NHL. Gretzky may well be remembered as the best player ever, but with or without a knee injury, he hasn&rsquo;t been the best player this season.How do you prove it? You don&rsquo;t. You can&rsquo;t. Because the champ must be knocked out to lose his title. And Gretzky will not be knocked out. Hell, he&rsquo;s never been knocked down.The closest thing to tangible acknowledgement would be Lemieux winning the scoring championship.But all fight fans know that challengers seldom win on points. Besides, point production is misleading. As of Feb. 15, for instance, Lemieux had more points than Gretzky (120 to 104) but not more points per game (2.18 to 2.31).Comparing points, however, is partly pointless. After all, aside from Paul Coffey, Lemieux&rsquo;s teammates are considerably inferior to Gretzky&rsquo;s. Over the years it has been goals and assists that have been the most obvious measure of Gretzky&rsquo;s superiority. The fact that the Penguin&rsquo;s numbers are similar gives him the edge.Lemieux may indeed win the scoring championship on points. But in the minds of many, if not the record book, there will be an asterisk attached because of Gretzky&rsquo;s injury-induced absence.But the proof is in performance.Lemieux has been dominant this year, more so than Gretzky. At 22, he has picked up his game to a level occupied by few others in the game&rsquo;s history. At 27, Gretzky is still great, but is he the greatest?Whether Lemieux is the player Gretzky was at age 22 is another matter altogether. And one we&rsquo;re not addressing.The difference between the two is minimal. Almost too small, in fact, to acknowlege a new champion. Not with a defending champion who has brought such dignity to the sport.There is a natural reluctance to consider the possibility Gretzky no longer has a lease on the throne. First of all because there is every possibility that Gretzky will still win the scoring championship even though he could play 10 fewer games than Lemieux. Should he, the contention that Lemieux is now No. 1 will be severely strained. It may even bend, but it shouldn&rsquo;t break.Gretzky has been the best for so long we want him to be the best. And he has been so good at being the best you can&rsquo;t help but wince at the suggestion there is someone marginally better.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01842/5436264-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="337" height="465"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden</figcaption></div>Lemieux is not the best because he outscored Gretzky 6-1 in the All-Star Game at St. Louis. (More notable was another six-point performance, four days later in Vancouver.) Though he outclassed Gretzky, the circumstances were special. It was like a sprinter setting a world record with the wind at his back. If the breeze is too blustery, the record doesn&rsquo;t count. The AllStar Game was an exhibition contest. A non-title fight.There are better reasons supporting Lemieux&rsquo;s ascendency.He has eclipsed Gretzky because he is now within shouting distance of 99 in point production; because a guy named after a piece of equipment is having a Callander year in Pittsburgh; because he scores goals better than anybody in the world; because he&rsquo;s the most feared one-on-one player in the world; because he has added acceleration to a strong stride; because his playmaking ability is second only to Gretzky&rsquo;s; because, and this is of paramount importance, he&rsquo;s so damned big; and because he has added consistency and intensity to an infinite range of skills.Perhaps Gretzky contributed to that new burning fire with an all-world performance at the Canada Cup. It was Lemieux who scored 11 goals, but it was Gretzky who earned 18 assists and reached a new creative high.A friend of mine, a reporter who didn&rsquo;t see any of the Canada Cup games live, wondered about Gretzky being mentioned more prominently than Lemieux. No. 66, after all, accounted for exactly 66 per cent of Canada&rsquo;s winning goals with four of six&mdash;including the tournament winner in overtime.He dismissed the distinction between the two as further deference to a demi-god. What he didn&rsquo;t see was a brand of determination that has become the Gretzky trademark.After that tournament Gretzky was No. 1. Now he&rsquo;s No. la. &#9632;

f0020-01

Superstar Lemieux Is Now NHL’s Best Player

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div>BUFFALO&mdash;A little more than a year ago, Joe Reekie was fighting for a job on the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; blue line. Now, he&rsquo;s looked on as the man to lead the Sabres out of a slump.Reekie, deemed the Sabres&rsquo; most improved player last season, was a valuable part of the team&rsquo;s &lsquo;87-88 plans. A steady stay-at-home type, he had no goals and two assists in 14 games early this season. But a fractured kneecap took him out of the lineup in mid-November.Though Reekie played well in his return to action, he couldn&rsquo;t prevent the Sabres from losing their third game in a row, 4-3 in overtime to Chicago Feb. 15.&ldquo;This was a tough one to lose,&rdquo; Sabre coach Ted Sator said, after Steve Thomas scored at 3:48 of overtime to deny the Sabres a point on the road. &ldquo;Things are beginning to tighten up in our division, and points are going to be hard to come by.&rdquo;Things have tightened up indeed. The Sabres will be hard-pressed to hold third place, in the face of a reorganization in Hartford. After Buffalo&rsquo;s loss at Chicago, Hartford stood just four points back of the Sabres and had two games in hand.But the return of Reekie, following surgery and an extensive rehabilitation, had the Sabres smiling.Still, the defenseman, who turned 23 on Feb. 22, warned not to expect too much right away.&ldquo;Three months is a long time to be away,&rdquo; Reekie said. &ldquo;I had a shoulder problem last year and that seemed like a long time (he still managed to split 78 games between Buffalo and Rochester), but this was something else&mdash;surgery, and then being away so long.Not being a part of the team was the hardest part. To sit there and not be able to do anything is tough.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02569/5436295-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="175" height="131"></div>The return of Reekie made defenseman Steve Dykstra expendable. The Sabres had been using Dykstra, 25, for spot duty earlier in the season, but he was getting irritated by his lack of ice time and quietly approached the Sabres about making a deal.Once Reekie&rsquo;s return was assured, the Sabres accommodated Dykstra by sending him to his hometown team, the Edmonton Oilers, for Scott Metcalfe, 21. Metcalfe, Edmonton&rsquo;s first pick in the 1985 entry draft (20th overall), had been playing with Nova Scotia in the American League.The Sabres took a look-see at their newest left wing prospect against Winnipeg, then sent him to their own AHL affiliate in Rochester.Dykstra, meanwhile, left Buffalo with no regrets.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m ecstatic,&rdquo; he said, shortly after the trade was announced. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry to be leaving these guys, because I really believe Buffalo is going to win a Stanley Cup soon, but I&rsquo;m going to the Oilers and I&rsquo;m going home. I couldn&rsquo;t be happier about that.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Mike Foligno had a goal and an assist against Winnipeg, enabling him to reach the 400-point mark as a Sabre&hellip;The Sabres went through a mini-shakeup for the game against Chicago. Doug Smith and Jan Ludvig were scratched and Lindy Ruff was moved from defense back to a forward position. Kevin Maguire injured an ankle against the Jets and was lost to the team indefinitely&hellip;Rookie Pierre Turgeon had a goal against the Blackhawks, his first since Jan. 8 against Hartford&hellip;Phil Housley, snubbed by Wales Conference coach Mike Keenan despite having scored more goals than any other defenseman in the NHL at the all-star break, was poised to break his own club record for most goals by a defenseman. Housley tied the mark of 24 (he scored 31 goals in 1983-84, but seven were as a forward) when he scored Feb. 2 against Quebec.<h2>SABRES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 10: Steve Dykstra, D, traded to Edmonton for Scott Metcalfe, LW.Jan. 14: Ken Priestlay, C, recalled from Rochester (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Christian Ruuttu, John Tucker, Pierre Turgeon, Ken Priestlay, Doug Smith.LW&mdash;Mikael Andersson, Dave Andreychuk, Mike Donnelly, Lindy Ruff, Clark Gillies.RW&mdash;Mike Foligno, Scot Arniel, Ray Sheppard, Mark Napier, Jan Ludvig.LD&mdash;Joe Reekie, Bob Halkidis, Mike Ramsey.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, Uwe Krupp, Calle Johansson, Ed Hospodar.G&mdash;Tom Barrasso, Jacques Cloutier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Adam Creighton, C, knee, indefinite.Kevin Maguire, RW, ankle, indefinite. &#9632;

f0020-02

Sabres Look To Reekie To Solidify Defense

Anna Macintosh is a truly liberated female.After watching her brother play hockey in January, 1987, she decided she&rsquo;d give it a shot as well. Now, the seven-year-old member of a Fredericton, N.B., mite team is the only girl to play at the city&rsquo;s York Arena.Anna, a Grade 2 student at Liverpool St. School, is serious about her hockey. She attended the University of New Brunswick Fall Hockey Skills Clinic, and plans to attend the UNB Hockey School this summer.The 4-foot-1, 70-pounder is a versatile performer. Coach Matt Rickard has Anna playing all positions, but her favorite is goal.Anna has many interests, including swimming, Brownies, school choir and reading.Anna&rsquo;s favorite teams are the AHL Fredericton Express and its rparent club, the Vancouver Canucks.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03395/5436326-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="568" height="1139"><figcaption class="caption-body">ANNA MACINTOSH</figcaption></div>You or someone you know can be part of the TITAN-JOFA Minor Hockey Showcase. Just send a photograph, along with biographical information (age, height, weight, team, coach&rsquo;s name, school and grade, as well as favorite NHL team and player) to: TITAN-JOFA SHOWCASE, C/O THE HOCKEY NEWS, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. All entries submitted will be eligible for selection as THN/TITAN-JOFA Minor Hockey Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0020-03

PLAYER OF WEEK JOFA TITAN

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>BOSTON&mdash;It was a long time coming but Tommy Lehmann, the Swedish center who has seen more of the medical room than the rink in his first year in the NHL, has finally started to make a contribution to the Boston Bruins.The 24-year-old rookie scored his first goal as a North American pro Feb. 13 against the Vancouver Canucks, giving him four points in a season that had reached nine games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m more ready now and I&rsquo;m in better shape,&rdquo; said Lehmann. &ldquo;Being in shape is not only getting your condition back&mdash;you need your timing and your skating, too.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s so much of a confidence thing, too. You score a couple of goals and you just feel like you can score. Look at Cam Neely. He knows he&rsquo;s a goalscorer. I know the feeling when you&rsquo;re scoring. You feel like you&rsquo;re pretty dangerous.&rdquo;Lehmann, who was drafted by the Bruins in the 11th round, 228th overall in the 1982 entry draft, was a long time arriving in Boston.At first, the Bruins didn&rsquo;t think he was ready. Then they were reluctant to lay out money to the Swedish hockey federation. But all that changed when he scored 25 goals in 32 games for AIK Stockholm last season.Lehmann was one of the brightest spots in the Bruins&rsquo; 1987 training camp, but he sprained ligaments in his left knee in an exhibition game against the New York Islanders Sept. 28.When his recovery seemed to take an inordinately long time, a further examination was ordered and it was discovered that he also had cartilage damage in the knee. Arthroscopic surgery was performed.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good kid with a great attitude,&rdquo; said coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly.&ldquo;He had a terrific training camp, then it was all wiped out. His injury was more serious than originally diagnosed and, boom, he was gone.&rdquo;It was Christmastime before he was ready to skate with the Bruins&rsquo; farmhands in Maine, where he was also slowed by a pulled groin and hip injury.But, ready or not, when a series of minor injuries struck the big club in early January, Lehmann was called up to cover the emergency.He played five games for the Bruins, seeing limited action with no points and only two shots on goals.&ldquo;We called him up prematurely,&rdquo; said O&rsquo;Reilly. &ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t helping his conditioning or his confidence but he had some injuries and we needed someone.&rdquo;When the plague of injuries abated, he was back in Maine, picking up enough confidence to score three goals and five assists in 10 games for the Mariners.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01630/5436357-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="172" height="136"></div>He rejoined the Bruins Feb. 5. The next day, he assisted on Neely&rsquo;s gamewinning goal in a 3-2 victory over Quebec, then had another assist in a 6-3 win over New Jersey the following day.Still he didn&rsquo;t feel ready. While the other Bruins enjoyed a couple of days off during the all-star break, Lehmann went back to Maine to work out with the Mariners.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had enough time off,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s better for me to get in shape than to rest.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Rick Middleton has also suffered a rare injury. He sustained a hairline fracture of the ribs, Feb. 6 against Quebec. &ldquo;The only thing I&rsquo;d ever broken was my leg, when I was a rookie,&rdquo; Middleton said&hellip;General manager Harry Sinden said he was close to signing draft picks Bob Joyce and Craig Janney, who are playing for the Canadian and American Olympic teams, respectively. Both might stick with the big club. &ldquo;We want to look at them first and see if they should stay,&rdquo; Sinden said&hellip;Steve Kasper, with 23 goals, 35 assists and 58 points, eclipsed his most productive season in the NHL&mdash;21-35-56 as a rookie in 1980-81. And there were still 21 games to go&hellip;The Bruins had 13 sellouts of 14,451, with 12 home games left. Last year they had one.<h2>BRUINS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 10: Frank Simonetti, D. recalled from Maine (AHL).Feb. 11: Paul Beraldo, RW, assigned to Maine.Feb. 13: Greg Hawgood, D, recalled from Kamloops (WHL).Feb. 14: Hawgood assigned to Kamloops.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ken Linseman, Steve Kasper, Bob Sweeney, Tommy Lehmann, Billy O&rsquo;Dwyer.LW&mdash;Geoff Courtnail, Randy Burridge, Jay Miller.RW&mdash;Keith Crowder, Lyndon Byers, Willi Platt.LD&mdash;Glen Wesley, Allen Pedersen.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque, Reed Larson, Michael Thelven, Frank Simonetti.G&mdash;Reggie Lemelin, Doug Keans.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Gord Kluzak, D, right knee sprain, day-to-day.Nevin Markwart, LW, left shoulder surgery, indefinite.Rick Middleton, LW, hairline rib fracture, day-to-day.Cam Neely, RW, inflamed right knee cap, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0021-01

Finally, Lehmann Making His Presence Felt

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01732/5436395-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Though Montreal&rsquo;s power play has been faltering, Jean Perron says the team will have to stress defense to improve.</figcaption></div>MONTREAL&mdash;It&rsquo;s not time to panic&mdash;yet.There was reason for some concern over the plight of the Montreal Canadiens as they slipped to third overall in the National Hockey League standings.A power play that has blown its fuse and sunk to 20th overall and an inconsistent effort in physical play resulted in a four-game losing streak heading into mid-February.&ldquo;There have been times in past years when we have had troubles on the power play,&rdquo; said left winger Ryan Walter. &ldquo;We have come out of it before and I&rsquo;m sure we can this time.&rdquo;The Canadiens&rsquo; power play had accounted for just five goals in 49 opportunities in February&mdash;for a conversion rate of about 10 per cent. It&rsquo;s hardly what you would expect from a team that has spent much of the season first or second overall.&ldquo;We have to get the confidence back that we had in the power play,&rdquo; said Bobby Smith. &ldquo;We just aren&rsquo;t doing the things we were.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02515/5436388-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="175" height="132"></div>The Canadiens were O-for-5 with the extra man in a 4-2 loss at New Jersey on Feb. 11 and had a shorthanded goal scored against them by Andy Brickley. Next time out, they gave up a shorthanded goal by Hartford&rsquo;s Stewart Gavin in a 4-1 home-ice loss to the Whalers on Feb. 13. The power play was O-for-7.&ldquo;Sometimes it isn&rsquo;t easy to translate what&rsquo;s on the board in the dressing room onto the ice,&rdquo; said Smith, a key man when Montreal has the man advantage.While the power play has been getting its share of abuse, so has the Canadiens&rsquo; work in their own end. Montreal coach Jean Perron was miffed by the loss at New Jersey, especially by the poor teamwork on the first and fourth goals.&ldquo;The five guys on the ice have to do a much better job,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s that simple.&rdquo;What bothers Perron, and his defensemen, are forwards who exit the defensive zone before the puck is fully under control. It creates a big gap between the forwards and defense. The big gap equals big problems.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something that we have got to turn around,&rdquo; Walter said. &ldquo;Everyone knows what has to be done and we simply have to go out and do it.&rdquo;Perron said he would make some adjustments to get the Habs back on track.&ldquo;We will concentrate on our defensive play,&rdquo; Perron said. &ldquo;If we do that, we will be able to generate our scoring chances, but we have to work on our defensive play.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Chris Chelios was unavailable immediately after the all-star break because of a bruised tailbone. He was out on a day-to-day basis&hellip;Craig Ludwig reached a milestone with his 100th career NHL point in New Jersey&hellip;Mike McPhee missed the Canadiens&rsquo; game against the Rangers in New York on Feb. 15 because of illness in the family&hellip;Jean Perron reunited the Brian Skrudland-Claude Lemieux-Mike McPhee line for the home-ice loss against the Whalers&hellip;Patrick Roy was 4-5-1 in 10 starts, including consecutive losses to the Devils and Whalers. &bull;<h2>CANADIENS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bobby Smith, Guy Carbonneau, Shayne Corson, Brian Skrudland.RW&mdash;Claude Lemieux, Kjell Dahlin, Stephane Richer, Sergio Momesso, John Kordic.LW&mdash;Ryan Walter, Bob Gainey, Mats Naslund, Mike McPhee.LD&mdash;Craig Ludwig, Petr Svoboda, Mike Lalor.RD&mdash;Larry Robinson, Rick Green, Larry Trader.G&mdash;Brian Hayward, Patrick Roy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Chris Chelios, D, bruised tailbone, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0022-01

Power Play Swoons And So Do Canadiens

SOMETIMES, IT TAKES exceptional surroundings to make us appreciate everyday circumstances.I&rsquo;ve often thought about trying to reach that realization through an out-of-body experience, but that would involve traveling so far I&rsquo;d have to clear customs at least three times.I thus had to settle for a quasi-cosmic enlightening brought on by the laser show between periods at the All-Star Game in St. Louis.Surely, you remember it. The one that served as a backdrop for one of the brewery jingles that repeatedly bludgeoned the nearly 18,000 innocent victims who had planned on attending a hockey game, not a beer commercial.Forget that it was a breakthrough in marketing, this concept of using light shows to sell light beer.Anyway, it happened while I was sitting there trying to figure out just when Mike Keenan would bench Mario Lemieux because he was not backchecking with sufficient vigor.I was struck by the awesome knowledge that I was being paid&mdash;and darned well, I might add&mdash;to be there.Didn&rsquo;t cost me a dollar, even a Canadian one. Heck, I was getting a full day&rsquo;s wages (somewhere near $13.25, before taxes) to watch a hockey game.Is this a great continent, or what?That fragment of wisdom inspired me to ponder all the other benefits inherent to my job.Like, I don&rsquo;t just get to watch hockey players, I get to talk to &lsquo;em. Real words and everything.Mostly when they are sweaty and tired, and offering such remarkable insights as &ldquo;Geez, I guess we just have to work harder,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Gretzky is a really good hockey player.&rdquo;Sometimes, I share those glimpses of greatness with the folks who plop down 25 cents worth of hard U.S. currency for my newspaper.Usually, I just take them home and meditate over them in a candlelit room.Anyway, consider this primer on hockey journalism just another public service of THE HOCKEY NEWS&mdash;DON&rsquo;T YOU WISH WE CAPITALIZED EVERYTHING THE WAY WE DO OUR NAME?Covering the NHL means:&bull; Getting 7 a.m. wake-up calls in Montreal, which means the phone rings a good 23 minutes after an evening of indulging in some of the quaint local traditions.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-03390/5436426-1-eng-US/f0022-032.jpg" title="f0022-03" width="354" height="451"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Molinari</figcaption></div>Which is to say, ogling the world-renowned dance troupe that performs nightly at Chez Paree and plying oneself with so much alcohol that the words which exit one&rsquo;s mouth are in neither English nor French.&bull; Having to spend a solemn, meaningful occasion&mdash;say, Groundhog Day&mdash;in a hotel in Winnipeg.On the eighth floor. Making eye contact with a snowdrift.&bull; Interacting, albeit impersonally, with a delightful segment of the populace, many of whom are eager to share their perspectives on such diverse and intriguing subjects as hockey writers&rsquo; parentage and sexual orientation.Try to imagine the delight of launching your day&mdash;and this is legit&mdash;with a hearty cup of coffee and letter that opens with this warm salutation: &ldquo;Dear Scum Wad.&rdquo;Or one that concludes thusly: &ldquo;I will be looking for these thots to be published.&rdquo;Gives a guy real satisfaction to know folks took time from their busy schedule down at the law office or their pre-med classes at Harvard to share their feelings. And thots.Or maybe it should just be a lesson to everyone: Never teach the in-laws how to work a crayon.So there it is. Do you feel sorry for us yet?Do hockey writers have your sympathy? Your condolences?Okay, can we at least have your credit cards?If we can&rsquo;t get your compassion, we&rsquo;ll settle for your cash.But hey, as a great citizen&mdash;I think it was either Bob McKenzie or his celebrity imitator, Spuds&mdash;once said, it sure beats working for a living. &#9632;

f0022-03

He Saw The Light (Beer) At NHL All-Star Gathering

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01712/5436464-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="589" height="1284"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Tippett likened Larry Pleau&rsquo;s first practice to an Olympic team workout.</figcaption></div>HARTFORD&mdash;Under Larry Pleau, Hartford Whaler practices have taken a quantum leap from the silent movie era to talkies.Players didn&rsquo;t scrimmage in Pleau&rsquo;s first official practice with the Whalers, after he was named to replace Jack Evans as head coach Feb. 7.They just worked.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little like going back to school,&rdquo; Mike Liut said.&ldquo;This was only the basics and still some guys didn&rsquo;t understand,&rdquo; added Dave Tippett. &ldquo;This was the kind of practice we used to have with the (1984 Canadian) Olympic team.&rdquo;Practice sessions under Evans were so quiet. If Ulf Samuelsson behaved, players seldom laughed or talked. Aside from a whistle blowing and an occasional, &ldquo;Do it again,&rdquo; there would be no noise at all.&ldquo;The one thing I don&rsquo;t like about this,&rdquo; Liut said, &ldquo;is that people will say, &lsquo;Why didn&rsquo;t Jack do that?&rsquo; We were good enough to win an Adams Division title last year with Jack not saying anything. One man doesn&rsquo;t ruin the whole thing.&rdquo;Enter Pleau.&ldquo;The players have to adjust to me and I&rsquo;ve got to adjust to them,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to take it slow.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02500/5436457-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="175" height="131"></div>When Pleau became general manager-coach of the Whalers in 1981, his unspoken plan was to turn the Whalers into the Montreal Canadiens in about 20 games. He failed and was exiled to Binghamton of the American League for more than four years.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;There&rsquo;ll be days when the players won&rsquo;t want to listen. &lsquo; &mdash;Pleau</blockquote>&ldquo;The big difference between then and now is experience,&rdquo; Pleau said.In Pleau&rsquo;s first week, he met with all 23 players individually. He suggested the release of Dave (Tiger) Williams. He shifted Sylvain Turgeon away from Ronnie Francis and Kevin Dineen. He benched Joel Quenneville and Ray Ferraro, adding that he would regularly rotate some of his players.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a firm believer in the defensive part of the game,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s where it all starts. How you do without the puck will determine how many games you&rsquo;ll win.&rdquo;Because Pleau&rsquo;s open style differs so dramatically from Evans&rsquo;, he is bound to have an impact, one way or another, on several players.&ldquo;Larry is going to make some players better,&rdquo; Tippett said. &ldquo;Dean Evason and Sylvain Cote, for example. This could help Turgeon or it could hurt him. You should be able to tell by the end of the season.&rdquo;Turgeon had three assists in Pleau&rsquo;s debut, a 4-2 win over Toronto in Hartford. In Pleau&rsquo;s second start, the Whalers waxed Montreal 4-1 at the Forum, and had never looked better in that hallowed graveyard.&ldquo;Larry talks to me on the bench,&rdquo; Turgeon said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never had that before.&rdquo;According to Tippett, another player who should benefit from Pleau&rsquo;s arrival is Francis, the team captain.&ldquo;Larry will expect a lot from Ronnie, and Ronnie will be better for it,&rdquo; Tippett said.Defensive specialists, such as Tippett himself, can only ponder what their adjusted roles might be.&ldquo;Players like Joel and me are left wondering,&rdquo; Tippett said. &ldquo;Jack maybe relied on us too much.&rdquo;But for now, Pleau has set his motto as &ldquo;One day at a time.&rdquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to be conscious of not trying to do too much,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;ll be days when the players won&rsquo;t want to listen. I have to accept that. It all can&rsquo;t be done in one day.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Dave Williams, the alltime NHL leader in penalty minutes, was placed on waivers Feb. 12. In 26 games with Hartford, Williams, 34, had six goals, no assists and 87 PIM. His totals for a 14-year career that has included stops in Toronto, Vancouver, Detroit, L.A. and Hartford, stood at 962 games, 241 goals, 513 points and 3,966 PIM&hellip;Gord Sherven was expected to join the Whalers after the Olympics, GM Emile Francis said.<h2>WHALERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 12: Dave Williams, LW, placed on waivers and released.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ronnie Francis, Carey Wilson, Dean Evason, Brent Peterson, Ray Ferraro.LW&mdash;Sylvain Turgeon, Dave Tippett, Torrie Robertson, Lindsay Carson.RW&mdash;Kevin Dineen, Paul MacDermid, John Anderson, Stewart Gavin, Mark Reeds.LD&mdash;Joel Quenneville, Randy Ladouceur, Neil Sheehy, Scot Kleinendorst.RD&mdash;Dave Babych, Ulf Samuelsson, Sylvain Cote.G&mdash;Mike Liut, Steve Weeks.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

f0024-01

Hats Off To Larrv—Pleau Has ‘Em Talking

HOW IS IT that a man capable of amassing worldly fortunes is unable to properly run a professional hockey team?Harold Ballard remains living proof that business intelligence and hockey intelligence have little in common.The latest story in the continuing sad saga of Ballard&rsquo;s Toronto Maple Leafs is further indication of how mismanaged this hockey club is.In case you&rsquo;ve missed it the Maple Leafs have become the worst team in hockey again, although those in Minnesota can certainly put up a favorable argument for the out-of-miracles North Stars.The Leafs, mired in a slump of record-breaking proportions, decided something had to be done. First, Ballard had to return from sick bay. Then he determined what was wrong. Then he acted.Ballard considered the club&rsquo;s record embarrassing, so he went to general manager Gerry McNamara and asked him why. Actually, he asked him to resign, but that&rsquo;s another story.Ballard was blaming McNamara for the Leafs&rsquo; problems, and he had a case for doing so.But in blaming McNamara, he also should have blamed himself. Ballard hired McNamara to run the team, but didn&rsquo;t give him powers to do so.The last three Leaf coaches were not McNamara&rsquo;s choices&mdash;in fact he fought to have John Brophy fired&mdash;but he was forced to live with those choices if he chose to remain employed.Firing McNamara was not unfair. His performance as an NHL general manager can be described as adequate at best. His was a reign of error. Blaming him for the Leafs&rsquo; performance, when he had no say in who coached the team, is wrong.But no one ever accused Ballard of being right, which is why he remains the owner of the league&rsquo;s most behind-the-times franchise.After firing McNamara, Ballard then made a move which ranks right up there with the worst of George Maguire. In the interim he elevated Brophy to the general manager&rsquo;s ranks.Brophy has the poorest winning percentage among current NHL coaches. The Peter Principle reigns surpreme at Maple Leaf Gardens.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03335/5436495-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="414" height="461"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Simmons</figcaption></div>Brophy, living in another hockey era and using outdated coaching methods, is now in charge for the remainder of the season.And none of this will improve the Leafs. It can&rsquo;t.Replacing a general manager is the kind of move which only helps a team during the off-season. There is too much business to be attended to during the season, too much that can potentially go wrong. Replacing a coach during the season, however, has often proven to be the kind of tonic a team needs to improve.If he is serious about the future of the Leafs, and as caring about a winner as he claims, then he has no choice but to clean house.Fire everyone. Coaches. Managers. Scouts. The whole organization.He needs to bring one strong leader, with czar-type authority, to run the organization. Sadly, though, it won&rsquo;t happen. Not while Ballard is still alive. He won&rsquo;t let go of the reins, he won&rsquo;t let his managers manage and often won&rsquo;t let his coaches coach.Just the other day, Ballard was asked whether he&rsquo;d like to see Olympic coach and general manager Dave King running the Leafs, and he made some flippant remark about not wanting any schoolboys running his club.Then he made a snide comment about not wanting another Roger Neilson coaching the Leafs.Funny thing about Roger Neilson. The last winning season the Maple Leafs had, he just happened to be coach. &#9632;

f0024-03

Toronto Must Clean House If Serious About Improving

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;All-star left winger Michel Goulet has been one of the more silent Quebec Nordiques in this season of turmoil, but even he felt compelled to speak up during the team&rsquo;s western swing.Goulet&rsquo;s play had fallen off of late, coach Ron Lapointe felt. Lapointe cut down the ice time of the four-time 50-goal scorer and Goulet let his displeasure be known.In a 5-3 loss in Los Angeles on Feb. 11, Goulet didn&rsquo;t get as much ice time as usual, and in Minnesota a few days later, he was benched for the last 10 minutes of a game the Nords won 7-3.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the kind of guy who&rsquo;ll be satisfied in playing only 10 or 12 minutes a game,&rdquo; said Goulet. &ldquo;1&rsquo;monly 27 and still have lots of productive years ahead of me.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m convinced I&rsquo;m giving my all out there. I&rsquo;m working very hard. And my stats are a lot better this season than they were last year at the same time. But I guess it still isn&rsquo;t enough.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01625/5436533-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="588" height="1251"><figcaption class="caption-body">All-star left winger Michel Goulet didn&rsquo;t take kindly to being sat down.</figcaption></div>Goulet had 30 goals and 48 assists in 56 games.His protest was also a plea to Lapointe for reinstated ice time.&ldquo;But for the moment,&rdquo; Goulet added, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be patient. There&rsquo;s no use in creating too much of a turmoil. I&rsquo;ll just wait and see what happens in the next few games.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02413/5436526-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="173" height="136"></div>Goulet, who was used as a checking forward in his early pro days while still developing his scoring touch, had been struggling defensively. That, as much as anything, led to the rest period.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s true that I was on the ice for the North Stars&rsquo; last two goals in Minnesota,&rdquo; said Goulet. &ldquo;But don&rsquo;t forget that they had me playing against Dino Ciccarelli and Neil Broten.&rdquo;Goulet&rsquo;s problems started before the season, when long-time center-ice partner Dale Hunter was traded to Washington.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had Peter Stastny, Alan Haworth, Jason Lafreniere and Paul Gillis as centermen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So you can&rsquo;t expect miracles. People have to understand that it isn&rsquo;t always easy to be shifted around like that.&ldquo;Mind you, I&rsquo;ve got nothing against changes. Especially when the team is having ups and downs like we are having right now. We have to be shaken up when things go bad. That&rsquo;s normal.&ldquo;And the only reason why I&rsquo;m not scoring as much as usual, lately, is because the puck simply isn&rsquo;t getting to me. Sometimes, it&rsquo;s tougher playing with some players than with others.&rdquo;Goulet also didn&rsquo;t appreciate being demoted from the first power-play unit to the second.&ldquo;They&rsquo;ve decided to use Lane Lambert with Peter and Anton (Stastny) more and more often,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But as I stated earlier, I have no say over who plays with who.&rdquo;Though he was tied for eighth in NHL scoring. Goulet said he knew the Nords&rsquo; problems would eventually be laid at his feet.&ldquo;When things go badly, I&rsquo;m always the scapegoat. But what people don&rsquo;t seem to realize is that I&rsquo;m the one that was going to the net to try and make things happen when we were in so much trouble a couple of months ago.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;The Nords were in Los Angeles Feb. 12. when an earthquake hit. The 5.0 tremor (Richter scale) woke most of the players at 7:26 a.m. Peter Stastny thought roommate Alain Cote was shaking his bed because he was late getting up&hellip;Defenseman Jeff Brown tied the team record for most goals for a defenseman (13), Feb. 13 in Minnesota. Mario Marois set the standard in 1983-84&hellip;Rookie goalie Mario Brunetta has been sharp since being recalled from Fredericton.<h2>NORDIQUES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 16: Terry Carkner, D, eligible to return after 10-game NHL suspension.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Stastny, Alan Haworth, Jason Lafreniere, Paul Gillis.LW&mdash;Gaetan Duchesne, Michel Goulet, Mike Eagles, Mike Hough.RW&mdash;Anton Stastny, Lane Lambert, Alain Cote, Gord Donnelly.LD&mdash;Steven Finn, Normand Rochefort, Jean-Marc Richard, Stephane Guerard.RD&mdash;Randy Moller, Tommy Albelin.G&mdash;Mario Gosselin, Mario Brunetta.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Robert Picard, D, crushed first vertebra in lower back, March 19. &#9632;

f0025-01

‘Always Scapegoat,’ Benched Goulet Claims

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01663/5436613-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="286" height="286"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02462/5436606-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="410" height="359"></div><h2>Big Scorer Still Tops In Montreal</h2>Right winger Stephane Richer, who led the Montreal Canadiens in scoring at the all-star break with 32 in 54 games, won his second consecutive segment of Molson Cup balloting to pull ahead of left winger Mats Naslund by 10 points.Though center Bobby Smith led the team in points with 72, his name did not appear as one of the five team leaders. That&rsquo;s because goalie Patrick Roy, center Guy Carbonneau and right winger Claude Lemieux have all also played superb hockey this season.Here&rsquo;s how the overall standings looked for the six Canadian cities participating in the Molson Cup balloting:<h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03375/5436599-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="592" height="297"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04279/5436592-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="591" height="295"></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05219/5436585-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="590" height="295"></div><h2>CALGARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06181/5436578-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="587" height="292"></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07157/5436571-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="588" height="295"></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08144/5436564-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="586" height="295"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

THE MOLSON CUP THREE-STAR STANDINGS

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>EDMONTON&mdash;Steve Dykstra didn&rsquo;t win a lottery&hellip;just the next best thing.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy,&rdquo; piped the newest member of the Edmonton Oilers. &ldquo;What more could a guy ask for then to come back to his home town and play for the defending Stanley Cup champions?&rdquo;Well, maybe a better way of being informed of the trade&mdash;in Dykstra&rsquo;s case, from the Buffalo Sabres for left winger Scott Metcalfe.Accompanied by his girlfriend, the big defenseman was at the movie Good Morning Vietnam when the deal was announced. When he returned home, he turned on his telephone recording machine and learned of his change of address.As far as the Oilers were concerned, the acquisition of Dykstra is a better-late-than-never deal.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01636/5436675-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="176" height="135"></div>&ldquo;I tried to get him last year, but they wouldn&rsquo;t trade him,&rdquo; said Oilers&rsquo; manager-coach Glen Sather. &ldquo;I wanted a guy who could move guys from in front of the net. He&rsquo;s a big, tough guy and he gives us a little depth.&rdquo;The Oilers gave Metcalfe, the 20th pick overall in 1984, a brief two-game look last month. The 21-year-old becomes the second first-rounder Edmonton has given up on within a year. The contract of 1982 top pick Jim Playfair wasn&rsquo;t renewed last summer.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve got other young guys who have progressed more than him (Metcalfe),&rdquo; said Sather, listing Swedish Olympian Peter Eriksson, high-scoring juniors Dan Currie and David Haas, and U.S. Olympian Clark Donatelli.Dykstra, a free-agent Buffalo signing in December, 1982, was just happy to be coming home.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m looking forward to mom&rsquo;s cooking and having her do my laundry,&rdquo; grinned the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder whose parents reside on Edmonton&rsquo;s South Side. &ldquo;There&rsquo;ll be no more Burger King or pizza. I always enjoyed coming back to Edmonton and playing in front of my family Hopefully, playing with them (the Oilers) will work out.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure the only drawback will be which brother to give tickets to,&rdquo; added Dykstra, one of three sons bom to the retired owner of a construction business. He also has two sisters.Dykstra is coming off a conditioning stint in the minors that came at his own request.&ldquo;The Sabres were doing really well and they had a lot of healthy defensemen,&rdquo; the 25-year-old explained. &ldquo;I got caught in a numbers game and I wanted to stay in shape. But I was blocked on waivers, so I asked if I could go down for conditioning purposes.&rdquo;The initial order of business was to check the situation with the Oilers.&ldquo;I talked to Normie (ex-Sabre Lacombe) and he said the biggest thing he noticed was the relaxed atmosphere,&rdquo; Dykstra said. &ldquo;There were times in Buffalo you could hear a pin drop. But, don&rsquo;t get me wrong, I en joyed Buffalo. They&rsquo;re an up-and coming team with a good coach (Ted Sator) and I think Gerry Meehan will be a good GM.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to bum any bridges. I wish them the best of luck&hellip;except when they play the Oilers.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Wayne Gretzky moved to within two assists of career leader Gordie Howe&mdash;1,049-to-1,047&mdash;and was set to surpass Mr. Hockey at home, either against Toronto Feb. 17 or Pittsburgh Feb. 19. The Oilers had a special ceremony planned&hellip;Kevin McClelland suffered a bruised right knee against the Vancouver Canucks and had missed the last two starts&hellip;Mark Messier snapped a 12-game goalless drought in fine fashion. The burly center struck for his ninth career hat trick in a 7-6 win over the Vancouver Canucks.<h2>OILERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 10: Scott Metcalfe, LW, traded to Buffalo for Steve Dykstra, D.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mike Krushelnyski, Keith Acton.LW&mdash;Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Esa Tikkanen, Craig MacTavish.RW&mdash;Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Marty McSorley, Kevin McClelland, Normand Lacombe.LD&mdash;Kevin Lowe, Steve Smith, Steve Dykstra.RD&mdash;Jeff Beukeboom, Craig Muni, Charlie Huddy, Selmar Odelein.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr, Warren Skorodenski.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kevin McClelland, RW, bruised right knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0028-01

New Oiler Comes Back To Home Cooking

<div class="byline">BY TIM CAMPBELL</div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Was that Dan Maloney in the pool hall over the allstar break?It must have been. How else could the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; head coach have lined up all the angles his team faces over the final third of the season?Judging by orations before and after post-all-star victories over Buffalo and Quebec, the deliberate, size-up-every-shot approach is about the only way Maloney figures he&rsquo;s going to be able to run the Smythe Division table from third place.&ldquo;Down the stretch, you&rsquo;ve got to keep scoring your goals,&rdquo; said Maloney. &ldquo;But toward playoff hockey, it&rsquo;s like a pool game.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not what you make, it&rsquo;s what you leave. You&rsquo;ve got to make sure that you make more than you leave but you don&rsquo;t want to leave too many opportunities around for the opposition.&rdquo;Don&rsquo;t call Maloney Manitoba Fats just yet. One thing is certain, though. His defensive preachings appear to have finally steered the Jets in the right direction.After beating the Nordiques 3-2 at home on Feb. 14, Winnipeg had lost only twice in its previous 12 games.During the stretch, however, the Jets surrendered eight goals in a tie with Minnesota and didn&rsquo;t look particularly defensive-minded in a 7-5 win over the Sabres Feb. 12.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just not our style&mdash;run-and-gun,&rdquo; said defenseman Dave Ellett of the 13 goals scored by Minnesota and Buffalo. &ldquo;We were conscious of that and I thought we did a pretty good job man-on-man (against Quebec).&rdquo;Even if defeating the Sabres was more an offensive than defensive exercise, the Jets were inspired by a couple of old reliables.Right winger Paul MacLean took a pounding in the slot against the Sabres, but it was worth it. He had two goals and two assists. Captain Dale Hawerchuk added a goal and three assists.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s what I get paid to do,&rdquo; said MacLean of the punishment. &ldquo;Some nights it&rsquo;s not that much fun, but somebody has to do it.&rdquo;MacLean, though, has undergone one big change. He&rsquo;s now winging it for center Thomas Steen. For most of his career, Hawerchuk has been his center.The move appears to give the Jets better balance, with Andrew McBain&rsquo;s unexpected scoring exploits (25 goals) earning him the spot on Hawerchuk&rsquo;s right.&ldquo;Playing with Thomas Steen is not really a comedown,&rdquo; MacLean ex plained after netting his 25th and 26th goals of the season. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a quality player and he handles the puck on a level with Dale. I&rsquo;ve watched him for seven years so it&rsquo;s not really that much of an adjustment figuring out what he likes to do.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01548/5436706-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="177" height="134"></div>While MacLean and Hawerchuk led the scoring parade, the night also featured the re-introduction of left winger Brad Jones to the Jets&rsquo; lineup.Jones was cut by the U.S. Olympic team Feb. 8, just two days before the team left for Calgary. He was spotted on Hawerchuk&rsquo;s left side and tipped home an insurance goal in the third period.NOTES&mdash;Dale Hawerchuk extended his scoring streak to 10 games (9-14-23) with a shorthanded goal against the Nordiques&hellip;The Jets were three games over .500 (25-22-9) for the first time in three months after beating Quebec&hellip;Goaltender Pokey Reddick made his first start in more than a month against Buffalo&hellip; Daniel Berthiaume has held the hot hand in goal. He was 6-2-3 while starting 11 of 12 games.&bull;<h2>JETS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 12: Brad Jones, LW, recalled from U.S. Olympic team.Feb. 14: Hannu Jarvenpaa, RW, returned after six-week leave due to death of his father in Finland.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen, Laurie Boschman, Ron Wilson.LW&mdash;Doug Smail, Gilles Hamel, Brad Jones, Dwight Schofield.RW&mdash;Andrew McBain, Paul MacLean, Ray Neufeld, Mark Kumpel, Hannu Jarvenpaa.LD&mdash;Randy Carlyle, Dave Ellett.RD&mdash;Mario Marois, Peter Taglianetti, Fredrik Olausson.G&mdash;Daniel Berthiaume, Pokey Reddick.<h3>INJURIES</h3>lain Duncan, LW, pulled groin, day-to-day.Jim Kyte, D, twisted back, day-to-day.Steve Rooney, LW, bruised back, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0029-01

Jets Take A Cue From Pool-Shark Maloney

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;If you&rsquo;re looking for a good laugh, mention the words &ldquo;sophomore jinx&rdquo; to Jimmy Carson and Luc Robitaille.The Goal-Dust Twins were producing points at a faster clip than they did as Los Angeles King rookies, when Robitaille scored 45 goals and won the Calder Trophy, and Carson scored 37 times to join him on the NHL&rsquo;s all rookie team.Through 60 games, Carson had 40 goals and a career-tying 79 points. Robitaille, who had two goals and an assist in the All-Star Game, had 35 goals and 75 points. The top sophomores are the only Kings who haven&rsquo;t paid the injury list a visit.Carson, in particular, was on a tear, producing nine goals during a five-game goal-scoring streak. He threatened to top teammate Bobby Carpenter&rsquo;s U.S.-bom player record of 53 goals in a single NHL season, set with Washington in 1984-85. No other American has scored 50.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01627/5436737-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="183" height="129"></div>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a dream of anyone,&rdquo; Carson said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m not going to worry about it. I&rsquo;m only 19 and 1 have many years to get 50. I just want to play hard and intense and not worry about individual things.&ldquo;Wayne Gretzky is the perfect example. He&rsquo;s the ultimate team player and he has more personal awards and trophies than anyone in the history of the game.&rdquo;Carson has five game-winning goals, Robitaille six. Those totals were even more impressive considering the Kings, battling Vancouver for a Smythe Division playoff berth, had won only 21 times.Yet each would rather discuss his improvement as a two-way player, under the tutelage of coach Robbie Ftorek.&ldquo;Since Robbie&rsquo;s been here, I think I&rsquo;ve been way better defensively,&rdquo; Robitaille said. &ldquo;The last few weeks especially, I think I have improved my game.&rdquo;So has Carson, since his chat about life in the defensive zone with Ftorek.&ldquo;I had told him, &lsquo;No way can I change my style,&rsquo; &ldquo;said Carson, who was relegated to fourth-line duties for a couple of games. &ldquo;He said he didn&rsquo;t want to change my style, just add to it.&ldquo;We communicated, and I go and see him every couple of weeks and I ask him one thing: &lsquo;Am I getting better defensively?&rsquo; He hasn&rsquo;t said &lsquo;No&rsquo; yet That doesn&rsquo;t mean I won&rsquo;t make mis takes, but I learn from them and I don&rsquo;t make as many.&rdquo;Since Ftorek took over on Dec. 9, the Kings had cut their goals-against considerably, from five per game to a shade under four.Improved penalty-killing was one factor, but in general the team was playing much tighter at even strength.&ldquo;You always want (offensive) production,&rdquo; Ftorek said. &ldquo;But you&rsquo;ve got to be sound defensively. If you can get a little bit of both, that&rsquo;s where you want to be.&ldquo;Jimmy&rsquo;s been going crazy, but he&rsquo;s playing well defensively, too. Lucky (Robitaille) has been scoring a lot and he&rsquo;s working on his defensive game. You have to be a reactor. Jimmy is doing that now and Lucky is getting there.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;The Kings received approval for the impending sale of the team from Jerry Buss to Bruce McNall, during a board of governors meeting at the all-star break. McNall later quieted rumors that general manager Rogie Vachon is on thin ice. &ldquo;He is secure,&rdquo; said McNall, who describes himself as &ldquo;a fans&rsquo; owner.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Right winger Craig Laughlin opted for No. 81 because his old number with Washington, 18, was already taken by captain Dave Taylor. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve turned my number around, just like I&rsquo;m going to turn my season around,&rdquo; said Laughlin, who scored a powerplay goal in his first game as a King since the trade which sent Grant Ledyard to the Caps. Laughlin, who had 10 points in 40 games with Caps, was Taylor&rsquo;s teammate for one year at Clarkson (N.Y.) College.<h2>KINGS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 9: Grant Ledyard, D, traded to Washington for Craig Laughlin, RW.Feb. 10: Dan Gratton, C, assigned to New Haven (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jimmy Carson, Bernie Nicholls, Mike Allison, Bob Bourne.LW&mdash;Luc Robitaille, Paul Fenton, Phil Sykes, Lyle Phair.RW&mdash;Dave Taylor, Jim Fox, Craig Laughlin, Paul Guay.LD&mdash;Mark Hardy, Larry Playfair, Ken Baumgartner.RD&mdash;Tom Laidlaw, Ken Hammond, Dean Kennedy.G&mdash;Rollie Melanson, Glenn Healy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bobby Carpenter, LW, shoulder, day-to-day.Steve Duchesne, D, sprained knee, Feb. 17.Jay Wells, D, groin, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0030-01

No Jinx For Sophomores Carson, Robitaille

<div class="byline">BY JACK KEATING</div>VANCOUVER&mdash;King Richard&rsquo;s reign with the Vancouver Canucks is over.Richard Brodeur&rsquo;s eight-year career with the Canucks ended on a sour note after Canuck general manager Pat Quinn and director of hockey operations Brian Burke told the popular goalie Feb. 5 to no longer attend team practices.Brodeur, who asked Quinn for a trade in early October, said the Canucks were dragging their feet on trade talks and he went public with his dissatisfaction.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01574/5436775-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="585" height="798"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vancouver was incensed when goalie Richard Brodeur went public with his complaints.</figcaption></div>Quinn and Burke reacted by telling him to stay home, saying his remarks were a distraction to the other players.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s got to be made clear who&rsquo;s running the team.&rdquo; said Burke. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t have players running to the press when they don&rsquo;t like the amount of ice time they&rsquo;re getting.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02401/5436768-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="173" height="128"></div>The team received much flak for its handling of the situation, with 70 per cent of the callers in one radio station&rsquo;s informal poll opposed to it.Burke didn&rsquo;t budge. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s contributed great things here but he went public with a matter that I think is a private matter. I think it&rsquo;s a major distraction to the players at this point.&rdquo;Brodeur was locked in a bitter offseason contract dispute that was settled just before the start of the season. His early-season trade request was patched up and he played well when called upon. He was the first star in a 3-3 tie in Montreal on Dec. 2 and a 3-2 win in Quebec on Jan. 9.The 35-year-old Brodeur has never been afraid to speak his mind and didn&rsquo;t hesitate this time.&ldquo;After four months&hellip;enough is enough,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care what they trade me for&hellip;a dozen sticks. I definitely think I&rsquo;m finished in Vancouver in the sense they don&rsquo;t want me to play any more games.&rdquo;About being told to stay home, Brodeur said, &ldquo;I guess that&rsquo;s what you get after eight years.&rdquo;Brodeur&rsquo;s situation is nothing new to the Canucks. Defenseman Doug Hal ward, who asked to be traded 10 games into last season, was told to stay away from the team until he was dealt to Detroit on Nov. 21, 1986.Coach Bob McCammon supports Quinn&rsquo;s attempts to get something of value for Brodeur. &ldquo;This team can&rsquo;t keep giving players away and getting nothing in return. They got nothing for Thomas Gradin and they got a sixthround draft choice for Hal ward, who is a regular in the NHL. You do that three or four times and you end up with a depleted roster and no depth.&rdquo;McCammon said he realizes trading Brodeur, a three-time Canuck most valuable player, won&rsquo;t be popular. &ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t going to be a pleasant way for Richard Brodeur to leave Vancouver unless he&rsquo;s traded to a contender.&rdquo;Quebec, Philadelphia, Edmonton, Calgary and Minnesota have all inquired about Brodeur.NOTES&mdash;The Canucks were on the verge of signing Canadian Olympic team forward Ken Berry, who will join the team along with Olympic teammate Claude Vilgrain, a forward, after the Calgary Games&hellip;Edmonton Oilers continued their mastery over Vancouver with two more wins this month, leaving the Canucks winless in 26 games against the Oilers (0-24-2), dating back to Dec. 10, 1985. The Oilers have won all seven games this season. The final match is set for Pacific Coliseum on March 12.&bull;<h2>CANUCKS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 5: Richard Brodeur, G, told to stay home pending a trade or assignment.Feb. 14: Ronnie Stern, RW, and Brett MacDonald, D, recalled from Flint (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Barry Pederson, Greg Adams, Doug Wickenheiser.LW&mdash;Petri Skriko, John LeBlanc, Craig Coxe, Dave Saunders, Dave Lowry.RW&mdash;Rich Sutter, Jim Sandlak, Tony Tanti, Ronnie Stern.LD&mdash;Jim Benning, Randy Boyd, Larry Melnyk, Daryl Stanley.RD&mdash;Garth Butcher, Dave Richter, Brett MacDonald.G&mdash;Kirk McLean, Frank Caprice.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dan Hodgson. C, fractured leg, out for season.Willie Huber, D, strained knee, day-to-day.Doug Lidster, D, strained knee, indefinite.Stan Smyl, RW, groin pull, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0031-01

Brodeur Shut Out Of Canucks’ Future Plans

<div class="byline">BY DEAN SPIROS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02444/5436806-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="589" height="957"><figcaption class="caption-body">Denis Savard&rsquo;s three-point AllStar Game was obscured by the efforts of Mario Lemieux.</figcaption></div>CHICAGO&mdash;Move over, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky&mdash;Denis Savard has joined you in the 100-point club.And he did it in fine fashion, assisting on Rick Vaive&rsquo;s overtime goal Feb. 12 to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 win over St. Louis.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s in pretty good company,&rdquo; said Hawk coach Bob Murdoch.Savard was saying the same thing to himself three nights earlier.Savard scored a goal and two assists at the NHL All-Star Game, but his performance, like everybody else&rsquo;s, was lost in the glow of Lemieux&rsquo;s six-point night. But that didn&rsquo;t matter to Savard. He was pleased with what he accomplished as a member of the Campbell Conference side.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played in five (All-Star Games) now and it was the first time I felt comfortable,&rdquo; Savard said. &ldquo;I felt I deserved to be there.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to explain, but I had a different frame of mind. I felt I could play with those guys.&rdquo;Savard has muted his critics with the best season of his eight-year career. When he scored a personal-best 121 points in the 1982-83 season, Savard reached the 100-point mark in the 67th game.He did it this year in 57 games. At his season-long pace, he would end up with 140 points. But the realities of the season suggested that if the Hawks kept up their pace. all of Savard&rsquo;s goals and assists would add up to another major disappointment.&ldquo;It has been a disappointing season for us so far,&rdquo; Savard said, &ldquo;and it is going to take a maximum effort from everybody if we are to turn it around.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01605/5436813-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="176" height="133"></div>&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t look back. We have to look ahead and, hopefully, get better.&rdquo;Savard is one of the players who can lead a late charge. The role of leader seems more suited this year.The temper tantrums that used to throw him off his game have disappeared. And down drastically are the &ldquo;off&rdquo; nights when Savard doesn&rsquo;t come close to using the explosive offensive magic he possesses.Savard related it all to maturity, brought on by marriage, the recent birth of his daughter, and his designation as one of the Hawks&rsquo; tri-captains.Last year Savard cried out for more responsibility on the ice. Murdoch, the Hawks&rsquo; first-year coach, responded by using Savard as a penalty-killer and key defensive role player.Savard will never win the Selke Trophy, but his added responsibilities have made him that much more effective on offense.&ldquo;Things have been going good for me this year,&rdquo; Savard said. &ldquo;I know now that it is important for me to play hard every night. There are guys on this team who will be looking at what I do as an example. I understand that role now.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;When the Hawks beat St. Louis, goaltender Bob Mason won his first game at Chicago Stadium since Dec. 23. It was also his first victory since Dec. 31, when the Hawks beat the North Stars 4-1 in Minnesota. Chicago Stadium fans have been quick to get on Mason this season, and Hawk coach Bob Murdoch felt compelled to stand up for his goaltender. &ldquo;I think the fans have been unduly harsh on him,&rdquo; Murdoch said. &ldquo;Early in the season he single-handedly won some games for us. He went through a little dry spell in the middle but he&rsquo;s back on again. It&rsquo;s not right to get on him.&rdquo;&hellip;Feb. 14th&rsquo;s win over Buffalo was a team-record fourth straight overtime game. The Hawks won two and tied two&hellip;The Hawks were closely watching the performances of three players in the Olympics. Team Canada defenseman Trent Yawney is expected to join the Hawks after the Games are over. Ulf Sandstrom, a right winger for Sweden, was a fifth-round draft pick by the Hawks this year and should be in training camp next season. Czech goalie Domenic Hasek, an 11th-round pick in &lsquo;83, has long been considered one of the best goaltenders in the world.<h2>BLACKHAWKS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 15: Mike Stapleton, C, and Bill Watson, RW, assigned to Saginaw (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Denis Savard, Troy Murray, Brian Noonan, Steve Ludzik.LW&mdash;Steve Thomas, Dan Vincelette, Everett Sanipass, Glen Cochrane.RW&mdash;Rick Vaive, Steve Larmer, Dirk Graham, Duane Sutter.LD&mdash;Behn Wilson, Gary Nylund, Bruce Cassidy, Marc Bergevin.RD&mdash;Bob Murray, Bob McGill, Dave Manson.G&mdash;Darren Pang, Bob Mason<h3>INJURIES</h3>Keith Brown, D, knee, Feb. 15.Wayne Presley, RW, knee surgery, March 1.Doug Wilson, D, shoulder surgery, out for season. &#9632;

f0032-02

Savard In Good Company After 100th Point

<div class="byline">BY JERRY ZGODA</div>BLOOMINGTON, Minn.&mdash;There comes a time, Neal Broten has decided, when the ultimate responsibility is to yourself.For four months, Broten tried to play with a battered left shoulder, before finally deciding he can play no more. As soon as possible, he will undergo reconstructive shoulder surgery that will sideline him for the rest of the season. But by having the surgery now, instead of after the season, Broten said he expects his shoulder to be healthy by the time training camp opens next September.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to think about what&rsquo;s best for me,&rdquo; Broten said. I always want to play. I&rsquo;ve tried to play, to do what&rsquo;s best for the team. But I&rsquo;m not playing the way I can play. I should be doing what (Winnipeg center Dale) Hawerchuk and (Detroit center Steve) Yzerman are doing and I&rsquo;m not. I&rsquo;m not the same player I think I can be. I&rsquo;m hurting the team and I&rsquo;m hurting myself this way.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01541/5436851-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="590" height="1073"><figcaption class="caption-body">Neal Broten wavered but finally decided on immediate shoulder surgery.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02385/5436844-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="177" height="134"></div>Broten was examined Feb. 12 by Minnesota Twins physician Dr. Harvey O&rsquo;Phelan, who suggested that Broten have surgery immediately. The shoulder, which has been separated or dislocated three times since October, 1986, has been popping out of the front of the joint. According to Broten, O&rsquo;Phelan said further play would risk the possibility of the joint popping out the back. Should that happen, surgery would be more extensive and the recovery time longer than the 4&frac12; to six months predicted, should Broten have surgery before February ends.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to think about what&rsquo;s best for next year and two years down the road,&rdquo; said Broten, 28. &ldquo;Hopefully, the surgery will end all the self-doubts. I&rsquo;ve got to be able to play and not think about the shoulder anymore.&rdquo;But Broten struggled with the decision. In a span of 48 hours, the surgery was on, then off and then on again. Broten said after meeting with O&rsquo;Phelan that he would have the operation. But after meeting with general manager Lou Nanne, trainer Dick Rose and team doctor William Simonet following a 7-3 loss to Quebec, Broten said he&rsquo;d play the rest of the season and then have surgery. The next day, he said he regretted saying anything the night before and said the surgery was on again.<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;Louie&rsquo;s a good talker and sometimes he puts words in your mouth. Naturally he wants me to play&hellip;&rsquo; &mdash;Broten</blockquote>&ldquo;Louie&rsquo;s a good talker and sometimes he puts words in your mouth,&rdquo; Broten said. &ldquo;Naturally, he wants me to play and sure, I&rsquo;d like to play. But you have to take care of things that have to be taken care of. I have to think of the future and not of the moment. You&rsquo;ve got to stick up for what you think is right.&rdquo;Broten has been bothered by the shoulder all season and has struggled on the ice. He had gone 21 games without a goal before scoring against Quebec, but had just nine goals and 30 assists in 54 games.&ldquo;Since day one of training camp, I&rsquo;ve said, &lsquo;Hey, this is not the Neal Broten I know,&rsquo; &ldquo;coach Herb Brooks said. At first, I thought it was his (new brand of) stick or I thought it was this or that. We&rsquo;ve just had to admit he&rsquo;s been playing hurt and he has to get better.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;The Stars also appeared to have lost left winger Curt Fraser for the season. Fraser played just 10 games since coming to the Stars in a trade that sent Dirk Graham to Chicago Jan. 2 and then spent two weeks in Vancouver, where doctors tried to discover the cause of a viral infection that has bothered him all season. The Vancouver doctors told Brooks that Fraser would not be ready to play until next September&hellip;Stars&rsquo; prospect Larry DePalma has been suspended indefinitely by the International League, and his future in that league was in question after an incident against Muskegon on Feb. 7. DePalma refused to go the penalty box after a fight with Jimmy Mann, instead manhandling and spitting on officials. He had a hearing Feb. 12 with IHL president Bud Poile, who extended the suspension until another hearing is held Feb. 23. DePalma will have served 10 games by then.&bull;<h2>NORTH STARS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 9: Gordie Roberts, D, traded to Philadelphia for a fourth-round draft pick in 1988 or &lsquo;89, at Flyers&rsquo; option.Feb. 13: Pat Micheletti, RW, recalled from Kalamazoo.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Neal Broten, Dave Archibald, Brian Lawton, Dennis Maruk.LW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Basil McRae, Brian MacLellan.RW&mdash;Dino Ciccarelli, Dave Gagner, Bob Brooke, Richard Zemlak, Pat Micheletti.LD&mdash;Curt Giles, Frantisek Musil, Shawn Chambers.RD&mdash;Bob Rouse, Moe Mantha, Mike Berger.G&mdash;Kari Takko, Don Beaupre.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Scott Bjugstad, LW, strained knee ligaments, day-to-day.Curt Fraser, LW, viral infection, out for season.Craig Hartsburg, D, hernia operation, March 1.Tom Hirsch, D, shoulder, indefinite.Terry Ruskowski, LW, torn knee ligaments, indefinite. &#9632;

f0033-01

Shoulder Injury Sidelines Broten For Year

<div class="byline">BY BOB WAGNER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01618/5436882-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Salt Lake&rsquo;s Art Teece stands behind the Turner Cup, emblematic of IHL playoff supremacy, and the now-defunct CHL&rsquo;s old Adams Trophy.</figcaption></div>Salt Lake and Art Teece have become inexorably linked to Utah sports fans.&ldquo;Brigham Young came into the (Salt) Valley one day and I came the next,&rdquo; jokes Teece, who owns 51 per cent of the International League&rsquo;s Salt Lake Eagles.Under the ownership of Teece, 75, professional sports teams in Salt Lake City have won seyen championships&mdash;four in hockey, including the IHL&rsquo;s 1987 playoff championship Turner Cup&mdash;and three in baseball. This year&rsquo;s Eagles, a farm club of the NHL&rsquo;s Calgary Flames, have been leading the Western Division with a sub-.500 record.Still, Teece doesn&rsquo;t believe he should ever have been elected to the Utah Hall of Fame.&ldquo;Merlin Olsen and Jack Dempsey are in it,&rdquo; Teece defers. &ldquo;I belong with them like a hole in the head.&rdquo;Teece is too modest.His involvement in sports began in 1934, when he sold advertising space on the outfield fence for the Sacramento (Calif.) baseball team, then a St. Louis Cardinal farm club.&ldquo;There were 56 minor leagues then,&rdquo; he recalls. &ldquo;I was hired by Mr. Branch Rickey himself.&rdquo; Teece became a troubleshooter for Rickey, one of baseball&rsquo;s most flamboyant personalities. His job was to visit Cardinal affiliates where attendance was down, and run promotions to boost the team.And when baseball wasn&rsquo;t in season, Teece would keep himself sharp with involvements in other sports.&ldquo;I was in St. Louis in the days of the old Gashouse Gang,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;In the (baseball) off-season I ran the Union Building at St. Louis University, but when I first went there I ran the concessions at the football stadium. They don&rsquo;t have a football now.&rdquo;It was there that Teece learned the golden rule of promotion&mdash;be flexible or die.&ldquo;They ran football games on Friday nights and I had the grills loaded up with hot dogs. The game&rsquo;s all over and I didn&rsquo;t sell any hot dogs and they tell me, &lsquo;Art, this is Friday. This is a Catholic school, and we can&rsquo;t eat meat on Friday.&rsquo; The next Friday I had tuna fish sandwiches.&rdquo;Promotions, advertising, concessions, club ownership&mdash;Teece has done it all from coast to coast. He wound up in Salt Lake in the winter of 1941 and ran baseball teams there for 40 years, working his way up from Pioneer League rookie ball to Pacific Coast League AAA franchises for the San Diego Padres and California Angels.Teece and baseball parted company in 1981 when a late-blooming career in hockey began.&ldquo;I was the first concessionaire the Salt Palace ever had,&rdquo; said Teece. At that time, Salt Lake&rsquo;s Central League franchise belonged to Charlie Finley&rsquo;s California Golden Seals.&ldquo;Then the NHL bought the Oakland francise and they ran Salt Lake City for a year. One day (in 1974) Doug Board, manager of the building, came looking for me. &lsquo;Art, we&rsquo;ve got to do something. They&rsquo;re a couple of fellows downstairs and they&rsquo;re going to pull the franchise out of Salt Lake City.&rsquo; I said I would see if I could put something together locally.&rdquo;With the assistance of the late Thayne Accord, then owner of the Salt Palace, Teece put together a financial package he needed to convince the late Clarence Campbell, president of the NHL, to keep hockey in Salt Lake City. It has been a part of the Utah capital&rsquo;s sports scene ever since.If it weren&rsquo;t for Teece, there would be no hockey in Salt Lake today. After the collapse of the Central League, he brought the franchise into the IHL in 1984-85. But first he agreed to pay air travel, per diem and hotel costs for the eastern clubs.&ldquo;It was an expensive undertaking for us, which I knew it would be,&rdquo; acknowledges Teece. &ldquo;It has cost us more than $1 million to keep hockey in Salt Lake City.&rdquo;Teece&rsquo;s decision to join the IHL was a calculated risk. He knew he&rsquo;d keep losing money until more teams joined him out west, but the gamble has paid off. The Eagles were joined this season by the Denver-based Colorado Rangers; next season, the 43-year-old circuit will take on franchises in Phoenix and Sacramento.In approving the two southwest franchises, the IHL&rsquo;s board of governors took a bold step forward. The IHL has managed to survive on bus travel, and the idea of going west by airplane had jolted the fiscal sensibilities of some governors.Teece doesn&rsquo;t believe the CHL folded because of air travel costs, as so many of his IHL brethren maintain. &ldquo;The demise of the Central Hockey League was (because of the) World Hockey (Association). There just weren&rsquo;t enough players available; it&rsquo;s as simple as that. &ldquo;Baseball, hockey, boxing, football and auto racing have all felt the deft Teece touch. But hockey is No. 1.&ldquo;To me, played properly, hockey is one of the most fascinating sports,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;From the spectators&rsquo; standpoint, that is. Hockey is a very, very attractive sport. I know of no sport that has the same excitement.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0034-01

Salt Lake’s Saviour

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div>Moncton Hawks, last in the American League South for the past two months, felt like champions for one night.The Hawks ended their 16-game Toad losing streak and 24-game road winless streak with a convincing 6-1 victory at Springfield Feb. 7.&ldquo;They were pretty excited,&rdquo; said Moncton coach Rick Bowness. whose team had won its last road game in late October in Baltimore. &ldquo;It was like we won the Calder Cup.&ldquo;The streak has been a burden on us, Every city we visit, our road record is listed in the press notes and we were all embarrassed by it. It was not an indication of how we played. But it&rsquo;s a big relief now.&rdquo;The Hawks didn&rsquo;t have long to savor the glory, losing 5-1 the next night at Sherbrooke. The Canadiens scored three straight goals in the third period to break open a close game, leaving the Hawks with a 3-27-1 road record.&ldquo;The road record is deceiving,&rdquo; said Bowness, whose team won its other road game at Nova Scotia in October. &ldquo;We played a lot of good games in that stretch, but didn&rsquo;t have enough to win.&ldquo;We have been blown out of some games on the road, but that happens to every team. We have played a lot of good games on the road.&rdquo;They were playing well at home, posting a 15-9-3 record.The Hawks had nine road games remaining, but didn&rsquo;t have to leave the Maritimes. Five were at Nova Scotia and four at Fredericton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01583/5436913-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="175" height="136"></div><h2>GET THE KRYPTONITE</h2>The large &lsquo;S&rsquo; on the front of Springfield Indian uniforms must have the New Haven Nighthawks thinking they&rsquo;re facing a team of Supermen.The Indians were 8-0-1 against New Haven this season, yet still trailed them in the standings.Five of the wins were by one goal, including one in OT.The Indians added two players from Europe, signing Mark Jooris from Finland and Jim McGeough from Austria.<h2>SHORTHANDED MARK</h2>The Fredericton Express set a league record by scoring four shorthanded goals in an 11-3 home victory over Newmarket on Feb. 9.David Bruce scored two of the shorthanded goals, while Jeff Rohlicek and Ken Quinney had the others. The previous record of three was held by three teams&mdash;Adirondack in 1980-81, Binghamton in &lsquo;81-82 and St. Catharines in &lsquo;85-86.<h2>RECORD IN SIGHT</h2>Sherbrooke center Gilles Thibaudeau, the league&rsquo;s top scorer, racked up eight points in three games.The eight points left Thibaudeau with 93 points (38-55, both leagueleading totals, in 55 games). At that pace, Thibaudeau would surpass the league record of 130 points set by Paul Gardner in 1984-85.<h2>MAINE&rsquo;S NEMESIS</h2>The Nova Scotia Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-4 tie at Maine Recently-assigned Kelly Buchberger continued his mastery of the Mariners with two goals and an assist. In three games against Maine this season, Buchberger had five goals and three assists. In 30 games against the rest of the league, Buchberger had 21 points (10-11).&bull; &#9632;

f0035-01

The Minors

Road Losing Streak Ends For The Hawks

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>For someone accustomed to going the distance, it was akin to advancing on a first-round knockut.&ldquo;I think things transpired a lot quicker than I anticipated in that regard,&rdquo; said Doug Jarvis, on being named the Binghamton Whalers&rsquo; head coach on Feb. 7.Jarvis, 32, replaced Larry Pleau, who was bumped up to Hartford after the firing of Jack Evans. Jarvis, Whose NHL record of 964 consecutive games played came to an end in October, accepted the post of player assistant coach at Binghamton in December. During his 24 games with Binghamton, he was more player than coach.&ldquo;Since I came down, I&rsquo;ve had to play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think there has only been one game where we&rsquo;ve had enough players that I didn&rsquo;t have to play.&ldquo;As far as learning on the job, it certainly was brief.&rdquo;Jarvis, who had five goals and nine points, will continue to play if the Whalers are shorthanded, but said he intends to focus his energy on coaching.Binghamton was a 4-2 loser to Utica in Jarvis&rsquo; debut.Jarvis said he&rsquo;s received no commitment beyond this season as a coach in the organization. That matter will be dealt with this summer, as will his feel-on what has been an unsettling five months.<h2>DEVILS, SAINTS RISING</h2>Utica and Newmarket were making moves toward the top four teams in the division. Utica won seven of 10 games to pull within 10 points of fourth-place Binghamton. The Devils had three games in hand. Newmarket, with four games in hand, trailed the Whalers by nine points.Andy Brickley, Dan Dorion and Tim Lenardon sparked the Devils&rsquo; offense. Brickley scored in seven straight games before being recalled to New Jersey. Lenardon led the Devils with 22 goals and 52 points, and Dorion had 20 goals.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02459/5436944-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="175" height="136"></div>Goaltender Craig Billington was working on an ironman steak, with 23 consecutive starts. He led the league with 46 appearances, establishing an 18-19-7 mark.<h2>STREAK IS OVER</h2>Ken Priestlay&rsquo;s scoring streak came to an end after 14 games. Adirondack held the rookie Rochester center without a point on Feb. 6. In his point streak, Priestlay had 16 goals and nine assists&hellip;Baltimore Skipjacks have been dubbed &lsquo;The Renegade Brigade.&rsquo;The Skipjacks, with an 8-41-8 record as an independent club, have received players from 10 NHL organizations. Coach Gene Ubriaco has used 47 players, including six goaltenders.Adirondack defenseman Peter Dineen played in his 500th AHL game on Feb. 10&hellip;Rochester ended rookie goaltender Mark Reimer&rsquo;s victory streak at six games, in a 4-3 win at Glens Falls Feb. 6. During a stint on emergency recall from the Portland Winter Hawks, Reimer, 20, compiled a 6-1-0 record and a 2.72 goals-against average. Reimer returned to Portland when Detroit reassigned Darren Eliot to Adirondack.&bull; &#9632;

f0035-02

From Ironman To AHL Boss In Hectic Five-Month Period

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div>They live together in the same Shawinigan boarding house.They double-date on Saturday nights. They are inseparable in the summer. They are each other&rsquo;s best friend.They are the brothers Lebeau, 19-year-old Stephan and 17-year-old Patrick, and they score goals like few others. They are the talk of Shawinigan and two of the few rays of sunshine on the last-place Cataractes.Stephan, a center, was second in Quebec League scoring to teammate Patrice Lefebvre, with 143 points on 74 goals and 69 assists in 51 games.Left winger Patrick, despite missing 12 games with mononucleosis, was third on the team in goals with 32, and fourth in points with 84.Scoring goals has been second nature to the brothers since they began playing hockey at age five. It&rsquo;s an innate talent.&ldquo;You have this thing in your blood,&rdquo; shrugs Patrick.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01558/5436989-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="596" height="1089"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stephan Lebeau signed a free-agent contract with the Montreal Canadiens,</figcaption></div>&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re young and you&rsquo;re learning to play hockey,&rdquo; adds Stephan, &ldquo;you quickly learn that to play you have to put the puck in the net.&rdquo;Although Stephan, who signed a free-agent contract two years ago with the Montreal Canadiens, is the more gifted scorer&mdash;he led the QMJHL last year with 77 goals in 65 games, including eight in one game&mdash;Patrick, eligible for this year&rsquo;s draft, is considered the better pro prospect.Scouts say the brothers&rsquo; size is their biggest obstacle. Stephan is 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, while Patrick is one inch taller and five pounds heavier.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re good for the Quebec League and both could play in Europe, but they&rsquo;re not good enough for the NHL,&rdquo; says one NHL team scout. &ldquo;They have good skills and are smart but are too small to play in the NHL. If you&rsquo;re small you have to play like a 6-footer. They don&rsquo;t.&rdquo;&ldquo;They both handle the puck well and are natural scorers,&rdquo; says another. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Stephan can play in the NHL. Patrick has an outside chance because he&rsquo;s bigger, handles the puck better, is more careful and very smart.&rdquo;The brothers have heard it all before.&ldquo;Me and Patrick know our problem is our size,&rdquo; says Stephan. &ldquo;Every summer, we work on that. Maybe we&rsquo;re not too tall, but we can still work on our strength.&rdquo;The brothers grew up in the Laurentians, north of Montreal, and Sherbrooke.They began skating at age three. Two years later they were playing organized hockey. They were pushed into the sport&mdash;perhaps gently persuaded would be more apropos&mdash;by a father hoping to live a vicarious dream.&ldquo;Our father is a hockey fan and he wanted his boys to play hockey,&rdquo; says Stephan. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a sportsman. His favorite sport is golf but he likes hockey very much and thought we&rsquo;d have a better chance at hockey than golf.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02415/5436982-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="592" height="1084"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scouts consider Patrick Lebeau the better pro prospect of the two brothers.</figcaption></div>Jacques Lebeau played hockey himself. He wasn&rsquo;t a star like his sons, but he did play competitively in junior college leagues.&ldquo;He pushed us a lot but helped us a lot, too,&rdquo; Stephan adds. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s behind us and we&rsquo;ve learned a lot about the game from him. In the summer he helped us train and in the winter we&rsquo;d talk about our games and the mistakes we made.&ldquo;Me and Patrick really like hockey. We&rsquo;re maniacs. Every day at home we talk only hockey. It&rsquo;s been our life since we started.&rdquo;Because of their difference in age, the two never had the opportunity to play together until last year. Stephan went to the midget draft and remembers the feeling of excitement when the Cataractes drafted his brother.&ldquo;I was very happy because I know Patrick is a good player and, with my experience, I knew he could help the team.&rdquo;The Lebeaus, who play on the same line with right winger Martin Lacroix, skate with ease, weaving effortlessly between defenders. Patrick, the more aggressive of the two, often will take a hit to make a pass to his brother, who can lash a shot into the net in a blink of an eye. Not that Lacroix is left out in the cold. The third member of the Lebeau line had 21 goals and 31 assists in 52 games.But there&rsquo;s no doubt the brothers look for each other on the ice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more of an advantage for me to play with him because he has more experience,&rdquo; says Patrick, who scored 26 goals in his rookie year. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s an impressive player. And he has four years in the league compared to 1&frac12; for me.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not saying he&rsquo;s better,&rdquo; he adds with a wink.It&rsquo;s hard to gauge which Lebeau is the better hockey player. The brothers, who insist there is no rivalry, answer such queries with the tact of politicians.Stephan says comparisons are moot because his brother is still too young and hasn&rsquo;t reached his peak. Patrick, serious now, says Stephan has better hockey sense and admits he must take a back seat to his big brother.Both concede they have a long, up hill battle before they can remotely think about playing in the NHL. To this day, as it was more than a decade ago, it remains their dream to not only turn pro but play on the same team.But if things don&rsquo;t work out, or if just one of the brothers makes it, what then?&ldquo;It wouldn&rsquo;t be a disaster,&rdquo; says Patrick. &ldquo;It wouldn&rsquo;t be the end of the world.&rdquo;&ldquo;It won&rsquo;t be because we didn&rsquo;t try,&rdquo; says Stephan.&bull;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03335/5436975-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="587" height="1010"><figcaption class="caption-body">Martin Lacroix was averaging almost a point a game playing with the Lebeaus.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

The Juniors

Les Beaux Lebeaus: Good Brothers

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04250/5437034-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="385" height="481"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE MALTAIS Cornwall ONTARIO LEAGUE</figcaption></div>The 19-year-old left winger scored six goals and six assists in three games. He had three goals and two assists in an 8-1 win over Belleville, two goals and three assists in an 11-2 rout of Oshawa. His totals: 32-36-68 in 49 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05200/5437027-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="378" height="480"><figcaption class="caption-body">PATRICE LEFEBVRE Shawinigan QUEBEC LEAGUE</figcaption></div>Right winger Lefebvre, 19, scored three goals and five assists in two games. The QMJHL scoring leader improved his totals to 52 goals and 104 assists for 156 points in 55 games with the Cataractes this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06170/5437020-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="372" height="483"><figcaption class="caption-body">THEOREN FLEURY Moose Jaw WESTERN LEAGUE</figcaption></div>Fleury reclaimed the WHL scoring lead with four goals and five assists in three games. He improved his totals to 56 goals and 64 assists in 50 games. Fleury had four goals and two assists in an 8-6 win over Brandon.At the end of the current season. THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year.MEGA by MICRONBio-engineered for skating performance &#9632;

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MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK FOR FEB. 8-14

<div class="byline">BY RANDY RUSSON</div>They were spitting fire on the Knight shift Feb. 8 in Windsor.The London Knights arrived in town hoping to claim a share of first place in the Emms Division with the Windsor Spitfires.The dream turned into a Knightmare. Windsor bashed their rivals 13-0 to open a four-point lead atop the standings. David Haas had three goals and two assists, Kelly Cain two goals and three assists and Darrin Shannon two goals and two assists to lead the Spitfires. Pat Jablonski earned the shutout.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to pretend to think we&rsquo;re 13 goals better than London,&rdquo; said Spitfire general manager Jim Rutherford. &ldquo;But I think we showed them loud and clear what we&rsquo;re capable of doing.&rdquo;The score was 5-0 after one period and 11-0 after two.&ldquo;I was going to surrender after the second.&rdquo; joked London coach Wayne Maxner, &ldquo;but I couldn&rsquo;t find a white flag.&rdquo;Though rookie goalie David Schill stopped just 15 of 28 shots he faced, Maxner had no intention of inserting veteran Chris Somers.&ldquo;David has got to learn to accept defeat,&rdquo; said Maxner. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of being able to go in there after pressure. He wanted out after the first period but I told him even if it was 50-0 he wasn&rsquo;t coming out. He&rsquo;s got to learn to pick himself up off the floor.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01486/5437065-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="178" height="135"></div><h2>TRADER LARRY</h2>Larry Mavety is the OHL&rsquo;s answer to trade-happy New York Ranger general manager Phil Esposito.And the people he trades away prosper.Five former Bulls were among the OHL&rsquo;s top 20 scorers as of Feb. 9.Hamilton&rsquo;s Stan Drulia (40-50-90 in 49 games) and John Purves (34-3569 in 48), Windsor&rsquo;s Mike Wolac (3352-85 in 48) and David Haas (43-3477 in 47) and Ottawa&rsquo;s Frank DiMuzio (39-33-72 in 39) are all players Mavety dealt away.Mavety has Kent Hulst and Troy Crowder to show for his end of the deals. Hulst had 33 goals and 32 assists in 49 games, Crowder seven goals and 18 assists in 38 games. Hulst was drafted three years ago by Mavety, traded to Windsor, and reacquired. This is Crowder&rsquo;s second stop in Belleville. Mavety acquired him from Hamilton before last season, shipped him to North Bay, then reacquired him this year.Perhaps rookie left winger Bob Leeming summed it up best when traded by Belleville to Kingston earlier this season.&ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t surprise me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everybody gets traded from Belleville sooner or later. Just look around the league.&rdquo;Yet something was working. On Feb. 10, Mavety&rsquo;s Bulls were a solid fourth in the Leyden Division with a 25-21-3 record, seven points behind Ottawa and Cornwall, who were tied for second behind Peterborough.<h2>ASSAULT CHARGES</h2>A 17-year-old North Bay Centennials&rsquo; player was charged with assault with a weapon Feb. 5 after a spectator was struck in the face with a stick following a game in Kitchener.Kitchener police said Todd Schneider, 22, of Kitchener required 12 stitches to close a cut above his eye. Police reported that the North Bay player reacted after a spectator yelled obscenities at him.The Centennial was charged under the Young Offender&rsquo;s Act and cannot be identified. A court appearance is pending. OHL commissioner David Branch said the league is investigating.The incident is the second involving assault charges against an OHL player this season. Former Oshawa General John Andersen, 20, was charged with assault causing bodily harm after a spectator was hit by a thrown stick during a Dec. 12 game in Cornwall. Andersen, now a member of the Hamilton Steelhawks, will appear in Cornwall court Nov. 14 to face the charges.&bull; &#9632;

f0037-01

Ugly 13-0 London Knightmare In Windsor

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0037-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03271/5437148-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04224/5437141-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="364" height="488"><figcaption class="caption-body">SID CRANSTON Alberta CANADA WEST</figcaption></div>The Golden Bear forward scored eight goals&mdash;four in each game&mdash;and added two assists in an 11-5, 8-5 weekend sweep of Manitoba. Six of the goals came on power plays.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05195/5437134-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="363" height="487"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARTIN BOULIANE Dalhousie ATLANTIC</figcaption></div>The Dalhousie center scored six goals&mdash;including five in a 9-4 rout of New Brunswick&mdash;and added four assists in two victories. Dalhousie&rsquo;s other win was a 13-1 rout of St. Thomas.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06167/5437127-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="361" height="484"><figcaption class="caption-body">DENIS CASTONGUAY Laurentian ONTARIO</figcaption></div>The Voyageur right winger set new Ontario records for goals (35) and points (71) by scoring six goals and one assist in an 8-5,11-5 sweep of the Ryerson Rams.Performers of the week for the period Feb. 8-14.Bauer FIT FOR PERFORMANCE &#9632;

f0037-03

Bauers university performers OF THE week

<div class="byline">BY ED WILLES</div>Any concerns the Saskatoon Blades had about moving from Saskatoon Arena to posh new Saskatchewan Place were unfounded.At least for one game.The Blades, 22-2-1 at Arena this season, opened Saskatchewan Place in fine fashion Feb. 9. Saskatoon roared back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Brandon Wheat Kings 4-3 before a sell-out crowd of 9,343.The Blades closed the old arena with a 7-2 victory over the Regina Pats Feb.3. While it could be suggested that mourning the old rink&rsquo;s passing is like missing the outhouse when flush toilets arrive, the Blades will miss their wheezy, old mausoleum.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like an old friend,&rdquo; said goalie Tim Cheveldae. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s treated me very well. It&rsquo;s hard to say goodbye to an old friend.&rdquo;Opened in 1937, The Arena had an ambiance all its own. And its tiny 185-by-85-foot ice surface was ideally suited to the Blades&rsquo; bump-and-grind game. The new rink is 200-by-85 and will force some adjustments.&ldquo;You build your team around your rink,&rdquo; said Blades&rsquo; coach Marcel Comeau, &ldquo;then, all of a sudden, you don&rsquo;t have that rink. You can&rsquo;t change your team so you&rsquo;re going to have to live with it.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01564/5437179-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="178" height="132"></div>Blades&rsquo; Kerry Clark will try.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a finesse player,&rdquo; said the brother of Toronto Maple Leaf Wendel Clark. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s so much play along the boards in the old rink. It was suited to me. Now there&rsquo;s 15 feet more ice. I guess I&rsquo;ll have to work on my skating.&rdquo;<h2>FLEURY SIGNS</h2>Moose Jaw center Theoren Fleury has signed a contract with the NHL&rsquo;s Calgary Flames. Fleury, the Flames&rsquo; ninth pick (166th overall) in the 1987 draft, attended Calgary&rsquo;s training camp last fall and was impressive.Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fleury, 19, was the second-leading scorer in the WHL as of Feb. 11 with 50 goals and 58 assists in 44 games.Flames director of public relations Rick Skaggs said Fleury would join the Flames once Moose Jaw&rsquo;s season ended.<h2>MISSING LINK</h2>Spokane Chief defenseman Link Gaetz was suspended indefinitely by the club Feb. 1, but returned Feb. 5 against Kamloops. He missed one game. An incident arose when Spokane coach Butch Goring wanted to bench Gaetz for the third period of a 16-7 win over Moose Jaw Jan. 30. The idea was to protect Gaetz from drawing a fourth game misconduct penalty this season&mdash;and automatic two-game suspension&mdash;in a game already decided. But Gaetz elected to shower and go home, and missed the team bus to Portland the next day.&bull; &#9632;

f0038-01

Saskatoon Says Goodbye To ‘Old Friend’

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div>The Laval Titan&rsquo;s fortunes appear to be on the upswing after months of gloom.The Titan won seven of eight games&mdash;including four consecutive&mdash;before blowing a 4-1 third-period lead against the Hull Olympiques and losing 5-4 on Feb. 7.Despite the heartbreaking loss, the Titan felt heady about its sudden surge. And with good reason.For the first time in months, players other than team leaders Francois Guay and Sylvain Couturier have been scoring.Donald Audette, for example, scored five goals and five assists in three games and was named QMJHL player of the week.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02442/5437210-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="178" height="135"></div>Others chipping in were Claude Lapointe with nine goals in eight games and Giovanni Iasenza with six goals in eight games.Defensively, the Titan played well despite the absence of standout rookie Patrice Brisebois, who was sidelined indefinitely with a thumb injury which required surgery.And goaltender Ghislain Lefebvre allowed just 12 goals in four games.But an off-ice move may have helped most. It was pointed out in a press release that the firing of assistant coach Marcel Patenaude coincided with the winning streak.Head coach Maurice Lemay didn&rsquo;t disagree with the theory. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the team coaching. We exchange a lot of ideas and we&rsquo;re all working on the same side.&rdquo;<h2>CHANGING CAPTAINS</h2>The Verdun Junior Canadiens, who lost seven of nine games to fall into a last-place tie with Granby, have changed captains. Norm Desjardins replaced Eric Legros in a decision made by coach Jean-Maurice Cool.&ldquo;We need more leadership from the veterans,&rdquo; said Cool. &ldquo;Legros doesn&rsquo;t need the letter &lsquo;C&rsquo; on his jersey to assume leadership.&rdquo;<h2>SAVAGE NETS 50TH</h2>Victoriaville center Reginald Savage became the first QMJHL rookie to score 50 goals this season. His hat trick in an 8-2 victory over Drummondville gave him 52 goals&hellip;The next night, Hull rookie Martin Gelinas scored twice to reach the 50 mark. &bull; &#9632;

f0038-02

Titan Begins Winning Games After Firing Assistant Coach

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03358/5437269-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04275/5437262-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="421" height="529"><figcaption class="caption-body">BRUCE HOFFORT Lake Superior St. CCHA</figcaption></div>The freshman goaltender helped Lake Superior clinch first place in the CCHA by stopping 56 shots en route to a 3-2,2-0 weekend sweep of Michigan.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05196/5437255-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="415" height="530"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE TUTTLE Wisconsin WCHA</figcaption></div>The senior left winger scored two goals and four assists to lead his team to a 5-4, 7-2 weekend sweep of the University of Minnesota&mdash;Duluth.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06158/5437248-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="417" height="531"><figcaption class="caption-body">JEFF FLAHERTY Lowell Hockey East</figcaption></div>The sophomore right winger had six points on three goals and three assists as Lowell split with top-rated Maine. Lowell won 7-5 and lost 6-3.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07144/5437241-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="416" height="531"><figcaption class="caption-body">KELLY BURNS Brown ECAC</figcaption></div>The senior right winger scored five goals&mdash;three in a 7-5 loss to St. Lawrence. He added two goals in Brown&rsquo;s 5-2 upset win over Clarkson.Performers of the week for the period Feb. 8-14.Bauer FIT FOR PERFORMANCE &#9632;

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Bauers COLLEGE PERMORMERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Virg Foss</div>It&rsquo;s not true that Western Collegiate Association coaches draw straws every year to determine which unlucky soul takes his team to Michigan Tech for Winter Carnival weekend.But it is true that no matter how good or bad Huskie hockey teams are, they&rsquo;re the Edmonton ilers and Soviet national team rolled together when it comes to Tech&rsquo;s annual February celebration.Minnesota-Duluth was the latest sacrificial lamb, dropping 8-5 and 5-3 decisions, Feb. 5-6.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01533/5437300-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="692" height="137"></div>&bull; In the last 10years, Michigan Tech is 16-31 (.825) in games played as part of Winter Carnival.&bull; Since 1960, Tech is 46-9-1 (.830) on Carnival weekend.&bull; And since Winter Carnival began 40 years ago, Tech is 57-19-2 (.731) on that special weekend.Only Michigan State (1972) and Denver (1978) have swept Michigan Tech during Winter Carnival in the last 30 years.Tech coach Herb Boxer offers this explanation for Tech&rsquo;s uncanny success:&ldquo;The whole atmosphere that week is based around success,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The sororities and fraternities compete in snow sculpture contests, so everyone on campus is trying to be successful.<h2>MINNESOTA NO. 1</h2>Witha 1-0 victory over Wisconsin Feb. 5, the Minnesota Gophers clinched a tie for top spot in the WCHA, Wisconsin could still catch the Gophers, but Minnesota would take its first title since 1983 on the basis of a 3-1 head-to-head record with the Badgers. &#9632;

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A Winter Wonderland

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Tom Boggie</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03275/5437331-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michigan Tech coach Herb Boxer enjoys the &ldquo;atmosphere of they&rsquo;re 49-6-1 in Carnival games since the school tradition began in 1960. success during Winter Carnival weekend. So do his Huskies (Photo by John Stennes)</figcaption></div>The race is wide open for Eastern College Athletic Association rookie of the year.The top forwards on the list are RPI center Joe Juneau, Cornell left winger Trent Andison, Harvard center Peter Ciavaglia and Vermont center John LeClair.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02369/5437338-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="175" height="129"></div>Juneau led the EC AC scoring race for the first half of the season and, despite a January slump, was still third, with six goals and 20 assists in 15 league games. Andison was also among the league&rsquo;s scoring leaders with 12-10-22 totals in 15 games.Ciavaglia (4-15-19 in 15 games) is arguably the best of an outstanding freshman class for league-leader Harvard. LeClair could be the best center in the league, but doesn&rsquo;t have spectacular statistics (5-9-14 in 14) because of the strong cast around him.Defensemen who will get a long look by the selection committee are Stephane Venne (3-710 in 14) of Vermont, Dave Tretowicz (4-6-10 in 16) of Clarkson and Tim Vanini (0-6-6 in 16) of Cornell. The two best rookie goaltenders are Mike Francis of Harvard and Come D&rsquo;Alessio of Cornell. Francis posted a 6-0 record, 1.82 goals-against average and .918 save percentage while filling in for senior John Devin early in the season. D&rsquo;Alessio had a 9-5 record, 3.06 goals-against average and .899 save percentage, in addition to ranking second in minutes played (842).<h2>BROWN CELEBRATES WIN</h2>Brown defeated Vermont 4-3, to record its first league win of the season. The star was sophomore goalie Chris Harvey. He finished the night with 52 saves and was at his best in the third period when Vermont outshot Brown 25-3&hellip;Of the 10 league shutouts, travel partners Brown (five) and Yale (two) were the victims seven times&hellip;RPI sophomore Tony Hejna isn&rsquo;t one to waste an advantage. Of his team-high 16 goals this year, 10 were scored when the Engineers were on the power play. &#9632;

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Rookies Impress

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Bill Crawford</div>Don&rsquo;t count out Michigan come playoff time.Not only did the Wolverines firmly establish themselves as a contender when they swept MSU a couple of weeks ago, but they&rsquo;ve got individuals standing out statistically&mdash;something new for them.Goalie Warren Sharpies, the busiest goaltender in the CCHA, is getting a lot of credit for Michigan&rsquo;s resurgence in the second half. The sophomore from Calgary had his goals-against average down to 3.88 after 23 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04225/5437369-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="177" height="135"></div>And right winger Brad McCaughey appeared fully healed from a sprained knee that forced him to miss eight games earlier this season. He had three-goals in a 5-1 rout of Western Michigan in Ann Arbor Feb. 6, giving Michigan a split of that series. Western Michigan won the first game 4-3.McCaughey stood 10th on Michigan&rsquo;s career scoring list after the WMU series with 83 goals, one more than former greats Bill MacFarland and Wally Gazek and six fewer than Brad Jones, who graduated last season and signed with the Winnipeg Jets.<h2>FALCONS MAKE MOVE</h2>Bowling Green was also gaining momentum as the playoffs approached. The Falcons shelled Ferris State 10-2 and 11-3 Feb. 5-6 at Bowling Green, improving their league record to a fourth-place 14-10-2&hellip;Michigan lost center Todd Brost to a sprained knee for the triumph over Western, and two upcoming games against Lake Superior State. &#9632;

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Michigan On Roll

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Larry Mahoney</div>Everything had fallen into place for New Hampshire hockey coach Bob Kullen.He spent eight years as an assistant under the legendary Charlie Holt and then, when Holt retired, Kullen was named his replacement.But Kullen, 37, didn&rsquo;t count on heart disease.During the off-season, doctors discovered he had amyloidosis, a rare and incurable condition in which protein builds up in the body and affects the heart.He needed a heart transplant. Coaching a hockey team became the last thing on his mind.After a seemingly interminable search for a hospital willing to perform the risky operation, Press by terian University Hospital in Pittsburgh agreed to take the chance.On Aug. 29, Kullen got his new heart. Five and a half months later, he said he intends to return to the UNH helm next season. His doctors have given him permission.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05183/5437400-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="178" height="132"></div>Kullen will return to a young and vastly improved New Hampshire team that is currently under the direction of long-time assistant Dave O&rsquo;Connor.<h2>MAINE CLINCHES TITLE</h2>The Maine Black Bears became just the second school in Hockey East history to win the regular-season championship Feb. 6, when they downed Providence 5-1. The previous three titles in the conference&rsquo;s four-year history were won by Boston College Eagles&hellip;Boston University won seven of its last nine games, the only losses coming at the hands of arch-rival Northeastern&mdash;2-1 in a regular-season game and 6-3 in the Beanpot Tournament final&hellip;Boston College junior Tim Sweeney will miss the rest of the season with a fractured index finger&hellip;New Hampshire lost the services of senior center and co-captain Rick Lambert with a knee injury. He&rsquo;s expected back in late February&hellip;Providence freshman left winger Lyle Wildgoose tied a Hockey East record Feb. 7, with seven points on three goals and four assists, but the Friars lost 10-7 to Maine. &#9632;

f0039-05

Heart And Soul

Roger Neilson is a parttime broadcaster now, but he remains a coach at heart.And he wants to coach again. Full-time.&ldquo;I enjoy this,&rdquo; he said of his role as analyst on The Sports Network&rsquo;s telecasts of NHL games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have to see where it goes, if I can&rsquo;t get another shot at coaching. I&rsquo;d like one more shot.&rdquo;In effect, Neilson is coaching when he analyses a game on television. Using a telestrator, he points out to viewers why plays work or don&rsquo;t work.Deliciously ironic for a guy who was dubbed &lsquo;Captain Video&rsquo; when he earned his first NHL coaching job with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1977.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s sort of like coaching without a team,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But when you&rsquo;re coaching you&rsquo;ve got a whole team. You&rsquo;re preparing them, getting them ready. Then you derive great satisfaction from a well-played game.&rdquo;Neilson has experienced the feeling with three NHL teams. He coached the Maple Leafs from 1977 to 1979, Buffalo Sabres in 1980 and Vancouver Canucks from 1981 to 1984.He was successful everywhere. The 92 regular-season points and semi-final appearance in 1978 are easily the Maple Leafs&rsquo; best accomplishment since their 1967 Stanley Cup win. He guided the Sabres to a 99-point season and took the Canucks to the Stanley Cup final in 1982.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01260/5437431-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="567" height="1132"><figcaption class="caption-body">Roger Neilson</figcaption></div>Yet he bounced around.Toronto owner Harold Ballard never warmed to Neilson&rsquo;s innovative ways and fired him&hellip;twice.The first time came with Toronto in the midst of a five-game losing streak in March of 1979. But Ballard couldn&rsquo;t find a replacement. So he asked Neilson to go back behind the bench, on one condition. The coach was to wear a paper bag on his head when he reappeared behind the Leaf bench.Neilson refused, but returned. Toronto won its next five games and advanced to the quarter-finals. Then Ballard fired him for good.&ldquo;Controversy seemed to follow me,&rdquo; Neilson said.It was behind the scenes in Buffalo. Rumors of a rift between Neilson and general manager Scotty Bowman were widespread. Reports indicated Bowman interfered too much. They were true, said Neilson, but he believes he should have handled it better.In Vancouver, Neilson got his hands on a towel and created a monster. During a 1982 semifinal playoff game with Chicago, in protest of the referee&rsquo;s work, Neilson grabbed and waved the nearest thing he could find. The white towel, waved in surrender, became the symbol of Vancouver&rsquo;s drive to the Cup final.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing, isn&rsquo;t it, how big things can get,&rdquo; Neilson said.Two years later, he was gone. Word is that team ownership forced former Canuck general manager Harry Neale into firing Neilson. The team has been awful ever since.In addition to his TSN duties, Neilson analyses teams in the NHL, AHL and IHL for the Chicago Blackhawks while awaiting a call to the bench. &#9632;

f0040-01

Neilson Yearns To Coach One More Time In NHL

The National Novice Hockey Association has not only gotten bigger, but better.Designed as an adult league for would-be hockey stars who had never before played the sport, the NNHA has turned out some proficient players in its nine-year history.The problem was, once those players had reached a certain level of competence, where would they go?The formation of an advanced division provided a partial solution, but it wasn&rsquo;t until the creation two seasons ago of Hockey America that the more talented players could be assured of continued competitive hockey.The NNHA expanded, creating Hockey America in response to what if felt was a need for high-level recreational hockey in the U.S. Several of its players are graduates of the novice loop, though hockey players of every calibre are welcome.&ldquo;Hockey America is open to anybody,&rdquo; says Greg Campbell, national representative for NNHA. &ldquo;The only condition is that you have to be over 21. You can have played any level of hockey.&rdquo;Initially, he adds, players from the NNHA stream find themselves overmatched in Hockey America.But the better NNHA grads persevere and grow with the competition, says Campbell, himself a Hockey America participant.&ldquo;I played with some guys in Los Angeles who were NNHA players,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They made great strides, and said they really enjoyed the faster pace. They&rsquo;ve improved more than anybody I&rsquo;ve seen in hockey.&rdquo;Hockey America started operations with teams in four municipal areas&mdash;California&rsquo;s Orange County, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.&mdash;and added four more this year. This season, the organization expanded to take in teams from San Francisco, Chicago, Denver and Long Island. There are more than 1,000 registered players on 82 teams.Each team plays a 20-game regular season, with regional playoffs set for May in Washington and Los Angeles. The final series, featuring the nation&rsquo;s top Hockey America teams, will take place in June. Details of when and where will be announced when it&rsquo;s known which teams will be participating.As for the NNHA, it is still looking out for the interests of beginners.For more information, contact Hockey America, 1012 Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 367, Pasadena, CA 91030, phone (818) 7991880, or National Novice Hockey Association, 8375 Leesburg Pike, Suite 437, Vienna, VA 22180, phone (703) 356-2300. &#9632;

1,000-Plus Players In Hockey America

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01215/5437500-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01223/5437493-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="3083" height="3677"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01220/5437486-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="3066" height="3216"></div> &#9632;

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The Hockey News NHL STATISTICAL

<h2>Tue., Feb. 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01178/5437629-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="597" height="1466"></div><h2>Thur., Feb. 11</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02122/5437622-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="591" height="1950"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0384/5437615-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="602" height="2019"></div><h2>Fri., Feb. 12</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0464/5437608-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="586" height="262"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0553/5437601-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="611" height="2316"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0645/5437594-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="603" height="1342"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0742/5437587-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="596" height="1341"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01151/5437580-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="581" height="151"></div><h2>Sat., Feb. 13</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0299/5437573-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="621" height="3355"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0373/5437566-1-eng-US/f0045-032.jpg" title="f0045-03" width="609" height="1811"></div><h2>Sun., Feb. 14</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0454/5437559-1-eng-US/f0045-042.jpg" title="f0045-04" width="589" height="378"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0544/5437552-1-eng-US/f0045-052.jpg" title="f0045-05" width="592" height="1080"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Wickenheiser&rsquo;s late third-period goal gave Vancouver a win over Boston.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0638/5437545-1-eng-US/f0045-062.jpg" title="f0045-06" width="597" height="1027"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0736/5437538-1-eng-US/f0045-072.jpg" title="f0045-07" width="606" height="1964"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-0824/5437531-1-eng-US/f0045-082.jpg" title="f0045-08" width="603" height="1963"></div> &#9632;

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NHL ALL-STAR GAME

ALL LEAGUE STANDINGS AS OF MON., FEB. 15<h2>OLYMPIC HOCKEY</h2><h3>OLYMPIC HOCKEY</h3><h3>POOL A</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-01151/5437863-1-eng-US/f0046-012.jpg" title="f0046-01" width="580" height="190"></div><h3>POOL 8</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-02111/5437856-1-eng-US/f0046-022.jpg" title="f0046-02" width="586" height="189"></div>RESULTSSAT, FEB. 13W. GERMANY 2, CZECHOSLOVAKIA 1SOVIET UNION 5, NORWAY 0USA 10, AUSTRIA 6SUN, FEB 14SWEDEN 13, FRANCE 2CANADA 1, POLAND 0SWITZERLAND 2, FINLAND 1FUTURE GAMESWED, FEB. 17WEST GERMANY VS AUSTRIA, 2 PMCZECHOSLOVAKIA VS NORWAY, 2:15 PMSOVIET UNION VS USA, 6:15 PMTHUR, FEB 18FRANCE VS POLAND, 2 PMSWITZERLAND VS SWEDEN, 2:15 PMCANADA VS FINLAND, 6:15 PMFRI, FEB. 19CZECHOSLOVAKIA VS AUSTRIA, 2 PMSOVIET UNION VS W. GERMANY, 2:15 PMUSA VS NORWAY, 6:15 PMSAT, FEB. 20FINLAND VS SWEDEN, 1 PMCANADA VS FRANCE, 2:15 PMPOLAND VS SWITZERLAND, 6:15 PMSUN, FEB. 21SOVIET UNION VS CZECHOSLOVAKIA, 1:30 PMAUSTRIA VS NORWAY, 5 PMW. GERMANY VS USA, 6:15 PMMON, FEB. 22FINLAND VS POLAND, 10 AMSWEDEN VS CANADA, 2 PMFRANCE VS SWITZERLAND, 6:30 PM<h3>SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0376/5437849-1-eng-US/f0046-032.jpg" title="f0046-03" width="585" height="293"></div><h3>MEDAL ROUND</h3>Wed., Feb. 242nd Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs. 3rd Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;, Saddledome, 10:30 a.m.; 1st Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo; vs. 3rd Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo;, Saddledome, 2:30 p.m.; 1st Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs. 2nd Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;, Saddledome, 6:30 p.m.Fri., Feb. 262nd Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo; vs. 3rd Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo;, Saddledome, 10:30 a.m.; 1st Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs. 3rd Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;, Saddledome, 2:30 p.m.; 1st Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo; vs. 2nd Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo;, Saddledome, 6:30 p.m.Sat., Feb. 273rd Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs. 3rd Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;, Saddledome, 1:00 p.m.Sun., Feb. 282nd Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs. 2nd Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;,Saddledome, 10:00 a.m.; 1st Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs. 1st Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;, Saddledome, 2:00 p.m.<h3>CONSOLATION ROUND</h3>Tue, Feb. 235th Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs. 5th Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;, Father Bauer, 2:15 p.m.; 6th Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs 6th Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;, Father Bauer, 6:15 p.m.Thur., Feb. 254th Pool &lsquo;A&rsquo; vs. 4th Pool &lsquo;B&rsquo;, Saddledome, 1:30 p.m.(All times are local)<h2>AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><h3>NORTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0464/5437842-1-eng-US/f0046-042.jpg" title="f0046-04" width="578" height="212"></div><h3>SOUTHERN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0547/5437835-1-eng-US/f0046-052.jpg" title="f0046-05" width="580" height="237"></div>RESULTSTUE, FEB 9NEWMARKET 3 AT FREDERICTON 11WED, FEB. 10ADIRONDACK 1 AT HERSHEY 8NEWMARKET 5 AT MONCTON 5 (OT)MAINE 6 AT NEW HAVEN 1FREDERICTON 2 AT NOVA SCOTIA 8 SHERBROOKE 1 AT ROCHESTER 6SPRINGFIELD 2 AT UTICA 4THUR, FEB. 11ADIRONDACK 6 AT BALTIMORE 1NOVA SCOTIA 1 AT FREDERICTON 8FRI, FEB. 12ROCHESTER 5 AT MAINE 4 (OT)NOVA SCOTIA 3 AT MONCTON 4NEW HAVEN 1 AT SHERBROOKE 4BINGHAMTON 6 AT SPRINGFIELD 4HERSHEY 6 AT UTICA 2SAT, FEB. 13NEW HAVEN 4 AT ADIRONDACK 5 (OT) BALTIMORE 1 AT BINGHAMTON 6UTICA 3 AT HERSHEY 6NEWMARKET 2 AT MAINE 4FREDERICTON 1 AT MONCTON 4ROCHESTER 4 AT SPRINGFIELD 6SUN, FEB. 14HERSHEY 5 AT BALTIMORE 1SPRINGFIELD 3 AT BINGHAMTON 4 ADIRONDACK 3 AT NEW HAVEN 2MONCTON 4 AT NOVA SCOTIA 3UTICA 3 AT ROCHESTER 6NEWMARKET 2 AT SHERBROOKE 1<h3>SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0639/5437828-1-eng-US/f0046-062.jpg" title="f0046-06" width="587" height="473"></div><h3>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0732/5437821-1-eng-US/f0046-072.jpg" title="f0046-07" width="582" height="161"></div><h2>INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE</h2><h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0822/5437814-1-eng-US/f0046-082.jpg" title="f0046-08" width="581" height="162"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-0920/5437807-1-eng-US/f0046-092.jpg" title="f0046-09" width="583" height="159"></div>RESULTSTUE, FEB 9KALAMAZOO 4 AT FORT WAYNE 6SAGINAW 1 AT COLORADO 3WED, FEB. 10FORT WAYNE 3 AT KALAMAZOO 6SALT LAKE 7 AT COLORADO 2MILWAUKEE 3 AT PEORIA 7FRI, FEB. 12FORT WAYNE 0 AT MUSKEGON 7KALAMAZOO 3 AT PEORIA 7FLINT 4 AT SALT LAKE 7SAGINAW 4 AT COLORADO 0SAT, FEB. 13FORT WAYNE 3 AT SAGINAW 2COLORADO 1 AT KALAMAZOO 4FLINT 5 AT SALT LAKE 8PEORIA 8 AT MILWAUKEE 5SUN, FEB 14FLINT 2 AT FORT WAYNE 4COLORADO 1 AT SAGINAW 7PEORIA 2 AT KALAMAZOO 7MUSKEGON 7 AT MILWAUKEE 5<h3>SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1018/5437800-1-eng-US/f0046-102.jpg" title="f0046-10" width="586" height="419"></div><h3>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1118/5437793-1-eng-US/f0046-112.jpg" title="f0046-11" width="582" height="160"></div><h2>CHL RANKINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1215/5437786-1-eng-US/f0046-122.jpg" title="f0046-12" width="578" height="324"></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2><h3>LEYDEN DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1313/5437779-1-eng-US/f0046-132.jpg" title="f0046-13" width="586" height="214"></div><h3>EMMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1413/5437772-1-eng-US/f0046-142.jpg" title="f0046-14" width="584" height="239"></div>RESULTSMON, FEB. 8LONDON OAT WINDSOR 13TUE, FEB. 9KITCHENER 6 AT SUDBURY 5TORONTO 5 AT KINGSTON 4WED, FEB. 10PETERBOROUGH 4 AT BELLEVILLE 3HAMILTON 4 AT GUELPH 3THUR, FEB. 11BELLEVILLE 1 AT CORNWALL 8SUDBURY 2 AT NORTH BAY 4OTTAWA 2 AT PETERBOROUGH 4GUELPH 2 AT WINDSOR 4FRI, FEB. 12TORONTO AT KINGSTON (PPD. SNOWKITCHENER 2 AT LONDON 5OSHAWA 3 AT OTTAWA 10HAMILTON 4 AT S.S. MARIE 5 (OT)SAT, FEB. 13TORONTO 4 AT BELLEVILLE 7OSHAWA 2 AT CORNWALL 11LONDON 5 AT OTTAWA 7SUN, FEB 14LONDON 0 AT CORNWALL 3HAMILTON 1 AT NORTH BAY 7KINGSTON 3 AT OSHAWA 5SUDBURY 1 AT S.S. MARIE 8BELLEVILLE 5 AT TORONTO 4<h3>SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1513/5437765-1-eng-US/f0046-152.jpg" title="f0046-15" width="586" height="422"></div><h3>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1613/5437758-1-eng-US/f0046-162.jpg" title="f0046-16" width="582" height="164"></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2><h3>DILIO DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1713/5437751-1-eng-US/f0046-172.jpg" title="f0046-17" width="583" height="161"></div><h3>LeBEL DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1813/5437744-1-eng-US/f0046-182.jpg" title="f0046-18" width="583" height="160"></div>RESULTSMON, FEB. 8HULL 5 AT LAVAL 4TUE, FEB. 9ST-JEAN 6 AT DRUMMONDVIELLE 2CHICOUTIMI 4 AT T-RIVIERES 11GRANBY 7 AT VERDUN 5WED, FEB. 10GRANBY 2 AT SHAWINIGAN 5CHICOUTIMI 3 AT VICTORIAVILLE 5FRI, FEB. 12LAVAL AT CHICOUTIMI (PPD. SNOW)HULL 5 AT DRUMMONDVILLE 5 (OT)T-RIVIERES AT SHAWINIGAN (PPD. SNOW) GRANBY 1 AT ST-JEAN 5SUN, FEB. 14VICTORIAVILLE 3 AT DRUMMONDVILLE 10HULL 5 AT GRANBY 4 (OT)ST-JEAN 3 AT SHAWINIGAN 6LAVAL 7 AT VERDUN 5<h3>SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-1913/5437737-1-eng-US/f0046-192.jpg" title="f0046-19" width="588" height="344"></div><h3>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-2012/5437730-1-eng-US/f0046-202.jpg" title="f0046-20" width="581" height="162"></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2><h3>EAST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-2110/5437723-1-eng-US/f0046-212.jpg" title="f0046-21" width="587" height="240"></div><h3>WEST DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-228/5437716-1-eng-US/f0046-222.jpg" title="f0046-22" width="585" height="186"></div>RESULTSTUE, FEB 9BRANDON 3 AT SASKATOON 4WED, FEB 10SASKATOON 3 AT SWIFT CURRENT 5BRANDON 2 AT PRINCE ALBERT 6SPOKANE 5 AT PORTLAND 6 (OT)SEATTLE 3 AT VICTORIA 7THUR, FEB 11NEW WESTMINSTER 1 AT MED. HAT 10FRI, FEB. 12KAMLOOPS 8 AT BRANDON 5NEW WESTMINSTER 2 AT LETHBRIDGE 5MOOSE JAW 2 AT REGINA 6SWIFT CURRENT 6 AT SASKATOON 5 (OT)SAT, FEB. 13KAMLOOPS 5 AT MOOSE JAW 3MED. HAT 4 AT PRINCE ALBERT 4 (OT)REGINA 2 AT BRANDON 2 (OT)VICTORIA 5 AT SPOKANE 8SEATTLE 4 AT PORTLAND 9SUN, FEB. 14KAMLOOPS 2 AT REGINA 9NEW WESTMINSTER 3 AT SWIFT CURRENT 5PRINCE ALBERT 2 AT SASKATOON 9BRANDON 6 AT MOOSE JAW 8LETHBRIDGE 3 AT MED. HAT 5PORTLAND 6 AT SEATTLE 7VICTORIA 2 AT SPOKANE 4<h3>SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-238/5437709-1-eng-US/f0046-232.jpg" title="f0046-23" width="585" height="369"></div><h3>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-246/5437702-1-eng-US/f0046-242.jpg" title="f0046-24" width="582" height="164"></div><h2>UNITED STATES LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-255/5437695-1-eng-US/f0046-252.jpg" title="f0046-25" width="582" height="320"></div>RESULTSTHUR, FEB 11WATERLOO 6 AT THUNDER BAY 11FRI, FEB. 12WATERLOO 1 AT THUNDER BAY 12OMAHA 4 AT MADISON 7 DES MOINES5 AT SIOUX CITY 4 (OT)ROCHESTER 2 AT NORTH IOWA 2 (OT)SAT, FEB. 13OMAHA 2 AT DUBUQUE 8ST. PAUL 6 AT SIOUX CITY 4NORTH IOWA 6 AT MADISON 5ROCHESTER 5 AT DES MOINES 1SUN, FEB. 14OMAHA 3 AT WATERLOO 13NORTH IOWA 6 AT DUBUQUE 2ROCHESTER 4 AT ST. PAUL 1<h3>SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-265/5437688-1-eng-US/f0046-262.jpg" title="f0046-26" width="582" height="423"></div><h3>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-274/5437681-1-eng-US/f0046-272.jpg" title="f0046-27" width="580" height="161"></div><h2>ALL-AMERICAN LEAGUE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-284/5437674-1-eng-US/f0046-282.jpg" title="f0046-28" width="583" height="243"></div>RESULTSWED, FEB. 10CAROLINA 0 AT VIRGINIA 6JOHNSTOWN 6 AT CAROLINA 4FRI, FEB. 12VIRGINIA 4 AT CAROLINA 2JOHNSTOWN 9 AT MIAMI VALLEY 4SAT, FEB. 13VIRGINIA 5 AT CAROLINA 3JOHNSTOWN 6 AT DANVILLE 3JACKSON 4 AT MIAMI VALLEY 5 (OT)SUN, FEB. 14JOHNSTOWN 14 AT PORT HURON 5<h3>SCORING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-294/5437667-1-eng-US/f0046-292.jpg" title="f0046-29" width="586" height="294"></div><h3>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0046-304/5437660-1-eng-US/f0046-302.jpg" title="f0046-30" width="582" height="165"></div> &#9632;

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February 26, 1988

THE KING OF CANADA

Karpan Only Canadian Back For Games

Flames ‘Buzzards’ Not Keen On New Nest

Patriotes Look To Improve By Adding Size, Toughness