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.

April 15, 1988

The Hockey News April 15, 1988

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03337/5472816-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="178" height="131"></div>VANCOUVER&mdash;-Life is never easy for the Vancouver Canucks.For the first time in club history they will be choosing as high as the No. 2 spot in the June entry draft. But most scouts say this is not a vintage year.The two top-rated players, according to the NHL Central Scouting, are in the Western League, which suits the Canucks fine. That&rsquo;s not where the difficulty lies. They would likely choose whichever player is remaining between No. 1-rated Mike Modano of Prince Albert and No. 2 Trevor Linden of Medicine Hat. The choice facing president and general manager Pat Quinn, director of player personnel Brian Burke and coach Bob McCammon is whether to deal the draft pick.The Canucks said Montreal and Philadelphia have already made concrete proposals to them for their draft pick. These teams have more time to wait for these players.What the Canucks have been offered is not clear. In a post-game interview April I McCammon mentioned Montreal center Shayne Corson as one player the Habs might be willing to part with in a package.&ldquo;A guy like that hasn&rsquo;t exactly filled the net and a lot of these guys look pretty good playing with good hockey clubs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The question is how good would they look playing for us. I&rsquo;ll be doing a lot of scouting in the playoffs back east to try to get a feel for which way I think we should go.&rdquo;Clearly the Canucks have to make significant changes if they want to improve next season. They are far too small and management, which was supposed to build a team around the Flyer philosophy of big, rugged players, saw the team get smaller during the year.&ldquo;I would say we&rsquo;ll start the season with two new defensemen, two new left wingers and maybe a new center,&rdquo; said McCammon. &ldquo;We have to get a lot bigger. In fact, a lot of times the way we were pushed around would bother me more than the losses themselves.&rdquo;Trading the draft pick would likely give the Canucks the big center they need against Edmonton&rsquo;s Mark Messier and Calgary&rsquo;s Joel Otto, but it may also appear to be a quick-fix type of attitude to the paying public.NOTES&mdash;Center Greg Adams finished with a career-high 36 goals and right winger Tony Tanti hit the 40-goal mark for the third time in his career on the final day of the season. It earned Tanti a $15,000 bonus&hellip;Defenseman Larry Melnyk suffered a bad skate cut on his right arm with eight minutes left in the season. It severed his tendon, requiring surgery-&hellip;Center Steve Tambellini is not expected to play in the NHL next season amid reports he has already committed to an Italian team.<h2>CANUCKS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 30: Carl Valimont, D, signed to multi-year contract and assigned to Fredericton (AHL).April 1: Ian Kidd, D, assigned to Fredericton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Greg Adams, Barry Pederson, Brian Bradley, Doug Wickenheiser.LW&mdash;Petri Skriko, Paul Lawless, Steve Tambellini, Ken Berry.RW&mdash;Rich Sutter. Jim Sandlak. Tony Tanti, David Bruce, Peter Bakovic, Claude Vilgrain.LD&mdash;Randy Boyd, Jim Benning, Daryl Stanley.RD&mdash;Garth Butcher, Doug Lidster, Dave Richter.G&mdash;Frank Caprice, Kirk McLean, Steve Weeks.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dan Hodgson, fractured leg.Larry Melnyk, D, severed tendon.Stan Smyl, RW, pulled groin. &#9632;

f0024-03

Vancouver Looks At Bigger Picture

<div class="byline">BY LARRY HUMBER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01227/5473656-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0756/5473649-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="602" height="589"></div><h2>ACROSS:</h2>1. He netted the Stanley Cupwinning goal in 1962 (4, 4).5. Assist.9. He was taken first overall in the 1976 NHL entry draft.10. Toronto-born Leaf previously with the Red Wings and Rangers.11. Fanned.12. One of only two clubs to capture the Stanley Cup four or more times in a row.14. The Flames&rsquo; third captain, he was subsequently dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks.16. The Flyers&rsquo; founder and principal owner.19. He led the NHL in penalty minutes in 1962-63.21. He was a creditable 21-20-3 in the nets for Pittsburgh in 1985-86.24. Site of the 1981 NHL All-Star Game, Los.25. One of several Swedish-born Flyers.26. Uncommon.27. Trophy won last year by the Fivers. Wales (6.2).<h2>DOWN:</h2>1. Battles for control of the puck.2. Chicago-born Canadien.3. Brother of Islander broadcaster Jean Potvin.4. Resurfaces the ice between periods.6. Former Cap Rausse.7. Stress.8. He was with four different NHL clubs in 1977-78, Dennis13. Rugged King rearguard previously with the Sabres.15. Former Jet hopeful Kirk McCaskill now pitches for this baseball team.17. The only Sabre to be named Masterton Trophy winner (3,4).18. This referee came in for much criticism during the 1987 playoffs.20. The NHL&rsquo;s &lsquo;Ironman&rsquo; before Doug Jarvis succeeded him.22. He was general manager of the Colorado Rockies, Ray&mdash;.23. Lesser-known Oiler Beuke-boom.Crossword solution in Classified Secton on page 41. &#9632;

f0043-01

Departments

CROSSWORD

<h2>TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE&hellip;</h2>1. What current NHL general manager played his last NHL game on Jan. 9, 1981?2. Name the five Saskatchewan-based WHL teams.3. Name the five NHL teams that failed to register a shutout last season.4. Which three Los Angeles Kings were named to last season&rsquo;s NHL all-rookie team?5. Name the five IHL franchises that are not situated in Michigan.6. What team holds the record for consecutive games shut out (eight)?7. Which team posted an NHL-record 15 successive victories in 1981-82?8. Which Springfield Indian played for Minnesota Fighting Saints in the WHA?9. What is the longest stretch of time that the Stanley Cup has not been won by a Canadian team?10. Which team has won more Stanley Cup playoff games&mdash;the Philadelphia Flyers or New York Islanders?<h2>ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ</h2>1. Phil Esposito.2. Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Swift Current.3. Edmonton, New York Rangers, New Jersey, St. Louis, Washington.4. Luc Robitaille, Steve Duchesne, Jimmy Carson.5. Coloradio, Salt Lake (Utah), Peoria (III.), Milwaukee (Wisc.), Ford Wayne (Ind.).6. Chicago Blackhawks (1928-29).7. New York Islanders.8. Bruce Boudreau.9. Six seasons (1935-36 to 1940-41)10. New York Islanders 116, Philadelphia 103. BONUS ANSWER: Ed Litzenberger.<h2>BONUS QUESTION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-09113/5473494-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="579" height="961"><figcaption class="caption-body">BONUS: He won the 1955 Calder Trophy with Chicago Black-hawks.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0038-09

IN THIS ISSUE

THN HOCKEY TRIVIA

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01626/5473292-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01592/5473285-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="3103" height="3660"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01567/5473278-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="3095" height="3652"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01495/5473271-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="3097" height="3234"></div> &#9632;

f0034-01

The Hockey News NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01833/5473773-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(Photos by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>Trust Us, Pick The Flames/12But Not Even Lemieux Can Get Penguins Into The PlayoffsINSIDE: Rangers View Own Demise/16 Don&rsquo;t Count Oilers Out/22 Lakers Win NCAA Title/31 &#9632;

Cover-01

The New King

Next week, THE HOCKEY NEWS profiles its annual NHL comeback players of the year&mdash;one goalie, one defenseman and one forward. This year&rsquo;s winners will have a tough act to follow&mdash;Detroit&rsquo;s Steve Yzerman and Darren Veitch, and Montreal&rsquo;s Brian Hayward.THN also presents its annual attendance report, examined in fine detail by statistician Murray Townsend. Find out who the big winners and losers were.The International League is set to end its regular season. Get a line on IHL playoff matchups as writer Bob Wagner wraps up the 1987-88 campaign.We&rsquo;ll also bring you the latest information from playoffs in the NHL, junior hockey and the American League.You&rsquo;ll get all this, the always entertaining and controversial Stan Fischler, and much more in the April 22 edition of THE HOCKEY NEWS. &#9632;

NEXT WEEK

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Red Wing John Chabot, who works with the Canadian government&rsquo;s National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program, visits Indian reservations and gives lectures. &ldquo;I spread the word that I&rsquo;m native and I made it to the top of my profession,&rdquo; says Chabot. &ldquo;I tell them that if they stay away from drugs and alcohol, they can do well.&rdquo; As for the NHL, Chabot says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure there are some teams that have some problems but, on the whole, it&rsquo;s just like any other way of life, any other job. Some guys abuse and some don&rsquo;t. But more and more athletes are speaking out against drugs and alcohol.&rdquo; Chabot reveals he&rsquo;s seen some shocking sights on his trips to northern Canada. &ldquo;There have been some drastic cases. I&rsquo;ve visited places where there was a total dependency. They&rsquo;ll drink anything, even aerosol and stuff like that. But it&rsquo;s turning around and we see a brighter future.&rdquo;<h2>FLYERS NOT TAKING IT EASY</h2>An unpleasant rumor, which has made the rounds of the Patrick Division, had it that the Flyers would ease through the regular season and concentrate their energy on the playoffs. However, one former Flyer tells BLUELINES he was in touch with friends on the team and it has been quite the opposite. &ldquo;What they told me,&rdquo; the former Flyer reveals, &ldquo;was that management actually was hustling injured players back as fast as possible; faster than, maybe, some players wanted.&rdquo;&hellip;Insiders tell BLUELINES one of the most strained coachofficiating relationships in the NHL pits ref Denis Morel against Bruin coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly. &ldquo;It goes all the way back to the early 1980s,&rdquo; says a former Bruin teammate of O&rsquo;Reilly&rsquo;s. &ldquo;We were playing the Rockies in Denver and the two went at it then. In the next game, we had Morel again and O&rsquo;Reilly got something going with him again. It&rsquo;s never been forgotten by either, I&rsquo;m sure.&rdquo;&hellip;If you were guessing who among the 21 NHL players&rsquo; union representative was the most vocal at meetings, who would you pick? Vancouver Canuck player rep Stan Smyl says Bobby Smith of the Canadiens is the man&hellip;The Jets&rsquo; Paul MacLean objects to the use of video to review referees&rsquo; decisions. &ldquo;If you bring video in,&rdquo; says MacLean, &ldquo;it will take away the refs&rsquo; integrity.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011360/5471736-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="724" height="870"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bruin coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly has a longstanding feud with referee Denis Morel.</figcaption></div><h2>HULL DENIES DISTANCE</h2>Hall-of-Famer Bobby Hull gets peppered with questions about son, Brett, and their early relationship. The Golden Jet gets miffed when publications&mdash;such as the current issue of Sport&mdash;suggest he and Brett had &ldquo;distance&rdquo; between them. &ldquo;What distance?&rdquo; snaps Bobby. &ldquo;That (the &lsquo;distance&rsquo; comment in the Sport article) was a bunch of bleep. It really blew things out of proportion.&rdquo; Asked whether it has been easier for Bobby to get close to Brett since the latter became an NHLer, Hull shoots back, &ldquo;Who said we weren&rsquo;t close?&rdquo; Bobby reveals he wanted Brett to play for the Rangers when his pal, Anders Hedberg. was assistant GM in New York under Craig Patrick. &ldquo;Hedberg told the Rangers (general staff) to mortgage the farm for Brett, that he was a natural. But they never listened to Anders.&rdquo;<h2>MARINERS UNDER MILBURY</h2>Maine Mariner coach Mike Milbury has been getting laughs in a lot of places, not the least of which is New Haven, former home of sweaterwearing coach Robbie Ftorek. On one visit to New Haven, Milbury eschewed his jacket and donned a sweater. Asked about it, Milbury chuckled, &ldquo;It was in memory of the departed!&rdquo; Another time, a disgusted Milbury put his charges through 30 minutes of thoroughly-exhausting wind sprints. Jet GM John Ferguson, who witnessed the gruelling exercise, says: &ldquo;It warmed the cockles of my heart.&rdquo; In the middle of one game, Milbury turned the coaching chores over to assistant Gord Clark. &ldquo;You take over,&rdquo; said Milbury, &ldquo;they won&rsquo;t listen to me.&rdquo; He left the bench and watched the remainder of the match on TV in the owners&rsquo; office&hellip;Ex-Ranger coach Tom Webster, who exited the NHL last spring because of medical problems, tells BLUELINES he&rsquo;s not rooted in junior hockey (with Windsor) forever. &ldquo;Returning to the NHL is a goal,&rdquo; says Webster, &ldquo;but I have no particular team in mind. We&rsquo;d just have to sit down and make sure the situation is right for both sides.&rdquo; Webster&rsquo;s contract with the Spitfires runs through next season.<h2>LINESMAN TO THE RESCUE</h2>The NHL officiating bureau took due note of an emergency trans-Hudson River move by linesman Pat Dapuzzo late last month, when ref Dave Newell was injured and had to be removed from the ice during an Oiler-Ranger game at Madison Square Garden. Dapuzzo was at his New Jersey home flicking the TV dial when he happened on the hockey telecast and saw Newell horizontal on the ice being administered to by medics. He jumped in his car and sped to the game in time for the second period. Pat worked with Ray Scapihello and Mark Vines the rest of the way, with Scapinello being the acting ref. &ldquo;I was about to turn on Vanna and Wheel of Fortune, but when I saw Dave down on the ice, I figured I could help out. Fortunately, I live right near the Lincoln Tunnel so I got to the Garden in no time.&rdquo; Ref chief John McCauley tells BLUELINES Dapuzzo has made a favorable impression on the high command&hellip;Look for a new southern hockey league to form in 1988-89. Prospective sites are Charlotte, N.C., and Knoxville of the old Eastern League, as well as Huntsville, Ala., and others&hellip;A reporter asked Ron Francis about the similarity between Davey Johnson being a lame-duck manager of the New York Mets and Hartford cutting Jack Evans because he would have been a lame-duck coach. Francis&rsquo; reply: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not concerned about the Mets&mdash;just the Blue Jays!&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021103/5471729-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="1490" height="1802"><figcaption class="caption-body">Veteran Vancouver Canuck captain Stan Smyl says Montreal Canadien center Bobby Smith is the most vocal NHL players&rsquo; union rep at meetings.</figcaption></div><h2>MICHELETTI A RISING BLUE</h2>Blues insiders are wondering whether the Mike Shanahan regime has inadvertently or otherwise loosened the Ron Caron-Jacques Martin grip on the team. St. Louis PostDispatch columnist Tom Wheatley noted aide Joe Micheletti has emerged as a more secure character in the Blues scenario than his superiors. &ldquo;Micheletti, the rookie assistant coach whose work habits are the butt of Arena jokes, has more security than his industrious coaching superiors,&rdquo; writes Wheatley. Also mentioned in the rumors is the influence of veteran Blues&rsquo; broadcaster Dan Kelly, a friend of Scotty Bow-man. Wheatley suggested Kelly has lobbied for Bowman&rsquo;s return. Kelly tells BLUELINES Wheatley is all wet, and adds a vehement put-down of the writer. &ldquo;I knew more hockey when I was 12 years old, playing peewee, than Wheatley knows now.&rdquo; Kelly adds Wheatley never bothered to call him and check on the piece. Wheatley declined to discuss the matter with BLUELINES.<h2>HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR</h2>Most King fans don&rsquo;t know one of the world&rsquo;s best jockeys is a penalty timekeeper at the Forum. Thoroughbred jock Sandy Hawley regularly scoots from Santa Anita after completing his mounts and heads directly to the rink, where he changes into his NHL off-ice official jacket. A long-time hockey fan, the 38-year-old Hawley was drafted for the job a few years ago when the regular penalty timekeeper failed to show. The jockey, who has made a fortune riding horses since coming down from his native Canada, pulls in $300 a season&mdash;plus a bonus of two tickets for all home games&mdash;for his NHL service. &ldquo;I enjoy the hockey action,&rdquo; says Hawley, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s fun meeting all the hockey players.&rdquo; One who surprised the jockey was a neighbor from his hometown, Oshawa, Ont. After receiving a two-minute penalty, John MacLean of the Devils stepped into the Forum penalty box, recognized Hawley and blurted, &ldquo;How long have you been retired?&rdquo; MacLean didn&rsquo;t realize Hawley had raced that day&hellip;The annual NHL fan club convention will be held across from the Devils&rsquo; home at the Byrne Arena. The dates are Aug. 12 to 14 and the site is the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel in East Rutherford, N.J. Phil Esposito tells BLUELINES he has regretted only one trade in the past year. &ldquo;If I had to do one thing over again,&rdquo; says the Rangers GM, &ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t have made the Tony McKegney deal.&rdquo; Espo dealt McKegney to the Blues for Bruce Bell, May 28, 1987. &#9632;

f0003-01

Fighting Drugs And Alcohol

Sean Burke, Luc Robitaille selected Dodqe-NHL Performers of the Week ACHRYSLER 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/f0004-011383/5471788-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="564" height="550"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021272/5471781-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="153" height="155"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031082/5471774-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="554" height="644"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sean Burke</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;New Jersey Devils&rsquo; goaltender Sean Burke, who backstopped his team to a playoff spot, and Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; left winger Luc Robitaille, who topped the 50-goal plateau, were named co-winners of the Dodge Performer of the Week Award for the period ending April 3.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 Performer of the Year Awards, for which the latter receives the Dodge vehicle of his choice.Burke, 21, won all four of his starts during the regular season&rsquo;s final week.The 1988 Canadian Olympian was in goal for 4-0 and 7-2 wins over Pittsburgh, a 5-2 win over the Islanders and a 4-3 triumph over Chicago.Robitaille, 22, scored seven goals and six assists to lead the Kings to a 2-0-1 record. Included were a two-goal, four-assist performance in a 9-7 win over the Calgary Flames and a three-goal, one-assist effort in a 5-5 tie with Edmonton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04923/5471767-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="557" height="641"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luc Robitaille</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

DODGE NHL PERFORMER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011265/5471819-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="178" height="137"></div>LANDOVER, Md.&mdash;Although they kissed off the Patrick Division championship by winning only one of their last nine games, the Washington Capitals salvaged home-ice advantage in the opening playoff series by rallying for a season-ending 2-2 tie April 3 against Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum.The only question was whether home ice figured to be an advantage for the Capitals when they began their best-of-seven series with the Flyers on April 6. In their last seven home games, the Capitals won once, a 5-3 decision over Philadelphia on March 25.Certainly, Philadelphia coach Mike Keenan considered home ice important, because he lifted goalie Ron Hex-tall for a sixth skater with 48 seconds left in the season finale.Washington coach Bryan Murray was skeptical. Before the game, he said, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably better now to start in Philly, the way we&rsquo;ve been playing (at home).&rdquo;Murray kept aching defenseman Rod Langway and right winger Lou Franceschetti out of the finale and even after the dramatic comeback, did not change his tune.&ldquo;I wonder if it (home ice) is important at all. We did not place great emphasis on it. Rod and Louie could have played, but we felt the extra day would help come playoff time.&rdquo;In Langway&rsquo;s absence, defenseman Garry Galley was elevated to a regular role with Scott Stevens as his partner. After hitting two posts early in the game, Galley scored twice in the last seven minutes to gain the tie and change a lot of hotel reservations.&ldquo;We were disappointed the way we&rsquo;d been struggling and we had a chance to salvage something&mdash;second place,&rdquo; Galley said. &ldquo;Rod being out gave me a chance and Bryan gave me a chance to contribute more.&ldquo;We hadn&rsquo;t gotten any breaks for a long time, but when I got my first one from behind the net (off Hextall&rsquo;s pad), that was a big break, and it seemed to ignite us.&rdquo;The Capitals outshot the Flyers 20-4 in the third period and Murray hoped it was a sign of good things to come, especially after the Capitals stumbled down the stretch.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re excited about winning second place and playing as well as we did in the third period,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We won 65 per cent of the faceoffs and it does make a difference when you have possession. I&rsquo;m really pleased with our overall play.&rdquo;Murray could not say that the previous three weeks. On March 18, the Capitals led the New York Islanders by five points and had a 3-0 lead after one period. The Islanders battled back for a 3-3 tie and eventually finished three points in front of Washington.Although the Capitals and Flyers finished with 85 points and 38 victories, Washington earned second place for the fifth straight season by prevailing in the first six games of the season series 4-2.The Capitals won only four of 21 games from the Flyers during the three previous seasons. In the clubs&rsquo; only previous playoff matchup, Washington swept the three-game divisional semi-final in 1984.NOTES&mdash;Both the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins were close to pulling their goalies before Mario Lemieux&rsquo; fourth goal of the game gave the Penguins a 7-6 victory with 58 seconds left in overtime April 2. Pittsburgh needed the triumph to stay alive in the playoff race, while Washington could have wrapped up second and maintained a chance for first with a win&hellip;Right winger Mike Gartner finished with 48 goals, his second-best mark in the NHL and the second time he has scored that many. He had 48 in 1980-81 and 50 in 1984-85&hellip;Over the last nine games, Washington had a 15-3 record and were outscored 40-27. Yet the Capitals outshot the opposition 340-244. &middot;<h2>CAPITALS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bengt Gustafsson, Mike Ridley, Dale Hunter, Bob Gould.LW&mdash;Yvon Corriveau, Michal Pivonka, Greg Adams, Peter Sundstrom.RW&mdash;Mike Gartner, Kelly Miller, Dave Christian, Lou Franceschetti, Steve Leach, Ed Kastelic.LD&mdash;Scott Stevens, Rod Langway, Greg Smith, Grant Ledyard.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Kevin Hatcher, Garry Galley.G&mdash;Pete Peeters, Clint Malarchuk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

f0005-01

Capitals Skeptical Of Playoff Homecoming

AS DENIS POTVIN COUNTS down the games in the last of his 15 NHL seasons, he takes time not only to sniff the roses.He pays tribute to the thorns.&ldquo;The (Philadelphia) Flyers are a team that has been so much like our team over the years,&rdquo; Potvin said, after playing what could have been his final game ever against them &ldquo;It has always been a battle.&ldquo;A lot of people talk about our rivalry with the Rangers, but the Rangers have never been as close in style of play or success as the Flyers have been to us.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a feuding type of rivalry. It&rsquo;s been one of total respect over the years.&rdquo;It was not important that the Islanders tied the all-time regular-season series between the two teams at 43-43-14 with their 5-3 victory at Nassau Coliseum, March 29. But it certainly was appropriate.In this sporting life, a man is measured by his competition. And so much of Potvin&rsquo;s and the Islanders&rsquo; success over the last 15 years has been mirrored through the Flyers.As the Isles grew up around their 1973 No. I pick, they were aspiring to conquer the Flyer Stanley Cup champions of the mid-70s. The Islanders almost did, too. in the 1975 semifinals. rallying from a 3-0 deficit to force a memorable seventh game.The Flyers, who won it 4-1 and went on to a second Cup. slipped back a little in the next few years. In the meantime, Montreal ruled. And Potvin&rsquo;s team could not take the final step to a Stanley Cup until 1980, when a resurgent Flyer team turned out to be the final-round obstacle.The Islanders won that series on an overtime goal in the sixth game. Then they won three more Cups before losing in the 1984 finals to Edmonton. As the proud champions inevitably declined, Philadelphia rose again to claim three straight Patrick Division titles, defeating the Islanders two of those years in the playoffs.And now, here were the Islanders, retooled once more, all but ending the Flyers&rsquo; hopes for a fourth one. &ldquo;The Flyers are an arch-rival,&rdquo; Potvin said, &ldquo;and here we were in a position where we could knock them out of (a chance at) first place. And we did with a rally that reminded me of the old days.&rdquo;Of course, as good as he was feeling about the orderly changing of the Islanders&rsquo; guard, it will take the playoffs to re-establish them as class team of the division. If they do, Potvin will undoubtedly play too big a part in that success for the Isles to be reassured they can do as well next year without him.But this isn&rsquo;t about the next hurrah. This is about the last one of a great one. As long as Potvin is poised at the top of a circle, getting every shot on net and making passes that have fueled one of the great power plays in NHL history, the Isles have a chance to turn back the clock once more before moving on to a new era.This will be it for Potvin, no matter what. At 34, he looks too good, too fresh to quit, but the decision reached before this season began is irrevocable.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011447/5471850-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="342" height="464"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jay Greenberg</figcaption></div>He remembers watching Doug Harvey at the end of his overlong career. He cringes at the memory of one of his heroes, Muhammad Ali, in his last few fights. &ldquo;People remember you the way you end up,&rdquo; Potvin said.So he set a final goal of going out while he was still good enough for people to ask him why he&rsquo;s quitting so soon. Besides, there are two little girls at home who, he feels, deserve a 9-to-5 daddy, plus a fortune in commercial real estate waiting to be made. Nope, he&rsquo;s had no regrets about committing so soon.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there&rsquo;s any question I could play another year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This is the right thing for me in my life at this time. It is just time for me to move on. And I&rsquo;m happy to be having the kind of season I&rsquo;m having to finish on the right note. I just want to enjoy this season as much as I can.&rdquo;The Flyers, in the meantime, look forward to enjoying Potvin&rsquo;s retirement, too. He has beaten them, among others, too many times. He did it with a complete package of skills&mdash;skating, passing, shoting&mdash;that enabled him to become the first NHL defenseman to score 1.000 points in his career. He is the all-time leader at the position in both goals and assists.That means he did more, tangibly, than any other defenseman in NHL history. That spectacular accomplishment does not necessarily make Potvin the best to ever play the position.Too much has been made of Potvin place in NHL history, vis-a-vis Bobby Orr&rsquo;s. Much of it, in fact, was made, by Potvin himself. The ego is as immense as the talent. Of course, that drive is what makes the great ones great, although many of them assume manners that make them more acceptable to the media and public.Eventually Potvin sanded down the rough edges of the self-centered personality that grated on his teammates, and conformed to his team. But a regular guy he was not. From the time he arrived in 1973, heralded to be exactly what he would become, Potvin played every game not just looking for his next victory, but for his place in history.No defenseman ever controlled a game, or excited an audience to the degree of Orr. His career was cut way too short by problematic knees.It seems important mostly to Potvin that he be submitted to the ages as the greatest defenseman of all time. Four championships, three Norris Trophies, a lot of individual records, and the pride he takes in his longevity are a marvelous haul to take to retirement. If he was not the best, there is only a short, spectacular, list above him. &#9632;

f0006-01

Columnists

Potvin Retires Early Rather Than Too Late

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03670/5471881-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="589" height="797"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken Morrow didn&rsquo;t think of first place very seriously until very late in the season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021037/5471888-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="177" height="135"></div>UNIONDALE, N.Y.&mdash;It was an 80-game, 180-day elevator ride up and down an incredibly evenly-matched Patrick Division. When it finally ended April 3, the New York Islanders were on the top floor.Their first Patrick Division championship since 1983-84 was the payoff for a six-game winning streak capped by showdown victories over the Philadelphia Flyers (5-3) and Washington Capitals (7-3) at Nassau Coliseum.&ldquo;This is something that just a couple of weeks ago we didn&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;d have a chance at,&rdquo; Ken Morrow said. &ldquo;But the way we&rsquo;ve played the last couple of weeks, we deserved it.&rdquo;The 39-31-10 Isles&mdash;who were 2224-9 in their final 55 games and finished only seven points ahead of the last-place Pittsburgh Penguins&mdash;clinched the title April 2, when Washington lost to Pittsburgh.&ldquo;Sure we got help, but anybody who would have won would have had to have help,&rdquo; Bryan Trottier said after sitting out the regular season-ending 3-2 loss in Boston. &ldquo;Two-and-a-half weeks ago, I never thought I&rsquo;d feel this great. It&rsquo;s a tremendous lift for me and I hope for everybody else going into the playoffs.&rdquo;Not only did this resilient and overachieving team attain coach Terry Simpson&rsquo;s pre-season goal of making the playoffs, it won its sixth divisional title in 16 seasons of NHL existence. The Isles finished above. 500 and in the playoffs for the 14th consecutive year.Although the Isles finished with the fewest points by a Patrick champion since the formation of the division in 1974-75, this was not a weak sextet. Every team finished with a record above. 500.&ldquo;It was nearly a month ago,&rdquo; rookie Derek King recalled, &ldquo;that we were wondering if we&rsquo;d make the playoffs. I never thought about first place. Now this. It&rsquo;s great.&rdquo;The March 31 Nassau Coliseum finale was Denis Potvin Night. After the Islanders whipped the Capitals, they honored their retiring superstar defenseman and announced the creation of an Islander Hall of Fame, to be opened in the Coliseum next fall.Potvin, Al Arbour and Mike Bossy were immediately inducted. The jersey Potvin wore in the game would be the first item displayed, but the Islanders failed to say if they&rsquo;d retire No. 5 and hang it from the rafters.Rest assured, it won&rsquo;t be worn again.General manager Bill Torrey was asked if the Islanders can send Potvin off with a fifth Stanley Cup.&ldquo;Yeah, it can,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m non predicting we will. But if we play with the same dedication and application that we had over the last 10 games, 16 victories (four series of four wins each) are not an impossibility. We&rsquo;re not the odds-on favorites, but that doesn&rsquo;t matter. We weren&rsquo;t the odds-on favorites to finish first.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Pat LaFontaine led the Isles in goals (47), points (92) and game-winning goals (seven). He also finished a respectable plus-12&hellip;Only the Isles (six titles) and Flyers (eight titles) have won Patrick Division since the league realigned in 1974-75&hellip;By quarters, the Isles were 14-5-1, 6-113, 9-7-4, 10-8-2&hellip;Right winger Alan Kerr was the only Islander to play in all 80 games&hellip;The team was plus-45 (308 goals for, 267 against). A year ago, the Isles scored 279 and allowed 281.<h2>ISLANDERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 3: Brad Dalgarno, RW, and Todd McLellan, C, recalled from Springfield (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bryan Trottier, Pat LaFontaine, Brent Sutter, Bob Bassen, Todd McLellan.LW&mdash;Derek King, Greg Gilbert, Rich Kromm, Randy Wood, Dale Henry.RW&mdash;Mikko Makela, Alan Kerr, Brad Lauer, Mick Vukota, Brad Dalgarno.LD&mdash;Denis Potvin, Steve Konroyd, Jeff Norton.RD&mdash;Gerald Diduck, Ken Morrow, Tomas Jonsson, Ken Leiter.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Billy Smith.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Neal Coulter, RW, fractured left thumb, indefinitely.Patrick Flatley, RW, reconstructive knee surgery, out for season. &#9632;

f0006-03

Isles Emerge On Top Of Tight-Knit Patrick

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011292/5471919-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="582" height="794"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Tocchet was not expected to miss much, if any, of the Flyers&rsquo; first-round series.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02908/5471926-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="175" height="135"></div>PHILADELPHIA&mdash;The final game was the perfect punctuation mark for what was a bizarre regular season.The Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; 1987-88 season ended with a 2-2 tie against the Washington Capitals, and Tim Kerr at a local hospital. It turned out Kerr had suffered only a bruise around his right eye (the club feared a scratched cor-nea), but that was about all the Flyers could be happy about.After all, the tie cost the Flyers second place in the Patrick Division, and home-ice advantage in their opening-round playoff series against the Caps.More than that, the Flyers blew a 2-0 third-period lead&mdash;in their own building, to boot.They were outshot 20-4 in the period. It was the 11th time they had blown a third-period lead (eight losses, three ties), and left a bitter taste going into the playoffs.The scoreboard might have said tie, but it sure felt like a loss. Despite finishing with the exact same record as Washington (38-33-9), the Caps got home ice on the basis of their 4-2-1 advantage over the Flyers in the season series.The Flyers were disappointed, but the way the season had gone, it just figured.&ldquo;Everybody has questions about this season and so do we,&rdquo; said veteran defenseman Brad Marsh. &ldquo;Even the players are asking questions.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been such a strange season&mdash;the slow start, the injuries. All the injuries.&rdquo;Yet for all their hurts, the Flyers were expected to go into the playoffs virtually injury-free. Kerr was back, and although Rick Tocchet could miss the first game due to a shoulder separation, he was due back later in the round.Barring further injuries, when Tocchet comes back, it will mark the first time since April 30, 1987, the Flyers have had a full lineup. Even if you discount Kerr, who missed most of this season recovering from shoulder surgery, the Flyers had a full lineup available for only two games&mdash;on Oct. 26 against the New York Rangers, and the next night against the New Jersey Devils. The final tally in man-games lost to injury was 244, including 72 to Kerr.The club also used a record 41 players this season.NOTES&mdash;Brian Propp and Murray Craven finished the season with 76 points apiece to tie for the club lead. It was the lowest team-leading total since 1979-80, when Ken Linseman had 79. It was also the 12th consecutive season the club did not have a 100-point scorer&hellip;Mark Howe was awarded the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the club&rsquo;s top defenseman for the third consecutive season. And for the second consecutive season, goalie Ron Hextall was awarded the Bobby Clarke Trophy as team MVP&hellip;Rick Tocchet was given the Class Guy Award.<h2>FLYERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 23: Brian Dobbin, RW, Magnus Roupe, LW, and Wendell Young, G, assigned to Hershey (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dave Poulin, Ron Sutter, Pelle Eklund, Peter Zezel, Murray Craven, Don Nachbaur.LW&mdash;Brian Propp, Derrick Smith, Al Hill, Craig Berube, Nick Fotiu.RW&mdash;Tim Kerr, Scott Mellanby, Ilkka Sinisalo, Dave Brown.LD&mdash;Mark Howe, Brad Marsh, Kerry Huffman.RD&mdash;Kjell Samuelsson, Greg Smyth, Doug Crossman, J.J. Daigneault, Bill Root.G&mdash;Rod Hextall, Mark Laforest.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Rick Tocchet, RW, separated shoulder, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0007-01

Flyers Coast Into Playoffs On A Sour Note

IT&rsquo;S THE MOST sensible thing that Mr. Stan Fischler has ever written&mdash;nominating Larry Robinson for the Lady Byng Trophy (THN, March 25). I will cast my vote for Larry also. It&rsquo;s true Robinson has been the most gentlemanly player on the ice for the last 10 seasons. I didn&rsquo;t think that you had it in you, Stan.Derek Rogers, Kingston, Ont.<h2>O&rsquo;REILLY? BLARNEY!</h2>Stan, Stan, Stan, I don&rsquo;t know where you come up with some of your award selections.How can you pick Terry O&rsquo;Reilly for the Adams Trophy? Boston really hasn&rsquo;t improved that much this season. Look at the standings from last year and compare them with this year. Not really much of a change throughout the league is there?You&rsquo;re in the right division, but you haven&rsquo;t looked very closely. The Buffalo Sabres were 21st out of 21 teams last season and finished in third place and over. 500 this season. At the beginning of the season most so-called experts picked the Sabres to repeat their performance of last year. The Sabres had many injuries, yet they made the playoffs. A balance of seasoned veterans and good young talent has come together under the leadership of the real Adams Trophy winner&mdash;Ted Sator.Fred Schneider, Glendale Heights, Ill.<h2>BAD BRUIN DEAL</h2>Having played hockey for nine years, coached hockey for 12, and most importantly, having been a fan of the Boston Bruins for over 40 years, could someone explain the wisdom of the Andy Moog-for-Geoff Courtnall-and-Bill Ranford trade?Boston general manager Harry Sinden said in the fall that the strength of the Bruins was in goal and on defense, but that their offense was a bit suspect. He also stated that Bill Ranford was the Bruins&rsquo; future in goal. On a team not blessed with pure goal-scorers, Geoff Courtnall was the No. 2 goal-scorer and having his best season!If you lined up all the Bruin forwards inside the blue line, you would be lucky if three could hit the net.Good news for Geoff and Edmonton, bad news for Boston!Jim Dewire, East Patchogue. N. Y.<h2>WHO LOST THEIR SHIRT?</h2>I would like to defend Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron regarding his trade of Rick Wamsley and Rob Ramage for Brett Hull and Steve Bozek.I am impressed by his ability to keep the non-playing politics of hockey from blinding his vision. Things like player friendships, media ignorance and all-star selection.The pressure on Mr. Caron to keep the Blues&rsquo; only 1988 all-star, team friend and media favorite would have kept most GMs from making the deal. But Ramage&rsquo;s all-star selection was made on his past performance, the team doesn&rsquo;t need friends to win and the media (especially in St. Louis) knows as much about hockey as Mother Teresa.The Blues acquired a 23-year-old, possible 50-goal scorer for an adequate goaltender and a defenseman who has seen better days and will have trouble finding a spot to play in two years.Flames&rsquo; GM Cliff Fletcher made a great deal for his team in its quest for the Stanley Cup this year. Because of the talent he&rsquo;s amassed in Calgary, Fletcher could afford to give up Hull. But Mr. Elston&rsquo;s cartoon (THN, March 25) showing Ron Caron losing his shirt in the deal might prove to be a joke on Elston in three years.Steve Fucoloro, St. Louis. Mo.<blockquote class="pullQuote">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.</blockquote> &#9632;

Robinson For Lady Byng A Deserved Nomination

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011380/5471981-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0008-01

Elston

RUMOR (A.K.A. DIRT) deserves more respect.Most of the time, it&rsquo;s a dirty five-letter word that hangs out on the wrong side of the tracks, far across the way from truth. But more often than anyone cares to admit, rumor crosses over to the respectable side of the rails. When that happens, it makes news.Like when rumor had it that Bryan Trottier would become an American citizen so he could play for Team USA in the 1984 Canada Cup.Or when rumor had it that Jacques Demers would bolt the St. Louis Blues for the Detroit Red Wings.Rumor had those scoops long before they happened. But no one listened. No one believed.I, for one, have learned my lesson. When rumor talks, I listen.Recently, rumor had it that the next general manager of the Minnesota North Stars would be Montreal Canadien captain Bob Gainey.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t made any decision yet on what I&rsquo;m doing next year,&rdquo; said Gainey. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t spoken to anyone about anything.&rdquo;Nanne was just as convincing.&ldquo;Yeah,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I heard the rumor. But no one has even been talked to (about taking the Stars&rsquo; GM job) yet.&rdquo;Montreal GM Serge Savard heard the rumor, too. He hoped it was true.&ldquo;That way,&rdquo; Savard said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll get Louie&rsquo;s first-round pick for tampering.&rdquo;.All signs point to the rumor being a bad one. But I&rsquo;m not prepared to dismiss it just yet. Let&rsquo;s say it&rsquo;s filed away for possible future reference.A lot of decisions have to be made between now and the day the Stars get a new GM. They could do worse than Gainey.Having played for the Peterborough Petes under Roger Neilson and the Canadiens under Scotty Bowman and now Savard, solid citizen Gainey has the schooling to seriously consider a management career.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of my dilemmas I have to face this summer,&rdquo; said Gainey, the veteran of 15 NHL seasons.As captain of the tradition-rich Canadiens, he has an unspecified front-office job, likely public relations, awaiting him the day he hangs &lsquo;em up. Another option, he said, would be to retire and pursue business interests away from hockey. And then there&rsquo;s the option of joining another club in a management position.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021134/5472012-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="388" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob McKenzie</figcaption></div>&ldquo;For me to make any decision on anything,&rdquo; Gainey added, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to need the season to be over. Right now, I can&rsquo;t say one way or the other that I&rsquo;m going to retire.&ldquo;While the season is on, it&rsquo;s too emotional. If you have a good week, you think you can play forever. If you have a bad week, you think you should pack it in now.&rdquo;Certainly, jumping directly from the playing ranks to GM is fashionable these days. Both Savard and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Bobby Clarke are shining examples.&ldquo;Yeah&hellip;and Rogie Vachon,&rdquo; deadpanned Gainey, well aware that not every player-to-GM road is paved with gold.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been fortunate to play under Roger (Neilson), Scotty (Bowman) and Serge (Savard). At this point, I don&rsquo;t rule anything&mdash;managing, coaching, playing or whatever&mdash;out of the picture.&rdquo;Neither does Nanne, who won&rsquo;t have the final say on who succeeds him but will voice an opinion to North Star owners George and Gordon Gund.&ldquo;We &lsquo;d consider (hiring a player to be GM),&rdquo; Nanne said. &ldquo;I did it (go directly from player to GM).&rdquo;Given that Nanne is vacating the GM post of the worst team in the NHL this season, I&rsquo;m not sure if that qualifies as a ringing endorsement.Nevertheless, what&rsquo;s important is the rumor. And Gainey and Nanne denied it outright.Time will tell.In the meantime, did you hear the one about the Calgary Flames paying Brett Hull&rsquo;s salary for the remainder of his current contract in St. Louis.Ron Caron denies it but&hellip; &#9632;

f0008-02

Putting In Another Long Day At The Rumor Mill

<div class="byline">COMPILED BY JEFF HALE Editorial Staff</div>The National Hockey League remained true to George Hayes&rsquo; word.Three years ago this month, the former NHL linesman was reflecting on his chances of entering the Hockey Hall of Fame. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been nominated seven times that I know of,&rdquo; said Hayes. &ldquo;I imagine some day I will (be inducted). Maybe I&rsquo;ll be like (former Toronto Maple Leaf) Busher Jackson and get in after I&rsquo;m dead.&rdquo;Hayes, who was bom in Montreal but lived most of his life in Beachville, Ont., died Nov. 19 at age 67. On March 31 it was announced he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this September in the officials&rsquo; category.Also named for induction, in the builders&rsquo; category, was Philadelphia Flyer founder and chief owner Ed Snider.Hayes officiated 1,544 regularseason games, 149 playoff games and 11 All-Star Games. Only retired official Neil Armstrong (1,744) worked more regular-season games.But the stubborn Hayes left the game on an acrimonious note, refusing to take an eye examination requested by NHL president Clarence Campbell in 1965. Hayes said he was his own optometrist, looking across bars and reading whiskey bottle labels on a nightly basis.After turning down Campbell&rsquo;s request, Hayes never officiated in the NHL again.&ldquo;He (Campbell) used to call me a rebel,&rdquo; said Hayes. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll bet he called me that 100 times.&rdquo;A rebel perhaps, but one whose cause triumphed with the induction announcement.&ldquo;The rest of the family (sons Bill, George and daughter Susan) is very proud,&rdquo; said Hayes&rsquo; widow Judy. &ldquo;I think all of us are very pleased he&rsquo;s going in. It would have been nice had he been alive. But it didn&rsquo;t happen. I don&rsquo;t think it tarnishes it for us because we really believed he belongs there.&ldquo;Had be been alive, I think he would have been very proud of it. Hockey meant a great deal to him. It was his life, along with some other sports. But he ate and breathed hockey.&rdquo;Snider, 55, a native of Washington, D.C., was vice-president of the Philadelphia Eagles football team in 1964 before bringing hockey to Philadelphia in 1967 with the Flyers.&ldquo;I was young and full of enthusiasm,&rdquo; said Snider, &ldquo;and when we got the franchise only then did I start to sweat, because I was one of the few who thought it would succeed.&rdquo;In 1980 he was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy for &ldquo;outstanding service to hockey in the United States.&rdquo; He also runs Spectacor, a conglomerate that owns the Philadelphia Spectrum and other sports arenas and stadiums.<h2>CLOSE CALL</h2>Quick thinking may well have saved the life of a Toronto-area player whose throat was cut during a March 12 men&rsquo;s tournament game in Bewdley, Ont.John Hogarth, 28, had an artery severed in his throat when an opponent&rsquo;s skate cut him during a fall in the comer.The Bowmanville, Ont., man held a sweater to his own neck to stop the bleeding, before being rushed to a Port Hope hospital, where he was given 10 pints of blood.Doctors injected blood through his ankles when they couldn&rsquo;t find a vein in his arm. A three-hour operation clamped his veins to prevent further bleeding and he was transported to hospital in Toronto where a six-hour operation involved removing an artery from his leg and putting it in his throat to replace the severed one.Doctors expect Hogarth to be fully recuperated by the end of April.<h2>GIRL WINS DAMAGES</h2>Justine Blainey, the 15-year-old Toronto girl who challenged sex discrimination in minor hockey, was awarded $3,000 in damages by an Ontario Human Rights Commission board of inquiry March 29. Blainey and her parents were seeking $15,000 for restriction of her right to play for Etobicoke Canucks and for expenses to send her to a boys&rsquo; hockey school in view of that restriction.Damages awarded were for mental anguish and lost opportunity. Compensation for hockey school expenses has yet to be decided. Damages will be paid by the Ontario Hockey Association, Metropolitan Toronto Hockey League and Canucks. The OHRB ruled last December Justine had the right to play on a boys&rsquo; hockey team.Caroline Blainey, Justine&rsquo;s mother, said the money was not as important as the board&rsquo;s instruction that all OHA positions must be open to both male and female applicants and should be advertised as such.<h2>BITS AND PIECES</h2>Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s late-season surge enabled him to tie Calgary rookie center Joe Nieuwendyk for the Dodge Ram &lsquo;tough&rsquo; goals title with 42 each. The &lsquo;tough&rsquo; goal total is the combined total of powerplay, shorthanded, game-winning and game-tying goals scored by a player. Nieuwendyk had a 10-goal lead on Lemieux heading into his last seven games of the season but didn&rsquo;t score another goal, let alone a &lsquo;tough&rsquo; goal. Lemieux scored five shorthanded goals, three game-winning goals and two power-play goals to tie him. Quebec left winger Michel Goulet was third with 35 &lsquo;tough&rsquo; goals.The Sports Network&rsquo;s 40-game regular-season package of NHL games will return next year, according to TSN vice-president of programming Jim Thompson. The pay-network broadcast 40 regular-season games and planned seven playoff telecasts this season. TSN reported a 25-percent audience increase over 1986-87, when the network carried 20 regular-season and no playoff games. Last season TSN hockey games averaged 162,000 viewers per quarter-hour (the estimated number of people watching during any 15 minutes of a telecast). The audience average for the regular season was 203,000 viewers per quarter-hour. TSN has 1.3 million subscribers.Nominees for the Budweiser/NHL Man of the Year Award were announced March 31. A player from each NHL team is nominated and receives a $ 1,000 cheque to donate to his favorite charity. The winner, announced during the Stanley Cup finals, receives a trophy and $20,000 for the charity of his choice. Nominees, selected for their community involvement, charity work and sportsmanship, are: Gord Kluzak, Boston; Mike Foligno, Buffalo; Lanny McDonald, Calgary; Keith Brown, Chicago; Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Detroit; Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton; Ron Francis, Hartford: Bob Bourne, Los Angeles; Brian Bellows, Minnesota; Bob Gainey, Montreal; Doug Sulliman. New Jersey; Bryan Trottier, Islanders; John Vanbiesbrouck, Rangers; Mark Howe. Philadelphia; Randy Hillier, Pittsburgh; Alain Cote, Quebec; Tony McKegney, St. Louis; Mark Osborne. Toronto; Frank Caprice, Vancouver; Mike Gartner, Washington; Dave Ellett, Winnipeg. &#9632;

Call To Hall Fulfills Hayes’ Prophecy

<div class="byline">BY KARLO BERKOVICH Editorial Staff</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011419/5472067-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toronto center Ed Olczyk looks toward the heavens, perhaps in thanks for a playoff system that made room for the Maple Leafs this year.</figcaption></div>In theory, a team could win the Stanley Cup without winning a regular-season game.It&rsquo;s a long shot, admittedly. But possible.&ldquo;A team could make the playoffs with eight points,&rdquo; chuckled Boston Bruin general manager Harry Sinden. &ldquo;They could tie each other eight times and lose every other game. Then they&rsquo;d bring in the tie-breaking procedure to determine which one would make it. As ridiculous as that sounds, the possibility is there.&rdquo;No more ridiculous than the National Hockey League&rsquo;s playoff format. Twenty-one teams play 840 regular-season games to eliminate five teams. And often as not, it seems, they get the wrong ones.The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins aren&rsquo;t in the 1988 playoffs. But the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings are. New York and Pittsburgh finished the regular season a collective three games over. 500, Toronto and Los Angeles a combined 40 under.In the Patrick Division, New Jersey sprinted to the playoff finish line, winning eight of their final 10 games. In the Norris Division, Toronto staggered in with a 2-8-2 record to become the worst playoff team in NHL history with a. 325 winning percentage.Still think Sinden&rsquo;s hypothetical 0-72-8 playoff team is so inconceivable? Welcome to the NHL playoff system.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s totally unfair,&rdquo; said Pittsburgh GM Eddie Johnston, before his Penguins finished with a better record than playoff qualifiers St. Louis, Chicago, Toronto, Winnipeg, Los Angeles and Hartford&hellip;and failed to advance in the highly-competitive Patrick Division.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s really bad,&rdquo; continued Johnston prophetically, &ldquo;is a team could get 80 points and miss the playoffs, then pick fifth overall in the next draft.&rdquo;That happened in 1985-86. The Buffalo Sabres missed the Adams Division playoffs and picked ahead of Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg and the Rangers, who finished with fewer regular-season points but made the playoffs. The five non-playoff teams choose in the entry draft before post-season entrants.This June, Pittsburgh, with 81 points, and the Rangers, with 82, will pick fourth and fifth, respectively&mdash;before six teams who finished the regular season with worse records.Throughout the NHL&rsquo;s 71-year history, the league has tried 13 playoff variations. The search for the perfect playoff system goes on.Johnston says it should have ended in 197980.That&rsquo;s when the NHL absorbed World Hockey Association survivors Edmonton, Hartford, Quebec and Winnipeg&mdash;increasing NHL membership from 17 to 21 teams.For two years, the 16 playoff teams were ranked according to points. Best-of-five preliminary series matched 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15 etc. The eight winners met in 1-vs.-8, etc., best-of-seven quarter-finals followed by semi-finals and the Stanley Cup final.A similar format was used in the 18- and 17-team NHL from 1974-75 to 1978-79, though the four division winners received first-round byes while the eight remaining playoff teams played off in a best-of-three preliminary round under a 1-vs.-8, 2-VS.-7, etc., system. The division winners joined the rest for the quarterfinals.But even Johnston&rsquo;s &ldquo;ideal&rdquo; system was flawed. From 1974-75 through 1980-81, NHL divisions had no basis in geography. And from 1974-75 to 1978-79, a team could finish first in a weak division and receive a first-round bye. In 1974-75 the Vancouver Canucks won the Smythe Division with 86 points. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Kings finished fourth overall with 105 points, were second in the Norris behind Montreal, and had to play in the high-risk best-of-three preliminary round. The Kings were upset in three games by 13th-place Toronto.Playoff incongruencies exist in other pro sports. The 1987 World Series-champion Minnesota Twins won the American League West Division title with an 85-77 record. They would have finished fifth in the East Division.In 1981-82, the NHL realigned into four new, geographically-based divisions and adopted an unbalanced schedule. The next season, after Winnipeg shifted from the Norris to Smythe Division and Colorado moved from the Smythe Division to New Jersey and the Patrick, the current alignment and playoff system were set.The system was implemented to foster rivalries, cut travel costs and sustain interest.This year&rsquo;s wild finish&mdash;the Patrick Division race hung on the outcome of four final-day games and Norris Division on one last-day game&mdash;is proof the system works well to keep fan interest at a frantic pitch.And speaking at the February all-star break in St. Louis, NHL president John Ziegler said no consideration would be given to changing the playoff structure.Many, however, are demanding change. Everybody seems to have an opinion, including columnist Barry Meisel (See page 15.) and a legion of THN readers whose letters reflect their dissatisfaction.Dissatisfaction produced by a playoff system which tarnishes the NHL&rsquo;s image.In 1981-82, the Edmonton Oilers finished 48-17-15 but were upset by the 24-41-15 Los Angeles Kings in the first round. That upset paved the way for the 30-33-17 Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; advance to the Stanley Cup final. The Stanley Cup-champion New York Islanders (5416-10) barely survived a five-game first-round tussle with the 31-36-13 Pittsburgh Penguins. In 1985-86 the 36-38-6 Rangers knocked off the 53-23-4 Flyers in the first round.The system is rife with inequities. Last season, the Calgary Flames were third overall and faced the sixth-place Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, 11th-ranked Detroit faced 15th-ranked Chicago and 10th-ranked St. Louis played 16th-ranked Toronto. Detroit then beat Toronto to advance to the Campbell Conference final. Meanwhile, Calgary was eliminated by Winnipeg. The Jets subsequently lost to Edmonton, which finished first overall.This season, at least two of the top four teams&mdash;Calgary, Montreal, Boston and Edmonton&mdash;will be eliminated by the end of the division finals.The system also produces monotonous matchups. Since 1981-82, the Washington Capitals have played seven playoff series. They have faced the New York Islanders in five of them&mdash;including the last three seasons.Boston will avoid Montreal in the first round of the playoffs this season, but the teams met in the Adams Division semi-finals four straight seasons from 1983-84 through 1986-87. Hartford-Quebec, Los Angeles-Edmonton, New York Rangers-Philadelphia, Vancouver-Calgary, Winnipeg-Calgary and WinnipegEdmonton matchups have also recurred with numbing regularity.&ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;m sick of playing the Capitals,&rdquo; Islander defenseman Denis Potvin said early this season.The disease incubates within the system. Of 15 possible playoff series every year, 12 (80 per cent) match division rivals. Since 1981-82, only 12 of the NHL&rsquo;s 21 teams have played a series against teams outside their divisions. Bland is beautiful in the NHL.Potvin, who is retiring after this season, would like a return to the 1-vs.-16 format.&ldquo;I think it created more interest,&rdquo; said Potvin, &ldquo;I used to like the idea of being able to go to Vancouver, say, or Chicago. The way it is now, in our division, we start watching the standings and by February, we say, &lsquo;Okay, it&rsquo;s Washington.&rsquo;&rdquo;Potvin thinks fans want a more varied playoff menu.&ldquo;If we play the same teams we see all season in the playoffs,&rdquo; said Potvin, &ldquo;we won&rsquo;t sell out our building. People here (in New York) are saturated with pro sports. They get to see what they want. If it gets monotonous, they won&rsquo;t come out.&rdquo;This year, the Isles broke their seemingly-annual first-round date with Washington. The Bruins&rsquo; first playoff dance is with Buffalo, not the Canadiens. But the Capitals-Isles, Bruins-Canadiens matchups could take place in the division finals.&ldquo;The argument is that you can&rsquo;t have divisional play in the regular season and then abandon it in the playoffs,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; GM Bill Torrey.Some are calling for a slight amendment.&ldquo;Very definitely, I feel the system should be changed,&rdquo; said Calgary Flames&rsquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher.He advocates a hybrid of the old 1-vs.-16 format&mdash;a 1-vs.-8 system within the Wales and Campbell Conferences.&ldquo;I just feel it would be more equitable,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;You work like hell to finish first all year, you should have the opportunity to play the weakest team.&rdquo;&ldquo;It seems you&rsquo;ve got the best (teams) playing off right away,&rdquo; added Potvin, &ldquo;and that doesn&rsquo;t seem right.&rdquo;The only reward the NHL&rsquo;s best team gets is one extra home game each series. Plus, the $200,000 that goes along with the President&rsquo;s Trophy.Fletcher has no desire for a return to the 1-vs.-l6 system. He believes the rivalries created through the division setup should be maintained.&ldquo;In a 1-vs.-l6 format, the chances of us playing the Oilers are that much less,&rdquo; said Fletcher, &ldquo;and frankly, I like playing the Oilers. The whole geographical region gets involved and that&rsquo;s what the NHL, the entertainment business, is all about. We&rsquo;d just rather meet them (Edmonton) in the conference final.&rdquo;Fletcher tabled his playoff concept at a governor&rsquo;s meeting during the 1987 draft in Detroit. It needed 75 percent approval (16 of 21 teams) to pass. The vote was 10-10, with one abstention. According to league bylaws, if the proposal is tabled again this year, unanimous approval would be required for a change in the system. Following the 1988-89 season, the approval margin would revert to three-quarters.The conference playoff format has gained momentum among NHL general managers and players. Wayne Gretzky recently voiced his support for a 1-VS.-8 conference format.Boston voted against Fletcher&rsquo;s proposal last year. The Bruins argued that if conference playoffs were to be implemented, teams should play regular-season games within their own conference more frequently. Teams currently play division rivals eight times (seven in the Patrick) and every other league team three times per season.&ldquo;(In the Campbell Conference) you would, say, have Toronto play Detroit only six times rather than eight, and Vancouver four or five times rather than three,&rdquo; Sinden said.The Bruin GM has another, more radical suggestion. He favors reducing the number of playoff entries to eight teams, while expanding the regular-season schedule to 84 games to make up for the loss in playoff revenue. The first- and second-place teams in each division would meet in division finals followed by conference finals and the Stanley Cup championship series.Such a system would give the regular season more meaning and alleviate criticism the NHL brings upon itself by allowing sub-.500 teams a chance at its greatest prize.Not everybody dislikes the playoff system. Nor apologizes for its apparent inadequacies. There are those who like an overcrowded playoff pool.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t want to take the playoff picture from hockey,&rdquo; said Ranger goalie John Van-biesbrouck. &ldquo;It gives teams that glimmer of hope. Others mock it, but is it ever exciting.&rdquo;And exasperating.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care what they say,&rdquo; said St. Louis Blue GM Ron Caron of the much-maligned Norris Division. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to make an all-star team and challenge the other divisions. We&rsquo;re not on a bus from Philadelphia to New Jersey. We waste time and energy travelling.&ldquo;We have the best division in hockey, the rivalries, the competition. Hockey is in great shape now. If it ain&rsquo;t broke don&rsquo;t fix it.&rdquo;Caron might get an argument about the Norris Division&rsquo;s supremacy in the NHL. And he might also get an argument about the game&rsquo;s health.Most agree there is room for improvement and that the playoff system is, indeed, &ldquo;broke&rdquo; and in urgent need of repair. Even the Maple Leafs, this year&rsquo;s prime beneficiaries of the divisional playoff system, concede there are problems.&ldquo;I sure would have liked a 70- or 80-point year,&rdquo; said defenseman Al lafrate, &ldquo;but with the playoff system the way it is, we did what we had to do&hellip;I guess in a way it isn&rsquo;t fair.&rdquo;Center Ed Olczyk admitted the Leafs are fortunate they&rsquo;re in the Norris Division, but expects Toronto won&rsquo;t have its have-not grouping to fall back on next year.&ldquo;I really feel they&rsquo;re going to change the playoff format next year,&rdquo; said Olczyk. &ldquo;I really do, with two teams having 80 (-plus) points and not making the playoffs.&rdquo;While the Leafs did.&ldquo;We should be ashamed we only have 51 points,&rdquo; said Olczyk.The league should be ashamed they&rsquo;re in the playoffs. &#9632;

f0010-01

Divisional Playoff System Undermined By Inequities

<div class="byline">BY BOB MCKENZIE AND DAVE MOLINARI</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011295/5472098-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux won the NHL scoring title, breaking Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s seven-year grip on the Art Ross Trophy.</figcaption></div>Mario Lemieux is the new king of hockey.And his ascendency to the throne ends an astounding reign.The Pittsburgh Penguin captain scored 70 goals and 98 assists to easily win the 1987-88 National Hockey League scoring title, ending Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s seven-year lease on the Art Ross Trophy.And on June 8 at the NHL awards ceremony in Toronto, Lemieux will likely capture the Hart Trophy as the league&rsquo;s most valuable player. Gretzky, the Edmonton Oiler superstar, has owned the Hart, winning it the first eight seasons of his NHL career.It is a dominance unrivalled in the history of major North American team sports.In baseball, no player has won more than two consecutive MVP awards. Babe Ruth won the home-run derby five consecutive years and 11 of 13. Ty Cobb won five straight batting crowns (also 11 of 13) and Rogers Hornsby won six consecutive batting crowns. In basketball. Wilt Chamberlain&rsquo;s seven consecutive scoring titles and Larry Bird&rsquo;s three straight MVP awards are the highs. In football, only Jim Brown&rsquo;s five straight rushing titles stand out.Time will tell whether Lemieux&rsquo;s emergence this season heralds the dawn of a new era or is merely an interruption in the Gretzky dynasty.For now, though. No. 66 is indisputably No. 1.&ldquo;If he doesn&rsquo;t win the MVP, there should be an investigation,&rdquo; said Penguin GM Eddie Johnston. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s done everything for us. The way he played down the stretch has proven he&rsquo;s one of the great players in history.&rdquo;Lemieux did do everything for the Penguins&mdash;everything except get them into the playoffs, territory they haven&rsquo;t seen since 1982. But it wasn&rsquo;t through lack of effort or production&mdash;he had 12 goals, five of them shor-thanded, and 21 assists in the Penguins&rsquo; final 12 games of the season.This year, Lemieux:&bull; Led the league in points (168), goals (70), shorthanded goals (10) and shots (382);&bull; Set an All-Star Game record with six points, including the overtime game-winner that completed his hat trick;&bull; Set franchise records for goals, assists (98), points, shots, shorthanded goals and power-play goals (22);&bull; Had 19 multiple-goal games, including five hat tricks and two four-goal games, and 33 games with three or more points;&bull; Led the Canada Cup in goals (11), including the dramatic winning goal to give Canada the tourney title over the Soviet Union.Whether it was the hollow feeling of not making the playoffs or excessive modesty, Lemieux refused to envision a Hart Trophy on his mantle.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see a player winning it without his team going into the playoffs,&rdquo; he said.Lemieux, who joins Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Phil Esposito as the only players in NHL history to score 70 or more goals in a season&mdash;was even reluctant to accept his scoring title without qualification.&ldquo;He (Gretzky) missed a lot of games this year and didn&rsquo;t come back 100 per cent,&rdquo; Lemieux said.Gretzky, with 40 goals and 109 assists in 64 games, averaged 2.33 points per game, compared to Lemieux&rsquo;s 2.18. Lemieux missed only three games; Gretzky 16.But Gretzky said Lemieux&rsquo;s scoring title and anticipated Hart Trophy win should not be diminished in any way.&ldquo;He deserves everything he gets.&rdquo; Gretzky said, &ldquo;He won it (the scoring race) fair and square. As for the Hart, I&rsquo;ve won it eight times and I&rsquo;m proud and happy about that. I missed 16 games and that hurt, but when I came back I came back as hard as I could. I didn&rsquo;t concede anything. I don&rsquo;t make any excuses. Mario is a great, great hockey player.&rdquo;One area where Lemieux does not rival Gretzky is salary, although that could change this summer.Lemieux has completed two years of a four-year (plus an option) contract worth a reported $3.5 million, but said he will renegotiate the deal if the Penguins are so inclined. &#9632;

f0011-01

Lemieux Ends Reign

f0012-01

Calgary Our Choice For Cup

<h2>TORONTO vs DETROIT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011370/5472237-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="724" height="374"></div><h2>CHICAGO vs ST. LOUIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021072/5472230-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="717" height="373"></div><h2>L.A. KINGS vs CALGARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-03753/5472223-1-eng-US/f0014-032.jpg" title="f0014-03" width="727" height="370"></div><h2>WINNIPEG vs EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-04516/5472216-1-eng-US/f0014-042.jpg" title="f0014-04" width="718" height="372"></div><h2>HARTFORD vs MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-05356/5472209-1-eng-US/f0014-052.jpg" title="f0014-05" width="713" height="373"></div><h2>BUFFALO vs BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-06285/5472202-1-eng-US/f0014-062.jpg" title="f0014-06" width="710" height="375"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY vs ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-07229/5472195-1-eng-US/f0014-072.jpg" title="f0014-07" width="715" height="340"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA vs WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-08197/5472188-1-eng-US/f0014-082.jpg" title="f0014-08" width="717" height="340"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-09181/5472181-1-eng-US/f0014-092.jpg" title="f0014-09" width="1484" height="1552"><figcaption class="caption-body">The goaltending of Glen Hanlon, above, and Greg Stefan provide the Stanley Cup-hopeful Detroit Red Wings with strong netminding.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-01

Head-To-Head NHL Playoff Matchups

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0014-10" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-10164/5472268-1-eng-US/f0014-102.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0014-10

Road To The Stanley Cup

IT&rsquo;S TIME THE NHL&rsquo;s 21 owners took their grubby little fingers out of their pockets, stopped counting the proceeds from their inflated Stanley Cup ticket prices, and admitted it.The 16-team playoff system is a joke. It is a farce that has given the NHL&rsquo;s critics in the United States another loaded gun to fire.Even the ugly Americans who spend their lunch hours poking fun at puckdom admit that the Stanley Cup is one of professional sports&rsquo; most historic trophies. Then they laugh at how its guardians tarnish its value by letting everybody but the California Golden Seals take a shot at winning it year after year.Baseball has expanded its playoff system once in 100 years. Football opens its Super Bowl tournament to an exclusive 10 of 28.The Stanley Cup playoffs is open enrollment.The propagandists who voted in this format said that, yes, they needed the increased playoff revenue. But they also believed that this system would increase competition. They said teams fighting for playoff berths in March would stimulate interest in those cities.Los Angeles visited Vancover on Feb. 28 for a game with huge Smythe Division implications and 8,195 people showed up. They&rsquo;re not drawing much more than 11,000 most nights in Minnesota.The system fails when the North Stars can go 1-14-1 from January 28 to March 9 and remain in playoff contention with the Maple Leafs.It fails when the Kings can allow more goals than any team in the NHL and have no trouble beating out the Canucks for fourth place.The 16-team playoff format breeds complacency. There is less incentive to legitimately improve one&rsquo;s club when one can make the empty claim: We&rsquo;ve made the playoffs eight of the last nine years.Big deal.Look at the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils, two teams who have not benefited from the come-one, come-all system because they play in the six-team Patrick Division.These two teams have spent years and dollars building foundations to their franchises with money they did not earn from phony first-round playoff games.There are those, the Islanders&rsquo; GM Bill Torrey among them, who claim that somebody complains every year and the best thing to do is nothing. Leave it the way it is and live with it.There are others who have been brainwashed by the 16-team structure and would simply like to alter the format.So what do we do?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011281/5472299-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="388" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">Barry Meisel</figcaption></div>PROPOSAL: Keep it the way it is.ANSWER: Next.PROPOSAL: Top three in each division, plus two wild-card qualifiers from each conference qualify.PROBLEM: As long as the league plays an unbalanced schedule, it&rsquo;s possible for a team from a weaker division (were you thinking Norris, too?) to outpoint a team from a stronger division. Los Angeles plays 16 of its games against Calgary and Edmonton. Toronto plays six against the Flames and Oilers.Also, what if three teams in one conference have better records than two in the other?PROPOSAL: Top three in each division, plus four wild-cards from the remaining nine teams qualify and are seeded 1-16.PROPOSAL: Top eight in each conference qualify and are seeded 1-8.PROBLEMS: These two plans undo the divisional system created in 1982. The idea then was to heighten playoff interest by improving odds of Canadiens-Nordiques, Flames-Oilers, Rangers-Islanders each season. That&rsquo;s what everybody wanted to see each season, wasn&rsquo;t it?THE ANSWER: Whittle the playoffs to 12 teams, three from each division.First place earns a bye. Second place plays third place in a best-of-seven. That winner meets its first-place foe for the divisional title.Then match Patrick vs. Adams for the Wales Conference title, Smythe vs. Norris for the Campbell crown. The winners meet for the Stanley Cup.Want a little spice? Okay. Once we get to the final four, seed divisional winners by points and match 1 vs. 4, 2 vs. 3.To those who say that 12 playoffs teams will cut into the fiscal pie, 1 say this: Re-evaluate your short-sighted views. Nobody wants a 2149-10 team in the playoffs. Instead of cheating your fans by selling them bogus playoff races and ridiculous post-season matchups, do something more beneficial.Get better. &#9632;

f0015-01

NHL’s Credibility Threatened By Playoff System

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02914/5472330-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="572" height="835"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pittsburgh center Dan Quinn set a career high by scoring 40 goals this season.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-03677/5472337-1-eng-US/f0015-032.jpg" title="f0015-03" width="178" height="136"></div>PITTSBURGH&mdash;The Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; 1987-88 season ended like most of the 20 that preceded it: In despair.As usual, any reference to the first round didn&rsquo;t refer to the playoffs, but the initial round of golf after the regular season.In many ways, this was the Penguins&rsquo; most costly failure in their history.They had to refund about $200,000 to season-ticket buyers as part of a &lsquo;playoff or payoff&rsquo; rebate plan, in addition to losing at least two certain capacity crowds for their playoff games at the 16,033-seat Civic Arena.It was expected numerous Penguin officials&mdash;general manager Eddie Johnston and coach Pierre Creamer prominent among them&mdash;also would pay with their jobs for the Penguins&rsquo; failure to make the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.Technically speaking, elimination did not come until the final night of the season, April 3.Moments after the Penguins defeated Hartford 4-2, the New York Rangers&rsquo; 3-0 victory over Quebec was finalized.New Jersey&rsquo;s subsequent 4-3 overtime win in Chicago did nothing more than guarantee the Penguins of finishing last in the Patrick Division for the first time in three years.In truth, however, the Penguin playoff prospects had all but vanished several nights earlier.With one week left in the regular season, the Penguins had to win three of their final four games to clinch their first playoff berth since 1982.The first half of those four games came in the form of a home-and-home series with the New Jersey Devils, then occupying their customary spot at the bottom of the Patrick.That all changed when New Jersey beat the Penguins 4-0 at the Meadowlands on March 29, then humiliated them 7-2 two nights later in Pittsburgh.The Penguins couldn&rsquo;t defeat a last place team, so they became one.&ldquo;We needed a split, at the absolute worst,&rdquo; goalie Steve Guenette said.&ldquo;We wanted to win both games,&rdquo; defenseman Paul Coffey said. &ldquo;But it would have been nice to win at least one of them.&rdquo;The Penguins gave the Devils five power-play goals in those two games, probably the most damaging of the NHL-record 120 they allowed this season.Center Mario Lemieux delayed the inevitable elimination with a spectacular four-goal game in Washington on April 2&mdash;including the game-winner with 58 seconds left in overtime&mdash;but New Jersey&rsquo;s sweep all but assured the Penguins they would sit out the playoffs.&ldquo;I think this team was good enough to make it,&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;But we lost some tough games against Jersey, and that&rsquo;s what killed us.&rdquo;There were other fatal failings, such as the 316 goals, the sixth-highest total in the NHL, the Penguins allowed.Consequently, they consistently were unable to protect leads that should have been insurmountable.In one memorable span, they squandered two-goal leads in St. Louis (March 10) and Minnesota (March 12) in consecutive games and lost 6-4 to the Blues and 6-3 to the North Stars.Even so, the Penguins managed their first winning record (36-35-9) in nine years and just their fifth in team history.Not that it really mattered much, since they spent the start of the playoffs in front of their televisions.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a sad saying, but there&rsquo;s always next year,&rdquo; rookie right winger Rob Brown said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s going to have to be for us.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Centers Mario Lemieux (70), Dan Quinn (40) and left winger Randy Cunneyworth (35) had career-high seasons in goal-scoring&hellip;The Penguins tied the franchise record with 26 sellouts and set a record by drawing 606,658 fans, an average of 15,166. The previous record of 598,614 was set last season&hellip;The Penguins, who finished 13th in the overall standings, will have the fourth pick in the NHL entry draft&hellip;Pittsburgh is expected to sign University of Maine sophomore center Dave Capuano, the leading scorer in Hockey East and a Hobey Baker finalist, during the off-season. Capuano was a second-round draft pick in 1986.<h2>PENGUINS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Dan Quinn, Steve Gotaas, Dave McLIwain.LW&mdash;Bob Errey, Randy Cunneyworth, Dave Hunter, Troy Loney, Charlie Simmer, Wayne Van Dorp.RW&mdash;Rob Brown, Dan Frawley, Kevin Stevens, Lee Giffin, Perry Gan-char.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Doug Bodger, Jim Johnson, Chris Dahlquist.RD&mdash;Ville Siren, Zarley Zalapski, Rod Buskas, Randy Hillier.G&mdash;Steve Guenette, Frank Pietrangelo, Gilles Meloche.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bryan Erickson, RW, separated shoulder.Jimmy Mann, RW, pulled groin.Norm Schmidt, D, back. &#9632;

f0015-02

A Devil Of A Time Ensures Penguin Payoff

LET&rsquo;S HEAR IT for Cliff Fletcher. His Calgary Flames left the Edmonton Oilers in No-wheresville. He is to be commended.Never in my life did I imagine that a club with doddering Lanny McDonald, waltzy John Tonelli and recuperating Jamie Macoun would even have a shot at second place, let alone first in the Smythe. The Flames sure fooled me.&ldquo;Not me,&rdquo; says Fletcher. &ldquo;People didn&rsquo;t look carefully at our lineup. The roles of players like Lanny McDonald and Doug Risebrough were not as big in our overall scheme of things last year as people thought.&ldquo;Our nucleus was there and then we got Brad McCrimmon who became very important for us. But there also were surprises.&rdquo;By the time most of the civilized world had learned how to spell Joe Nieuwendyk, the kid already had 51 goals.&ldquo;Our projection at the start of the season was 25 to 30 goals for Joe&mdash;tops,&rdquo; says Cliff. &ldquo;That puts a lot more goals in the bank for us.&rdquo;But Fletcher didn&rsquo;t have Bob Johnson behind the bench and the absence of The Badger suggested to some of us that the Flames would barely flicker. At best, Terry Crisp seemed like a gamble.&ldquo;Not really,&rdquo; Cliff explains. &ldquo;We knew Terry was pretty damn smart and the only real change between him and Johnson is that Terry is more abrasive.&ldquo;What mattered more than anything in the way Terry ran the team is that he didn&rsquo;t tinker with the way we played last year, except that he wanted this club to be more physical, and we are. He&rsquo;s brought a good feel to the team.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s a feeling here that Crisp should have done more with Brett Hull who is now an exFlame.&ldquo;We won&rsquo;t be surprised if Brett scores 190 goals in the next four years in St. Louis,&rdquo; says Cliff, &ldquo;but we got quality (Rob Ramage, Rick Wamsley) in return.&rdquo;Is it enough quality to deliver Calgary its first Stanley Cup?&ldquo;The Flames will live and die on how we play defense. When we got McCrimmon, he became the fellow who knit it all together. And his plus-minus was fantastic. We have Gary Suter, who may be the best defenseman in the league this year and we&rsquo;ve added Rob Ramage.&ldquo;With that kind of defense, we could be around a long time. Or, if it doesn&rsquo;t hold up, we could have a long vacation.&rdquo;Now, let&rsquo;s listen to Fletcher because he can tell us what to look for in the playoffs.&ldquo;There are seven candidates for winning the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; says Fletcher, &ldquo;Edmonton, Calgary, Washington, Philadelphia, Montreal, Boston and Detroit.&rdquo;Nobody but Robbie Ftorek could possibly pick the Kings over Fletcher&rsquo;s Flames in the opening round or, for that matter. Winnipeg over Edmonton. Which means a CalgaryEdmonton confrontation is as inevitable as June. Another question for Fletcher: How will the Flames handle the champs?&ldquo;It&rsquo;ll be one helluva series&mdash;a long series. Edmonton has pride and, this time, the Oilers look like the underdogs. They&rsquo;ll relish that role.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011162/5472368-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="332" height="442"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stan Fischler</figcaption></div>What&rsquo;s critical for the Flames?&ldquo;Going in healthy and with momentum. We think we have good depth at all positions. The series will be decided by the team that can best utilize most players. We&rsquo;re talking about depth because this is going to be very physical.&rdquo;And what&rsquo;s critical for the Oilers?&ldquo;They still have five of the greatest players in the world. (Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson and Kevin Lowe). So, in that sense, the Oilers should still be favored. But I wouldn&rsquo;t even rule out the Red Wings. This is a club that can go to the net as good as any club. Besides, the road out of their own division should be easier than any other one.&rdquo;Like many an analyst, Fletcher wastes no time isolating the most critical factor in Cupwinning.&ldquo;Goaltending is the thing. The Islanders proved it four years running when Billy Smith was in his prime. Two years ago we saw it with the Canadiens and Patrick Roy. Right now, Grant Fuhr is the best in the NHL, so that gives Edmonton a good start.&ldquo;The record shows us that the Oilers have won the Cup in three out of the past four years. On the basis of that, they should be considered the favorites.&rdquo;<h2>A FEW PLAYOFF OBSERVATIONS</h2>Three reasons why the Oilers won&rsquo;t repeat: (A) Kevin Lowe must be 100 percent healthy to save the Edmonton defense. He won&rsquo;t be. (B) Too many key Oilers have entered the Comfort Zone. (C) The Flames, with the exception of goaltending, are a better team.Top team most likely to be upset: Montreal Canadiens. Stephane Richer will fail and the absence of the big gun will be felt as soon as the Habs hit a hot goalie. (At least one Canadien will put the rap on Jean Perron.)The most ridiculed team: Anyone who makes it out of the Norris Division.Most interesting question of the Oilers-Flames series: How Terry Crisp defenses Gretzky. (And if Calgary plays Wayne really nasty, how The Great One handles the mayhem.)Best choices for unsung heroes: Charlie Huddy, Mike McPhee, John Chabot, Rich Kromm, Kjell Samuelsson, Steve Kasper and Ulf Samuelsson.Biggest joke series: Campbell Conference finals.Worst blood series: Bruins-Canadiens should be good for a half-dozen John Kordic-Jay Miller bouts. (No prisoners will be taken.)Most closely-watched coaches: Bryan Murray, Jacques Martin, Terry Crisp, Terry O&rsquo;Reilly and Mike Keenan. &#9632;

f0016-01

Fletcher Predicts A Cliffhanger With Oilers

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02929/5472399-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="175" height="135"></div>NEW YORK&mdash;They sat in the players&rsquo; lounge, cheering and groaning as the New Jersey Devils and Chicago Blackhawks decided their fate. And then, suddenly, there was an instant of absolute silence.The Rangers&rsquo; season was over.About an hour and 15 minutes after defeating the Quebec Nordiques 3-0 on April 3, the Rangers watched New Jersey&rsquo;s John MacLean shatter their hopes with an overtime goal in the Devils&rsquo; 4-3 win over Chicago. As their stunned disbelief quickly turned into disappointment and anger, they slammed the walls and cursed their fate, along with the NHL playoff system.The Blackhawks had given the Rangers reason to hope, reason to feel they might sidestep playoff elimination. In overtime of the league&rsquo;s 840th game&mdash;the last one to be completed&mdash;they fell 159 seconds short.Just a few seconds before MacLean scored, veteran center Marcel Dionne had punched the air and shouted, &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go Hawks!&rdquo; as Chicago killed off a penalty in overtime.Both New York and New Jersey ended the season with 82 points, but the Devils&rsquo; 38 wins&mdash;two more than New York&rsquo;s 36&mdash;broke the tie.To have come so close, to have had their hopes built up so high made the end difficult to accept.&ldquo;If it had been 3-0 for the Devils when we came off the ice (it was 2-1 in favor of Chicago), then it would have been obvious,&rdquo; said James Patrick, who returned to the lineup for the season finale after missing 10 games with a knee injury. &ldquo;But to see the Blackhawks take a 3-2 lead and then kill off that power play in OT&hellip;it&rsquo;s even more of a shock.&rdquo;When the Rangers crashed to reality, they finished the 1987-88 season with a 36-34-10 record, good for fifth place.&ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t fair to us or to Pittsburgh,&rdquo; Ranger coach Michel Bergeron said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to give credit to the Devils, though. They went the last eight games without losing.&ldquo;I feel bad for Phil (general manager Esposito). He traded a first-round draft choice for me and we didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs. I can&rsquo;t say I did my job because we didn&rsquo;t make the playoffs&hellip;for the first time.&ldquo;I feel bad because I got Quebec into the playoffs for seven straight years and now I&rsquo;m still helping them. (The Nordiques will have the fifth pick which would have belonged to the Rangers).&rdquo;Before the emotional rollercoaster finally ran off the track, the Rangers had a wild ride. They were filled with anxiety after two scoreless periods when John Ogrodnick finally beat Quebec&rsquo;s Mario Gosselin at 2:22 of the third.Defenseman Mark Hardy scored at 6:56 as the Garden crowd began to roar in response to what their radios told them was going on in Chicago. It created a strange atmosphere, even for New York.Just seconds before Don Maloney scored at 16:40 for a 3-0 count, the Garden rocked with cheers for a Chicago goal which put the Black Hawks ahead 2-1.In the end, the Ranger heroics didn&rsquo;t matter. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 1977, despite the fact they posted their first above-.500 record since 1983-84 (42-29-9). They have not won a Stanley Cup since 1940.It was a bitter pill for Bergeron to swallow. The Ranger coach not only questioned why referee Kerry Fraser, with whom he has a personal feud, was assigned to the Devils&rsquo; final game, but lashed out again at the NHL for failing to put the best teams in the post-season spotlight.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a joke and the bosses (owners) will vote this summer again and we all know they won&rsquo;t change the system,&rdquo; Bergeron growled. &ldquo;Toronto has 30 points less than us and they&rsquo;re in the playoffs. That&rsquo;s bad for hockey.&ldquo;The bosses are all worried about how tough it is to sell hockey in the States,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;and they put the best player in the league out of the playoffs.&ldquo;Where will (Pittsburgh Penguin center) Mario Lemieux be on Monday morning? He will be on the golf course,&rdquo; Bergeron said, &ldquo;because the worst team in the league (Toronto) made it in. I can&rsquo;t believe it.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Ranger goalie John Vanbiesbrouck notched his second shutout in the finale and finished with a 27-22-7 mark&hellip;Rangers set an NHL record with 111 power-play goals&hellip;General manager Phil Esposito indicated help at center would be his top off-season priority.<h2>RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kelly Kisio, Lucien DeBlois, Walt Poddubny, Marcel Dionne, Paul Cyr, Simon Wheeldon.LW&mdash;Ulf Dahlen, Don Maloney, John Ogrodnick, Joe Paterson.RW&mdash;Tomas Sandstrom, Chris Nilan, Jan Erixon, Brian Mullen.LD&mdash;Mark Hardy, Jari Gronstrand, Dave Pichette.RD&mdash;Michel Petit, David Shaw, Brian Leetch, James Patrick.G&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck, Bob Froese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ron Greschner, D, strained left shoulder and neck.Pierre Larouche, C, pinched nerve, lower back.Norm Maciver, D, dislocated right shoulder. &#9632;

f0016-02

Disappointing Vigil Last Stop For Rangers

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011017/5472430-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="176" height="134"></div>EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.&mdash;It is a goal destined to be recalled as the one that turned a franchise around. John MacLean would not have dared dream such a fantasy.The New Jersey Devils, perennial also-rans in the Patrick Division, were in overtime at Chicago Stadium, down to their final 159 seconds of the season. MacLean became an instant hero by firing in the rebound of Joe Cirella&rsquo;s shot and lifting the team into the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in their six-year history as the Devils.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the best goal I&rsquo;ve ever scored,&rdquo; said MacLean. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the hugest one so far and I love it.&rdquo;Although the Rangers also finished with 82 points, the Devils captured the fourth and final Patrick Division playoff berth by virtue of two more regularseason victories (38 to 36) than their New York rivals.To outlast the Rangers, the Devils had to finish the regular season with a five-game winning streak and and eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1), both franchise records.It was only the second time in franchise history the team had qualified for the playoffs. The Colorado Rockies made it in 1978&mdash;800 regularseason games ago.It was MacLean&rsquo;s goal at 11:57 of the third period, plus the sensational pressure goaltending of rookie Sean Burke, which sent the game into overtime for the Devils. They knew after the second period that the Rangers had won in New York and that a tie would do them no good.When sudden death reached the 2:00 mark, the Devils began to fight for their lives.&ldquo;We were very desperate, the most desperate situation we could be in,&rdquo; said defenseman Bruce Driver. &ldquo;There was no doubt. We knew we had to win. We were ready to pull the goalie if it came to that.&rdquo;&ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t that desperate yet,&rdquo; added Pat Verbeek, who scored his franchise-record 46th goal earlier in the game. &ldquo;We would have been desperate when it got to a minute-and-a-half (remaining). Thank God it didn&rsquo;t come down to that.&rdquo;Cirella, whose 423 games ranked just behind Aaron Broten&rsquo;s 519 for the most by an active NHL player without a playoff appearance, fired a shot that Darren Pang stopped with his pad. MacLean, skating in above the left circle, fired in the rebound at 2:21.&ldquo;It happened quick,&rdquo; the 23-year-old right winger explained. &ldquo;He (Pang) made a pad save and the rebound came out to me. I saw it go in cleanly and I was going down the ice for a victory lap. Everybody caught up to me.&rdquo;&ldquo;It was kind of numbing,&rdquo; said Burke, who stopped Dirk Graham&rsquo;s breakaway in sudden death just before the game-winner.Not to be lost in the celebration were the two-way contributions by centers Patrik Sundstrom and Claude Loiselle, as well as the timely efforts of Burke and MacLean over the final week. Burke raised his record to 10-1, including a 4-0 shutout over Pittsburgh in the first half of a home-and-home series with the Penguins. MacLean scored two goals, including the game-winner, two nights later in Pittsburgh.&ldquo;What can I say? When the chips are down he (MacLean) comes through,&rdquo; said Verbeek. &ldquo;He came through in Pittsburgh and tonight. Deep down I knew it wasn&rsquo;t going to be our line that scored the winner. I knew it was going to be someone else. It couldn&rsquo;t happen to a better guy than Johnny Mac.&rdquo;MacLean started slowly this year, but a late-season rush left him with 23 goals and 16 assists in 76 games.&ldquo;I love the guy,&rdquo; said Kirk Muller. &ldquo;He struggled this year, but give him credit&mdash;and give Max McNab and Lou Lamoriello credit for sticking with him and all of us. Nobody could have stuck with us as long as Max did.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Between March 20 and April 2, the Devils went 371 minutes, two seconds without allowing an evenstrength goal&hellip;Kirk Muller set a franchise record with 94 points (37-57) this season&hellip;Lou Lamoriello said a wire service report which had Reijo Ruotsalainen signing to play next season with the Swiss First Division club Berne was false. Ruotsalainen, chosen by the Devils in the waiver draft from Edmonton, will talk again with Lamoriello.<h2>DEVILS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kirk Muller, Patrik Sundstrom, Mark Johnson, Claude Loiselle, Pat Conacher.LW&mdash;Aaron Broten, Perry Anderson, David Maley.RW&mdash;Pat Verbeek, John MacLean, Brendan Shanahan, Doug Brown.LD&mdash;Bruce Driver, Ken Daneyko, Randy Velischek, Tom Kurvers.RD&mdash;Craig Wolanin, Joe Cirella, Jack O&rsquo;Callahan.G&mdash;Sean Burke, Bob Sauve, Alain Chevrier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Andy Brickley, LW, groin pull, indefinite.Jim Korn, LW, arthroscopic surgery left shoulder, indefinite.George McPhee, LW, groin pull, out for season.Doug Sulliman, LW, sprained left knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0017-01

A Goal That Will Long Be Remembered

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02801/5472461-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="174" height="135"></div>QUEBEC CITY&mdash;For the first time since 1979-80, their debut season in the NHL, the Quebec Nordiques are out of the playoffs.In the last week of the regular schedule, they lost their long struggle with the Hartford Whalers, who won the right to face the Montreal Canadiens in the first round.But while everyone connected with the Nordiques dreaded the thought of missing the playoffs, few were taken by surprise.&ldquo;All I can say is that I feel a great emptiness,&rdquo; said coach Ron Lapointe, after his team was officially eliminated by the Buffalo Sabres March 29.Added veteran defenseman Robert Picard: &ldquo;The next few months will be very long.&rdquo;But of all the Nords&rsquo; players, the most disappointed was center Peter Stastny. The captain had just completed a fine season, scoring 46 goals and adding 65 assists for 111 points.&ldquo;This is the first time in eight years, since my arrival in North America (from his native Czechoslovakia), that I&rsquo;ll miss the playoffs,&rdquo; said Stastny. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m dissapointed, mad and frustrated, all at once.&ldquo;You talk to me about the great season I&rsquo;ve just had, but goals and points don&rsquo;t mean anything to me. There is no personal success more important than the team&rsquo;s. I&rsquo;m not happy at all about my season.&rdquo;But the silver lining to all of this is positively Sterling. The Nordiques have two of the top five selections at this summer&rsquo;s NHL entry draft&mdash;their own No. 3 and the New York Rangers&rsquo; No. 5, acquired last summer for the rights to coach Michel Bergeron.No team since the 1970 Boston Bruins (Reg Leach, third overall) and Rick MacLcish (fourth) has enjoyed two such favorable draft positions.Stastny also expressed optimism about the talent in the Nordiques&rsquo; system.&ldquo;I firmly believe the people in charge here made the right decisions at the end of last season when they decided to build for the future,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I saw a few of the youngsters we drafted last year, guys like (Western League co-scoring champ) Joe Sakic and (defenseman) Bryan Fogarty and they really impressed me. There is lots of talent there.&rdquo;Another budding star is right winger Mark Vermette of the NCAA-champion Lake Superior Lakers. Vermette. who led U.S. collegians in goalscoring with 45 in 46 games, was picked by the Nordiques in the eighth round of the 1986 draft.His overtime goal against St. Lawrence gave Lake Superior the national title.NOTES&mdash;The Nords would like to use their No. 3 overall pick on right winger Trevor Linden of Medicine Hat or center Mike Modano of Prince Albert, the two top-rated prospects. They also like Saskatoon defenseman Curtis Leschyshyn.<h2>NORDIQUES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 28: Mike Natyshak, RW, recalled from Fredericton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Stastny, Paul Gillis, Marc Fortier.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet, Gaetan Duchesne, Mike Eagles, David Latta.RW&mdash;Anton Stastny, Lane Lambert, Alain Cote, Gord Donnelly, Mike Natyshak.LD&mdash;Stephane Guerard, Terry Carkner, Steven Finn.RD&mdash;Randy Moller, Robert Picard, Jeff Brown, Tommy Albelin.G&mdash;Mario Brunetta, Mario Gosselin.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Alan Haworth, C, concussion.Jeff Jackson, LW, sprained left knee.Normand Rochefort, D, sprained right knee. &#9632;

f0017-02

Draft Picks Help Ease Nords’ Pain

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02805/5472492-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="585" height="723"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken Linseman had one of his best seasons ever, with 29 goals and 74 points.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011060/5472499-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="176" height="138"></div>BOSTON&mdash;Tell us, Ken Linseman, were the Bruins going into the 1988 playoffs with more confidence than last year?&ldquo;We should,&rdquo; the veteran center said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t play Montreal in the first round.&rdquo;The Bruins have bowed out at the hands of the Canadiens in the first round in each of the last four years.In fact, they haven&rsquo;t beaten a Montreal team in a playoff series since 1943. That&rsquo;s 45 years and counting.&ldquo;I was pretty confident last year,&rdquo; said Keith Crowder, one of the few Bruins left who can remember the last time the team won a playoff series (1983, four games to three over Buffalo).&ldquo;Perhaps the chance to meet Buffalo as opposed to Montreal is a bit of a mental break for us, with all that media hype around about how many times we&rsquo;ve lost to Montreal in the playoffs.&ldquo;This is a chance to play a different team. We still have to play well against Buffalo. They&rsquo;re a good club and if we get by them that will give us a lot more confidence going up against whoever wins the Montreal-Hartford series.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re a better team than Buffalo but, in a playoff series, you always have to prove that. I&rsquo;m not looking ahead to Montreal. I&rsquo;m looking ahead to Buffalo.&rdquo;Crowder and Linseman agreed the Bruins were taking a better team into the 1988 playoffs, particularly in net where Reggie Lemelin and Andy Moog have shared the job effectively.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re pretty confident in both goaltenders,&rdquo; Crowder said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re pretty solid in net and, in the playoffs, you need good goaltending. We&rsquo;ve got two of the best right now.&ldquo;If Reggie continues to play the way he has all year (24-17-6 record, 2.93 GAA&hellip;889 save percentage), we&rsquo;ll have an advantage.&rdquo;Moog (4-2-0, 2.83,. 906) has been equally effective since joining the Bruins after the Olympics, thanks to a trade with Edmonton.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got a tougher team,&rdquo; said Linseman. &ldquo;We got better goaltending. We got Gordie Kluzak and Glen Wesley on defense. We got more offense up front. And lots of toughness. We have a nice blend.&rdquo;The line of Crowder, Linseman and left winger Tom McCarthy starred in the Bruins&rsquo; final game of the season, a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders that broke a two-game losing streak. Each had a goal and an assist.&ldquo;Kenny and I have played together quite a bit in the past,&rdquo; said Crowder. &ldquo;We know where each other is going to be most of the time. And you have to give Mac (McCarthy) a lot of credit. He made some great plays.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got a lot of experience when we are out there together&mdash;eight, nine and 10 years in the league. That&rsquo;s a lot of playing time.&rdquo;Linseman, with 29 goals and 74 points, enjoyed one of the best of his 10 years in the NHL. Crowder and McCarthy had the kind of seasons that they&rsquo;d like to write off.Crowder fell to 17 goals and 43 points in 68 games, his poorest full season ever. The oft-injured McCarthy managed to play in only seven games for the Bruins. He scored two goals and seven points.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just looking to salvage the season by having a good playoff,&rdquo; said Crowder. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice being able to go in with a couple of good games.&ldquo;We needed to win tonight, that&rsquo;s for sure. If we had lost three straight we would have started wondering a little bit.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Ray Bourque got a rare night off, sitting out the 4-2 loss to Hartford to rest for the playoffs&hellip;Cam Neely won the Dufresne Trophy, given annually to the Bruin judged to play the best in home games&hellip;Keith Crowder&rsquo;s goal against the Islanders gave the Bruins 300 for the season, for an NHL-record 18th consecutive year&hellip;The John Carlton Trophy, presented annually by the Bruins to the outstanding student-athlete in Eastern Mas-sachusetts hockey, went to Kurt Laakso of Newburyport High School. Laakso will play at Harvard next season.<h2>BRUINS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 30: Bruce Shoebottom, D, recalled from Maine (AHL).April 1: Alain Cote, D, recalled from Maine.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Craig Janney, Steve Kasper, Ken Linseman, Tom McCarthy, Bob Sweeney, Billy O&rsquo;Dwyer.LW&mdash;Bob Joyce, Randy Burridge, Rick Middleton, Jay Miller.RW&mdash;Cam Neely, Nevin Markwart, Keith Crowder, Lyndon Byers, Willi Plett.LD&mdash;Gord Kluzak, Glen Wesley, Allen Pedersen.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque, Michael Thelven, Bruce Shoebottom, Alain Cote.G&mdash;Reggie Lemelin, Andy Moog.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tommy Lehmann, C, left kneecap inflammation, indefinite.Reed Larson, D, right shoulder separation, April 10. &#9632;

f0018-02

Confident Bruins Plan To Snap Playoff Jinx

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-01982/5472530-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="176" height="133"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Stephane Richer did what every Canadiens&rsquo; fans wanted him to do.The third-year right winger, returning after missing five games with a thumb injury, scored five goals in the last two games of the season against the Buffalo Sabres to reach the 50-goal plateau.&ldquo;When I started the weekend, I didn&rsquo;t know if I had a chance,&rdquo; Richer said. &ldquo;The main thing I wanted to do in the last two games was get ready for the playoffs.&ldquo;I wanted to make sure I was going to be all right for the playoffs.&rdquo;Richer became the first member of the Canadiens since Guy Lafleur and Pierre Larouche in the 1979-80 season to reach 50 goals.For the record, Richer&rsquo;s 50th was scored at 4:04 of the third period against Sabre goalie Tom Barrasso and helped the Canadiens to a 4-4 tie April 3 against Buffalo. The night before, Richer popped three goals against Darren Puppa in the Canadiens&rsquo; 9-4 victory over the Sabres.In so doing, Richer silenced skeptics who said he bailed out early after a thumb injury. Hejammed his thumb in a fight with Kevin Dineen of the Hartford Whalers on March 12 in Montreal and a week later, he was having too much trouble shooting. He declared the quest for 50 over and set his sights on the playoffs.&ldquo;There was one time in the Saturday game (April 2) that I was shooting and I hit too much of the ice,&rdquo; Richer said. &ldquo;I felt the shock in my thumb. It still hurt after this. I didn&rsquo;t want to be hurt again. I want to be ready to have a good playoff.&ldquo;There were a lot of people who said I didn&rsquo;t want to score 50 goals because the pressure was on my shoulders. That&rsquo;s wrong. I&rsquo;m 21 years old. There are not many people at my age who can score 50 goals, especially in Montreal.&ldquo;I was really hurt by some of things that were said. I couldn&rsquo;t shoot the puck and that&rsquo;s the best part of my game.&rdquo;The three weekend points against the Sabres left the Canadiens with 103 for the season, their highest point total since 1981-82 when they finished with 109.With a 3-1 victory at Boston on the last day of March, the Canadiens officially clinched first place in the Adams Division for the third time in seven seasons.The goaltending duo of Brian Hayward and Patrick Roy combined for a second consecutive Jennings Trophy, awarded annually to the team with the fewest goals against. Montreal gave up 238. Washington, the second-best defensive team, allowed 249. Hayward and Roy combined to post a 2.92 average.The Canadiens&rsquo; mettle will be put to a stiff test in the opening round of the playoffs by the Hartford Whalers, who took Montreal to a seventh game in their 1986 Adams final. Montreal is hoping to avoid the jinx that has pla-gued first-place Adams teams since 1981-82. Only 1982-83 Boston Bruins managed to get out of the division after finishing in top spot.NOTES&mdash;Goalie Brian Hayward suffered a leg injury in the first period of the season finale against Buffalo. He returned to play the first five minutes of the second period but was replaced by Patrick Roy&hellip;Right winger Stephane Richer won the Canadiens&rsquo; Molson Cup competition for three-star points accumulated during the season&hellip;Defenseman Larry Robinson, left wingers Ryan Walter, Bob Gainey and Mats Naslund sat out the final game against Buffalo after Montreal learned Calgary clinched first overall&hellip;Center Bobby Smith won the team scoring championship with 93 points (27-66) in 78 games, his best since joining the team 4&frac12; seasons ago.<h2>CANADIENS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bobby Smith, Guy Carbonneau, Shayne Corson, Brian Skrudland, Gilles Thibaudeau.LW&mdash;Ryan Walter, Bob Gainey, Mats Naslund, Mike McPhee, Serge Boisvert.RW&mdash;Claude Lemieux, Jose Charbonneau, Stephane Richer, Kjell Dahlin, John Kordic, Sergio Momesso.LD&mdash;Craig Ludwig, Petr Svoboda, Mike Lalor, Larry Trader.RD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Larry Robinson, Rick Green.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Brian Hayward.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

f0019-01

Richer Strikes 50 With Two-Game Flourish

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01850/5472561-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="178" height="131"></div>BUFFALO&mdash;Having made the playoffs for the first time in three years, the Buffalo Sabres must now be measured by how well they perform during the second season.The outcome of Buffalo&rsquo;s series against the Boston Bruins may ultimately define the success or failure of the 1987-88 Sabres.Which is a pity, really, since the 1987-88 regular season was anything but meaningless for the resurgent Sabres.A season-ending 4-4 tie with the Montreal Canadiens on April 3 enabled the Sabres to finish the regular campaign as the most-improved team in the NHL. Buffalo garnered 85 points, 21 more than last season.The turnaround, while not the most dramatic in league history, was the best this season. New Jersey Devils registered the next-best improvement, 18 points; the Detroit Red Wings third, 15 points.&ldquo;I thought there was a lot at stake out there,&rdquo; said Sabre coach Ted Sator, a viable coach-of-the-year candidate, &ldquo;but if you want to look at improvement, you have to look at the team and the guys in that room.&ldquo;They are the ones that have played hard right from the opening of training camp. Through the thin times as well as the thick, you have to look at the character of the players in the room. They&rsquo;re the ones who get the credit. I enjoyed working with them and working for them.&rdquo;Sator credited the remarkable play of goaltender Tom Barrasso as the No. 1 reason on his list of turnaround factors. He also mentioned the injection of youth; the contributions of rookie Ray Sheppard (38 goals); the return to form of center John Tucker (from injuries); the contributions of Lindy Ruff in making a successful transition from forward to defense; and the leadership of the veteran players, all of whom came to camp with the goal of lifting the team out of the NHL basement.Most of the players have recognized Barrasso&rsquo;s contributions, but they also credited Sator.&ldquo;The first thing that Ted wanted to bring to this club is a real positive attitude,&rdquo; said Sabre assistant captain Mike Foligno. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve developed a good attitude in the sense that what happened one game is not necessarily what&rsquo;s going to happen in the next. These games (the season-ending Montreal series) were a good example. We went up to Montreal and got slaughtered (9-4) and we came back down here, pulled together and played a real strong game.&rdquo;Four strong games that translate into wins against the Bruins would guarantee the Sabres a successful season by any standards.NOTES&mdash;Dave Andreychuk again the team scoring title (78 points). Andreychuk, who scored his 30th goal of the season on the final night of the season, was the only Sabre to play a full 80 games. It was the second time Andreychuk has played a complete schedule. He did it in the 1985-86 season and netted a career-high 87 points&hellip;Christian Ruuttu finished second with 71 points. Phil Housley finished with 29 goals, two short of his career-high 31. Housley ended up with 66 points, one more than rookie Ray Sheppard. Sheppard finished tied with Gilbert Perreault for second place on the team&rsquo;s all-time rookie goal-scoring list with 38. Defenseman Calle Johansson finished third on the team&rsquo;s all-time list for assists by a rookie with 38&hellip;Mike Foligno scored two goals against Montreal on April 3. They were his 200th and 201st goals as a Sabre.<h2>SABRES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon, Doug Smith, Ken Priestlay, John Tucker, Christian Ruuttu.LW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk, Mike Donnelly, Clark Gillies.RW&mdash;Ray Sheppard, Mark Napier, Mike Hartman, Scott Arniel.LD&mdash;Joe Reekie, Bob Halkidis, Lindy Ruff, Mike Ramsey.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, Uwe Krupp, Calle Johansson, Ed Hospodar.G&mdash;Tom Barrasso, Jacques Cloutier, Daren Puppa.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mikael Andersson, LW, twisted ankle, day-to-day.Adam Creighton, C, recovering from knee surgery, indefinite.Jan Ludvig, RW, knee, indefinite.Kevin Maguire, RW, fractured ankle, indefinite. &#9632;

f0020-01

Sabres Earn Title Of Most-Improved Team

DOUG GILMOUR IS out to redeem his playoff reputation.For the first three years of his career, he was regarded as a capable two-way center who raised the level of his game significantly for the playoffs.Fact is, he was one of the few players to average more points per game during the post-season than regular season.Then came the former Cornwall Royal&rsquo;s emergence as a star in 1986-87. He scored 105 points last year. Only four others earned more. The playoffs were expected to be a period of reaffirmation for Gilmour.But the little center, whose craftiness is surpassed only by his heart, bombed against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of Norris Division playoffs.He scored just two goals and two assists in six games, as the underdog Leafs ousted St. Louis Blues.Worse yet, Gilmour embarrassed himself with a temper tantrum at series end. During the final minute of play in game six, he exploded at Maple Leaf Gardens&mdash;trying to get at Dan Daoust, the Toronto center whose job it was to drive Gilmour to distraction.He was successful.A year later, the 24-year-old Gilmour is determined not to repeat his mistakes of last year.&ldquo;The first thing I don&rsquo;t want to do,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;is be in that same situation where I make other people look better than they are&hellip;I took a lot of heat last year. I don&rsquo;t want it to happen again.&rdquo;Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron thinks the error of Gilmour&rsquo;s ways was one of commission, not omission.&ldquo;He wanted to achieve and he couldn&rsquo;t individually,&rdquo; says The Prof. &ldquo;He felt obligated to give more. I&rsquo;ve seen other players react that way. Maybe he took too much responsibility for the Blues. You gotta leave some for the other players on the team.&rdquo;Since overcoming growing pains in Cornwall, where he battled demons brought on by his small stature and youth, Gilmour has not been one to shirk responsibility.Particularly during the playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03399/5472592-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="343" height="462"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Dryden</figcaption></div>After a 53-point rookie regular season, he earned 11 points in 11 playoff games. He improved to 57 points during the regular season in 1984-85, but the Blues played just three playoff games.His third regular season brought 53 points again. The playoffs represented his offensive arrival. Gilmour collected nine goals and 12 assists in 19 games to finish tied with teammate Bernie Federko for first in playoff scoring.After a 100-point season, last spring may have been a disaster for Gilmour, but Canada Cup &lsquo;87 selectors over-looked his problems when it came time to choose Team Canada. He made the team and contributed typically gutsy play, as well as two goals during the historic three-game showdown with the Soviets.The 1987-88 regular season was ordinary by Gilmour&rsquo;s new standards. He struggled defensively, bottoming out at minus-22 in January, then suffered a concussion and strained shoulder. Still, with two games left, Gilmour had 35 goals and 49 assists (and a minus-12 in 70 games).Caron is confident Gilmour can provide a boost for the Blues against first-round opponent Chicago. Last year&rsquo;s playoffs, says Caron, were an aberration.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re certainly counting on him in the playoffs,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;And I know he will deliver because he is a money player.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s what Gilmour, a former Ontario League scoring champion, also expects. And, no doubt, St. Louis coach Jacques Martin, whose job may well depend on the Blues&rsquo; playoff success.&ldquo;I want to do well for the team,&rdquo; says Gilmour. &ldquo;I want to do well for myself. I want to do well for Jacques. If we don&rsquo;t do well, there might be more shakeups next year.&rdquo;Martin is at the mercy of his players, says Gilmour: &ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing he can do about it, but put us on and hope that we win for him.&rdquo;Gilmour acknowledges it&rsquo;s possible to overburden himself with responsibility. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean his self-expectations have changed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to be there,&rdquo; he says simply.For the Blues to beat the Blackhawks, Doug Gilmour will have &ldquo;to be there.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-03

Gilmour Hoping To Erase Last Spring’s Bad Memory

<div class="byline">BY RANDY SMITH</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02576/5472623-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="179" height="132"></div>HARTFORD&mdash;In places outside Hartford, you could have pocketed some semi-serious money by betting on the Whalers&rsquo; most valuable player.Had you bet on Ronnie Francis, Kevin Dineen, Mike Liut, Dave Babych, Carey Wilson or Sylvain Turgeon, you would have lost.Hockey aficionados won&rsquo;t be fooled, however, and neither were the Whaler players who singled out 24-year-old Swedish defenseman Ulf Samuelsson as the team&rsquo;s top performer this year.In four seasons in Hartford, Samuelsson has been labeled zany and dirty, among other things. Now you can call him the best.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve put more points on the board this year and I&rsquo;ve gotten more ice time, especially on the power play,&rdquo; Samuelsson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s all started to snowball.&rdquo;Picked for Rendez-Vous &lsquo;87, Samuelsson is no stranger to the NHL&rsquo;s inner fraternity, but the man on the street still may not know him.Samuelsson scored eight points his rookie season, then 24 and 33 before compiling 42 points this year. In one game, Samuelsson logged more than 34 minutes of ice time, the season high on the team.Coach Larry Pleau said he thinks Samuelsson can get better.&ldquo;When he&rsquo;s skating backward, he has his body turned sideways,&rdquo; Pleau said. &ldquo;It cuts off his vision. He can only see half the rink. That can be worked on though. Ulfie is always willing to learn.&rdquo;Samuelsson is one the Whalers&rsquo; best-conditioned athletes. He thinks hockey seven days a week, even in the summer, when he returns to his home in Fagersta, Sweden.&ldquo;You have to,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In the off-season, I don&rsquo;t take four weeks off to go to Florida or somewhere and get hammered drinking beers all the time. I play tennis and I&rsquo;ll run on the beach.&rdquo;In the Whaler locker room, Samuelsson doesn&rsquo;t have an enemy. Around the league, however, he has continued to pick up many.&ldquo;Maybe I carry the stick too high on the ice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But off the ice, everything&rsquo;s great. Some players have two or three guys who are their best friends on the team. But I feel I can go out with any of the guys.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;The Whalers allowed 267 goals, a new team record for stinginess, breaking last year&rsquo;s mark of. They scored just 249, 12 fewer than the previous low of 261 they scored in their 19-54-7 season of 1982. The penalty-killing unit finished No. 1 in the league, a position it held through much of the season. Dave Tippett spread the credit around, but reserved special praise for Brent Peterson. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s so smart,&rdquo; Tippett said. &ldquo;He kills penalties like he&rsquo;s defusing a bomb.&rdquo;&hellip;The Whalers drew in excess of 580,000 fans this season, another record. They had 19 sellouts and played to almost 96-percent capacity&hellip;Larry Pleau on bench discipline: &ldquo;Discipline is important and it&rsquo;s my job to keep guys quiet on the bench&mdash;which I try to do, all except for Torrie Robertson. I let him yell because he&rsquo;s got such great lines.&rdquo; &middot;<h2>WHALERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 28: Kay Whitmore, G, assigned to Binghamton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ronnie Francis, Carey Wilson, Ray Ferraro, Brent Peterson.LW&mdash;Dave Tippett, Sylvain Turgeon, Torrie Robertson.RW&mdash;Kevin Dineen, Dean Evason, Paul MacDermid, Stewart Gavin, Mark Reeds, Scott Young, Mike Millar, Gord Sherven.LD&mdash;Joel Quenneville, Randy Ladouceur, Mike McEwen.RD&mdash;Dave Babych, Ulf Samuelsson, Sylvain Cote, Neil Sheehy, Charlie Bourgeois.G&mdash;Mike Liut, Richard Brodeur.<h3>INJURIES</h3>John Anderson, LW, rotator cuff, day-to-day.Lindsay Carson, LW, back spasms, day-to-day.Scot Kleinendorst, D, separated shoulder, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0020-02

Big Swede Named The Whalers’ Best

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01637/5472654-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="174" height="135"></div>CALGARY&mdash;In the end, Joe Nieuwendyk admitted the pressure got to him.Just two goals shy of Mike Bossy&rsquo;s rookie goal-scoring record, the Calgary Flame center finally felt the glare of the spotlight and began to sweat.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a battle the last little while,&rdquo; said Nieuwendyk. &ldquo;I put too much pressure on myself.&rdquo;So much, in fact, that he endured his longest scoring slump of the season at precisely the wrong time. Nieuwendyk did not score a goal in the last eight games of the season and finished the year with 51&mdash;the second-highest total ever by a first-year player, but two fewer than the rookie record established by Bossy in the 1977-78 season. His 41 assists gave him 92 points for the year, 17 less than Peter Stastny&rsquo;s 1980-81 record of 109.&ldquo;I gave it my best crack,&rdquo; Nieuwendyk said, following the team&rsquo;s regular-season finale, a4-1 win over Minnesota North Stars. &ldquo;I was much more relaxed today, so I think I&rsquo;ve got my game back on track.&ldquo;Now that it&rsquo;s over, I&rsquo;m quite happy with 51.&rdquo;Nieuwendyk played 75 regularseason games for the Flames, plus eight in the exhibition season. A year ago, he played in only half that many&mdash;23 in college, four in the Calgary Cup, and 15 for the Flames from mid-March to early April.Nieuwendyk established a team record by scoring 31 power-play goals. Even though his production fell off in the last fortnight, the power play continued to produce. The Flames finished the season with 109 power-play goals, a team record.In the last week of the season, several Flames&rsquo; players were chasing personal standards. Perhaps the most significant development was that Hakan Loob became the first Swedish-born player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season.Loob scored No. 50 with only 3:05 remaining in the last game of the season, tipping a perfectly-timed pass from Gary Suter past North Stars goaltender Don Beaupre. Following the goal, Loob turned up ice and started to windmill his arm around and around in an uncharacteristic display of emotion.That put the game out of reach, allowing the Flames to wrap up the league&rsquo;s overall championship and the $200,000 bonus that accompanies the President&rsquo;s Trophy.Afterwards, Loob said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to think about it much now or in the next couple of years, but when I&rsquo;m retired, I&rsquo;m going to sit back and think, &lsquo;Fifty goals, that&rsquo;s a great accomplishment.&rsquo;&rdquo;Loob&rsquo;s teammates mobbed him at the bench upon his return. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the last game,&rdquo; said Loob. &ldquo;You may as well get it out of your system because the second season starts Wednesday (April 6).&rdquo;That night, the Flames were to open the playoffs at home against Los Angeles Kings. They will retain homeice advantage for as long as they stay alive in post-season play.NOTES&mdash;Center Mike Bullard suffered a charleyhorse in a 6-3 loss to Los Angeles and he was not expected to play in the playoff opener&hellip;Perry Berezan, who missed seven games with a lacerated hand, took his place in the lineup&hellip;Among the team records established were most points (105), most wins (48), most home wins (26), most road wins (22), most goals (397), most power-play goals (109) and most shorthanded goals (23).<h2>FLAMES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 31: Paul Ranheim, LW, University of Wisconsin, signed to contract.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Joel Otto, Gary Roberts, Perry Berezan.LW&mdash;John Tonelli, Jim Peplinski, Colin Patterson, Tim Hunter, Craig Coxe, Paul Ranheim.RW&mdash;Hakan Loob, Joey Mullen, Lanny McDonald, Shane Churla, Jiri Hrdina.LD&mdash;Gary Suter, Dana Murzyn, Al Maclnnis, Brian Glynn.RD&mdash;Brad McCrimmon, Paul Reinhart, Rob Ramage.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Doug Dadswell.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike Bullard, C, charleyhorse, day-to-day.Ric Nattress, D, arthroscopic knee surgery, April 14.Rick Wamsley, G, pulled groin, April 11. &#9632;

f0021-01

Nieuwendyk Falls Two Goals Shy Of Mark

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02354/5472685-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="181" height="132"></div>LOS ANGELES&mdash;The manner in which the Los Angeles Kings ended the regular season was a microcosm of their whole year.They stumbled out of the gate and were 7-16-4 as of Dec. 6, prompting the firing of Mike Murphy as coach. It took until late March before they nailed down a Smythe Division playoff berth. Then they closed the season with three victories and a tie, their best finish in memory.In the Kings&rsquo; regular-season finale, a 5-5 draw with the Edmonton Oilers April 3, they rebounded from a slug-gish start and finished with a flourish, wiping out a 5-2 deficit heading into their first-round playoff series with the Calgary Flames.&ldquo;The most encouraging thing going into the playoffs is that we seem to have found the ability to come back, no matter how difficult the circumstances,&rdquo; said goalie Rollie Melanson.The Kings wound up 30-42-8, but were 23-22-4 in the last 49 games under coach Robbie Ftorek and 5-2-3 in their final 10, including back-to-back wins over the Flames in a span of 72 hours. Los Angeles beat Calgary 9-7 in the Forum March 30 and 6-3 in the Olympic Saddledome April 1.&ldquo;The difference between the beginning of the year and now is like night and day,&rdquo; said defenseman Tom Laid-law. &ldquo;Maybe we don&rsquo;t stack up (in terms of) talent with Calgary, but we know we can beat them. The last month, we&rsquo;ve believed we can win against anybody.&rdquo;And anywhere, including Calgary. The Kings won their final three visits to the Saddledome and won four of their final five meetings with Calgary, splitting the season series 4-4.Whatever chance Los Angeles has to scorch the Flames rests with three Kings in particular&mdash;super sophomores Luc Robitaille, Jimmy Carson and Steve Duchesne. The trio was on fire down the stretch along with a power play that produced 14 goals in the last four games for a club-record 103.Robitaille closed with a six-game goal-scoring streak and wound up as the Kings&rsquo; scoring leader with 53 goals and 111 points. His point and assist totals broke team records for a left winger set in 1980-81 by Charlie Simmer.Carson became the highest-scoring American-born player in NHL history with 55 goals and 107 points, though his 12-game point-scoring streak was snapped against the Oilers.Despite missing 10 games with a knee injury, Duchesne led King defensemen with 16 goals and 55 points. He had points in 15 of his final 16 games (8-17-25).NOTES&mdash;Kings were 23-25-4 under Robbie Ftorek, scoring 211 goals and allowing 216. They were fifth overall with 318 goals and last with 359 goals allowed&hellip;Los Angeles went 12-17-3 against Smythe Division opponents (11-9-2 under Ftorek)&hellip;Phil Sykes, who played in only 40 games due to injuries, and rookie Ken Baumgartner, who played in 30 after mid-season recall from New Haven, tied for best plus-minus at plus-five&hellip;Larry Playfair led in penalty minutes with 197&hellip;Bernie Nicholls set a club record with seven shorthanded goals.<h2>KINGS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 27: Craig Duncanson, LW, assigned to New Haven (AHL).March 28: Paul Guay, RW, and John English, D, recalled from New Haven.March 30: Guay assigned to New Haven.April 1: Bernie Nicholls, C, returned from five-game suspension.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jimmy Carson, Bernie Nicholls, Mike Allison, Ron Duguay.LW&mdash;Chris Kontos, Bobby Carpenter, Luc Robitaille, Paul Fenton, Phil Sykes.RW&mdash;Dave Taylor, Craig Laughlin, Bob Bourne, Lyle Phair.LD&mdash;Ken Baumgartner, Ken Hammond, Denis Larocque, Eric Germain.RD&mdash;Tom Laidlaw, Steve Duchesne, Jay Wells, John English.G&mdash;Rollie Melanson, Glenn Healy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jim Fox, RW, knee, day-to-day.Dean Kennedy, D, groin, day-to-day.Larry Playfair, D, bruised chest, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0021-02

Kings Confident Entering Playoffs

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01741/5472716-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="178" height="134"></div>EDMONTON&mdash;If you&rsquo;re awaiting an apology, don&rsquo;t hold your breath.The Edmonton Oilers aren&rsquo;t about to publicly repent for being dislodged from first place overall in the National Hockey League and top spot in the Smythe Division that appeared theirs by divine right.Likewise, Wayne Gretzky isn&rsquo;t about to look for a bridge from which to jump for relinquishing the NHL&rsquo;s scoring title, following seven straight Art Ross Trophy acceptance speeches.&ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t bother me one bit,&rdquo; said Gretzky of the fact he was outdistanced by Pittsburgh Penguin center Mario Lemieux 168 points (70-98) to 149 (40-109). &ldquo;As a professional athlete, everyone has pride and would like to win. Obviously I would have liked to have won, but he&rsquo;s had a great year and he deserves to win.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s great for him,&rdquo; added No. 99, who led the league in assists, as he has throughout his nine-year career. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good for the game probably that somebody else has won it. People can talk about somebody else for a while. It&rsquo;ll give the people who have been tired of reading my name a break. In that sense, it&rsquo;s good. He deserves the credit he&rsquo;s getting.&ldquo;I missed 16 games, but injuries are part of professional sports. That&rsquo;s no excuse.&rdquo;The Oilers took missing first place in the Smythe Division in stride.&ldquo;We have nothing to be ashamed of, and neither has management,&rdquo; said center Mark Messier. &ldquo;It was bound to happen that we didn&rsquo;t finish first, but I think we&rsquo;ve had a tremendous year.&ldquo;We lost five world-class players (defenseman Paul Coffey, goalie Andy Moog, center Kent Nilsson, forward/defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen and to the Olympic team for part of the season, defenseman Randy Gregg), &ldquo;but we still filled the holes and finished a half-dozen points behind last year&rsquo;s pace. If you ask me, it&rsquo;s been a pretty positive year for us.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;We&rsquo;re underdogs and it&rsquo;s not a bad feeling. It&rsquo;s been a great year for the Edmonton-haters&hellip;&lsquo; &mdash;Gretzky</blockquote>Gregg said &ldquo;where you finish over 80 games has and hasn&rsquo;t been an advantage in the past. Being third out of 21 teams is certainly not what the Oilers are used to, but it still puts us in a position to achieve what we&rsquo;re striving for&mdash;another championship.&rdquo;Gretzky cautioned not to count the defending Stanley Cup champions out just yet.&ldquo;All in all, we&rsquo;re still the champions. Until somebody takes that away from us, we still deserve to be called the champions,&rdquo; said Gretzky. &ldquo;Two years ago we were supposed to walk through the NHL, but Calgary beat us in seven games. Anybody can be beaten if you execute a proper game plan.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re underdogs and it&rsquo;s not a bad feeling. It&rsquo;s been a great year for the Edmonton-haters, just what they&rsquo;ve been waiting for. 1&rsquo;11 tell you something, though. They&rsquo;re in for a big disappointment if they&rsquo;re writing us off.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Grant Fuhr broke Bernie Parent&rsquo;s record for single-season appearances by a goaltender with 75. Parent appeared in 73 games for the 1973-74 Philadelphia Flyers&hellip;Edmonton welcomed defenseman Kevin Lowe back for the final game of the regular season. He had been out since March 9 with a fractured wrist&hellip;Right winger Marty McSorley was shifted back to defense on an experimental basis for the final two games of the regular season. &ldquo;I was impressed the way he moved the puck,&rdquo; said cocoach John Muckier.<h2>OILERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 30: Darren Beals, G, recalled from Kitchener (OHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Craig MacTavish, Mike Krushelnyski, Keith Acton.LW&mdash;Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Esa Tikkanen, Geoff Courtnall.RW&mdash;Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Kevin McClelland, Normand Lacombe, Marty McSorley.LD&mdash;Kevin Lowe, Steve Smith, Randy Gregg, Steve Dykstra.RD&mdash;Charlie Huddy, John Miner, Craig Muni, Jeff Beukeboom.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford, Darren Beals.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

f0022-01

Oilers Give Up Titles But Not Playoff Zeal

<div class="byline">BY GRANT MCGINNIS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01666/5472747-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="178" height="136"></div>WINNIPEG&mdash;Just as the bandage supply was nearly depleted, the bleeding finally stopped.Ten games, 24 days and hours and hours of soul searching had passed between wins for the Winnipeg Jets. But Team Mediocre foiled the funk March 29 in Vancouver with a 3-2 victory.The longest losing streak of the season over, the Jets went on to tie the New York Rangers 4-4 on April 1 and beat St. Louis 5-4 on April 3 to finish regular season three games below 500.The recovery came as Winnipeg prepared for an opening-round playoff meeting with the Edmonton Oilers.&ldquo;You know, you start losing a few games and everybody starts telling each other we&rsquo;ve got to turn this thing around,&rdquo; veteran center Ron Wilson said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s harder to do than to say.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say we&rsquo;re out of it but it&rsquo;s a sign we&rsquo;re going in the right direction.&rdquo;It was no coincidence that the return to winning came precisely at the time five important Jets emerged from long scoring droughts.Center Dale Hawerchuk, right winger Andrew McBain, left winger Iain Duncan, right winger Paul MacLean and right winger Ray Neufeld had all been in lengthy slumps. Hawerchuk went five games without a point, a short stretch for most players but an eternity for a 121-point man. Duncan and McBain had three goals between them in March. Neufeld was a lost cause with three goals since the midway point of the season.But Neufeld and Duncan played their best hockey in a month at Vancouver and Duncan followed up with two goals against New York (his 18th and 19th of the season) while Neufeld had the game-winner against St. Louis in overtime. Hawerchuk and McBain collected four assists each against New York and MacLean scored twice on the weekend to finish with 40 goals on the season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not like we weren&rsquo;t trying earlier,&rdquo; said Neufeld. &ldquo;Things just didn&rsquo;t seem to be going our way. I think the closer you get to the playoffs, the more intense you get, the better hockey you&rsquo;re going to play.&rdquo;If lack of motivation started the losing streak&mdash;Winnipeg has had third place in the Smythe Division all to itself since November&mdash;it ceased to be a sore spot. Winnipeg simply worked until it won.The Jet power play, which was a miserable 1-for-36 during the skid, was nursed to health with a 3-for-4 outing against New York. The return of defenseman Dave Ellett from a 10 flgame absence with a bruised thigh appeared to spark the sagging specialty team, which finished the year with 110 goals.Nobody was happier with the resurgence than Jet general manager John Ferguson. He took his share of heat as the Jets slipped from the top 10 to 15th overall, but Fergie remained convinced Winnipeg has a better chance than ever in the playoff chase.&ldquo;All I know is we have probably the best team we ever had going in,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re there and we&rsquo;ve got an opportunity to win a Stanley Cup. A lot of clubs don&rsquo;t even have that.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Defenseman Jim Kyte&rsquo;s sore back has not improved and he will be missed in the playoffs&hellip;Right winger Andrew McBain finished the year with 32 goals, 21 more than his previous best&hellip;The Jets were carrying enough players for a football team (33) with the addition of junior defenseman Bryan Marchment from the Ontario League Belleville Bulls, junior left winger Craig Endean from the Western League Regina Pats and minorleague right winger Stu Kulak, right winger Peter Douris, left winger Randy Gilhen and right winger Pat Elynuik&hellip;Winnipeg travelled to Banff, Alta., immediately following its&rsquo; final game for two days of playoff preparation against the Edmonton Oilers.<h2>JETS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 30: Bryan Marchment, D, recalled from Belleville (OHL); Craig Endean, LW, recalled from Regina (WHL).April 4: Stu Kulak, RW, Randy Gilhen, LW, Peter Douris, RW, Pat Elynuik, RW, recalled from Moncton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Hawerchuk, Laurie Bosch-man, Thomas Steen, Ron Wilson, Brad Jones, Alfie Turcotte.LW&mdash;lain Duncan, Gilles Hamel, Doug Smail, Steve Rooney, Hannu Jarvenpaa, Dwight Schofield, Randy Gilhen, Craig Endean.RW&mdash;Andrew McBain, Paul MacLean, Ray Neufeld, Mark Kumpel, Peter Douris, Pat Elynuik, Stu Kulak.LD&mdash;Randy Carlyle, Dave Ellett, Paul Boutilier, Brad Berry, Guy Gosselin.RD&mdash;Mario Marois, Fredrik Olaus-son, Peter Taglianetti, Tim Watters, Bryan Marchment.G&mdash;Daniel Berthiaume, Eldon Reddick, Steve Penney.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jim Kyte, D, slight fracture of lower back, indefinite. &#9632;

f0023-01

GRANT MCGINNIS

Frustrating Funk Foiled By Jets’ Flying Five

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02506/5472778-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="586" height="755"><figcaption class="caption-body">Troy Murray&rsquo;s goal totals have declined in each of the past two seasons.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01721/5472785-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="178" height="135"></div>CHICAGO&mdash;A season-ending eightgame winless streak (0-7-1) told the Chicago Blackhawks they faced some major adjustments for the playoffs.And center Troy Murray had already begun raising the level of his game, since he knew he was likely to be a focus point in the opening round against St. Louis.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going to be Denis Savard leading the charge with three goals and two assists every night,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;It has to be everybody, every night.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to get things going. Maybe I can take a little more of the leadership. In St. Louis their attitude is, if they can shut us down, they can do well in the playoffs.&rdquo;Murray showed the difference he can make in the last two games, even though the Hawks lost both. In the third period against the New York Rangers, he rushed from his own end and powered his 21st goal into the low corner past Ranger goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck. Against New Jersey, he broke away and beat Sean Burke for his 22nd.The goals were straight out of 198586, when Murray had 45 (and 99 points) and won the Selke Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s top defensive forward.But since then, his production has dropped to 28 goals and 71 points in 1986-87; and 22 goals and 58 points this season.Murray said it&rsquo;s not a question of marksmanship.&ldquo;I think my shooting percentage is pretty good,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s around 14 per cent, and most forwards in the league are going to be between 13 and 17 per cent. But I haven&rsquo;t been shooting the puck.&rdquo;When he scored 45 goals, Murray scored on 22.7 per cent of his shots, putting him in the top 10 of the NHL. Even last season, he scored on 22.0 per cent.But the telling number has been the shot total. He had 198 when he scored 45 goals, but only 127 last season. He had 148 shots this year, but Hawk coach Bob Murdoch said that isn&rsquo;t enough. Murray finished fourth on the club in scoring, and the top three&mdash;Denis Savard, Steve Larmer and Rick Vaive&mdash;all took well over 200 shots on goal.&ldquo;Troy Murray passes up shooting very often,&rdquo; Murdoch said. &ldquo;In the last two games, he shot and he scored. He has to do that more often. He&rsquo;s obviously a quality player.&rdquo;Murdoch said Murray could make a difference in the playoffs.&ldquo;Troy Murray is very critical,&rdquo; Murdoch said. &ldquo;If he doesn&rsquo;t play the way he can play, we&rsquo;re going to have problems.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Darren Pang was expected to start the series against St. Louis. But 1987 first-round draft choice Jimmy Waite was recalled from Chicoutimi of the Quebec League, and could be a surprise choice over Pang and Bob Mason&hellip;The Hawks got left winger Steve Thomas back for the playoffs, but lost rookie center Brian Noonan in the final of the season with a separated should&middot; der&hellip;Denis Savard scored his 44th goal in the final game against New Jersey, finishing with 131 points to break his own club record.<h2>BLACKHAWKS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 3: Jimmy Waite, G, recalled from Chicoutimi (QMJHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Denis Savard, Troy Murray, Brian Noonan, Steve Ludzik.LW&mdash;Steve Larmer, Dan Vincelette, Everett Sanipass, Glen Cochrane, Steve Thomas.RW&mdash;Rick Vaive, Dirk Graham, Wayne Presley, Duane Sutter.LD&mdash;Trent Yawney, Marc Bergevin, Dave Manson, Gary Nylund.RD&mdash;Keith Brown, Behn Wilson, Bob Murray, Bob McGill.G&mdash;Darren Pang, Bob Mason, Jimmy Waite.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Brian Noonan, C, left shoulder separation, indefinite.Everett Sanipass, LW, broken right hand, indefinite.Doug Wilson, D, shoulder surgery, out for season. &#9632;

f0024-02

Blackhawks Need Murray On Target Again

DURING THE OLYMPICS, the Winter Games represented the story, the single most exciting event to ever happen in Calgary.But what about the rest of the winter?Did people care more about the bobsledders and downhillers who came and went in February or the Calgary Flames, who mostly went (away) in February?If they could have only one, which would they choose: A gold medal for Canada in hockey? Or a Stanley Cup championship?My personal straw poll&mdash;a survey of one fanatical city columnist, the guy I use as a barometer for the public at large&mdash;indicates Flames&rsquo; fever is raging as high as gold-medal fever, perhaps even higher.The city is primed for a reprise of 1986, when the Sea of Red flooded Calgary as the Flames reached the Stanley Cup final for the only time in franchise history.This year has been no different.People rushed to get the 2,808 rush seats on sale 48 hours before every home game down the stretch. The team routinely drew 19,000-plus fans, wiping out the club&rsquo;s single-season attendance record.People are calling general manager Cliff Fletcher a shoo-in for executive of the year, after astute trades that brought Brad McCrimmon and Rob Ramage to Calgary. Some like Terry Crisp for coach of the year. Joe Nieuwendyk is a lock for the Calder, Hakan Loob has had an all-star season, McCrimmon and Gary Suter are getting consideration for the Norris Trophy, and Joel Otto is a Selke Trophy candidate.And finally, for the first time in six years, the Edmonton Oilers didn&rsquo;t win the Smythe Division. The Flames knocked them off their perch atop the division.So, in the spring of 1988, for the first time ever/, the Flames go into the playoffs as one of the favorites&mdash;if not the favorite&mdash;to win the Stanley Cup.It is an uneasy position for a team that&rsquo;s been on the verge for a while&mdash;fifth, sixth and third overall the last three years&mdash;but didn&rsquo;t get past the opening round two of those seasons.Especially uneasy is Fletcher, the only general manager in the 16-year history of the franchise.Fletcher began his hockey career in the mid-50s as a part-timer in the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; organization and, so, was indirectly involved in six Cup championships. Then he left for St. Louis, where between 1966 and 1972 the Blues made it to the final three times. No championships, however.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04209/5472847-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="397" height="448"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Duhatschek</figcaption></div>It took him another 14 years to get back to the finals&mdash;in 1986&mdash;only to watch the Flames lose in five games to the Canadiens.Accordingly, he is cautious, almost to the point of paranoid, when assessing Calgary&rsquo;s chances in 1988.&ldquo;There is an anticipation that this club is going to do well,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But there&rsquo;s nothing more predictable than the unpredictability of sport. Sports has its great interest because of upsets. Once the playoffs start, anything can happen. Hopefully you prepare yourself for any possibility, but you never know.&rdquo;The playoffs become an endurance test, especially in the second month when four teams remain and most are running on adrenalin and Absorbine Jr. This is where the Flames have the biggest edge: Their depth is unparalleled in the NHL. When healthy, they have one extra five-man unit&mdash;three forwards and two defenseman&mdash;that could play regularly for two-thirds of the league&rsquo;s teams.To get into the home stretch, however, you need to round the first turn&mdash;something the Flames couldn&rsquo;t do in 1985 and 1987. Unless you need a fourth for bridge, depth doesn&rsquo;t help much if you&rsquo;re on the sidelines April 15.&ldquo;Prior to 1967, if you won one round of the playoffs, you were in the Stanley Cup finals,&rdquo; recalls Fletcher, with a sigh. &ldquo;Now you have to play for a month and a half just to get there. The only thing we&rsquo;re gearing for is the first round. We didn&rsquo;t win the first round last year. It doesn&rsquo;t make any difference how good your team is on paper; you get into a series of short duration and anything can happen. When you play four games in five nights, if you get a bad start, by the time you sort yourself out, it could be too late.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-04

Hopeful Calgary Fans Fanning Their Flames

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01634/5472878-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"></div>The Molson Canadian Pro Hockey Slo-Pitch Challenge is being staged in the Niagara Peninsula in Ontraio for the eighth consecutive year June 23-26.Last year&rsquo;s tournament attracted 15 pro hockey clubs, two alumni teams and a team comprised of pro hockey referees and linesmen.In the past seven years, more then 350,000 people have watched their favorite pro hockey players trade their sticks for baseball bats and golf clubs, during a weekend that provides a great deal of entertainment.More than 200 pro hockey players and thousands of fans are expected to visit the Niagara Region June 23-26, to participate in one of the best off-iCe events staged. Host cities will be Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Welland and Thor-old. Proceeds from the SloPitch tournament help charities and amateur sport throughout the Niagara Peninsula.Each team entered in the tournament is guaranteed three games&mdash;one on Friday and two on Saturday. The top right teams enter the qurter-final round on Sunday in Niagara Falls and a winner is declared later that day in the single-knockout final. In addition to the actual tournament schedule, there are entertaining exhibition matches and a home-run-hitting contest.The tournament committee&rsquo;s commitment to improvement of the weekend format continues. To go along with the 200-or-more present pro hockey players, the tournament will feature the introduction of the &ldquo;Masters Division.&rdquo; The tentative plan, according to tournament coordinator Bob Lavelle, is to feature a new six-team division comprised of hockey stars of the past, playing for their former pro hockey clubs.There is also a series of off-the-field activities, including:&bull; Opening Ceremonies Dinner on Thursday evening, June 23.&bull; Gala Auction of Hockey Memorabilia to be held after the Opening Ceremonies Dinner on Thursday.&bull; The Seven-Up Golf Tournament on Friday, June 24.&bull; Dance With the Stars on Saturday, June 25.Los Angeles, led by MVP winner Jay Wells and shortstop Bernie Nicholls, triumphed in the &lsquo;87 tournament with a 4-3 victory over Montreal. More than 13,000 people turned out to Oakes Park in Niagara Falls to witness the playoff rounds and final game on Sunday.The Second Annual Seven-Up Pro Hockey Golf Tournament was again a resounding success. More than 300 participants&mdash;including various corporate and private enthusiasts, as well as about 100 pro hockey players, past and present, participated and helped raise more than $25,000 for charity.For advance ticket sales to this year&rsquo;s tournament and other activities, send your postal money order or certified cheque to: Molson Canadian SloPitch Headquarters, 5034 Victoria Avenue, Niagara Falls, Ont. L2E 4E1 (416) 357-5770<h2>NO PERSONAL CHEQUES WILL BE ACCEPTED &#9632;</h2>

f0025-01

More Than 200 Hockey Players At Molson Slo-Pitch Challenge

<div class="byline">BY JERRY ZGODA</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01672/5472909-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="189" height="134"></div>BLOOMINGTON, Minn.&mdash;The Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; 1987-88 season had just ended with a final-day 4-1 loss at Calgary, and players started thinking about next year.But not as in, &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get &lsquo;em next year.&rdquo; Rather, as in who will be (or who wants to be) in Minnesota come the opening of training camp next September.The loss finalized the NHL&rsquo;s worst record (19-48-13), the accompanying first pick overall in the June draft, and a second straight season without a playoff appearance.It also raised more questions than it answered: Will coach Herb Brooks be back next season? Who will replace retiring general manager Lou Nanne? Which players will return?&ldquo;I look around and I don&rsquo;t expect more than half of the guys will be here next year,&rdquo; right winger Brian Bellows said.Bellows may be one of that group, but by his choice. He played out the option year of his contract this season and will be a free agent with compensation. He said he is considering testing the free-agent market (which, because of stiff compensation rules, is almost non-existent in the NHL), playing in Europe or asking to be traded to a better team.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know if I will be back,&rdquo; said Bellows, the team&rsquo;s second-leading scorer with 40 goals and 41 assists for 81 points. &ldquo;I love Minnesota and I love my teammates and I really respect the coaches. But it depends who the general manager and who the coach is. I&rsquo;ve played six years and we&rsquo;ve done all right, but I want to play on a winning club. I really want to go for it all one year. Mentally, this year has been very tough.&rdquo;The Stars could have avoided such thoughts had they clinched a playoff spot by winning game 79 in Vancouver (a 6-1 loss) or by Toronto losing to Detroit in its season finale.&ldquo;We died an honorable death,&rdquo; Brooks said after the loss to Calgary. &ldquo;They had a lot at stake. We had a lot at stake. But let&rsquo;s face it, the better hockey team won today.&rdquo;When the Stars look back or^^k season, they will think of injuries, Nanne&rsquo;s mid-season resignation announcement.&ldquo;I think, as a team, we probably played as well as we can with the guys we had,&rdquo; right winger Dino Ciccarelli said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re part to blame, but management has to take their share, too. They made an untimely decision; we played the rest of the year without an active GM. Louie obviously had some things he had to take care of and Herbie kept the team together. If one good thing came out of it, it was there was no turmoil on this team. We all hung together and I can&rsquo;t remember any bickering or arguing. You have to give Herbie credit.&rdquo;Ciccarelli gave Brooks enough credit to tout him for the post of general manager.&ldquo;Why didn&rsquo;t they (owners George and Gordon Gund) just give him the job a couple (of) months ago?&rdquo; Cic-carelli said. &ldquo;People in Minnesota Herbie, he&rsquo;s a respected hockey and he knows the team now. Whatever they do, if they bring in a new guy, he has to start from the beginning again.&rdquo;The Gunds are not considering Brooks as a candidate and said they may not name Nanne&rsquo;s replacement until after the entry draft.NOTES&mdash;The Stars finished with their worst record since 1977-78, also the last time they finished last. It was the third-worst record in club history, their second-lowest victory total since the 80-game season was adopted in 1974-75&hellip;The Stars finished the season with a team-record 495 mangames lost to injury or illness.<h2>NORTH STARS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Marc Habscheid, Dave Gagner, Dave Archibald, Brian Lawton.LW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Basil McRae Brian MacLellan, Terry Ruskowski, Scon Bjugstad.RW&mdash;Dino Ciccarelli, Bob Brook Wally Schreiber, Richard Zemlak.LD&mdash;Curt Giles, Gord Dineen, Frantisek Musil.RD&mdash;Bob Rouse, Moe Mantha, Emanuel Viveiros.G&mdash;Kari Takko, Don Beaupre, Jon Casey.<h3>INJURIES</h3>John Barrett, D, kneecap.Neal Broten, C, recovering from reconstructive shoulder surgery.Shawn Chambers, D, recovering from shoulder surgery.Curt Fraser, LW, chronic mononucleosis.Craig Hartsburg, D, recoving from shoulder surgery.Tom Hirsch, D, shoulder.Dennis Maruk, C, recovering from surgery to repair shattered kneecap. &#9632;

f0026-01

It’s Lights Out For Minnesota North Star

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN Associate Editor</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01623/5472940-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="186" height="146"></div>TORONTO&mdash;One victory in their final nine games.That&rsquo;s what it took the hard-charging Toronto Maple Leafs to secure a berth in the playoffs and place in NHL history.Saving their best for last (the very last), the Maple Leafs rallied from three goals down in their final regular-season game to beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3.The victory, Toronto&rsquo;s second in exactly one month, gave the Maple Leafs a 21-49-10 record&mdash;which, according to the Toronto Sun, represents the worst winning percentage (.325) of any team to ever make the playoffs.At various times this season, Toronto has been the worst team in the NHL.But in the Norris Division, where only Detroit finished over. 500 and St. Louis, Chicago, Toronto and Minnesota combined to lose 72 more games than they won, the playoffs are never out of reach.To qualify in the Smythe Division, the Leafs would have had to earn 16 more points.In the end, it was a Smythe team&mdash;the Calgary Flames&mdash;who permitted Toronto to make the playoffs. They beat the Minnesota North Stars 4-1 on Easter Sunday, the last day of the regular season, to clinch first place overall for themselves and last place for the Leafs&rsquo; rival.The New York Rangers. Pittsburgh Penguins. Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks all had better records than the Leafs but missed the playoffs.A humbling entry to the postseason?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m don&rsquo;t know if we&rsquo;re embarrassed,&rdquo; said center Ed Olczyk. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re just kinda&rsquo; really disappointed. I mean we were just one short of losing 50 games out of 80.&rdquo;No. 50 appeared in the bag April 2.After losing 7-3 in Detroit on April Fool&rsquo;s Day, Toronto had to beat the Red Wings at home or pack up for the season.The Maple Leafs fell behind 3-0 in the first period. The end was near.But Allan Bester came on in relief of starting goalie Ken Wregget, and played brilliantly&mdash;continuing his mastery over the Red Wings.Meanwhile, Gary Leeman scored his 30th of the season and Olczyk his 42nd during the middle 20 minutes. Both came on the power play, the league&rsquo;s worst.The line of Tom Fergus, Vincent Damphousse and Mirko Frycer salvaged the season in the third. All have been occupants of coach John Brophy&rsquo;s doghouse this year, Frycer as late as March 30 when he missed practice and told nobody of his whereabouts.Frycer blamed his absence on personal problems.Brophy decided to forgive and forget, figuring the Leafs needed all hands on deck for the home-and-home series with Detroit.Frycer justified his faith with assists on Damphousse&rsquo;s winning goal and Fergus&rsquo; insurance goal during the final seven minutes.NOTES&mdash;Had the Leafs not made the playoffs, they would be choosing first overall at the June entry draft. Instead, they&rsquo;re picking sixth&hellip;The Maple Leafs&rsquo; record before Gerry McNamara&rsquo;s firing as GM this season was 15-31-9 (.355 winning percentage), after 6-18-1 (.260).<h2>MAPLE LEAFS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 29: Marty Dallman, C-RW, and Wes Jarvis, C, assigned to Newmarket (AHL).April 4: Tim Bernhardt, G, Jim Ralph, G, Terry Johnson, D, Marty Dallman, C-RW, Daniel Marois, RW, Derek Lax-dal, RW, and Chris McRae, LW, recalled from Newmarket.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Tom Fergus, Ed Olczyk, Ken Yaremchuk, Peter Ihnacak, Marty Dallman.LW&mdash;Vincent Damphousse, Mark Osborne, Al Secord, Greg Terrion, Chris McRae.RW&mdash;Mirko Frycer, Gary Leeman, Mike Blaisdell, Sean McKenna, Derek Laxdal, Daniel Marois.LD&mdash;Borje Salming, Luke Richardson, Todd Gill, Brian Curran, Terry Johnson.RD&mdash;Dale DeGray, Al lafrate, Rick Lanz.G&mdash;Allan Bester, Ken Wregget, Tim Bernhardt, Jim Ralph.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Russ Courtnail, C, back spasms, day-to-day.Wendel Clark, LW, back, out for season.Dan Daoust, C. sprained right ankle, day-to-day.Chris Kotsopoulos, D, groin, out for season.Brad Smith, RW, back, indefinite. &#9632;

f0027-01

Leafs Make Playoffs Courtesy Of Calgary

<div class="byline">BY KEITH GAVE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01644/5472971-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="177" height="132"></div>DETROIT&mdash;The Toronto Maple Leafs narrowly made the playoffs for the second year in a row, and the Detroit Red Wings couldn&rsquo;t be happier.Red Wing coach Jacques Demers said he was delighted to be facing the Leafs&mdash;who earned a playoff berth on the season&rsquo;s final day for the second straight year&mdash;in the first round of the playoffs.&ldquo;I think our players are very excited about going back to Toronto,&rdquo; said Demers, whose Wings won a spirited second-round series against the Leafs last year. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s something about a Toronto-Detroit series that brings out the best in our players and the fans.&rdquo;Leaf coach John Brophy concurred.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great rivalry,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s one that&rsquo;s gone on for a lot of years&mdash;but the last couple of years, it&rsquo;s really heated up. There&rsquo;s a special feeling when these two teams play.&rdquo;Take Detroit&rsquo;s 7-3 win over the Leafs April 1.&ldquo;For a game that didn&rsquo;t mean much for us the other night, the (Detroit) fans were very, very excited. I&rsquo;m sure if we had a poll, the fans would say, &lsquo;Yeah, we want Toronto back.&rsquo;&ldquo;And I think they do, too, in Toronto. It&rsquo;s playoff fever&hellip;You get great media coverage in Detroit and Toronto. You open up the papers and there&rsquo;s a lot of juice every day, and who doesn&rsquo;t like that?&rdquo;Last year, the Wings salvaged their season&mdash;in which they held first place for the last two months only to lose it to St. Louis on the final day&mdash;with a strong showing in the playoffs. In eight games this season, the Wings and Leafs fought&mdash;sometimes literally&mdash;to a draw. The series ended 3-3-2.&ldquo;We played Detroit even all year,&rdquo; Brophy said. &ldquo;I know they had 93 points, and I have nothing but respect for them. But we were dead even in games, and that&rsquo;s what counts now.&rdquo;Each coach chose his words carefully, not wanting to give the other team any extra incentive heading into the series. Not so Harold Ballard, the 84-year-old Maple Leaf owner whose health has been somewhat analagous to his hockey team. He survived a heart attack at mid-season, but came back strongly enough to fire his general manager, Gerry McNamara.&ldquo;If we&rsquo;re up like this (a 5-3 Leaf victory in the teams&rsquo; April 2 game) for the playoffs it&rsquo;s going to be one hell of a tussle,&rdquo; Ballard told the Toronto Star.Of the Wings, he added, &ldquo;They&rsquo;re not so hot when you put the pressure on them.&rdquo;To which Demers replied, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what pressure he&rsquo;s talking about. Nobody had more presure on them last season than we did (down 3-1 to the Leafs in the playoffs, the Wings still won).&ldquo;I think Toronto right now has less pressure. They have nothing to lose. If they happen to beat us in the first round, they&rsquo;re heroes.&rdquo;Demers said he plans to use Glen Hanlon in net during the Leafs&rsquo; series, with Greg Stefan as the backup. Brophy wasn&rsquo;t saying who the Leafs would use, but the Wings were expect ing to see Allan Bester, who stopped all 27 shots, some spectacularly, in a relief role to spark the Leafs to a come-from-behind 5-3 win over the Wings in the regular-season finale for both teams.NOTES&mdash;Bob Probert came one goal and two penalty minutes short of NHL history, ending his bid to become the first member of the &lsquo;30-400 Club&rsquo; with 29 goals and 398 penalty minutes. Probert scored No. 29 in the first period of the final game at Toronto, then missed on numerous chances to score No. 30. &ldquo;I was going to get the goal first, then get the extra two minutes,&rdquo; Probert said. &ldquo;It would have been nice, but there&rsquo;s always next year.&rdquo;&hellip;The Red Wings broke their home attendance record by drawing 785,532, an average of 19,638. Joe Louis Arena seating capacity is 19,275. The old mark was set by Detroit fans last year, when the Wings drew 750,225, an average of 18,756.&middot;<h2>RED WINGS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 30: Murray Eaves, C, assigned to Adirondack.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Adam Oates, John Chabot, Shawn Burr, Mel Bridgman.LW&mdash;Gerard Gallant, Petr Klima, Brent Ashton, Joe Murphy, Dale Krentz.RW&mdash;Bob Probert, Dave Barr, Tim Higgins, Jim Nill, Joe Kocur.LD&mdash;Jeff Sharpies, Doug Halward, Lee Norwood, Harold Snepsts, Steve Chiasson.RD&mdash;Rick Zombo, Gilbert Delorme, Jim Pavese, Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Darren Veitch.G&mdash;Greg Stefan, Glen Hanlon.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steve Yzerman, C, knee, May 15. &#9632;

f0028-01

Red Wings Excited About Date With Leafs

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ AND MIKE KANE</div>It isn&rsquo;t unheard of for a goaltender to be named most valuable player in the American League. But it is rare.Since Johnny Bower won the award three straight years in the mid-50s, only three goalies have been so honored. This year, there&rsquo;s a good chance No. 4 will be selected. Two of the top three candidates for the Les Cunningham Plaque as MVP are netminders&mdash;and if the league didn&rsquo;t disallow voting for players who weren&rsquo;t on their teams&rsquo; clear-day lists, another goalie would also have a shot.Here&rsquo;s a look at the top Cunningham candidates, plus a preview of the races for the AHL&rsquo;s other major awards. All but the Pieri Trophy winner (coach of the year, chosen by AHL governors) are selected in a combined vote of AHL players and media. Award-winners are announced in May, at the conclusion of the Calder Cup playoffs.<h2>CUNNINGHAM PLAQUE</h2>Seven years ago, Maine goaltender Pelle Lindbergh won the Cunningham Plaque. This year, another Philadelphia Flyer netminding farmhand could follow his lead.With one week left in the regular season, Hershey&rsquo;s Wendell Young was the league leader with 31 wins. And his 2.77 goals-against average was third-best among goaltenders who had appeared in at least 25 games.Young started the season in Philadelphia, while Ron Hex tall served his eight-game suspension. The Bears struggled. Young came back, and the Bears rose through the ranks to first place in the AHL South.&ldquo;I think it was going to turn around anyway, but he (Young) was a big part of it,&rdquo; said Hershey coach John Paddock. &ldquo;He has been so consistent. It would be hard for me to think of five bad games he&rsquo;s had.&rdquo;Other top candidates include Sherbrooke goalie Vincent Riendeau and the league&rsquo;s top goal-scorer, Rochester&rsquo;s Jody Gage.If not for the clear-day restriction, Sherbrooke center Gilles Thibaudeau, who left for Montreal before the March 8 deadline with 96 points (39-57 in 59 games), would be a leading candidate. So would former Mariner goalie Bill Ranford, who was traded from Boston to Edmonton at the NHL deadline.Riendeau had 26 victories for the Canadiens, who were certain to capture the Harry (Hap) Holmes Trophy for allowing the fewest goals for the second straight season. They had a 17-goal lead on Hershey for that honor, with four games remaining.Riendeau&rsquo;s 2.68 goals-against average and four shutouts were league highs.Gage had a personal best with 56 goals and. with four games remaining, had a chance to reach the league record of 61 set two years ago by Paul Gardner, his former linemate.&ldquo;When you are talking about an MVP,&rdquo; said Rochester coach John Van Boxmeer, &ldquo;it is what type of an impact a player has on a team. At times this year when we were shorthanded, he was our whole hockey team.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01556/5473016-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="720" height="910"><figcaption class="caption-body">Coach John Paddock guided the Hershey Bears to a 100-point season.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02386/5473009-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="1503" height="2232"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rochester American Jody Gage was gunning for an AHL goal-scoring record and the most valuable player award. (Photo by Steven Somerville)</figcaption></div><h2>PIERI AWARD</h2>The Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award for coach of the year should go to Mike Milbury of Maine, Pat Bums of Sherbrooke or Paddock.Milbury&rsquo;s Mariners struggled during the first two months of the season and were in last place in mid-December with an 8-13-5 record. Then the Mariners woke up, going 36-14-2 and fashioning a four-point lead over Fredericton in the North, with four games remaining. During that time, the Mariners won 11 straight games&mdash;third-longest winning streak in league history.Like the Mariners, Paddock&rsquo;s Bears got off to a slow start. Their skid didn&rsquo;t last as long, however&mdash;and, when they recovered, they soared to the top of the South and had remained there since Boxing Day. The Bears had a leaguehigh 101 points with four games left and appeared a cinch to surpass the team record of 103 set by the 1980-81 team.Bums&rsquo; Canadiens finished third in the North, but he relied on a younger team than either Paddock or Milbury.During the season, Bums lost veterans Alfie Turcotte, Scott Harlow and Ernie Vargas as part of the Baltimore Skipjack charity drive. An injury sidelined promising rookie defenseman Donald Dufresne and then clear-day claimed top scorers Gilles Thibaudeau and Jose Charbonneau. Still, Bums&rsquo; team was in contention for the division title for most of the season.<h2>GARRETT TROPHY</h2>The three top candidates for the Dudley (Red) Garrett Trophy, as rookie of the year, are Binghamton center Mike Richard, Hershey left winger Glen Seabrooke and Fredericton goalie Ron Tugnutt.Richard got off to a quick start by setting a league record for collecting at least a point in 31 straight games. His streak ended Dec. 26, at which time he had 59 points (28-31) in 35 games. He cooled off after that, getting 29 points (15-14) in 33 games, but was still the scoring leader among rookies with 88 points.Seabrooke was a close second with 76 points (32-44), with a week left in the regular season.&ldquo;His forte is offense,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;But he is getting very good along the boards. After Al Hill, he&rsquo;s our best left winger along the boards.&rdquo;Tugnutt was 20-8-4 with a 3.44 goals-against average for the Express, which spent most of the season in first place in the North.The other top rookies include a quartet of forwards from Sherbrooke&mdash;center Brent Gilchrist (24-45-69), center Guy Rouleau (22-4567), right winger Mike Keane (22-41-63) and center Martin Desjardins (29-33-62). The four were among the top eight rookies in scoring.Other first-year players of note include Utica center Paul Ysebaert (26-45-71) and Nova Scotia center Fabian Joseph (31-34-65).<h2>SHORE PLAQUE</h2>Traditionally, a high-scoring defenseman has won the Eddie Shore Plaque as the league&rsquo;s top defender. That trend could change; several defensive defensemen have had outstanding seasons.Brad Shaw of Binghamton won the award last year and is a contender again with 10 goals and 49 points in 59 games. Rochester veteran Richie Dunn had 11 goals and 43 points in 64 games. Hershey&rsquo;s dependable Dave Fenyves also had good stats&mdash;nine goals and 48 points in 71 games&mdash;but is recognized more as the cornerstone of the Bears&rsquo; sound defense.Other deserving candidates are Doug Houda and Peter Dineen of Adirondack, Jim Agnew and Daniel Poudrier of Fredericton, Rochester rookie Don McSween and Maine&rsquo;s Wade Campbell.Houda, a second-year pro recalled five times by Detroit this season, and the veteran Dineen, 27, have been Adirondack&rsquo;s defensive stars.&ldquo;Doug is going to get all kinds of recognition as far as an all-star berth is concerned,&rdquo; said Adirondack coach Bill Dineen. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a pretty dominant player in this league.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03254/5473002-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="723" height="913"><figcaption class="caption-body">Binghamton&rsquo;s Brad Shaw could win his second straight Eddie Shore Plaque.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

The Minors

Goaltenders Top MVP Race

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>The Hershey Bears celebrated their 50th American League season by winning their 11th division title and sixth overall point championship April 2, with a 3-1 victory over Binghamton in their 79th game.The Bears had to postpone celebrating their second Southern Division title in coach John Paddock&rsquo;s three years with the club when they lost at Rochester, Adirondack and Utica in games prior to the Binghamton contest.In their season finale, the Bears defeated the Northern Divisionchampion Maine Mariners and finished at 50-27-3, setting a franchise record for victories and points. 105.The night before, the Mariners clinched their fifth division title in 11 seasons&mdash;with an assist from Moncton, which defeated Fredericton 10-4. The Mariners completed their first year under general manager-coach Mike Milbury with a 44-29-7 record and 99 points, four ahead of Fredericton.Maine faced the Nova Scotia Oilers in the best-of-seven first round of the Calder Cup playoffs, while Frederic-ton took on the Sherbrooke Canadiens. In the Southern Division, Hershey met Binghamton, and the Rochester Americans played the Adirondack Red Wings.Rochester secured second place by one point over Adirondack on the final night of the season with a 5-2 win over Binghamton, while the Wings dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Baltimore.<h2>RECORD ELUDES GAGE</h2>Veteran Rochester right winger Jody Gage nearly tied the league record of 61 goals in a season set by teammate Paul Gardner in 1985-86. Gage scored his 60th earlier in the Amerks&rsquo; last game, and came within an inch of counting the tying goal with 2:15 to play.Gage took a pass from Gates Orlando and fired a shot past Binghamton goaltender Peter Sidorkiewicz. The puck appeared to hit the crossbar. The goal judge did not turn on the light and referee Lance Roberts did not signal a goal.&ldquo;I wish that it either went over the net or stayed in the net, one or the other,&rdquo; Gage said. &ldquo;That way I would have known for sure.&rdquo;Gage, who scored 10 goals in the Amerks&rsquo; last seven games, was stopped by Sidorkiewicz on a backhander from the front of the crease with five seconds to go. Amerks&rsquo; coach John Van Boxmeer pulled his goaltender and tried to set a screen for Gage on the ensuing faceoff. Orlando won the draw, but Gage broke his stick making the shot and the puck never reached Sidorkiewicz.Springfield Indian center Bruce Boudreau, the oldest player in the league at 33, won his first AHL scoring title. With 116 points (42-74), he was one of four players to top 100. Others were Jean-Marc Lanthier of Fredericton (35-71-106), Gage (60-44-104) and Alfie Turcotte of Moncton (3666-102).<h2>STRUGGLING SKIPJACKS</h2>The Baltimore Skipjacks, the only AHL club without an NHL affiliation, broke or neared several futility marks during the season. Though the Skipjacks&rsquo; season started with a leaguerecord 18 consecutive losses, it ended on a positive note when Tim Hoover scored with 32 seconds left in overtime to lift the Skipjacks past Adirondack 4-3.As a result, the Skipjacks managed to avoid a league-record 59th defeat. They finished at 13-58-9 and remained tied with the 1961-62 Pittsburgh Hornets for the most losses in a season. The Hornets, 10-58-2, set the mark in a 70-game season.Baltimore set a league record of 434 goals against, nine more than the previous record-holding Erie Blades of 1981-82.Baltimore rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to force the overtime. Hoover&rsquo;s second goal of the season pushed the &lsquo;Jacks&rsquo; road record to 5-31-4. Oddly. Baltimore was the only AHL team without an overtime los^ The Skipjacks were 2-0-9.The Skipjacks operated as an independent after losing their affiliation with the Penguins in 1987. &#9632;

Bears, Mariners Take AHL Division Crowns

<div class="byline">BY BOB WAGNER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01635/5473071-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="156" height="133"></div>He dispenses Porta-Johns. He has double-vision. And for the period ending March 27, he was player of the week in the International League.Veteran Don Waddell of the Flint Spirits received the honor after scoring one goal and six assists in a 12-0 win over the Milwaukee Admirals. March 26.The seven points tied a league record for most points by a defenseman in a single game.It was first set in 1963-64 by John Gravel (4-3) of the Toledo Blades and tied by Dwight Schofield (2-5) of the Kalamazoo Wings in 1977-78.Waddell, twice an IHL all-star and defenseman of the year in 1981-82 as a Saginaw Gear, nearly had his playing career finished when he was butt-ended in the left eye during a summer hockey league game in 1984. The mishap kept him from joining a team in Switzerland.Waddell eventually signed with the Flint Generals, but was traded to the Toledo Goaldiggers.&ldquo;It was definitely my eye problem,&rdquo; he says in retrospect. &ldquo;Iwasn&rsquo;t playing well.&rdquo;Waddell started planning for the future. So. he bought a Porta-John franchise&mdash;&rdquo;I take a lot of abuse for that&rdquo;&mdash;under the name Don Waddell, Inc., and has been flush with profits since.&ldquo;Summer&rsquo;s real busy.&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;My sister runs the business during the hockey season.&rdquo;In 1985-86. he played well enough for a mediocre Toledo club to become an IHL all-star defenseman for the second time in his career.&ldquo;My vision is okay when I look straight ahead,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but when I look straight down at my feet (or to the side) I have double-vision. I&rsquo;ve adjusted to it, although the first two years it did bother me.&rdquo;This year, Waddell&rsquo;s stats have been impressive (16-52-68 in 65 games). &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to show I can still play the game. I know a lot of people think I&rsquo;m too old.&rdquo;<h2>&lsquo;JACKS EYE RECORDS</h2>As of March 28, the Muskegon Lumberjacks (52-13-9 for 113 points) were on the verge of breaking IHL records for most points (114 by Kalamazoo in 1980-81) and most victories by one team in a single season (53 by Toledo in 1881-82).Three other league marks were attainable for the &lsquo;Jacks before the end of the regular season April 10&mdash;most team goals (407 by Toledo in 1981-82 and Milwaukee in 1982-83), assis (662 by Port Huron in 1978-79) and total scoring points (1,055 by Port Huron in 1978-79). As of March 28. Muskegon had 373 goals, 637 assists and 1,010 points.<h2>A POWERFUL PRESENCE</h2>Center Colin Chin of Fort Wayne Komets had 24 power-play goals, one shy of the IHL record set by Gary Ford of the Muskegon Mohawks in 1972-73&hellip;Center John Cullen of Flint Spirits (44-92-136 in 72 games played) was six points away from breaking Ford&rsquo;s total points record of 141, also set in 1972-73, and nine assists away from Dale Yakiwchuk&rsquo;s assist mark of 100. set in 1982-83 with Milwaukee. &#9632;

f0030-01

Waddell Rolls Lucky Seven With One Goal, Six Assists

<div class="byline">BY LARRY MAHONEY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0031-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02406/5473102-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">NCAA Final Four MVP Bruce Hoffort stops this close-in chance by ston looks on. Hoffort stopped 49 shots, leading the Lakers to a St. Lawrence&rsquo;s Joe Day, as Lake Superior teammate Karl John-4-3 victory in the championship game. (canapress Photo service)</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01581/5473109-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="180" height="132"></div>LAKE PLACID, N.Y.&mdash;The Lake Superior Lakers stole the show at the NCAA Final Four tournament, winning the U.S. national championship while the nation&rsquo;s two top-ranked teams duked it out in the consolation final.The Lakers claimed the school&rsquo;s first national title with a 4-3 win over another surprise finalist, the St. Lawrence Saints. Maine Black Bears and Minnesota Golden Gophers&mdash;teams that shared the top two spots in the weekly college hockey polls most of the year&mdash;were humbled in the semi-final round by the Lakers and Saints, respectively.In the championship game, junior right winger Mark Vermette picked the right time to score his first goal of the tournament&mdash;4:46 into overtime. Vermette, the Central Collegiate Association&rsquo;s player of the year, was the nation&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer with 45 in 46 games.&ldquo;It was a pretty lucky goal,&rdquo; Vermette said of the 15-footer off a scramble in the slot. &ldquo;It went through about five players. I hadn&rsquo;t been that effective, so coach (Anzalone) told me to muck and grind and go to the net in the third period.The Lakers may not have been in position to in if it hadn &lsquo;t been for the goaltending of Bruce Hoffort, selected the tournament&rsquo;s most valuable player.The freshman netminder, a first-team all-CCHA pick, turned aside 49 shots, including 20 in the first period.&ldquo;He was really a key early,&rdquo; Anzalone said. &ldquo;St. Lawrence obviously wasn&rsquo;t tired from Friday night&rsquo;s game against Minnesota. They did everything quickly. I thought our defense did a good job, they cleared the rebounds well all night. But our forwards were a little flat.&rdquo;St. Lawrence outshot Lake Superior State 39-19 through two periods, prompting a pep talk from Anzalone.&ldquo;I told them (big) schools like Penn State and Indiana win national championships,&rdquo; said Anzalone. &ldquo;But now we (enrolment 2,907) had a chance to win one.&rdquo;Lake Superior began to wear down the Saints late in the game but the score remained 3-3 as both goalies, Hoffort and St. Lawrence&rsquo;s Paul Cohen, came up with sparkling saves, counterpart.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never met a finer man than Joe Marsh,&rdquo; said Anzalone. &ldquo;He is so sincere, in a business.With 6:42 left, SLU&rsquo;s Peter Buckeridge was set up alone in the slot by Lappin only to have his 16-footer deflected wide by Hoffort.The Lakers got a break with 1:23 left when Stauber lifted his net off its moorings in a scramble&mdash;which would have meant a penalty shot had referee Frank Cole seen the incident.&ldquo;It was a very bad play by Pete Stauber,&rdquo; said Anzalone.Tim Harris&rsquo; 30-footer from the right wing, and Kord Cernich&rsquo;s screened drive put Lake Superior State on top 2-0 in the first period.But the Saints tied it in the second, on Doug Murray&rsquo;s tip-in off a Brian McColgan shot and Russ Mann&rsquo;s wrap-around goal. Cernich and McColgan swapped power-play goals later in the second period.&ldquo;We thought they finally might be getting a little tired in the third period so we decided to go for it in the overtime,&rdquo; said Anzalone, who expressed great respect for his St. Lawrence where there are a lot of plastic people. Playing them was like looking in a mirror. They are winners. They took a lot of offensive chances and kept us back on our heels.&rdquo;Lake Superior was outshot 52-35. The 33-7-6 Lakers were 17-1-1 in games they were outshot.Maine won the consolation game 5-2, getting second-period goals 4:21 apart from Guy Perron, Dave Wensley and Dave Capuano. Backup goalie Al Loring made 39 saves.In the first semi-final, the Lakers spotted Maine a 2-0 lead before rallying for a 6-3 win. Junior right winger Mike de Carle and freshman center Jim Dowd had a pair of goals apiece for the Lakers. Hoffort made 33 stops, and freshman defenseman Karl Johnston dealt what Bear coach Shawn Walsh called &ldquo;the emotional harpoon&rdquo; when he scored the 5-3 goal with 8:28 left.The second semi-final saw St. Lawrence senior center Pete Lappin pick up a hat trick, including the game-winner off a rebound with just 12 seconds left, as the Saints nipped Minnesota 3-2.St. Lawrence wound up 29-9, Maine finished at 34-8-2 and Minnesota 34-10-0. Lake Superior and St. Lawrence (enrolment 2,200) feature hockey as their only Division I programs.St. Lawrence had never won a national title and played in just its second NCAA championship game. Denver beat SLU 12-2 in the 1961 NCAA final; SLU hadn&rsquo;t been in a Final Four since 1962.Lake Superior and Maine were making their first appearances in the Final Four. Minnesota, making its third straight appearance in the Final Four, finished third the previous two years.Hoffort was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Cernich (defense) and de Carle (forward), as well as St. Lawrence&rsquo;s Lappin (forward) and McColgan (defense) and Maine&rsquo;s Dave Capuano (forward). &#9632;

f0031-02

The Colleges

Victory Sweet For Lakers

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Larry Mahoney</div>LAKE PLACID, N.Y.&mdash;The first goalie to win the Hobey Baker Award said he did it with a little help from his friends.Despite solely assuming his team&rsquo;s goaltending duties this season&mdash;starting all 36 Western Collegiate regular-season games&mdash;University of Minnesota sophomore Robb Stauber called his March 30 selection &ldquo;a team award.&rdquo;Stauber, 20, became the eighth recipient of the award, which is given to the best college hockey player in the United States.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a really great honor,&rdquo; said Stauber, a fifth-round NHL draft choice of the Los Angeles Kings in 1986. &ldquo;I attribute it to the coaching staff at the University of Minnesota and the players at Minnesota. Without their hard work and dedication, it wouldn&rsquo;t have happened. Without their consistent play, I couldn&rsquo;t have been as consistent as I was.&rdquo;Stauber compiled a 34-8-0 record, 2.66 goals-against average and. 913 save percentage in leading the Gophers to the WCHA regularseason title and a berth in the NCAA hockey tournament&rsquo;s Final Four.Heading into the Final Four, Stauber had chalked up single-season school records for shutouts (5), wins (34), saves (1,171), games played (42) and minutes played (2,502).He allowed three goals or less in 35 of his 42 games. In post-season play, Stauber had a 5-1 record and 1.33 GAA entering the Final Four.The 5-foot-10, 165-pound native of Duluth, Minn., was named the WCHA&rsquo;s most valuable player and goalie of the year in addition to earning first team all-WCHA honors.University of Minnesota coach Doug Woog said Stauber was &ldquo;highly dedicated&rdquo; and a model student-athlete on and off the ice.&ldquo;It was an excellent choice,&rdquo; said Woog. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have a two-goalie situation this year. It was Robb or out. He has had a lot of pressure on him. He has been our anchor.&rdquo;Stauber expects to return to Minnesota next season rather than turn pro.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve made a commitment to play for the University of Minnesota,&rdquo; said Stauber. &ldquo;I enjoy college life and I love college hockey.&rdquo;The other Hobey Baker finalists were Maine center Mike Golden and defenseman Dave Capuano, Lake Superior right winger Mark Vermette, Colgate right winger Rejean Boivin, Northern Michigan right winger Phil Berger, North Dakota center Steve Johnson, Wisconsin left winger Paul Ranheim, St. Lawrence center Pete Lappin and Bowling Green center Nelson Emerson.Last year&rsquo;s winner was Tony Hrkac of North Dakota. Hrkac, a center, is now with the St. Louis Blues. Stauber was the third sophomore to earn the honor. &#9632;

Hobey Cans One-Man Show For Stauber

<div class="byline">BY KARLO BERKOVICH Editorial Staff</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01613/5473164-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="177" height="134"></div>Ottawa 67&rsquo;s made Ontario League history March 30.With a 5-0 victory over the Oshawa Generals, Ottawa became the first OHL team to rebound from a 3-0 deficit and win a best-of-seven series.The seventh game was played before a capacity crowd of 9,855, the first sellout at the Ottawa Civic Centre since an Ottawa-Oshawa Leyden Division final series game on April 20, 1982.Making the comeback more dramatic was the fact the 67&rsquo;s trailed the Generals 5-4 with 24 seconds left in the fourth game, at Oshawa. Right winger Frank DiMuzio tied it with 23 seconds left and Matt Smyth won it for Ottawa in overtime.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve certainly never been down three games, 59 minutes and 37 seconds,&rdquo; said elated Ottawa coach Brian Kilrea. &ldquo;This truly was a miracle on ice. It was the comeback of a career, if not a lifetime.&rdquo;The 67&rsquo;s dominated Oshawa in the last three games, winning 8-3, 7-2 and 5-0. League scoring champion Andrew Cassels, held to two assists in the first two games, finished the series with four goals and 14 assists. He continued his hot pace against Cornwall in the Leyden Division semi-final.The Montreal Canadien draftee scored at 2:13 of overtime April 3 to give the 67&rsquo;s a 2-1 win in the first game of a best-of-seven Emms Division semi-final. The Royals advanced by ousting the Belleville Bulls in six games. The winner of the CornwallOttawa series will meet Peterborough, which accepted a bye into the division final after eliminating Toronto in four straight games.In the Emms Division, London Knights eliminated Sault Ste. Marie in six games. Three London wins, including the clincher in game six, came by 5-4 scores in overtime. Dennis McEwen won the series for the Knights at 6:29 of overtime in game six.London split the first two games of its Emms semi-final series with Hamilton. Each team claimed 6-5 victories on the road. The winner of the best-of-seven series will face Windsor, which accepted a bye into the Leyden final after breezing by Kitchener in four games.<h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>Alain Charland can score in bunches. And at crucial times.The Drummondville Voltigeur forward scored six goals&mdash;including two in overtime and one other game-winner&mdash;to lead his team to a 4-1 series win over Victoriaville Tigres in a Dilio Division semi-final.Charland&rsquo;s goal at 11:55 of OT in game four put the Volts in charge of the series. Drummondville wrapped up the set with a 6-3 win at home March 30 to advance into the division final beginning April 5 against Shawinigan.The fourth-place Cataractes upset the pennant-winning Chicoutimi Sagueneens in six games, thanks to the scoring exploits of Patrice Lefebvre, Stephan Lebeau and Daniel Bock. Lefebvre, Canadian major junior hockey&rsquo;s all-time scoring leader, had four goals and 16 assists in the series. Lebeau had 11 goals and six assists, Bock two goals and 12 assists.First-place Hull and second-place Laval opened the LeBel Division final April 5. Hull whipped Granby in five games in one semi-final while Laval beat St-Jean in a seven-game series. Alain Dubeau&rsquo;s shutout goaltending led Laval to a 4-0 win in game seven.<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>Home-ice disadvantage was working to perfection after four games of the East Division semi-final series be-tween Saskatoon and Swift Current.The teams were tied 2-2, and neither had managed a win on home ice. After losing 5-4 and 4-3 at home in the opener, the Blades roared back with 10-3 and 7-3 romps on Swift Current ice. Kory Kocur led Saskatoon with three goals and one assist in the 10-3 victory.&ldquo;There was a lot of hype around here (Swift Current) after we won the first two games,&rdquo; said Bronco assistant coach Lome Frey, &ldquo;and I think the guys started taking things for granted.&rdquo;Saskatoon scored four unanswered third-period goals in game four against what Frey described as a &ldquo;tired&rdquo; club. League co-scoring champion Joe Sakic, who had three goals and three assists in the first two games, had just one assist in the next two.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just whipped,&rdquo; said Frey. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s played 25 to 30 minutes every game this year. He&rsquo;s tired.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">Goaltender Troy Gamble made 51 saves to lead Spo kane to a crucial view tory over Victoria.</blockquote>Medicine Hat and Prince Albert were tied 2-2 in the other East Division semi-final. Prince Albert center Mike Modano, rated No. 1 among 1988 draft-eligible players by NHL Central Scouting, had three goals and eight assists after four games. He contributed five assists to the Raiders&rsquo; 8-2 win in game three. Trevor Linden, rated second by Central Scouting, had two goals, including the game-winner, in Medicine Hat&rsquo;s 3-2 fourth-game victory.Troy Gamble&rsquo;s solid goaltending paced Spokane to a 5-3 win over Victoria in a best-of-nine West Division semi-final. Spokane was outshot 52-22 in game six but won 3-1 as Gamble made 51 saves. The Chiefs wrapped up the set with a 4-1 win at Victoria.Mark Recchi&rsquo;s three goals and 10 assists led Kamloops to a five-gams sweep of New Westminster in the other West Division series. Kamloops and Spokane were scheduled to open their best-of-seven division final April 8. &#9632;

f0032-01

The Juniors

‘Comeback Of A Career’ An OHL Record

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01549/5473195-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">OHL standout Andrew Cassels (in jersey) was welcomed into the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; family at the 1987 draft in Detroit.</figcaption></div>No one dominated junior hockey this year the way Rob Brown did last season, but there are several players worthy of succeeding the former Kamloops Blazer center as Canadian Hockey League player of the year.Andrew Cassels for one.The Ottawa 67&rsquo;s center, runaway scoring leader in the Ontario League, is the OHL nominee for major junior player of the year.Candidates from the Western and uebec League have yet to be innounced. They&rsquo;re expected to be named by mid-April.Each of the 15 teams in the OHL, 10 teams in the QMJHL and 14 teams in the WHL submit nominees for league Molson/Cooper player-of-the-year honors.A panel of NHL scouts will decide which of the three league representatives is the CHL&rsquo;s best of the year. The winner will be announced at the Memorial Cup banquet in Chicoutimi, Que., May 11.THN correspondents Jim Cressman (OHL), Ed Willes (WHL) and Rick Mayoh (QMJHL) take a look at possible winners of this year&rsquo;s award.<h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>Cassels scored 151 points on 48 goals and 103 assists in 61 games&mdash;16 more points than runner-up Len Soccio of North Bay Centennials&mdash;to easily win the scoring championship.The line of Cassels, Dave Rowbotham and Frank DiMuzio accounted for 367 points this season. Cassels, 5-foot-11 and 170 pounds, gets by more on smarts than size. Last year, his 26-66-92 totals in 66 games earned him rookie-of-the-year honors.The 18-year-old native of Bramalea, Ont., was the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; first-round pick in the 1987 NHL draft.Second in voting to Cassels was Cornwall Royal goalie Rick Tabaracci, a 19-year-old native of Toronto who had a 33-18-6 record, 3.48 goals-against average and. 890 save percentage. Soccio, a 20-year-old center from St. Catharines, Ont., was second in scoring (53-82-135 in 66 games) and third in balloting.They join Cassels as top candidates for the league MVP award, the Red Tilson Trophy, voted on by league media.Other team player-of-the-year nominees were: defenseman Brian Chapman, 20, Belleville (11-57-68 in 63 games); left winger Lonnie Loach, 20 on April 14. Guelph (43-49-92 in 66); right winger Stan Drulia. 20, Hamilton (52-69-121 in 65); left winger Scott Pearson, 18, Kingston (2632-58 in 46); center Jeff Noble, 19, Kitchener (37-64-101 in 55); defenseman Brad Schlegel, 19, London (1363-76 in 66); right winger Sean Williams, 20, Oshawa (58-65-123 in 65); center Mark Freer, 19, Peterborough (37-70-108 in 63); left winger Dan Currie, 20, Sault Ste. Marie (50-59109 in 57); left winger Todd Lalonde, 18, Sudbury (27-43-70 in 59); left winger Chris Govedaris, 18, Toronto (4238-80 in 62); and defenseman Darryl Shannon, 19, Windsor (16-67-83 in 60).<h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>Two centers, whose duel for the scoring championship ended in a dead heat, are expected to square off again in the race for WHL player of the year.Moose Jaw&rsquo;s Theoren Fleury, 5-foot-6 and 150 pounds, was a one-man wrecking crew for the last-place Warriors. The 19-year-old native of Russell, Man., finished the year with 68 goals and 92 assists in 65 games. The 68 goals and 160 points were Warrior franchise records.Meanwhile, Joe Sakic lifted the Swift Current Broncos into fourth place in the Eastern Division, just seven points out of first. The 18-year-old Burnaby, B.C., native finished with 78 goals, a franchise record, and 82 assists in 64 games.Other top candidates are goalie Troy Gamble of the Spokane Chiefs, goalie Tim Cheveldae of the Saskatoon Blades and defenseman Greg Hawgood of the Kamloops Blazers.Gamble, 21 on April 7, led WHL goalies with 67 games and 3,824 minutes played. The Wetaskiwin, Alta., native was second in save percentage at. 895 and goals-against average at 3.69.Cheveldae, a 20-year-old native of Melville. Sask., finished third with a 3.71 goals-against average and fourth with a. 887 save percentage.Hawgood led Kamloops to its fifth straight Western Division title. The 19-year-old native of St. Albert, Alta., finished eighth in the league scoring with 133 points (48-85) in 63 games.All five are also leading contenders for league MVP honors, voted on by the league&rsquo;s general managers and announced during the divisional finals, April 10-22.Other player-of-the-year candidates are: Portland center Dennis Holland, 19 (58-86-144 in 67 games); Brandon goalie George Maneluk, 20 (24-33-3, 4.88,. 878); Regina center Mark Janssens, 19 (39-51-90 in 71); Lethbridge goalie Jeff Ferguson, 18 (19-34-4, 4.57,. 873); Seattle center Glen Goodall, 18 (53-64-117 in 70); New Westminster left winger Sean Lebrun, 18 (36-53-89 in 72); and Victoria right winger Joel Savage, 18 (37-32-69 in 69).NHL Central Scouting&rsquo;s top two draft prospects also were chosen&mdash;Prince Albert Raider center Mike Modano, 17 (47-80-127 in 65) and Medicine Hat Tiger right winger Trevor Linden, 18on April 11 (46-64-110 in 67).<h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>There is no clear-cut favorite in the QMJHL, but the winner will likely come from a short list of three&mdash;St-Jean Castor goalie Stephane Beauregard, Hull Olympique center Marc Saumier and Shawinigan Cataracte right winger Patrice Lefebvre.All three are also leading contenders for the Michel Briere Memorial Trophy, given annually to the league MVP. Winners of both awards are selected by league coaches.The 5-foot-5, 165-pound Lefebvre, a 20-year-old Montrealer, won the league scoring championship (64-136-200 in 70 games) and set the league career scoring record (187-408-595) in four seasons. He beat Patrick Emond&rsquo;s five-year mark (229-346-575).The feisty Saumier is a heart-and-soul player for the Olympiques. Hull was off to a 1-7 start before the 5-foot-7,181-pound NHL free agent returned from the American League&rsquo;s Sherbrooke Canadiens.The 20-year-old Hull native led the Olympiques to its second straight pennant. He was third in league scoring with 52 goals and 114 assists in just 59 games.Saumier is tabbed by Granby coach Real Paiement, because he &ldquo;does so much&rdquo; for the Olympiques.But Victoriaville coach Guy Chouinard argues Beauregard, 20, is the most valuable player to his team.&ldquo;If Saumier isn&rsquo;t there, where is Hull?&rdquo; asks Chouinard, implying the Olympiques are still strong without him. &ldquo;If Beauregard isn&rsquo;t there, where is St-Jean? Beauregard did everything for the Castors.&rdquo;The undrafted 5-foot-10, 181-pounder from neighboring Iberville played in 66 of St-Jean&rsquo;s 70 games and wound up with the league&rsquo;s best goals-against average (3.65). He carved out a 38-20-3 record and. 896 save percentage while playing 3,766 minutes in the Castors&rsquo; net.Other player-of-the-year candidates selected by the league&rsquo;s coaches are: Chicoutimi right winger Patrice Tremblay, 20 (72-75-147 in 68 games); Drummondville center Steve Chartrand, 19 (50-62-112 in 68); Granby right winger Sylvain Hurteau, 21 (54-58-112 in 64); Laval center Francois Guay, 19 (60-84-144 in 66); Trois-Rivieres right winger Terry MacLean, 20 (52-91-143 in 69); Verdun goalie Jean-Claude Bergeron, 19 (13-31-3 record, 5.86 GAA&hellip;865 save percentage); and rookie Victoriaville center Reginald Savage, 17 (68-54122 in 68). &#9632;

f0033-01

Cream Of The Junior Crop

MARCH 28 TO APRIL 3<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02392/5473240-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="357" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">RON GOODALL London</figcaption></div><h2>ONTARIO LEAGUE</h2>The 20-year-old right winger had five goals and nine assists in four games to help London eliminate the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Goodall was the OHL&rsquo;s leading playoff scorer with 11 goals and 13 assists in eight games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03285/5473233-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="367" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body">ALAIN DUBEAU Laval</figcaption></div><h2>QUEBEC LEAGUE</h2>The 19-year-old Laval goaltender posted a 4-0 shutout victory over the St-Jean Castors in the seventh game of a LeBel Division semi-final series. Dubeau, a 5-foot-10, 180-pounder, had a 3.24 goals-against average for the series.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04225/5473226-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="364" height="469"><figcaption class="caption-body">MARK RECCHI Kamloops</figcaption></div><h2>WESTERN LEAGUE</h2>The Kamloops forward scored three goals and added 10 assists to lead the Blazers to a five-game sweep of New Westminster in the Western League&rsquo;s West Division playoffs. Kamloops advanced to the division final against Spokane.At the end of the current season. THE HOCKEY NEWS will select a Micron Junior Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0033-02

MICRON JUNIOR PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<h2>Mon., Mar. 28</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01573/5473463-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="620" height="2064"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02447/5473456-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="620" height="872"></div><h2>Tue., Mar. 29</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03362/5473449-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="613" height="1193"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04277/5473442-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="608" height="2087"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05198/5473435-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="606" height="785"></div><h2>Wed., Mar. 30</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06160/5473428-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="599" height="2687"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07146/5473421-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="593" height="91"></div><h2>Thur., Mar. 31</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-08125/5473414-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="609" height="3397"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01542/5473407-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="604" height="732"></div><h2>Fri., Apr. 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02376/5473400-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="614" height="2806"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03281/5473393-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="609" height="1903"></div><h2>Sat. Apr. 2</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04229/5473386-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="610" height="1633"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05187/5473379-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="610" height="3565"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06158/5473372-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="614" height="212"></div><h2>Sun., Apr. 3</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07141/5473365-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="593" height="1694"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08127/5473358-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="606" height="1938"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01222/5473351-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="607" height="764"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02143/5473344-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="620" height="802"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03102/5473337-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="626" height="811"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0483/5473330-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="614" height="807"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0571/5473323-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="608" height="799"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01267/5473525-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0040-01

The Hockey News SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0041-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0664/5473556-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0041-06

The Hockey News Classified (445) 445-5702

It&rsquo;s, uh&hellip;an interesting suggestion,&rdquo; the boss told me as I sat in his office, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m not sure we can put the girls of the IHL on the cover every week.&ldquo;Anyway, let&rsquo;s get down to business. What do you have for me this week?&rdquo;We looked over the Numbers column, made a few alterations, and then moved on to the next order of business&mdash;my list of suggestions for THN&rsquo;s all-star ballot. The boss went over my list and calmly added the names of European players I neglected to include.&ldquo;Don Cherry&rsquo;s my idol,&rdquo; I said by way of explanation.We went through each team&rsquo;s roster, position by position, until we came to the Montreal defense. Chelios. Check. Larry Robinson. Maybe right flank on the National Polo League all-star team. Petr Svoboda. The boss started to pencil in his name.&ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; I said, &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know we were going to include half the defensemen in the league.&rdquo;&ldquo;Well, after all,&rdquo; he replied huffily, &ldquo;He is leading the league in plus-minus.&rdquo;Svoboda was actually second at the time to Brad McCrimmon but I didn&rsquo;t know it then, because not once during the entire season had I looked at any player&rsquo;s plus-minus record. I had just about every other stat stored in my computer, including goals indexed by eye color. But plus-minus? Never!&ldquo;Useless! Useless! Useless!&rdquo; I told the boss in no uncertain terms.The boss&rsquo; boss poked his head in the door and edited out one &ldquo;Useless!&rdquo; He argued that if one player has a substantially higher or lower plusminus than his teammates, then at least that gives some relevance to the statistic.I could go along with that, but there&rsquo;s few people in the league who fit that description.What about the rest of the players? Most goals are scored as the result of a missed assignment or a bad play by one player. Four guys do their jobs and one doesn&rsquo;t, so all five of them should pay the consequences?Plus-minus is listed beside each player as an individual statistic, yet is almost totally dependent upon the player&rsquo;s linemates or defensive partner. Most hockey fans know that players on good teams have good plus-minuses and players on bad teams have poor plus-minuses, so many think that comparing players on the same team is a valid exercise.But it doesn&rsquo;t always work out that way.For instance, most teams have one good scoring line that accounts for a good percentage of their goals. Why should the players designated to play against that line be punished as a group? Even if they manage to hold Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s line to two goals when it might otherwise have scored four, they&rsquo;re put down as minus-two each.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01230/5473587-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="397" height="432"><figcaption class="caption-body">Murray Townsend</figcaption></div>No better example of plus-minus shortcomings exists than Bob Gainey. One of the best defensive forwards in NHL history, he has won the Frank Selke Trophy four times. Once he did so despite failing the plus-minus acid test. In 1979-80, Gainey was chosen tops defensively with an overall minus-two.What about players on scoring lines? The opposition may just be trying to stop them rather than score. So you give pluses to all those players on the five-man unit, including the defenseman whose job is often to get the puck to the forwards as fast as he can and stay out of the way?Most of all, the plus-minus statistic doesn&rsquo;t say a single thing about an individual player&rsquo;s offense compared to his defense.Consider this scenario which occurred during a recent game at Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto&rsquo;s Al lafrate carried the puck out of his own end and was checked by an opposing forward, who was suddenly spearheading a 2-on-1. The remaining defenseman, Borje Salming, stayed in the middle, the way he&rsquo;s supposed to, and the closest winger, Mike Blaisdell, made a concentrated effort to get back in the play and guard the open man.The player with the puck, the New York Rangers&rsquo; Brian Mullen, wound up inside the blue line&middot;and blasted it into the top comer of the net. Give everyone on the defensive teak minus-one and everyone on the offensive plus-one? Only two of the 10 skaters on the ice had anything to do with the goal.&ldquo;Boss,&rdquo; I pleaded, &ldquo;it would be the same as everybody in this office getting a minus-one because I left the Sacramento Kings off the list of 17-year pro franchise records.&rdquo;The boss reached in his drawer and pulled out a sheet. &ldquo;Yes. as a matter of fact they did,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;And you got a minus-one for the story on the Vietnam vet junior coach who didn&rsquo;t actually carry a wounded soldier on his back for 60 miles all by himself.&ldquo;If you feel that strongly about it,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;Why don&rsquo;t you write about it.&rdquo;And I would too, but I ran out of space. Give me a minus-one and take one off everybody in the subscription department. After all, they were here at the same time I was. &#9632;

f0042-01

Reviewing The Minuses Of Plus-Minus

<div class="byline">BY JEFF GORDON</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02165/5473618-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="178" height="134"></div>ST. LOUIS&mdash;The St. Louis Blues&rsquo; regular season ended on an appropriate note&mdash;they suffered a 5-4 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets, then spent 4&frac12; hours in the airport waiting for their tardy charter flight.The symolism was perfect. The Blues, frustrated and stalled, sat around wondering what the playoffs would bring.After their mediocre 76-point season, which earned them second place in the weak Norris Division, the Blues were seeking redemption in the first-round playoff series against the Blackhawks.&ldquo;We have a challenge now,&rdquo; Blues&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin said. &ldquo;We feel positive. This year I feel we&rsquo;re better prepared for the playoffs than last year. Last year, because of the stretch run, every game became a big game. We didn&rsquo;t know until late whether we&rsquo;d be in the playoffs.&ldquo;This year we&rsquo;ll be more rested.&rdquo;Last year the Toronto Maple Leafs gonged the Blues in the first round, winning in six games. This season, Martin, his staff and the remaining Blues veterans know what is at stake in the first round: their jobs.Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron has threatened to clean house if the Blues lose to the Blackhawks.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a test for everybody,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;This is a business. It&rsquo;s the type of game where you benefit if you win. We&rsquo;re all in the same situation.&rdquo;Veterans Bernie Federko and Brian Sutter shrugged off Caron&rsquo;s win-or-else command.&ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t affect us,&rdquo; Federko said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going out to win games. Something like that is irrelevant as far as I&rsquo;m concerned. That&rsquo;s like saying, &lsquo;If you don&rsquo;t score 10 goals we&rsquo;re going to get rid of you.&rsquo; What are you going to do? Not try to score?&rdquo;Sutter said he doesn&rsquo;t need outside pressure to remind him of the first-round importance.&ldquo;I remember when I didn&rsquo;t get past the first round, I didn&rsquo;t want to go home and see the family in the summer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;In the playoffs, you should be ashamed if you don&rsquo;t do something.&rdquo;In the Blackhawk series, the Blues are most concerned about stopping Chicago star Denis Savard and cleaning up their own defensive problems. Since trading Rob Ramage, the Blues have been vulnerable in their own end.If the Blues can&rsquo;t contain Savard and cough up the puck to Blackhawk checkers, the series could turn disaster. In their last home game against the Blackhawks, the Blues lapsed into a 7-7 shootout.&ldquo;Hopefully, the experimenting is over,&rdquo; Federko said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a very inconsistent year. We have to think about the good games we&rsquo;ve played and duplicate them. We have to check.&ldquo;Chicago is a team you have to score goals against. They&rsquo;re going to score a lot of goals themselves.&rdquo;NOTES&mdash;Defenseman Rob Whistle suffered a broken ankle when, ironically enough, he blocked a Rob Ramage shot in a game against Calgary March 28. Whistle was promoted from Peoria when Ramage was traded to the Flames&hellip;Mark Hunter&rsquo;s left knee didn&rsquo;t recover quickly from a strain suffered at Washington March 22. He was expected to be sidelined until late in the Chicago series&hellip;Tony McKegney became the ninth Blue ever to score 40 goals. He set new personal marks for goals (40). assists (38^^! points (78)&hellip;After giving up 14 games in his first two starts, goaltender Darrell May settled down and allowed just four against the swarming Edmonton Oilers in a 5-2 loss April 1.<h2>BLUES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bernie Federko, Doug Gilmour, Rick Meagher, Tony Hrkac, Cliff Ronning.LW&mdash;Brian Sutter, Tony McKegney, Gino Cavallini, Steve Bozek, Perry Turnbull, Doug Evans.RW&mdash;Brett Hull, Greg Paslawski, Herb Raglan, Todd Ewen.LD&mdash;Brian Benning, Paul Cavallini, Robert Dirk, Gordie Roberts.RD&mdash;Tim Bothwell, Gaston Gingras, Robert Nordmark.G&mdash;Greg Millen, Darrell May.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ron Flockhart, LW, rheumatoid arthritis, out for the season.Mark Hunter, RW, strained left knee, day-to-day.Jocelyn Lemieux, LW, broken left leg and damaged ligaments, day-to-day.Rob Whistle, RD, broken right ankle, out for the season. &#9632;

f0042-02

Blues Are Rested And Ready, Martin Says

<h2>10 YEARS AGO:</h2>&bull; Two New England Whalers and two Winnipeg Jets were named to THE HOCKEY NEWS World Hockey Association first all-star team. Goalie Al Smith and defenseman Ron Plumb represented the Whalers, center Ulf Nilsson and finger Anders Hedberg the Jets. Edmonton defenseman Al Hamilton and Qubec left winger Marc Tardif completed the team.&bull; Minnesota North Star general manager Lou Nanne, who coached the team&rsquo;s final 29 games of the season, said University of Minnesota coach Herb Brooks and New England Whaler coach Harry Neale were the leading candidates to coach the North Stars in 1978-79. Harry Howell ended up getting the post, but he eventually gave way to Glen Sonmor.<h2>20 YEARS AGO:</h2>&bull; Boston Bruins made the playoffs for the first time since 1958-59, but lost their first two games to the Montreal Canadiens, who would sweep the Bruins in a best-of-seven 1967-68 quarter-final series. Boston center Phil Esposito, who set a team scoring record with 35 goals and 49 assists in 74 games, had an assist in leach game. Montreal won the Stanley Cup that season.&bull; Rookie St. Louis Blues&rsquo; coach Scotty Bowman denied he would leave the [expansion team. Bowman was quoted by a St. Louis reporter as saying, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not Isure I will come back&hellip;At the end of the season I plan to take a vacation and see what I want to do.&rdquo; Bowman said he was misquoted. He took the Blues to the Stanley Cup final that season and the next two. He left the Blues for Montreal after the 1970-71 season. &#9632;

THIS WEEK··,

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02168/5473711-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">New York Ranger winger Pat Hickey tumbles to the ice after being checked by Cleveland Baron defenseman Bob Girard (26) during a late 1970s game at Madison Square Garden. Girard&rsquo;s defense partner, Bob Stewart (4), watches the play as Hickey hits the deck.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0043-02

THE WAY WE WERE

<div class="byline">BY HOWARD BERGER</div>Darryl Sittler scored more than 500 regular-season and playoff goals during his 15year NHL career. He added a Canada Cup-winning goal in 1976.But Sittier doesn&rsquo;t even star in the goal-scoring memory he treasures most. That role is reserved for friend and former teammate Lanny McDonald.It was nearly 10 years ago&mdash;on April 29, 1978&mdash;that McDonald&rsquo;s dramatic overtime goal gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a quarter-final series win over the New York Islanders.&ldquo;What a great night that was,&rdquo; recalled Sittler, then captain of the Leaf team. &ldquo;I can see that goal like it happened only yesterday.&rdquo;The play culminated at 4:13 of overtime, after McDonald knocked down a loose puck at the New York blue line and snapped a low shot past goalie Glenn (Chico) Resch. The goal gave Toronto a 2-1 win and 4-3 series victory.&ldquo;We were mobbing each other and singing, &lsquo;We Are The Champions&rsquo; at the top of our voices,&rdquo; said Sittler, who now lives in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst.&ldquo;They played that song over the Nassau Coliseum loudspeaker every time the Islanders came onto the ice in that series. So we figured they&rsquo;d like to hear it again.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03142/5473742-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="580" height="882"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darryl Sittler</figcaption></div>Sittler&rsquo;s leadership and strong play by a supporting cast that included McDonald, Borje Salming, Ian Turnbull, Tiger Williams and goalie Mike Palmateer led Toronto to a third-place finish in the Adams Division.The Leafs&rsquo; record of 41-29-10 represented the second-highest point total (92) in team history.Toronto opened the playoffs by eliminating Los Angeles. Celebrations were subdued, however&hellip;until McDonald ended the Islander series.&ldquo;We flew back to Toronto after the game and were greeted by thousands of fans in the airport terminal at 3 a.m.,&rdquo; said Sittler. &ldquo;My wife (Wendy) and I invited all the players and wives back to our place and we partied till the sun came up.&rdquo;When Sittler was traded to Philadelphia in 1982, one of his new Flyer teammates told him another story about that airport arrival.&ldquo;Dave Poulin and his buddies were big Leaf fans and they came out to greet us,&rdquo; Sittler said.&ldquo;Dave told me that he and his friends followed the cars to my house and waited outside for some autographs. Apparently, Dan Maloney went out and chased them all away.&rdquo;The Montreal Canadiens chased Toronto out of the semi-finals in four straight games.&ldquo;We had a very close-knit team back then and that playoff victory over the Islanders was the high-water mark for us,&rdquo; said Sittler.Sittler was an eight-year Maple Leaf veteran in 1977-78. He enjoyed his finest year with 117 points on 45 goals and 72 assists. He was third in league scoring behind Guy Lafleur of Montreal (60-72-132) and the Islanders&rsquo; Bryan Trottier (46-77-123).Sittler was traded by the Flyers to Detroit in 1984 and ended his playing days with the Red Wings in 1985. Currently, he works in promotions with various companies.The top Leaf scorer of all-time finished with 484 goals and 687 assists in 1,096 NHL regular-season games. &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

April 15, 1988

Vancouver Looks At Bigger Picture

CROSSWORD

THN HOCKEY TRIVIA

The Hockey News NHL STATISTICAL REPORT