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

February 3, 1989

The Hockey News February 3, 1989

I grew up in St. Louis and have followed the Blues and Dan Kelly since 1967-68, the Blues&rsquo; first season. I now reside in Kansas City, but still follow the Blues on the radio, having listened to Kelly&rsquo;s rich baritone resonate through the static of innumerable games. Because of cable television, I enjoyed watching and listening to Kelly&rsquo;s televised broadcasts here in Kansas City with hockey friends&mdash;most of them from different parts of the U.S. and Canada&mdash;all of whom agree Dan Kelly is hockey&rsquo;s finest broadcaster.Paul W. Lore, Kansas City. Mo.<h2>MORE PRAISE</h2>I would like to add my congratulations to the hundreds of thousands Dan Kelly has received on being chosen for the Lester Patrick Trophy and the Hockey Hall of Fame. Mine was one of the countless number of lives he has touched.I grew up in Moberly, Mo., and Kelly was the first hockey announcer I ever heard. He made the game easy to understand and exciting to listen to. I was easily hooked.One Christmas my younger brother and I received a table hockey game. With each game we played, we both pretended we were Kelly doing thm play-by-play broadcast. We had &lsquo;donnybrooks&rsquo; and &lsquo;barn-burners&rsquo;.How different it might have been if I hadn&rsquo;t turned on that TV in 1970. Thanks, Dan Kelly, and God bless you.LeAnna White, Columbia, Mo.<h2>COACH KILREA</h2>With all due respect to the many people who have tried to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs since the days of Punch Imlach, I wonder why or how the Leaf brain trust has always ignored Brian Kilrea, the coach of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Ottawa 67&rsquo;s. Had Kilrea been Leaf coach the past five years or more, they would have a much better record and would now be serious contenders. Instead, they are again candidates for 21 st overall and a disgrace to a once-proud franchise.Ron Lefebvre, Ottawa, Ont.(Ed. Note: Kilrea earned his 500th OHL coaching victory Dec. 31 when Ottawa beat Kingston 4-3.)<h2>A FIRST</h2>Against New Jersey on Dec. 31, Mario Lemieux scored an evenstrength goal, a power-play goal, a shorthanded goal, an empty-net goal and a penalty-shot goal. I was wondering if this has been done before.Jim Harvey, Freeland. Mich(Ed. Note: The NHL confirmed it was a first.)<h2>A FAST PAIR</h2>Jay Greenberg&rsquo;s Jan. 6 column states the fastest goal from the start of a game was five seconds by Bryan Trottier, New York Islanders at Boston. March 22, 1984.Mr. Greenberg, if you are going to state facts, state facts. The record is shared by Doug Smail of the Winnipeg Jets, who also scored five seconds into a game, against the St. Louis Blues, at Winnipeg, Dec. 2. 1981.Randy W. Cameron, Moose Jaw, Sask.<h2>SELFISH SAVARD</h2>One of the main reasons why the Chicago Blackhawks don&rsquo;t win is the &ldquo;me, myself and 1&rdquo; attitude of Denis Savard. Savard puts himself before the team. Unlike other superstars, such as Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, Savard doesn&rsquo;t seem to have the ability to make his teammates better players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011505/6037161-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="552" height="1025"><figcaption class="caption-body">Denis Savard needs to develop a team attitude, a fan says.</figcaption></div>Until Blackhawk management trades Savard to get some team players, the Hawks will be destined to wallow in the sea of mediocrity.Gary Ripsco, San Diego. Calif.<h2>HULL OFFSIDE</h2>In the Jan. 6 Bluelines, Bobby Hull complained about getting a $10,000-per-year pension after working for 23 years. He should cool down. Tradesmen put in 35 years and don&rsquo;t get $10,000 per year pensions. He should not complain about what Clarence Campbell didn&rsquo;t do for him, but thank hockey and everybody else for what they did for him. Hull should count his blessings.Bob Zanussi, Rossi and, B.C.Make your feelings known. Send your comments to:&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont., M3B 2R2.&nbsp;Include home and business phone numbers. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

f0003-01

DEPARTMENTS

DAN KELLY FANS SALUTE AN ORIGINAL

<div class="byline">BY DAVE LUECKING</div>Perhaps it was a coincidence.Whatever the case, the St. Louis Blues won two of three games after acquiring defenseman Mike Lalor Jan. 16 from the Montreal Canadiens.St. Louis upset the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 in Lalor&rsquo;s first game Jan. 17, and after a dismal 5-0 loss to the New York Rangers Jan. 19, rebounded with a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Jan. 21.&ldquo;I was impressed with the effort,&rdquo; Lalor said after the victory over Los Angeles. &ldquo;Everybody worked hard. If we work hard like that all the time, we&rsquo;re going to win a lot of games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m here and I&rsquo;m ready to work,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll try to do the best I can, and hopefully, I can help the team.&rdquo;Lalor played well. In the three games, he had one assist and a plusminus rating of plus-five. He played almost every other shift and killed penalties as well.Lalor gives the Blues two solid sets of defensemen. Veteran Gordie Roberts and rookie Tom Tilley have played well all season. Paul Cavallini has been solid at right defense, but he hasn&rsquo;t had a steady partner. He does now with Lalor.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got the capabilities to come in here and be one of our better de fensemen,&rdquo; coach Brian Sutter said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve tried to acquire him in the past. He&rsquo;s a young, strong, healthy horse.&rdquo;The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Lalor played only 12 games with the Canadiens this season, missing 33 with a hairline fracture above his right ankle. But he brings three full seasons of NHL experience to the Blues.Lalor, 25, averaged 62 games in those seasons after Montreal signed him as a free agent in 1983. In 200 career games he was 5-30-35.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011481/6037589-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="550" height="796"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Sutter said the Blues tried to get Mike Lalor in the past.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We felt we needed some help back there,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s fundamentally sound. We felt we needed a guy like that, a guy who&rsquo;s good in our end. He moves the puck well. He doesn&rsquo;t do anything fancy, but he&rsquo;s adequate with the puck. He&rsquo;s a strong defensive defenseman. We wanted someone sound, with a little experience and fairly young so he can be around here for some time.&rdquo;With the addition of Lalor, three of the Blues&rsquo; top four defensemen are 25 years of age or younger. Only Roberts, 31, isn&rsquo;t.Before Lalor&rsquo;s arrival, St. Louis won once in its previous eight games and three of its previous 16. Caron hinted he may not be finished dealing.&ldquo;If some guys aren&rsquo;t good enough to contribute, I&rsquo;ll move them,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not a threat. It&rsquo;s normal to expect a contribution. I don&rsquo;t want to carry guys that can&rsquo;t help the Blues. Everybody is available for trade on the Blues. I&rsquo;m not being facetious. I&rsquo;ll trade anybody to help the team.&rdquo;<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 17: Glen Featherstone, D, assigned to Peoria (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Zezel, Bernie Federko, Cliff Ronning, Tony Hrkac.LW&mdash;Rick Meagher, Gino Cavallini, Tony McKegney, Sergio Momesso, Doug Evans, Craig CoxeRW&mdash;Brett Hull. Steve Tuttle, Todd Ewen, Herb Raglan. Greg Paslawski.LD&mdash;Mike Lalor, Gordie Roberts, Brian Benning, Gaston Gingras.RD&mdash;Paul Cavallini, Tom Tilley, Dave Richter, Tim Bothwell.G&mdash;Greg Millen, Vincent Riendeau.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

f0012-01

THE NHL

LALOR HELPS BLUES BREAK SLUMP

Bobby Carpenter is going home.The much-traveiled center-left winger from Beverly, Mass., was traded by the Los Angeles Kings to he Boston Bruins for center Steve Casper on Jan. 23.The transaction completed an earlier trade which saw Boston deal right winger Jay Miller to Los Angeles.&ldquo;They (Bruin management) feel hat by going home that will help him Carpenter) produce offensively,&rdquo; aid Los Angeles general manager Rogie Vachon.In 39 games this season, he had 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points. He had been sidelined with a cracked wrist since Dec. 31, when he was injured in an exhibition game against Dynamo Riga.&ldquo;To be honest, we had no problems with Bobby&rdquo; said Vachon. &ldquo;We would have liked to have seen him score more goals and finish off more plays. But it wasn&rdquo;t a question of wanting to trade him.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting ready for the stretch and we felt we needed another solid defensive forward. (Los Angeles had given up 201 goals, the second-highest total in the league.) Stevie is one of the best in the league. We also felt we needed more toughness which we got (in Miller).&rdquo;It&rsquo;s the third trade in Carpenter&rsquo;s eight-year career.He was selected third overall in the 1981 entry draft by the Washington Capitals. He played five complete years and part of a sixth in Washington before being shipped to the New York Rangers on Jan. 1, 1987. Washington also sent along a second-round choice in the 1989 entry draft for right winger Bob Crawford, left winger Kelly Miller and center Mike Ridley.On March 10, 1987, the Rangers traded Carpenter and defenseman Tom Laidlaw to Los Angeles for center Marcel Dionne, left winger Jeff Crossman and the Kings&rsquo;third-round choice in the 1989 entry draft.Carpenter, 25, went directly to the NHL after a highly-publicized career at St. John&rsquo;s Prep in Massachusetts, the first American-born player to do so.In 1984-85 he had his best season, going 53-42-95 in 80 games with the Capitals. He was the first American-born player to score 50 goals. In 266 games since then, he had scored 66 goals.Kasper, 27, was the 1982 Selke Trophy winner as the NHL&rsquo;s best defensive forward. In 49 games this season he was 10-16-26.He broke into the NHL in 1980-81 after he was Boston&rsquo;s third pick (81st overall) at the 1980 entry draft. Last season he was 26-44-70 in 79 games, personal bests in all categories.&ldquo;From the day he came in from juniors, he&rsquo;s just played with tremendous consistency,&rsquo; said Bruin coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly.&rdquo; He&rsquo;s not a big person (5-foot-8, 170 pounds) but he plays with more courage packed into a small frame. I don&rsquo;t think I can name another player who plays with as much courage.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011467/6037465-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="547" height="1560"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Kasper drew praise from his ex-teammates in Boston.</figcaption></div>Kasper and Bruin captain Ray Bourque were teammates for the 1978-79 season with Verdun of the Quebec League. Kasper concluded his junior career with Sorel of the QMJHL the following season.* &lsquo;One of my best friends has left the team,&rdquo; said Bourque. &ldquo;And one of our best players. Stevie might not be flashy. He&rsquo;s done most of his job unnoticed. Penalty-killing, checking the other team&hellip;he took a lot of pride in those and did them very well.&rdquo;Miller, an enforcer with limited skills, had just two goals and four assists to go along with 168 penalty minutes in 37 games this season.<h2>ARBOUR GETS 600</h2>New York Islander coach Al Arbour won his 600th game when the Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 Jan. 17. The 56-year-old Arbour, who began coaching with the St. Louis Blues in 1970 (42-40-25) before moving to the Islanders in 1973, is only the third coach in NHL history to get 600 wins. The others are Scotty Bowman (739-327-210 with St. Louis, Montreal and Buffalo) and Dick Irvin (690-521-226 with Chicago, Toronto and Montreal). Arbour was 552-317-169 and won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders before retiring after the 1985-86 season. He returned as coach Dec. 7 after Terry Simpson was fired.<h2>FASTEST EVER?</h2>A goal four seconds from the start of a Central Peace (B.C.) Hockey League game by Fort St. John right winger Dean Godberson may be the fastest goal ever from the start of a hockey game. No one could say for certain. Officials from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and USA Hockey gave guarded endorsements.Fort St. John defeated Grande Prairie 9-0 in the game. After the opening face-off the puck came back to a Grande Prairie defenseman, who tried to pass it across to his partner. Godberson intercepted the pass.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s still time to get a goal quicker,&rdquo; said Godberson. &ldquo;I could have shot as soon as I got over the blue line. But I tell you what. I&rsquo;ll be shooting right from the face-off now.&rdquo;The record for fastest goal from the start of an NHL game is five seconds. It&rsquo;s shared by New York Islander center Bryan Trottier (Mar. 22, 1984) and Winnipeg Jet left winger Doug Smail (Dec. 20, 1981).<h2>BITS AND PIECES</h2>Ron Hoggarth will referee the NHL All-Star Game Feb. 7 in Edmonton. An 18-year NHL officiating veteran, Hoggarth will be refereeing his first all-star game. The linesmen will be Ron Asselstine and Wayne Bonney, also making their first appearances. Referee Bob Hall is the standby official.NHL teams continue to keep up a record-setting pace for overtime games. As of Jan. 23, 92 of 503 games had gone into overtime. At that pace there will be 154 overtime games played this season. The record is 152 games, set in 1984-85. Of the 92 overtime games, 30 were decided in the extra period, a pace which would see 50 overtime decisions by season&rsquo;s end. The record is 56 in 1985-86. St. Louis and Toronto were the only teams without an overtime decision this season.New York Ranger rookie Brian Leetch was on a record-breaking scoring pace. Leetch had 12 goals and 32 assists for 44 points in 41 games. Were he to continue that pace, the rearguard would finish with 21 goals, 57 assists and 78 points. Larry Murphy of the Washington Capitals holds the records for most points (76) and assists (60). He established those marks in Los Angeles during the 1980-81 season. Barry Beck of the defunct Colorado Rockies set the goal-scoring record of 22 in 1977-78. Leetch missed seven games with a fractured foot. Murphy played 80 games and Beck 75 during their record seasons. &#9632;

f0009-01

CARPENTER TRADE PUTS KASPER IN LOS ANGELES

&#9632; Number of non-goaltenders with the surname Smith to play at least one game in the NHL: 38.&#9632; Number of points scored by Bobby Smith, the highest-scoring player of that surname, as of Jan. 22, 1989: 875.&#9632; Number of points scored by Bobby Smith&rsquo;s nearest competitor, Hooley Smith (active 1924-41): 415.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03342/6039765-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="698" height="414"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Smith</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0039-03

IN THIS ISSUE

NUMBERS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011342/6037130-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="547" height="647"><figcaption class="caption-body">Back in the USSR</figcaption></div>When writer Steve Keating covered the Izvestia Tournament in Moscow, he discovered the assignment was no bowl of borscht.THN asked Keating to take an open mind to the Soviet Union and come back with unbiased impressions of the Central Red Army&rsquo;s home town. The result was &ldquo;Moscow Blues,&rdquo; one man&rsquo;s impression of the crazy customs&mdash;such as using packs of Marlboros as taxi fare&mdash;that have developed in a city starved for Western goods.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021082/6037123-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="551" height="644"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky</figcaption></div>Look also for our special NHL AllStar Game preview&mdash;an advance peek at the annual classic, to be played in Edmonton Feb. 7. An interesting side note&mdash;it will be the first time Wayne Gretzky has played for the home team (Campbell Conference) at Northlands Coliseum, since his trade from the Edmonton Oilers to Los Angeles. &#9632;

f0002-01

NEXT ISSUE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021224/6037192-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="519" height="634"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB McKENZIE</figcaption></div>Could someone please tell me what qualifications Mike Smith has to be general manager of the Winnipeg Jets?Has he ever gone char fishing in the Arctic with Glen Sather and Harry Sinden? Has he ever broken bread with Cliff Fletcher, Bill Torrey and Lou Nanne? Shared a private jet, or even a limousine, with Phil Esposito? Smoked a stogie with Serge Savard?That&rsquo;s what I thought. The man is hopelessly out of his element.What does all that have to do with running a team in the NHL? Nothing, really. Style points, at last glance, don&rsquo;t count in the standings.&ldquo;Mike Smith is a bright, intelligent guy who is thoroughly dedicated to his work,&rdquo; says David Conte, the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; assistant director of player personnel.&ldquo;Mike Smith is one of the most knowledgeable hockey men in the league,&rdquo; says Jack Ferreira, the rookie GM of the Minnesota North Stars.&ldquo;I am what I am,&rdquo; says Mike Smith, who took over as GM of the Jets after John Ferguson was fired Oct. 30.And what he is, on the surface anyway, is different.The 43-year-old native of Potsdam, N.Y., has a Bachelor of Science degree from Clarkson University and a Masters and PhD (in political science, Russian studies) from Syracuse University. He&rsquo;s the author of the critically-acclaimed Life After Hockey.Given his druthers, the GM&rsquo;s uniform of jacket and tie would be replaced by sweater and jeans. Soft-spoken and introspective, he is not the kind of guy who lights up a room just by walking in.He&rsquo;s got a rumpled, comfortable look about him. You could easily confuse the general manager as a professor on any American campus.And that, says Conte, is a &ldquo;very superficial view of the man.&ldquo;He has a lot of diverse interests. Some guys might turn right into a bar, he&rsquo;ll turn left into a museum. He may not be as social a person as some in his position.&ldquo;But I think too much is made of what the image of a GM is. The impact a new GM makes on his local media is quickly forgotten. Then it&rsquo;s put-up-or-shut-up time and you&rsquo;re judged on results. You want a media splash, hire Don Cherry. You want to build a hockey team, you hire a hockey man. Mike Smith is a hockey man.&rdquo;The exclusive 21-member NHL GMs club gathered Jan. 15-18 in Orlando, Fla., at the Villas of Grand Cypress resort for a mid-season retreat. They talked, played golf, talked, played golf and&hellip;you get the idea. Oh, yeah, Bobby Clarke won the dart tournament.While Smith was most definitely the new kid on the block at the meetings, he had company. There are five new GMs this season&mdash;Ferreira in Minnesota; Tony Esposito in Pittsburgh; Martin Madden in Quebec; Gord Stellick in Toronto and Smith in Winnipeg.Only Esposito is considered part of the hockey establishment&mdash;an ex-player with strong connections to the game&rsquo;s power brokers (Alan Eagleson and Bill Wirtz, to name two).Stellick is something of an anomaly. His background is as an administrator. The other three&mdash;Smith, Ferreira and Madden&mdash;came up from the scouting side of the business. Each shares a certain anonymity that&rsquo;s at odds with the position of NHL GM.&ldquo;I may not be a black-tie kind of person but I&rsquo;ve never felt that I wasn&rsquo;t outgoing,&rdquo; says Smith. &ldquo;When the time is right, I believe I stand up and be counted.&rdquo;Will he then one day be part of the NHL establishment, a sage veteran like Fletcher or Sinden?Perhaps. Whatever happens, though, it will have more to do with his team&rsquo;s performance on the ice than Smith&rsquo;s image off it. &#9632;

f0003-02

COLUMNISTS

THIS GENERAL MANAGER IS NO JET-SETTER

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03812/6037223-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0003-03

ELSTON

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011501/6037275-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="370" height="297"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021351/6037268-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="163" height="171"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031139/6037261-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="365" height="300"></div>Tony Granato selected this week&rsquo;s Dodge NHL Performer of the WeekDodge is the official sponsor of NHL All-Star Fan Balloting<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04945/6037254-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="519" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tony Granato</figcaption></div>NEW YORK&mdash;New York Rangers&rsquo; right winger Tony Granato, who registered eight points (5-38) in three road games, was named Dodge Performer of the Week for the period ending January 22.Granato, who was in the midst of a six game goal-scoring streak during which he had amassed 16 points (10-6-16), edged Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; center Mario Lemieux and New York Islanders&rsquo;goaltender Kelly Hrudey to capture the award.Dodge will donate $500 to the youth hockey organization of each performer&rsquo;s choice. Dodge also sponsors the Performer of the Month and Performer of the Year Awards, for which the latter receives the Dodge vehicle of his choice. In four years, Dodge has contributed more than $125,000 to youth hockey associations across North America.Granato, a 24-year-old native of Downers Grove, III., began his week by recording the third four-point game (3-1-4) of his rookie season, leading the Rangers to a 6-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks (Jan. 18). The following night, Granato recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-0 shut out of the St. Louis Blues, before scoring a power-play goal and an assist in a 5-4 overtime decision over the Vancouver Canucks (Jan. 21).Granato, the Rangers&rsquo; sixth-round selection (120th overall) in the 1982 entry draft, led NHL rookie scorers with 50 points in 48 games, just ahead of teammate Brian Leetch, who had 44 (12-32-44) in 41 games. The former University of Wisconsin Badger also led all rookies in goal scoring (31), shorthanded goals (four), game-tying goals (two) and plus-minus (plus-21).Lemieux went 3-9-12 in three games while Hrudey led his club to three consecutive victories. &#9632;

f0004-01

THE DODGE NHL REPORT

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Don&rsquo;t invite Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr and NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Alan Eagleson to dinner. Fuhr, through his agent. Rich Winter of Edmonton, is proceeding with a suit against the NHLPA and The Eagle. They claim a breach of personal property rights in an NHLPA licensing agreement. Winter, who has battled Eagleson for years, says the complaint centers on use of Fuhr&rsquo;s picture on an Esso sticker booklet, co-sponsored by the oil company and the NHL, and available at the company&rsquo;s gas stations in Canada. Winter claims Fuhr&rsquo;s permission was never granted. &ldquo;A Wayne Gretzky will get something,&rdquo; says Winter, &ldquo;but there&rsquo;s nothing for a Fuhr.&rdquo; Winter says the Esso pictures are more than five years old and Fuhr is now using a different brand of equipment. &ldquo;Not only is the picture being used illegally,&rdquo; Winter charges, &ldquo;but it is outdated and causing the equipment people some problems. If Eagleson wanted to use (Dynasty TV star) Linda Evans&rsquo; picture on a sticker book, he wouldn&rsquo;t just go ahead and do it. He&rsquo;d have to get in touch with her agent. She&rsquo;s as big an acting star as Grant is a hockey star.&rdquo; Eagleson says his counsel told him the NHLPA has been doing the right thing for the past 21 years&hellip;Eagleson is also under fire from New York-based promoter Glenn Goldberg, who is helping package a series of New York Ranger exhibition games at London&rsquo;s Wembley Arena. Goldberg said Ranger general manager Phil Esposito has okayed two matches with Djurgarden of Sweden Sept. 16-17, but is being blocked by The Eagle and NHLPA. &ldquo;As far as we can tell,&rdquo; says Goldberg, &ldquo;Eagleson is holding it up because he&rsquo;s committed to send two NHL teams to the Soviet Union.&rdquo;<h2>NO LAUGHS</h2>NBC-TV&rsquo;s David Letterman angered the Soviet Red Army Team, which was on his Late Night show Jan. 11 before jetting home from New York to Moscow. A TV source said Letterman&rsquo;s producer phoned TV stations in New York seeking footage that only showed the Soviet teams losing games. &ldquo;We offered Letterman video from the Super Series that showed hockey at its best but they only wanted stuff like the Russians losing in the 1980 Olympics,&rdquo; a Manhattan TV producer says&hellip;Plans for a new Ranger home have been scrapped. A proposed 22,000-seat Madison Square Garden was earmarked for a site three blocks from the present rink and was targeted for a 1990 opening. Instead, the Rangers&rsquo; Gulf and Western ownership will refine the present structure. In the process, a large number of blue seats in the upper reaches are expected to be replaced by corporate-type luxury boxes, meaning more fans will go hockey homeless&hellip;The eventual razing of Boston Garden&mdash;a new Garden is scheduled for completion in 1992&mdash;already has some Montreal Canadiens mourning. Bobby Smith calls the Garden his second favorite rink after Montreal&rsquo;s Forum. Patrick Roy likes the overhanging mezzanine and balcony which bring the fans close to the players. &ldquo;The smaller ice suits my style better,&rdquo; adds Roy. The new Garden, expected to be ready in the 1990s. will have the standard 200-by-85-foot rink.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011414/6037306-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="554" height="1038"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Smith will miss Boston Garden when it&rsquo;s torn down.</figcaption></div><h2>EXPANSION TALK</h2>Sports Inc. magazine&rsquo;s Jan. 2 issue said the NHL will balloon with &ldquo;as many as seven new teams by decade&rsquo;s end.&rdquo; The sports business magazine listed San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Phoenix. Milwaukee, Dallas, Tacoma and Hamilton as the top contenders. The biggest franchise push is coming from Milwaukee, which has its new rink in operation, and San Jose, which doesn&rsquo;t&hellip;Mean while, a well-connected European source says a wealthy Swedish group is actively seeing to buy an NHL club and will settle for an expansion franchise if the league expands&hellip;Hartford Whaler broadcaster Chuck Kaiton voluntarily ended his streak of 873 straight games in order to attend the Dan Kelly Dinner in St. Louis Jan. 6. Kaiton had not missed a Hartford game since the Whalers&rsquo; NHL opener Oct. 11, 1979.<h2>NO CONFIDENCE</h2>Vancouver Canuck defenseman Harold Snepsts has been closely following the decline of former Detroit Red Wing teammate Joe Murphy, who is in Adirondack again. Snepsts says Murphy is suffering from a confidence problem. &ldquo;The best thing for Murphy,&rdquo; says Snepsts, &ldquo;would be to go to another (NHL) team.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-01

FUHR SUES EAGLE OVER LICENSING

<div class="byline">BY BOB MCKENZIE AND MURRAY TOWNSEND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011592/6037379-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dean Kennedy, our Mr. Average defenseman, thinks he&rsquo;s above that classification. He says he&rsquo;s an honest, hard-working team player.</figcaption></div>We know the best players. We know the worst players. What we didn&rsquo;t know were the NHL&rsquo;s most average players.Now, we do.If only we could convince them they are average.&ldquo;Oh, I definitely think I&rsquo;m above average,&rdquo; says The Hockey News&rsquo; Mr. Average NHL goaltender, Brian Hayward of the Montreal Canadiens.&ldquo;I like to think I&rsquo;m above average,&rdquo; says Mr. Average NHL defenseman. Dean Kennedy of the New York Rangers.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never really thought of myself as being average,&rdquo; says Mr. Average NHL forward, Scott Arniel of the Buffalo Sabres.Pity. They&rsquo;re always the last to know. But, like it or not, Hayward, Kennedy and Arniel are average.The evidence is irrefutable.Using the rosters and scoring statistics from the Jan. 20, 1988 issue of The Hockey News and personal statistics gleaned from the 1988-89 NHL Guide and Record Book, we determined the average height, weight, age and number of years pro experience (prior to this season) for an NHL player at each position&mdash;goal, defense and forward. We also calculated, from the same issue, the average goaltender&rsquo;s goals-against average this season as well as the average defenseman&rsquo;s and forward&rsquo;s scoring output (goals, assists and points) this season.The NHL Players&rsquo; Association salary survey allowed us to determine an average salary at each position.Our profiles complete, we searched the NHL for players coming closest in all categories. Hayward, Kennedy and Arniel earned the distinction of being Mr. Average at their positions.The average NHL goalie&rsquo;s profile is: Height: 5-foot-10&frac12;. Weight: 175.6 pounds. Age: 26. Years pro: 5.27. 1988-89 GAA: 3.76. Salary: $174,000 (Cdn.), $200,000 (U.S.).Hayward is 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, 28, a six-year pro with a 1988-89 GAA of 3.18 and salary of approximately $165,000 (Cdn.).That&rsquo;s as close as we could get to the average goalie profile. It is, however, worth noting that while Hayward&rsquo;s GAA (3.18) is significantly lower this season compared to the average (3.76), his career average heading into this season was 3.81.The average NHL defenseman&rsquo;s profile is: Height: 6-foot-?/2. Weight: 198. Age: 25.5. Years pro: 5.32. 1988-89 Goals-Assists-Points: 2-6-8. Salary $196,000 (Cdn.), $165,000 (U.S.).Kennedy is 6-foot-2, 190 pounds, 26, a six-year pro with two goals, eight assists and 10 points in 1988-89, and earns approximately $145,000 (U.S.).The average NHL forward&rsquo;s profile is: Height: 6 feet. Weight: 190. Age: 25.6. Years pro: 5.17. Goals-Assists-Points: 11-15-26. Salary $213,000 (Cdn.), $183,000 (U.S.).Arniel is 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, 26, has 6.25 years pro experience, eight goals, 12 assists and 20 points in 1988-89, and earns approximately $165,000 (U.S.).<blockquote class="pullQuote">&lsquo;OH, THAT&rsquo;S JUST GREAT, ISN&rsquo;T IT?&rsquo;</blockquote>The three Mr. Averages share more than a disdain for the title. Each has been traded once&mdash;Hayward by the Winnipeg Jets to the Canadiens; Kennedy by the Los Angeles Kings to the Rangers; and Arniel by the Jets to the Sabres. Kennedy and Arniel were selected in the same round (second) of the same entry draft (1981). Hayward was signed as a free agent out of Cornell University in May, 1982.&ldquo;When I first heard I was Mr. Average,&rdquo; says Hayward, &ldquo;I thought, &lsquo;Oh, that&rsquo;s just great, isn&rsquo;t it.&rsquo;&ldquo;The funny thing is that when I turned pro with Winnipeg, my goals were even less than that. I didn&rsquo;t even think I was good enough to play pro. When I left Cornell for the Jets, I promised myself I&rsquo;d give it three years and if I wasn&rsquo;t a regular, I&rsquo;d quit and go into business.&rdquo;That wasn&rsquo;t necessary.&ldquo;The only way I can gauge myself, relative to other goalies, is to watch the highlight packages at night,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I see who&rsquo;s letting in what kind of goals and that gives me an idea of where my game is at. That&rsquo;s why I believe I&rsquo;m above average.&rdquo;Kennedy, who joined the Rangers from L.A. in December, suggests our Mr. Average formula is not without fault.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a stats thing,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a defensive player. I&rsquo;m a physical player. I take pride in myself as being an honest, hard-working player who puts the team first.&rdquo;In deference to his rugged style, we&rsquo;ll call Kennedy the mean average.&ldquo;I think every kid who plays hockey wants to be in the NHL,&rdquo; continues Kennedy. &ldquo;. I&rsquo;m sure they set goals on loftier players or flashier players or more talented players, but I&rsquo;m very happy being me.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure as hell not going to score 50 goals unless I&rsquo;m playing with the Redvers Rockets in the senior league back home (in Saskatchewan). No, maybe I would play with the Redvers Colts in the no-slaphsot, no-contact league. No, maybe I&rsquo;d just go to the Golden Age Center, play pool for two bits a game and have coffee.&rdquo;Arniel says he had visions of being an impact player when he arrived on the pro scene. In his last full season with Cornwall of the Quebec League, he was a winger on a line with Dale Hawerchuk (a close friend and best man at Arniels wedding). Arniel scored 52 goals and had 130 points that season.&ldquo;That was a pretty good hockey team,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We won two Memorial Cups. There&rsquo;s no denying I came into the league hoping for 30 or 40 (goals a season). I really didn&rsquo;t have a lack of talent, but you have to remember the (Jets&rsquo;) coach at that time was Tom Watt. He stressed strong defense and two-way hockey. In that situation, the best way for Scott Arniel to stay in the lineup and not to go to the minors was to play that kind of game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m proud of what I do. When I come into this room and I&rsquo;ve done my job&mdash;maybe I stopped the other guy&rsquo;s big scorer or our line shut out their line&mdash;I&rsquo;m just as proud as any guy who might have scored three goals.&ldquo;I look at myself and say, &lsquo;Yeah, maybe like you say, I&rsquo;m just one of 1,000 guys who have passed through this room,&rsquo; but I don&rsquo;t think of myself that way. This is my time and I give what I have. If someone says that&rsquo;s ordinary, well, I guess that&rsquo;s good, because I try to be the same every night.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what average really is. I think everybody brings something to the game that is his, that&rsquo;s unique to his game. That&rsquo;s why you have 20 guys. Each one does something that helps the team win.&rdquo;Arniel has twice been voted the Sabres&rsquo; unsung hero by members of the booster club. After the second award, he said: &ldquo;I guess I better start taking singing lessons.&rdquo;Lack of recognition, however, goes with the territory when you&rsquo;re Mr. Average. Two seasons ago, Arniel scored the Sabres&rsquo; winning goal against Edmonton in overtime with an impressive blast.After the game, Edmonton GM-coach Glen Sather said there was no shame in losing on a great goal by a great goal-scorer like Dave Andreychuk. When told it was not Andreychuk, but Arniel who scored the goal, Sather said: &ldquo;No way. Scott Arniel? No way.&rdquo;He&rsquo;s appreciated in Buffalo, though. Coach Ted Sator is positively enthusiastic.&ldquo;There are times when I think Scotty doesn&rsquo;t realize how good a player he can be,&rdquo; Sator says. &ldquo;His game is all there. He has the speed, the strength and especially the knowledge of the game.&ldquo;When you consider what you get, night in and night out, I&rsquo;d take as many &lsquo;average&rsquo; Scott Arniels as I could get my hands on.&rdquo;&mdash;With files from Jim Kelley and Frank Brown.<h2>BRIAN HAYWARD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011440/6037372-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="433" height="700"></div>BORN: June 25, 1960.BIRTHPLACE: Georgetown, Ont.HEIGHT: 5-foot-10.WEIGHT: 175 pounds. TEAM: Montreal Canadiens.POSITION: GoalCATCHES: Left.PERSONAL: Single.HISTORY: Signed as a free agent by Winnipeg, May 5, 1982 from Cornell University (ECAC). Traded to Montreal by Winnipeg for Steve Penney and rights to Jan Ingman, Aug. 10, 1986.CAREER HIGHLIGHT: &ldquo;My first season in Montreal (1986-87) during the playoffs. We were trailing Quebec 2-0 (in games) and I came off the bench. We won (four of the next five games) and the series&rdquo;CAREER DISAPPOINTMENT: &ldquo;My second year as a pro (1983-84). I had established myself as the No. 1 goalie in my rookie year, but then I came back and I eventually was sent down (to Sherbrooke).&rdquo;MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSON: &ldquo;My father (Norm).AN ALTERNATIVE CAREER: &ldquo;I would be in business, probably in the financial community. Maybe a broker or financial planner. If I hadn&rsquo;t been a regular in the NHL by the end of my third year, I promised myself I&rsquo;d quit and take up business. When I&rsquo;m finished playing, that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ll do.&rdquo;FIRST REACTION AFTER BEING TRADED: &ldquo;I felt as though I was being denied the opportunity to come back and show what I was capable of. A lot of derogatory things were said about me in Winnipeg. The trade made me feel like I couldn&rsquo;t come back and redeem myself.&rdquo;STRENGTHS: &ldquo;Preparation and positional play.&rdquo;WEAKNESSES: &ldquo;Puckhandling.&rdquo;WHAT WORD BEST DESCRIBES HIM: &ldquo;Consistent.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02963/6037365-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="932" height="782"></div><h2>SCOTT ARNIEL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03638/6037358-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="441" height="697"></div>BORN: Sept. 17, 1962.BIRTHPLACE: Kingston, Ont.HEIGHT: 6-foot-1WEIGHT: 190 pounds. TEAM: Buffalo Sabres.POSITION: Right wing.SHOOTS: Left.PERSONAL: Married.HISTORY: Winnipeg&rsquo;s second choice, 22nd overall, in the 1981 NHL entry draft from Cornwall Royals (QMJHL). Traded to Buffalo by Winnipeg for Gilles Hamel, June 21, 1986.CAREER HIGHLIGHT: &lsquo;My first NHL game. It was in Washington (Dec. 4, 1981) md I was playing on a line with Dale (Hawerchuk) and (Paul) Mac Lean. I&rsquo;ll never forget that.&rdquo;CAREER DISAPPOINTMENT: &ldquo;Getting traded from Winnipeg. It wasn&rsquo;t that I didn&rsquo;t want to go to Buffalo. I didn&rsquo;t want to leave my friends in Winnipeg. But I&rsquo;m over that. It&rsquo;s been great in Buffalo.&rdquo;MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSON: &ldquo;My father (Doug).&rdquo;AN ALTERNATIVE CAREER: &ldquo;I always wanted to be an architect. I always enjoyed that. I took courses when I was at high school. I still might look at it when hockey is finished. I think I&rsquo;ll do something related to development or construction, maybe real estate.&rdquo;FIRST REACTION AFTER BEING TRADED: &ldquo;Shocked and a little scared. I kind of knew it was coming, but I was still surprised when it happened. It was a little scary because I didn&rsquo;t know what to expect in Buffalo.&rdquo;STRENGTHS: &ldquo;?m a good two-way player. I can score a few goals and still play sound defensive hockey.&rdquo;WEAKNESSES: &ldquo;Considering how many chances I get, I don&rsquo;t bury enough of them. I&rsquo;m not a big goal-scorer because I don&rsquo;t get the chances. I do. I just don&rsquo;t have that touch around the net.&rdquo;WHAT WORD BEST DESCRIBES HIM: &ldquo;Hardworking.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-04436/6037351-1-eng-US/f0007-042.jpg" title="f0007-04" width="934" height="619"></div><h2>DEAN KENNEDY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-05306/6037344-1-eng-US/f0007-052.jpg" title="f0007-05" width="444" height="701"></div>BORN: Jan. 18, 1963.BIRTHPLACE: Redvers, Sask.HEIGHT: 6-foot-2.WEIGHT: 190 pounds.TEAM: New York Rangers.POSITION: Defense.SHOOTS: Right.PERSONAL: Married, with first child expected May 1.HISTORY: Los Angeles&rsquo; second choice, 39th overall, in the 1981 NHL entry draft from Saskatoon Blades (WHL). Traded to New York Rangers with Denis Larocque from Los Angeles for Igor Liba, Todd Elik and Michael Boyce on Dec. 12, 1988.CAREER HIGHLIGHT: &ldquo;Defintely, my first goal. It was in my second year and it was against Reggie Lemelin of the Calgary Flames (Dec. 21, 1983).&rdquo;CAREER DISAPPOINTMENT: &ldquo;At the time, it was the year (1984-85) I spent in the minors (New Haven). It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me because it taught me how I had to play if I was going to stay in the NHL. Other than that, I&rsquo;d say the years we missed the playoffs in L.A.&rdquo;MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSON: &ldquo;My Mom (Elaine) and Dad (Edward), because they taught me the need to work hard. My wife, Tammy, too. She helps me keep the right attitude to play in the NHL.&rdquo;AN ALTERNATIVE CAREER: &ldquo;A farmer. My parents are farmers. When I was a kid, the teacher asked me what I wanted to do. I said, &lsquo;play in the NHL or farm.&rsquo; The same still holds true.&rdquo;FIRST REACTION AFTER BEING TRADED: &ldquo;Complete shock. I was in my underwear getting ready for a game that night when (coach) Robbie Ftorek told me. For the first half hour I was completely numb.&rdquo;STRENGTHS: &ldquo;My defensive play, my physical play.&rdquo;WEAKNESSES: &ldquo;Puckhandling and skating.&rdquo;WHAT WORD BEST DESCRIBES HIM: &ldquo;Hardworking or consistent.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-06235/6037337-1-eng-US/f0007-062.jpg" title="f0007-06" width="934" height="683"></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

MR. AVERAGE

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>St. Louis Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron manipulates words the way New York multi-millionaire Donald Trump manages money. There&rsquo;s nothing Caron likes better than talking trade with any one of his 20 NHL counterparts, especially Cliff Fletcher of Calgary and Serge Savard of Montreal. &lsquo;The Professor&rsquo;, as Caron is known, has made 35 deals as the Blues&rsquo; GM since acquiring Guy Chouinard from Calgary for future considerations on Sept. 6, 1983. The most recent deal came Jan. 16. when Caron acquired defenseman Mike Lalor from Montreal for future considerations.THN: On average, how long does it take you to make a trade?RC: A fast deal, as far as Ron Caron is concerned, is a week to 10 days with a minimum of five or six calls. For a slow deal, the extreme is probably a year-plus. I may be working on one deal that will fail while, at the same time, working on one that will succeed. That could take more than a year. That happens when I show interest in a player who is not available but then becomes available a little later on. Sometimes I&rsquo;ll say. &lsquo;I&rsquo;m sorry, but two years ago I was very interested in that player but now I&rsquo;ve got guys like that one.&rsquo;THN: When was the last time you said that to another general manager?RC: I&rsquo;ve had to give that answer more frequently recently than in the past because my team is getting better and younger. Some general managers get back to me and offer me players I tried to get when Harry Ornest was the (St. Louis) owner (1983-1986).THN: Who are your favorite dealing partners among the general managers?RC: I like to go right to the point and the more frequently I become involved with someone, the easier it is. So it would have to be Serge Savard and Cliff Fletcher. I like their style of dealing and they&rsquo;ve been my friends for a long time. We trust each other and don&rsquo;t try to put pressure on each other.THN: Where does Phil Esposito fit in?RC: I love him. Phil always talks to you with sincerity and enthusiasm. And he always has someone to offer when he comes to you. He knows who you want but he&rsquo;s not sure who you want to let go. Phil is very cautious when you approach him for one of his better players. He&rsquo;s not negative, therefore I love it. He makes you believe you&rsquo;ve got a chance. But if you have no chance, he&rsquo;ll say, &lsquo;No. we won&rsquo;t deal that player.&rsquo; That&rsquo;s the way I like to be because time is a very important element in our daily work.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011523/6037410-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg" title="f0008-01" width="552" height="781"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Caron enjoys dealing with Cliff Fletcher and Serge Savard.</figcaption></div>THN: Which deal have you made that&rsquo;s pleased you most?RC: The most satisfaction I get is seeing Ricky Meagher (obtained from New Jersey for Perry Anderson Aug. 29. 1985) at age 35&mdash;having paid his dues many, many times&mdash;jumping on the ice like a soldier. A small soldier, but playing as big as he can play game-in and game-out and doing the dirty work which has to be done in order to help a team win. He&rsquo;ll do things like kill penalties without the dessert that the big-name talents and players with big. big money want.THN: What&rsquo;s your response to criticism you&rsquo;ve received over the Doug Gilmour deal?RC: My feeling was. &lsquo;Would he be the leader over the next five years to lead the Blues to a Stanley Cup?&rsquo; I had some question marks about him as well, but he delivers results, which is a sign of intelligence and character. When I made the deal I told the people I sincerely believed Mike Bullard&rsquo;s stats would be comparable to Doug&rsquo;s this season and in seasons to come. I still believe we could have made Bullard the point-getter that we needed him to be in order to get some respect for our end of the deal. But I have a new coach (Brian Sutter) and I trust him. He believes the game starts in your own end. Mike was a little shortchanged defensively, which created a problem for both him and the team.THN: You didn&rsquo;t waste any time unloading him to the Flyers.RC: There are two main reasons you make a deal. One, because you want to get rid of someone. Two. if you require someone. Peter Zezel was made available and I hesitated. I thought. &lsquo;Is it time (to trade Bullard)?&rsquo; Zezel fit our mold right from the start. He was what we needed and wanted, so I had to make a decision. I knew Bullard would go to Philly and do well and he&rsquo;d recover the stats he couldn&rsquo;t produce for us. I&rsquo;m not surprised and we&rsquo;re extremely happy with Zezel. He&rsquo;s a leader and he plays the way the Blues like to play.THN: It&rsquo;s often said your colleagues like to zero in on teams on losing streaks, like vultures over a carcass. Your comment?RC: I don&rsquo;t usually phone people when they&rsquo;re losing. If I respect someone I would allow that person to phone me. I get those calls, too, and it makes me laugh. But I never say no to any weird or ridiculous offer. Every player on the Blues is available once a month, some daily. There&rsquo;s no untouchable on the Blues. When I get calls, I let these people attempt to touch them. &#9632;

f0008-01

‘THERE’S NO UNTOUCHABLE ON THE BLUES’

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN AND KEN CAMPBELL</div>A year ago, few people knew Jason Herter. Today, he is the No. 1-rated player eligible for the 1989 NHL entry draft.The University of North Dakota freshman defenseman tops the confidential mid-term ranking of prospects compiled by the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau.&ldquo;Nobody even talked about him a year ago and here he is,&rdquo; said UND head coach Gino Gasparini &ldquo;He does everything well. He&rsquo;s learned to play his position defensively very well and his offensive skills have blossomed.&rdquo;In 30 games with the Fighting Sioux this year, Herter had five goals, 15 assists and 44 penalty minutes.&ldquo;He has everything going for him, except for size&mdash;which is a little marginal,&rdquo; said an NHL general manager, who requested anonymity.Herter, a native of Hafford, Sask., is6-foot-1 and 180 pounds. The rightshooting 18-year-old played for Notre Dame Hounds of the Saskatchewan Junior League last year.No European prospects were included in the mid-season assessment. The draft is set for June 17 in Minneanolis. Minn.Below are CSB&rsquo;s first three rounds of prospects and list of top 10 goalies. Statistics included for skaters are age, position, height, weight, team, league, games played, goals, assists, points and penalty minutes. For goalies, age, height, weight, team, league, won-lost-tied record and goals-against average are listed. Leagues are abbreviated as follows: British Columbia Jr. League (BCJHL), Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), Hockey East (HE), Metro Toronto Jr. B League (MTJHL), New England Jr. League (NEJHL), Ontario League (OHL), Quebec League (QMJHL), Western League (WHL), U.S. High School (HS), Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).<h2>FIRST ROUND</h2>1. Jason Herter, 18, D, 6-1, 180, North Dakota (WCHA), 30-5-15-20-44; 2. Scott Thornton, 17, C, 6-2&frac12;, 200, Belleville (OHL), 41-18-27-45-72; 3 Bill Guerin, 17, C, 6-2, 190. Springfield (NEJHL), 25-26-29-55-80; 4. Dave Chyzowski, 17, LW. 6-l&frac12; 190, Kamloops (WHL), 45-32-32-64-103; 5. Adam Bennett, 17, D, 6-4, 206, Sudbury (OHL), 47-3-1114-57; 6. Lindsay Vallis, 18, RW, 6-2&frac12;, 202, Seattle (WHL), 38-15-20-35-40; 7. Jason Miller. 17, C, 6-1, 180, Medicine Hat (WHL). 4732-39-71-28; 8. Kevin Haller, 18, D, 6-2&frac12;, 182, Regina (WHL), 47-5-23-28-62; 9. Steve Rice, 17, RW, 6-0, 212, Kitchener (OHL), 4422-21-43-26; 10. Shayne Stevenson, 18, RW, 6-1, 190, Kitchener (OHL), 37-16-37-53-53; 11. Travis Green, 18, C, 6-0, 196, Spokane (WHL), 47-30-35-65-65; 12. Jarrod Skalde, 17, C, 6-0, 178, Oshawa (OHL), 46-28-26-5426; 13 Mike Sillinger, 17, C, 5-10, 191, Regina (WHL), 47-36-48-84-40; 14. Steve Bancroft, 17, D, 6-l&frac12;, 214, Belleville (OHL), 44-7-2229-77; 15. Patrice Brisebois, 18, D, 6-l&frac12;, 173, Laval (QMJHL), 30-11-27-38-49; 16. Jamie Heward, 17, RW, 6-2, 183, Regina (WHL). 34-20-20-40-19; 17. Mike Speer. 17, D, 6-2, 282, Guelph (OHL), 45-6-22-28-149; 18. Rob Zamuner, 19, C, 6-2, 202. Guelph (OHL), 4633-48-81-22; 19. Cory Keenan. 18, D. 6-0. 185, Kitchener (OHL). 45-11-22-33-50; 20. Stu Barnes. 18, C, 5-10&frac12;, 175, Tri-City (WHL), 41-35-42-77-79; 21. Jason Soules. 17, D, 6-2. 212, Niagara Falls (OHL), 37-3-8-11-132.<h2>SECOND ROUND</h2>22. Richard Borgo, 18, RW, 5-11, 190, Kitchener (OHL), 45-20-15-35-57; 23. Trent Klatt. 17, C. 6-1, 198. Osseo, Minn. (HS). not available; 24. Adam Foote, 17, D, 6-1, 180, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL). 48-3-20-23-87; 25. Mark Woolf, 18, RW, 5-10&frac12;, 196, Medicine Hat (WHL), 41-36-16-52-66; 26. Jason Marshall. 17, D. 6-2, 185, Vernon (BCJHL), 35-8-23-31-127; 27. Scott Feasby, 18, D, 6-1&frac12;, 187, Belleville (OHL). 30-1-6-7-39; 28. Terry Hollinger, 17, D, 6-1, 181. Regina (WHL), 40-016-16-24; 29. Pierre Sevigny, 17, LW, 5-11&frac12;, 181, Verdun (QMJHL), 43-21-26-47-57; 30. Jim Mathieson, 19, D, 6-1, 209, Regina (WHL), 42-4-15-19-93; 31. Paul Laus, 18, D, 6-1, 200, Niagara Falls (OHL), 33-0-8-8-179; 32. Brent Grieve, 19, LW, 6-1, 202, Oshawa (OHL). 37-31-28-59-78; 33. Rob Woodward. 17, LW. 6-4&frac12;, 218, Deerfield, 111. (HS), 19-2942-71-8; 34. Shawn McCosh, 19, C, 6-0, 188, Niagara Falls (OHL), 40-31-51-82-63; 35. Bob Boughner, 17, D, 5-11&frac12;, 201, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL). 46-4-9-13-136; 36. Paul Wolanski, 17, D, 5-11 &frac12;, 200, Niagara Falls (OHL), 40-6-713-45; 37. Dan Ratushny, 18. D, 6-1, 185, Cornell (ECAC). 13-0-6-6-12; 38. Mike Bodnarchuk, 18, RW, 6-0, 166, Kingston (OHL), 44-18-23-41-15; 39. Denny Felsner, 18, C-LW, 6-0, 180, Michigan (CCHA), 26-18-12-3016; 40. Yanic Perreault, 17, C, 5-11, 174, Trois-Rivieres (QMJHL), 46-34-39-73-24; 41. Steve Larouche, 17, C, 5-11&frac12;, 165, Trois-Rivieres (QMJHL), 46-35-60-95-39; 42. Mike Craig, 17, RW, 6-0, 178, Oshawa (OHL), 4422-27-49-22.<h2>THIRD ROUND</h2>43. Steve Widmeyer, 18, RW, 6-2, 191, Maine (HE), has not played this year; 44 Scott Boston. 17, D, 6-1, 160, Belleville (OHL), 443-15-18-40; 45. Eric Dubois. 18, D, 6-0, 193, Laval (QMJHL), 46-8-31-39-94; 46. Jason Winch, 17, C, 6-0, 198, Toronto (OHL), 45-1735-52-8; 47. Jason Prosofsky, 17, RW, 6-4, 220, Medicine Hat (WHL), 43-3-10-13-124; 48. Louie DeBrusk, 17, LW, 6-l&frac12;, 201, London (OHL), 39-8-9-17-92; 49. Rich Fatrola, 18, LW, 5-11, 193, Belleville (OHL), 44-30-29-5935; 50. David Harlock, 17, D, 6-2, 195, Toronto St. Michael&rsquo;s (MTJHL), not available; 51. Dan Kordic, 17, D, 6-5, 220, Medicine Hat (WHL), 45-1-8-9-128; 52. Mark Strohack, 17, D, 6-0, 194, Guelph (OHL), 46-0-8-8-46; 53. Tom Nemeth, 18, D, 6-0, 174, Cornwall (OHL), 45-3-20-23-21; 54. Jerrett DeFazio, 18, LW, 6-1, 179, Ottawa (OHL), 43-28-25-5313; 55. David Burke, 18, D, 6-1, 182, Cornell (ECAC), 15-0-2-2-12; 56. Troy Neumier, 17, D, 6-l&frac12;, 181, Prince Albert (WHL), 47-6-1218-54; 57. Jason Firth, 17, C, 5-11, 164, Kitchener (OHL), 35-24-22-46-9; 58. Collin Miller, 17, C, 5-11, 185, Niagara Falls (OHL), 45-2841-69-33; 59. John Brill, 18, LW, 6-3, 180. Grand Rapids, Minn. (HS), 16-17-12-29-20; 60. David Roberts, 18, C, 6-0, 180, Avon Old Farms, Conn. (HS), not available; 61. Jim Cummins, 18, RW, 6-2, 203, Michigan State (CCHA), 21-2-5-7-80; 62 Brent Thompson, 18, D, 6-2&frac12;, 175, Medicine Hat (WHL). 47-26-8-105; 63. Rob Sumner, 18, D, 6-0, 210, Victoria (WHL), 41-2-10-12-146.<h2>GOALIES</h2>1. John Tanner, 17, 6-3, 182, Peterborough (OHL), 17-8-0,3.23; 2. Byron Dafoe, 17,5-11, 175, Portland (WHL). 20-10-3, 4.76; 3. Felix Potvin, 17, 5-11, 167, Chicoutimi (QMJHL), 19-20-1, 4.51; 4. Olaf Kolzig, 18, 6-3, 207, Tri-City (WHL), 5-6-0, 3.63; 5. Mike Parson, 18, 6-0, 169, Guelph (OHL), 18-15-2. 3.97; 6. Sean Gauthier, 17, 5-IO&frac12;, 200, Kingston (OHL), 4-15-1, 5.16; 7. Dave Schill. 19, 6-1, 158, Toronto (OHL), 16-13-2, 4.34; 8. Todd Bojcun, 18, 5-8, 150, Peterborough (OHL), 118-1, 3.57; 9. David Goverde, 18, 6-0, 191, Sudbury (OHL), 11-7-2, 4.32; 10. Peter McGlynn, 17, 5-10, 151, Kingston (MTJHL), 13-5-5, 3.79. &#9632;

SIOUX BLUELINER RATED NO. 1 BY CSB

<div class="byline">BY STEVE DRYDEN AND DENIS GIBBONS</div>The National Hockey League Super Series against Soviet Union clubs teams is over, but our interest in the Soviets remains. The Hockey News presents a three-part special on hockey in the Soviet Union. This week, we provide highlights from an interview with Igor Larionov in the Soviet magazine, Sportivnye Igry. The story reveals some of the reasons why the national team star quit Central Red Army. Next week, we will describe what it&rsquo;s like for a North American journalist to cover the Izvestia tournament in Moscow. In two weeks, we&rsquo;ll look at the Soviets&rsquo; top young stars&mdash;their hope for the future.Igor Larionov may have dug his own grave with Central Red Army, but he never did dig a tunnel between Moscow and Montreal&mdash;despite appearances to the contrary.&ldquo;In 1984, I was labelled the enemy of the people,&rdquo; Larionov said in the December issue of Sportivnye Igry, a Soviet magazine. &ldquo;No, I didn&rsquo;t dig a canal between Moscow and Montreal. I simply said, in an interview with Canadian journalists that, in the future, there should be more contacts with the NHL.&ldquo;And, I said, with the permission of the Soviet federation, I wouldn&rsquo;t mind going across the ocean to play hockey. We lost the Canada Cup that year and, after that, the coaches began looking at me as an enemy of the people. Well, after that, I didn&rsquo;t play for the national team for a year.&rdquo;Larionov was restored to the national team, but whether he will ever play for it again is unclear. The talented center and defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov resigned from Red Army after returning from a seven-game tour of NHL cities, Dec. 26-Jan. 9.They both blamed differences with Red Army and national team coach Viktor Tikhonov for their resignations. Neither was in the lineup when Red Army opened up the second stage of its regular season with a game against the Wings of the Soviets.Before departing for the Super Series in North America, Larionov spoke at length with journalist Igor Kuprin of Sportivnye Igry.Larionov, whose NHL rights are owned by the Vancouver Canucks, said he believes permitting players to join the NHL would have a positive effect on Soviet hockey.&ldquo;Right now, we are moving towards economic self-sufficiency,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Our sport is a very expensive one. Uniforms of the players alone, bought on the foreign market, cost $2,000. Players should be allowed to play overseas and the foreign currency obtained should be used to invite youngsters in the Soviet Union to take up hockey.&ldquo;Why is there a hockey boom in Finland? Because if you open any magazine, you&rsquo;ll see the photo of Jari Kurri. Play hockey like him, and you will be the same as him, and live like him. Of course, Finns have a different psychology than ours, but I think such advertising is needed here as well.&ldquo;Czechoslovakian teams could just as well use (Dusan) Pasek and (Igor) Liba, but I think the people there recognized that both deserved recognition for their devotion to hockey and they were allowed to play overseas.&rdquo;Pasek, 28, plays for the Minnesota North Stars and Liba, 28, for the Los Angeles Kings. Jiri Hrdina, a third Czechoslovakian allowed to play in North America, is with the Calgary Flames. He is 31.Larionov addressed a wide range of subjects, including the financial status of Red Army players.While hockey players enjoy a relatively high standard of living in Moscow, Larionov said it is not one of privilege and believes they should be better rewarded.&ldquo;When I go on the ice to play against Canadians, it always surprises me how differerent we are,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They receive such a large sum of money and we a different one.&ldquo;Of course, we cannot be compared (evenly), but hockey gives them enough for the future. We also give hockey our best years. But then we begin the second life and it would be good if somebody left something aside for the second life&hellip;It happens very often that you&rsquo;re playing tough today, then tomorrow you&rsquo;re left an invalid with no money.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s generally believed athletes of Larionov&rsquo;s calibre are well looked after, but he denied being pampered in a society accustomed to lining up for everything from toilet paper to toothpaste.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think players from the Army club and trade union teams are much different,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have no more advantages than them. I have to stand two or three hours in line in the shop, where often there are not enough things of necessity in the first place.&ldquo;When I was on vacation, I stood in line for four hours because I had to move furniture to my new apartment.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011535/6037496-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="703" height="882"><figcaption class="caption-body">Igor Larionov says family is more important to him than hockey.</figcaption></div>Larionov said he does not have a pension, but Fetisov said during the Super Series, attempts are being made to create a pension plan.The living arrangements forced on Red Army players has long been a source of consternation for Larionov. Players, who live on a base, are kept from their families for the most part.The 28-year-old said he and the other four members of the Soviets&rsquo; famed Green Unit&mdash;Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov, Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov&mdash;have had to periodically plead with Tikhonov for the opportunity to break camp and go home.&ldquo;We five would come to Viktor and promise we would win the game. Only then would the whole team be allowed to go home after the game and return in time for the next one.&rdquo;Larionov has long complained about the lengthy separations players face from their families.&ldquo;Family, for me, is the most important thing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I find, in the family, exactly the rest that is necessary for me. We don&rsquo;t talk about hockey at home very often. Before, when we lived in Voskresensk, we would often talk about hockey with Dad. But Mom would often interrupt and say, &lsquo;Enough about hockey.&rsquo;&ldquo;I rest at home. I come home, see my daughter, who is 1&frac12; years old, talk to her and hold her in my arms. That brings relief from hockey.&rdquo;Larionov said he is accorded less freedom now than 11 years ago.&ldquo;I was 17 when I played in Voskresensk and lived at home,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Coach Yuri Morozov trusted me in everything. Then I was transferred to Central Red Army and became many times a world and Olympic champion, and lost trust.&rdquo;It is this feeling that is at the root of Larionov&rsquo;s problems with his former coach.&ldquo;I have had many conflicts with Tikhonov,&rdquo; said Larionov. &ldquo;I saw injustices but kept quiet. But the main concern is the human factor. Regrettably, Viktor does not take the players as men. In principle, he is indifferent to one&rsquo;s problems.&ldquo;What is important to him is only how you play. I was always concerned that he could do a heart-to-heart talk. To ask about something other than hockey.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

LARIONOV IN LIMBO

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011388/6037527-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="455" height="639"><figcaption class="caption-body">JAY GREENBERG</figcaption></div>The sad irony of these hockey times is how the NHL manages to call attention to itself for the wrong reasons.On Jan. 15, the day Steve Yzerman came to the Spectrum, the Sunday paper in Philadelphia devoted a package to hockey violence. There had not been a major incident in the NHL since mid-November. That run of good fortune ended two nights later when Philadelphia&rsquo;s Craig Berube treacherously cross-checked Rich Sutter of Vancouver into the boards. Still, on the day of Yzerman&rsquo;s visit, the NHL had been relatively free of suspendable fouls for almost two months.In both of the previous Red Wing-Flyer matches this season, Yzerman scored hat tricks. The previous afternoon in Boston, he dazzled the Bruins with two goals and three assists.Here he was, coming back to Philly red-hot. Would he tear up the Flyers again? Could they stop him? That Sunday, those questions were not asked in the local media. Instead the paper chose to examine why the NHL is such a jungle.Meanwhile Yzerman, despite his night-in, night-out excellence, continued to share column space and air time in Detroit with the trials and tribulations of Bob Probert, Joe Kocur and Petr Klima. The Detroit press notes&mdash;no kidding&mdash;now run court dates in addition to the usual statistics.Of course, it has become a fascinating story how the Red Wings have become one of the league&rsquo;s better teams despite&rsquo;all their off-ice problems. The point here is not a second-guess of anyone&rsquo;s reportorial tastes. There are no stones being thrown from this glass house.Those Steve Dykstra revenge quotes sure make for better reading than that feature on Doug Smail I&rsquo;ve been meaning to write for six years. Such is the nature of the media business.In other words, I&rsquo;m a rat in this maze, too, doing what I believe my editor would want me to do. Because sports are played by human beings, some of whom are more fallible than others, an awfully wide target for criticism is presented.Of course, the point could be made the NHL has gone to the additional trouble of painting a bull&rsquo;s-eye on its back. We&rsquo;re not going to get into that again here. I&rsquo;m as tired of the debate as I am of what I believe to be wrong. I can&rsquo;t just play in the sandbox, though, writing about only the good stuff. Duty calls when somebody gets hit over the head. I just wish it didn&rsquo;t call quite so often.What I am suggesting here is that between hacks, with what by now is becoming a dull axe, it is only fair that once in a while we take a good and admiring look at the tree. Or even better, the forest. Yzerman grows there. I wonder if enough people are taking the time to appreciate him. Or, if an NHL, whose biggest problem is that it does not explain itself well, is presenting him in the best possible light.Stick-swinging and fighting are probably bigger issues with the media than they are with the fans. Still, the league allows them to be, particularly by allowing the fighting.If the league took away that target, just how many more words might be spoken and written about the extraordinary talents with which the game is currently blessed?And it is blessed, too. More than it has ever been before. More, maybe, than it will ever be again.Truth is, 15 years from now, we probably will look back on this era as the golden age of the sport.The greatest player who ever lived, Wayne Gretzky, is still in his prime. Meanwhile, along has come Mario Lemieux to make Gretzky&rsquo;s dominance an increasingly arguable point. This gives us the incredible gift of two once-in-a-lifetime players, at their best, at the same time.In this context, Yzerman is just another good player. In any other era, he would be an absolute phenomenon. The goal and three assists he ran up at the Spectrum that night put him over a two-points-a-game pace. Until Gretzky, nobody had ever accomplished that feat through a season of more than 50 games. But Yzerman will not make either the first or second team of the league&rsquo;s end-of-the-season all-star squads.I take this as my cue to take the time to smell the roses. There are some great things going on out there in the garden. Far better than the sport&rsquo;s relentless critics care to know.The NHL&rsquo;s problems are probably less substantive than the other major sports. It has no strikes, fewer drugs, and&mdash;check out the number of football fatalities each year&mdash;the sport is probably less dangerous than advertised.Of course, I love the game enough to look past its problems. One of the difficulties the NHL faces with its coverage in the United States is that there aren&rsquo;t enough people who feel the way I do. The majority of media members here like football, baseball and basketball enough to overlook those sports&rsquo; faults. They do not like hockey enough to extend that courtesy.That is unfortunate and unfair. Truth is, hockey is better than it has ever been. The players are bigger, faster, more skilled. The NHL is enjoying its best competitive balance since the 1967 expansion.It&rsquo;s like having kids. You love them so much you quickly forget about all the hassles of having them. You put the problems in perspective. And wind up remembering mostly the good times.Thirty years from now, when I&rsquo;m gathered around the hot stove&mdash;actually we don&rsquo;t need hot stoves in Philadelphia, but I love hockey enough to retire some place where they do&mdash;nobody is going to ask me, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you think Dave Brown should have gotten 30 games?&rdquo; They&rsquo;re going to ask, &ldquo;Who was the greatest player you ever saw?&rdquo;And I&rsquo;m going to say, &ldquo;Sonny, you&rsquo;ve come to the right place. I saw the two best when they were at their best. They were so good that a Hall-of-Famer like Steve Yzerman never really got all the attention he deserved.&rdquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;ll say, &ldquo;Hockey was really great back then. Not like it is now.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

FORGET THE VIOLENCE: THIS IS THE GOLDEN AGE OF HOCKEY

<h2>BLACKHAWKS</h2>Denis Savard recorded his 600th assist when he set up left winger David Mackey&rsquo;s first goal of the season Jan. 16 against Edmonton. The Chicago center is only the second Hawk to reach 600 assists. Stan Mikita holds the club record with 926 assists. Bobby Hull is third with 549 assists&hellip;Savard and the Hawks got a scare when he was hit in the right ankle by a Dave Manson slap shot in the first period of the Jan. 21 4-2 loss at St. Louis. Savard was hospitalized during the game for X-rays, which were negative, and he returned for the third period&hellip;Goaltender Darren Pang began skating Jan. 17, but remained out indefinitely. He suffered a pulled right hamstring Jan. 1 against Toronto&hellip; Hawks&rsquo; coach Mike Keenan said he will institute a spring camp to train the Hawks&rsquo; young players. Keenan ran spring and summer camps while coaching in Philadelphia.<h2>NORTH STARS</h2>Center Dennis Maruk was assigned to Kalamazoo of the International League on Jan. 16 for two weeks of conditioning. It marks the first time in his 14-year career he has spent time in the minors&hellip;Center Dave Gagner collected his second NHL career hat trick, and his second since November, in the third period of an 8-6 loss to the New York Islanders Jan. 21. That gave him a team-leading 26 goals in 44 games&hellip;The loss to the Islanders was the first on a five-game road trip, the team&rsquo;s longest of the season. Minnesota defeated Winnipeg 4-1 Jan. 15 and tied Buffalo (Jan. 18) and Toronto (Jan. 19) 3-3 in its next two outings. The Stars concluded the trip in New Jersey Jan. 23&hellip;The loss against the Islanders Jan. 21 was right winger Brian Bellows&rsquo; 500th career game. Bellows&rsquo; career totals were 216-244-460.<h2>MAPLE LEAFS</h2>Leaf left winger John Kordic wasn&rsquo;t happy with the fact he got only two shifts Jan. 21 against his former Montreal Canadien teammates. But Habs&rsquo; defenseman Petr Svoboda wished Kordic hadn&rsquo;t got on the ice at all. Kordic fired a quick shot from the side of the crease which caught Svoboda smack in the mouth. As one witness observed: &ldquo;Kordic was going for the top comer&hellip;the top comer of Svoboda&rsquo;s mouth.&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Borje Salming didn&rsquo;t dress for the Montreal game because of a charley horse suffered in a Jan. 19 3-3 tie with Minnesota. Salming was cross-checked from behind by Stars&rsquo; winger Basil McRae and injured his leg when he crashed into the goal post&hellip;The Leafs were also without defenseman Al Iafrate, who returned home to Detroit Jan. 15 to handle marital problems-&hellip;Center Tom Fergus went four games through Jan. 25 without getting a minus rating, but was still a leagueleading minus-3 1&hellip;Goalie Allan Bester started six straight games in goal through Jan. 25, his longest streak of the season.<h2>BLUES</h2>Right winger Todd Ewen, known more for his fighting than his playmaking, had two assists and was the No. 1 star in the Blues&rsquo; 5-2 victory Jan. 17 over Los Angeles. When asked if he had ever had two points before, Ewen replied: &ldquo;Do you mean (in) one game or one season?&rdquo; The two assists gave Ewen six points for the season (3-3) and 14 for his career on nine goals and five assists. With 432 penalty minutes in 110 career games, Ewen had one point for every 30.8 PIMs,. The Blues shut out Wayne Gretzky. It was the fourth time this season Gretzky had been held pointless. Checking center Rick Meagher shadowed Gretzky for much of the game. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t get too high,&rdquo; Meagher said. &ldquo;The next game he could get nine points.&rdquo;&hellip;Right winger Brett Hull scored his 20th goal in the Blues&rsquo; 4-2 victory over Chicago Jan. 21. With a team-high 173 shots, he said he should have more than 20. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you think I should?&rdquo; he asked.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021007/6037558-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg" title="f0011-02" width="554" height="576"><figcaption class="caption-body">Todd Ewen had a rare two-point game.</figcaption></div><h2>RED WINGS</h2>After Chicago beat the Wings 3-2 Jan. 20 on a last-second goal by Chicago left winger Dirk Graham, Detroit coach Jacques Demers kept left winger Petr Klima and center Shawn Burr at home for the Jan. 22 game in Washington. Demers blamed the two for the mistake that led to the winning goal. Burr&rsquo;s pass up the middle to Klima in the Detroit zone was intercepted, leading to Graham&rsquo;s goal as the blue light went on to signal the end of the game. Burr took full blame. &ldquo;It was bad judgment on my part,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They rely on me at the end of the game to make the smart play. I didn&rsquo;t. Maybe it could have worked out, but it wasn&rsquo;t the play I was supposed to make. I had an easy out with Joe (Kocur) along the boards. But I didn&rsquo;t use it. I guess I deserve this.&rdquo;&hellip; Kocur said he hadn&rsquo;t had a drink in more than two months and it seemed to be aiding his play. Demers was showing more confidence in him. Though used on a checking line, Kocur scored the winning goal in a 4-3 win over Washington on Jan. 22 with 57 seconds left in the game. &#9632;

f0011-02

SAVARD NOTCHES 600TH ASSIST

<div class="byline">BY RICK MATSUMOTO</div>It was a scowling Todd Gill who changed in the Toronto Maple Leaf dressing room after the Leafs&rsquo; 4-3 loss to Montreal Canadiens Jan. 21.The defenseman-turned-left winger scored twice and was named second star of the game. But the scowl was there because he committed a turnover which resulted in one Canadiens&rsquo; goal and was on the ice for another.The loss dropped the Leafs&rsquo; record to 16-28-4. They had one victory&mdash;5-3 over Hartford Jan. 16&mdash;in their last five games.While the Leafs had played improved hockey (5-8-2) since George Armstrong replaced John Brophy as coach Dec. 19, they had little to show for it in the standings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011398/6037620-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="552" height="678"><figcaption class="caption-body">Even two goals against Montreal couldn&rsquo;t placate Todd Gill.</figcaption></div>They remained in fourth place in the Norris Division, just three points up on the cellar-dwelling Chicago Blackhawks.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been in every one of our last eight or 10 games,&rdquo; said Gill. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t lost by more than a goal or two. But little mistakes are still hurting us.&rdquo;The Montreal loss was a case in point.There was Gill&rsquo;s giveaway, a puck hitting Vincent Damphousse&rsquo;s skate and going into the Leaf net, and goalie Allan Bester allowing a soft goal by Montreal&rsquo;s Guy Carbonneau. It was the game-winner.Even the calls of referee Kerry Fraser went the Habs&rsquo; way.Toronto battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period and appeared to tie the game when Leaf center Tom Fergus fired a screened shot between Montreal goalie Brian Hayward&rsquo;s pads at the midway point of the period.Fraser immediately disallowed the goal, ruling Leaf right winger Craig Laughlin interfered with Hayward in the crease.Fraser not only cancelled the goal, but he gave Laughlin a two-minute penalty for interference and a misconduct when Laughlin loudly proclaimed his disgust.&ldquo;I was pushed in at the start, but I skated to the other side of the crease,&rdquo; explained Laughlin. &ldquo;I then skated back in front, but I didn&rsquo;t interfere with the goalie. I just screened him.&ldquo;When Fergie shot the puck I jumped out of the way and it went through the five-hole (between the pads). So I can&rsquo;t see how I interfered with him.&rdquo;Laughlin claimed if he was in the crease, it was by no more than an inch or so and Fraser shouldn&rsquo;t have made such a close call at that juncture of the game.&ldquo;It was a gutless call,&rdquo; mumbled defenseman Chris Kotsopoulos.&ldquo;It was a garbage call in my opinion,&rdquo; added center Ed Olczyk.Armstrong maintained an even keel about it.&ldquo;Rules are rules and a penalty should be called when you&rsquo;re in the wrong, regardless if the game is tight or not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t zeroing in on the net at the time, so I can&rsquo;t say.&rdquo;<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ed Olczyk, Vincent Damphousse, Tom Fergus, Dan Daoust, Tim Armstrong.LW&mdash;Mark Osborne, Al Secord. John Kordic, Dave Reid, Todd Gill.RW&mdash;Gary Leeman, Daniel Marois, Craig Laughlin, Mike Blaisdell.LD&mdash;Luke Richardson, Brad Marsh.RD&mdash;Rick Lanz, Chris Kotsopoulos, Brian Curran.G&mdash;Allan Bester, Ken Wregget.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Borje Salming, D, Charley horse, day-to-day.Doug Shedden, RW, torn knee ligaments, out for season. &#9632;

f0013-01

‘LITTLE MISTAKES’ HURTING LEAFS

<div class="byline">BY KEITH GAVE</div>After his team was manhandled in a game billed as a preview of the Campbell Conference finals, Detroit Red Wing coach Jacques Demers was fuming.&ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m missing something,&rdquo; he said after a 7-1 loss to Calgary at Joe Louis Arena Jan. 17, &ldquo;but it seems obvious we have a lot of work to do.&rdquo;Though he said he was tired of midseason games being hyped as playoff previews, Demers admitted he discussed the prospect with his players. But the coaches have given up on the topic, at least temporarily.&ldquo;If this team doesn&rsquo;t get going,&rdquo; said Demers, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s very possible we may not get out of our division.&rdquo; The Red Wings were 4-3-3 in their last 10 games.Even in the mediocre Norris Division, where the Red Wings were 2218-8 and had an II-point lead over second-place St. Louis, nothing is a given.&ldquo;We have a nice cushion because the other teams in our division aren&rsquo;t doing anything,&rdquo; said Demers. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it, all the other-teams in the Norris Division are below .500. Who are we trying to fool, anyway? Are we competing with them?&rdquo;Not too well on some nights, which explained Demers&rsquo; sudden anxiety about his team&rsquo;s chances in the playoffs. This was in stark contrast to his taining camp suggestion that another trip to the semi-finals wouldn&rsquo;t be enough this time. He hoped the Wings could establish a legitimate claim as one of the NHL&rsquo;s elite teams. When the team got off to a 17-9-4 start without wingers Bob Probed and Petr Klima, Demers really became excited.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-021002/6037651-1-eng-US/f0013-022.jpg" title="f0013-02" width="547" height="938"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jacques Demers worried about complacency on the Wings.</figcaption></div>The excitement has cooled.Neither Probed nor Klima, both of whom missed much of the early season due to alcohol-related troubles and lengthy suspensions, had brought much to the team&rsquo;s attack this season. Between them, they had 66 goals (Klima 37, Probed 29) last year. With 32 games remaining in the regular season, they had 10, Klima six in 23 games, Probed four in 22 games.&ldquo;For us to be able to match up with teams like Calgary and L.A. (who have defeated Detroit in five games this season by a combined score of 34-12), we have to play close to perfect hockey, because those teams are just better than us,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;And we can&rsquo;t do that unless Bob Probed and Petr Klima give us more offense.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not blaming them, it&rsquo;s just a fact. We need them to get going if we&rsquo;re going to do anything.&rdquo;Demers had hoped they would play on an effective second scoring line. The inability to put together a second line has huurt the Wings and worries Demers. His team was too predictable, too easy to defend. Stop center Steve Yzerman and you stop Detroit.And probably stop any hope Detroit carries into the playoffs.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 16: Tim Higgins, RW, reported to Adirondack, Team suspension lifted.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Shawn Burr, John Chabot, Adam Graves, Adam Oates.LW&mdash;Gerard Gallant, Kris King, Petr Klima, Dale Krentz.RW&mdash;Paul MacLean, Dave Barr, Joe Kocur, Jim Nill, Bob Probert.LD&mdash;Lee Nonwood, Jim Pavese, Jeff Sharpies.RD&mdash;John Blum, Gilbert Delorme, Doug Houda, Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Rick Zombo.G&mdash;Glen Hanlon, Greg Stefan.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steve Chiasson, D, bruised ribs, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0013-02

RED WINGS SPINNING OUT AGAINST KINGS, FLAMES

<div class="byline">BY MIKE PERRICONE</div>Goaltender Alain Chevrier became the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; latest addition and left winger Steve Thomas their latest casualty.Chevrier, 27, was obtained from the Winnipeg Jets for a fourth- or fifth-round draft pick in 1989. His performance and that of the Hawks will determine which of the picks Winnipeg will have this summer.The Hawks hope Chevrier&rsquo;s three years of NHL experience, which is more than all their other goaltenders combined, will help get them into the playoffs.Thomas, third on the Hawks with 21 goals and 19 assists in 45 games, is out for the season. He was scheduled for surgery Jan. 25 to repair a sublexation (chronic separation) of his right shoulder.&ldquo;I hurt it in a fight against Washington&rsquo;s Scott Stevens (on Dec. 21),&rdquo; said Thomas. &ldquo;It kept popping out.&rdquo;Thomas re-injured it Dec. 31 in New York against the Rangers, and again Jan. 16 in a 2-2 tie with Edmonton and Jan. 18 in a 6-4 home loss to the Rangers. The shoulder became so loose it popped out of place twice in the Edmonton game.Thomas has been plagued with injuries since being acquired from Toronto in Smptember, 1987. He separated his left shoulder last season and had surgery last May. He played just 30 games last season after suffering an abdominal strain during training camp.The Hawks, still carrying two extra skaters, planned no immediate recalls. General manager Bob Pulford said he would look for a left winger but would not be pushed into anything by Thomas&rsquo; absence.In Chevrier, the Hawks obtained a goaltender with a 61-71-9 career record and 4.23 career goals-against average with Winnipeg and New Jersey.&ldquo;It brings a little more experience to the position,&rdquo; said coach Mike Keenan. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been involved in a number of close contests this year that could have perhaps been decided by goaltending.&rdquo;Ed Belfour started seven straight games after Darren Pang suffered a pulled hamstring Jan. 1, posting a 23-2 record and 3.80 GAA. Jimmy Waite is out until March with a broken collarbone. Chevrier stepped in immediately, stopping 24 shots in a 3-2 win over Detroit Jan. 20. Right winger Dirk Graham scored the winner with one second to play. In his second start Jan. 21, Chevrier stopped 25 shots in a 4-2 loss to St. Louis. He wasn&rsquo;t surprised about playing right away.&ldquo;I figured I would,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t get me here to put me on the bench.&rdquo;Chevrier said he was &ldquo;very excited&rdquo; about coming to Chicago.&ldquo;I hope to be here for a long time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My wife is ecstatic. It&rsquo;s good to move back to the States. We were used to the New York metropolitan area (while Chevrier played for New Jersey), and Chicago is the closest you can come to that. My old college roommate lives in Lisle (a Chicago suburb), and we have a lot of friends in Chicago.&rdquo;Chevrier is in the last year of his contract,&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in my option year,&rdquo; said Chevrier. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure my agent (Larry Rauch) and Mr. Pulford will be talking and trying to settle something quickly.&rdquo;<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 19: Alain Chevrier, G, acquired from Winnipeg for future considerations. Chris Clifford, G, John Reid, G, returned to Saninaw (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Denis Savard, Troy Murray, Mike Eagles, Bob Bassen, Adam Creighton.LW&mdash;Dan Vincelette, Everett Sanipass, David Mackey, Dirk Graham.RW&mdash;Steve Larmer, Wayne Presley, Duane Sutter, Brian Noonan.LD&mdash;Doug Wilson, Steve Konroyd, Trent Yawney.RD&mdash;Dave Manson, Keith Brown, Bob McGill, Bob Murray.G&mdash;Alain Chnvrier Ed Belfour.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Darren Pang, G, pulled right hamstring, indefinite.Steve Thomas, LW, shoulder surgery, out for season.Jimmy Waite, G, broken collarbone, indefinite. &#9632;

HAWKS GAIN A GOALIE, LOSE A SNIPER

<div class="byline">BY JERRY ZGODA</div>Kari Takko first noticed trouble when he was brushing his teeth on a rainy December morning in Vancouver.&ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t keep the water from dripping out of my mouth.&rdquo; said the Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; third-year goalie.Less than 12 hours later, he couldn&rsquo;t blink his right eye. There he was in the middle of a 5-1 loss to the Canucks on Dec. 19 and, when he wasn&rsquo;t bothered by blurry vision, he was trying to keep his eye moist.&ldquo;Every time there was a break, I had to put my finger up under my mask and close my eye,&rdquo; he said.The next day, Takko was back in the Twin Cities and doctors told him it was more than a bout with the flu. It was first thought to be Bell&rsquo;s palsy, a viral infection that results in symptoms similar to Takko&rsquo;s.Later, it was discovered to be shingles of the ear, a more serious viral infection that paralyzed the right side of his face. A reactivation of a chicken pox virus from his childhood, the disease made difficult such simple tasks as eating and talking.Doctors, not wanting to alarm Takko, told him there was a 35 per-cent chance the condition would be permanent and that his career could be over at age 26. With a recovery well under way five weeks later, team physician John Schaeffer said there actually was only a 35 per-cent chance Takko would get better.&ldquo;Yeah, it was pretty scary,&rdquo; Takko said.Those frightening days ended when Takko returned to the lineup as Jon Casey&rsquo;s backup in a 3-3 tie with Toronto Jan. 19. Only slight lingering traces of the disease remained.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve only been seeing the puck real well the last couple of days,&rdquo; said Takko, who compiled a 4-6-1 record and 3.58 goals-against average before the virus struck &ldquo;I had to put so much ointment in my eye because it was drying out so much that I couldn&rsquo;t see good enough to play.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been hard sitting out because it&rsquo;s not like a normal injury. You hurt your arm or your leg and you know about how long it will take you to get better. I didn&rsquo;t know how long it would take or if it would get better. I just want to get back to normal, get back to playing.&rdquo;But the residue of a five-week layoff remained. Takko saw his first action in the third period of an 8-6 loss to the Islanders Jan. 21 and allowed four goals on six shots. Jon Casey, who had started his 14th straight game, allowed four on 19 shots.Takko, who was not in a talkative mood after the game, attributed the performance more to five weeks off than the virus.That game, which ended a four-game unbeaten streak (1-0-3), left coach Pierre Page with a dilemma. One goalie suffered from too much work, the other from too little. The North Stars returned Jarmo Myllys to Kalamazoo of the International League Jan. 20. Myllys appeared in three games over the five weeks Takko was out of the lineup.&ldquo;You can always use hindsight,&rdquo; said Page. &ldquo;Both have had bad nights before. It&rsquo;s like a pitcher giving up five home runs; you can&rsquo;t predict it. All I&rsquo;ve heard about Casey is that the more he plays, the better he plays. It wasn&rsquo;t the wrong decision (to start Casey). If I had started Takko, it might have been 16-0. Takko kept telling us he was ready to play, but it didn&rsquo;t look like it.&rdquo;<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 16: Dennis Maruk, C, assigned to Kalamazoo (IHL) for two weeks of conditioning.Jan. 20: Jarmo Myllys, G, assigned to Kalamazoo.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Neal Broten, Dave Gagner, Dave Archibald, Bob Brooke, Dusan Pasek.LW&mdash;Basil McRae, Brian MacLellan, Brian Bellows, Terrv Ruskowski.RW&mdash;Dino Ciccarelli, Marc Habscheid, Stewart Gavin, Larry DePalmaLD&mdash;Dean Kolstad, Ville Siren, Mark Tinordi.RD&mdash;Bob Rouse, Curt Giles, Shawn Chambers.G&mdash;Jon Casev, Kari Takko.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Curt Fraser, LW, wrist, day-to-day.Frantisek Musil, D, fractured foot, indefinite. &#9632;

TAKKO RETURNS FROM UNUSUAL ILLNESS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011258/6037737-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="492" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body">STAN FISCHLER</figcaption></div>Unnerving the imperturbable Detroit Red Wing center Steve Yzerman is a journalistic challenge tantamount to coaxing some bad words out of New York Islander center Pat LaFontaine.Yet I accomplished this feat merely by saying the magic words&mdash;Gordie Howe&mdash;in the outrageous sentence: Steve Yzerman is being mentioned in the same breath as Gordie Howe.Normally laconic in a one-on-one, Yzermar recoiled at the Howe-Yzerman connection as it he suspected Howe might be within striking distance and wallop him with an elbow.&ldquo;No, no, no,&rdquo; Yzerman protested, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s no fair, it&rsquo;s not right to put me in the Howe category. Look what he did over so many years and look how short a time I&rsquo;ve been around.&rdquo;Yzerman calmed down when it was explained the comparison had only to do with an athlete&rsquo;s impact on a city. Nobody is saying Yzerman is the equal of the greatest hockey player&mdash;Wayne Gretzky included&mdash;of all time. But the Red Wing captain has warmed Motor City hearts just as Howe did 40 years ago.The young Howe was shy to a fault, but gradually warmed to the media. Yzerman is doing likewise but often betrays the pain, especially when irritating subjects are raised and peppery replies must be softened with saccharine words. This is obvious when his role in the Bob Probert-Petr Klima twin embarrassments is raised.&ldquo;Our philosophy for the last couple of years,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;has been the idea of the team first. No one is bigger than the 20 or 25 guys on the team, no matter who he is. And that&rsquo;s the way it&rsquo;s going to be.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had our share of problems. At one time or another every player is going to have trouble and we try to deal with them. On the one hand, we try not to shrug our shoulders and laugh it off. But on the other hand we have to be critical of the player who&rsquo;s causing the problem.&rdquo;When it comes to problems, Yzerman must deal with the verbal fencing which follows one of his spectacular performances. Earlier this season his coach, Jacques Demers, made more than a couple of writers crazy when he hoisted Yzerman on to the plateau of Gretzky and Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux.&ldquo;There is no doubt that the best player in the league is Gretzky,&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;No. 2 is Lemieux. The third best player in the league right now is Steve Yzerman.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had a lot of turmoil and many injuries but Steve has done it all for us, some nights carrying the team on his back. Like some nights the way Lemieux does it in Pittsburgh. You have to see Steve play every game, night in and night out. You have to coach him to see what he does for this team. He averages 32 minutes a game.&rdquo;Yzerman realizes the Gretzky-Lemieux comparisons come with the territory whether he wants to talk about it or not. &ldquo;Wayne and Mario have established themselves as the two premier players in the game today,&rdquo; Yzerman said. &ldquo;They are head and shoulders above the rest and there isn&rsquo;t a player in the league who has risen to their level of play.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s unfair to Dale Hawerchuk, Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and guys like them to say who is third-best. Mario is unique because of his size. He has the reach and ability to beat guys one-on-one consistently, whereas Gretzky is smaller. Wayne is shifty and so smart With the puck.&rdquo;Yzerman may shy away from Lemieux-Gretzky talk, but his bankbook doesn&rsquo;t. Someone mentioned to Yzerman that, if Lemieux is worth $2 million and Yzerman is half as good, then the Red Wing should be a millionaire by next fall. &ldquo;My agent, Gus Badali, and (Red Wing GM) Jimmy Devellano have talked about a new contract,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Jim told me to keep working hard and playing well and he will take care of me. He always has in the past. I&rsquo;m looking forward to a new contract. Maybe during the summer we&rsquo;ll sit down and talk about it. I&rsquo;m just hoping that things go well in the next few months and my season continues to be successful.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-02986/6037730-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="705" height="797"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Yzerman says no member of the Red Wings is above the team.</figcaption></div>In Detroit, success is defined by (a) making the playoffs; (b) getting past the first two rounds; and (c) not being embarrassed by the Smythe Division champion in the Campbell Conference finals. Expecting the Red Wings to reach the Stanley Cup finals is a bit greedy but not beyond Demers&rsquo; dreams. It all depends on Yzerman.&ldquo;Stevie can carry us to the finals,&rdquo; Demers said, &ldquo;if Bob Probert, Petr Klima and Gerard Gallant are playing their best hockey.&rdquo;&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve proven we can play with the better teams in the league during the regular season,&rdquo; Yzerman said. &ldquo;Maybe by spring we can prove that we not only can play but beat these teams.&rdquo;Before leaving, he is asked if that is reality or fantasy.&ldquo;We saw New Jersey go a long way last year,&rdquo; he smiled. &ldquo;A lot of things can happen when you have an excellent, young hockey team. And we have one.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-01

COLUMNIST

RED WINGS’ FATE DEPENDS ON YZERMAN

<h2>KINGS</h2>Wayne Gretzky moved past Marcel Dionne into second place on the all-time scoring list Jan. 21. The Kings&rsquo; center had a goal and three assists in a 5-4 loss in Hartford to give him 1,771 points&mdash;one more than Dionne and 79 fewer than all-time leader Gordie Howe. &ldquo;Whenever you get a chance to break a record, it&rsquo;s an honor,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;To be second to Gordie Howe is a privilege.&rdquo; Howe, a Whaler executive, was on hand to congratulate Gretzky, who was 33-69-102 this season&infin;&hellip;Gretzky alternated between center and right wing on a line with Bernie Nicholls and Luc Robitaille in that game. The trio combined for four goals and five assists&hellip;Nicholls scored his career-high 47th goal and contributed a pair of assists, giving him a career-high 101 points (47-54). Nicholls needed three goals in his next two games to join Gretzky, former New York Islander Mike Bossy. Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux and former Montreal Canadien Maurice Richard as the only players in NHL history to collect 50 goals in 50 games or less. Gretzky has done it three times. The fastest 50 goals in Kings&rsquo; history was accomplished in 1980-81 when Charlie Simmer did it in 51 games.<h2>CANUCKS</h2>When the Canucks assigned goalie Troy Gamble to their International League affiliate in Milwaukee Jan. 2, did they send the right man? Gamble was 2-3-0 with a 2.38 goals-against average in his five-game NHL stint. Since his assignment, backup Kirk McLean was 3-2-0, but with a 3.60 GAA in those games. He did not look sharp in a 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Rangers Jan. 21&hellip;Vancouver general manager and president Pat Quinn looked into the possibility of acquiring Toronto right winger Al Secord while he was at the general managers&rsquo; meetings in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 15-18. Calgary and Edmonton are reported to be interested too. Secord is not expected to go to the Canucks&hellip;The Canucks had given up a league-leading 10 empty-net goals as of Jan. 23, but held their opponents to three or fewer goals 17 times in 48 games. They held their opponents to three or less 19 times in 1987-88.<h2>FLAMES</h2>Not every member of the Flames was ecstatic about their expected training-camp tour of the Soviet Union next fall. Czechoslovakian center Jiri Hrdina has played there often. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nothing new for me but it will be very tough for the guys,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A meal is unbelievably awful there. When you live here, you cannot eat anything there. Everybody will be sick.&rdquo; Official confirmation of the Flames&rsquo; participation was expected following a Jan. 23 game against the Montreal Canadiens&hellip;Even though they were the top team in the Camp bell Conference, the Flames were shut out in fan balloting for the Feb. 7 All-Star Game in Edmonton. &ldquo;Put it in the hands of the general manager and coaches and you&rsquo;d have a different team,&rdquo; said coach Terry Crisp&hellip;Right winger Mark Hunter ended a 16-game slump with four goals in a 7-2 win over Boston Jan. 19. Hunter became the fourth Flame this season to score four or more goals in a game. Hrdina, right winger Joey Mullen and center Joe Nieuwendyk did it earlier.<h2>JETS</h2>Veteran center Thomas Steen and rookie right winger Pat Elynuik overshadowed Pittsburgh center Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s 50th goal of the season Jan. 20. Steen collected two goals and two assists and Elynuik two goals and three assists in the second period for the Jets, who rolled over Pittsburgh 7-3. Elynuik&rsquo;s five points equalled Dale Hawerchuk&rsquo;s team mark for points in a game by a rookie (set in 1981-82) and points in a period by any player (set in 1983-84)&hellip; Defenseman Randy Carlyle was run head-first into the boards by Edmonton&rsquo;s Craig Muni in a 9-4 loss Jan. 18 and missed two games through Jan. 21. Carlyle, who doesn&rsquo;t wear a helmet, suffered strained neck muscles in the incident.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-03735/6037768-1-eng-US/f0016-032.jpg" title="f0016-03" width="557" height="858"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Elynuik tied two Winnipeg point-scoring records.</figcaption></div><h2>OILERS</h2>The Oilers received a scare Jan. 18 in Winnipeg when the shoulder of Winnipeg left winger Andrew McBain hit Edmonton goalie Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s jaw. Fuhr lay on the ice for 10 minutes before he was taken off on a stretcher and rushed to hospital. He came away with a cervical neck strain (whiplash) and was supposed to miss a week. But Fuhr dressed two nights later as a backup to Bill Ranford. On Jan. 21, he started against Pittsburgh, but was yanked following a 3-3 first period. Fuhr was denied his 200th career win for six straight starts. &ldquo;That is the least of my worries,&rdquo; he said&hellip;Defenseman Charlie Huddy&rsquo;s goal against Philadelphia Jan. 20 was his 200th career point. &#9632;

f0016-03

GRETZKY SECOND IN CAREER POINTS

<div class="byline">BY TONY GALLAGHER</div>Vancouver Canuck left winger Rich Sutter was walking awkwardly after a Jan. 17 encounter with Philadelphia Flyer left winger Craig Berube.At 16:54 of the second period in the Canucks&rsquo; 5-3 win. Berube crosschecked Sutter from behind as he headed toward the boards to get the puck. Sutter pitched forward and crashed headlong into the boards.His lower back was so sore he couldn&rsquo;t turn without pain. He was practising, but it wasn&rsquo;t known when he&rsquo;d return to the lineup. Berube received a boarding major.&ldquo;There wasn&rsquo;t much said on our bench afterwards,&rdquo; said Canuck captain Stan Smyl. &ldquo;Everybody knew we had to do something.&rdquo; Smyl dished out a couple of ineffective hits on Berube later in the game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011110/6037799-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="568" height="603"><figcaption class="caption-body">A cross-check from behind sidelined Rich Sutter.</figcaption></div>The replay showed Sutter managed to get his left arm up to deflect some of the blow, but his head and helmet still snapped back.&ldquo;When I was first lying on the ice, all I could think of was whether I could feel my toes and I couldn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Sutter. &ldquo;I guess my legs were moving but I couldn&rsquo;t feel it.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m still pretty sore,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to practise a lot but it&rsquo;s pretty tough getting anything done. It is pretty scary when I look at the video. It&rsquo;s not something I can watch easily.&rdquo;Doubly so for Rich&rsquo;s twin brother Ron, a center with the Flyers.&ldquo;It scared the hell out of me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My heart was in my mouth. I don&rsquo;t want to say anything about it really.&rdquo;It was the second serious injury for Rich Sutter this season. On Oct. 23 he was clipped in the mouth by Edmonton center Mark Messier and required dental surgery. Messier was suspended six games.Berube exhibited little remorse. &ldquo;Hockey is a rough game and people get hurt,&rdquo; he said. After some badgering he said he was sorry Sutter was injured. Flyer coach Paul Holmgren claimed he didn&rsquo;t see the play.The Canucks wanted a 10-minute match penalty called by referee Bob Hall and management sent a videotape of the incident to NHL executive vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care what they do with Berube really because I honestly think he&rsquo;s a good kid,&rdquo; said Vancouver director of player personnel Brian Burke. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t care whether Philly pays his salary (in the event of a suspension. Teams are not permitted to play suspended players.)&ldquo;But they&rsquo;ve got to make sure this sort of thing doesn&rsquo;t happen again. This can happen to anybody. I&rsquo;d say the same thing if it was one of our guys did something like that. If the league didn&rsquo;t suspend him, we would. I can say that in all honesty.&rdquo;After viewing tapes of the play, Canuck coach Bob McCammon said: &ldquo;The hit from behind is something you always worry about in this game. A lot of times, guys don&rsquo;t mean to do that. They just happen. I&rsquo;m not sure this was one of those cases. The tapes are being sent off. We&rsquo;ll let somebody else judge.&rdquo;<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Barry Pederson, Brian Bradley, Dan Hodgson, Greg Adams.LW&mdash;David Bruce, Ken Berry, Petri Skriko, Tony Tanti.RW&mdash;Stan Smyl, Ron Stern, Trevor Linden, Jim Sandlak.LD&mdash;Jim Benning, Harold Snepsts, Larry Melnyk, Paul Reinhart.RD&mdash;Garth Butcher, Kevan Guy, Doug Lidster, Robert Nordmark.G&mdash;Steve Weeks, Kirk McLean<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steve Bozek, C, hyper-extended knee, Indefinite.Rich Sutter, LW, back, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0017-01

SUTTER CRASHES ONTO INJURY LIST

<div class="byline">BY GRANT McGINNIS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011152/6037830-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="635" height="1260"><figcaption class="caption-body">TRADE ASSAILED</figcaption></div>It was inevitable.Everyone knew the Winnipeg Jets could not go on with three goaltenders pushing for playing time.So when Alain Chevrier was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks Jan. 19, it was no great surprise. A trade with Chicago had been rumored for more than a week. But what did come as a shock was what the Hawks gave up&mdash;future considerations.That didn&rsquo;t sit well in Winnipeg with either the ticket-buying public or Chevrier&rsquo;s former teammates.Winnipeg coach Dan Maloney was so thrilled with the deal, he refused to comment on it. Asked then if he was pleased to be back to two goaltenders, he shot back: &ldquo;I just said I&rsquo;m not going to comment on that. I&rsquo;ll talk about anything else but that.&rdquo;Jets&rsquo; general manager Mike Smith denied suggestions Maloney wasn&rsquo;t aware the deal was being made. He said Maloney and he agreed Daniel Berthiaume and Pokey Reddick would be the goaltenders of choice and Chevrier had to be moved.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough on a coach having three goalies,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;Right now, we&rsquo;re very happy with Bob Essensa (with Fort Wayne of the International League) and Tom Draper (with Moncton of the American League) in the minors and overall, we&rsquo;re very happy with our team down in Moncton.&rdquo;Smith also denied he sold himself short by not getting a player in the transaction. He said he was offered only minor-leaguers in return for Chevrier.&ldquo;We got a draft pick in the upper middle rounds,&rdquo; he said.Jets&rsquo; captain Dale Hawerchuk went public with his feelings, saying the team had been too cheap in years past to bring in the talent necessary to be a contender, accusations which came in the midst of a 2-5-0 slump and at a time when the Jets&rsquo; confidence had dipped to a season low following a 9-4 loss to Edmonton Jan. 18.&ldquo;You look at Calgary, Edmonton and L.A. and they&rsquo;ve obviously had more talent in past years than we&rsquo;ve had,&rdquo; Hawerchuk told a local television station. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve bad to work the extra hard route to try to catch up to them. I think it&rsquo;s time this hockey club seriously looked at itself and started bringing in some quality players. Whether they pay them or draft them, they&rsquo;ve got to do it now.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been here for eight years and they just haven&rsquo;t brought in the quality.&rdquo;Chevrier, on the other hand, was thrilled to move on. The 27-year-old, acquired last summer from the New Jersey Devils along with a seventh-round draft choice in 1989 for left winger Steve Rooney and future considerations, had a record of 8-8-2 in Winnipeg and 4.29 goals-against average. He admitted Berthiaume&rsquo;s promotion from the AHL&mdash;Berthiaume was 0-4 with a 5.56 GAA since returning to action Jan. 10&mdash;created some tension.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the best situation, obviously. But whenever you&rsquo;re in a situation like that, you have to make the best of it,&rdquo; said Chevrier. &ldquo;There is pressure if you put that pressure on yourself. Obviously, goalies in the NHL want to play. They don&rsquo;t want to back up or sit in the stands. Sure there&rsquo;s added pressure because there&rsquo;s two other people there that can do the job rather than one.<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 19: Brad Berry, D, recalled from Moncton (AHL); Alain Chevrier, G, traded to Chicago for future considerations.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen. Laurie Boschman, Randy Gilhen.LW&mdash;Brent Ashton, Doug Smail, Brent Hughes, Paul Fenton.RW&mdash;Andrew McBain, Pat Elynuik, Gord Donnelly, Hannu Jarvenpaa, StuKulak.LD&mdash;Dave Ellett, Jim Kyte, Brad Berry.RD&mdash;Fredrik Olausson, Peter Taglianetti, Teppo Numminen.G&mdash;Pokey Reddick, Daniel Berthiaume.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Randy Carlyle, D, strained neck, day-to-day.Iain Duncan, LW, fractured elbow. Feb. 7. &#9632;

f0018-01

JETS’ PLAYERS UNHAPPY WITH TRADE OF CHEVRIER

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>Edmonton Oiler defenseman Steve Smith&rsquo;s left shoulder had been ailing since the preseason, but he wasn&rsquo;t admitted into Edmonton&rsquo;s University Hospital for surgery until Jan. 22.Talk of an operation surfaced when the shoulder was first dislocated. And though Smith had played through the injury for about half a season, the question of surgery rose again Jan. 2 during a game in Minnesota, when the shoulder was dislocated once more.But Oiler general manager-coach Glen Sather, in consultation with team physician Dr. Gordon Cameron, wanted to hedge his bet.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked about it and, to me, an operation is the last resort,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;I said, &lsquo;Wait, wait until you absolutely have to.&rsquo;&rdquo;The way Sather sees it, had doctors held off on Bobby Orr&rsquo;s original knee operation, the superstar defenseman probably wouldn&rsquo;t have required the other nine.&ldquo;We held off on knee operations to guys like Wayne (Gretzky), Marty (McSorley) and Kevin McClelland and they&rsquo;re all right today,&rdquo; stressed Sather. &ldquo;Smitty&rsquo;s shoulder will be better after the operation, but I would have been happier had it tightened up naturally.&rdquo;Sather figured Smith could be back in about eight weeks. &ldquo;That, of course, is being optimistic,&rdquo; he admitted.Smith, a tower of strength in the playoffs last year, said he wants to be back when Stanley Cup play resumes Aoril 5.The original injury occured Sept. 20 in an exhibition game against the New York Rangers in Denver. He stepped on the stick of Rangers&rsquo; Lucien DeBlois and fell to the ice.&ldquo;Totally an innocent play,&rdquo; he said.Smith returned to the lineup for the season opener and played the first two games before missing four. He performed well for the first quarter of the season, and then the injury began affecting his play.&ldquo;For the first 20 games,&rdquo; said Sather, &ldquo;people were talking of him as an all-star.&rdquo;But as his performance tailed off, his play was criticized by the press and fans. The Oilers kept the injury quiet. Finally, he wound up for a slap shot in Minnesota and the shoulder popped again.&ldquo;They ask you if you can play, so you say &lsquo;Yes,&rsquo;&rdquo; the 25-year-old said. &ldquo;You play with pain. But, now hindsight says I probably should have taken more time off.&rdquo;Smith wound up with tom cartilage in his shoulder. Following the Jan. 2 game, it was determined he should take time off. He took physiotherapy treatments, but the self-healing process wasn&rsquo;t working.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been disappointing the last couple of weeks,&rdquo; said Smith, who was 3-19-22 in 35 games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been, in a situation where I&rsquo;ve been waiting for the doctor to tell me it&rsquo;s getting better on its own. Finally they determined it wasn&rsquo;t going to.&rdquo;<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 17: Martin Gelinas, LW, assigned to Hull (QMJHL); Kim Issel, LW, assigned to Cape Breton (AHL).Jan. 19: Warren Skorodenski, G, recalled from Canadian Olympic team.Jan. 20: Skorodenski signed and assigned to Cape Breton; Francois Leroux, D, recalled from St. Jean (QMJHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier, Jimmy Carson, Mark Lamb, Craig MacTavish.LW&mdash;Greg Adams, Craig Simpson, Keith Acton, Dave Hunter.RW&mdash;Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Kevin McClelland, Kelly Buchberger.LD&mdash;Kevin Lowe, Charlie Huddy, Francois Leroux.RD&mdash;Craig Muni, Chris Joseph, Craig Redmond.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jeff Beukeboom, D, sprained right knee, day-to-day.Miroslav Frycer, LW, lower back strain, day-to-day.Randy Gregg, D, re-aggravated pulled leg muscle, day-to-dayNormand Lacombe, RW, sprained right shoulder, Jan. 30-Feb. 2.Steve Smith, D, shoulder surgery, April 2.Esa Tikkanen, LW, fractured left wrist, indefinite. &#9632;

SHOULDER SURGERY PUTS SMITH ON SIDELINES

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>He treated the slump in his usual manner.Even-tempered, good-natured, willing to talk about it, even willing to listen to theories about what&rsquo;s gone wrong.But underneath it all. Hakan Loob sounded concerned.Until he scored his 14th goal of the season in Calgary Flames&rsquo; 7-2 win over Boston Bruins Jan. 19, Loob had gone 10 games and all of 1989 without a goal.He didn&rsquo;t start badly&mdash;nine goals in 20 games&mdash;but then tailed off dramatically with five goals in the next 28 games. Flames&rsquo; coach Terry Crisp even took the extraordinary measure of pulling him off the team&rsquo;s power play for the 7-1 win over Detroit Jan. 17 and the win over Boston. He was replaced by Lanny McDonald.Loob&rsquo;s numbers don&rsquo;t compare well with last season&rsquo;s, when the right winger became the first Swedish player to score 50 goals in a single season (50-56-106 in 80 games). He was also the first Flames&rsquo; player ever to make the first all-star team.So what went wrong?One theory is that Loob isn&rsquo;t going to the net as well as he did last season. Playing on a line with rookie sensation Joe Nieuwendyk and left winger Gary Roberts in 1987-88, everything they touched seemed to go in.&ldquo;When you have the confidence, nothing is impossible for you,&rdquo; said Loob, who is 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds. &ldquo;You probably do go in straighter lines. But I&rsquo;m not known as a guy who drives to the net all the time. I don&rsquo;t have the size to do it as much as guys who are six-feet tall and 200 pounds.&ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;m not driving to the net enough. But, it&rsquo;s the same old thing. If you knew what you were doing wrong, you wouldn&rsquo;t do it any more. I think it&rsquo;s more on the mental level. You&rsquo;ve got to believe in what you&rsquo;re doing. In this game, if you fall behind in the stats, you seem to press a lot.&rdquo;Crisp said he wouldn&rsquo;t put any undue pressure on Loob to produce. The Flames have stressed defense more this season and, as a result, play less of the freewheeling hockey that characterizes Loob&rsquo;s game.&ldquo;With goal-scorers you usually look at two things,&rdquo; said Crisp. &ldquo;Chances and results. Usually, there&rsquo;s a correlation. Sometimes, you get a thousand chances and only five go in.&ldquo;I used to listen to Reggie Leach and Rick MacLeish and some of the scorers talk (when Crisp played in Philadelphia). The thing they&rsquo;d do is not panic. They didn&rsquo;t change things. They didn&rsquo;t change their sticks or their skates or their cologne.&ldquo;So all you can do is keep working. You start to worry when the chances don&rsquo;t come. Then, obviously something&rsquo;s wrong.&rdquo;Loob began the year by saying he would not set any goals for this season but he would settle for somewhere between 35 and 40 goals.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t get off to a good start,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;All the added pressure of a 50-goal season is the main thing that happened. If anybody&rsquo;s aware of this slump, it&rsquo;s me. You don&rsquo;t need 50 guys tell you.&ldquo;I know I can play better or at least score more. I know that for sure. The thing is, I can&rsquo;t just talk about it; I&rsquo;ve got to do it.&rdquo;<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour, Joel Otto. Theoren Fleury.LW&mdash;Colin Patterson, Jim Peplinski, Tim Hunter, Jiri Hrdina. Perry Berezan.RW&mdash;Hakan Loob, Joey Mullen, Mark Hunter, Lanny McDonald.LD&mdash;Gary Suter, Jamie Macoun, Dana Murzyn, Ric Nattress.RD&mdash;Brad McCrimmon. Al Maclnnis, Rob Ramage. G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Rick Wamsley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Gary Roberts, LW, back, day-to-day. &#9632;

SLUMPING LOOB LOOKS FOR ANSWERS

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>As their losing streak reached three games and their hold on second place in the Smythe Division dwindled to three points over Edmonton, the Los Angeles Kings searched for the solutions.Winning on the road was definitely one of their problems. They hadn&rsquo;t won away from the Forum since Glenn Healy faced 50 shots Dec. 23 in a 5-2 victory over Vancouver, a run that produced two ties and four defeats.Included were consecutive road losses to St. Louis (5-2 Jan. 17), the New York Islanders (4-2 Jan. 19) and Hartford (5-4 Jan. 21).Against Hartford, the Kings led 4-3 after two periods but gave up two goals in 8V2 minutes. It was the first time in 24 games the Kings failed to hold a lead in the third period.Going back even further, the Kings were mired in a 3-6-2 skid&mdash;their worst of the season&mdash;during which they gave up 53 goals and 384 shots.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve established respect around the league and teams very much want to beat us,&rdquo; said Wayne Gretzky. &ldquo;Now we have to pick it up another notch. (Opposing coaches) have all watched the films, and they&rsquo;re all ready to play us.&ldquo;Most of the guys haven&rsquo;t been in this situation before. It&rsquo;s a whole new learning experience. It&rsquo;s definitely been frustrating, but on the other hand it&rsquo;s also a good sign because it shows that we have come a long way.&ldquo;Believe me, it&rsquo;s a lot nicer facing these problems than being well out of the playoffs We&rsquo;re all going to benefit from this.&rdquo;After scoring seemingly at will over the first 40 games, the Kings were facing the most relentless checking they had seen all year and having some difficulty coping with it. Even during the good times, the Kings gave up an unusually high number of quality chances, a problem they overcame by scoring goals in bunches.The chances against remained the same during the club&rsquo;s slide, but the offense wasn&rsquo;t enjoying the same success it had earlier.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re getting some chances that went in before and now they&rsquo;re not,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;We have to be more creative, more imaginative. When you&rsquo;re being defensed, you can&rsquo;t go to the same wall. You have to open up the wall.&rdquo;&ldquo;We&rsquo;re struggling,&rdquo; said defenseman Tim Watters. &ldquo;But the work ethic has still been there, which is a positive sign. We all believe we will work our way out of this.&rdquo;Through 48 games, the Kings had allowed a league-high 1,686 shots, an average of 35 a game. Many of those, particularly in recent games, were coming from directly in front of the net.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been playing teams that are excellent when it comes to crashing the net,&rdquo; said Kings&rsquo; coach Robbie Ftorek. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to eliminate those people from getting to the net.&rdquo;The Kings were without as many as a halfdozen regulars, but Ftorek refused to accept that as an excuse.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve lost some guys,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but we still have 20 guys who should be able to do the job. We&rsquo;re working hard, which is good, but we&rsquo;re also making some mistakes.&rdquo;<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 18: Gord Walker, RW, recalled from New Haven (AHL).Jan. 22: Jay Miller. LW, acquired from Boston for future considerations.Jan. 23: Bob Carpenter, LW, traded to Boston for Steve Kasper, C.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Bernie Nicholls, Mike Krushelnyski, Steve Kasper. Sylvain Couturier.LW&mdash;Luc Robitaille, John Tonelli, Phil Sykes, Jay Miller.RW&mdash;Dave Taylor, Ron Duguay, Gord Walker.LD&mdash;Steve Duchesne, Tom Laidlaw, Doug Crossman, Wayne McBean.RD&mdash;Dale DeGray, Tim Watters, Marty McSorfey, Steve Richmond.G&mdash;Glenn Healy, Mark Fitzpatrick.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike Allison, RW, bruised knee, day-to-day.Ken Baumgartner, D, pneumonia, indefinite.Jim Fox, RW, knee surgery, out remainder of season.Igor Uba, LW, bruised shoulder, day-to-day. &#9632;

KINGS FIND IT’S TOUGH NEAR THE TOP

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01951/6037940-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="490" height="649"><figcaption class="caption-body">BARRY MEISEL</figcaption></div>The calendar says John Tonelli will turn 32 on March 23, but the calendar lies. This is the season of JT&rsquo;s rebirth. He is a renaissance man in the land of Kings because he feels wanted again.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s funny,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t wonder how old I am any more. It&rsquo;s a good feeling. I enjoy the Kings, I enjoy the players. They give me a ton of respect.&rdquo;And so Tonelli is giving back again the only way he knows how. His legs are churning, his arms are pumping, his game is jumping like it did in the early &rsquo;80s, when he scored huge goals for the New York Islanders and nobody worked harder for the money. The money. That&rsquo;s how Tonelli&rsquo;s slide began, back in the summer of &rsquo;85.He was 28, coming off his only 100-point season, about to enter the option year of his contract. He was a key cog in the Islanders&rsquo; machine and felt he deserved to be paid like one. He didn&rsquo;t expect Bossy, Trottier or Potvin dollars, but he did expect a healthy portion of the team&rsquo;s four-Stanley Cup pie. General manager Bill Torrey had already started a policy of signing players to two-way contracts, but Tonelli couldn&rsquo;t believe that meant him. A minorleague salary? Me?Tonelli didn&rsquo;t report to training camp until three days before the start of the season. Pay me or trade me, was, in effect, what he told Torrey. Torrey did both. Tonelli reluctantly agreed to the two-way clause as part of a deal worth $ 1.4 million for four years. On March 11, 1986&mdash;after a season in which Tonelli held a grudge for the disrespect he believed he was shown&mdash;Torrey dealt him to Calgary.&ldquo;I think I let the business part of the game interfere,&rdquo; Tonelli admits now, long after the bitterness faded. &ldquo;I think I took the business part too seriously, too personally.&rdquo;In Calgary that first spring, Tonelli took his sixth trip to the Stanley Cup finals, failed to cop a ring for only the second time. At training camp for the 1986-87 season, at the age of 29, people started asking him if he was too old.&ldquo;Ever since those finals, the question mark was hanging over me. Can John Tonelli still do it? That&rsquo;s all I read in the Calgary papers. How would you feel? I certainly did lose it. I lost a lot of confidence.&rdquo;He scored 20 goals in 1986-87 and 17 in 1987-88. He was contributing less, worrying more. With the final year of the contract about to kick in, and an assignment to the minor leagues one of Calgary&rsquo;s options, Tonelli considered retiring.&ldquo;I was almost ready to pack it in, that&rsquo;s how far down I had gone,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But then Rogie called and expressed a lot of interest.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02633/6037933-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="718" height="595"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Tonelli considered retiring after last season.</figcaption></div>Kings&rsquo; GM Rogie Vachon said all the right things. He said he wanted Tonelli, needed Tonelli. So did Kings&rsquo; owner Bruce McNall. Tonelli hadn&rsquo;t heard that type of talk in two years.&ldquo;They made me feel wanted. I need that, absolutely. Because I&rsquo;m an emotional player. Emotion is feeling.&rdquo;Tonelli is an alternate captain and plays regularly on the Kings&rsquo; third line, mostly with center Mike Krushelnyski and right winger Ron Duguay. He had 23 goals after 46 games.Yes, Tonelli had to look hard for three years to feel right. Mostly, though, he had to recapture self-respect. Now he&rsquo;s found himself, sweating and grinding in sunny Southern Cal.&ldquo;I feel it&rsquo;s a big plus,&rdquo; he said of the Palos Verdes home he shares with his wife Karen, 12-year-old daughter Jennifer and eight-year-old son Ryan. &ldquo;You know me, I have to play hard. I need a lot of intensity to be at my best. L.A. is relaxing. I have a swimming pool and a jacuzzi. I like sitting back in the jacuzzi after a game, just relaxing. L.A. is relaxing. I can take things in stride.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-01

TONELLI IS BORN AGAIN IN LOS ANGELES

&hellip;Only four of 21 NHL teams have winning records in NHL post-season play. Edmonton (86 games won, 33 lost, none tied, .723 percentage) leads the way, followed by the New York Islanders (118-73-0, .618), Montreal (325-201-8, .616) and Philadelphia (106-98-0, .520).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03423/6037971-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="999" height="506"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton Oilers: Post-season powerhouse</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-03

DID YOU KNOW…

<h2>PENGUINS</h2>The Penguins suffered their most significant injury of the season when goalie Tom Barrasso pulled a groin muscle early in the second period of a 5-2 loss on Long island Jan. 17. Barrasso, 13-6-4 with the Penguins, was largely responsible for their surge to the top of the Patrick Division in November and December. He was expected to miss about two weeks&hellip;The Penguins recalled Wendell Young from Muskegon to replace Barrasso and he was a surprise starter in their next two games, a 7-3 loss in Winnipeg and 7-4 win in Edmonton. Young lasted just over 29 minutes against the Jets&mdash;during which time he faced 29 shots and failed to stop five of them&mdash;but was back in goal the next night against the Oilers&hellip;Right winger Mark Recchi, the Penguins&rsquo; fourth draft pick (67th overall) in 1988, got the first goal of his NHL career during the loss in Winnipeg.. The victory in Edmonton was just the Penguins&rsquo; second at Northlands Coliseum in 16 lifetime visits (2-13-1).<h2>RANGERS</h2>Goalies are generally a superstitious lot, but veteran Bob Froese and his teammates broke all the rules when he notched his 13th career shutout in St. Louis on Jan. 19. &ldquo;David Shaw was looking at a stat sheet before the game and saw that (Blues&rsquo; goalie) Greg Millen had five (this season),&rdquo; Froese recalled after registering the Rangers&rsquo; first shutout of the season and his first since March, 1986. &ldquo;He asked me if I ever had that many&hellip;and, everybody knows, you never get a shutout when you talk about one before the game.&rdquo; (To answer Shaw&rsquo;s question, Froese led the NHL with five while playing for the Flyers in 1985;-86.)&hellip;Although the heroics of Ranger rookies Tony Granato and Brian Leetch overshadowed his streak. Ranger center Carey Wilson was on a quiet roll along with his new team. When he scored a first-period goal at Vancouver Jan. 21, it marked the 13th straight game he had notched at least one point.<h2>DEVILS</h2>Coach Jim Schoenfeld was critical of backup goaltender Bob Sauve after a 5-4 loss to the Quebec Nordiques Jan. 19. But when he was asked if the Devils are considering using minorleaguers Craig Billington or Chris Terreri as a backup to Sean Burke, the coach bristled. &ldquo;You guys (reporters) are sounding like he&rsquo;s never going to make another save,&rdquo; said Schoenfeld. &ldquo;He let two bad goals in and that&rsquo;s it. We still have faith in Bobby as a player, as a person and as a goaltender.&rdquo;&hellip;Through the team&rsquo;s first 522 games in New Jersey, covering 6&frac12; seasons, the Devils played just one 1-0 game. (Goalie Sam St. Laurent beat St. Louis on March 27, 1986.) They played two in three games, losing 1-0 in Montreal on Jan. 11 and defeating the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 four days later.<h2>FLYERS</h2>Although Flyer right winger Ilkka Sinisalo might be able to return from a multiple fracture of his left wrist, it isn&rsquo;t likely to be this season, or with the Flyers. Sinisalo will be a free agent without compensation after this season, and the fact that he did not renew his contract indicated he was thinking about returning to Europe, where several Swiss teams have already expressed interest&hellip;Right winger Scott Mellanby ended an 11-game stretch without a goal when he scored against Vancouver in a 5-3 loss Jan. 17&hellip;Left winger Craig Berube scored his first goal of the season during the loss at Vancouver. Berube was also the center of attention when he cross-checked Rich Sutter from behind, and Sutter had to be helped from the ice on a stretcher with a lower back strain&hellip;&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t mean to cause any injury,&rdquo; said Berube, who called Sutter the next day. &ldquo;He lost his balance. It looked a lot worse than it was.&rdquo;<h2>CAPITALS</h2>General manager David Poile&rsquo;s 40th birthday was celebrated prematurely at a combined party-roast Jan. 23. Sample tape from Mario Lemieux: &ldquo;I want to congratulate David Poile on his 40th birthday and all the things he has achieved for a man so young. Who&rsquo;s David Poile?&rdquo;&hellip;Although the official announcement was being withheld, the Capitals were preparing for a September exhibition trip to the Soviet Union. Some have been there before: Bengt Gustafsson for the 1979 World Championships and 1986 Izvestia Tournament, Grant Ledyard for the 1986 World Championships and Mike Gartner and Larry Murphy as members of Canadian midget champions.<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>Bryan Trottier&rsquo;s agent. Bob Thornton, said the veteran center would want to be traded if the Islanders made him a part-time player. But Trottier&mdash;who grew upset after coach Al Arbour told him a youth movement might cost Trottier ice time&mdash;later met with Bill Torrey, and said he didn&rsquo;t ask to be traded. &ldquo;We both relayed our positions,&rdquo; said Trottier. &ldquo;Bill told me it was not meant to be me being singled out.&rdquo; Said Torrey, &ldquo;The meeting was very positive. He told me what was on his mind. I told him what was on my mind. Obviously when there are changes, there&rsquo;s an adjustment and it&rsquo;s not easy.&rdquo;&hellip;It took Pat LaFontaine 343 games to register his first two NHL hat tricks, but only four to notch his last two. LaFontaine scored three goals for the second Saturday in a row (and added two assists for a career high-tying five points) in an 8-6 win over Minnesota Jan. 21. It was the Islanders&rsquo; third win in a row. &#9632;

BARRASSO INJURY GIVES YOUNG A CHANCE

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div>Ravaged left shoulder or not, it was hard to see any difference in the play of Philadelphia Flyer right winger Tim Kerr when he scored a hat trick against Winnipeg in a 7-3 win Jan. 21.His second three-goal game of the season marked the end of a three-game road trip (1-1-1) for the Flyers. It also marked Kerr&rsquo;s last action before going to Boston for a Jan. 24 appointment with Dr. William Southmayd, orthopedic surgeon for baseball&rsquo;s Boston Red Sox.The trip began ominously when eight-year right winger Ilkka Sinisalo crashed into the end boards at Vancouver and fractured his left wrist in three places. He is expected to be out for the rest of the season.Kerr, the team leader with 32 goals in 45 games, is becoming more and more frustrated by the condition of his shoulder. The first hint everything was not as it should be came Dec. 27, when he stretched muscles in the shoulder.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to make a big deal out of this, but the shoulder just isn&rsquo;t as strong as it used to be,&rdquo; said Kerr. &ldquo;That shouldn&rsquo;t be surprising. I guess I shouldn&rsquo;t have expected that I would be able to beat on it the way I used to.&ldquo;I guess after all the operations, you have to expect that. But it also doesn&rsquo;t help that now there&rsquo;s some arthritis in there. That&rsquo;s not something that goes away.&rdquo;Five operations&mdash;the latest forced him to miss virtually all of last season&mdash;have left the 29-year-old Kerr with an uncomfortable feeling about his future.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll go see this specialist in Boston,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The worst thing he can say is that the shoulder will always be sore. Hey, I can deal with that. If I have to play with only one strong shoulder, I&rsquo;ll do it.&ldquo;But I felt strong early in the season, maybe I can feel like that again. I guess I&rsquo;ll just have to understand that I can&rsquo;t do the same things in practice that I could before (the operations).&ldquo;My shoulder gets tired from shooting and I can&rsquo;t work out with heavy weights any more. Maybe the answer is that I&rsquo;ll respond to this different kind of conditioning program, and not shoot so much at practice.&rdquo;Kerr used to shoot for nearly 30 minutes after a Flyer practice, taking as many as 200 extra shots. He has scaled down his workouts out of necessity. He hasn&rsquo;t practised hard in six weeks.The damaged shoulder has also altered the way he approaches off-ice conditioning. Kerr used to bench press about 350 pounds. Now he settles for about 230.&ldquo;Paul (coach Holmgren) and the team have been great,&rdquo; said Kerr, &ldquo;lean take it easy when the shoulder feels a little weak.&rdquo;Holmgren is hopeful less now will mean more later.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve never had a healthy Tim Kerr in the playoffs,&rdquo; said Holmgren. &ldquo;Right now, Tim says he&rsquo;d rather play the games and ease off in practice, but later in the season we may have to consider holding him out of some games. We&rsquo;ll see how the shoulder feels.&rdquo;Earlier this season the Flyers showed great faith in Kerr and his ability to come back when they signed him to a four-year contract with a no-trade clause.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m convinced I can still play and be effective,&rdquo; said Kerr.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 14: Kerry Huffman, D. assigned to Hershey (AHL).Jan. 17: Huffman recalled from Hershey.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mike Bullard, Ron Sutter, Pelle Eklund, Doug Sulliman.LW&mdash;Brian Propp, Murray Craven, Derrick Smith, Craig Berube.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Tim Kerr, Scott Mellanby, Dave Brown.LD&mdash;Mark Howe, Terry Carkner, Kerry HuffmanRD&mdash;Kjeli Samuelsson, Gord Murphy, Jeff Chychrun.G&mdash;Ron Hextall, Mark Laforest.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jeff Harding, RW, severely lacerated kneecap, indefinite.Moe Mantha, D, pulled groin muscle, indefinite.Dave Poulin, C, bruised right hand, Jan. 26.Ilkka Sinisalo, RW, broken left wrist, indefinite.Jay Wells, D, broken knuckle, Feb. 2. &#9632;

KERR’S SHOULDER CLOUDING FUTURE

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>Left winger Pat Conacher has had a tough time convincing coaches he has belonged in the NHL for most of the past decade.But as he moves closer to his 30th birthday May 1. it is not his own situation that concerns Conacher. Struggling in fifth place in the Patrick Division, Conacher sees a New Jersey Devil team teetering on the brink of trouble.&ldquo;We won&rsquo;t say it. but it&rsquo;s important for us to prove that last season was no fluke.&rdquo; said Conacher. &ldquo;Some teams get to the finals and then you don&rsquo;t see them for another 10 years. We don&rsquo;t want to disappear after one year.&rdquo;Conacher knows what it is like to drop out of sight. He did it in New York after playing parts of two seasons (1979-80 and 1982-83) for the Rangers and then again in Edmonton after playing on a Stanley Cup winner in 1984.The Devils signed him as a free agent August 14. 1985, but he played only two NHL games in his first two seasons with the organization and his future seemed bleak. It was not until coach Jim Schoenfeld&rsquo;s arrival last season that Conacher was given a chance to play regularly.&ldquo;I never thought of getting called up when Doug Carpenter coached here. I felt he didn&rsquo;t want me or need me,&rdquo; said Conacher. &ldquo;I was one of the first players to be sent down in training camp last year. Lou (general manager Lamoriello) probably let Carpenter do what he did because he (Carpenter) knew the players.&ldquo;Personally, it&rsquo;s tough playing down there. When you&rsquo;re young, it&rsquo;s tough to get out of the minors. You never think you will. When you&rsquo;re old, they say you&rsquo;re no good. It&rsquo;s tough riding the bus.&rdquo;Conacher was recalled from Utica of the American League one day after Schoenfeld was hired (Jan. 27) and contributed to New Jersey&rsquo;s playoff run. His plus-eight rating was fifth best on the Devils and in the playbffs he was a key member of the checking line with center Claude Loiselle and right winger Doug Brown.&ldquo;The playoffs were the highlight of my career.&rdquo; said Conacher, 3-1-4 in 33 games this season. &ldquo;I was with Edmonton when they won the Cup (l 984) but I had a very limited role. Last year Schoeny brought me up and he used me in tough situations. That&rsquo;s a great shot to your ego. This team came together last year. We won with 20 guys. Every winning team used 20 guys, but in Edmonton there were a lot of superstars who carried the team.&rdquo;There are no superstars in New Jersey, with the possible exception of goalie Sean Burke. The victories have not come easily this season, but one player Schoenfeld has consistently praised is Conacher.&ldquo;Charlie (Conacher&rsquo;s nickname) can play anywhere&mdash;center, left wing, right wing. He can probably play defense, although I haven&rsquo;t asked him,&rdquo; said Schoenfeld. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hard working. He never gets tired and he&rsquo;s always on his feet. He&rsquo;s a great player for our organization to have.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s such a good example for the other guys. He&rsquo;s a veteran player and he works hard to keep in shape. You almost have to tie him down to keep him off the ice. He has good leadership qualities. He&rsquo;s been around. He leads by example and the players listen to what he says.&rdquo;With the Devils mired in fifth place in the Patrick Division, it&rsquo;s time for Conacher&rsquo;s teammates to listen before the detractors are proved right.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 19: Craig Billington, G, recalled from Utica (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kirk Muller, Claude Loiselle, Aaron Broten, Anders Carlsson.LW&mdash;Patrik Sundstrom, Jim Korn, Pat Conacher, Brendan Shanahan, Steve Rooney.RW&mdash;John MacLean, Pat Verbeek, Doug Brown, David Maley.LD&mdash;Ken Daneyko, Randy Velischek, Tommy Albelin.RD&mdash;Joe Cirella, Tom Kurvers, Craig Wolanin, Jack O&rsquo;Callahan.G&mdash;Sean Burke, Bob Sauve, Craig Billington.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Perry Anderson, LW, right knee sprain, day-to-day.Bruce Driver, D, broken right leg, indefinite.Mark Johnson, C, pulled hamstring, indefinite. &#9632;

CONACHER SOUNDS DEVILS’ ALARM

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>Everywhere they go, the rookie-powered New York Rangers find ways to reinforce their status as the NHL&rsquo;s most surprising team.Comebacks have been commonplace this season for New York&rsquo;s version of the Cardiac Kids but, on Jan. 21 at Vancouver, the Rangers accomplished something they had not done since March of 1987. They won a game in overtime.After overcoming a 4-2 deficit on goals from defenseman Mark Hardy and hot rookie winger Tony Granato, the Rangers defeated the Canucks at 1:59 of overtime when center Kelly Kisio poked in a goalmouth rebound.In addition to the two-goal deficit, the Rangers killed off a two-man disadvantage for 1:38 in the second period and one-man disadvantage at the end of the third period which extended into the first 1:14 of overtime.Since a 3-2 overtime win at Pittsburgh on March 14, 1987, the Rangers were 0-1-17 in OT. Before the Vancouver game, the Rangers were one of three teams which didn&rsquo;t have an overtime decision. The others were St. Louis and Toronto.&ldquo;This team has a lot more drive and confidence than in the other years I&rsquo;ve been here,&rdquo; said captain Kisio, a three-year Ranger veteran. &ldquo;And those two&mdash;Granato and (Brian) Leetch&mdash;get a lot of the credit. I wouldn&rsquo;t want to have to choose between them (for rookie of the year).&rdquo;But Leetch said there may be no decision to make.&ldquo;If Tony keeps scoring like this, he is going to run away with the rookie of the year race,&rdquo; said Leetch. &ldquo;He has nine goals in his last five games. That&rsquo;s amazing.&rdquo;The victory at Vancouver extended the Rangers&rsquo; road unbeaten streak to seven (5-0-2) and improved their road record to 13-8-5.Granato&rsquo;s goal against Vancouver was his 31st, putting him one away from tying the team record for goals by a rookie in one season. It is shared by Don Murdoch (1976-77) and Mark Pavelich (1981-82).The native of Downers Grove, Ill., was the NHL rookie leader in goals (31), shorthanded goals (four), gametying goals (three), points (50), shots on goal (151) and plus-minus rating (plus-21).A little spice to the Calder Trophy race was added by Vancouver director of player personnel Brian Burke, who is touting Canuck right winger Trevor Linden.&ldquo;There is only one 18-year-old on the list, only one three-zone player on the list,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;And that is Trevor Linden.&rdquo;Vancouver coach Bob McCammon insisted Granato&rsquo;s statistical advantage over Linden means very little.&ldquo;He (Granato) can score goals from now until doomsday but he won&rsquo;t be the player Trevor Linden is,&rdquo; McCammon said. &ldquo;Five months out of junior and he is turning a franchise around.&rdquo;Ranger coach Michel Bergeron was not happy with those remarks.&ldquo;It was bad for McCammon and Burke to say those things,&rdquo; Bergeron said. &ldquo;I would never criticize Linden. I hope he has a great career but, right now, Granato and Leetch are better, and that&rsquo;s how they judge the award.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Carey Wilson, Kelly Kisio, Lucien DeBlois, Simon Wheeldon, Marcel Dionne.LW&mdash;Tony Granato, Brian Mullen, John Ogrodnick, Joe Paterson.RW&mdash;Tomas Sandstrom, Guy Lafleur, Jan Erixon, Kevin Miller.LD&mdash;Brian Leetch, Mark Hardy, Ron Greschner.RD&mdash;James Patrick, David Shaw, Dean Kennedy, Rudy Poeschek.G&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck, Bob Froese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Paul Cyr, LW, surgery right knee, out for season.Ulf Dahlen, RW, separated left shoulder, Feb. 5.Chris Nllan, RW, strained ligament, front pelvic bone, indefinite.Michel Petit, D, fractured collarbone, Jan. 27.Normand Rochefort, D, arthroscopic surgery, right knee. Feb. 1. &#9632;

RANGERS BREAK LOSING OVERTIME HABIT

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01843/6038098-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="744" height="466"><figcaption class="caption-body">CAPS OFF</figcaption></div>The Washington Capitals were in need of a team orienteering course after three straight last-minute losses on home ice dropped them from the Patrick Division lead into a tenuous hold on third place.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no flow,&rdquo; said right winger Mike Gartner. &ldquo;One guy is going north, one south and one east, while your partner&rsquo;s going west.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re going one way, the play is going the other way. You can&rsquo;t just shrug it off, but it&rsquo;s not something to over-analyze or panic about. We have to regroup and play better hockey.&rdquo;Until the unexpected series of setbacks, Washington had not lost two games in a row since October.The Capitals allowed a 2-0 lead to slip away against Boston Jan. 15 and eventually lost 4-3 on Glen Wesley&rsquo;s goal with 55 seconds remaining.Outshot 47-24 by New Jersey Jan. 20, the Capitals were beaten 6-5 on Kirk Muller&rsquo;s goal at 4:25 of overtime. An early 3-1 lead vanished, the 13th time Washington allowed an advantage of two or more goals to disappear.The Capitals held a 3-2 lead against Detroit Jan. 22, but Dave Barr tied the game with 5:49 left and Joey Kocur scored the winner with 57 seconds on the clock.The losses dropped the Capitals, who were in first place in the Patrick Division Jan. 17, to 24-17-7, one point behind second-place Pittsburgh, three points behind the first-place New York Rangers and two points ahead of fourth-place Philadelphia.&ldquo;This is just awful, to give up the winning goal in the last minute three games in a row,&rdquo; said Caps&rsquo; coach Bryan Murray. &ldquo;I hope it&rsquo;s just a freak thing or we&rsquo;re just in a rut. It&rsquo;s a bad rut, mind you.&rdquo;Players said the team was not meshing well.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re struggling a bit and we&rsquo;re kind of out of synch,&rdquo; said right winger Kelly Miller. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been playing well for so long and the breaks were going for us. Unfortunately, the breaks now are going the other way. The big thing is that we&rsquo;ll get a lead, but we&rsquo;re not able to get another goal before they come back on us.&rdquo;&ldquo;When we were on a roll, we got the bounces,&rdquo; said center Bob Gould. &ldquo;Now we&rsquo;re not getting the bounces. But it&rsquo;s not so much losing as the way we&rsquo;re playing.&ldquo;Except for Edmonton (a 5-3 victory Jan. 13), we haven&rsquo;tbeen playing well for a while now. We&rsquo;re not clicking together as lines, as penaltykillers or on power plays. Everything seems out of whack.&rdquo;Regrouping was being made difficult by a shortage on defense, where Kevin Hatcher, the most consistent blueliner over the first half of the season, was forced out by a groin pull in the loss to New Jersey Jan. 20.Bill Houlder, the top-rated defenseman with the Caps&rsquo; American League affiliate in Baltimore, also was out with a groin pull in early January. He re-injured it in a 5-4 overtime loss to Springfield Jan. 19. Houlder, who was scheduled for an assignment with the Capitals, wasn&rsquo;t wearing a knee brace he was supposed to wear to prevent the injury from recurring.Both injuries were suffered after general manager David Poile admitted his priority was obtaining a defenseman with NHL experience for the stretch run.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 21: Chris Felix, D, recalled from Baltimore (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bengt Gustafsson, Dale Hunter, Mike Ridley, Bob Gould.LW&mdash;Geoff Courtnall, Yvon Corriveau, Kelly Miller, Lou Franceschetti, Peter Sundstrom.RW&mdash;Dave Christian, Steve Leach, Mike Gartner, John Druce, Mike Millar.LD&mdash;Scott Stevens, Rod Langway, Grant LedyardRD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Neil Sheehy, Chris Felix.G&mdash;Pete Peeters, Clint Malarchuk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kevin Hatcher, D, groin pull, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0022-01

SLUMPING CAPS FALL OUT OF PENTHOUSE

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div>To most players, scoring 50 goals in 50 or fewer games would fulfill their most outrageous professional fantasies.But to Mario Lemieux, doing it merely fulfilled an obligation.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m paid for,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;To score goals.&rdquo;Even the accountants in Pittsburgh must figure they&rsquo;re getting their money&rsquo;s worth from Lemieux, who got his 50th goal of the season in his 44th game (the Penguins&rsquo; 46th).Only Wayne Gretzky&mdash;who has scored 50 in 39, 42 and 49 games&mdash;has done it faster. Maurice Richard and Mike Bossy are the only other players in league history to score 50 in as few as 50 games.But Lemieux&rsquo;s 50th goal, which came when he beat Pokey Reddick 1:18 into what became a 7-3 loss in Winnipeg Jan. 20, had historical repercussions beyond the obvious.It was his 636th point as a Penguin, tying him with Rick Kehoe for Pittsburgh&rsquo;s all-time scoring lead. Before the second period ended, Lemieux assisted on a Chris Dahlquist goal to grab the record. Kehoe took 722 games to establish the record. Lemieux took 336 to break it.A growing number of observers feel it is inevitable that Lemieux will shatter Gretzky&rsquo;s record for points in a season (215 in 1985-86).&ldquo;The season he&rsquo;s having is just unbelievable,&rdquo; said right winger Rob Brown. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of time before he sets every record.&rdquo;That prediction is not just idle chatter from a linemate. It is based on a firm foundation of statistics.Lemieux averaged 2.86 points per game in his first 45 games (52-77129) this season. Projected over 78 games&mdash;the most he can play because qf a wrist injury that forced him to sit out two&mdash;he was on pace for a 223-point (90-goal) season. The record for most goals in a season&mdash;92&mdash;was established by Gretzky in 1981-82.&ldquo;I still have a shot at (Gretzky&rsquo;s record of 215 points),&rdquo; Lemieux said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to get tougher and tougher toward the end (of the season).&rdquo;Just like last season when tightened defenses really bothered Lemieux in the final weeks. He was held to 42 points in the last 16 games.Still, it is far from certain Lemieux will break Gretzky&rsquo;s record.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve just got to think about how amazing that record was when Gretzky set it,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;How unreachable it seemed.&ldquo;Now, here we have Mario who&rsquo;s got a shot at it. It just goes to show how far ahead those two players are of the rest of the players in the world.&rdquo;&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll just have to wait and see how many eight-point games he gets from here on in,&rdquo; said left winger Bob Errey, his other linemate.There had been two of those so far, and Lemieux nearly had his third less than 24 hours after scoring his 50th goal.He had two goals and five assists in a 7-4 victory in Edmonton, where the Northlands Coliseum crowd that adored Gretzky for so many years made it clear it appreciated Lemieux&rsquo;s exquisite performance.The ability to pile up points in bunches of a half-dozen or so might prove to be the key to securing Lemieux&rsquo;s spot among the immortals.&ldquo;It really is hard to imagine,&rdquo; said Errey. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t fathom it. I go five or six games, sometimes, without a point, and I can&rsquo;t imagine him doing that in just one game.&rdquo;<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 18: Wendell Young, G, recalled from Muskegon (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Dan Quinn, John Cullen, Dave Hannan.LW&mdash;Bob Errey, Randy Cunneyworth, Troy Loney, Scott Bjugstad.RW&mdash;Rob Brown, Mark Recchi, Dave McLIwain, Jay Caufield, Dan Frawley, Richard Zemfak.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Phil Bourque, Jim Johnson, Steve Dykstra.RD&mdash;Randy Hillier, Gord Dineen, Rod Buskas, Chris Dahlquist.G&mdash;Frank Pietrangelo, Wendell Young.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tom Barrasso, G, pulled groin muscle, day-to-day.Zarley Zalapskl, D, knee surgery, Indefinite. &#9632;

SCORING 50 ALL IN 44 GAMES’ WORK FOR LEMIEUX

<div class="byline">BY BARRY MEISEL</div>Marc Bergevin won&rsquo;t turn 24 until Aug. 11.So he&rsquo;s one of the New York Islanders&rsquo; crop of young players.But after the Islanders&rsquo; 8-6 win over the Minnesota North Stars Jan. 21, he had played in 290 NHL games over five seasons. In some circles, he might be considered an old guy.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know where I stand,&rdquo; the Islanders&rsquo; only French-Canadian defenseman said with a laugh. &ldquo;Nearly 300 games, I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s being a young defenseman. On the other hand, I&rsquo;m only 23. I guess I&rsquo;m in between.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01753/6038153-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="569" height="793"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former Hawk Marc Bergevin is playing with more confidence.</figcaption></div>What Bergevin is, is comfortable and confident for the first time since he and Gary Nylund were traded to the Islanders from Chicago on Nov. 25.The 6-foot, 185-pound Montreal native struggled badly his first dozen games with the Isles, but he was learning and improving rapidly. Bergevin&rsquo;s improvement was highlighted when the Islanders muffled Mario Lemieux (two shots on goal, two assists) and defeated Penguins 5-2 Jan. 17. He was the best player on the ice two nights later, when the Isles blanketed Wayne Gretzky (one shot on goal, one assist) and defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-2.Bergevin is showing poise at both blue lines, offensive skills and a knack for making the proper play.&ldquo;Just confidence, that&rsquo;s all it is,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just playing a lot. If I make a mistake I know I&rsquo;ll be out there the next shift. When you have confidence, you try things and they might work. If they don&rsquo;t work, you know you&rsquo;ll still be out there.&rdquo;Bergevin didn&rsquo;t dare try anything extraordinary in Chicago, not under coach Mike Keenan, who buried Bergevin on his depth chart.&ldquo;With Mike, if you made a mistake you were on the bench,&rdquo; Bergevin said. &ldquo;With Al (Arbour), it&rsquo;s a different story. He knows he has a young team. He&rsquo;s behind us.&rdquo;Assistant coach Rick Wilson, a former NHL defenseman brought in by former coach Terry Simpson to work with the team&rsquo;s young rearguards, talks to Bergevin a lot, offering constant positive reinforcement.&ldquo;Like against L.A., he told me on the bench, &lsquo;They&rsquo;re coming at us hard. Make the easy play,&rsquo;&rdquo; Bergevin recalled. &ldquo;Just saying something like that really helps me.&rdquo;&ldquo;He&rsquo;s listening all the time,&rdquo; Wilson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s trying to implement all the things being said to him. Really, he&rsquo;s a young defenseman. He&rsquo;s getting a lot of ice and with that comes confidence.&rdquo;Bergevin elected to play out his option with Chicago, but he&rsquo;s interested in re-signing with the Islanders.&ldquo;(Chicago general manager Bob Pulford) offered me a new contract in training camp,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I said &lsquo;I&rsquo;m not taking it.&rsquo; Pully said, &lsquo;Is it money?&rsquo; I said, &lsquo;Pully, for four years I&rsquo;m here playing, not playing. I can&rsquo;t sign on a promise that I&rsquo;ll play regularly.&rsquo;&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. ISLES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Brent Sutter, Pat LaFontaine, Bryan Trottier, Rob DiMaio, Raimo Helminen.LW&mdash;David Volek, Greg Gilbert, Derek King, Randy Wood, Rich Kromm.RW&mdash;Patrick Flatley, Brad Dalgarno, Mikko Makela, Alan Kerr, Mick Vukota.LD&mdash;Marc Bergevin, Richard Pilon, Ken Morrow.RD&mdash;Gerald Diduck, Reed Larson, Jeff Norton, Tomas Jonsson.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Billy Smith.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dean Chynoweth, D, Osgood-Schlatter Disease, indefinite.Brad Lauer, LW, kneecap, day-to-day Gary Nylund, D, knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0023-01

YOUTHFUL ‘OLD GUY’ MAKES GAINS

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE AND JEFF HALE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01815/6038184-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adirondack Red Wing center Murray Eaves is rated the American League&rsquo;s best player in The Hockey News survey. (Photo by steven somerville)</figcaption></div>You didn&rsquo;t ask for it, but you&rsquo;ve got it anyway. The Hockey News conducted a random sampling of American League players and management to reach a consensus on the best and worst of the league and its cities. Next week, we&rsquo;ll do the same for the International League.And the AHL winners and losers are:<h2>BEST ROAD TRIP</h2>New Brunswick/Nova Scotia.<h2>WORST ROAD TRIP</h2>New Brunswick/Nova Scotia.Three teams&mdash;Cape Breton Oilers. Moncton Hawks, Halifax Citadels&mdash;are in the Canadian Maritimes. Whether it&rsquo;s on the best or worst list usually depends on the time of year. The colors of fall make it beautiful to visit in October, but the heavy snowfall and blizzards make it a dreaded stop in winter. &ldquo;Sometimes it&rsquo;s hard to get points out of there, too,&rdquo; one team executive said.AHL players like to go to the Maritimes because travel is usually by air, a break from tedious bus trips, and because the night life is among the best in the league.Another favorite trip is Newmarket. Many AHL players are from Ontario and can play in front of family and friends in the community just north of Toronto.And this from a Maine Mariner, whose NHL affiliate is the Boston Bruins: &ldquo;The best road trip is Maine to Boston. The worst road trip is Boston to Maine.&rdquo;<h2>BEST CITY</h2>Glens Falls, N.Y.Home of the Adirondack Red Wings, Glens Falls is a small, clean city located at the edge of the Adirondack mountains. Visiting teams often stay at a downtown hotel within walking distance of the arena and several restaurants.&ldquo;The hockey players are the kings of the city,&rdquo; said one player, &ldquo;so any time the visiting teams come in there&rsquo;s a lot of enthusiasm.&rdquo;<h2>WORST CITY</h2>Utica, N.Y.Utica is a &ldquo;doughnut&rdquo; city&mdash;its depressed city center is surrounded by a pleasant residential area. The Utica Memorial Auditorium is located in the core. Last year, the Devils averaged 2,390 in the 3,967-seat Auditorium. That was next-to-last in the league, ahead of only Newmarket (1,675 average) and 1,151 below the league average.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s nothing exciting about the city,&rdquo; said one player. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a lot of entertainment. Any downtown activity has moved to the suburbs.&rdquo;<h2>BEST ARENA</h2>Hersheypark Arena.Hershey Bears have played in Hersheypark since 1936. The building has a rounded, poured concrete roof that makes it look like a World War 11 airplane hangar. But inside&hellip;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like Boston Garden,&rdquo; said one player. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re close to the action. You can not only see it. you can hear it.&rdquo;The dressing rooms are big, too.&ldquo;On a Saturday night it&rsquo;s just a great place to be,&rdquo; added one AHL executive. &ldquo;The building is filled and the fans are knowledgeable.&rdquo;<h2>WORST ARENA</h2>Newmarket Recreation Complex.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s basically your neighborhood arena,&rdquo; said one AHL coach. It&rsquo;s cold, text small (seating capacity 2,556) and the dressing rooms aren&rsquo;t very big. In the last three seasons, Newmarket has been last in attendance.Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton was a runner-up. Both arenas&rsquo; ice surfaces are 185-by-85-feet, smaller than the regulation 200-by-85.Rochester&rsquo;s War Memorial Auditorium also received mention. The visiting team dressing room is small, outdated and located in the basement of the building. During the playoffs last year, Adirondack players jokingly complained they had to battle rats for room.<h2>TOUGHEST PLAYER</h2>Shawn Cronin, Baltimore.No. 2 in The Hockey News&rsquo; top 10 AHL tough guys, defenseman Cronin was voted tops by the players. An avid weight-lifter, the 6-foot-1,222-poundcr bench-pressed 350 pounds during his three years at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Now he&rsquo;s up to 405.<h2>BEST RESTAURANT</h2>Sabatino&rsquo;s.Located in Baltimore&rsquo;s Little Italy district. Sabatino&rsquo;s is open all hours. The veal francese parmagiana is a favorite among AHLers.One of Sabatino&rsquo;s best customers was Baltimore Skipjack coach Gene Ubriaco, who spent live seasons in Baltimore before joining the Pittsburgh Penguins last fall.Also receiving support was The Lido Restaurant in Springfield and Rocky &lsquo;s in Rochester.<h2>BEST CLUB</h2>Ziggy&rsquo;s.Players feel indebted to go to this popular Moncton nightspot. At the Moncton Coliseum, the home of the Hawks. Ziggy&rsquo;s has taken an advertisement along the boards near one net. It is said if you aim for the Ziggy&rsquo;s sign, you&rsquo;ll score.Ziggy&rsquo;s is located within a very short walk of the Beausejour, the hotel at which most teams stay. The Cosmo, another lively Moncton club, also received several mentions, as did My Apartment in Halifax.<h2>BIGGEST WHINER</h2>Bruce Boudreau, Springfield.Depending upon your perspective, the Indian center is the best or worst at this. The league&rsquo;s oldest player at 34, the 14-year veteran plays his role as elder statesman to the hilt. &ldquo;He gets away with stuff because he&rsquo;s been in the league so long,&rdquo; said one rival player. &ldquo;If anybody does anything to him, he&rsquo;s complaining.&rdquo;Five other players&mdash;Kevin Kerr and Jody Gage of Rochester. Wes Jarvis of Newmarket, Guy Larose and Alfie Turcotte of Moncton&mdash;and Rochester coach John Van Boxmeer also received votes. In team competition, Rochester received the most support.<h2>BEST REFEREE</h2>Mark Faucette.The 30-year-old native of Agawan, Mass., has worked 10 NHL games in this, his fourth season as a referee. He began his career in 1975 as an AHL linesman. His father. Joe Faucette, spent 15 years as an AHL referee and linesman.&ldquo;He has a good feel for the game,&rdquo; said one player.Paul Devorski was runner-up. Devorski, 30, is a native of Guelph, Ont. He is also under contract to the NHL in the development program.<h2>BEST PLAYER</h2>Murray Eaves, Adirondack.The Red Wing center has played only 56 games in the NHL (4-13-17). but he&rsquo;s been a valuable player on the three AHL teams he&rsquo;s played for&mdash;Sherbrooke. Nova Scotia and Adirondack&mdash;in his eight-year career. &ldquo;You look for consistency,&rdquo; said one AHL general manager. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always been a solid player year in and year out.&rdquo;He&rsquo;s averaged 79 points per season in his AHL career. His best season was 1983-84 with Sherbrooke, where he was 47-68-115 in 78 games. This season he&rsquo;s 27-37-64 in 45 games. &#9632;

f0024-01

BEST AND WORST

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div>Center Mark Lamb is the best-kept secret outside of Cape Breton this season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s done everything for us,&rdquo; said Oiler coach Ron Low. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s the best player in the league.&rdquo;Statistics back up Low&rsquo;s bold statement. Lamb had 68 points (27-41) in 45 games&mdash;just 20 shy of his career-high, set last season when the Oilers were in Halifax. He trailed scoring leaders Stephan Lebeau (38-42-80 in 47 games) and Benoit Brunet (28-46-74) of the Sherbrooke Canadiens.Lamb, 24, finished 10th in American League scoring last season with 27 goals and 61 assists in 69 games.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re playing for a last-place team,&rdquo; Lamb said, &ldquo;well, you have to win for anything to mean anything. To be in the top in the league scoring would be a lot better if we were in first place. There would be more satisfaction for me and I&rsquo;d get a lot more out of it from people.&rdquo;Lamb received some satisfaction Jan. 17 when he was recalled by the parent Edmonton Oilers.An outstanding junior&mdash;he had seasons of 101 and 136 points with Billings and Medicine Hat of the Western League&mdash;Lamb was the Calgary Flames&rsquo; fifth pick, 72nd overall in the 1982 entry draft. He played only one game for Calgary before he was released. He signed with Detroit as a free agent in 1986. He played 22 games for the Wings in 1986-87, scoring two goals and one assist. He was picked up by Edmonton in last year&rsquo;s waiver draft.<h2>GOING FOR ZERO</h2>When the Sherbrooke Canadiens shut out Newmarket 1-0 in overtime Jan. 15, it was their seventh shutout this season.The first-place Canadiens. 28-15-4, are in pursuit of the league record of 14, held by three teams&mdash;Pittsburgh (1937-38), New Haven (1938-39) and Hershey (1958-59).Six of the shutouts have been recorded by goaltender Randy Exelby, 23-8-3 with a 2.77 goals-against average. The league record is nine in one season by Buffalo&rsquo;s Gordie Bell in 194243.One of Exelby&rsquo;s shutouts was shared with backup Francois Gravel, who came in midway through the third period of the Habs* 7-0 victory at Maine Jan. 14. Exelby had received a game misconduct for fighting with Mariner goalie Mike Jeffrey&mdash;the first of three brawls which featured 55 penalties for 306 minutes. Referee Rob Martell called 10 game misconducts.<h2>BOUDREAU BACK</h2>Center Bruce Boudreau, sidelined Dec. 16 with a broken ankle, returned to the Springfield Indian lineup Jan. 10, two weeks ahead of schedule. He had a goal and two assists in his third game back, a 5-2 Indian victory over Maine Jan. 13. Boudreau broke a 1-1 tie with a breakaway early in the third period.In that game, Boudreau had a penalty-shot goal taken away when he was caught using an illegal stick by Mariner coach Mike Milbury.&ldquo;I felt like (Canadian sprinter) Ben Johnson out there,&rdquo; Boudreau said.<h2>GUSHING OVER</h2>Cape Breton Oilers&rsquo; first year has been a success. They are fourth among the league&rsquo;s 14 teams in attendance, with an average of 3,908 in the 4,545-seat Centre 200 in Sydney&hellip;Moncton Hawks extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games (11-0-2) with a 5-5 home tie against New Haven Jan. 15&hellip;Binghamton right winger Ed Kastelic was denied an appeal of his 20-game suspension for biting an official Dec. 30. He is eligible to return Feb. 17. &#9632;

A LAMB IN SNIPER’S CLOTHING

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>He won&rsquo;t win the Garrett Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, but right winger Randy McKay of the Adirondack Red Wings is proving to be a cut above this season&rsquo;s other American League rookies.While Sherbrooke wunderkids Benoit Brunet and Stephan Lebeau stage a two-man battle for the scoring title and, most likely, the Garrett Trophy, McKay has emerged as a complete player and a top prospect for Adirondack&rsquo;s NHL affiliate, the Detroit Red Wings.&ldquo;You really can&rsquo;t compare him to those two guys in Sherbrooke,&rdquo; said Adirondack coach Bill Dineen. &ldquo;The center (Lebeau) is small and they play a finesse game and you have to handpick who you&rsquo;re going to play with them. You&rsquo;ve got to surround them with some toughness and somebody who can put the puck in the net. But this guy (McKay) you can throw into any place, any situation. I&rsquo;m thinking about using him to kill penalties too.&rdquo;After completing his four-year career at Michigan Tech, McKay had a 10-game stint (0-3-3) with Adirondack. He showed he was an excellent skater who liked to hit. What the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Montreal native did not reveal in the 10 games was he could score, too.His college stats&mdash;38 goals and 100 points in 145 games&mdash;gave no indication the 22-year-old McKay would be much of a scorer. As a result, Detroit drafted him 113th overall in the sixth round in 1985 and offered him a minor-league contract with Adirondack. Not a great deal was expected of him.By late December, McKay had a new contract&mdash;an NHL deal that included a sizeable signing bonus&mdash;and a move up the organization&rsquo;s depth chart.In 45 games he was 23-23-46, with 120 penalty minutes. He had eight power-play goals. His longest scoring streak was eight games. His longest stretch without a point was three games in the second week of the season.<h2>UTICA UPENDED</h2>Utica&rsquo;s 15-game unbeaten streak (13-0-2), the longest in the AHL this season, ended with a 4-2 loss in Rochester Jan. 13. It was the Devils&rsquo; first loss since Dec. 7 when they lost to Springfield by the same score.Right wingers Jean-Marc Lanthier (9-8-17) and Claude Vilgrain (7-9-16) were the offensive leaders during the streak. Goaltender Craig Billington was the defensive star with a 6-0-5 unbeaten streak and 2.80 goals-against average.Following the loss to the Amerks, the Devils lost consecutive home games to Newmarket and Baltimore. But they rebounded with a 7-4 win over Hershey Jan 18.<h2>REIN OVER</h2>Goalie Kenton Rein was suspended by the Rochester Americans for refusing to accept an assignment to Saginaw of the International League Jan 10. The suspension was handed down Jan. 13 but rescinded two days later when goalie Darcy Wakaluk was recalled by Buffalo and Rein dressed as a backup to Darren Eliot for a game against Binghamton. Rein burst onto the scene in late November, going 4-2-1 with two shutouts and a 1.99 GAA. But he faltered at the end of December (1-2-1, 4.30) and was assigned to Saginaw after he was ineffective in four consecutive starts. He was 0-3-0, gave up seven goals in two games and was pulled from another. He was 5-6-2 with a 3.46 GAA.<h2>SAINT OFF SHELF</h2>Center Marty Dallman is expected to return to the Newmarket lineup Feb. 10. Dallman has been out since Dec. 2 when he injured a knee against Binghamton. At the time of the injury, Dallman was 15-11-26 in 19 games&hellip;Veteran left winger George McPhee returned to the Utica lineup Jan. 11. He missed a season and a half with a nagging groin injury. &#9632;

SCORING TOUCH IS THE REAL MCKAY

<div class="byline">BY JEFF HALE AND BOB WAGNER</div>The attendance-poor Saginaw Hawks may soon come under new ownership.Hawk owner Eugene Chardoul said Jan. 18 an announcement would be made within two weeks. He said the team would remain in the Michigan city.Chardoul works in Flint, 30 miles south of Saginaw, and lives in Grand Blanc, eight miles south of Flint. There was speculation he might turn the team over to local investors or take them in as partners.Attendance has been a problem for Saginaw, though the team was 24-155, second in the East Division behind Muskegon (27-10-3). The Hawks were drawing an average of 2,166 in 5,369-seat Wendler Arena.The club was planning promotions to boost attendance. Included are appearances by Detroit Tiger baseball players Jeff Robinson and Mike Henneman and Saginaw&rsquo;s first Bikini Night, Feb. 18.The Salt Lake Golden Eagles held a Bikini Night last season and attracted a then-league record 10,455 fans. The Golden Eagles were scheduled to hold another Bikini Night Jan. 29. The Flint Spirits held one Jan. 6 and drew 4,062 to 4,021-seat IMA Sports Arena.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re constantly working on attendance,&rdquo; said Saginaw general manager Dennis Desrosiers. &ldquo;Everything&rsquo;s on a positive note. If you bury your head in the sand, it isn&rsquo;t going to go away.&rdquo;Heading into their Jan. 21 home game against Flint, the Hawks won four games in a row and nine of their last 11.<h2>SAILING ON</h2>One of the more remarkable turnarounds in pro hockey shows no signs of fading.The Milwaukee Admirals were first overall in the standings, and first in attendance. The Admirals had attracted an average crowd of 6, 650 to 17,915-seat Bradley Center. Heading into a Jan. 20 home game against Salt Lake City, the Admirals were 32-8-2.Last season, Milwaukee was 2154-7, the worst record in a nine-team league where eight advanced to the playoffs. They also lost a pro record 19 consecutive games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01723/6038263-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="576" height="702"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ken Hodge Jr. set a Kalamazoc goal-scoring record.</figcaption></div>Despite the poor record, Milwaukee drew 1,950 per game to 2,001-seat Wilson Park Arena.This season&rsquo;s big crowds in Milwaukee boosted the league&rsquo;s average attendance to 3,256 per game (after 212 games). That&rsquo;s up 301 per game from last season.<h2>RISING SON</h2>Kalamazoo center Ken Hodge Jr., whose father played 13 years in the NHL for Chicago, Boston and the New York Rangers, broke a team record with five consecutive goals over two games Jan. 13 and 14.The previous record was four goals, set by right winger Kevin Schamehom in 1982-83.Hodge scored a natural hat trick Jan. 13 in a 7-4 victory over Indianapolis, and had the first two Kalamazoo goals Jan. 14 in a 4-1 win over Denver.Hodge is slowly emerging from the shadow of his father, who was 328472-800 in 881 NHL games. But it hasn&rsquo;t been easy.&ldquo;Everyone said I made teams because of who my dad was, so I had to go out and change that on my own,&rdquo; said the former Boston College star.The elder Hodge was a bumper and grinder, amassing 779 penalty minutes. His son is not, although he doesn&rsquo;t avoid contact. He had 24 penalty minutes in 70 games last season and 28 in 40 games this season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a mucker or a grinder, just a playmaker,&rdquo; he said.He had 18 goals, 26 assists and was plus-20. Last season, he had 15 goals and 35 assists in 70 games.<h2>EARLY EXIT</h2>Defenseman Link Gaetz lasted 23 seconds in his first on-ice appearance with the Kalamazoo Wings Jan. 13 after returning from a Minnesota chemical-abuse treatment center. Gaetz was given a match penalty and suspended four games after high-sticking Indianapolis&rsquo; Rick Boyd. He is eligible to return Jan. 28&hellip;Another troubled blueliner, Marc Laforge, joined the Indianapolis Ice Jan. 19 after refusing to report for 20 days. He played in the Ice&rsquo;s Jan. 21 game at Muskegon. The 21-year-old defenseman served two suspensions totalling nine games with Binghamton of the American League before being assigned to the IHL. When he didn&rsquo;t report, he was suspended indefinitely by the Hartford Whalers, Binghamton&rsquo;s parent team, and returned home to Sudbury, Ont&hellip; Fort Wayne&rsquo;s seven-game winning streak was snapped by Muskegon, which beat the Komets 5-0 Jan. 13. &#9632;

f0025-01

HAWKS WILL STAY PUT BUT OWNERSHIP MAY CHANGE

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01783/6038294-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Buetow is not used to coaching losing teams, but he&rsquo;s Tigers. Nevertheless, Buetow says he&rsquo;s never enjoyed a season learning how the other half lives with the Colorado College more than the current one. (Photo by Marc Blanchette)</figcaption></div>After nine straight winning seasons at two different colleges, Brad Buetow is learning what it&rsquo;s like on the other side of the fence.Buetow, who compiled a career 233-115-8 record as coach at Minnesota and U.S. International, is now behind the bench of the 8-16-3 Colorado College Tigers.But he loves the challenge of resurrecting a team that went 4-33-1 in 1987-88&mdash;dead last in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve enjoyed this year as much if not more than any year I&rsquo;ve been a coach,&rdquo; says Buetow, 38.Last season&rsquo;s Tigers set an NCAA record for losses in Mike Bertsch&rsquo;s last year as coach.&ldquo;We had a difficult year last year,&rdquo; recalls Bertsch, who resigned to take a job as programs manager of SCI, a Colorado Springs-based high-tech plant. &ldquo;But we had a young team. We knew it was going to take some time. The fans had a difficult time understanding that.&ldquo;I knew the team would be stronger this year because of the young people we had last year and the recruiting class we had this year.&rdquo;Four of the recruits&mdash;senior defenseman Matt Shaw, junior defenseman Jim Wilharm, junior right winger Joe Schwartz and junior center Brent Mowery&mdash;followed Buetow from U.S. International.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure the addition of four experienced Division I players from USIU helped,&rdquo; Bertsch says.Even they aren&rsquo;t enough to guarantee a winner.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question that we don&rsquo;t have as talented a skill level as other teams in the WCHA,&rdquo; Buetow says. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve said right from the start that we&rsquo;re going to be the hardest-working team in the league and I like to think we might be. Even though you might not have the most talent, I&rsquo;ve always believed you can win a lot of games if you execute well and are disciplined in your play.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t say enough about this team. I know I&rsquo;ve never worked harder in my life and I&rsquo;m working with a great group of kids who have made a commitment to be the best they can be.&rdquo;North Dakota coach Gino Gasparini, whose association with Buetow goes back to the mid70s, says the Tigers get their work ethic from Buetow himself.&ldquo;One thing you can say about Brad Buetow-coached teams is they are always hardworking,&rdquo; Gasparini says. &ldquo;It was true at Minnesota, it was true at U.S. International and I&rsquo;m sure it will remain true at Colorado College.&rdquo;But Buetow&rsquo;s work ethic was no help in 1985, when he was fired from Minnesota, his alma mater, after six seasons as coach.Nor were his achievements&mdash;two WCHA titles, never lower than third in the league, four NCAA tournament appearances&mdash;including two in the Final Four&mdash;and WCHA coach of the year honors in 1980. He posted a .689 winning percentage&mdash;better than any other Gopher coach since LD. MacDonald (10-l-l, .875) in 192223.Some insiders say Buetow was fired because he didn&rsquo;t win an NCAA title, something predecessor Herb Brooks accomplished three times in his seven seasons at Minnesota.But then-athletic director Paul Giel says that&rsquo;s not so.&ldquo;I said at the time, at a news conference, that my decision went far beyond the win-loss column&mdash;far, far beyond,&rdquo; Giel says, refusing to go into detail. &ldquo;There were personal reasons, personality reasons and, perhaps, a problem with his handling of the team.&rdquo;Buetow disagrees with that assessment.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think there were any personal problems,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have any contact.&rdquo;Buetow moved on to U.S. International, where he again posted three winning seasons, his best a 23-13 record in 1987-88.The opening at Colorado College couldn&rsquo;t have come at a better time for Buetow. After the 1987-88 season, the decision was made by U.S. International to drop its collegiate hockey program.The WCHA is a league he knows well, having spent 14 years in it as either a player, assistant coach under Brooks or head coach. But having been away for three years, he faced a bit of the unknown coming back in.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know how good our team would be or what the quality of the league was like now,&rdquo; Buetow says. &ldquo;So I never said how many games we&rsquo;d win.&rdquo;The Tigers have already won more than some people expected, and the future may be even brighter.Plans are rolling in Colorado Springs to build a new 10,000-seat multi-purpose arena downtown, with the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Broadmoor Foundation spearheading the move.It would replace the aging Broadmoor World Arena, once the crown jewel of college hockey rinks and the site of the first 10 NCAA tournaments, beginning in 1948.Colorado College has already added one more full-time assistant coach&mdash;Mike Gibbons, a former assistant at Northern Michigan. He joins assistants Doug Palazzari and Bill Baldrica.There&rsquo;s also a new weight room for the hockey program, plus revamped locker room and practice facilities.Buetow says he likes Colorado Springs and Colorado College so much that he probably would not return to Minnesota if the opportunity ever came up.His Tigers have shown their stripes of late. After losing eight straight games, they went on an eastern swing and came home with three wins and a tie against Hockey East schools.The Tigers began by blowing a 4-1 lead in the third period, in a 4-4 tie with Providence.&ldquo;The players were disheartened by that,&rdquo; Buetow says. &ldquo;They felt they deserved the win, and let it slip away.&rdquo;That determination sparked a remarkable reversal. Colorado College went on to beat Northeastern 7-3, Lowell 5-3 and then stun nationally-ranked Maine 7-4, ending the Black Bears&rsquo; 17-game home-ice winning streak.In the process, Buetow may have found his cornerstone in sophomore goaltender Jim Gustafson, who was in goal for all three wins. He&rsquo;s the heir-apparent to senior goalie Derek Pizzey, who has faced a lot of pucks in his four years.&ldquo;The real difference in our three wins was the goaltending of Gustafson,&rdquo; Buetow says. &ldquo;Our win over Maine wasn&rsquo;t a fluke. It just shows how much a difference goaltending can make for your team, unless you have a great, great team.&rdquo;Colorado College isn&rsquo;t great yet and Buetow certainly isn&rsquo;t predicting greatness in the near future.&ldquo;My goal this year was to field a competitive hockey team and to keep making progress,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re two-thirds of the way through the season now and we&rsquo;re still improving. And our morale and attitude is at an all-time high.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-01

BIG CHALLENGE

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>After a slow start, sophomore goalie Corrie D&rsquo;Alessio of Cornell regained the form that made him an Eastern College Athletic Conference all-rookie team member last season.D&rsquo;Alessio led Cornell to back-to-back overtime wins, making 52 saves in a 3-2 win over RP1 Jan. 13 and 32 in a 4-3 victory over Vermont Jan. 14.The wins raised the Big Red&rsquo;s league record to 8-2-0 and kept them within striking distance of league leaders Harvard (13-0-0) and St. Lawrence (10-1-0).&ldquo;He (D&rsquo;Alessio) struggled a little bit early,&rdquo; said Cornell coach Brian McCutcheon. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t particularly sharp the first week of the season. Princeton got five goals against him (in an 8-5 win Nov. 11), but not one came on a direct shot.&rdquo;D&rsquo;Alessio went into the Christmas break with a 5-2-0 record and 4.20 goals-against average. The wins over RPI and Vermont helped to boost his record to 9-4-0, with a 3.47 GAA.&ldquo;The biggest thing about Corrie is he has so much confidence in himself,&rdquo; said McCutcheon. &ldquo;He has so much poise. He knew he would get back on track, and he did. He&rsquo;s solid, and he&rsquo;s making the big saves when we need them.&rdquo;Cornell&rsquo;s only two league losses were on the road&mdash;4-1 to St. Lawrence Nov. 19 and 9-1 to Harvard Dec. 4.The Big Red meet St. Lawrence Feb. 3 and Havard Feb. 10 at their home Lynah Rink, where they were 6-0-0 in the first half of the season.<h2>GRAND FAN</h2>Ninety-two-year-old Anne O&rsquo;Leary of Canton, N.Y., has been a St. Lawrence hockey fan since the 1950s, when her daughter. Shirley married Ed Morrison, a St. Lawrence defenseman.But Mrs. O&rsquo;Leary is now rooting for the enemy&mdash;the Clarkson Golden Knights.The reason for her switch of allegiance? Her grandson. Mike Morrison, Ed&rsquo;s son, is a senior left winger and captain of the Knights.Morrison recorded his first game-winning goal of the season on Jan. 14, when his overtime marker gave the Knights a 6-5 decision over Dartmouth. The goal also gave Morrison 100 career points (43-57-100 in 108 games) for the Knights. He was 7-9-16 after 13 games this season.<h2>STICK TO IT</h2>RPI coach Mike Addesa was 2-tor-2 challenging the legality of sticks in a 3-2 victory over Colgate Jan. 14, a move which brings 12 minutes in penalties against the offender&mdash;two for using the illegal stick and a 10-minute misconduct. Both calls were damaging. The first was assessed against sophomore goalie Dave Gagnon in the second period. Colgate coach Terry Slater decided to remain with his backup goalie, sophomore Greg Menges, after Gagnon had served his penalty. Menges gave up the gamewinning goal to RPI senior defenseman Graeme Townshend in the third period. In the last minute of the third, an illegal stick call against Colgate defenseman Scott Young blunted the Raiders&rsquo; efforts at tying the game&hellip;A 6-5 overtime loss to Clarkson Jan. 14 marked the sixth one-goal loss of the season for 2-11-1 Dartmouth. &#9632;

GOALIE REBOUNDS WITH TWO WINS FOR BIG RED

<div class="byline">BY LARRY MAHONEY</div>Northeastern&rsquo;s 4-1 win over Boston University Jan. 17 not only created more breathing room for the third-place Huskies in Hockey East, it also represented a milestone for coach Fern Flaman.Flaman recorded the 250th win of his 19-year career and. at the same time, watched his team open a seven-point lead on BU for third place in Hockey East. Northeastern (9-8-0) had 17 points, the 5-9-1 Terriers 11.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have the slightest idea about it until Bob Monahan (Boston Globe sports writer) mentioned it to me that night.&rdquo; said Flaman. who raised his career mark to 250-294-22. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel any differently. It&rsquo;s nice. I guess.&rdquo;<h2>CATS PROWL</h2>They were in sixth place in seven-team Hockey East, but the New Hampshire Wildcats matched last year&rsquo;s win total.A year ago, the Wildcats finished with an overall record of 7-20-3 (6-18-2 in Hockey East), but were 7-14-0 overall (4-10-0 in Hockey East) this season.One of the keys to the Wildcats&rsquo; resurgence was freshman center Joe Flanagan.(the team&rsquo;s leading point-getter with 18 goals and eight assists in 21 games.His five multiple-goal games set a New Hampshire freshman record.<h2>BLACK BEAR HOT</h2>Maine&rsquo;s freshman left winger Scott Pellerin scored his 20th goal of the season and added an assist in 9-2 win over Lowell Jan. 17.Pellerin was Maine&rsquo;s leading scorer with 20 goals and 23 assists in 25 games.&ldquo;I never expected to score 20 goals this season.&rdquo; he said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01735/6038349-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="719" height="899"><figcaption class="caption-body">New Hampshire freshman Joe Flanagan had 18 goals in 21 games.</figcaption></div><h2>STRING SNAPPED</h2>Maine&rsquo;s 7-4 loss to Colorado College Jan. I4 was its first on home ice in 17 games. The last time the Black Bears lost at Alfond Arena was Feb. I9, 1988, when they dropped at 4-3 decision to Boston College&hellip;After starting the season at l-9. Providence was on a roll. A 3-1 win over New Hampshire Jan. 16 gave the Friars a record of 8-3-1 in their last 12. At 5-9-1, the Friars were tied for fourth in Hockey East with Boston University&hellip;Northeastern scored a season-high 12 goals in a 12-5 win over Lowell Jan. 10. Senior right winger Dave Buda led the way with his first hat trick of the season and an assist. &#9632;

f0027-01

HUSKIES’ FLAMAN RECORDS MILESTONE VICTORY

For the period Jan. 16-22<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01765/6038380-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="327" height="491"><figcaption class="caption-body">Warren Sharpies</figcaption></div>AHL: Jim Johnson, Rochester. Three goals, four assists in two gamesIHL: Steve Guenette, Salt Lake. Two games, four goals against.QMJHL: SteveCadieux, Shawinigan. 12 goals, three assists in five games.OHL: Stan Drulia, Niagara Falls. Three goals, 10 assists in three games.WHL: Dan Lambert, Swift Current. Two goals, 11 assists in four games.Hockey East: Rich Burchill, Northeastern. Two games, five goals against.ECAC: Sean Tomalty, Dartmouth. Three goals, two assists in two games.CCHA: Warren Sharpies, Michigan. Two games, two goals against.WCHA: Damien Rhodes, Michigan Tech. Two games, six goals against, one goal scored.AUAA: Todd Annand, Acadia. Three goals, two assists in one game.OUAA: Mario deBenedictis, McGill. Five goals, six assists in three games.CWUAA: Steve Brown, Manitoba. Three goals, six assists in two games.Major junior players are eligible for the THN-Micron-Mega Junior Player of the Year award U.S. college players are eligible for the THN-Bauer U.S. College Player of the Year award. Canadian university players are eligible for the THN-Bauer Canadian University Player of the Year award. &#9632;

f0028-01

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN GORDON</div>It looks like Michigan State has claimed one of the top recruits in U.S. high school hockey.Rob Woodward of Deerfield, III., not only had to make the choice between Wisconsin and Michigan State, but also had to decide whether he wanted to pursue a career in hockey or football.Woodward notified Spartans&rsquo; assistant hockey coach Terry Christensen of his intentions to choose hockey and MSU during a phone call Jan. 12.The 6-foot-4, 225-pound left winger had been recruited by defending NCAA Division 1-A football champion Notre Dame, as well as perennial power Southern California, as a running back and linebacker. Wisconsin had also made overtures, but the 18-year-old decided the MSU hockey program would be best for him.&ldquo;Wisconsin and Michigan State were pretty well equal, but it was just a gut feeling,&rdquo; said Woodward, who had 28 goals and 39 assists in 18 games for Deerfield (III.) High School this season. &ldquo;I picked hockey because I&rsquo;ve been progressing well and I think I have a better opporunity of doing well in college with it.&rdquo;Woodward siid Michigan State would allow him to try out for the football team in August, but he hasn&rsquo;t decided if he will.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02515/6038411-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="555" height="685"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Dowd broke a Lake Superior State scoring record.</figcaption></div>Under rules set down by the Collegiate Commissioners&rsquo; Association. Michigan State officials cannot sign Woodward to a letter of intent until April 13.Woodward, who is eligible for the NHL draft this season, is expected to be chosen in the first three rounds.<h2>BUCKEYES HOT</h2>After last year&rsquo;s 7-21-4 season, Ohio State coach Jerry Welsh predicted better things this season.And while the Buckeyes were tied with Western Michigan for seventh place after 20 games, they had already won seven games&mdash;tying their win mark of last season. Ohio State, 5-1-1 in its last seven league games, was only three points behind sixth-place Ferris State and four behind fifth-place Bowling Green.Eight of the league&rsquo;s nine teams qualify for the playoffs.&ldquo;We started with a young team, so we knew it might take us some time to mature and develop,&rdquo; said Welsh. &ldquo;Now, a lot of our young guys have come along and the veterans are doing it, too. Everybody&rsquo;s doing the little things it takes to be a winner.&rdquo;<h2>STREAKS OVER</h2>Western Michigan snapped two long losing streaks against Michigan State Jan. 13-14. With a 5-5 tie Jan. 13, the Broncos snapped a six-game losing streak at Michigan State&rsquo;s Munn Arena. A 4-2 victory over the Spartans the next night in Kalamazoo was the Broncos&rsquo; first home-ice win over MSU since Oct. 18, 1985, aspan of four games&hellip;Lake Superior sophomore center Jim Dowd set a school record with at least one point in 14 consecutive games. Dowd got an assist Jan. 14 in a 5-1 win over the Illinois-Chicago Flames to break the record of 13, set last season by Laker right winger Mike de Carle, then a junior. &#9632;

f0028-02

TWO-SPORT PROSPECT CHOOSES HOCKEY WITH MICHIGAN STATE

<div class="byline">BY VIRG FOSS</div>A trip east worked wonders for the Colorado College Tigers arid Denver Pioneers.The Pioneers and Tigers were both in the midst of lengthy tailspins, but saw their fortunes change in interlocking games against Hockey East opponents.Colorado, which left on its eastern swing with a 3-16-2 record in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play, earned three wins and a tie in four games against Hockey East. Colorado tied Providence 4-4 Jan. 6 on the first game of the trip to end an eight-game losing streak.After tying the Friars, Colorado whipped Northeastern 7-3 Jan. 8, beat Lowell 5-3 Jan. 12 and Maine 7-4 Jan. 14. The win over Hockey Eastleading Maine was the highlight of the season for Colorado, which snapped the Black Bears&rsquo; 17-game home-ice winning streak.Colorado coach Brad Buetow credited sophomore goalie Jon Gustafson&mdash;who picked up all three wins&mdash;with the turnaround.&ldquo;We were pleased because those were all good teams and they&rsquo;re tough buildings to play in,&rdquo; said Buetow. &ldquo;Our goaltending was the difference. We&rsquo;re better than our record indicites and if we get goaltending like that, I think we&rsquo;ll play much better.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03362/6038442-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="559" height="693"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goalie Jon Gustafson earned three wins for Colorado College.</figcaption></div>Gustafson, who had played only two games before the trip, improved his record to 4-1 with a 3.85 goals-against average. Senior Derek Pizzey had received most of the work this season. He was 4-14-3 with a 4.40 GAA.Denver, meanwhile, hadn&rsquo;t won since beating North Dakota 7-6 in overtime on Dec. 9. After losing 3-2 to Maine Jan. 12&mdash;their eighth straight loss&mdash;the Pioneers rebounded by beating Lowell 5-3 Jan. 14.<h2>ABOUT OVERTIME</h2>Wisconsin finally recorded its first overtime win, beating Minnesota-Duluth 2-1 Jan. 14.The Badgers had three losses and four ties in seven previous overtime games this season.Badger left winger Dennis Snedden, a sophomore, scored 2:16 into overtime.&ldquo;The monkey is finally off our backs,&rdquo; said Wisconsin coach Jeff Sauer. &ldquo;I knew we had to finally win one in overtime.&rdquo;<h2>SIOUX STOPPED</h2>North Dakota&rsquo;s seven-game league winning streak ended when Michigan Tech beat the Fighting Sioux 6-4 Jan. 14. It was Tech&rsquo;s first win over UND in four tries this season&hellip;Northern Michigan sophomore goaltender Bill Pye stopped 61 shots in the Wildcats&rsquo; 2-2 overtime tie with Minnesota Jan. 13&hellip;Michigan Tech scored the first goal of the game in only 10 of its first 30 games. When the Huskies scored first, they were 7-2-1. When opponents scored first, Tech was 6-14-0&hellip;Four WCHA teams were rated in the NCAA top 10 for the week beginning Jan. 16. Minnesota was No. 2, Wisconsin No. 8, Northern Michigan No. 9 and North Dakota No. 10. Unbeaten Harvard of the Eastern College Athletic Conference was No. 1. &#9632;

f0028-03

TEAMS GO EAST, GET BACK ON TRACK

<div class="byline">BY MORRIS DALLA COSTA</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01665/6038473-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Niagara Falls defenseman Bryan Fogarty is on target to break three scoring records for OHL blueliners&mdash;most goals, assists and points. (Photo by Keith Stephen)</figcaption></div>Bryan Fogarty is becoming more like Bobby Orr than Bob Probert.For much of three years, Fogarty was the Kingston Canadians&rsquo; problem child. Now with the Niagara Falls Thunder, Bryan Fogarty is hockey&rsquo;s wonder child.Not since Denis Potvin of the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s earned 123 points in 63 games in 1972-73, has a blueliner dominated the Ontario League like Fogarty.With 34 goals and 81 assists for 115 points in 42 games, Fogarty is on pace to shatter every OHL scoring record for defensemen. Projected over a 66-game regular season&mdash;Fogarty could play a maximum of 63 games&mdash;he would score 51 goals and 121 assists for 172 points.Potvin&rsquo;s points record should fall. So should the record of 38 goals shared by Bobby Orr of Oshawa (in 45 games in 1965-66) and Kitchener&rsquo;s Al Maclnnis (in 70 games in 1982-83). Doug Crossman&rsquo;s record of 96 assists, earned in 68 games with Ottawa in 1979-80, is also in jeopardy.No defenseman has ever won the OHL scoring title but with a double-digit lead over his nearest rival, teammate Stan Drulia, Fogarty has a shot at it.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s done everything for us,&rdquo; says Thunder coach Bill LaForge, who traded three players and a fourth-round draft choice for Fogarty. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s provided an example to the guys. He has an ability to work hard in practice that a lot of guys don&rsquo;t have and it&rsquo;s rubbed off. Some guys in practice won&rsquo;t try to score but he buries every puck.&rdquo;The 19-year-old does the same in games.Should he maintain his pace, Fogarty will break more than OHL records. The Canadian major junior mark for goals by a defenseman is 50, established in 1971-72 by Lawrence Sacharuk of Saskatoon. Cam Plante of Brandon set the records for assists and points in 1983-84 when he earned 118 assists and 140 points. Sacharuk played 65 games and Plante 72.&ldquo;He carries the puck so well,&rdquo; says LaForge. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what I want. The Bobby Orr breakout is still the best breakout in the world. You just take it and go. You look to the east, look to the west and go north-south.&rdquo;Fogarty is honored by comparisons to the former Boston Bruin great.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t imagine being mentioned in the same sentence as Bobby Orr,&rdquo; says Fogarty. &ldquo;Just being mentioned with Orr sends shivers down my spine.&ldquo;I never really thought any of this would happen. I just wanted to go out and have a good season. I had hoped for 20 goals and 70 assists and to stay out of trouble.&rdquo;Trouble followed Fogarty throughout his three years in Kingston, where he was as well-known for his escapades away from the rink as he was for his talents on it. During his rookie season, he was suspended several times for curfew violations and drinking. In his second season, his mother came to live with him in Kingston to provide support.His problems actually began before he joined the OHL. As a 15-year-old, he played Tier II junior hockey in Aurora, a suburb north of Toronto.&ldquo;I was playing with guys who were four or five years older than me,&rdquo; says Fogarty. &ldquo;They would play and then go out. I thought that was what hockey was supposed to be like. It took me a little while to realize I had to get my head on straight, that there was more to hockey than that.&ldquo;It got to the point where I would rather be out having a good time than playing.&rdquo;&ldquo;I think for a number of years Bryan was a follower,&rdquo; says Gus Badali, who negotiated a two-year (plus one-year option) contract with the Quebec Nordiques for Fogarty at the beginning of the season. &ldquo;Now he&rsquo;s doing a little bit of leading for himself.&rdquo;The Nordiques, who selected Fogarty ninth overall in the 1987 entry draft, have noticed an improvement.&ldquo;I had a chance to meet with Bryan in December and I couldn&rsquo;t believe the incredible change in his attitude and his physical condition,&rdquo; says Quebec general manager Martin Madden. &ldquo;And I think that&rsquo;s a credit to him. You can talk to people as much as you want, but he had to be the one to turn things around himself.&rdquo;Madden says that should the Thunder make an early exit from the playoffs and the Nordiques qualify for the post-season, they will probably add him to the lineup. But with Quebec last in the Adams Division and Niagara Falls first in the Emms Division, he is unlikely to be in the NHL this season&mdash;except possibly on an emergency basis.Fogarty, who is deaf in his left ear, credits LaForge with helping save his career.&ldquo;He was honest with me from the start,&rdquo; says Fogarty. &ldquo;He told me he heard all the stories, but that I was starting with a clean slate. He&rsquo;s been like a second father to me. He seems to know how to treat everyone.&rdquo;&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t lasso him,&rdquo; says LaForge. &ldquo;He has his own ideas. He&rsquo;s been playing junior hockey since he was 14. You&rsquo;ve got to let him have his own space and breathe. You can&rsquo;t treat a guy who is 20 (actually 19), has a big contract, owns a car, the same way as you treat someone who is 16.&ldquo;He does it all within the rules. We believe, if there are not many rules on a hockey team, it&rsquo;s tough to break rules. The only rule I really have is that I want to know where you are at all times. If you need an extra 15 minutes because your pizza is cold, you had a fight with your girlfriend, or your car broke down, all it takes is a phone call. That&rsquo;s just a courtesy.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very mellow guy. He doesn&rsquo;t want to be associated with a party, a bash. He wants to go his own way.&rdquo;The 6-foot, 198-pound Fogarty has not skaken entirely free of controversy.He was criticized for not playing for Canada at the recent World Junior Championships in Anchorage, Alaska. Some observers felt he was more concerned with personal achievement than representing his country.&ldquo;They invited Jamie Leach from my team right away,&rdquo; says Fogarty. &ldquo;Then I was called by the national junior team people and asked to go out to dinner. They wanted to talk to me about the rules and regulations in camp and to make sure I could keep them.&rdquo;Two years ago, he and two other players were sent home from the junior national summer camp for drinking.&ldquo;I wanted to play for the team,&rdquo; says Fogarty. &ldquo;It was something I was looking forward to, but they sort of made me the odd-man out, they made me feel different. It hurt me. Why invite me to dinner? Why not just invite me to try out for the team? I just decided it was better for me if I didn&rsquo;t play. Going for the records had nothing to do with my decision not to go.&rdquo;Fogarty is not yet completely free of his past.&ldquo;It takes five minutes to get a reputation, and a lifetime to get rid of it,&rdquo; he says. &#9632;

f0029-01

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

<h2>STANDINGS</h2>NHL STANDINGS AS OF MON., JAN. 23/89(PCT) PERCENTAGE OF ACTUAL POINTSVERSUS POSSIBLE POINTSCLARENCE CAMPBELL CONFERENCE<h3>NORRIS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01702/6038770-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="986" height="157"></div><h3>SMYTHE DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02467/6038763-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="986" height="160"></div><h2>PRINCE OF WALES CONFERENCE</h2>ADAMS DIVISION<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03332/6038756-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="988" height="158"></div><h3>PATRICK DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04250/6038749-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="988" height="189"></div><h2>RESULTS</h2>RESULTS ENDING JAN. 22,1989<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05200/6038742-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="477" height="897"></div><h2>POINTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06165/6038735-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="489" height="588"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07142/6038728-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="211" height="219"></div><h2>FUTURE GAMES</h2>WED., JAN. 25BOSTON AT TORONTOST. LOUIS AT HARTFORDBUFFALO AT DETROITWINNIPEG AT PITTSBURGHCHICAGO AT EDMONTONTHUR., JAN. 26ST. LOUIS AT BOSTONQUEBEC AT MINNESOTAWINNIPEG AT NY ISLANDERSNY RANGERS AT CALGARYWASHINGTON AT PHILALDELPHIAVANCOUVER AT LOS ANGELESFRI., JAN. 27HARTFORD AT NEW JERSEYMONTREAL AT BUFFALOTORONTO AT DETROITSAT., JAN. 28WINNIPEG AT BOSTONQUEBEC AT HARTFORDBUFFALO AT MONTREALNY ISLANDERS AT PHILADELPHIANY RANGERS AT TORONTONEW JERSEY AT MINNESOTADETROIT AT PITTSBURGHWASHINGTON AT ST. LOUISCHICAGO AT CALGARYEDMONTON AT LOS ANGELESSUN., JAN. 29CALGARY AT VANCOUVERMON., JAN. 30QUEBEC AT DETROITNY ISLANDERS AT NY RANGERSWASHINGTON AT MINNESOTATORONTO AT CHICAGOTUES., JAN. 31BUFFALO AT HARTFORDMONTREAL AT PITTSBURGHWINNIPEG AT ST. LOUISCALGARY AT LOS ANGELESEDMONTON AT VANCOUVERWED., FEB. 1BOSTON AT MINNESOTAWASHINGTON AT NY RANGERSWINNIPEG AT CHICAGOVANCOUVER AT EDMONTON<h2>HOME-ROAD RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-08125/6038721-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="991" height="874"></div><h2>DIVISIONAL RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-09109/6038714-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="987" height="819"></div><h2>TEAM POWER PLAY</h2>(ADV) TOTAL ADVANTAGES (PPGF) POWER-PLAY GOALS FOR (PCT) ARRIVED BY DIVIDING NUMBER OF POWER-PLAY GOALS BY TOTAL ADVANTAGES<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1094/6038707-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="1002" height="629"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTY KILLING</h2>(TSH) TOTAL TIMES SHORT-HANDED (PPGA) POWER-PLAY GOALS AGAINST (PCT) ARRIVED BY DIVIDING - TIMES SHORT MINUS POWER-PLAY GOALS AGAINST - BY TIMES SHORT<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1180/6038700-1-eng-US/f0031-112.jpg" title="f0031-11" width="999" height="629"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTIES</h2>(GP) GAMES PLAYED (PEN) TOTAL PENALTY MINUTES INCLUDING BENCH MINUTES (BMI) TOTAL BENCH MINOR MINUTES (AVG) AVERAGE PENALTY MINUTES/GAME ARRIVED BY DIVIDING TOTAL PENALTY MINUTES BY GAMES PLAYED<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1256/6038693-1-eng-US/f0031-122.jpg" title="f0031-12" width="987" height="349"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1345/6038686-1-eng-US/f0031-132.jpg" title="f0031-13" width="1006" height="637"></div><h2>INDIVIDUAL LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1441/6038679-1-eng-US/f0031-142.jpg" title="f0031-14" width="1013" height="944"></div><h2>LEADING DEFENSEMEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1537/6038672-1-eng-US/f0031-152.jpg" title="f0031-15" width="1011" height="322"></div><h2>LEADING ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1633/6038665-1-eng-US/f0031-162.jpg" title="f0031-16" width="1011" height="321"></div><h2>ROOKIE LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01751/6038658-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="1006" height="580"></div><h2>TEAM-BY-TEAM SCORING</h2>BOSTON BRUINS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02526/6038651-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="983" height="846"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03357/6038644-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="981" height="814"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04236/6038637-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="979" height="660"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05166/6038630-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="987" height="914"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-06135/6038623-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="987" height="762"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-07113/6038616-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="982" height="716"></div><h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0899/6038609-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="977" height="732"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0984/6038602-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="981" height="787"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-1079/6038595-1-eng-US/f0032-102.jpg" title="f0032-10" width="980" height="673"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01668/6038588-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="992" height="667"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02461/6038581-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="992" height="830"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03337/6038574-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="988" height="824"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04267/6038567-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="995" height="741"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05219/6038560-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="992" height="817"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06187/6038553-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="990" height="739"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07170/6038546-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="990" height="824"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-08142/6038539-1-eng-US/f0033-082.jpg" title="f0033-08" width="988" height="742"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-09124/6038532-1-eng-US/f0033-092.jpg" title="f0033-09" width="984" height="817"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-10112/6038525-1-eng-US/f0033-102.jpg" title="f0033-10" width="986" height="715"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-11106/6038518-1-eng-US/f0033-112.jpg" title="f0033-11" width="984" height="641"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-12101/6038511-1-eng-US/f0033-122.jpg" title="f0033-12" width="987" height="723"></div><h2>GOALTENDING</h2>ALL GOALS AGAINST A TEAM IN ANY GAME ARE CHARGED TO THE GOALTENDER OF THAT GAME FOR PURPOSES OF AWARDING THE BILL JENNINGS TROPHYWON-LOST-TIED RECORD IS BASED UPON WHICH GOALTENDER WAS PLAYING WHEN THE WINNING OR TYING GOAL WAS SCOREDEMPTY-NET GOALS ARE NOT COUNTED IN PERSONAL AVERAGES BUT ARE INCLUDED IN THE TEAM TOTAL AND THE SHOT(S) IS INCLUDED IN THE GOALTENDER&rsquo;s SHOTS AGAINST (SA) TOTAL (GP) GAMES PLAYED IN (MIN) MINUTES PLAYED (AVG) 60 MINUTE AVERAGE (GA) GOALS AGAINST (SAI SHOTS AGAINST (PCT) SAVE PERCENTAGE<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01754/6038504-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="987" height="2723"></div> &#9632;

f0031-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

f0034-02

SCOREBOARD

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0035-34" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-3415/6039217-1-eng-US/f0035-342.jpg"></div>1. What current NHL assistant coach played for the 1968 U.S. Olympic team?2. What current NHL GM has a Western League trophy named after him?3. Which Philadelphia right winger scored his first NHL goal on a penalty shot?4. Which Toronto Maple Leaf was the 11th player chosen in the 1978 NHL entry draft?5. Which Chicago defenseman was born in Corner Brook, Nfld.?6. Which two current Norris Division players were named co-winners of the Most Valuable Defenseman award with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western League in 1982-83?7. Which Pittsburgh Penguin was selected 204th overall in the 1980 NHL entry draft?8. Name the Calgary center who played college hockey at Bemidji State University.9. Which Edmonton Oiler was born in Langenburg, Sask.?10. Which two current New Jersey Devils played with Oshawa&rsquo;s 1982-83 Ontario League championship team?<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-3317/6039210-1-eng-US/f0035-332.jpg" title="f0035-33" width="559" height="858"><figcaption class="caption-body">BONUS QUESTION: He was the third of Boston&rsquo;s three first-round choices in 1969.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0035-34

TRIVIA

f0036-01

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01646/6039734-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="527" height="622"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIC DUHATSCHEK</figcaption></div>No, that was not a misprint you read in last week&rsquo;s issue of The Hockey News.In fact, you&rsquo;ve seen it for 10 consecutive weeks. Right at the top of the goaltending statistics, the same name keeps appearing: Mike Vernon.That&rsquo;s right, Mike Vernon. Calgary Flames. One of the National Hockey League&rsquo;s best-kept secrets, a steady, sometimes brilliant goaltender who, for some inexplicable reason, cannot convince people he&rsquo;s capable of leading the Flames to the Stanley Cup.His numbers (18-5-4, 2.78 goals-against average) have never been better than this year, but everywhere Vernon goes, he hears the question: Is Calgary&rsquo;s goaltending good enough to win it all?Nothing Vernon does&mdash;no amount of good netminding&mdash;muffles the controversy.Maybe it has something to do with the fact no man is a prophet in his own town, but Vernon will be on the hot seat like no one else come playoff time.It doesn&rsquo;t matter that he&rsquo;s been among the league leaders in wins for three years (87 and counting). It doesn&rsquo;t matter that his personal goals-against average is below 3.00&mdash;no mean feat in the high-scoring Smythe Division.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always important to win,&rdquo; said Vernon. &ldquo;More teams want you when you&rsquo;re winning. Not too many people want you when you&rsquo;re a loser. I don&rsquo;t know. Sports is a funny thing. We&rsquo;ve been to the finals once and came up short. Does that make us losers? Everybody thought the (National Football League) Buffalo Bills would be in the Super Bowl and they weren&rsquo;t. That doesn&rsquo;t make them losers. It&rsquo;s just that at that moment in time, everybody didn&rsquo;t peak at the right time.&ldquo;Take the Edmonton Oilers. We owned them in the regular season last year.&rdquo;Well, a 4-3-1 record is not exactly ownership, but&hellip;&ldquo;All of a sudden, come playoff time, everything seemed to go right for them. They peaked at the same time. That&rsquo;s what you need in sports, especially in a team game.&rdquo;Clearly, the Flames believe Vernon possesses enough of the right stuff to get them over the top. If not, general manager Cliff Fletcher would have somebody else in town by now.Presumably, Fletcher also knows there&rsquo;s no point in dealing for a goalie if you can&rsquo;t improve yourself. Sure, Edmonton&rsquo;s Grant Fuhr, Philadelphia&rsquo;s Ron Hextall or New Jersey&rsquo;s Sean Burke would be nice to have, but they&rsquo;re all unavailable anyway.So then you turn to the second tier of NHL goalies&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck of the Rangers, Kelly Hrudey of the Islanders, Patrick Roy of Montreal, Tom Barrasso of Pittsburgh&hellip;and Vernon. Does he belong there?Yes. One of the measuring sticks of a goalie is this question: Does he win? If Stanley Cup championships are the only criteria, then the league has just three: Fuhr. Roy and the Islanders&rsquo; Billy Smith. Maybe give Boston&rsquo;s Andy Moog an asterisk for his days with Edmonton.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02452/6039727-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="706" height="681"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Vernon knows that only a Stanley Cup victory will quell criticism.</figcaption></div>Then there are the goalies that got their teams to the finals: Vernon, Hextall, Reggie Lemelin of the Bruins. A small, select group.The Flames had an opportunity to bid in the Barrasso sweepstakes earlier this year. They decided Barrasso would be more of the same and they were right. Barrasso&rsquo;s regular-season numbers (13-6-4, 3.78) compare favorably to Vernon&rsquo;s. His challenge this season will be the same as Mikey&rsquo;s: Get his team out of the division.&ldquo;When you rank them, there are goalies who have won&mdash;and by that I mean the Stanley Cup&mdash;and then there&rsquo;s everybody else,&rdquo; said Rick Wamsley, Vernon&rsquo;s partner.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a professional goalie, you&rsquo;ve done the job, but the idea is to win. Until you take your team to a championship, you haven&rsquo;t reached the apex, the ultimate goal, which is to win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;And ultimately, we won&rsquo;t know who wins that until the end of May. &#9632;

f0039-01

VERNON IS ALL CALGARY NEEDS

<h2>SABRES</h2>Sabres&rsquo; captain Lindy Ruff scored his 100th NHL goal in a 6-4 win over Boston Jan. 22&hellip;Buffalo hadn&rsquo;t lost to the Bruins in their first six games this season, compiling a record of 4-02. The first two games between the teams were 3-3 ties&hellip;Pierre Turgeon&rsquo;s overtime goal which gave the Sabres a 6-5 win over the Bruins Jan. 21 was Buffalo&rsquo;s first overtime goal on the road since Phil Housley scored to beat Philadelphia Feb. 21, 1984&hellip;Turgeon had points in his last seven games (9-8-14) and was 9-1322 in his last 13&hellip;Records are incomplete on the subject, but it looks like the Sabres recorded their second-best comeback in team history in the 6-5 win over the Bruins Jan. 21. They were down 4-0 early in the second period. The Sabres mounted what is considered the biggest comeback in team history Feb. 23, 1983, when they were down 6-1 to Philadelphia and won 7-6&hellip;Right winger Jan Ludvig underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Jan. 19 and was listed as indefinite.<h2>BRUINS</h2>The Bruins were 1-2-1 under assistant coach John Cunniff while coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly served a four-game suspension for an altercation with New Jersey&rsquo;s Jim Korn&hellip;Watching Boston&rsquo;s 4-3 win over Washington from the press box at the Capital Center in Landover, Md., O&rsquo;Reilly discovered what writers have known for some time&mdash;the great distance away from the ice. &ldquo;I should have brought binoculars,&rdquo; he said&hellip;A new anti-inflammatory drug, feldene, failed to help the ailing left knee of defenseman Gord Kluzak, who faces a ninth operation. He could miss an entire season for the third time in seven years&hellip;The Bruins recalled left winger Rob Cimetta, their No. 1 draft choice last year, from the Toronto Marlboros Jan. 21 as an emergency replacement for Lyndon Byers. Byers was out with a lower back bruise. Cimetta, the last cut from the Bruin training camp, had 35 goals in 30 games with the Marlies. He went pointless in his first two games with Boston&hellip;The Bruins drew a crowd of 14,448 for their Jan. 21 6-5 loss to Buffalo, their 10th sellout in 25 home games&hellip;Seeking scoring punch, the Bruins were reported to have offered Byers, defenseman Michael Thelven and a high draft choice to Detroit for right winger Bob Probert.<h2>CANADIENS</h2>Right winger Stephane Richer continued to struggle. He took himself out of the lineup after two periods Jan. 18 against Hartford, complaining of the flu. The following night, coach Pat Burns left him out of the lineup and was clearly fed up. &ldquo;All that we have accomplished in the last two months doesn&rsquo;t seem to matter,&rdquo; said Burns. &ldquo;All everyone is talking about is Stephane Richer. I coach the Canadiens and what&rsquo;s important to me is the team. I can&rsquo;t be concerned with just one player.&rdquo; Richer scored his 12th goal of the season Jan. 21 against Toronto&hellip;Right winger Claude Lemieux was in a prolonged slump, with just one goal in his last 10 games. Lemieux went wild in the third period of the 4-3 win over the Maple Leafs. Decked by a clean hit from Leafs&rsquo; defenseman Luke Richardson, he lay prone on the ice for a few minutes. When he got up, someone on the Leaf bench said something to Lemieux, and he exploded. After much gesturing, he shadow-boxed with Mark Osborne, an innocent bystander. Lemieux was ejected from the game by referee Kerry Fraser&hellip;Chris Chelios picked up his 250th career point with an assist on Guy Carbonneau&rsquo;s game-winning goal against Toronto. It was Carbonneau&rsquo;s second game-winning goal of the week-&hellip;Randy Exelby was recalled from Sherbrooke for the fifth time this season. Exelby replaced Patrick Roy (out with tonsillitis) on the bench behind Brian Hayward for the Toronto game.<h2>NORDIQUES</h2>The Nords&rsquo; three-day boycott of the Quebec press&mdash;which started when members of the media called the players &ldquo;turkeys,&rdquo; ended Jan. 17 after a win against New Jersey&hellip;Quebec called up forwards Darin Kimble and Ken McRae Jan. 16, and both players had an immediate impact. In his first game (home to the Devils Jan. 17), Kimble scored his first NHL goal and was in two fights. In his second game (at New Jersey Jan. 19), McRae scored two goals&hellip;On Jan. 20, Ron Lapointe made his first visit to Le Colisee since his operation to remove a cancerous kidney. He said his coaching days were finished, but needed a few months to think about his hockey future. There is a good chance Lapointe could become general manager Martin Madden&rsquo;s assistant.<h2>WHALERS</h2>Joel Quenneville suffered a slightly separated shoulder when hit by Shayne Corson during a 3-1 loss in Montreal Jan. 18&hellip;Kevin Dineen, on a scoring tear, got his 28th goal of the season against Los Angeles Jan. 21. Dineen had 25 all last season. &ldquo;Gordie Howe has been on me to shoot the puck more this year,&rdquo; Dineen said&hellip;About 650 people attended the Whalers&rsquo; first Hall-of-Fame induction ceremony for Howe, Rick Ley, former GM-coach Jack Kelly, late owner Bob Schmertz, late Hartford Courant sports writer Frank Keyes and late governor Ella Grasso Jan. 20. NHL President John Ziegler, making the presentation to Howe, called No. 9 &ldquo;the greatest athlete of the century.&rdquo; &#9632;

MILESTONE GOAL FOR SABRE CAPTAIN

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01356/6039820-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOURQUE MISSED</figcaption></div>Even though they were 33-12-6 and 24 points ahead of second-place Buffalo in the Adams Division, the Montreal Canadiens were not satisfied.&ldquo;We were playing much better when we went out to Calgary (Dec. 29 and beat them than we have in the past couple of weeks,&rdquo; said goaltender Brian Hayward.The 4-3 win over the Flames was part of a four-game post-Christmas (Dec. 27-Jan. 1) swing through the Smythe Division. Montreal won all four games and was 6-2-0 since.The Canadiens split a home-and-home series against the Hartford Whalers, winning 3-1 at home Jan. 18 and losing 6-4 in Hartford the next night after leading 4-0 in the second period. That was followed by a lacklustre 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 21 at the Forum.&ldquo;I just think there have been mental lapses,&rdquo; said Hayward. &ldquo;The game in Hartford we took bad penalties. We weren&rsquo;t taking them before. The guys were turning the puck over in front of the net. That was not happening before. Small things, but they end up hurting you. We had been making one or two mistakes a game. We had everything going our way. I don&rsquo;t think we are as mentally sharp as we were before.&rdquo;The Canadiens reached the 50-game mark with the loss in Hartford. Fatigue, physical and mental, may have been factors. A letdown was inevitable.&ldquo;When you have a 25-point lead in your division and you have first place in your division all but wrapped up, maybe it is (natural to expect a letdown),&rdquo; said Hayward.&ldquo;When you are in contention for the President&rsquo;s Trophy (for first overall) and the Jennings Trophy (for the best team goals-against average) you try to avoid that type of thing the best you can.&rdquo;Hayward said the Canadiens haven&rsquo;t become lazy, although there is a chance they are a touch complacent.&ldquo;Maybe we need a little bit of fear in our game,&rdquo; Hayward said. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t had it in a long while.&ldquo;I know when I got off the Christmas break in Los Angeles, I was scared. I knew I was playing in that game. I knew if I didn&rsquo;t play well or if the team didn&rsquo;t play well, they could get nine against us. Maybe we need to be a little bit scared.&rdquo;Defenseman Craig Ludwig agreed. He said the Canadiens have a tendency to play to the level of their opposition.&ldquo;I think any time you are in a slump and win you have got to be happy with it,&rdquo; said Ludwig. &ldquo;How many other teams would love to be in the type of slump that we are in and be able to win games?&ldquo;By far, we are not playing the way we are capable of playing right now. We are playing well, but we are not playing the way we can play.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got the January blues right now,&rdquo; continued Ludwig. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the blah time of the year. I think any team that has done what we have done well, it&rsquo;s not that it is boring, but it gets to be the same thing all the time.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s tough on the coaches too. They have to think of things to keep you in it, keep you interested.&ldquo;If you play bad and you still win games, I think it can help you. It makes you realize what you can do when you play well.&rdquo;<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 21: Randy Exelby, G, recalled from Sherbrooke (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bobby Smith. Brent Gilchrist, Guy Carbonneau, Brian Skrudland, Gilles ThibaudeauLW&mdash;Mats Naslund, Shayne Corson, Ryan Walter. Mike McPhee, Steve Martinson.RW&mdash;Russ Courtnall, Stephane Richer. Mike Keane, Claude Lemieux.LD&mdash;Craig Ludwig, Larry Robinson, Petr SvobodaRD&mdash;Rick Green, Jyrki Lumme, Rick Green. Eric Desjardins.G&mdash;Brian Hayward, Randy Exelby.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Patrick Roy, G, tonsillitis, day-to-day. Bob Gainey, LW, broken foot, March 6 &#9632;

f0040-01

HABS STILL WINNING BUT NOT IMPRESSIVELY

<div class="byline">BY TOM HENSHAW</div>Ray Bourque hadn&rsquo;t played for the Boston Bruins since Dec. 10, when he sprained a ligament in his left knee in a collision with New York Ranger defenseman Michel Petit.But, after 18 games out of the lineup, the defenseman&rsquo;s name still came up after each Bruin game, particularly after losses. The Bruins were 6-10-2 since Bourque&rsquo;s injury and at 18-21-10, had slipped two points behind Buffalo for third place in the Adams Division. Even victorious opponents had something to say about the two-time Norris Trophy winner.&ldquo;You can bring other guys in to fill his spot, but there are not too many guys in the league of his calibre,&rdquo; said Calgary right winger Mark Hunter, after scoring four goals in a 7-2 Calgary win over Boston Jan. 19.&ldquo;When Raymond is back there he really takes charge,&rdquo; said Washington goalie Pete Peeters, a 4-3 loser to the Bruins on defenseman Glen Wesley&rsquo;s last-minute goal Jan. 15. &ldquo;I think that might have something to do with the way the forwards play. You can take more chances with Bourque running things.&rdquo;In addition to Bourque, the Bruins had been missing Gord Kluzak since the start of the season, Al Pedersen since Dec. 17 and Michael Thelven since Dec. 26. They were playing with three rookie defensemen (Greg Hawgood, Stephane Quintal, Don Sweeney) and the opposition was well aware of it.&ldquo;We kept dumping the puck in to try to take advantage of their defense,&rdquo; said Calgary goalie Mike Vernon. &ldquo;We tried to get on top of them and create turnovers. They had a lot of zip in the first period, but we just jumped all over their defense.&rdquo;Hunter voiced a popular refrain.&ldquo;Wait until they get Bourque back,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;ll settle things down and they&rsquo;ll go from there.&rdquo;Bourque, voted to start tor the Wales Conference in the NHL All-Star Game Feb. 7 in Edmonton, was expected back as early as Jan. 28 against Winnipeg. It could be as late as Feb. 4 against Pittsburgh.&ldquo;If this was the playoffs, maybe I&rsquo;d be back there already,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But this isn&rsquo;t the playoffs.&rdquo;Bourque spent some of his idle time helping assistant coach John Cunniff behind the bench, while coach Terry O&rsquo;Reilly served a four-game suspension for an altercation with New Jersey&rsquo;s Jim Korn. But he&rsquo;d prefer to play.&ldquo;It was fun when Glen scored the goal in Washington,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was standing on top of the bench screaming with everyone else. But it&rsquo;s still not the same as playing.&rdquo;Bourque, who handled the defense pairings for Cunniff, discovered how fast things move during an NHL game.&ldquo;You really have to be aware of who&rsquo;s going up next,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There you are, trying to figure out who you&rsquo;re going to send and before you decide, someone&rsquo;s at the bench coming off. So you wind up just throwing someone out there.&rdquo;<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 16: Dale Dunbar, D. assigned to Maine (AHL).Jan. 21: Rob Cimetta, LW, recalled from Toronto (OHL).Jan. 22: Jay Miller, LW, traded to Los Angeles for future considerations; Bruce Shoebottom, D, recalled from Maine.Jan. 23: Steve Kasper, C, traded to Los Angeles for Bob Carpenter, LW.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ken Linseman, Bob Sweeney, Andy Brickley.LW&mdash;Bob Joyce, Randy Burridge, John Carter, Rob Cimetta.RW&mdash;Cam Neely, Keith Crowder, Ray Neufeld.LD&mdash;Glen Wesley, Greg Hawgood, Don Sweeney. RD&mdash;Garry Galley, Alain Cote, Bruce Shoebottom.G&mdash;Andy Moog, Reggie Lemelin.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ray Bourque, D. left knee sprain, Jan. 28.Lyndon Byers, RW, lower back bruise, day-to-day.Bob Carpenter, LW. cracked wrist, indefinite.Craig Janney, C, groin strain, Jan. 28.Gord Kluzak, D, left knee arthroscope, indefinite.Billy O&rsquo;Dwyer, C, left knee inflammation, indefinite.Al Pedersen, D, abdominal strain, Jan. 28.Stephane Quintal, D. knee, day-to-day.Michael Thelven, D, right knee inflammation, indefinite. &#9632;

BOURQUE ENDURES LONG WAIT

<div class="byline">BY JEFF JACOBS</div>Sylvain Cote said his only intention was to help the Hartford Whalers create a winning atmosphere.Whether Cote&rsquo;s controversial remarks about his teammates were a factor in the Whalers&rsquo; comeback victories over Montreal (6-4 Jan. 19) and Los Angeles (5-4 Jan. 2I) could be debated.But one thing was certain&mdash;Cote created the most emotional few days for the club in a long time.Speaking first to Montreal&rsquo;s French-language reporters and then to the Hartford media Jan. 18, Cote painted an unpleasant picture of unnamed veteran Whalers. He accused them of directing insensitive remarks at teammates.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a matter of guys trying to stir the pot, playing with people&rsquo;s heads,&rdquo; said Cote, 23 on Jan. I9. &ldquo;For some people, I guess they can take it and laugh. For other people, like me, they like to bother me. I hate that. It&rsquo;s got to stop.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s jab, jab, jab. There have been new players coming in here saying it&rsquo;s the most jabbing team in the league. Some players are behaving like superstars when in reality they are plumbers. They should stick to what they do best on the ice and mind their own business.&rdquo;When asked for an illustration, Cote said: &ldquo;Coming into the locker room after the game, after you made a big mistake, and a guy will walk by you and say (sarcastically), &lsquo;Nice play.&rsquo; But when you play a good game, nobody says anything to you.&ldquo;Team spirit has fallen over the last few years and there are some bigger bigmouths on the team who jab everybody. That makes it much harder. No one wants to take the blame for anything. We always seem to pinpoint another guy for mistakes. There&rsquo;s a lot of quarreling.&rdquo;When asked if he expected negative backlash from his statements, Cote responded, &ldquo;Obviously, yes. But I want us to win. To all be one. But some guys before me stood up in the locker room and two days later they were gone.&rdquo;Whalers&rsquo; coach Larry Pleau called a team meeting the following day in Hartford and evidently the air was cleared. The Whalers went out and erased a 4-0 Montreal lead for the greatest comeback victory in their NHL history.Concerned about unity, veteran tough guy Torrie Robertson admitted some guilt after the game.&ldquo;I like to joke around, do pranks, but you can take things too far,&rdquo; said Robertson. &ldquo;I know my position (as a policeman) on the team. I don&rsquo;t want to be responsible for ruining a talented young guy. What&rsquo;s tunny to one person might hurt somebody&rsquo;s else&rsquo;s feelings.&rdquo;While many of Cote&rsquo;s teammates were not happy he went to the media to air his grievances, they did feel the air was cleared. After the third-period rally against the Kings Jan. 21, Kevin Dineen compared it to the Los Angeles Dodgers&rsquo; spring training situation in which a teammate put lampblack around the brim of Kirk Gibson&rsquo;s cap.&ldquo;He got bitter and look at the season the Dodgers had,&rdquo; said Dineen of the World Series champions. &ldquo;So who knows? I feel what&rsquo;s said in the dressing room stays here. But Sylvain felt he had to go public and I think I know where he was coming from.&rdquo;<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 19: Marc Laforge, D, reported to Indianapolis (IHL). Team suspension lifted.Jan. 20: Adam Burt, D, returned to North Bay (OHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ray Ferraro, Brent Peterson. Dean Evason, Ron Francis.LW&mdash;Dave Tippett, John Anderson. Torrie Robertson, Brian Lawton, Tom Martin.RW&mdash;Jody Hull, Scott Young. Paul MacDermid, Kevin Dineen.LD&mdash;Scot Kleinendorst, Norm Maciver. Randy Ladouceur.RD&mdash;Ulf Samuelsson, Dave Babych, Sylvain Cote.G&mdash;Mike Liut, Peter Sidorkiewicz.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Grant Jennings, D, shoulder injury, day-to-day.Don Maloney, LW, broken collarbone, indefinite.Joel Quenneville, D. separated shoulder, indefinite.Sylvain Turgeon, LW, separated shoulder, indefinite. &#9632;

COTE BLASTS TEAMMATES FOR CRUEL JABS

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01296/6039899-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="631" height="1234"><figcaption class="caption-body">VAIVE ALIVE</figcaption></div>Second place.Sounds trivial when you stop and think about it. Maybe even silly when you say it out loud, considering the fact second place in the Adams Division meant a record of 21-21-6 and a 24-point margin behind the Montreal Canadiens.But second place in the Adams Division standings looked good to the Buffalo Sabres. Riding a season-high, seven-game unbeaten streak (eight if you count a 6-5 overtime win over the Soviet Red Army Jan. 9) and a .500 record for the first time since early in the season, the Sabres were beginning to show the potential they displayed during an undefeated pre-season.&ldquo;We want to go on from here and maybe get ourselves six or seven games ahead (of the .500 mark),&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; captain Lindy Ruff after the Sabres took a pair of games from the Boston Bruins, 6-5 in overtime Jan. 21 and 6-4 Jan. 22. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to stop here.&rdquo;After losing four straight early in the new year, the Sabres beat Toronto (6-1 Jan. 7), Chicago (6-5 Jan. 12), Calgary (3-2 Jan. 15), Boston twice and tied Quebec (1-1 Jan. 14) and Minnesota (3-3 Jan. 18).The wins over Boston came when the Bruins were at less than full strength, but the Sabres were still pleased with their effort. In the overtime win Jan. 21, the Sabres were down 4-0 early in the second period before coming back. The next day, they spotted the Bruins the lead twice before winning 6-4.The sudden surge can be traced directly to the acquisition of right winger Rick Vaive, who had scored 10 goals and added five assists in 10 games since coming from Chicago in a trade for center Adam Creighton Dec. 26. The 29-year-old was 7-4-11 in his last eight games.Vaive scored one goal, set up the game-winner and drew the penalty (to the Bruins&rsquo; Bob Sweeney) that produced Pierre Turgeon&rsquo;s game-winning goal in overtime Jan. 21. The next day, Vaive had a two-goal game and scored the winner in Buffalo.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;ve got a guy like that on your team, you always think you&rsquo;re in the game,&rdquo; said Ruff. &ldquo;We knew they (the Bruins) were going to come in here and give us a tough game. We knew they would fight us right to the end, but when you&rsquo;ve got guys who can get you big goals when you need them, that gives all of us confidence too. Getting him (Vaive) has instilled confidence in this team that we can come back and be in any game. I can see that pride kind of creeping around the room.&rdquo;Vaive said he was enjoying his new situation. He also admitted he considered retirement when things were at their worst in Chicago. Vaive was 12-13-25 in 30 games with the Blackhawks before the trade.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been great,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was down and out in Chicago and there was one point where I wanted to retire. This is a big lift for me. To come in here, help these guys and just play well, I&rsquo;m enjoying it.&rdquo;<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan. 18: Mike Donnelly, LW. Darcy Wakaluk, G, assigned to Rochester (AHL).Jan. 19: Scott Metcalfe, RW, assigned to Rochester.Jan. 23: Bob Halkidis, D, Mikael Andersson. RW, assigned to Rochester<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon, Christian Ruuttu. Jeff Parker, Benoit Hogue.LW&mdash;Mike Donnelly, Scott Arniel, Mike Hartman, Dave Andreychuk.RW&mdash;Rick Vaive, Mark Napier, Ray Sheppard. Kevin Maguire.LD&mdash;Doug Bodger, Joe Reekie, Lindy Ruff, Larry Playfair.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, Shawn Anderson, Calle Johansson.G&mdash;Daren Puppa. Jacques Cloutier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike Foligno, RW, rib cartilage, day-to-day.Uwe Krupp, D, broken rib, indefinite.Jan Ludvig, RW, knee, indefiniteMike Ramsey, D, pulled groin, indefinite.John Tucker, C, back, indefinite. &#9632;

f0041-01

‘RE-VAIVED’ SABRES GRAB SECOND PLACE

<h2>MERCHANDISE</h2><h3>NEW LOOK HERSHEY BEARS 1988-89</h3>CCM AIR-KNIT (Home & Away) PRO JERSEYSEXCLUSIVE HERSHEY BEARS50th ANNIVERSERY JERSEYS WHILE THEY LAST<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01310/6039937-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="272" height="221"></div>(Personalized Also &mdash; Jackets &#9679; Scarves &#9679; Warm-ups &#9679; T-Shirts &#9679; Sweats &#9679; Novelties &#9679; NHL Pro ReplicaPRICE LISTS &mdash; Hockey Equipment.Roller Blades. Figure Skates.Call&mdash;(717) 653-5051&mdash;UPS Service THE SHARP EDGE, 20 E. Main St., Mount Joy. PA. 17552.&rsquo;88-89 SETS OPC H $12; Topps H $16; Minis $4; Jogos Reg&rsquo;l (106) $22; regular (110) $19; &rsquo;88 OPC or D/L BB $12. LNW Sports, P.O Box 6387, Station C, Victoria, BC, V8P 5M3.&rsquo;OLE TIME SPECIAL hockey sale&mdash;NY Raiders, Colorado Rockies, Calif. Golden Seals, Minn. Fighting Saints, Phoenix Roadrunners and all WH A defunct teams jerseys. $145.95 + $12 postage ea. For info: Silvestri Sports, 289 Lincoln St., Welland, ON., L3B 4N5. (416) 788-3722.*Not responsible for duty fees on U.S. orders.WILL BUY OR TRADE for WHA sweaters, WHA programs, and other WHA memorabilia. Call Don Lindberg. (312) 232-6543.<h3>WHA PACKAGE DEAL</h3>Receive 3&rdquo; Patches, Ottawa Nats, Jets first year, Vancouver Blazers, Alberta Oilers, NY Golden Blades, New York Raiders, Saints first year, Houston Aeros, Toronto Toros Lapel Pins - 10 different WHA lapel pins, 2 different championship WHA lapel pins, I different WHA pennant and one WHA puck, all for $35.00. U.S. Funds. Contact: Collections Sports, Station &ldquo;U&rdquo;, Box 668, Etobicoke, ON., M8Z 5Y9.<h3>1988-89 NHL Frito-Lay Sets</h3>Complete sets of 42 players and poster. 1988-89. Complete NHL set. $15.00 set, plus $4.00 postage. Contact: Collections Sports, Station &ldquo;U&rdquo;, Box 668, Etobicoke, ON., M8Z 5Y9.<h3>SOVIET CENTRAL ARMY JERSEYS</h3>- Away. Insignia Front & Shoulder - $54.95 + $4.00 shp. Send check/money order to; Olympic Sales, 90-13 Fairfield Way, Commack, NY., 11725. Or call (516) 938-9499.<h3>PHOTO PACKAGE</h3>100 different NHL players photos, 15 different NHL autographed photos, 5 different Team photos, NHL, 80 different NBA, NFL, Baseball Player photos. All 200 photos for $39.99. U.S. Funds. Contact; Collections Sports, Station &ldquo;U&rdquo;, Box 668, Etobicoke, ON., M8Z 5Y9.<h2>MERCHANDISE</h2><h3>ADDRESS CHANGE</h3>Due to a large volume of mail, please be advised that just our mailing address has changed to:Collections SportsStation &ldquo;U&rdquo;Box 668Etobicoke, ON.M8Z 5Y9<h3>LAPEL PIN PACKAGE</h3>NHL Rendezvous 1987,1972 Minnesota Saints, 1973-74 WHA All Star Game, Lord Stanley and the Cup. Kansas City Scouts, Michigan Stags 197475, New England Whalers 1972-79, Winnipeg Jets 15th Anniversary, New York Golden Blades, Redskins NFL 1939-86, Oakland As 1987 All Star, USFL 1984 Champion Philadelphia Stars, N.A.S.L. & U.S.F.L. League Pins. All 14 for $49.99 U.S. Funds. Catalog $3.00 includes free lapel pin. Contact: Collection Sports, Station &ldquo;U&rdquo;, Box 668, Etobicoke, ON., M8Z 5Y9.<h3>* * * TABLE HOCKEY PLAYERS * * *</h3>Computerize your tablehockey results! Join our league and compare your team to international competition.For information send Name & Address to:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02223/6039930-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="244" height="115"></div>MHL AssociatesP.O.Box 2051Salem MA 01970U.S.A.<h2>HOCKEY POOLS</h2><h3>$19.95 HOCKEY POOL</h3>MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE for IBM PC. FREE NHL scores On-Line update service. ComPlus Professional Services, Box 173, Stn. &lsquo;G&rsquo;, Calgary, AB, T3A 2G2. (403) 239-5226. Visa/MC accepted. Add $2 shipping & handling.168 HOURS of Hockey Fights including 6 hrs. of &rsquo;88-89,2 hrs. Jay Miller, 2 hrs. Chris Nilan, 2 hrs. Mtl. Canadiens (&rsquo;87-88). Many more. Trades. For info, contact: Videos, 781 Lucille, Fabreville, Laval, QC, H7P 9Z7.<h2>PUBLICATIONS</h2>STATS COLLECTORS - Minor Pro Guide since 1940.7 leagues, 221 pgs. - $19.00. ADD $4 postage. Various complete Minor Pro leagues and years available. Send $1 for list. Contact: T. Picard, Seven Sisters Falls, MB, R0E 1Y0.<h3>NHL - WHA Guides & Programs</h3>Send $2.00 for list. Free NHL team pennant. Your choice with list.Send $2.00 for list. Free NHL team pennant. Your choice with list.Collections SportsStation &ldquo;U&rdquo;Box 668Etobicoke, ON.M87 5Y9<h2>SHOWS</h2><h3>Guelph Collectibles FAIR</h3>(Sports, Comics, Records)Sun. Feb. 1911 am - 5 pmPeter Clark Hall University CentreUniversity of Guelph Guelph, Ontariofeaturing sports cards, coins, Bee Hives etc.Dealer Info - (519) 824-4120 Ext. 2894<h2>OPPORTUNITIES</h2>CANADIAN HOCKEY ENTERPRISES is looking for sales reps across Canada & U.S. to recruit adult and oldtimer recreational hockey teams, for its holiday hockey tournaments. Send letter and resume to: Paul Crowley, c/o Canadian Hockey Enterprises Ltd., P.O. Box 1000, Ennismore, ON, KOL 1T0. (705) 292-9555.<h3>THE ALUMNI CUP</h3>Looking for former Pro players from Maine, Binghamton, Hershey, and Rochester to participate in Alumni Cup Hockey Tournament - Niagara Falls, Ont., April 14-16. For further information, contact: Paul Crowley, c/o Canadian Hockey Enterprises Ltd., P.O. Box 1000, Ennismore, Ont., K0L 1T0. (705) 292-9555.<h3>OCALA (FLA.) PRO BASEBALL CAMP</h3>Ocala, Fla. (open Feb.-Apr, ages 8 and up)PLAYERS WANTED FOR INDEPENDENT PRO TEAM WEEKLY TRYOUTS: PRO CONTRACTS&#9679; Pro instructors; major league scouts, daily!!&#9679; 4 major league diamonds plus STADIUM for daily games (both day and night) and practices!&#9679; Lowest individual and team rates anywhere!(Easter Special &mdash; Rates Reduced Further)FOR FREE BROCHURE CONTACT: Dave Clark.65 Winfield St, Coming, NY 14830 - Tel. 607-936-6833<h2>SHOWS</h2><h3>CCS PROMOTIONS</h3>Is Proud To PresentIts Superstar Line Up OfSPORT COLLECTIBLE & COMIC BOOK SHOWS 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Feb. 5/89 Radisson Hotel Ottawa (scheduled guest: J. Beliveau)Feb. 11/89 Sheraton Hotel, HamiltonFeb. 12/89 Triumph Hotel, Toronto (scheduled guest: Y. CournoyerMar. 18/89 Howard Johnsons, KingstonMar. 19/89 Holiday Inn, BarrieFeaturing: Special Guests, Gum Cards, Jerseys, Autographs, etc.Tel. (416) 243-5739<h2>TOURNAMENTS</h2><h3>MENS HOCKEY TOURNAMENT</h3>Buffalo, NY.March 11, 12, 13, 1988A Senior Non-check over 21B Senior Non-check over 21C Senior Non-check over 21D Senior Non-check over 30E Senior Non-check over 40HOCKEY &#9679; PARTIES &#9679; FUNDetails: Pete Preteroti(716) 885-0115<h3>OTTAWA CAPITALS AAA</h3>Summer Hockey TournamentMinor Tyke (&rsquo;80) to Midget (1971). Five games guaranteed. June 30 to July 4, 1989. Triple AAA. Contact: OTTAWA CAPITALS TOURNAMENT, 230 Park Grove Dr, Orleans, ON, K1E 2T1. (613) 830-3229.<h2>VIDEO</h2>COMPLETE GAMES: 79 Challenge Cup, 80 Olympics, Canada Cups, Playoffs! Act Now! Send .50&cent; in stamps for a new 19-page list to: PRO TAPES, 5 Berkshire Court, Westampton, NJ, 08060. Or call, (609) 267-5001BRAND NEW PART 4 Hockey&rsquo;s Bloodiest Fights & Knockouts. VHS or Beta. Write: M. Brudy, 413 Hawkins Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, 15214.GREATEST HOCKEY FIGHTS I, II, III Every fight is toe-to-toe. Good quality. Fights range from 1977-1988. Trades welcome. Info, write: Andy Boemer, P.O. Box 40069, St. Paul, MN, 55104. Tel. # (612) 699-1907.EXCELLENT HOCKEY FIGHTS. P.O. Box 4264, Newport Beach, CA, 92660.PITTSBURGH PENGUIN HOCKEY G.V.P. Proudly Presents The Pittsburgh Penguins on weekly home videos. Now you can watch the excitement of Penguin hockey in the privacy of your home all season long! We are the &ldquo;licensed&rdquo; home video company of the Penguins and can supply you with a season full of excitement. On VHS or Super Beta tapes. Superior quality from our satellite receiving station allows you to have the tapes delivered within days to your home. All games commercial free, in the entirety. Call or write us now.Genesis Video ProductionsRD. #2, Box 203ANew Brighton, PA, 15066(412) 847-3091 (or) (412) 847-2122170 HOURS OF GOOD QUALITY hockey fights which includes 12 hrs. from &rsquo;87/88 and 4 hrs. from 88/89. VHS or Beta. Contact: Phil Davis, (516) 221-5779. &#9632;

f0042-01

CLASSIFIED

<h2>PLAYER OF WEEK</h2>JOFA TITANJamie Hartman is a seven-year-old who plays in the Minor Hockey Novice House League of the Brantford (Ont.) Minor Hockey Association.Jamie, a 4-foot-5, 50-pounder, has been skating since the age of two and is in his third year of minor hockey. He has played all positions but enjoys center the most. Last season, Jamie scored 22 goals and had 27 assists in 11 games. This season, he played on the Brantford novice travelling team as well as a house league team. Coached by his father, Brian, Jamie hopes to do even better this season.A Grade 2 student at Princess Elizabeth School, Jamie enjoys fishing, camping and playing soccer when he&rsquo;s not busy with hockey in the winter.Jamie lists his favorite players as Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center and Brantford native Wayne Gretzky as well as Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; center Mario Lemieux.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01324/6039975-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="554" height="1121"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jamie Hartman</figcaption></div>You or someone you know can be part of the JOFA-TITAN Minor Hockey Showcase. Just send a photograph, along with biographical information (age, height, weight, team, coach&rsquo;s name, school and grade, as well as favorite NHL team and player) to JOFA-TITAN SHOWCASE, c/o The Hockey News, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. All entries submitted will be eligible for selection as THN/JOFA-TITAN Minor Hockey Player of the Year.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02240/6039968-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="1770" height="1536"><figcaption class="caption-body">With George Bush now in the White House, former president Ronald Reagan may try hockey. He got a head start in 1983 when Washington Capitals&rsquo; captain Rod Langway presented him with a team jersey. The Caps, along with the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, were invited to the White House.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0043-01

WAY WE WERE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03204/6040013-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg"></div><h2>ACROSS:</h2>1. He led the NHL in goals after 20 games this season.5. He succeeded Red Horner as captain of the Maple Leafs.9. Oilers&rsquo; defenseman, ----- Smith.10. He played goal for five different NHL teams from 1960-61 to 1977-78, Cesare -----11. Jean Beliveau was the first winner of this trophy.12. Charge (3,2).14. This former Leaf, Ranger, Penguin and Sabre has a chain of doughnut shops named after him.16. Canada defeated this country in the Canada Cup final in 1984.19. The Bruins&rsquo; first pick (19th overall) in 1984, he was with Maine of the American League all last season.21. To aid on a goal.24. This former Leaf was dealt to Los Angeles midway through last season.25. Charlie Huddy was the first ----- Edge Award winner in 1983.26. Battle.27. Site of the final game of last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup final.<h2>DOWN:</h2>1. Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s most prominent facial feature.2. Gene Ubriaco succeeded him as Penguins&rsquo; coach.3. Former Flyer, Penguin and Capital, ----- Kindrachuk.4. Former Oiler, nicknamed &lsquo;Lummer&rsquo;.6. Ordinary.7. Ted Hampson is the Blues&rsquo; director of -----.8. The Jets&rsquo; McBain.13. Sabre named to all-rookie team in 1988.15. The Blues&rsquo; former owner, he recently purchased the Canadian Football League&rsquo;s Toronto Argonauts.17. Take apart.18. Missed on a shot.20. Trophy awarded to Bob Clarke in 1983.22. The first winner of the Jack Adams Award, he won it in 1974.23. First name of the Capitals&rsquo; fifth captain, now with Montreal.<h2>CROSSWORD SOLUTION</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03170/6040006-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="569" height="563"></div> &#9632;

f0043-03

CROSSWORD

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>The fallout from left winger Anton Stastny&rsquo;s demotion to the Halifax Citadels continued to dog the Quebec Nordiques.The 29-year-old Stastny, a nine-year veteran, cleared waivers Jan. 17 but the team waited until Jan. 19 before sending him to the American League.Nordique general manager Martin Madden was at the general managers&rsquo; meeting in Orlando, Fla., until then and wanted to talk with Stastny before making a decision. &ldquo;You simply can&rsquo;t treat an Anton Stastny the same way you would treat any other player,&rdquo; said coach Jean Perron.Madden was undecided how long Stastny would stay in Halifax. He was 5-18-23 in 41 games with Quebec.Of more immediate interest was how Anton&rsquo;s 32-year-old brother, Peter, would react to the news.A teary-eyed Peter said he and Anton had played on the same team for the last 13 years. He heard the rumors Anton was going to be sent down to get his offensive game together, but was still surprised when it happened.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a shock.&rdquo; said the elder Stastny. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s very bad news. I don&rsquo;t want to talk too much because things are very emotional right now. I have to be alone for a while.&rdquo;Asked if Anton&rsquo;s plight affected his play, Peter looked up. stared ahead for 30 seconds and firmly said: &ldquo;Yes, it has affected me and is affecting me.&rdquo;In 41 games, Stastny had 20 goals and 32 assists.Madden made a point of saying he didn&rsquo;t consult Peter on the matter. The GM tried to trade Anton so he could remain in the NHL, but found no takers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f00c4-01256/6040044-1-eng-US/f00c4-012.jpg" title="f00C4-01" width="556" height="694"><figcaption class="caption-body">Anton Stastny refused comment about a return to Quebec.</figcaption></div>The Nordiques said improvement in Anton&rsquo;s offense and renewed confidence will get him back in the NHL.Madden said he planned to talk with Anton in the next few weeks. &ldquo;He maintains he can still play in the NHL and can help the team,&rdquo; said Madden.In his first game with Halifax Jan. 20 at Sherbrooke, he was held pointless but played a fair game.&ldquo;I still couldn&rsquo;t believe it when I jumped on the ice in a Citadels&rsquo; uniform,&rdquo; he said after the game. &ldquo;I do have a project in mind, but I can&rsquo;t say any more. Nothing is definite yet, but you never know. Things can change very rapidly.&rdquo;Project? A trade? A return to Europe?&ldquo;My main goal is to make it back to the National Hockey League,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going through hard times, but things will get better.&rdquo;He refused comment when asked about his chances of playing for the Nordiques again.<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Jan 16: Jacques Mailhot, LW, assigned to Halifax (AHL); Darin Kimble, RW, Ken McRae, C, recalled from Halifax.Jan 19: Anton Stastny, LW. assigned to Halifax.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Stastny, Joe Sakic, Ken McRae, Paul Gillis.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet, Walt Poddubny, Mike Hough, Jeff Jackson, Gaetan Duchesne.RW&mdash;Marc Fortier, Darin Kimble, Trevor Stienburg, lira Jarvi.LD&mdash;Steven Finn, Jeff Brown, Jari GronstrandRD&mdash;Mario Marois, Robert Picard, Randy Moller.G&mdash;Mario Gosselin. Ron Tugnutt.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Curtis Leschyshyn, D, sprained shoulder, indefinite. &#9632;

Search for your favorite player or team

February 3, 1989

DAN KELLY FANS SALUTE AN ORIGINAL

LALOR HELPS BLUES BREAK SLUMP

CARPENTER TRADE PUTS KASPER IN LOS ANGELES

NUMBERS