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April 14, 1989
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.
ESPOSITO DROPS BOMBSHELL ON BERGERON
Seventy-nine is not Michel Bergeon’s lucky number. He had the New York Rangers in first place in the Patrick Division for 79 days this season, then lost it. And on the day of the 79th game of the regular season, general manager Phil Esposito fired him. The hit came April 1, but it was no April Fools’ joke. It was a bold gamble by Esposito, who hoped to snap his team out of a month-long lethargy. The Rangers, who had fallen out of second place a week before, tumbled to third with two more weekend losses under replacement-coach Esposito. Esposito posted a 24-19-0 coaching record in 1986-87 after firing Ted Sator and then taking over again due to the illness of his successor, Tom Webster. The Rangers finished this season with 82 points—the…
LAWYER CLOUDINGTHE ISSUE
Patrick Ducharme, Bob Probert’s lawyer and advocate, is doing what any good lawyer would for a client—throw up a smokescreen in lieu of presenting his case in court (THN, March 24). Blame the league, its executive officers, society…everybody but the poor athlete who blows up his nose, shoots his veins or drinks too much before getting behind the wheel. Bob Probert is a pampered athlete who committed untold dollars to living the high life. He will receive his just desserts. David Augenblick, Cleveland Heights, Ohio HOCKEY TALK I would like to set Bob McKenzie straight on the points he raised in his column on hockey talk in the March 17 issue. Flood: It’s what California hasn’t had, or done, in three years. The ice isn’t flooded, it’s zambonied. Winger: A purely political term, either left or right,…
SAME OLD STORY—BACK TO THE FORUM
The Hartford Whalers took a nifty 16-9-1 roll into Game 80 in Boston April 2. It was, in retrospect, the Big Tease. In the last month of the season, the Whalers flirted a half-dozen times with third place. They flirted a half-dozen more with .500. But in the end, neither came to pass. In what was a fitting stamp on a too-little, too-late season, Dave Babych scored with two seconds remaining in a 3-2 loss to the Bruins, leaving the Whalers at 37-38-5 for 79 points and a fourth-place finish in the Adams Division. The Whalers had 77 points and finished fourth last year. Sound familiar? That meant a playoff opener in the Forum against the powerful Montreal Canadiens, who finished 36 points ahead of the Whalers. And with only one victory in eight…
ADJUSTMENTS MUTUAL FOR FLAMES, PRIAKIN
Teny Crisp was sitting behind his desk, doing his bit for glasnost. In front of him, on a sheet of paper, were the phonetic translations of a dozen key Soviet words. If Crisp was going to have the first-ever Soviet national hockey player—left winger Sergei Priakin of the Soviet Wings—in his Calgary Flame lineup, he wanted to open up some small lines of communication. So there he was after Priakin’s first practice, rehearsing the Soviet pronunciations of your most important hockey terms and your most appropriate expletives. “Pa-zee-savaro,” intoned Crisp. Looking up, he said: “That means breakout. Paz-a-matree. That’s heads up. How about the bo-zhin-sfa? We’ve got the bo-zhin-sfa going. That means the majority. The power play. Men-zhin-sfa. The minority. Penalty-killing. “Offside is the same. Forechecking is a-tack-yu-yute. Icing is bra-bro. Shoot. Bra-soke. Pass is…
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