MIGHTY HABITANTS A TEAM IN TRANSITION

It is widely expected the Montreal Canadiens will repeat as Adams Division champions. Whether they’ll be able to rack up 115 points again and finish second in the overall standings is another question. The Canadiens are in a state of transition. Two of the key links to their winning tradition, Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey, are no longer with the team. There is always pressure to win in Montreal and the remaining players know it, as does coach Pat Bums. But it is going to take a sound effort from everybody to reach the Stanley Cup finals once again. Strengths: The biggest strength the Canadiens have is their team-first concept. This is a team whose foundation is based on workers, not superstars. There are some excellent individuals on the Canadiens, including co-captains Chris Chelios,…

COMEBACK KIDS FEEL YOUNG AGAIN

The smile spread wide on the face of Guy Lafleur, a supreme look of satisfaction, the same kind of look he surely must reserve for those mornings when he checks with a mirror, or even his hair brush. It was put to Lafleur—the most amazing of all comeback kids because he has restored not only his skills after a four-year absence, but hair growth, too—that his return last season served as inspiration to others. He proved that age is only a state of mind. Having lost once in this heady age of renaissance, the Los Angeles Kings were not to be twice denied. First, they acquired 38-year-old Larry Robinson, whose vulnerability thus far in life has only been exposed by a polo horse. Then, the Kings, having witnessed the restoration of Lafleur,…

WAY WE WERE

LET’S TALK TRADE, LIKE GMS DO EVERY DAY

Grant Fuhr really botched things up for us tradeaholics. He suffered that emergency appendectomy which will sideline him long enough for Glen Sather to lose his tan—if not his cool. By taking ill, the Oilers’ sometimes retiring and sometimes unretiring goaltender put the emergency brakes on some of the highest-speed trade rumors this side of Jimmy Devellano’s answering service. Had Fuhr remained in A-1 shape—if such a thing is possible with Grant—there is every reason to believe that he would now be wearing either a Rangers’, Red Wings’ or Flyers’ jersey. Which is not to say he won’t be exiled to one of these fetching NHL retreats come Christmas, or that half a dozen delicious deals won’t be concocted between now and then. As any general manager worth his weight in AT&T calling…