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.

December 1, 1989

The Hockey News December 1, 1989

<div class="byline">BY MATT CARLSON</div>One of the reasons for Western Michigan&rsquo;s 7-3-0 start in Central Collegiate Hockey Association play was the emergence of junior center Mike Eastwood.In those 10 games, Eastwood had 10 goals and 21 points. Last season, he had only three points after 19 games, but came on strong to finish the campaign at 10-13-23.The Ottawa native was riding a 14-game point-scoring streak (dating back to last season) after the Broncos swept Ohio State 7-4, 7-6 in Columbus Nov. 10-11. During the 14 games, Eastwood was 10-15-25.Eastwood established his scoring credentials in 1986-87, before he came to WMU. As a member of the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the Ontario Central Junior League, he scored 58 goals.&ldquo;He can put the puck in the net,&rdquo; said WMU coach Bill Wilkinson. &ldquo;He had to get acclimated to the speed and strength of the college game. He wasn&rsquo;t sure what he could do.&rdquo;Wilkinson said the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Eastwood, a fifth-round choice of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1987 NHL entry draft, has benefited by adding 20 pounds over the last two years.&ldquo;That really helped hie blossom,&rdquo; said Wilkinson. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s still more of a control player. He&rsquo;s got a great reach. He&rsquo;ll spin, turn and go to the net. He also moves the puck very well.&rdquo;<h2>FLAME HOT</h2>As Illinois-Chicago struggled with a 1-9-0 record to start the season, a bright spot for the Flames was the play of junior center Darryl Noren.After 10 games the Milford, Mich., native had nine goals and 18 points, including a six-point game (3-3-6) in a 10-7 win over Miami Nov. 11. He ranked third in CCHA scoring.&ldquo;Personally, things are going good,&rdquo; said Noren, 21. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;d rather see the whole team go better. Everyone&rsquo;s pressing a little too hard, but we have to bear down defensi vely. We can&rsquo;t win every game 8-7.&rdquo;Noren, quick and agile at 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, was 16-17-33 in 38 games last season.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t do anything different over the summer,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just got the experience of having been through the league once. Last season, things started falling into place.&rdquo;<h2>FAMILY MATTER</h2>Nov. 11 was a big night for the CCHA&rsquo;s Harkins brothers.Miami-Ohio junior right winger Todd Harkins, 21, collected two goals, but the Redskins were outgunned 10-7 by Illinois-Chicago, in Oxford, Ohio.Across the state in Bowling Green, Todd&rsquo;s brother Brett Harkins, 19, scored the first hat sick by a Falcon freshman since 1985. But BG lost, too, 5-4 in overtime to Michigan State.<h2>KILLING TIME</h2>After five weeks of play, the Ferris State Bulldogs had been outscored 5030 and were limping along at 1-6-3. Only Illinois-Chicago&rsquo;s defense had allowed more goals (68).But when the Bulldogs were shorthanded, they got the job done. Opponents had scored on only 10 of 63 power-play chances against FSU, giving the Bulldogs a league-leading 84.1-per-cent penalty-killing percentage.Despite being swept 5-4 and 4-0 at Michigan Nov. 10-11, the Bulldogs killed 13 of 14 Wolverine manpower advantages, including two 5-on-3 sessions. &#9632;

IN THIS ISSUE

BRONCO CENTER COMES OF AGE

The Boston Bruins retired Milt Schmidt&rsquo;s sweater No.15 because of his contributions on the ice.Maybe the team will one day hang his jacket and tie in the Boston Garden rafters, too, in recognition of what he contributed as general manager.Schmidt scored 229 goals and 575 points in his 16 years as a Bruin center, winning the Art Ross Trophy in 1940 and the Hart in 1951. And he coached the team for 11 years.Perhaps his greatest contribution to the Bruins, however, came in his first year as GM. It was Schmidt&rsquo;s trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on May 15, 1967, which turned the team from a perennial non-contender to a powerhouse which has never missed the playoffs since.Schmidt sent center Pit Martin, defenseman Gilles Marotte and goalie Jack Norris to the Hawks for right winger Ken Hodge and centers Phil Esposito and Fred Stanfield. Led by five-time scoring champ Esposito and eight-time Norris Trophy winner Bobby Orr, the Bruins won Stanley Cups in 1970 and 72.Schmidt admits he got lucky in that deal, but is still justifiably proud of having made it.&ldquo;The Esposito-Hodge-Stanfield deal with Chicago&hellip;there was no reason why it should have turned out as it did,&rdquo; says Schmidt, now 71. &ldquo;Nobody could foresee that,. but it turned out great and was a great feeling, as far as I&rsquo;m concerned.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01690/5755604-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="539" height="847"><figcaption class="caption-body">Milt Schmidt&rsquo;s 1967 trade led to two Bruin Stanley Cups.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I felt&mdash;along with many others, don&rsquo;t forget that&mdash;we contributed to the situation we were in in Boston, which wasn&rsquo;t very good at that time. We were down, we were struggling&hellip;but a few changes like that brought us up to respectability.&ldquo;Winning the Stanley Cup in 1970 and again in 72 was an indication of what you can do (with one deal).&rdquo;Harry Sinden coached the first Cup-winner, then retired to go into private business. Then, in 1972, Sinden reemerged as general manager of Team Canada and, with Esposito as his key player, led the team to a thrilling eightgame series victory over the Soviet nationals.The Bruins wanted him back as their GM but that left the question of what to do with Schmidt. In the end, Schmidt was bumped upstairs.&ldquo;I think if I remember correctly, I was going to be in charge of personnel,&rdquo; Schmidt says. &ldquo;But as far as I could see, it wasn&rsquo;t Harry who gave me the job, it was (team owner) Weston Adams Jr. And it was a nothing job. I couldn&rsquo;t see myself sitting around doing nothing.&ldquo;I had no hard feelings toward anyone in particular, but naturally I was a little bit upset and concerned about losing the manager&rsquo;s job after winning two Stanley Cups in three years. But that was their prerogative. I only wish they had given me a better reason why&hellip;however, that&rsquo;s over and forgotten.&rdquo;When the opportunity arose in 1974-75, Schmidt left the Bruins to take the GM&rsquo;s job with the newly-formed Washington Capitals. That was a major challenge.The Caps won just eight games all year, finishing with an NHL record worst winning percentage of .131. The last victory, and the only one on the road all year, came with Schmidt back behind the bench. He was the team&rsquo;s third coach that year.After leaving the Caps at the end of the 1975-76 season, Schmidt returned to Boston. For 10 of the past 11 years he&rsquo;s been manager of the Boston Madison Square Garden Club, a private club at Boston Garden which serves dinners and sells tickets to every Garden event. &#9632;

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SCHMIDT A BRUIN STAR AS PLAYER, COACH, GM

&hellip;no Detroit team has ever won the Stanley Cup without a player named Howe in the lineup? Syd Howe, no relation to Gordie Howe, played for the 1936, 1937 and 1943 Red Wing championship teams. Gordie played for the 1950, 1952, 1954 and 1955 Cup-winners.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03174/5756773-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="507" height="505"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gordie Howe</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04123/5756766-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="416" height="535"><figcaption class="caption-body">Syd Howe</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

DID YOU KNOW…

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>Just when it appeared the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; woeful injury situation couldn&rsquo;t get worse, it did.Already out of action were Michel Petit, Michel Goulet, Mario Marois, Curtis Leschyshyn, Mike Hough, Darin Kimble, Stephane Guerard and David Latta. They were joined on the injury list by Guy Lafleur, who took a slap shot directly on the left ankle during a 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets Nov. 14. Lafleur, the Nords&rsquo; best right winger this season, was expected to miss 10 days to two weeks.But it was the way Lafleur was injured&mdash;by his own teammates&rsquo; clumsiness&mdash;that upset team management the most.Early in the shift on which he was injured, Lafleur was inadvertently flattened by teammate Marc Fortier. The latter missed a bodycheck and landed a stiff blow to the side of Lafleur&rsquo;s head.A few seconds later, teammate Iiro Jarvi let go a blistering shot that hit Lafleur square on the ankle. He finished the game, but was barely able to walk the next morning.&ldquo;1 guess some nights you shouldn&rsquo;t even show up at the rink,&rdquo; said a smiling Lafleur. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very frustrating situation, because I really felt good out there. But frustrating especially because I won&rsquo;t be able to help the team out in these trying times.&rdquo;At first, it was thought Lafleur&rsquo;s ankle was fractured, which could have sidelined him for up to eight weeks. But to the team&rsquo;s relief, the injury was diagnosed as a severe contusion.If the struggling Nordiques had any reason for optimism, it was the return of Goulet. After missing nine games, Goulet played Nov. 18 in a 8-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.But then bad luck struck again. Just after Goulet made his return, center Paul Gillis went down with a knee injury.With the injuries mounting, the Nordiques were forced to recall players from their Halifax affiliate of the American League. At one point, the Nordiques had 31 players in town. It was like training camp all over again.Most of the call-ups were sent back to Halifax, along with Kimble and Fortier. Fortier was later recalled after Gillis went down.In addition, defenseman Jari Gronstrand was placed on waivers without recall Nov. 17. He was expected to clear waivers Nov. 21.<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 17: Marc Fortier, C, Darin Kimble, RW, and Mark Vermette, RW, assigned to Halifax (AHL). Jari Gronstrand, D, placed on waivers without recall.Nov. 18: Jean-Marc Richard, D, recalled from Halifax.Nov. 19: Fortier recalled from Halifax. David Latta, LW, assigned to Halifax.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Stastny, Marc Fortier, Joe Sakic. Claude Loiselle, Ken McRae.LW&mdash;Jeff Jackson, Michel Goulet, Iiro Jarvi, Jaroslav Sevcik.RW&mdash;Daniel Dore, Jean-Marc Routhier, Lucien DeBlois.LD&mdash;Steven Finn, Robert Picard, Bryan Fogarty, Jean-Marc Richard.RD&mdash;Joe Cirella, Jeff Brown.G&mdash;Ron Tugnutt, Stephane Fiset, Sergei Mylnikov.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Paul Gillis. C, left knee sprain, indefinite.Stephane Guerard, D, right knee sprain, indefinite.Mike Hough, LW, tendinitis in left shoulder, indefinite.Guy Lafleur, RW, bruised left ankle, Nov. 27-Dec. 4.Curtis Leschyshyn, D, left knee sprain, indefinite.Mario Marois, D. right shoulder sprain, indefinite.Michel Petit, D, back sprain, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Stastny, 13. A&mdash;Stastny, 16. P&mdash; Stastny, 29. PIM&mdash;McRae, 61. &#9632;

THE NHL

INJURIES MOUNTING AS POOR GET POORER

In the Dec. 8 issue of The Hockey News, we&rsquo;ll conclude our three-part look at expansion with a flashback to 1979, the last time the National Hockey League experienced growth.Specifically, we&rsquo;ll provide a capsule look at 10 years in the life of the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets, the four survivors of the World Hockey Association.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011282/5754297-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="563" height="1440"><figcaption class="caption-body">Oilers, circa 1988</figcaption></div>In addition to that, we&rsquo;ll have an exclusive excerpt from Home Game: Hockey and Life in Canada, the soon-to-be-reieased work from best-selling authors Ken Dryden and Roy MacGregor. Dryden&rsquo;s last book, The Game, was a critical and commercial success and there&rsquo;s every reason to believe his sequel will surpass the original.Don&rsquo;t miss all that and more in next week&rsquo;s issue of The Hockey News. &#9632;

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NEXT ISSUE

While I can sympathize with Ron Hextall&rsquo;s wife, I can&rsquo;t resist pointing out the inconsistency of her comparison between Hextall and an actor (THN, Nov. 3).Hextall is a substantially protected goaltender whose admitted intention when he blows up is to commit a real act of violence. An actor&rsquo;s only intention is to present an illusion of violence. Hextall&rsquo;s actions frequently cause real pain and damage, both to the targeted individual and to the game itself.As a longtime hockey lover, I must say that I don&rsquo;t give a rat&rsquo;s rear whether Ron Hextall is the reincarnation of Mahatma Gandhi or Freddy Krueger when he&rsquo;s off the ice, it&rsquo;s his on-ice actions that cause me and thousands of others to feel enormous disgust.While no one can dispute his incredible abilities as a goaltender and leader of his team, I find the most frightening part of the article one simple sentence&mdash;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m always under control.&rdquo;If that&rsquo;s the case, it&rsquo;s impossible to explain his many violent attacks as &lsquo;mistakes.&rsquo;Mary Ann Keane&nbsp;Winnipeg, Man.<h2>GET SERIOUS</h2>In Dave Semenko&rsquo;s book, Looking Out For Number One, he says that former Toronto Maple Leaf coach John Brophy &ldquo;is the one I would have liked to fight.&rdquo;Doesn&rsquo;t Semenko realize that with his ineptitude as a hockey player, Toronto was probably the only team willing to pay him? I don&rsquo;t think he was as reluctant to pick up his paycheck as he was to earn it on the ice.Does Semenko think he was brought to Toronto to bolster its special teams, to boost its offense, or shore up its power play?Get serious. He was brought there to do what he did so seldom&mdash;play hard, play tough and fight.Stephen LangPerth Andover, N.B.<h2>BAD RULE</h2>I really enjoyed Andy Baggot&rsquo;s piece about The Comeback Kid, Jerry Chumola of the University of Minnesota-Duluth (THN, Nov. 10). Having the courage to try to start again after losing an eye is very inspiring and I wish him the best of luck.As a native of Flint, Mich., I have been watching International League hockey for many years. Over the past couple of seasons, I&rsquo;ve had the pleasure of watching Larry Dyck of the Kalamazoo Wings, who is also partially blind.I never knew about NHL by-law 12.6, which prohibits &ldquo;a player with one eye&hellip;to play for a member team.&rdquo; I cannot understand this rule. It seems like nothing but discrimination to me.If a player is good enough to play in the NHL with his handicap, he should be allowed to play.Libby Harmon East&nbsp;Lansing, Mich.(Ed. Note: The by-law is not intended to be discriminatory. It&rsquo;s there for the protection of the player, who runs the risk of becoming totally blind, and for the league, which doesn &lsquo;t want to be liable in the event that were to occur.)<h2>KINGS RANSOM</h2>I&rsquo;m not even a player and I&rsquo;d give everything I&rsquo;ve ever had in my entire life&mdash;except my wife&mdash;for the Los Angeles Kings to win just one Stanley Cup.Too bad some of the guys who play there don&rsquo;t feel the same way.Perhaps Marcel Dionne said it best when he said he&rsquo;d rather be set financially than have a Stanley Cup ring (THN, Oct. 27). Ever since Dionne went to L.A., there&rsquo;s been something missing with the Kings. That is, despite the presence of Wayne Gretzky, an absolute, unwavering will to win regardless of money and scoring statistics.Michael Priborsky&nbsp;Baltimore, Md.<h2>BROWNED OFF</h2>If the NHL gave an award for the forwards who play the most minutes in a shorthanded situation, the runaway winners would be Rob Brown and Bob Errey of the Pittsburgh Penguins.While Mario Lemieux camps near the red line&mdash;the highest-paid spectator in the building&mdash;his linemates Brown and Errey are forced to assume the role of penalty killers each time the puck enters the defensive zone. Opponents have discovered the best way to defense Mario&rsquo;s line is with a pressing offense.Michael Poddany&nbsp;Oregon, Ohio<h2>SIN-BINNERS</h2>Please send Steve Dryden and Barry Meisel to the penalty box for suggesting that Gordie Howe would be playing in his sixth decade by playing a game in 1990 (THN, Oct. 27).The year 1990 is not the beginning of a decade. Rather, it is the final year of the 1980s. You do not begin counting with zero. In reality, Gordie Howe never even played in a fifth decade because he last played in 1980, the final year of the 1970&rsquo;s.Marshall Hargrave&nbsp;Jefferson City,Tenn. (Ed Note: You employ a unique system that, quite frankly, is difficult for us to accept. The 1980s are a decade in our book and 1980 is part of the &rsquo;80s.)Make your feelings known. Send your comments to:&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News,&rsquo;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;

HEXTALL’S ONLY ACT IS ACT OF VIOLENCE

<div class="byline">BOB McKENZIE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011435/5754376-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="525" height="607"></div>You should hear the things they&rsquo;re saying about Jacques Demers these days.Like, that the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; coach is on the fourth year of a three-year plan; that his players have lost faith in him and grown weary of his rah-rah approach; that he&rsquo;s incapable of developing young talent; and that maybe, just maybe, the back-to-back winner of the Jack Adams Trophy (1987 and 1988) as NHL coach of the year is on thin ice.And so it goes, in last place of the Norris Division. The Red Wings, looking more and more like the Dead Things, were 5-13-3, including a 12-game winless streak that ended only when they beat the equally sad-sack Quebec Nordiques. Trailing fourth-place Toronto by seven points was not, an insurmoutable deficit by any means, but for a team that&rsquo;s expected towin the division crown&hellip;&ldquo;Look at Demers&rsquo; record,&rdquo; someone suggested. &ldquo;Everywhere he&rsquo;s been, it&rsquo;s the same thing. He doesn&rsquo;t do well in his fourth year with a team.&rdquo;An interesting remark, since this is the first time Demers has ever spent four years with one club. And that says less about the man than the profession he&rsquo;s in.The point, however, is that there&rsquo;s a pattern, a feeling that Demers is among the breed in sports who can vastly improve a team, but not take it over the hump to the elite level.In his first season with St. Louis, Demers&rsquo; winning percentage was .444, followed by seasons of .538 and .519. The difference between a .538 season and .519, it should be noted, is three ties that became losses. Nevertheless, it&rsquo;s a pattern. And one that is repeating itself in Detroit. In his first Red Wing season, he was .488, followed by .581 and .500. This season, .500 was an eight-game winning streak away.Of course, it&rsquo;s not Demers&rsquo; fault that the impressive Red Wing squad of 1987-88 fell victim to Bob Probert&rsquo;s and Petr Klima&rsquo;s misdeeds. Nor is it to his credit that Steve Yzerman emerged as a bona fide superstar.But a coach is judged on his numbers and Demers&rsquo; are falling.The whispers out of the dressing room are that the players don&rsquo;t believe in the coach&rsquo;s motivational magic any more. Who can say for certain? Players on a losing team need alibis; otherwise, they might have to blame themselves. It&rsquo;s an intangible in this analysis.But Demers&rsquo; record with young players is not. The Red Wings are caught in a time warp.The trading of Joe Murphy and Adam Graves (for Jimmy Carson) means the Wings do not have in the lineup one of their own picks from any of the past four entry drafts. Brent Fedyk, a 1985 first-rounder, is only now seeing full-time duty.Demers has never seemed comfortable with the youngsters. He openly favors veteran talent. He was the force behind moves that brought Bernie Federko, Tony McKegney, Borje Salming and Chris Kotsopoulos to Detroit. Meanwhile, the Red Wings are stockpiling drafted young players with potential-&mdash;Yves Racine, Dean Morton, Gord Kruppke, Bob Wilkie, Kory Kocur and Sheldon Kennedy, among others&mdash;in Adirondack.Perhaps the Wings are merely in a twilight zone, caught on the cusp between their old and new waves. Maybe with a year of seasoning, all those Wings&rsquo; prospects will be the better for not having been rushed. But if the Wings are losing anyway, why not work the kids into the rotation?So far, though, Demers still goes to his Golden Guys in times of need and you sense that&rsquo;s the way he&rsquo;ll always want it. That, however, remains to be seen.But unless the Wings rediscover what it was that made them the best team in the Norris Division, there will be more questions about Demers&rsquo; future with a club that&rsquo;s given him a free hand to run his own show.Such as: Would the Wings ever really consider firing the man who&rsquo;s been a catalyst to their revival? Well, as long as they&rsquo;re in last place, anything is possible. &#9632;

f0003-01

COLUMNS

AND SO IT GOES, IN LAST PLACE

&#9623; Ray Bourque. Coming off an injury-filled, 61-point season, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; defenseman was showing the form that has made him a first-or second-team all-star every season of his 10-year career. With 26 assists in his first 19 games, Bourque was on a pace to finish the season with 109 assists. That would eclipse the record for assists in one season by a defenseman (102), set in 1970-71 by the legendary Bobby Orr.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021161/5754414-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="369" height="367"></div>&#9623; Ron Lapointe. After being stricken by cancer and left out in the cold by the Quebec Nordiques, Lapointe has landed on his feet as head coach of the International League&rsquo;s Milwaukee Admirals. Good luck to him in his quest to get back to the NHL.&#9623; This is getting downright ridiculous. We&rsquo;re beginning to wonder whether NHL president John Ziegler even knew that Pete Peeters and Keith Acton were traded by Philadelphia to Winnipeg and back. Week seven of the Waiver Avoidance Investigation Deal watch saw no action taken by the NHL. These guys will probably be retired by the time the NHL does something.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03754/5754407-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="368" height="373"></div>&#9623; NHL fans. While the crop of left wingers on the Wales Conference all-star ballot is nothing to do cartwheels over, there&rsquo;s no excuse for the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; Mike McPhee (two games played, one assist) to be leading in the voting. &#9632;

f0003-02

CHEERS JEERS

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>The Bob Probert affair has had an interesting spillover into the realm of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association. One player rep, taking a bold stance, suggested to his colleagues that the NHLPA adopt the more lenient NBA policy, which allows a first offender the right to return after rehab. The response from the other 20 NHLPA reps: &ldquo;No way!&rdquo;&hellip;Patrick Roy has no patience with anyone who trifles with his good luck charms. The Hab goalie placed a good-luck Canadiens puck in a comer of the visitors&rsquo; dressing room at Nassau Coliseum. When he noticed an onlooker had spotted the puck, he snapped, &ldquo;Touch it and I&rsquo;ll kill you!&rdquo; Nobody went near the rubber and Roy emerged that night with a shutout&hellip;Although 92 coaches have been fired since Bryan Murray went behind the bench, the Caps&rsquo; mentor has no intentions of finding a day job, despite the fact that he&rsquo;s being touted as GM material. &ldquo;My plans don&rsquo;t include being a general manager,&rdquo; Murray insists.<h2>HARD DECISION</h2>Jim Peplinski&rsquo;s wife, Cathy, reveals her husband had been wrestling with retirement plans for a long time. &ldquo;On the flight to Calgary from Montreal after we won the Stanley Cup, he told me he was going to talk to (Flames&rsquo; GM) Cliff Fletcher. This goes back to last June. My feeling was, &lsquo;Get it done and we&rsquo;ll get on with our life.&rsquo; Money was not a consideration. Financially, it might not be a good move in the short term, but in the long term, I don&rsquo;t think it matters.&rdquo;&hellip;King veterans are amazed at the amount of &ldquo;floating&rdquo; done by some of the younger players. More than ever, the word is that Wayne Gretzky is running the show and Rogie Vachon is merely the figurehead. One NHL insider charges that free-spending owner Bruce McNall has spoiled the Kings. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a carnival there,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They seem more interested in John Candy than fundamentals.&rdquo;<h2>WIRED UP</h2>NBC-TV sources reveal the NHL is considering its application to have players, officials and coaches wear portable microphones during the 1990 All-Star Game. The question now is whether the network&rsquo;s bid can surmount NHL red tape.&rdquo; In 1986 we put a TV camera in the net,&rdquo; recalls NHL broadcasting vice president Joel Nixon. &ldquo;Our attitude is to do all we can to accommodate the fun.&rdquo;&hellip;Hab-in-exile Bob Gainey finds one significant difference between NHL style and the ambience in Epinal, France, where he&rsquo;s player-coach of les Ecureuils (Squirrels). &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not catered to here,&rdquo; says Gainey. &ldquo;No one sharpens your skates. You sharpen them yourself and you carry your own luggage.&rdquo; The Epinal ice rink is hardly a clone of Montreal&rsquo;s Forum. Crowds average 700&hellip;A year ago, Brad Shaw was starring for Verese in the Italian Division I league. Now he&rsquo;s a Whaler and one of Hartford&rsquo;s best backliners.. Guy Lafleur will be hosting a TV game show but insists his new hair regeneration has nothing to do with television.<h2>BIG LESSON</h2>The Flames&rsquo; Rick Wamsley, now 30, reveals he learned the most important lesson of his career eight years ago, when the Canadiens sent him to their AHL farm club. &ldquo;I went down there with a big head,&rdquo; Wamsley recalls, &ldquo;and thought I didn&rsquo;t have to work that hard. I floated in practice and didn&rsquo;t really work on my game. The season started and I couldn&rsquo;t stop a baseball. I finally got it back and just made up my mind that I wouldn&rsquo;t let it happen again.&rdquo;&hellip;An unauthorized Wayne Gretzky biography is being published by St. Martin&rsquo;s Press in New York and is not likely to win smiles from The Great One. The author is Steve Hanks&hellip;The Bruins made an adjustment with Ray Bourque&rsquo;s contract, lifting it to an ethereal realm. &ldquo;Harry Sinden (Bruin GM) has always maintained that as long as Raymond Bourque is the best or among the best defensemen in the game,&rdquo; says agent Steve Freyer, &ldquo;he should be paid accordingly. The Bruins have always treated Ray fairly and this was an effort on their part to keep that going.&rdquo;<h2>CHECK POINTS</h2>Next in line for renegotiation is Cam Neely, whose agent, Mark Perrone, has duly noted the fat, new deal Kevin Dineen induced from the Whalers&hellip;Pardon Bill Dineen for doing a double-take every time he reads about his son Kevin&rsquo;s $450,000 pact. &ldquo;When I was with the Red Wings and we won the Stanley Cup in 1954,&rdquo; Dineen recalls, &ldquo;I was making $6,000. Jack Adams (Red Wing GM) told me I would be getting a good raise because I did exactly what he expected of me. I was thinking in terms of maybe $1,000 or $1,500, which would bring me above the league minimum of six grand. When we came to training camp, Adams told me I was getting a $500 raise. Later, my teammate, Ted Lindsay, told me the Players&rsquo; Association got some concessions from the owners. One was getting the minimum raised from $6,000 to $6,500. So, I was still making the minimum salary.&rdquo;&hellip;Brian Sutter likens rookie Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour to &ldquo;a young Bryan Trottier.&rdquo;&hellip;Ex-Devil defenseman Jack O&rsquo;Callahan now has a seat on the Chicago Stock Exchange but says it&rsquo;s not much different than the NHL. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m down on the floor, working in the pits, and it&rsquo;s like being a defenseman standing in front of the net&mdash;a lot of pushing, shoving, elbowing, sweating and cursing going on.&rdquo; &#9632;

HOLD LINE ON DRUG OFFENDERS, REPS SAY

<h2>VINCENT RIENDEAU</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011340/5754469-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="561" height="1208"></div>Born: April 20, 1966, St-Hyacinthe, Que. Height: 5-foot-10. Weight: 185 pounds. Team: St. Louis Blues. Position: Goaltender. Acquired: Traded to St. Louis by Montreal, Aug. 9, 1988.Career Highlight: &ldquo;I think just making it to the NHL has been my highlight. I wasn&rsquo;t drafted and I spent two years in the minors. It was tough but I intend to stay here.&rdquo;Most Respected Opponent: &ldquo;Guys like Brad Marsh of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I admire guys that work hard every night even if they don&rsquo;t have a lot of talent or ability.&rdquo;Favorite Visiting City: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never played there, but I would love to play in Montreal. I have all my family there and it would be great to beat (the Canadiens) in the Forum.&rdquo;Favorite Food: &ldquo;Italian food. I love pizza but I can&rsquo;t have it very often because I have trouble with my weight.&rdquo;Hobbies: &ldquo;I like to stay at home with my wife and my dog. I also like to play golf in the off-season. I have an eight handicap.&rdquo;What I would be doing if I wasn&rsquo;t playing hockey: &ldquo;I have no idea. I guess I would be going to school somewhere.&rdquo;Favorite Actor: Dustin Hoffman.Favorite Musical Group: &ldquo;Pink Floyd. I have every one of their albums. My favorite is Wish You Were Here.&rdquo;If I were NHL president for a day: &ldquo;I would raise all the players&rsquo; salaries.&rdquo;Toughest Shooter to Stop: &ldquo;I would say Brett Hull but he plays for our team. I guess it would be Stephane Richer of the Montreal Canadiens. He has such a hard shot and he can score from anywhere.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-01

PRO FILE

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div>Despite the objections of many hockey observers, first-year Soviet players will almost certainly be eligible for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year this season. At the NHL general managers&rsquo; meeting in Chicago Nov. 13, the 21 GMs debated the matter but couldn&rsquo;t come up with a clear-cut set of recommendations for the NHL&rsquo;s Board of Governors, which meets in Palm Beach, Fla., Dec. 7 to 9.That means no action will likely be taken this season.&ldquo;The chance of changing anything this year is very difficult. It&rsquo;s just about impossible,&rdquo; said Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; GM Serge Savard, a strong proponent for change. &ldquo;The feeling is that we need more discussion.&rdquo;Any player who hasn&rsquo;t played 25 games in the preceding season&mdash;or more than five games in each of two preceding seasons&mdash;in a major professional league is eligible for the Calder. European leagues like the Soviet Elite League, however, are not considered major pro leagues.Calgary Flames&rsquo; GM Cliff Fletcher, who has a certain Calder candidate in right winger Sergei Makarov, said it was simply too late to change the rule.&ldquo;I think a season or two from now the league should consider new criteria,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But this season? Of course not. The season is almost 25-per-cent over.&rdquo;The general managers didn&rsquo;t make much progress on the issue of video replays for disputed calls, either.There was some hope the use of replays would be in place for this year&rsquo;s playoffs, but the cost of installation and deciding on which plays should be decided by instant replay officials remain the most significant stumbling blocks.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s so much involved in it,&rdquo; said Washington Capitals&rsquo; GM David Poile, the co-chairman of the video replay committee. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t want to do something that could be thrown back in our faces.&rdquo;<h2>LOOK OUT, WORLD</h2>The world hockey championships have not been held in Olympic years since 1976, but that may change as early as 1992.At its semi-annual congress in Zurich in mid-September, the International Ice Hockey Federation discussed the possibility of introducing the world championships in 1992, the same year the Winter Olympics will be held in Albertville, France.With the next two Winter Games so close together&mdash;Lillehammer, Norway will host the Winter Olympics in 1994&mdash;the IIHF found it would miss out on some crucial sponsorship dollars if the world championships are not held in those years.The IIHF receives only a share of television revenues from the International Olympic Committee which it distributes among its member federations.The IIHF will decide on the proposal when it meets during the world championships April 16 to May 2 in Berne and Fribourg, Switzerland. If passed, the world championships would likely be played in September of the Olympic year.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011522/5754500-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="555" height="1146"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky thinks an NBA team for Toronto is a great idea.</figcaption></div><h2>HOOP FAN</h2>Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; superstar Wayne Gretzky is reportedly a key figure in a group of investors trying to bring a National Basketball Association franchise to Toronto.The Toronto Sun reported Nov. 17 Gretzky&rsquo;s financial commitment would be minimal but he will lend his name and some capital to the effort.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s all very preliminary,&rdquo; said Gretzky, who owns the Hull Olympi-ques of the Quebec League. &ldquo;Other than a couple of phone calls, not much else has been done.&ldquo;I feel honored to be involved. I think the NBA would be great for Toronto. I hope it all works out for the best.&rdquo;Gretzky&rsquo;s agent, Mike Barnett, later denied that Gretzky is a major player in the bid to bring the NBA to Toronto.&ldquo;He certainly doesn&rsquo;t see himself as being a key figure in the group,&rdquo; said Barnett. &ldquo;Most assuredly, Wayne is a believer that the NBA would do well in the city of Toronto, but as far as his active involvement in attempting to get a franchise for that city, it would be best be put in perspective by the fact he&rsquo;s a hockey player and enjoys being a hockey player.&ldquo;Hockey comes first before anything else.&rdquo;<h2>NEW LEAGUE?</h2>Even if the NHL decides to expand, it may not be enough to keep a rival league from being bom. The Globe and Mail reported an eight-team international league may begin play as early as the 1992-93 season.The league would feature teams in both Canada and Europe. Possible sites include, Ottawa, Hamilton, Saskatoon, Toronto, Stockholm, Helsinki, Zurich, Milan, Leningrad and Moscow.A Montreal businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said Vladislav Tretiak was contacted to help the Globe Hockey League get off the ground.&ldquo;It was Tretiak who suggested the name Globe,&rdquo; said the businessman. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a word that means basically the same thing in every language. We&rsquo;ve been told that the Soviet Union would join the new league.&rdquo;<h2>SWEDE MAY STAY</h2>Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; left winger Mats Naslund has apparently had a change of heart and intends to stay in the NHL rather than return to his native Sweden.Naslund, 30, said earlier this season he would play out his option with the Canadiens and return home after the season. But now he&rsquo;s talking about negotiating a new pact which may see him stay in Montreal another four seasons.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a negotiable thing right now,&rdquo; said Naslund. &ldquo;My lawyer is coming over later in the season to talk (to GM Savard) about it. I pay him big bucks to do these things. I won&rsquo;t negotiate through the (Montreal) newspapers.&rdquo;Naslund led the Canadiens with 33 goals and 51 assists last season but had only seven goals and five assists in his first 23 games this season.<h2>KOHARSKI OUT</h2>Referee Don Koharski was expected to be out of action until at least Nov. 29 as the result of an on-ice injury.Koharski had X-rays taken Nov. 21 which showed a severe contusion in his right leg. Koharski was unable to skate with the injury and couldn&rsquo;t put any pressure on the leg.The injury occured in the second period of a Nov. 11 game between the New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia Flyers. Koharski had to be taken off the ice after being struck in the leg by a Kjell Samuelsson shot. The Flyers won the game 7-5.<h2>DATEBOOK</h2>Dec. 6: Sokol Kiev begins an 11-game tour of the United States with a game against the Adirondack Red Wings (AHL).Dec. 12-17: Canadian national junior team selection camp in OttawaDec. 16-23: Izvestia Cup in Moscow. &#9632;

f0006-01

SOVIET ‘ROOKIES’ WILL LIKELY BE ELIGIBLE FOR CALDER THIS SEASON

<div class="byline">BY SCOTT MORRISON</div>The most maligned division in hockey, which has made mediocrity a consuming (and previously unattainable) pursuit, has evolved as the most improved group in the National Hockey League.No kidding. The Norris Division has gone respectable.This, we presume, allows foreven more staggering possibilities, such as the proverbial 90-pound weakling rising up on the beach to kick sand into a muscle-bound face. Or, even more remarkable, for the league to finally rule on the great waiver draft controversy.Okay, perhaps that&rsquo;s too far-fetched, but there is at least statistical evidence to prove that the Norris (yes, the lovable Porous, Bore-Us, Chuck Norris and Abhor-us) Division, is teetering on the brink of respectability, at long last.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s about time,&rdquo; cracked Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; general manager Jack Ferreira. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been down long enough.&rdquo;In fact, dating back to the 1982-83 season, when the last bit of realignment was completed, the Norris has been the absolute laughing stock of the NHL. Chicago, Minnesota and Toronto have been abysmal. St. Louis has flirted with mediocrity and Detroit, at times, has been actually respectable.The Norris has produced no Stanley Cup champion, no Stanley Cup finalist, has put no more than two teams in the league&rsquo;s top 10 in any given season, and hasn&rsquo;t had a team ranked higher than fourth overall&mdash;and that was seven seasons ago. Conventional wisdom suggests that if a team plays .500 hockey, odds are it will hang a division title banner in the rafters to celebrate the feat.But, wait.There were three Norris Division teams in the top 10 (Chicago first, Minnesota fourth, St. Louis eighth), with another (Toronto, 13th) having just exited, for the week ending Nov. 19. There were none in the top 10 at the end of last season. That is heady turnabout, even if we&rsquo;ve only just hit the quarter pole of 1989-90.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011365/5754545-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="707" height="1024"><figcaption class="caption-body">&ldquo;The entire division has gotten better. Except us.&rdquo;</figcaption></div>The Smythe, with a winning percentage of .556, remained the best, and the Adams (.523) was next, but there was the Norris, close behind, at .519. The Patrick was last at .455.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious,&rdquo; said Detroit Redwings&rsquo; center Steve Yzerman.Oddly enough, the Red Wings were the only consistent link to respectability in the Norris the past three seasons. And they have endured an utterly horrific start this season. It included a 12-game winless streak and the truly unthinkable&mdash;it left coach Jacques Demers speechless. Otherwise, if the Red Wings had a normal start, it&rsquo;s conceivable all five Norris teams might have been among the best dozen overall.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02938/5754538-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="677" height="1295"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chicago&rsquo;s Jeremy Roenick, left, and Minnesota&rsquo;s Mike Modano, as early draft picks, are typical of the new breed of young stars found in the Norris Division.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03626/5754531-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="697" height="1321"></div>This is all quite fascinating, of course, but there are important questions to be answered. Such as, Why? Is this astounding turnaround linked to acid rain or the burning off of the ozone layer? And will this phenomenon last?&ldquo;It had to even out eventually,&rdquo; said Washington Capitals&rsquo; assistant coach Doug MacLean, previously employed by St. Louis, and, therefore, an expert on old-time Norris hockey.&ldquo;I think there are a number of factors behind it, but the biggest reason is the (entry) draft is finally working the way it was intended.&ldquo;You look at the Norris teams, and they&rsquo;ve all had high draft picks the past six or seven years. Now some of those draft picks are catching on. The teams that have struggled over the years, they&rsquo;ve always had a couple of good players, then they made the rest of the team checkers. Now, they&rsquo;re adding their draft picks and suddenly they&rsquo;ve got some pretty well-rounded teams.&rdquo;The thinking is profound and it is witnessed outside of the Norris, too. Consider the improvements of the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres, for example.&ldquo;Teams can only go so long not getting those top picks,&rdquo; said MacLean. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s also what the draft is supposed to do, so I guess it&rsquo;s working. But you look at our club (Washington), for instance. We&rsquo;ve drafted late for a long time now, and who was the last No. 1 pick of ours to make it and be an impact player?&rdquo; Defenseman Kevin Hatcher, selected in 1984.Meanwhile, in the past couple of seasons the Blackhawks have added Jeremy Roenick and Dave Manson, the Blues have Rod Brind&rsquo;A-mour, the North Stars have Mike Modano, and the Maple Leafs have Vincent Damphousse, Daniel Marois and (when healthy) Wendel Clark. Outside the division, the Canucks landed Trevor Linden, the Sabres Pierre Turgeon. All have had certain impact on their teams.&ldquo;There are some good young kids in this division, no question,&rdquo; said North Stars&rsquo; coach Pierre Page. &ldquo;But there are also players such as Steve Yzerman, Denis Savard, Brett Hull, Mike Gartner, Brian Bellows, Vincent Damphousse, Ed Olczyk, Gary Leeman, all top players who can all score a lot of goals.&ldquo;In my opinion, the forwards in the Norris Division are as good as any division in hockey. To me, the biggest difference is on defense. We need some game-breakers back there. There are great receivers, but no quarterbacks, no Randall Cunninghams. But I think Toronto has improved that way. They already had Al lafrate, then added Tom Kurvers.&rdquo;And in Chicago, defenseman Doug Wilson has experienced a renaissance.In fact, of the top 27 scorers in the league, 10 came from the Norris, 10 from the Smythe, six from the Adams, and one from the Patrick, which for the past 15 seasons has been the most dominant and proficient in hockey. And of the top 10 scoring teams, three came from the Norris. Of the top dozen defensive teams, again three were from the Norris.&ldquo;Teams look to the Smythe Division and see the skating that goes on there and they see the success Calgary and Edmonton have had,&rdquo; said Leafs&rsquo; captain Rob Ramage, a former Flame and Blue. &ldquo;Teams try to emulate the Stanley Cup champions. (The Norris) has always been a grinding type of division, but teams have added speed, another dimension.&rdquo;The other significant difference in the division has been the upgrading of coaching and the measure of consistency gained in the front office. Including changes made for this season and dating back to 1982-83, there have been nine different GMs and 23 different coaches employed in the division. The calibre of coaching, especially, has been significantly upgraded the past two seasons, with Page in Minnesota, Mike Keenan in Chicago, Doug Carpenter in Toronto, Demers in Detroit, and the tandem of Brian Sutter and Bob Berry in St. Louis. Only in past seasons, too, has the phenomenon of three-and four-men coaching staffs swept into the Norris.&ldquo;All the teams in the division have settled their management and coaching situations,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron, &ldquo;and that has made all the teams better. I think the division has improved 50 to 60 per cent.&rdquo;The teams have struck upon rebuilding plans&mdash;on and off the ice&mdash;that are beginning to show very real signs of working. The talent that was always present has finally been augmented by good coaching staffs and draft picks. Together, they&rsquo;ve created a marked improvement.But will all of this last?&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question parity has arrived in the NHL,&rdquo; said Capitals&rsquo; GM David Poile. &ldquo;The gap between one and 21 is getting closer, the other teams are catching up. Give teams like St. Louis, Toronto, Minnesota and Chicago credit, though, because they&rsquo;ve done a good job and have improved. I think our division (the Patrick) will turn it around and get better, but I still definitely think parity has arrived.&rdquo;And if parity has arrived, that means so has the Norris. But fear not. While the Norris one day might cease to be the unfailing target for jokesters, perhaps the torch could be passed to the Patrick Division.Let&rsquo;s see now, the Pathetic Patrick, the Pitiful Patrick, the&hellip; &#9632;

f0007-01

SO LONG, SNORRIS

<div class="byline">BY RAND SIMON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011452/5754583-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"></div>Port Hope&rsquo;s first victory was a hard-fought 5-4 decision, led by former New York Islander defenseman Ron Smith.But the small community (pop: 11,000, 60 miles east of Toronto) is certain to have its win streak snapped at one.It is, after all, out of its league.A 37-year-old town councillor who had an 11-game cup of coffee with the Isles in 1972-73, Smith was responsible for the Port Hope council voting in favor of submitting a formal application for a National Hockey League expansion franchise. The July 17, 1989, vote was deadlocked at 4-4 until mayor Don Chalmers cast the deciding vote.&ldquo;The NHL is probably thinking, &lsquo;Maybe these people will go away like a bad snowstorm,&rsquo;&rdquo; says Smith. &ldquo;But there are enough fans here to support a franchise. We&rsquo;re in a convenient location, with 700,000 people within a 50-minute drive.&rdquo;Smith is serious&mdash;even if the NHL isn&rsquo;t&mdash;but so are countless other groups across North America who have already begun intense lobbying to get an expansion franchise.The NHL board of governors will meet Dec. 7-9 in Palm Beach, Fla. Heading the agenda is the expansion issue. There is a strong possibility it will, in principle, be approved.Then will the come the details: When; by how many teams; and, for many cities, the most important question of all&mdash;where?&ldquo;We have over 30 (centers expressing interest),&rdquo; says NHL president John Ziegler. &ldquo;I would say, at first glance, we&rsquo;d take (applications from) at least 50 per cent of those. As to the other 15, they could rise to the position depending on facility, depending on financial commitment and depending on the people that might be involved.&rdquo;Port Hope may have no hope, but here&rsquo;s a look at 14 cities (listed alphabetically) with varying degrees of potential for NHL expansion, which isn&rsquo;t likely to occur until at least the 1992-93 season. We&rsquo;ve included vital data that the NHL will consider when it begins investigating possible sites.<h2>ATLANTA</h2>Population: 434,100; Metropolitan Atlanta, 2,364,000.TV market size: Thirteenth in United States.Ownership possibility: Former NHLer Curt Bennett, now in commercial real estate, is working with fellow developers Ron Terwilliger and Dave Berkman to acquire a franchise.Arena: The Omni (capacity 15,500) was home to the Flames, but were the NHL to choose Atlanta again, a new arena would be built.Hockey background: The Flames competed in the NHL from 1972-73 until 1980-81, when the franchise folded and transferred to Calgary.Competition from other pro sports: Hawks (National Basketball Association), Falcons (National Football League) and Braves (Major League Baseball).Prognosis: Many view Atlanta as a viable NHL site, which was simply underfinanced the first time around. It&rsquo;s still a longshot, though.<h3>POTENTIAL FRANCHISES</h3>A. SEATTLEB. SAN FRANCISCOC. SAN JOSED. SAN DIEGOE. SASKATOONF. DALLASG. HOUSTONH. MILWAUKEEI. CLEVELANDJ. ATLANTAK. HAMILTONL. OTTAWAM. ORLANDON. TAMPA BAY<h3>EXISTING NHL FRANCHISES</h3>1. LOS ANGELES2. VANCOUVER3. EDMONTON4. CALGARY5. WINNIPEG6. MINNESOTA7. CHICAGO8. ST. LOUIS9. DETROIT10. PITTSBURGH11. BUFFALO12. TORONTO13. WASHINGTON14. PHILADELPHIA15. N.Y. RANGERS16. HARTFORD17. BOSTON18. MONTREAL19. QUEBEC20. N.Y. ISLANDERS21. N.J. DEVILS<h2>CLEVELAND</h2>Population: 535,830; Metropolitan Cleveland, including Akron, 2,800,000.TV market size: Eleventh in United States.Ownership possibility: If the Gund brothers, George and Gordon, didn&rsquo;t already own the Minnesota North Stars, they&rsquo;d be naturals. They own the city&rsquo;s arena.Arena: The Richfield Coliseum, just outside the city of Cleveland, has a capacity of 19,500, with 148 private boxes.Hockey background: The Cleveland Barons were born of the California Golden Seals&rsquo; ashes and played two seasons in the NHL (1976-77 and 1977-78) before folding and then merging with the North Stars. The Cleveland Crusaders were in the World Hockey Association from 1972-73 until the team moved to Minnesota for the 1976-77 season. The American League Barons existed from 1936-37 to 1972-73.Competition from other pro sports: Cavaliers (NBA), Browns (NFL) and Indians (MLB).Prognosis: Not likely to get an expansion club, but if Minnesota doesn&rsquo;t support its North Stars, the Gunds may move the team to Cleveland.<h2>DALLAS</h2>Population: 970,700; Metropolitan Dallas, including Fort Worth, 3,827,650.TV market size: Eighth in United States.Ownership possibility: No obvious candidate has yet to come forward.Arena: Reunion Arena, home of the NBAs Mavericks, has a capacity of 16,615 for hockey. There are no luxury boxes, nor are there plans to add any.Hockey background: The Dallas Blackhawks of the defunct Central League operated in the late 1960s and early 1970s as the farm team of the Chicago Blackhawks and then the Toronto Maple Leafs.Competition from other pro sports: Mavericks (NBA), Cowboys (NFL) and Texas Rangers (MLB).Prognosis: The NHL likes the size of the TV market and the city&rsquo;s location&mdash;it opens up un-charted land&mdash;but there are enough concerns to put Dallas in the grey area between longshot and favorite.<h2>HAMILTON</h2>Population: 307,160; Region of Hamilton-Wentworth, 429,666.TV market size: Ninth in Canada.Ownership possibility: Gerry Patterson, heading up a group appointed by the city to get a team, says a single investor who would own 60 per cent of the club is being sought. Several have been contacted, though he refuses to indentify them. He expects the remaining 40 per cent would held by local investors.Arena: Copps Coliseum was built in 1985 and has a capacity of 17,500, with 12 luxury boxes. A study will be made to see if 24 more boxes can be added.Hockey background: The Dukes of Hamilton are in their first season of play in the Ontario League, but junior hockey (Red Wings, Fincups and Steelhawks) is no stranger to the Steel City. Hamilton had an NHL franchise, the Tigers, from 1920-21 to 1924-25 but, when the players went on strike, the franchise folded and all players were signed by the New York Americans.Competition from other pro sports: TigerCats (Canadian Football League).Prognosis: Hamilton&rsquo;s population and TV market size are misleading because they don&rsquo;t include much of western Metropolitan Toronto, which is a quick hop down the Queen Elizabeth Way. Hamilton must appease existing NHL clubs Toronto and Buffalo in the area. The NHL appears adverse to Canadian expansion. All of which combines to make Hamilton a tough sell.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011402/5754576-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="1470" height="1935"><figcaption class="caption-body">Many expansion boosters would like to see another California-based team to join Los Angeles. San Francisco, San Jose and San Diego are possibilities.</figcaption></div><h3>HOUSTON</h3>Population: 1,728,910; Metropolitan Houston, including Galveston, 3,634,300.TV market size: Tenth in United States.Ownership possibility: No obvious candidate has yet to come forward.Arena: The NBA&rsquo;s Rockets play in the 17,060-seat Summit. It has 20 luxury boxes.Hockey background: The Houston Aeros were in the World Hockey Association from the WHA&rsquo;s inception in 1972 until 1977-78, when the franchise folded.Competition from other pro sports: Rockets (NBA), Oilers (NFL) and Astros (MLB).Prognosis: Were the NHL to go to Texas, Houston is a longshot No. 2 in a two-city field.<h2>MILWAUKEE</h2>Population: 605,090; Metropolitan Milwaukee, 1,552,000.TV market size: Twenty-eighth in United States.Ownership possibility: Lloyd and Jane (nee Bradley) Pettit own the International League&rsquo;s Milwaukee Admirals, the arena and would be owners of an NHL franchise. Lloyd Pettit is a former Chicago Blackhawk play-by-play man.Arena: The Bradley Center, with a seating capacity of 17,900 and 68 private boxes.Hockey background: The Admirals are in their 13th season in the IHL. Three previous Milwaukee franchises&mdash;the Clarks (1948-49), the Chiefs (1952-53 and 1953-54) and the Falcons (1959-60 and 1960-61)&mdash;were also in the IHL.Competition from other pro sports: Bucks (NBA), Green Bay Packers (NFL) and Brewers (MLB).Prognosis: Milwaukee is a natural for so many reasons and, as such, is considered a leading contender, but NHL governors will duly note the size of the TV market (28th) and proximity to Chicago.<h2>ORLANDO</h2>Population: 158,921; Metropolitan Orlando, 984,574.TV market size: Twenty-seventh in United States.Ownership possibility: No clear candidate has yet to come forward.Arena: Orlando Arena, where the NBA&rsquo;s Magic play, has a capacity of 15,500 for hockey, including 26 luxury boxes.Hockey background: NoneCompetition from other pro sports: Magic (NBA).Prognosis: If the NHL opts for Florida, it&rsquo;s worth noting Orlando has an arena; Tampa doesn&rsquo;t. But Tampa has seemingly strong ownership possibilities (Compuware) and, at this point, Orlando doesn&rsquo;t.<h2>OTTAWA</h2>Population: 300,770; Ottawa-Carleton region, including Hull, Que., 819,275.TV market size: Fourth in Canada.Ownership possibility: Terrace Investments Ltd., an Ottawa commercial real estate development firm.Arena: Designs exist for the Ottawa Palladium. The arena, which would seat 22,500 and have 208 luxury boxes, will be built only if the NHL grants Ottawa a franchise.Hockey background: For the past 23 seasons, Ottawa has been home to the Ontario League&rsquo;s 67&rsquo;s. Ottawa had a team in the NHL from the league&rsquo;s inception in 1917 until the 193334 season. The Ottawa Senators won six Stanley Cups. Before the formation of the NHL, the Ottawa Silver Seven won four Stanley Cups. Ottawa has also had two teams in the World Hockey Association.Competition from other pro sports: Rough Riders (CFL).Prognosis: Canadian cities will be at a disadvantage, but Ottawa&rsquo;s committee has quickly established a high profile, for what that may be worth. Former MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn, a lawyer, is working on behalf of the Terrace group.<h2>SAN DIEGO</h2>Population: 1,015,190; Metropolitan San Diego, 2,201,300.TV market size: Twenty-fourth in United States.Ownership possibility: Harry Cooper is the chairman of the San Diego Arena Corporation and would be a minority owner. The San Diego Professional Hockey Corporation is currently searching for a majority owner and hopes to make a decision by Dec. 1.Arena: The San Diego Sports Arena, which was home to the WHA Mariners, has a capacity of 13,753 and would be a new team&rsquo;s temporary home. Plans have been drawn up for a 20,000-seat arena with 180 luxury boxes in downtown San Diego.Hockey background: The Mariners joined the WHA for the 1974-75 season, folding at the end of the 1976-77 season.Competition from other pro sports: Chargers (NFL), Padres (MLB).Prognosis: Generally considered the secondbest choice in California, behind the Bay Area, which makes it a legitimate possibility given the NHL&rsquo;s strong desire to be in the Golden State.<h2>SAN FRANCISCO</h2>Population: 749,000; Bay Area, including Oakland and San Jose, 3,790,000.TV market size: Fifth in United States.Ownership possibility: Former Hartford Whalers&rsquo; owner Howard Baldwin and Budget Rent-a-Car chairman Morris Belzberg will be involved with any Bay Area expansion club.Arena: The residents of the city of San Francisco recently voted down a proposal which would have seen the city build a sports complex that would have included a hockey/basketball arena.Hockey background: The California/Oakland (Golden) Seals were in the NHL from 1967-68 until 1976-77, when they moved to Cleveland and became the Barons.Competition from other pro sports: Warriors (NBA), 49ers (NFL), Giants (MLB), A&rsquo;s (MLB).Prognosis: The Bay Area is target No. 1&mdash;for its proximity to Los Angeles and the size of the TV market&mdash;but it&rsquo;s tough to play in a city that doesn&rsquo;t want to build an arena. Oakland is a remote possibility as a substitute.<h2>SAN JOSE</h2>Population: 738,400; Bay Area, including San Francisco and Oakland, 3,790,000.TV market size: Fifth in United States.Ownership possibility: Baldwin and Belzberg have also studied the San Jose area. A group called Pro Hockey San Jose is lobbying the NHL and searching for an owner.Arena: Construction of a new arena is slated to begin in July, 1990, with an expected completion date of September, 1992. The arena will hold between 16,000 and 18,000 and have approximately 100 luxury boxes. A community survey last summer suggested the arena be named &ldquo;The Epicenter.&rdquo; The recent Bay Area earthquake may change those plans.Hockey background: Nothing in San Jose, which is 50 miles from San Francisco.Competition from other pro sports: Warriors (NBA). 49ers (NFL), Giants (MLB) and As (MLB).Prognosis: Considered by many to be the city most likely to get an NHL expansion club. It&rsquo;s got the population base, the television market, potential owners, concrete plans for an arena and it&rsquo;s in California.<h2>SASKATOON</h2>Population: 177,641; Province of Saskatchewan, 1,011,000.TV market size: Seventeenth in Canada.Ownership possibility: Promoter Wild&rsquo; Bill Hunter will undoubtedly be the front man for any interested group.Arena: The Saskatoon Blades play in the 7,752-seat Saskatchewan Place, the capacity of which could be doubled with renovations.Hockey background: The Blades are charter members of the WHL and in their 23rd season. Although the province has only one professional team (the CFL&rsquo;s Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina), its residents are hockey&rsquo;s most devout followers.Competition from other pro sports: (Regina) Roughriders (CFL).Prognosis: Not good. The NHL didn&rsquo;t want the St. Louis Blues to move there seven years ago and it isn&rsquo;t likely to want a team there in the 90s, either.<h2>SEATTLE</h2>Population: 488,000; Metropolitan Seattle, including Tacoma, 2,093,112.TV market size: Fourteenth in United States.Ownership possibility: Consolidated Sports Holdings Ltd., which owns the Western League&rsquo;s Seattle Thunderbirds and the Toronto Blue Jays&rsquo; farm team in Medicine Hat, Alta. W.H. Yuli is the president, Russ Williams the vice-president of CSH Ltd.Arena: The NBA&rsquo;s Supersonics play at the Seattle Center Coliseum, which has a capacity of 14,250 with no luxury boxes. Supersonics&rsquo; owner Barry Ackeriey said he wants a new, larger arena for his team and is willing to invest $60 million in it. If built, it could be home to an NHL team, too.Hockey background: Seattle has had a team in the Western League since the 1977-78 season, when the Breakers joined the league. The club changed its name to the Thunderbirds for the 1985-86 season. In 1917, the year before the formation of the NHL, the Seattle Metropolitans defeated the Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup.Competition from other pro sports: Supersonics (NBA), Seahawks (NFL) and Mariners (MLB).Prognosis: Fair to good. California is the No. 1 target, but the Pacific northwest is considered by many to be No. 2.<h2>TAMPA BAY</h2>Population: 277,580; Metropolitan Tampa Bay, including St. Petersburg and Clearwater, 2,015,596.TV market size: Eighteenth in United States.Ownership possibility: The Detroit-based computer software manufacturer Compuware. Peter Karamanos is the chief executive officer of the firm, Jim Rutherford, the former NHL goalie, is the director of hockey operations.Arena: Currently, there is no suitable arena in the Tampa Bay area. Plans to build a sports complex similar to the Meadowlands in New Jersey are in the preliminary stages.Hockey background: None.Competition from other pro sports: Buccaneers (NFL).Prognosis: A difficult read. The interest of Compuware, a serious player in expansion ownership possibilities, lends some credence to what might seem an absurd notion. The NHL in Florida? It depends how committed the league is to opening up the U.S. and making hockey a national sport in America. &#9632;

f0008-01

CITY BY CITY

<div class="byline">STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011486/5754614-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="485" height="630"></div>These are provacatively serious times for NHL president John Ziegler.The thorny expansion issue must soon be resolved. A restless NHL Players&rsquo; Association wants to hammer out a more productive collective bargaining agreement. And there are other irritating issues, such as whether the influx of Soviet &ldquo;rookies&rdquo; should be allowed to compete for the Calder Trophy.Which is another way of saying it&rsquo;s time to sit down with Ziegler and get his view of where the NHL is at and where it&rsquo;s going. We met at his Manhattan office and touched upon several issues.Attendance: &ldquo;Three years ago we set a goal,&rdquo; says Ziegler. &ldquo;We figured that if we could get 85-per-cent capacity overall, that would be as good as we should expect. Last year we were up to 87 per cent in the regular season, and we opened this year and had 92 per cent in the first week. But I&rsquo;m still a Doubting Thomas that it will stay up at that level. The important factor is the competitive closeness of the teams.&rdquo;On Soviets winning the Calder Trophy: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m never in favor of changing the rules once the season is underway, but it is a legitimate question because they (Soviets) have played at the world-class level for 10 or 12 years. If the qualifications are to be changed, I don&rsquo;t think they should be when we&rsquo;re into the schedule.&rdquo;On use of video replay to aid referees in playoffs: &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to use it in the playoffs, you should use it all year. If it&rsquo;s important, then it&rsquo;s important in all games. But the technology for using it is still questionable and I don&rsquo;t know if it will solve controversies. I look at what the National Football League has done with it and and I&rsquo;m not certain that they don&rsquo;t have more controversies out of their replay than if they had used human judgment.&rdquo;On expansion: &ldquo;I believe we will have it. The question of who, where and how many will come after. We know it won&rsquo;t be in 1990. As for 1991, it&rsquo;s a question mark because we have very important collective bargaining negotiations which will take most of that summer. There&rsquo;s some question whether we should be adding a team at that time. The earliest would be 1992. We have over 30 applications and half of those are realistic&mdash;and of the other 15, they could certainly rise to the position (of being realistic applicants) depending on facility, financial commitment and people involved.&rdquo;Fighting:&ldquo;The number of fights have gone down the past two years. We had a thorough seminar this year&mdash;owners, general managers, coaches&mdash;to talk about it. The consensus is that as long as it (fighting) doesn&rsquo;t become a deliberate tactic that becomes epidemic in the league, then the rules as they are, are pretty good. Our discipline is designed to try to prevent intentional injury. Hardly anybody over the last 10,000 games has missed a game by reason of a fight. Last May, (baseball&rsquo;s) New York Mets had more bench-clearing brawls in a month than we had in three years.&rdquo;Free agency: &ldquo;The players will demand free agency, no question about that, and ownership will say that you won&rsquo;t have that. We have always been able to compromise on that issue and I expect that is where we will end up again. Over the years we&rsquo;ve eased the restrictions in respect to becoming a free agent. We say to the players that it should be put not as a separate issue, but in context with the economic issues&mdash;what is a fair share that a player would receive? Right now they are getting 50 per cent of the revenues. In my own judgment, that is fair.&rdquo;Possibility of a players&rsquo; strike: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m always concerned about it because a strike is a failure on both sides. If we work at it and start now, put all the cards on the table and say, &lsquo;Hey, fellows, a strike doesn&rsquo;t prove anything. It just takes playing time away from the player and you never get any of it back.&rsquo; We want to solve problems, not create them.&rdquo;Other NHL clubs training in the Soviet Union: &ldquo;I think there will be more. We&rsquo;ll probably be making that decision in the next couple of months. The (Washington) Capitals and (Calgary) Flames were so well-received. Everywhere they went, they were treated well.&rdquo;Performance quality: &ldquo;There are better and better players coming into the league and that&rsquo;s a direct result of better coaching, better nutrition and a much more professional attitude; maybe because the profession is so much more lucrative than it was a few years ago.Challenges: &ldquo;In the next 10 years we have to make sure that kids are playing hockey. The expansion issue will challenge us in the next 10 years as will how we position ourselves in the international marketplace. But the key to our future is the collective bargaining procedure. If we don&rsquo;t have a solid agreement with our players, then all the other stuff is just a waste.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0010-01

STATE OF THE UNION, ACCORDING TO ZIEGLER

<h2>NORTH STARS</h2>Neal Broten scored the 200th goal and 600th point of his career in a 3-0 win over St. Louis Nov. 18. The goal, his first in eight games, broke a scoreless tie. &ldquo;Maybe when I&rsquo;m 50, this will mean more than it does now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are a lot of guys who score 200 goals and 600 points.&rdquo; Broten is the second player in North Stars&rsquo; history to score 600 points&mdash;Dino Ciccarelli had 651&mdash;and the fifth to score 200 goals&hellip;Minnesota&rsquo;s 10-1 record at the Met Center was the best home record in the NHL. The 10 wins equaled the Stars&rsquo; total at home from two seasons ago&hellip;The Stars&rsquo; 137-1 record through Nov. 18 was the third-best start in team history.<h2>BLACKHAWKS</h2>Alain Chevrier managed a smile after an altercation with Calgary&rsquo;s Theoren Fleury during a 4-4 tie with the Rames Nov. 18. Fleury reportedly called Chevrier &ldquo;a sawed-off runt&rdquo; after both players received minor penalties for roughing.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t figure that one out,&rdquo; said the 5-foot-8 Chevrier. Fleury is 5-foot-5&hellip; When Wayne Presley drew a two-minute penalty for high-sticking Al Macln-nis 19 seconds into the Rames&rsquo; game Nov. 18, some felt it may have been a payback for an incident in last spring&rsquo;s Campbell Conference finals. In that series a cross-check by Macln-nis sent Presley into the boards and separated his shoulder. Presley denied he was out to get Maclnnis. &ldquo;Not at all,&rdquo; Presley said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t even know it was him.&rdquo;&hellip;The Hawks suffered their longest winless streak of the season, three games, when they lost 4-3 at Vancouver Nov. 16, tied Calgary 4-4 aul Cavallon Nov. 18 and lost 5-4 in overtime at Edmonton Nov. 19. Those were the first three stops on a five-game road trip.<h2>BLUES</h2>Former Detroit Red Wings Adam Oates and Paul MacLean returned to their old stomping grounds Nov. 16, and stomped on their old teammates. Oates had four assists and MacLean scored two goals in a 7-2 victory at Detroit. Oates was on the ice and touched the puck at some point before all seven goals&hellip;Paul Cavallini scored two goals against Detroit, the first by a Blues&rsquo; defenseman other than the traded Brian Benning. The goals broke the pool by Blues&rsquo; forwards picking the first defenseman to score. Sergio Momesso, Adam Oates and Kelly Chase split the $65 payoff. &ldquo;Hockey school in the summer is starting to pay off,&rdquo; Gino Cavallini quipped after his brother&rsquo;s accomplishment&hellip;The Blues placed veteran defenseman Dave Richter on waivers and reached an agreement to buy out his two-year contract (one year plus an option) if he is unclaimed. He was expected to clear waivers Nov. 21. Richter, 29, played two games with the Blues this season on an emergency recall but spent most of the season with Peoria of the International League.<h2>RED WINGS</h2>The Wings were feeling the heat everywhere they went during their 12-game winless streak. After they boarded a flight to Quebec, a flight attendant began yelling &ldquo;Go, Blue. Go, Blue.&rdquo; That raised a few eyebrows among the coaching staff sitting in the first-class section of the plane. Why was she cheering for the Michigan Wolverines? &ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; she asked sardonically. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re the only ones in Michigan doing anything these days.&rdquo; Said Wings&rsquo; assistant Phil Myre: &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t go anyplace without getting abuse.&rdquo;&hellip;Leading up to an 8-1 win over Quebec Nov. 18: Gerard Gallant was scoreless in his previous five games; Steve Yzerman was goalless in six games; Dave Barr was scoreless in his last 10; Marc Habscheid was scoreless in his previous seven; and Bernie Federko had one point, an assist, in his previous six games.<h2>MAPLE LEAFS</h2>Coach Doug Carpenter left himself wide open for criticism, which he received, by starting rookie netminder Peter Ing in a game against the New York Islanders Nov. 16. The 20-year-old was called up from Newmarket only two days after Allan Bester allowed six goals in a 25:25 span against Minnesota Nov. 12. Ing was Mark Laforest&rsquo;s backup Nov. 15, when Laforest turned in a solid effort to beat St. Louis 5-2. The next night, however, Carpenter opted for Ing rather than sticking with his hot hand, Laforest. &ldquo;He was here and I wanted to play him,&rdquo; Carpenter replied, after Ing allowed four goals on the first seven shots he faced in a 6-2 loss. When asked later why he hadn&rsquo;t started Laforest, Carpenter replied: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to start Mark in back-to-back games, and by that I mean on consecutive nights.&rdquo; Ing was returned to Newmarket Nov. 19 after Saints&rsquo; starter Tim Bernhardt went down with a groin injury&hellip;Daniel Marois missed two games with a bruised shoulder, and center Dave Hannan also missed two, with strained knee ligaments. Wendel Clark was taking longer than expected to overcome a bruised left knee. He had missed seven games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021127/5754645-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="555" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body">Toronto goalie Peter Ing was shaky in his NHL debut.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0010-02

BROTEN REACHES CAREER MARKS

Nov. 28, 1979: New York Islander Billy Smith became the first goaltender in NHL history to be credited with a goal. In the third period, with a delayed penalty signaled against the Islanders and Colorado Rockies&rsquo; goalie Bill McKenzie on the bench, Colorado&rsquo;s Rob Ramage accidentally shot the puck into his own net. Smith was the last Islander to have touched the puck. The Rockies won, however, 7-4.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03721/5754676-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="552" height="398"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Smith</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0010-03

FLASHBACK

<div class="byline">BY DAVE LUECKING</div>Steve Tuttle may be one of the least-known players in the NHL, which fits his personality just fine.His St. Louis Blues&rsquo; teammates have nicknamed him &ldquo;Gabby&rdquo; because he&rsquo;s not very talkative. Montreal defenseman Chris Chelios, who has mutual ties with the University of Wisconsin, once said Tuttle was &ldquo;like a house plant.&rdquo;Last season, a national newspaper referred to him as Keith Tuttle. And he was often confused with fellow rookie Tom Tilley.No matter. Blues&rsquo; coach Brian Sutter knows who he is and has called upon him to fill the large skates of a man small in stature but big in heart.Captain Rick Meagher, the professional shadow, was out with an injury &lsquo;to his right side. Tuttle, 23, was in as the checking center. That meant for the Blues&rsquo; Nov. 16 game against the Detroit Red Wings, he was matched up against Detroit&rsquo;s Steve Yzerman, one of the best players in the NHL.&ldquo;It was right before the game,&rdquo; Tuttle said. &ldquo;Sutter told me I&rsquo;d be on Yzerman&hellip; I knew I had to play well. Yzerman turns and he&rsquo;s very mobile. I knew I really had to be ready.&rdquo;He was. Doing a Meagher-like job, he held Yzerman scoreless at even strength, with the help of linemates Doug Evans and Dave Lowry. Yzerman assisted on a power-play goal, but Tuttle shut him down otherwise. The result was a 7-2 victory for the Blues.Tuttle did so well the report from Minnesota&rsquo;s advance scouts convinced North Stars&rsquo; coach Pierre Page to keep his top line of Neal Broten, Mike Gartner and Brian Bellows away from Tuttle&rsquo;s line Nov. 18. The tactic worked, and the North Stars defeated the Blues 3-0 at the Met Center.&ldquo;They wanted to keep Broten away from him,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;Any time Tutts was on the ice, they took Broten off.&rdquo;Still, Sutter was pleased with Tuttle&rsquo;s work. So much so that he rated him above Peter Zezel and Tony Hrkac.&ldquo;Behind Adam Oates, Tutts has been our best center the last couple of games,&rdquo; he said.Heady praise for a converted winger whose experience at center was minimal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot different than right wing,&rdquo; said Tuttle, who played that position at Wisconsin from 1984 to 1988. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough because I haven&rsquo;t played it a lot&hellip;ever.The Blues&rsquo; experimented with Tuttle at center in training camp, but rarely had he played it during a game.It&rsquo;s easy to overlook Tuttle, who plays the unglamorous role of a checker. He&rsquo;s not going to score a lot of points, although he had 25 last season (13-12) in 53 games.Center may ultimately be Tuttle&rsquo;s best position. At 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, he may be too frail to take the pounding wingers take in the Norris Division. Twice in his brief career, shoulder injuries have kept him out of the lineup.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot more responsibility,&rdquo; Tuttle said. &ldquo;Defensively, you&rsquo;re almost like a third defenseman coming back and helping deep. And faceoffs. I like the aspect of the faceoffs. I&rsquo;m not good at it, really, but it&rsquo;s an important part of the job. It really makes you think.&rdquo;<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 17: Dave Richter, D, placed on waivers.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Adam Oates, Peter Zezel, Steve Tuttle, Tony Hrkac.LW&mdash;Rod Brind Amour, Sergio Momesso, Dave Lowry, Gino Cavallini.RW&mdash;Paul MacLean, Brett Hull. Doug Evans, Kelly Chase.LD&mdash;Mike Lalor, Gordie Roberts. Tony Twist.RD&mdash;Paul Cavallini, Randy Skarda, Glen Featherstone, Tom Tilley.G&mdash;Greg Millen, Vincent Riendeau.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Todd Ewen, RW, broken bone in right hand, Nov. 27.Rick Meagher, C, strained muscles on right side, day-to-day.Herb Raglan. RW. broken right wrist, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Hull, 17. A&mdash;Oates, 21. P&mdash;Hull. 29. PIM&mdash;Momesso, 46. &#9632;

TENACIOUS TUTTLE LETS HIS CHECKING TALK

<div class="byline">BY TIM SASSONE</div>There&rsquo;s no reason to feel sorry for Darren Pang, because the injured Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; goaltender isn&rsquo;t feeling sorry for himself.In fact, it&rsquo;s not often you see him without a smile on his face.Pang has had good reason to be happy. His recovery from Sept. 11 surgery to repair the damaged anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee has been going so well, he might be able to play again before this season is over.&ldquo;If I stay on schedule, and don&rsquo;t hit any big mountains, there&rsquo;s a good possibility I can be on skates by the end of December or early January,&rdquo; Pang said. &ldquo;That means I can just get on skates. It doesn&rsquo;t mean that I can go hard and start kicking out pucks. But it&rsquo;s a good sign and, if everything goes according to plan, I can possibly be on skates and playing competitively by the middle of February.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a big step from the time they said I was out for the season and that it was a career-threatening injury. But I&rsquo;ve got to make it clear it doesn&rsquo;t mean it&rsquo;s going to be ready at that time. It just means my program is going real well.&rdquo;Hawks&rsquo; trainer Mike Gapski sounded as optimistic as Pang.&ldquo;Hopefully it&rsquo;ll fall in that timetable,&rdquo; Gapski said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s made a lot of progress in two months.&rdquo;Pang has faced obstacles before, not the least of which is his size&mdash;5-foot-5 and 155 pounds.Pang first injured his knee in 1983 while playing junior hockey with the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s of the Ontario League. He aggravated the injury last May when teammate Wayne Van Dorp fell on his leg during a practice. Pang realized he needed surgery prior to training camp.Pang and Gapski took it as a personal challenge when it was speculated that the injury could end Pang&rsquo;s career. The rehab began barely 48 hours after the operation.&ldquo;I was throwing up in therapy two days after having surgery, and they still wanted me to bend my leg,&rdquo; Pang said.Pang is involved in an aggressive kind of rehab that was unheard of just a few years ago following such serious knee surgery.&ldquo;If you talk to a guy like Jacques Cloutier, who had this done in 1984, he told me he was two months behind at least what I&rsquo;m doing now,&rdquo; Pang said.Pang credited his wife, Lynn, with helping him through a tough time immediately after the surgery.&ldquo;I admit I&rsquo;ve had a couple of tough times, when I sat back with my wife and said, &lsquo;This is scary,&rsquo;&rdquo; Pang said. &ldquo;I think you go through a bit of an emotional time, but mine was only for 20 minutes. Then I got up and actually told Lynn I felt awful about feeling bad about everything, and that I had to get my attitude straightened out. She told me it was all right to feel bad about it and reflect on it, which helped. That&rsquo;s a credit to her strength.&rdquo;<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 17: Cam Russell, D, assigned to Indianapolis (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Denis Savard, Troy Murray, Adam Creighton, Jeremy Roenick.LW&mdash;Greg Gilbert, Steve Thomas, Mike Hudson, Wayne Van Dorp, Al Secord.RW&mdash;Steve Larmer, Dirk Graham, 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;Jacques Cloutier, Alain Chevrier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Darren Pang, G, left knee surgery, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;T. Murray. 12. A&mdash;Savard, 23. P&mdash;Savard, 30. PIM&mdash;Manson, 69. &#9632;

QUICK RECOVERY COULD LEAD TO PANG’S RETURN THIS SEASON

<div class="byline">BY GARY OLSON</div>Eighteen months ago, Jon Casey signed a termination contract with the Minnesota North Stars because that&rsquo;s all he was offered.Today, Casey is considered one of the NHL&rsquo;s best goalies. But he hasn&rsquo;t forgotten how close he came to the end of his career.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t forget the past,&rdquo; Casey said Nov. 18, after posting his third shutout of the season, 3-0 over the St. Louis Blues. &ldquo;Remembering how close I was to being out of hockey helps keep me going. I never want it to happen again.&rdquo;Casey&rsquo;s future, like the team he&rsquo;d signed with as a free agent in 1984, seemed low and sinking in the spring of &rsquo;88. He was 1-7-4 with the North Stars, his first chance back in the NHL after an 11-11-1 record two seasons before.When the Stars clinched the worst record in hockey with a 3-20-6 skid to end the season, Casey suffered the added indignity of being assigned to the farm team in Kalamazoo for the start of the International League play offs against Colorado. He went home instead.Kalamazoo coach John Marks, an assistant when Casey was at the University of North Dakota, talked him into coming back. Although the Rangers won the opening-round series in seven games, Casey was a standout. And because he played well then, he&rsquo;s had the chance to play well now.One of the first things Jack Ferreira did after being named the North Stars&rsquo; general manager in June, 1988, was tear up Casey&rsquo;s termination contract and give him a multi-year deal.One of the next things Ferreira did as the Minnesota GM was send Don Beaupre first to the minors, then to the Washington Capitals.Casey played in 55 games for the North Stars last season and somehow managed an 18-17-12 record and 3.06 goals-against average. He was 11-3-1 this season with a 2.55 GAA and .920 save percentage.In the first eight games of November, he was 6-1-0 with a 1.62 GAA and .950 save percentage. He became the first North Stars&rsquo; goalie with three shutouts in a season since Cesare Maniago had six in 1972-73.Casey, who was on a five-game winning streak after the shutout over the Blues, has never played better.&ldquo;All I can say is Jon Casey is a winner,&rdquo; North Stars&rsquo; coach Pierre Page said. &ldquo;We gave him the ball last year and we&rsquo;ve given him the ball this year. The bottom line is, he&rsquo;s a winner.Casey has a proven record as a winner. He led Grand Rapids to the Minnesota high school state championship in 1980, an annual event that attracts 100.000 fans to a three-day tournament, and he was part of the team at North Dakota that won the &rsquo;82 NCAA championship.<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 13: Joe Janasz, director or public relations, named director of data-base marketing Tim Bryant named director of public relations.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Neal Broten. Mike Modano, Dave Gagner, Bob Brooke.LW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Basil McRae, Perry Berezan, Clark Donatelli, Curt Fraser.RW&mdash;Mike Gartner, Shane Churla, Stewart Gavin, Helmut Balderis.LD&mdash;Ville Siren, MarkTinordi, RobZettler, Ken Leiter.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Shawn Chambers, Curt Giles.G&mdash;Jon Casey, Kari Takko.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Gaetan Duchesne, LW, sprained right knee, indefinite.Dave Mackey, LW, torn right thumb ligaments, indefinite.Frantisek Musil, D, back spasms, day-to-day.Neil Wilkinson. D, bruised left instep, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Bellows, 14. A&mdash;Broten, 18. P&mdash;Broten, Gartner, 25. PIM&mdash;Churla, 70. &#9632;

‘WINNER’ CASEY LEADS THE WAY

<div class="byline">BY MARK HARDING</div>John Kordic feels a lot safer when he leaves Maple Leaf Gardens these days.&ldquo;At least I know that when I leave here tonight no one&rsquo;s going to try to run me down with their car,&rdquo; Kordic said, after scoring a goal in the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues Nov. 15.Not only can Kordic now safely walk the streets of Toronto, he can do it with the confidence that he is contributing to the relative success of the Maple Leafs. With a five-game point scoring streak, Kordic was enjoying some of the best times of his four-year NHL career.The 24-year-old Edmonton native had power-play goals in three straight games and added two assists to increase his totals to four goals and two assists in 16 games. And for Kordic, who was traded to the Leafs Nov. 7, 1988, for speedy center Russ Courtnall and a sixth-round draft choice in 1989, the good times have been a long time coming.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve waited for five years for this to happen and I&rsquo;m not going to let it slip away,&rdquo; said Kordic.Kordic&rsquo;s troubles began last season when he was traded from a perennial Stanley Cup contender to a perennial loser. When he did make a rare appearance on home ice, he was booed unmercifully by Leaf fans, as though he had orchestrated the deal.Just when he thought things couldn&rsquo;t possibly get any worse, they did. Last summer, Kordic&rsquo;s 52-year-old father, Alvin, was diagnosed as having cancer. Alvin died in early October, just a few days after his son scored the first goal of the season for the Maple Leafs in a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.Kordic was told by Leafs&rsquo; coach Doug Carpenter to take whatever time he needed to mourn his loss.In his third game after returning to the fold, Kordic went down with a groin injury. He missed the next two games, but played on a fairly regular basis over the following seven. He had no points, which wasn&rsquo;t all too surprising. What was worrisome, though, was the fact he&rsquo;d only been in one tangle, a unanimous decision over Minnesota heavyweight Mark Tinor-di. There seemed to be no spark in Kordic&rsquo;s play.Finally, during a horrendous power-play drought, Carpenter decided to put Kordic on his second unit as a crease crasher. The move not only paid dividends for the Leaf power play, it lifted Kordic&rsquo;s confidence to new heights.Then, on Nov. 18, he recorded the most satisfying point of the season, an assist on an Al Iafrate goal in front of his former fans at the Forum. The Leafs lost the game 5-4 in overtime on a goal by Mats Naslund.In the win over St. Louis, which temporarily put the Leafs into third place in the Norris Division standings, Kordic took a Gary Leeman pass on right wing and rifled a shot high into the net over a sprawling Greg Millen. The Gardens&rsquo; crowd rose to give Kordic a lengthy ovation, something he&rsquo;d never received before.He said it has taken him a while to warm to Toronto and vice versa, but there appeared to be a relationship building that could blossom into a full-fledged love affair.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 14: Peter Ing, G, recalled from Newmarket (AHL).Nov. 17: Sean McKenna, RW, assigned to NewmarketNov. 19: Ing assigned to Newmarket.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ed Olczyk, Tom Fergus, Dan Daoust, John McIntyre.LW&mdash;Mark Osborne, Vincent Dam-phousse, Dave Reid, Scott Pearson.RW&mdash;Gary Leeman, Lou Franceschel-ti, John Kordic.LD&mdash;Brad Marsh, Brian Curran, Todd Gill, Luke Richardson, Darryl Shannon.RD&mdash;Al Iafrate, Rob Ramage, Tom Kurvers.G&mdash;Allan Bester, Mark Laforest.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Wendel Clark, LW, bruised left knee, day-to-day.Dave Hannan. C, strained left knee ligaments, day-to-dayDaniel Marois. RW, bruised left shoulder, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Marois, 12. A&mdash;Damphousse, 17. P&mdash;Marois. Damphousse, 25. PIM&mdash;Curran, 62. &#9632;

GOOD TIMES START TO ROLL FOR KORDIC

<div class="byline">BY KEITH GAVE</div>The Detroit Red Wings were reluctant participants in what was hyped as the &ldquo;Garbage Cup,&rdquo; but they were enthusiastic winners.&ldquo;The streak is over,&rdquo; sighed Jimmy Carson, whose third goal as a Wing began an 8-1 assault over the Quebec Nordiques Nov. 18. &ldquo;That terrible streak was hanging over us like a loaded gun.&rdquo;The Wings entered the game without a win in 12 games (0-9-3), seven since Carson joined the team in a major deal with Edmonton. The Wings, heavy favorites to win the Norris Division again this season, were tied with the Nordiques for last among the NHL&rsquo;s 21 teams. Each had 11 points.&ldquo;We needed a win like this,&rdquo; Carson said. &ldquo;A convincing blowout&hellip;on the road&hellip;after that terrible performance (a 7-2 loss to St. Louis Nov. 16) the other night.&rdquo;Two nights earlier, the Wings were booed mercilessly by their own fans at Joe Louis Arena, where the early-season troubles have been taking their toll at the box office. The average attendance was 19,249 after nine home games. That&rsquo;s just 26 off the listed capacity of 19,275, but 454 per game less than last season, when the Wings broke their own NHL attendance record by drawing 788,102 in 40. games, an average of 19,703.The long-silent Detroit offense scored early and often. Carson had a goal and two assists, Steve Yzerman and Marc Habscheid had two goals each, and 15 players figured in the scoring.The previously rickety defense was dominant after the Wings took an early lead. And much-maligned goaltender Greg Stefan was solid in goal, playing with surprising confidence for the way he was ill-treated by his home fans two nights earlier. He even assisted on a Wings&rsquo; goal.&ldquo;Stef was outstanding tonight,&rdquo; coach Jacques Demers said. &ldquo;We needed a great game like that from him.&rdquo;Torrie Robertson, who scored his first points (a goal and assist) of the season. said the brouhaha over a battle of last-place teams may have shocked the Wings into a better performance.&ldquo;I think we came here and realized we&rsquo;re not even close to being one of the worst teams in the league,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in the top 10 at least, maybe the top five. Hopefully, we can start it from here, show people, &lsquo;Hey, we do have a good team.&rsquo;&rdquo;The morning after the win, en route to Detroit, Demers was still basking in the warmth of victory.&ldquo;I feel like a million bucks,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Geez, it&rsquo;s amazing how much winning and losing can affect your life. It&rsquo;s almost not right.&rdquo;While the Wings enjoyed the end of their worst stretch under Demers, no player among them was getting carried away. Least of whom was Stefan, who turned in a solid performance for his first win of the season.Speaking as much for himself as his team, Stefan said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not out of our slump. We still have to prove ourselves against the better teams in the league. We have a long way to go.&rdquo;Despite the victory, Detroit&rsquo;s 13 points still left them seven points behind fourth-place Toronto. In other words, last place in the Norris Division will be home to the Wings until they string a few wins together.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 18: Sam St. Laurent. G, recalled from Adirondack (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Jimmy Carson, Bernie Federko, John Chabot.LW&mdash;Gerard Gallant, Shawn Burr, Torrie Robertson,RW&mdash;Joe Kocur, Marc Habscheid, Dave Barr, Brent Fedyk, Daniel Shank,LD&mdash;Steve Chiasson, John Mokosak, Borje Salming.RD&mdash;Rick Zombo. Mike O&rsquo;Connell, Doug Houda.G&mdash;Greg Stefan, Sam St. Laurent.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Glen Hanlon. G. groin pull, day-to-day.Tony McKegney, LW. groin pull, Nov. 26-Dec. 3.Jim Nill, RW, groin pull, day-to-day.Lee Norwood, D, hip pointer, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash; Yzerman. 11. A&mdash;Yzerman. 18. P&mdash;Yzerman, 29. PIM&mdash;Gallant, 84. &#9632;

‘GARBAGE CUP’ WIN ENDS LOSING STREAK

<div class="byline">BARRY MEISEL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011330/5754827-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="497" height="640"></div>Gene Ubriaco would have liked nothing more than to finish his meeting with Jim Kyte and walk unmolested out of Mt. Lebanon&rsquo;s ice rink.But on this day, Nov. 13, the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins knew that was going to be impossible. Too many papers in too many NHL cities that morning said the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins was about to be fired.On Nov. 13, Gene Ubriaco wore black. Black slacks, black skates, black Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; jacket, black cloud over his head. Never mind that he wore the same color slacks and skates and jacket at virtually every practice.On this day, black suited the occasion.Kyte walked out of the cramped coach&rsquo;s room. In walked the notepads and cameras, the microphones and byte-sized tape recorders.First question: Are you surprised today wasn&rsquo;t the day?Ubriaco: &ldquo;For what? We had a practice. We made a few line changes.&rdquo;And on it went, a 15-minute press conference in which an NHL coach had to defend himself against unsubstantiated reports his players didn&rsquo;t respect him, his two superstars didn&rsquo;t want him and management was looking to unload him.Ubriaco said he liked his job, wanted to keep his job and planned to fight as hard as he could to lead the Penguins out of a season-long funk.He said he understood that rumors swirl, that people are paid to ask a man if he thinks he&rsquo;ll be fired today. He called a coach&rsquo;s year &ldquo;80 one-game seasons.&rdquo; He answered the questions calmly, then admitted, &ldquo;I am upset because people won&rsquo;t let us do our job and get our team right. And we intend to do that. And if somebody wants to make speculation, that&rsquo;s their problem. But we&rsquo;d like to do our job.&rdquo;Nov. 13 was not, however, a media creation. It was no secret the Penguins had lost some respect for their coach, that Mario Lemieux and Paul Coffey weren&rsquo;t thrilled with him, that Ed DeBartolo, Jr., whose father owns the team, and GM Tony Esposito were discussing what to do.One Pittsburgh paper reported Ubriaco had made a vague reference the previous week to a five-game trial period that ended Nov. 11, with Pittsburgh&rsquo;s eighth loss in 11 games.&ldquo;Tony&rsquo;s been more supportive than he can ever be,&rdquo; Ubriaco said, beginning a veiled message to his owner. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve told (Tony) not to jeopardize his position. But when you&rsquo;re in tough times, you don&rsquo;t cut and run. You don&rsquo;t be like a banana republic and change the people in authority just because we have some problems. You want to stay a banana republic? Fine. We&rsquo;ve got a lot of them in the NHL. I&rsquo;d like to think Pittsburgh&rsquo;s not a banana republic. I know it&rsquo;s not.&rdquo;Lemieux became embroiled in the mess three days earlier when a New York tabloid quoted an &ldquo;impeccable source&rdquo; as saying Mario wanted Ubie out or he wanted to be traded.That enraged Lemieux, who vehemently denied the unsubstantiated report, called Ubriaco and told him he had never said it.But Lemieux stopped short of putting himself firmly behind his coach Nov. 13. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not the guy who says he stays or not,&rdquo; Mario declared. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just a player.&rdquo;Ubriaco was asked about that, about not getting his superstar&rsquo;s verbal vote of confidence.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not his position,&rdquo; Ubriaco said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to put him in that position. But it would have been nice.&rdquo;The Penguins&rsquo; next game happened to be Nov. 14 against the New York Rangers, no strangers to off-ice histrionics. More of the media piled into town. It was apparent at the morning skate Ubriaco was going to be the coach that night, but the questions persisted.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s character time,&rdquo; Ubriaco said minutes after Esposito gave him a firm vote of confidnce. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of the players realizing it&rsquo;s put-up time. Face up to it and get it done. Whether I&rsquo;m here or not, they&rsquo;ve got to work with somebody. I&rsquo;m not trying to be a hero, but we could be successful if we pull together because we have the talent.&rdquo;The Penguins bombed the Rangers 6-0. But how crazy was it in Pittsburgh? An unsubstantiated rumor surfaced after the game saying Espo and Ubriaco were about to be fired. A Canadian Press reporter actually phoned the press box to ask what happened at an 11 p.m. press conference that didn&rsquo;t exist.The tension heightened further when Esposito and Ubriaco remained behind closed doors for nearly 30 minutes after the game. Finally, they emerged. Told of the latest rumor, Ubriaco didn&rsquo;t seem shocked.&ldquo;Nothing&rsquo;s happening,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Nothing.&rdquo;It was close to midnight. Ubriaco&rsquo;s tired eyes asked to go home. He needed his rest, because there was another season to prepare for the following morning. &#9632;

f0015-01

UBRIACO’S NIGHTMARE: 80 ONE-GAME SEASONS

<h2>PENGUINS</h2>Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; coach Michel Bergeron had no kind words for Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; coach Gene Ubriaco after an 8-2 Penguins&rsquo; victory Nov. 16. Bergeron was angry the Penguins continued to use Paul Coffey and Mario Lemieux on the points of the power play long after the outcome was decided. &ldquo;I hate that,&rdquo; Bergeron said. &ldquo;One of these days, I hope to give it back to them. I have no respect for that.&rdquo; Ubriaco declined to comment. The teams will next meet Dec. 2&hellip;Lemieux had a five-game goal-scoring streak broken in a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders Nov. 18&hellip;Right winger Andrew McBain, a 37-goal scorer last season with Winnipeg, did not have a point in nine consecutive games, and finished the first quarter of the season with two goals and four assists. He was shifted to center for several games&hellip;The Penguins were outraged when New York Rangers&rsquo; left winger John Ogrodnick speared right winger Rob Brown in the throat during a 6-0 Pittsburgh victory Nov. 14. Ogrodnick received a five-minute penalty for high-sticking, but the incident was not captured by television cameras.<h2>DEVILS</h2>Iron man Aaron Broten tied his own franchise record when he played in his 266th consecutive game Nov. 18 in Boston. He set the original record between 1982 and &rsquo;86&hellip;The Pittsburgh Penguins were reportedly talking with ex-Devil coach Jim Schoenfeld about a coaching position. Schoenfeld would first have to be released from the remainder of his New Jersey contract to take a coaching job elsewhere. Devils&rsquo; GM Lou Lamor-iello said he would have to discuss the matter with club owner John McMullen if the situation arose&hellip;Goalie Sean Burke, who fought with opposing netminder Mark Laforest in Toronto Oct. 23, battled with New York Rangers&rsquo; center Mark Janssens in a 5-4 win Nov. 17. Burke had 28 penalty minutes in 14 games.<h2>FLYERS</h2>Defenseman Kerry Huffman wasn&rsquo;t used in four consecutive games from Nov. 12 to 18, leading to speculation the Flyers might trade him. Huffman, who was playing exceptionally well in the early going, especially while running the power play from the point, was caught in a numbers crunch when Terry Carkner returned from knee surgery. Also, the Flyers were impressed with Czechoslovakian rookie Jiri Latal. who was acquired in a trade with Toronto and can play either defense or left wing&hellip;Flyers&rsquo; goalie Ron Hextali continued to have problems with a comeback attempt. Hextall, who suffered a pulled groin muscle in his first game after a 12-game suspension Nov. 4, returned to the lineup for a 5-4 victory over the Islanders Nov. 14. However, he suffered a hamstring pull in that game and was returned to the injury list&hellip;In that same game, Hextall inadvertently cut teammate Ron Sutter around the left eye when he followed through on a clearing shot. Sutter left the game and was expected to miss about a week. Although his eye was still closed four days later, the medical reports showed no optic damage.<h2>CAPITALS</h2>Not only was defenseman Neil Sheehy confused by his recent assignment to right wing, he was further bedeviled by problems with his skates. When a blade fell completely off in a 5-3 loss to Los Angeles Nov. 18, it was the second such mishap in a week. Of his status as a right winger, Sheehy said, &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have a serious career as a forward. I hope I don&rsquo;t disappoint them.&rdquo;&hellip;When Kelly Miller netted a shorthanded goal in a 4-4 tie at Vancouver Nov. 14, it was the Capitals&rsquo; first shorthanded goal in 46 games&hellip;Bob Mason made 20 saves against the Canucks in his first NHL appearance of the season, after winning two games with the American League farm team in Baltimore over the previous weekend.<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>Injured defenseman Rich Pilon underwent an examination on his right eye Nov. 16 but the results were not revealed. GM Bill Torrey said there was some improvement in Pilon&rsquo;s peripheral vision. The eye was injured when it was struck by a Brent Fedyk shot in a Nov. 4 game against Detroit&hellip;The Islanders ended a six-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over Toronto Nov. 16. Former Leafs&rsquo; defenseman Gary Nylund declared after the morning skate the slump would end that night. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, I just had a feeling,&rdquo; Nylund said. The win was only the second at home for the Isles this season. &ldquo;Ring fittings Monday,&rdquo; quipped right winger Patrick Flatley.<h2>RANGERS</h2>Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck is known as a friendly, articulate athlete but he does not see his role in the NHL as a goodwill ambassador. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going around our division giving everybody life and we can&rsquo;t do that,&rdquo; he said after a 6-0 loss at Pittsburgh Nov. 14 and a 5-4 overtime loss at New Jersey Nov. 17. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to stop letting people back in this race.&rdquo;&hellip;When the Rangers began a road swing in which they were to play eight of 10 away from Madison Square Garden, it was not without some trepidation because two of their top offensive players, defenseman Brian Leetch and rookie center Darren Turcotte, were explosive at Madison Square Garden. Over Turcotte&rsquo;s brief NHL career, he scored 14 of 19 goals at home. Leetch scored 31 of his career 41 goals at the Garden. &#9632;

BERGERON LOOKS TO AVENGE LOSS TO PENS

Lou Angotti, who played 10 NHL seasons for the New York Rangers, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and St. Louis, is now a partner in Pickle&rsquo;s-Pub in Pompano Beach, Fla. Angotti, 51, says he watches three or four games a week on the satellite TV in his bar, but doesn&rsquo;t miss living in the north. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been (in Florida) for five years. I wouldn&rsquo;t want to be anywhere else.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-02938/5754882-1-eng-US/f0015-022.jpg" title="f0015-02" width="565" height="393"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lou Angotti</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0015-02

THEN & NOW

Chris Taliercio is hoping to pick up this season where-he left off last season.Chris is a 10-year-old center for the Cranford Hockey Club&rsquo;s Squirt A team of the New Jersey Youth Hockey League. Last season Chris led his team with 107 goals, 44 assists and 19 hat tricks. His team finished the season with a record of 37-5-5.Coached by Dean Yack, the 4-foot-11, 95-pounder improves his skills over the summer by playing lacrosse and logging many miles on his roller blades. Chris also enjoys surfing during the summer months.A Grade 5 student at Martin Luther King School in Edison, N.J., Chris&rsquo; favorite NHL team is the New York Rangers. His favorite NHL players are Rangers&rsquo; sophomores Brian Leetch and Tony Granato.Last season, Chris had a lot to cheer about. Leetch, a defenseman, led all rookies in scoring with 23 goals and 48 assists and won the Calder Trophy as the league&rsquo;s top rookie.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011214/5754913-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="568" height="1219"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Taliercio</figcaption></div>You or someone you know can be part of the JOFA-TITAN Minor Hockey Showcase. Just send a photograph (non-returnable), 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. &#9632;

f0016-01

PLAYER OF WEEK

<div class="byline">BY AL MORGANTI</div>No one has ever won the Masterton Trophy twice, but if Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; right winger Tim Kerr has to persevere through much more agony with his left shoulder, he could once again be a legitimite candidate.Kerr, who won the award for his comeback from several surgical procedures on his left shoulder last season, was once again headed for surgery.This time, Kerr went to Birmingham, Ala., to visit renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews. Andrews was scheduled to perform arthroscopic surgery Nov. 21, to repair a partially torn rotator cuff in Kerr&rsquo;s left shoulder.It will be the sixth operation on Kerr&rsquo;s left shoulder since the summer of 1987, and should keep Kerr out of the Flyers&rsquo; lineup until at least midJanuary.The reality of the situation didn&rsquo;t hit Kerr until about two hours after he had been told he needed yet another surgical procedure on his ravaged left shoulder. He visited Andrews Nov. 16.&ldquo;I popped open a can of beer,&rdquo; said Kerr, &ldquo;and I said to myself: &lsquo;What am I doing, am I crazy?&rsquo;&ldquo;I reminded myself that the last time I had shoulder surgery, I vowed I&rsquo;d never have it again. And here I am doing it again.&ldquo;I guess I lied to myself.&rdquo;Maybe he did lie to himself, but he really wasn&rsquo;t lying when he complained throughout the early part of this season that his left shoulder did not feel healthy since he suffered a hard check against the Washington Capitals during the second game of the season.Kerr decided he could no longer endure the pain after the Flyers&rsquo; 3-3 tie against the New Jersey Devils Nov. 12. In 13 games this season, he had seven goals and four assists.&ldquo;When he (Andrews) was doing his preliminary examination, he started moving my arm around,&rdquo; said Kerr. &ldquo;And right away, he told me he thought there was a tear.&ldquo;After they took the test, he just threw down the X-rays and said, &lsquo;Yep, it&rsquo;s tom. Let me know what you wanna do.&rsquo; &ldquo;&ldquo;What I&rsquo;m terrified about is getting put to sleep,&rdquo; said Kerr, who admitted he is scared of anesthesia. &ldquo;But I guess by now, I should be getting used to it.&rdquo;Kerr is also getting used to searching for his own medical advice. He had previously sought the opinion of a doctor in Boston for the problems with his shoulder, and it was his idea to seek the advice of Dr. Andrews for this present problem.Kerr decided to have Dr. Andrews to perform the surgery rather than Dr. John Gregg, who performed the five previous surgical procedures.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 14: Mark Freer, C, recalled from Hershey (AHL).Nov. 15: Bruce Hoffort, G, assigned to Hershey.Nov. 16: Hoffort recalled from Hershey. Brian Dobbin, RW. recalled from Hershey.Nov. 17: Hoffort assigned to Hershey.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Murray Craven, Keith Acton, Don Biggs, Mark Freer.LW&mdash;Brian Propp, Pelle Eklund, Craig Berube, Tony Horacek, Doug Sulliman.RW&mdash;Mike Bullard, llkka Sinisalo, Brian Dobbin.LD&mdash;Mark Howe, Jay Wells, Terry Carkner.RD&mdash;Kjell Samuelsson, Gord Murphy, Jiri Latal, Kerry Huffman.G&mdash;Ken Wregget, Pete Peeters.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jeff Chychrun, D, viral infection, day-to-day.Ron Hextall, G, pulled groin muscle, day-to-day.Tim Kerr, RW, torn rotator cuff in left shoulder, Jan. 7-20.Scott Mellanby, RW, surgery on left arm, Nov. 25-Dec. 1.Dave Poulin, C, broken left thumb, Dec. 1-10-Derrick Smith, LW, sprained right ankle, Dec. 1-7.Ron Sutter, C, facial cuts and bruised left eye, Nov. 24-30.Rick Tocchet. RW, viral infection, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Bullard, 11. A&mdash;Bullard, 12. P&mdash;Bullard, 23. PIM&mdash;Chychrun, 68. &#9632;

SHOULDER SURGERY WILL KEEP KERR OUT UNTIL JANUARY

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div>By mid-November, Gene Ubriaco was still the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. And that was big news.It seemed that everyone knew&mdash;absolutely knew&mdash;that Ubriaco&rsquo;s tenure was over. The only questions were when would he be fired, and who would replace him.One rumor&mdash;which turned out to be completely false&mdash;had the Penguins holding a news conference after a game with the New York Rangers Nov. 14 to announce the firing of Ubriaco and general manager Tony Esposito.Ubriaco said he understood why the rumors came about.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s (reporters) doing their jobs and thinking that&rsquo;s part of their job, to make sure they don&rsquo;t get scooped,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But we have a frenzy of who scoops who.&rdquo;One day the &ldquo;experts&rdquo; had former New York Islanders&rsquo; coach Terry Simpson penciled in as Ubriaco&rsquo;s replacement, the next day it was former Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; head coach Dan Maloney.The experts were wrong.Edward J. DeBartolo, the Penguins&rsquo; owner, is the only man with a definitive insight on Ubriaco&rsquo;s future, and he wasn&rsquo;t talking.But the irrefutable evidence was that Ubriaco wasn&rsquo;t going anywhere, at least for the moment. He continued to turn up behind the bench every game night, long after many people had laid his NHL coaching career to rest.Ubriaco and Esposito were summoned to DeBartalo Corp., headquarters in Boardman, Ohio after an 8-4 loss to the Los Angeles Kings Oct. 31. Ubriaco said he never was told by DeBartolo or any other team official that his job was in jeopardy.As for the rampant speculation about a coaching change, well, that started to subside a bit, too. Funny how a three-game winning streak can change people&rsquo;s perspective.The Penguins finished the first quarter of the season two games below .500 (8-10-2), but seemed to be overcoming the problems that plagued them to start the season.The Penguins got an assist from the schedule-maker&mdash;two of those victories were against Quebec (3-2 Nov. 16) and the New York Islanders (5-3 Nov. 18)&mdash;but they started their spurt Nov. 14 with a resounding 6-0 victory against the first-place New York Rangers.When asked about the motivation behind their best performance of the season, most Pittsburgh players cited frustration with their wretched play as the catalyst.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just that enough was enough, I think,&rdquo; said left winger Troy Loney, who scored twice against the Rangers. &ldquo;We finally just said, &lsquo;That&rsquo;s it, let&rsquo;s go out and play like we can.&rsquo;&rdquo;It also helped that two of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s most important players, Mario Lemieux and PauLCoffey, began to play to something approaching their potential.Coffey scored five goals in seven games. Lemieux started to handle the puck with his customary magic and mastery and had a nine-game point scoring streak.All of which meant people around Pittsburgh finally had something to talk about besides the coaching change that never came.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Dan Quinn, John Cullen, Mark Recchi.LW&mdash;Bob Errey, Kevin Stevens, Mark Kachowski, Troy Loney.RW&mdash;Rob Brown, Andrew McBain. Jock Callander, Jamie Leach, Jay Caufield.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Jim Johnson, Chris Dahlquist, Jim Kyte.RD&mdash;Randy Hillier, Gilbert Delorme, Gord Dineen.G&mdash;Wendell Young, Frank Pietrangelo.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tom Barrasso, G, wrist surgery, indefinite.Phil Bourque, LW, back spasms, day-to-day.Randy Gilhen, C, sprained knee, indefinite.Zarley Zalapski, D, broken collarbone, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Lemieux, 11. A&mdash;Lemieux, 26. P&mdash;Lemieux, 37. PIM&mdash;Loney, 57. &#9632;

WIN STREAK GIVES UBRIACO SECOND WIND

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>Unlike teammate Viachesiav Fetisov, New Jersey Devils&rsquo; defenseman Sergei Starikov speaks almost no English. He has been called the Silent Soviet.But Starikov, who sat out nine of the Devils&rsquo; first 20 games this season, fully understands what critics have said about his less-than-spectacular play as an NHL defenseman.When he became an ineffective spare part under former head coach Jim Schoenfeld, some critics suggested the Devils should give Starikov his $250,000-a-year salary and send him back to the Soviet Union. Others considered the 30-year-old Starikov the price the Devils had to pay to get Fetisov and keep him happy.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not pleasant to hear but I try not to pay attention to that,&rdquo; Starikov said through translator Dimitri Lopuchin. &ldquo;I try to think of positive things rather than dwell on the negative.&rdquo;The positive moments have been few. Starikov, who joined the Devils last summer along with Fetisov, has had a tougher time adjusting to the NHL than his former Central Red Army teammate.In Starikov&rsquo;s first 11 games, he was a minus-3 and had no points. But it wasn&rsquo;t until John Cunniff took over as coach that the 5-foot-10, 225-pound Starikov started to improve. His best performances came in back-to-back games against the Philadelphia Flyers Nov. 11 (a 7-5 loss) and 12 (a 3-3 tie).&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a higher level of hockey more consistently than in the Soviet Union,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Here, all the games are difficult. When we play in international hockey or in the Soviet Union and a team is down 3-2 with a minute left, people consider that game over. Here, they still think you have a chance to win. The game is never over&rdquo;Of course, NHL coaches admit it is more difficult for defensemen breaking into the NHL. Even North American defensemen progress slower in the NHL than young forwards.For that reason, Soviet forwards Sergei Makarov, Igor Larionov and Alexandr Mogilny have made a smoother adjustment than Fetisov and Starikov.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m afraid maybe the forwards might take offense if I say the game is harder for a defenseman,&rdquo; said Starikov, who has been left flat-footed by some of the league&rsquo;s better forwards. &ldquo;Defensemen have the potential to have a lot more blame on them if they don&rsquo;t play well.&rdquo;&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think Sergei has been that bad,&rdquo; saidCunniff. &ldquo;I was pleasantly surprised during training camp because I didn&rsquo;t know what his skills were.&ldquo;What has happened with Starikov and Fetisov is, in the NHL, they play the body more. We tend to think Europeans with the big rinks are faster, but forwards are upon you faster in the NHL. I saw the same problems with Michael Thelven in Boston. He wanted to make a stick-to-stick pass rather than ring it.&rdquo;In Starikov&rsquo;s case, he has made some blind passes simply to get rid of the puck quicker.&ldquo;I always liked the idea and style of faster hockey,&rdquo; said Starikov. &ldquo;Here you have to think fast and act fast all the time. Every game is like that.&rdquo;Off the ice, Starikov said, he was enjoying life in the United States. He and his wife, Irena, have a home near the Devils&rsquo; practice facility in West Orange, N.J., and have made a smooth adjustment to life in New Jersey.Irena speaks fluent English and Starikov&rsquo;s two children (8-year-old son Iliya and 4-year-old daughter Ksenia) attend public schools.Despite his own struggle on the ice, Starikov has never regretted coming to the NHL instead of playing in Europe.&ldquo;Never. Everything about playing here is enjoyable,&rdquo; he said.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Patrik Sundstrom, Mark Johnson, Aaron Broten, Neil Brady.LW&mdash;Brendan Shanahan, Kirk Muller, Dave Maley, Peter Sundstrom, Jim Kom.RW&mdash;John MacLean, Sylvain Turgeon, Doug-Brown, Janne Ojxanen.LD&mdash;Viachesiav Fetisov, Sergei Starikov, Tommy Albelin, Randy Velischek.RD&mdash;Ken Daneyko, Bruce Driver, Craig Wolanin, Reijo Ruotsalainen.G&mdash;Sean Burke, Chris Terreri.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Walt Poddubny, LW, back spasms, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Shanahan, MacLean, 10. A&mdash;Patrik Sundstrom, 17. P&mdash;Shanahan, Patrik Sundstrom. 22. PIM&mdash;Maley. 65. &#9632;

SILENT SOVIET DOESN’T LET CRITICS BOTHER HIM

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>With 13 goals in his first 21 games, one would expect John Ogrodnick to be pleased, if not ecstatic.After all, it took the New York Rangers&rsquo; left winger a whole season (for him, 60 games) to score 13 in 1988-89.But Ogrodnick&rsquo;s accomplishments this season have prompted questions about his failures last season, and he was finding it difficult to put the unpleasant past behind him.&ldquo;Last year was a joke,&rdquo; Ogrodnick said early this season, after the strong start had ans-formed him from a question-mark to a regular.&ldquo;As far as I&rsquo;m concerned, I don&rsquo;t even consider it a season. When somebody asks a question about it and I start to remember certain things, I try to catch myself and think about something else.&rdquo;Ogrodnick redirected a James Patrick pass between his skates and off the goal post for No. 13, giving the Rangers a 3-2 victory at Hartford Nov. 18.It was an important goal for the Rangers, because it helped them snap their first two-game losing streak of the season. It was also important because it was the team&rsquo;s second power-play goal of the game. In the previous eight contests the Rangers went 5-for-43 with the man advantage.Ogrodnick, who scored 55 goals for Detroit in 1984-85, was aware his goal was only part of the night&rsquo;s work.The Rangers, who had squandered a 4-1 third period lead at New Jersey and suffered a frustating 5-4 overtime defeat just 24 hours earlier, didn&rsquo;t want a repeat performance. And by hanging on to the one-goal lead against the Whalers, the Rangers started the second half of the season on a winning note.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011032/5755016-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="702" height="838"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Ogrodnick needed just 21 games to equal &rsquo;88-89&rsquo;s total of 13 goals.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how negative an atmosphere would have been created if we had blown another game,&rdquo; said Ogrodnick after the win over the Whalers.Ogrodnick said the new management has been able to minimize the stress of playing in New York.&ldquo;This year, everything is more calm&hellip;more sane,&rdquo; Ogrodnick explained. &ldquo;The new people&mdash;Neil Smith, Roger Neilson and his staff&mdash;are handling everything more professionally. There isn&rsquo;t any screaming. There is a lot less emotionalism.&rdquo;Last season Ogrodnick was in the International League with Denver while the Rangers played Game 21. He had already been benched, publicly criticized, sent home to wait by the phone for word of a trade which never materialized. Then he was sent to the IHL for conditioning.&ldquo;There was a conflict (between general manager Phil Esposito and coach Michel Bergeron) about what my role was to be, if any. I guess Bergie got to the point where he felt he couldn&rsquo;t defend me any more if I didn&rsquo;t score goals.&ldquo;One night, I was even told that we had enough muckers on the team and, if I wanted to stay with the Rangers, I had to score a goal-&hellip;that night!&rdquo;Ogrodnick said he allowed himself to worry too much, to think too much and to press too much last season. This fall, he came to camp not knowing how the Rangers planned to use him, if at all. He wasn&rsquo;t even sure whether he would be protected in the waiver draft.Ogrodnick&rsquo;s hot start was especially important because of injuries sustained by key Rangers&rsquo; veterans early in the season. Carey Wilson (sprained knee), Kelly Kisio (bruised thigh) and Chris Nilan (fractured arm) were all out of the lineup.From a financial standpoint the timing of his resurgence, if he can maintain the pace, is impeccable.Ogrodnick is in the option year of his contract. He&rsquo;ll celebrate his 31st birthday on June 20&mdash;11 days before the July 1, 1990, cut-off date for free agents 31 or older, who can enter the marketplace without compensation.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a long way away,&rdquo; Ogrodnick said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve learned, sometimes the hard way, that things can turn around in a hurry in this game. I try to focus short-term. Right now, I&rsquo;m going well and the team is going well. That&rsquo;s what matters.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov 19: Corey Millen, C, assigned to Flint (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Darren Turcotte, Dave Archibald, Troy Malltte, Mark Janssens.LW&mdash;Kris King, Ulf Dahlen, John Ogrodnick, Lindy Ruff.RW&mdash;Tony Granato, Tomas Sandstrom, Brian Mullen, Jan Erixon.LD&mdash;Mark Hardy, Ron Greschner, Miloslav Horava.RD&mdash;Brian Leetch, James Patrick, Randy Moller.G&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck, Bob Froese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Paul Cyr, C, knee surgery, indefinite.Kelly Kisio, C, severely bruised left thigh, Dec. 3.Chris Nilan, RW, fractured right forearm, indefinite.Normand Rochefort, D, knee surgery, Dec. 13.David Shaw. D, dislocated right shoulder, Nov. 22.Carey Wilson, C, sprained left knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Ogrodnick, 13. A&mdash;Patrick, Granato, 14. P&mdash;Sandstrom, 21. PIM&mdash;Moller, 55. &#9632;

f0019-01

OGRODNICK SHAKES MEMORY OF LOST SEASON

<div class="byline">BY SHERRY ROSS</div>Bryan Trottier was on the verge of joining some select company, and the prospect excited him.&ldquo;Oh yes, I&rsquo;ve been thinking about it,&rdquo; Trottier said, after scoring career goal No. 494 in a 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh Nov. 18. &ldquo;I want it bad. I&rsquo;m going for it.&rdquo;When Trottier gets his 500th, he&rsquo;ll join 14 others who have reached the plateau, including Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Hull and former linemate Mike Bossy.With four Stanley Cup rings and a Conn Smythe Trophy in his past (and the Hall of Fame in his future), No. 500 fits quite nicely into the present.The milestone must have looked unattainable last season, when Trottier struggled along with the rest of the 28-47-5 Islanders. The lone remaining Islander to have played on all four Stanley Cup teams in 1980-83, Trottier scored a career-low 17 goals.The season ended badly for Trottier. The wear and tear of a 14-year NHL career&mdash;he never played a day in the minors&mdash;caught up to him. Trottier, who had never played fewer than 73 games in a season, missed the last seven games of 1988-89 with a back injury.The 33-year-old center devoted the early part of the off-season to recovering from his injury. The therapy served two purposes. It helped him get well, and it helped take his mind off missing the playoffs for the first time in his career.&ldquo;The month of May was difficult,&rdquo; Trottier said. &ldquo;It was tough to watch all those playoff teams and know we should have, could have, been there.&ldquo;I went through about 2&frac12; weeks of rehab in April. I did the program morning, noon, and night. I didn&rsquo;t want to go through the whole summer wondering. It&rsquo;s fine now, but I&rsquo;m still careful.&rdquo;With Bossy retired, and most of his teammates too young to remember his glory days, it sometimes takes an old foe to appreciate Trottier&rsquo;s best.&ldquo;I wish he hadn&rsquo;t been such a pain in the butt in the 10 years I played against him,&rdquo; said former Ranger Don Maloney, now Trottier&rsquo;s occasional linemate. Maloney scored the 200th goal of his career against Toronto Nov. 16. &ldquo;I hope it won&rsquo;t take long for him to get (No. 500), and the way he&rsquo;s been playing lately, it won&rsquo;t take long. I assisted on Phil Esposito&rsquo;s 700th, and it would be great to be part of Bryan&rsquo;s 500th.&rdquo;Trottier has played left wing and center for Al Arbour this season. As Islander injuries mounted, he found himself getting more ice time on specialty teams. No matter what his status, first shift on the power play or third-line winger, Trottier has accepted his assignments without complaining.Trottier has a contract that runs through 1991-92, which will reportedly net him $ 1 million in the final year. He said he plans to honor it, as long as he can still contribute and the game remains fun.&ldquo;You have to come to the rink with the same high concentration level every day,&rdquo; said Trottier. &ldquo;I still feel the bum. I promised my wife that if I didn&rsquo;t, I would quit.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. ISLES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 16: Gilles Thibaudeau, C, and Shawn Evans, D, assigned to Springfield (AHL).Nov. 17: Dale Henry, LW, recalled from Springfield.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pat LaFontaine, Mikko Makela, Bryan Trottier.LW&mdash;Brad Lauer, Randy Wood, Don Maloney, Dave Chyzowski, Dale Henry.RW&mdash;Alan Kerr, Patrick Flatley, Mick Vukota.LD&mdash;Jeff Norton, Gary Nylund.RD&mdash;Gerald Diduck, Doug Crossman, Chris Pryor.G&mdash;Mark Fitzpatrick, Glenn Healy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dean Chynoweth, D, strained right thumb ligaments, day-to-day.Rob DIMalo, C, strained clavicle. Dec. 7.Rich Pilon, D, Contused and lacerated right eye, indefinite.Joe Reekie, D, right knee sprain, indefinite.Brent Sutter, C, back spasms, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;LaFontaine, 16. A&mdash;Norton, 16. P&mdash;LaFontaine, 23. PIM&mdash;Vukota, 63. &#9632;

TROTTIER IN HOT PURSUIT OF NO. 500

<div class="byline">BY BOB FACHET</div>The Washington Capitals stumbled past the NHL&rsquo;s quarter pole with a 6-10-4 record, the worst in coach Bryan Murray&rsquo;s tenure.But there was no panic, because the Capitals have been down this path before. Only in 1985-86, when they rolled up a club-record 107 points, have they been above the .500 mark after 20 games (11-6-3).Also, the sub-.500 circumstances of all the Patrick Division clubs except the New York Rangers tended to mitigate the Capital punishment the team was inflicting on its nine-year coach.The Capitals&rsquo; ever-optimistic telecasters even suggested things were actually brighter than might have been expected.The rationalization for this was the emergence of Dale Hunter (eight goals), Michal Pivonka (seven) and Kelly Miller (seven) as the team&rsquo;s leading goal scorers. Therefore, the theory goes, when Dino Ciccarelli (six), Mike Ridley (six), Geoff Courtnall (five) and Dave Christian (two) regain their status as the Capitals&rsquo; big four, the club will be in great shape.That scenario would be fine with Murray, except that after 20 games, there were few signs that any of the big four was ready to return Io the heights of previous seasons. The four were on a pace to score 76 goals, after combining for 161 last season. The Capitals&rsquo; 61 goals were the fewest in the NHL and their record was the worst after 20 games since 1981. when four straight victories under the newly-hired Murray brought it to 514-1.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been very inconsistent,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Some nights we&rsquo;re capable of beating anybody and some nights we&rsquo;re not capable of beating anybody. We have to get our better players playing well. I&rsquo;ve said that right along and nothing seems to have changed.&ldquo;It bothers me all the time that we play this way early. We seemed to have things in order coming out of training camp this year, but it hasn&rsquo;t happened. Some of our top people haven&rsquo;t done what they&rsquo;re capable of. We have to get going if we&rsquo;re going to have an impact in the Patrick Division.&rdquo;Murray was upset with more players than just the non-scoring scorers. He wanted his role players to adhere to their roles and stop trying to join the finesse corps.As a result, he benched rugged right winger Alan May for two westcoast games and used defenseman Neil Sheehy at right wing. It appeared to make little difference, as Murray himself seemed the most involved during a 5-3 loss at Los Angeles Nov. 18.When Hunter and the Kings&rsquo; Dave Taylor waved and shouted at each other from the adjacent benches, Murray and Los Angeles coach Tom Webster joined in the bickering. As Murray, obviously trying to motivate his team, pointed at Webster through an area not covered by a divider, the Kings&rsquo; Bernie Nicholls knocked a pile of sticks on to Murray&rsquo;s hand.Of his desire for more physical play, Murray said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not encouraging them to go out instigating fights. I&rsquo;m encouraging them to play a physical, solid type of hockey, so when teams play against us and go in to get the puck, they know they&rsquo;ll pay a price.&rdquo;<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTION</h3>Nov. 13: Bob Mason, G, recalled from Baltimore (AHL). Jim Hrivnak, G, assigned to Baltimore.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mike Ridley, Dale Hunter, Michal Pivonka, Rob Murray.LW&mdash;Kelly Miller, Yvon Corriveau, Geoff Courtnall, Doug Wickenhelsor, Nick Kypreos.RW&mdash;Dave Christian, Dino Ciccarelli, Steve Leach, Neil Sheehy, Alan May.LD&mdash;Rod Langway, Scott Stevens, Bill Houlder.RD&mdash;Kevin Hatcher, Calle Johansson, Bob Rouse.G&mdash;Don Beaupre, Bob Mason.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Scot Klelnendorst, D, tom left knee ligament, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>6&mdash;Hunter, 8. A&mdash;Stevens, 11. P&mdash; Hunter, Pivonka, 17. PIM&mdash;Hunter, 70. &#9632;

MURRAY BOTHERED BY EARLY INCONSISTENCY

<div class="byline">STEVE DRYDEN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01791/5755095-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="501" height="619"></div>Brad Marsh is proof that absolutely anybody can play in the NHL. Anybody with a heart the size of Lake Superior.He can&rsquo;t skate. He can&rsquo;t shoot. He can&rsquo;t stickhandle.But his drive could power an 18-wheeler, and that&rsquo;s why the wobbly defenseman from London, Ont., is a sparkplug in the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; 18-man lineup.Twenty games into the season, Marsh had yet to score a goal, but led the Leafs in hits, hooks and holds. In Toronto, he is the long arm of the law. Marsh-ial law. Nobody enters the Leafs&rsquo; zone without Marsh laying a glove on him&hellip;and leaving it there as long as he can without getting a penalty.Oh, yeah&hellip;he also led the team in plusminus. And penalty-killing appearances. And perspiration. And post-game pirouettes.Well, Marsh doesn&rsquo;t actually execute pirouettes, but he does charge out on the ice at breakneck speed (for him) when he&rsquo;s named one of the game&rsquo;s three stars.Since joining the Leafs last year&mdash;after former GM Gordie Stellick shrewdly picked him up from the Philadelphia Flyers in the waiver draft&mdash;Marsh has become one of the team&rsquo;s most inspirational and popular players.So extraordinary is his impact that Leaf fans are sometimes moved to break their vows of silence in appreciation of the 31-year-old defenseman. Al Iafrate, Marsh&rsquo;s gifted partner, generates excitement when he begins his customarily breathtaking rushes up ice. Marsh generates bedlam.Perhaps, it&rsquo;s in anticipation of witnessing something seldom seen&mdash;a goal by Marsh.Through 871 career games, Marsh had yet to hit the 20-goal plateau. With 18 in 11-plus seasons, he averaged one goal every 48 games. He had one goal in an even 100 games as a Leaf.He reached the century mark Nov. 15 against the St. Louis Blues. Nobody noticed the milestone, but a pair of assists and plus-3 performance earned him first star. Marsh burst from the players&rsquo; bench, completed two laps of the center faceoff circle and sprinted to a spectacular stop. The fans roared.Marsh, for heaven&rsquo;s sake, has become a Toronto folk hero.He is one of them. Actually, he is among them. Marsh travels to games on the commuter train from his home in the western suburb of Mississauga. He catches the 3:37 p.m. GO train at Port Credit, gets off at Union Station, and takes the subway north to the Gardens.After games, he hitches a ride home with his wife, Patty, in the family van.Marsh drives his &rsquo;72 GMC pick-up truck to practices. He bought it from the New Jersey department of highways when he was traded to the Flyers from Calgary in 1981. It&rsquo;s yellow and has 190,000 miles or 290,000 miles on it. Marsh isn&rsquo;t sure which.Leaf assistant coach Garry Lariviere says the NHL should impose a fine on Marsh for driving the old truck. Something about doing irreparable damage to the league&rsquo;s image. Lariviere drives one of those nifty Bonnevilles with the computerized dashboards. The only thing computerized about Marsh&rsquo;s vehicle is the diagnostic tune-up it receives periodically.Appearance says Marsh is a good old boy. He likes beer. Chews tobacco. Has never had a job outside hockey. Wears a brushcut. Plays without a helmet. Blocks shots. Lists former Leaf defenseman Bobby (Boomer) Baun, who once scored an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup finals while playing on a broken ankle, as a childhood hero.This guy was caught in a time warp 25 years ago.Reality says Marsh is a smart good old boy. He is maniacal about his fitness level. During the summer, he works out seven days a week. Cycles 200 miles. Competes in the occasional triathlon. Keeps track of everything he eats. And, yeah, drinks a little beer.Other players spend their summers preparing for life after the NHL. Marsh spends his summers working to prolong his life in the NHL.Marsh has never played in the minors, but he has a rare feel for those who have. Last year, the Leafs roomed Marsh with rookie Derek Laxdal on the road. Laxdal, who has played most of his career in the American League, was eventually returned to the Leafs&rsquo; farm team in Newmarket, a community about 30 miles north of Toronto. Soon after his demotion, the Leafs&rsquo; team pictures arrived. Any team official could have given Laxdal a copy.But Marsh wanted the picture hand-delivered by Laxdal&rsquo;s former roommate. What a bonus. Marsh provides more than courage on the ice, he provides courier services off the ice.That should come as no surprise. You can always count on Brad Marsh to deliver the goods. &#9632;

f0022-01

MARSH-IAL LAW KEEPS MAPLE LEAFS IN ORDER

<h2>KINGS</h2>Coach Tom Webster and Washington coach Bryan Murray engaged in a verbal battle from their respective benches midway through the third period of the Kings&rsquo; 5-3 win at the Forum Nov. 18. The exchange apparently was triggered when Kings&rsquo; right winger Dave Taylor, who wears a visor, bumped Dale Hunter. Taylor said Webster was trying to &ldquo;settle things down,&rsquo; after Murray had screamed at him to take his visor off. Murray later accused Taylor of cheapshot tactics, and said he thought Taylor was going to throw the visor at him. &ldquo;I took it off, but I had no intention of throwing it,&rdquo; Taylor said. Webster laughed about the incident, saying, &ldquo;Wejust had a couple of kind words to say to each other. There wasn&rsquo;t much to it.&rdquo;&hellip;When Barry Beck blocked a shot with his right hand in a game against Calgary Nov. 8, it was thought he had merely bruised the thumb. But he actually suffered a hairline fracture, and the thumb was placed in a splint. Beck was practicing and was expected back in the lineup soon.<h2>OILERS</h2>With Randy Gregg playing solidly when he returned to the lineup Nov. 17 from a chronic pulled leg muscle, the Oilers had seven healthy defensemen. &ldquo;Docwasexcellent, heplayeda strong game,&rdquo; said coach John Muckier. &ldquo;He seldom makes a mistake behind the blueline. He made Smitty (Steve Smith) a better hockey player. They were our best tandem.&rdquo;&hellip;Jeff Sharpies probably won&rsquo;t be in the lineup when the Oilers face his old team in Detroit Nov. 27, the first game between the two teams since the blockbuster trade Nov. 2. &ldquo;As much as I&rsquo;d like to play in that game, I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ll be ready,&rdquo; said Sharpies, who skated with his new teammates for the first time Nov. 18. Sharpies will probably be sent to the Oilers&rsquo; Cape Breton farm team for conditioning purposes. Ironically, it was against Cape Breton that he separated his shoulder in a collision behind the net during an American League game Oct. 20&hellip;GM Glen Sather discounted a report in The Edmonton Journal which had the Oilers paying the Czechoslovakian federation $1.2 million for the release of highly-regarded center Vladimir Ruzicka. &ldquo;I even got a note from the federation saying how far-fetched that was,&rdquo; quipped Sather.<h2>FLAMES</h2>Right winger Mark Hunter reinjured the knee that kept him out of the lineup for a month earlier this season in a Nov. 18 4-4 tie with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was to miss at least the first two games of the team&rsquo;s road trip so that he could be measured for a new knee brace&hellip;Right winger Joey Mullen showed signs of coming out of a season-long dry-spell by scoring in back-to-back games (Nov. 14 against Los Angeles and Nov. 16 against Chicago). &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little of everything right now,&rdquo; said Mullen. &ldquo;Some nights, you&rsquo;re going to get the breaks. Right now, it&rsquo;s not happening for us. We&rsquo;re going to have to keep going. Pretty soon, the breaks will go our way.&rdquo;&hellip;Richard Dean Anderson, star of television&rsquo;s MacGyver, watched the Flames-Blackhawks&rsquo; game Nov. 18 from a private box with Jim Peplinski and Doug Gilmour, who was out with the flu. Anderson, a good friend of Flames&rsquo; assistant coach Paul Baxter, was in Calgary to film an episode of his TV show.<h2>JETS</h2>Daniel Berthiaume continued his comeback from a disastrous 1988-89 with another great week. The 23-year-old goal tender beat the Quebec Nordiques 5-3 Nov. 14 and then shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 Nov. 18. Both games were on the road. That gave Berthiaume six wins in his last eight starts and raised his season record to 7-5. &ldquo;I think you could say it was a good game by me,&rdquo; Berthiaume smiled after the win in Philadelphia. It was his first shutout since he beat the Calgary Flames 9-0 in the 1987-88 season and dropped his goals-against average to 2.75&hellip;Veteran defenseman Randy Carlyle missed his sixth consecutive game Nov. 18 in Philadelphia, the result of a collision with the boards Nov. 5 in Chicago. Carlyle, 33, was slow to recover from his bruised left knee and it wasn&rsquo;t known when he&rsquo;d be back.<h2>CANUCKS</h2>Don Cherry&rsquo;s comment that coach Bob McCammon was paying more attention to Soviets Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov, instead of trying to figure a way to get Trevor Linden out of his slump, earned this response from McCammon: &ldquo;To make that comment from 3,500 miles away, Cherry must be a pretty smart guy. His mouth goes like the crapper on the back end of a goose.&rdquo;&hellip;After 15 thoroughly frustrating games, the real Krutov finally signed in to play. But after his finest night as a Canuck, in which two Wayne Gretzky-like assists of his ignited a 4-3 comeback win over Chicago Nov. 16, The Tank couldn&rsquo;t be coaxed to talk with the media. &ldquo;No understand,&rdquo; Krutov told public relations director Darcy Rota before slipping out a side door to avoid waiting journalists&hellip;Captain Stan Smyl doubled his points total with a pair of assists in a 4-4 tie with Wahington Nov. 14 at Pacific Coliseum but was still looking for his first goal. But McCammon said the Canucks weren&rsquo;t yet considering giving the Steamer the golden handshake. &ldquo;He still generates a lot of chances for other players by the way he hits in the offensive zone and his play can really pick our team up,&rdquo; McCammon said. &#9632;

COACHES WAGE WAR OF WORDS

Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; left winger Luc Robitaille is one of only seven players in NHL history to be named to the first or second all-star team in each of his first three seasons (1986-87, &rsquo;87-&rsquo;88 and &rsquo;88-&rsquo;89). The others arc Wayne Gretzky, Ray Bourque, Bobby Orr, Frank Brimsek, Maurice (Rocket) Richard and Terry Sawchuk.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02554/5755150-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg" title="f0022-02" width="697" height="415"><figcaption class="caption-body">Luc Robitaille</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0022-02

NUMBERS

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>Home ice had been of little advantage to the Los Angeles Kings, who won only two of their first seven games at the Great Western Forum this season.That was quite a change for a team that set a club record last season by winning 25 games at home.So when the Kings posted back-to-back victories at the Forum, turning aside Montreal 5-4 Nov. 11 and Washington 5-3 Nov. 18, there was some cause for celebration.The victory over the Caps, spearheaded by Luc Robitaille&rsquo;s two goals and two assists, and goaltender Kelly Hrudey&rsquo;s 28 saves, extended the Kings&rsquo; unbeaten streak to a season-high four games (3-0-1).Considering they were to play five of their next six games at home&mdash;three against Smythe Division opponents&mdash;the improved play was an encouraging development.&ldquo;If we can continue to win these games at home,&rdquo; Robitaille said, &ldquo;we should be able to move out of the pack. The division is so tight right now and a good home steetch would really help us.&rdquo;Through games played Nov. 19, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Edmonton were tied for second with 21 points apiece, while Winnipeg had 20. Calgary led the division with 26.Sandwiched between the Kings&rsquo; home wins were an 8-6 victory in Calgary Nov. 14 and a come-from-behind 2-2 tie in Edmonton the following night.The mini-streak, the Kings&rsquo; longest since a 4-0-1 run to end the 1988-89 regular season, evened their record at 10-10-1. The upcoming stretch of home games (Vancouver Nov. 25 and Dec. 6, Edmonton Nov. 30, Chicago Nov. 22 and the New York Rangers Dec. 2) provided the opportunity to vault over .500 for good.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re on a bit of a roll right now,&rdquo; said coach Tom Webster. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re playing much better hockey. Things are coming together because we&rsquo;re working hard, the goaltending has been good and the specialty teams are starting to come around.&rdquo;Hrudey snapped out of a four-game slump (three losses and a no-decision Nov. 5, when he was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots in Buffalo) with a pair of strong performances.The Edmonton native stopped 31 shots in the tie with the Oilers and 28 in the win over the Caps, his first victory at the Forum since Oct. 8 when he shut out Detroit 5-0.Hrudey said playing back-up to Mario Gosselin for two consecutive games helped him straighten out his game.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t stinking out the joint, but I wasn&rsquo;t winning,&rdquo; said Hrudey, 7-71 with a 3.97 goals-against average. &ldquo;In a way, sitting on the bench for a couple of games was good for me because I was able to see the game from a different perspective.&rdquo;Also coming out of a slump was Dave Taylor. The right winger had gone 15 games without scoring a goal&mdash;the worst drought of his 13 year career&mdash;before he snapped a 2-2 tie against the Caps with an early third-period goal.It was his fourth goal in 19 games this season and his first since he scored Oct. 13 in Vancouver.&ldquo;I was pressing a little bit and it was nice to see one go in,&rdquo; said Taylor, who converted a Robitaille pass by beating Capitals&rsquo; goalie Don Beaupre high to the glove side.<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 13: Craig Duncanson, LW, and Mikael Lindholm, RW, assigned to New Haven (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Bernie Nicholls, Steve Kasper, Hubie McDonough.LW&mdash;Mike Krushelnyski, Luc Robitaille, John Tonelli, Jay Miller.RW&mdash;Mike Allison, Dave Taylor, Keith Crowder, Bob Kudelski, Jim Fox.LD&mdash;Tom Laidlaw, Brian Benning, Tim Watters, Ken Baumgartner.RD&mdash;Steve Duchesne, Larry Robinson, Marty McSorley.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Mario Gosselin.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Barry Beck, D, hairline fracture of right thumb, day-to-day.Petr Prajsler, D, sprained left knee, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Nicholls, 14. A&mdash;Gretzky, 32. P&mdash;Gretzky, 42. PIM&mdash;McSorley, 69. &#9632;

BACK TO WINNING WAYS AT THE FORUM

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BEAMISH</div>If the Vancouver Canucks are ever going to be anything more than a .500 team, they&rsquo;re going to have to figure a way to improve their special teams.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re making mistakes killing penalties, we&rsquo;re making mistakes on the power play. Our special teams are killing us,&rdquo; said Rich Sutter.The power play, which broke an 0-for-20 slump when Garth Butcher scored the winning goal in a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks Nov. 16, was unproductive, and the penalty-killing was also a glaring weakness.The Canucks&rsquo; power play was just 5-for-44 in 11 games, as of Nov. 19. Canuck penalty killers ranked 20th in the league at home.&ldquo;If you look on the bright side, we&rsquo;re still a .500 team (9-9-2) and our special teams aren&rsquo;t working,&rdquo; said Robert Nordmark. &ldquo;We must be doing something right.&rdquo;Oddly enough, the much-maligned power play produced key goals as the Canucks took three of four points from the league leaders, Chicago and the Buffalo Sabres.Igor Larionov&rsquo;s goal in the third period, with the Canucks on the power play, brought the Canucks back from a 2-1 deficit to tie the Buffalo Sabres 2-2 Nov. 19 at Pacific Coliseum.But in the same game, the Canucks failed to take advantage of a five-minute major penalty to Kevin Maguire at 14:06 of the third period. Maguire was banished for giving Sutter the butt end of his stick. The failure to score cost the Canucks a victory.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s become a very serious problem,&rdquo; said coach Bob McCammon. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what we have to do but we have to do something dramatic. There&rsquo;s a discipline problem on the power play. I&rsquo;m frustrated. We&rsquo;ve told them what to do but they&rsquo;re not doing it. Either we have to keep pounding it into them or we have to make changes, I don&rsquo;t know. It&rsquo;s cost us at least six or seven points.&rdquo;During Maguire&rsquo;s penalty, however, the Canucks lost all the small battles along the boards against a tired team playing its third game in four nights. The Canucks managed only three shots against Sabres&rsquo; goalie Daren Puppa during the penalty.&ldquo;Did we get three?&rdquo; asked Sutter. &ldquo;It seemed they were always icing it.&rdquo;The Canucks hoped the expected return of Paul Reinhart at the end of November would restore the power play to respectabililty. Reinhart had five goals and 16 assists in 18 games before being sidelined with a sprained ankle in early November.Doug Lidster shouldered some of the load in Reinhart&rsquo;s absence. Even before Reinhart&rsquo;s injury, Lidster was the Canucks&rsquo; best defenseman. Always a tireless worker, Lidster&rsquo;s plus-7 was second on the team and he couldn&rsquo;t be blamed for the power-play problems.While the power play tried to adjust to the loss of Reinhart, the whole team was still getting used to their two Soviets, Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov.&ldquo;Their adjustment has been a problem,&rdquo; McCammon said. &ldquo;Since training camp everything has been so focused on the Soviets that it&rsquo;s been hard on the rest of the team.&ldquo;Their (Krutov&rsquo;s and Larionov&rsquo;s) adjustment has probably cost us a couple of games. We&rsquo;ve had to juggle lines, but it&rsquo;s something we have to go through to get better.&rdquo;<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Igor Larionov, Brian Bradley, Trevor Linden, Steve Bozek, Craig Coxe.LW&mdash;Greg Adams, Petri Skriko, Vladimir Krutov, Daryl Stanley.RW&mdash;Tony Tanti, Stan Smyl, Jim Sandlak, Rich Sutter, Doug Smith.LD&mdash;Larry Melnyk, Harold Snepsts, Jim Benning, Kevan Guy.RD&mdash;Garth Butcher, Doug Lidster, Rod BuskasG&mdash;Kirk McLean, Steve Weeks.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Barry Pederson, C, dislocated thumb, Nov. 27-30.Paul Reinhart, D, sprained ankle, Nov. 27.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Adams, 11. A&mdash;Reinhart, 16. P&mdash;Reinhart, 21. PIM&mdash;Butcher. 42. &#9632;

WOEFUL SPECIAL TEAMS CAUSE FOR CONCERN

<div class="byline">BY GRANT McGINNIS</div>Pat Elynuik retreated to the bench, accepted the congratulations of his teammates and breathed a healthy sigh of relief.Forty-three seconds later, his joy was gone.After breaking but of a nine-game, 19-day scoring drought with a goal against Montreal Nov. 15, Elynuik watched Guy Carbonneau score 43 seconds later to cap a 5-1 victory for the Canadiens.A sensational rookie in 1988-89 who got off to a sensational start this season, Elynuik was experiencing his first extended slump as a pro. The loss to the Canadiens notwithstanding, the 22-year-old right winger was happy to find his scoring touch.&ldquo;Yeah, it was a relief,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think I wandered away from my game for about a five-or six-game stint and I got in a little double.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve been thinking out there too much as opposed to skating. You know, any time you get in a slump you start to think a little more and it probably slows down your skating. You don&rsquo;t get in front of the net and you don&rsquo;t get your chances.&rdquo;But Elynuik&rsquo;s offense wasn&rsquo;t the only part of his game that was suffering. During the slump, he was often caught out of the play and he was making too many costly turnovers.Against Montreal, he got back to basics. Three days later, in a 1-0 over-time win at Philadelphia, his solid play continued.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s starting to realize now what he has to do in order to contribute,&rdquo; said Jets&rsquo; coach Bob Murdoch. &ldquo;I think what happens when you score eight or nine or 10 goals early like that, what happens is you think of yourself as strictly a goal-scorer, and I think Patty realizes he has to be good at both ends of the ice.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting back to a more honest game right now.&rdquo;If nothing else, Elynuik&rsquo;s point totals have shown him how he must play. When he was grinding it out, he had eight goals and five assists in 10 games. In his next eight games, he put pressure on himself to create more offense. He had three assists.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01685/5755236-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="553" height="751"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Murdoch said Elynuik suffered from defensive lapses.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02444/5755229-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="543" height="748"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Elynuik was the Jets&rsquo; goalscoring leader, with nine.</figcaption></div>Despite the slump, he and linemate Thomas Steen led the team with 17 and 18 points, respectively. But Elynuik was just as concerned with his uncharacteristic defensive lapses.&ldquo;Moments of the game I think I&rsquo;ve played well defensively and moments I&rsquo;ve made some plays I never, ever do,&rdquo; said Elynuik. &ldquo;Like in Quebec (during a 5-3 win Nov. 14), I gave the puck away right in the slot. I don&rsquo;t think I did that in my whole hockey career.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s not being intense out there, worrying a little bit about how my play is, thinking out there and not playing the game naturally. It really hurt me.&rdquo;The Jets have come to rely on the second-year NHLer for offense. And it&rsquo;s important for Elynuik to produce, because he decided to play out his option this season rather than sign a new contract with the team.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I ever question my ability,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s just a matter of getting my fundamentals and my skills to the game and playing to the potential that I have. In that slump, I might have played to 25 or 30 per cent of my ability.&ldquo;It just shouldn&rsquo;t happen.&rdquo;<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Thomas Steen, Dale Hawerchuk, Laurie Boschman, Dave McLIwain.LW&mdash;Doug Smail, Brent Ashton. Randy Cunneyworth, Brent Hughes.RW&mdash;Pat Elynuik, Greg Paslawski, Paul Fenton, Gord Donnelly.LD&mdash;Dave Ellett. Shawn Cronin, Peter Taglianetti.RD&mdash;Fredrik Olausson, Teppo Numminen, Moe Mantha, Brad Berry.G&mdash;Daniel Berthiaume, Bob Essensa.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Randy Carlyle, D, bruised knee, day-to-day.Mark Kumpel, RW, ankle sprain, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Elynuik, 9. A&mdash;Steen, 14. P&mdash; Steen, 18. PIM&mdash;Cronin, 62. &#9632;

f0025-01

ELYNUIK ENDS SLUMP WITH HARD WORK

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>The longest winless streak of the past two seasons&mdash;three losses, two ties&mdash;sent the Calgary Flames into a collective bout of soul-searching.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying to figure it out,&rdquo; coach Terry Crisp said, following back-to-back ties with the Buffalo Sabres Nov. 16 and the Chicago Blackhawks Nov. 18. &ldquo;Should I be mad? Should I be glad? Should I be sad? Should I be happy? Should I be in tears?&rdquo;Maybe a little of each. There was nothing black-and-white about the team&rsquo;s recent play, just many shades of grey.On one hand, they were still atop the Smythe Division. On the other hand, they were well behind the pace that saw them rack up 117 points and the regular-season championship in &rsquo;88-89.Nothing has come easily for the Flames, especially answers. A year ago, they were in the midst of putting together a 16-1-1 run (from Oct. 31 to Dec. 8) that put a huge gap between themselves and everybody but the Montreal Canadiens.Everything looked so effortless.This season?&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t developed the attitude or feeling of domination we had last year,&rdquo; acknowledged center Joe Nieuwendyk. &ldquo;We have a lot of wrinkles to iron out.&rdquo;The wrinkles ranged from defense to penaltykilling, from concentration lapses to so-so goaltending.Penalty-killing problems were a part of the defensive slump. In 1988-89 the Flames finished No. 1 in the league. Through 23 games, they were 20th, ahead of only Detroit. They had given up 31 power-play goals on 111 chances.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s been a big blow to our team,&rdquo; said Nieuwendyk. &ldquo;We can gain a lot of momentum from killing a penalty. Our penalty-killing has to do a much better job.&rdquo;Another problem has been that teams are more keyed up for the Flames. Something about playing the Stanley Cup champions usually brings out the best in a team.&ldquo;I do think teams are preparing for us differently,&rdquo; said Nieuwendyk. &ldquo;The night we lost to Minnesota (3-2 Nov. 11), it was almost like they&rsquo;d won the Stanley Cup. Teams are really excited to play us and to get points off us. We&rsquo;ve got to learn to quiet these teams.&rdquo;As hard to believe as this may be, lack of size was another concern. The retirements of Jim Peplinski and Lanny McDonald, combined with a 10-game suspension handed Tim Hunter meant the Flames did not possess the same quality of comerman they once had. The majority of wingers were the same&mdash;quick, skilled and small, and not always able to come out of the comers with the puck.General manager Cliff Fletcher, who steadfastly denied any deal was imminent, nevertheless said he wanted to beef up his hockey club with a hard-nosed, two-way winger.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour, Joel Otto, Theoren Fleury.LW&mdash;Gary Roberts, Colin Patterson, Brian MacLellan, Paul Ranheim, Sergei Priakin.RW&mdash;Sergei Makarov, Joey Mullen, Jiri Hrdina, Jonas Bergqvist, Tim Hunter.LD&mdash;Gary Suter, Jamie Macoun, Dana Murzyn, Roger Johansson.RD&mdash;Al Maclnnis, Brad McCrimmon, Ric Nattress.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Rick Wamsley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mark Hunter, RW, strained knee, Nov. 30.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Nieuwendyk, 17. A&mdash;Makarov, 27. P&mdash; Nieuwendyk, 33. PIM&mdash;Murzyn. 55. &#9632;

ALL KINDS OF PROBLEMS PLAGUE DEFENDING CHAMPS

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>Grant Fuhr has served notice to the NHL: He&rsquo;s back.Coming off a summer of discontent and a major operation, the veteran goaltender hadn&rsquo;t rounded into shape as quickly as he and the Edmonton Oilers would have liked. But by mid-November, Fuhr was showing signs of the form which earned him six All-Star Game appearances.After recuperating from an emergency appendix operation that took place Sept. 14&mdash;two days prior to the Oilers&rsquo; first pre-season game&mdash;Fuhr was sent to the Oilers&rsquo; American League affiliate in Cape Breton for two games. He faced 80 shots and won both, 5-2 over Halifax Oct. 24 and 5-4 over Hershey Oct. 27.In his first six starts with Edmonton, however, he was 1-5-0 and had just one good game&mdash;a 5-2 win over Calgary Nov. 3.But that was before the Buffalo Sabres got him mad, in a Nov. 12 game at Buffalo. The Oilers rallied twice to tie from two-goal deficits and appeared to be headed for overtime when the Sabres&rsquo; Dave Andreychuk scored the winning goal at 19:59.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t happy. I played horsebleep that night,&rdquo; said Fuhr. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been around long enough to know when I&rsquo;ve played good and when I&rsquo;ve played bad. That night I cost the team a hockey game. There was no time like the present to get it going again.&rdquo;Fuhr got it going in his next game. He stopped 30 shots to shut out the Sabres 3-0 Nov. 17. In the process, he snapped the Sabres&rsquo; nine-game unbeaten streak.&ldquo;All I know is if you get one, you could get another one,&rdquo; said Buffalo coach Rick Dudley, &ldquo;but he wouldn&rsquo;t let us have one. That&rsquo;s some of the best goaltending I&rsquo;ve ever seen.&rdquo;Fuhr made a number of outstanding saves en route to his eighth career NHL shutout&mdash;in particular a deft stick stop on rookie Alexander Mogilny on a breakaway early in the third period.&ldquo;Mogilny came back to the bench just shaking his head,&rdquo; said Oilers&rsquo; coach John Muckier. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s ever seen a save like that. Those were two talented individuals out there.&rdquo;Two nights later, Fuhr was the winning goalie as the Oilers topped the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Mark Messier&rsquo;s goal eight seconds into overtime.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure Grant would be the first to say he hasn&rsquo;t been at the top of his game,&rdquo; Muckier said prior to the rematch against Buffalo. &ldquo;But, you&rsquo;ve got to remember he was coming off a major operation. All the other things going on in his life haven&rsquo;t been too comfortable either.&rdquo;Having retired and unretired, then getting in a minor accident in his Jaguar, Fuhr has had his personal problems. And Fuhr&rsquo;s former agent, Rich Winter, has initiated legal action against both the goalie and the Oilers.<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier, Craig MacTavish, Esa Tikkanen, Adam Graves, Mark Lamb.LW&mdash;Craig Simpson, Petr Klima, Peter Eriksson, Kelly Buchberger, Martin Gelinas.RW&mdash;Glenn Anderson, Joe Murphy, Dave Brown, Normand Lacombe.LD&mdash;Kevin Lowe, Steve Smith, Geoff Smith.RD&mdash;Craig Muni, Charlie Huddy. Randy Gregg, Jeff Beukeboom.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jari Kurri, RW, pulled groin, day-to-day.Jeff Sharpies, D, separated shoulder, Dec. 4.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Kurri, Messier, 13. A&mdash;Messier, 22. P&mdash;Messier, 35. PIM&mdash;Buchberger, 60. &#9632;

FUHR SLOWLY RETURNING TO FORM

<div class="byline">BY MATT CARLSON</div>The erratic play of the Quebec Nordiques in recent seasons has been enough to give their coaches ulcers. But in December, 1988, Quebec coach Ron Lapointe encountered a far more serious medical problem.As his team struggled, Lapointe admitted he wasn&rsquo;t feeling well. Maybe it was the pressure of his first NHL head-coaching job. Maybe it was the pressure of losing in a small, hockey-crazed market.Turns out it was neither.Lapointe got a most unwelcome preChristmas surprise on Dec. 17. Test results confirmed he had a cancerous tumor on his left kidney. Four days later, a surgical team led by Dr. Yves Fradette at Quebec&rsquo;s Hotel Dieu removed the kidney and the tumor.&ldquo;Sure, I was scared,&rdquo; says Lapointe. &ldquo;I thought about what was going to happen.&rdquo;Fortunately for Lapointe, the tumor was localized and encased in what he describes as &ldquo;an envelope.&rdquo; Follow-up exams have shown the cancer did not spread into other parts of his body.Now, he&rsquo;s on the comeback trail.Lapointe, 40, is a career coach. He held posts in the Quebec and American leagues (and as an NHL assistant with Washington) before accepting the Nordiques&rsquo; head job at the beginning of the 1987-88 season.Now, he&rsquo;s coaching the International League&rsquo;s Milwaukee Admirals, the No. 1 affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks. He has a two-year contract&mdash;which is fine by him. He says he&rsquo;s never felt better.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve lost a fair amount of weight,&rdquo; says the Verdun, Que., native. &ldquo;The whole thing was really quite a scare, but I learned to take it positively.&rdquo;With his health improving, Vancouver management was delighted to get a coach of Lapointe&rsquo;s calibre.&ldquo;We had gotten to know Ron when he coached in Fredericton (an AHL entry that was affiliated with both Quebec and Vancouver) two years ago,&rdquo; says Canuck vice-president Brian Burke. &ldquo;Ron did an excellent job in the two areas where a minor-league coach needs to excel. First, he managed to win. Players have to come up through a winning system. If you don&rsquo;t believe me, just look at the Montreal organization.&ldquo;Second, he develops players. That&rsquo;s why we spend a $1 million per year on a farm team. Ron is just excellent in both areas.&rdquo;After the Canucks were satisfied Lapointe&rsquo;s health was no longer an issue, they signed him in early August.Life, for Lapointe, hasn&rsquo;t been just one big stroll from the hospital to the bench. After surgery, he remained in hospital for 10 days, five of which were spent in intensive care. He convalesced for months at his home in Quebec. Until he mustered enough energy last spring to attend major junior hockey&rsquo;s championship, the Memorial Cup, he said he &ldquo;wasn&rsquo;t feeling that good.&rdquo;Part of his ill feeling might have been caused by the situation in Quebec. When he stepped down as coach, the team was 11-20-3 and it was rumored he was about to be fired.Jean Perron was named coach when Lapointe took ill. Lapointe, after convalescing, was to be named director of player development.But when Michel Bergeron was hired as coach at season&rsquo;s end, all bets were off. Perron was tabbed for the development post; Lapointe was released. The Nordiques gave no reason for their decisions.&ldquo;It was a tough situation,&rdquo; Lapointe recalls. &ldquo;There were rumors going around that I&rsquo;d be replaced or fired (as coach). Maybe I missed the guillotine because of my illness.&rdquo;Any bad blood between Lapointe and the Nordiques has subsided. Nordiques&rsquo; president Marcel Aubut phoned Lapointe Nov. 12 to wish Lapointe a happy 40th birthday.While it might not be the NHL, Milwaukee isn&rsquo;t a bad place for Lapointe to put his own career back on track. Stocked with ample talent from the Canucks, the Admirals were off to a 9-6-1 start, two points out of first place in the West Division. They play before crowds that average about 7,000 in the 17,500-seat Bradley Center, North America&rsquo;s best minor-pro hockey arena.The Admirals&rsquo; quest for the Turner Cup is led by a pair of fourth-year centers, Tim Lenardon and Jeff Rohlicek, and rookie pro Rob Murphy. After 17 games, Lenardon was leading the IHL in scoring with 25 points. Rohlicek and Murphy, both of whom had played 16 games, were tied for fourth with 21 apiece.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got good people around me now, just as I did when I was recovering,&rdquo; says Lapointe. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got my wife and good people in the hockey business.&rdquo;Admirals&rsquo; management is impressed with the professionalism Lapointe has brought to the team.&ldquo;Ron Lapointe is doing a great job for us,&rdquo; says Milwaukee GM Phil Wittliff. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great addition as far as the Admirals are concerned.&ldquo;Not only does he develop players and win, he&rsquo;s also been a great ambassador to the community.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01706/5755329-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="449" height="599"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02495/5755322-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="1421" height="1845"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Lapointe now (inset) and in 1988 behind the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; bench. The Milwaukee coach has been taking better care of himself since a bout with cancer.</figcaption></div>Although he&rsquo;s in no rush, Lapointe would like another crack at the NHL. He worked his way up the ladder once before. Lapointe coached six seasons in the QMJHL. He had been an assistant to Terry Simpson for Canada&rsquo;s entry in the 1985 World Junior Championships. He then spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals before taking the head-coaching position at Fredericton for 1987-88.&ldquo;Eventually, I may have two considerations for our farm team,&rdquo; says Burke. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have to re-establish its location, because Milwaukee might be in the NHL (if the NHL chooses to expand and picks Milwaukee for an expansion franchise), and I&rsquo;ll also have to find a replacement for Ron Lapointe because he&rsquo;ll be back in the NHL.&rdquo;However, the current Admirals&rsquo; skipper has set no timetable for his return to the NHL.&ldquo;I have a two-year contract to coach Milwaukee,&rdquo; says Lapointe. &ldquo;And that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m looking at right now. I say let the chips fall where they may. If I&rsquo;m still back in Milwaukee next year, 1&rsquo;11 still be most happy.&rdquo;And after some harrowing moments in Quebec last winter, you can bet that&rsquo;s not all Ron Lapointe is happy about these days.<h2>NHL STAR RECALLS TUTOR</h2>As a player, Ron Lapointe never advanced beyond the now-defunct Eastern League. But as a junior coach, he tutored future NHLers such as Chicago Blackhawk center Denis Savard, Los Angeles King goaltender Mario Gosselin, King left winger Mike Krushelnyski and St. Louis Blue left winger Sergio Momesso.&ldquo;I went up to see him (Lapointe) in Milwaukee,&rdquo; says Savard, who played midget and junior hockey under Lapointe in Verdun.&ldquo;He looked great. It may sound strange, but he looks better than before he got sick.&ldquo;When he got sick, I was hurt personally. He&rsquo;s not only one of the best coaches I ever had, he&rsquo;s a great person. He would help you with things on and off the ice. He&rsquo;s a great communicator and great human being.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03351/5755315-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="414" height="660"><figcaption class="caption-body">Denis Savard</figcaption></div>Lapointe&rsquo;s relationship with Savard started in Montreal in the mid-70s, even before the two were part of the same midget team. As a player at George Williams College in Montreal, Lapointe looked after Savard and his friends at practice.&ldquo;Ronnie would take care of us and give us sticks and pucks,&rdquo; recalls Savard.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad to see he&rsquo;s getting another chance. Quebec didn&rsquo;t have too much of a team last year. Ronnie will be back in the NHL soon.&rdquo;&mdash;Matt Carlson &#9632;

f0028-01

A NEW BEGINNING

<div class="byline">BY DAVE GARLICK AND RAND SIMON</div>A quick glance at the International League&rsquo;s West Division standings would give the impression the Indianapolis Ice was struggling.But a closer look revealed a team with a .636 winning percentage. The Ice had been hot, winning six of seven games.So why was the Ice only one spot out of last place?Simple, the club hadn&rsquo;t played enough to move up in the standings.As of Nov. 16, the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; affiliate had played just 11 games this season, at least four fewer games than any other team.The club asked for a light weekday home schedule early in the season, a situation which Ice coach Darryl Sutter said may have helped the team get off to such a good start.The Ice hadn&rsquo;t played a mid-week game until Nov. 22, so the young team has been able to come together with plenty of practice time.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s good to have a lot of practices early,&rdquo; said Sutter. &ldquo;We have been able to work on our conditioning and the system. It wasn&rsquo;t evident early (the club was winless in its first four games) but it has been lately.&rdquo;Sutter said the players don&rsquo;t mind all the practice time.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think they&rsquo;ve gotten tired of practice yet, but it has been a little tedious at times,&rdquo; said Sutter. &ldquo;The players have been very interested in using the time to get themselves in the best condition possible.&rdquo;When the Ice has played, it has taken to Sutter&rsquo;s defensive style.The Ice limited Salt Lake to just four shots on goal in the first period Nov. 10, and the Eagles got just 18 shots at goalie Jimmy Waite in the Ice&rsquo;s 4-1 win.&ldquo;A coach doesn&rsquo;t have to teach offense,&rdquo; said Sutter. &ldquo;Guys are drafted for their offensive abilities. Offense is natural. But they have to leam defense, and our players are doing a great job of it.&rdquo;It certainly doesn&rsquo;t hurt to have Waite in goal.The IHL player of the week for the period ending Nov. 12 had a goals-against average of 2.29. Chicago&rsquo;s first-round pick in 1987, Waite stopped 212 of 235 shots.The schedule will heat up for the Ice in December when the team plays 17 games in 29 days.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll get busy in a hurry,&rdquo; said Sutter. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll find out how well-conditioned they are, and how well they have learned the system.&rdquo;<h2>DESROSIERS IN</h2>Dennis Desrosiers, 40, was named general manager of the Fort Wayne Komets Nov. 13, following the resignation of David Welker.Welker, the owner of the club, decided he didn&rsquo;t have enough hockey expertise to continue as GM. Welker will devote all his energy to running the financial aspects of the team.Desrosiers was GM of the Saginaw Hawks last season. But when the franchise was placed in suspension by the IHL, Desrosiers was out of a job.&ldquo;Right now I&rsquo;m just trying to find out where we stand in Fort Wayne,&rdquo; said Desrosiers. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had a lot of talks with the owner and the. coach, Al Sims.&ldquo;I think there&rsquo;s a good nucleus of talent here. We&rsquo;re in okay shape and we&rsquo;ve done it with the special teams not being very good.&rdquo;In fact, the Komets had both the worst power play and penalty-killing units in the IHL.Desrosiers signed a one-year contract with the unaffiliated club.<h2>PROMOTIONS</h2>Muskegon lost two of its hottest scorers when Jamie Leach and Mark Kachowski were recalled by Pittsburgh Nov. 13. Leach had three goals and three assists in his last four games before the recall, while Kachowski was 3-2-5 in the same span.Leach, son of former Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; star Reg Leach, got assists in each of his first two NHL games, Nov. 21 and Nov. 23, on goals by Troy Loney. &#9632;

LIGHT SCHEDULE HAS ICE HEATING UP

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div>Moncton coach Dave Farrish was a defenseman during his playing career, but that only half-explains why the Hawks had allowed the fewest goals in the American League after six weeks.&ldquo;Maybe because I was a defenseman is the reason I&rsquo;m stressing it,&rdquo; said Farrish, rookie coach of the Hawks. &ldquo;But defense has to be a learned skill (for a player) to make it to the NHL. I&rsquo;m not doing this for my own good. I&rsquo;m doing it for their good.&rdquo;There&rsquo;s another reason for keeping the play tight&mdash;the Hawks were without several of their top offensive threats. Scott Schneider and Stu Kulak were sidelined with broken hands and Brent Hughes was recalled by the Jets.That didn&rsquo;t seem to bother the Hawks, who won six straight games after losing six in a row. The key to the winning streak was the goaltending of Bob Essensa and Rick Tabaracci.The winning streak began Oct. 29 with Tabar-accis first pro shutout. He made 34 saves and the Hawks killed off nine power plays in a 3-0 victory at Utica.&ldquo;The goaltending has been excellent,&rdquo; Farrish said.&rdquo; It has been one of our strong points.&rdquo;Essensa, who was recalled by the Jets and replaced by Tom Draper, was 3-3 with a 2.51 goals-against average. Tabaracci was 4-4 with a 3.02 GAA. Both had save percentages over .900.&ldquo;They are complete opposites,&rdquo; Farrish said. &ldquo;Tabaracci is more like Ron Hextall. He handles the puck, throws body checks and is very involved. Essensa is quiet. He seldom leaves his crease, cuts down the angles and blocks the shots.&rdquo;The Hawks had allowed just 40 goals in their first 14 games and made an early bid to capture the league&rsquo;s Harry Hap Holmes Trophy for fewest goals against. The last time a Moncton team won it was in 1981-82, when Farrish played defense for the Calder Cup-champion New Brunswick Hawks.<h2>STREAK ENDS</h2>Cape Breton&rsquo;s Kim Issel had a 12-game point streak snapped in the Oilers&rsquo; 5-4 victory at Newmarket Nov. 14.Issel, who had goals in 10 of the 12 games during the streak, led the league in scoring with 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists).The Oilers also welcomed 6-foot-5, 224-pound Mike Ware from Edmonton. It didn&rsquo;t take long for Ware to get into action. In his second game, he fought Adirondack&rsquo;s Chris McRae.Last February, Ware got a 20-game AHL suspension for throwing a stick at a linesman from the penalty box.<h2>CHANGE OF HEART</h2>Defensemen Bill Berg and Dale DeGray have returned to their teams after brief retirements.Berg left the Springfield Indians Nov. 4 for his home in St. Catharines, Ont. After a week, he was back with the Indians.DeGray left the New Haven Nighthawks Nov. 3, before their seven-game road trip. He rejoined them for the Nov. 10 game at Moncton.The Nighthawks lost all seven games on their road trip, but got some help from the parent Los Angeles Kings, who assigned forwards Craig Duncanson and Mikael Lindholm Nov. 13.<h2>PALACE OF DOOM</h2>The Maine Mariners suffered their first loss on the road, a 5-4 setback at Sherbrooke Nov. 12. The Mariners had gone their first six road games without a loss (3-0-3). The loss at Sherbrooke extended the Mariners&rsquo; winless streak at the Sports Palace to 11 games (0-9-2)&hellip;Greg C. Adams, in his first game in the AHL in almost five seasons, had three goals and two assists in Halifax&rsquo;s 7-3 victory over New Haven Nov. 9. Three nights later in the rematch with the Nighthawks, Adams had a goal and two assists in the.. Citadels&rsquo; 10-6 victory&hellip;Springfield&rsquo;s JeffHackett recorded his first pro shutout, making 32 saves in a 2-0 victory over Sherbrooke Nov. 11. &#9632;

FARRISH STRESSES DEFENSE IN MONCTON

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>If hockey had a Houdini Award, Rocky Dundas would be at the top of the list of candidates.For like the great magician and showman, the Newmarket Saints&rsquo; right winger has continued his career by escaping a seemingly impossible situation.When negotiations for a contract with the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; organization ended in early September, Dundas had one option&mdash;a trainingcamp tryout. After a solid junior career in Kelowna, Spokane and Medicine Hat of the Western League, and two seasons in the AHL with Sherbrooke, the July bridegroom wanted some security. None was available.&ldquo;I thought the way things happened that, here I was, 22 years old with pretty fair stats to back me up&mdash;and maybe I was at the point of retiring, which was pretty scary,&rdquo; said Dundas, who had 12-29-41 totals in 63 games last season in Sherbrooke. &ldquo;My wife and I stuck it out and decided to wait and see What happened. It turned out for the good.&rdquo;Dundas contacted Saints&rsquo; coach Paul Gardner about a tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the same opportunity he had turned down earlier. Toronto eventually gave him a second invitation and one month later he was on the Leafs&rsquo; roster for the season opener at Los Angeles.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pretty crazy story. You don&rsquo;t hear one like this very often&mdash;getting a tryout and staying up,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty remarkable. I&rsquo;m thankful to the organization for giving me a chance.&rdquo;&ldquo;He had a real good training camp and impressed some people and I know (Toronto coach) Doug Carpenter liked him for his ability to take the man and get involved in the game,&rdquo; said Gardner. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what sort of won him a spot in the organization. When Rock&rsquo;s at his best, that&rsquo;s what he&rsquo;s doing: bumping and grinding and taking the body.&rdquo;After playing in five games with the Leafs, Dundas was reassigned to Newmarket. In 11 games with the Saints, he had four goals, eight points and the respect of his teammates.&ldquo;He gives you a grinding rightwinger who is a good team man,&rdquo; Gardner said. &ldquo;He really sticks up for his team and that&rsquo;s something that I think we&rsquo;ve lacked a little bit in Newmarket. I think it&rsquo;s rubbing off on everybody.&rdquo;Dundas was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round in 1985. As a rookie, he was loaned to Baltimore for two weeks, but spent the rest of the season, and last season, with Sherbrooke.After parting ways with the Canadiens last summer, Dundas figured he would have no trouble finding another job. It proved to be more difficult than he expected.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s got great desire and that&rsquo;s a big part of it,&rdquo; Gardner said. &ldquo;He won himself a job here and he&rsquo;s willing to work pretty hard. He&rsquo;s still a young guy with good skills.&rdquo;Exactly the kind of tools needed for a great escape.<h2>LUDZIK OUT</h2>Center Steve Ludzik was knocked out of the Rochester lineup for an indefinite period with an eye injury, suffered Nov. 12 in a game against Cape Breton.Ludzik, 28, was struck in the left eye by Shaun Van Allen&rsquo;s stick during a Rochester power play early in the second period. Referee Mick McGeough and the linesmen did not see the incident and no penalty was called. Ludzik suffered three tears to the cornea and a slight tear to the retina. The full extent of the damage will not be determined until the bleeding in the eye subsides.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m upset because a guy should know how to handle his stick in this day and age,&rdquo; Ludzik said.<h2>ROOKIE&rsquo;S FIRST</h2>Adirondack rookie center Dennis Holland scored his first pro goal against Cape Breton goaltender Mike Greenlay in a 3-3 tie Nov. 11. Holland, 20, scored 82 goals for Portland in the Western League last season when he was the league&rsquo;s leading scorer. He had 13 assists in his first 14 games with the Red Wings, and got that elusive first goal in the 15th&hellip;Baltimore center Mike Richard is on better than a goal-a-game pace, with 16 in the Skipjacks&rsquo; first 15 games&hellip; Hershey lost two of its top three scorers when Don Biggs and Jiri Latal were recalled by Philadelphia Nov. 11. &#9632;

DUNDAS ESCAPES WITH A JOB IN NEWMARKET

<div class="byline">BY MATT CARLSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01696/5755432-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goaltender Warren Sharpies says there&rsquo;s added pressure to win at Michigan this season, because of the number of seniors on the team.</figcaption></div>The Michigan Wolverines are on a mission.The Wolverines will settle for nothing less than an NCAA championship. Next year, by necessity, will be a rebuilding season; nine seniors will have graduated.Early in the season, the Wolverines appeared on the right track. After 10 games, Michigan&rsquo;s record was 6-3-1, good for third place in the Central Collegiate Hockey Asscociation.&ldquo;They played with a lot of spark and jump,&rdquo; Illinois-Chicago coach Vai Belmonte said Oct. 21, after the Wolverines defeated the Flames 1-0 in Chicago. &ldquo;They had fire in their eyes and were more emotional than I&rsquo;ve ever seen a Michigan team.&rdquo;The Wolverines said they feel under pressure to perform.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a critical year for the program,&rdquo; said senior goaltender Warren Sharpies. &ldquo;People are expecting a lot out of us.&rdquo;Sharpies said he and his fellow seniors take the &ldquo;one-game-at-a time&rdquo; approach&mdash;but at the same time, they also want to make a mark in history.&ldquo;This is our last year here,&rdquo; said defenseman Todd Copeland. &ldquo;We want to be known for bringing the program back and we want to go somewhere in the playoffs.&rdquo;&ldquo;We realistically think we can win a league championship with our nine senior leaders and underclassmen,&rdquo; said defenseman and cocaptain Alex Roberts.<blockquote class="pullQuote">MICHIGAN&rsquo;S LAST NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP CAME IN &rsquo;64.</blockquote>Post-season play has been a problem for Michigan in recent years. Though the team has won seven NCAA crowns&mdash;more than any other school&mdash;the Wolverines have not copped the national title since 1963-64. Michigan&rsquo;s last trip to the NCAA Final Four was in 1976-77, when it fell 6-5 in overtime to Wisconsin.Following the loss to the Badgers, the Michigan program slipped below .500. The school subsequently switched from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association to the CCHA for 1981-82 and managed a fourth-place finish.Former NHLer Red Berenson, who starred with Michigan as a player from 1959 to &rsquo;62, returned as coach in 1984-85. The Wolverines finished ninth of nine teams in the CCHA that season, 13-26-1 overall.Since then, Michigan has climbed steadily, hitting fourth place in the CCHA last season, 22-15-4 overall. The Wolverines&rsquo; conference record of 17-11-4 netted them home ice advantage in the opening round of the best-of-three CCHA playoffs.But Michigan fell 2-1 to Bowling Green in the initial round, dropping the third contest 3-2 in triple overtime. The Wolverines again were denied a trip to the CCHA Tournament at Detoit&rsquo;s Joe Louis Arena.In March, Michigan expects to make the journey from Ann Arbor down the &ldquo;Road to the Joe&rdquo; and, perhaps, beyond.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be disappointed if we&rsquo;re not in the top two or three teams in the league this season,&rdquo; said Berenson. &ldquo;Each year we&rsquo;ve improved. And our chemistry is very good. I&rsquo;m finding it has improved each year, too.&rdquo;CCHA observers have attributed Michigan&rsquo;s lack of success in recent years to the relaxed atmosphere at the school. Wealthy UM alumni softened the hockey team&rsquo;s competitive drive, it was claimed, by lavishing too much attention on it.&ldquo;We have the reputation of being the country club of the CCHA,&rdquo; said senior center and co-captain Mike Moes, a Burlington, Ont., native.&ldquo;We have to fight down that (reputation) and work our rear ends off. We need to prove that we&rsquo;re not just a bunch of spoiled kids. We need to win.&rdquo;Michigan&rsquo;s formula for winning this season is as traditional as the 68-year-old Wolverine program itself. Berenson has stressed a smart, assertive, but defense-minded game plan. After 10 games, the Wolverines had allowed 29 goals, fewer than any CCHA team except Lake Superior (20).&ldquo;His (Berenson&rsquo;s) philosophy is if the other team doesn&rsquo;t score, you can&rsquo;t lose,&rdquo; said Copeland. &ldquo;If you keep the goals-against down, then you&rsquo;re going to win a lot of games.&rdquo;Another key will be Sharpies, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound Calgary native. He was 14-8-2 last season with a 3.58 GAA and .883 save percentage. Through 10 games this season, the netminder had a 2.96 GAA and .894 save percentage.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s some added pressure in playing goal,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;But no one player is more important than any other on this team.&rdquo;The Wolverines have been getting a balanced scoring attack. After 10 games, junior left winger Don Stone led the team with five goals and five assists. Four players&mdash;Moes, senior center Rob Brown, sophomore right winger Ted Kramer and sophomore left winger Denny Felsner&mdash;had nine points. Copeland was 4-4-8 and Roberts was 2-5-7.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more than the seniors,&rdquo; said Berenson. &ldquo;Juniors, sophomores like Felsner and Kramer, and freshmen are contributing. The feeling is this team is just better. We keep telling them that they can be as good as they want to be.&rdquo;But the Michigan seniors still are leading the charge.&lsquo;We have a lot of guys who are making their last run for the roses,&rdquo; said Sharpies, a ninthround pick of the Calgary Flames in the 1986 entry draft. &ldquo;For a lot of us, this will be our last chance for competition at this level.&ldquo;And for those guys who do want to move on (13 current Wolverines have been selected in the NHL&rsquo;s entry or supplemental drafts), the better the team does this season, the better chance they&rsquo;ll have at going on to do something. So it&rsquo;s a double-edged sword. We want to win for the team this year and for ourselves in the future.&rdquo;<h2>FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL OVERSHADOW PUCKSTERS</h2>Michigan&rsquo;s hockey program doesn&rsquo;t lack financial and administrative support, but it does fight for attention.&ldquo;This is a nationally renowned university in every aspect,&rdquo; says coach Red Berenson. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s only natural that our athletic department also will have a big-time football and basketball program.&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it, those sports draw more people than hockey (in the United States). But that doesn&rsquo;t bother me in the least. It would bother me if we were treated poorly, but we&rsquo;re not.&rdquo;Last spring. Michigan&rsquo;s basketball team copped the NCAA championship. Football is an annual ritual in Ann Arbor, where crowds of 100,000 are the norm. The school&rsquo;s celebrated athletic director, Bo Schembechler, has been the football coach for the past 21 years. But while Schembechler and his team are accustomed to national publicity and attention, Michigan&rsquo;s hockey program just can&rsquo;t make the same splash.&ldquo;I was in the same situation when I coached in the NHL in St. Louis,&rdquo; says Berenson, who guided the Blues from 1979 to &rsquo;82. &ldquo;I felt the same way about the football Cardinals (since moved to Phoenix) and baseball Cardinals. We all had our day in the sun.&rdquo;The Wolverines came close to landing prize recruit, Eric Lindros, a 16-year-old phenom from Toronto who is playing Tier II in Detroit (with Compuware). Lindros, a 6-foot-4,217-pound center who is touted as potential NHL superstar and top pick for the 1991 entry draft, was considering joining Berenson&rsquo;s team. But it&rsquo;s expected he&rsquo;ll play in the major junior Ontario League in the new year.&ldquo;We were not heavily recruiting him and never were,&rdquo; the coach says. &ldquo;But it shows that college hockey has come a long way when a kid like Eric Lindros considers us and the CCHA.&rdquo;&mdash;Matt Carlson &#9632;

f0030-01

NOW OR NEVER

<div class="byline">BY LARRY MAHONEY</div>Merrimack College won for the first time as a member of Hockey East Nov. 11, but only 83 spectators can say they witnessed the 6-5 overtime triumph over Northeastern at Boston&rsquo;s Matthews Arena.Because of a measles outbreak on the Northeastern campus, only people born before Jan. 1, 1957, were permitted to attend. Current immunization techniques for measles don&rsquo;t guarantee a person will have the necessary antibodies to fight the disease until age 33. All other people at the rink, including players, had to be immunized before the game.The previous night, only necessary officials were allowed to attend Northeastern&rsquo;s 7-4 win over Lowell.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re used to playing in front of small crowds,&rdquo; quipped Merrimack coach Ron Anderson.&ldquo;We were pretty happy with (the win),&rdquo; said Anderson. &ldquo;We have to play at the top of our game just to be in games, and hope the opponents aren&rsquo;t at the top of their game. Northeastern had played Friday night, we were well-rested. We played as well as we could play and they weren&rsquo;t real sharp.&rdquo;Anderson said he was pleased with his team&rsquo;s performance in its intial season in Hockey East. After four league games, the Warriors were 1-3.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy that we&rsquo;re playing as well as we can as a team right now,&rdquo; said Anderson. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have our ups and downs. We don&rsquo;t match up, talent-wise, with anybody in the league. Hopefully, we&rsquo;ll be able to steal a few games like we did on Saturday night.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01642/5755463-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="566" height="784"><figcaption class="caption-body">Senior goalie Matt Merten led the Friars to a 4-0 start.</figcaption></div><h2>HUSKIES HOT</h2>The loss to Merrimack Nov. 11 was Northeastern&rsquo;s first in Hockey East play, after three wins.Two of the key players for the Huskies this season have been junior defenseman Rob Cowie and sophomore goalie Tom Cole.Through Northeastern&rsquo;s first six games (4-2 overall), Cowie had six goals and four assists. The school record for goals by a defenseman is 14, set by Dean Webb during the 1961-62 season.Cole was 4-0 with a 2.75 GAA and a .904 save percentage.Freshman goalie Scott Hopkins took both losses, 5-3 to Clarkson Nov. 3, and the Merrimack setback Nov. 11.<h2>3,030 VISION</h2>The Providence Friars, off to a 4-0 start, attracted a sellout crowd of 3,030 at Schneider Arena for an 8-4 win over Boston College Nov. 11. It was their first sellout since Jan. 18, 1986, when they played Minnesota-Duluth.The Friars&rsquo; 4-0 start was their best since 1976-77, when the team set a school record by winning its first six games.Senior goalie Matt Merten led the way this season with a 2.27 GAA and a .908 save percentage.&ldquo;Matt is stronger physically this year and he&rsquo;s more determined,&rdquo; said Friars&rsquo; coach Mike McShane.<h2>STREAK SNAPPED</h2>Boston University&rsquo;s 3-2 overtime win Nov. 11 in Boston was its first victory over Maine since Feb. 15, 1986, when the Terriers beat the Black Bears 6-3 in Orono.Maine had won 11 in a row over BU, including six at the Terriers&rsquo; Walter Brown Arena. &#9632;

f0031-01

WARRIORS HOPE WINNING BECOMES CONTAGIOUS

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>The streak at Brown University goes on&hellip;sort of.Going into the first weekend of the 1989-90 season, the Bears were lugging the albatross of a 25-game losing streak around their necks. Their last win came Nov. 11, 1988, 5-4 over Dartmouth in the 1988-89 season opener.The winless streak was extended to 27 when the Bears faced Dartmouth and Harvard in the opening weekend of Eastern College Athletic Conference play&mdash;but Brown also came out of the weekend with a two-game unbeaten streak.The Bears began the season Nov. 10 with a 5-5 tie against Dartmouth, then battled the defending national champion Crimson to a 3-3 deadlock Nov. 11.Brown&rsquo;s style of play in the first weekend of the season was totally different from what ECAC rivals had seen in past years.<h2>ECAC</h2>&ldquo;Last year, we were a team that had to sit back and play more passively,&rdquo; said second-year coach Bob Gaudet. &ldquo;With the kids we had, I thought we had to do it. This year, instead of trying to capitalize on the other team&rsquo;s mistakes in the neutral zone, we&rsquo;re trying to force things more.&ldquo;When we make errors, they&rsquo;re going to be huge errors, but this style is more fun to play and it&rsquo;s more fun to watch.&rdquo;That aggressive style enabled Brown to come back from big deficits in both games. The Bears trailed Dartmouth by three goals at one point, and fell behind 3-1 in the second period of the Harvard game.It was Brown&rsquo;s first point off Harvard since Dec. 3., 1983, when the two teams skated to a 4-4 draw.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not happy with ties,&rdquo; said Gaudet, &ldquo;but the way they came about was nice.&rdquo;After a 1-25 season, 0-0-2 didn&rsquo;t look too bad.<h2>UNLUCKY 13</h2>Harvard&rsquo;s season-opening 6-2 loss to Yale Nov. 10 extended the Crimson&rsquo;s record to 1-9-3 in games played at Yale&rsquo;s Ingalls Rink over the last 13 years.The Crimson took a 2-0 lead, but sophomore left winger Jeff Blaeser scored his first career hat trick to spark the Yale comeback.&ldquo;Harvard-Yale is a special rivalry,&rdquo; said Yale coach Tim Taylor.&rdquo;Those are games that are often in the hands of emotion.&ldquo;Harvard has been dealing with a lot of hoopla after last year&rsquo;s sensational finish and I don&rsquo;t think they&rsquo;ve had time to develop a team identity. On the other hand, we were still building on last year&rsquo;s team. I just think they have to readjust.&rdquo;<h2>SAINTS ALIVE</h2>St. Lawrence snapped its seasonopening three-game losing streak by downing Vermont 4-0 Nov. 11. Until junior Les Kuntar stonewalled the Catamounts, St. Lawrence goalies had allowed 20 goals on 87 shots on net&hellip;Vermont junior center John LeClair, who missed 16 games last season with a thigh injury, was sidelined again, this time with an infection in his hand.,.RPI established two records Nov. 10, when the Engineers steamrolled the Saints 11-2. The 11 goals were the most ever scored by RPI against St. Lawrence, and the nine-goal margin of victory was the largest ever between the two teams. The previous records were set in RPl&rsquo;s 10-2 win Feb. II, 1984&hellip;Colgate junior goalie Dave Gagnon was sharp in the first weekend of league play, making 20 saves in a 2-0 shutout of Army, then giving up one power-play goal in a 2-1 victory over Princeton. &#9632;

BEARS EXTEND A STREAK, START ANOTHER

<div class="byline">BY ANDY BAGGOT</div>Bob Johnson has expressed an interest in returning to the University of Wisconsin as athletic director.&ldquo;There is no doubt in my mind that I could do the job,&rdquo; said the former Badger hockey coach, who is now executive director of the Amateur Hockey Association of the United States.The position became available Nov. 13 when Ade Sponberg resigned under pressure after 2&frac12; years on the job. His resignation becomes effective May, 15, 1990.Johnson coached the Badgers from 1966 to &rsquo;82, compiling a 367-175-23 record and winning three NCAA titles. He coached the NHL&rsquo;s Calgary Flames from &rsquo;82 to &rsquo;87, before accepting the AHAUS job. Johnson also coached the 1976 U.S. Olympic team.Johnson said he was asked to apply for the job 2&frac12; years ago after Elroy Hirsch retired, but declined. This time he&rsquo;s interested.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really hard for me to give you an answer until I know more about the job, but I&rsquo;d like to hear more about it,&rdquo; Johnson said from his home in Colorado Springs, Colo.&ldquo;I was an associate professor at the university, with tenure. I know the system. I was part of the athletic department and part of the phys ed department. I have a lot of ties to UW.&rdquo;Johnson is one of several candidates who has surfaced since Chancellor Donna Shalala asked Sponberg to step aside. The athletic department is in the midst of a serious budget crisis&mdash;the current deficit is more than $1 million&mdash;and Shalala felt Sponberg was not the man to solve the problems.Coach Jeff Sauer, who led the Badgers to a national championship after replacing Johnson in 1982-83, has also expressed an interest in the job.Barney Webb, chairman of the UW Athletic Board, said the search for a new athletic director could take up to four months.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01683/5755518-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="550" height="696"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Johnson could become &lsquo;Badger Bob&rsquo; again soon.</figcaption></div><h2>KYLE PICKED</h2>Northern Michigan assistant coach Walt Kyle will join Maine coach Shawn Walsh behind the bench when a select squad of U.S. college players take on Sokol Kiev of the Soviet Elite League in a two-game challenge series. The games are scheduled for Dec. 19 in Orlando, Fla., and Dec. 20 in Dallas, Texas.The series is part of an 11-game tour by Sokol Kiev. The Soviet team will play Adirondack (American League) Dec. 6, Fort Wayne (International League) Dec. 7, Muskegon (IHL) Dec. 9 and Maine (AHL) Dec. 12. Sokol Kiev will play five college teams&mdash;Wisconsin Dec. 11, Boston College Dec. 13, Maine Dec. 15, Harvard Dec. 17 and Lowell Dec. 22.<h2>250 FOR BUETOW</h2>When Colorado College defeated Air Force 7-1 in a non-conference game Nov. 11, it marked the 250th career victory for coach Brad Buetow.He became the fourth active WCHA coach to top the 250-win plateau. Wisconsin&rsquo;s Sauer (18th season) had 359, North Dakota&rsquo;s Gino Gasparini (12th season) had 305 and Northern Michigan&rsquo;s Rick Comley (14th season) had 274, as of Nov. 11.<h2>DOMINANT</h2>Through the first five weeks of the season, WCHA teams were 15-3-1 against non-league competition. Wisconsin (5-0), Colorado College (3-01), Denver (2-0), Minnesota-Duluth (2-0) and North Dakota (2-0) led the way. &#9632;

f0032-01

JOHNSON INTERESTED IN WISCONSIN A.D. JOB

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01606/5755573-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; center Len Barrie is on pace to break the Western League record for points in a season. The 20-year-old is a professional free agent.</figcaption></div>The Kamloops Blazers used to hate Len Barrie. But that was a long time ago. Thai was last season.Since then, the 20-year-old center has gone from the top of the Blazers&rsquo; most-wanted list to the lop of its scoring list. With 23 goals and 35 assists in his first 19 games, he has set a pace that could see him become the most prolific scorer in Western League history.Not bad for a guy who, until this season, was considered its biggest pain in the butt. In four seasons with the Calgary Wranglers (now defunct) and Victoria Cougars, Barrie made many enemies. But none were more hated than the Blazers, their fans and coach Ken Hitchcock.&ldquo;I can honestly say I can&rsquo;t remember one game when the guy didn&rsquo;t aggravate me,&rdquo; said Hitchcock. &ldquo;He was that Kenny Linesman, &lsquo;rat&rsquo; type of player. He played more on a checking line and his job was to antagonize the other teams&rsquo; centers.&ldquo;(But) this year it&rsquo;s a totally different role for him because he&rsquo;s expected to stay on the ice and he&rsquo;s expected to play in offensive situations.&rdquo;Despite his hale-hale relationship with the Blazers, Kamhloops was the only team Barrie wanted to go to when he requested a trade over the summer. The Cougars complied by sending him to the Blazers for 18-year-old right winger Mark Cipriano, who had one assist in 19 games last season.&ldquo;I always knew the Blazers were a great organization,&rdquo; said Barrie. &ldquo;And I always respected Hitch as a coach. I knew he could help me play to my potential.&rdquo;<h2>WHL</h2>Thanks in large part to Barrie and linemates Phil Huber (20-29-49) and Mike Needham (19-24-43), the Blazers won 18 of their first 19 games and were the top-ranked team in the Canadian League. Lor his efforts. Barrie was named the inaugural winner of the CHL&rsquo;s player-of-the-month award.Barrie knows this season is pivotal to his future as a pro. Compounding the pressure to perform on the ice is the pressure brought on by supporting a family. Last November. Barrie married Kristy Gronnestad and the couple has a seven-month-old daughter. Victoria-Lynn.The 5-foot-l I, 190-pound native of Kelowna, B.C., thought he was well on his way to forging a career in the NHL when the Edmonton Oilers picked him in the sixth round of the 1988 entry draft. But he failed to impress the Oilers enough to win a contract, and they returned him to the Cougars as an unsigned draft choice.The rejection from the Oilers may prove to be a blessing in disguise. As a free agent, he now controls his own destiny and can offer his professional services to the highest bidder. And if he continues to produce points the way he did in the first quarter of the season, he may be able to spark a bidding war. He has engaged the services of Toronto-based player agent Don Meehan, who represents about 65 NHL. players.The struggling Victoria Cougars welcomed their third coach this season when 39-year-old Garry Cunningham was hired Nov. 12.Cunningham, who was coaching at Dawson College in Montreal, replaced Lyle Moffat, who remains as the team&rsquo;s marketing director. Moffat, who replaced Wayne Naka altera 1-5-1 start, took the job temporarily while the team conducted its search for a head coach.Moffat posted a 1-1 l-l record, but things didn&rsquo;t improve immediately under Cunningham. The new coach lost his Western League debut. 5-4 to the Portland Winter Hawks Nov. 15 in Portland.&mdash;Vance Oliver<h2>QMJHL</h2>Imagine the following scenario:After the whistle, player A jostles player B in hopes of drawing a swing&mdash;and a penalty. Player B retaliates with a haymaker.The penalties: Player A gets four minutes for delay of game; player B gets two minutes for roughing.Sound strange? It could very well happen, thanks to Nov. 13 changes to the Quebec League&rsquo;s roughing and delay-of-game rules.When one player pushes another after the whistle, the referee may now call a minor penally for roughing or delay of game. If the second player retaliates, he also receives a minor&mdash;but the first player then receives a double minor.In effect, then, the second player gets a free shot.That doesn&rsquo;t concern Hull Olympiques&rsquo; coach Alain Vigneault. however. Vigneault said the rule changes should achieve their objective ol preventing smaller players from provoking bigger players into conflicts.&ldquo;Right now, the small guys are having a field day bothering the big guys and they know they won&rsquo;t get hurt because of the full mask,&rdquo; said Vigneault. &ldquo;And this way. if a small guy starts something, he knows he&rsquo;s going to get a penally.&rdquo;The stiffest suspension ever handed out by QMJHL president Gilles Courteau was upheld at a league meeting Nov. 8.Six days earlier, Courteau suspended St-Jean Lynx left winger Stephane Boudrias for 15 games and coach Richard Liboiron for five. The Lynx appealed and lost the decision, as well as the $1,(000) bond they posted for the appeal.Boudrias was suspended for cross-checking Drummondvillc&rsquo;s Claude Boivin from behind in a 4-1 Lynx win Oct. 29. Liboiron was suspended for sending Boudrias on the ice.Both Boudrias and Liboiron began their suspensions by sitting out the Lynx&rsquo; 4-2 win over College Francais Nov. 10. Liboiron is eligible to return Nov. 24 against Hull; Boudrias is eligible Dec. 19, also against Hull.&mdash;Herb Zurkowsky<h2>OHL</h2>Bill LaForge&rsquo;s Niagara Falls honeymoon is over.The general manager-coach was fired by Niagara Falls Thunder owner Rick Gay Nov. 14. after guiding the team to a 4-14-2 record this season. Gay also fired assistant coaches Heavy Evason, Benny Rogano and Ron Coleman. Oshawa Generals&rsquo; assistant coach George Burnett was hired to replace LaForge as head coach Nov. 16.Burnett participated in the Generals&rsquo; afternoon practice Nov. 16 before losing his headcoaching debut 7-2 to the Petes that night in Peterborough.Gay said philosophical differences were the main reason behind LaForge&rsquo;s dismissal.&ldquo;I grew tired of his intimidation tactics, at his not getting along with the other coaches, at treating everyone but the players and staff as the dreaded enemy.&rdquo; said Gay. &ldquo;You have to be able to get along with people. Bill seemed to have a problem doing that.&rdquo;LaForgc. meanwhile, said he and Gay verbally agreed to a three-year contract alter last season and the team must continue Io pay him until the end of the 1991-92 season. Gay wouldn&rsquo;t disclose the agreement he had with LaForgc but denied the two agreed to a three-year deal.LaForgc joined the franchise in 1984-85 when it was based in Hamilton. Last season, the Thunder advanced to the league final before losing in six games to the Petes.The Eric Lindros derby is on.Lindros, the Sauli Ste. Marie Greyhounds&rsquo; first-round choice in 1989, will likely begin his OHL career between Jan. I and 10. when the Greyhounds trade his rights. The only question is where.Lindros, who refused to report to the Greyhounds, is playing for the Detroit Compuware Tier II team of the North American Junior League. After 11 games, the 16-year-old center led the league with 22 goals and 21 assists.At its board of governors meeting Nov. 13, the league ruled teams can trade their first-round choices between Jan. 1 and 10. Previously, teams had to wait a year before dealing first-rounders.Greyhounds&rsquo; director of operations Sherry Bassin said he is looking for an experienced player, a goaltender and a draft pick&mdash;&rdquo;for starters&rdquo;&mdash;in exchange for Lindros.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve already had one offer that is a joke,&rdquo; said Bassin, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m not in the mxxi for jokes. This isn&rsquo;t amateur night, it&rsquo;s the real thing.&rdquo;&mdash;Randy Russon &#9632;

f0033-01

BARRIE THE HATCHET

First they gave us the Big Mac, followed by the McChicken, McDLT and McRib.Now we have McMemorabilia.As part of a unique marketing concept, Rick Hession, a McDonald&rsquo;s franchise owner in Kingston, Ont., since 1972, remodeled his restaurant this May into a dining room/sports museum.The restaurant, located at 277 Bath Rd., includes permanent and temporary sports exhibits around the perimeter of the dining area, as well as memorabilia at the individual tables and at the drive-through window.&ldquo;Probably our most popular item has been a Babe Ruth autographed baseball,&rdquo; says Campbell Patterson, Kingston area marketing manager for McDonald&rsquo;s.Patterson listed a pair of Gordie Howe gloves, Kirk Muller autographed sticks and a Doug Gilmour exhibit as the most oftviewed hockey, displays. Muller and Gilmour are Kingston natives. So far the innovative restaurant, located in the same city as the International Hockey Hall of Fame, has met with rave reviews and financial success.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gone really well for us,&rdquo; says Patterson. &ldquo;Since we opened (May 8), we&rsquo;ve had a 35-per-cent increase in sales.&rdquo;Ex-Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; star Yvan Cournoyer, who made an appearance at the restaurant&rsquo;s unveiling, is impressed.&ldquo;I thought this would be a McDonald&rsquo;s with some interesting displays. Instead I found a museum that serves food.&rdquo;Former Winnipeg and Chicago superstar Bobby Hull, also in attendance opening night, echoes Cournoyer.&ldquo;This place is amazing,&rdquo; says Hull. &ldquo;I could come back again and again.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02521/5755635-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="541" height="753"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk Muller donated autographed sticks to the museum.</figcaption></div>Which, of course, is what Patterson and Hession hope will happen. In an effort to attract repeat customers Patterson said they try not to stick with any one exhibit for an extended period of time.&ldquo;Because we&rsquo;re located between downtown Kingston and the suburbs we attract mostly commuter traffic. So we try to rotate the displays to add variety.&rdquo;The sport theme restaurant, the first McDonald&rsquo;s in Canada to deviate from the traditional golden arches mold, is a variation of a rock &lsquo;n&rsquo; roll franchise in Chicago. &#9632;

f0034-02

PUCKS AND FRIES SERVED AT McMUSEUM

<h2>STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01657/5755981-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="984" height="902"></div><h2>RESULTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02508/5755974-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="485" height="810"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03409/5755967-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="465" height="135"></div><h2>POINTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04327/5755960-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="458" height="580"></div><h2>FUTURE GAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05269/5755953-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="348" height="711"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06242/5755946-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="348" height="717"></div><h2>HOME-ROAD RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07225/5755939-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="976" height="255"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08202/5755932-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="990" height="631"></div><h2>DIVISIONAL RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09188/5755925-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="986" height="816"></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-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10166/5755918-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="983" height="631"></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/f0035-11151/5755911-1-eng-US/f0035-112.jpg" title="f0035-11" width="976" height="619"></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/f0035-12135/5755904-1-eng-US/f0035-122.jpg" title="f0035-12" width="478" height="347"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-13121/5755897-1-eng-US/f0035-132.jpg" title="f0035-13" width="466" height="361"></div><h2>LEADING SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-14102/5755890-1-eng-US/f0035-142.jpg" title="f0035-14" width="984" height="591"></div><h2>INDIVIDUAL LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1591/5755883-1-eng-US/f0035-152.jpg" title="f0035-15" width="977" height="836"></div><h2>LEADING DEFENSEMEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1685/5755876-1-eng-US/f0035-162.jpg" title="f0035-16" width="975" height="402"></div><h2>LEADING ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-1769/5755869-1-eng-US/f0035-172.jpg" title="f0035-17" width="981" height="352"></div>TEAM-BY-TEAM SCORING<h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01624/5755862-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="983" height="704"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02457/5755855-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="991" height="692"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03369/5755848-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="986" height="668"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04279/5755841-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="985" height="335"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05226/5755834-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="997" height="361"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06195/5755827-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="1000" height="777"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07180/5755820-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="1004" height="834"></div><h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08171/5755813-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="998" height="589"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09163/5755806-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="994" height="124"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10158/5755799-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="1001" height="725"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11153/5755792-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="992" height="718"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12145/5755785-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="991" height="727"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13141/5755778-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="986" height="211"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01539/5755771-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="989" height="447"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-02396/5755764-1-eng-US/f0037-022.jpg" title="f0037-02" width="989" height="693"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-03307/5755757-1-eng-US/f0037-032.jpg" title="f0037-03" width="985" height="736"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-04252/5755750-1-eng-US/f0037-042.jpg" title="f0037-04" width="977" height="854"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-05221/5755743-1-eng-US/f0037-052.jpg" title="f0037-05" width="979" height="110"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-06192/5755736-1-eng-US/f0037-062.jpg" title="f0037-06" width="995" height="610"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-07169/5755729-1-eng-US/f0037-072.jpg" title="f0037-07" width="1005" height="851"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-08140/5755722-1-eng-US/f0037-082.jpg" title="f0037-08" width="995" height="677"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-09121/5755715-1-eng-US/f0037-092.jpg" title="f0037-09" width="993" height="770"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-10111/5755708-1-eng-US/f0037-102.jpg" title="f0037-10" width="986" height="720"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1193/5755701-1-eng-US/f0037-112.jpg" title="f0037-11" width="986" height="644"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1282/5755694-1-eng-US/f0037-122.jpg" title="f0037-12" width="991" height="676"></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-TIEO 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 (SA) SHOTS AGAINST (PCT) SAVE PERCENTAGE<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-1375/5755687-1-eng-US/f0037-132.jpg" title="f0037-13" width="975" height="540"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01627/5755680-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="981" height="979"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02486/5755673-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="991" height="987"></div><h2>GOALTENDING LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03393/5755666-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="984" height="858"></div> &#9632;

f0035-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

f0038-04

NHL SUMMARIES

ALL LEAGUE STANDINGSAS OF MON., NOV. 20<h2>AHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01256/5756673-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="588" height="1758"></div><h2>IHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02165/5756666-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="590" height="1453"></div><h2>OHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03122/5756659-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="582" height="1953"></div><h2>WHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04100/5756652-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="585" height="1353"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0587/5756645-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="591" height="458"></div><h2>QMJHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0680/5756638-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="583" height="1489"></div><h2>CCHA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0772/5756631-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="577" height="1379"></div><h2>WCHA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01267/5756624-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="584" height="1082"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02194/5756617-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="605" height="246"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03149/5756610-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="580" height="868"></div><h2>ECAC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04115/5756603-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="581" height="526"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0596/5756596-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="585" height="706"></div><h2>OUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0687/5756589-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="582" height="686"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0778/5756582-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="578" height="935"></div><h2>CWUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0871/5756575-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="595" height="1122"></div><h2>AUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0966/5756568-1-eng-US/f0042-092.jpg" title="f0042-09" width="597" height="1155"></div><h2>ECHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1059/5756561-1-eng-US/f0042-102.jpg" title="f0042-10" width="573" height="112"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1150/5756554-1-eng-US/f0042-112.jpg" title="f0042-11" width="602" height="938"></div><h2>TEAM CANADA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-1243/5756547-1-eng-US/f0042-122.jpg" title="f0042-12" width="595" height="2541"></div> &#9632;

f0041-01

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01275/5756704-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="543" height="622"></div>Not everyone knew what to make of Pierre Page in his first NHL season, as an assistant coach with the Calgary Flames in 1980.A high-strung graduate of Dalhousie University, Page possessed a legendary temper, to the point where some players were actually afraid of him. There was the time he finished a tirade by driving his fist through the dressing room wall.By his second season, Page had won over most of the Flames. The process was gradual, but slowly his message sunk in. His innovative approach showed up on special teams: The Flames&rsquo; power-play and penalty-killing systems were ahead of their time. They&rsquo;ll finish the decade with the best cumulative special-team stats in the league.So when Page moved on to coach the Minnesota North Stars in 1988, two things were assured: One, the special teams would improve. Two, the North Stars&rsquo; players would take time to warm up to him.When the North Stars, after years of mediocrity, began to grumble about Page, you knew they were finally headed in the right direction.The North Stars, circa 1987, were a coachkilling team without heart. Page&rsquo;s predecessor, Herb Brooks, didn&rsquo;t suddenly take stupid pills the minute he stepped behind the Minnesota bench. One of the most accomplished coaches of the 1980s, even Brooks couldn&rsquo;t turn around that collection of players.Page is the opposite of that team. He is all heart. He injected some of his fiery will to win into the team. Others who wouldn&rsquo;t buy into the program were summarily dispatched.But he has a reason for everything he does. You may not agree with him, but the more intelligent players eventually realize his philosophy is more productive than the irrational &lsquo;because-I-say-so approach&rsquo; some coaches use.The other thing that sets Page apart is his pioneering approach to conditioning. One reason the 1980 Flames couldn&rsquo;t get along with him is he made them work off the ice. That was in the days when players drank beer all summer.The first season in Calgary, one player&mdash;-Don Lever&mdash;was able to run two miles in 12 minutes. One put of 70. By the second season, there were five. The third season, coach Bob Johnson&rsquo;s first, there were 25.The North Stars finished with 59 points the season before he arrived. Last season, they made 70. This season, they&rsquo;re trying for 82 and a possible division crown.Are they getting closer?&ldquo;One day you think you are,&rdquo; said Page. &ldquo;The next, you&rsquo;re not sure. On paper, there&rsquo;s no doubt we are. We have more checkers, more speed, a few more scorers. Last year, there was (Brian) Bellows and (Dino) Ciccarelli to score, that&rsquo;s all. (Neal) Broten wasn&rsquo;t scoring. (Dave) Gagner came aboard, that made it three. We got (Mike) Gartner for Ciccarelli, that was a tradeoff. We got (Mike) Modano, that made it four. Then Broten started scoring. He&rsquo;s getting more goals already. He&rsquo;s on a 25-goal pace. Maybe 30. So if he does that, we&rsquo;ve got five guys over 20, which you have to have.&ldquo;The key is to get seven checkers to come close to 15 goals. If they don&rsquo;t, then they have to look at themselves.&rdquo;This season, Page went against the conventional wisdom and told his checkers they had to score.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s unusual, but&hellip;our checkers have to come closer to 15 goals. The guys that don&rsquo;t might not stay with us when we get better.&rdquo;Why? In explanation, Page related a talk he had with Canadiens&rsquo; coach Pat Burns, who sat Guy Carbonneau for four games last season.&ldquo;All Carbonneau wanted to do was block shots, pass the puck and play defense. He didn&rsquo;t want to shoot the puck any more, he didn&rsquo;t want to attack anymore, he didn&rsquo;t want to do anything else. Bums said, &lsquo;If that&rsquo;s all you want to do, you&rsquo;re not playing. He ended up with 26 goals. The best defensive player in the league and he ends up scoring 26. If you have a checker that can score 26, you&rsquo;ve got a winner.&rdquo;Still, until the personnel gets better, they&rsquo;ll improve because of defense. The North Stars were sixth in the league last season defensively.&ldquo;I knew our team was better the other day when we got a five-minute boarding penalty, so I had to put a guy in the box,&rdquo; said Page. &ldquo;I looked down the bench and out of the 12 forwards, there was only one guy I wanted to put in the box. I thought, &lsquo;We&rsquo;ve come a long way.&rsquo; Last year, I could think of about eight guys I wanted to send across right away, that I knew couldn&rsquo;t check.&rdquo;Ah, the problems of prosperity. &#9632;

f0043-01

NORTH STARS LEARNING UNDER TOUGH TASKMASTER

<h2>SABRES</h2>The Sabres&rsquo; Hall of Fame Committee elected the French Connection line of center Gilbert Perreault, left winger Rick Martin and right winger Rene Robert for induction to the Hall. The line, one of the most dominant in the history of the NHL, was together from the spring of 1972 until the fall of 1979. No induction date was set&hellip;The 3-0 loss to the Oilers Nov. 17 left the Sabres at 12-5-3. They did not get their 12th win of the 1988-89 season until Dec. 8, a 4-2 win at Boston&hellip;The Sabres shifted winger Alexander Mogilny from the left back to the right side. Scott Amiel moved from right back to left&hellip; Defensemen Larry Playfair and Shawn Anderson and forwards John Tucker and Ray Sheppard all made the three-game-in-four-night road trip out west Nov. 16-19, but did not play.<h2>CANADIENS</h2>The Canadiens had four more players injured in a rough game against the Toronto Maple Leafs Nov. 18. Jean-Jacques Daigneault was kept in hospital for close to a week after being struck under the right eye by a deflected puck. Guy Carbonneau suffered a jammed shoulder and broken nose when checked by Toronto defenseman Al Iafrate. Petr Svoboda suffered a concussion when checked by Leafs&rsquo; left winger Mark Osborne. Ryan Walter suffered a broken big toe on his left foot&hellip;Andrew Cassels, the Canadiens&rsquo; first-round choice in the 1987 entry draft, was recalled from Sherbrooke Nov. 19. Cassels had seven goals and 18 assists in 18 games for Montreal&rsquo;s farm club.,.Soboda has told Montreal management he wants to be traded to an American-based team.<h2>NORDIQUES</h2>Mats Sundin, the Nords&rsquo; first pick overall at the 1989 draft, scored three goals and two assists in six games for Djurgardens of the Swedish Elite League&hellip;Bryan Fogarty has been impressive since his recall from Halifax and has been paired with Jeff Brown on the the power play points&hellip;Daniel Dore wasn&rsquo;t playing too often, but the 19-year-old didn&rsquo;t seem to mind. He said he&rsquo;d rather stay in Quebec than go back to his junior team in Drummondville. But he has expressed an interest in playing in the world junior championships in Helsinki over the holidays. Goalie Stephane Fiset may also play for Canada. TheNordiques&rsquo; management said they had discussed the matter and hadn&rsquo;t ruled out the possibility of lending both youngsters to the national squad&hellip;Sergei Mylnikov, who had started only two games, was to have his status with the club decided shortly. It was possible he could be headed back to the Soviet Union.<h2>BRUINS</h2>The perplexing drought of Bruins&rsquo; second-year left winger Bob Joyce, who didn&rsquo;t score a point in the first 13 games, ended Nov. 15 when he had a goal and an assist against Hartford&hellip;In that game, enforcer Lyndon Byers scored his first goal since 1987-88&mdash;a streak of 60 games&hellip;Speedy defenseman Michael Thelven was ready to return from off-season knee surgery Nov. 18 against New Jersey, but his seasonal debut was put on hold a few days when he came down with a sore back&hellip;Greg Johnston, who&rsquo;d gone home earlier this season rather than accept a demotion to the minors, changed his mind and reported to the Maine Mariners Nov. 19. He still wanted a trade&hellip;The Bruns engineered their most monumental win in memory Nov. 16, when, with less than 2&frac12; minutes left, Ray Bourque. Cam Neely and Glen Wesley scored within 57 seconds, erasing a 2-0 Montreal lead&hellip;Two days later, the Bruins spotted the New Jersey Devils a 4-1 lead late in the second then rallied to win 6-4 as Andy Brickley scored three times in the final period.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02205/5756735-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="553" height="1012"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Joyce&rsquo;s 13-game pointscoring drought came to an end.</figcaption></div><h2>WHALERS</h2>Sylvain Cote, who missed eight games with a broken foot, returned Nov. 18 in the 3-2 loss against the New York Rangers to play a healthy 21 minutes, 33 seconds. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a little sore, but I kept the shifts short and I was okay,&rdquo; said Cote, the Whalers&rsquo; best defenseman until his injury in Boston Oct. 28&hellip;Defenseman Ulf Samuelsson was practising and should be back in the lineup by the end of November&hellip;Kevin Dineen extended his point streak to a team-best eight games, but Pat Verbeek rated among the hottest goal-scorers in the NHL with 15 in 22 games. He might also lead the league in hitting goal posts. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s 14,&rdquo; Verbeek said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable. I&rsquo;ve already had a full season&rsquo;s worth.&rdquo;&hellip;A disconcerting stat for the Whalers: Against teams with a better than .500 record, the club was 2-10. &#9632;

f0043-02

SABRES ELECT FRENCH CONNECTION TO HALL

<div class="byline">BY STEPHEN HARRIS</div>Nevin Markwart came buzzing and crashing into the NHL in 1983 with the nickname &ldquo;The Kamikaze Kid.&rdquo;He should have been dubbed, &ldquo;The Hard-Luck Kid.&rdquo;The oft-injured left winger went down again Nov. 13, dislocating his left shoulder for the second time in two weeks. The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder underwent surgery Nov. 18 and was expected to be lost to the Bruins for about three months.That was nothing new for Markwart, who&rsquo;s spent as much time on the injury list as on the ice.Two seasons ago, he suffered a near-identical injury to the same shoulder and missed 43 games.Then on March 26, 1988, one month after he returned, he suffered a tom abdominal muscle. That sidelined him for virtually the next 1&frac12; seasons.Markwart toiled diligently in his efforts to come back from the abdominal injury, but could play only two games during the 1988 playoffs, and only one American League game in Maine last season. His problem was corrected by off-season surgery done by Vancouver expert Dr. Andrew Seal.Markwart came back well, playing his trademark aggressive, all-out style. He scored a goal and two assists before the latest injury.&ldquo;If I was 31 right now, I&rsquo;d say the hell with it,&rdquo; said Markwart. &ldquo;When something like this happens, the thought of quitting pops into your mind.&ldquo;But I know I can&rsquo;t quit. Not yet. I&rsquo;m 24. I still have a few years left. For some strange reason, they want to keep paying me money. So as long as that&rsquo;s the situation, I have to go out and play.&rdquo;Markwart has always shown enough when healthy to convince the Bruins they were wise to take him from the Regina Pats in the first round (21st overall) of the 1983 draft. His fullest and best season was his first, 1983-84, when he played 70 games, scoring 14 goals and 16 assists.He&rsquo;s never stayed healthy for a full season since.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen anything else with him but injuries,&rdquo; said general manager Harry Sinden. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been injuries and more injuries, ever since we drafted him. Too bad for him, and for us.&rdquo;Markwart&rsquo;s latest setback came on a harmless-looking practice hit by teammate Glen Wesley.&ldquo;He hit me in the right spot and the joint just snapped right out,&rdquo; said Markwart. &ldquo;Once you hurt that joint, once it gets a little loose, it&rsquo;s vulnerable. It&rsquo;s pretty weird, though. I might have been able to go the whole year and not get hit in that one spot the way I got hit in practice.&ldquo;I just have to chalk it up to bad luck. And that&rsquo;s where I&rsquo;m going to leave it. Right now, I have to believe things will work out in the end. There&rsquo;s not a lot I can do about it. I can&rsquo;t see how things can be much worse. I&rsquo;m just looking forward to getting better.&rdquo;<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. 14: Peter Douris, RW. and Stephane Quintal, D, recalled from Maine (AHL).Nov. 16: Douris assigned to Maine.Nov. 19: Greg Johnston, RW, ended holdout and reported to Maine.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bob Carpenter, Ken Linseman, Andy Brickley, Greg Hawgood.LW&mdash;Randy Burridge, Bob Joyce, Rob Cimetta, John CarterRW&mdash;Bob Sweeney, Cam Neely, Lyndon Byers. Bob Gould, Mike Millar, Peter Douris.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque. Garry Galley, Stephane Quintal.LD&mdash;Glen Wesley, Al Pedersen, Don Sweeney.G&mdash;Andy Moog, Reggie Lemelin.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Craig Janney, C, right groin pull, indefinite.Gord Kluzak, D, left knee surgery, indefinite.Nevin Markwart. RW, left shoulder surgery, indefinite.Michael Thelven, D, sore back, day-to-day.Jim Wlemer, D, right leg contusion, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Neely, 13. A&mdash;Bourque, 27. P&mdash; Bourque, 29. PIM&mdash;Byers, 33. &#9632;

YET ANOTHER SETBACK FOR ‘KAMIKAZE KID’

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div>The NHL&rsquo;s western-based teams claimed another victim as the Buffalo Sabres managed just two of a possible six points on a three-game, four-night road trip in mid-November.One night after the Sabres extended their unbeaten streak to a season-high nine games with a 4-4 tie at Calgary Nov. 16, the streak ended in a 3-0 loss at Edmonton. It marked the first time the Sabres have been shut out this season.&ldquo;Losing was bound to happen,&rdquo; Sabres&rsquo; rookie coach Rick Dudley said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re always hoping you&rsquo;ll be able to keep it going longer, but when it ends you just work towards starting another one.&rdquo;The Sabres did that Nov. 19, with a 2-2 tie against the Vancouver Canucks.The nine-game streak (7-0-2) was wiped out by the superb effort by Edmonton goaltender Grant Fuhr. The Sabres actually played a strong game in Northlands Coliseum, but despite 30 shots and several outstanding scoring opportunities, they simply couldn&rsquo;t get the puck past Fuhr.&ldquo;We were beaten by an incredible performance by their goaltender,&rdquo; Dudley said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s no disgrace to lose a game that way.&rdquo;Dudley said he was pleased with the overall effort of his team. He said everyone worked hard for his shots and played a good game in all areas of the rink.He also said the 4-4 tie the previous night in Calgary did not have an adverse effect on the club.&ldquo;We gave a strong effort,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That guy (Fuhr) is probably the best goalie in hockey, he&rsquo;s just getting over some tough times.&rdquo;Fuhr made stunning saves on all the team&rsquo;s big shooters and turned the game his way with an early-third period stop on Alexander Mogilny.The Sabres got all the goals they needed in Calgary the night before, but a miscue cost them a victory. The Sabres had a 4-3 lead with 22 seconds left to go, but an errant clearing pass by Mike Foligno produced Calgary&rsquo;s game-tying goal. Foligno actually picked up a loose puck along the boards and threw it to the point where it was intercepted by the Flames.Buffalo also had a 2-1 lead against Vancouver, but tired in the third period and ended up settling for a 2-2 tie.In that game, goaltender Daren Puppa was the difference, stopping just about everything the Canucks could throw at him. Puppa made 37 saves as the Sabres finished with just 18 shots on goal.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon. Christian Ruuttu. Dave Snuggerud, Jeff Parker, John Tucker.LW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk, Scott Amiel. Mike Hartman, Robert Ray.RW&mdash;Mike Foligno, Kevin Maguire, Alexander Mogilny, Rick Vaive, Ray Sheppard.LD&mdash;Mike Ramsey, Doug Bodger, Grant Ledyard. Larry Playfair. Shawn Anderson.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, Dean Kennedy, Uwe Krupp, Grant Ledyard.G&mdash;Daren Puppa, Clint Malarchuk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Benoit Hogue, C, broken cheekbone, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Andreychuk. 13 A&mdash;Turgeon, 23. P&mdash;Turgeon, 32. PIM&mdash;Hartman, 72. &#9632;

TRIP WEST ENDS WIN STREAK

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>Prior to the start of the season, there were, those who thought Mike Keane was through with the Mondeal Canadiens.A mediocre training camp left some observers wondering why coach Pat Bums hadn&rsquo;t demoted the feisty right winger. And when Keane got off to a slow start, there was more speculation about his future.But Bums was aware Keane plays an important role for the Canadiens. It is Keane&rsquo;s reponsibility to go into the comers and dig out the puck for Bobby Smith and Mats Naslund. The right winger has also been used this injuryfilled season on penalty-killing duty and, from time to time, on the power play.&ldquo;I think my role is basically the same as last year,&rdquo; said Keane, 1619-35 as a rookie in &rsquo;88-89. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to keep on doing my job, going into the comers and trying to get the puck out to Mats and Bobby. I&rsquo;ve got to keep on playing the same way, working hard and worrying about our end.&rdquo;Keane did not start the season with Smith and Naslund, his linemates for much of last season. On opening night Oct. 5 in Hartford, Russ Courtnall was on the right side, but that changed toward the middle of that game. Keane played with his regular linemates in the season&rsquo;s second game, but then injuries to Naslund, Smith and others resulted in substantial linejuggling by Bums.&ldquo;The lines weren&rsquo;t really set at that point,&rdquo; said Keane. &ldquo;All I wanted to do in that situation was keep on working to my capacity. If I was on a checking line, I had to make sure there was one man high and, if I was on an offensive line, it was the same thing.&ldquo;I was trying to get my game going and whomever I was playing with, I was just trying to help out.&rdquo;Offensively, Keane struggled, scoring just one goal in the first 20 games. He got his second of the season on a great individual effort in a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets Nov. 15. While falling to the ice, Keane was able to put the puck past Jets&rsquo; goalie Bob Essensa.After going pointless in a 3-2 loss to Boston the next night, Keane picked up a pair of assists and was one of the Canadiens&rsquo; best performers in a 4-3 overtime win over Toronto Nov. 18.Still, there are those who question the use of Keane by Bums. In his defense, it should be noted the 22-year-old Winnipeg native has contributed more to the Canadiens&rsquo; cause this season than his more illustrious linemates.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a goal-scorer,&rdquo; said Keane, 2-11-13 after 24 games. &ldquo;I think as the years go on I will become a better player and improve my skating, stickhandling and I&rsquo;ll start putting the puck in the net more.&rdquo;<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Nov. l9:Andrew Cassels, C, recalled from Sherbrooke (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bobby Smith, Brian Skrudland, Stephan Lebeau, Andrew Cassels.LW&mdash;Mats Naslund, Ed Cristofoli, Shayne Corson, Brent Gilchrist.RW&mdash;Mike Keane, Russ Courtnall, Stephane Richer, Jocelyn Lemieux.LD&mdash;Craig Ludwig, Sylvain Lefebvre, Donald Dufresne.RD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Jyrki Lumme, Eric Desjardins.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Brian Hayward.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Guy Carbonneau, C, jammed left shoulder, day-to-dayJean-Jacques Daigneault, internal bleeding of the eye, indefinite.Claude Lemieux, RW, stomach surgery, indefinite.Mike McPhee, LW, pulled abdominal muscle, indefinite.Petr Svoboda, D, concussion, day-to-day.Ryan Walter, LW, broken big left toe, Nov. 25.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Richer, 11. A&mdash;Richer, 16. P&mdash;Richer, 27. PIM&mdash;Chelios, 50. &#9632;

KEANE KEEN ON STICKING WITH HABS

<div class="byline">KEN CAMPBELL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01193/5756900-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="316" height="482"></div>The worst thing the Ontario League could do this year is put up its Dukes at the Memorial Cup. The Dukes of Hamilton, that is.The OHL board of governors met last August to choose the site and format for the national tournament featuring the champions of the Ontario, Quebec and Western Leagues. In hindsight, it made a terrible decision.The board was presented with proposals from London, Kitchener, Peterborough, Sudbury and Hamilton. On the third ballot, the Dukes of Hamilton won over the Kitchener Rangers. Obviously, the Dukes&rsquo; 17,500-seat home, Copps Coliseum, was a factor. The Rangers play at 6,273-seat Memorial Auditorium.The Dukes, who moved to Hamilton after Harold Ballard sold the Toronto Marlboros, received an automatic Cup berth.It&rsquo;s easy to say the league erred in choosing the Dukes as the host team. Almost one-third into the season, they had a 4-13-3 record, good for last place in the Leyden Division.But of even greater concern is that at its Nov. 13 meeting in Toronto, the governors had a chance to right the wrong. They didn&rsquo;t. OHL commissioner Dave Branch says it&rsquo;s a &ldquo;non-issue.&ldquo;The board has expressed faith in Hamilton&rsquo;s ability to put together a competitive team,&rdquo; Branch says.Perhaps. But this has all the makings of a national embarrassment. The Copps Coliseum is a beautiful arena, an ideal venue to showcase major junior hockey&rsquo;s best teams. Too bad the Dukes aren&rsquo;t one of them.By mid-November, Dukes&rsquo; general manager Dave Draper had already made five major trades in hopes of strengthening the team. If he&rsquo;s concerned his club won&rsquo;t make the grade, he doesn&rsquo;t show it.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re going to be competitive,&rdquo; says Draper. &ldquo;The key is to be where we want to be once the Memorial Cup starts. From there, anything can happen.&rdquo;The reality is there are five strong teams (Oshawa, Kingston, Belleville, Peterborough and Ottawa) in the Leyden Division. The distance may be too much to overcome. That would leave them in a battle for sixth place with the Cornwall Royals.Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds&rsquo; director of operations Sherry Bassin did not participate in the August meeting to determine the Memorial Cup host and format. And he&rsquo;s not satisfied with the result.&ldquo;The Memorial Cup is for winners,&rdquo; Bassin says. &ldquo;There shouldn&rsquo;t be any magic carpet to get in.&rdquo;The Western League set a precedent in 1986. New Westminster was designated the host city, but Expo &rsquo;86 in nearby Vancouver drove accommodation costs through the roof. Before the season began, the WHL reversed itself. The governors decided to hold the tournament at the home rink of the highest-placed team on Dec. 15&mdash;provided the rink had at least 4,000 seats. That turned out to be Portland Memorial Coliseum, home of the Winter Hawks. The New Westminster Bruins, meanwhile, finished out of the playoffs.Admittedly, the impetus for changing sites was the high price of hotel rooms. But the bottom line is a change was made and the Bruins&rsquo; lack of competitiveness was a factor, too.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to lie to you, (the calibre of the Bruins) was a concern,&rdquo; says WHL president Ed Chynoweth. &ldquo;We would have had to address it at some point.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s not too late for the OHL to do the same thing.It has three options.&#9632; Play the tournament at the Copps Coliseum and give the wild-card berth to the team that finishes first overall in the regular season. Or the playoff finalist.&#9632; Start over and establish new criteria for hosting and gaining automatic admission to the Memorial Cup&mdash;just as the WHL did in 1986.&#9632; Do nothing and pray the Dukes get their act together.That latter option isn&rsquo;t totally inconceivable; it&rsquo;s just damn risky. Were the league to exercise one of the first two options, the result could mean substantial criticism and embarrassment. But admitting an error now would be more prudent than making an excuse for it later.Ken Campbell is the major junior editor of The Hockey News. &#9632;

f0047-01

OHL SHOULD ADMIT ERROR

<div class="byline">BY MURRAY TOWNSEND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02136/5756952-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">WAY WE WEREBuffalo Sabres&rsquo; goaltender Roger Crozier and GM-coach Punch Imlach share a few laughs before hitting the ice for practice. Crozier, a Sabre from 1970-76, and Imlach, who coached the team for 119 games in the early &rsquo;70s, are two of eight members of the Sabres&rsquo; Hall of Fame.</figcaption></div>The Minnesota North Stars and Chicago Blackhawks are feeling a lot better about themselves than they were a year ago.At the quarter pole last season, both were hovering near the bottom of the Norris Division. This season, in a much more competitive Norris, both teams were posting records that put them in the NHL&rsquo;s elite.Listed below is each team&rsquo;s record from this season and the same point last season with the difference in points earned:<h2>ONE YEAR LATER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-03103/5756945-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg" title="f0047-03" width="924" height="1003"><figcaption class="caption-body">image caption</figcaption></div><h2>FIT TO BE TIED</h2>The NHL introduced a five-minute overtime in 1983-84 for games that were tied after regulation time.Despite that, teams are still fit to be tied. Statistics show that in the majority of games, the teams remain deadlocked after the five-minute overtime.Listed below are the overtime games played each season since OT was introduced and how many remained tied after the extra period. Statistics for 1989-90 are for games played through Nov. 19.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0473/5756938-1-eng-US/f0047-042.jpg" title="f0047-04" width="868" height="394"></div><h2>LONGSHOT</h2>Through Nov. 19, five penalty shots were awarded to NHL shooters this season.None of them resulted in goals&mdash;and that&rsquo;s no fluke. Statistics show the advantage in penalty-shot situations lies with the goaltender. Below is a comparison of the number of penalty shots taken and goals scored in the last six seasons:<h3>PENALTY SHOTS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-0553/5756931-1-eng-US/f0047-052.jpg" title="f0047-05" width="875" height="328"></div> &#9632;

f0047-02

THE NUMBERS GAME THE QUARTERLY REPORT

<div class="byline">BY JEFF JACOBS</div>Hartford Whalers&rsquo; left winger Brian Lawton, who enjoys writing and the outdoors, recently submitted his second article to Bow Hunting magazine.&ldquo;The first story (about bow hunting in Idaho) will be out in the spring,&rdquo; said Lawton. &ldquo;I just finished my second. Hey, I&rsquo;ve had a lot of free time lately.&rdquo;The remark was strictly the gallows humor of a player who has seen much more of the press box than the ice in recent weeks.Lawton has worked plenty hard during his time off, with extra skating, weight lifting and stationary bike riding.&ldquo;With all that stuff, it&rsquo;s actually a lot easier playing than not playing,&rdquo; Lawton said. &ldquo;Am I frustrated? I&rsquo;d like to be in there, obviously.&rdquo;Before Lawton was inserted into the lineup in a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers Nov. 18, he had not been used for four games.The first player selected in the 1983 entry draft by Minnesota out of Mount St. Charles in Woonsocket, R.L, Lawton is on the NHL fringe at age 24. He had appeared in only 12 of 22 games and had just two goals and three points. When Lawton does play, he&rsquo;s often on a fourth line and only gets 10 or 11 minutes of action.Before coach Rick Ley decided to use Lawton against his former Ranger teammates, he was asked what it would take for Lawton to get back into the lineup.&ldquo;A plane crash,&rdquo; replied Ley, attempting a joke. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s a tough question. I&rsquo;ve had numerous talks with Brian. Brian has finesse and talent. He&rsquo;s at the point where he has to decide how important hockey is to him, whether it&rsquo;s important enough to give a consistent effort, bump and grind.&rdquo;Dealt by the North Stars to the Rangers Oct. 11, 1988, the Rangers turned around and packaged Lawton with defenseman Norm Maciver and left winger Don Maloney Dec. 26 for center Carey Wilson. The trade has proved a disaster for the Whalers.It cost the team $200,000 to buy out Maloney, who subsequently signed as a free agent with the New York Islanders. Maciver went to Edmonton for minor-league defenseman Jim Ennis, and Lawton is barely on the club. Wilson, out with a sprained ligament in his left knee, has had his share of lapses but has been an offensive weapon for the Rangers. In 53 games in New York, Wilson had&rsquo;64 points. Lawton, meanwhile, had 29 points in 47 Whaler games.Players similar in style to Lawton didn&rsquo;t last long under the Ed Johnston-Ley regime. Sylvain Turgeon was traded to New Jersey in the offseason, and John Anderson was released by the club. Johnston, in fact, nearly traded Lawton to New Jersey in June.Lawton&mdash;who, as a free agent, signed a one-year contract in August worth about $175,000&mdash;will become a free agent again next summer.&ldquo;I had no choice but to sign (last summer),&rdquo; said Lawton, who attracted little interest from other teams. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too early to say what&rsquo;s going to happen. I hoped to play more, but you never know what to expect heading into NHL camps. AH I can do is stay positive until my chance comes.&rdquo;For Lawton, the number of chances were dwindling.<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ron Francis, Dean Evason, Mike Tomlak, Ray Ferraro.LW&mdash;Dave Tippett. Pat Verbeek, Mikael Andersson, Marc Latorge, Chris Govedaris, Brian Lawton.RW&mdash;Jody Hull, Kevin Dineen. Scott Young, Paul MacDirmid, Ed Aastelic.LD&mdash;Steve Dykstra, Adam Burt. Grant Jennings.RD&mdash;Dave Babych, Randy Ladouceur, Sylvain Cote.G&mdash;Mike Liut, Peter Sidorkiewicz.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ulf Samuelsson, D, knee surgery. Nov. 27-Dec. 4.Brad Shaw, D, back spasms, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Verbeek. 15. A&mdash;Francis, 17. P&mdash;Francis, 28. PIM&mdash;Verbeek. 64 &#9632;

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December 1, 1989

BRONCO CENTER COMES OF AGE

SCHMIDT A BRUIN STAR AS PLAYER, COACH, GM

DID YOU KNOW…

INJURIES MOUNTING AS POOR GET POORER