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February 2, 1990
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.
NHL PARITY IS HERE
Perhaps the biggest indication that parity has arrived in the NHL lies in the fact that, as of the all-star break, not one team in the league was on pace to finish with 100 points this season. At the current pace, the Boston Bruins, with 59 points in their first 48 games, would lead the league with 98 points at the end of the season. The last time there was no 100-point finisher was 1969-70, when the Chicago Blackhawks and the Bruins each had 99 points in 76 games. Listed below are the number of teams with 100 points in an 80-game schedule since 1974-75: CENTURY MARK SLIM LEADS The Montreal Canadiens of the mid 1970s were arguably the greatest NHL team of all time. The 1976-77 edition of the team finished the 80-game…
NHL’S TOP GUN FINISHES SECOND
In all the years Al Maclnnis has scared goalies and intimidated defensemen with the velocity of his slapshot, he never really knew just how fast it was. Only twice in his career did anyone ever try to measure the speed of his shot. “One time, four or five years ago, they brought a radar gun down to the Saddledome, but they couldn’t pick it up,” said Maclnnis. In December, as part of a dry run for the skills competition that took place the day before the NHL’s 41st All-Star Game, organizers had Maclnnis drift a’lazy 94-mile-per-hour slapshot at the net. The next time he shot, the radar gun broke down. From shock, perhaps. Maclnnis thought a 100-mph slap-shot was not out of the question. “I know somebody said Bobby Hull’s shot was once measured at 118…
CAN TWO NEW FORWARDS FIX DEFENSIVE WOES?
Saying, “We’re brutal defensively,” Los Angeles Kings’ general manager Rogie Vachon took action to help remedy the situation: He acquired offensive right wingers Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato from the New York Rangers. Say what? “Our forwards are the key to this team,” Vachon said after shipping high-scoring center Bernie Nicholls, 28, to New York Jan. 20. “If they do the job, they make the goal tenders and the defensemen that much better. “There has been such a gap that the defensemen don’t trust the forwards because they don’t come back all the time. That’s where breakdowns begin.” Vachon said his analysis was not to be construed as criticism of Nicholls, who scored a club-record 70 goals last season and had ‘i’2.1 goals in parts of nine seasons with the Kings. “Bernie has been great…
BIZARRE MURRAY HIRING AND FIRING LEAVES ‘BAD TASTE’
It was, by any standard, a bizarre situation: One brother replacing his fired brother as coach of an NHL club—something that had never happened in league history. Bryan Murray, 47, was fired Jan. 15 after the Washington Capitals lost eight in a row and fell from first to worst in the Patrick Division. He was replaced by Terry Murray, the 39-year-old kid brother who used to depend on Bryan for rides to hockey games; who, as a high school student in tiny Shawville, Que., had Bryan as a teacher; who spent six years as Bryan’s assistant learning the craft; who, for the last two seasons, was coaching prospects for Washington’s American League affiliate in Baltimore. Through seven full seasons and parts of two others behind the Capitals’ bench, Bryan had become the NHL’s…
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