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March 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.
RANGER PICK DIES IN EUROPE
RANGERS The Rangers were informed on Feb. 14 that Ludek Cajka, the Czechoslovakian defenseman who suffered severe head injuries while’ playing for his first division team, Dukla Jihlava, on Jan. 5, died of his injuries. The Rangers drafted Cajka in the sixth round (115th overall) of the 1987 amateur draft and rated him among their top NHL prospects…Roger Neilson had this to say after an experiment which saw center Darren Turcotte move to right wing: “We’re hoping that Darren can become a real finisher; sort of a more likeable Rob Brown.’’…Neilson’s morale received a boost Feb. 14 when his dog and close companion. Mike, returned from the hospital following a week of treatment for a serious bite from another dog. “Mike still had a tube running through him and he looked…
SURE BETS IIN SHERBROOKE
When Francois Allaire talks, goaltenders listen. The Montreal Canadiens’ goaltending instructor is one reason the Habs’ farm system is always well-stocked with talented, young goalies. And it’s no coincidence that the Sherbrooke Canadiens have won three straight Harry (Hap) Holmes Trophies for having the American League’s lowest goals-against average. With five weeks left in the season, the Canadiens were on track for another. Sherbrooke had allowed 189 goals in 58 games; Baltimore was second with 197 in 57. “I coach my guys in Sherbrooke the same way as I do the guys in the NHL,” says Allaire, who is in his sixth season with the Habs. “It’s the same mental approach.” The Montreal organization is a factory for good, young goaltenders. The most recent to carry the torch are rookies Jean-Claude Bergeron and Andre…
GREAT ONE NOT IN MONTANA’S CLASS YET
Although the Globe and Mail portrayed Wayne Gretzky as “a new, hot reality in U.S.advertising,” Madison Avenue experts still do not see The Great One as a dominant figure in the Joe Montana genre. “The question,” says Manhattan sports promotion expert Marty Blackman, “is whether an outfit like Nike (which Gretzky endorses) would use Gretzky alone in a commercial. We have yet to see it. As for Wayne’s Coke commercial, it was used for a strictly hockey audience."…At his recent retirement party, ex-Los Angeles King Jimmy Fox went on record as saying had Pat Quinn remained in L. A., the Kings and not the Calgary Flames would have won the Stanley Cup last spring…Randy Moller loves New York—except for housing prices. In Quebec, where he lived before being traded to…
THE RAGING BULL
The media caucus had Mark Messier in check at the Cap Centre when a little boy in an Edmonton Oiler ballcap poked his head around the comer. “Hey, Lyon,” yelled Messier, working his way free to hug the other love of his life—his l’/z year-old son. “Okay, where were we?” said Messier, holding the boy who lives with his mother, former model Lesley Young, in Virginia. This was the soft side of Mark Messier. But the Oiler captain is still hockey’s Raging Bull. Robert DeNiro could play him if he put on 50 pounds of muscle. In a game of hi-tech, Messier is aw-heck. You might get a shot to the head as easily as one on net. He’s mean. “There’s not very much room,” Messier said. “You’ve got to fight for it, you…