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.

March 16, 1990

The Hockey News March 16, 1990

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-01225/5763433-1-eng-US/c0004-012.jpg" title="C0004-01" width="548" height="841"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-02137/5763426-1-eng-US/c0004-022.jpg" title="C0004-02" width="548" height="550"></div>Forty-two times a season The Hockey News delivers the complete inside story on what is happening in the National Hockey League. We&rsquo;ve got the news and statistics no one else gives you &hellip; complete NHL team rosters, injuries, transactions and the raging controversy of the day &hellip; Plus, the most incredible statistics package available, not to mention the best in major junior, minor pro, college and internation- al hockey. We&rsquo;re thorough, we&rsquo;re exciting &hellip; subscribe now.You&rsquo;ll receive 40 hockey- packed issues plus the Draft Preview qnd the Year In Photos for only $39.95 - that&rsquo;s a savings of $58.95 off the newsstand price! And, you&rsquo;ll receive our no risk offer: you must be completely satisfied with THE HOCKEY NEWS or we will refund your money for all unmailed issues, no questions asked!Don&rsquo;t miss out on any of the NHL action - subscribe today!<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-0377/5763419-1-eng-US/c0004-032.jpg" title="C0004-03" width="2508" height="1898"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-0442/5763412-1-eng-US/c0004-042.jpg" title="C0004-04" width="2636" height="850"></div> &#9632;

C0004-01

IN THIS ISSUE

FORTY TWO PICK-UP

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02487/5763085-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Esposito</figcaption></div>&hellip;in three of the five seasons Phil Esposito scored 50 goals, he reached the mark on his birthday. He scored his 50th goal in 1970-71. &rsquo;71-72 and &rsquo;73-74 on Feb. 20. Esposito also scored 50 goals in 1972-73 and &rsquo;74-75. The Hall of Famerscored717 goals in his 18-seasonNHL career. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

DID YOU KNOW…

<div class="byline">BY GRANT McGINNIS</div>Friday March 2, 1990 will be remembered as a wonderful day in the life of Thomas Steen.And it had little to do with the aching back which had kept him out of the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; uniform for 22 games.No, Steen&rsquo;s joy was far greater than the pride he felt stepping onto Winnipeg Arena ice for the first time since his back injury. It was far greater than elation he felt scoring a goal on the very first shot of his very first shift in 47 days. It was also greater joy than being secure in the knowledge that a protruding disc wasn&rsquo;t going to entirely ruin the finest of his nine NHL seasons.It was the joy only a father knows upon the birth of his child.Steen&rsquo;s wife Mona delivered the couple&rsquo;s third child&mdash;a boy&mdash;early on the morning of March 2. She was home by mid-afternoon and by 10 p.m., Steen was celebrating a sensational first game back in a 9-3 pasting of the Los Angeles Kings, moments after doing the victory lap that goes with being named the evening&rsquo;s first star.His only concession to the arrival of his second son&mdash;Amadeus Steen weighed in at a healthy eight pounds, seven ounces&mdash;was to skip the Jets&rsquo; morning skate the next day.His mysterious ailment&mdash;first it was called a back strain, then back spasms and finally a protruding disc&mdash;supposedly healed, Steen made a stunning return to the lineup in back- to-back wins over the Kings.He finished the first game (March 2) with a goal and an assist. Two days later, Steen revived the Jets&rsquo; unhealthy power play, scoring twice and set- ting up another goal as Winnipeg scored four times with the man advantage to sweep the Kings with a 5-2 win.The five-point weekend gave Steen 16 goals and 57 points in just 43 games. It also showed just how much he was missed.&ldquo;He is a world-class player,&rdquo; said Jets&rsquo; coach Bob Murdoch. &ldquo;We knew he would come back strong. I wouldn&rsquo;t limit it to just the power play. I think Thomas Steen has been an inspiration these two games. He came back and scored on his first shift the other night. He was the guy that was in there battling and hitting and taking hits in front of the net.&ldquo;I think when other players see him doing that, given the fact he just came off a back injury, it picks them up and they realize they have to pay the price as well.&rdquo;Steen showed few ill-effects of a month-and-a-half of watching the soaps.His stickhandling was brilliant. His playmaking was up to standard. And his presence seemed to lift the Jets.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t use that (the injury) as an excuse, not anymore,&rdquo; Steen said of the injury and its resulting rust. &ldquo;I felt really good. My legs were really going, I started hitting and I took some hits. My back felt fine.In his absence, the Jets were a respectable 9-10-3. Most expected the team would collapse without him. With him, the Jets pulled 10 points (72-62) clear of the Kings in the Smythe Division race and within striking distance of both Edmonton (76) and Calgary (77) for first.<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 2: Brian McReynolds, C, assigned to Moncton (AHL).March 5: Laurie Boschman, C, serving eight-game league suspension. Eligible to return March 9. Peter Taglianetti, D, began serving five-game league suspension. Eligible to return March 17.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Thomas Steen, Dale Hawerchuk, Brent Ashton, Dave McLIwain.LW&mdash;Doug Small, Paul Fenton, Phil Sykes, Doug Evans.RW&mdash;Pat Elynuik, Greg Paslawski, Paul MacDermid, Mark Kumpel, Gord Donnelly, Danton Cole.LD&mdash;Dave Ellett, Randy Carlyle, Shawn Cronin, Bryan Marchment.RD&mdash;Fredrik Olausson, Teppo Numminen, Moe Mantha.G&mdash;Bob Essensa, Stephane Beauregard.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G &mdash; Fenton, Elynuik, 25. A &mdash; Hawerchuk, 46. P&mdash;Hawerchuk. 70. PIM&mdash;Donnelly, 192. &#9632;

THE NHL

HEALTHY STEEN ADDS NEW LIFE ON AND OFF ICE

<div class="byline">BY JEFF JACOBS</div>Hartford Whalers&rsquo; general manager Ed Johnston took great pains to explain that the kid from Czechoslovakia is no savior nor any one-man shortcut on the long, difficult road to the Stanley Cup.And, then, the Whalers turned around and threw not one, but two, news conferences to introduce Bobby Holik.And Johnston, who gambled by taking Holik 10th overall last June in the NHL entry draft, said he thinks he got the best player available and the wait will be worth it.&ldquo;We say he was the best player in the draft,&rdquo; Johnston told the media. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s our opinion that he&rsquo;s even better than Mats Sundin (the Swede chosen No. I overall by Quebec). That&rsquo;s a lot of people&rsquo;s opinion. He&rsquo;s bigger (6- foot-2, 200 pounds compared to 6- foot-3, 185 pounds) and a lot stronger than Sundin.&rdquo;The Whalers have yet to sign Holik to an NHL contract, but that is seen as a technicality. Johnston said March I, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d bet my house he&rsquo;ll be in Hartford for training camp.&rdquo;Thanks to plenty of barriers broken down by a Whalers&rsquo; contingent, which included tennis star Ivan Lendl, Holik was able to do more than get a 10-day travel visa to leave Czechoslovakia and visit the united states. Lendl, who is on the Whalers&rsquo; advisory board, helped Holik get his military restriction reduced from two years to one, ending in July.&ldquo;This will give me my chance to reach my life&rsquo;s dream, to play in the NHL,&rdquo; said Holik, who wears No. 28 with his Jihlava army team but wants to wear No. 82 in the NHL. &ldquo;And having the opportunity to visit now, is a real surprise. My sister (tennis player Andrea Holikova, the fiancee of Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; defenseman Frantisek Musil) was shocked to hear from me over here.&rdquo;Holikova visited Bobby in Connecticut. Holik went to New York City to shop. Holik hung out with Lendl. Holik hung out with owner Richard Gordon. And Holik hung out with Bobby Orr, another member of the Whalers&rsquo; advisory board. With all those big names and big houses, Holik undoubtedly has an interesting view of capitalism.&ldquo;Getting him over here is a tremendous accomplishment for everyone,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;It has given him an opportunity to meet the guys so that when he comes back for training camp he won&rsquo;t feel like a stranger. Getting to know players like (Ron) Francis and (Kevin) Dineen will allow him to play like Robert Holik, not like he&rsquo;s a savior. We don&rsquo;t want that tab on him, that we&rsquo;re going to win the Stanley Cup right away.&rdquo;The Whalers&rsquo; hierarchy explained that since Holik plays for the army team and is not under contract, technically they don&rsquo;t have to pay money for his release.&ldquo;But we want to go back in the future and we want an excellent working relationship,&rdquo; said Gordon, who said the Whalers will pay an unspecified sum to the Czechs anyway. &ldquo;The trip (which included Johnston, Gordon, Orr and Lendl) was unbelievable. Bobby&rsquo;s dad is his coach and he&rsquo;s helping by pointing us to players that even Central Scouting missed.&rdquo;<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 28: Al Tuer, D, assigned to Bing- hamton (AHL).March 1: Jim Culhane, D. recalled from Binghamton.March 3: Steve Dykstra, D, traded to Boston for Jeff Sirkka, D. Sirkka assigned to Binghamton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ron Francis, Mike Tomlak, Ra&gt; Ferraro. Dean Evason.LW&mdash;Todd Krygier, Randy Cunneyworth, Pat Verbeek, Dave Tippett Tom Martin.RW&mdash;Ed Kastelic. Scott Young, Jody Hull, Kevin Dineen.LD&mdash;Adam Burt, Joel Quenneville Grant Jennings.RD&mdash;Dave Babych, Jim Culhane. Ulf Samuelsson.G&mdash;Peter Sidorkiewicz. Mike Liut.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mikael Andersson, LW, sprained left knee, March 12.Sylvain Cote, D. fractured right foot, day-to-day.Randy Ladouceur. D, sprained right knee. March 12-19.Brad Shaw. D, bruised right foot, March 21.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Verbeek, 36. A&mdash;Francis. 56. P&mdash; Francis, 83. PIM&mdash;Verbeek, 205. &#9632;

HOLIK COULD BE A WHALER IN ’90.91

In next week&rsquo;s issue of The Hockey News, we will examine the question of why so many sophomore pros are having a tough time this season in the National Hockey League.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011283/5763357-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="757" height="866"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Leetch</figcaption></div>Almost to a man, last season s NHL all-rookie team (Hartford goalie Peter Sidorkiewicz, defensemen Zarley Zalapski of Pittsburgh and Brian Leetch of the New York Rangers and forwards David Volek of the New York Islanders, Vancouver&rsquo;s Trevor Linden and the Rangers&rsquo; Tony Granato) have had difficulties this time around.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021046/5763350-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="757" height="878"><figcaption class="caption-body">Trevor Linden</figcaption></div>Sophomore jinx? You never know.In addition to that, we&rsquo;ll present a look at the wild and wacky happenings of the Ontario, Quebec and Western Leagues this season. You won&rsquo;t believe some of the quirky events that have transpired in the past season in the junior hockey.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

Stan Fischler&rsquo;s idea of reducing the number of skaters from five to four (THN, Dec. 15) does make sense. But if you give it serious thought, it won&rsquo;t happen. It&rsquo;s too radical a move.Still, Fischler is absolutely correct about the need for more room on the ice. And the best course for the NHL would be to move toward enlargement and standardization of its ice-surface dimensions at least to the Olympic standard of 200 by 100 feet.The time for change is perfect. With seven expansion teams added over the next 10 years, the NHL could require that each of its new franchises play in an arena that has the larger ice surface. Also, a number of current franchises are planning to build new arenas in the coming year. Why can&rsquo;t they build rinks with the larger ice surfaces?With all the money the league will receive in expansion fees from the new teams, there should be plenty left over for the other franchises to make renovations to their rinks.Steve BeldingHalifax. N.S.<h2>BLESS HER</h2>As a die-hard Pittsburgh penguins fan, I have suffered the roller coaster of emotions as the team battles for a playoff position in the Patrick Division.But after reading the piece about Penguins&rsquo; goalie Tom Barrasso and his daughter&rsquo;s battle with cancer (THN, Feb. 23), all the wins and losses seemed to lose their importance.I&rsquo;m sure the thoughts and prayers of hockey fans everywhere go out to Ashley Barrasso and her family. May she be blessed with a speedy recovery.Michael PoddanyOregon, Ohio<h2>POOR FANS</h2>With the arrival of the Global League and NHL expansion, we can only hope that history does not repeat itself.Remember 1972 and the World Hockey Association?It&rsquo;s taken almost two decades to get parity back in the NHL and the fans have come out the clear winners. A new league and expansion in the existing one will mean talent dilution and higher ticket prices to pay for the salary battles.When this happens, the players will be the winners. But just like 1972, the fans will be the losers.Yann Le HorsSt-Pierre and Miquelon Islands,France<h2>FIRST CHOICE</h2>One of the big problems with the regular season is that it means so little. I think I&rsquo;ve come up with a way to add some incentive for teams to finish first in their division.Aside from home-ice advantage, why not give the first-place team an option of choosing which of the three remaining teams it wishes to play in the first round of the playoffs?Through past performance and analysis, the first-place team would be able to choose the team it would have the best chance against. That way, it would be rewarded for finishing first.Lauren FinchlerParsippany, N.J.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03761/5761715-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="757" height="1053"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Ziegler&rsquo;s indecision has made a mockery of the NHL.</figcaption></div><h2>GET SERIOUS</h2>Reason No. 583 why the NHL will never be taken seriously in the United States.NHL president John Ziegler piddled around for weeks and weeks before making a decision on the great Waiver Draft Avoidance Deal between the Winnipeg Jets and the Philadelphia Flyers.National Basketball Association commissioner David Stem read in the morning newspaper about a friendly wager between Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers and Mark Jackson of the New York Knicks.Fines were handed out that afternoon.Doug HallHarmony, Penn.<h2>BAD TREND</h2>I&rsquo;ve noticed a very disturbing trend in hockey recently. In many of the highlights I&rsquo;ve seen, I&rsquo;ve noticed dozens of goals scored while a player has been in the crease.These illegal goals are almost always being counted. When the play is deep in the offensive zone, the linesmen have very little to do but stand at the blueline. Why can&rsquo;t they watch to make sure this doesn&rsquo;t happen?Goalies have enough problems without having players ramming them in the crease. How much harrassment should they have to take?Howard WarnerBelleville, Ont.Make your feelings known. Send your comments to:&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News,&rsquo;85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont., M3B 2R2. Include home and business phone numbers. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

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BIGGER RINKS, FEWER INJURIES

<div class="byline">BOB MCKENZIE</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011437/5761746-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="714" height="831"></div>Don&rsquo;t look now, but the messenger just got shot.I&rsquo;ve got one flesh wound where Michel Bergeron called me a &ldquo;perfect imbecile&rdquo; and another where Maurice Filion suggested the contents of this space contain &ldquo;stupidities.&rdquo;If I didn&rsquo;t know better, I&rsquo;d think the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; coach (Bergeron) and general manager (Filion) had been consulting with my wife and my boss.Whatever. The point is that the Nordiques reacted angrily to a column I wrote in the March 2, 1990 issue of The Hockey News. So much so that the Canadian Press moved a substantial story on March 2 that appeared in many Canadian newspapers the day after.The source of their ire was two paragraphs in a column devoted to the Global League and its potential impact on major junior stars such as Peterborough&rsquo;s Mike Ricci, Cornwall&rsquo;s Owen Nolan and Seattle&rsquo;s Petr Nedved. I suggested that Quebec City is considered by many players the least desirous location to play these days for a number of reasons, which range from being uncompetitive to steep taxes to being a French culture.I added that the rival league, were it to get its act together, rrrrrcould seize an opportunity and steal a top NHL prospect who perhaps wasn&rsquo;t keen on playing in Quebec.Mon dieu, the things they&rsquo;re saying about me in Quebec City these days. Bergeron went so far as to suggest I&rsquo;ve always been anti-Nordique. That&rsquo;s a ludicrous notion for anyone who saw (on TV) or read (in The Hockey News&rsquo;) my defense of Quebec prospect Mats Sundin, who was recently belittled by Hockey Night in Canada&rsquo;s Don Cherry.Quite frankly, I&rsquo;m a little surprised at all the fuss. It&rsquo;s not as if this isn&rsquo;t something the Nordiques have had to battle since joining the NHL in 1979.Why, I&rsquo;d just received word of the controversy when I turned on my television set and there was Brian Propp, talking about his trade that day from Philadelphia to Boston.&ldquo;I have to thank (Flyers&rsquo; GM) Bobby Clarke for not trading me to Quebec or Winnipeg,&rdquo; Propp said on national television.The Nordiques shouldn&rsquo;t be offended by that for two reasons. One, because Propp played junior in Brandon, Man., and if he&rsquo;s so adverse to going to Winnipeg, think how the poor Jets must feel. Two, because Propp&rsquo;s sentiments are not uncommon throughout the NHL, especially in the United States, where a move to Canada is disdained and one to Quebec is often dreaded.Is that fair? No, probably not.Players who have gone to Quebec often write home with glowing reports. Filion is correct when he points out the low cost of Quebec City real estate offsets the tax burden.If I erred, it was in not pointing out that Canadian-dollar contracts, tax burdens and French-language culture are significant but secondary reasons for many players to want to avoid Quebec. The primary one is the Nords are a brutal club these days. They&rsquo;ve missed the playoffs for three consecutive years, will finish last overall twice in a row and are seemingly in a state of disarray.Filion notes that Toronto and New Jersey struggled for years and worked out of their funk. But they didn&rsquo;t do it with a rival league in place. And had they, perhaps they would&rsquo;ve lost a top pick or two along the way.It would be unfair to put Ricci, Nolan and Nedved on the spot&mdash;and they wouldn&rsquo;t publicly tell you the truth anyway. But I&rsquo;d bet, given the choice, they and their agents would prefer Vancouver, Detroit, Washington or Philadelphia to Quebec.If so, they wouldn&rsquo;t be alone. There&rsquo;s Propp, of course. And countless others who&mdash;rightly or wrongly&mdash;would rate the Nordiques as the 21st best place to play in the NHL. If a rival league becomes a reality, a player drafted or traded to Quebec, or any other locale he deems undesirable, could exercise another option.Does writing that or reflecting a common sentiment make me an &ldquo;imbecile"? Perhaps.It certainly makes me the bearer of bad news. Fire away. &#9632;

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COLUMNS

GO AHEAD, SHOOT ME; I’M THE MESSENGER

&#9604;The Boston Bruins. First, for playing so well for so long this season. Second, be- cause they&rsquo;re not afraid to admit, in words and actions, that they&rsquo;re shooting for the Stanley Cup. Third, because they&rsquo;re the least-penalized team in the league and don&rsquo;t have a one-dimensional goon on their roster.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04536/5761784-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="512" height="511"></div>&#9604;New York Islander GM Bill Torrey. He&rsquo;s complaining long and hard about horrible ice conditions at Madison Square Garden and well he should. The Isles lost three players to injuries that were arguably ice-related. Perhaps the Islanders should next time refuse to work in unsafe conditions at MSG; the Rangers don&rsquo;t have much choice.&#9604;Edmonton Oilers-Los Angeles Kings. The relative infrequency of brawls, such as one that took place on Feb. 28 at the Great Western Forum, doesn't minimize their blight on the hockey landscape. One. especially when it sets an NHL penalty record, is too many. A shameful performance all the way around.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05396/5761777-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="511" height="507"></div>&#9604;The United States' media. In non-hockey areas, and even some where they play the game, the NHL is ignored even when it's being played at its highest level. A brawl, however, is big news on every sportscast and in every paper. The media point to the brawl and say, "That's why we don't cover hockey." Who are they kidding? &#9632;

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CHEERS JEERS

Official NHL SponsorOfficial Cars and TrucksMONTREAL&mdash;Hartford Whalers&rsquo; right winger Pat Verbeek, who had four goals and four assists for eight points in three games, was named Chyrsler Canada Performer of the Week for the period ending March 4.Verbeek, who had 36 goals and 31 assists in 66 games, edged Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; center John Cullen, New York Rangers&rsquo; right winger Darren Turcotte and Boston Bruins&rsquo; right winger Cam Neely to capture the award.Chrysler Canada and the Dodge division of Chrysler Motors will donate $500 to the youth hockey organization of each performer&rsquo;s choice. Chrysler Canada and the Dodge division of Chrysler Motors also sponsor the Performer of the Month and Performer of the Year Awards. The Performer of the Year receives the Dodge vehicle of his choice. In five years, Chrysler Canada and Dodge have contributed more than $200,000 to youth hockey associations across North America.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011439/5761815-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="781" height="803"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Verbeek</figcaption></div>Verbeek, a 25-year-old native of Sarnia, Ont., began the week by leading his team to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens (Feb. 28). Verbeek contributed on all three of the Devils&rsquo; goals, scoring one and adding two assists. Verbeek netted two goals in a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals (Mar. 2), before posting his fourth three-or- more point game of the season (1 - 2-3) in a 6-4 win over the New York Rangers (Mar. 3). He posted his fifth game-winning goal of the season in that game.That gave the Whalers a 31-287 record (69 points) for a .523 winning percentage and a 6-3-1 record in their 10 previous games.Cullen registered 10 points (2-810) in four games, while Turcotte led all NHL goal-scorers with seven (7-1 -8) in four games. Neely had eight points (5-3-8) in four games, including two power-play and two game-winning goals. &#9632;

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NHI. PERFORMER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Global League planners are carefully monitoring the Minnesota NHL situation and will move accordingly. If the North Stars bolt Bloomington for Oakland, GHL exec Dennis Murphy says his circuit will have a team set up in the St. Paul Civic Center next fall. A GHL source says St. Paul native Herb Brooks might be persuaded to run the club. If the NHL goes to Oak- land, it would eliminate San Jose from the NHL grip and that, adds Murphy, is another plum the GHL might pluck. Meanwhile, Mike Bossy&rsquo;s name has popped up as the potential organizer of a Laval (Montreal) GHL club. The ex-Islander lives in the Montreal suburb and has been active in the business side of hockey&hellip;Junior league execs have expressed concern about likely raiding if the Global League gets going. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve notified our guys that they shouldn&rsquo;t look at it as a joke,&rdquo; says Western League president Ed Chynoweth. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d still like to know what the (GHL&rsquo;s) rules are.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Ex- Boston Bruins&rsquo; sharpshooter Rick Middleton credits Cam Neely&rsquo;s development to Cam&rsquo;s discipline. &ldquo;His temperament&rsquo;s more even,&rdquo; Middle- ton explains. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t see him flaring up as often. When other teams try to get him off the ice by provoking him, he just shows them that face of stone.<h2>PRE-GAME RITUALI</h2>The New York Islanders&rsquo; Don Maloney has a simple pre-game ritual. &ldquo;I put on my lucky underwear, lucky socks and lucky suit. Then 1 pray all the way to the rink.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Hartford&rsquo;s Dave Tippett has an interesting view of his club. &ldquo;The better this hockey team gets,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;the less ice time I&rsquo;ll get.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;New York Ranger Brian Leetch is one of the rare NHLers in the 90-90 club. His slap-shot is clocked at 90 m.p.h. and so is his fastball. Before concentrating on hockey, Leetch starred on the mound for Avon Old Farms school and once struck out 19 batters in a game in his senior year. He broke the record previously held by major leaguer Juan Nieves of the American League&rsquo;s Milwaukee Brewers.<h2>REICHEL VISIT</h2>The Flames have invited 18-year- old Czechoslovakian Robert Reichel and his parents to visit Calgary in June. Reichel was the all-star center at the 1990 World Junior tourney in Fin- land and its MVP&hellip;Jaromir Jagr, another Czech standout who played on Reichel&rsquo;s line at the WJC, is expected to attend the 1990 entry draft in Vancouver. He&rsquo;ll be joined by his pa- rent. Jagr, a classy winger, is a blue- chip prospect, in the same class as Mike Ricci, Owen Nolan and Petr Nedved.<h2>COW KICKED</h2>Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; play-by-play veteran Mike Lange may be the first NHL broadcaster to have his own uniform marketed in sporting goods stores. The yellow-and-black T-shirt is sprinkled with Lange-isms such as, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be cow kicked,&rdquo; &ldquo;Great balls of fire!&rdquo; &ldquo;Michael Michael Motorcycle&rdquo; and &ldquo;Buy Sam A Drink And Get His Dog One Too.&rdquo; It sells for $12.95 (US)&hellip;The language barrier usually doesn&rsquo;t make headlines for players on either side of the Atlantic but ex-Providence College ace Jim Hughes is an exception. After signing on with the Swedish Pieta team, Hughes discovered he was the only English- speaker there. &ldquo;On my first day I was showering at the coach&rsquo;s house and the pipes were broken. There was no hot water, so I took a cold shower,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Then the coach went to shower and got out about ten seconds later and asked if I&rsquo;d gotten any hot water. The press got a hold of that and printed a headline that said, &rsquo;Import thinks there&rsquo;s no hot water here.&rsquo; &ldquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011342/5761846-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="751" height="796"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Nieuwendyk says he loves visiting New York City.</figcaption></div><h2>MORE INTEREST</h2>Washington center Michal Pivonka says he won&rsquo;t have to bring any copies of The Hockey News to Czechoslovakia when he returns to his native Kladno with wife, Renata, this summer. &ldquo;They get NHL results and standings in the local newspaper,&rdquo; he asserts. &ldquo;People are showing more interest in how the Czech guys are doing in the NHL.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;After his last visit to Madison Square Garden, Calgary&rsquo;s Joe Nieuwendyk dropped over to Broadway&rsquo;s Hard Rock Cafe. His observation: &ldquo;I love this city; everyone&rsquo;s crazy!&rdquo;<h2>TV UNLIKELY</h2>Fallout from the NHL All-Star Game has not been encouraging enough to expect NBC to do it again next year. NBC insiders point out that in 1991 the network and the National Basketball Association will be married into a new contract and there&rsquo;s only the remotest possibility that the NHL could be squeezed into the schedule. J. Walter Thompson sports buyer Ron Von Urff adds the 1990 NHL All-Star Game generated no interest in Manhattan&rsquo;s influential ad community. &ldquo;Hockey works in hockey markets,&rdquo; says Von Urff. &ldquo;The NHL should continue its present course going with regional TV and with each team creating its own network.&rdquo; &#9632;

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GLOBAL LEAGUE EYES MINNESOTA

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02977/5761877-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">MEANWHILE, IN QUEBEC CITY</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0005-02

ELSTON

<div class="byline">SCOTT ARNIEL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03674/5761908-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="717" height="1619"></div>Born: Sept. 17, 1962, Kingston, Ont. Height: 6-foot-l. Weight: 190 pounds. Team: Buffalo Sabres. Position: Left wing. Acquired: Traded from Winnipeg in 1986.Boyhood Heroes: &ldquo;First it was Bobby Orr, then as 1 grew up it was Bobby Clarke. I finally got to meet (Orr) when I was a junior in Cornwall.&rdquo;Most Respected Opponent: Wayne Gretzky. &ldquo;I usually have to check him. It doesn&rsquo;t matter what you do, he always seems to get a point.&rdquo;Hobbies: Golfing, fishing, waterskiing and collecting hardcover books.Favorite Movie: The Sting.Drives: A blue Nissan 300ZX.Favorite Actor: &ldquo;Ted Danson. I love that show (Cheers). It&rsquo;s on three times a day in Buffalo.&rdquo;In a movie about his life he&rsquo;d be played by&hellip;: &ldquo;Tom Berenger because I really like the movies he&rsquo;s been in and he&rsquo;s one of the few names I can think of right now.&rdquo;If he were NHL president for a day he&rsquo;d&hellip;: &ldquo;work closer with the Players&rsquo; Association to put together a better pension plan. A lot of players, when they retire, don&rsquo;t have anything to fall back on.&rdquo;What he&rsquo;d like to be doing after hockey: &ldquo;I want to start my own business back in Kingston. Probably a contracting or development business.&rdquo;Toughest goalie to score on: &ldquo;Grant Fuhr (Edmonton Oilers). When I was in Winnipeg he owned us. He&rsquo;s still the best clutch goalie in the league.&rdquo;Ideal Day: &ldquo;My baby son (Brendan) was just born on Dec. 7, so my idea) day would be to spend an entire day with him.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-03

PRO FILE

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div>An earthquake registering 5.5 on the Richter Scale rumbled through Southern California on the afternoon of Feb. 28.The after-shocks came in the form of a brawl- filled affair between Edmonton and Los Angeles that night at the Great Western Forum.&ldquo;It got a little out of hand,&rdquo; said the Kings&rsquo; interim co-coach Cap Raeder.That&rsquo;s an understatement. Referee Denis Morel called 86 penalties for 356 minutes, including 28 roughing minors, 15 fighting majors, a 10-minute match penalty and six game misconducts. The 86 penalties broke the NHL re- cord for most penalties in one game by both teams (86), set by the Boston Bruins and Minnesota North Stars Feb. 26, 1981.Wayne Gretzky had three points and no penalties in the Kings&rsquo; 4-2 win. The game began at 7:40 p.m. PST and ended at 11:10 p.m. Many in the sellout crowd of 16,005 littered the ice with debris.The Oilers were assessed a league-record 45 penalties for 199 minutes; the Kings were penalized a club-record 41 times for 157 minutes. The league record for most penalties to one team in one game was 42, set by the North Stars and the Bruins in the Feb. 26, 1981 game.Morel ordered the teams to their dressing rooms with 3:22 remaining in the second period following a brawl in which L.A.&rsquo;s Tomas Sandstrom suffered a non-displaced facial fracture and scratched cornea in his right eye when punched by Edmonton&rsquo;s Glenn Anderson.That set up a volatile third period, when Morel called 39 penalties for 222 minutes. A brawl with 26 seconds left that involved goalies Ron Scott of the Kings and the Oilers&rsquo; Bill Ranford&mdash;the latter was ejected for being the third man in a fight&mdash;resulted in 20 penalties for 129 minutes.L.A. defenseman Marty McSorley received a double-fighting major and a double-game misconduct. That ran his season total to five game misconducts, warranting an automatic three- game suspension.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011524/5761939-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="975" height="993"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton&rsquo;s Glenn Anderson received a $500 fine for his part in the brawl.</figcaption></div>Kings&rsquo; defenseman Brian Benning was given a major penalty for cross-checking Jari Kurri behind the left ear with 3:20 to go. A videotape was forwarded to the league office.The Kings went 1-for-l 1 on power plays, but failed to score on a 10-minute advantage after Anderson received a match penalty for decking Sandstrom. The Oilers went 1-for-10.On March 2, Anderson was fined $500, but not suspended, following a hearing with league vice president Brian O&rsquo;Neill.<h2>PARK IN GEAR</h2>Hall-of-Fame defenseman Brad Park was named head coach and general manager of the New England Clippers of the proposed Global League on Feb. 28.Park, 41, will lead the team which is expected to play in the Providence Civic Center. The Clippers are expected to be one of 10 North American teams in the league, aiming to start play next fall.Clippers&rsquo; owner Godfrey Wood also hired Mike Eruzione, captain of the United States&rsquo; 1980 gold medal Olympic team, to an undetermined executive position.Park played 16 NHL seasons&mdash;with the New York Rangers, Boston and Detroit&mdash;and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988. He also coached the Red Wings for 39 games in the 1985-86 season, compiling a record of 8-29-2, a .230 winning percentage, before being fired.<h2>COLLEGE UPDATE</h2>CCHA: The Central Collegiate Hockey Association&rsquo;s top four teams scored clean sweeps in the first round of playoff action March 2-3.Michigan State posted 6-4 and 13-1 wins over Ferris State. The Spartans will meet fourth place Michigan March 10 at Detroit&rsquo;s Joe Louis Arena. The Wolverines swept Western Michigan 5-3 and 8-2.In the other CCHA semifinal the same day, second-place Lake Superior State meets third- place Bowling Green. The Lakers eliminated Miami-Ohio (5-3 and 7-4), while the Falcons knocked off Ohio State (7-1 and 6-5).The championship game will be played March 11.WCHA: The Western Collegiate Hockey Association semifinals pit Wisconsin against Northern Michigan and Minnesota against North Dakota, March 11 at the St. Paul Civic Center.Wisconsin beat Michigan Tech (5-3 and 4-3 March 3 and 4); Minnesota routed Colorado College (9-2 and 9-3 March 2 and 3); North Dakota eliminated Minnesota-Duluth (11-1 and 2-1 March 1 and 2); and Northern Michigan swept Denver University (3-2 and 9-4 March 2 and 3).The two winners will meet March 12 in the WCHA final.Hockey East: Maine swept Lowell (7-4 and 16-0 March 2 and 3); Boston University eliminated Northeastern (4-2 loss March 2,5-2 and 5-3 wins March 3 and 4); and New Hampshire upset Providence College (5-1 loss March 1, 2-0 and 7-4 wins March 2 and 4) in Hockey East playoff action.The last semifinal berth went to either first- place Boston College Eagles or last-place Merrimack. Their series was tied 1-1 (3-1 BC win March 2, 6-3 Merrimack win March 4). The deciding game was March 5.The semifinals are March 9 at campus sites with the championships tentatively set for March 11.EC AC: The top four seeds advanced in the first round of Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs March 2-4, setting up an all-New York Final Four in the Boston Garden March 11-12.Top-seeded Colgate (Hamilton, N.Y.) had to wait an extra night to dispose of Yale (10-3 and 5-4). A Zamboni malfunction after the first period of the first game March 2, caused that game to be suspended with the Red Raiders leading 4-1.In other action RPI (Troy, N.Y.) eliminated Brown (5-3 and 6-4 March 2 and 3); Clarkson (Potsdam, N.Y.) ousted rival St. Lawrence (4-1 and 5-2); and Cornell (Ithaca, N.Y.) defeated defending national champion Harvard (6-2 and 4-2).Colgate will meet Clarkson in one semifinal; RPI takes on Cornell in the other. The winners meet in the final on March 12.CIAU: Two of the four finalists for the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union championship were decided March 2-4.The Calgary Dinosaurs, ranked No. 1, and the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks will compete at The Nationals at Toronto&rsquo;s Varsity Arena, March 15-17.The Dinos swept provincial rival Alberta Golden Bears (5-3 and 6-3 March 2-3) to win the Canada West Universities Athletic Association title. Laurier took out Waterloo (2-1 and 5-2 March 1 and 4) to become one of two Ontario Universities Athletic Association entries.The second OUAA berth was decided March 5 at Trois-Rivi&egrave;res, Que. The Patriotes and York Yoemen were tied one game each.In the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association, the Moncton Blue Eagles and Prince Edward Island Panthers will meet March 7, 10 and 11 (if necessary) to round out the field.&mdash;With files from Rick Sadowski, Matt Carlson, Andy Baggot, Larry Mahoney and Tom Boggie.<h2>DATEBOOK</h2>March 19: NHL Board of Governors meetings in Chicago.March 19-25: Women&rsquo;s World Ice Hockey Championships in Ottawa.March 21: WHL regular season ends.March 23: QMJHL regular season ends. &#9632;

f0006-01

AN EARTHQUAKE ON ICE

f0007-01

THE BALLARDS

<h2>CANUCKS</h2>Igor Larionov said he and teammate Vladimir Krutov have been invited to play for the Soviet Union at the World Championships next month in Switzerland. &ldquo;The Soviet people want me to,&rdquo; said Larionov, who received an invitation through a national team assistant coach. &ldquo;I have no comment right now. I think about our (Canucks&rsquo;) games first.&rdquo; Larionov and Krutov have until March 25 to decide if they&rsquo;ll play in the world tourney&hellip;Defenseman Jim Benning, who rejected a request to take a two- week demotion to Milwaukee for conditioning purposes, had three assists in his first game since Feb. 2, a 7-7 overtime tie with the Philadelphia Flyers. Benning was plus-eight with the Canucks in the month of January but fell out of favor with coach Bob McCammon.<h2>KINGS</h2>Kelly Hrudey was still weak from a bout with mononucleosis, and he did not accompany the team on a three- game trip to Winnipeg and Calgary March 2-5. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t know where we are, when Kelly will be back,&rdquo; general manager Rogie Vachon said. &ldquo;When a guy has mono like this, it could go on forever. God forbid he doesn&rsquo;t come back in time for the playoffs. We&rsquo;ve got to find a No. 1 goalie.&rdquo; Ron Scott was temporarily No. 1 after Mario Gosselin cleared waivers and was assigned to New Haven March 3. Prospect Robb Stauber was brought up, then shelled in a 9-3 loss to the Jets March 2 in his NHL debut. A four-shot, three-goal barrage in 65 seconds&mdash;all the goals came after glaring giveaways&mdash;forced the Kings to pull him after just 3:07. He returned in the third and gave up three more goals on nine shots.<h2>JETS</h2>The acquisition of center-left winger Doug Evans from St. Louis Jan. 22 for center Ron Wilson continued to pay off handsomely for the Jets. In his first 14 games with his new club Evans had 6-3-9 totals, including a two-goal, two-assist performance in a 9-3 win over Los Angeles March 2. Evans saw some action on a line with recently-recovered Thomas Steen. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not going to happen very often,&rdquo; Evans said of his multiple point performance. &ldquo;To play with Thomas Steen for me could work out for the best.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Winnipeg connected four times on eight opportunities in the 9-3 win over the Kings March 2 for the club&rsquo;s best power-play performance of the season. After going l-for-23 in its previous five games, the Winnipeg man-advantage units exploded thanks largely to the return of Steen.<h2>FLAMES</h2>They didn&rsquo;t exactly call it a retreat, but the Calgary Flames spent the final three days of February getting in a little rest-and-relaxation at the posh Emerald Lake Lodge just outside of Lake Louise, Alta. It was all part of a master plan by the University of Calgary&rsquo;s Dr. David Smith, designed to prepare the team for the upcoming playoffs. The Flames adhered to a similar training schedule last year and went on to win the Stanley Cup. The idea, said assistant coach Tom Watt, was to get in a rest period in February and early March and then gear up for the playoff run by mid March&hellip;Goalie Mike Vernon came down with back spasms for the third time this season and fifth time in two years and was out of the lineup indefinitely. The injury, which flares up for no apparent reason, raises some questions about Vernon&rsquo;s ability to survive another long playoff run. To replace Vernon, the Flames recalled goaltender Steve Guenette from their International League affiliate in Salt Lake.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021004/5762015-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="745" height="932"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Vernon came down with back spasms for the third time.</figcaption></div><h2>OILERS</h2>Add Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; coach Paul Homlgren&rsquo;s name to the growing list of people who feel Mark Messier should win the Hart Trophy this season. &ldquo;Messier&rsquo;s a great player, he&rsquo;s the best player we&rsquo;ve seen this year,&rdquo; said Holmgren after Messier scored four goals against the Flyers in a5-3 Oiler win March 3. &ldquo;Hecertainly deserves the MVP award."&hellip; Right winger Glenn Anderson was fined $500 by NHL vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill March 2 for his part in a fight with Los Angeles&rsquo; Tomas Sandstrom. Anderson received the match penalty because he had tape on his right hand and engaged in a fight. Anderson hit Sandstrom with his left hand. The L.A. right winger suffered a facial fracture and a scratched cornea in the fight. The Kings won the Feb. 28 brawl-filled game 4-2.. .Most of the Oilers were suddenly awakened from their pre-game naps in L.A. Feb. 28. A 15-20-second earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale struck Southern California. &ldquo;I was in bed and it started shaking,&rdquo; said Saskatoon native Dave Brown. &ldquo;It didn&rsquo;t feel too bad. After all, I come from Saskatchewan and consider myself an earthquake expert. It felt like one of those (vibrating) beds you plug a quarter into.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0009-02

CANUCKS MAY PLAY FOR SOVIET UNION

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BEAMISH</div>After being regarded as the best left winger in the world in the 1980s, Vladimir Krutov has had trouble cracking the lineup of the Vancouver Canucks in 1990. Now he&rsquo;s concerned about his future with the NHL team.Krutov&rsquo;s lawyer, Bill Faminoff of Vancouver, scheduled a meeting be- tween Krutov and Canuck officials in early March to find out Vancouver&rsquo;s plans for the 29-year-old Soviet.&ldquo;My concern is the lack of a direction that has been presented to him,&rdquo; said Faminoff. &ldquo;The obvious issue to be addressed by management is, what are their plans for him?&rdquo;After a slow start, compounded by his being overweight, communication problems and his unfamiliarity with the NHL system, Krutov was the Canucks&rsquo; leading scorer for the month of January with four goals and five assists. Yet, just when he looked as though he was coming around, his play fell off again. Krutov hadn&rsquo;t dressed for four of five recent Canuck games and played only seven of 14 games in the month of February. In 50 games, he had 10 goals and 20 assists.Krutov, who became the second Soviet player to sign with the Canucks&rsquo; organization last summer, reportedly is earning $375 OOO this season. Along with countryman Igor Larionov, he is the highest paid player on the roster.Coach Bob McCammon elected to play Petri Skriko, Greg Adams, Jim Sandlak and Steve Bozek ahead of Krutov, but McCammon didn&rsquo;t say that was because he&rsquo;d soured on the Soviet.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s played some good games for us, it&rsquo;s just that, right now, Bozek&rsquo;s playing very well on the left side,&rdquo; McCammon said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the reason Krutov&rsquo;s not playing. It&rsquo;s that simple. We went on a four-game winning streak (Feb. 4-11) and Krutov didn&rsquo;t play. Then we put him back in the lineup and we lost in Quebec (5-3 Feb. 13). I played him in Montreal and we lost again (10-1 Feb. 14). So I changed the lineup back to what it was and we went undefeated for three games (2-0-1).&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not blaming him for the losses, it&rsquo;s just that other guys are playing better ahead of him.&rdquo;Krutov returned to the lineup March 3 because of a knee injury to Bozek. but he was mainly ineffective in a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome. The following night, in a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Bozek was healthy enough to play again and Krutov was back sitting in the press box.Krutov, who understands but doesn&rsquo;t converse readily in English, declined to be interviewed about his situation but said he isn&rsquo;t planning to play elsewhere next season.Brian Burke, the Canucks&rsquo; director of hockey operations, said Krutov&rsquo;s future will be assessed at the end of the season.<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACI IONS</h3>Feb. 26: Doug Smith, C. sold to Pittsburgh.March 3: Jim Agnew, D. recalled from Milwaukee UHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dan Quinn, Brian Bradley, Igor Larionov, Rob Murphy, Dave Capuano.LW&mdash;Petri Skriko, Jim Sandlak. Steve Bozek, Greg Adams, Vladimir Krutov.RW&mdash;Trevor Linden. Andrew McBain, Stan Smyl, Rich Sutter, Ron Stern.LD&mdash;Paul Reinhart, Jim Benning, Jim AgnewRD&mdash;Garth Butcher, Robert Nordmark, Doug Lidster.G&mdash;Kirk McLean, Steve Weeks.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kevan Guy, D, cracked bone in foot, indefinite.Larry Melnyk, D, sore back, day-to- day.Harold Snepsts. D, jammed wrist, day-to-day.Daryl Stanley. LW. tendon damage in finger, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Adams, Quinn, 24. A&mdash;Reinhart, 35. P&mdash;Quinn, 53. PIM&mdash;Butcher, 174. &#9632;

BENCHED SOVIET WANTS TO KNOW WHERE HE STANDS

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>Three nights ahead of schedule on March 3, Grant Fuhr launched yet another 1989-90 NHL comeback.&ldquo;Third one this season,&rdquo; sighed the beleaguered Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; goaltender.Fuhr received an A-plus from his tutor for this particular test&mdash;a 5-3 triumph over the Philadelphia Flyers during which the 27-year-old turned aside 35 shots.&ldquo;Not a bad night for a guy just starting out,&rdquo; said Oilers&rsquo; assistant coach Ron Low as Edmonton snipped a three-game losing string. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why Fuhr was so good. I don&rsquo;t think anybody knows&hellip;but I&rsquo;m sure it has something to do with the fact he&rsquo;s better than anybody else at what he does.&ldquo;Typical, though, we got up 5-1 and it finished 5-3.&rdquo;Giving up late goals has long been an Oiler tradition&mdash;just as it&rsquo;s been with Fuhr stopping pucks.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d hate to see him waste a game like that in the minors,&rdquo; said Craig MacTavish, whose 19th goal of the season&mdash;his first at home since a brilliant two-man short effort Dec. 13 against Quebec&mdash;proved to be the winner.The original plan was for Fuhr to launch his comeback with the Oilers&rsquo; American League affiliate in Cape Breton, as was the case in late October following his emergency appendectomy Sept. 14. That time, after undergoing surgery just six days into training camp, he played two games in the minors, rejoined the Oilers in Montreal and was beaten 5-4 on Oct. 29.This time around he was scheduled to play two weekend games in the AHL before rejoining the Oilers in time for a March 6 outing against Pittsburgh.&ldquo;When we first made the plans for him to go to the minors, we had good goaltending, but that all changed,&rdquo; explained coach John Muckler. &ldquo;Suddenly Grant was the best we had.&rdquo;Finest on this planet, according to Mark Messier who scored four times in the win over the Flyers.&ldquo;Cocoa (Fuhr) played unreal, he&rsquo;s a great goalie&mdash;the best in the world,&rdquo; said the Oilers&rsquo; captain. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it, there&rsquo;s not another goalie in the world who could come in and play like that after being off for 2&rsquo;/z months with major shoulder surgery (on Dec. 27).&rdquo;Fuhr had missed 33 straight games since dislocating his left shoulder Dec. 16 in St. Louis.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen him come back from injuries before and it seems like he&rsquo;s never missed a step,&rdquo; said MacTavish. &ldquo;The coaches obviously made the right decision. He&rsquo;s the type of person you look for strength from on the hockey team.&ldquo;This team couldn&rsquo;t have won four Stanley Cups without the goaltending he&rsquo;s provided. And, for how long?&rdquo;Since 1981, but who&rsquo;s keeping track?<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 1: Jeff Sharpies, D, and Mike Greenlay. G, assigned to Cape Breton (AHL)l<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier, Craig MacTavish, Mark Lamb, Adam Graves, Vladimir Ruzicka.LW&mdash;Esa Tikkanen, Martin Gelinas, Petr Klima. Kelly Buchberger.RW&mdash;Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Dave Brown, Craig Simpson.LD&mdash;Kevin Lowe, Steve Smith, Geoff Smith.RD&mdash;Craig Muni, Jeff Beukeboom, Randy Gregg, Charlie Huddy.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr, Bill Ranford, Eldon Reddick.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Joe Murphy HW, charley horses in both leas, day-to-day<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Messier, 39. A&mdash;Messier, 76. P&mdash; Messier, 115. PIM&mdash;Simpson, 160. &#9632;

FUHR MAKES GRAND RETURN

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>Last March as the Calgary Flames romped through the Smythe Division en route to the Stanley Cup, their closest pursuers were the Los Angeles Kings.The Kings just happened to be 24 points behind at the time and ended up 26 back by the end of the season. The division race didn&rsquo;t even involve the Wayne Gretzky-less Edmonton Oilers.This year, for the first time in anyone&rsquo;s memory, the Smythe Division could go down to the wire. The Flames and Edmonton Oilers were threatening to go down to the final weekend&mdash;they meet in the second- to-last game of the season in Calgary March 30&mdash;to decide the title. Since divisional re-alignment was established in 1981-82, the closest the Smythe Division has ever been was in 1987-88 when the Flames finished six points ahead of the Oilers.Coming off a 117-point season a year ago, the Flames were on pace to reach 93 points after posting a 32-2113 record in their first 66 games. The Oilers were a point ahead with a 3323-12 mark in 68 games. So what do the Flames hope to accomplish between now and playoff time in an effort to shrug off their season-long inconsistencies?&ldquo;Right now, you&rsquo;re maybe trying to fine tune parts of your game,&rdquo; said defenseman Al Maclnnis, &ldquo;as individuals, but more importantly, as a team. Because once the 80 games are over, they&rsquo;re not exactly forgotten, but they&rsquo;re done with.&rdquo;In comparing this year to the last two, which were smooth by comparison and resulted in consecutive regular-season championships, Maclnnis said two factors needed to be considered.&ldquo;First, you have to take this year as a learning experience,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;For everybody in our dressing room, it was their first Stanley Cup. I don&rsquo;t think anybody realized how tough teams were going to come after us this season. You look at a lot of teams that played us, the next night or two nights later, they were a completely different team. They didn&rsquo;t play nearly as well.&ldquo;The second thing is it&rsquo;s important for us to play well now. You&rsquo;ve heard it over and over: You just can&rsquo;t turn it on and turn it off.&rdquo;As the Flames entered March, the most obvious area of improvement was in the team&rsquo;s penalty killing which was 19th in the league at the halfway mark but has since moved up to 16th. After killing four of five penalties against the Vancouver Canucks in a 5-1 win March 3, the Flames had killed 232 shorthanded situations in 301 opportunities for a 77.1 per-cent success rate.&ldquo;We were very disappointed with our penalty killing the first half,&rdquo; said Maclnnis. &ldquo;We set goals for the second half and we&rsquo;re achieving those goals.&ldquo;On the power play, we&rsquo;re around 26 or 27 per cent (8l-for-295 for a 27.5 per cent conversion rate). It&rsquo;: been pretty consistent, but it&rsquo;s tough to keep it up there in the playoffs Teams play you that much tougher They&rsquo;re sliding in front of shots. So you don&rsquo;t expect to score every time but when you need a key goal to turn the tide, that&rsquo;s when you need the power play.&rdquo;<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 1: Stu Grimson, LW, recalled from Salt Lake (IHL).March 3: Steve Guenette, G. recalled from Salt Lake.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour, Joel Otto, Theoren Fleury.LW&mdash;Gary Roberts. Paul Ranheim, Brian MacLellan, Colin Patterson, Stu Grimson, Sergei Priakin.RW&mdash;Sergei Makarov. Joe Mullen, Jiri Hrdina, Tim Hunter, Jonas Bergqvist.LD&mdash;Gary Suter, Jamie Macoun, Dana Murzyn.RD&mdash;Al Maclnnis, Brad McCrimmon, Roger Johansson.G&mdash;Rick Wamsley, Steve Guenette.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mark Hunter. RW, reconstructive knee surgery, out for season.Ric Nattress, D. broken right ankle, indefinite.Mike Vernon. G, back spasms, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Nieuwendyk, 37. A&mdash;Gilmour, 54. P&mdash;Nieuwendyk. 76. PIM&mdash;T. Hunter, 239. &#9632;

DRIVE FOR SMYTHE TITLE A TIGHT AFFAII

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>Tomas Sandstrom was having a difficult time sleeping and it had nothing to do with the in-consistency of his team.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been tough, especially the first night,&rdquo; said the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; right winger, who was suffering from a swollen facial fracture. &ldquo;The doctors told me just to try and take it easy, to get as much rest as I can. That&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m trying to do.&rdquo;His fiancee, Helena, said, &ldquo;He looks awful. He&rsquo;s having a very difficult time. It&rsquo;s terrible.&rdquo;Sandstrom sustained the injury, which is below his right eye but above the cheek, in the Kings&rsquo; brawl-filled 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers at the Forum Feb. 28.Referee Denis Morel called a league-record 86 penalties for a staggering 356 minutes.Sandstrom was hurt, according to Kings&rsquo; general manager Rogie Vachon, &ldquo;by a Glenn Anderson sucker punch&rdquo; with 3:22 remaining in the second period.Sandstrom spent a restless night at Centinela Hospital Medical Center, then was released the next day. Sandstrom also sustained a scratched right cornea for which he underwent minor laser surgery on March 2, and a gash near the eye that required four stitches.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t ask too many questions (about the surgery). I just wanted to go home and go to sleep, he said.Sandstrom also was experiencing sinus problems for which he intended to visit a specialist.&ldquo;I got punched in the face, but I can&rsquo;t remember by who. I was being tied up,&rdquo; Sandstrom said. &ldquo;I think there were three guys there&hellip;I really don&rsquo;t know what happened.&rdquo;Anderson received a 10-minute match penalty, as it turned out, because he was engaged in a fight while wearing tape on his right hand. But he hit Sandstrom with his left hand, and his only penalty following a March 2 hearing with NHL executive vice president Brian O&rsquo;Neill was a $500 fine.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s over and done with. I just want to get better so I can start playing again,&rdquo; was Sandstrom&rsquo;s only comment.Vachon said he was trying to get in touch with O&rsquo;Neill for an explanation.&ldquo;He better have a good reason,&rdquo; Vachon said. &ldquo;For what (Anderson) has done&hellip;a sucker punch like that breaks a guy&rsquo;s jaw&hellip;he should get many games. There&rsquo;s no reason for that kind of stuff.&rdquo;After making his ruling, O&rsquo;Neill said:&ldquo;In my judgment, this was a normal fighting situation and does not warrant a suspension (even though) one of the players was injured. It is acknowledged that Sandstrom sustained serious injury. However, both players were engaged in fisticuffs.&rdquo;Anderson said teammate Steave Smith and the Kings&rsquo; Brian Benning were fighting and Wayne Gretzky &ldquo;jumped in on the pile, and then myself and Sandstrom got into it. He dropped his gloves before I did and grabbed hold of me. Then I dropped mine and defended myself.&rdquo;Acquired with Tony Granato from the New York Rangers in the Jan. 20 Bernie Nicholls trade, Sandstrom was skating on a line with Gretzky. In 17 games as a King, he had eight goals and 21 points.<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 1: Robb St&auml;uber, G, recalled from New Haven (AHL).March 3: Mario Gosselin, G, assigned to New Haven<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Todd Elik, Mike Krushelnyski, Steve Kasper.LW&mdash;Bob Kudelski, Luc Robitaille, John Tonelli, Mike Allison. Jay Miller, Mikko Makela.RW&mdash;Tony Granato, Dave Taylor, Scott Bjugstad, Keith Crowder.LD&mdash;Tim Watters, Barry Beck, Larry Robinson, Petr Prajsler.RD&mdash;Steve Duchesne, Marty McSorley, Brian Benning, Bob Halkidis.G&mdash;Ron Scott, Robb Stauber.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kelly Hrudey, G, mononucleosis, in- definite.Tom Laidlaw. D, sprained knee, indefinite.Tomas Sandstrom, RW, facial fracture and scratched cornea, indefinite<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Robitaille, 42. A&mdash;Gretzky, 92. P&mdash; Gretzky, 128. PIM&mdash;McSorley, 290. &#9632;

BRAWL-FILLED GAME LEAVES SANDSTROM AWAKE AT NIGHT

<div class="byline">BARRY MEISEL</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011437/5762166-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="686" height="877"></div>The calendar said March 1 and the Patrick Division said the New York Rangers were in first place. You&rsquo;ll pardon Ranger fans for shuddering. Last season wasn&rsquo;t that long ago.To the fanatics in the NHL ghetto known as the Madison Square Garden blue seats, it doesn&rsquo;t matter that the 1989-90 Rangers are as similar to the 1988-89 edition as Neil Smith is to Phil Esposito or Roger Neilson is to Michel Bergeron.Ranger fans are like Boston Red Sox fans. When something good happens, they smile and wait for the thud. When something bad happens, they shrug and say, &rsquo;What&rsquo;s new?&rsquo; Everybody knows the Rangers haven&rsquo;t won a Stanley Cup since 1940. Everybody in New York knows the Rangers haven&rsquo;t finished first&mdash;not even in a four-team division&mdash;since 1941-42.History tells us the Rangers were in first place as late as March 9 last season. But a 3-12-0 run that began March 3 and dropped them into third place ended with Espo firing Bergeron two games before the end of the regular season and Garden sports boss Jack Diller firing Espo after the Penguins knocked the Rangers out of the playoffs four straight.History also tells us that on March 1, 1972, the Rangers and Boston Bruins were scrapping for first place in the East Division. These were the two best teams in the NHL, the likely Stanley Cup finalists. On that night, in the Rangers&rsquo; 4-1 victory over the California Golden Seals at the Garden, Dale Rolfe took a slap shot that fractured teammate Jean Ratelle&rsquo;s ankle. Ratelie, the Rangers&rsquo; leading scorer, didn&rsquo;t play again until the finals. He was ineffective. The Rangers lost to the Bruins in six.Thud.What&rsquo;s new? These Rangers can finish first, even if it is only the Patrick, where if you play .500 you&rsquo;re a contender and if you play five games over .500 you&rsquo;re a potential champion.The Rangers were 29-25-11 on March 1. They had pulled four points in front of the pack. They were actually forcing the columnists of New York&rsquo;s baseball-mad dailies to pull themselves away from their vigil at the doorstep of Darryl Strawberry&rsquo;s alcohol treatment center.The Rangers in first? History be damned.&ldquo;Every Ranger fan you talk to has been here for the whole 50 years,&rdquo; said Neilson, who was five years old when the Rangers last won the Cup.Don&rsquo;t worry, the Rangers aren&rsquo;t winning the Cup. Even if they do finish first. New York&rsquo;s not ready for that great a shock and the NHL&rsquo;s not fallen that far. Neilson has simply gotten realistic mileage out of a .500 team in a .500 division. The Devils and Penguins are underachieving. The Islanders are overachieving. The Flyers have gotten old and injured. The Capitals never have had enough.Remember last summer, when Scotty Bowman turned down Diller&rsquo;s offer to be GM and claimed the Rangers&rsquo; depth chart was a disaster? Neilson, who would have been Bowman&rsquo;s coach, too, almost didn&rsquo;t accept Smith&rsquo;s offer because of the organization&rsquo;s lack of depth.Now Smith can&rsquo;t seem to make a trade because Neilson loves his players so much. The Rangers and Red Wings were close to a deal that would have sent goaltender Bob Froese to Detroit for right winger Dave Barr, defenseman Lee Norwood and minor-league goalie Sam St. Laurent.Neilson didn&rsquo;t want it done.Captain Video has shown incredible patience for a man who has coached five NHL teams in 13 years. When the bandwagon got a little crowded in New York after the 8-1-3 start, Neilson rarely smiled. When ankles were being sprained across the city from fans abandoning the caravan during a 1-11-4 slump, Neilson rarely frowned.He&rsquo;s gearing up for the playoffs. He&rsquo;s got a defensive team, a disciplined team, a tough team.A Roger Neilson-type of team.&ldquo;We were a little smaller than we are now,&rdquo; Neilson said, comparing the team he inherited to the team he hopes to carry into April. &ldquo;(Troy) Mallette came along, (Kris) King started playing regularly, we got (Lindy) Ruff in the lineup. (Normand) Rochefort&rsquo;s playing and suddenly we&rsquo;ve got a bigger team.&rdquo;Mallette is an unbridled 20-year-old bronco who belts everything in sight. Ruff is a warhorse still willing to grind. Rochefort, a top defenseman in Quebec before he began having knee problems, has recovered remarkably well from major reconstructive surgery.The Rangers have undergone a facelift. With Bernie Nicholls they have the prime-time scorer they&rsquo;ve lacked. But Nicholls so far hasn&rsquo;t been the key ingredient. Toughness has.&ldquo;I think any team that hits as well as we&rsquo;ve hit the last 20 games can do fairly well,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;Mike Keenan sort of proved that in Chicago.&rdquo;Neilson&rsquo;s no Keenan. But his team is growing mean. &#9632;

f0014-01

TOUGHER RANGERS TRY TO CHANGE HISTORY

March 16,1947: Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; center Billy Taylor became the first player in NHL history to record seven assists in one game as the Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 10-6. Taylor&rsquo;s record has since been tied by Wayne Gretzky on three occasions. Gretzky had seven assists in games in 1980, 1985 and 1986 while with the Edmonton Oilers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021113/5762197-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="853" height="543"><figcaption class="caption-body">Billy Taylor</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-02

FLASHBACK

<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>Left winger Dave Chyzowski, the Islanders&rsquo; first-round choice in the 1989 entry draft was returned by the team to the Western League&rsquo;s Kamloops Blazers March 5. Chyzowski, who had lasted the longest of all 21 first-rounders in 1989, had 8-6-14 totals in 34 games with the Islanders. Chyzowski was assigned to the team&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Springfield Feb. 23, where he had no points in four games&hellip;Goalie Mark Fitzpatrick, whose three shutouts sparked the Islanders&rsquo; turnaround in December, said he has had a big share of responsibility for the team&rsquo;s recent slide (0-7-2). After Daniel Shank&rsquo;s goal with 1:31 left gave Detroit a 4-3 win Feb. 28, Fitzpatrick said: &ldquo;I take 110 per cent blame for the loss. My play certainly was why we lost. &rsquo; &rsquo; Fitzpatrick stopped 24 shots in the game&hellip;Center Pat LaFontaine, out with a chipped bone in his left hand, skated with the team, although he was allowed to grip his stick only in his right hand. The Islanders were expecting him back by the second week of March<h2>PENGUINS</h2>Center Doug Smith, purchased from the Vancouver Canucks Feb. 26, separated his left shoulder two days later while taking his first shift with the Penguins during a 2-1 win over New Jersey. Smith estimated his ice time in his Pittsburgh debut at &ldquo;about 15 seconds. I&rsquo;m&rsquo;chomping at the bit to play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And one shift didn&rsquo;t satisfy my appetite.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;The Penguins, 10-18-4 on the road after a 6-5 loss in New Jersey March 2, faced the grim prospect of playing eight of their final 13 games away from the Civic Arena, where they had a 21-134 mark. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t afford to lose eight road games,&rdquo; coach Craig Patrick said&hellip;Center Barry Pederson, acquired from Vancouver Jan. 8, did not have a goal in his first 25 games with the Penguins. Right winger Tony Tanti, obtained in the same trade, had 12 in that span.<h2>DEVILS</h2>Unhappy defenseman Randy Velischek, who did not dress for seven of eight games, lashed out at the way he has been treated. &ldquo;I pray that I get out of here. I&rsquo;ve had enough. It&rsquo;s time to move on,&rdquo; said Velischek, a solid and underrated performer. &ldquo;From what I&rsquo;ve seen they want more of an offensive-oriented defense. Craig Wolanin and myself don&rsquo;t fit in. I&rsquo;m 28 and basically in my prime and I don&rsquo;t have a future here. The games I&rsquo;m missing here now could be my best in the league.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Wolanin, 22, returned March 4 from a two- week conditioning stint at Utica. &ldquo;It was a lot of fun. It was great,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It all comes down to a chance to play. I got to play on the power play and to kill penalties. I felt confident because the game is a step slower down there. I was just happy to get to play a lot.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Chris Terreri has moved ahead of Sean Burke as the team&rsquo;s top goalie. Terreri was 2-1-1 after replacing Burke in a 4-2 Feb. 22 loss to Winnipeg.<h2>CAPITALS</h2>Former Washington coach Bryan Murray took in his first game at the Capital Centre since being fired Jan. 15 when the Capitals nipped New Jersey 4-3 March 4. He even visited briefly with general manager David Poile. The victory over the Devils broke a five-game losing streak inside the division.. .After splitting with Chicago (a 4-0 win Feb. 27) and the New York Rangers (a 3-2 loss Feb. 28), the Caps were 10-21-1 in back- to-back games, sweeping only one set while being swept seven times&hellip; Rookie right winger Alan May served a one-game suspension against Chicago Feb. 27 after receiving his third game misconduct of the season. &ldquo;I was glad I wasn&rsquo;t going to miss a (Patrick) division game,&rdquo; said May, &ldquo;but I should always be in the lineup against Chicago,&rdquo; May said&hellip;Two Caps reached milestones March 4: Center Dale Hunter played in his 750th NHL game and center Mike Ridley recorded his 350th point.<h2>RANGERS</h2>The Rangers received a letter Feb. 28 informing them the NHL had decided to take no disciplinary action against Kris King, who was accused by Boston Bruin Graeme Townshend of making a racial slur against him on Feb. 3. Townshend is black. &ldquo;I understand why the league decided to handle the matter the way it did,&rdquo; said Ranger GM Neil Smith, &ldquo;but, after Kris King was accused so publicly&mdash;and unfairly in my opinion&mdash;it would have been nice to see him cleared more publicly.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;When the Rangers thumped Boston 6-1 Feb. 26 to sweep a series from the Bruins for the first time in club history, coach Roger Neilson was only slightly surprised. &ldquo;Really, the first time in 64 years?&rdquo; Neilson said with a shrug when given his Ranger history lesson.<h2>FLYERS</h2>Scott Mellanby made his first goal since Feb. 8 a timely one. He scored the winning goal in the Flyers&rsquo; 4-2 win at Calgary March 1. It was the Flyers&rsquo; first win in the Olympic Saddledome since Dec. 23, 1985&hellip;Right winger Doug Sulliman played in the Calgary game, his first start in 18 games&hellip;Rick Tocchet scored his 82nd point of the season in a 7-7 tie against the Vancouver Canucks Feb. 28, breaking his previous career-best total of 81 which he established last season. Tocchet also registered a point in the Flyers&rsquo; 5-3 loss to Edmonton March 3, extending his point-scoring streak to 10 games&hellip; Defenseman Jiri Latal was back on the sidelines for two games after aggravating a shoulder injury. Latal had previously missed three weeks after separating the shoulder. &#9632;

FIRST ROUNDER RETURNED TO JUNIOR

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0015-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011331/5762252-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Goalie Sean Burke had gone almost a month without recording a victory for the New Jersey Devils and lost his No. 1 status.</figcaption></div>More than just a Stanley Cup playoff berth will be riding on the final 10 games of the regular season for the New Jersey Devils.If the Devils fail to make the play- offs this season after an off-season which saw significant roster changes coming at great expense to owner John J. McMullen, it could very well cost team president-general manager Lou Lamoriello and the entire coaching staff their jobs.McMullen, who has never issuec public ultimatums for his coaches 01 general managers, has met private!) with Lamoriello. A recent stretch it which the Devils posted only one victory in 12 games (1-8-3) prompted a least one expressive late-nigh meeting.&ldquo;Dr. McMullen is a very supportive person,&rdquo; said Lamoriello, who is in his third season as the Devils&rsquo; general manager. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s just as competitive as anybody and, quite frankly, he deserves to win.&rdquo;It is likely that McMullen would wait until after the regular season before making changes, but the generous owner could not be happy with the $250.000 investment he made in seldom-used Finnish defenseman Reijo Ruotsalainen, the manner in which center Walt Poddubny was used before sustaining a season-ending knee injury and perhaps even the Sylvain Turgeon-for-Pat Verbeek trade with the Hartford Whalers.Then, there was the situation with the Soviet defensemen. Neither Viacheslav Fetisov nor Sergei Starikov played well at the start of the season. While Fetisov eventually came around, Starikov had to be demoted to the Devils&rsquo; American League farm team in Utica.One Devils&rsquo; player pointed out that if the team fails to make the playoffs, there could be finger-pointing directed at the coaching start as wen as Lamoriello. That means head coach John Cunniff, assistant coach Tim Burke and goaltending coach Bob Bellemore could be out of jobs.There has been criticism over the way Cunniff has handled Randy Velischek&mdash;one of the club&rsquo;s steadiest defensemen under former coach Jim Schoenfeld&mdash;and goalie Sean Burke. Although injuries have forced Cunniff to make several lineup changes, his critics say he has juggled even his healthy lines too frequently.Asked if he was worried about his job, Cunniff, 22-25-2 since taking over from Schoenfeld 14 games into the season, replied: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel nervous about it. I would feel nervous if I thought I had lost the players. I know, they&rsquo;re trying and working.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to get them to play the game a little simpler. Don&rsquo;t go for the home run. Let&rsquo;s go for some singles. Cut down on your swing. Go for the easy passes.&rdquo;Sean Burke had not won a game from Feb. 9 to March 4. The 23-year- old goalie was 0-5-0 since a 5-3 victory over Washington and had a 1-8-2 record since Jan. 26. Overall, he had an 18-20-6 record with a 3.80 goals against average and a .873 save percentage. That was a serious concern for the well-liked Bellemore.Overall, the Devils were 3-10-4 from Jan. 26 to March 4, dropping from first place to a tie for fourth in the Patrick Division. With a record of 2731-8, the Devils were tied for the fourth and last playoff spot with Washington, just one point ahead of last-place Philadelphia. That was reason enough to make Lamoriello and his coaches wonder if they were entering their own home stretch.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 1: Jon Morris, C, recalled from Utica (AHL).March 4: Craig Wolanin, D. recalled from Utica<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Patrik Sundstrom, Mark Johnson, Bob Brooke, Jon Morris.LW&mdash;Kirk Muller, Brendan Shanahan. Pat Conacher, Paul Ysebaert. Jim Korn.RW&mdash;John MacLean, Sylvain Turgeon, Doug Brown, Janne Ojanen, Jamie Hus- croft, Troy Crowder.LD&mdash;Bruce Driver, Tommy Albelin, Alexei Kasatonov, Randy Velischek.RD&mdash;Ken Daneyko, Viacheslav Fetisov, Eric Weinrich, Craig Wolanin, Reijo Ruotsalainen.G&mdash;Chris Terreri. Sean Burke.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Maley, LW, strained right knee ligaments, day-to-day.Walt Poddubny, C, arthroscopic right knee surgery, out for season.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;MacLean, 32. A&mdash;Muller, 46. P&mdash; Muller, 72. PIM&mdash;Daneyko, 193. &#9632;

f0015-01

HEADS MAY ROLL IF JERSEY MISSES PLAYOFFS

Dan Balestrieri is a dedicated hockey player. Just look at what he lists as his hobbies&mdash;street hockey, hockey and more hockey.A 10-year-old with the Squirt &rsquo;A&rsquo; travelling team in Woburn, Mass., Dan is a versatile forward as he plays both right wing and center. He previously played for two Mite travelling teams.Standing 4-foot-8 and weighing 85 pounds, Dan has been skating since he was five years old. Dan learned how to skate in the Woburn Youth Hockey Clinic Program. After attending the clinic, Dan was chosen to play for the Mite Canadians team.Dan is a Grade 5 student at Wyman Elementary School in Woburn. At the end of last season, Dan played spring hockey and attended the hockey school at Salem State College under the direction of Robert Kinch.His favorite professional hockey players are Boston Bruins&rsquo; rugged right winger Cam Neely and Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; superstar center Wayne Gretzky.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011216/5762283-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="774" height="1615"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dan Balestrieri</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

JOFA TITAN

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE FISH</div>In the 1960s, the popular motto was &ldquo;don&rsquo;t trust anyone over 30.&rdquo; In the 1990s, it might be &ldquo;don&rsquo;t trust anyone over 30 being with the Flyers much longer.&rdquo;With 10 players on their roster in the 30-and-overclub, the Flyers knew a youth movement was inevitable. A hint of things to come was when the Flyers traded Dave Poulin to the Boston Bruins on Jan. 16 for Ken Linseman in a swap of 31-year-olds. Then they traded 11-year veteran Brian Propp to the same team March 2 for the Bruins&rsquo; second-round pick in this year&rsquo;s NHL entry draft.Propp, 31, stands second on the Flyers&rsquo; all-time leading goal-scoring list with 369, trailing only Bill Barber (420), and third on the point-scoring list with 849, behind general manager Bob Clarke (1,210) and Barber (883).Propp was in the final year of his contract, which paid him a reported $250,000 (U.S.) per season. The veteran&rsquo;s agent, Steve Mountain, was seeking a big raise for his client but the Flyers were reluctant to negotiate, a situation which undoubtedly figured in the trade.Propp, who scored at least 20 goals in each of his 10 full seasons with the Flyers, missed 20 games this season due to surgery to remove a blood clot and repair damage to the ulnar artery in his left palm on Nov. 22.He had 13 goals and 28 points in 40 games when the deal was announced.With less than a month to play in the season and the Flyers in a dogfight for a playoff spot in the Patrick Division&mdash;as of March 5, they had a record of 26-32-9, one point out of a playoff spot&mdash;Propp&rsquo;s scoring was bound to be missed.But with age creeping into every position except goal, Clarke knew he had to start making moves.&ldquo;In our position, we have to start getting younger players into the lineup,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This year&rsquo;s draft is a strong one and we should get a very good prospect with Boston&rsquo;s pick.&ldquo;This is a trade that helps Boston immediately and should help us down the road,&rdquo; Clarke added. &ldquo;He (Propp) has been a great player through the years and now he&rsquo;s going to a team that has a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;The Flyers insist the move does not indicate they are giving up on this season. But whether intended or not, the second trade of a big-name player apparently does send a message to the rest of the team. Few players have job security.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 28: Len Barrie. C, recalled from Kamloops (WHL).March 1: Murray Baron, D, recalled from Hershey (AHL).March 2: Brian Propp, LW, traded to Boston for second-round pick in 1990 draft.March 4: Barrie assigned to Kamloops.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ron Sutter, Murray Craven, Keith Acton, Ken Linseman.LW&mdash;Craig Berube, Pelle Eklund, llkka Sinisalo, Tony Horacek.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Tim Kerr. Scott Mellanby. Doug Sulliman.LD&mdash;Kerry Huffman, Jay Wells, Murray Baron.RD&mdash;Kjell Samuelsson, Gord Murphy Jeff Chychrun.G&mdash;Ron Hextall. Ken Wregget. Pete Peeters.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Terry Carkner, O, bruised ankle, day- to-dayMark Howe, D. herniated discs in lower back, indefinite.Normand Lacombe, RW, chronic exertional compartment syndrome, indefinite.Jiri Latal, D, sore shoulder, day-to- day.Derrick Smith, LW, bruised ribs, day- to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Tocchet, 33. A&mdash;Tocchet, 51. P&mdash; Tocchet, 84. PIM&mdash;Berube, 279. &#9632;

PROPP TRADE IS SIGNAL OF YOUTH MOVEMENT

<div class="byline">&nbsp;BY WALT MacPEEK</div>The New York Rangers tiptoed past the dreaded Game 66 mark successfully but didn&rsquo;t get much farther before feeling the chill, once again, of those March winds of ill fortune.It was Game 66 last season which started the Rangers&rsquo; stunning fall from grace&mdash;and first place in the Patrick Division&mdash;with a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils.Before the collapse was over, the Rangers were 3-12-0 for the final 15 games, Michel Bergeron had gone from a Coach of the Year candidate to the ranks of the unemployed and the New Yorkers finished the whole mess off by being swept out of the playoffs in the first round by No. 66 (Mario Lemieux) and the Pittsburgh Penguins.Current Ranger coach Roger Neilson was understandably uninterested in the media&rsquo;s recollection of those perilous days, especially after his team rolled to a 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders March 2 in Game 66 this season.And when his team&rsquo;s seven-game unbeaten streak (6-0-1) was snapped March 3 in a 6-4 loss to the Hartford Whalers&mdash;a game in which Mark Hardy, Carey Wilson and Ron Greschner were injured&mdash;he still declined to look back in search of comparison.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anybody is thinking about last year,&rdquo; said Neilson. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just come off a pretty good 20 games (13-4-3).&rdquo;The Rangers (30-26-11 and six points ahead of the Penguins on March 4), were feeling confident at the top of the Patrick Division standings but they started March of 1989 in first place, too.But the task of finishing on top in the Patrick Division undoubtedly became more difficult when the Rangers lost Hardy and Wilson.&ldquo;Mark has been a very valuable defenseman and has been playing his best hockey lately,&rdquo; said Neilson. &ldquo;If we can survive and make the playoffs without him, the two weeks of rest might even prove to be beneficial-&ldquo;Wilson, on the other hand, was just fitting in and getting comfortable with his shift (from center) to right wing. So this comes at a bad time for him.&rdquo;In 38 games with the Rangers, Wilson collected nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points&mdash;29 fewer than he accumulated in 41 games for New York last season.The Rangers also added Greschner (broken toe) to an injury list which already included Chris Nilan (sprained knee), Jan Erixon (back strain) and David Shaw (right shoulder surgery). On March 4, the Rangers recalled defenseman Jeff Bloemberg and right winger Kevin Miller from their International League affiliate in Flint as replacements.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 4: Jeff Bloemberg, D, and Kevin Miller, RW, recalled from Flint (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kelly Kisio, Bernie Nicholls, Darren Turcotte. Mark Janssens.LW&mdash;John Ogrodnick, Troy Mallette, Kris King, Lindy Ruff.RW&mdash;Brian Mullen. Ulf Dahlen, Paul Broten, Kevin Miller.LD&mdash;Brian Leetch, Normand Rochefort, Miloslav Horava.RD&mdash;James Patrick, Randy Moller, Jeff Bloemberg.G&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Richter, Bob Froese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Paul Cyr. C, surgery on right knee, out for season.Jan Erixon. LW, back strain, March 28.Ron Greschner, D, broken toe. March 8.Mark Hardy, D, sprained right ankle, March 18.Chris Nilan, RW, sprained knee, indefinite.Dave Shaw. D. right shoulder surgery, out for season.Carey Wilson, C, sprained right knee. March 25.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Ogrodnick, 39. A&mdash;Nicholls, 60.P&mdash;Nicholls, 96. PIM&mdash;King, 261. &#9632;

AVOIDING SUDES OF MARCH A BIG TASK

<div class="byline">BY MARK HERRMANN</div>The New York Islanders never have considered Madison Square Garden a hospitable place. Their lifetime record of 16-37- 5 against the New York Rangers there suggests the Islanders don&rsquo;t exactly enjoy travelling across town to visit their neighbors.But their intense rivalry with the Rangers took on a different dimension March 2, when the Islanders blamed the Garden ice for their 6-3 loss to the Rangers and the loss of three key players.Patrick Flatley, Jeff Norton and Derek King all aggravated injuries in the game, and the Islanders attributed all three injuries to the chippy, rutted ice at the Garden.General manager Bill Torrey refer- red to the building as &ldquo;a joke,&rdquo; cap- ping a series of post-game fireworks that also saw coach Al Arbour go nose-to-nose with referee Rob Shick.Those incidents and injuries both reflected and compounded the Islanders&rsquo; frustration over a winless streak that reached nine games (0-7-2) with a 5-4 loss in St. Louis March 3.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011069/5762362-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="746" height="886"><figcaption class="caption-body">Patrick Flatley aggravated a groin pull against the Rangers.</figcaption></div>Flatley, Norton and King&mdash;three key offensive contributors on a team that does not have much firepower&mdash; all missed the game, as did high scorer Pat LaFontaine, who was sitting out with a chipped bone in his left hand.The Ranger game was Flatley&rsquo;s first game back after a seven-game absence caused by a groin pull. It was Norton&rsquo;s second game after a five- game absence brought on by strained groin and abdominal muscles. King, who had missed six January games because of a sprained left knee, had scored eight goals in 15 games after that.Torrey realized the losses of those players could have a serious impact on the Islanders&rsquo; playoff chances, and he was furious about the surface that he claimed was responsible.Refusing to open the Islanders&rsquo; dressing room to the media after the game, Torrey said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got three guys lying on a table in there, thanks to ruts on the ice. Until the doctor gets there, nobody is getting in there. And you can see how long it&rsquo;s taking to get the doctor. This place is a joke.&rdquo;Shick agreed, calling the ice &ldquo;just awful. &rsquo; &rsquo; Ranger coach Roger Neilson acknowledged that his team knows where the ruts are.&lsquo;&rsquo;I had never seen the ice that bad in all the years I played with the Rangers,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; left winger Don Maloney, who played almost 11 seasons for the Blueshirts. &ldquo;The ruts were two inches deep. The only time it was similar was in the 1979 playoffs in May. It was 90 degrees out and the ice was like a pool.&ldquo;To lose guys like Flats, Derek King and Norton is crushing for us. But the rest of us have to pick up the pieces. We have enough guys here to win hockey games.&rdquo;But after the St. Louis game, they had gone three full weeks without a win. Perhaps the long drought had worn thin on Arbour at the Garden, as he repeatedly argued with Shick over the Rangers&rsquo; 10 power plays to the Islanders&rsquo; five. The coach was assessed a bench minor for criticizing Shick between the second and third periods.After the game, he stood right in front of Shick and glared at the referee. But Shick downplayed the incident.&ldquo;It was just an emotional game and Al&rsquo;s an emotional guy. He&rsquo;s fighting for first place. That&rsquo;s his job,&rdquo; said Shick. &ldquo;I respect Al as a coach. He&rsquo;s a great hockey man. It&rsquo;s over, as far as I&rsquo;m concerned, as soon as I walk in the shower.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. SLANDERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 27: Marc Bergevin, D, assigned to Springfield (AHL).March 3: Tom Fitzgerald, C, recalled from Springfield.March 5: Dave Chyzowski, LW, assigned to Kamloops (WHI1<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Brent Sutter, Hubie McDonough, Bryan Trottier, Tom Fitzgerald.LW&mdash;Brad Lauer, Don Maloney, Paul Gagne, David Volek. _RW&mdash;Randy Wood, Alan Kerr, Mick Vukota, Derek Laxdal.LD&mdash;Ken Baumgartner, Gary Nylund, Joe Reekie.RD&mdash;Doug Crossman, Gerald Diduck, Jari Gronstrand.G&mdash;Mark Fitzpatrick, Glenn Healy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Patrick Flatley. RW, pulled groin, day- to-day.Derek King, LW, sprained left knee, day-to-day.Pat LaFontaine. C, chipped bone in left hand, day-to-day.Jeff Norton. D, strained groin and abdominal muscles, day-to-day.Rich Pilon, D, contused and lacerated right eye, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;LaFontaine, 48. A&mdash;Norton, 47.P&mdash;LaFontaine, 89. PIM&mdash;Vukota, 262. &#9632;

f0017-01

VISIT TO MSG BRINGS ON THE INJURY RUT

<div class="byline">BY DAVE FAY</div>The Washington Capitals followed each other into the dressing room the night of March 2 after another galling loss&mdash;4-3 to the Hartford Whalers. The scene was the same as it had been on so many other nights&mdash;the players made their way to their stalls, collapsed on benches and silently stared at nothing.&ldquo;I felt something needed to be said,&rdquo; said defenseman Neil Sheehy, who has never had any trouble saying what was on his mind. &ldquo;I sat in my stall and looked around. The more I sat and everybody else just sitting with looks of frustration, it got me even more upset and I felt that maybe that frustration had to come out. So I went over to get a drink and everything kind of came out.&rdquo;Words and other things flew as Sheehy kicked over a trash can and a table loaded with filled cups, igniting a full-scale albeit brief screaming match. Reporters entered, were asked to leave for another five minutes and the players then decided on a more formal meeting the next day before practice.Thus began a weekend which saw the Caps: 1) lose a game they should have won, losing for the sixth time in their last 10 losses after leading or being tied at the start of the third period; 2) hold two meetings, one of them more than an hour long, during which the air was finally cleared after weeks of frustration; 3) then hold on against New Jersey March 4 to win 4-3 after barely halting another third- period outburst.The frustration had been present for months as the Caps floundered near the bottom of the Patrick Division. It started building as coach Terry Murray and the media made pointed references to the dire straits of the division&rsquo;s defending champions. It reached the boiling point when the Caps allowed two third period goals within 30 seconds March 2 and lost to Hartford.Sheehy was the first to let it out but not the last. Before the meetings were over every member of the team got to say whatever was on his mind with nobody but players present.&lsquo;&rsquo;It was healthy, real healthy, &ldquo; said one player. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think some of the guys especially liked what they heard but it all got out, finally. We&rsquo;ll be better because of this.&rdquo;&ldquo;Everybody was frustrated, not just Neil,&rdquo; said left winger Kelly Miller. &ldquo;Sitting there after that game and looking around the room, I wanted to get up and stomp and rant and rave but I&rsquo;ve always found that&rsquo;s not the best way to go about it.&rdquo;&ldquo;Some guys don&rsquo;t say much in the room all year,&rdquo; said center Dale Hunter, who doesn&rsquo;t say much any time, &ldquo;so you really don&rsquo;t know how they feel.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a real positive move when a player takes a stand like that,&rdquo; Murray said.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Hunter, Mike Ridley, Michal Pivonka, Tim Bergland.LW&mdash;Geoff Courtnail, Yvon Corriveau, Kelly Miller, John Druce, Bob Joyce. Nick Kypreos.RW&mdash;John Tucker, Steve Leach, Dino Ciccarelli, Alan May.LD&mdash;Rod Langway, Scott Stevens, Calle Johansson, Scot Kleinendorst.RD&mdash;Kevin Hatcher, Bob Rouse, Neil Sheehy.G&mdash;Don Beaupre. Jim Hrivnak.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Ciccarelli, 33. A&mdash;Ridley, 41. P&mdash; Ridley, 68. PIM&mdash;May, 291. &#9632;

CAPITALS

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div>He is playing in just his second full season in the NHL and was accumulating points at a rate that is the envy of many of his peers.Twenty-nine goals and 43 assists in 67 games might not be worth a spot among the league leaders, but most players would be content to be on better than a point-per-game pace.But Rob Brown isn&rsquo;t even a little bit happy with those numbers, and there&rsquo;s not much reason he should be. Not when he had 49 goals and 66 assists in 68 games last season and seemed more than capable of a 60- goal season in &rsquo;89-90.&ldquo;Stats-wise, if you compare it to the rest of the league, I&rsquo;m having an average year,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;But if you compare it to my stats from last year and what I was expecting, I&rsquo;m not having the year I expected.&rdquo;Certainly, it hasn&rsquo;t been the kind of season anyone associated with Pittsburgh anticipated. It might have been unrealistic to expect him to finish fifth in the NHL scoring race again, but no one envisioned such a dramatic drop in his goal production.And surely no one could have forseen that he would go 10 games without a goal&mdash;the way Brown did before getting a hat trick in an 8-6 victory against Minnesota March 4&mdash; as the season entered its final month.The Penguins were hoping Brown could carry some of the offensive burden usually shouldered by the injured Mario Lemieux, but the scoring touch that was so consistent last season has been seen only in flashes this year.&ldquo;Obviously, my job is to score goals and it&rsquo;s upsetting that I&rsquo;m not scoring,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;I worry about it.. .1 worry about it too much, and it gets me down. But as long as we&rsquo;re winning, I guess that&rsquo;s what counts.&rdquo;Penguins&rsquo; coach Craig Patrick, who has yet to publicly criticize any of his players, tried to deflect some of the heat from Brown by suggesting his statistics aren&rsquo;t all that bad.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what standards people go by,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s our fourth-leading scorer.&rdquo;True, but last season he was the Penguins&rsquo; No. 2 scorer and their No. 3 offensive threat behind Lemieux and Paul Coffey.Brown&rsquo;s struggle to regain his scoring touch was being hindered by numerous changes in position and linemates. He spent most of last season as Lemieux&rsquo; right winger, but has played all three forward positions and worked with an assortment of linemates in recent months.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been shifting him around all over the place, having him at center, left wing, right wing,&rdquo; Patrick said. &ldquo;Maybe I&rsquo;d be wiser to get him settled in a position where he&rsquo;s going to produce.&rdquo;There was more than pride and bonus money at stake for Brown&mdash; and the Penguins&mdash;in the final three- plus weeks of the season. If Pittsburgh is to secure a playoff berth, let alone make a serious run at first place in the Patrick Division, Brown almost certainly would have to be a regular contributor to the offence.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: Doug Smith, C, purchased from Vancouver.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Rob Brown, Barry Pederson, John Cullen, Randy Gilhen.LW&mdash;Bob Errey. Phil Bourque, Troy Loney.RW&mdash;Tony Tanti, Kevin Stevens. Mark Recchi, Richard Zemlak.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Jim Johnson, Chris Dahlquist, Jim KyteRD&mdash;Randy Hillier, Gord Dineen, Rod Buskas, Gilbert Delorme.G&mdash;Wendell Young. Frank Pietrangelo.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tom Barrasso, G, granted leave to attend to a family matter, indefinite.Jay Caulfield, RW, finger surgery, indefinite.Mario Lemieux, C, herniated disk, indefinite.Doug Smith, C, separated left shoulder. indefinite.Zarley Zalapski. D, knee strain, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Lemieux, 44. A&mdash;Lemieux, 77. P&mdash; Lemieux, 121. PIM&mdash;Stevens, 136. &#9632;

PENGUINS

<div class="byline">STAN FISCHLER</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-011033/5762441-1-eng-US/f0019-012.jpg" title="f0019-01" width="662" height="843"></div>There are several phony things around the NHL these days, including:Phony nets: A big-league net is supposed to hold the puck after it enters and should be designed to keep it there. The net also should stay in one place for the entire game, the way football goal posts and basketball backboards do.Once upon a time, the nets did what they were supposed to do. That was when the NHL employed the Art Ross-type goal, designed by the ex-Bruins&rsquo; GM. Its replacement is a phony. Half the time, the puck bounces out so fast, you hardly realize it went in and the other half of the time it seems to be pushed off&mdash;deliberately or otherwise&mdash;its ineffective magnets. It makes a mockery of the game.Phony charge that NHL permits fighting to satisfy Americans&rsquo; blood lust: Over the years a select few Canadian chauvinist columnists have been bleating fighting is tolerated by the NHL because &ldquo;hockey-ignorant&rdquo; Americans don&rsquo;t appreciate the game&rsquo;s skill and must be fed brawls to quench their violent appetite.It&rsquo;s a phony argument and nothing dramatizes it more than the blood-spilling Toronto Macho Leafs with more goons per square foot than the World Wrestling Federation. Not to mention the revered Montreal Canadiens, who felt so insecure with just Terrible Todd Ewen in the lineup, GM Serge Savard felt obliged to recall Steve Martinson.The bottom line: Good hockey sells on both sides of the border.Phony New York Times story on blacks in hockey: The headline read: &ldquo;Blacks have a Rough Road in NHL. &ldquo; Actually, it was a case of yellow journalism about blacks. The story by, Joe Sexton, who wasn&rsquo;t around when blacks were breaking into the NHL, suggests discrimination and other obstacles to non-white players. To call it applesauce would be the understatement of the half century.In fact, blacks have had the same NHL opportunity as whites, pinks and, yes, even reds. It is suggested the NHL&rsquo;s first Afro-American, Willie O&rsquo;Ree (1957-58; 1960-61) had a rough time&rsquo; in the bigs because of his skin color. 1 watched O&rsquo;Ree from his first day as a Bruin until his exit to the minors. Willie had one quality; he could skate like a whippet. But he had three debits; he couldn&rsquo;t check, couldn&rsquo;t play the physical game and he couldn&rsquo;t score.In 45 NHL games, he had four goals. Which meant O&rsquo;Ree was no different than hundreds of white players who were up for a big-league cup of coffee and then returned to the minors because they didn&rsquo;t have the goods.Skilled black players like Grant Fuhr go all the way. Those with average skills&mdash;such as Tony McKegney&mdash;have average careers. McKegney&rsquo;s suggestion he was traded six times because he&rsquo;s black is about as phony as a four- dollar bill. How about the white Larry Hillman, who was traded nine times, or Bud Poile who, in a six-team NHL, played for five teams?The Times suggests only 13 blacks have played in the NHL in 73 years because of some thinly-veiled racism. Nonsense. The reason is obvious; there are relatively few blacks in Canada and even fewer have played hockey. Those who did have enjoyed the same NHL opportunities as whites.Hockey&rsquo;s record of tolerance and understanding of minorities&mdash;especially blacks&mdash;is as good or better than any major sport.Phony putdowns of instant replay as an aid to referees: Hardly a week has gone by this season without a dispute involving a goal that should have counted but didn&rsquo;t (ask John MacLean of the Devils) or one that was counted but never went in (see Keith Acton of Philly). The litany of disputed calls is endless and the resolution is nowhere to be found&mdash;except on the video replay.The alibis for not using instant replay are laughable. A standard argument employed by some NHL people is camera angles differ in each rink and, therefore, renders the system useless. Another is the use of video would take too much time from the game and still another is the system hasn&rsquo;t worked in the NFL.C&rsquo;mon guys. Since when is uniformity necessary? NHL rinks, themselves, aren&rsquo;t uniform, as Boston Garden and Chicago Stadium demonstrate. As for the time-waste element, replays would be limited to one per team each game and the referee would have one minute to make his final decision. Which is about as long as the time wasted arguing now without replay. And who cares what the NFL does anyhow?Brian O&rsquo;Neill uses video replay right now in determining suspensions. &ldquo;If O&rsquo;Neill is allowed to study video,&rdquo; says Frank Brown of the New York Daily News, &ldquo;the league must allow its referees to use tapes.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0019-01

PHONY NETS AND OTHER MYTHS OF THE GAME

The Chicago Blackhawks were 28-0-2 when leading after two periods, the only team with an unbeaten record in that category. Left winger Steve Thomas led the Hawks with five game-winning goals. Hartford (21-1-1). the New York Islanders (20-14) and Pittsburgh (18-1 -2) were the only teams with just one loss when leading after two periods.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-02755/5762472-1-eng-US/f0019-022.jpg" title="f0019-02" width="951" height="556"><figcaption class="caption-body">Steve Thomas</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0019-02

NUMBERS

<h2>BRUINS</h2>What appeared to be a minor hip flexor strain in Andy Brickley&rsquo;s right leg was discovered to be an unusual condition that will keep him sidelined at least until early April. Doctors revealed Brickley has an abnormal bone mass on his leg (about the size of a puck), which may have to be surgically removed at the end of the season. The problem dates back to January when Brickley first suffered a serious groin pull. &ldquo;I tore the muscle right at the bone,&rdquo; Brickley said. &ldquo;It was so close to the bone, that the body started to manufacture bone where it should be muscle. Anytime muscle starts turning into bone, it sets off alarm signals all over the place. They didn&rsquo;t know if they were dealing with a tumor, or what.&rdquo; Fears of a cancerous growth were dispelled, however, and Brickley will be given the go-ahead to resume skating when the bone buildup stops.. .Center Brian Lawton, pointless in eight games with the Bruins after signing as a free agent, was demoted to Maine of the American League March 2&hellip;The Bruins and Hartford Whalers made their first trade ever March 3 when they swapped minor-league defensemen. The Whalers dealt Steve Dykstra, who had been playing for Binghamton (AHL), to the Bruins for Jeff Sirkka, who had been playing for Maine.<h2>SABRES</h2>Alexander Mogilny has taken to the road to combat his apparent fear of flying. Mogilny recently traveled to St. Louis by car (Buffalo lost 4-1 Feb. 27) and took a limo from Buffalo to Quebec and back, arriving in time to play in both halves of the home-and- home outing (3-3 tie March 3 and 5-3 win March 4). Mogilny earned an assist in the 5-3 win, his first point since Feb. 23&hellip;Pierre Turgeon scored his 32nd and 33rd goals of the season in the two games against the Noridques and was within range of a 40-plus goal season. The last Sabre to score 40 or more goals in a season was Mike Foligno (41) in the 1985-86 campaign&hellip; Rookie Dave Snuggerud went 2-4-6 over a recent seven-game stretch after struggling to get points earlier in the season.<h2>WHALERS</h2>Brad Shaw, arguably the Whalers&rsquo; best defenseman this season, was sidelined for up to three weeks after taking a Petr Svoboda slapshot on the foot Feb. 28. Shaw played the rest of the game, and X-rays were negative. Because of the fear of a crack, however, a cast was applied. Shaw, had kicked around the minors before heading to Italy, but he is a legitimate candidate for the NHL all-rookie team&hellip;Whalers&rsquo; GM Ed Johnston said he continued to try to acquire Peter Stastny through the trade deadline. Edmonton and Chicago reportedly were looking into acquiring Dave Babych. Johnston maintained he was not openly shopping Kevin Dineen, but admitted seven or eight teams inquired into his availability.<h2>NORDIQUES</h2>Bob McKenzie s column, on the Nordiques not having much to offer players in this year&rsquo;s draft (Hockey News, March 2), created quite a controversy in Quebec. &ldquo;Well, well, another imbecile,&rdquo; said coach Michel Bergeron after hearing of McKenzie&rsquo;s column. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had lots of young happy players here and we&rsquo;ll get more. We have a great city to bring up kids in. McKenzie doesn&rsquo;t know what he&rsquo;s talking about. Have you ever heard him say anything good or positive about our city?&rdquo; GM Maurice Filion was also livid. &ldquo;Firstly, he doesn&rsquo;t know the Nordiques,&rdquo; said Filion. &ldquo;Secondly, he knows nothing about hockey. And thirdly, why write something so stupid. Let McKenzie laugh if it&rsquo;s his pleasure. But we&rsquo;ll be in a situation where he&rsquo;ll have to swallow his own words as soon as next year.&rdquo; (For more on the situation, see McKenzie&rsquo;s column on page 3.)&hellip;Michel Petit, who recently asked to be traded, was thereafter booed at le Colisee every time he touched the puck.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0019-03508/5762503-1-eng-US/f0019-032.jpg" title="f0019-03" width="753" height="859"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michel Petit was routinely booed at in Quebec City.</figcaption></div><h2>CANADIENS</h2>Left winger Ryan Walter was benched by Canadiens&rsquo; coach Pat Burns for the Habs&rsquo; 3-1 loss in Hartford Feb. 28. Walter, whose play slipped noticeably, had just eight goals in 59 games this season&hellip;Shayne Corson picked up his 100th career assist when he assisted on a Stephane Richer goal in Hartford&hellip;One of the Canadiens&rsquo; key problems was the lack of production of their scoring leaders in key situations. For example, Richer scored just once in four games at Boston this season and was goalless in Buffalo. Mats Naslund was goalless in both Boston and Buffalo while Russ Courtnail had a winning goal in four games at Boston but was goalless in Buffalo&hellip;Mark Pederson, who led the Habs&rsquo; American League affiliate in Sherbrooke with 46-34-80 totals in 63 games was recalled Feb. 26 and saw regular shifts in Hartford and in a 5-3 loss to Boston March 1. Pederson, who had no points in the two games, sat out the Canadiens&rsquo; 3-2 road loss to the Minnesota North Stars March 3. &#9632;

f0019-03

STRANGE INJURY SIDELINES BRICKLEY

<div class="byline">BY GLENN COLE</div>For perhaps the first time in his career with the Montreal Canadiens, Craig Ludwig was speechless.Or maybe the eight-year veteran was just saving all of his words for his family and friends who drove four hours from his hometown of Eagle River, Wise., to watch him play against the Minnesota North Stars March 3.They never got to see him in action in the Habs&rsquo; 3-2 loss to the Stars because he and Guy Carbonneau watched from the stands. Carbonneau and Ludwig were suspended by Canadiens&rsquo; coach Pat Bums for violating the team&rsquo;s curfew in Boston two nights before.Neither player nor managing director Serge Savard were willing to give any details into the incident, but it was believed that both players disobeyed an order from Bums not to leave their hotel rooms after a 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins March 1. Savard lifted the suspensions March 4. Both Ludwig and Carbonneau were expected to play March 7 in Los Angeles.Carbonneau, who was chosen co- captain along with Chris Chelios this season, expressed embarrassment over the incident.&ldquo;The coach had no choice,&rdquo; said Carbonneau. &ldquo;Even if I am the captain, the rules are there for everybody.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s disappointing but that is easy to say after the fact.&rdquo;This was the second suspension for Carbonneau in his eight-year career with the Canadiens. Two seasons ago, he and Chris Nilan (now of the New York Rangers), sat out a road game against the Vancouver Canucks for curfew violation. It was also the second suspension Bums has given out for curfew violation since taking over the team last season.Last season, Bums caught veteran forward Claude Lemieux and rookie defenseman Jyrki Lumme on a curfew violation in St. Louis. Both sat out two games and Lumme was subsequently demoted to the Canadiens&rsquo; American League farm team in Sherbrooke.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m upset with the players,&rdquo; said Savard, who was on the road trip with the club. &ldquo;I think Carbonneau showed a lack of leadership by what he did. Craig is a veteran and he should know better too.&rdquo;What irked Bums and Savard as well was that neither Carbonneau nor Ludwig were particularly solid in losses at Hartford (3-1 Feb. 28) and Boston as the road trip got underway.Bums told reporters in Minnesota that he had not thought of stripping the co-captaincy from Carbonneau, but the Canadiens&rsquo; coach apparently hadn&rsquo;t dismissed the idea either.Overall, it was a very unhappy time for Bums, who was livid with his players after they lost in Boston.&ldquo;This building (the Boston Garden) is no place for dancers,&rdquo; he stormed. &ldquo;There weren&rsquo;t any dancers going into the slot tonight.&rdquo;Both Bums and Savard questioned the character and dedication of the players on a team which left on a road trip buoyed with confidence from a five-game unbeaten streak and with a legitimate chance to overtake both Boston and Buffalo and recapture first place in the Adams Division.The three losses gave the Canadiens a 35-26-7 record, 10 points behind the Bruins and four behind the Sabres.<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: Mark Pederson, LW. recalled from Sherbrooke (AHL).March 3: Craig Ludwig, D, and Guy Carbonneau, C, suspended indefinitely by the team for curfew violation.March 4: Ludwig and Carbonneau reinstated.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Brent Gilchrist, Brian Skrudland, Guy Carbonneau, Stephan Lebeau, Ryan Walter.RW&mdash;Mike Keane, Stephane Richer, Claude Lemieux. Russ Courtnall.LW&mdash;Mats Naslund. Shayne Corson.Mike McPhee, Mark Pederson, Todd Ewen, Steven Martinson.LD&mdash;Craig Ludwig. Jyrki Lumme, Sylvain Lefebvre.RD&mdash;Lyle Odelein, Petr Svoboda, Erii Desjardins, Mathieu Schneider.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Brian Hayward.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Chris Chelios, D, strained knee ligaments, indefinite.Bobby Smith, C, broken jaw, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Richer, 41. A&mdash;Corson, Richer, 38P&mdash;Richer 79 PIM&mdash;Chelios 136 &#9632;

BURNS LOWERS BOOM ON LUDWIG, CARBONNEAU

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div>It&rsquo;s a dog-eat-dog world in the NHL these days.So why don&rsquo;t the Buffalo Sabres bite?&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to see us be a little more nasty,&rdquo; said coach Rick Dudley after he watched his Sabres take just three of a possible four points in a home- and-home series with Quebec.&ldquo;Call it being vicious if you will, but I&rsquo;d like to see us be a little more hungry to put people away. I&rsquo;d like to see us go after it a little more.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01682/5762582-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="749" height="880"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Andreychuk said the Sabres lacked the killer instinct.</figcaption></div>The Sabres were surprisingly lackluster after running off to an early 4-0 lead in a game they won 5-3 March 4 in Buffalo.They played one of their worst games of the season the previous night in a 3-3 tie at Quebec. In that game, Buffalo led 3-1 after two periods and let Quebec come back for a tie. Quebec went into that game with a record of 0-40-1 in games it trailed after two periods.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the disappointing part,&rdquo; said Dudley. &ldquo;That we don&rsquo;t have that killer instinct. I&rsquo;d like to see that when we&rsquo;re up 4-1 we say &rsquo;let&rsquo;s kill them&rsquo;, but we don&rsquo;t do that. When we play Montreal we play awesome, but sometimes against teams that we seem to think are not as good, we don&rsquo;t do the same.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why that is.&rdquo;The apparent lack of bite was noticeable.The reasons?The March 6 trade deadline seemed to have served as a distraction for a number of players. It also appeared difficult for the Sabres to take seriously any opponent not directly ahead of them in the standings. Buffalo was grinding along, playing .500 hockey for most of 1990.Still, with 81 points in 68 games, they remained second in the NHL&rsquo;s overall standings. A playoff berth had been a forgone conclusion for weeks and emotional sparks were hard to catch.&ldquo;We have to have that killer instinct going into the playoffs,&rdquo; said Dave Andreychuk. &ldquo;We have to realize we can play well with the lead when we do get it and have some confidence.&ldquo;I think at times, especially earlier in the season, we&rsquo;ve showed that we have it, it&rsquo;s there,&rdquo; said Rick Vaive. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked about it, we&rsquo;ve been told about it. We just have to start doing it. It certainly has been mentioned more than once.&rdquo;Scott Amiel, a veteran Sabre who has lived though some of the team&rsquo;s leaner days, maintained the Sabres once had the proper attitude but seem to be struggling to regain it.&ldquo;In the first half of the season we won a lot of games with a killer instinct,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now we&rsquo;ve stopped being relentless. We can&rsquo;t sit back when we have a lead.&ldquo;The big thing for us is to remember not to 20 into a defensive shell. We have to stay hungry and when it&rsquo;s 4-2, make it 5-2 or 6-2. We got into trouble with that a few times last year and it cost us.&rdquo;Last season the Sabres scored nine unanswered goals against Boston in the first round of the Adams Division playoffs. They won the first game 6-0 and had a 3-0 lead in the second, before losing that game and the following three to make an early exit from the playoffs.It&rsquo;s something they&rsquo;re hoping to avoid this time around.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 1: Mike Donnelly, LW, assigned to Rochester (AHL).March 2: Dale DeGray, D, assigned to Rochester.March 3: Brad Miller, D, recalled from Rochester.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon, Christian Ruuttu Ken Priestlay, Benoit Hogue, Jeff ParkerLW&mdash;-Dave Andreychuk, Mike Hart man, Darrin Shannon, Scott Amiel.RW&mdash;Kevin Maguire, Ray Sheppard Rick Vaive, Dave Snuggerud.LD&mdash;Doug Bodger, Grant Ledyard Mike Ramsey.RD&mdash;Phil Housley. Dean Kennedy Uwe Krupp, Brad Miller.G&mdash;Daren Punoa Clint Malarchuk<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike Foligno, RW, broken thumb, March 19-26.Larry Playfair, D. sore back, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Turgeon, 33. A&mdash;Turgeon, 53. P&mdash; Turgeon, 86. PIM&mdash;Hartman, 194. &#9632;

f0021-01

KILLER INSTINCT LACKING IN SECOND HALF

<div class="byline">BY KAREN GUREGIAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01793/5762613-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"></div>In Harry Sinden&rsquo;s mind, one piece of the Stanley Cup-winning puzzle was missing from his team.The Boston Bruins&rsquo; general manager felt the team needed a left winger&mdash;a goal-scoring left winger. Specifically, he needed a goal-scoring left winger who would fit in alongside center Craig Janney and right winger Cam Neely.As many as seven players had auditioned for the assignment on the team&rsquo;s top line this season. But it was newcomer Brian Propp who finally landed the role.The Bruins acquired the 3l-year-old from the Philadelphia Flyers March 2 in exchange for a second- round pick in the 1990 entry draft.&ldquo;You only have so many chances to win the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; said captain Ray Bourque. &ldquo;We want to go for it. This shows that we&rsquo;re all (players and management) pulling in the same direction.&rdquo;The Propp deal was the third trade Sinden had made since mid December to help shore up the Bruins, who were atop the league&rsquo;s overall standings with 87 points on March 5.Sinden picked up right winger Dave Christian from the Washington Capitals in exchange for left winger Bob Joyce on Dec. 13. Christian had 9-13-22 totals m his first 28 Bruin games.Then, in a swap of 31 -year-old centers Jan. 16, Sinden acquired Dave Poulin from the Flyers for Ken Linseman.Poulin had played well at both ends of the ice, getting six goals and 12 assists in his first 20 games as a Bruin.Propp just may be the final piece to the puzzle.&ldquo;We&rsquo;d been looking for an established left wing who had scored some goals in his career,&rdquo; said Sinden. &ldquo;(Propp) fills that hole for us.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t quite capitalize on enough of the scoring opportunities we create for ourselves as often as we should. Brian Propp is the kind of scorer that will capitalize on those opportunities.&rdquo;An 11-year NHL veteran, Propp averaged 35 goals per season with the Flyers and reached the 40-goal plateau four times. This season, hampered by hand and shoulder injuries, he had 13-15-28 totals in 40 games with Philadelphia. His ice time had dwindled and Flyer coach Paul Holmgren had benched him for the first time in Propp&rsquo;s career.&ldquo;I was sort of prepared for this by the way things were going in Philadelphia and the way they were going with younger players,&rdquo; Propp said. &ldquo;It seemed I didn&rsquo;t fit in. I just hope I can help the Bruins. Boston is a great city with a great building.&rdquo;Propp received a standing ovation when he was introduced in his first Boston Garden appearance.He responded with a shorthanded goal, and then later had an assist in his Bruins&rsquo; debut&mdash;a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks March 3.&ldquo;If (Bruins&rsquo; coach Mike Milbury puts me out there and has confidence in me. I&rsquo;ll work my hardest not to le him down,&rdquo; Propp said.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 2: Brian Lawton, C, assigned to Maine (AHL). Brian Propp, LW, acquired from Philadelphia for second-round choice in 1990 entry draft.March 3: Jeff Sirkka, D, traded to Hart- ford for Steve Dykstra, D. Dykstra assigned to Maine.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Craig Janney. Bob Carpenter, Dave Poulin, Bob Gould.LW&mdash;Brian Propp, Bob Sweeney, Greg Hawgood, John Carter, Robert Cimetta.RW&mdash;Cam Neely. Dave Christian, Peter Douris, Lyndon Byers.LD&mdash;Glen Wesley, Allen Pedersen, Jim Wiemer.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque. Garry Galley. Stephane Quintal.G&mdash;Reggie Lemelin, Andy Moog.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Andy Brickley. LW, bone build-up on groin muscle, indefinite.Randy Burridge, LW, left knee strain, indefinite.Gord Kluzak, D, left knee strain, day- to-dayNevin Markwart, RW. left shoulder surgery, out for season.Don Sweeney, D, right shoulder separation, day-to-day.Michael Thelven, D, right knee surgery, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Neely, 47. A&mdash;Bourque, 58. P&mdash; Neely. 81. PIM&mdash;Byers, 124. &#9632;

f0022-01

SINDEN ’PROPPS UP LEFT SIDE ON NO. 1 LINI

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>Curtis Leschyshyn is no longer in awe of the eye of the tiger.After a tough adaptation period with coach Michel Bergeron, a.k.a Le Petit Tigre (the little tiger), Leschyshyn has finally adjusted to Bergeron&rsquo;s style.In a surprising statement recently, Bergeron conceded he was partly responsible for Leschyshyn&rsquo;s, as well as Marc Fortier&rsquo;s, tough first half of the 1989-90 season.&ldquo;I realize now that they were kind of scared of me,&rdquo; said Bergeron. &ldquo;My presence behind the bench and around the team intimidated them. They were terribly shy. When I said &rsquo;Hello&rsquo; to them, they became red faced.&rdquo;Leschyshyn confirmed the touchy situation. The 20-year-old defense- man said he was intimidated by his new coach not because Bergeron blasted him or left him on the bench, but simply because of Bergeron&rsquo;s reputation with young players.&ldquo;I played for two different coaches (Ron Lapointe and Jean Perron) during my first year in Quebec (1988- 89),&rdquo; said Leschyshyn. &ldquo;And my second season in the NHL hadn&rsquo;t even started that there was a third.&ldquo;When Michel was signed on by the Nords, I knew him by reputation. A few of my teammates told me that he wasn&rsquo;t very fair with the younger players.&ldquo;But as the season wore on, I finally realized that the reputation was false, that he gave everyone a fair chance. The damage was nevertheless done, because in my first few games under Michel, I was petrified.&rdquo;Bergeron, of course, is known for his fiery, competitive spirit and his unique methods of motivating players. It generally takes newcomers a while to adjust to his coaching style.&ldquo;It-took me some time to get used to Michel&rsquo;s way of doing things,&rdquo; said Leschyshyn. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t just ad- just yourself in a few days. 1 wasn&rsquo;t at the point of refusing to touch the puck because I was scared of what he would do if I made a mistake. But my confidence level was way down.To Nords fans, that was evident. Known mainly for his defensive talents, there were times when Leschyshyn was more of a liability than a help to his goaltender.&ldquo;Some nights, I looked like a midget out there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was making mistakes that 1 had never made in minor hockey. I was really nervous, too nervous.&rdquo;Since Christmas, however, Leschyshyn has looked as good as a young defenseman can on a struggling team like the Nordiques. While his stats may not indicate it&mdash;he was 1 -56 and a minus-31 in 56 games&mdash;the Thompson, Man., native is gradually developing into the player he was touted to be when he was chosen third overall in the 1988 entry draft behind Mike Modano of Minnesota and Vancouver&rsquo;s Trevor Linden.And despite the plight of his lowly Nords, Leschyshyn sees some light at the end of the tunnel.&ldquo;Four or five years ago, nobody wanted to play for the (Toronto) Maple Leafs anymore,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s how things are in Quebec right now. But if those players had known that the Leafs would become so competitive this season, they would have been more patient.&ldquo;Myself, I know my patience will be rewarded.&rdquo;<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACI IONS</h3>Feb. 27: Stephane Morin, C. assigned to Halifax (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Stastny, Joe Sakic, Paul Gillis. Ken McRae.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet, Jeff Jackson, Mike Hough, Tony McKegney.RW&mdash;Darin Kimble, Marc Fortier, Lucien Deblois, Claude Loiselle.LD&mdash;Curtis Leschyshyn, Bryan Fogarty, Steven Finn, Brent Severyn.RD&mdash;Joe Cirella, Mario Marois, Michel Petit, Greg Smyth.G&mdash;Greg Millen, Scott Gordon, Sergei Mylnikov.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Stephane Guerard, D, sprained knee, indefinite.Guy Lafleur, RW, broken left cheek bone, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Sakic, 29. A&mdash;Sakic, 52 P&mdash;Sakic, 81. PIM&mdash;Gillis, 189. &#9632;

LESCHYSHYN’S OVERCOME HIS FEAR OF TIGERS

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01776/5762668-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sherbrooke mascot Tricolo, who is really 30-year-old Claude Bernier, is a fan favorite at the Sports Palace. He&rsquo;s one of many colorful AHL characters.</figcaption></div>Although they are part of the show, most of them pay their own admission.They are the entertainers of the American League. Organists, mascots, bizarre chanters and wild fans.They add excitement to small, quiet arenas and make hockey games a lively event. They can always be counted on to add a spark. Win, lose or draw, they can be depended upon for an enthusiastic performance.Here are the AHL&rsquo;s top entertainers:&#9724; Tricolo, mascot of the Sherbrooke Canadiens: During the day, 30-year-old Claude Bernier works as a serviceman at a Ford dealer in Sherbrooke. On the weekends, he dresses up like a clown for birthday parties. But when the Canadiens are playing at the Sports Palace, Bernier slips into Tricolo&rsquo;s costume.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s very hard to describe what I&rsquo;m like in there,&rdquo; Bemiersays. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m a different person.&rdquo;Tricolo&mdash;the name was selected in a contest and roughly translates into &ldquo;three colors&rdquo; (the red, white and blue of Sherbrooke)&mdash;is a master showman. This is Bernier&rsquo;s third season in the costume and he loves every minute. He runs around the Sports Palace holding signs, imploring the fans to make noise. He also has a boxing robe and Batman mask and cape as props.&ldquo;When I am inside the costume, I just try to make a good job,&rdquo; Bernier says. &ldquo;My job is for the crowd. I just like to ask people to make noise.&rdquo;Bernier has taunted opponents, with former Maine coach Mike Milbury one of his favorite targets. Another is Moncton defenseman Matt Hervey, who hit Tricolo with his stick when the mascot got too close to the bench.&#9724; Mario Gosselin, Sherbrooke organist: Gosselin and Tricolo are a team. Tricolo&rsquo;s actions correspond to Gosselin&rsquo;s music. And Gosselin, in his eighth season in the Sherbrooke organist perch, likes his music loud.&ldquo;I try to play music for the people to get with us,&rdquo; Gosselin says. &ldquo;If I play a tune, I want the people to sing with us. I want to play aggressive music.&rdquo;Gosselin became famous last November when Milbury twice left the Maine bench to run up to the organist with objections to a tune Milbury felt made fun of his Japanese captain Steve Tsujiura.Gosselin&rsquo;s organ playing adds life to the Sports Palace, where the Canadiens have done well the past few seasons.&ldquo;The louder the better,&rdquo; Gosselin says. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s low, people don&rsquo;t understand. I like to play it loud for the spectators.&rdquo;&#9724; Section 14 at the New Haven Coliseum: Situated next to the visitor&rsquo;s bench, this bunch of fans is the AHL version of Madison Square Garden&rsquo;s blue seaters.They are die-hard hockey enthusiasts, says Jim Daly, a regular of Section 14. &ldquo;All they talk about is hockey. They are a nice bunch of kids. 1 bring my wife and they are very polite to her.&rdquo;They aren&rsquo;t as polite to the opposition.&ldquo;When it comes to the Nighthawks, that&rsquo;s their life and blood,&rdquo; Daly says. &ldquo;Their intent is to distract the other team and rile them up at any cost in the love of the New Haven Nighthawks. They can be unmerciful with their lack of compassion.&rdquo;&#9724; George Tyree, Rochester: Before the start of each period, the crowd at the Rochester War Memorial gets quiet and waits for the signal to start to play. It comes from Tyree, who gets up and shouts, &ldquo;Hockey, Hockey, Hockey.&rdquo; The crowd cheers and the puck is dropped.&ldquo;The crowd was kind of dead one night,&rdquo; says Tyree, and I just yelled it and it has caught on. Players started to listen for it and they don&rsquo;t start the game now until I yell it.&rdquo;Tyree has been a season-ticket holder for 11 years. He remembers the first time he did it&mdash;on the opening night of the 1980-81 season.&ldquo;I just had to say something before the game,&rdquo; says Tyree, who has also gyrated his body, like Baltimore Orioles&rsquo; fan Wild Bill Hagy, to spell out &rsquo;Amerks&rsquo;. &ldquo;Instead of yelling &rsquo;play hockey,&rsquo; I said &rsquo;Hockey, hockey, hockey.&rsquo; I&rsquo;m just an ordinary guy. I don&rsquo;t put my nose in the air. I just take it as routine.&rdquo;&#9724; Hershey Hockey Nuts: A group of about 15 to 20 people sit in the comer at whichever end the Hershey Bears will shoot at for two periods. They make life on the opposing goalie difficult.&ldquo;We heckle goalies a lot,&rdquo; says Terry Moore. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the game plan. That&rsquo;s the home-ice advantage. We&rsquo;ve had pucks shot at us.But it doesn&rsquo;t bother them. They are loyal to the Bears and formed a special bond with tough guy Steve Fletcher, who has played sparingly this season. They wear T-shirts that say &ldquo;We Want Fletch&rdquo; on the front and &ldquo;Fletch Lives&rdquo; on the back.The group has been asked to give up its glassbanging tactics, but it can still yell.&lsquo;&rsquo;When the crowd is flat, we do our best to get it going,&rdquo; Moore says. &ldquo;Normally, they throw people out for what we do, but if they did that to us, there would be a revolt from the fans.&rdquo;<blockquote class="pullQuote">SPRINGFIELD INDIANS&rsquo; FANS SHOUT &rsquo;AND A ROLL&rsquo; IN UNISON.</blockquote>&#9724; Ray Dudley, Maine: This 25-year-old learning-disabled fan is at every Mariner game and virtually every practice. Dudley, who carries a Bible, wears a black and yellow checkered sports coat with Mariner jersey No. 777 beneath it. He calls himself Switchboard after an animated cartoon character and cheers and dances in the aisles when the organist plays. His speciality is putting the whammy on opposing players.&#9724; Hans Petersen, Binghamton: He&rsquo;s called the Ancient Mariner and has been attending pro hockey games in Binghamton since the Broome Duster days of the late 1970s. He sits behind the net and brings different stencil cards to send his messages. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s such an institution here,&rdquo; says Binghamton public relations director Tracy Zega. Included in Petersen&rsquo;s act is hanging a referee doll on a string with a noose around its head.&#9724; Donna Crennell, Adirondack: Crennell lives in Latham, N. Y., about a 40-minute drive from Glens Falls. But she&rsquo;s been a season-ticket holder since pro hockey came to the Glens Falls Civic Center. Like Petersen, she too has a referee doll that she hangs over the glass. She also wears a big red cowboy hat that is generally the first one tossed when a Red Wing gets a hat trick.&#9724; &hellip;And a roll, Springfield: The Indians&rsquo; crowd reacts like Rocky Horror Picture Show fanatics when the public address announcer reads the ad for a fast-food restaurant.&ldquo;When the Indians get brave, you get chicken,&rdquo; the ad begins. &ldquo;If the Indians score five or more goals and win, you get a Jim Dandy hockey pacakage which consists of two pieces of chicken and a roll.&rdquo; At that point, the crowd responds in unison, &ldquo;And a roll.&rdquo; It happens every game, every season.&lsquo;&rsquo;One section, which is very vocal, in front of the press box started it,&rdquo; says Indians&rsquo; general manager Bruce Landon. &ldquo;And then it caught on and now the whole building is saying it. They&rsquo;ve just all picked up on it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-01

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT

<div class="byline">BY MIKE KANE</div>Less pressure and more work has enabled Darcy Wakaluk of the Rochester Americans to regain his position as one of the American League&rsquo;s most dependable goaltenders.Wakaluk, 23, compiled a 10-5-2 record with two shutouts and a 3.11 goals-against average during a string of 18 consecutive starts between Jan. 14 and Feb. 23. In the process, he turned around what was shaping up as a second straight uninspiring season and helped the Amerks climb right back into the race for the divisional title.Wakaluk had a 24-15-4 record with a 3.47 GAA.In 1987-88, his second season with the Amerks, Wakaluk appeared in 55 games and had a 3.45 GAA and a 27-16-3 record. He also scored an empty-net goal against Utica and took a few shifts at left wing in a game against Halifax.But last season he was 11-14-0 and 3.72. The slump continued into training camp and he had to battle rookie Dave Liftman for the second spot on the team behind veteran Brian Ford.When Ford decided to retire in January to accept a position at a police academy, Wakaluk was given the opportunity to be the top guy. He has left no question he can handle the assignment.&ldquo;When Brian Ford left he was clearly No. 1. It wasn&rsquo;t like if he had a bad night he wasn&rsquo;t going to play the next night,&rdquo; Rochester coach John Van Boxmeer said. &ldquo;Now, (Wakaluk) knew he was going to play, no matter what.&rdquo;Wakaluk welcomed that situation.&ldquo;Yeah, I like coming to the rink knowing I&rsquo;m going to play and if you have a bad game you&rsquo;re not going to sit a week or 10 days thinking about it,&rdquo; he said.With the help of his fiancee, Dawn Nystrom, Wakaluk has learned how to cope with the stress goaltenders face.&ldquo;What I&rsquo;ve realized is it&rsquo;s still just a game we&rsquo;re playing,&rdquo; Wakaluk said. &ldquo;I think maybe before I was taking it too seriously.&ldquo;The one thing that Darcy has had to over come is that he put a lot of pressure on himself,&rsquo; Van Boxmeer said. &ldquo;He was a very nervous person and a bad goal really affected him. Now he gives up a goal and it doesn&rsquo;t affect him like i used to.&rdquo;<h2>WOUNDED BEAR</h2>Hershey&rsquo;s chances of making a late run for a playoff berth were dealt a serious blow Feb. 25 when left winger Ross Fitzpatrick, the AHL&rsquo;s scoring leader, fractured an ankle in a 5^t loss to New market. Fitzpatrick was struck by a shot from Saints&rsquo; defenseman Ken Hammond.Fitzpatrick, 29, had 35-52-87 totals in 63 games. He was expected to be out between three and six weeks.Surprisingly, in their first game without Fitz- patrick, the Bears whipped Cape Breton 9-0 Feb. 28.<h2>TIME FOR MILLER</h2>Rochester rookie Brad Miller was handed an automatic three-game suspension by the league for a Category III violation of Rule 67, which pertains to abuse of officials. During a 4-3 loss to New Haven Feb. 23, Miller attempted to rejoin an altercation while being restrained by linesman Dan Murphy. The defenseman was eligible to return March 2 for a home game against Adirondack&hellip;Adirondack reached 2,000,000 in all-time home attendance when the Wings beat Baltimore 4-1 Feb. 20 in front of 5,491 fans. It was the Wings&rsquo; 431st home game.. .After playing 282 games in the NHL, defenseman Craig Wolanin played his first game in the minors Feb. 21 for the Utica Devils. In the 6-5 overtime win over Adirondack, Wolanin assisted on the tying goal and scored the game-winner. In five games, he had a goal and four assists.. .Rochester Americans&rsquo; rookie right winger Donald Audette returned to the lineup March 2 after missing seven games with a broken bone in his left hand&hellip;Saints&rsquo; center Wes Jarvis scored his 200th AHL goal in the 5-4 win at Hershey Feb. 25. &#9632;

WAKALUK THRIVES WITH INCREASED WORKLOAD

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ</div>As far as the New Haven Nighthawks were concerned, goalie Robb Stauber was worth the wait.Stauber, recalled by the Los Angeles Kings March 1, played brilliantly in his first five games for the Nighthawks, who were battling for a playoff spot after rebounding from a dreadful 3-18 start.&ldquo;It has been pretty good so far,&rdquo; said Stauber, the rookie from the University of Minnesota who was sidelined all season until Feb. 16 with groin and back problems. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not really anything. You have to put it together for a long period of time. Nevertheless, it&rsquo;s nice to gel started off on the right foot.&rdquo;Although he was just 2-2-1 in his first five pre starts, it was Stauber&rsquo;s other numbers that have stood out. He had a 1.98 goals-against average and a"7939 save percentage.&ldquo;Since he&rsquo;s been here, he&rsquo;s made a big impact on our team,&rdquo; said New Haven coach Marcel Comeau. &ldquo; If he had been here from the star of the year 1 think we&rsquo;d be in a lot better shape. &rsquo; The Nighthawks were tied for third at 28-34-5 just four points ahead of last-place Springfield.Stauber was expected to start the season in New Haven, but only spent time there trying to rehabilitate a groin pull.&ldquo;I was healthy in camp at the start,&rdquo; said Stauber, the 1988 Hobey Baker winner as the top U.S. college player. &ldquo;But 1 hadn&rsquo;t skated that much during the summer, maybe only four times. It felt good for a couple of days and then I started having problems.&rdquo;Back problems also developed for Stauber who spent about three weeks in New Haven before returning to Los Angeles.Stauber was back on skates by February and made his pro debut against Adirondack in New Haven.&ldquo;They were going to send me to Phoenix (of the International League), but I was here for the first three weeks of the season and got to know some people,&rdquo; Stauber said. &ldquo;I was thinking about Phoenix at the time because I&rsquo;d be going into a situation where people didn&rsquo;t expect much. In New Haven they had heard I&rsquo;d be doing this and that and it put a lot of pressure on me.&rdquo;He has handled the pressure well. After losing to the Red Wings 4-1, Stauber lost a 1-0 home game to Moncton Feb. 18. He then played well in a 3-3 tie at Sherbrooke Feb. 20 and collected back-to-back 2-1 victories over New market (Feb. 22) and Utica (Feb. 24).<h2>SNOW JOB</h2>The Maine Mariners were snowed in at Moncton and unable to get to Halifax for a game Feb. 24. The game was postponed and rescheduled for March 19.The Mariners stayed over in Moncton after a 5-2 loss to the Hawks Feb. 23 and had planned to bus to Halifax the next afternoon. But a snowstorm, which dumped more than a foot of snow, forced the Mariners to change their plans. Just a few minutes into their bus ride, the team passed a tractor trailer that had fallen on its side in a ditch. The bus stopped at the Moncton airport and the team attempted to get a flight to Halifax. When that flight was delayed, the game was called off.&ldquo;No one knew what time they would get here,&rdquo; said Citadels&rsquo; vice-president Mike Doyle, The city of Halifax also received a large amount of snow. &ldquo;Even if they got here, we&rsquo;d have no idea what time the game would have started and there wouldn&rsquo;t have been anyone in the building.&rdquo;<h2>THE MIGHTY HRKAC</h2>Center Tony Hrkac sent down to Halifax by Quebec Feb. 20 showed considerable offensive skills in his first three games with the Citadels. In his debut, he scored two goals, including one in overtime, to beat Cape Breton 3-2 Feb. 22. In his third game, he scored three goals in a 5-4 loss at Sherbrooke Feb. 27. In the three games, he had five goals and one assist&hellip;Sherbrooke left winger Mark Pederson, the league leader with 46 goals, was recalled by Montreal Feb. 26. &#9632;

STAUBER SHOWS HE WAS WORTH THE WAIT

<div class="byline">BY BILL PICKETT</div>The Peoria Rivermen steered a course for first place in the International League West Division early in the season, but gave it up when the Indianapolis Ice steamed past them midway through the season.They ran completely off course in the first two months of 1990, losing 14 of 15 games.With 21 games remaining in the regular sea- son, the Rivermen were busy trying to bail their way out of last place and keep expansion Phoenix from claiming the eighth and final play- off spot.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just been a little bit of everything,&rdquo; said Peoria coach Wayne Thomas. &ldquo;1 wish it was just a couple of bad weeks, but it&rsquo;s been a couple of months. It&rsquo;s not something that&rsquo;s easy to track.&ldquo;We got on a losing streak&hellip;we lost three shootouts and another in the last minute. We realized all of a sudden we had lost three or four in a row, then it started to snowball.&rdquo;Thomas acknowledged the loss of left winger Doug Evans, then the league&rsquo;s eighth-leading scorer with 19 goals and 28 assists in 42 games, in a trade (Jan. 22 to Winnipeg for Ron Wilson) was costly. Thomas also had to do without defensemen Rik Wilson and Dominic Lavoie tor nearly two months when they were up with St. Louis.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01686/5762747-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="950" height="1044"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bruce Boudreau led the IHL in scorin&rsquo; totale in AS namp?</figcaption></div>High-scoring left winger Dave Thomlinson (19-21-40 in 38 games) was less than 100 per cent after taking a shot on the foot, and the league&rsquo;s leading scorer, Michel Mongeau (27-53-80 in 56 games), was recalled Feb. 23 by the Blues.Still, Thomas was confident the Rivermen would get back on course, Montreal helped out by sending left winger John Ferguson Jr. (no points in two games) and center Marc Saumier (one goal in two games) to Peoria from Sherbrooke of the American League.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not planning to stay in this slump forever,&rdquo; Thomas said of a losing streak which reached six games by Feb. 28. &ldquo;Most of the teams in our division aren&rsquo;t doing so well, we&rsquo;re all pretty close except for (first place) Indy.&rdquo;To make matters worse, 11 of Peoria&rsquo;s last 18 games are on the road, where the Rivermen were just 10-16-4.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to make up some ground quick or we&rsquo;re going to be very pressed at the end,&rdquo; said Thomas.Peoria and Phoenix were tied for fourth, two points behind third-place Milwaukee and three behind second place Salt Lake.Things were brighter at the gate for Peoria. A crowd of 5,377 Feb. 23 (a 3-1 loss to Salt Lake) boosted attendance for the season to 133,989. That broke the previous season record of 131,570 set in &rsquo;88-89. Attendance was up 60 per cent over last season<h2>IT&rsquo;S OFFICIAL</h2>The IHL Board of Governors accepted Kansas City as a league member Feb. 26. Calgary businessman Russ Parker bought the suspended Toledo franchise from Virgil Gladieux and moved it to Kansas City.Parker, who owns the Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League (AAA baseball), was reportedly seeking an NHL affiliation for next season. The team will play in the Kemper Arena.IHL director of information Mike Meyers said it appeared likely Kansas City would join the West Division with either Milwaukee or Indianapolis moving to the East.<h2>NEW LEADERS</h2>Kalamazoo went on a seven-game winning streak and overtook Muskegon for the East Division lead. The Wings, who outscored opponents 32-15 in four victories, jumped in front of the Lumberjacks Feb. 25 by beating Fort Wayne 9-4. Meanwhile, Muskegon lost to Phoenix 6-5. The Lumberjacks had been in first place since they beat the Wings 5-4 Jan. 10&hellip;The IHL also had a new scoring leader. Center Bruce Boudreau of Phoenix (29-53-82 in 63 games) moved past Michel Mongeau (27-53-80). &#9632;

f0025-01

RIVERMEN UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01730/5762778-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Although they were fighting for playoff survival, the St-Jean Lynx traded Patrick Lebeau, above, and two other key players to the Victoriaville Tigres.</figcaption></div>The St-Jean Lynx were in eighth place, clinging to the last playoff spot in the Quebec League on Feb. 14.So, the Lynx did the only logical thing any team in that situation would do. It traded its best player&mdash;who just happened to lead the league in scoring&mdash;its best defenseman and another frontline player for a 20-point scorer and future considerations.Most people give away cards and flowers on Valentine&rsquo;s Day. St-Jean gave away the heart of its team to the Victoriaville Tigres when it traded Patrick Lebeau and Francois Leroux, both 19, and Jean Blouin, 18, to the Tigres for Trevor Duhaime, 18, a second- and third-round pick in 1990 plus future considerations.Along with Duhaime and the draft choices&mdash; the second rounder becomes a first should the Tigres win the Memorial Cup&mdash;left winger Yves Sarault and defenseman Denis Beauchamps, both 17, are expected to be in St-Jean next year as the future considerations in the deal.The Tigres became instant Memorial Cup contenders and the Lynx became a potential kingmaker.&ldquo;I was shocked,&rdquo; says Laval Titan governor Jean-Claude Morissette. &ldquo;St-Jean is still up in the race. You&rsquo;ve got to make the playoffs. That&rsquo;s your bread and butter. It was a huge slap in the face to their fans.&rdquo;And a shot in the arm for the Tigres. The Tigres, who were in second place at the time of the trade, moved into first with a 6-1-1 record after the trade.At the time of the trade, Lebeau led the league with 53-85-138 totals in 57 games, and Blouin had21 goals and 34 assists in 41 games. Leroux, la 6-foot-6, 219-pound defenseman who was the first choice of the Edmonton Oilers in 1988, was the anchor of the Lynx&rsquo; defense.Duhaime, by comparison, had seven goals and 13 assists in 57 games.Of the 26 trades made in the QMJHL this season, the St-Jean-Victoriaville deal was the biggest, but it certainly wasn&rsquo;t unique. In fact, it underlined a ploy that has become popular of late in the QMJHL: Make a major late-season trade to stock up a team for the Memorial Cup.The league knows it. The fans know it. The players know it. The commissioner, who must approve all trades made in the league, knows it. But this is also a league that hasn&rsquo;t won the Memorial Cup since 1981, when the Cornwall Royals won with a roster comprised primarily of Ontario youngsters. As a result, the QMJHL suffers from a huge inferiority complex.- &ldquo;Laval, Hull and Trois-Rivieres (the other three teams in a four-way battle for first place) had a chance to get those players too,&rdquo; says QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau. &ldquo;The trade was made to one of the better teams to give the league a chance and to give the players a chance, but it also was made so St-Jean could help themselves in the future &ldquo;Lynx coach Richard Liboiron also defended the trade, even though it cost him his three best players and possibly a shot at the playoffs.&ldquo;Even if Lebeau, Leroux and Blouin stayed with us, we weren&rsquo;t sure to pass the first round of the playoffs,&rdquo; says Liboiron. &ldquo;The second reason was really simple. Next year our nucleus would not have been strong enough. We&rsquo;ll be competitive next year and the year after we think we&rsquo;ll have the nucleus to be strongMorissette, whose team made a late-season deal last year and ended up winning the league, also defended the practice. He was shocked by the St.-Jean-Victoriaville deal only because the Lynx were still in the playoff race, not because the practice concerns him.&ldquo;Why shouldn&rsquo;t we gear a team up for the Memorial Cup?&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;At least it shows that the league cares about the Memorial Cup.&rdquo;The day after the Lynx deal, the Titan made a blockbuster of its own with the lowly Drum- mondville Voltigeurs. The Titan acquired left winger Claude Boivin, and defenseman Serge Anglehart, both, 19, and a fifth-round choice in 1990 from the Volts for defensemen Luc Doucet, 17 and Brad Maclsaac, 18.Last season, the Titan acquired the late Neil Carnes, Steve Parent and Marc Picard from Verdun for Marc Talbot. Carnes, who scored nine goals and 10 assists in the playoffs, led the team to the Memorial Cup tournament and was named to the tournament all-star team. The Titan finished fourth in the four-team tournament.The trade was widely seen as a loan and all the players were expected to be back with their original teams the next season. Carnes threw a wrench in the plans when he announced he wouldn&rsquo;t report back with the Baby Habs (who moved to St-Hyacinthe) so the Titan gave up Martin Fortin, Patrick Lemay, Carl Mantha and Sylvain Beland in the deal to keep Carnes. Carnes was killed in an off-season motorcycle accident.It wasn&rsquo;t the first time that players had been loaned to contending teams. In 1986-87, Daniel Marois was traded from the Junior Canadiens to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. The next season, he was back with Verdun. In 1985-86, Martin Simard was traded by the Granby Bisons to the Hull Olympiques, who advanced to the Memorial Cup. The next season, he was traded back to the Bisons, who also went on to win the league championship.But sometimes a late-season trade backfires, as it did against Granby in 1987. That season the Bisons, who finished first overall, acquired left winger Everett Sanipass from Verdun for a first- round choice (Claude Barthe), as well as players Norman Desjardins, Martin Olivier and Eric Bohemier.Sanipass went 34-48-82 with 220 penalty minutes in 35 regular-season games and was a first-team all-star. The deal didn&rsquo;t do any good though as the Bisons failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs.Tigres&rsquo; general manager Michel Larocque, who engineered the trade with the Lynx, says mortgaging the future for the present is extremely risky but when a team is as close to a Memorial Cup as his team is, it&rsquo;s worth the gamble.&ldquo;I think in junior when you&rsquo;ve got the chance to go (to a Memorial Cup), you have to try. You can&rsquo;t wait for next year,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got that chance and it will be our last chance for a couple of years We had to take it &ldquo; &#9632;

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TRICKS OF THE TRADE

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div>College Fran&ccedil;ais was missing its leading scorer after over- age center Paul Willett was recalled by the American League&rsquo;s Sherbrooke Canadiens.Willett, who was sixth in league scoring with 47 goals and 64 assists for 111 points in 60 games, was recalled by the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; affiliate after injuries to forwards Ed Cristofoli, Benoit Brunet, Mario Roberge and Norman Desjardins.Willett, who had a free-agent tryout with Sherbrooke in September, was returned to junior before the season. He signed a 25-game tryout contract with Sherbrooke and was expected to play in games March 2 against the Binghamton Whalers and March 4 against the Utica Devils.While the chances of Willett remaining with Sherbrooke for the remainder of the season were remote, it couldn&rsquo;t be ruled out.<h2>PERFECT COACH</h2>Victoriaville Tigres&rsquo; assistant coach Yves Lambert has a perfect winning percentage as a head coach in the Quebec League.Lambert was pressed into duty for the Tigres&rsquo; 5-3 win over the Trois- Rivi&egrave;res Draveurs Feb. 27. Lambert, who was assisted by publicity and marketing manager Michel Cormier, was taking over for head coach Guy Chouinard. Chouinard was at the bedside of his hospitalized wife, Danielle. She was taken to a Victoriaville hospital on Feb. 26 suffering from phlebitis, a circulatory problem, in her left leg.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01679/5762809-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="753" height="828"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Willett was second ii QMJHL scoring with 111 points</figcaption></div>Chouinard was back behind the Tigres&rsquo; bench Feb. 28 for an 8-2 home ice victory against Drummondville.<h2>NO DEAL</h2>The St-Jean Lynx haven&rsquo;t agreed to renew the contract of coach Richard Liboiron, but don&rsquo;t tell him that.Liboiron said Feb. 27 that he and the Lynx had agreed to a two-year contract and an announcement would be made on the deal that night or the following day. Liboiron&rsquo;s one-year deal with the team expires at the end of this season.Liboiron also said he only agreed the Feb. 14 blockbuster trade of Pat rick Lebeau, Francois Leroux ant Jean Blouin to Victoriaville after receiving assurances from management that he would be re-hired by the team next season. (For more on the trade see story on page 26.)But when contacted March 1 Lynx&rsquo; general manager Pierre Bessette denied that any accord had been reached with Liboiron, adding that the, coach&rsquo;s status won&rsquo;t be decided until; meeting of the Lynx&rsquo;s 15-member executive council on March 12.<h2>EXTRA WORK</h2>The Laval Titan was involved in three straight overtime games between Feb. 23 and 27, winning two and losing one. The Titan lost 4-3 in overtime to the Shawinigan Cataractes Feb. 23 before picking up a pair of 5-4 overtime wins over the St-Jean Lynx Feb. 27 and the Hull Olympiques the next night&hellip;Trois-Rivi&egrave;res Draveurs&rsquo; coach Dany Dube was interviewed in Toronto March 7 for the head-coaching job with the under-18 national team. Other applicants were: Wayne Fleming of the University of Manitoba; Peter Anholt of the West- em League&rsquo;s Seattle Thunderbirds; and, Ken MacKenzie of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Sudbury Wolves. &#9632;

f0027-01

WILLETT GETS HIS CHANCE WITH AHL’S CANADIENS

<div class="byline">BY VANCE OLIVER</div>The magic is back in Prince Albert. It just took a little longer than expected.Despite the second-coming of local hero Terry Simpson, the Raiders started the season at 4-11-0 and were in last place in the East Division. But by March 1, the Raiders were in second place with a 33-28-1 record, one point ahead of the Regina Pats, but 24 points back of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.&lsquo;&rsquo;It took a concerted effort by all the players to work their way out of it,&rdquo; said Simpson, who guided the Raiders to Centennial (Tier II) and Memorial Cup championships before leaving to coach the New York Islanders in 1986. He was fired last season and rejoined Prince Albert as coach- general manager this year.&ldquo;When we were 4-11, we were in jeopardy of losing the whole season.&rdquo;Simpson said there are several reasons for the improvement, but the biggest was the acquisition of overage center Jackson Penney from the Victoria Cougars in November. Penney has provided much-needed offensive punch to the defense-oriented team, posting 45-26-71- totals in 48 games.Another factor is overage center Reid Simpson. He was returned to Prince Albert after spending the first half of the season with the Hershey Bears of the American League, where he had 175 penalty minutes in 28 games. The 6-foot-l, 203-pound Simpson is one of the toughest players in the league, with 61 PIM in 18 games. He&rsquo;s also displayed a surprising scoring touch with 10-13-23 totals.The final piece to the puzzle is the resurgence of goalie Dennis Sproxton. Sproxton, who struggled at the beginning of the season, was second among league goaltenders with a 3.82 goals-against average. Lethbridge&rsquo;s Dusty Imoo was first with a 3.48 GAA.&ldquo;Now it seems as though everybody is accepting more the responsibility of losing and winning and that wasn&rsquo;t happening at the beginning of the season,&rdquo; Simpson said. &ldquo;But I hope the team doesn&rsquo;t level off and think we&rsquo;ve accomplished anything yet.&rdquo;<h2>BARRIE A FLYER</h2>Kamloops overage center Len Barrie, the runaway leader for the league scoring title, earned a three-game audition with the Philadelphia Flyers in late February.Barrie, who signed as a free agent with the Flyers in early February, was recalled by the Philadelphia Feb. 26 for road names against the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. Barrie practised with the Flyers in Vancouver Feb. 27, then flew back to Kamloops to score one goal and add two assists as the Blazers defeated the Spokane Chiefs 7-3. In his first NHL game, a 7-7 tie with the Canucks Feb. 28, he was held pointless.Barrie, who led the the WHL with 78 goals and 95 assists in 64 games, was expected to miss three Blazer games.<h2>BREAK EVEN</h2>While making the playotts Otten determines profit and loss for most teams, the same can&rsquo;t be said for the Swift Current Broncos.The Broncos never bank on making the playoffs. Every year, they try to break even with on-ice operations and other fund-raising activities.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d say you probably clear $ 15,000 a night in the playoffs, &rsquo; &rsquo; said Broncos&rsquo; coach-general manager Graham James. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pretty important (sum of money) depending on how far you go. But we never budget for it.&rdquo;The defending Memorial Cup champions, meanwhile, were in the red when it came to wins and losses. Chosen by many to repeat as league champions this year, the Broncos were clinging to the sixth and last playoff spot in the East Division with a 26-36-3 record, two points ahead of the Moose Jaw Warriors. &#9632;

RAIDERS GET BACK IN THE PACK

<div class="byline">BY RANDY RUSSON</div>Three months before the Ontario League draft, the expansion Detroit Ambassadors have decided who will be their first pick.The Ambassadors, who will begin play in the OHL in 1990-91, intend to draft Detroit native Pat Peake when they choose first overall in the draft, scheduled for North York Centennial Arena May 26. The announcement was made at a media conference in Detroit March 5.Peake, a 6-foot, 180-pound center, plays for Compuware (Tier 11) of the North American Junior League&mdash;the same team Oshawa&rsquo;s Eric Lindros played for. Computer software company Compuware Corp, also owns the Ambassadors. Peake, 16, had 22 goals and 30 assists for 52 points in 24 games for first-place Compuware.Ambassadors&rsquo; director of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said the announcement to select Peake was made &ldquo;at this time as a marketing tool.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s from here, he plays for us and there&rsquo;s no question he&rsquo;s a good player,&rdquo; said Rutherford. &ldquo;Plus, now we can concentrate on the rest of the draft.&rdquo;The Ambassadors will select first in every round and will also have bonus picks at the end of rounds four through seven. At the end of the season, the league will also hold an intra-league expansion draft which will allow the Ambassadors to choose up to 12 players from teams that qualify for the playoffs.Those teams will be allowed to protect 15 skaters and two goalies and would not lose more than one player per team.<h2>NOLAN OUT</h2>A slightly-separated right shoulder may cost Owen Nolan the OHL scoring title.The rugged 17-year-old right winger for the Cornwall Royals, who separated the shoulder in a 5-4 loss to the Dukes of Hamilton Feb. 22, was in the thick of the scoring race with 47 goals and 59 assists for 106 points in 55 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01708/5762871-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="763" height="1126"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat Peake will be the Ambassadors&rsquo; first draft pick.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02496/5762864-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="1588" height="1356"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul DiPietro, above, made gains in the scoring race after Owen Nolan suffered a slightly-separated shoulder.</figcaption></div>As of March 2, he had missed four games&mdash;in which the Royals were 1 - 3-0&mdash;and lost ground in the race to Paul DiPietro of the Sudbury Wolves (54-58-112 in 62 games) and Keith Primeau of the Niagara Falls Thunder (50-60-110 in 58 games).Nolan, who was rated as the No. 2 draft-eligible prospect by the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau, was expected to return to the Royals&rsquo; lineup for a game against Hamilton March 4.Royals&rsquo; coach Marc Crawford said his team needs Nolan in the lineup, both for his goal-scoring ability and his physical presence. Nolan had 229 penalty minutes.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not as tough a team without Owen,&rdquo; said Crawford. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not that we&rsquo;re wimps when he&rsquo;s not around. But he creates traffic for everyone else when he&rsquo;s on the ice. That&rsquo;s why the NHL scouts love him.&rdquo;<h2>SCHILL QUITS</h2>Kitchener Rangers&rsquo; goalie David Schill, 19, quit the team Feb. 23, citing a lack of playing time as the reason for his decision.Angry that he was to be backup for the ninth time in 10 games, Schill told Rangers&rsquo; coach Joe McDonnell of his decision before the Rangers&rsquo; 12-3 win over the Niagara Falls Thunder. Schill, who came to the Rangers from the Dukes of Hamilton in late October, had a 10-7-3 record with a 4.00 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage with the Rangers.&ldquo;I felt I had to play because my confidence was zero,&rdquo; said Schill, whose previous start was in a 7-5 win over the Owen Sound Platers Feb. 3. &ldquo;I told Joe that but he said (No. 1 goalie) Mike Torchia was starting. Then he just turned his back and walked away. If I can&rsquo;t play against a team like the (sixth-place) Thunder, then who would I play against?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m tired of Joe&rsquo;s mind games. I&rsquo;m just going to take the rest of the year off and think about my future.&rdquo;Sources say Kitchener has already traded Schill&rsquo;s overage rights to the Windsor Spitfires as part of the January deal that brought defenseman Jason York to Kitchener.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been told that by three reporters now,&rdquo; Schill said.McDonnell denied Schill&rsquo;s rights have been traded and so did Spitfires&rsquo; general manager Terry McDonnell.Kitchener&rsquo;s McDonnell said Schill had been given a fair opportunity to win the No. 1 job with the Rangers.&ldquo;He won his first seven starts and then tailed off,&rdquo; said McDonnell. * &rsquo;Torchia was unbeaten in his last nine starts, that&rsquo;s why he was playing.&rdquo;<h2>TAYLOR MADE</h2>Chris Taylor of the London Knights may be one of the most modest players in the OHL, even if he does have a lot to brag about this season.Taylor, a 17-year-old center, had 43 goals and 54 assists for 97 points in 58 games and is rated as a first-round choice (10th overall) by the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau. Nobody is more surprised at his success than Taylor himself.&ldquo;No way I thought I&rsquo;d have the points I have at this stage,&rdquo; said the 6-foot, 192-pound native of Stratford, Ont. &ldquo;To tell you the truth, I look at the scoring stats and am surprised to see myself up there.&rdquo;Knights&rsquo; coach Wayne Maxner said Taylor will be a solid NHLer if he improves his defensive play.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a little lazy coming back in the neutral zone. But he&rsquo;s been conditioned to think offense all his life,&rdquo; said Maxner. &ldquo;When his defense comes around, he&rsquo;s going to play&mdash; and well&mdash;in the National Hockey League.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-01

AMBASSADORS PEAKE EARLY BY ANNOUNCING FIRSTOVERALL PICK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01612/5762902-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Members of the York Yeomen held the University Cup high last year after winning The Nationals. They&rsquo;re only a longshot to with the title this season.</figcaption></div>The team that emerges from the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union&rsquo;s version of the Battle of Alberta will have but one wish entering The Nationals.That the York Yeomen are nowhere to be found.In each of the past two seasons&mdash;Calgary in 1988 and Alberta in 1989&mdash;the Canada West Universities Athletic Association entry in the final four tournament has been eliminated by the Yeomen.This season, the Calgary Dinos and Alberta Golden Bears were ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively. The one that wins the CWUAA playoff showdown beginning March 2 in Calgary, will be the favorite at The Nationals at Toronto&rsquo;s Varsity Arena, March 15-17.The top-ranked contenders (with their records in parentheses) for the CIAU crown include:1. Calgary Dinosaurs, (21-6-1), first in CWUAA.Under sophomore coach Willie Desjardins, Calgary has a talented offensive club and may finally have the goaltending to make a run at their first-ever national crown.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re very offensive&hellip;explosive,&rdquo; says Regina head coach Bill Liskowich. &ldquo;The strong part about Calgary, and it&rsquo;s only started to hap- pen in the last while, is they&rsquo;re playing very well defensively. And Peter Fry (17-4-1,3.40 goals- against average, .878) has had some very good games lately.&rdquo;If the Dinos are to win it all, they&rsquo;ll likely have to do it without team leader Mark Fioretti. The left winger (22-23-45 in 26 games) suffered ligament damage to a knee in the league quarter- finals against Regina and is expected to miss the rest of the season.2. Alberta Golden Bears, (20-6-2), second in CWUAA.While Canada West coaches generally agree No. 2-ranked Alberta does not have the talent of Calgary, many feel the Golden Bears have what it takes to knock off the Dinos.&ldquo;(Alberta&rsquo;s) got a lot of tradition there and a lot of pride,&rdquo; says Saskatchewan coach Brent McEwen. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d bet Alberta.&rdquo;Third-year center Adam Morrison (25-32-57 in 28 games) and fourth-year center Doug McCarthy (14-37-51 in 28 games) came 1-2 in league scoring. Led on defense by Howie Drapers, Ian Herbers and Gord Thibodeau, the Bears are looking to improve on their seven CIAU championships in 18 tournament appearances.3. Waterloo Warriors, (17-4-1), second in the Ontario Universities Athletic Association West Division.The top-ranked team in the OUAA earned that distinction partly because of an outstanding defensive record (2.64 team GAA), and partly because of a mid-season stumble by divisional and cross-town rival Wilfrid Laurier.Waterloo (No. 3 in season-ending rankings) finished behind Laurier (No. 7) in the final standings. But the Warriors got the higher ranking after Christmas because Laurier lost three in a row to non-conference teams&mdash;Calgary, Alberta and Saskatchewan&mdash;during Christmas. The Warriors also won two of the three meetings with the Golden Hawks since January.The Warriors are led by two-time All Canadian goaltender Mike Bishop, who posted a 2.63 goals-against average, and sophomore center Tony Crisp&mdash;the son of Calgary Flames&rsquo; coach Terry Crisp&mdash;who scored 25 goals and collected 50 points in 18 games.4. Trois-Rivieres Patriotes, (15-5-2), first in OUAA East Division.East Division pennant winners for the third year in a row, the Patriotes lost just twice in regular-season play since Christmas. Those were back-to-back games three days apart with four players suspended.Though none of the four players were among the league scoring leaders, that they lost without them illustrates the nature of the Patriotes. They&rsquo;re a balanced club that thrives on the efforts of many. They cannot survive on the exploits of a few hot hands.Second in the country in team offense (5.86 goals per game average) and sixth in defense Robert Page (15-27-42 in 18 games) and center Patrick Emond (12-25-37 in 18 games). Denis Desbiens, who had a 3.11 GAA, does an adequate job as the No. 1 goalie.5.Acadia Axemen, (16-5-0), first in the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association Kelly Divsion.The Axemen rebounded from an ordinary first half&mdash;they were just 5-4-0 and tied with Dalhousie for the division lead at the Christmas break&mdash;to finish the season at 16-5-0 and cruise to the division crown.&ldquo;I think we have a crack at it,&rdquo; says coach Tom Coolen on his team&rsquo;s chances of winning The Nationals. &ldquo;Whatever team puts it together at the right time will be there. It could be us&hellip;We&rsquo;ll see.&rdquo;Rookie center Darren Colboume, who came to the Eagles via the Cornwall Royals of the Ontario League, led the league in scoring with 27-23-50 totals in 21 games.6. Moncton Blue Eagles, (16-5-0), first in AUAA MacAdam Division.The Eagles seemed ripe for the plucking at the beginning of the season, having lost 13 players in the off-season, including No.-l goalie Joel Drolet, CIAU rookie-of-the-year left winger Eric Galameau and all-star defenseman Patrick Black.But rather than struggling through a rebuilding year, this season&rsquo;s team may be better than the one that finished 23-3-0 in 1988-89.&ldquo;I think last year we had too much talent and not enough muckers, says coach Len Doucet. &ldquo;I think this team would be a better team (than last season&rsquo;s) at the national level if we could get that far.&rdquo;Center Claude Gosselin was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 13-15-28 totals in 21 games.Darkhorses: Wilfrid Laurier (19-3-0, first in OUAA West Division); York (13-8-1, third in OUAA East Divsion); Prince Edward Island (13-8-0, second in AUAA MacAdam Division); Dalhousie (10-9-2, second in AUAA Kelly Division).On March 16, the night before the tournament final, the CIAU will present the Senator Joseph A. Sullivan Award to the country&rsquo;s best university player.The three nominees (one from each league and with personal statistics in parentheses) are:Rod Houk, G, Regina, (7-9-1, 3.27 GAA, .900 save percentage).A 21-year-old sophomore, Houk edged University of Alberta center Adam Morrison in a vote of the league&rsquo;s coaches to gain the CWUAA nod for player of the year.&ldquo;Regina was outshot almost every night, but they kept on winning, &rsquo; &rsquo; says Calgary coach Wil- lie Desjardins after his team knocked off Regina in their Canada West semi-final series. Houk kept the games close, however, taking the Dinos to overtime in the first game (2-1 Feb. 16) and then losing 4-0 Feb. 17. Houk faced more than 90 shots in the series.Mike Bishop, G, Waterloo, (17-4-1, 2.63 GAA, .894 save percentage).A native of Elmira, Ont., Bishop, 25, was the cornerstone of the Waterloo Warriors&rsquo; success this season.Having lost their top scorer to graduation (Chris Glover), Warriors&rsquo; coach Don McKee knew he would need outstanding netminding from the fourth-year economics major.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to score nine or 10 like Laurier,&rdquo; says McKee, &ldquo;but if we can keep the opposition to under two goals we can win.&rdquo;Bishop, who played in the Ontario League with the Kitchener Rangers and the Belleville Bulls before enrolling at Waterloo, did that on many occasions.Rich Little, C, Prince Edward Island (23- 22-45 in 21 games.As his name suggests, the 23-year-old Little can play many roles.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a player that a coach can use in any position except goal,&rdquo; says Panthers&rsquo; coach Billy MacMillan. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve won a lot of playoff- type games this year where he&rsquo;s dictated the outcome.&rdquo;A native of Port Hawksbury, N.S., Little played for the Verdun Junior Canadiens (QMJHL) before going to UPEI four years ago. Last season, he earned his first All-Canadian honor, and was chosen the AUAA most valuable player this season.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s progressed steadily since coming here,&rdquo; says MacMillan. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s gotten to the point where he&rsquo;s a bonafide star now.&rdquo;&mdash;with files from Bill Hunt, Claude Scilley and Mark Spector. &#9632;

f0029-01

HEAD OF THE CLASS

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01698/5762940-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01685/5762933-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="9004" height="5474"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

PEPSI ON ICE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01608/5762985-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01692/5762978-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="8448" height="5131"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02458/5762971-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="4217" height="1458"></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01626/5763023-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01541/5763016-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="4486" height="5474"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01629/5763054-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="739" height="855"></div>He announced his retirement on a steamy night in Montreal, his Calgary Flames&rsquo; uniform soaked in champagne, his emotions pulled like taffy in one direction and then the other.Hakan Loob was leaving&mdash;and not because at age 29, his considerable hockey-playing skills had been eroded.Loob, always one of the most articulate Flames&rsquo; players, made no secret of the fact he put a premium on family life.His instincts told him now was the time to go home, before things Swedish became foreign to him and his wife and especially to his eight year-old son Henrik, who was becoming too North Americanized.A couple more years in Calgary and maybe they couldn&rsquo;t go back.So Loob made a hard choice and abandoned the final year of a six-figure contract to play in Sweden and adopt the straight life after six years in the fishbowl existence of the NHL.In Sweden, despite all the strides they&rsquo;ve made, it isn&rsquo;t enough to just play hockey. You work at a day job as well.Now, eight months into his retirement, the questions Loob was asking himself about the move have been answered.Sort of. .On the ice, his play finally came around. Loob, along with former Washington Capital Bengt Gustafsson and former Philadelphia Flyer Magnus Roupe, make up the flashiest line in Sweden&mdash;maybe all of Europe&mdash;on a Farjestads team that became the New York Yankees of the Swedish league.But they struggled early.&ldquo;Things are going well now,&rdquo; Loob says, &ldquo;but it took me pretty much three full months to get anything going at all. You start to wonder if you can still play the game.&ldquo;I remember when I first came over to Canada, I played the first couple of games and I thought it was tough. There was no crisscrossing. It was straight ahead, shoot-when-you- get-the-chance hockey. Don&rsquo;t overpass the puck. After a while you get used to that.&ldquo;Then you come back to Sweden and you think everything&rsquo;s going to be fine. After a couple of months, you realize it was harder to come back to Sweden than it was to go over to Canada in the first place. I was so surprised.&rdquo;Only a year before Loob left, he was the NHL&rsquo;s all-star right winger, after becoming the first Swedish-born player in history to score 50 goals.Loob&rsquo;s successes made him enough money to live well back home, but not enough to last the rest of his life.When he left Sweden originally, he&rsquo;d been a carpenter. He wanted to come back to a more substantial career.So he immediately immersed himself in a personal job search and came up with a position selling aluminum siding. It&rsquo;s not the hard physical labor he was used to, but it does take up most of the day. Then there&rsquo;s hockey practice.A typical day: Get up, drop the kids at day care, work, practice and then come home. He&rsquo;s lucky if he sees his children an hour a day.The schedule&rsquo;s more hectic than it ever was in Canada. Now that Christmas is over, he plays three times a week. When there&rsquo;s a break, it&rsquo;s off to play for the national team.&ldquo;To be honest with you,&rdquo; says Loob, &ldquo;you think that maybe it was wrong to go back. But you can&rsquo;t just think about yourself, you have to think about your family. There&rsquo;s more to life than just hockey.&rdquo;Loob is committed to play for Sweden in the World Championships. If the Flames were alive in the third round and they wanted him, he said he&rsquo;d be more than happy to rejoin the team for the balance of the season&mdash;even if it were just as insurance.The way the NHL rulebook reads, that would be next to impossible. To bring Loob back, the Flames would have to sign him to a contract and put him on waivers without the right of recall. Can you imagine if the Flames had a semifinal date with the Blackhawks, that Chicago wouldn&rsquo;t put in a claim, if only to keep Loob from playing for Calgary?In his absence, Loob noticed the calibre of play is way up in Sweden.&ldquo;When I left, every team had one good line or one group of five that played really well,&rdquo; Loob said. &ldquo;The next couple of lines were so-so. So if you ever played on the first line and you were out against the third line of the other team, you dominated.&ldquo;Today, we have a pretty good line with me, Gustafsson and Roupe, and we can play the worst line on the other team but they can still do well against us &rsquo;&rsquo; &#9632;

f0038-01

COMING HOME TOUGHER THAN GOING

<h2>RED WINGS</h2>Jimmy Carson returned to action earlier than expected after missing 14 games with an injured posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He had been expected to return March 8, but doctors pronounced him fit to play March 5 at New York against the Rangers.. .The Wings missed 183 man-games to injury or illness through 67 games. In 80 games last season, they missed 169 man-games to injury or illness&hellip;The Wings refused to fuel rumors Bob Probert would soon join his the team for practices. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re making no comment on Bob Probert,&rdquo; coach Jacques Demers said. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t played a minute for us all season, and you still want to talk about him.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;When no one claimed him off the non- recallable waiver list by March 3, left winger Greg Adams called it quits after nine NHL seasons. He winced when asked about his impending retirement. &ldquo;That sounds so pretentious,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Wayne Gretzky retires. Guys like Greg Adams just fade away.&rdquo; He plans to expand a successful construction business in his native Duncan, B.C.<h2>MAPLE LEAFS</h2>Troubled right winger Jonn.Kordic was suspended indefinitely by GM Floyd Smith March 5 after Kor- dic failed to show up for a game. About an hour prior to the Leafs&rsquo; 5-2 home-ice loss to the Detroit Red Wings March 3, Kordic called the Gardens to say he&rsquo;d just woken up. He was told to get to the rink as soon as possible but never showed. It&rsquo;s been a difficult season for Kordic, who&rsquo;s father, Ivan, died in October. Later that month, his $40,000 Corvette was involved in an accident. Kordic was also late for a game Feb. 3 and was fined&hellip;Consecutive losses to Detroit on March 2-3 were Toronto&rsquo;s first since losing back-to-back games against Chicago and Boston in late December&hellip;Left winger Vincent Damphousse continued to be one of the club&rsquo;s more consistent forwards. Damphousse had a goal and three assists in a 5-4 win over the Quebec Nordiques Feb. 28 to overtake Gary Leeman and Ed Olczyk as the team&rsquo;s leading scorer. Through games of March 4, Damphousse had 24-57-81 totals.<h2>BLACKHAWKS</h2>A pair of losses to Boston (4-3 in Boston March 3, 4-1 at home March 4), coupled with a 5-4 St. Louis win over the New York Islanders March 3, dropped the Hawks out of first place in the division for the first time since Dec. 9. The March 4 loss extended the team&rsquo;s losing streak to four games. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s discipline and/or lack of it,&rdquo; coach Mike Keenan said of his club&rsquo;s woes. ..The Hawks were having difficulty generating offense with Adam Creighton. Steve Larmer and Steve Thomas in the midst of slumps. When Creighton didn&rsquo;t score in the March 4 loss to Boston, it was his seventh straight game without a point after getting at least one in 29 of the previous 32 contests. Said Creighton: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve hit rock bottom.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Defenseman Bob Murray played in his 1,000th career game March 4 against Boston, becoming only the fourth Hawk to reach that milestone. Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull and Eric Nesterenko were the others&hellip;Goaltender Alain Chevrier may have blown his last chance to regain Keenan&rsquo;s confidence when he gave up three soft goals and was pulled 5:54 into the first period March 1 against the Blues in a key division game the Hawks went on to lose 6-4.<h2>BLUES</h2>Right winger Brett Hull became only the third player in Blues&rsquo; history to top the 100-point mark, getting two goals and two assists in a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders March 3 to give him 102 points for the season. Only Bernie Federko and Doug Gilmour had done it before, Federko four times, Gilmour once. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s great,&rdquo; Hull said of 100 points.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03394/5763116-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="761" height="843"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Oates has established career-high scoring totals.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Something you dream about, along with 50 goals.&rsquo;&rsquo;&hellip;Through March 5, center Adam Oates had established career highs with 19 goals, 70 assists and 89 points. He was three points shy of Federko&rsquo;s single-season record for assists, set in the 1980-81 season. His previous high for goals was 16 and assists was 62, both set last season with the Detroit Red Wings.<h2>NORTH STARS</h2>Owners George and Gordon Gund met with the NHL Board of Governors at a specially-called-meeting at the O&rsquo;Hare Westin Hotel on March 5 in Chicago to update them on offers to buy the North Stars.. .Through games on March 3, the North Stars&rsquo; penalty killing was rated the best in the NHL at home, successfully killing 86.7 per cent of all penalties, but on the road, they were the fourth worst, killing only 73.6 per cent. The Stars&rsquo; power play was second best at home and 17th on the road&hellip;Forty-one of the North Stars&rsquo; games have been decided by two goals or fewer. The Stars had a 10-15-0 record in one-goal games and they were 6-10-0 in two-goal decisions. &#9632;

f0038-03

CARSON MAKES EARLY RETURN

<div class="byline">BY TIM SASSONE</div>Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; coach Mike Keenan thinks a lot of Dave Manson, whom he calls a young defenseman with unlimited potential.Keenan also has a great appreciation for Chicago hockey fans, going so far as to call them &ldquo;the greatest fans in the sport of hockey.&rdquo;So when many of those supporters in attendance at Chicago Stadium for the Hawks&rsquo; 6-4 loss to St. Louis March 1 began booing Manson during the second period, it surprised Keenan.To protect Manson from the abuse, Keenan decided to sit the defenseman on the bench for the remainder of the game.Manson drew the ire of the fans when he took an ill-advised slashing penalty against Paul MacLean at 5:40 of the second period. Before that, he had been on the ice for four of the Blues&rsquo; goals.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t play Manson because I thought the crowd was very hard on him,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s given us a tremendous amount of great hockey in this building, he&rsquo;s only 23 years old and I didn&rsquo;t want to subject him to that kind of lack of support because he probably deserved better.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s an integral part of our hockey club and he certainly wasn&rsquo;t appreciated tonight. He gives us a lot of toughness and he&rsquo;s gone to battle for a lot of players in this organization.&rdquo;Although his words might have indicated otherwise, Keenan said he wasn&rsquo;t trying to berate the crowd for turning on Manson.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not being critical of the fans. They&rsquo;re the greatest fans in the sport of hockey, maybe the greatest fans in North America,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;It was just a reaction, I suppose, to one player&rsquo;s tough night. They&rsquo;re at liberty to do what they want, but I&rsquo;m also at liberty to play who I want.&rdquo;Manson, who admitted the boos bothered him, said letting his teammates down bothered him even more.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a liability now and he (Keenan) can&rsquo;t afford to put me on the ice if I&rsquo;m hurting the team,&rdquo; Manson said. &ldquo;I can play a lot better, and I&rsquo;m sure everyone here knows that. &rsquo; &rsquo;Doug Wilson, Manson&rsquo;s defense partner, said he thought his teammate was trying too nara to live up to everyone&rsquo;s expectations. Manson, who led Hawk defensemen with 18 goals last season and was named to the Campbell Conference all-star team, has struggled all of this season through two suspensions (for a total of 16 games) and inconsistent play. In 49 games this season he had 5-16-21 totals and 233 penalty minutes.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s obviously frustrated,&rdquo; Wilson said &ldquo;Sometimes when you try too hard you put yourself in a bigger rut. But he&rsquo;s an awfully big part of this team and will be for a long time.&rdquo;Manson&rsquo;s nightmarish night against St. Louis came two days after he was involved in another messy incident in the 4-0 loss in Washington.Caps&rsquo; defenseman Scott Stevens said his hand was bitten by Manson during a third-period fight. Manson said it was a reflex action after having his eye gouged with Stevens&rsquo; fingers.&lsquo;&rsquo;He (Stevens) gouged me once and was trying to do it again and I just reacted,&rdquo; Manson said. &ldquo;When a guy is trying to screw with your career, that&rsquo;s not much fun. If I let him gouge me, he&rsquo;ll blind me.&rdquo;Stevens clamed Manson bit him first and that he was reacting to that. Stevens had a hearing with NHL vice president Brian O&rsquo;Neill on March 1. Manson was scheduled to plead his case March 5.<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 2: Brian Noonan, RW. and Mike McNeil. C, recalled from Indianapolis (lHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jeremy Roenick, Troy Murray, Adam Creighton, Jocelyn Lemieux. Mike McNeil.LW&mdash;Greg Gilbert, Steve Thomas. Mike Hudson, Wayne Van Dorp, Mike Eagles.RW&mdash;Steve Larmer, Dirk Graham, Brian Noonan, Duane Sutter, Wayne Presley,LD&mdash;Doug Wilson, Steve Konroyd, Trent Yawney.RD&mdash;Dave Manson, Bob McGill, Bob Murray.G&mdash;Jacques Cloutier. Alain Chevrier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Keith Brown, D, bruised ribs, indefinite.Darren Pang. G, left knee surgery, indefinite.Denis Savard. C, broken left index finger, day-to-day.Al Secord, LW, strained right knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Creighton, 32. A&mdash;Wilson, 49. P&mdash; Larmer, 72. PIM&mdash;Manson, 233. &#9632;

STADIUM FANS TAKE A BITE OUT OF MANSON

<div class="byline">BY GARY OLSON</div>Brian Bellows has been a constant in another season of turmoil for the Minnesota North Stars.He started the season fast and he was finishing it strong. The North Stars&rsquo; success depends on Bellows as much as his success depends on the North Stars&rsquo;.He was close to his most productive season, yet the North Stars were moving closer and closer to making it a failure.&ldquo;Two years ago, 1 scored 40 goals and we missed the playoffs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t mean much. No one cares about players who score a bunch of goals but whose team doesn&rsquo;t get into the playoffs.&ldquo;This is my eighth season and we&rsquo;ve missed the playoffs twice. That&rsquo;s two years when we had no chance to win the (Stanley) Cup. None at all.&ldquo;I looked at our record in the (Norris Division) and we have as good a chance to do something as anyone. But to have that chance, we have to get into the playoffs.&ldquo;Personal goals don&rsquo;t mean much if you don&rsquo;t have people to share it with.&rdquo;On Feb. 27 in an 8-3 win over Winnipeg, Bellows scored his 40th goal, the third time in eight seasons he&rsquo;s scored at least that many. He&rsquo;s aver- aged 32 goals since being selected with the second pick of the 1982 draft, the last truly productive first-round pick by the North Stars until Mike Modano was chosen six years later.Bellows scored his 42nd goal and 77th point during the Stars&rsquo; 8-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins March 4. It was one goal more than he&rsquo;d ever scored before&mdash;he had 41 during the 1983-84 season&mdash;but it came during another road loss.If the North Stars miss the playoffs&mdash;they were one point behind Detroit with 13 games left&mdash;they can look at their mind-boggling home and road records. Through games March 4, Minnesota was one of three NHL teams with at least 23 wins at home (23-10-1) but it was also one of four teams without at least 10 wins on the road. The Stars&rsquo; 5-26-2 road record was second only to the Quebec Nordiques for away-from-home futility.Bellows, often seen as an unemotional individual playing a team game, was slow to buy into coach Pierre Page&rsquo;s defense-first system. He saw goals and assists as the way to measure his contributions while Page saw plus-minus ratings as a more accurate barometer.Somewhere during Bellows&rsquo; plus-minus dive&mdash;he had reached minus- 11 by Jan. 15&mdash;he realized he had to be a plus player for the North Stars to succeed. It would be difficult to call him a convert to Page&rsquo;s defensive system, but he&rsquo;s no longer bucking it.His plus-minus rating during the 20 games up to the March 4 loss was plus-2 despite the Stars&rsquo; 7-13-0 record over the same period.&ldquo;My job is to help get this team in the playoffs. The best way for me to do that is to score some goals, set up some goals and be a &rsquo;plus&rsquo; player.&ldquo;I remember the season when I scored 41 goals (he also had a career- high 83 points) and we went to the semifinals. Everyone was excited about everyone else&rsquo;s success.&rdquo;<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 3: Jarmo Myllys, G, recalled from Kalamazoo (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mike Modano, Neal Broten, Perry Berezan. Dave Gagner.LW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Basil McRae, Ga&eacute;tan Duchesne, Aaron Broten.RW&mdash;Don Barber, Stewart Gavin, Hel- mut Balderis. Mike Gartner, Shane Churla.LD&mdash;Curt Giles. Ville Siren, Mark Tinordi.RD&mdash;Frantisek Musil, Larry Murphy, Shawn Chambers, Neil Wilkinson.G&mdash;Jon Casey. Jarmo Myllys, Kari Takko.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Daniel Berthiaume, G, arthroscopic knee surgery, indefinite.Curt Fraser. LW, back spasms and left shoulder reconstruction, indefinite.Dave Mackey, RW, sprained knee, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Bellows, 42. A&mdash;N. Broten, 50 P&mdash; Bellows, 77. PIM&mdash;McRae, 256. &#9632;

PERSONAL SUCCESS MEANS LITTLE TO BELLOWS

<div class="byline">BY DAVE LUECKING</div>Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; goalie Greg Millen once said that NHL scouts discovered him because he played junior hockey on the Ontario League&rsquo;s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds with a guy named Wayne Gretzky.Playing with Mario Lemieux for two years on the Laval Voisins of the Quebec League didn&rsquo;t have the same effect on center Michel Mongeau, a mighty mite who bounced around for four years before finally reaching the NHL with the St. Louis Blues.Mongeau is a rookie at age 25. Lemieux, 24, as everyone knows, has been a superstar in the league for five years. It&rsquo;s easy to see why everyone overlooked Le Magnifique&rsquo;s old teammate. Mongeau was easy to miss at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds.&ldquo;Probably, the scouts think Mario Lemieux did everything for us,&rdquo; Mongeau said. &ldquo;He was like more than half of our team.&rdquo;Mongeau stayed in Laval two years after Lemieux left, scoring 180 points one season, but he was never drafted. The closest he came to the NHL before this season was a three-day tryout with the New York Rangers in 1986.Instead, he went to Saginaw of the International League, the first of five stops in the last four years. He was the IHL rookie of the year in the 1986-87 season with 42 goals and 53 assists for 95 points. But he had no prospects of playing in the NHL, so he went to Tours, France.That move almost proved disastrous. The team finished eighth in a 10-team league and his contract wasn&rsquo;t renewed.He had a chance to install phones for Bell Canada, and play on the company hockey team, but he decided to try again as a free agent with Flint of the IHL.&ldquo;I love hockey so much, that&rsquo;s why I didn&rsquo;t quit,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to hang my skates.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s a good thing he didn&rsquo;t. While finishing second in the IHL in scoring last season with 41 -76-117 totals in 82 games, Mongeau caught the eye of Wayne Thomas, who coaches the Blues&rsquo; International League affiliate in Peoria.Mongeau was leading the IHL with 27 goals and 53 assists in 56 games when he was recalled Feb. 23. He&rsquo;s done better in the NHL than anyone could have expected. In the five games he played since his recall, Mongeau had six points&mdash;a goal and five assists. He had three assists in the Blues&rsquo; 6-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks March 1. The Blackhawks didn&rsquo;t give him much respect.&ldquo;Some players skated beside me, saying, &rsquo;That&rsquo;s your last point. You won&rsquo;t score again,&rsquo; &ldquo; Mongeau said, with a laugh. &ldquo; I take that as a compliment. They&rsquo;re paying attention to me.&rdquo;.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Adam Oates. Ron Wilson, Rick Meagher, Michel Mongeau.LW&mdash;Sergio Momesso, Rod Brind Amour, Gino Cavallini, Peter Zezel.RW&mdash;Brett Hull, Paul MacLean, Steve Tuttle, Kelly Chase.LD&mdash;Gordie Roberts. Mike Lalor, Robert Dirk.RD&mdash;Jeff Brown, Glen Featherstone, Paul Cavallini.G&mdash;Curtis Joseph, Vincent Riendeau.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Lowry. LW, groin, day-to-day.Herb Raglan. RW. broken right wrisl indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Hull, 64. A&mdash;Oates, 70. P&mdash;Hull, 102 PIM&mdash;Chase 198 &#9632;

MONGEAU FINALLY BEING NOTICED

<div class="byline">BY MARK HARDING</div>Reports of the resurgence of the Toronto Maple Leafs may have been greatly exaggerated.In fact, if the Leafs continued at the pace they set during February and ear- ly March, reports of their demise would be circulating.After going on a torrid 9-1-0 tear from the end of December to late January, the Leafs faltered badly. It may be mere coincidence, but after Wendel Clark was lost for the season with a knee injury on Jan. 26, the Leafs were 6-9-2 after games played March 3.Among those losses was a 3-0 loss to Philadelphia (Feb. 15), an abso- lutely horrible 12-2 humiliation at the hands of the Calgary Flames (Feb. 22), an embarrassing 5-2 setback against the Vancouver Canucks (Feb. 26) and back-to-back losses to the De- troit Red Wings (3-2 in overtime March 2 and 5-2 the next night). Several of their victories, including a 5-4 verdict over Quebec (Feb. 28) and another 5-4 win over New Jersey (Feb. 17), fell squarely into the for- tunate category.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve shown the kind of hockey we can play when we skate and we know what happens when we don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said coach Doug Carpefter. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve also stopped being the physical team that we were earlier in the season.&rdquo;What hurt the Leafs the most during the tailspin was that had they played with the same emotion and intensity as they demonstrated earlier in the season, they would likely have over- taken both the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks in the Norris standings. Within two points of first in February, the 33-31-3 Leafs were five points behind the Hawks and seven behind the Blues.It has been suggested in some cir- cles that the Leafs simply don&rsquo;t have the necessary number of bumpers and grinders to play the robust style that they employed through the early pari of the season. The speculation was that many of the Leafs were showing the early signs of physical and mental fatigue.When it&rsquo;s suggested to Carpentei that he might be wise to start giving some of his players&mdash;namely Al la- frate, Brad Marsh, Rob Ramage.Mark Osborne and Lou Franceschet ti-&mdash;some rest and relaxation, hi scowls.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t won anything yet o made the playoffs, &ldquo; said the first-yea Leaf coach. &ldquo;And besides, when yot have a chance to shoot for first-placi and the honor that goes with that don&rsquo;t you think you should go for it?.&ldquo;I think most of the guys on this team want to finish as high as we can.&rdquo;Most of the Leafs simply wanted to start winning on a consistent basis again, yet they weren&rsquo;t showing that determination on the ice.&ldquo;We have to be willing to pay the price,&rdquo; said defenseman Brian Curran. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had some bad breaks lately, but we know what we can accomplish when we work hard. We also know what happens when we don&rsquo;t.&ldquo;Still, we&rsquo;ve got to learn from what&rsquo;s been happening to us lately, that we can&rsquo;t afford to be good one night and so-so the next.&rdquo;<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 27: Tie Domi, RW. recalled from Newmarket (AHL).March 3: Mark Laforest, G, recalled from Newmarket.March 5: John Kordic, RW, suspended indefinitely by the team for missing March 3 qame against Detroit.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ed Olczyk, Gilles Thibaudeau. John McIntyre, Dave Hannan, Dan Daoust.LW&mdash;Mark Osborne, Vincent Dam- phousse. Scott Pearson, Dave Reid.RW&mdash;Gary Leeman, Daniel Marois, Lou Franceschetti, Tie Domi.LD&mdash;Brad Marsh, Luke Richardson, Brian Curran, Todd Gill.RD&mdash;Al lafrate, Rob Ramage, Tom Kurvers.G&mdash;Allan Bester, Jeff Reese, Mark Laforest.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Wendel Clark, LW, torn ligaments in right knee, indefinite.Tom Fergus, C, groin pull, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Leeman, 43. A&mdash;Damphousse, 57.P&mdash;Damphousse, 81. PIM&mdash;-Curran, 252. &#9632;

DOG DAYS TAKE TOLL AFTER QUICK START

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01276/5763243-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; co-owner Gordon Gund, sporting trendy headwear, has visions of a Stanley Cup for his club. Gund, along with brother George, recently announced the Stars will move to the California Bay area for 1990-91&mdash;pending league approval&mdash;if a buyer doesn&rsquo;t step forward.</figcaption></div>The much-anticipated Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; fire sale finally came to pass March 5, just 24 hours before the NHL&rsquo;s 1989-90 trading deadline.The Nords, mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and destined to finish last overall for the second consecutive year, traded high-profile veteran left winger Michel Goulet and goaltender Greg Millen to the Chicago Blackhawks.Chicago also received Quebec&rsquo;s sixth-round pick in 1991 in exchange for left winger Everett Sanipass, 22, right winger Dan Vincelette, 22, and defenseman Mario Doyon, 21.All three were playing with the Indianapolis Ice of the International League, Chicago&rsquo;s No. I affiliate. Sanipass was 15-13-28 with 121 penalty minutes in 33 IHL games; Vincelette was 16-13-29 with 262 PIM in 49 games; and, Doyon was 9-25-34 with 50 PIM in 66 games.The Nords see Sanipass as the key to the deal. He was Chicago&rsquo;s first pick, 14th overall, in the 1986 entry draft. Injuries and inconsistency have prevented him from developing into an NHL regular.In 126 NHL games, 12 of them this season, the 6-foot-l, 190-pound Sanipass was 16-23-39 with 309 penalty minutes. Vincelette, a 6- foot-1, 200-pounder, was 17-15-32 with 232 PIM in 138 NHL games, three of them this season. Doyon. 6-feet, 175 pounds, has played only seven NHL games, all of them last season. He had one goal and one assist.Nordique general manager Maurice Filion said it was time to trade for the future.&ldquo;We had promised we would make a move and we have, &ldquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re helping a couple of veterans, by sending them to a winning team. They might finally have a chance to get to the Stanley Cup final.&lsquo;&rsquo;On the other hand, we have three promising players coming to Quebec&mdash;players with lots of desire to play hockey and win. I know there will be lots of criticism because the three players in question were all in the minors&hellip;but we could not start next season with the same core of players.&rdquo;Chicago will assume full responsibility for Goulet&rsquo;s and Millen&rsquo;s salaries. Goulet, who turns 30 in April, becomes the Biackhawks&rsquo; second highest-paid player. He makes $504,000(U.S); center Denis Savard $525,000.While the trade bolsters Chicago for the stretch run and the playoffs, coach Mike Keenan was cautious in his assessment of the deal.&ldquo;Nothing guarantees winning a Stanley Cup,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;What you&rsquo;re trying to do is make the team as competitive as you can. This gives us more depth to compete.&ldquo;Goulet is a premier left wing in this league. He handles the puck well and knows the game. 1 had the opportunity to coach him in the 1987 Canada Cup and 1 know what he can do.&rdquo;With the acquisition of the 32- year-old Millen (14-21-4, 4.03 goals-against average in 39 games with Quebec and St. Louis), the Blackhawks hope they&rsquo;ve shored up an area of concern. They weren&rsquo;t satisfied with the work of Alain Chevrier and Jacques Cloutier.&ldquo;We needed to upgrade our goaltending,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;At this time, we haven&rsquo;t made any decisions on what we&rsquo;ll do (with three goalies).&rdquo;For Millen, it marks a return to the Norris Division. St. Louis traded him to Quebec Dec. 13.Goulet, who had 16-29-45 totals in 56 games for the Nords this season, was an NHL first-team all-star in 1984, &rsquo;86, &rsquo;87 and &rsquo;88. He had four consecutive 50-goal seasons between 1983 and 1986, but scored only 26 in 69 games last season.He was visibly shaken by the trade, but optimistic about the future.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been (in Quebec) for 11 years,&rdquo; Goulet said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been hearing the rumors for the past 11 years. It comes to the point where you don&rsquo;t really believe you&rsquo;ll leave.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t ask for a trade, but I&rsquo;m being positive. I&rsquo;m going to a winning team.&rdquo;Goulet and Millen weren&rsquo;t the only veterans to be moved March 5. Hartford traded netminder Mike Liut. 34, to the Washington Capitals for left winger Yvon Corriveau, 23.Hartford GM Eddie Johnston said he made the move to give Kay Whitmore, a promising netminder with Binghamton of the American League, an opportunity to play.Johnston said he hopes Corriveau, 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, can be more than a defensive specialist, which was his role in Washington.Capitals&rsquo; GM David Poile said Liut provides the Caps with goaltending depth they haven&rsquo;t had this season.&ldquo;I have no prejudice in age,&rdquo; Poile said.Liut will team with another veteran, Don Beaupre, as the Caps battle to make the Patrick Division playoffs.Liut was 15-12-1 with a 2.64 GAA and .900 save percentage. Corriveau was 9-6-15 in 50 games with the Caps this season.In another transaction, the Buffalo Sabres traded tough right winger Kevin Maguire, 27, and a second- round pick in 1990 to Philadelphia for defenseman Jay Wells, 30, and a fourth-round pick in 1991.Maguire was 6-9-15 with 115 PIM in 61 games this season; Wells was 3-16-19 with 129 PIM in 59 games.Ed. note: Because these transactions occurred at press time, rosters, transactions and statistics could not be altered to include them. &#9632;

f0043-01

NORDS LOOK TO FUTURE WITH DEAL

<div class="byline">BY MURRAY TOWNSEND</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02206/5763295-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg"></div>The NHL. ail-stars nave snown ineir woun since uic All-Star Game.In the period after the all-star match (Jan. 21-Feb. 25), eight of the top 10 scorers&mdash;including the first six&mdash;played in the 12-7 shootout in Pittsburgh.<h2>TOP SCORERS</h2><h2>TOP TEAMS</h2>Teams generally use their performance before and after the all-star game as a benchmark on their season. Listed below are the 21 teams&rsquo; record and winning percentage before and after the All-Star Game.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03175/5763288-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="1144" height="613"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04124/5763281-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="1146" height="610"></div><h2>HOT SHOTS</h2>The Calgary Flames had 40 shots or more in a game on 15 occasions. Listed below are 40- or more shot games for all teams and their one-game high this season.<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-05110/5763274-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="1160" height="1240"></div> &#9632;

f0043-02

ALL-STARS SHINE AFTER THE BREAK

<div class="byline">BY KEITH GAVE</div>Who needs John Brophy?With red-haired Doug Carpenter behind the Toronto bench instead of the white- maned Brophy, the Red Wings-Maple Leafs rivalry is as colorful as ever.Not to mention intense, nasty and mean-spirited.Old Broph would have been proud of the March 2 game that ended three hours, 10 minutes after the opening face-off; included 66 penalties for 272 minutes&mdash;12 fighting majors and 13 major misconduct penalties; and featured a near fight between the benches when Wings&rsquo; coach Jacques Demers tried to get at Carpenter in a wild first period.Best of all, the teams met in a re- match the next night at Maple Leaf Gardens.The series opener ended when Steve Yzerman, listed as a doubtful participant before the game, scored his second goal of the night and 53rd goat or tne season witb t:ib remaining in overtime for a 3-2 win that lifted the Wings past Minnesota into fourth place in the Norris Division. It was Detroit&rsquo;s first win in overtime since Nov. 20, 1988, ending an 0-2-18 streak.The second game wasn&rsquo;t nearly as entertaining, however. The Leafs, playing their fourth game in six nights, were tired. Detroit won again, 5-2.After the first game in Detroit, things got very interesting. World Wrestling Federation fans would have loved the way Carpenter and Demers were jabbing one another before the television cameras.&ldquo;Jacques wanted to steal the show again, as he always does,&rdquo; Carpenter said, explaining their confrontation between the benches. &ldquo;I guess he thought his players were getting too many of the accolades.&rdquo;Demers&rsquo; response: &ldquo;Ihave no comment on that&hellip;I&rsquo;m not going to buy that kind of stuff. His player (rookie Tie Domi) comes and challenges our bench and he (Carpenter) is smirking.&ldquo;Carpenter is a cute little guy. I&rsquo;ll tell you that. He&rsquo;s always the martyr. He&rsquo;s always playing little games. But, he&rsquo;s a good coach, I&rsquo;ll tell you that.. .1 don&rsquo;t know how he can say I was trying to steal the show when it&rsquo;s the heat of battle. I don&rsquo;t play the improv. I&rsquo;ll tell you that.&rdquo;The tone for the weekend series&mdash; the final two meetings of the season between the rivals&mdash;was set quickly in the first period. By the numbers:&#9724; 132 penalty minutes, 72 to Toronto and 60 to the Wings.&#9724; 51 minutes to play the 20-minute period.&#9724; 34 penalties, 18 to Toronto and 16 to Detroit.&#9724; 17 minutes in the penalty box for Detroit&rsquo;s. Joe Kocur and Toronto&rsquo;s Brian Curran.&#9724; five major misconducts, three to Toronto.&#9724; three available players on the Toronto bench late in the period. (The Leafs had six in the penalty box at one point, and it looked like a jailbreak when a whistle set most of them free with four seconds left.)Demers said the back-to-back wins over the Leafs were just what the Wings needed as they tried to turn around a disappointing season.&ldquo;After winning a doubleheader like that,&rdquo; Demers said, &ldquo;who knows, if we play like that what can happen down the stretch? We&rsquo;re nine points from Toronto. A lot can happen.&rdquo;<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 3: Greg Adams, LW, cleared waivers and retired.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Jimmy Carson, Bernie Federko, John Chabot, Dave Barr.LW&mdash;Gerard Gallant, Shawn Burr, Chris McRae, Randy McKay.RW&mdash;Joe Kocur, Marc Habscheid, Kevin McClelland, Daniel Shank.LD&mdash;Steve Chiasson, Lee Norwood, Yves Racine, Borje Salming.RD&mdash;Rick Zombo, Doug Houda, Mike O&rsquo;Connell.G&mdash;Tim Cheveldae, Glen Hanlon.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Sheldon Kennedy, RW, bruised hand, day-to-day.Greg Stefan, G, damaged right knee ligament, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Yzerman, 54. A&mdash;Yzerman, 58. P&mdash;Yzerman, 112. PIM&mdash;Kocur, 243. &#9632;

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March 16, 1990

FORTY TWO PICK-UP

DID YOU KNOW…

HEALTHY STEEN ADDS NEW LIFE ON AND OFF ICE

HOLIK COULD BE A WHALER IN ’90.91