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.

October 26, 1990

The Hockey News October 26, 1990

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011453/5860141-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="515" height="621"><figcaption class="caption-body">STEVE DRYDEN</figcaption></div>Darin Kimble wears No. 15 on the Quebec Nordiques, but the real No. 15 is Joe Sakic. Forget about the 19 stitched on his jersey.Because it was 15th overall that the Nordiques chose Sakic in the 1987 entry draft. Hind-sight tells us the center should have gone at least second&mdash;and perhaps even first ahead of Pierre Turgeon.Scouting, of course, is among the most inexact of sciences, but it was some kind of weird science that determined Sakic was not among even the top dozen players his draft year. Throw out the top three&mdash;Turgeon, Brendan Shanahan and Glen Wesley&mdash;and the other nine skaters drafted before him still playing had combined for 98 NHL points entering this season. Sakic had 164.That he lasted so late into the first round is easily explained: He&rsquo;s neither a big man at 5-foot-11 and 185 pounds, nor a great skater. In the NHL, where talent is measured too often on the Toledos, the enormity of his gifts was overlooked.Sakic&rsquo;s selection marked the 10th anniversary of a scouting screw-up that has lived on in infamy. It was in 1977 that another offensive genius was passed over 14 times. Mike Bossy, one of the best goal-scorers of all-time, was the 15th choice that year.Nine years and 363 days later, Sakic was sandwiched between 6-foot-4 Luke Richardson and 6-foot-3 Shanahan when the best prospects were showcased on the eve of the 1987 draft. He looked tiny and murmurs could be heard from alarmed NHL scouts. The Nordiques were not entirely sold on the Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; star either.Quebec opted for Bryan Fogarty with its own pick (ninth overall) and then swung a deal with Washington to obtain the Capitals&rsquo; first pick. Quebec surrendered heart-and-soul center Dale Hunter in the deal and ended up with franchise center Sakic. (Curiously, the No. 15 slot has proven remarkably productive. Since 1972, Bobby MacMillan, Ian Turnbull, Pierre Mon-dou, Bossy, Steve Tambellini, Brad McCrimmon, Al Maclnnis, Bob Errey and Sakic have all gone 15th overall.)The Nordiques compiled one of the worst records (12-61-7) in league history last year. It would have been worse had their extraordinary sophomore not earned 102 points&mdash;nearly three times as many as the team&rsquo;s second-leading scorer (Michel Petit, 36).Sakic will top that production this season. Watch him play. Watch him dominate at age 21. Watch him strike fear in the hearts of opposition players. There are few players more dangerous or imaginative with the puck. He plays an instinctual game. There are no grinding of the gears when Sakic is thinking through a play on the ice. Everything happens so naturally.He is not a particularly fast skater, but he is a very good skater, using spins and subtle shifts to keep checkers off-balance. When he carries the puck over the blue line, defenders don&rsquo;t know whether to attack or retreat. He tantalizes foes with the puck. If they are too aggressive, he can dish a pass off and break for open ice; too passive, he can dissect the defense with surgical precision.Deeper in the zone, the NHL&rsquo;s decision to move the goal line out one foot from the end boards gives Sakic additional room to spin his blue magic. Sakic doesn&rsquo;t pass the puck as much as pilot it. He rolls the puck off the blade of his stick, sends it on a short flight several inches off the ice and always arranges a flat landing. His playmaking skills were put to their sternest test last year. None of his teammates had more than 16 goals, aside from the traded Peter Stastny (24), but somehow Sakic earned 63 assists.Further help has arrived this season. Right winger Mats Sundin, the Nordiques&rsquo; first over-all pick in 1989, joined the team ahead of schedule and nobody is happier about that circumstance than Sakic. Except maybe Sundin, who has learned to appreciate his new center.&ldquo;Now I understand how he got 100 points last year,&rdquo; Sundin said after the twosome combined for seven points against the Toronto Maple Leafs. An 8-5 victory at Maple Leaf Gardens gave the Nordiques three points in their first three road games.Two nights later, they beat the Sabres in Buffalo to collect five of eight potential points in their first four trips to enemy rinks. Quebec collected nine points in 40 road games last year. Personally, Sakic had three goals and eight assists in six games.&ldquo;Everybody thinks we&rsquo;re going to finish last,&rdquo; Sakic said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m looking forward to proving them wrong.&rdquo; It is not a personal challenge for Sakic. It is a team challenge. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather win the game and get no points than get three points and lose the game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You just have a lot more fun when you win.&rdquo;Those who know him best say Sakic is not merely mouthing a platitude. He is stating an attitude. &#9632;

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COLUMNS

QUEBEC STAR HAS PROVEN HE IS NO ORDINARY JOE

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IN THIS ISSUE

EAST COAST LEAGUE SCHEDULE

<div class="byline">BY VANCE OLIVER</div>The Western League may extend its branches in the Pacific Northwest as soon as next season, according to league president Ed Chynoweth.&ldquo;There are what I call tire-kickers in Boise (Idaho), Eugene (Ore.) and Tacoma (Wash.),&rdquo; Chynoweth said. &ldquo;The WHL is in good shape and we&rsquo;re aggressive to expand by one, possibly two teams in the West Division in the not too distant future.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping for next season.&rdquo;Attendance increases were evident in the Pac-Northwest region of the United States: TriCity, Portland and Seattle.Seattle boasted the biggest increase in fan support last season with a rise of 66,000. The Thunderbirds attracted 181,211 customers for an average of 5,034 per game.&ldquo;I believe (Seattle) is one NHL city where we could continue to exist,&rdquo; Chynoweth said. &ldquo;We attract a different fan than the NHL and there&rsquo;s two-and-a-half million people in Seattle.&rdquo;<h2>STEROID SANDWITH</h2>Tri-City defenseman Terran Sandwith didn&rsquo;t crack the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; roster at training camp, but he has yet to return to the Americans.Doctors discovered the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Sandwith, a second-round pick of the Flyers last June, is suffering from a blood disorder. He is not allowed to participate in any games or drills which involve contact.&ldquo;His blood-platelet count is down which detracts the ability of the blood to clot upon bruises and cuts,&rdquo; Amerks&rsquo; general manager/coach Rick Kozuback said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s on a type of medication&mdash;a steroid&mdash;that is supposed to increase his blood-platelet count. If it doesn&rsquo;t increase, they&rsquo;ll have to take his spleen out.&ldquo;He probably won&rsquo;t return to us until two or three weeks and that&rsquo;s being optimistic.&rdquo;The absence of Sandwith, however, has been absorbed by the arrival of two veterans on the Tri-City blueline.Kozuback snatched 20-year-old Dean Zayonce from the Tier II Centennial Cup champion Vernon Lakers and added former national team player Jason Marshall in the off-season.<h2>RIDE THE WAVE</h2>Don&rsquo;t look now, but the Swift Current Broncos are riding the crest of another seasonopening hot streak.During their Memorial Cup season in 198989, the Broncos opened with a 12-0 record. Last season, they were 7-0 before falling from grace. This season, the James&rsquo; Gang was 5-1 and hungry for more wins.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a lot more comfortable with our record&rsquo; right now than I was at this time last year,&rdquo; Broncos&rsquo; GM/coach Graham James said. &ldquo;Last year we won our first few games on reputation from the previous year, but this year we&rsquo;ve earned our victories.&rdquo;<h2>DOUBLE TROUBLE</h2>The Prince Albert Raiders acquired Jamie Linden&mdash;the younger brother of Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; Trevor Linden&mdash;in a four-player swap Oct. 7, but GM/coach Rob Daum cautioned the younger Linden is not a franchise player.Linden, an 18-year-old right winger and 16-year-old left winger Merv Haney Jr., were shipped from the Portland Winter Hawks to Prince Albert in exchange for 19-year-old center, Tom Fuller and 19-year-old defenseman Steve Tillmans.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not as comfortable with our right wingers as we are with other positions on our team,&rdquo; Daum said. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t expect him to score a lot of goals for us.&ldquo;His character and determination will be a welcome addition.&rdquo; &#9632;

EXPANSION LIKELY IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST

<div class="byline">BY MATT CARLSON</div>Uphill battles are nothing new for the Miami Redskins, so why should this season be an exception?The program, which entered the current campaign with an all-time 78193-11 Central Collegiate Hockey Association record (.296 winning percentage), appeared headed in the right direction last season under first-year coach George Gwozdecky. Despite their 8-21-3 league mark, the Redskins played relatively well down the stretch, went 4-3-1 in non-conference games and looked to be a team on the rise.But the off-season was unkind to Miami. Its two top players&mdash;junior forwards Craig Fisher and Todd Harkins&mdash;signed pro contracts with Philadelphia and Calgary and it graduated five seniors, leaving Miami in a familiar position.&ldquo;The freshmen we have coming in, are, what I consider, decent players, but they&rsquo;re freshmen,&rdquo; said Gwozdecky. &ldquo;Those returning people we have weren&rsquo;t great goal scorers or great defensive players. Last year we improved to seventh place, but I don&rsquo;t know if we can get there this year.&rdquo;Still, Gwozdecky isn&rsquo;t forecasting all doom and gloom.&ldquo;The last third of last season, I thought we definitely improved with those people who will be coming back this year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The key to our success early in the season will be (goaltender) Mark Michaud. He learned to play back-to-back nights last year, saw a lot of rubber and had some success.&rdquo;<h2>A CHALLENGE</h2>Before the first puck of the 1990-91 Central Collegiate Hockey Association season was dropped, Michigan State coach Ron Mason was thinking of March and the NCAA Tournament and hoped his counterparts were doing likewise.&ldquo;At the end of the year,&rdquo; said Mason, &ldquo;when we want to be in a position to have teams that are going to be selected in the national picture, one of the big things that everyone points out is how well you do against teams outside the league.&ldquo;I want to challenge all the other (CCHA) coaches to play your best players and put a lot of emphasis on those games. I really feel that&rsquo;s important to us and it will show up in the end.&rdquo;Last season, three CCHA schools&mdash;Michigan State, Lake Superior State and Bowling Green&mdash;advanced to NCAA play. This season, the league&rsquo;s prime contenders are the Spartans, Lakers and Michigan Wolverines.<h2>NO PROBLEM</h2>Recruiting, once a sore point with the University of Michigan program, no longer represents the obstacle it once did with coach Red Berenson and his staff.&ldquo;Our recruiting is, I shouldn&rsquo;t say easier, but we can compete for the top players,&rdquo; said Berenson, now in his seventh season with the Wolverines. &ldquo;We had trouble doing that (my) first two or three years.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t get the Joe Murphys and the Craig Simpsons (Michigan State alumni). Now we are getting kids like (Denny) Felsner, (Patrick). Neaton and this year Brian Wiseman. We&rsquo;re getting kids who are blue-chip players.&rdquo;Berenson is especially high on Wiseman, a 5-foot-6, 175-pound center who played junior B hockey in Chatham (Ont.) last season.&ldquo;He could be a dynamite player in this league,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;He could be another Shawn Heaphy or Nelson Emerson. He&rsquo;s a prolific small player.&rdquo;Wiseman, 19, had 70-77-144 totals for Chatham last season, breaking the Ontario Western Junior B league point record of 141 set by current Toronto Maple Leaf Ed Olczyk in 1982-83. &#9632;

MIAMI IS FACING AN UPHILL BATTLE

<h2>QUOTABLE</h2>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough thing, especially for a goal tender because his groins are his livelihood.&rdquo;&mdash;Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; goalie Bob Essensa, while recuperating from a severe groin strain. Page 46.&ldquo;We have no criticism of the NHL We just found that unacceptable.&mdash;Prospective NHL team owner Lloyd Pettit, on the difficult terms set forth to acquire a franchise. His Milwaukee expansion bid disbanded. Page 8. &#9632;

THIS WEEK

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011304/5859481-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="530" height="613"><figcaption class="caption-body">BOB MCKENZIE</figcaption></div>The Oct. 18 meeting between expansion applicants and a few of the league&rsquo;s braintrust at NHL headquarters in New York City has been billed as a relaxed, informal, information-gathering session.Just a little Q-and-A&mdash;shouldn&rsquo;t take more than 30 or 40 minutes per applicant&mdash;designed to flesh out the formal applications that were submitted Aug. 15.When the league concludes this little expansion coffee klatch, it might do well to ask one more question&mdash;of itself.How badly does it want to expand?Technically, it doesn&rsquo;t have to add any more teams than it already has. Even though the San Jose Sharks will be admitted to the league in the fall of 1991, they are considered to be part of the NHL&rsquo;s sixth expansion and are designated as a &ldquo;1992 team&rdquo; in the master plan.The league committed to expand by at least one team. That&rsquo;s already been done. The board of governors could wheel into West Palm Beach, Fla., in early December, call it a day and hit the croquet pitch.Realistically, that&rsquo;s not likely to happen. One, because it would be bad for the league&rsquo;s image, not to mention its pocketbook. And two, because with nine applications (after the withdrawal of Phoenix and Milwaukee), there&rsquo;s no shortage of groups wishing to jump into the hockey pool.But if you were a fly on the wall during the Oct. 18 day of meetings in New York, you might be surprised to learn that the quality of some expansion bids won&rsquo;t match the overall quantity.Not so long ago it was widely predicted, in this space no less, that the NHL may want to take in a total of four or even six new entries because they&rsquo;re all so worthy. Sorry for the bum steer.It says here now that the league will be fortunate to find two for 1992. After that, it would be reaching.The league has to ask itself how badly it wants expansion because the possibility exists that no applicant will meet the rigid standards set out in the NHL plan. Some have strong ownership, but no arena. Others have arenas but no ownership.The illusion, to this point, is that there are nine cities with excellent credentials lining up for admission. The reality is that there are five regions to be considered and some of them are iffy.Miami, Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg form the Florida group. Only one stands a chance. Hamilton and Ottawa comprise the Canadian contingent. Again, only one will be seriously considered. There are two bids from San Diego. You can figure that one out. There is one each from Seattle and Houston.When the expansion applications were dropped off at the league office, no one bothered to drop copies off at The Hockey News.So, details of each are sketchy. But the scuttlebutt, call this Expansion Bluelines if you will, says:Miami&rsquo;s bid isn&rsquo;t as strong as St. Pete&rsquo;s or Tampa Bay&hellip;Tampa Bay&rsquo;s bid isn&rsquo;t as well-heeled as front man Phil Esposito leads us to believe because the big money (the Hyatt hotel chain) is more interested in building and managing the new arena than it is in operating expenses for the club&hellip;Seattle&rsquo;s bid is a joke, little more than a token effort&hellip;Hamilton has a rink, but no single owner with deep pockets&hellip;Houston has a rink but isn&rsquo;t as desirable a location as Florida-&hellip;San Diego doesn&rsquo;t stand a chance unless the two groups there consolidate.A purely subjective assessment is that St. Pete&rsquo;s and Ottawa are the applicatipns that will require the least amount of patchwork to be made acceptable. That&rsquo;s a far cry from the original. albeit unofficial, wish list that ranked Seattle and Milwaukee as prime locales.The league will undoubtedly try to inject life into the Seattle bid. That&rsquo;s where it is most interested in going. But that will take time. So will the grooming of another desired location, San Diego.The fall of 1992 is not far off and hard decisions have to be made within months. Let us hope that in the league&rsquo;s desire to grow, it does not sacrifice or dangerously dilute the guidelines established in the expansion plan. &#9632;

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HOW BADLY DOES NHL WANT TO EXPAND?

Being a season-ticket holder for the last 10 years at Chicago Stadium, I was really looking forward to the 42nd All-Star Game in our grand old building.Then I got the invoice for the tickets from president John Ziegler&rsquo;s office. Seventy-five dollars per ticket, up from $18 for regular-season games? Aw, what the heck, it&rsquo;s the All-Star Game, right?But something else was in the envelope: A letter from his majesty himself.&ldquo;We must withhold 4,000 of the best seats in Chicago Stadium for dignitaries,&rdquo; the note read. &ldquo;We cannot guarantee your season-ticket location, the same class of ticket, or that you will get tickets at all.&rdquo;Typical non-committal, hell-with-the-loyal-fan Zieglerese we&rsquo;ve come to expect. Thanks, John. You can stick your January Pageant in your ear.Ron Cook&nbsp; Brookfield, III.<h2>LOW BLOW</h2>We all know the late Harold Ballard was a detriment to the growth of his Toronto Maple Leafs. No other sports team owner in recent memory has run his franchise in such a dictatorial fashion.But this in no way excuses Steve Dryden&rsquo;s vulture-like approach to journalism in his column titled &ldquo;Here&rsquo;s How Death of Ballard Has Helped Team.&rdquo; (THN, Sept. 28).Whether the Leafs are more successful because of the death of their notorious owner is irrelevant. Harold Ballard, liked or not, should be left in peace.I wonder if Dryden would have been as critical face-to-face with a live Ballard. I doubt it.Don McCauley&nbsp; Whitefish, Ont.<h2>FORGIVE DINO</h2>Dino Ciccarelli, one of tour players named in a sex scandal after last season&rsquo;s playoffs, made a big mistake. Ciccarelli has since apologized and his apology seems sincere.In Japan, the entire legal system&mdash;and society for that matter&mdash;is based on a simple and sincere apology.By calling and talking to those fans who have openly complained about the episode, Ciccarelli has proved he is truly sorry.Those fans who have been around for the past decade have seen Ciccarelli as a mature player, but those who had a chance to read Stan Fischler&rsquo;s column (THN, Sept. 28) intantly saw Ciccarelli as a mature person.Jeffrey Googel,&nbsp; Dave Andelman Osaka, Japan<h2>ROYAL PAIN</h2>As the local media is calling it in Los Angeles, Gretzky III is now underway. It&rsquo;s the same storyline, made into a second sequel.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011463/5859536-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="565" height="643"><figcaption class="caption-body">Washington&rsquo;s Dino Ciccarelli should be forgiven, say readers.</figcaption></div>There is one difference, though. I&rsquo;ll be in front of my TV this season instead of my nearly wam-out seat in the Forum.Because the Forum has decided to increase its corporate program, (package deals for all the events in the building), many long-time ticket holders&mdash;I had mine for 10 years&mdash;were bumped from their seats. But, instead of reallocating new seats based on seniority, they just told us to take a number behind everyone else who already had seats.When I asked a seat salesman about bumping a fan with less seniority than I had, I was told, &ldquo;The Kings won&rsquo;t kick someone out of their season seats.&rdquo;Maybe this is just a bad dream, but what else should I expect from a second-class organization that doesn&rsquo;t value loyal fans.I&rsquo;m going to miss being at the Forum to watch the games live, but I won&rsquo;t miss a lot of the new crowd that are there just to parade around, get drunk and leave with five minutes to go in a third-period tie.F.J. Benevent&nbsp; Los Angeles, Calif.<h2>WISH GRANTED</h2>If THN is such a thorough source of hockey news, why do you consistently ignore the East Coast League?As a developmental league for young players, the ECHL is not quite up to American or International League standards. But it is not a goon league dotted with career minor leaguers. ECHL players are hungry pros looking for the big break.The success of hockey in large new American markets is one of the NHL&rsquo;s main goals. That it is thriving in places such as Norfolk, Va., and Nashville, Tenn., is encouraging for all fans.David Custer York County, Va.(Ed. note: Due to popular demand, beginning with this issue, the ECHL will be covered in our minor pro report).Make your feelings known. Send your comments to:&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont., M3B 2R2 or fax us at (416) 445-0753.&nbsp;Include home and business phone numbers. THN reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

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DEPARTMENTS

NHL HAS NO REGARD FOR LOYAL FANS

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ELASTON

&#9632; Quebec Nordiques. A three-game unbeaten streak, including two wins and a tie? Wonderful. The entire season, especially in the Adams Division, will be a lot more interesting if the Nords give an honest effort every night and continue to get stellar netminding from Ron Tugnutt.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03779/5859605-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="385" height="384"></div>&#9632;Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings. For retiring the numbers of Gilbert Perreault and Marcel Dionne. Neither star left their teams on the best of terms, but the center-ice ceremonies should wash away any residue of bitterness. Retiring a sweater may seem superficial to some, but building a foundation for franchise tradition should never be taken lightly.&#9632; National games on SportsChannel America. Who&rsquo;s kidding who? With a few exceptions, the SCA&rsquo;s first-half schedule consists of local broadcasts (Hartford, New Jersey, Philadelphia and the Islanders) masquerading as national broadcasts. Let us hope the second-half schedule<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04432/5859598-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="385" height="386"></div>&#9632; NHL branded equipment policy. The league claims it is only interested in controlling the appearance of its product. If so, the NHL simply could&rsquo;ve issued regulations concerning the size and placement of manufacturers&rsquo; logos. Instead, it created a revenue-generating policy that is a headache to police. And now, the league has filed suit against a manufacturer. &#9632;

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CHEERS JEERS

Kevin Stevens selected this week&rsquo;s NHL Pro Set Player of the Week<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011461/5859636-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="556" height="757"></div>MONTREAL&mdash;Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; left winger Kevin Stevens, who recorded 14 points (4-10-14) in his club&rsquo;s first five games of the 1990-91 season, was named NHL/Pro Set Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 14. Stevens, tied for the league scoring lead after five matches, edged Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; goaltender Ed Bel-four and Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center Wayne Gretzky to capture the award.Throughout the 1990-91 season, Pro Set, Inc. will donate $500 to the youth hockey organization designated by the Player of the Week. Pro Set will also contribute $1,000 on behalf of the Player of the Month and $7,500 for the Player of the Year Award. As a first-year sponsor of these NHL awards, Pro Set is contributing more than $26,000 to youth hockey organizations across North America.Stevens, a 25-year-old native of Brockton, Mass., opened the season with a career-high six-point performance (2-4-6), including the game-winning goal, in the Penguins&rsquo; 7-4 win over Washington (Oct. 5) and followed up with three assists in a 7-4 home-ice win over New Jersey (Oct. 7). The Penguins then began a three-game road trip in which Stevens recorded two assists in a 4-3 loss at St. Louis (Oct. 9). He went on to record his club&rsquo;s only goal in a 4-1 loss at Chicago (Oct. 11) before closing out the week with two points (1-12) in a 6-4 win over the New York Islanders at Long Island (Oct. 13).Stevens is a first-time winner of the NHL/Pro Set Player of the Week Award.Belfour posted a 4-1-0 record and a 1.81 goals-against average in five games with Chicago, while Gretzky recorded 14 points (5-914) in six games with Los Angeles. &#9632;

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NHL PRO SET SPOTLIGHT

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Milwaukee&rsquo;s expansion walkout is viewed by some NHL insiders as a temporary ploy by Milwaukee Admirals (IHL) owner Lloyd Pettit in his bid for an NHL franchise. According to one scenario, Pettit will buy either the financially-strapped Winnipeg Jets or the attendance-short Minnesota North Stars. It&rsquo;s believed that Pettit could pick up either team for about $37 million. Transfer fees and the Chicago Black Hawks&rsquo; indemnity, would lift the price to the $50 million range. But Pettit would be getting a competitive unit instead of a raw expansion team. One NHL source says that North Stars&rsquo; boss Norm Green is eager to get rid of his club which would enable him to convert the Bloomington property into more lucrative real estate pursuits, possibly another shopping center.<h2>FAMILY FEUD?</h2>Always amenable to the media, Red Wings&rsquo; coach Bryan Murray admits he&rsquo;s still miffed over constant media suggestions that his wife and brother Terry&rsquo;s wife are at odds over Terry replacing Bryan as coach of the Washington Capitals last year. &ldquo;An Ottawa reporter started the rumor by telling our parents that we weren&rsquo;t friends,&rdquo; says Murray. &ldquo;The wives get along very well and so do Terry and I.&rdquo; Murray insists he would have no problems hiring Terry as a coach. But he adds he has no plans to do so. Murray is also upset over repeated assertions that he&rsquo;s a defensive coach. &ldquo;Wrong! I&rsquo;ve been an offensive coach all along,&rdquo; he says.<h2>CHEAP SHOT</h2>Murray&rsquo;s predecessor, Jacques Demers, is angry at the anonymous GM who said he won&rsquo;t coach again in the NHL. &ldquo;Who is one person to talk for twenty guys?&rdquo; Demers said. &ldquo;I never knocked, never bad-mouthed anyone and I&rsquo;m out of the game a short time and this happens. That was pretty cheap.&rdquo; Demers, now a broadcaster for CJRP-AM in Quebec City, adds, &ldquo;I never said I wanted to get back as a coach. I&rsquo;m going to give it my best shot in broadcasting. I&rsquo;m not promoting myself for an NHL (coaching) job.&rdquo; The Montreal-born Demers admits that one of the toughest adjustments was oiling his rusty French. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t spoken it in a while and had to relearn.&rdquo;<h2>BAD VIBES</h2>Seattle continues to produce negative expansion vibes and media insiders such as Seattle Times associate editor Blaine Newnham are leaning toward keeping it a junior hockey town. &ldquo;The NHL needs Seattle more than Seattle needs the NHL, or wants it,&rdquo; says Newnham. Meanwhile, T-birds president Russ Williams says: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve made a decision to stay in Seattle, right where we are, whether the NHL comes or it doesn&rsquo;t come.&rdquo; But Williams&rsquo; boss, T-birds&rsquo; owner Bill Yuill, says he may form a partnership that would pay the $50 million NHL entry fee. Williams says the T-birds appeal is because of affordable ticket prices ($6.50).<h2>STREET TALK</h2>Hall of Famer Dick Irvin Sr., father of HNIC broadcaster Dick Irvin Jr., now has two streets named after him: one in Regina and one in Montreal. Irvin&rsquo;s Montreal boss, the late Frank Selke Sr., will also have a Montreal street dedicated to him later this year. Irvin Sr. was a top-flight NHL player, and after his playing career, was a super coach with the Maple Leafs, Canadiens and Blackhawks. Irvin coached Montreal when Maurice &lsquo;Rocket&rsquo; Richard was in his prime. &ldquo;Conn Smythe (Maple Leafs owner) approached me at my dad&rsquo;s funeral,&rdquo; said Irvin Jr. &ldquo;And he said &lsquo;Young man, your father saved the Canadiens&rsquo; franchise. Don&rsquo;t you ever forget that!&rsquo;&rdquo;&hellip;The fuss in the NFL over female reporters amuses hockey types who&rsquo;ve been much less hostile&mdash;with a few notable exceptions&mdash;over the issue of women in dressing rooms. The best line came from Rangers&rsquo; coach Roger Neilson who says, &ldquo;Women reporters don&rsquo;t bother me any. They (reporters) are all a pain in the ass. It doesn&rsquo;t matter whether they&rsquo;re women or not.&rdquo;&hellip;More and more ex-Canadiens such as Claude Lemieux are citing Montreal&rsquo;s hyper hockey media as one reason they left the city. &ldquo;I reached the point where I wanted a little breathing room,&rdquo; says ex-Hab Rick Green.<h2>MURPHY&rsquo;S OILERS</h2>Joe Murphy on the differences in playing style between Edmonton and Detroit: &ldquo;The Oilers go with speed, passing and puckhandling, which is what my game is all about. The Red Wings went with up-and-down bangers and grinders.&rdquo;&hellip;Women&rsquo;s hockey is bigger than ever on the college level and one of the better clubs is Providence (20-3-2 last year) featuring Cammi Granato, kid-sister of the Kings&rsquo; Tony Granato. Last season Cammi was named ECAC rookie-of-the-year&hellip;Wayne Gretzky is ranked 15th on Forbes magazines&rsquo; top-30-highest-paid athletes list, one notch behind Jose Canseco of MLB&rsquo;s Oakland Athletics. Gretzky&rsquo;s total is $6 million: a $3 million salary and $3 million for other income. Former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson tops the list at $28.6 million-&hellip;Miami&rsquo;s NHL franchise-bidders don&rsquo;t even have a public relations department yet, but hundreds of applications for season tickets have come in via mail, fax and Federal Express. It seems, a fanatic fan named Robert Reiff, drew up his own season ticket application, photocopied it and faxed it to a few friends. Reiff&rsquo;s friends faxed it to their friends and now, it seems the applications have reached hundreds of people. &#9632;

MILWAUKEE’S HOPES MAY NOT BE DEAD YET

<div class="byline">BY TOM MCMILLAN</div>Just call them the Option Line.&ldquo;Not a bad one,&rdquo; said Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; left winger Kevin Stevens. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s pretty funny.&rdquo;Stevens, John Cullen and Mark Recchi made some negotiating noise early this season when they told general manager Craig Patrick they&mdash;like an increasing number of NHLers&mdash;were playing out the option years of their contracts.Maybe it&rsquo;s only a coincidence, but they&rsquo;re all off to the hottest starts of their careers.Through five games, Stevens was leading the NHL in scoring with 14 points on four goals and 10 assists. Cullen was second with 12 points on one goal and 11 assists, and Recchi was in the top 10 with nine points on three goals and six assists.Though Stevens and Cullen are regular linemates. Recchi only teams with them on occasion. But teammates have been referring to the trio as The Option Line.&ldquo;Even Craig called us that once,&rdquo; said Stevens, laughing.If they keep up this pace, Stevens, Cullen and Recchi will be among the most underpaid players in the league this season. According to figures obtained from the NHL Players Association, Stevens earned $150,000 in 1989-90. Cullen made $120,000, Recchi $105,000.All three hoped to hammer out new deals with Patrick in the off-season but weren&rsquo;t satisfied with the Penguins&rsquo; offers. So, given the changing NHL marketplace, they decided to gamble and play out their option&mdash;although talks can continue throughout the season.&ldquo;It was frustrating back in training camp, because you wanted to get something done, and you thought you&rsquo;d get something done,&rdquo; Stevens said. &ldquo;But it didn&rsquo;t happen.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty much in the Penguins&rsquo; hands now. We&rsquo;re just going to sit back and wait.&rdquo;Stevens, who&rsquo;s made it clear that he wants to stay in Pittsburgh, said before the start of the season he wouldh&rsquo;t let the lack of a new contract inhibit his play. That&rsquo;s obvious.He exploded for six points in the Penguins&rsquo; opener at Washington and had multiple-point games in four of the Penguins&rsquo; first five outings.&ldquo;And I still think I should have more goals,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I hit the post three times in three games. I should&lsquo;ve put some of those in.&ldquo;But I&rsquo;m getting some bounces, and I&rsquo;m feeling pretty good out there. The big thing is I&rsquo;m going out to have fun and not worrying about my contract.&rdquo;The same goes for Cullen and Recchi, two skilled and pesky forwards. They only know how to play the game one way: At full speed.Coach Bob Johnson has used the versatile Recchi to center one of his four lines, but Recchi teams with Stevens, a left winger, and Cullen, a center, on the first power-play unit, and he&rsquo;s played right wing on their line in the third periods of tight games.Of the trio, Stevens has the best chance to make mega-bucks. At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, he&rsquo;s got the size and speed to develop into one of the league&rsquo;s foremost power forwards.Stevens&rsquo; agent, Jay Grossman, has been asking the Penguins for a $300,000-a-year deal. But if his client continues to rank among the NHL&rsquo;s scoring and plus-minus leaders, Grossman will likely raise the price.Nonetheless, Stevens and the members of the Option Line say this salary stuff is hardly a distraction.The charts below are unofficial listings of NHLers playing our their options; going to arbitration; renegotiating existing contracts or holding out as of Oct. 15.<h2>PLAYING OUT OPTION</h2>Boston: Glen Wesley.Buffalo: Dale Degray, Jay Wells.Chicago: Ed Belfour, Adam Creighton, Dave Manson, Steve Larmer.Detroit: David Barr.Edmonton: Jeff Beukeboom, Dave Brown, Charlie Huddy, Mark Lamb, Joe Murphy, Pokey Reddick, Craig Simpson. Steve Smith.Hartford: Dave Babych, Sylvain Cote, Ray Ferraro, Ron Francis, Todd Krygier, Brad Shaw, Carey Wilson, Scott Young.Minnesota: Neal Broten, Jon Casey, Dean Kolstad, Kari Takko, Rob Zettler.Montreal: Guy Carbonneau, Andrew Cassels, Matt Schneider, Brian Skrudland, Petr SvobodaNew Jersey: Doug Brown, Sean Burke, Alexei Kasatonov, Dave Maley, Brendan Shanahan, Patrik Sundstrom, Eric Weinrich.NY Islanders: Wayne McBean, Jeff Norton.NY Rangers: Jan Erixon, Mark Hardy, Mike Richter, Lindy Ruff, James Patrick.Philadelphia: Craig Berube. Terry Carkner, Jeff Harding.Pittsburgh: John Cullen. Mark Recchi, Kevin Stevens.Quebec: Bryan Fogarty, Ron Tugnutt.St. Louis: Robert Dirk, Glen Featherstone, Herb Raglan.Toronto: Wendel Clark, John Kordic.Vancouver: Doug Lidster, Stan Smyl.Washington: Bob Joyce, Nick Kypreos, Rod Langway, Neil Sheehy.Winnipeg: Scott Arniel, Thomas Steen.<h2>RENEGOTIATING</h2>Detroit: Rick Zombo, Brad McCrimmon.Edmonton: Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson.NY Islanders: Pat LaFontaine.Washington: Kevin Hatcher.<h2>ARBITRATION</h2>Edmonton: Kelly Buchberger.Minnesota: Shawn Chambers.Philadelphia: Ken Wregget.Pittsburgh: Jay Caufield, Paul Coffey, Randy Hillier, Troy Loney.Toronto: Tom Fergus.Washington: Alan May. &#9632;

OPTION LINE RESPONDS WITH SOME CHOICE PLAY

<h2>MARK RECCHI</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011367/5859715-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="544" height="1207"></div>Born: Feb. 1, 1968. Kamloops, B.C. Height: 5-foot-10. Weight: 185 pounds. Team: Pittsburgh Penguins. Position: Right Wing. Acquired: Pittsburgh&rsquo;s fourth choice, 67th over-all, in 1988 entry draft.Career highlight: &ldquo;Rooming with Kevin Stevens. No, it&rsquo;s probably scoring my first NHL goal (Jan. 20, 1989. a 7-3 loss to Winnipeg). I scored on a pass from Mario Lemieux. We lost the game, but it was a big thrill.&rdquo;Career disappointment: &ldquo;Probably not making the playoffs last year. The last five minutes of the season were very disappointing.&rdquo; (Pittsburgh was eliminated after losing to Buffalo in overtime in the last game of the season.)Boyhood hero: Wayne Gretzky. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s just the best.&rdquo;Favorite movie:&nbsp;Lethal Weapon I and Lethal Weapon IL starring Mel Gib&rsquo;son.If he was NHL president for a day: &ldquo;I would change the NHL drug policy. I don&rsquo;t think what happened to Grant Fuhr (80-game suspension for admitted cocaine use) is right. In every other league, if you go for help you get supported. You don&rsquo;t in the NHL.&rdquo;Most embarrassing moment: &ldquo;I scored on my own net once last season (against Detroit) and I was very embarrassed. I think it turned out to be the winning goal or something. Anyway, I felt pretty bad.&rdquo;Biggest influencoon his life: &ldquo;It would have to be my parents. They&rsquo;ve supported me all the way up. (from atom hockey to the NHL). It was very expensive. I admire my Dad because he had to work hard for eveything he has.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-01

PRO FILE

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011547/5859746-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton captain Mark Messier is one of the NHL&rsquo;s highest paid players. Messier sits 10th on the list earning $870,000 per season.</figcaption></div>The NHL and its 21 clubs have filed suit against one of the league&rsquo;s biggest equipment suppliers for leading an alleged pricefixing conspiracy.The league, in a 19-page complaint filed in U.S. federal court Oct. 11, says Karhu Canada Inc. and its American subsidiaries&mdash;Karhu USA Inc. and Karhu-Titan USA Inc.&mdash;led other companies in raising their prices last season as a way of retaliating against the NHL&rsquo;s policy to charge manufacturers for displaying their logos.The NHL implemented that policy last season and said a 15 percent increase in stick prices from Karhu and other companies followed soon after.The makers of Koho equipment, Karhu was the only manufacturer named, but the suit alleges &ldquo;coconspirators include hockey equipment manufacturers and sellers which have supplied and serviced hockey equipment to NHL member clubs.&rdquo;Karhu officials were unavailable for comment.<h2>TOP 10</h2>The top 10 NHL salaries, as supplied to Toronto Globe and Mail&rsquo;s&nbsp;Bill Houston by the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, general managers and agents are (in U.S. funds):1. Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles, $3 million.2. Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh, $2.3 million.3. Brett Hull, St. Louis, $1.7 million.4. Steve Yzerman, Detroit, $1.6 million.5. Chris Chelios, Chicago, $1.2 million.6. Patrick Roy, Montreal, $1.13 million.7. Ray Bourque, Boston, $1.1 million.8. Scott Stevens, St. Louis, $1.1 million.9. Denis Savard, Montreal, $1.09 million.10. Al Maclnnis, Calgary, $870,000.10. Mark Messier, Edmonton, $870,000.<h2>OBITUARY</h2>Raymond Gregory, a highly respected member of the NHL hockey fraternity, passed away Oct. 4 after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 53.Gregory worked as a videographer for the NHL for approximately 20 years. Most recently, he was responsible for taping over 100 future draft choices at summer camps, practices, games, and tournaments and then sending the finished video to all 21 teams.Gregory also worked for the NHL officiating department.&ldquo;He was a fellow who had a very respected rapport with everybody he met,&rdquo; said his brother, NHL vicepresident of hockey operations, Jim Gregory.<h2>USA CUP</h2>Teams from Sweden, the Soviet Union, Canada and the U.S. will compete for the inaugural USA Cup Dec. 27-30 in Albany, N.Y., announced the tournament&rsquo;s organizers.The Swedes (AIK Stockholm) and Soviets (Dynamo Riga) will send first division club teams to meet Canada&rsquo;s national &lsquo;B&rsquo; team and a USA select team (collegians and Americans playing in Europe) in the round-robin event.The championship game, to be played at Albany&rsquo;s 15,000-seat, Olympic-sized Knickerbocker Arena, goes Dec. 30.<h2>GLOBAL DECISION</h2>The Global League announced its reorganized list of board of directors and executives Oct. 10.Saskatoon&rsquo;s Charles Hodgins, a leading Canadian venture capitalist, is chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Hodgins has served on the management committee organizing the 1991 World Junior Championships.Richard F. Gerry of New York, once an owner of teams in the International and East Coast Leagues, is president; Dennis Murphy of Los Angeles, a former World Association commissioner, is executive vicepresident; Joe Bucchino, a former assistant general manager with the New York Rangers, is director of scouting; and Marc Cloutier, a former marketing director with the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Expos, is director of marketing.The GHL will start its first season in 1991-92 with at least six North American teams and four European teams.<h2>SHARK BITS</h2>San Jose Sharks management has announced seats to watch the team in the San Francisco Cow Palace next season will range from $12 to $55.Fans were allowed to check out the rink recently to help give them an idea of seat location.Team owners George and Gordon Gund, meanwhile, decided against their original plan of maroon, silver and black team colors when market researchers told them maroon was a poor seller.<h2>DATEBOOK</h2>Nov. 1: Western League teams must declare the names of the three overage players they intend to keep for the remainder of the season.Nov. 3: New Jersey at Edmonton. The Devils&rsquo; Troy Crowder, who knocked off Detroit&rsquo;s Bob Probert to begin the season, defends his unofficial NHL heavyweight title against the Oilers&rsquo; Dave Brown.Nov. 8: The Los Angeles Kings will retire Marcel Dionne&rsquo;s No. 16 prior to their game against the Detroit Red Wings. Dionne, drafted by Detroit in 1971, played four seasons for the Wings, 12 for the Kings and parts of three for the New York Rangers.Nov. 9: Hockey East and ECAC league play begins.Nov. 9-12: Second of five Quebec League trading periods. During the season, players attending school may only be dealt during a trading period. &#9632;

f0006-01

NHL STICKS IT TO MAJOR EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER

<div class="byline">BY STEPHEN HARRIS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011393/5859777-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Craig Janney wraps up Edmonton&rsquo;s Esa Tikkanen, but the tables were turned in last season&rsquo;s Stanley Cup final when Tikkanen was the pest.</figcaption></div>On one brand of NHL trading card on the market this season, the biographical blurb on the back of Bruins&rsquo; center Craig Janney&rsquo;s card alludes to his fine play in the regular season last year.And it praises his good work in the first three rounds of the playoffs.But in the Stanley Cup finals, the card reads, &ldquo;he disappeared.&rdquo;&ldquo;My own card,&rdquo; laughed Janney, &ldquo;and they carve me. Sounds like a coach wrote it.&rdquo;In truth, the most casual observer realized Janney&rsquo;s effectiveness plummeted in the final, although calling it a disappearance isn&rsquo;t entirely accurate.Everyone knew where to find Janney: He was the guy who had pesky Edmonton Oiler Esa Tikannen about a half-inch away.And there was nothing subtle about Tikan-nen&rsquo;s defensive play. As long as a game remained in question, Tikannen simply draped himself on Janney and didn&rsquo;t let go.By the time Edmonton had wrapped up the series four games to one, Janney&rsquo;s outstanding production earlier in the playoffs&mdash;three goals and 19 assists in just 13 games&mdash;had been overshadowed by his failure to collect a single point in the finals.&ldquo;It was frustrating, no doubt about that mainly because I didn&rsquo;t help the team,&rdquo; said Janney. &ldquo;I felt like I let the team down. We lost, and I didn&rsquo;t do my part.&rdquo;The Bruins&rsquo; cause was hurt further when Janney&mdash;who was rarely left open long enough to get the puck&mdash;was unable to set up linemate Cam Neely. Neely also failed to score a goal in the series.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty easy to stick to someone like that if you want to,&rdquo; Janney said of Tikannen&rsquo;s style. &ldquo;You just can&rsquo;t get near the puck. There&rsquo;s not much sense in your teammates trying to pass to you, not when there&rsquo;s someone standing a foot away.&rdquo;There was some concern entering this season that teams might regularly use the same smothering one-on-one coverage on Janney.But so far that has not been the case.Yet Janney knows he&rsquo;ll receive special attention again, and he must learn to cope with it better than he did last spring.&ldquo;Maybe try to use guys to pick off (the checker), I don&rsquo;t know,&rdquo; said Janney. &ldquo;Maybe I should have broken a stick over his head. But that&rsquo;s not the way I am.&rdquo;And as Janney prepared for the 90-91 campaign, he wasn&rsquo;t feeling any pressure to make up for his disappointing showing in the final.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think of it that way at all,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What matters to me isn&rsquo;t what the public thinks or what the media thinks, it&rsquo;s what my family and my teammates think.&ldquo;If I let my teammates down, I want to come back and be strong for them. If I have something to prove, it&rsquo;s to them.&rdquo;For Janney, proving himself means, first, staying healthy for 80 games plus the playoffs.Each of his two full NHL seasons have been interrupted by a badly-pulled groin muscle. He missed 18 games two years ago, and 21 last season.Hardly a great physical specimen, Janney, at 6-foot-1, 190-pounds, worked harder this summer than in year&rsquo;s past, hoping to enter the season stronger and more resistant to injury.&ldquo;My goal for the year? Basically, just to stay-healthy,&rdquo; said the Boston College product. &ldquo;Try to make it through a whole year without missing a significant amount of time.&rdquo;The Bruins&rsquo; believe a healthy Janney&mdash;especially with Neely banging in his Gretzky-like setups&mdash;can be a consistent 100-point scorer and perhaps, an all-star.Entering the season, Janney had 140 points in 132 career games, including a career-best 24 goals last season and 38 assists in 55 games. After six games this season, he had two goals and four assists.And his playmaking creativity may be enhanced this season, with an extra foot of room to operate behind nets.&ldquo;To tell you the truth, I&rsquo;ve hardly noticed any difference,&rdquo; said Janney. &ldquo;In some buildings, I notice a difference a little bit. But in a lot of buildings, it doesn&rsquo;t seem any different.&ldquo;I would think, with the extra room, you&rsquo;d be able to keep the puck on your forehand longer, not have to switch it onto your backhand. But on the other hand, the defenseman might be able to cut to the net and get to you quicker. It&rsquo;ll be harder to use the net as a screen.&ldquo;But it&rsquo;s really not something you think about when some guy&rsquo;s charging at you and trying to kill you.&rdquo;Or following you around trying to make you disappear. &#9632;

f0007-01

JANNEY’S PLAYOFF ‘FAILURE’ FORGOTTEN

One of the NHL&rsquo;s top playmakers, Craig Janney will have a foot of extra space behind the goal-line in which to weave his magic this season thanks to an off-season rule change. Listed below are the five players, not including Janney nor the injured Mario Lemieux, who should derive the most benefit from the increased room behind the nets:1. Wayne Gretzky, Los Angeles.2. Denis Savard, Montreal.3. Pierre Turgeon, Buffalo.4. Steve Yzerman, Detroit.5. Joe Sakic, Quebec. &#9632;

EXTRA SPACE

The following rule changes have been implemented for the 1990/91 season:Linesmen: They have the authority to report to the referee in calling: a double minor for accidental high sticks; a double minor for an attempted spear; and throwing a stick in the defensive zone.Delay of game: Officials can award a goal if they feel the net was deliberately displaced prior to the puck entering the net. The net must be displaced by the defending player or goaltender.High stick: Officials can assess a double minor penalty for accidental high sticks. Careless high sticking (a major penalty and a game misconduct) remains the same. Goaltenders receiving careless high sticking majors are permitted to remain in the game. The game misconduct is reported to the president later for further application.Icing the puck: Icing will be called when a goaltender has been substituted (teams at even or power play strength) and the puck shot down the ice goes through the crease.Spearing: Officials can call a double minor penalty when a gesture of a spear is made but no contact occurs. The same standard (a major and a game misconduct) applies when contact is made. Both linesmen and referee can determine if contact was made.Throwing stick: Linesmen can assist referees in calling penalties for a player who throws his stick in the defensive zone. Last season, this was not permitted. &#9632;

CHANGING THE RULES

<div class="byline">BY ANDY OLSON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011478/5859856-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lloyd Pettit, who announced he was withdrawing his bid for an expansion team in Milwaukee at a press conference Oct. 9, will try to buy an established team instead.</figcaption></div>It was the dream of owning a major-league hockey team, a dream which has consumed Lloyd Pettit since childhood, that prompted the former Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; announcer to apply for an NHL expansion franchise in August.The prospects for success looked good.Pettit was liked and respected by the NHL establishment. He and his wife, Jane, had both financial stability and 14 years of minor-league ownership experience with the Milwaukee Admirals of the International League. The Bradley Center, a sparkling, multi-purpose facility that was a $71-million gift from the Pettits to the city, was the envy of owners throughout professional sports.With only two months remaining before the NHL board of governors&rsquo; meeting in Florida&mdash;the finish line of the expansion derby&mdash;Pettit put the dream on hold.In a move that startled the hockey world, the Pettits withdrew their expansion application Oct. 9 and announced that they would try to purchase one of the 21 existing teams instead.The two biggest reasons for the withdrawal were the $50-million price tag, which Pettit said was closer to $65 million, and the structure of the NHL expansion and entry drafts, the methods by which new teams would be stocked with players.For the expansion draft, existing teams will be allowed to protect 14 skaters and two goalies on their roster, as well as first- and second-year pros and unsigned draft choices. In the expansion draft, new teams would be granted picks at or near the top of every round.&ldquo;Our research tells us it would be five-to-10 years before we realize major-league stature,&rdquo; Pettit said. &ldquo;Put yourself in the position of trying to run a major-league hockey club on a loss basis for five-to-10 years.&ldquo;If you are dealing with a losing club for five-to-10 years, you do not get your attendance and you do not get your investment back.&ldquo;We have no criticism of the NHL&hellip;We just found that unacceptable.&rdquo;NHL president John Ziegler accepted Pettit&rsquo;s decision, if not his reasoning.&ldquo;Although we do not agree with some of the reasons or conclusions indicated by Milwaukee representatives relating to the withdrawal, we certainly respect their right to do so and appreciate their continued support of hockey in the Milwaukee area,&rdquo; Ziegler said.Pettit said the possibility of Milwaukee joining an alternative league, such as the proposed Global League or the North American League, had been discussed, but that he would prefer to buy an existing NHL team.&ldquo;Milwaukee is a strong hockey market,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Milwaukee is a big-league community which would support an NHL franchise. I still believe that.&ldquo;At no time will Jane and I stop keeping our eyes open if a major-league franchise ever becomes available for sale.&ldquo;We are not closing the book on majorleague hockey. Under the current circumstances, expansion can not work.&rdquo;With Milwaukee out of the expansion picture, the NHL will choose between applicants from Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, San Diego (two groups), Houston, Seattle, Hamilton and Ottawa.The news of Pettit&rsquo;s decision spread quickly to the other applicants, most of whom regarded Milwaukee as a leading contender to win a franchise.&ldquo;If anyone had the best opportunity to get a franchise it was Mr. Pettit,&rdquo; said Phil Esposito, the former NHL star who is fronting Tampa&rsquo;s bid.Godfrey Wood, a spokesman for Miami Hockey Inc., had mixed feelings about Mil-waukee leaving the race.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s good and bad for us,&rdquo; Wood said. &ldquo;You hate to see someone drop out when they have a good city, good building and a good ownership group.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0008-01

OLD MILWAUKEE

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Bob McKenzie</div>Lloyd Pettit believes the terms and con dilions of gelling an NHL expansion franchise represent too great an investment for too little return.Here&rsquo;s a look at the price one must be willing to pay:&#9632; $100,000 (U.S.) application fee, $35,000 of which is non-re fund able. The balance goes towards the entry fee. In Milwaukee&rsquo;s case, the amount of refund on the remaining $65,000 will be determined by NHL president John Ziegler and pro rated on how much time and expense the league expended on the review and study of the application.&#9632; $50 million (U.S.) expansion fee, broken down as follows: $5 million downpayment in December upon the awarding of conditional NHL membership; $22.5 million on June 15, 1991; and, $22.5 million on Dec. 15, 1991.Any new franchise must also sell:&#9632; A minimum of 10.000 fully-paid season tickets for the 1992-93 season, which produce net minimum gate receipts of $9 million.&#9632; A minimum of 1.000 premium seat season tickets for the 1992-93 season of not less than $4,000 per seat.The league also expects applicants to:&#9632; Own an arena or have a 20-year lease with &ldquo;substantial&rdquo; share of revenue from concessions, advertising signage and parking.&#9632; A $5 million (U.S.) letter of credit in the event the league is forced to assume control of the club for any reason.For all that you get the right to ice a noncompetitive club that, according to the best guesstimate, will take at least five years to become competitive. &#9632;

CRITERION BEHIND PETTIT’S DECISION

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Andy Olson</div>The aftershocks of Lloyd Pettit&rsquo;s decision to withdraw from the NHL expansion derby will be felt throughout the league as fans, reporters and team owners speculate about which teams might be for sale.&ldquo;We have made no inquiries at this point,&rdquo; Pettit said. &ldquo;(But we&rsquo;re) constantly on the lookout for anything that is available.&rdquo;The Minnesota North Stars, who have had financial difficulty for several years and are drawing less than 6,000 fans per game this season, were immediately mentioned as a candidate, as were the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues.&ldquo;They sound pretty good,&rdquo; Pettit said. &ldquo;It sounds like it would be healthy to pursue them.&rdquo;Norm Green, owner of the struggling North Stars, said his team was not for sale.&ldquo;I have no intention of selling this team. I just bought it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If three years from now we are still drawing 4,000, then maybe he (Pettit) will talk to us.&rdquo;Green said he did not agree with Pettit&rsquo;s assumption that an expansion team would be uncompetitive and unprofitable for the first 5-10 years.&ldquo;I think Mr. Pettit should have some patience and go the regular route,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A lot of teams built themselves through the expansion draft&mdash;the Islanders, Edmonton&mdash;he should have patience to do it the regular way.&ldquo;If I was in this business to make a profit, I wouldn&rsquo;t be doing it. I&rsquo;d be building shopping malls instead, which is what I know.&rdquo;Green said the prospect of an existing team coming up for sale was unlikely.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a pipe dream,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d be shocked if there is a team for sale.&rdquo;But the Winnipeg Jets could be a candidate. The Jets are currently embroiled in a controversy with the city about the building of a new arena. Team president Barry Shenk-arow has said the team will move unless the city builds the team a new home.&ldquo;It is simply impossible for this team to survive in this building,&rdquo; Shenkarow said recently. &ldquo;That is as clear as day is day and night is night.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been in contact with a number of people and we would be stupid not to listen. Our intent is still to keep the team in Winnipeg. If we move though, it will be because we have been forced out.&rdquo;And the Jets aren&rsquo;t the only team considering packing their bags. In Edmonton recently, fans flooded the switchboards of several radio call-in shows to voice their fears that owner Peter Pocklington might sell the Oilers to offset business losses.The Oilers, like many other franchises, have a growing payroll and are seeking a new building. &#9632;

SPECULATION ABOUNDS ON TEAMS FOR SALE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011428/5859935-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="491" height="628"><figcaption class="caption-body">STAN FISCHLER</figcaption></div>In this era of expansion nobody is more expansive than Phil Esposito.As we speak, Espo can practically taste the Tampa hockey pie of which he will have a big bite.That is presuming, of course, the NHL is wise enough to approve the city&rsquo;s&mdash;and not St. Petersburg&rsquo;s or Miami&rsquo;s&mdash;bid for an NHL franchise. Talk to Esposito, the front man for the Tampa bid, and he&rsquo;ll tell you it cannot be otherwise.&ldquo;There are three things in our favor,&rdquo; says Esposito. &ldquo;First of all we have a ton of hockey fans here I&rsquo;m not just talking about transplanted Canadians, of which we have many. I mean transplanted northerners from Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachussets, New York and New Jersey.&ldquo;Secondly, there&rsquo;s the exhibition game,&rdquo; he says of a match between Los Angeles and Pittsburgh at St. Petersburg&rsquo;s Suncoast Dome which drew an NHL record 25,581 spectators. &ldquo;People came out of the woodwork. We even had whole sections from cities like one devoted only to the Bruins and so on.&rdquo;And the most important factor?&ldquo;Cable TV there is fantastic. They have two networks&mdash;Sunshine and SportsChannel Florida&mdash;with about 5.5 million subscribers. It&rsquo;s enough to make your mouth water.&rdquo;Which is well and good but there&rsquo;s the matter of Compuware&rsquo;s Pete Karmanos and his well-publicised bid to put an NHL team in St. Pete&rsquo;s.Some NHL insiders have suggested the best thing that could happen would be for a marriage of the Espo-Compuware groups, but Esposito won&rsquo;t buy into the plan.&ldquo;A merger will never happen,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Of that I have no doubt. Let St. Petersburg have the baseball team it wants but the hockey rink has to be in Tampa.&rdquo;According to Esposito, work on Tampa&rsquo;s arena would start next March. Funding is coming from county sources, the Tampa Sports Authority, the City of Tampa and local business interests.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to be a fabulous building,&rdquo; says Esposito. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re talking about 60 to 70 luxury boxes situated only 18 rows from the ice.&rdquo;Phil is not unaware of the competition&mdash;he knows Tampa got a big boost when Milwaukee dropped out of the race&mdash;although it&rsquo;s difficult to determine from week to week just who is in the lead.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to sound vain, although I know I do, but we have a damn good chance among all the applicants because we&rsquo;ve got the best management team, the best location and we&rsquo;ll build our own building.&ldquo;The competition will come from Seattle; that is if Seattle can come up with the money and San Diego is right in there, too. Ottawa and Hamilton are further down the road.&rdquo;That Esposito is back jn the midst of a hockey fray so soon after being fired as general manager of the New York Rangers (after the 1988-89 season) is a tribute to his resiliency and affection for the game.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you the truth,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;my biggest problem after I got fired was whether I wanted to get back into hockey. But I always said I wanted to be involved with a new team. I love to watch things grow whether it&rsquo;s a hockey team or a tree I planted here when I bought the house. It&rsquo;s beautiful to watch things develop.&rdquo;But he never got that chance in New York where he suddenly found himself out on the street, so to speak. That was the bad news. The good news was Phil discovered he had plenty of friends in the game.&ldquo;Bobby Orr was one of the guys who called, offering to help me out,&rdquo; he recalls, &ldquo;and there was Howard Baldwin. That was when Howard was still involved with the San Jose franchise. Talking to him, I got very enthused and realized that I had something to prove.&ldquo;But when Howard moved to Minnesota, I got in touch with (Boston agent) Mark Perrone, we sat down with the Tampa people (the Pritzger family, which owns the Hyatt hotel chain) and that&rsquo;s how the whole Florida thing started.&rdquo;If Tampa passes the NHL audition, Esposito could be anything from president to GM of the Lightning, the nickname he has already chosen for the club.&ldquo;I could see myself as GM, starting this team from scratch. You can be sure I&rsquo;d be following the Bill Torrey (Islanders) example and do what he did back in 1972&mdash;be patient and build from the draft and hope to get lucky and find a Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies.&rdquo;Realist that he is, Esposito does not allow himself to become deluded by reverie. He knows the NHL just might turn thumbs down on Tampa, so he has a back-up plan.&ldquo;If the Tampa thing doesn&rsquo;t work out, I&rsquo;ll get back behind the mike,&rdquo; says Esposito. &#9632;

f0009-01

ESPOSITO SEES SUNNY DAYS AHEAD

<h2>BLACKHAWKS</h2>By losing 3-1 to Calgary on Oct. 14 in Chicago, the Blackhawks extended their regular-season winless string against the Flames to 13 games (0-112). The Hawks last beat Calgary in February of 1986. Counting the 1989 Campbell Conference finals, which the Hawks lost four games to one, they&rsquo;re 1-15-2 against the Flames in the last four years&hellip;The Hawks got back-to-back hat tricks from Jeremy Roenick, Oct. 11 in a 4-1 win over Pittsburgh, and Steve Larmer, Oct. 13 in a 4-1 win over Minnesota. It was Roenick&rsquo;s second career hat trick and Larmer&rsquo;s fifth&hellip;Defenseman Bob McGill returned to the lineup Oct. 11 after missing all of training camp and the first week of the regular season with a broken right foot&hellip;Chris Chelios was named an alternate captain by head coach Mike Keenan along with Steve Larmer, Keith Brown and Steve Konroyd. Dirk Graham remains captain.<h2>BLUES</h2>Frustration was starting to mount for the St. Louis Blues after they lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings Oct. 14. Although the score didn&rsquo;t indicate it. the Blues played their best game of the season, getting 42 shots at Kelly Hrudey. They rebounded nicely from a dreadful performance in a 4-0 loss to Vancouver Oct. 12 in which they got only 13 shots on goal. The Blues didn&rsquo;t get fewer than 13 shots in a period against the Kings. &ldquo;It would be worse if we weren&rsquo;t getting the chances and getting beat.&rdquo; said center Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour. &ldquo;But when you get &lsquo;em and get beat, it makes it a little tougher.&rdquo;&hellip;The Blues were the last team to reach double figures in goals and had just 10 through five games. Only four players had scored&mdash;Brett Hull and Geoff Courtnall had four apiece, and Jeff Brown and Herb Raglan had one each.<h2>NORTH STARS</h2>Brian Bellows became the first North Star to benefit from the NHL&rsquo;s salary escalation when he signed a three-year deal worth $2.1 million Oct. 11. Defenseman Frantisek Musil also signed a three-year contract, starting at about $210,000 per season&hellip;Defenseman Shawn Chambers, who had knee surgery Sept. 24, had resumed skating but was told Oct. 13 to stay off the ice and give the knee more time to heal&hellip;The Stars, who won their first five games at Met Center last season and 13 of the first 14, were 0-3-1 at home to start this season&hellip;Dave Gagner missed games Oct. 11 (3-3 tie with Boston) and 13 (4-1 loss to Chicago) following the death of his father in Chatham, Ont.<h2>MAPLE LEAFS</h2>As the Leafs stumbled through the first four games of the season, speculation mounted GM Floyd Smith would be pressed into making some sort of deal to shake up the club. The rumored deals included disgruntled Boston winger Rob Cimetta, a Toronto native, coming to the Leafs for minor league left winger Joe Sacco, a Boston University product, and Pittsburgh right winger Rob Brown coming to the Leafs in exchange for center Ed Olczyk. The latter was also rumored to be headed to New Jersey for Kirk Muller, a rumor that surfaced last season and refuses to die. Smith insisted he wasn&rsquo;t going to press any panic buttons, that he had to show some faith and loyalty to the people on the roster&hellip;Left winger Scott Pearson, who had a promising finish last season with two goals in the playoffs, now finds himself on the outside looking in. &ldquo;Scotty didn&rsquo;t have as good a camp as we thought he&rsquo;d have and he&rsquo;s kind of stubbed his toe,&rdquo; said coach Doug Carpenter&hellip;Smith insisted he wasn&rsquo;t interested in Montreal goaltender Brian Hayward, on the trading block since walking out Oct. 8. &ldquo;How many times do I have to say it? I&rsquo;m very happy with my goaltenders.&rdquo;&hellip;Four members of the 1932 Stanley Cup champion Leafs&mdash;Ace Bailey, Red Horner. Harold Darragh and Frank Finnigan&mdash;were honored prior to the Leafs&rsquo; home opener.<h2>RED WINGS</h2>Bob Probert did not accompany his teammates to Toronto Oct. 13. The Immigration and Naturalization Service had not yet acted on Probert&rsquo;s appeal of a Chicago INS judge&rsquo;s order deporting him to his native Canada. The Wings have no idea when to expect the INS ruling&hellip;Defenseman Bobby Dollas, a first-round pick of the Winnipeg Jets in 1983, joined the Wings on a tryout basis. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s here for a three/four day look-see,&rdquo; GM/coach Bryan Murray said. &ldquo;If we feel he can play, we&rsquo;ve got a deal (contract) done already.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s a one-year deal based on the number of games Dollas plays. The Wings hold all the options and can terminate it at any time. Dollas spent the pre-season in the Vancouver camp. &ldquo;They told me I had a good camp, but then they picked up Randy Gregg (from Edmonton in the waiver draft) and they let me go,&rdquo; Dollas said. &ldquo;I wondered what I had to do. I waited around. They said they wanted to try to talk Gregg into joining them. I waited and waited. I felt like ayo-yo&rdquo;. The Wings have made it clear they want Dollas, a 6-foot-2, 212-pound defensive specialist, to play a more physical game than he has in the past&hellip;With all six of their rookies in the lineup, the Wings played to a 3-3 tie at Toronto Oct. 13. Sergei Fedorov and Keith Primeau centered the third and fourth lines; Johan Garpenlov was Fedorov&rsquo;s left winger and Mike Sillinger played on Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s right side, and Per Djoos and Bob Wilkie played on defense. &ldquo;The fact that we&rsquo;re playing a lot of young players-&mdash;and they all find ways to contribute&mdash;should speak well for us a month from now,&rdquo; Murray said. &#9632;

THE NHL

HAWKS STILL GETTING BURNED

&hellip;Mike Foligno&rsquo;s wife, Janis, is the niece of Hall of Fame goalie Ed Giacomin. Foligno met his wife growing up in Sudbury, Ont.&mdash;which is alsoGiacomin&rsquo;s hometown. Later, Foligno was drafted third overall in 1979 by Detroit, where Giacomin ended his 13-year career in 1977-78.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021014/5859990-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="993" height="536"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Foligno</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-02

DID YOU KNOW…

<div class="byline">BY TIM SASSONE</div>Less than two weeks after undergoing a 14-hour surgical procedure to correct an accelerated heartbeat, Michel Goulet was back playing for the Chicago Blackhawks.Talk about your modern medicine.Goulet made his season debut Oct. 11 against Pittsburgh and looked like the Goulet of old, drawing assists on three goals by Jeremy Roenick in a 4-1 Hawk victory.&ldquo;This was a big test for me, and I think I passed,&rdquo; Goulet said.Two nights later, Goulet scored his first goal of the season and added two more assists in a 4-1 win at Minnesota.&ldquo;The way he&rsquo;s come back from the procedure he had says a lot for the man,&rdquo; said head coach Mike Keenan.The surgical procedure Goulet underwent Sept. 29 at a Oklahoma hospital included the insertion of a catheter through Goulet&rsquo;s groin to the heart. A laser was then used to burn the bad cells and tissue around the heart, which had been causing Goulet&rsquo;s heart to beat faster than normal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a problem I had for years, but it was getting worse,&rdquo; Goulet said. &ldquo;They said my heart was going about, 200 beats a minute. It&rsquo;s pretty hard to step on the ice and begin a shift with your heart beating 200 times a minute. Normally, it beats about 175-180 at the end of a shift.&rdquo;Goulet began skating just three days after the procedure.&ldquo;My legs are still weak, but overall I feel a lot better,&rdquo; said Goulet, who has been assured by doctors the rapid heartbeat problem shouldn&rsquo;t bother, him anymore.&ldquo;They say I can expect a full, 100 per cent recovery,&rdquo; Goulet said. &ldquo;I was worried about it for a while, but now my head is clear. It was actually pretty scary, but it was something I just had to deal with. In the back of my mind I&rsquo;ll probably always have a worried feeling.&rdquo;With his health problem behind him, Goulet has set his sights on bringing his game back to the point it was when he was considered the finest left winger in the game.Goulet&rsquo;s last big year was 1987-88 when he scored 48 goals and 106 points for the Nordiques. He scored 26 goals two years ago and just 20 goals last season, but Goulet feels he&rsquo;s still a young man at 30 and is anxious to prove he&rsquo;s not washed up.&ldquo;It was hard for me the last couple of years because I was injured,&rdquo; Goulet said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to score 40 or 50 goals when you miss a couple of months.&rdquo;Upon his return to the lineup this season, Keenan placed Goulet at left wing on a line with Roenick and Steve Larmer. Keenan watched the trio combine for 17 points in its first two games together with Goulet getting six of them.&ldquo;Playing with him you can see why he was an all-star all those years,&rdquo; Roenick said of Goulet.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s played 12 or 13 years, so you know he knows what he&rsquo;s doing,&rdquo; added Larmer. &ldquo;He always makes the right play. I think we have a good thing going here.&rdquo;<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 10: Martin Desjardins, C, acquired from Montreal for future considerations. Desjardins assigned to Indianapolis (IHL).Oct. 15: Adam Creighton, C, serving five-game NHL suspension. Eligible to return Oct. 21.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jeremy Roenick, Mike Hudson, Troy Murray, Mike Stapleton.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet, Jocelyn Lemieux, Mike Peluso, Stu Grimson.RW&mdash;Steve Larmer, Wayne Presley, Dirk Graham, Brian Noonan.LD&mdash;Dave Manson, Steve Konroyd, Trent Yawney, Frantisek Kucera.RD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Keith Brown, Bob McGill.G&mdash;Ed Belfour. Jacques Cloutier, Greg Millen.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Greg Gilbert, LW, sore left shoulder, day-to-day. Steve Thomas, LW, strained right knee, day-to-day. Doug Wilson, D, damaged right ankle ligaments, Nov. 1.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Larmer, 5. A&mdash;Larmer, Chelios, 6. P&mdash;Larmer. 11. PIM&mdash;Peluso. 52. &#9632;

GOULET SHOWS HE HASN’T MISSED A BEAT

<div class="byline">BY MARK HARDING</div>A I lafrate kept insisting that when he was ready, he would return.Coach Doug Carpenter repeatedly confirmed the Toronto Maple Leafs would not push their rearguard back into action until he was ready&mdash;until the time was right.When Tom Kurvers suffered a charleyhorse Oct. 7, the time was suddenly right.Almost seven months after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and undergoing reconstructive surgery, lafrate returned to the Leafs&rsquo; lineup in the nick of time.After dropping their first three games of the regular season, and not looking very impressive in the process, the Leafs lost Kurvers in Game 3 after Edmonton defenseman Craig Muni levelled him with clean, crisp check.A bad situation got worse in a hurry and lafrate, who had felt extremely tentative about his knee, was needed more than ever.The seven-year veteran suited up to face Quebec in Toronto&rsquo;s home opener, but not even his presence could snap the Leafs out of their lethargy. They were embarrassed 8-5 and lost a team-record fourth straight at the start of a season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been almost seven months since I played in a game and I&rsquo;m obviously a long way from being in the shape I need to be in, but I was pretty happy with the way the knee held up,&rdquo; lafrate said.Three nights later, with Norris rival Detroit visiting the Gardens, lafrate left little doubt as to his recuperative powers and how hard he had worked to stay in shape.If there can be such a thing as a must-win game barely a week into the season, Toronto faced it against the Red Wings.Iafrate, as he had done so many times last season, literally carried the Leafs to their first point of the season, drawing assists on each of Toronto&rsquo;s goals in a 3-3 tie with Detroit.&ldquo;He played somewhere around 28 to 30 minutes, which is an awful lot for him at this stage, but he&rsquo;s obviously starting to feel more and more comfortable every time he goes out there,&rdquo; said Carpenter.Brad Marsh, who had seemed lost without his regular defensive partner in the first three games, said the importance of lafrate&rsquo;s return couldn&rsquo;t be overstated.&ldquo;He obviously means so much to this team,&rdquo; said Marsh. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s able to pick up a loose puck in his own end and create an offensive chance with it, where most of us will either just shoot the puck out or make a pass.&ldquo;That gives the opposing forwards a lot to think about when they come in to forecheck.&rdquo;Iafrate adds a dimension of offense to the Leaf blue line that simply isn&rsquo;t there without him, but Carpenter doesn&rsquo;t want lafrate to try to do too much too soon.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s obviously capable of taking the puck and lugging it from end to end but we don&rsquo;t necessarily want him doing that just yet,&rdquo; said Carpenter. &ldquo;The most important thing is that he feel comfortable out there.&rdquo;<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 9: Jeff Serowik, D, assigned to Newmarket (AHL.) Gilles Thibaudeau. C, recalled from Newmarket Oct. 10: Rob Pearson. RW. assigned to Newmarket<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ed Olczyk. Gilles Thibaudeau. Dave Hannan, Scott Thornton, John McIntyre.LW&mdash;Wendel Clark, Vincent Damphousse, Dave Reid, Mark Osborne. Scott PearsonRW&mdash;Gary Leeman, Daniel Marois. Lou Franceschetti. John Kordic. Kevin Maguire.LD&mdash;Brad Marsh. Luke Richardson. Todd GdlRD&mdash;Al lafrate. Drake Berehowsky, Rob Ramage. Brian Curran.G&mdash;Allan Bester, Peter Ing. Jett Roose.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tom Fergus, C. groin pull, indefinite. Tom Kurvers. D. charteyhorse. day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Clark, 3. A&mdash;lafrate. Olczyk. Dam-phousse. 3. P&mdash;Damphousse. 5 PIM&mdash; Richardson. 20. &#9632;

IAFRATE RETURN JUST WHAT LEAFS KNEE-DED

<div class="byline">BY DAVE LUECKING</div>During the pre-season, Brett Hull made it clear he wanted Adam Oates to be his center. With Peter Zezel traded to Washington, the job was open.&ldquo;I can do amazing things playing with Adam Oates,&rdquo; Hull said.The pairing lasted four games. St. Louis Blues&rsquo; coach Brian Sutter broke up Hull and Oates after the Blues&rsquo; 4-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks Oct. 12.Sutter switched Hull and veteran Paul MacLean, moving Hull into MacLean&rsquo;s spot with Rod Brind&rsquo; Amour at center and Geoff Courtnall at left wing and putting MacLean with Oates and left winger Sergio Momesso.He used those lines Oct. 14 in the Blues&rsquo; game against the Los Angeles Kings. Although the Blues lost 4-1, Brind&rsquo;Amour&rsquo;s line was the Blues&rsquo; best.Hull and Courtnail, who scored the Blues&rsquo; only goal on a power play, had eight shots apiece. Brind&rsquo; Amour had five.&ldquo;I thought they played well together,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;Shoot, it seemed like they had the puck the whole night.&rdquo;Hull and Oates had played together, with Momesso, for three games, but the line did not produce any goals at even strength. Hull had four goals, but he had not scored an even-strength goal since he got two in the season opener, which Oates missed with sore ribs.Putting Brind&rsquo;Amour with Hull may make it easier. Brind&rsquo;Amour&rsquo;s style closely resembles that of Zezel. Sutter said Brind&rsquo; Amour may create more openings for Hull with his physical play.&ldquo;Roddie&rsquo;s that type of player,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;He played a solid game against Vancouver. He made thing happen when he was on the ice.&rdquo;Whether Brind&rsquo;Amour can make things happen with Hull remains to be seen. Hull, who was outspoken in his desire to play with Oates in the pre-season, downplayed the new combinations.&ldquo;I just go out when I&rsquo;m told,&rdquo; he said.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Adam Oates, Ron Wilson. Cliff Ronning, Bob Bassen.LW&mdash;Geoff Courtnall, Sergio Momesso, Dave Lowry, Gino Cavallini.RW&mdash;Brett Hull, Paul MacLean. Rich Sutter, Herb Raglan.LD&mdash;Scott Stevens, Paul Cavallini, Harold Snepsts, Robert Dirk.RD&mdash;Jeff Brown, Mario Marois, Glen Featherstone.G&mdash;Vincent Riendeau. Curtis Joseph.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Rick Meagher. C. major surgery on right knee, Dec. 1.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Hull, Courtnall, 4. A&mdash;Oates, 3. P&mdash;Courtnall, 5. PIM&mdash;Raglan. 22. &#9632;

SUTTER BREAKS UP HULLAND OATES

<div class="byline">BY GARY OLSON</div>The Minnesota North Stars invited Mike Craig in for a cup of coffee and he wound up staying for dinner. Now, it looks like he&rsquo;s ready to move in.When the North Stars returned from their Soviet Union pre-season tour, general manager Bobby Clarke recalled a handful of players from Kalamazoo of the International League. It was an early reward for a few of the players left behind and it gave some veterans a chance to get over their jetlag.Craig, a 19-year-old, second-round draft pick (28th overall) in 1989, was the least likely of the bunch to stick with the Stars. After all, Minnesota had three new veteran forwards&mdash;Bobby Smith, Ilkka Sinisalo and Brian Propp&mdash;and Craig could be returned to his junior team in Oshawa of the Ontario League.But he made an easy decision hard.&ldquo;I never expect a junior player to play in the NHL,&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;This kid has earned a chance to see if he can stick.Until coach Bob Gainey saw Craig on the ice for the first time, he was just a name, somebody else&rsquo;s prospect. Craig is one of the many young Stars George and Gordon Gund&rsquo;s San Jose expansion team are likely to select in the crosspollination draft. Stars&rsquo; owner Norm Green, however, has vowed to renegotiate the terms of the team&rsquo;s sale, and if successful, Craig may have a future in Minnesota, after all.But for the time being, Craig&rsquo;s simply playing his heart out.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s young, he&rsquo;s good and he should be an inspiration for the whole team,&rdquo; Gainey said.Some of the North Stars&rsquo; veterans can learn from this kid. He already knows a lot about winning and losing. He&rsquo;s one of just two players&mdash;Eric Lindros is the other&mdash;to win a gold medal in the World Junior Championships in Finland last winter and win the Memorial Cup last spring.<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 11: Brian Bellows, LW, and Frantisek Musil, D, signed three-year contracts. Dean Kolstad, D, recalled from Kalamazoo (IHL). Oct. 15: Mark Tinordi serving 10-game NHL suspension. Eligible to return Oct. 26.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Neal Broten, Bobby Smith, Mike Modano, Perry Berezan.LW&mdash;Gaetan Duchesne, Brian Propp, Brian Bellows, Basil McRae, llkka Sinisalo.RW&mdash;Stewart Gavin, Mike Craig, Ulf Dahlen, Shane Churla, Dave Gagner, Don Barber.LD&mdash;Curt Giles, Neil Wilkinson, Rob Zettler.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Dean Kolstad, Frantisek Musil, Peter Taglianetti.G&mdash;Jon Casey, Jarmo Myllys.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Shawn Chambers. D, arthroscopic surgery on left knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Gagner, Propp, 3. A&mdash;Broten, 6. P&mdash;Modano, 7. PIM&mdash;McRae, 36. &#9632;

CRAIG MAKING DECISION TOUGH

<div class="byline">BY KEITH GAVE</div>Keith Primeau is going nowhere fast.That is to say, he&rsquo;s staying put in Detroit, where he was developing from NHL prospect to player quicker than anyone thought.Six weeks shy of his 19th birthday, Primeau was making a strong bid to become the first junior-age player in seven years to stick with the Wings for the entire season after his first NHL camp. The last guy to do it was Steve Yzerman, who came to the Detroit camp from Peterborough (Ontario League) in 1983 and never left.Primeau doesn&rsquo;t have the dazzling skating and puck-handling skills of Yzerman, but he has a frame&mdash;6-foot-5, 215-pounds&mdash;that make coaches swoon. And the rapid improvement he made in the first two weeks of the season had Detroit general managercoach Bryan Murray smiling.Primeau, the Wings&rsquo; first pick (third overall) in the June entry draft, appeared in just one of the first three games, playing left wing for about half the game. The Wings managed just a point in those three games. Murray, still not sure that the Wings weren&rsquo;t going to send Primeau back to the Niagara Falls Thunder (OHL), thought he&rsquo;d give Primeau a look at center, his natural position.Against Calgary in Detroit&rsquo;s home opener Oct. 10, Primeau centered the fourth line. He was flanked by speedy wingers Marc Habscheid and Brent Fedyk. At 2:08 of the first period, Primeau used that long. Mario Lemieux-like reach to catch up with the puck in the Flames&rsquo; zone and drop a pass for Habscheid, who beat goalie Rick Wamsley for a 1-0 Detroit lead en route to a 6-5 overtime win.Murray wanted to see more, so he kept the line together for a 4-2 win over Hartford Oct. 12 and a 3-3 tie at Toronto the following night. Now Primeau looks like a keeper.&ldquo;I really, really liked him,&rdquo; said Murray after the Calgary game.Primeau received similar reviews after the next two games.&ldquo;If you watched him the first day of camp and watch him today, you can see he has made tremendous strides,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;And in the last two weeks, his work ethic has been outstanding. He even calls me Mr. Murray, still. That&rsquo;s kind of nice.&rdquo;When he came to camp, Primeau was considered a longshot to make the team as a center. The Wings had hoped he might make the jump to the NHL from junior hockey as a left winger. Now Murray believes Primeau can fill in at both positions, increasing his value to the team.&ldquo;Mr. Murray said he&rsquo;s going to be patient with me,&rdquo; Primeau said. &ldquo;Even if it&rsquo;s only playing every third game.&rdquo;Murray and Wings&rsquo; scouts believe spending another season with an average junior team that plays its games in a small rink will do little for Primeau&rsquo;s development&mdash;and he agrees.&ldquo;Sooner or later, you&rsquo;ve just got to do it,&rdquo; Primeau said, emphasizing he would prefer it to be sooner. &ldquo;Otherwise, I&rsquo;d be right back at square one next year.&rdquo;Primeau was one of two junior-age players on the Wings&rsquo; roster. Mike Sillinger, the team&rsquo;s No. 1 pick in 1989 (11th overall), played three of the first six games, seeing some action as Steve Yzerman&rsquo;s right wing. He and Primeau had one assist each.In training camp, Primeau signed a five-year contract that will pay him $160,000 this season.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Jimmy Carson, Sergei Fedorov, Keith Primeau.LW&mdash;Gerard Gallant, Shawn Burr, John Garpenlov, Marc Habscheid.RW&mdash;Mike Sillinger, Bob Probert, Dave Barr, Brent Fedyk, Joe Kocur, Kevin McClelland, Randy McKay.LD&mdash;Rick Zombo, Steve Chiasson, Per Djoos, Bob Wilkie.RD&mdash;Lee Norwood, Brad McCrimmon, Rick Green.G&mdash;Tim Cheveldae, Glen Hanlon, Alain Chevrier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Sheldon Kennedy, RW, left shoulder surgery, indefinite. Greg Stefan, G, right knee surgery, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Yzerman, 4. A&mdash;Yzerman, 6. P&mdash;Yzerman, 10. PIM&mdash;Kocur, 41. &#9632;

IMPROVING PRIMEAU LOOKS LIKE A KEEPER

<h2>FLYERS</h2>The Flyers retired Bill Barber&rsquo;s No. 7 in ceremonies prior to the game against New Jersey Oct. 11 (a 7-4 win). &ldquo;It was a touching moment for me, a night I&rsquo;ll cherish forever,&rdquo; said Barber. &ldquo;Knowing your number is never going to be worn again is something special.&rdquo; Barber joins Bobby Clarke (16), Bernie Parent (1) and the late Barry Ashbee (4) on the Flyers&rsquo; retired numbers list&hellip;Ken Wregget&rsquo;s agent, Rick Curran, and the Flyers were unable to agree on a date for an arbitration hearing to settle Wregget&rsquo;s contract. Wregget indicated the two sides are not as close as originally suggested, leading to speculation the goaltender may be asking for a deal closer to $500,000, rather than the $400,000 figure reporters have been using&hellip;Mike Ricci, who broke his right index finger in the season opener Oct. 4 in Boston, resumed skating a week after the injury.<h2>DEVILS</h2>New Jersey bought out the contract of veteran left winger Steve Rooney Oct. 10, making him a free agent. Rooney and left winger Perry Anderson both cleared waivers, but GM Lou Lamoriello decided to keep Anderson on the Utica (AHL) roster&hellip;Walt Poddubny matched his entire 1989-90 output of four goals in just six games this season&hellip;Owner John McMullen said the Devils could move into the black financially for the first time since the franchise came to New Jersey in 1982 if they make a successful run in the playoffs. But he isn&rsquo;t threatening anyone with an ultimatum. &ldquo;Is this a critical year? I have to answer, in general, no. Everyone is in agreement, we want to win and we have high hopes. But if we don&rsquo;t attain them, there isn&rsquo;t going to be a massacre at the end of the line.&rdquo;<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>New York&rsquo;s home opener Oct. 13, featuring Bryan Trottier&rsquo;s first appearance as a visitor in Nassau Coliseum, quickly turned sour and proved costly for the Islanders. Center Pat LaFontaine sustained a strained left hamstring during his first shift, although he continued to play well into the first period. He was expected to miss a week to 10 days. Goalie Glenn Healy (sprained left ankle) and right winger Patrick Flatley (sprained left knee) were injured in the same game&mdash;a 6-4 loss&hellip;Mark Fitzpatrick returned to his family&rsquo;s home in Kitimat, B.C. to continue his recovery from a condition diagnosed as eosinophilic fasciitis, which caused swelling in his hands, feet and forearms. He is responding well to predisone, a cortisone-type medication, but the Islanders do not know when he will be able to resume skating&hellip;Concerned about mistakes in the Islanders&rsquo; end, Al Arbour shifted Ken Baumgartner back to defense, at least temporarily halting Baumgartner&rsquo;s tryout at left wing.<h2>PENGUINS</h2>GM Craig Patrick made several early-season scouting trips to Detroit, prompting speculation about a possible trade with the Red Wings. The Penguins would like to acquire a physical defenseman and a rugged left winger&hellip;After getting through the pre-season with a 2.00 goals-against average, the Penguins allowed four goals in each of their first five games-&hellip;Pittsburgh&rsquo;s power play scored on six of its first 25 chances, while the penalty-killing was 13-for-19&hellip;The Penguins won their first three games against Patrick Division opponents. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s ground we don&rsquo;t have to make up at the end of the year,&rdquo; left winger Randy Gilhen said.<h2>CAPITALS</h2>GM David Poile was continuing talks with Ron Salcer, who represents Kevin Hatcher and Alan May. May could be headed for arbitration, but no date was set as of Oct. 13. Hatcher, meanwhile, still hadn&rsquo;t signed a renegotiated contract. Indications were, however, Hatcher and Salcer had agreed to add a fourth year to the current contract. This season&rsquo;s final salary wasn&rsquo;t certain, but Hatcher will reportedly be paid $500,000 a year&hellip;Czechoslovak import Peter Bondra did not score in the three games he played. &ldquo;Goal scorers have to relax and have soft hands,&rdquo; coach Terry Murray. &ldquo;Right now, he&rsquo;s gripping the stick a little too tight.&rdquo;&hellip;Bondra, who played for Kosice of the Czech Elite League last season, is learning English and capitalism. Goaltender Don Beaupre was collecting his equipment to go to Baltimore (AHL) for two games of conditioning when Bondra said. &ldquo;Baltimore&rsquo;s small money.&rdquo; Beaupre chuckled, and nodded in agreement.<h2>RANGERS</h2>The Rangers recalled defenseman Dennis Vial and right winger Tie Domi from Binghamton (AHL) for an Oct. 13 game (a 5-2 win) against Washington. The plan was to send them back after the important road game, however, Vial played so well as a replacement for the injured Normand Rochefort, that Ranger GM Neil Smith and coach Roger Neilson decided to keep him. &ldquo;Dennis had 16 takeouts and that is a season high for us,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;That is pretty darn good for a guy&rsquo;s first NHL game.&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Ron Greschner, who played 16 years before being forced into retirement, has been added to the MSG network TV team. He will work as an analyst on the pre- and post-game shows and that may change the slant, according to MSG vice-president Pete Silverman. &ldquo;We have two goalies as our analysts (John Davidson on TV and Sal Messina on radio),&rdquo; Silverman said &ldquo;They&rsquo;re always blaming the defensemen. I imagine we&rsquo;ll get a different perspective with Gresch around.&rdquo; &#9632;

HONORED BARBER IN SEVENTH HEAVEN

A center for four teams between 1960-61 and &rsquo;73-74, Orland Kurten-bach, 54, sells insurance in Surrey, B.C., and owns a driving range for golf. &ldquo;The biggest thrill was the first time I stepped on the ice (for the New York Rangers) in the NHL,&rdquo; says Kurtenbach. &ldquo;I thought if I could play for 10 years I&rsquo;d be very happy and I played for 13 years.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021122/5860196-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="595" height="418"><figcaption class="caption-body">Orland Kurtenbach</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-02

THEN & NOW

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>There&rsquo;s a new heavyweight champion in the NHL and already the challengers are lining up to find out if Troy Crowder is as tough as his reputation says he is.Crowder, the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; 6-foot-4, 215-pound right winger, sent shockwaves through the league when he bloodied Detroit&rsquo;s Bob Prob-ert in an Oct. 4 fight at the Meadowlands Arena. Probert, the former champ, received a gash under his right eye which required stitches to stop the bleeding.One week later, the 22-year-old Crowder successfully defended his crown by adding two more names to his list of conquests. He broke the nose of Philadelphia&rsquo;s Jeff Chychrun with a one-punch TKO Oct. 11 at the Spectrum and later in the same game punished Tony Horacek before officials jumped in to spare Horacek the need to look for a plastic surgeon.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been so much media hype since my fight with Probert. I always had a reputation, but now I think guys are saying: &lsquo;If I beat him, I can move up with my ranking.&rsquo; I guess after I play all the teams it&rsquo;ll stop,&rdquo; Crowder said.&ldquo;You can tell guys are looking at you a little scared, but they want to go with you. I guess I know how Bob Probert has felt over the last three years.&rdquo;Probert wouldn&rsquo;t discuss his fight with Crowder, but Red Wings&rsquo; coach Bryan Murray was quoted as saying that Crowder got lucky.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s not a new heavyweight champ in the NHL yet,&rdquo; Murray claimed. &ldquo;I saw it on the replay. What happened was Bob got in the first punch and he cut his hand on Crowder. Then Crowder got the sweater up over Probert&rsquo;s head, Bob stepped on a stick and stumbled. That&rsquo;s when Crowder caught him good. Bob got hurt but I think he would&rsquo;ve come right back in the third period if I hadn&rsquo;t threatened him. There&rsquo;s still time. He will redeem himself.&rdquo;Crowder responded: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really give two cents about what Bryan Murray thinks. If it happens again the outcome might be the same, it might be different. But that doesn&rsquo;t matter. Anybody who saw it knows it was a fair fight.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011342/5860227-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="559" height="700"><figcaption class="caption-body">Troy Crowder may be the new heavyweight champ of the NHL.</figcaption></div>Probert may not be wise to try Crowder again. Chychrun instigated his brief bout with Crowder in Philly in what was essentially a rematch from their AHL days. The result was even worse the second time.Chychrun dropped his gloves first and Crowder anxiously shook his gloves off before flooring the 6-foot-4, 215-pound defenseman with a powerful right hand that silenced the noisy Spectrum.&ldquo;We fought three years ago in the AHL,&rdquo; Crowder said. &ldquo;I guess he wanted to try again. I beat him up pretty good back then, but I think he might&rsquo;ve had a bad hand.&rdquo;The Devils&rsquo; sixth choice in the 1986 entry draft, Crowder made his NHL debut in a 1988 playoff game against the Bruins. He spent the entire 1988-89 season at Utica and walked out of training camp last season with the intention of retiring from the game.Only general manager Lou Lamor-iello&rsquo;s persistence and a refreshing five months in construction and landscaping back in his hometown of Sudbury, Ont., changed Crowder&rsquo;s mind.&ldquo;I felt I wasn&rsquo;t contributing to the team. I had lost my confidence and I felt more and more negative,&rdquo; Crowder said.&ldquo;When I came back last year (he rejoined the Devils in early February and was officially recalled Feb. 14) it was like starting new. And this year was like my first training camp. In all the others I wasn&rsquo;t feeling good about myself. This year I&rsquo;m confident and I&rsquo;m actually having a good time for the first time.&rdquo;Crowder developed as a player to the point where he has skated a regular shift on the Devils&rsquo; successful checking line with center Laurie Boschman and left winger Al Stewart.His fighting, however, gives the Devils their own version of a nuclear warhead for protection.&ldquo;Until I go around the league one time I think at least one guy on each team will try me,&rdquo; Crowder said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t bother me. Big deal. A fight takes one minute. Sometimes it takes 10 seconds. If everyone in the league wants to try me, I.don&rsquo;t care. Once they see what I have&hellip;&rdquo;<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 10: Jarrod Skaklc. C. returned to Oshawa (OHI &gt;. lasnn Miliar. C. returned to Medicine Hat (WHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Stastny, Patrik Sundstrom, Dave Maley. Laune Boschman. Paul Yse-baert.LW&mdash;Kirk MuHer. Brendan Snanahan, Walt Poddubny. A! Stewart, Pat Conactier.RW&mdash;John MacLean, Claude Lemieux, Jon Morns. Troy Crowder. Doug Brown.LD&mdash;Viachestav Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov, Tommy Albelin. Dave Marciny-shyn.RD&mdash;Bruce Driver. Ken Daneyko, Enc V/etnnch.G&mdash;Sean Burke. Chris Terreri.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Zdeno Ciger. LW, bruised left shoulder, day-to-day<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Poddubny. 4. A&mdash;Stastny. 7. P&mdash; Stastny, 9 PIM&mdash;Stewart. 30. &#9632;

f0015-01

KUDOS FOR CROWDER AFTER KAYOING CHAMP

<div class="byline">BY WALT MacPEEK</div>Darren Turcotte wasn&rsquo;t among the three finalists for the 1990 Calder Trophy, but he was among the NHL&rsquo;s top 10 scorers after the first two weeks of this season. And that was a much less subjective rating.&ldquo;I certainly thought Darren deserved to be among the top three rookies last year,&rdquo; New York Rangers&rsquo; coach Roger Neilson said, &ldquo;because he did so many things for us in the first year.&rdquo;Turcotte is quickly picking up where he left off. He scored both short-handed and on the power play in a 4-2 win over Washington Oct. 10.&ldquo;With Kelly Kisio out with a serious injury (right ankle fracture), he is really important,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;His quickness makes him such a dangerous player in a lot of different situations. He seems to be able to do everything.&rdquo;Overlooked by Calder voters last season, despite the fact that he led all rookies with 32 goals, the 22-year-old center collected four goals and seven assists to lead the Rangers in scoring with 11 points over their first six games.&ldquo;Last year,&rdquo; Turcotte said, &ldquo;I had a lot of small scoring streaks. Maybe this year, it can be a long one. I want to keep improving; I&rsquo;d like to be more consistent.&rdquo;Neilson moved a lot of his players, especially defensive ace Jan Erixon and Turcotte, around through the early going. For two games, Turcotte took Kisio&rsquo;s place between John Ogrodnick and Brian Mullen and then he skated between Mike Gartner and Erixon.&ldquo;People are always telling me that I could do a lot more if I had regular linemates,&rdquo; Turcotte said. &ldquo;But versatility is one way a player can make himself valuable to his team. I kind of enjoy playing with a lot of different people.&ldquo;I think the first third of the season is going to be kind of a sorting out period, especially this year because we had so many players competing closely for jobs in the pre-season. By the time Kelly comes back, around Christmas, I think you&rsquo;ll see a lot more lines staying together.&rdquo;Turcotte doesn&rsquo;t dwell on whatever disappointment came as a result of last year&rsquo;s rookie vote and he certainly doesn&rsquo;t blame Calgary right winger Sergei Makarov, who wouldn&rsquo;t be eligible under the current rule. (The league decided to make anyone 26 or older, as of Sept. 15 of that season, ineligible after the 31-year-old Makarov won the Calder).&ldquo;I was fourth or fifth, so Makarov didn&rsquo;t have anything to do with it but that was last year. I know I still have a lot to prove&hellip;we all do,&rdquo; Turcotte said.In Turcotte&rsquo;s view, people spend too much time dwelling not only on rookies&rsquo; statistics but also team statistics. For instance, the Rangers were outshot 42-17, 41-25 and 41-23 over the final three games of a four-game winning streak that lifted them into first place in the Patrick Division.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt Mike Richter and John Vanbiesbrouck have been playing great for us,&rdquo; Turcotte said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;re not the kind of team that just throws the puck toward the net and crashes.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 13: Dennis Vial. D, and Tie Domi RW. recalled from Binghamton (AHL) Oct. 14: Domi assigned to Binghamton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bernie Nicholls, Darren Turcotte Kevin Miller, Mark Janssens.LW&mdash;Ray Sheppard, John Ogrodnick Troy Mallette, Kris King, Lindy Ruff.RW&mdash;Mike Gartner, Jan Erixon, Briar Mullen, Steve Rice, Paul Broten.LD&mdash;Mark Hardy, Brian Leetch, Dennis Vial. Miloslav Horava.RD&mdash;James Patrick, David Shaw, Randy Moller.G&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Richter, Bob Froese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jody Hull, RW. strained right hand, day-to-day. Kelly Kisio, C, tom tibula-fibula ligament, chip fracture of right ankle, indefinite. Normand Rochefort, D. arthroscopic surgery, left knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Gartner, 5. A&mdash;Turcotte, 7. P&mdash; Turcotte, 11. PIM&mdash;Moller, 22. &#9632;

TURCOTTE NOT LIKELY TO BE OVERLOOKED AGAIN

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE FISH</div>Fans visiting the Spectrum Oct. 11 might have been wondering if they were watching the Philadelphia Flyers live or on videotape replay.The confusion would have been understandable. After all, in the middle of a 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils, here was Flyers&rsquo; goaltender Ron Hextali getting helped off the ice due to a leg injury&mdash;the same Ron Hextall who fell victim to similar problems on four different occasions last year.Unfortunately for the Flyers, this wasn&rsquo;t Memorex. Hextall, who missed 51 games last year with an assortment of leg injuries, pulled a left groin muscle with 3:06 remaining in the second period.Team physician Dr. Arthur Barto-lozzi examined Hextall and predicted the goalie would miss 10 to 14 days of action.That diagnosis drew mixed reaction in the Flyer camp. It was good news because the injury was viewed as a slight one. It was bad news because it would seem to indicate Hextall is still prone to groin problems.Hextall played just eight games last season, sidelined by three groin injuries (two on the left side) and a pulled hamstring.He worked diligently over the summer to strengthen the weakened areas. Hextail said he experienced a lot less pain in the latest episode than in any of the ones he suffered last season.&ldquo;I know it&rsquo;s very slight,&rdquo; insisted Hextail, who was hurt going down awkwardly to block a partial breakaway by Walt Poddubny. &ldquo;But obviously you can&rsquo;t go on when you have a slight strain of a groin.&rdquo;Hextall knows he&rsquo;s going to hear from the skeptics who will voice pessimism about his health. There&rsquo;s nothing he can do about that.&ldquo;I know people are going to say, &lsquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s his groin again.&rsquo;&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;But when I talked to Dr. Barto-lozzi tonight, he said it&rsquo;s just going to happen, just because of the way a goalie stretches.&ldquo;The fact that it&rsquo;s minor is obviously positive but it&rsquo;s a little bit frustrating at this point.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not concerned about it becoming chronic. Every time you get a bad one, you should start worrying. But I don&rsquo;t think it will be ongoing.&rdquo;Hextall was going down to his left to cover Poddubny when he felt something give.&ldquo;The guy came across on a partial breakaway and lost the puck,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;I followed him across and shot my leg out. It was a pretty hard split.&rdquo;Bartolozzi said Hextali might be more susceptible to groin injuries than most goalies because he is very active with his legs. Hextail is known for his ability to roam from the net to handle the puck.Hextall played in three pre-season games and was 2-0-1 with a 2.52 goals-against average. He looked sharp in wins over the New York Rangers and Hartford Whalers.He started on opening night in a 4-1 loss to Boston (Oct. 4) and also played in a 3-1 defeat at New Jersey (Oct. 6).Ken Wregget entered the game to replace Hextall against the Devils and completed the 7-4 win. Wregget was also in goal for a 4-3 win over Winnipeg Oct. 13.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 8: Dale Kushner, LW, assigned to Hershey (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ron Sutter, Keith Acton, Martin Hostak, Murray Craven.LW&mdash;Craig Berube, Tony Horacek, Derrick Smith. Pat Murray, Pelle Eklund.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Tim Kerr, Scott Mellanby, Norman Lacombe.LD&mdash;Mark Howe, Terry Carkner, Jiri Latal, Murray Baron.RD&mdash;Kjell Samuelsson, Jeff Chychrun, Gord Murphy, Kerry Huffman.G&mdash;Ken Wregget, Pete Peeters.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ron Hextail. G, pulled left groin muscle, indefinite. Mike Ricci, C, broken right index finger, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Tocchet, 4 A&mdash;Craven, 5. P&mdash; Tocchet, 8. PIM&mdash;Chychrun, 23. &#9632;

GROIN PAINS HAUNT HEXTALL

<div class="byline">BY MARK HERRMANN</div>Don Maloney is doing such good work that he might be costing himself a job.The 32-year-old left winger, guaranteed a place in the New York Islanders&rsquo; organization and being groomed for coaching duties, has been assigned to tutor 19-year-old left winger Dave Chyzowski. Ironically, the better he does as a teacher, the fewer chances Maloney might have as a player.Results from early lessons do not bode well for Maloney, the left winger.&ldquo;Donnie has been working very hard with him in positioning, checking and all aspects of the game, mentally and physically,&rdquo; coach Al Arbour said.Added Chyzowski: &ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve come a long way since the beginning of camp. I feel comfortable, I feel strong, I feel confident. Donnie&rsquo;s been a friend to me, a coach and someone I can look to.&rdquo;Those are precisely the qualities that convinced Bill Torrey to assure Maloney a place with the Islanders before training camp. The former Ranger, who signed a one-year player&rsquo;s contract with the Islanders during the off-season, spent about half the pre-season behind the bench as an assistant coach.Slowly, Arbour allowed Maloney to supervise practice for players who were not in the lineup one evening. Mick Vukota called it the toughest workout he&rsquo;d ever experienced.But Maloney hopes full-time coaching can wait, even though he was scratched from the lineup three straight games after playing in the season opener.Lately, he has been a role model for Chyzowski, the second pick overall in the 1989 entry draft.Chyzowski&rsquo;s hard shot and scoring knack brought him to the Islanders right out of juniors last fall. But lapses in defense and concentration forced the Isles to send him back to Kamloops. He continued to struggle during training camp, and was scratched in the first three regular season games.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s helping me offensively and I&rsquo;m helping him defensively,&rdquo; Maloney said.Chyzowski wasn&rsquo;t buying that for a second.&ldquo;I watch Donnie just as much on his offense as I do on his defense,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He always makes the easy, smart play.&ldquo;I hate to say this, but I don&rsquo;t really remember him playing for the Rangers. Maybe I&rsquo;m not that old yet,&rdquo; Chyzowski said. &ldquo;But I love playing with him. I&rsquo;m fortunate to play on the same team as him.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. ISLES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 12: Rob DiMaio, C, assigned to Capital District (AHL). Oct. 15: Jeff Norton, D, serving eight-game NHL imposed suspension. Eligible to return Oct. 24. Mick Vukota, RW, serving six-game NHL imposed suspension. Eligible to return Oct. 20. Greg Parks, C. and George Maneluk, G, recalled from Capital District.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Brent Sutter, Hubie McDonough, Tom Fitzgerald, Greg Parks.LW&mdash;Derek King, Bill Berg, David Volek, Don Maloney, Dave Chyzowski.RW&mdash;Randy Wood, Brad Dalgarno, Brad Lauer.LD&mdash;Rich Pilon, Gary Nylund, Ken Baumgartner, Jeff Finley.RD&mdash;Craig Ludwig, Doug Crossman, Wayne McBean, Joe Reekie.G&mdash;Jeff Hackett, George Maneluk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Glenn Healy, G, sprained left ankle, Oct. 23. Patrick Flatley, RW, sprained left knee, day-to-day. Mark Fitzpatrick, G, eosinophilic fasciitis (muscle and tissue swelling), indefinite Alan Kerr, RW, bruised kidney, indefinite. Pat LaFontaine. C, strained left hamstring, Oct. 23.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G-&mdash;Volek, 3. A&mdash;King, 4. P&mdash;King, 5. PIM&mdash;Berg, 17. &#9632;

MOONLIGHTING MALONEY MAKING SMOOTH TRANSITION

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div>You can make a pretty strong impression on people in 15 years. Especially when you spend that time winning things like four Stanley Cups, a scoring title and an MVP award.So it wasn&rsquo;t surprising the people of Long Island haven&rsquo;t forgotten Bryan Trottier, who dressed in the visitors&rsquo; room at Nassau Coliseum for the first time in his career Oct. 13.The crowd showed its affection for Trottier when he stepped onto the ice before the game, and again when he was introduced as Pittsburgh&rsquo;s starting center. A chant of &ldquo;Bry-an, Bry-an&rdquo; had barely stopped echoing when Trottier set up a goal by Randy Gilhen, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s first in a 6-4 victory.Trottier&rsquo;s return was cut short when he left the game with a bruised toe at 5:20 of the second period, but he&rsquo;ll be back a few more times this season.The Islanders deemed Trottier expendable after last season, but he quickly became an integral part of Pittsburgh&rsquo;s plans for this campaign. Especially when center Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with a back infection that likely will sideline him until around Christmas.Lemieux&rsquo;s absence thrust Trottier into a more prominent role than anyone had anticipated, and he responded with some solid two-way hockey.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m no different than anybody else,&rdquo; Trottier said. &ldquo;I want to contribute as much as possible.&rdquo;Trottier had two goals and an assist in his first five games with Pittsburgh, but the Penguins aren&rsquo;tonly interested in his statistics. He gives them, particularly the younger players, a heavy dose of the intangibles so often mis-, sing in Pittsburgh.&ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have to score goals to help us,&rdquo; coach Bob Johnson said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s showing how he&rsquo;s stayed in the game so long. He&rsquo;s got a great work ethic.&rdquo;&ldquo;Bob has made me feel appreciated and the players have made me feel comfortable,&rdquo; Trottier said.That might be because they recognize Trottier&rsquo;s grasp of the game&rsquo;s nuances; they realize he does things that don&rsquo;t show up on the stat sheet but surely are reflected on the scoreboard. His tireless backchecking, for example, and the way he wins faceoffs at critical junctures of the game.Trottier had been phased out of. Islander plans in recent seasons, and management there decided he did not have a place in its youth movement. They offered Trottier an unspecified position in the organization, but he opted to continue playing.Clearly, he disagreed with New York&rsquo;s position, but he doesn&rsquo;t make an issue of it. He has no interest in carrying a grudge against his former team, and said showing up Islanders&rsquo; general manager Bill Torrey isn&rsquo;t a major source of motivation.The challenge of helping the Penguins shed their tag as underachievers, maybe make a serious run at a Patrick Division championship, is his biggest incentive. If any of that happens, it probably will be because Trottier played a significant role.&ldquo;We expect (to get) a lot of mileage out of Bryan,&rdquo; Johnson said.The folks as Nassau Coliseum know exactly what he means.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;John Cullen, Mark Recchi, Barry Pederson, Bryan Trottier.LW&mdash;Kevin Stevens, Bob Errey, Randy Gilhen, Phil Bourque, Jeff Daniels.RW&mdash;Jaromir Jagr, Rob Brown, Tony Tanti, Joe Mullen, Jay Caufield.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Chris Dahlquist, Zarley Zalapski, Jim Paek.RD&mdash;Randy Hillier, Paul Stanton, Gord Dineen.G&mdash;Tom Barrasso. Wendell Young, Frank Pietrangelo.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Gilbert Delorme, D, leg stress fracture, day-to-day. Jim Johnson, D. back spasms, day-to-day. Jamie Leach, RW, torn ligaments in left knee, indefinite. Mario Lemieux, C, back infection, indefinite. Troy Loney, LW, knee surgery, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Stevens, Mullen, 4. A&mdash;Cullen, 11 P&mdash;Stevens, 14. PIM&mdash;Recchi, 17. &#9632;

TROTTIER HAS THEM STANDING ON THE ISLE

<div class="byline">BY DAVE SELL</div>Terry Murray paused a moment, swallowed hard and said, &ldquo;I hope it wasn&rsquo;t an aberration.&rdquo;The Washington Capitals&rsquo; coach was speaking of his team&rsquo;s 3-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets Oct. 12. The strong, solid, generally smart defense the Capitals displayed in beating the Jets was the first performance of its kind for the team this season.The Capitals, who through the latter stages of the 1980s liked to think of themselves as a difficult crew to score against, had been surrendering goals during the early stages of the 1990-91 campaign at a near-record pace. Excluding the Winnipeg game, the Capitals allowed five goals a game in their four other contests.A day after beating the Jets, the Capitals gave up another five goals in a 5-2 setback to the New York Rangers. Four nights earlier in New York, the Capitals outshot the Rangers 4217 and lost 4-2. Granted, the Rangers were outshot in five of their first six games. But that wasn&rsquo;t any consolation for the Capitals, who were thwarted on a multitude of scoring chances.&ldquo;No matter how happy you are with what you&rsquo;re trying to do offensively and the opportunities you&rsquo;ve created, you still have to take care of home,&rdquo; said Murray.Several factors were involved with the team&rsquo;s weak defensive play. With Don Beaupre arriving in camp just days before the opener, Mike Liut played the first five games. Beaupre played and won games with the Capitals&rsquo; American League farm team in Baltimore and rejoined the Caps Oct. 14.Liut, who tied Patrick Roy for the best goals-against average in the NHL last season (2.53), was at times spectacular and at others ordinary. But then it seemed he was facing an inordinate number of breakaways and 2-on-1s in the early games.&ldquo;Five games at the start of the season is a workload,&rdquo; said Murray, who replaced Liut with Jim Hrivnak for the third period against the Rangers (Oct. 13).Also shouldering part of the blame were the forwards. Too often, the opponents&rsquo; third and fourth attackers had too much room to maneuver.As for the blue line, it has a decidedly different look this season. Scott Stevens, one of the premier rearguards in the league, is in St. Louis and even among the returning players, things were unsettled.Kevin Hatcher missed nearly all of training camp over a contract dispute and Rod Lang way missed much of the week before the opener with back spasms. Mike Lalor, obtained from St. Louis in an off-season trade, was trying to figure out the styles of people he&rsquo;s playing with, while Calle Johansson was playing more and his offensive-oriented style was forcing others to make an adjustment.But the key is Hatcher. The Caps need him to perform at, if not above, the level at which he played during the second half of last season. But in the first five games, he had just two assists and was minus-9.&ldquo;Kevin Hatcher was away from training camp and it certainly hurt him,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Unfortunately, he has to play himself into shape.&rdquo;<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct, 9: Bob Babcock, D, recalled from Baltimore (AHL). Oct. 10: Don Beaupre, G. assigned to Baltimore. Jim Hrivnak, G, recalled from Baltimore Oct. 12: Babcock returned to Baltimore. Oct. 14: Steve Maltais, LW, Chris Felix, D, and Beaupre recalled from Baltimore. Mark Ferner, D, and Hrivnak assigned to Baltimore.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Hunter, Mike Ridley, Tim Bergland, Rob Murray.LW&mdash;Michal Pivonka, Kelly Miller, Dave Tippett, Nick Kypreos, Steve Maltais.RW&mdash;John Druce, Dino Ciccarelli, Alan May, Peter Bondra.LD&mdash;Rod Langway, Calle Johansson, Mike Lalor. Joel Quenneville.RD&mdash;Kevin Hatcher, Bob Rouse, Chris Felix.G&mdash;Mike Liut, Don Beaupre.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steve Leach, RW, concussion, day-to-day. Neil Sheehy, D, broken left ankle, indefinite. Peter Zezel, C, sore ankle, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Zezel, Miller, 3. A&mdash;Rouse. Druce, 5. P&mdash;Druce, 6. PIM&mdash;May, 18. &#9632;

SUSPECT DEFENSE HAS A VERY WEAK CASE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01922/5860378-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="470" height="631"><figcaption class="caption-body">DAVE MOLINARI</figcaption></div>The NHL might finally have stumbled onto a way to get a network TV contract in the United States. The soap opera unfolding in Minnesota surely would have prime-time appeal for people who watch shows like Dallas and Dynasty.The North Stars&rsquo;, uh, relationship with the San Jose Sharks is particularly juicy, what with all the charges and counter-charges, allegations and insults that have been caroming around the continent.As for the plan to have San Jose stock its roster with players from Minnesota, well, it&rsquo;s always messy when you try to figure out who gets custody of the kids.Things already are so tense that San Jose employees such as scouts are not being given the usual complimentary access to the Met Center.Sounds ugly, but has anybody ever considered the possibility the North Stars have just hit on a creative way to get a few more paying customers in the building?Some other early-season news, views and abuse:&#9632; Lloyd Pettit, the man whose money was behind Milwaukee&rsquo;s push to get an expansion team, withdrew his bid when he decided it wasn&rsquo;t fiscally prudent.Gee, just because it would cost him $50 million for the right to put out a dreadful team that would have no chance of winning for at least several years?Good thing that man won&rsquo;t be getting a team. Sound, logical reasoning simply has no place in the NHL.&#9632; Some folks might not have noticed Toronto&rsquo;s abysmal start, but you can bet it didn&rsquo;t escape the attention of the New Jersey Devils.New Jersey, remember, owns the Maple Leafs&rsquo; first-round choice in the 1991 entry draft, when a teenager named Eric Lindros is eligible to take his first formal step toward immortality. (It&rsquo;s probably a good idea to let the young man play a few games in the NHL before inducting him into the Hall of Fame.)Anyway, it could get interesting if the Leafs continue to struggle badly as the season unfolds. If there is any chance of Toronto finishing last in the overall standings, you can expect the Devils to consider offering a capable player or two to the other last-place contenders. That would be a great way to protect their investment.Conversely, you shouldn&rsquo;t be surprised if some other Patrick Division teams&mdash;aghast at the thought of Lindros in New Jersey&mdash;do whatever they can to prevent the Leafs from finishing last overall.&#9632; If Lindros ends up in Quebec, there shouldn&rsquo;t be much clammer about the Nordiques going in the tank to get him.Not when general manager Pierre Page has gone to such great lengths to improve his team for this season. It would have been easy for him to keep Michel Bergeron as coach&mdash;what a convenient scapegoat for another 21st-place finish&mdash;let Mats Sundin spend another winter in Sweden and ship Owen Nolan back to junior.Then, after Lindros was locked up, Page could have hired the coach of his choice, brought over Sundin, promoted Nolan and taken dramatic, immediate steps toward respectability.But Page wouldn&rsquo;t wait. He wants to win as much as possible now, and clearly isn&rsquo;t setting aside a sweater with a Lindros nameplate on it.Perhaps that doesn&rsquo;t speak well of Page&rsquo;s business sense, since Lindros is expected to be a franchise player, but it provides a marvelous insight on the man&rsquo;s intensity and integrity.&#9632; The NHL, like so many operations, prefers to handle much of its business outside of public view.That can be difficult at times, however, because there are so many media vermin swarming around North America.It can be a prickly problem, but there is at least one possible solution everyone is over-looking.The NHL could award the broadcast rights to its behind-the-scenes dealings to SportsChannel America. That way, nobody ever would see any of it.&#9632; There are some promoters handling preseason NHL games who don&rsquo;t seem to know anything more about staging one than how to split the proceeds. Bad ice and broken promises are a virtual rite of autumn in some places.A definite exception is the Bay Area group headed up by Len Shapiro. His group has been promoting September games for several years, and always does it with a high degree of professionalism.None of the people in that group apparently will have a role with the San Jose Sharks. That&rsquo;s unfortunate, because the games they promoted have demonstrated&mdash;and maybe sustained&mdash;hockey interest in northern California. &#9632;

f0020-01

CUSTODY BATTLE A MESSY AFFAIR

<h2>CANADIENS</h2>The acquisition of Denis Savard was supposed to fix up that horrible Montreal power play, right? Well, through the first five games of the season the unit was worse than last season when it finished last in the league with a 15.9 percent success rate. The Habs went 2-for-27 (7.4 per cent) on the power play to start the year. The two goals came in a 6-5 win over the Sabres Oct. 6 leaving the club 0-for-22 in its other four games. Savard had failed to record a point on the power play in the Habs&rsquo; first five games&hellip;Brian Skrudland signed a two-year contract with the Habs Oct. 11 and had this to say about his raise: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lot more than a guy who was working bagging groceries at 15 so it&rsquo;s fine.&rdquo;&hellip;Veteran Ryan Walter, who didn&rsquo;t see any action in the team&rsquo;s first four games, started the fifth (a 5-2 loss to Hartford Oct. 13), then promptly broke his right wrist on his first shift. Walter, who suffered the injury after colliding with Whalers&rsquo; defenseman Grant Jennings, was expected to be out eight weeks.<h2>SABRES</h2>Gilbert Perreault&rsquo;s return to Buffalo Oct. 17 put an end to several years of cool feelings between the superstar center and the organization. Perreault, who was to have his No. 11 retired before the game against Montreal, said two good meetings involving himself and members of the organization during the Hall of Fame induction in Toronto smoothed the way to an agreement. The Sabres bought four tables for the induction ceremony and brought in a number of Perreault&rsquo;s old teammates. Perreault also left the door open for employment opportunities with the club sometime after this season&hellip;Alexander Mogilny missed his first game of the season in Quebec Oct. 13 (4-4 tie) when he suffered a groin pull during a 4-2 loss to the Nords a day earlier&hellip;John Tucker to make his first appearance of the season Oct. 13 centering a line for Darcy Loewen and Benoit Hogue Mike Foligno moved from the stands to the fourth line and then up on a line with Pierre Turgeon and Dave Andreychuk. Coach Rick Dudley said the veteran forward had been one of his best players in recent games and deserved his opportunity.<h2>NORDIQUES</h2>Curtis Leschyshyn sat out two of three games recently. The coaches, as well as GM Pierre Page, want him to be more aggressive&hellip;Defenseman Bryan Fogarty, after sitting out the first three games of the season, was seeing regular action and was very effective on the power play. &ldquo;He gives us a whole new dimension,&rdquo; said assistant coach Jacques Martin-&hellip;The Nordiques want 18-year-old right winger Owen Nolan to work harder. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t like to see him coasting on the ice. He isn&rsquo;t getting much ice time. He&rsquo;ll have to deserve to play,&rdquo; said Martin. &ldquo;There are no sure jobs around here, no matter who you are.&rdquo;&hellip;Guy Lafleur had seven points (3-4) in his first five games-<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03417/5860409-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg" title="f0020-03" width="560" height="638"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Carpenter is happy with his salary arbitration outcome.</figcaption></div><h2>BRUINS</h2>A three-week wait for a decision in his salary arbitration was worth it for Bobby Carpenter, who was a very happy fellow Oct. 12 after learning the ruling of Toronto Judge Monte Harris. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect to get as much as I did, I really didn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said Carpenter, who was awarded a one-year contract worth approximately $400,000, plus incentives for goals and assists. The Bruins offered an estimated $316,000. Players&rsquo; Association director Bob Goodenow was also pleased by the outcome. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy because the player is happy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The system worked, which hasn&rsquo;t always been the case.&rdquo;&hellip;Defenseman Michael Thelven underwent arthroscopic surgery Oct. 11 on his chronically-sore right knee, and his career is very much in doubt. The same is true of defenseman Gord Kluzak, who&rsquo;d hoped to play sometime on the Bruins&rsquo;s sevengame, Oct. 7-20 trip, but had to cut back on workouts when pain returned in his knee.<h2>WHALERS</h2>After becoming only the third team in NHL history to finish above. 500 (21-15-4) on the road and under. 500 (17-18-5) at home last season, the Whalers are finding the Civic Center a more friendly place to play. Including the tail end of 1989-90, the playoffs, the exhibition games and a 3-0-1 season start, the Whalers are 13-1-3. Before a crowd of 13,119 Oct. 13, however, the Whalers attracted only 11,573, 12,590 and 10,495 for an average of 11,553 through the early going. The opening night crowd was the smallest since the club was forced to open in 1979 at Springfield because of the Civic Center roof collapse, and the 10,495 against Buffalo Oct. 10 was the smallest crowd since Dec. 18, 1985&hellip;Unless there&rsquo;s a drastic change in the offer, Frank Caputo, agent for Ron Francis, says the Whalers&rsquo; center is playing out his option at $370,000. The Whalers are offering about $525,000 on the first of a four-year contract. Francis is asking for at least $700,000. &#9632;

f0020-03

HABS’ POWER PLAY WORSE THAN EVER

Oct. 30, 1942: Toronto&rsquo;s Gus Bodnar established the NHL record for the fastest goal by a rookie in his first game when he beat New York Ranger goalie Ken McAuley just 15 seconds into a 5-2 Maple Leaf win. Bodnar, who played 12 seasons with Toronto, Chicago and Boston, went on to win the Calder Trophy in 1942-43.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02618/5860440-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="642" height="414"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gus Bodnar</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0020-02

FLASHBACK

<div class="byline">BY JEFF JACOBS</div>Kevin Dineen is hot. He had a goal in each of the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; first five games.Rebounding Randy Cunneyworth is hot. He scored a goal in four straight games.But the real heat during the Whalers&rsquo; 3-2-1 start was being felt by the eight defensemen.Only six play. And, inevitably, one of them is told after the start of pregame warmup that he&rsquo;ll be sitting in the press box.While the timing may sound like something out of Scotty Bowman&rsquo;s coaching manual of fear, Whalers&rsquo; coach Rick Ley said, &ldquo;It is not a scare tactic. And I hope to have the option of doing it all season because that means we won&rsquo;t have any injuries. I hope I have to make a decision every game on sitting somebody out.&ldquo;Hey, I don&rsquo;t like going up to a player and telling him he&rsquo;s not in the lineup&mdash;especially if he&rsquo;s giving 100 per cent like Sylvain Cote always does. But it does keep everyone sharp and on their toes, and if we do have an injury, we&rsquo;re not throwing a guy in there who hasn&rsquo;t played.&rdquo;The pill has been a harsh one at times.Brad Shaw, voted by the media as the Whalers&rsquo; outstanding defenseman last season, was scratched from the opener.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very disappointed,&rdquo; Shaw said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sort of embarrassed.&rdquo;Ley, simply put, wasn&rsquo;t happy with the way Shaw played in the preseason. Shaw, who was disappointed with a contract offer he turned down, will make $140,000 in his option year. Same as last year.&ldquo;This goes for everyone, not just for Brad,&rdquo; said Ley. &ldquo;You have a contract. You honor it. You can&rsquo;t let it affect your play.&rdquo;Sitting out, especially, on last minute&rsquo;s notice has unnerved some players.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s frustrating,&rdquo; said Cote, scatched from the second and sixth games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing my option year (at $180,000) this year and I&rsquo;m not too crazy about this rotation stuff.Dave Babych, also playing out his option at $300,000, was scratched from Games 3, 4 and 5. After sitting out the 4-3 win over Buffalo Oct. 10, Babych met with Ley and thought he might play Oct. 12 in Detroit. He was scratched after the warmup.Only Ulf Samuelsson seems untouchable. Adam Burt, a frequent partner of Samuelsson&rsquo;s, was the Whalers&rsquo; best defenseman through the exhibition season and enjoyed a fast start. But, only 21, he struggles from time to time. Grant Jennings and Randy Ladouceur give the defense needed size. But they are hardly untouchable.Still looking for a quarterback, the Whalers have run Shaw, Burt, Samuelsson, Babych and right winger Scott Young on the points. One guy nobody has seen in the regular season, however, is Slovak offensive defenseman Jergus Baca.Baca was cleared to play Oct. 9.A week later, Ley still had not played the Slovak.<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 9: Jergus Baca. D, freed from contract with Kosice, Czech. Oct. 11: Todd Richards, D, acquired from Montreal and assigned to Springfield (AHL). Oct. 12: Jim McKenzie. LW, recalled from Springfield on one-game emergency basis.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ron Francis, Carey Wilson, Dean Evason, Ray Ferraro.LW&mdash;Todd Krygier, Randy Cunneyworth, Paul Cyr, Mikael Andersson.RW&mdash;Bobby Holik, Scott Young, Pat Verbeek, Kevin DineenLD&mdash;Randy Ladouceur, Adam Burt, Grant Jennings, Jergus Baca.RD&mdash;Sylvain Cote, Dave Babych, Brad Shaw, Ulf Samuelsson.G&mdash;Kay Whitmore, Peter Sidorkiewicz.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ed Kastellc, RW, cracked rib, indefinite. Yvon Corriveau. LW, bruised foot, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Dineen, 5. A&mdash;Wilson, 6. P&mdash; Dineen, Wilson, Francis, 7. PIM&mdash;Burt, 16. &#9632;

MUSICAL-CHAIR BLUELINERS SINGING THE BLUES

A consumate team player who always gives his best.That&rsquo;s the best way to describe this week&rsquo;s Jofa Titan Player of the Week, Adam Hollett of Leaf Rapids, Man.The 4-foot-5, 73-pound center played for the Leaf Rapid Raiders last season and scored 81 goals and 31 assists in 24 tournament games. The captain of his team, Adam played a significant role in helping his club capture one gold and four silver medals in five tournaments last season.A multi-talented athlete who plays in an age group above his own, Adam has played every position on the ice except goaltender.Dedicated to team play, Adam often feels it&rsquo;s his responsibility to give credit to teammates when the time is appropriate.In fact, last season, after starring in a championship game of one tournament, Adam refused to accept an individual award for his strong play. Instead, he gave the award to his goaltender.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01692/5860495-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="555" height="1152"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Hollett</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;

f0021-01

PLAYER OF WEEK JOFA TITAN

<div class="byline">BY CHRIS STEVENSON</div>At 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8, as has been his custom on many nights the last four years, Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; backup goaltender Brian Hayward pulled up a chair and watched his teammates play a hockey game.The only difference was the chair wasn&rsquo;t at the de Maisonneuve Street end of the Canadiens&rsquo; bench. It was in the living room of his suburban home.Hayward, unhappy with diminished playing time and little prospect for change, walked out on the Habs that morning, skipping the team&rsquo;s skate and failing to show for the game that evening against the Hartford Whalers.Hayward&rsquo;s agent, Don Meehan, who was caught off guard by his client&rsquo;s move, asked Montreal managing director Serge Savard to trade the goaltender.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very surprised, but that&rsquo;s (Hayward&rsquo;s) decision,&rdquo; said Savard. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s the. right one myself, but he&rsquo;s the only one who can decide that.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m faced with having to suspend him without pay. I&rsquo;ll see what I can do. If I can come up with a trade, I will. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean if somebody else leaves, I&rsquo;ll trade them. too. I think a trade (involving Hayward) was inevitable given the situation on our team.&rdquo;The 30-year-old&rsquo;s walkout was the first tangible action taken by a group of disgruntled Habs.Savard&rsquo;s reference to &ldquo;somebody else&rdquo; was no doubt intended for left winger Shayne Corson, who was rumored to be considering a walkout to spur his request to have his contract renegotiated.Captain Guy Carbonneau and defenseman Petr Svoboda, who are both playing out their options, are also un-happy with the state of negotiations.Montreal coach Pat Bums met with Hayward, who backed up Patrick Roy in the Habs&rsquo; first two games of the season, before practice Oct. 7 in suburban Verdun.Hayward asked if he would be starting against the Whalers and was told no, he would get his first start of the season in the Habs&rsquo; fourth game, against the New York Rangers Oct. 12.That wasn&rsquo;t good enough for Hayward, who let Bums know he would be going on strike for higher play.Savard then recalled J.C. Bergeron, a second year-pro who had a good training camp, from the Habs&rsquo; American League team in Fredericton.He backed up Roy in Montreal&rsquo;s 5-3 win over the Whalers and during road losses to the Rangers (3-0 Oct. 12) and Hartford (5-2 Oct. 13).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01811/5860526-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="561" height="590"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Hayward says walking out was his own decision.</figcaption></div>Burns said he was surprised at Hayward&rsquo;s action, coming just two games into the season.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t promise him he&rsquo;s going to play half the games,&rdquo; said Bums. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t promise a player he&rsquo;s going to play on the power play. I can&rsquo;t promise a player he&rsquo;s going to get more ice time. I can&rsquo;t make promises like that.&rdquo;In an interview on the eve of the season opener, Hayward said Savard had told him he&rsquo;d see more playing time this season.&ldquo;He often said I&rsquo;ll play, that I&rsquo;d be treated on equal footing with Roy, that I&rsquo;d get a chance to play a few games in a row. If that&rsquo;s true, I&rsquo;ll be very happy in Montreal,&rdquo; said Hayward at the time.Hayward, who signed a two-year deal before the Habs left for their training camp in Europe, also frequently voiced the opinion he thought he&rsquo;d be traded when Roy signed a new contract, which occurred just before the season started.But Savard&rsquo;s version of events differed.&ldquo;I made him no promises when Hayward signed his contract (Sept. 4),&rdquo; said Savard. &ldquo;If he said he&rsquo;s leaving soon, that&rsquo;s his personal opinion.&rdquo;Hayward&rsquo;sdisillusionment with the Habs has been growing the last three seasons. He wants more playing time, as any pro with pride would want, but he&rsquo;s stuck behind Roy, the league&rsquo;s best goaltender two years running.Hayward, who was traded to the Habs by the Winnipeg Jets in August 1986. didn&rsquo;t dress for nine games last season because of an injury and wound up playing in 29&mdash;down slightly from the 37, 39 and 36 he&rsquo;d played in the three previous seasons.In the last three post-seasons, he&rsquo;s seen action in seven of 43 games. He logged a total of 33 playoff minutes last year.When reached at his home the day of his walkout, Hayward would only say, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a decision I made myself,&rdquo; and referred all questions to Meehan.&ldquo;I called Savard and told him Brian is disappointed about not getting the opportunity to play on a regular basis,&rdquo; said Meehan. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t have any hard feelings against the Canadiens. He just wants to play on a regular basis. I asked Serge Savard to take the opportunity to trade him and Serge indicated he&rsquo;d do the best he could.&rdquo;Said Roy: &ldquo;He was really unhappy, so it was not a surprise for anybody.&rdquo;Does Roy think Hayward did the right thing?&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not for me to say. I&rsquo;m not in his position,&rdquo; said Roy. &ldquo;Ask me when I&rsquo;m 30, come see me then. He&rsquo;s a competitive man who want to play. It&rsquo;s his decision.&rdquo;<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Denis Savard, Guy Carbonneau. Brian Skrudland, Stephan Lebeau, Andrew Cassels.LW&mdash;Mark Pederson, Mike McPhee. Brent Gilchrist.RW&mdash;Stephane Richer, Russ Courtnail. Todd Ewen, Mike Keane, Tom Chorske.LD&mdash;Sylvain Lefebvre. Petr Svoboda, Donald Dufresne. Lyle Odelein.RD&mdash;Gerald Diduck, Matt Schneider, Eric Desjardins. J.J. Daigneault.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Jean-Claude Bergeron.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Benoit Brunet, LW, strained knee ligaments, indefinite. Sylvain Turgeon, LW, hernia surgery, indefinite. Ryan Walter. LW, broken right wrist, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Richer, 4. A&mdash;Svoboda, 4. P&mdash;. Richer, 7. PIM&mdash;Ewen, 24. &#9632;

f0022-01

HAYWARD WALKS OUT DEMANDING HIGHER PLAY

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>The lugger is back in town.And his return hasn&rsquo;t gone unnoticed. Goalie Ron Tug-nutt was a major reason why the Quebec Nordiques were able to pick up five out of a possible six points in the second week of action.Sent down to Halifax Oct. 2, the frail 5-foot-11, 155-pound goalie didn&rsquo;t waste away in the American League. Quebec recalled him when young John Tanner suffered an injury to a finger on his right hand.Tanner backstopped the Nordiques to a 4-4 tie against Hartford in the season opener Oct. 4, but he was yanked in his second game in Boston two nights later. Scott Gordon came on in relief and then played the next night at Le Colisee against the same Bruins. Boston won both games, 7-1 and 5-2.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01727/5860557-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="544" height="1082"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Tugnutt sparked Quebec to a three-game unbeaten streak.</figcaption></div>With Tanner injured, the Nordiques sent for Tugnutt. Gordon started Oct. 10 in Toronto, but after allowing three goals on seven shots, coach Dave Chambers decided to make a switch.The 23-year-old Toronto native stopped 29 of 31 shots and Quebec rallied to its first victory of the season, an 8-5 decision. He was selected the game&rsquo;s first star.It was Tugnutt&rsquo;s first win since Nov. 11, 1989. He was 5-24-3 with a 4.61 goals-against-average with the Nordiques last season.&ldquo;That was exactly the kind of game that I needed to feel part of the team again,&rdquo; Tugnutt said. &ldquo;It really boosts the confidence. It&rsquo;s fun to get a win. I really didn&rsquo;t know what victory tasted like anymore.&rdquo;What pleased Tugnutt even more was to win in his hometown, in front of his family and friends&mdash;especially since he wasn&rsquo;t even supposed to play.Chambers was proud of his young netminder.&ldquo;Ron has had his problems, but he surely proved to us that he could play, and play well, in the NHL,&rdquo; the rookie coach said.Two nights later in Buffalo, Tugnutt was the obvious choice to start in goal. He was outstanding in stopping 38 of 40 shots and helping Quebec to a stunning 4-2 triumph.To put things in perspective, it was the first time since January 1989 the Nords won two games in a row on the road. It was also the first time since last November they picked up two wins in a row, period.&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t expect to win without good goaltending,&rdquo; Chambers said. &ldquo;Ron has been phenomenal. He accepted his demotion to Halifax like a man and came back to us a better person. Let&rsquo;s give him credit. He&rsquo;s acted like a real pro.&rdquo;The Tugnutt show wasn&rsquo;t over just yet. In Quebec Oct. 13, he helped the Nords to a 4-4 tie with the Sabres. He made 31 saves, most of them on quality shots.&ldquo;A little kick in the rear end never hurt anyone,&rdquo; Tugnutt said after extending Quebec&rsquo;s unbeaten streak to three games. &ldquo;To be sent down to Halifax was an eye opener. It really helped me see things in another perspective.&ldquo;I feel strong mentally. The team is very optimistic right now. The guys are all working very hard. The winning has a lot to do with it. We&rsquo;re not used to it, but we welcome the change.&rdquo;Chambers welcomes Tugnutt&rsquo;s rebirth. The Peterborough Petes&rsquo; product is back in the groove. Third on the goaltending depth chart just a short while ago, he&rsquo;s been elevated back to No. 1.<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 8: Ron Tugnutt, G, recalled from Halifax (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;loe Sakic, Tony Hrkac, Ken McRae, Aaron Broten, Lucien Deblois, Marc Fortier.LW&mdash;Mike Hough, Tony McKegney.RW&mdash;Mats Sundin, Owen Nolan, Guy Lafleur, Darin Kimble.LD&mdash;Joe Cirella, Craig Wolanin, Curtis Leschyshyn, Shawn Anderson.RD&mdash;Michel Petit, Steven Finn, Bryan Fogarty, Randy Velischek.G&mdash;Ron Tugnutt, Scott Gordon, John Tanner.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Daniel Dore, RW, back spasms, indefinite. Paul Gillis, C. right shoulder separation, indefinite. Stephane Guerard, D, strained right shoulder, indefinite. Claude Loiselle, C, charleyhorse, indefinite. Everett Sanipass, LW, fractured left foot, indefinite. Wayne Van Dorp, LW. torn muscle in right shoulder, day-to-day. Daniel Vincelette, LW, strained left shoulder, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;McKegney, 4. A&mdash;Sakic, 8. P&mdash; Sakic, 11. PIM&mdash;Finn. 37 &#9632;

f0023-01

DEFENSE TIGHTENS UP WITH TWIST OF TUGNUTT

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div>They say good things come to those who wait. But almost two weeks into the regular season, Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; fans thought their team was taking this patience thing a little far.The club many picked to knock off Boston and win the Adams Division, the Sabres began the season without a win in their first five games. The team&rsquo;s 0-3-2 start had almost everyone involved at a loss for an explanation.&ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t been working hard enough,&rdquo; said center/left winger Benoit Hogue. &ldquo;We work hard at times, at different points in different games, but we haven&rsquo;t done it for a full 60 minutes yet. I think we&rsquo;re getting to that point. It&rsquo;s coming.&rdquo;Buffalo gave up third-period leads in falling to a 3-3 tie with Montreal at home Oct. 4 and 6-5 and 4-3 losses to Montreal (Oct. 6) and Hartford (Oct. 10) respectively on the road. The lowest point came Oct. 12 during a 4-2 home loss to Quebec. Buffalo didn&rsquo;t win the next night either at Quebec, but a 4-4 tie brought some hope.&ldquo;I count this tie like a win,&rdquo; said defenseman Uwe Krupp after he scored a goal with less than two minutes remaining to salvage the draw. &ldquo;We never quit even when we fell behind. We couldn&rsquo;t afford to lose this game and we didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;But they didn&rsquo;t win either and the reasons were both simple and varied.For starters, the revamped offense wasn&rsquo;t producing. Pierre Turgeon, a 40-goal and 106-point scorer a season ago, went through the first four games without a goal. Dale Hawerchuk, obtained in the celebrated off-season deal with Winnipeg, scored on opening night but didn&rsquo;t have a goal in four games thereafter.&ldquo;Our so called big guns aren&rsquo;t doing squat,&rdquo; coach Rick Dudley said. &ldquo;I can see this is going to take more time (to come together as a team) than I had hoped.&rdquo;Dudley was even more troubled after the loss to Quebec, but he saw the 4-4 tie with the Nordiques as a sign that the Sabres might finally be getting untracked.&ldquo;Pierre (Turgeon) told me he was going to have a big night and he did that,&rdquo; Dudley said of Turgeon&rsquo;s three-point effort (two goals and an assist).&ldquo;We had some adversity in the game (defenseman Greg Brown was bashed in the nose and defenseman Jay Wells had to leave with a leg injury) and we still carried on. The atmosphere on the bench was good in that the guys never stopped working and we had an attitude that we wouldn&rsquo;t quit. I count all of those as good things.&rdquo;Still, Buffalo displayed some weaknesses. With Alexander Mogilny out with a pulled groin muscle, Buffalo was lacking breakaway speed. There also seemed to be a shortage of physical and mental toughness as well as poise and confidence.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not sure this team has accepted the challenge before it,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; general manager Gerry Meehan. &ldquo;Right now we have about seven players who are playing up to expectations. I&rsquo;ve told the rest of them that training camp is over and we&rsquo;re into the regular season. They better start playing like they know it.&rdquo;<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon. Dale Hawerchuk. Christian Ruuttu, Benoit Hogue, John Tucker.LW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk. Darrin Shannon, Mike Hartman, Dave Snuggerud.RW&mdash;Mike Foligno. Rick Vaive, Darcy Loewen.LD&mdash;Mike Ramsey. Doug Bodger, Grant Ledyard.RD&mdash;Uwe Krupp. Greg Brown, Dean Kennedy.G&mdash;Daren Puppa, Clint Malarchuk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Brad May. LW, left knee ligament damage, indefinite. Alexander Mogllny, RW, groin pull, day-to-day Jay Wells, D, bruised leg, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Ruuttu, Andreychuk, 3. A&mdash; Turgeon, 4. P&mdash;Turgeon, 6. PIM&mdash;Vaive., 20. &#9632;

FEW ANSWERS AND EVEN FEWER VICTORIES

<div class="byline">BY STEPHEN HARRIS</div>Six games into the season, Boston Bruins&rsquo; coach Mike Milbury wanted more from star right winger Cam Neely.Milbury was critical of the manner in which Neely coped with the close and physical coverage by North Star Basil McRae in a disappointing 3-3 tie Oct. 11 in Minnesota.&ldquo;One of the things Cam will have to face is having guys like McRae on him,&rdquo; said Milbury. &ldquo;Teams are going to do that. How he deals with it is really up to him.&ldquo;But I can assure you, one way not to deal with it is to play soft, which is how Cam approached the game (against Minnesota). His game is not to play soft. He can&rsquo;t let any team dictate his style of play.&rdquo;Neely got off to a strong start, scoring one goal in each of the first three. games. But he was blanked in the next three games. In each game, he had good scoring chances, but couldn&rsquo;t cash in.And Neely admitted his thoughts against the North Stars were more on avoiding McRae&rsquo;s roughhouse tactics than playing the bruising and aggressive style that produced 55 goals and a second team all-star selection last season.&ldquo;I let him get to me,&rdquo; said Neely. &ldquo;He played a real physical game, and his attention was focused basically on me alone. It&rsquo;s frustrating, but it&rsquo;s something I have to learn to live with.&ldquo;Hopefully, I can figure something out. I&rsquo;ve just got to try not to let it bother me like it did. It&rsquo;s a situation where I have to figure out what I want to do. Do I want to be going to the penalty box with a guy like McRae or what?&rdquo;One crude, but effective, manner of discouraging a player who is laying on hard hits at every opportunity is to hit back harder. With body checks, or fists.Neely, one of the NHL&rsquo;s most respected fighters despite the fact he rarely drops the gloves anymore, tried the latter on McRae last season.&ldquo;In Boston last year, I fought him once, but he&rsquo;s a guy who keeps coming at you,&rdquo; said Neely. &ldquo;He kept saying, &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s go again, let&rsquo;s go again.&rsquo; I fight him and beat him, and he just wants to go again. He&rsquo;s not a guy I can intimidate, even if I do beat him.&rdquo;The North Stars in general proved surprisingly unimpressed by the Bruins, storming back from a 3-0 deficit and widely outplaying the Bruins from the second period to the end.Milbury wanted to see someone on his club&mdash;someone such as Neely&mdash;step forward and re-establish Bruin dominance.&ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t it the responsibility of a player or a group of players to say, &lsquo;enough is enough?&rsquo; Take some sort of action?&rdquo; asked Milbury. &ldquo;Make a great play, lay a big hit on someone, or maybe just drop the gloves and kick the crap out of someone?&ldquo;Do something, as opposed to just being passive.&rdquo;Passive. It&rsquo;s not a word often used in describing Cam Neely.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 15: John Byce, RW. recalled from Maine (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Craig Janney, Dave Poulin, Wes Walz, Andy BrickleyLW&mdash;John Carter, Randy Burridge, Bob Carpenter, Bob Sweeney, Nevin Markwart.RW&mdash;Cam Neely, Dave Christian, Peter Douris, Chris Nilan, Lyndon Byers, John Byce.LD&mdash;Al Pedersen, Don Sweeney, Glen Wesley.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque, Stephane Quintal, Jim Wiemer.G&mdash;Reggie Lemelin, Andy Moog.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Beers, D, broken leg, indefinite. Garry Galley, D, facial cut and concussion, day-to-day. Gord Kluzak, D, chronic knee pain, indefinite. Michael Thelven, D, chronic knee pain, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Poulin. 4. A&mdash;Wesley, 5. P&mdash; Wesley, 7. PIM&mdash;Pedersen, 10. &#9632;

TIME FOR NEELY TO GET TOUGH: MILBURY

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01751/5860636-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

CLASSIFIED

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01696/5860667-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="570" height="649"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Mosienko scored three goals in just 21 seconds in 1952.</figcaption></div>You can forget the old saying &ldquo;records are made to be broken&rdquo; when talking about what Bill Mosienko did on March 23, 1952.In that game the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; right winger scored three goals in 21 seconds as the Hawks rallied from a 6-2 deficit to defeat the New York Rangers 7-6. The old record was 64 seconds by Carl Liscombe in 1934. Since Mosienko&rsquo;s feat, the closest anyone has come is Jean Beliveau, who scored three times in 44 seconds on Nov. 5, 1955.Mosienko&rsquo;s record is as safe as any in the NHL record books. It ranks right up there with goaltender Glenn Hall&rsquo;s 502 consecutive games played as two of the most secure records in the game. The funny thing is, Mosienko had to be told he broke the record.&ldquo;I never even realized I had the record until my teammate Jim Peterson, who played with Lis-combe when he broke the record, said, &lsquo;Go out and get the puck, you&rsquo;ve just set a record,&rsquo;&rdquo; Mosienko recalls. &ldquo;Then, about 45 seconds later, I got in again and I had an open net but I missed. I missed the far goal post by about two inches. I could just see that puck go by.&rdquo;So Mosienko must settle for the record for fastest three goals. He says people still ask him about it all the time. It was the highlight in an NHL career that saw him score 258 goals and 282 assists for 540 points in 711 NHL games from 1941 to 1955.After Mosienko scored the first goal&mdash;against New York goalie Lome Anderson&mdash;he kept the puck. The goal was the 29th of the season and he wanted to save the puck in case he didn&rsquo;t reach the 30-goal plateau. When he got No. 30, he got that puck as well and then, after being prodded by Peterson, he got the third puck. Today, all three pucks are in the Hall of Fame.Just two days before he broke the record, Mosienko wished he could get his name in the record book.&ldquo;We were thumbing through the record book and I remarked how nice it would be to have my name in there with some of the hockey greats,&rdquo; Mosienko says. &ldquo;But I just figured it would never happen&mdash;and then it did, 48 hours later.&rdquo;Mosienko, who was born in Winnipeg on Nov. 2, 1921, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1965. He says his three-goal record, the induction and being named the Lady Byng Trophy winner in 1945 are his greatest memories of the NHL.He was a member of Chicago&rsquo;s famous &ldquo;Pony Line&rdquo; with Max and Doug Bentley at the beginning of his career but the record was set with center Gus Bodnar and left winger George Gee. Bodnar assisted on all three goals.When his playing days ended Mosienko returned to Winnipeg to operate a bowling alley which he opened in April, 1948 with his partner, Joe Cooper. Mosienko bought out Cooper several years ago and now runs the operation with his son, Brian.&ldquo;I once averaged 233 (in five-pin) with the Winnipeg All-Stars, but I&rsquo;m not as active as I used to be,&rdquo; says Mosienko. &ldquo;When I was with Chicago, I&rsquo;d always visited different bowling lanes and I thought we needed one in Winnipeg.&rdquo;The bowling alley has 20 lanes&mdash;all five-pin, the 10-pin lanes were replaced in 1960 because of lack of interest&mdash;and is right on Main St. in downtown Winnipeg. Mosienko spends much of his time actively involved with the operation of the bowling alley.When he&rsquo;s not at the bowling alley, Mosienko likes to travel. He drives south with his wife every winter, usually to Arizona.He still follows hockey but rarely goes to the Winnipeg Arena to watch the Jets. His bowling league conflicts too often with the Jets&rsquo; schedule for him to go to many games.&ldquo;I still watch &lsquo;em on TV,&rdquo; says Mosienko, &ldquo;but what I don&rsquo;t like are the rules being ignored, like hooking. That makes me furious.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0027-01

MOSIENKO BOWLED OVER BY THREE-GOAL RECORD

Steve Edgar didn&rsquo;t give hockey a second thought until April 29, 1978, the day he saw Lanny McDonald&rsquo;s series clinching goal in overtime against the New York Islanders.The Toronto Maple Leafs didn&rsquo;t go much farther in the playoffs that year, but the memory lives on with Edgar.&ldquo;That inspired me to get active in hockey,&rdquo; Edgar, 30, said. &ldquo;I started playing five years ago and I can&rsquo;t get enough of it.&rdquo;Edgar now runs True North Hockey Canada, a Toronto-based non-contact recreational league for adults who barely know how to play the game.The co-ed league is in its first year of operation with 24 teams in five tiers, ranging from beginner/novice to intermediate. A screening tournament in September determined player placement within the tiers. Those too dominant weren&rsquo;t permitted to join.&ldquo;We encouraged adults with little or no hockey background to join,&rdquo; Edgar said. &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t a league for ex-pros or ex-junior players. This is a chance for the novice adult to play against his peers and not worry about being killed (by physical play) or having to learn with little kids.&ldquo;Seventy-five per cent of our players only started playing within the last five years. That&rsquo;s what makes this league so unique.&rdquo;The response was so overwhelming, Edgar foresees his Toronto league expanding into a coast-to-coast operation before the end of the decade. Hamilton and Ottawa have made overtures to start similar programs next season.Hockey legend Bobby Hull is the honorary chairman of True North. Even though Hull, now 51, could probably beat any of these hackneyed teams singlehandedly, Edgar says Hull epitomizes the philosophy of the league.&ldquo;He has always made a statement for fair play,&rdquo; Edgar said. &ldquo;I remember when he sat out in protest of Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson getting brutalized around (the World Hockey Association).&rdquo;Hull skates with beginners in the novice program.True North&rsquo;s concept revolves around fun and sportsmanship. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. Players wear full equipment and slapshots are allowed, but there&rsquo;s absolutely no physical contact.Consider its special rules: 12month suspension for attempt to injure, one-game suspension for every 50 penalty minutes, game misconduct for dropping your gloves. There are also regulations against stacking&mdash;every player gets equal shifts except in the final five minutes of games.Because of the rules, Edgar says women can play on par with men and not worry about any possible physical disadvantages.&ldquo;One girl came out wearing a Russian Dymano sweater, full gear and eager to play. In the end we had to let her go because she was just too good. She would have controlled this league,&rdquo; Edgar said. &#9632;

NEW LOOP CATERS TO THE ADULT BEGINNER

<div class="byline">BY NICK GATES</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0028-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01727/5860722-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Lawrence, right, is one of the players the Greensboro Monarchs are counting on to defend their East Coast League championship this season.</figcaption></div>Two years ago, the East Coast League was formed as a venue for unsigned free agents. It struggled for survival.The five-team league suffered from lack of recognition, had little credibility and was viewed as an illegitimate offspring of pro hockey.Well, the ECHL has come a long way, baby.It has grown from the original five teams&mdash;Virginia (now Roanoke Valley), Winston-Salem, N.C., Erie, Pa., Johnstown, Pa., and Knoxville, Tenn.&mdash;to eight last season and now 11 this season.The charter members each paid a $25,000 entry fee.The three teams that entered last season&mdash;Nashville, Tenn., Greensboro, N.C., and Hampton Roads (Norfolk, Va.)&mdash;paid $50,000 to join.The entry fee doubled again, but still there are three new teams this season&mdash;Cincinnati, Ohio, Louisville, Ky., and Richmond, Va.A bonanza of cities are interested in an ECHL franchise. Three more teams are set to begin play in 1991-92&mdash;Toledo, Ohio, Charlotte, N.C., and Raleigh-Durham, N.C.&ldquo;The growth of this league has been so dramatic, I have to pinch myself,&rdquo; commissioner Pat Kelly says. &ldquo;Little by little we&rsquo;ve gained national recognition.&ldquo;Each of our teams is affiliated with at least one National Hockey League team. Eight clubs have two affiliations. When you talk to NHL general managers, they feel strongly about our league.&rdquo;That wasn&rsquo;t always the case.In the beginning, the ECHL was stigmatized. Its predecessors were the All-American and Atlantic Coast Leagues, noted more for brawls and arena mayhem than finesse and skill.&ldquo;Good hockey players wouldn&rsquo;t come into our league,&rdquo; Kelly says. &ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t want to get their heads beaten in.&ldquo;When I took this job in &rsquo;88, the first thing I told the five owners was we needed an image change.&rdquo;No longer are ECHL rinks the perfect setting for a sequel to the movie Slapshot&mdash;although the movie was filmed in Johnstown, the team of thugs was named the Chiefs and the present coach of the Johnstown Chiefs is Steve Carlson, who played one of the notorious Hanson brothers.Things have changed.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t want fans on the ice or players going into the stands,&rdquo; Kelly says.Through fines and suspensions, the commissioner made certain the league cleaned up its act.Check the statistics. Although penalty stats weren&rsquo;t kept the first year, there has been a noticable decrease in the number of penalties. Johnstown, last season&rsquo;s penalty minute leader, had an average of 34.1 minutes per game. The Chicago Blackhawks, by comparison, led the NHL with an average of 30.3 minutes.Kelly describes the ECHL as a Class &lsquo;AA&rsquo; minor league, a feeder system to the American and International Leagues.As many as 10 to 15 ECHL graduates will be playing in the 1HL this season. The Albany Choppers will ice five former ECHL players.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen these guys play and I know what they can do,&rdquo; says Chopper coach Dave Allison, the ECHL&rsquo;s coach of the year with Virginia last season.&ldquo;The game&rsquo;s the same at every level. (The ECHL) teaches coaches as well as players. It&rsquo;s a feeder system in every facet.&ldquo;And there are great cities to play in. The fan support is incredible.&rdquo;Turnstiles clicked to a tune of 827,147 fans last season&mdash;an average of 3,446 per game. With three new teams, another attendance record is guaranteed.Each team has a salary cap of $4,000 per week. That means the 16 players on each team&mdash;average age is less than 25&mdash;make about $250 a week.Year-to-year turnover is typical in the ECHL. Teams seldom build around a strong nucleus so coaches have to sell themselves and their programs, much as college football and basketball recruiters do.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re a salesman at that stage,&rdquo; Knoxville GM/coach Don Jackson says. &ldquo;I ask players to send resumes. When I have time, I follow up on as many as I can. It&rsquo;s an endless job.&rdquo;Players receive solid coaching. Jackson, who joined the Cherokees part way through last season, has two Stanley Cup rings from his playing days with the NHL&rsquo;s Edmonton Oilers.There are other seasoned professionals behind the benches. The Hampton Roads&rsquo; coach is former Toronto Maple Leaf coach John Brophy. Louisville coach Warren Young made a rookie splash in the NHL at the age of 28 scoring 40 goals in 1984-85. And Greensboro coach Jeff Brubaker was a NHL enforcer for eight seasons.The coaches aren&rsquo;t the only ones to have had a taste of the NHL. Last year&rsquo;s ECHL graduates were goaltender Scott Gordon and left winger Mitch Molloy.Gordon, who played with Johnstown in 198889, appeared in 10 games last season with Quebec. He started this season with the Nordiques. Molloy played with the Chiefs last season and finished the year playing two games with the Buffalo Sabres. &#9632;

f0028-01

CHANGING TIMES

Some hockey fans would have trouble naming one team in the East Coast League. To be sure, most need a program to list all the teams.The 11 teams are as follows, with coaches (rookies marked by an asterisk) and NHL affiliations.<h2>EAST DIVISION</h2>Erie Panthers, Ron Hansis; Buffalo, NY Rangers.Hampton Roads Admirals, John Brophy; Washington, Detroit.Johnstown Chiefs, Steve Carlson; Boston, New Jersey.Richmond Renegades, Chris McSorley; NY Islanders.Roanoke Valley Rebels, Claude Noel*; Los Angeles.<h2>WEST DIVISION</h2>Cincinnati Cyclones, Dennis Desrosiers*; Calgary, Winnipeg.Greensboro Monarchs. Jeff Brubaker; Quebec, Minnesota.Knoxville Cherokees, Don Jackson; Pittsburgh, Vancouver.Louisville Icehawks, Warren Young*; Chicago. Hartford.Nashville Knights, Peter Horachek*; Toronto, St. Louis.Winston-Salem Thunderbirds, Jay Fraser; Montreal. &#9632;

STARTING LINEUP

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Nick Gates</div>This season shouldn&rsquo;t be any different than last season&mdash;expect the Greensboro Monarchs to be crowned again.The Monarchs expect their top four scorers back this season.And in a league that has a high player turnover rate, that makes the Monarchs solid favorites to successfully defend the Jack Riley Cup.Coach Jeff Brubaker hoped to have at least 13 players from his 1989-90 team back for training camp which opened Oct. 15.Right winger Phil Berger, who led Greensboro in scoring with 82 points (38 goals and 44 assists in only 46 games) heads the list. He&rsquo;ll likely be joined by center Chris Robertson (3243-75), left winger Doug Lawrence (16-4258), left winger Boyd Sutton (32-26-58) and center John Sullivan (15-27-42).Brubaker admits repeating won&rsquo;t be easy.&ldquo;Everyone will be aiming at us this season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We expect to be in a dog fight every game. I can assure you we&rsquo;ll be competitive.&rdquo;Brubaker made recruiting trips to places as far away as Vancouver, Montreal and Kansas City in the off-season. Those trips have paid dividends.&ldquo;Last year, we only had a limited amount of time to put together a team,&rdquo; hesaid. &ldquo;We were merely looking for bodies. This year, we will be able to be much more selective.&rdquo;&ldquo;It took us all season to develop a team chemistry,&rdquo; Brubaker said. &ldquo;This season, with several players returning from a year ago, we should be a much improved hockey team.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s not good news for the rest of the league, which opened play Oct. 24.<h2>THE THREE BEARS</h2>The Boston Bruins have assigned three players to Johnstown. Center Gord Cruickshank, goalie Chris Harvey and right winger Dave Buda joined the Chiefs Oct. 4. Cruickshank and Buda played for the Maine Mariners of the American League last season while Harvey played at Brown University&hellip;Nashville coach Peter Horachek hopes the league will move training camps to Oct. 1 in the future, giving the coaches two more weeks to evaluate talent. &ldquo;We have to do it in two weeks because we have no other choice,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen the players and I don&rsquo;t know what they can do. I want to give them all a fair chance and a good look.&rdquo;&hellip;For the first time all ECHL teams will broadcast at least a portion of their games on radio. &#9632;

MONARCHS AIM TO HOLD ON TO CROWN

<div class="byline">BY PAUL ABRAMOWITZ AND KEVIN OKLOBZIJA</div>Wayne Gamble, the director of operations for the Fredericton Canadiens, was only following instructions. Except, he forgot to read the fine print.Therefore, the Aitken University Centre is the only pro hockey rink in North America with a minor penalty shot line.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m the laughingstock of professional hockey,&rdquo; Gamble said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re new at hockey. I know about business and very little about hockey.&rdquo;That made Gamble a victim of what was intended as an innocent joke. When Bryan Lewis, the director of NHL officiating, sent out the new rules for 1990-91, he added a sheet that detailed a rule for a minor penalty shot. It clearly said at the top that it was from the 1943-44 rule book.The rule said that a minor penalty shot would be called on any infraction of the rules by a goalie that calls for a penalty shot. A line 28 feet out from the end boards would be created and a player would have to shoot the puck before crossing this line.When Gamble got the fax from the AHL, he consulted with the arena manager. He informed the AHL the penalty shot line&mdash;that goes from sideboard to sideboard&mdash;would be no problem.&ldquo;When I called the league, they said do the best you can,&rdquo; said Gamble.Obviously, the people in the AHL thought Gamble was playing along with the joke. They didn&rsquo;t realize he was serious.Gamble was very proud of his penalty shot line and called the local newspaper, which he said did a big feature article.Then during an exhibition game with the Moncton Hawks, the officials came to Gamble and wanted to know what the line was for.&ldquo;I told them, tears came out of their eyes they were laughing so hard,&rdquo; Gamble said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know it was a joke.&rdquo;But now that the story has circulated, Gamble is being a good sport.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s still there,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s my folly and it&rsquo;s there to stay. I&rsquo;m wearing it like a red badge of courage.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01631/5860801-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="712" height="925"><figcaption class="caption-body">Craig Fisher had a goal and two assists in Hershey&rsquo;s first three games.</figcaption></div><h2>COMEBACK WIN</h2>The defending Calder Cup champion Springfield Indians opened the season Oct. 5 with a thrilling 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the Maine Mariners.In opening ceremonies, Hartford representatives Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe dropped the first puck to usher in the Whaler era in Springfield.But these new Indians got off to a slow start and fell behind 4-0 until they started their comeback late in the second period with goals from Terry Yake and Michel Picard.Then in the third, goals by Picard and rookie Mark Greig tied the game to set the stage for rookie Chris Tancill&rsquo;s winner with 44 seconds remaining.<h2>CROWDED HOUSE</h2>The early returns from the polls&mdash;in this case the box office&mdash;put a smile on the face of Capital District Islanders&rsquo; general manager Kevin Earl.Opening night for the expansion Islanders on Oct. 5 drew 3,355 to the RPI Fieldhouse in Troy, N.Y.Barely a slapshot away, an announced crowd of 3,011 attended the opener Oct. 6 for the International League&rsquo;s Albany Choppers, also an expansion team and one that will compete for the entertainment dollar in the Albany metropolitan area.The Adirondack Red Wings, a 40-minute drive north, drew 4,222 the same night for their home opener against the Rochester Americans&mdash;which the Red Wings won 3-2.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re certainly happy to have outdrawn Albany, considering it&rsquo;s six miles from arena to arena, at most,&rdquo; said Earl, whose team has sold 1,300 season tickets and still hopes to reach a goal of 2,000.The home opener opponent&mdash;the neighboring and established Red Wings&mdash;helped the crowd for the Islanders, who won, 4-2. Fans at the game believe there were close to 4,000 in the building, but only paid tickets were counted.<h2>JENSEN STARS</h2>Right winger Chris Jensen had four goals and one assist in Hershey&rsquo;s first three games&mdash;a 2-1 win over Binghamton Oct. 5, a 5-3 loss to Baltimore Oct. 6 and a 6-3 win over Springfield Oct. 7. Jensen was named AHL player of the week for the period ending Oct. 8. But rookies played a big part in the games, as center Craig Fisher (third round, 1988 entry draft) had a goal and two assists and left winger Claude Boivin (first round, &rsquo;88) had three assists. The victory at Binghamton was sweet for several Bears, since Rangers&rsquo; coach John Paddock was their coach in Hershey from 1985-86 to 1988-89. &ldquo;A lot of guys had pretty close ties that go pretty deep but at the same time, as a professional athlete, you have to be able to turn it off at game time or you&rsquo;ll get taken advantage of,&rdquo; Bears&rsquo; coach Mike Eaves said&hellip;Fredericton and Cape Breton opened the season with home victories before sell-out crowds. Goalie Andre Racicot made 25 saves before a crowd of 3,779 at the Aitken University Centre as the Canadiens beat Utica, 5-2, in its first game affiliated with Montreal. Cape Breton drew a sellout crowd of 4,763 to Centre 200 in beating Halifax, 7-1&hellip;Hershey (6,462) and Rochester (7,147) outdrew the Minnesota North Stars (5,730) in opening-night attendance&hellip;Ninth-year center John Chabot (9-40-49 with Detroit last season) reported to Adirondack on Oct. 7, a week after he was assigned. &#9632;

f0029-01

CANADIENS PLAYING BY THE RULES

<div class="byline">BY ADAM TEICHER AND BILL PICKETT</div>Early indications are the changes made in Phoenix this summer have rejuvenated the Roadrunners, who finished last season with the fewest points in the International League.The Roadrunners, who had 65 points with a league low 27 wins in 1989-90, lined up a full affiliation in the off-season with the Los Angeles Kings. Los Angeles brought in former King Ralph Backstrom to coach. Garry Unger, who coached last season, was demoted to assistant coach.Phoenix split a pair of road games over the opening weekend, but the scores were encouraging. The Roadrunners beat Kansas City in the Oct. 5 opener 2-0, allowing the Blades just 18 shots on goalie Mario Gosselin. Muskegon beat Phoenix the next night 4-3 in a shootout, but Gosselin had allowed only three goals until the shootout session.And considering the Roadrunners posted the league&rsquo;s worst goals-against average (4.63) last season, the weekend results bode well as does the team&rsquo;s NHL affiliation.&ldquo;It made so much sense, it had so much logic,&rdquo; general manager Adam Keller said of the affiliation. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the perfect setup.&rdquo;Phoenix has long been considered part of the Los Angeles hockey market. Virtually all of the Kings&rsquo; regular season games are available on pay-per-view in the Phoenix area.Phoenix was a bit more concerned about play ing second fiddle to the Kings&rsquo; other affiliate, the New Haven Nighthawks of the American League. Backstrom expressed his concerns to the Kings at their training camp in Hull, Quebec.&ldquo;They told us not to lobby for players,&rdquo; Backstrom said. &ldquo;They said they would see who goes where and that&rsquo;s just the way it would be.&rdquo;The Roadrunners are pleased with their roster. They received, among others, veterans Gosselin, left wingers Chris Kontos and Brian Lawton and defensemen Stephane Richer and Petr Prajsier.Now, the Roadrunners are hoping to come out of the early part of the schedule in good shape&mdash;their first nine games are on the road before opening at home on Nov. 1.<h2>ROCKY VOYAGE</h2>Milwaukee had a rocky start to the season. The Admirals were on the road the second week of the season because of the Moscow Circus and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles concert booked in the Bradley Center. As well, they were jolted when goaltender Steve Weeks initially refused to report after being sent down by Vancouver Oct. 2.Without Weeks, they were blasted at home by Fort Wayne 7-3 Oct. 5 and lost the next night to Indianapolis 2-0, despite spectacular goaltending from Steve McKichan, who made 27 saves.<h2>TOUGH TIMES</h2>For the most part, last season&rsquo;s battle in the IHL East Division was a two-team affair.And, for the third straight year, Muskegon claimed the division title. Kalamazoo settled for second place, four points behind the Lumberjacks.Muskegon coach Blair McDonald thinks things might be even tougher this season with an improved Kalamazoo and the move of Turner Cup champion Indianapolis to the East.Muskegon had the best record in the IHL last season at 55-21-6, but it was just two points better than the Ice, who swept the Lumberjacks in four games to win the Turner Cup.&ldquo;It was tough all last year with Kalamazoo,&rdquo; McDonald said, &ldquo;now with Indy in the division I think you&rsquo;re going to see some tough battles all year long. There will be a great rivalry this year.&rdquo;Muskegon will have 11 players returning from a year ago, including the IHL&rsquo;s leading goal scorer, right winger Dave Michayluk (51 goals) and veteran left winger Scott Gruhl and right winger Jock Callander.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02424/5860832-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="715" height="1044"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jim Kyte was assigned to Muskegon by Pittsburgh Oct. 4.</figcaption></div>The Lumberjacks opened the season on the wrong note with a 6-2 loss to Indianapolis Oct. 5. They bounced back the next night with a 4-3 win over Phoenix.But McDonald welcomed a couple of talented new faces to the team. Defenseman Jim Kyte was assigned from Pittsburgh Oct. 4 as was right winger Mike Needham, a 59-goal scorer with Kamloops of the Western League last season.&ldquo;Jim will give us some experience and some size and strength on defense,&rdquo; McDonald said. Kyte is 6-5, 220 pounds. &ldquo;And Needham was our leading scorer in pre-season. Give him one or two chances to bury it and he will.&rdquo;<h2>ICE TOPS</h2>Indianapolis opened the new season to a full house&mdash;8,332 fans turned out for the 6-2 win over Muskegon. It was the second sellout in three seasons for the Ice. The capacity crowd was the biggest among East Division home openers&hellip;In its first two home games, the Admirals drew 9,963 and 10,000 fans&hellip;The Blades and Gulls made their IHL debuts to large crowds. Kansas City drew 11,523 to their loss to Phoenix while San Diego drew 9,735 to their win over Salt Lake&hellip;San Diego center Larry Floyd had the league&rsquo;s first hat trick in that game, getting all three goals and an assist in the first period. Floyd, after scoring a goal in the Gulls&rsquo; next game a 4-3 loss to Salt Lake, was named the league&rsquo;s player of the week&hellip;Left wingers Clark Donatelli and Darcy Norton were assigned Oct. 9 to San Diego by the Minnesota North Stars. &#9632;

f0029-02

PHOENIX RISES FROM LAST SEASON’S ASHES

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01718/5860863-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Martin Lapointe says size is the only difference between himself and Eric Lindros. Opponents and NHL scouts are keeping close tabs on him.</figcaption></div>Not much has changed in the Montreal suburb of Ville St-Pierre over the years. It is still one of the city&rsquo;s poorest sections, where people live in dilapidated homes and tiny apartments over stores.Only a few minutes from downtown Montreal, it might as well be light years away. Two favorite pastimes in Ville St-Pierre are collecting unemployment cheques and daydreaming.Most residents spend their entire lives there&mdash;unless they&rsquo;re smart or talented enough to move on.Martin Lapointe of the Laval Titan, a Ville St-Pierre native, is both. Though he won&rsquo;t forget his roots, a professional hockey career will be Lapointe&rsquo;s ticket out of town.&ldquo;Ville St-Pierre isn&rsquo;t the type of place where hockey players develop,&rdquo; says Lapointe. &ldquo;I could be the first (pro).&ldquo;(The city&rsquo;s minor hockey association) took my name and did a lot of publicity for me (in local newspapers). The town put me high and I&rsquo;ll do something for it one day.&rdquo;A little talent along the way didn&rsquo;t hurt.Only 17 and in his second season in the Quebec League, the right winger is carving his niche in the game.He produced 42 goals and 54 assists in 65 games last season and was the second leading scorer on the Titan&rsquo;s President Cup-winning team. The 5-foot-11, 194-pound Lapointe showed he could score, make plays, skate and play physical.He tied Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s club record for most points by a rookie, and was named the QMJHL&rsquo;s outstanding freshman and a first-team all-star.Lapointe is Laval&rsquo;s leading scorer (8-8-16 in 10 games) this season and almost surely will be a first-round NHL draft pick next June. He won&rsquo;t challenge Eric Lindros of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Oshawa Generals, but he&rsquo;ll likely be the No. 1 pick from the QMJHL.&ldquo;He will be one of the major guys from the Quebec League,&rdquo; says a scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a pretty good all-around player. He&rsquo;s a good skater, has a good shot, is strong, works hard and has good hockey sense. And defensively he&rsquo;s not too bad. He has no major points that need improving.&rdquo;A fierce competitor, Lapointe realizes he will be drafted and get the opportunity to play pro. But it goes beyond that. Lapointe wants to be mentioned in the same breath as Lindros.&ldquo;He wants so much to get drafted behind Lindros,&rdquo; says Laval coach Jean-Maurice Cool. &ldquo;For sure he&rsquo;ll be drafted in the first round.&rdquo;Lapointe, for his part, handles the situation with coyness.&ldquo;Lindros might be in front, but I just want to concentrate on my game and not think about the draft,&rdquo; he says.Sure, Martin.Pressed further, Lapointe lowers his guard and admits the obvious.&ldquo;I can be No. 2. It&rsquo;s important&hellip;for my pride it&rsquo;s important&hellip;to know that you&rsquo;re behind Eric Lindros because he gets all the publicity.&ldquo;Lindros is No. 1 because of his size. If I was his size I would be (considered) as good.&rdquo;Lapointe and Lindros had their first confrontation at last January&rsquo;s QMJHL/OHL AllStar Challenge. Their second meeting, at Canada&rsquo;s national junior team evaluation camp in August, was more boisterous. In the warmup prior to an intra-squad game, the two players brushed one another and nearly got into a fight.&ldquo;He was my rival,&rdquo; says Lapointe.Hockey has always been a passion for Lapointe. Growing up in Ville St-Pierre, he had a backyard rink to hone his skills. Each day, following school. Lapointe raced home, laced on his skates, and practised alone until nightfall.His father, Delphis, and mother, Jeannine, raised him strictly. Although not rich, they had money for Lapointe to play hockey&mdash;and attend private schools. Last year, while enrolled at the College de Montreal, Lapointe had a 70 per cent average.He frequently played against older children and tasted success at each age level. As an atom, he remembers scoring 10 goals in an all-star game against an older peewee squad.Lapointe played only one year in bantam and midget. As a 15-year-old, he scored 39 goals and 45 assists for Lac St-Louis. He was the league&rsquo;s third-leading scorer and Laval&rsquo;s first-round (10th overall) draft choice.Lapointe also realizes there is more to being a hockey player than playing hockey. Fluently bilingual, he has worked hard cultivating a favorable image with journalists.&ldquo;Outside the rink you have to be a person,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t just clap your hands, become a superstar and stop talking to people. You have to know how to present yourself. You have to create a good example, leave a good impression with people.&ldquo;Every day I work hard to improve as a player, a person and a human being.&rdquo;So cognizant is Lapointe of his image he even shuns public drinking with his teammates.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s so aware of his public image,&rdquo; says Laval right winger Sylvain Naud. &ldquo;Everywhere you go with him he says &lsquo;I can&rsquo;t do this&hellip;I don&rsquo;t want to start rumors.&rsquo; He won&rsquo;t go out for a beer because he&rsquo;s worried what his mom will think. He&rsquo;s a stable kid&hellip;a good kid.&rdquo;A winner. &#9632;

f0030-01

RAGS TO RICHES

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Herb Zurkowsky</div>If anyone gives Martin Lapointe a run for the money to become the first player drafted from the Quebec League this season, it should be Patrick Poulin.At 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, the St-Hyacinthe Laser left winger will almost certainly entice National League teams. Early in the season he was tied with Pierre Sevigny for the team lead in points, with 16. Poulin had seven goals and nine assists in 10 games.There has been no sophomore jinx where Poulin is concerned. If anything, Poulin, 17, is beginning to emerge as a star now that he no longer plays under the microscope and pressure of being last season&rsquo;s first overall midget draft choice.&ldquo;He didn&rsquo;t seem to have the intensity last year,&rdquo; says Laser coach Norman Flynn. &ldquo;He played on his name last year. But this year he&rsquo;s changed his attitude.&rdquo;Poulin has many attributes. He skates well with the puck, is a good passer and protects the puck. While many players rely on a slapshot, Poulin has developed an excellent wrist shot.But at least one scout still questions Poulin&rsquo;s attitude.&ldquo;Sometimes I don&rsquo;t know if he gives 100 per cent,&rdquo; says the scout. &ldquo;Lapointe will have bad games but he tries hard. Poulin gives me the impression he&rsquo;s on Cloud 9.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d also like him to get more goals. Everybody thinks he&rsquo;s a first rounder, but if he got more goals he&rsquo;d be way up.&rdquo;Another leading QMJHL draft-eligible prospect is Trois Rivieres center Yanic Perreault. Despite sensational scoring statistics the past two seasons, the 19-year-old passed through the NHL draft (he was eligible only in the first three rounds).In 1988-89 he was 53-55-108 in 70 games while being selected the Canadian League&rsquo;s rookie of the year. Last season he was 51-63114 in 63 games. He was the QMJHL&rsquo;s scoring leader this year with 9-19-28 totals after nine games.Although an awkward, knock-kneed skater, Perreault will be drafted this season because he is eligible in all rounds.&ldquo;His skating has improved,&rdquo; says a scout. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s still knock-kneed, but he gets there. And he can put the puck in the net. He&rsquo;s a natural scorer who makes great plays and is deadly in front of the net.&rdquo;A pair of Granby 17-year-olds&mdash;defenseman Philippe Boucher and left winger Jean-Francois Gregoire&mdash;have impressed scouts early this season.Boucher, 6-foot-3, 180 pounds, was 2-6-8 in 10 games.&ldquo;(Boucher) is not a great skater, but he makes plays and sees the game,&rdquo; says a scout. &ldquo;He could be stronger in the comers and he must be more rugged.&rdquo;Gregoire has been one of the league&rsquo;s pleasant surprises with 10 goals and six assists in 10 games.&ldquo;(Gregoire) is a good skater, puck-handler and has a good shot,&rdquo; says the scout. &#9632;

POULIN IN THE RUNNING

<div class="byline">BY BRIAN COSTELLO</div>Eric Lindros is adjusting to a shadow of a different kind these days.The Oshawa General superstar has long since adjusted to being double and tripleteamed by media hordes and autograph seekers. Now he&rsquo;s being shadowed by defensive specialists.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve noticed a difference this season,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;Guys are sticking a lot closer to me. I&rsquo;ve had to deal with a lot more (interference).&ldquo;I think it has made me sharper, though. I want to be sharp every game.&rdquo;Lindros and the Generals haven&rsquo;t missed a beat since winning the 1990 Memorial Cup. The top-ranked team in Canada is 7-0-1 to start the season and Lindros has goals in 10 straight regular season games dating back to March 11.Mike Ricci set the league standard of 19 games with the Peterborough Petes two years ago.&ldquo;What record is that?&rdquo; an oblivious Lindros said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not thinking about records.&rdquo;Lindros, the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in next June&rsquo;s NHL draft, had 20 points in seven games. In the Generals&rsquo; first six wins, Lindros had the winning goal in four of them.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting better as he gets to know the league more,&rdquo; Generals&rsquo; coach Rick Comacchia said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s getting better all the time.&rdquo;<h2>OVERAGE OVERLOAD</h2>Overage players are heavy on experience and leadership, but they don&rsquo;t seem to command much on the trade market.Goaltender Kevin Butt, a hero in Oshawa&rsquo;s Cup march last spring and a veteran of more than 100 OHL games, was dealt to the Detroit Ambassadors for a fifth-round draft pick in 1992.Center K. J. White was the leading scorerand captain for Windsor last season, but now in his overage year, the Spitfires don&rsquo;t have room for him. White was sent to the North Bay Centennials for a sixth-round draft pick.Windsor is sticking with goalie Jeff Wilson and defenseman Jason York as its overage players.<h2>WOLVES BARKING</h2>The Sudbury Wolves have fallen from grace since being ranked the No. 1 junior team in Canada during the pre-season.After just one win in their first seven games, the Wolves shook things up by making three trades during an active Oct. 6-8 weekend.Sudbury traded left winger Jim Sonmez, 19, and a seventh-round draft pick to the Belleville Bulls for goalie Rob Stopar, 18; overage defenseman Derek Booth to the Niagara Falls Thunder for a conditional draft pick; and defenseman Leonard MacDonald, 18, to Windsor for a fifth-round draft pick.The Wolves also welcomed the return of overage defenseman Wade Bartley from the Washington Capitals.<h2>TRADE MARKET</h2>Belleville traded defenseman Jason Skellett, 18, to the Dukes of Hamilton for right winger Clayton Martin, 19, and a fourth-round draft pick&hellip;The Owen Sound Platers picked up goalie Kevin McDougall, 19, on waivers from Detroit&hellip;The Ottawa 67&rsquo;s claimed left winger Jason Snow, 19, on waivers from the Kingston Frontenacs&hellip;Overage goalie Todd Bojcun returned to Peterborough from the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; camp&hellip;Ottawa signed free-agent center Ken Blum, 19, a sophomore from the Lake Superior State Lakers of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association&hellip;Overage left winger Jim Ritchie has left the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for a tryout in the East Coast Hockey League with Nashville&hellip;Overage center Rich Fatrola returned to Belleville and scored two goals in a 4-3 win over Hamilton&hellip;&mdash;with files from Randy Russon &#9632;

GENERALS’ LINDROS ESCAPING SHADOWS

<div class="byline">BY HERB ZURKOWSKY</div>Hockey Canada&rsquo;s Dave King has drawn the wrath of Hull general manager Charlie Henry&mdash;all because Karl Dykhuis picked the Olympics over the Olympiques.Henry and the Olympiques were shocked to learn of Dykhuis&rsquo; decision to join the Olympic program rather than Hull. Henry expected the 18-year-old defenseman would return to junior following training camp with the NHL Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago selected him 16th overall last June.Henry placed the blame directly on King.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t see where Dave King will make him a great hockey player,&rdquo; Henry said. &ldquo;King should have told him to go back to junior. Just, because (King) doesn&rsquo;t have a big pool of players doesn&rsquo;t mean he should rob junior hockey. We&rsquo;ve invested a lot of money in Karl. We helped him develop. Now we&rsquo;re the ones left holding the bag.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m upset because Karl is 18. He&rsquo;s not 19 and this isn&rsquo;t an Olympic year. If I thought he could change the Olympic program&hellip;but it will all be exhibition games and tours for him this year.&rdquo;Although King said he would shy away from taking 18-year-olds, he explained that Dykhuis&rsquo; situation isn&rsquo;t rare.&ldquo;All teams in the developmental branch lose players. I&rsquo;ve certainly lost my share,&rdquo; King said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01663/5860966-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="708" height="826"><figcaption class="caption-body">Defenseman Karl Dykhuis has opted for Dave King&rsquo;s Olympic program.</figcaption></div>The 6-foot-1, 178-pound Dykhuis, who scored 10 goals and 45 assists in 69 games last season, defended his decision.&ldquo;Ever since I started playing hockey my dream was to play for my country against the Big Red Machine (Soviets),&rdquo; Dykhuis said. &ldquo;I had to make a choice. I&rsquo;d like to think everybody understands. I certainly hope my teammates back me up and let me have my dream.&rdquo;<h2>LAROUCHE LOST</h2>In a huge blow, the Chicoutimi Sagueneens lost center Steve Larouche for a minimum of eight weeks with tom knee ligaments.The injury occurred Oct. 5, after Larouche had scored his 11th goal and 14th assist of the season in a game against the Victoriaville Tigres.Larouche was battling his former Trois-Rivieres teammate, center Yanic Perreault, for the QMJHL scoring lead at the time.Sagueneens&rsquo; coach Joe Canale took a philosophical approach over the loss of Larouche, Montreal&rsquo;s second-round (41st overall) choice in 1989.&ldquo;Injuries are part of the game, although it&rsquo;s rare that you see a No. 1 or 2 player hurt for that extensive a period,&rdquo; said Canale.<h2>TITANIC TRADING</h2>The Laval Titan vowed to be busy during the Quebec League&rsquo;s first trading period (Oct. 5-8) for players attending school.The defending President Cup champions made three of the eight trades.All of the players Laval acquired are forwards, even though it has become obvious this season the team&rsquo;s shortcoming is on defense.The Titan&rsquo;s major acquisition was left winger, Jean Blouin (6-7-13 in seven games) from Victoriaville for center Carl Boudreau.Laval also reacquired left winger Jim Bermingham, who was lost last May in the waiver draft, center Trevor Boland and a fifth-round midget draft choice in 1991 from the Beauport Harfangs for defenseman Martin Roy, right winger J. F. Picard, neither of whom were playing for the team, and Laval&rsquo;s fourth and sixthround draft picks.The Titan also dispatched left winger Jacques Leblanc to St-Jean for a ninth-round draft pick.<h2>ACTIVE MARKET</h2>Trois Rivieres acquired defenseman Claude Barthe from Victoriaville for center Rino Cormier and a seventh-round choice&hellip;However, Barthe, Detroit&rsquo;s sixth choice (108th overall) last June, won&rsquo;t play for two months after suffering a knee injury Oct. 3 against Drummond-ville&hellip;Center/left winger Patrick Caron, who quit following his trade last May from Laval to Chicoutimi, was traded&mdash;and reported&mdash;to St-Jean for defenseman Martin Lavallee&hellip;ln an exchange of right wingers, Chicoutimi acquired Eric Duchesne games) from Shawinigan for Jean Imbeau&hellip;Granby picked up defenseman Pascal Dufault from Trois Rivieres for left winger Steve Searles and defenseman Eric Prillo-&hellip;College Francais received center Martin Venne, released earlier this season from St-Jean, for defenseman Marco Desmarais. &#9632;

f0031-01

ONCE AN OLYMPIQUE, NOW AN OLYMPIAN

<div class="byline">BY LARRY MAHONEY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0032-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01708/5860997-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tony Amonte, coming off a stellar freshman season, leads a well-balanced Terrier team. The Terriers are poised to dethrone perennial champs, Boston College.</figcaption></div>For five of its six years, the Hockey East kingdom has been ruled by birds. Now its time for the league&rsquo;s dogs to have their day.Dominated by the Boston College Eagles (five titles) since its 1984 inception, Hockey East appears to be Boston University&rsquo;s domain this season. The Terriers, coming off an impressive NCAA Final Four finish, have the necessary components to go all the way and capture their first ever league championship.Maine&rsquo;s Black Bears, the sole interlopers during the Eagles&rsquo; six-year reign (1987-88), pose the greatest threat to the Terriers. The Bears must overcome the loss of key veterans and both goalies, but possess as good a set of forwards as anyone in the country.And don&rsquo;t be too quick to count out Boston College. Despite the loss of all-world defenseman Greg Brown to the NHL&rsquo;s Buffalo Sabres, the Eagles still figure to be in the thick of the hunt.PECKING ORDER: Predicted finish with last season&rsquo;s overall record in parentheses. 1. Boston University (25-16-2); 2. Maine (33-112); 3. Boston College (28-12-1); 4. New Hampshire (17-17-5); 5. Providence (22-10-3); 6. Northeastern (16-19-2); 7. Lowell (13-20-2); 8. Merrimack (10-24-1).DOGGIE-DOG WORLD: Three reasons why the Terriers will win the Hockey East title:1. A veteran defense corps. Anchored by first team all-New England selections Peter Ahola and Phil von Stefenelli, BU&rsquo;s young defense performed well under pressure last year and should be that much better for the experience.2. Goaltender Scott Cashman. Hockey East&rsquo;s 1989-90 rookie of the year, Cashman has star potential. He set the school record for saves in a single season with 1,027 last year.3. Speed. Forwards Tony Amonte and Shawn MacEachem, both pre-season picks as Hobey Baker finalists, lead a lightning-quick Terrier attack.BORN LEADERS: These players will contend for league MVP honors.1. David Emma, C, Boston College. Emma, a first-team east all-American last season, is the consummate all-around player with a knack for heroics.2. Amonte, RW. BU&rsquo;s leading scorer last season as a freshman, Amonte gained a wealth of off-season experience participating in both the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival and the Goodwill Games.3. Steve Heinze, RW, Boston College. Heinze, also a first-team east all-American, has it all&mdash;size, strength, speed and scoring touch.4. Jean-Yves Roy, RW, Maine. Roy was a second-team east all-American as a freshman last year. He led the nation&rsquo;s first-year players with 39 goals.5. MacEachem, C. Thejunior center is one of the fastest skaters in the nation and should prosper playing on a line with Amonte.6. Scott LaGrand, G, Boston College. Another one of the league&rsquo;s standout first-year players last season, LaGrand excelled down the stretch helping carry the Eagles to the NCAA championship game.WHO ARE THESE GUYS? Underrated players:1. Savo Mitrovic, RW, New Hampshire. Mit-rovic became the first Wildcat to top the 50-point mark, getting 51 in 37 games last season.2. Martin Robitaille, C, Maine. Overshadowed by teammates Roy, Jim Montgomery and Scott Pellerin, Robitaille&rsquo;s work doesn&rsquo;t go unnoticed by his coaches.3. Dave Tomlinson, C, Boston University. A strong defensive player with some offensive punch, Boback was tops on the Terriers with plus-22 last season.AND NOW, FOR THE DEFENSE: Top rearguards.1. Rob Cowie, Northeastern. A quality offensive defenseman for three years, Cowie has the chance to grab the spotlight left behind by Greg Brown.2. Keith Carney, Maine. Bears&rsquo; coach Shawn Walsh is extremely high on Carney, a second-team east all-American in &rsquo;89-90.3. Ahola.LOOKING OUT FOR NO. 1: Top goalies.1. LaGrand.2. Cashman.3. Scott Richards, Lowell. When he&rsquo;s on, the diminutive Richards (5-foot-7, 180 pounds) can win games singlehandedly.OH, BABY: The top freshman:1. Mike Dunham, G, Maine. Dunham, the first American goalie chosen in the June draft, (third round, 53rd overall by the New Jersey Devils), Dunham will face a baptism by fire. The 18-year-old netminder was handed the No. 1 job when senior Scott King and junior Matt DelGuidice&mdash;arguably the top goalie tandem in the nation last year&mdash;signed pro contracts during the summer.2. Keith Tkachuk, LW, Boston University. Despite an injury-plagued season at Malden Catholic (Mass.) High School, the Winnipeg Jets thought highly enough of Tkachuk to make him a first round draft pick (19th overall).3. Patrice Tardif, C, Maine. Tardif broke Roy&rsquo;s scoring records in the Quebec CEGEP AA League last season by scoring 62 goals and assisting on 40 more for Champlain College. He was a third-round pick of St. Louis (54th overall) in June.4. Scott LaChance, D, Boston University. LaChance is a projected top five pick in the 1991 NHL draft.5. Shane Henry, C, Lowell. Henry is a gifted scorer out Powell River (B.C.).IT TAKES ALL KINDS: Hockey East&rsquo;s most colorful characters.1. Randy Olson, C, Maine. Olson is a prankster, who last year, entertained hundreds of people at Chicago&rsquo;s O&rsquo;Hare Airport by attaching a clear fishing line to a dollar bill, leaving the dollar bill in the middle of the terminal floor and pulling the fishing line when someone leaned over to pick up the dollar bill.2. Dino Grossi, LW, Northeastern. Grossi is a fan favorite at NU with his aggressive, physical brand of play. The NU faithful also like the fact he wears No. 7 which was previously possessed by noted NU penalty-minutes leader, the legendary Rico Rossi. Rossi to Grossi: The tradition lives on.3. Northeastern University sports information specialist Billy Doherty. Doherty, who refers to the puck as an &ldquo;ebony biscuit&rdquo; and goalies as &ldquo;dufflebags&rdquo;, spices up his media guide and programs with one witticism after another. &#9632;

f0032-01

DOG DAYS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Larry Mahoney</div>Here&rsquo;s what happened in Hockey East over the summer:&#9632; Four-year University of Maine assistant coach Bruce Crowder was named associate head-coach/head-coach designee at the University of Lowell. He will replace 22-year Lowell coach Bill Riley, who will complete this season. Riley will move into a faculty position at the school.&#9632; Former Lowell assistant Blaise McDonald left to become an assistant at Boston University. McDonald replaces long-time BU assistant Ben Smith, who left to become the head coach at Dartmouth College. Dennis (Red) Gendron will take over Crowder&rsquo;s spot as a full-time assistant at Maine.&#9632; The University of Maine&rsquo;s Alfond Arena, thanks to a $2-million donation from philanthropist Harold Alfond, will be expanded. Following the 1990-91 season, 2,500 more seats will be added bringing the capacity to 6,000 for hockey.&#9632; The league&rsquo;s coaches and athletic directors overturned an earlier proposal to have games consist of two 25-minute halves. &#9632;

WHAT’S NEW IN ’90-91

<div class="byline">BY TOM BOGGIE</div>Sometimes, you have to pick pre-season favorites with your heart, not with your head.The smart money in the Eastern College Athletic Conference says go with Cornell. How can you not like a defense that features Dan Ratushny, and the goaltending tandem of seniors Jim Crozier and Corrie D&rsquo;Alessio, who are ranked first and third, respectively, among the league&rsquo;s returning goaltenders?What&rsquo;s not to like about a team that has seven seniors and 10 juniors? Aren&rsquo;t coaches always harping about how important maturity is?Maybe the smart money is right. Maybe Cornell will be the best team in the ECAC.But Clarkson will win the league title.Clarkson couldn&rsquo;t beat improving Princeton last year, but the Golden Knights did beat Colgate and Boston College, both Final Four teams.Teams without proven goaltenders are always suspect, and no team should be able to recover from the loss of a goalie like John Fletcher. But Clarkson coach Mark Morris isn&rsquo;t crying the blues. &ldquo;No one has seen our goalies yet,&rdquo; he said.So, for all the wrong reasons, Clarkson is our pick to triumph in the ECAC.FIRST TO WORST: Predicted finish with last season&rsquo;s overall record in parentheses. 1. Clarkson (21-11-3); 2. Cornell (16-10-3); 3. RP1 (20-14); 4. Colgate (31-6-1); 5. St. Lawrence (13-15-4); 6. Harvard (13-14-1); 7. Vermont (9-20-2); 8. Princeton (12-14-1); 9. Yale (8-20-1); 10. Brown (10-16-3); 11. Dartmouth (4-18-4); 12. Army (4-15-3).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01631/5861059-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="712" height="1174"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dan Ratushny, an offensive-minded defenseman, is an early MVP candidate.</figcaption></div>KNIGHT FEVER: Three reasons why Clarkson will win it all: 1. Dave Tretowicz. The senior defenseman is one of the premier players in the country and with a good year, will make a run at the Hobey Baker Award. &ldquo;He does so much on the ice that you don&rsquo;t even notice,&rdquo;, said Morris.2. Defense. Good hockey teams are built from the goalie out, and Tretowicz isn&rsquo;t by himself on the Clarkson blue line. The Knights were strong defensively last year when Morris was using converted forwards. Think how good they&rsquo;ll be with people in their proper positions.3. Balanced scoring. Nine of Clarkson&rsquo;s top 10 scorers return, including senior left winger Mike Casselman, who led the team with 43 points last year.GOOD AS GOLD: Pre-season MVP candidates.1. Joe Juneau, C, RP1. Juneau, Rensselaer&rsquo;s leading scorer in each of his first three years, was second in the nation in points-per-game average (2.27).2. Peter Ciavaglia, C, Harvard. Ciavaglia&rsquo;s best attributes are his soft hands and on-ice awareness.3. Dan Ratushny, D, Cornell. A strong, mobile defenseman, Ratushny also contributes in the offensive zone.4. John LeClair, C, Vermont. If he can stay healthy for the entire season, LeClair could be the surprise of the field.5. Tretowicz.BRILLIANT DISGUISE: Who are these masked men?1. Ricker Love, C, Vermont. Love was the Catamounts&rsquo; second-leading scorer last season despite missing seven games with a knee injury.2. Bruce Coles, RW, RPI. Coles, whose main duty the last two years has been protecting Juneau, prospered offensively last season when he netted 28 goals in 34 games.3. Marc Dupere, RW, Colgate. A senior, Dupere always seems to be in the shadow of the other great forwards at Colgate, but is one of the league&rsquo;s top snipers and is anexcellent penaltykiller.RELIABLE REARGUARDS: Top defenseman.1. Tretowicz.2. Ratushny.3. Steve Poapst, Colgate. A strong penaltykiller, Poapst led the Red Raiders with a plus-25 last season.NETWORTHY: Top goalies.1. Crozier is the top returning goalie in the league, having emerged from d&rsquo;Alessio&rsquo;s shadow last year.2. Les Kuntar, St. Lawrence. An excellent standup stopper.3. Alain Roy, Harvard. Chuckie Hughes gets the ink, but the athletic Roy is probably the best of Harvard&rsquo;s returning goalies.NEW KIDS IN TOWN: Top frosh.1. Clayton Fahey, RW, Colgate. A 6-foot-1, 195-pound winger, Fahey scored 109 points in 57 games for Nanaimo of the British Columbia Junior Tier II league.2. Craig Conroy, C, Clarkson. Conroy&rsquo;s a gifted scorer out of Northwood Prep (Lake Placid).3. Sean McCann, D, Harvard. A native of North York, Ont., McCann was one of the top Canadian high school players last year at De La Salle (Toronto).DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT: What&rsquo;s new in the ECAC.1. The players everyone wants to see are the Lappin brothers, Chris and Mike. They started their collegiate careers together at Boston University, but were unhappy with their playing time and transferred to St. Lawrence, following in the footsteps of their older brothers, Tim and Pete. After sitting out a year, they should have an instant impact on the league.2. Two old faces take new positions at Harvard. Associate coach Ron Tomassoni, now in his eighth season with the Crimson, replaces Bill Cleary as head coach while 1989 Hobey Baker winner Lane MacDonald returns as Tomassoni&rsquo;s assistant.3. Ben Smith will make his debut as a head coach this season, replacing Brian Mason at Dartmouth. He&rsquo;s worked under two of the best, serving as an assistant for Tim Taylor at Yale from 1976-81 and as an assistant to Jack Parker at Boston University for the last nine years.THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BIZARRE: Some strange happenings in the league last season.&#9632; Harvard coach Cleary broke down in the Harvard dressing room when he told his players of his impending retirement. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen him stickhandle through a lot of things, but he couldn&rsquo;t get through that,&rdquo; said Tomassoni.&#9632; Janne Kekalainen, a freshman last season, left the Knights unexpectedly to return to his native Finland at the Thanksgiving break. The team&rsquo;s leading scorer at the time, Kekalainen sent his roommate to the hockey office with a note to tell Morris of his departure. &ldquo;I thought someone was playing a joke on me,&rdquo; said Morris.&#9632; Colgate employed a box-in-one defense against RPI&rsquo;s Joe Juneau last season in which Raider Grant Slater shadowed Juneau relentlessly. Juneau was held scoreless, but RPI still managed a 6-2 win. After the game, Engineers&rsquo; coach Buddy Powers expressed his admiration for the job Slater did. &ldquo;Slater followed him every place but into the locker room,&rdquo; quipped Powers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02442/5861052-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="714" height="1130"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Juneau was second in the nation in points-per-game average last season.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0033-01

ROYAL JOUST

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Jason Kay and Tom Boggie</div>One of the oldest rinks in North America, Clarkson&rsquo;s Walker Arena has traditionally been a tough test for opposing teams.This season, slated to be Walker&rsquo;s last, the 51-year-old building is being counted on to provide that much more of a lift to the home side.&ldquo;This is going to be our Comiskey Park,&rdquo; said coach Mark Morris.An intimate setting in which 1,300 wooden-bench seats practically hang over the undersized (81 by 191 feet) ice surface, Walker Arena&rsquo;s din has been known to intimidate more foes than not. Game in, game out, boisterous Clarkson faithful jam the stands to take in the school&rsquo;s only Division I program.Adding to its special aura is a bell situated just above the net at which the visiting team defends for two of three periods. Every time a Clarkson goal is scored, the bell rings. And it has taken its toll.Asked his most enduring memory of his college days at Cornell, Hall of Fame goalie Ken Dryden said, &ldquo;That damn bell at Clarkson.&rdquo;With a new multi-purpose building&mdash;which will house the new rink&mdash;scheduled to be ready for the start of the 1991-92 season, a lot of Clarkson alumni have started getting sentimental about Walker.If that translates into even greater home support, look out. Clarkson just may have the edge it needs to ring up another Eastern College Athletic Conference crown. &#9632;

WALKER MAGIC COULD MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

<div class="byline">&#x2014;with files from Claude Scilley, Bruce Hallihan and Mark Spector</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0034-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01716/5861114-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Center Rich Little, one of three nominees for the Sullivan Trophy as the outstanding Canadian university player last season, returns for the UPEI Panthers.</figcaption></div>The Moncton Blue Eagles won&rsquo;t be taking anyone by surprise this season.The defending CIAU champions, who stunned their competitors at the Nationals in March, return virtually intact, primed to repeat.In the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association, their task figures to be made difficult by two upstart teams&mdash;the Prince Edward Island Panthers and the Dalhousie Tigers.Canada West, meanwhile, looks to be ready for change as the perennially strong Calgary Dinosaurs have suffered heavy graduation losses. That leaves the door open for the Alberta Golden Bears, who could coast to a CWUAA title.The OUAA is also ready to crown a new champion, the Waterloo Warriors. Second-place finishers in the West Division last year, the Warriors should be able to overcome the loss of player of the year Mike Bishop.The following are brief previews of each of the three Canadian university leagues.<h2>OUAA</h2>TOP TO BOTTOM: Predicted order of finish with last year&rsquo;s conference record in parentheses.East Division: 1. Trois-Rivieres (15-5-2); 2. Ottawa (13-8-1); 3. McGill (12-8-2); 4. York (22-13-8); 5. Toronto (10-12-0); 6. Queen&rsquo;s (814-0); 7. Concordia (9-13-0); 8. Ryerson (7-150).West Division: 1. Waterloo (22-7-4); 2. Western (11-9-2); 3. Guelph (10-12-0); 4. Wilfrid Laurier (19-3-0); 5. Laurentian (3-19-0); 6. Windsor (12-9-1); 7. Brock (9-11-2); 8. Royal Military College (2-20-0).ON THE WARPATH: Three reasons why Waterloo will win the Queen&rsquo;s Cup.1. Tony Crisp. The talented center was sixth in the country in scoring as a sophomore last year and even more is expected of him this time around.2. Experienced freshman class. Despite losing Bishop, a three-time all-Canadian goalie, the Warriors will start the season with four freshman (three defenseman, one goalie) with major-junior experience.3. They&rsquo;re due. The Warriors have been so close so often, the odds have to be in their favor.JEEPERS CREEPERS: Players to keep your eye on in the OUAA.1. Brian MacDonald, LW, York. In his final year, MacDonald is primed for a big season.2. Mike Maurice, RW, Laurier. He&rsquo;s chasing school point records.3. Mike Fiset, C, Ottawa. Figured in one-third of his team&rsquo;s goals last year.THEY&rsquo;LL BE MISSED: Gone, but not forgotten.1. Bishop.2. Rob Dopson, G, Laurier.3. Greg Puhalski, C, Laurier.WHAT&rsquo;S NEW? The league&rsquo;s off-season changes.1. Yves Beaucage replaces Paul Arsenault, who coached for 28 years at Concordia.2. Danny Dube takes over from Clement Jo-doin behind the bench at Trois-Rivieres.3. Jean Pronovost becomes head man at McGill, succeeding Al Grazys.THE PRODIGIES: Top freshmen.1. Geoff Ingram, C, Brock. A physical player, Ingram had 42 points in 66 games for Peterborough of the Ontario League last season.2. Dave Rowbotham, LW, Ottawa. A 23-year-old, first-year CIAU player, Rowbotham has major-junior and minor-pro experience.3. Corey Keenan, D, Waterloo. Coming off a Memorial Cup appearance with the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) Keenan bolsters the Warriors&rsquo; blue line.<h2>AUAA</h2>TOP TO BOTTOM: Last year&rsquo;s record in parentheses.MacAdam Division: 1. Moncton (16-5-0); 2. Prince Edward Island (13-8-0); 3. New Brunswick (11-9-1); 4. St. Thomas (9-12-0); 5. Mount Allison (6-15-0).Kelly Division: 1. Dalhousie (10-9-2); 2. Acadia (16-5-0); 3. St. Francis Xavier (9-11-1); 4. St Mary&rsquo;s (5-14-2); 5. Cape Breton (7-14-0).EAGLES WILL RULE THE ROOST: Three reasons why.1. Experience. They have 19 players returning&mdash;12 forwards and seven defenseman&mdash;from their national championship team.2. Len Doucet. The coach has a career 80-140 record.3. Determination. The Eagles will be out to prove last year&rsquo;s win was no fluke.OUT OF SIGHT: Players to watch in the AUAA.1. Darren Colborne, C/RW, Acadia. He led the league in goals and points last season and was named an all-Canadian.2. Rich Little, C, UPEI. A Sullivan finalist, Little averaged more than two points a game in &rsquo;89-90.3. Mathieu Beliveau, C/LW, Moncton. Blessed with size and skill, he&rsquo;s rapidly developing into one of the league&rsquo;s best forwards.SO LONG, FAREWELL: Gone to graduation are:1. Kevin Stover, D, Acadia.2. Claude Gosselin, C, Moncton.3. Dave Shellington, LW, UPEI.NEW AND IMPROVED: AUAA teams will play 26 games this season, four more than last year. The playoff structure&mdash;top four teams from each division qualify&mdash;remains the same.HEAD OF THE CLASS: Top freshmen.1. Kevin Knopp, F/D, Acadia. Had 119 points for the Medicine Hat Tigers and the Swift Current Broncos (WHL) last season.2. Graeme Harvey, G, St. Francis Xavier. The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound&rsquo;s (OHL) No. 1 netminder last season, Harvey should stabilize the X-Men&rsquo;s goaltending situation.3. Joe Suk, C, Dalhousie. Collected 149 points in 129 games over the last two seasons for the Hull Olympiques (QMJHL).<h2>CWUAA</h2>TOP TO BOTTOM: Predicted order of finish with last season&rsquo;s record in parentheses.1. Alberta (20-6-2); 2. UBC (16-11-1); 3. Regina (13-13-2); 4. Calgary (21-6-1); 5. Brandon (12-16-0); 6. Saskatchewan (10-16-2); 7. Lethbridge (1-25-2); 8. Alberta (14-14-0).BEARING DOWN: Three reasons why the Golden Bears will win the league title.1. They have three returning CWUAA allstars in Adam Morrison, Doug McCarthy and Ian Herbers.2. They&rsquo;re the league&rsquo;s strongest team up the middle with centers Morrison, Marty Yewchuk, Dave Hingley and Todd Goodwin.3. Bill Moores. In the second year after Clare Drake&rsquo;s departure to the Winnipeg Jets, coach Moores proved he was a much bigger cog in Drake&rsquo;s success than people gave him credit.VALUABLE ASSETS: Potential CWUAA players oflhe year.1. Morrison, Alberta. Finished second in MVP balloting last year to Regina netminder Rod Houk and goalies rarely win this award two years in a row.2. Len Nielsen, C, Regina. The Moose Jaw native is a first-year player, though at 24, he&rsquo;s had plenty of international experience.3. McCarthy, Alberta. An unselfish, twoway performer, McCarthy has the talent to be the league&rsquo;s top scorer.GRADUATED, WITH HONORS: Notable players who have moved on.1. Ken Morrison, C, Saskatchewan.2. Barry Bracko, C, Calgary.3. Mark Fioretti, LW, Calgary.WINDS OF CHANGE: Major differences in this year&rsquo;s CWUAA.1. Bill Seymour takes over as coach for Brent McEwen in Saskatchewan.2. Coach Don Depoe replaces Wayne Fleming in Manitoba.3. The Calgary Dinosaurs, perennial contenders, have been decimated by losses to graduation. Don&rsquo;t be surprised if they&rsquo;re battling just to make the playoffs at season&rsquo;s end.FIRST IN LINE: Freshmen likely to impact.1. Gary Gaudet, C, Brandon. A small, speedy center who played Tier II in Weybum (Sask.) last season.2. Trevor Kruger, G, Lethbridge. A majorjunior veteran (Swift Current&mdash;WHL), Kruger will have to work miracles to get the Pronghorns into the playoffs.3. Steve Young, RW, Alberta. Young could dominate if he stays out of the penalty box. &#9632;

f0034-01

BACK IN BLUE

<div class="byline">BY ANDY BAGGOT</div>Minnesota-Duluth coach Mike Sertich has to be wondering what it will take for his club to avoid unexpected attrition.The latest departure involves defenseman Greg Andrusak, a seniorto-be, who elected to bypass his final season with the Bulldogs to play for the Canadian national team.The loss hurt on two fronts: Andrusak was one of the team&rsquo;s top scorers last season with five goals and 34 points; and Dale Jago and Dennis Vaske, two more veteran blueliners, have graduated.But if nothing else, Sertich is getting used to these situations.Last spring, second-leading scorer Jerry Chumola lost an eye in an auto accident and left school after a brief comeback attempt.Chumola&rsquo;s accident came on the heels of the announcement Chris Lindberg, another top-scoring underclassman, had elected to sign a pro contract with Hartford.In the summer prior to the 1988-89 season, leading scorer Barry Chyzowski told Sertich he was leaving school to play major junior.<h2>RAM TOUGH</h2>The collegiate debut of Michigan Tech goaltender Jamie Ram was one he won&rsquo;t soon forget. In the third period of the annual Hall of Fame exhibition game Oct. 6 against Minnesota-Duluth in Eveleth, Minn., Ram took a slapshot in the forehead and was briefly removed from the game. The teams skated to a 2-2 stan-doff&hellip;After six years as athletic director at North Dakota, Gino Gasparini stepped down last June with the idea of devoting more time to coaching. Gasparini, who is entering his 13th season as coach of the Fighting Sioux, said he welcomes the change. Now that Gasparini is around the hockey office more, he&rsquo;s made an interesting observation about his coaching staff of Cary Eades, Jim Scanlan, Craig Perry and Steve Peters. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing how early these people get to work now that I&rsquo;m in the same office,&rdquo; Gasparini said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01681/5861169-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="562" height="694"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gino Gasparini is devoting more time to coaching this season.</figcaption></div><h2>GRANATO OUT</h2>Wisconsin sustained an early setback when senior winger and captain Don Granato received a broken left index finger in practice Sept. 26. Coach Jeff Sauer said he expected Granato to miss at least a week of action&hellip;Speaking of Sauer, he is entering his 20th season as a head coach in the WCHA (eight at Wisconsin, 11 at Colorado College), the longest tenure of any league coach. Tech&rsquo;s first-year man Newell Brown is the WCHA&rsquo;s youngest coach at age 28. He was eight years old when Sauer coached his first WCHA league game.<h2>SIOUX ON TOP</h2>According to an annual poll of WCHA coaches published by the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald, North Dakota will win the league&rsquo;s regularseason title in 1990-91. The Fighting Sioux received seven first-place votes while second-place Minnesota received two. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team or players. Rounding out the poll were Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State, Colorado College, Denver and Michigan Tech. The coaches have correctly chosen the winner just six times in 19 years. &#9632;

f0035-01

ANDRUSAK SKIPS TOWN TO JOIN CANADIAN TEAM

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01648/5861333-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jean-Yves Roy and the Maine Black Bears open their Hockey East season Oct. 26 at Lake Superior. Roy scored 39 goals last season leading all freshmen.</figcaption></div><h2>ECAC</h2><h3>OCTOBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02472/5861326-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="478" height="248"></div><h3>NOVEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03381/5861319-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="490" height="1491"></div><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04289/5861312-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="444" height="401"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05237/5861305-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="451" height="194"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06205/5861298-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="488" height="1282"></div><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07188/5861291-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="480" height="1114"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08178/5861284-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="445" height="190"></div>ECAC PLAYOFFS<h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09170/5861277-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="374" height="31"></div><h3>MARCH HOCKEYFEST &rsquo;91</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-10165/5861270-1-eng-US/f0036-102.jpg" title="f0036-10" width="420" height="91"></div><h3>NCAA PLAYOFFS MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-11160/5861263-1-eng-US/f0036-112.jpg" title="f0036-11" width="402" height="117"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2><h3>OCTOBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-12151/5861256-1-eng-US/f0036-122.jpg" title="f0036-12" width="475" height="193"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-13146/5861249-1-eng-US/f0036-132.jpg" title="f0036-13" width="364" height="87"></div><h3>NOVEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-14138/5861242-1-eng-US/f0036-142.jpg" title="f0036-14" width="481" height="881"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-15136/5861235-1-eng-US/f0036-152.jpg" title="f0036-15" width="477" height="584"></div><h3>DECEMBER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-16133/5861228-1-eng-US/f0036-162.jpg" title="f0036-16" width="471" height="353"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-17126/5861221-1-eng-US/f0036-172.jpg" title="f0036-17" width="452" height="272"></div><h3>JANUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-18119/5861214-1-eng-US/f0036-182.jpg" title="f0036-18" width="482" height="1357"></div><h3>FEBRUARY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-19115/5861207-1-eng-US/f0036-192.jpg" title="f0036-19" width="476" height="724"></div><h3>HOCKEY EAST PLAYOFFS MARCH</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-20110/5861200-1-eng-US/f0036-202.jpg" title="f0036-20" width="434" height="120"></div> &#9632;

f0036-01

U.S. COLLEGE SCHEDULES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-21" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-21100/5861371-1-eng-US/f0036-212.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01563/5861364-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="3115" height="1809"></div> &#9632;

f0036-21

CANADIAN UNIVERSITY SCHEDULES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01649/5861447-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01613/5861440-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="3106" height="3646"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01328/5861433-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="3111" height="2321"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

SCOREBOARD

<h2>Mon., Oct. 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02215/5861639-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="589" height="1074"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03153/5861632-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="602" height="1121"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04120/5861625-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="594" height="1123"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05101/5861618-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="576" height="87"></div><h2>Tues., Oct. 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0687/5861611-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="596" height="993"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0779/5861604-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="590" height="1119"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01271/5861597-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="597" height="1550"></div><h2>Wed., Oct. 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02175/5861590-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="598" height="2014"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03130/5861583-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="603" height="2056"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04106/5861576-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="604" height="1850"></div><h2>Thur., Oct. 11</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0593/5861569-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="582" height="125"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01285/5861562-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="612" height="3602"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02205/5861555-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="592" height="1136"></div><h2>Fri.. Oct. 12</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03157/5861548-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="596" height="2416"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04121/5861541-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="613" height="2794"></div><h2>Sat., Oct. 13</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05104/5861534-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="592" height="750"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0693/5861527-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="606" height="3599"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0784/5861520-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="606" height="3596"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01295/5861513-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="592" height="1291"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02220/5861506-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="589" height="1286"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03186/5861499-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="580" height="260"></div><h2>Sun., Oct. 14</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04128/5861492-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="595" height="977"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-05114/5861485-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="590" height="1291"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0691/5861478-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="584" height="1290"></div> &#9632;

f0040-02

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-07" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0781/5861670-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0043-07

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01212/5861701-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="540" height="623"><figcaption class="caption-body">ERIC DUHATSCHEK</figcaption></div>Early in his career, he was compared to Bobby Orr&mdash;and that may have been unfair.Nobody, no blatter how accomplished, should be compared to the man who revolutionized the position of defenseman in the National Hockey League.No, a more pertinent comparison may be to Paul Coffey.Phil Housley gets the green light to go pretty much when he wants to&hellip;and he pretty much wants to all the time.Housley, the principle player in the deal that sent Dale Hawerchuk to Buffalo Sabres, set in motion a curious hockey experiment that&rsquo;s happening away from your media spotlight.It may be too strong to say the Winnipeg Jets are trying to re-invent the game this season, but their approach pretty much flies against all conventional hockey wisdom.They have all their scoring touch, all their finesse and much of their skill concentrated in their defense corps.The forwards tend to be a speed bunch who, with a couple of exceptions, have below-average NHL hands.But so what?Coach Bob Murdoch figures the game of hockey, as it will be played in the 1990s, will put a premium on the Housleys and Dave Elletts, the Frederik Olaussons and Teppo Numminens.They&rsquo;re calling the aforementioned quartet the Fab Four and, as Murdoch says, sometimes it takes a plodder, someone who couldn&rsquo;t do anything naturally, to understand these guys. &ldquo;Who are we to say Housley and Olausson can&rsquo;t go over the red line?&rdquo; Murdoch says. &ldquo;These guys have abilities we have to use.&rdquo;&ldquo;Every team&rsquo;s got to work towards its strengths,&rdquo; adds Housley. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s going to be teams that dump the puck in and forecheck hard. There&rsquo;s going to be other teams that are going to want to control the puck&hellip;and if you don&rsquo;t have a play at the blue line, bring it back and regroup.&rdquo;Everybody figured the Housley deal would lead to one other, maybe sending Ellett somewhere for a forward to supplement the Jets&rsquo; attack.That didn&rsquo;t work out, so now they&rsquo;re trying this experiment. There&rsquo;s speed and polish on the blue line, with just a touch of truculence thrown in by Shawn Cronin and/or Gord Donnelly.They&rsquo;re kind of like the Harlem Globetrotters of hockey. They do everything a shade faster than the opposition.&ldquo;The only time you really have defensemen and forwards is when you take a faceoff,&rdquo; says Murdoch. &ldquo;Once the puck is dropped, that changes in today&rsquo;s game. Is Al Maclnnis a defenseman? I don&rsquo;t know. The way the game is played, it&rsquo;s almost a misnomer to call one guy a defenseman and one guy a forward. And that&rsquo;s what we try to emphasize. Once the puck is dropped, we have five guys playing as a unit.&rdquo;According to Ellett, the Jets were to some extent influenced by the Calgary Flames&rsquo; approach. Ever since Gary Suter&rsquo;s rookie season (1985-86), the Flames have been in the top four of NHL power plays. In the last six years, they finished finished first three times, second once, third once and fourth once.Last season, the Flames received more offense from their defense than any other team in the NHL. This year&rsquo;s Jets figure to give them a good run in that underappreciated statistical category.&ldquo;From watching Suter and Maclnnis and how much trouble they cause when they get involved in the plays, I think it&rsquo;s going to create a lot of opportunities for us,&rdquo; says Ellett. &ldquo;Hopefully, we&rsquo;ll score more than we get caught.&rdquo;It&rsquo;ll be interesting to watch. A lot of Jets&rsquo; forwards had career seasons last year&mdash;Dave McLlwain, Paul Fenton, Phil Sykes, Doug Evans. Apart from Thomas Steen and Pat Elynuik, is there really anybody you&rsquo;d want on your power play?No, which is why the Jets&rsquo; No. 1 unit features three defensemen&mdash;Housley, Ellett and Olausson.It says here, though, that long-term, this is the way to go.A second prediction: The Sabres will miss Housley more than the Jets will miss Hawerchuk.Penguins&rsquo; coach Bob Johnson once said the tight confines of Buffalo&rsquo;s Memorial Auditorium would keep Housley from developing into the star that he could be in, say, Edmonton. Now he&rsquo;s playing in a speed division, in a series of buildings with real fast ice.Hawerchuk, meanwhile, is trapped in a small building, behind an emerging star. If he couldn&rsquo;t play behind Thomas Steen, how can he play behind Pierre Turgeon?The deal that looked so one-sided last June may look a lot better to the Jets in the months to come.As they race through the league. &#9632;

f0044-01

JETS’ TRYING TO RE-INVENT THE GAME

<h2>OILERS</h2>Glen Sather received confirmation Glenn Anderson is rejoining the Oilers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s coming back, he&rsquo;ll be at practice (Oct. 15),&rdquo; said the Oilers&rsquo; GM, who spoke with the holdout right winger Oct. 14. Anderson was seeking to have his $380,000 contract bumped to the $700,000 range. He has two years remaining on the contract and during the pre-season, the Oilers offered to extend the contract by two additional seasons at $500,000 annually. Anderson has since hired Tom Reich of Los Angeles as his agent. &ldquo;Nothing&rsquo;s been resolved,&rdquo; said Sather. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t negotiate if you&rsquo;re not playing. You don&rsquo;t even talk about it.&rdquo;&hellip;The Oilers heaved a sigh of relief when Anatoli Semenov showed up in Los Angeles on Oct. 11, the night the Soviet right winger scored his first two NHL goals and drew an assist in a 5-5 tie with the Kings. The 28-year-old was having passport problems. &ldquo;Barry had to do a lot of flying around to get it all straightened out,&rdquo; said Sather of director of player personnel Barry Fraser who flew to Ottawa to get the matter settled. &ldquo;New passport, new life,&rdquo; grinned Semenov. &ldquo;Two goal-S&hellip;I like many, many, many more.&rdquo;<h2>JETS</h2>Defenseman Randy Carlyle&rsquo;s future appeared somewhat in doubt after the 34-year-old co-captain of the Jets was scratched in two of the first three and three of the first six games of the season. Carlyle, the 1981 Norris Trophy winner, hadn&rsquo;t sat out of a game since his early days in Toronto. &ldquo;Not in 15 years,&rdquo; he said, after drawing spectator duties Oct. 6 in Edmonton, Oct. 8 against Calgary and Oct. 12 in Washington. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re a rookie you deal with it and when you&rsquo;re an aging veteran you deal with it. Numbers become a factor.&rdquo; Coach Bob Murdoch defended the move, saying he was simply trying to find the right combination from among eight defenseman The arrival of Phil Housley and the conversion of Gord Donnelly to defense has put Carlyle in a precarious position. &ldquo;They feel right now that there are some people they&rsquo;d like to play ahead of me,&rdquo; Carlyle said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s as simple as that. I think they know what I&rsquo;m capable of doing. It&rsquo;s a management decision, a coaching decision and I have to live with that.&rdquo;&hellip;Winnipeg dropped back-to-back decisions in Washington (3-1) and Philadelphia (4-3) Oct. 12 and 13 to lose four in a row for the first time under Murdoch.<h2>FLAMES</h2>Coach Doug Risebrough wants center Doug Gilmour to concentrate on his defense. Gilmour did not get installed on a scoring line this season. His right winger, Sergei Priakin, didn&rsquo;t exactly tear up the Soviet league in his years with the Soviet Wings. Left winger Tim Sweeney may look and sound like Joey Mullen, but he needs some NHL miles under his belt before he can score with 1 Mullen&rsquo;s efficiency or regularity. So where does that leave Gilmour, who averaged 88 points a season his first two years in Calgary? &ldquo;He wants me to, not to play all defensive, but he wants me to play defensively against certain people,&rdquo; said Gilmour, who had one goal and three assists in six games. &ldquo;Right now. I&rsquo;m trying to do what I can to help the team win.&rdquo;&hellip;There was some standard early-season grumbling about ice time as Risebrough tried to get a longer look at some of his younger players, something the new coach was aware of. How do you keep everybody happy, Risebrough was asked. &ldquo;Part of it is my responsibility,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but part of it is the players&rsquo;responsibility&rdquo;.<h2>KINGS</h2>Wayne Gretzky scoffed at the critics who say he&rsquo;s on the downside of his career now that he&rsquo;s 29 years old. &ldquo;It seems like every year I&rsquo;ve got something to prove,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s absolutely ridiculous to say I&rsquo;m old. It seems like somebody always has something to write. If I was eighth or ninth in the scoring race last year, I guess I could see it, but it seems pretty silly to me.&rdquo; Through six games, Gretzky had five goals and 14 points. He was tied with Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Kevin Stevens for the scoring lead&hellip;Owner Bruce McNall missed the Kings&rsquo; only loss in their first six games, a 6-3 defeat to Vancouver Oct. 6. McNall was in Paris, where the next day he watched Saumarez win the $1 million Prix 1&rsquo;Arc de Triomphe. Saumarez is co-owned by McNall and Gretzky. &ldquo;I guess the answer is I can&rsquo;t be missing anymore games,&rdquo; McNall said&hellip;Luc Robitaille scored his 200th career goal in a 4-1 win over St. Louis Oct. 15. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy about it, but a lot of people have scored that many,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s that big of a deal.&rdquo;<h2>CANUCKS</h2>Goalie Kirk McLean agreed to a new two-year contract Oct. 15 that will pay him a base salary of $400,000 (US) per season, plus a signing bonus of about $60,000 (US). McLean, 23, earned a base salary of $145,000 (Cdn.) last season. The Canucks broke off contract talks in September after McLean rejected an offer of $300,000 (US) and a $50,000 signing bonus. After McLean decided to play out his option, the Canucks reconsidered and reopened negotiations&hellip;The Canucks named Steve Tambellini to replace Darcy Rota as the team&rsquo;s director of media relations Oct. 9. Rota begins a new job in New York Nov. 1 as a special assistant to NHL president John Ziegler. Tam-bellini, who played 10 seasons in the NHL, spent the past two seasons playing in Switzerland and Austria. Rota&rsquo;s rapport with the Vancouver media is so strong that 40 press and radio reporters threw a going-away dinner for him. &#9632;

ANDERSON ENDS CONTRACT HOLDOUT

More Swedes have been picked in the NHL entry draft than any country outside North America. Since 1969, 157 Swedes have been selected, well ahead of the 100 picks from Czechoslovakia, 91 from Finland and 60 from the Soviet Union. Of the 4,455 picks made in the last 22 years, 428 (9.6 per cent) have been from overseas.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02138/5861756-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="715" height="424"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jan Erixon</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0044-02

NUMBERS

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>Last autumn Craig Simpson wasn&rsquo;t exactly Mr. October.With a solitary goal during the first 13 games of the 1989-90 NHL campaign, the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; leftwinger broke from the gate only slightly slower than a glacier.Simpson, a 56-goal sniper two years earlier, finished with just 29 goals in 80 games and managed only four in his last 11 starts.But, the 23-year-old made amends during the playoffs, leading the NHL with 16 markers, including the winner in Edmonton&rsquo;s Stanley Cup-clinching 4-1 triumph May 24 in Boston.Simpson had hoped to pick up this season where he left off during the playoffs. He was doing that through the Oilers&rsquo; first four games, accounting for two goals and two assists.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s important to get off to a good start, both personally and as a team,&rdquo; said Simpson.&ldquo;When we finished third (in the Smythe Division) two years ago, it was because of a poor record within our division,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;Now we&rsquo;re back as champions and we know the other teams want to give us a shot&mdash;a good beating. We don&rsquo;t want to dig ourselves (in) a hole early, although I remember my second year in Pittsburgh, we started 7-0 and missed the playoffs.&rdquo;.The Oilers haven&rsquo;t missed the playoffs in 11 NHL seasons. And one would hate to witness the carnage on Jasper Avenue if that were to happen.Suffice it to say, it&rsquo;s up to the goalscorers like Simpson to make certain the Oilers&rsquo; untarnished success remains intact.Last season, Simpson didn&rsquo;t score a hat trick and he scored twice on only three occasions. Over one 18-game stretch during the second half, he scored only four goals.&ldquo;I never really had any streaks at all. You have to go on the odd tear and be consistent the rest of the time,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Yet I still managed almost 30. If it&rsquo;s that easy to get 30, a guy should be able to get 40 or 50.The name of Simpson&rsquo;s game has been to stand in front of the net, absorb punishment and score from close range and on deflections.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think it was from a lack of being there (in front of the net),&rdquo; said Simpson, who estimates he scored three times on tip-ins in 1989-90. &ldquo;My game relies on a lot of breaks and a lot of shots to the net. In the playoffs, nobody plays from the outside, everybody goes to the net.&rdquo;Ah, the playoffs: The salvation of Simpson&rsquo;s campaign.&ldquo;Mac T (Craig MacTavish) and I talked in January when things weren&rsquo;t going that well, that I had to do it in the playoffs,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;After all, we didn&rsquo;t want a repeat of 1989 (first round exit).&rdquo;Now, Simpson is looking to adopt a similar attitude from October through March.<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Mark Lamb, Craig MacTavish, Ken Linseman, Vladimir Ruzicka.LW&mdash;Petr Klima, Esa Tikkanen, Martin Gelinas, Kelly Buchberger.RW&mdash;-Craig Simpson, Joe Murphy, Anatoli Semenov, Dave BrownRD&mdash;Craig Muni, Jeff Beukeboom, Charlie Huddy, Chris Joseph.LD&mdash;Kevin Lowe. Steve Smith, Geoff Smith.G&mdash;Bill Ranford, Eldon Reddick.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Tikkanen, 3. A&mdash;Messier, Smith, 4. P&mdash;Murphy, Smith, Semenov, 5. PIM&mdash; Graves. 31. &#9632;

SIMPSON SEEKS TO REGAIN SCORING TOUCH

<div class="byline">BY GRANT McGINNIS</div>One week into the season. Bob Murdoch finally solved his goaltending dilemma. But the resolution was only temporary.By sending No. 1 man Bob Essensa to the minors for conditioning, coach Murdoch&rsquo;s Winnipeg Jets only delayed the inevitable for another week. Someone would have to go.After a weekend in the American League ending Oct. 15, Essensa was scheduled to return from Moncton. His job was not in jeopardy.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not looking at the outcome of the games, we&rsquo;re not looking at his performance in those games. We just want him to get some game conditioning,&rdquo; Murdoch said. &ldquo;Bobby Essensa right now to me is not fighting for a position with the Winnipeg Jets.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s never let us down and I don&rsquo;t expect he&rsquo;s going to let us down this year. Unless he loses a spot on the Winnipeg Jets, he is a Winnipeg Jet goalie.&rdquo;To prevent such a self-destruction brought on by a severe groin strain, Essensa started his season in Troy, N.Y., against the Capital District Islanders Oct. 12 and appeared two nights later against the Binghamton Rangers. He was 1-0-1 with a 2.88 goals-against average, making 48 saves and allowing six goals.In doing so, he avoided the embarassment that would result if he started in Winnipeg and was bombed early.Two farm games were supposed to be enough to erase the effects of three weeks on the sidelines.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m about 95 per cent,&rdquo; Essensa said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough thing, especially for a goaltender because his groins are his livelihood. It&rsquo;s been a slow process but it&rsquo;s coming around now.&rdquo;The move did not come as any great surprise even though Murdoch refused to discuss the possibility that his top gun would have to start the year on the farm until it became fact.&ldquo;It seems to be the trend,&rdquo; said Essensa, &ldquo;especially for goaltenders when they get injured or are out for an extended period, to send them down for a game or two to get their timing down.&rdquo;Edmonton&rsquo;s Grant Fuhr and Philadelphia&rsquo;s Ron Hextall, two of the NHL&rsquo;s best in recent seasons, both spent time in the AHL last year after extended periods of inactivity.Beginning the year in the minors is nothing new for the 25-year-old Essensa.He was recalled to Winnipeg after 21 International League games for Fort Wayne two years ago. Last season, he played six games for Moncton before returning to the big leagues in time to post a record of 18-9-5 and a 3.15 GAA. He was named to the NHL&rsquo;s all-rookie squad and played for Team Canada at the World Championships.Beauregard gained a slight edge Oct. 13 when he became the first to start back-to-back games this season after Tabaracci was sidelined with a sore wrist. In four appearances, Beauregard was 1-3-0 with a 3.00 GAA. Tabaracci, in two starts, was 0-1-1 with a 3.50 GAA.&ldquo;I keep saying the two goalies we had last year were pretty good,&rdquo; said Murdoch, leaning towards Beauregard. &ldquo;I have a lot of confidence in them. I also have a lot of confidence in Rick Tabaracci.&ldquo;I keep saying we won&rsquo;t have three goalies here. Take it from there.&rdquo;<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 10: Bob Essensa, G, assigned to Moncton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Thomas Steen, Brent Ashton, Dave McLIwain, Kris Draper.LW&mdash;Doug Smail, Paul Fenton, Scott Arniel, Doug Evans, Phil Sykes.RW&mdash;Pat Elynuik, Paul MacDermid, Greg Paslawski, Danton Cole, Mark Kumpel.LD&mdash;Dave Ellett, Phil Housley. Randy Carlyle, Shawn Cronin.RD&mdash;Fredrik Olausson. Teppo Numminen. Moe Mantha, Gord Donnelly.G&mdash;Stephane Beauregard, Rick Tabaracci.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Ellett, 3. A&mdash;Elynuik, Housley. 4. P&mdash;Ellett, 6. PIM&mdash;Donnelly, 18. &#9632;

GOALIE SITUATION COMING TO A HEAD

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>For a time, it looked as if the most pertinent question relating to Joel Otto was: Would he ever score again?&ldquo;You mean this early in the season?&rdquo; asked Otto.No. Ever again.&ldquo;C&rsquo;mon,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;My hands aren&rsquo;t that bad.&rdquo;Well&hellip;It took until the sixth game of the season, but Otto finally did put his first goal on the board in a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks Oct. 14.The development was noteworthy, if only because of the amount of ice time Otto received in the Calgary Flames&rsquo; first six games.At a time when many of the Flames&rsquo; players were grumbling about not playing much, Otto was killing penalties, playing the power play and shadowing the opposition&rsquo;s top center.Only a year ago, the situation was reversed. Otto hardly played at all for former coach Terry Crisp, who used Theoren Fleury extensively along with Joe Nieuwendyk and Doug Gilmour, the team&rsquo;s first two centers.In those days, everybody wanted off Otto&rsquo;s line. Now, they&rsquo;re lining up to get aboard.Otto called last season his toughest year as a pro. &ldquo;It was not an ideal situation,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;I had a long summer. I didn&rsquo;t skate for the first time. I just hibernated. It was a tough season in a lot of ways and I wanted to take a break from it. Mentally, I took a rest.&rdquo;One of the real mysteries of last season was why Otto disappeared from the lineup. Following Calgary&rsquo;s early playoff exit, most analysts agreed: The Flames lost too much toughness in the trades and retirements that cost them Jim Peplinski, Rob Ramage and Lanny McDonald.Since they couldn&rsquo;t make a deal to fill the void for a physical player, maybe it would have made sense to play one of their few, bonafide tough guys&mdash;Otto&mdash;a little more. Instead of a little less.Otto possesses all the qualities of a Franco Harris-style running back. The more he plays, the better he plays. He doesn&rsquo;t wear down or run out like a cheap battery.Otto offers a change of pace to the Flames&rsquo; other three centers, all of whom are talented offensively, but don&rsquo;t grind it out as much.&ldquo;They can scare teams with their talent,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t have all that many guys who can be a physical presence. I think that&rsquo;s their thinking, get me in there and play physically. We&rsquo;ve been successful so far.&rdquo;The only thing that doesn&rsquo;t come easily are the goals. Former coach Bob Johnson once said that Otto, whose career-high 25 goals came in his rookie season in 1985-86, was a Tim Kerr-in-the-making.So far, he hasn&rsquo;t been able to shed those Roberto Duran hands.&ldquo;Oh come on,&rdquo; said Otto. &ldquo;I think I have good hands. I do. I just think that at game time, I rush a little. The type of game I have to play, I haven&rsquo;t caught up with it yet.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in the league six years. The tempo and my hands haven&rsquo;t quite meshed. I&rsquo;m so intense to play physically that I don&rsquo;t relax when I handle the puck. I&rsquo;m not saying I could be a goalscorer, but I think I could score more if I relaxed more instead of dumping it in and trying to create a lot of stuff.&rdquo;<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour, Joel Otto, Theoren Fleury, Robert Reichel.LW&mdash;Gary Roberts, Tim Sweeney, Paul Ranheim, Stephane Matteau, Brian MacLellan.RW&mdash;Sergei Makarov. Sergei Priakin, Mark Hunter, Jiri Hrdina.LD&mdash;Gary Suter. Jamie Macoun, Dana Murzyn.RD&mdash;Al Maclnnis, Roger Johansson, Ken Sabourin.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Rick Wamsley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tim Hunter RW, bruised shoulder, day-to-day. Ric Nattress, D. torn knee cartilage, Oct. 29. Colin Patterson, LW. sprained right knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Nieuwendyk, 5. A&mdash;Suter, 8. P&mdash;Suter, 9.PIM&mdash;Johansson, 17. &#9632;

BIGGER ROLE FOR BIG CENTER

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>Finding one goaltender who can stop a puck with consistency has been a Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; problem for years.But if the first two weeks of the 1990-91 season were any indication, it appeared the Kings had found two goalies they can count on.Kelly Hrudey and Daniel Berthiaume were at their best when the Kings completed an Oct. 13-14 weekend sweep of the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues that moved them into first place in the Smythe Division with a 4-1-1 record.Berthiaume stopped 40 shots when the Kings crushed Boston 7-1, and Hrudey turned aside 42 in a 4-1 win over St. Louis.&ldquo;After sitting on the bench and watching Danny&rsquo;s performance, I knew I&rsquo;d have to have a pretty good game because he was just phenomenal,&rdquo; Hrudey said.A four-month bout with mononucleosis turned Hrudey&rsquo;s 1989-90 season into a nightmare. He had a 22-21-6 record, but his 4.07 goals-against average was the worst of his career.&ldquo;Facing 43 shots isn&rsquo;t a big deal now. I feel great. I never felt this good all last year. I feel like I barely played,&rdquo; said Hrudey, 2-1-1 with a 3.18 GAA in four starts.Berthiaume, meanwhile, was 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA and reminding people of his days with the Winnipeg Jets in 1986-87 and &rsquo;87-88, when he ran up a combined 40-26-10 record and was known as &ldquo;The Bandit.&rdquo;&ldquo;Things have been going good for me since the beginning of training camp,&rdquo; said Berthiaume, who was acquired from the Minnesota North Stars for minor-league left winger Craig Duncanson Sept. 6. &ldquo;Sure, I&rsquo;d like to think (the Jets and North Stars) made mistakes when they traded me. I just hope I can keep it going like this for the rest of the season.&rdquo;Coach Tom Webster hoped so, too. The Kings gave up 337 goals last season, the third-worst figure in the NHL. Goaltending wasn&rsquo;t solely to blame, but Hrudey&rsquo;s illness and the inconsistency of backups Mario Gosselin and Ron Scott were factors.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not just the goalies and it&rsquo;s not just the defensemen. It&rsquo;s everybody,&rdquo; Webster said. &ldquo;The forwards have to work with the defensemen, the defensemen have to work with the forwards, and the goalies have to stop the first shot. We&rsquo;re not giving up many goals, so we must be doing something right.&rdquo;The Kings were playing better team defense, but they were still giving up an average of 31 shots per game.&ldquo;The goaltending&rsquo;s been tremendous,&rdquo; Wayne Gretzky said. &ldquo;I think those guys have been pushing each other. It&rsquo;s good for everybody. They&rsquo;re playing really well. The team has tremendous confidence in either one of them.&rdquo;Hrudey said Gretzky&rsquo;s assessment was &ldquo;a great read&rdquo; of the situation.&ldquo;If the goaltenders on a team can do that, push each other the way we have been, it&rsquo;s better for us and it&rsquo;s better for the team,&rdquo; Hrudey said. &ldquo;The situation looks pretty good right now.&rdquo;The Kings weren&rsquo;t quite ready to put in orders for Stanley Cup rings, but the work of both masked men was cause for optimism.&ldquo;This is a team game and you need contributions from everybody,&rdquo; Gretzky said. &ldquo;But goaltending has always been extremely important. Look at the list of past champions over the years. The teams that have won have had the hottest goaltender. No matter how well the team plays, if you don&rsquo;t get the goaltending, forget it<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Oct. 8: Rene Chapdelaine, D. recalled from New Haven (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Todd Elik, Mike Krushelnyski, Steve Kasper.LW&mdash;Tony Granato, Luc Robitaille, Scott Bjugstad, John Tonelli, Jay Miller.RW&mdash;Tomas Sandstrom, Dave Taylor, Francois Breault. Bob Kudelski. Brad Jones.LD&mdash;Steve Duchesne. Larry Robinson. Dennis Smith, Brian Benning.RD&mdash;Rod Buskas. Rob Blake, Rene Chapdelaine.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Daniel Berthiaume.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Halkidis, D, shoulder surgery, indefinite. Tom Laidlaw, D, inflamed disc in back, indefinite. Marty McSorley, D, twisted knee, day-to-day. Tim Watters, D, bruised ribs, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Gretzky, 5. A&mdash;Gretzky, 9. P&mdash;Gretzky, 14.PIM&mdash;Granato, 22. &#9632;

MASKED MEN TAKE TURNS BEING SAVIORS

<div class="byline">BY STEVE SIMMONS</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01205/5861883-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="426" height="614"></div>The first thing you notice is the smell. It is there, it is apparent, and it is often overwhelming.Hockey dressing rooms are insulting to your nose. Hockey equipment, when wet, when hot, when packed in a small room with little ventilation can be awfully odorous.You should know that. It&rsquo;s important.In the wake of the Lisa Olson controversy, and in the ever-growing question of whether reporters should be allowed in the dressing rooms of sporting teams, the question has arisen:Just what is a dressing room like, anyway?My mother asked me about it. My sister asked. Her 13-y ear-old son asked. The paper boy asked. Dressing rooms happen to be a hot topic these days.I told them hockey dressing rooms are different and I believe that to be true. First off, they smell differently. That&rsquo;s the disadvantage. It may be the only disadvantage of dealing with hockey dressing rooms because inside you quickly realize as a reporter, you&rsquo;re dealing with a different kind of people.I&rsquo;ve been fortunate. At the major league level, I&rsquo;ve covered football, baseball, hockey, boxing, tennis, golf and the Olympic Games. That kind of base gives you a wide spectrum of comparison.For the most part, golfers and tennis players are spoiled and difficult. They treat reporters will all the disdain of a missed putt or a double fault. And they seem nice when compared with the wonderful people who play major league baseball.To some reporters, covering big league baseball is comparable to punishment. It&rsquo;s painful but somebody has to do it.Every time I cover another sport I find myself liking hockey more. Every time I&rsquo;m sneered at or spit at or sworn at by a baseball player&mdash;or threatened as I have been by football players&mdash;I find myself liking hockey players more.I&rsquo;ve never known why hockey players are like they are: Why you can approach Wayne Gretzky but not Roger Clemens? Why you can sit down comfortably with Brett Hull but not get close to John Elway. But I&rsquo;ve always liked the game and its people.For two years I covered football. In those two years, any number of players attempted to intimidate me: A group of players threatened to strip and shave me in front of the rest of the team. Another said he would damage my car if I kept coming around. A football coach once called me into his office locked the door behind him and told me they had a way for dealing with people like me in the South. All they would do is spread the rumor you were a homosexual and your career would be in jeopardy.The next year the coach was fired. I&rsquo;m still around. I take some solace in that.In the 11 years I&rsquo;ve been writing about the NHL, I have had just one physical confrontation. I was attacked once on a team bus. But it wasn&rsquo;t much of a problem. The attacker was goalie Pat Riggin. And it wasn&rsquo;t much of an attack. And it was the somewhat erratic Riggin so no one paid a lot of attention to it.But the question still hasn&rsquo;t been answered. What is a dressing room like? In the NHL, there are almost two answers. On off days after practises, the dressing rooms are usually loud with music from the stereo, players quietly changing, testing sticks, planning lunch, opening mail. Loose. Relaxed. Comfortable enough to talk to any athlete who has a moment to do so.Game night is different. Every player is different. After the game there is often a mass of bodies moving in all directions. Players changing. Players in suits who weren&rsquo;t dressed that night. Management people milling around. Trainers busily packing up equipment. Television cameras and microphones and men and women with notebooks moving from available athlete to available athlete looking for the right answer to the right question.Post-game dressing rooms are often chaotic and certainly never peaceful. They are not the place of solace and relaxation the no-nothings who say reporters should be banned from dressing rooms say they are. And each player reacts differently. Some change in the back, in the areas off limits to outsiders. Some seem to revel in the attention of that night. The only reporters the players generally complain about the ones who are tactless, uniformed or ask ludicrous questions.Fortunately, hockey players are even more patient in this way. They&rsquo;re good people, hockey players.Of other professional athletes I&rsquo;m not so certain.Steve Simmons is a feature writer-columnist with the Toronto Sun. &#9632;

f0047-01

HOCKEY PLAYERS A DIFFERENT BREED

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-03114/5861914-1-eng-US/f0047-032.jpg"></div>This is the Year of the First Rounder in the NHL. Six first-rounders from the 1990 entry draft started this season with their NHL team and all look as though they&rsquo;ll stick.The group is headed by No. 1 overall selection Owen Nolan of Quebec and includes No. 2 Petr Nedved of Vancouver, No. 3 Keith Primeau of Detroit, No. 4 Mike Ricci of Philadelphia, No. 5 Jaromir Jagr of Pittsburgh and No. 10 Drake Berehowsky of Toronto.Below is a salary survey reflecting the most basic elements of each contract. Bonuses, except for the guaranteed signing bonus, are not included.For example, Nolan has a special bonus-and-revision clause. With a 50-goal, 100-point season, he could earn $90,000 in bonuses, which would automatically increase by half ($45,000) his salary for each of the remaining years of the contract. However, were Nolan returned to Cornwall of the Ontario League this season, the Nordiques wouldn&rsquo;t be obliged to pay him.Nedved, on the other hand, would receive his entire NHL salary, even if he&rsquo;s sent back to Seattle of the Western League.<h2>THE UNTOUCHABLES:</h2>With the Maple Leafs off to an abysmal start (0-4-1), there&rsquo;s trouble in Toronto.NHL general managers wishing to make a deal with Toronto GM Floyd Smith are immediately informed of the team&rsquo;s untouchables. They include Vincent Damphousse. Daniel Marois, Al lafrate, Scott Thornton, Drake Berehowsky, Rob Pearson and Luke Richardson.Notable by their absence are Gary Leeman, Ed Olczyk and Wendel Clark. One or more of them could be moved to fill the Leafs&rsquo; needs: A big center; defensive defenseman or proven netminder.<h2>CONFLICT OF INTERESTS?</h2>Igor Larionov, the former Soviet national team star and now with the Vancouver Canucks, has written a book, which will apparently tell us about his years under the tutelage of Soviet coach Victor Tikhonov.The book&rsquo;s publisher is Michael Smith, who is also the general manager of the Winnipeg Jets.<h2>ONE FROM THE ROAD:</h2>Sign spotted in freshly-scrubbed washroom of Buffalo&rsquo;s new-look Auditorium: &ldquo;Flush only when absolutely necessary. &ldquo;<h2>QUESTION OF THE WEEK:</h2>Why are so many NHL teams using multiple captains this season?&ldquo;By having more than one captain, you&rsquo;re creating a diversity of communication. It&rsquo;s also a way to generate more leadership. A young captain may not be ready to handle all the pressure involved with captaincy, hut he may be a leader and it helps to be with other captains.&rdquo;&mdash;Pat Quinn, general manager of the Vancouver Canucks and a former captain from 1975 to 1977 with the Atlanta Flames. Doug Lidster, Dan Quinn and Trevor Linden are the rotating captains of the Canucks. &#9632;

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October 26, 1990

QUEBEC STAR HAS PROVEN HE IS NO ORDINARY JOE

EAST COAST LEAGUE SCHEDULE

EXPANSION LIKELY IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST

MIAMI IS FACING AN UPHILL BATTLE