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February 8, 1991
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.
MULTIPLE PROBLEMS BEDEVIL WOEFUL TEAM
When the New Jersey Devils rang in the new year, they were in second place, just two points behind the Patrick Division-leading New York Rangers. But after an 11-game winless streak (0-7-4)—the second longest in club history—the Devils were barely clinging to fourth place and coach John Cunniff’s job was in serious jeopardy. What had gone wrong? A power failure. While Claude Lemieux and Kirk Muller, both grinding, banging-style forwards, continued to produce, the team’s biggest offensive guns fell silent. John MacLean, Peter Stastny and Patrik Sundstrom simply couldn’t find the net. MacLean went to the All-Star Game mired in his worst slump of the season. In 11 games between Dec. 30 and Jan. 26, he had just two points. In the same 11 games, Sundstrom had three points (all assists) while Stastny had…
GRETZKY THIRTYSOMETHING. BUT NOT SLOWING
Wayne Gretzky couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about. Ho, hum. The Los Angeles Kings’ center blew out the candles on his 30th birthday cake Jan. 26, then proceeded to extinguish the Vancouver Canucks with a three-goal, five-point performance in a 5-4 win at the Forum. The victory pushed his team six points up on the Calgary Flames in the Smythe Division. “I don’t think about stuff like that,” Gretzky said of joining the thirtysomething club. “I really haven’t thought about it except when people have asked me about it. The truth is, I really feel good.” Perhaps Gretzky will not be able to dominate his third decade in professional hockey as he did the previous two—he was 18 when he and the Edmonton Oilers joined the league in 1979-80. But a…
BACK TO SCHOOL
We don’t know if the current crop of minor professional goaltenders is any better than what it was 10 years ago. But we feel pretty certain in saying they’re a more highly-educated group than their predecessors. That’s because more than four out of every 10 goalies in the minors are ex-collegians. You don’t have to look hard to find them. From Sydney, N.S., to San Diego and just about every place in between are young goaltenders who came up through the college ranks. Eleven of the 24 goaltenders in the International League (45.8 per cent), and 15 of the 34 American League goalies (44.1 per cent), were college products. By contrast, 16 of the 62 goaltenders (25.8 per cent) who appeared in an NHL game before the all-star break spent at least one season…
SECOND COMING
If you measure a man by the size of identity crisis he creates, Greg Johnson would be considered a giant. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound eye-catching sophomore center for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux has been referred to by his coach. Gino Gasparini. in the same sentence with Hobey Baker. “He will be an All-American and Hobey Baker (Award) candidate,” Gasparini professed prior to the start of the season. When Tim Hennessy, the longtime UND radio play-by-play man, sees Johnson, he can’t help but be reminded of Tony Hrkac, the for-mer Sioux center who was the 1987 Hobey recipient after leading the Fighting Sioux to the National Collegiate Athletic Association title. “When he and (Russ) Romaniuk (the high-scoring left winger) skate,” said Hennessy,”they look just like Hrkac and (Bob) Joyce (the record-setting duo that…
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