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March 15, 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.
NHL SHOULD STRESS STABILTY, NOT MOBILITY
My biggest worry about my favorite league is its initials may soon change from the NHL to the NCL—the National Carpetbaggers League. What’s going on here? Every time I turn around, it seems like another rumor has popped up about a team threatening to move. I was just getting comfortable with president John Ziegler assuring us the NHL was so stable it could afford to expand into such uncharted territories as San Jose and Tampa Bay. And now, even the filthy-rich Pittsburgh Penguins are reportedly on the block. But don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with unloading a team. Half of my least-favorite football club—the National Football League’s New York Giants—was recently sold for almost $100 million. It’s a free country, isn’t it? What scares me, though, is all the talk about moving franchises. For…
MAKING HIS MARK
When Mark Fitzpatrick was sidelined at the start of the season, he didn’t think his illness would be career threatening—or life threatening. But a mysterious illness put the goalie’s career on hold. “All through training camp I was feeling awkward,” says Fitzpatrick, who was 19-19-5 with a 3.39 goals-against average with the New York Islanders last season. “I didn’t have a good camp. I felt fatigued all the time. I thought it was due to the fact I probably overexerted myself during the summer. “I kept telling myself there was nothing wrong. I just needed some rest, but that obviously wasn’t right.” What wasn’t right was Fitzpatrick was battling eosinophilia myalgia syndrome (EMS), a potentially fatal disease that affects the body’s muscles and joints causing swelling. There is no timetable for his return to…
NEW APPROACH NEEDED IN BATTLE OF THE BOTTLE
Perhaps the saddest news of the season was the recent announcement that right winger John Kordic had been suspended again by the Washington Capitals. It meant another setback in Kordic’s admitted battle against the bottle and brought into sharper focus the war the NHL may have to start waging against alcohol. Kordic’s latest lapse was only the most recent episode of a season stained by unsettling stories involving alcohol. Chicago Blackhawk coach-general manager Mike Keenan was embarrassed by a brush with his neighborhood police for an incident of driving under the influence just before opening night. Blackhawks’ defenseman Dave Manson endured a similar event early in the season. Quebec defenseman Bryan Fogarty recently was released from a center where he received treatment for alcohol abuse. North Stars’ farmhand Link Gaetz also has admitted…
BALLARD GONE BUT LEAF FIASCO CONTINUES
Donald Giffin, the beleaguered president of the Maple Leafs, was sitting in his home at the time, staring directly at a picture of the late Harold Ballard. “He’s looking right at me, with a big smile on his face,” said Giffin. “I’m trying to imagine him doing this to me.” Funny, but long-suffering Toronto hockey fans no doubt have little problem imagining that Ballard had somehow intended the operation of the Maple Leafs to be as chaotic after his death, as it was in the 18 years he ran the team himself. If it was by design, then Ballard was a resounding success, for as incredible as the notion might have seemed back on April 11, 1990, when the 86-year-old Ballard passed away, it has gotten worse in Toronto. And there’s nary a…
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