The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.

March 22, 1991

The Hockey News March 22, 1991

<div class="byline">BY TOM MCMILLAN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011391/5852641-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Strong goaltending is a key to good defensive hockey, says Larry Robinson.</figcaption></div>Tom Webster spoke three words to his Los Angeles Kings at the start of training camp this season. Play defense. Please.Funny, but he knew he had to be a salesman to one of the great, freewheeling teams in all of puckdom. He knew he had to prod and nudge and cajole.He knew there was no other way.&ldquo;Because a lot of times too much empahsis is put on offensive stats as far as rewards go, and not enough rewards go toward defensive commitment,&rdquo; Webster says. &ldquo;So you have to sell them.&ldquo;You have to show and prove to players that you can get as many scoring opportunities out of great defensive posture as you can in a run-and-gun situation. And we&rsquo;ve been able to do that, I think&mdash;getting more chances off good defensive positioning than we would&rsquo;ve by just going hellbent all over the place.&rdquo;The rewards are coming. Wayne Gretzky and the Kings, still one of the NHL&rsquo;s most fluid, highest-scoring teams, have been holding off Calgary in the race for first place in the Smythe Division&mdash;and establishing themselves as legitimate Stanley Cup contenders&mdash;by making one adjustment in their game plan. Good defense.A year ago, when Bruce McNall&rsquo;s millionaires wobbled home fourth in the Smythe, they leaked 337 goals, the third-worst total in the league&mdash;an average of 4.21 a game.This year, through 70 games, they&rsquo;d allowed just 219 goals, an average of 3.13. Webster&rsquo;s words filtered through.&ldquo;This team plays a three-zone game now,&rdquo; says goaltender Daniel Berthiaume, one of the Kings&rsquo; few off-season acquisitions. &ldquo;And we play more physical in our own zone. We&rsquo;re better in front of our net than they were in the past.&rdquo;Many, including Berthiaume, give much of the credit to a relatively anonymous but highly efficient defense corps that has thrived under Webster&rsquo;s system.From aging Larry Robinson to clever Steve Duchesne to promising Rob Blake to nasty Marty McSorley to recycled Brian Benning to dependable Rod Buskas, the Kings&rsquo; defensemen have quietly done the job.&ldquo;But, really, it has been a team thing,&rdquo; says Buskas, the only defensive newcomer since the end of last season. &ldquo;I think everyone realizes you can&rsquo;t just have the defensemen playing defense. The great thing here right now is that we all stress ourgoals-against. Gretz, everybody.&rdquo;Robinson, the future Hall of Famer who played on some marvelous defensive clubs in Montreal, agrees that it&rsquo;s not just the defensemen&mdash;although, together, they&rsquo;ve been one of the best units in the league.&ldquo;Where we got into trouble last year was they felt they were going to play well defensively if the defense played well,&rdquo; Robinson says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the philosophy that they&rsquo;ve had here.&ldquo;But good defensive hockey takes five guys on the ice, and it takes a lot of hard work, and it takes commitment. And, of course, it takes goaltending. You can have the best defensive system in the world, and the best defensive players, but if you don&rsquo;t have the goaltending&hellip;&rdquo;Bingo. All the Kings&rsquo; efforts may have gone for naught had not Kelly Hrudey and Berthiaume turned in spectacular regular seasons.Hrudey, shelled for more than four goals a game last year, has benefitted from a lighter workload&mdash;and fewer shots&mdash;to fashion a goals-against average near the 3.00 mark. He appeared in 40 of the team&rsquo;s first 69 games, posting a 20-13-5 record.Berthiaume, obtained from Minnesota shortly before the start of training camp, has turned in some surprising numbers: A 3.05 GAA and 20 wins in his first 32 games.With three weeks left in the season, the Kings were third in the league in goals-against average at 3.08&mdash;trailing only stingy Chicago and Montreal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to single out just the defensemen here,&rdquo; Webster says, &ldquo;because you need the support of the goaltender, too, and our goalies have played extremely well. We&rsquo;ve used eight defensemen all year, rotated our goaltenders, gotten everyone involved. And our forwards have done a great job, too. making that commitment to defense.&rdquo;Think of the Kings and you still think of Gretzky making that little buttonhook move, spinning out from behind the goal. Or Luc Robitaille finding an open corner. Or Tomas Sandstrom crashing the net. Or Jay Miller decking someone.Webster likes those things, too. But he has developed a hybrid team, one that scores in bunches but works tenaciously in its own zone. One that plays tic-tac-toe on the power play but kills penalties with passion&mdash;so well that it has the fifth-best penalty-killing unit in the league. Last year, by contrast, the Kings ranked 17th in penalty-killing.Webster&rsquo;s words filtered through.&ldquo;As a coach, when you have forwards that are skilled, you also have to compromise,&rdquo; Webster says. &ldquo;You have to give them that freedom to go. And we do.&ldquo;But when the puck turns over, they know they have to have that commitment to come back. I think everybody&rsquo;s happy with the way things have worked out.&rdquo;Several players&mdash;Buskas, Robinson, Berthiaume&mdash;say this all began on the first day of camp in September, with Webster&rsquo;s defensive oratory. Webster himself likes to think it started last year in a first-round playoff upset of Calgary, when the Kings, rebounding from an injury-filled regular season, ousted the defending Cup champions in six games.Actually, the record shows the Kings allowed 24 goals in those six games, hardly a defensive endorsement. But they shut down the high-scoring Flames 2-1 in Game 3 at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif. And they claimed Game 6, 4-3 in overtime.&ldquo;I really think it started in the playoffs when we had our whole team together and really played well,&rdquo; Webster says. &ldquo;We made that commitment to play team defense, followed through&hellip;and then it continued on from training camp up until right now.&ldquo;Once the players see that, once they start believing in it, then you&rsquo;ve got a starting point. A foundation.&rdquo; &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

NOBLE CAUSE

<h2>QUOTABLE</h2>&ldquo;To be right, you must be wrong. &ldquo;&mdash;The unique mind of St. Louis general manager Ron Caron. Page 8.&ldquo;He throws a punch capable of ending a guy&rsquo;s season. &ldquo;&mdash;New York Ranger Troy Mallette, after the acquisition of tough guy Joe Kocur. Page 10.&ldquo;Every coach in the world has an interim job. &ldquo;&mdash;Coaching veteran Tom McVie, when asked about his status in New Jersey. Page 12. &#9632;

THIS WEEK

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-06" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06204/5854023-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01561/5854016-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="1853" height="3584"></div> &#9632;

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SCOREBOARD

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011451/5852995-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="508" height="623"></div>David Conte went to Russia looking for hockey players and found friends.The New Jersey Devils&rsquo; assistant director of player personnel was in and around Moscow for five days in February. Recent events made him apprehensive on arrival.Two Swedish diplomats had been mugged and beaten, thrown out of a car and froze to death.&ldquo;There was a lot of talk of an increasing crime rate and food shortages which would lead to desperate situations,&rdquo; Conte recalled. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it was great and I think it was a tough time for them politically and economically. But I didn&rsquo;t sense the type of desperation they&rsquo;re having in (Soviet republics) Latvia or Georgia, where they&rsquo;re experiencing real political unrest. I didn&rsquo;t sense anything like that.&rdquo;Conte, 41, is a veteran traveller to the Soviet Union. He has been there nearly a dozen times, but this trip was special. Conte hired a translator and the young man was his link to a Russian hockey community that welcomed the NHL scout with open arms and minds.Soviet officials were anxious to talk about their game and ask about ours.One trip took Conte and comrades to Voskresensk, a city of 80,000 that has produced such Soviet greats as Alexander Ragulin, Igor Larionov, Valeri Kamensky and Andrei Lomakin. Larionov calls his hometown &ldquo;the hockey capital of the world&rdquo; and challenges anyone to name a comparably small city that boasts so many excellent players. Presumably, Larionov has never been to Kirkland Lake.But Conte has been to Voskresensk and he revelled in the hockey atmosphere during an Elite League game between hometown Khimik and Moscow Dynamo. The crowd was boisterous (more than 5,000 were packed into an arena that features a Canada Cup mural at one end), the food was terrific (salami sandwiches) and the drink was just fine (lemonade).Unfortunately, it was too chilly inside for Conte to take advantage of the coat check.Devils&rsquo; draft choice Valeri Zelepukhin plays for Khimik, so Conte met with him briefly after the game and gave the 22-year-old prospect a New Jersey sweat shirt.Then it was back to Moscow by car. The travelling party was barely out of Voskresensk when it pulled over to the side of the road and supplies were broken out. There was country smoked ham and bread for everybody and afterwards some vodka to wash down the food.And there was conversation, always good conversation.&ldquo;It was the same sort of thing as going out for pizza with Sherry Bassin in Sault Ste. Marie,&rdquo; Conte said. &ldquo;They were just regular guys.&rdquo; (Nobody at The Hockey News can remember Bassin, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds&rsquo; loquacious general manager, ever being called a regular guy.)Outside the car was the forbidding cold of February in Russia. Inside was the warmth of good friendship&mdash;something the Soviets take very seriously.An 88-kilometer trip that should not have lasted much more than a hour, lasted more than twice that. There was another roadside picnic before the group reached Moscow. Conte asked if the stoppages were in deference to drinking and driving laws. He was told a greater concern was the danger of spilling the vodka. Yet, Conte said this was no drunken voyage. There were few cars on the road and no highway haunts for travellers to rest their weary bones.&ldquo;It was leisurely and very hospitable,&rdquo; Conte said.The Devils&rsquo; official visited Viacheslav Fetisov&rsquo;s father during the stay and met one of the defenseman&rsquo;s friends who took Conte under his protective wing.&ldquo;It was not like he expected anything in return,&rdquo; Conte said. &ldquo;It was more like, &lsquo;I&rsquo;m going to show you a nice side of Russia&mdash;a side that actually exists.&rsquo; &ldquo;Conte is no ordinary hockey scout. His interests are as wide ranging as his background. Conte was a sociology major at Colgate University where he played hockey on scholarship. After graduation he played five years in Italy, Finland and Spain. Conte is fluent in Spanish, gets by in Italian and can function in Finnish.The trip provided insight into the Soviet psyche. While Conte is not so presumptious to think 120 hours of a Russian immersion course makes him an expert on Soviet culture, he feels the time spent with hockey people was truly educational and worthwhile.&ldquo;I was impressed with the hockey people I met there because of their humility and consideration,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I was very grateful to them.&rdquo;Steve Dryden is managing editor of Inside HOCKEY. &#9632;

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COLUMNS

DISCOVERING THE WARMTH OF RUSSIA IN FEBRUARY

<div class="image-hero"><img title="Cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01867/5854391-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>WHY GOAL-SCORING COACH WOULD BE WORTH A SHOT - PAGE 38HABS&rsquo; GREAT ONE RETURNS WITH A VENGEANCE - PAGE 41Rob BlakeMarty McSorleyRod BuskasBob HalkidisTHE UNTOLD TALE OF A NO-NAME DEFENSE&rsquo;S SUCCESS - PAGE 7COLLECTORS WORLD: NEW 48-PAGE FORMAT WITH EXPANDED PRICE GUIDETHE &lsquo;NUTTY&rsquo; PROFESSOR&rsquo;S UNIQUE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT PAGE 8RATING DEADLINE DEALS PAGE 5 &#9632;

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ALL THE KINGS’ MEN

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04541/5852341-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="518" height="607"></div>There is no recent issue in hockey that has sparked as much fan outrage as the NHL&rsquo;s television policy in the United States.Joel Nixon knows it as well as anyone. The NHL&rsquo;s vice president of broadcasting is reminded every day when the mail arrives at his New York City office. It has been almost three years since the NHL decided to move its national games from highly-accessible basic cable (ESPN) to difficult-to-obtain SportsChannel America, a loose network of regional outlets, yet the letters still pour in.SCA paid $51 million for the three-year deal, more than double what ESPN paid previously. But SCA&rsquo;s market penetration was pitifully limited. Quite simply, the NHL took the money and ran, its fans across the U.S. be damned.The SCA contract expires at the end of this season and American followers of the NHL are hoping for something better this time.&ldquo;The hockey fans, God bless them, may not be as widespread as fans in other sports, but boy, the devotion and intensity is there,&rdquo; says Nixon. &ldquo;They want service. Hell, I don&rsquo;t blame them. That&rsquo;s exactly what I want, too.&rdquo;Nixon doesn&rsquo;t make a good villain. He&rsquo;s too friendly and open, qualities which are in short supply in the NHL executive suite. And while he, along with NHL president John Ziegler, must bear the brunt of the criticism for the league&rsquo;s ill-founded TV policy, they are merely the front men. The 21 NHL governors ultimately decide on how and to whom TV rights are distributed.In 1988, their prime motivation was money. With the negotiation exercise about to be repeated this June, what guarantees are there that the same thing won&rsquo;t happen again?None, really. There&rsquo;s nothing to stop the owners from taking the money and running again, except perhaps a realization that screwing U.S. hockey fans may not be in the best longterm interest of the game, especially now that the NHL is in a decade of expansion.Certainly, if Nixon has his way, the U.S. TV package will be more responsive to fans across the U.S. this time.But be forewarned. It&rsquo;s not likely to ever return to the days when ESPN showed more than 30 regular-season games and many in the playoffs, too.Nixon says the NHL will be going for a &ldquo;layered look.&rdquo; On the top layer, the NHL is looking to cut a deal with one of the basic cable outfits&mdash;ESPN, USA or TNT. These networks are accessible to almost anyone with basic cable service.All three have expressed some interest in the NHL, but there are limits due to prior obligations.Still, one of them will undoubtedly take a limited package of games (regular season and playoffs).On the next layer are the regional cable outfits like Washington&rsquo;s Home Team Sports, Los Angeles&rsquo; Prime Ticket Network, New York&rsquo;s Madison Square Garden Network, Boston&rsquo;s New England Sports Network and the local SportsChannel outfits, among others. The idea is to permit each of them to expand their coverage beyond their own team.This would be done in the form of having a regional cable program broker. It could be SportsChannel America or SCA&rsquo;s competitor Prime Network, which owns Prime Ticket Sports. A viewer in Boston, for example, might see a Bruin game followed by a Los Angeles King game. The intention is to beef up regional broadcasts to include games from other regions.The third layer is U.S. network TV. Nixon says there is potential to have &ldquo;a few games, maybe three or four, during the regular season in February or March and a couple during the playoffs&rdquo; on one of the big three (CBS, NBC or ABC).The final layer, Nixon says, is to introduce some type of service to satellite dish owners, permitting them to get a better choice of games.&ldquo;We believed the concept (of the SCA deal) would work,&rdquo; Nixon says. &ldquo;The fact is it hasn&rsquo;t worked nearly as well as we had hoped. There&rsquo;s no point in trying to sugarcoat it.&ldquo;(The new TV package) may not result in a game every week on a national basis, but our objective is to make it better (than it is now).&rdquo;Good. There are a lot of angry hockey fans in the U.S. counting on it.Bob McKenzie is editor-in-chief of The Hockey News.&rsquo; &#9632;

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HOW ABOUT A U.S. TV POLICY OF VISION?

There are some things which mankind was never meant to understand, such as the creation of the universe. Another is the notion that the upcoming Canada Cup will be won by the Americans.For the Americans to win this tourney, their best player (who just happens to be Canadian Brett Hull) will have to score two goals every night and their vaunted defense will have to learn how to do just that&mdash;defend.True, Chris Chelios ranks among the top five defensemen in hockey, but the quality drops off quickly after him. The rest of the defense is made up of &ldquo;puck-rush-happy&rdquo;, powerplay point men such as Brian Leetch, Gary Suter, Kevin Hatcher and Phil Housley.The Canadians could ice a second-string defense, consisting of Al Pedersen, Zarley Zalapski, Steve Duchesne, Jeff Brown, Randy Moller and James Patrick that would be better than most.The forwards&rsquo;? Even without Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros and U.S.-bound Hull, no country can match Canada&rsquo;s firepower. Add the world&rsquo;s top goalie, Patrick Roy, and you have the recipe for a championship.So with Canada easily outdistancing the others in talent, I fail to understand the misbegotten notion of the Americans winning.B.J. Vrban Oakville, Ont.<h2>SWORD FIGHTING</h2>Being a Washington Capitals&rsquo; fan since their inception, I have grown to respect the Philadelphia Flyers for the class and loyalty they demonstrate throughout their organization. I also have a tremendous amount of respect for Paul Holmgren as a coach.However, I have a problem with their reaction when they come out on the short end of the physical stick as was the case Feb. 10 against the Caps.It makes me sick when a team can dish it out, but can&rsquo;t take it. After all, didn&rsquo;t the Broad Street Bullies of the 1970s invent this style of play?If they live by the sword, they must die by the sword.John Smallwood Prince Edward, Md.<h2>JUNIOR TOWN</h2>My family and I have attended nearly half of the Ontario League expansion Detroit Ambassadors&rsquo; games this season, and already we have become avid fans.I disagree with Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s assessment that major junior hockey can&rsquo;t survive in an NHL city. Although the team has won only a handful of its games this year, it has drawn roughly 2,300 fans per game.I feel the biggest problem facing the Compuware organization (which owns the Ambassadors) is media coverage. Only one local newspaper (the Free Press) has bothered putting in OHL standings on a regular basis and not one local TV station has shown a game highlight.Hopefully, with the expected high selection of center Pat Peake in this June&rsquo;s NHL draft, the team will have a marquee player to use in promoting the team next year.Stephen Trenchemontagne Detroit, Mich.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011461/5852372-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="548" height="609"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Oates didn&rsquo;t impress former Detroit GM Jim Devellano.</figcaption></div><h2>TOAST TO OATES</h2>Before the 1989-90 season, I attended the St. Louis-Detroit exhibition game in Kansas City, just months after the big trade that made Adam Oates a Blue.At the start of the second period I noticed ex-Red Wing GM Jim Devellano and ex-coach Jacques Demers sitting together in a half-empty section of the arena. Curious, I went and sat directly behind them to eavesdrop.As Oates made an errant pass, the discussion turned to the former Red Wing and the trade. Devellano said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve watched and I&rsquo;ve watched and I&rsquo;ve watched and I just don&rsquo;t like Adam Oates as a hockey player.&rdquo; As we know, Devallano&rsquo;s poor judge of talent cost both him and Demers their jobs.The lack of coverage and recognition the writers of The Hockey News have given the Blues&rsquo; center leads me to believe that their judge of talent is no better than that of the former Wing GM.Mark Mager Kansas City, Mo.<h2>IT&rsquo;S THE LOGO</h2>As a loyal Canuck fan since the days of the Pacific Coast League, I feel frustrated at the downhill slide of the present club. What can they do to turn around their fortunes?I say don&rsquo;t change the coach, don&rsquo;t change the GM, don&rsquo;t change the team, don&rsquo;t even change the uniform-&hellip;but straighten out the crest.No team can improve when its skating downhill. Turn it a few degrees to the right and we&rsquo;ll have a. 500 hockey team. Turn it a few more degrees and we&rsquo;re going up. Think about it.R. Kwok&nbsp; Port Albemi, B.C.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

U.S. DOESN’T HAVE A HOPE IN HULL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021186/5852403-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

Denis Savard. Everyone, including The Hockey News, was quick to give Chicago the edge in the deal that saw Savard leave the Blackhawks for Chris Chelios. Now, it&rsquo;s not so clear. In recent weeks, Savard has shown the dazzling form that made him one of the NHL&rsquo;s most thrilling players for years. That&rsquo;s good news for hockey fans, no matter which team they support.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-03777/5852441-1-eng-US/f0003-032.jpg" title="f0003-03" width="373" height="357"></div>NHL general managers. The Hartford-Pittsburgh blockbuster jump-started Mundane Monday, which in turn sparked Tumultuous Tuesday, the single-most frenetic trading day in NHL history. Including the WhalerPenguin six-player swap, a total of 39 NHLers changed teams just hours before the March 5 deadline.The NHL. The handling of the Claude Loiselle fiasco is another knock against the league. Having put Loiselle on waivers, a league official advised the Nords Loiselle could be recalled for a trade, and he was dealt to Calgary. Two days later, after it was learned the trade was illegal, Loiselle was picked up&mdash;on waivers&mdash;by the Toronto Maple Leafs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-04430/5852434-1-eng-US/f0003-042.jpg" title="f0003-04" width="375" height="361"></div>The New Jersey Devils What gives? For months, John Cunniff&rsquo;s job was reported to be on the line. When the axe finally fell, the Devils replaced Cunniff with, of all people. Tom McVic. With all that time, could GM Lou Lamoricllo come up with nothing better than what amounts to a stop-gap measure? &#9632;

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CHEERS JEERS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011459/5852486-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="875" height="591"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021323/5852479-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="480" height="243"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031117/5852472-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="572" height="793"></div>Goaltender Tim Cheveldae of the Detroit Red Wings, who recorded three straight wins, a 1.33 goals-against-average and a shutout, was named the NHL Pro Set Player of the Week for the period ending March 10.Cheveldae edged St. Louis Blues&rsquo; right winger Brett Hull, Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center Wayne Gretzky and Calgary Flames&rsquo; right winger Theoren Fleury, to capture the award.Throughout the 1990-91 NHL 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 over $26,000 to youth hockey organizations across North America.Cheveldae, a 23-year-old native of Melville, Sask., began the week by leading his club to a 6-3 win over the Quebec Nordiques (March 5). He turned away 27 shots in a 2-0 shutout of the New York Islanders (March 7), the second shutout in his NHL career.Cheveldae then helped the Red Wings toa4-1 win over the league-leading St. Louis Blues (March 10).The Red Wings were 5-3-2 in a 10-game stretch and were third in the Norris Division with a 31-33-8 record (70 points). Cheveldae had a 3.53 GAA and a. 876 save percentage in 60 games this season.Hull (seven goals, three assists, 10 points) and Gretzky (1-9-10) were the top NHL scorers of the week. Fleury had seven points (61-7) in four games, including three shorthanded goals in one game, Calgary&rsquo;s 8-4 win over St. Louis March 9. &#9632;

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NHL PRO SET SPOTLIGHT

<div class="byline">BY STAN FISCHLER</div>Neil Smith was the big winner in the Madison Square Garden house cleaning that cost New York Knicks&rsquo; GM Al Bianchi and president Jack Diller their jobs. But Diller&mdash;the man who hired Smith&mdash;will now concentrate entirely on being Rangers&rsquo; president. And that will help Smith concentrate on his own job. It will also give Smith more power in the executive decision-making process, because Diller has given the Rangers&rsquo; GM the power to do whatever he wants&hellip;Brian Leetch&rsquo;s agent. Jay Grossman, and Mike Richter&rsquo;s agent Don Meehan will play hardball with Smith and Diller over new contracts for their clients in the off-season. Both players have established themselves as two of the team&rsquo;s best. In just over three months, Richter will become a free agent. He should garner significant attention from rival GMs. But Meehan knows Smith won&rsquo;t allow the 24-year-old goalie to leave. Richter is making $140,000 this season. Leetch, who enters his option season next year, earns $230,000.<h2>STAR STRUCK</h2>The Minnesota North Stars have launched a major campaign to get more season ticket holders next season. They&rsquo;ve promised no price increases and are offering interesting incentives including access to two private dining clubs, complimentary coat checks and other goodies&hellip;The San Jose Sharks have received positive response to their new logo. After returning from an Atlanta sports show recently. Sharks&rsquo; representatives said their merchandise was ranked third behind the Los Angeles Raiders and Los Angeles Kings.<h2>SEEING RED</h2>Continental League leaders Bill Hunter and Bill Putnam travelled to Moscow recently in an attempt to iron out an agreement that would bring Central Red Army into the proposed new league. Meanwhile, executives from the Continental League and proposed North American League continue to talk of a possible merger. NAHL officials say they&rsquo;re not interested in a European connection&hellip;Although Paul Fenton has not scored in Calgary the way he did elsewhere, he&rsquo;s still appreciated. &ldquo;When he came here,&rdquo; says coach Doug Risebrough, &ldquo;he asked, &lsquo;Why me?&rsquo; I told him, &lsquo;It was because we hated playing against you.&rsquo; &ldquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011365/5852517-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="552" height="666"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Terreri is no longer spaced-out between the pipes.</figcaption></div><h2>MUSICAL CHAIRS</h2>Toronto-based public relations expert Bill Wilkerson is becoming the NHL&rsquo;s top PR representative. He&rsquo;s currently helping the league reorganize its offices in New York, Montreal and Toronto. Sources say Wilkerson would like to make Toronto, not Manhattan, the NHL&rsquo;s publicity center. But Wilkerson hasn&rsquo;t gone public with his plan. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s premature to comment on it now,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re examining how best to configure public relations.&rdquo; According to one plan, NHL executive communications director Gary Meagher will move from Montreal to Toronto, leaving the statisticians based in Montreal. The plan would also see Goal magazine editor Michael Berger leave New York for Toronto. Wilkerson would become the central PR player under the scheme.<h2>JUST DUCKY</h2>Buffalo coach Rick Dudley shoots down Dale Hawerchuk critics. He says he&rsquo;s pleased with Hawerchuk&rsquo;s play. And Hawerchuk says he&rsquo;s happy in Buffalo after a rocky start this season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve played better because I quit putting pressure on myself, trying to do too many things,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m comfortable now&mdash;with the team and the city.&rdquo;&hellip;The emergence of Chris Terreri as the Devils&rsquo; No. 1 goalie has been quietly accepted by New Jersey management. In explaining his turnaround from a second-stringer to the man who upstaged Sean Burke, Terreri credits maturity and consistency. &ldquo;I used to have hot streaks and play a game where I was out in space. But I no longer lose focus on the ice. I don&rsquo;t have that uneasy feeling I had in the past. I eliminate the highs and lows.&rdquo;<h2>HAPPY CAMPER</h2>St. Louis coach Brian Sutter says he&rsquo;s pleased with his club&rsquo;s performance this season. But he hasn&rsquo;t forgotten the painful experience of finishing first in 1980-81 with 107 points and losing in the second round of playoffs. &ldquo;That club was worn out by the time the playoffs started,&rdquo; says Sutter, who played for that team. &ldquo;Everybody talked about first place. It was a fantasy year, and it was over just like that. What we have now is something we&rsquo;ve built for three years and we want to keep building.&rdquo;&hellip;One reason why the agent company International Management Group (IMG)&mdash;which handles Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana and Dorothy Hamill&mdash;has decided to represent Grant Fuhr is because Fuhr&rsquo;s agent Mike Barnett thinks Fuhr will be traded in the offseason. A trade would be accompanied by a large renegotiation of Fuhr&rsquo;s $418,000 a year contract. &#9632;

f0005-01

RANGERS’ GM GETS BEST OF SHAKE-UP

<div class="byline">BY DAMIEN COX</div>While some of the more prominent players mentioned in trade reports-weren&rsquo;t moved, the NHL trade deadline was anything but disappointing.Granted, Grant Fuhr is still an Oiler, and none of Pat LaFontaine, Gary Leeman, Stephane Richer or Brian Bellows changed teams, but there were 15 deals involving 39 players, at least two of which could be described as major.Here&rsquo;s a look at some of the deals, and who won:Trade: Hartford sent Ron Francis, C, Ulf Samuelsson, D, and Grant Jennings, D, to Pittsburgh for John Cullen. C. Zarley Zalapski, D, and Jeff Parker, RW.Analysis: The Pens get a center with some idea where his own end is, and a pair of blue line bruisers. Hartford gets youth, a stylish playmaker in Cullen and some huge potential in the enigmatic Zalapski.Winner: The Penguins appear to have strengthened themselves with some immediate help, but the Whalers get some long-term potential. Even.Trade: St. Louis sent Geoff Courtnail, LW, Cliff Ronning, C, Sergio Momesso, LW, and Robert Dirk, D. to Vancouver for Dan Quinn, C, and Garth Butcher, D.Analysis: The tough-as-nails Butcher was the centerpiece of this deal for the Blues, and Quinn helps the power play. Vancouver gets some size and depth.Winner: St. Louis, mostly because this deal gives the Blues a shot at it all.Trade: Detroit sent Joey Kocur. RW, and Per Djoos, D, to the New York Rangers for Kevin Miller, C, Dennis Vial, D, and Jim Cummins, RW.Analysis: In Kocur, the Blueshirts acquired the tough forward everybody said they needed, plus a talented young defenseman. Miller has shown offensive potential this year, but did the Wings really need another offensive center?Winner: The Rangers got what they needed without seriously depleting their talent stock.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-02992/5852548-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="549" height="718"><figcaption class="caption-body">Will Garth Butcher be the final piece to the Blues&rsquo; Cup puzzle?</figcaption></div>Trade: Chicago sent Mike McNeill, C, and Ryan McGill, D, to Quebec for Paul Gillis, C, and Dan Vincelette, LW.Analysis: Quebec GM Pierre Page continues to stockpile youth, and Gillis was one of the few tradeable vets he had left. Gillis is a grinder and disturber who&rsquo;ll fit perfectly in Chicago Stadium. McGill is a promising defenseman who hasn&rsquo;t been able to crack Chicago&rsquo;s top-flight blue line corps.Winner: The Blackhawks, because Gillis is only 27 and they didn&rsquo;t give up a whole lot to get him.Trade: Calgary sent Mark Hunter, RW. to Hartford for Carey Wilson, C.Analysis: A deal of two underachievers. The oft-injured Hunter had contributed little in 2&frac12; seasons in Calgary, while Wilson had not shone as a Whaler this season.Winner: Even.Trade: Calgary sent Dana Murzyn, D. to Vancouver for Ron Stern. RW, Kevan Guy, D, and future considerations.Analysis: Murzyn was having difficulty cracking the Flames&rsquo; lineup, and he&rsquo;ll add some size and a mean streak to the Canucks&rsquo; defense. Stem is a tough winger and Guy returns home to the team that drafted him.Winner: The Canucks, simply because they got the best player in the deal.Trade: Montreal sent Mark Pederson. LW. to Philadelphia for a second-round 1991 pick and future considerations.Analysis: Pederson has slumped horribly after a decent first half, and the knock was he couldn&rsquo;t skate well enough to play with the Habs. He&rsquo;ll help on the Flyers&rsquo; left side, currently dominated by grinders.Winner: Even.Trade: Toronto sent Allan Bester, G. to Detroit for a sixth-round 1991 pick.Analysis: Bester, the Leafs&rsquo; No. 1 goalie just one year ago, seemed to have completely lost his confidence. The Wings needed some goaltending help.Winner: Even, unless Bester can breathe new life into his dying career.Trade: Buffalo sent Ken Priestlay, C, to Pittsburgh for Tony Tanti. RW.Analysis: Not the big deal many Sabre observers were looking for. Priestlay wasn&rsquo;t even a Sabre prospect anymore.Winner: Sabres. Tanti did score 28 goals last season.Damien Cox is a hockey writer for the Toronto Star. &#9632;

f0005-02

PENS SHORT-TERM WINNERS IN BIGGEST DEADLINE DEAL

<h2>PAT JABLONSKI</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03679/5852579-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="537" height="1170"></div>Born: June 20, 1967, Toledo, OH. Height: 6-feet. Weight: 175 pounds. Position: Goaltender. Team: St. Louis Blues. Acquired: St. Louis&rsquo; sixth choice, 138th overall, in 1985 entry draft.Career highlight: &ldquo;My first NHL win Feb. 26 against Chicago. I didn&rsquo;t start the game, but I played all but two minutes. We were going for first overall in the NHL, and it was great to be a part of it.&rdquo;Boyhood heroes: &ldquo;Glenn Resch. I was a big (New York) Islander fan and the first autograph I ever got was his. One of the coaches from one of the teams in Toledo knew Resch really well, so he told him about me. It was great when he sent me a copy.&rdquo;On playing goaltender: &ldquo;Sometimes I screw around a bit in practise and play forward, but I like being a goalie. It&rsquo;s a great experience to stop someone who&rsquo;s trying to poke one past you.&rdquo;Hardest shot in the NHL: &ldquo;I think you know him. It&rsquo;s not to hard to figure that one. He&rsquo;s sleeping in a room down the hall (teammate Brett Hull).&rdquo;On life in the NHL: &ldquo;The players are more mature. They take things more seriously and handle themselves better on the ice. I haven&rsquo;t been here too long, so I&rsquo;m just listening to everybody and trying to do my best.&rdquo;Most embarrassing moment: &ldquo;Last season in Detroit, when Mike O&rsquo;Connell scored on me from the blueline. I thought he was going to dump it in, so I cheated a little. I looked back, and the puck was coming at the net. I dove, but it was too late. The guys were good about it, but my friends gave me a hard time.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0005-03

PRO FILE

<div class="byline">BY THN STAFF</div>The University of Prince Edward Island Panthers became the fourth team to advance to the Canadian Universities Athletic Union championships (The Nationals) in Toronto March 22-24.The Panthers captured the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association title March 10, with a 3-0 win over the Dalhousie Tigers. The Panthers, MacAdam Division champions, won the three-game series two games to one.The Tigers forced the deciding game with a 7-4 win the day before. UPEI won the series opener 3-1 at home March 6.A Kelley Division team has not captured the AUAA championship since the Pierre Page-coached Tigers in 1978-79.The Panthers&rsquo; appearance at the four-team final will be their third in five years.It was a bitter end for the Tigers, who topped the 10-team conference with a 16-5-5 regular season record. The Panthers rebounded from a 5-7-0 first half to finish 14-11-1 and edge the Blue Eagles by a single point atop the MacAdam Division.<h2>CWUAA</h2>Despite a gutsy run by the Regina Cougars, the Alberta Golden Bears will represent the Canada West Universities Athletic Association at The Nationals.The Golden Bears defeated Regina 4-3 March 10 in the deciding game of their best-of-three series in Edmonton.The Bears won the first game 4-3 March 8. Regina took the second game 6-5 the next night.It was a disappointing way to end the season for the Cougars, who finished fourth in the CWUAA standings with 27 points (13-14-1). Alberta finished second with a 19-7-2 record behind the first-place Calgary Dinosaurs (22-5-1).The Cougars knocked out the favored &lsquo;Dinos in the three-game CWUAA semifinal winning two games to one.Alberta outshot and outplayed Regina in the final game, but all-Canadian goalie Rod Houk held the Cougars in.Regina&rsquo;s Troy Edwards had three goals and seven points in the series to lead the conference in playoff scoring (7-7-14 in six games).Regina may have lost the series because of an unbalanced attack. The Cougars had just two lines and four defensemen.<h2>OUAA</h2>The Trois Rivieres Patriotes and Waterloo Warriors captured the Ontario Universities Athletic Association&rsquo;s two national berths.The Patriotes needed just two games to eliminate the University of Toronto Blues from the best-of-three East Division final, winning 7-1 March 7 and 6-2 March 9.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011545/5852610-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="559" height="808"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeff Nelson had point-scoring streak snapped at 56 games.</figcaption></div>The Warriors swept the OUAA West Division final, beating the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks 3-1 March 8 and 8-5 March 10.Stephane Groleau was the top offensive threat for Trois Rivieres, scoring three goals and three assists in the series.Robert Page had a four-point night (three goals) and Jean Bois had three assists in Game 1. Michel Bedard led the Patriotes with three assists in the second game.<h2>SEEDINGS SET</h2>Lake Superior State and Maine received top billing in the NCAA West and East regional seedings, announced March 11 in St. Paul, Minn.The Lakers and Black Bears, along with second seeds Northern Michigan (West) and Boston University (East) automatically got first-round tournament byes.The following is the how the rest of the 12-field tournament shapes up. First-round best two-of-three series were scheduled to begin March 15:&#9632; Michigan, third seed in the West, hosts Cornell, sixth seed in the East. The winner plays at Boston University in the quarter-finals.&#9632; Minnesota, fourth seed in the West, hosts Providence, fifth seed in the East. The winner plays at Maine.&#9632; Boston College, third seed in the East, hosts Alaska-Anchorage, sixth seed in the West. The winner plays at Northern Michigan.&#9632; Clarkson, fourth seed in the East, hosts Wisconsin, fifth seed in the West. The winner plays at Lake Superior.NCAA quarter-final two-of-three series will begin March 21.<h2>STAFF NAMED</h2>Doug Carpenter. Sam Pollock and Jim Gregory were named as support staff to Canadian national team coach Dave King for April&rsquo;s World Championships in Finland.Carpenter, fired as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs 11 games into the season, will assume the assistant coach&rsquo;s role.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m grateful for the opportunity,&rdquo; said Carpenter, who coached Canada to a silver medal at the 1985 tournament. &ldquo;It was devastating to be let go from the Leafs and not be able to continue after I thought the team had turned around last year. It ended up being a tough year for everybody.&rdquo;Gregory, the NHL&rsquo;s vice-president of hockey operations, will serve as co-general manager alongside Alan Eagleson, while Pollock, the former GM of the Montreal Canadiens, will work in an advisory capacity to Gregory.<h2>PRICES SLASHED</h2>Terrace Investments Ltd., the managing partner of the Ottawa Senators, has put 24.5 per cent of its interest in the club up for sale for $12.5 million (U.S.).Terrace and company chairman Bruce Firestone jointly own 51 per cent of the Senators, and Firestone said if a buyer could be found. Terrace would continue to be in charge of day-to-day operations.Other limited partnerships in the team are being offered to investors at a reduced rate of $1.96 million.No limited partnerships had been sold through March 11, but singer Paul Anka&mdash;an Ottawa native&mdash;has said he&rsquo;s interested in purchasing shares.<h2>STREAK SNAPPED</h2>Jeff Nelson&rsquo;s Western League record consecutive-game point-scoring streak ended at 56 after the Prince Albert Raider failed to register a point in his team&rsquo;s 3-3 tie with Medicine Hat March 9.Nelson, who bettered the mark of 47 established by Regina Pat teammates Jock Callendar and Wally Schreiber in 1981-82, fell short of the 61-game Canadian Hockey League standard set by Laval&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux in 1983-84.During his streak, Nelson, the WHL and CHL scholastic player of the year in 1989 and 1990, had 40-68108 point totals.&mdash;with files from Bruce Hallihan, Mark Spector and Claude Scilley<h2>DATEBOOK</h2>March 15: NCAA tournament begins with two-of-three series at the home of the higher seeded team.March 15: Ontario League regular season ends.March 17: Western League regular season ends.March 19: St. Louis at Washington. Blues&rsquo; defenseman Scott Stevens returns to Washington for the first time since leaving during the offseason. Stevens, drafted by the Capitals in 1982, signed what has become a landmark free-agent contract with the Blues. &#9632;

f0006-01

PANTHERS JOIN CIAU ELITE, ADVANCE TO THE NATIONALS

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Tom McMillan</div>Long before this season, the Los Angeles Kings knew they had a gem in Kelly Hrudey.What they wondered was who would be Hrudey&rsquo;s backup in 1990-91&mdash;at least until GM Rogie Vachon landed Daniel Berthiaume in a September deal with the Minnesota North Stars.Berthiaume, the one-time Winnipeg star, has exceeded expectations, appearing in 32 of the team&rsquo;s first 69 games and posting 20 victories. That has allowed Hrudey to remain sharp and rested throughout the year.&ldquo;I think after putting a year in and realizing the demands that are put upon a goaltender, we really felt it was necessary with a guy like Kelly to play between 40 and 50 games and have another guy be able to be there,&rdquo; says coach Tom Webster. &ldquo;Our intentions were to get another goaltender who could play. But with the way things have worked out, both goaltenders have played so well that they deserve to be alternated.&rdquo;Berthiaume, bothered by a knee injury last season, appeared in only 29 games for the Jets and North Stars and seemed to be at something of a crossroads.But he has revived his career on the West Coast, thriving in goal for the new-look Kings. It&rsquo;s the perfect example of how a change of scenery and teams can benefit a player.&ldquo;I think I would have played around 40 games last year if I didn&rsquo;t have my knee injury,&rdquo; says the 5-foot-9, 165-pound Berthiaume. &ldquo;I had some trouble maybe the last two years but it&rsquo;s back on track now. I just look to the future. I&rsquo;m happy to be an L.A. King.&rdquo;Though Webster has all the Kings thinking defense, the play of the goalies has been one of the main reasons they rank among the top five teams in the NHL in goals-against average.It&rsquo;s an impressive statistic for a team that&rsquo;s also in the hunt for the league lead in goals scored.Berthiaume himself is posting his best numbers ever. Three years ago in Winnipeg he was 22-19-7 with a 3.51 GAA. Four years ago he was 18-7-3 with a 3.17 mark.&ldquo;He has been a pleasant surprise in that they&rsquo;ve both kept each other sharp,&rdquo; says defenseman Larry Robinson. &ldquo;But Bert has always had the tools. He has got all the talent in the world.&rdquo; &#9632;

THE BANDIT STEALS SOME OF THE L.A. LIMELIGHT

<div class="byline">BY JEFF GORDON</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011476/5852696-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">When it comes to business, moody Ron Caron is razor sharp.</figcaption></div>The NHL has all sorts of men running its teams. Smug men. Nervous men. Quiet men. Imperious men. Cautious men. Apparent lunkheads.But there is only one Ron Caron. Could the league withstand any more? The general manager of the St. Louis Blues attacks his work with every ounce of his considerable energy roaring through 13,000-mile scouting missions, crafting endless trade proposals, beaming in hundreds of games on his home satellite dish and trashing press boxes when his team flounders before him.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s unique,&rdquo; says Blues&rsquo; president Jack Quinn, his immediate supervisor. &ldquo;He eats, sleeps and breathes hockey 24 hours a day. He has devoted his life to hockey.&rdquo;And life is good these days. After eight often-difficult years on the job here, Caron is finally running a true Stanley Cup contender. He is wired. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good feeling,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how to describe it.&rdquo;Caron is a scholarly man, a former arts and philosophy student at the University of Ottawa who left a career in education for the more plebian world of hockey. He brought with him a ready supply of memorized latin quotations and cryptic philosophic axioms. Hence his nickname, The Professor.He brought with him passion as well, leaving observers of his press box tirades to deem The Professor nutty.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t watch my team play with other people unless they understand me,&rdquo; Caron says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not easily understood.&rdquo;That impulsiveness doesn&rsquo;t carry over to his work, despite his everreadiness to shuffle assets.&ldquo;As much aggression and emotion as I&rsquo;ve shown watching my team perform, I am a totally different human being when it comes down to business,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I analyze, weigh and make decisions.&rdquo;He seems impervious to risk. He was so anxious to acquire Vancouver defenseman Garth Butcher that he traded four useful players Geoff Courtnail, Sergio Momesso, Cliff Ronning and Robert Dirk to the Canucks for Butcher, enigmatic center Dan Quinn, and Quinn&rsquo;s imposing $390,000 salary.But then again, Caron traded for unwanted players before, such as Brett Hull, Jeff Brown and Paul Cavallini who panned out and Mike Bullard, Bruce Bell and Shawn Evans who didn&rsquo;t.&ldquo;To be right, you must be wrong,&rdquo; Caron says. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know anybody who is right all the time.&rdquo;Indeed, Caron has been alternately revered and ridiculed in his tempestuous NHL career. As the chief scout of the Montreal Canadiens, he helped build a team that won four straight Stanley Cups. But then he lost his job three years after the Habs took Doug Wickenheiser first overall in the 1980 draft over Denis Savard.That was one of the all-time managerial missteps.Caron recovered quickly in 1983, joining the Blues to help new owner Harry Ornest rebuild the destitute franchise at an affordable price. Within three seasons, he had the Blues in the Campbell Conference finals, pushing the Calgary Flames to a one-goal seventh game.He was a genius again.But that adulation didn&rsquo;t last long. Coach Jacques Demers left for greener pastures in Detroit. Caron&rsquo;s blueprint was smeared. New coach Jacques Martin won just one playoff series in his two seasons. Caron had to trade Doug Gilmour in the face of a sex scandal and counted-on prospects such as Brian Benning, Tony Hrkac and Keith Osborne faltered. A 79-point season followed the final four bid, then boring 76- and 78-point campaigns.&ldquo;It was tough,&rdquo; Caron said of the post-Demers fallout. &ldquo;That was very hard. We were right back on our feet.&rdquo;When the Flames won the 1989 Stanley Cup with a boatload of productive ex-Blues, Caron was ridiculed league-wide. Was he a puppet of Calgary GM Cliff Fletcher, his old friend from the Canadiens? Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; hockey czar Glen Sather suggested, only half-jokingly, that the league investigate Caron.The Professor pretty much took the abuse in stride and never lost his confidence. &ldquo;You never get too high or too low,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You never look back. I never wish failure on a player who leaves the Blues to make me look better.&rdquo;A few years ago Caron seemed to be burning out. With his contract calling for a move to consulting in 199192, retirement seemed just around the corner. Golf, fishing and summers of following his beloved baseball beckoned.But Caron finally caught a few breaks and a second wind. Ex-Flame Brett Hull emerged as a superstar. Caron robbed the Detroit Red Wings of 100-point center Adam Oates. The deals for defensemen Cavallini and Brown worked wonderfully. Quinn and his boss, Blues&rsquo; chairman Michael F. Shanahan, took the plunge into the free agent market to commit $5.1 million for defenseman Scott Stevens.The Blues climbed atop the NHL standings in the season&rsquo;s final quarter; the unthinkable had occurred. Now Caron is talking about a contract extention with Quinn.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very proud of him,&rdquo; Quinn says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had some struggles here. This is a ray of sunshine for him. He certainly is revived.&rdquo;As you read this, Caron is no doubt conjuring up something to help his club win. There are prospects to be signed, minor leaguers to promote.&ldquo;The picture has changed,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Right now, there is much more fun. There is much more work. But it is not life and death. If it is, it is no fun. You put in your best effort. If it works, it works.&rdquo;And in St. Louis, it&rsquo;s working. &#9632;

f0008-01

RISKY BUSINESS CARON’S FORTE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011426/5852727-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="475" height="610"></div>You heard it here first: the Rangers have won the 1991 Stanley Cup. But this time, I&rsquo;m convinced it&rsquo;s true.There are many reasons why. So let&rsquo;s begin with the most obvious&mdash;talent. The Rangers have more than anybody.Goaltending is the bottom line when it comes to winning in the playoffs. Everything else is secondary as Bill Smith, Grant Fuhr, Patrick Roy and Bill Ranford will attest.Sorry, Ed Belfour. There&rsquo;s no better goalie tandem around than Mike Richter and John Van-biesbrouck.And thanks to coach Roger Neilson&rsquo;s alternating policy, each will enter the playoffs with more experience and less fatigue than any netminding duo in the NHL, although the Kings&rsquo; Kelly Hrudey and Dan Berthiaume are right behind.Defense is almost as vital as goaltending from April through mid-May. Last year, the Rangers&rsquo; defense was crippled by the loss of talented Brian Leetch. But now he&rsquo;s healthy. You can take Al Maclnnis, Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque, but Leetch is superior at integrating himself into the attack.And when Leetch is resting. James Patrick is a good backup. The Blueshirts also have a few solid stay-at-home veterans like Randy Moller, David Shaw and Normand Rochefort.As a balanced unit, the New York defense is without equal. And that goes for Calgary, Chicago, Boston or any pretenders to the throne, St. Louis included.Up front, the Rangers are lacking a Gretzky or Lemieux. But the Oilers won last year without Wayne or Mario. And history has shown a club with well-distributed scoring can win without a superstar.The Rangers have Mike Gartner, Bernie Nicholls, John Ogrodnick and Darren Turcotte. Their not-so-secret weapon is Jan Erixon, the NHL&rsquo;s best shadow.One myth created by the New York media is general manager Neil Smith has failed to provide the Ranger offensive with enough support.But with Tie Domi, Troy Mallette and Kris King, the Rangers should be fine.What Smith has anticipated best is the depth factor. Following the opening round, the playoffs become a war of attrition. Smith fortified his defense by acquiring Joe Cirella, a strong part of the Devils&rsquo; 1988 playoff run.And just before the March 5 trade deadline. Smith acquired tough left winger Joey Kocur and defenseman Per Djoos from Detroit.The sum adds up to well-coached, balanced team that will deliver the first championship to New York since 1940.As for the chief challengers, here&rsquo;s why they&rsquo;ll fail.St. Louis: Brett Hull will go the way of Gordie Howe in the classic 1953 playoff. Howe led the league in scoring, but was eaten alive by veteran Woody Dumart&rsquo;s checking.The Blues&rsquo; goaltending will not carry the team past the third round.Calgary: The Flames have size and speed, but they don&rsquo;t have Joey Mullen. And the Rangers have Joey&rsquo;s brother Brian, who will score clutch goals.Chicago: Belfour is suspect despite his numbers. And never mind Mike Keenan&rsquo;s tactics, the Hawks have spent their energy over the 80-game schedule.Boston: After Ray Bourque. Cam Neely, Craig Janney and Andy Moog, what&rsquo;s left but splendid coaching?Edmonton: The Oilers are listed only as a courtesy because they&rsquo;re defending champs. But without Mark Messier, forget it.Los Angeles: An L.A.-N.Y. final would be a marriage made in NHL heaven. If the Kings get that far, it&rsquo;ll be because of the Gretzky-Tomas Sandstrom-Tony Granato line. By May, fatigue will have decimated the Kings.Conclusion: This is the best Ranger team since 1972 when they reached the finals. New York lost that year because Bobby Orr&rsquo;s Bruins were better. The difference this time is the Blueshirts are very good while the best of the opposition is just average.By mid-May, the 51-year-old drought will be over&mdash;or I&rsquo;ll eat this column on camera for everyone to see.P.S. As a public service to coaches facing the Rangers, there are only two sensible ways to play against New York: 1. Constantly play the body on Leetch. 2. Keep as much of a physical, distracting screen in front of Richter as possible.Then say a Hail Mary.Stan Fischler is a freelance writer based in New York City &#9632;

f0009-01

RANGERS WILL CAPTURE STANLEY’S MUG—AGAIN

&hellip;New Jersey Devils&rsquo; right winger Jeff Madill is the son of former NHL referee Greg Madill &lsquo; Jeff appeared in 12 games through March 11, collecting four goals and 28 penalty minutes. Greg was an NHL referee for nine seasons between 1972-73 and &lsquo;82-83. He refereed 415 regular season games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021012/5852758-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="939" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeff Madill</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0009-02

DID YOU KNOW…

<h2>FLYERS</h2>NHL vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill assessed the Flyers $6,000 in fines for their part in the fight-marred Feb. 10 game against the host Washington Capitals. The team was fined $5,000 and coach Paul Holmgren will have to pay $ 1,000 for slamming a stick against a glass partition between the team benches&hellip;Chris Jensen&rsquo;s goal against Calgary in the 4-2 loss March 7 was his first NHL goal since 198687 when he played for the New York Rangers&hellip;Two proposed trades involving the Flyers fell through on deadline day. Edmonton reportedly offered Joe Murphy for Scott Mellanby but the Flyers were waiting to hear from Hartford on a proposed Ken Wregget-for-Kevin Dineen swap. When the Whalers and Flyers couldn&rsquo;t reach an agreement, time ran out on both deals&hellip;Rick Tocchet sat out two games due to aggravation of a groin injury that he originally suffered Jan. 26.<h2>ISLANDERS</h2>A little-known, unusual clause in the Islanders&rsquo; lease at Nassau Coliseum will give Nassau County the final say in the sale of the franchise. County officials pointed to Article XI of the long-term lease hammered out in 1979 with the help of attorney William Casey&mdash;a powerful political figure on Long Island before becoming director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Should the next owner try to bypass the clause, Nassau County deputy attorney Richard Leffer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty much assured we&rsquo;d be in court with them.&rdquo; Leffer added that Spectacor, which operates the Coliseum, probably would join the county in litigation. The clause was included to guard against the possibility of anyone buying the team and moving it away from Long Island. Should anyone try that, county attorney Robert Schmidt said: &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to need a long extension cord. The team has got to stay plugged in to Nassau County.&rdquo;&hellip;John Tucker doubled his season output when he scored two goals in a 4-3 loss against the Penguins March 10&mdash;the first day he wore his new contact lenses. &ldquo;I probably should have started using them a couple of years ago,&rdquo; said Tucker.<h2>CAPITALS</h2>The Capitals have had a season full of changing lineups. That was part of the reason GM David Poile gave for making just one minor deal at the trade deadline. The other, though unspoken, was that he probably didn&rsquo;t get a good offer. The deal saw the Capitals send defenseman Rob Mendel, who was in Baltimore (American League), to Toronto for left winger Bobby Reynolds who was in New-market of the AHL. Reynolds was not expected to play for the Capitals this season, but will get a chance in training camp next season. With injuries on the Capitals and Skipjacks, the Skipjacks were thin at forward and Reynolds will help their playoff chances&hellip;Dale Hunter sat out a four-game league suspension for elbowing Philadelphia&rsquo;s Gord Murphy Feb. 10.<h2>DEVILS</h2>One of Tom McVie&rsquo;s first challenges as Devils&rsquo; coach was to convince Sean Burke to re-sign with the club. Burke, playing out his option, said he would not re-sign with the Devils if he became a free agent. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to try to change his mind,&rdquo; McVie said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s a hell of a young man and a hell of a goalie. I don&rsquo;t think he should leave. He made it public but hopefully we can stop that.&rdquo;&hellip;Troy Crowder, whose past relationship with McVie played a key role in his quitting hockey, said the two have put their differences in the past&hellip;The Devils tied the Sabres March 6, ending McVie&rsquo;s nine-game losing streak behind the Devil bench (he lost the final eight games of 198384).<h2>PENGUINS</h2>Pittsburgh rans its franchise-record winning streak on home ice to 11 games with a 3-2 victory against Los Angeles March 7. Perhaps more importantly, they snapped an 0-9-1 streak on the road with a 5-2 victory in Hartford March 9. It was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s first away victory since a 6-5 win in Quebec Jan. 26&hellip;Defenseman Paul Coffey&rsquo;s team-high streak of 189 games-played ended when he sat out the Hartford game because of a hip injury&hellip;Forwards Kevin Stevens and Mark Recchi, both of whom will be free agents after this season and are close friends with John Cullen, said Cullen&rsquo;s departure in a trade with Hartford will not influence their decisions about re-signing with Pittsburgh.<h2>RANGERS</h2>John Ogrodnick needed 30 stitches to close a gash near his left eye after being clipped by Brad Dalgamo&rsquo;s stick during the Islanders&rsquo; 6-4 victory March 9. Ogrodnick, four goals from reaching an incentive clause (35 goals) that would guarantee a third year on his contract, joined the team for its charter flight to Chicago and faced the Blackhawks wearing a faceshield on his helmet&hellip;Through 70 games. 61 of the Rangers&rsquo; 265 goals (23.0 per cent) this season had come on power plays. Last season, 103 of the team&rsquo;s 279 goals (36.9 per cent) came on power plays. Overall, through 150 games, 164 of 544 Ranger goals (30.1 per cent) had come on power plays, which says something about the importance of special teams&hellip;With his 63rd assist of the season, against the Islanders, Brian Leetchtied Jean Ratelle for the second-leading total in Rangers&rsquo; history. Mike Rogers has the club record of 65&hellip;Also against the Islanders, Bernie Nicholls &ldquo;ad his first three-assist game as a Ranger. &#9632;

HOLMGREN MUST PAY FOR OUTBURST

Doug Warner has made significant strides since he first strapped on a pair of skates three years ago.The 4-foot-10, 85-pound goalie from Sterling Heights, Mich., plays for the Fraser Huskies in the Little Caesars minor hockey league.The 12-year-old goalie has just completed his first full season between the pipes, posting an impressive 2.00 goals-against average.A strong skater who covers the angles well, Warner was coached this season by goalie coach Seppi Herzig and head coach Rick Wagner.A Grade 6 student at Messmore School, Doug enjoys studying geography.An avid sports fan, Doug enjoys watching sports on TV.Not surprisingly, his favorite players are goalies, Chicago Blackhawk rookie sensation Ed Belfour and Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Tom Barrasso.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011504/5852813-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="541" height="1137"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Warner</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&hellip;Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. All entries submitted will be eligible for selection as THN JOFA-TITAN Minor Hockey Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0010-01

PLAYER OF WEEK JOFA TITAN

<div class="byline">BY FRANK BROWN</div>Some day, Joe Kocur may be able to look back and laugh at his first two games as a New York Ranger. They were an unmiti-gated disaster.In Kocur&rsquo;s Ranger debut, at Quebec, Nordiques&rsquo; defenseman Randy Velischek caught the right winger with his head down and blasted Kocur with an open-ice hit that sent both men flying. Velischek returned to action; Kocur was finished for the night, and hospitalized briefly, with an injury that ultimately was called a pulled chest muscle.There was confusion whether the injury was caused by the check or whether it was a pre-existing condition. Kocur was said to have been suffering violent coughing fits which could have caused the muscle strain. At any rate, Kocur missed the 6-4 loss to the Islanders March 9, and returned to the Rangers&rsquo; lineup the next night for Unmitigated Disaster No. 2 in Chicago.That was when referee Paul Stewart assessed Kocur a match penalty for allegedly whacking Blackhawks&rsquo; goalie Ed Belfour on the head with his stick after the Chicago Stadium siren ended the first period. That is a no-no for anybody. It is a worse no-no when you already have served mandatory suspensions of one and two games this season for stick-related game misconducts.And it is a total no-no when your team&rsquo;s penalty killing is in a terrible slump&hellip;and the opposition scores the winning goal on the power play you gave them.Which is just what happened in Chicago. Michel Goulet connected 3:04 into the second period, giving the Blackhawks a 3-0 lead on the way to a 5-2 triumph.&ldquo;Things haven&rsquo;t been going well so far,&rdquo; Kocur admitted mournfully. &ldquo;It rains, it pours.&rdquo;Kocur, then, was a man in need of a raincoat and umbrella&mdash;and a plane ticket to the hearing NHL executive vice president Brian O&rsquo;Neill was scheduling for the 26-year-old, who was obtained from Detroit (along with defenseman Per Djoos) at the March 5 trading deadline for center/right win-, ger Kevin Miller, right winger Jim Cummins and defenseman Dennis Vial.When the deal was made, the Rangers felt they had added significantly to their toughness.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a proven heavyweight,&rdquo; left winger Troy Mallette said of Kocur. &ldquo;He throws a punch capable of ending a guy&rsquo;s season.&rdquo;That may be so, but the Chicago loss underscored what also can happen. Kocur may be tough, but he still is only one player and his punching toughness is a situational matter. The Rangers still don&rsquo;t have that many forwards who are hockey-tough enough.Also, if you&rsquo;re going to have a guy like Kocur, your penalty killing better be razor-sharp; the Rangers&rsquo; penalty killing has been poor for weeks. The Chicago game was the seventh in the Rangers&rsquo; past 17 in which they permitted two or more power-play goals.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Kevin Miller. C/RW, Dennis Vial, D. and Jim Cummins, RW, traded to Detroit for Joe Kocur, RW, and Per Djoos, D. Djoos assigned to Binghamton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bernie Nicholls, Darren Turcotte, Kelly Kisio, Mark Janssens.LW&mdash;John Ogrodnick, Troy Mallette, Kris King, Jan Erixon. Lindy Ruff.RW&mdash;Mike Gartner, Brian Mullen. Joe Kocur, Jody Hull, Tie Domi. Paul Broten.LD&mdash;Brian Leetch, Mark Hardy. Normand Rochefort, Miloslav Horava.RD&mdash;James Patrick, David Shaw, Randy Moller. Joe Cirella.G&mdash;Mike Richter, John Vanbiesbrouck.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Froese, G, shoulder surgery, out for season. Ray Sheppard, RW, sprained right knee. March 24.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Gartner. 40. A&mdash;Leetch, 63. P&mdash;Leetch. 78. PIM&mdash;Kocur, 258. &#9632;

THE NHL

KOCUR DOES IMMEDIATE DAMAGE—TO OWN TEAM

<div class="byline">BY MARK HERRMANN</div>It&rsquo;s not as if the New York Islanders are content with their roster or the direction their season has taken. But impending major changes in the organization forced them to settle for the status quo at the March 5 trading deadline, general manager Bill Torrey said.Torrey was unable to complete a deal during a wave of transactions throughout the league, yet he was busy nonetheless. He was accepting bids for the franchise, which is up for sale.&ldquo;Obviously, our team is in a certain situation that affects everything and everybody around it,&rdquo; he said.His inactivity on the trade front, however, proved disappointing to Pat LaFontaine, who had requested a trade, and captain Brent Sutter, who would have welcomed a move to a contender.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to make the best of what we have left here&mdash;three-and-a-half weeks,&rdquo; said Sutter, who never has demanded or requested a trade before this season. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just play the year out and give it all we&rsquo;ve got.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021136/5852868-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="542" height="609"><figcaption class="caption-body">A disappointed Pat LaFontaine didn&rsquo;t get his trade wish.</figcaption></div>Torrey hinted some of his fellow general managers considered the Islanders vulnerable. &ldquo;They were trying to pick a carcass,&rdquo; he said.LaFontaine realized a decision on his contract impasse is something that will be left for the person or group who buys the franchise from John O. Pickett.The slick center wasn&rsquo;t surprised he&rsquo;s still with the Islanders.&ldquo;I hadn&rsquo;t heard much all along,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Yes, it&rsquo;s disappointing and frustrating. I think I made my thinking clear to Mr. Torrey. My mind hasn&rsquo;t changed.&rdquo;LaFontaine&rsquo;s play has improved lately despite the problems he has endured all season.He scored two goals and added an assist in a 6-4 win March 9 over the New York Rangers.Meanwhile, prospective buyers continued to get in touch with Torrey. One notable report said Nelson Doubleday, co-owner of the New York Mets and former limited partner of the Islanders, was interested in buying the team.Torrey confirmed it and negotiations with Doubleday are set to begin soon. However Doubleday said later reports of his intention to purchase the hockey franchise &ldquo;were pure fiction.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. ISLES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 4: Hubie McDonough. C, recalled from Capital District (AHL) Shawn Byram, LW. assigned to Capital District.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pat LaFontaine. Brent Sutter, Ray Ferraro, Hubie McDonough.LW&mdash;Bill Berg. Derek King. David Volek, Dave ChyzowskiRW&mdash;John Tucker, Brad Lauer, Tom Fitzgerald. Mick Vukota, Brad Dalgarno.LD&mdash;Gary Nylund, Ken Baumgartner, Wayne McBean.RD&mdash;Dean Chynoweth, Joe Reekie. Craig Ludwig.G&mdash;Glenn Healy, Jeff Hackett.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Patrick Flatley, RW. broken left little finger, indefinite. Jeff Norton. D, right shoulder surgery, indefinite. Rich Pilon. D, sprained left medial collateral ligament, indefinite Randy Wood. RW, mild concussion, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;LaFontaine, 39. A&mdash;LaFontaine, 41 A&mdash;LaFontaine, 80. PIM&mdash;Baumgartner, 242. &#9632;

f0010-02

TORREY TOO BUSY TO WHEEL AND DEAL

<div class="byline">BY WAYNE FISH</div>It may have been the first time Mark Pederson was happy about the prospect of missing a flight.Pederson didn&rsquo;t actually miss the airplane that took the Montreal Canadiens from Calgary to Chicago March 5. He was told to stay behind and wait for his new team, the Philadelphia Flyers, to hit town.Pederson was sent to the Flyers moments before the Canadiens&rsquo; flight was to leave and the trade deadline expired. In exchange, the Flyers gave up a second-round 1991 draft pick and future considerations.The 23-year-old left winger, Montreal&rsquo;s first-round pick (15th overall) in 1986, decided to relax at his sister&rsquo;s house in Calgary until the Flyers arrived two nights later.Since things had not been too upbeat for Pederson this season, he welcomed the change.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty happy, actually,&rdquo; Pederson said. &ldquo;Things haven&rsquo;t been going too well since Christmas (he played in only 10 of the previous 26 games). I was playing pretty well before the holiday but since then it has been spot duty.&rdquo;Pederson didn&rsquo;t need much time to make a good impression. Playing on a line with Murray Craven and Chris Jensen, Pederson picked up an assist in a 4-2 loss against the Flames March 7 and his first goal as a Flyer a night later in a 5-4 defeat at Edmonton.Although Pederson has not yet lived up to his impressive junior and minor league statistics, Flyers general manager Russ Farwell was more than willing to give Pederson a second chance. Farwell saw what he could do as Pederson&rsquo;s GM in Medicine Hat from 1984 to 88.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen him for a couple of years but I know he has got good size and he can score,&rdquo; Farwell said. &ldquo;I know him and I think he will fit in here.&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t grabbed a job, that&rsquo;s true. I felt it was probably time for a change for him. He&rsquo;s a good kid.&rdquo;Pederson, 6-foot-2, 196 pounds, averaged 49 goals and 100 points during his junior career. In two seasons for Montreal&rsquo;s American League affiliate in Sherbrooke, Pederson averaged 48 goals, including 53 last year.This year, Pederson was given a chance to make the Canadiens, but notched only eight goals and 15 assists in 47 games.&ldquo;It was sort of a numbers thing,&rdquo; Pederson said. &ldquo;I was on a fourth Iine with Stephan Lebeau and Tom Chorske and I wasn&rsquo;t getting as much time on the power play and penalty killing.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s no secret the Flyers need scoring help on the left side. Pelle Eklund, Murray Craven, Derrick Smith, Dale Kushner and Craig Berube combined for only 55 goals before Pederson&rsquo;s arrival.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been a goal-scorer all my career and I just want a chance to play,&rdquo; Pederson said.Although Pederson doesn&rsquo;t bring proven NHL scoring ability, he has been on the Flyers&rsquo; shopping list for quite some time.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve proved that I&rsquo;m an offensive player,&rdquo; Pederson said. &ldquo;As far as 50-goal-scorers go, those are pretty few and far between. But I think I can put up some good stats.&rdquo;<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Mark Pederson, LW, obtained from Montreal for second-round 1991 draft pick and future considerations. March 6: Tony Horacek, LW, assigned to Hershey (AHL). March 8: Horacek recalled from Hershey.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mike Ricci, Murray Craven, Ron Sutter, Keith Acton.LW&mdash;Pelle Eklund, Mark Pederson, Derrick Smith, Craig Berube, Tony Horacek.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Chris Jensen, Norm Lacombe, Scott Mellanby. Dale Kushner.LD&mdash;Terry Carkner, Murray Baron, Dave Fenyves.RD&mdash;Kjell Samuelsson, Gord Murphy, Jeff Chychrun.G&mdash;Ron Hextali, Ken Wregget. Pete Peeters.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mark Howe, D, back surgery, indefinite. Tim Kerr, RW, pulled groin, day-to-day. Jiri Latal, D, right knee surgery, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Tocchet, 38, A&mdash;Eklund, 45. P&mdash;Tocchet, 68 PIM&mdash;Berube. 226. &#9632;

FARWELL. PEDERSON IN MEDICINE HAT REUNION

<div class="byline">BY RICH CHERE</div>Tom McVie spoke candidly about the state of the team he inherited from John Cunniff after the New Jersey Devils changed head coaches March 4.&ldquo;I am really amazed. There are a lot of missed assignments out there, but you can cure those things,&rdquo; McVie said. &ldquo;I had an idea it would be like that. If it wasn&rsquo;t, they wouldn&rsquo;t have called for me. It&rsquo;s tough, but this is why I&rsquo;m here. I do tough jobs. We&rsquo;ll get it done. I have a lot of believers.&rdquo;But the question in New Jersey remains. Why McVie and why now?Why didn&rsquo;t the Devils stick with Cunniff with so little time remaining before the playoffs? If general manager Lou Lamoriello had to make a change, why didn&rsquo;t he begin his search for a permanent replacement weeks earlier when Cunniff volunteered to step down?&ldquo;John and I talked about it,&rdquo; Lamoriello said. &ldquo;This is not something done in a snap decision. For whatever reason, the team wasn&rsquo;t responding in certain areas. Right now we&rsquo;re off track and not going in the direction we should be.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to have stability, but you also have to make changes when things are not going right.&rdquo;But why did Lamoriello choose McVie, who spent the past seven seasons as GM and coach at Utica (American League?)Devils&rsquo; owner John McMullen reportedly wanted to bring the tough-minded McVie in even sooner when the team slipped into an extended win one, lose one rut. But Lamoriello backed Cunniff until the situation became critical.The warning a change was imminent began Feb. 11, when Cunniff smashed an overhead light panel in the Devils&rsquo; South Mountain Arena dressing room as he left the team&rsquo;s West Orange, N.J. optional practice session in a rage.By mid-week, he was involved in a personal battle with defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov, who was benched in an earlier game.Following a 4-0 loss to Edmonton Feb. 18, Cunniff criticized his star players for not playing to their potential. Nine days later, he ripped the team for &ldquo;playing scared&rdquo; on the road.When the Devils lost 3-1 to Boston March 3, Cunniff said the team lacked heart. He cut short a post-game interview, punched a steel door near the team&rsquo;s dressing room and trashed his office while challenging his own players (no one in particular) to a fight.Lamoriello had no choice but to make a change.&ldquo;That emotion wasn&rsquo;t me.&rdquo; Cunniff explained after his dismissal. &ldquo;The stress I&rsquo;ve been under I&rsquo;ve put on myself, but I think I was getting away from myself.&ldquo;Saying the team lacks heart was wrong, because every team has heart. We all know there is character there. What I was trying to get at was team heart. What I&rsquo;ve said all along is that this team will only win when it&rsquo;s together.&rdquo;McVie shrugged off the notion he is an interim coach.&ldquo;Every coach in the world has an interim job,&rdquo; he said.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Stastny, Patrik Sundstrom, Laurie Boschman, Jon Morris.LW&mdash;Kirk Muller, Brendan Shanahan, Dave Maley, Pat Conacher, Jeff MadillRW&mdash;Zdeno Ciger. Claude Lemieux. John MacLean, Doug Brown, Troy Crowder.LD&mdash;Viacheslav Fetisov, Ken Daneyko, Tommy Albelin.RD&mdash;Bruce Driver, Alexei Kasatonov. Eric Weinrich, Jamie Huscroft.G&mdash;Chris Terreri. Sean Burke.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Lee Norwood. D, broken cheekbone, indefinite Myles O&rsquo;Connor D, sprained right ankle, day-to-day Walt Poddubny, LW, right knee surgery, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;MacLean. 41. A&mdash;Muller, 44. P&mdash;MacLean, 72. PIM&mdash;Daneyko. 224. &#9632;

McVIE HOPING TO SORT OUT CHAOTIC SITUATION

<div class="byline">BY DAVE SELL</div>The March 5 trading deadline marked goaltender Mike Liut&rsquo;s first anniversary with the Washington Capitals. And over that time span many things have happened&mdash;some good and some not so good.When Liut came to the Capitals from Hartford in exchange for left winger Yvon Corriveau, he brought one of the league&rsquo;s top goals-against averages. He finished the season with a 2.53 GAA.He stepped in and played eight of the team&rsquo;s last 12 games, helping the Capitals make the playoffs and register their best spring in franchise history.But this season hasn&rsquo;t been as rosy for the 35-year-old Weston, Ont., native. After beating Edmonton 5-3 March 10, the Capitals finally moved out of fifth place in the Patrick Division. It was the first time they&rsquo;d turned the trick since Christmas.The victory pushed Liut&rsquo;s record to 12-15-3 with a 3.80 GAA.Don Beaupre, whose GAA has never been above 3.00 this season, has ascended to the No. I spot on the team. And he should regain that ranking now that he&rsquo;s back from a groin pull.Liut has seen relatively little work since Jan. 1. He had received just four starts in 1991 before Beaupre was hurt Feb. 22.When Beaupre went down, coach Terry Murray opted for rookie Jim Hrivnak for the next two games.But after Hrivnak had a so-so performance in a 5-1 loss to New Jersey Feb. 25, Murray turned to Liut. And he responded.Though not perfect. Liut helped the Capitals tie two first-place teams (New York Rangers 4-4 Feb. 27, Los Angeles 3-3 March 5) and beat the Islanders (3-2 March 2). He hadn&rsquo;t started three straight games since November.Murray did opt for Beaupre March 8 against Winnipeg (a 2-1 win), in part because Liut had played hard and Murray didn&rsquo;t want to push him too far.Beaupre had a busy day against the Jets and his leg was tender the next day, so Liut got the call against the Oilers March 10. The Capitals won 5-3.Luit is Washington&rsquo;s oldest player. And he admits, as he ages, things change. Still a very competitive athlete who works hard to stay in shape, Liut admits there&rsquo;s not much left for him to prove in the hockey world. Fortunately, his engaging manner has not changed.Liut&rsquo;s $455,000 contract was extended last summer, so 1991-92 will be his option year. But with several young goalies in the system&mdash;Hrivnak, Olie Kolzig, Byron DaFoe. Duane Derksen (Wisconsin)&mdash;the Capitals may want him around to help youngsters.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Rob Mendel, D, traded to Toronto tor Bobby Reynolds, LW.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mike Ridley. Dale Hunter, Michal Pivonka, Tim Bergland.LW&mdash;Kelly Miller. Dimitri Khristich. Alan May. Nick Kyrpeos.RW&mdash;Dino Ciccarelli. John Druce, Steve Leach, Peter Bondra, Jeff Greenlaw.LD&mdash;Rod Langway, Calle Johansson, Ken Sabourin, Mike Lalor.RD&mdash;Kevin Hatcher, Al lafrate, Mikhail Tatarinov.G&mdash;Don Beaupre, Mike Liut.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Chris Felix. D, broken ankle, indefinite. Steve Leach, RW, Charley horse, day-to-day. Reggie Savage. RW, pulled groin, day-to-day. Neil Sheehy. D. back surgery, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Ridley, Ciccarelli, 21. A&mdash;Hatcher, 43. P&mdash;Ridley, Hatcher. 63. PIM&mdash;lafrate, 213. &#9632;

LIUT STILL IN THE PICTURE

<div class="byline">BY DAVE MOLINARI</div>The Pittsburgh Penguins were winless in 10 road games and stumbling backward through the Patrick Division as the March 5 trading deadline approached.But even though his team&rsquo;s season seemed to be in danger of disintegrating, Pittsburgh general manager Craig Patrick insisted he &ldquo;didn&rsquo;t feel the need to make a major trade.&rdquo;Good thing, or the Penguins might have had a whole new lineup after the deadline. As it was, Patrick pulled off three deals, including a six-player blockbuster with the Hartford Whalers.Pittsburgh got center Ron Francis and defensemen Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings from the Whalers for center John Cullen, defenseman Zarley Zalapski and right winger Jeff Parker. In two other trades, the Pens obtained center Ken Priestlay&rsquo;s rights from Buffalo for right winger Tony Tanti and right winger Kim Issel from Edmonton for center Brad Aitken. Priestlay is currently playing with the Canadian national team.Samuelsson was acquired to provide strength and stability to a defense corps that had little of either and Jennings was counted on to provide muscle.But Francis didn&rsquo;t just switch teams, he changed job descriptions. He went from being the foundation of a franchise to almost a support role in Pittsburgh.It&rsquo;s not that he won&rsquo;t be a pivotal figure for the Penguins down the stretch and in the playoffs; it&rsquo;s just that Mario Lemieux isn&rsquo;t likely to be supplanted as Pittsburgh&rsquo;s No. I center anytime soon.The Penguins are relying on Francis to provide sound two-way play more than points.&ldquo;Ron Francis is a solid two-way performer,&rdquo; Patrick said. &ldquo;He has proven that over the years. He handles the boards really well and he has proven he can score with the best of them.&rdquo;The difference is, he doesn&rsquo;t have to generate points every night in Pittsburgh. Scoring goals won&rsquo;t be a problem as long as guys like Lemieux, Mark Recchi, Paul Coffey, Kevin Stevens and Jaromir Jagr are on the payroll.&ldquo;The biggest thing I&rsquo;ve been impressed with (about Pittsburgh) is the overall talent,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;A lot of different guys can score.&ldquo;In the long run, it&rsquo;s best for me. There certainly is a lot less pressure. In Hartford, for years there was a lot of pressure. We relied a lot on one line. Here, it&rsquo;s not like my line has to score two or three goals to be successful.&rdquo;Francis got just one point in his first three games&mdash;an assist on a Recchi goal during a 5-2 victory in Hartford March 9&mdash;but the Penguins weren&rsquo;t complaining. They won all three games, and Francis&rsquo; sound defensive work was a significant factor in each of the wins.His return to Hartford was an emotional time for Francis, who had been named the Hartford booster club&rsquo;s Favorite Whaler 48 hours earlier, but he seemed to be settling in with the new team quickly.Francis plans to move his wife, Mary Lou, and infant daughter. Kaitlyn Ann, to Pittsburgh and sink roots into the community, just as he did in Hartford.&ldquo;The change will do me good,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fresh.start.&rdquo;<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 4: John Cullen, C, Zarley Zalapski, D, and Jeff Parker, RW. traded to Hartford for Ron Francis, C, Ulf Samuelsson, D, and Grant Jennings. D. March 5: Tony Tanti, RW, traded to Buffalo for Ken Priestlay, C. Brad Aitken. C. traded to Edmonton for Kim Issel, RW Jamie Leach, RW, recalled from Muskegon (IHL). Bruce Racine. G, assigned to Muskegon.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Jiri Hrdina, Bryan Trottier, Randy Gilhen, Barry Pederson.LW&mdash;Bob Errey, Phil Bourque, Kevin Stevens, Troy Loney.RW&mdash;Jaromir Jagr, Mark Recchi, Scott Young, Jay Caufield, Jamie Leach,LD&mdash;Ulf Samuelsson, Grant Jennings, Gordie Roberts.RD&mdash;Peter Taglianetti, Paul Stanton. Randy Hillier.G&mdash;Tom Barrasso. Frank Pietrangelo.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Paul Coffey, D, hip flexor, day-to-day. Gilbert Delorme, D, left leg stress fracture, indefinite. Joe Mullen. RW, neck surgery, indefinite Larry Murphy. D, broken right foot, day-to-day Wendell Young. G. dislocated right shoulder, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Recchi, 37. A&mdash;Recchi, 66. P&mdash;Recchi, 103 PIM&mdash;Samuelsson, 186. &#9632;

FRANCIS DOESN’T MIND PLAYING BEHIND LEMIEUX

A center with the Detroit Red Wings for 24 seasons from 1950-51 to &lsquo;73-74, Alex Delvecchio. 59, owns an advertising promotions business in Detroit. &ldquo;I had a long career but the highlight for me was my first game in the NHL,&rdquo; says Delvecchio. &ldquo;Playing in the NHL was something I always dreamed about. It was nice to realize that dream.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-021120/5853026-1-eng-US/f0014-022.jpg" title="f0014-02" width="506" height="406"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alex Delvecchio</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0014-02

THEN & NOW

<h2>RED WINGS</h2>A Los Angeles physician recommended surgery to remove bone spurs on Gerard Gallant&rsquo;s problematic lower back. Gallant, Detroit&rsquo;s most consistent winger&mdash;he has averaged 36 goals and 238 penalty minutes the previous four seasons&mdash;was seeking a second opinion. Surgery or not, he likely will miss the rest of the season&hellip;The additions of center/right winger Kevin Miller, defenseman Dennis Vial and goaltender Allan Bester in eleventh-hour trades enabled the Red Wings to establish club records for the number of players (44) and goaltenders (six) used in a season. Vial impressed the Wings in his first two performances. After his first game&mdash;a 6-2 loss to Minnesota March 9&mdash;Wings&rsquo; coach and GM Bryan Murray said Vial was, &ldquo;as steady a guy as we had.&rdquo; In his second game, a 4-1 win over St. Louis March 10, Vial had his first scrap and got the best of Darin Kimble in front of the St. Louis bench. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not ready, at this point in time, to play on a regular basis, but he&rsquo;s going to play,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;We have to see what he can do before we get into the playoffs.&rdquo;<h2>NORTH STARS</h2>Scouts for the San Jose Sharks no longer need to buy a ticket when they want to see a game at Met Center. North Stars&rsquo; owner Norman Green has lifted the ban, an indication the new agreement between teams must be a certainty. Both sides expect it finalized at the March 18 Board of Governors meeting&hellip;Center Dave Gagner had eight goals and 20 assists in the 14 games ending March 10. The NHL doesn&rsquo;t recognize the streak, however, because Gagner was suspended for one game after receiving his second major stick penalty&hellip;The Stars were unbeaten in 11 games at Met Center through March 10, their longest home unbeaten streak since the 1982-83 season&hellip;Defenseman Shawn Chambers, who had arthroscopic and reconstructive surgery on his knee and had only played in 17 games this season, and right winger Stewart Gavin, who had been sidelined three separate times with a knee injury and has missed 38 games, returned to the lineup for the 5-1 win March 6 against Edmonton.<h2>MAPLE LEAFS</h2>Claude Loiselle says the journey which resulted in him becoming a Maple Leaf, via Quebec and Calgary, &ldquo;will make an interesting chapter in the book.&rdquo; Traded by the Nordiques to the Flames March 2, Loiselle flew to Calgary March 4 only to learn upon his arrival the deal had fallen through. Prior to trading Loiselle, Quebec GM Pierre Page had put him on unrecallable waivers and several teams, including the Leafs, had put in a claim. When the Nords later informed the league of the trade and asked for the waivers to be cancelled, they were told teams had claimed him and were unwilling to let him go. &ldquo;Cliff Fletcher (Calgary GM) told me they tried to get the teams to let me go but one team didn&rsquo;t want to and that&rsquo;s how I ended up here,&rdquo; said Loiselle. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to be here. I don&rsquo;t want to bad mouth Quebec, but let&rsquo;s just say I&rsquo;m out of there and looking forward to the future.&rdquo;<h2>BLUES</h2>Veteran center Ron Wilson, who was a player/assistant coach in the minor leagues before being acquired by the Blues last season, has been, selected by the St. Louis Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association as the Blues&rsquo; candidate for the Masterton Trophy&hellip;Back-to-back losses at home, 8-4 to Calgary March 9 and 4-1 to Detroit March 10, extended the Blues&rsquo; winless streak to three games. It was their longest streak since an 0-3-1 streak at the end of the 1989-90 season and coach Brian Sutter didn&rsquo;t seem too concerned. &ldquo;Well, we&rsquo;ve lost a couple, and we have to face a little bit of adversity along the way, and we&rsquo;re facing it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not going to be easy.&rdquo;&hellip;Brett Hull scored his 77th goal in the loss to Detroit, moving him past Boston&rsquo;s Phil Esposito on the all-time list for goals in a season Only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have scored more in a season.<h2>BLACKHAWKS</h2>Mike Keenan notched his 300th career victory March 10 when the Blackhawks beat the Rangers 5-2. He became the fourth fastest coach in NHL history to hit 300. doing it in his 550th game to take his place behind Toe Blake (518 games), Fred Shero (539) and Glen Sather (542). &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been fortunate to be in the position of working in two great organizations (Chicago and Philadelphia) and having two great hockey teams to coach,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;Players win hockey games. I&rsquo;ve also had tremendous support from my assistant coaches.&rdquo;&hellip;Keenan didn&rsquo;t view the acquisition of center Paul Gillis from Quebec at the trading deadline as a small deal. &ldquo;It may look like a small deal, but it&rsquo;s important to our overall depth,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;Sometimes these so-called little deals make a difference. (Gillis) is a sparkplug type of player with a lot of character, and we feel in our building his physical style is something we can use.&rdquo;&hellip;Ed Belfour had a hearing scheduled March 11 in Chicago before Brian O&rsquo;Neill as a result of the gross misconduct penalty he received from referee Dan Marouelli March 6 following a 5-3 loss to Montreal. Belfour confronted Marouelli in the officials&rsquo; room afterward to complain he had been interfered with on the Canadiens&rsquo; go-ahead goal&hellip;Belfour won his 38th game March 10 over the Rangers, tying the club mark for victories set by Tony Esposito in 1969-70. &#9632;

GALLANT MUST WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR

<div class="byline">BY TIM SASSONE</div>Adam Creighton has tried everything to change his luck this season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve changed my sticks. I&rsquo;ve changed my skates, I&rsquo;ve used white tape, black tape, a lot of tape, a little tape, you name it,&rdquo; the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; center said.Worrying and thinking too much when things aren&rsquo;t going well has always been the knock against Creighton. And things haven&rsquo;t gone well this season.Creighton had just 15 goals and 18 assists in his first 53 games. But the eight-year NHL veteran showed signs of picking it up with two goals and seven assists in a five-game stretch from Feb. 28 to March 10.It was Creighton&rsquo;s lack of produption that forced the Hawks to go looking for another center to take some offensive pressure off Jeremy Roenick, something they weren&rsquo;t able to accomplish before the March 5 trading deadline.&ldquo;He has struggled,&rdquo; said head coach Mike Keenan. &ldquo;But if he comes around to form, we&rsquo;d be in a pretty good position.&rdquo;&ldquo;I know I can score,&rdquo; said Creighton, who had a career-high 34 goals (70 points) last season but tailed off late in the year and in the playoffs. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m capable of having the same kind of year I had (last season), but I struggled early and got down on myself. I know I should have just kept working, but I dwelled on it for too long. Pretty soon it started to play games with my head.&rdquo;Creighton played his best game in a long time March 3, when he notched a goal and two assists in an 8-0 win over Vancouver. He was equally impressive March 8 with two assists in a 5-3 win at Buffalo.&ldquo;Some games I struggle and I don&rsquo;t feel like I belong at all,&rdquo; Creighton said. &ldquo;Other times. I feel I can do it all. It&rsquo;s all in your head. That&rsquo;s why the great players play well all the time. They don&rsquo;t play games in their mind. It&rsquo;s something you&rsquo;ve got to figure out yourself. You can&rsquo;t have someone tell you.&rdquo;Creighton has viewed the last several weeks as a fresh start. His improved play coincided with the passing of the March 5 trading deadline.&ldquo;Adam&rsquo;s a sensitive individual, and I think he struggled with the anxiety of the deadline,&rdquo; Keenan said.Having Creighton contributing is especially important when looking ahead to a possible showdown with St. Louis in the playoffs. In Adam Oates, Dan Quinn, Bob Bassen, Ron Wilson and Rick Meagher, the Blues don&rsquo;t have anyone who can physically match the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Creighton.&ldquo;While we play a defensive style, you&rsquo;ve got to have guys who score and I can be one of those guys,&rdquo; Creighton said. &ldquo;I just want to play solid hockey. If I do that, the numbers will come. I&rsquo;m not saying I&rsquo;m going to go out every night and set the world on fire, but I&rsquo;m going to try.&rdquo;<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 4: Mike Hudson, C, recalled from Indianapolis (IHL). March 5: Mike McNeill. C-RW, and Ryan McGill. D. traded to Quebec for Paul Gillis, C, and Dan Vincelette, LW. Vincelette assigned to Indianapolis. March 6: Frantisek Kucera, D. assigned to Indianapolis. March 8: Dominik Hasek, G, recalled from Indianapolis.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jeremy Roenick. Adam Creighton, Troy Murray, Paul Gillis, Mike Hudson.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet, Steve Thomas, Greg Gilbert, Mike Peluso, Stu Grimson.RW&mdash;Steve Larmer, Wayne Presley, Dirk Graham, Tony McKegney.LD&mdash;Doug Wilson. Dave Manson, Trent Yawney.RD&mdash;Bob McGill. Chris Chelios, Keith Brown.G&mdash;Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steve Konroyd, D, broken knuckle, indefinite. Jocelyn Lemieux, RW, cracked orbital bone near right eye. indefinite. Greg Millen, G, pulled hamstring, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Larmer, 39. A&mdash;Larmer, 53. P&mdash;Larmer, 92 PIM&mdash;Peluso. 265. &#9632;

CREIGHTON’S NEW ATTITUDE EASES STICKY SITUATION

<div class="byline">BY KEITH GAVE</div>In the weeks, days and hours preceding the NHL&rsquo;s trade deadline, Kevin Miller heard just about every trade rumor imaginable. But he never heard his name mentioned.&ldquo;Kiss of death, eh?&rdquo; he asked.Indeed, for the New York Rangers kissed him good-bye March 5 along with minor-league defenseman Dennis Vial and Michigan State right winger Jim Cummins in a deal for Joe Kocur, the Rangers&rsquo; long-coveted marquee enforcer, and minor-league defenseman Per Djoos.The trade between the two clubs was hardly surprising. It had been rumored for weeks. That it involved Miller&mdash;the first player general manager Bryan Murray inquired about when he and Rangers&rsquo; GM Neil Smith began dickering&mdash;was shocking. At least to Miller, who was anything but disappointed. Pulling a Red Wing sweater over his his head for the first time in his Detroit debut a few days later fulfilled a boyhood dream of playing for the Wings, the team he followed closely from home in Lansing, 84 miles from Joe Louis Arena.&ldquo;What more can you ask for?&rdquo; Miller said.Well, patience for starters, Murray cautioned.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to give him time to get adjusted,&rdquo; said Murray, who coached Kevin&rsquo;s older brother, Kelly, in Washington. Murray speaks fondly of Kelly, and Kevin acknowledged his brother, &ldquo;might have had something to do with me coming here. When Bryan was in Washington, they always talked about getting me. People wondered if I could play when I first came up, but Kelly always thought I could. And he told Bryan that.&rdquo;Kevin&rsquo;s scouting report on himself concurs with Wings&rsquo; officials, who watched numerous Ranger games before the trade.&ldquo;I work real hard,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m tenacious. I&rsquo;m always in the corner, working hard. I&rsquo;m proud of that fact. And I hate to lose.&rdquo;Added Murray: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a really talented guy. He moves the puck real well. He&rsquo;s hard working, a good checker.&rdquo;Like Kelly. But different.&ldquo;Kevin has better hands than Kelly,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;Kelly was even more hardworking in the corner. Kevin has more finesse, more playmaking skills. If Kelly had 19 goals, he probably had 119 chances. Kevin will score better than that.&rdquo;In his first full NHL season, Miller brought with him from New York 17 goals and 44 points&mdash;more than all but two Red Wings, Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov. But after two games on Yzerman&rsquo;s right wing on a scoring line and one more on Fedorov&rsquo;s wing on a line designed to check the Blues&rsquo; tandem of Brett Hull and Adam Oates, Miller was pointless and minus-4.The Yzerman line, with rookie Paul Ysebaert at left wing and Miller, a natural center on the right, was as guilty as anyone of the impatience that concerned Murray.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 6: Joe Kocur, RW, and Per Djoos. D, traded to the Rangers for Kevin Miller. RW, Dennis Vial, D, and rights to Jim Cummins, RW. Allan Bester. G, obtained from Toronto for a sixth-round 1991 draft pick.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Jimmy Carson.LW&mdash;Paul Ysebaert, Brent Fedyk, Shawn Burr, Keith Primeau.RW&mdash;Johan Garpenlov, Kevin Miller, Bob Probert, Dave Barr. Bill McDougall.LD&mdash;Yves Racine, Rick Green. Bobby Dollas, Brad Marsh, Dennis Vial.RD&mdash;Brad McCrimmon, Rick Zombo, Doug Crossman.G&mdash;Tim Cheveldae, Allan Bester, Glen Hanlon.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steve Chiasson. D. sprained ankle, day-to-day Gerard Gallant, LW, lower back pain, out for season. Marc Habscheid. C, sore shoulder, day-to-day Randy McKay, RW, lacerated forearm, out for season.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Yzerman, 47. A&mdash;Yzerman, 52. P&mdash;Yzerman, 99, PIM&mdash;Probert, 278. &#9632;

MILLER FULFILLS BOYHOOD DREAM

<div class="byline">BY DAVE LUECKING</div>Even though the St. Louis Blues were in first-place overall, general manager Ron Caron tinkered with his chemistry at the trade deadline, sending four players to the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Garth Butcher and center Dan Quinn.Caron sent top-scoring left winger Geoff Courtnall, Sergio Momesso, center Cliff Running, defenseman Robert Dirk and a conditional draft choice in 1992 to the Canucks.If the Blues fail to win a playoff series, it&rsquo;s a fifth-round pick. If they win one Norris Division title, it&rsquo;s a fourth-round pick. If they win one Campbell Conference title, it&rsquo;s a third-round pick.And if they win the Stanley Cup in the next two years, the Blues will owe the Canucks a No. 2 in the 1992 draft. Eventually, the trade will be five for two, which doesn&rsquo;t faze Caron.&ldquo;He who fears is already defeated,&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;When you work at a deal, you have to make sure you have the right ingredients. I always say that in order to receive, you must give.&rdquo;Coach Brian Sutter didn&rsquo;t think the Blues gave up much at all. &ldquo;We gave up a lot of bodies,&rdquo; he said sharply.The early returns on the trade were mixed. The Blues won the first game after the trade, beating Hartford 4-1 that night, but then went three games without a victory&mdash;tying Boston and losing to Calgary and Detroit at home. Quinn was minus-7 in those three games.Courtnall was the only full-time player involved in the deal, and Caron filled two holes, getting the big, tough defenseman he has coveted for some time and the second-line center who can play on the power play.However, he created a void on left wing. By giving up Courtnail and Momesso, the Blues are left with three left wingers&mdash;Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Dave Lowry and Gino Cavallini. A few days after the trade, Caron went on a scouting mission to see if prospects Denny Felsner and Dave Roberts at the University of Michigan were ready to play in the NHL. One or both may sign with the Blues after their collegiate playoffs are over.In Courtnall, the Blues lost their only pure scoring threat after Brett Hull, who led the NHL with 77 goals through March 11. With the departure of Courtnall and his 27 goals, playmaker Adam Oates ranked second in goals with 23. Courtnall. though, wasn&rsquo;t a favorite of Sutter because of supposed defensive liabilities. Courtnall was plus-19.&ldquo;Courts was one guy who didn&rsquo;t seem to understand or fit in with what we wanted to do defensively,&rdquo; assistant coach Bob Berry said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the old story: Score 30 or 40 goals and neglect your responsibilities defensively. It&rsquo;s going to catch up to you.&rdquo;Sutter insisted the Blues hadn&rsquo;t created a weakness at left wing.&ldquo;Rick Meagher has played left wing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We had to give up Courts to get the two character players we did.&rdquo;Caron said he didn&rsquo;t want to give up Courtnall, who joins his fifth team in the last four seasons, and Quinn, also known as a defensive liability, wasn&rsquo;t on his shopping list until it became clear Caron couldn&rsquo;t wrestle Butcher from the Canucks.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to part with Courtnall. but getting Dan Quinn will offset the production we&rsquo;re going to miss,&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;If you want an important piece of the chemistry, you have to be willing to yield.&rdquo;Butcher, 28, was the key player in the deal. He fits right into the Blues&rsquo; defensive-minded, disciplined scheme.&ldquo;He matches the system we play here, and I think he&rsquo;s tailor-made for our division and our hockey club,&rdquo; said Sutter.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Geoff Courtnall. LW. Sergio Momesso. LW. Cliff Ronning, C, and Robert Dirk, D, traded to Vancouver for Garth Butcher, D, and Dan Quinn, C. March 6: Tom Draper. G, assigned to Peoria (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Adam Oates, Dan Quinn, Bob Bassen, Ron Wilson.LW&mdash;Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Gino Cavallini, Dave Lowry, Rick MeagherRW&mdash;Brett Hull, Steve Tuttle, Rich Sutter, Darin Kimble.LD&mdash;Scott Stevens. Paul Cavallini. Harold Snepsts.RD&mdash;Tom Tilley. Garth Butcher, Glen Featherstone, Mario MaroisG&mdash;Vincent Riendeau, Pat Jablonski.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jeff Brown. D, hairline fracture left ankle, indefinite. Curtis Joseph. G, sprained right knee, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Hull, 77. A&mdash;Oates. 75. P&mdash;Hull. 118. PIM&mdash;Butcher. 259. &#9632;

CARON DEALS FOR MISSING INGREDIENTS

<div class="byline">BY GARY OLSON</div>The Minnesota North Stars stayed off the NHL trading floor until minutes before the deadline and then made a beat-the-clock deal with the Calgary Flames to bring center Marc Bureau to Minnesota.The Stars also sent veteran Ilkka Sinisalo to Los Angeles.The last-minute deal for Bureau&mdash;the Stars gave the Flames a third-round pick in this summer&rsquo;s draft&mdash;was anything but hasty. North Stars&rsquo; scout Tom Osiecki watched him for a week before the trade while in Salt Lake to visit his son Mark, who also plays for the Eagles.&ldquo;Bureau is a very creative offensive center,&rdquo; Osiecki said. &ldquo;He controls the game in that league the way some of the big boys control games in the NHL.&rdquo;Bureau, 24, is a 6-foot, 190-pound center who was playing his fourth season in Salt Lake. Signed as a free agent by Calgary in May, 1987, he had 40 goals, 48 assists and 88 points&mdash;all team highs&mdash;in 54 games. He ranked fifth in scoring in the IHL and led the league with eight shorthanded goals.Bureau didn&rsquo;t play his first game with the North Stars until March 10 when the Flames visited Met Center. He had two assists in the 7-3 win, his first points in 11 NHL games.&ldquo;It felt like my first game in the NHL,&rdquo; Bureau said. &ldquo;Before the game, the players let me know I was part of their team. Before, in Calgary, I felt I was only there until I made a mistake. Calgary is a hard lineup to crack. Last year, even when I went to training camp, I knew there was no room for me on the roster. This will be my chance to play in the NHL.&rdquo;In his first game with the Stars, Bureau skated between veteran wings Gaetan Duchesne and Doug Smail.General manager Bob Clarke made the deal for Bureau because he said he felt the Stars needed another playmaking, scoring center to complement Neal Broten, 31, and Bobby Smith, 33.One of the league&rsquo;s best teams reportedly offered the Flames a young veteran from their roster for Bureau but Fletcher turned down the deal because of the impending protection problems.Bureau, who had 43 goals and 91 points a year ago, is confident his time in the IHL prepared him well for the opportunity he has earned.&ldquo;My first year in Salt Lake City was disappointing,&rdquo; Bureau said. &ldquo;My second year, I played on a line with Theoren Fleury and Peter Lappin and (the team) asked me to learn to play better defense and a more physical game. Last year, because I was playing with two rookies, they asked me to add some scoring to my game. Each year I&rsquo;ve worked to improve myself.&ldquo;The dream of playing in the NHL is why I still play hockey. I don&rsquo;t want to say I played a few games in the NHL; I want to be a regular player in the NHL.&rdquo;<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 4: Mike McHugh, RW. and Dan Keczmer, D. assigned to Kalamazoo (IHL). March 5: Marc Bureau, C, obtained from Calgary for a third-round draft pick. Ilkka Sinisalo, RW, traded to Los Angeles for an eighth-round draft pick.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Neal Broten. Dave Gagner. Bobby Smith. Perry Berezan, Marc Bureau.LW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Brian Propp, Gaetan Duchesne, Basil McRae.RW&mdash;Ulf Dahlen, Mike Modano, Doug Smail, Stewart Gavin, Shane Churta.LD&mdash;Mark Tinordi, Brian Glynn, Shawn Chambers.RD&mdash;Chris Dahlquist, Jim Johnson, Curt Giles.G&mdash;Jon Casey, Brian Hayward.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike Craig, RW, broken right hand, indefinite Neil Wilkinson. D, torn ligament in left thumb, indefinite. Rob Zettler, D. aggravated groin-muscle tear, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Gagner, 36 A&mdash;Broten, 51. P&mdash;Gaqner. 73 PIM&mdash;Churla. 219 &#9632;

CREATIVE BUREAU SETS UP OFFICE IN TWIN CITIES

<div class="byline">BY MARK HARDING</div>In the hours prior to the trade deadline, Floyd Smith insisted he had no serious intentions of dealing Gary Leeman.The star right winger, meanwhile, was adamant he had no desire to leave his hometown&mdash;despite reports he was unhappy in a Leafs&rsquo; jersey.And when the dust settled after the March 5 deadline. Lceman got his wish. Smith breathed a sigh of relief and the Leafs continued their determined but seemingly futile bid for a playoff berth. They were 14 points behind Minnesota with 10 games to play.Most observers felt it was more than just coincidence that the Leafs played their best game of the season hours after the deadline, hammering the Boston Bruins 6-3.Coach Tom Watt was especially pleased with his club&rsquo;s play, but reserved exclusive praise for one particular player&mdash;Lceman.&ldquo;I want to give one fellow a bit of a boost,&rdquo; said Watt. &ldquo;A lot has been said about Gary Lceman recently and I&rsquo;ve had to sit him out a couple of times, but I thought tonight Gary Leeman had his strongest game as a Maple Leaf this year.&rdquo;It was high praise for the beleaguered winger, a 51-goal scorer last year who suddenly found himself scratched from three of nine games prior to the trade deadline and benched for extended periods in one or two other contests.But with the passing of the deadline, the 27-year-old winger was obviously relieved and rejuvenated to still be in Toronto.Two nights earlier in Hartford, Leeman scored twice in a 4-4 tie. Rumors persisted that Leeman would remain in Hartford while right winger Kevin Dineen would join Toronto.&ldquo;For the next month I won&rsquo;t have to think about that (trade) stuff.&rdquo; He said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always said I&rsquo;d like to stay in Toronto.&rdquo;Despite the fact some of the lustre had been removed from his star in Toronto&mdash;he had only 11 goals after 70 games&mdash;Leeman was still regarded as an attractive commodity by a number of teams.Besides Hartford, Edmonton was also interested in Lceman both as a right winger and a point man on their power play. The Chicago Blackhawks. concerned about their lack of Firepower heading into the playoffs, were also reportedly keen on acquiring Leeman.&ldquo;To be quite honest, I had a lot of phone calls for Gary Lceman and if I had been serious about trading him I could have,&rdquo; said Smith. &ldquo;But I didn&rsquo;t feel any of them were the right kind of trade for the team.&rdquo;<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Allan Bester, G, traded to Detroit for sixth-round 1991 draft pick. Darren Veitch, D, and future considerations traded to St. Louis for Keith Osborne, RW. Bobby Reynolds, LW, traded to Washington for Rob Mendel, D. Claude Loiselle, C, claimed on waivers from Quebec. Scott Thornton, C, returned to Belleville (OHL), March 8: Darryl Shannon, D. recalled from Newmarket (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Tom Fergus, Peter Zezel, Brian Bradley, Dave Hannan. Claude Loiselle.LW&mdash;Vincent Damphousse, Wendel Clark, Mike Krushelnyski. Rob Cimetta. Dave Reid.RW&mdash;Daniel Marois. Gary Leeman, Mike Foligno, Kevin Maguire. Greg Johnston.LD&mdash;Dave Ellett, Todd Gill. Luke Richardson, Darryl Shannon.RD&mdash;Michel Petit. Rob Ramage. Alexander Godynyuk.G&mdash;Peter Ing, Jeff Reese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Aaron Broten, LW, dislocated shoulder, indefinite. Lucien DeBlois, RW. Charley horse, indefinite. Bob Rouse, D. broken collarbone. March 24<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Damphousse. 22. A&mdash;Damphousse. 44. P&mdash;Damphousse, 66. PIM&mdash;Richardson, 191. &#9632;

RELIEVED LEEMAN SURVIVES DEADLINE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011128/5853201-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="463" height="627"></div>He&rsquo;s only 22 years old, but Zarley Zalapski already has seen much of the world. And spent a lot of time on top of it.He has played in the Olympics, been a first-round draft choice and earned recognition as a can&rsquo;t-miss impact player because of his enormous skills.He has just about done it all&mdash;except realize his vast potential and become the dominant defenseman so many believe he can be. And no one believes it more than Eddie Johnston, the man who drafted him for Pittsburgh in 1986 and acquired him for Hartford March 4.Johnston sent the soul of his franchise, Ron Francis, along with Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings to the Penguins for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zalapski. Johnston knows Cullen will give him grit and points, and hopes Parker will provide some muscle.Which makes Zalapski the key variable in the trade. If he fulfills his promise, the Whalers will have one of the game&rsquo;s great defensemen. If not, Johnston will have validated the axiom that no one overrates a player like the guy who drafted him.Zalapski&rsquo;s debut in Hartford was forgettable, as he made only one pass that led directly to a goal. And setting up opponents like Brett Hull isn&rsquo;t exactly what Johnston had in mind when he made the deal.But trades cannot be evaluated after one game or one week or one month. And if Zalapski&rsquo;s game ever is to become the sum of its component parts, he could not ask for better circumstances.He has the support of a management team that has staked its reputation&mdash;and maybe its future&mdash;on the trade and, more importantly, he won&rsquo;t share a slab of ice with Paul Coffey more than three times a season from now on.He was inhibited by Coffey, rarely escaped the monstrous shadow cast by Coffey&rsquo;s offensive skills. Zalapski&rsquo;s not going to get that kind of challenge from Adam Burt or Randy Ladouceur. He has gone from the support cast to a starring role.&ldquo;I want to be put in a situation where I&rsquo;m the guy they look to,&rdquo; Zalapski said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to look to me to make things happen out there. Obviously, I wasn&rsquo;t getting the opportunity I needed to contribute (in Pittsburgh).&rdquo;Zalapski seemed ready to blossom earlier this season, when he was a fixture on Pittsburgh&rsquo;s power play and playing the best all-around game of his pro career. But Zalapski&rsquo;s power-play time and confidence began to shrink when Pittsburgh acquired Larry Murphy from Minnesota Dec. 11 and his game never recovered.&ldquo;When you look back at the early part of this season, I was playing well and they made some acquisitions that certainly hurt my play,&rdquo; Zalapski said.&ldquo;That (Murphy trade) changed some things, psychologically, for him,&rdquo; Len Zalapski said recently. &ldquo;It has taken a little longer for him to adjust than it should.&rdquo;Len Zalapski, as you might have guessed from the surname, is not just another hockey fan. He is Zarley&rsquo;s father, to say nothing of a prominent attorney in Leduc, an Edmonton suburb, and a capable left winger for the Leduc Rusty Blades senior team.His is an informed, and remarkably objective, opinion, because he regularly watches his son&rsquo;s games via the magic of a satellite dish. He knows that the flashes of brilliance have been too infrequent, that his son&rsquo;s promise remains largely untapped.&ldquo;He has got a lot of potential, but he&rsquo;s not there yet,&rdquo; Pittsburgh coach Bob Johnson said a few weeks before the trade. &ldquo;He really isn&rsquo;t. He&rsquo;s a long way off.&rdquo;Still, Johnson could see hints of Zalapski&rsquo;s extraordinary gifts, enough to realize &ldquo;there are lots of good signs.&rdquo;&ldquo;He has got a lot of things going for him,&rdquo; Johnson said. &ldquo;Now he has got to put it all together.&rdquo;That won&rsquo;t happen until Zalapski develops an ability to focus, the one element missing from his game. His concentration level fluctuates like a weak radio signal.And the ability to zero in on the job at hand is the greatest asset any player can have. Can anyone remember the last time they watched, say, Wayne Gretzky skate around in a fog that wasn&rsquo;t caused by warm air?When the trade was announced, Hartford coach Rick Ley described Zalapski as &ldquo;one of the top six or seven defensemen in the league.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s an overstatement, a little hyperbole for the home folks, but it might turn out to be an accurate prediction.Zalapski has shown that he has the legs and hands to be a brilliant player. Now he must prove he has a head for the game, too.Dave Molinari covers the Penguins for the Pittsburgh Press. &#9632;

f0018-01

ZALAPSKI GETS HIS CHANCE TO BLOSSOM

March 28, 1982: The Edmonton Oilers set an NHL record for the fastest two goals from the start of a game by one team&mdash;24 seconds. Mark Messier (0:14) and Dave Lumley (0:24) scored 10 seconds apart in a 6-2 win over Los Angeles. The former record (29 seconds) was held by the Pittsburgh Penguins.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02845/5853232-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="636" height="415"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Messier</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0018-02

FLASHBACK

<h2>FLAMES</h2>Right winger Theoren Fleury, making a bid for his first 50-goal season in the NHL, established a team record by scoring three shorthanded goals in an 8-4 win over St. Louis March 9. The goals gave Fleury 44 for the season and he added No. 45 the next night against Minnesota. With 10 games left in the season, 50 suddenly became a real possibility. Fleury scored 22 goals in the Flames&rsquo; first 51 games and then 23 goals in the last 19 up to March 10. &ldquo;1&rsquo;11 do my best to get 50, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; said Fleury. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t really set any big-time goals for myself this season. I just wanted a little more ice time. I&rsquo;m just going to go out and do what I can to help the team win. I&rsquo;m not expecting to score every game.&rdquo;&hellip;Left winger Colin Patterson, listed as being out for the season, may be able to play this year after all&mdash;depending on how far the team goes in the playoffs. Patterson began skating in early March for the first time since reconstructive surgery on his right knee and was pleased with the early prognosis. &ldquo;It actually went really well,&rdquo; said Patterson. &ldquo;It felt really great.&rdquo; Realistically, Patterson will not be able to play until early May. If the Flames are still alive by then, chances are they will not tamper with their lineup, unless they run into injuries.<h2>OILERS</h2>The Oilers welcomed Mark Messier back March 8 from his latest injury, a fractured left thumb. With their captain back in the lineup, the Oilers won 5-4 over Philadelphia, sweeping the season series against the Flyers for the first time. &ldquo;You know you have a better chance of winning when he&rsquo;s in the lineup,&rdquo; said Craig MacTavish, who scored the tying goal after the Oilers fell behind 2-0. &ldquo;All of a sudden, a two-goal deficit isn&rsquo;t insurmountable.&rdquo; The Oilers are 8-17-2 without Messier and 24-16-3 with the 30-year-old in the lineup&hellip;Also back were veteran defenseman Charlie Huddy (broken toe) and right winger Anatoli Semenov (bruised ribs), while Glenn Anderson (pulled thigh muscle) was back a game later against Washing-ton&hellip;MacTavish was named the Oilers&rsquo; nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by the Edmonton chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association. The 32-year-old sixth-year Oiler has an ironman streak of 388 games going despite the fact he&rsquo;s one of only seven helmetless players in the NHL.<h2>CANUCKS</h2>Veteran defenseman Doug Lidster signed a new multi-year contract with the Canucks March 4. Lidster, 30, in his eighth season with the Canucks, is second on Vancouver&rsquo;s all-time scoring list for defensemen. Earlier this season, Lidster was publicly accused of disloyalty by Canuck assistant GM Brian Burke by deciding to play out his option. Burke said, if he were Lidster&rsquo;s teammate, he&rsquo;d fight him in practice. Lidster, who seemed embarrassed by the whole affair, is one of the Canucks&rsquo; captains and is highly regarded by his fellow players&hellip;Minor-league goalie Steve McKichan was openly critical of Burke&rsquo;s management style. When the Canucks called up Milwaukee (International League) goalie Bob Mason as an injury replacement, McKichan felt he was the one deserving of a promotion. &ldquo;I guess they don&rsquo;t base it on goals against, but on whose former agent is in the front office,&rdquo; said McKichan. Burke is Mason&rsquo;s former agent-&hellip;Vancouver&rsquo;s 7-5 win over the Sabres March 10 was only Vancouver&rsquo;s third win away from home since Dec. 18. The Canucks were 3-15-2 in their last 20 road games after the win over the Sabres.<h2>JETS</h2>Center Ed Olczyk picked up his 500th NHL point in a 4-3 win over New Jersey March 10. Olczyk had two goals in the game&hellip;Soviet-bom Sergei Kharin was recalled March 4 from Moncton and played March 8 against Washington, making him the first Soviet to play for the Jets in the NHL. Kharin, 28, was drafted from the Soviet Wings in 1989. The speedy left winger had assists in each of his first two games and was plus-three&hellip;Thomas Steen scored his 200th career goal in a 5-4 loss March 5 against Edmonton. He split the Oilers&rsquo; defense and flicked the puck under the crossbar with one hand on his stick while defenseman Jeff Beukeboom was lying on top of him. It was a big day for Steen, whose wife gave birth to a baby boy earlier in the day.<h2>KINGS</h2>Right winger Ilkka Sinisalo, acquired March 5 from Minnesota in exchange for an eighth-round pick in next June&rsquo;s draft, made his debut March 9 in the Kings 3-0 win in Quebec. &ldquo;I was a little short of wind, but I felt comfortable,&rdquo; said Sinisalo, who spelled Dave Taylor on a line with Luc Robitaille and Todd Elik. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy. This is like a new start for me.&rdquo; Sinisalo, 31, had five goals and 17 points in 46 games for Minnesota. He spent his first nine seasons in Philadelphia, scoring a career-high 39 goals in 1985-86. &ldquo;God forbid anything should happen to our scorers, but this deal gives us more depth in case we run into injuries,&rdquo; GM Rogie Vachon said&hellip;With assists in 15 consecutive games, Wayne Gretzky was two games shy of the NHL record he shares with Paul Coffey. Gretzky picked up his 1,400th NHL assist March 5 in a 3-3 tie with Washington&hellip;With a 40-21-8 record, the Kings were three wins shy of the club record set in 1980-81. They won 42 games in 1988-89 and 1974-75, when the club record for points (105) was set. &#9632;

LITTLE FLEURY SCORING BIG GOALS

<div class="byline">BY RICK SADOWSKI</div>It was hoped Todd Elik would score between 25 and 30 goals this season and produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 points.But the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; center won&rsquo;t come close to reaching those numbers. With 11 regular-season games to play, Elik had only 16 goals and 48 points.&ldquo;It&rsquo;d be nice if I could get 20 goals,&rdquo; Elik said. &ldquo;At least that&rsquo;s still within my reach.&rdquo;But Elik, who will tum 25 April 15, admitted his first full season in the NHL has been somewhat of a disappointment.Acquired Dec. 12, 1988 from the New York Rangers in a deal that sent defenseman Dean Kennedy to the Big Apple, Elik was handed the Kings&rsquo; second-line centering duties midway through last season after Bernie Nicholls was traded to the Rangers.The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Brampton, Ont., native had eight goals and 29 points in 32 games centering Luc Robitaille and Dave Taylor after Nicholls left. He led the Kings in scoring during the playoffs with three goals and 12 points in 10 games.But he hasn&rsquo;t quite lived up to expectations this season.&ldquo;It has been a little bit of a disappointment,&rdquo; said Elik, who missed&rsquo; two games with an eye injury, one with a thigh ailment and was benched for three others. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d like to be more consistent. I feel a little better about it because the team has been playing so well. Everyone has been waiting for the wheels to fall off our wagon, but that hasn&rsquo;t happened.&ldquo;It has been an up-and-down season for me. I&rsquo;d like to have more goals and points, but at least my plus-minus (plus-13) is good.&ldquo;Maybe teams noticed me more this year, checked me tighter. It seems like I haven&rsquo;t had much room to maneuver.&rdquo;Elik was on fire at the beginning of the season, collecting seven goals and 18 points in his first 17 games. But his scoring touch mysteriously disappeared.In the next 30 games, he managed only four goals and 13 points; seven-, six- and five-game goal droughts were included in that stretch.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what happened,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was just a slump, I guess. I wasn&rsquo;t scoring. What can I say?&rdquo;Elik&rsquo;s game began to improve Feb. 2, when he had a pair of assists in a 9-1 romp against Vancouver.He had two points in three consecutive games, was blanked in one, then ran off a career-high nine-game pointscoring streak in which he had three goals and 10 points.&ldquo;For me to be effective,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to skate. There have been times when I&rsquo;ve worked hard but haven&rsquo;t seemed to accomplish much. I think I&rsquo;ve played pretty well the last 20 games or so.&rdquo;<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: llkka Sinisalo, RW, obtained from Minnesota for an eighth-round 1991 draft pick.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Todd Elik, Steve Kasper, John McIntyre.LW&mdash;Tony Granato. Luc Robitaille, Mike Donnelly, John Tortelli. Brad Jones, Scott Bjugstad.RW&mdash;Tomas Sandstrom, Dave Taylor. Bob Kudelski, Jay Miller, llkka Sinisalo.LD&mdash;Larry Robinson, Brian Benning, Bob Halkidis, Tim Watters.RD&mdash;Steve Duchesne, Rob Blake. Marty McSorley. Rod Buskas.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey. Daniel Berthiaume.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Frank Breault, RW. right knee surgery, out for season. Tom Laidlaw, D, three bulging discs in back, out for season.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Gretzky, 38. A&mdash;Gretzky, 102. P&mdash;Gretzky, 140 PIM&mdash;Miller, 204 &#9632;

DISAPPOINTED ELIK SEEKS REDEMPTION IN PLAYOFFS

<div class="byline">BY DICK CHUBEY</div>The Kids have been broken up so often this season, they&rsquo;ve felt like they&rsquo;ve been playing on Foster Lines.But, the intention has always been for Adam Graves, Martin Gelinas and Joe Murphy to strut their stuff together.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had that line apart at times all year with the thought in mind that they&rsquo;d be back together,&rdquo; said Edmonton coach John Muckier of the trio that won the hearts of Oilers&rsquo; fans with their persistent forechecking during the Stanley Cup playoffs last spring. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no peer pressure for them, they&rsquo;re all about the same age.&rdquo;With the playoffs approaching, the Kid Line was reunited Feb. 18 in New Jersey, although the focus of attention on that particular night centred around goalie Grant Fuhr&rsquo;s triumphant 4-0 shutout return to the NHL.Graves, with Murphy and Gelinas on his flanks, have been an entry for 11 games since and there&rsquo;s every intention they will remain intact when post-season play begins next month. It&rsquo;s just that they were almost broken up permanently at the trade deadline.A three-way deal, which would have sent Murphy and Dave Brown to Philadelphia, was scuttled when indecision by Flyers&rsquo; rookie GM Russ Farwell allowed the deadline to pass. The Oilers would have netted Kerry Huffman and Tony Horacek from the Flyers, along with Kevin Dineen from the Hartford Whalers. Flyers&rsquo; Scott Mellanby and Oilers&rsquo; farmhand Greg Hawgood were said to be headed for Hartford.Murphy thought it was ironic the Flyers were the Oilers&rsquo; initial visitor following the trade deadline.&ldquo;I could have been playing against the Oilers with the Flyers. I&rsquo;m glad I wasn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; said the 23-year-old.It&rsquo;s all hypothetical, of course, as the Kid Line is back together and they&rsquo;ve been contributing offensively to the Oilers&rsquo; cause. Of 20 goals scored by the Oilers over a six-game stretch, the line has scored nine. No longer is Murphy (23 goals, 31 assists) the only one supplying offense.A pair of two-goal games against Detroit and Quebec Feb. 22 and 24 tripled Graves&rsquo; seasonal output as the 22-year-old finally regained some long-awaited scoring touch.Gelinas had 17 goals, with five coming in seven games after snapping a 13-game drought. But, even before he regained his scoring eye, the 20-year-old was confident things began falling into place.Lately, though, their performance was uplifting for the Oilers.&ldquo;They do inspire your hockey club,&rdquo; Muckier admitted. &ldquo;They play with a lot of enthusiasm that rubs off onto other guys. Plus, the older guys like to see them do well, because they know they haven&rsquo;t had a lot of success until lately.&rdquo;Perfect timing, perhaps?<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 4: David Haas. LW, recalled from Cape Breton (AHL). March 5: Kim Issel, RW, traded to Pittsburgh for Brad Aitken, C-LW. March 9: Haas and Dan Currie, LW, assigned to Cape Breton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier. Craig MacTavish, Adam Graves, Brad Aitken, Mark Lamb.LW&mdash;Craig Simpson, Esa Tikkanen, Martin Gelinas, Kelly BuchbergerRW&mdash;-Glenn Anderson, Joe Murphy. Petr Klima, Dave Brown, Anatoli Semenov.LD&mdash;Geoff Smith, Steve Smith. Norm Maciver.RD&mdash;Craig Muni. Jeff Beukeboom, Charlie Huddy. Chris Joseph.G&mdash;Bill Ranford. Grant Fuhr.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ken Linseman. C. torn ins in right eye, day-to-day Kevin Lowe, D, tendon problem in right ankle, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Klima, 35. A&mdash;Messier, 44. P&mdash;Klima, 61. PIM&mdash;S. Smith, 179. &#9632;

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. TOGETHER AGAIN

<div class="byline">BY TIM CAMPBELL</div>The second-guessers are all over the Winnipeg Jets.How could they give up a breakaway goal to Edmonton&rsquo;s Petr Klima with 56 seconds left to lose 5-4 to the Oilers March 5?Why, three nights later, did they do absolutely nothing when Washington&rsquo;s Nick Kypreos ended Brent Ashton&rsquo;s season with a borderline charge/elbow leaving the 30-year-old left winger with several broken facial bones?Why did general manager Mike Smith stand pat with his lineup at the March 5 trade deadline?And above all, why arc the Jets still in a fight with the Vancouver Canucks for the fourth playoff spot in the Smythe Division?The last answer is easy. Going 3-82 since Feb. 10 isn&rsquo;t going to sew up a playoff spot.&ldquo;The guys are running a little scared,&rdquo; coach Bob Murdoch said after one-goal losses to Edmonton and Washington (2-1 March 8). &ldquo;They&rsquo;re looking over their shoulders and obviously, there has been criticism in the papers and on the radio. Everyone&rsquo;s telling them what their problems are or aren&rsquo;t. The thing is, we&rsquo;ve got to go out and play hockey the way we&rsquo;re capable of playing if we want success.&rdquo;The Ashton situation was most curious and questions were raised about the team&rsquo;s passive response.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re not going to bait me into saying anything about our guys,&rdquo; a defensive Murdoch said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy after the fact to question things. I don&rsquo;t think there are any problems with backbone. Were you in L.A. (an unusually physical game March 2)? Are you questioning the backbone of the team in L.A.?&rdquo;Ashton&rsquo;s season is essentially over. He broke his nose and cheek after his face hit the ice.The shock effect caused by the bloody mess and an uncertainty whether Kypreos&rsquo; check was a foul, were among the explanations for the team&rsquo;s reaction.&ldquo;You can say the guys should&rsquo;ve been charged up and wanting blood, but the thing is the guys were worried about their teammate,&rdquo; Murdoch said.&ldquo;We have nine games left. It&rsquo;s not time for revenge, it&rsquo;s time to win,&rdquo; said tough guy Gord Donnelly.Donnelly also denied the Jets have lost their emotional edge.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think our emotion has fizzled out,&rdquo; the Jets&rsquo; penalty leader (217 P1M after 72 games) said. &ldquo;We should play with more intensity, but I don&rsquo;t know if fighting is the key. Playing the body more and being prepared may be more important.&rdquo;Against New Jersey March 10. Murdoch&rsquo;s nervous club held an early lead but barely held on for a 4-3 win. They were outshot 39-19.It wasn&rsquo;t pretty, but it was significant for one key reason&mdash;the Jets held the lead and won the game without their most important defenseman, Phil Housley. He was sidelined with food poisoning.&ldquo;Phil usually plays 27 or 28 minutes,&rdquo; Murdoch said. &ldquo;We wanted to keep the game simple because right now the confidence level isn&rsquo;t high. The encouraging thing to me was the play of Gord Donnelly and Teppo Numminen. Without Phil Housley and Randy Carlyle, two of our more experienced defensemen, those two guys came up with big games.&rdquo;<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 4: Sergei Kharin, LW. recalled from Moncton (AHL). March 7: Kharin signed contract March 10: Bryan Erickson, RW, recalled from Moncton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Thomas Steen, Ed Olczyk, Dave McLIwain, Mike Eagles.LW&mdash;Mark Osborne. Sergei Kharin, Phil Sykes, Doug Evans, Scott Arniel.RW&mdash;Pat Elynuik, Paul MacDermid, Danton ColeLD&mdash;Shawn Cronin. Bryan March-ment, Gord Donnelly.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, Teppo Numminen, Fredrik Olausson. Moe Mantha.G&mdash;Bob Essensa, Rick Tabaracci.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Brent Ashton LW, fractured facial bones, indefinite Randy Carlyle. D, strained tricep, day-to-day. Mark Kumpel RW, pulled groin, day-to-day<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Elynuik. 29 A&mdash;Housley. 48. P&mdash;Housley, 69. PIM&mdash;Donnelly. 217. &#9632;

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS HAMPER PLAYOFF DRIVE

<div class="byline">BY ERIC DUHATSCHEK</div>Doug Risebrough wanted to make one point ultra-clear. The Calgary Flames did not alter their chemistry at the trading deadline because they were dissatisfied with the team&rsquo;s recent play.On the contrary. &ldquo;The team has performed well,&rdquo; said the Flames&rsquo; coach. &ldquo;We did not make these deals because we were displeased with the team&rsquo;s performance. They were made to strengthen what we think is already a positive situation. We were trying to fill needs and cover prospective problems that might arise.&rdquo;In moves that must not be considered blockbusters, the Flames went back to the future twice to bolster the team for the playoff run. First, they reacquired left winger Carey Wilson from Hartford, then defenseman Kevan Guy from Vancouver. Ronnie Stem came with Guy in the Canucks&rsquo; deal in which they gave up Dana Murzyn. To get Wilson, the Flames surrendered right winger Mark Hunter.On the surface, the moves smacked more of shuffling the deck than they did of tangible improvements. Since he left Calgary in 1988, Wilson moved from Hartford to the Rangers to Hartford again. All he needs to complete the circle is for the Flames to send him to Chicago, the team that originally drafted him.General manager Cliff Fletcher said the Flames improved their skill level up front by acquiring Wilson, an area which he pinpointed as the team&rsquo;s major weakness.&ldquo;We were worried about our skill level on the bottom two lines,&rdquo; said Fletcher. &ldquo;He is one of the few play-ers on our team that can carry the puck from our end of the rink to the other end. He gives us tremendous flexibility and at this time of the year, that is what we&rsquo;re looking for.&rdquo;They may yet be good enough to win a Stanley Cup, but as a team, they do not inspire the fear they did in racking up 117 points two seasons ago. Yes, they&rsquo;re good, but they may be a few years away from being great again. So the challenge facing Fletcher was to improve his club on the periphery until the next wave of young talent comes on stream.Stem replaced the muscle lost in the Hunter deal. Guy came in as the eighth defensemen. He was expected to make a couple of cameo appearances between now and the end of the regular season, but barring injuries, the Flames&rsquo; defense pairs were set.The key addition though was Wilson, who scored two goals in his first three games as a Flame and hardly looked as if he&rsquo;d been away for three seasons.Although the Flames wanted Wilson in part because he is so good at faceoffs, he made his debut playing left wing on three different lines. Ever since trading away Mullen, the Flames needed someone to play the left side on the second power-play unit. Wilson will be a fixture there.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Mark Hunter, RW, traded to Hartford for Carey Wilson, C/LW Marc Bureau, C, traded to Minnesota for a third-round draft choice in 1991. Dana Murzyn, D, and a fourth-round draft choice in 1992 traded to Vancouver for Ron Stern, RW. Kevan Guy. D, and a fourth-round draft choice in 1992. Claude Loiselle, C, lost on waivers to Toronto.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Joel Otto. Robert Reichel.LW&mdash;Gary Roberts, Stephane Matteau, Paul Fenton, Carey Wilson, Brian MacLellan.RW&mdash;Theo Fleury, Sergei Makarov, Ron Stern. Tim Hunter.LD&mdash;Gary Suter, Jamie Macoun. Frank Musil, Kevan Guy.RD&mdash;Al Maclnnis, Ric Nattress, Jim Kyte, Roger JohanssonG&mdash;Mike Vernon, Rick Wamsley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Colin Patterson, LW, reconstructive knee surgery, indefinite Paul Ranheim, LW, broken ankle. March 29.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Fleury. 45. A&mdash;Maclnnis, 64. P&mdash;Fleury, 91. PIM&mdash;Roberts, 212. &#9632;

MINOR DEALS FINE-TUNE DRIVE TO PLAYOFFS

<div class="byline">BY MIKE BEAMISH</div>Robert Dirk looks menacing. His name even sounds menacing.The dictionary defines dirk as a long, straight-bladed dagger.You don&rsquo;t expect a guy named after a lethal weapon to play a finesse game. And there is little that is subtle about the 24-year-old defender from Kelowna, B.C., acquired by the Vancouver Canucks at the NHL trade deadline March 5 in a six-player trade with the St. Louis Blues.The deal brought Dirk, center Cliff Ronning and left wingers Geoff Courtnall and Sergio Momesso to Vancouver in exchange for defenseman Garth Butcher and center Dan Quinn.Dirk is a tough kid who is being asked to replace one of the NHL&rsquo;s more aptly named defenders&mdash;Butcher.Butcher, 28, was the key among the players exchanged, while Quinn was a throw-in. St. Louis general manager Ron Caron said the Canucks weren&rsquo;t interested in trading Butcher, a 10year veteran, until he told them he would take Quinn off their hands.&ldquo;Maybe, right away, I&rsquo;m not going to fill his (Butcher&rsquo;s) spot,&rdquo; Dirk said, &ldquo;at least offensively. But I can do the job defensively. And in the physical aspect, I can handle things pretty well.&rdquo;To hear Caron tell it, the Blues&rsquo; boss was unhappy to part with every one of the four players he traded away for Butcher and Quinn. Caron gave a glowing report on all of them.On Dirk: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very honest, he&rsquo;s a good team player, and he&rsquo;s tough. He has limited talent, but he comes to play. He thinks defense in his own end and he&rsquo;ll punish people along the boards.&rdquo;Courtnall is the key acquisition as far as the Canucks are concerned. The 28-year-old Victoria. B.C. native scored 77 goals the past two seasons with Washington before his trade to the Blues last summer. With 27 goals and 30 assists in 66 games, Courtnall instantly became the leader for the sputtering Canuck offense and the team&rsquo;s leading scorer.While Courtnall may have looked like a steal for the Canucks in the deal, Blues&rsquo; assistant coach Bob Berry said Courtnall&rsquo;s offense was expendable because of his poor defensive play.However, the same can be said of Quinn, whose reputation for laziness made him a liability in Vancouver. When Quinn was struggling through a 25-game stretch without a goal in December, coach Bob McCammon was asked why he continued to play him. Quinn had the worst defensive record on the team. McCammon admitted Quinn was eventually going to be trade bait, and he was hoping to play him out of his slump and make the 25-year-old center more attractive in the trade market.For years, the Canucks lacked the instant respect players with intimidating size bring, and that hole has killed them psychologically.But when adding Dirk, Momesso and Dana Murzyn (acquired the same day from Calgary for Ronnie Stern and Kevan Guy), to a roster that already includes Trevor Linden. Rob Murphy, Jim Sandlak and Gino Od-jick, it looks as if the Canucks are finally bulking up.Dirk is a 6-foot-4, 218-pound presence, but the muscles don&rsquo;t extend between the ears. Dirk&rsquo;s dad, Michael, is a well-known lawyer in Kelowna, and Robert said he would like to join his father in a law career, once his days as an NHL policeman are over.Dirk is a blueliner in the classic sense in that he seldom lugs the puck out of the defensive zone, or initiates a rush. He is content to remain behind while the action speeds on ahead of him. In 41 games with the Blues, he had one goal, three assists and 100 penalty minutes.Early in his first game with the Canucks, Dirk showed he was ready to do battle, when he squared off against Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Kevin Stevens March 5. Stevens took a run at Robert Nordmark after the Swedish defenseman accidentally opened a gash on Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s chin with a high stick.&ldquo;Stevens did his job sticking up for Mario,&rdquo; Dirk said. &ldquo;It was my job to stick up for Nords. I try not to be an idiot. I think I can play the game. But I also have an extra dimension that when my physical presence is needed, I&rsquo;m there.&rdquo;<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Garth Butcher, D, and Dan Quinn, C, traded to St. Louis for Clift Ronning, C, Geoff Courtnall, LW, Sergio Momesso, LW, and Robert Dirk, D. Canucks also received a provisional draft choice from St. Louis. Ron Stern, RW. and Kevan Guy, D, and future considerations traded to Calgary for Dana Murzyn, D. Steve Weeks, G. traded to Buffalo for cash and future considerations. March 6: Andrew McBain, RW. and Cam Brown, LW, assigned to Milwaukee (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Cliff Ronning. Igor Larionov, Petr Nedved, Rob Murphy.LW&mdash;Geoff Courtnall, Robert Kron, Sergio Momesso. Steve Bozek, Garry Valk.RW&mdash;Trevor Linden, Stan Smyl, Jim Sandlak, Dave Capuano.LD&mdash;Robert Dirk, Dana Murzyn, Jyrki Lumme, Adrien Plavsic.RD&mdash;Doug Lidster. Tom Kurvers, Gerald Diduck, Robert Nordmark.G&mdash;Troy Gamble, Bob Mason.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Greg Adams. LW. sprained forearm and elbow, indefinite. Jim Agnew, D, knee surgery, indefinite. Jay Mazur, RW, compartment syndrome (shin swelling), indefinite. Kirk McLean. G. tendinitis in wrist, day-to-day Gino Odjick LW, fractured cheekbone, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Linden, 29. A&mdash;Courtnall, 30. P&mdash;Courtnall. Linden, 58. PIM&mdash;Odjick, 296. &#9632;

DIRK EAGER TO FILL BUTCHER’S SHOES

<div class="byline">BY ADAM TEICHER</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01789/5853407-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The play of 100-point man Lonnie Loach has been a bright spot for the Komets.</figcaption></div>There must be something in the water&mdash;or the ice. Take an independent hockey team, put it in Fort Wayne, Ind., and you&rsquo;ll have a competitive franchise.What else could explain the success, against some rather hefty odds, of the International League&rsquo;s Fort Wayne Komets? With a month left in the regular season, the Komets were third in the East Division and fifth in the 10-team league with 79 points and a 37-27-5 record.The Komets are the only independent team in the IHL with a record above. 500 but that should come as no surprise&mdash;although the franchise was formerly the Flint Spirits which moved to Fort Wayne in the off-season. The Komets, who joined the league in 1952, had an all-time. 533 record going into this season. After 1986-87, the last season the majority of IHL teams were independent, the Komets had a. 572 record while all other independents had a combined. 384 mark.One of four independents to begin the season. Fort Wayne is the only one to flourish, with San Diego (27-35-7) and Kansas City (20-43-3) struggling and Albany (22-30-3) also failing before Albany folded in February.The Komets were averaging 5,437 fans per game&mdash;fourth in the league&mdash;after 35 home dates and should pass 200,000 in early March. Kansas City and San Diego were both drawing well (averaging 5,590 and 5,152 fans respectively) but the Choppers had problems&mdash;averaging 2,307 before folding.If there are carefully guarded secrets to running an independent, coach Al Sims won&rsquo;t admit to them. In fact, there was precious little time for planning last July, when Steve Franke and brothers Dave and Mike, all Fort Wayne natives, bought the Flint franchise and moved it to their hometown.&ldquo;Recruitment is the key, obviously,&rdquo; says Sims, the former NHL defenseman and a strong candidate for coach of the year.&ldquo;To do well as an independent, everybody has to exceed your expectations a little bit. You need to get a little bit more out of them than they&rsquo;ve given in the past.&rdquo;That may include Sims himself. Sims coached in Fort Wayne the past two seasons under former Komets&rsquo; owner Dave Welker with some success&mdash;the Komets were 83-64-17 for the two years. Welker kept a hand in personnel matters and ran the operation on a tiny budget.Last summer, when Welker moved the Komets to Albany, he hired Dave Allison as the new coach, freeing Sims a couple of weeks later to rejoin Fort Wayne.&ldquo;Since we got a late start, we thought Al would bring us some continuity,&rdquo; says Dave Franke, the Komets&rsquo; general manager. &ldquo;We felt that if we didn&rsquo;t put Al under the same constraints Welker did, he would do an outstanding job.&rdquo;Sims was given an increased budget and control over personnel decisions. He immediately went to work on the defense, getting promises of goaltenders from Winnipeg (they turned out to be Tom Draper and Stephane Beauregard) and Chicago (Ray LeBlanc). He then brought in veteran defensemen Brian McKee, Stephane Brochu, Mike Butters and Tom Karalis and tough wingers Robin Bawa and Steve Fletcher. Quebec later sent center Kevin Kaminski, who led the IHL in penalty minutes with 404 in 49 games.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve always been able to score goals and we&rsquo;ve got another explosive offensive team this year,&rdquo; Sims says. &ldquo;But we were a team that tended to get pushed around and for the first time in years we&rsquo;ve got a physical team. Now we&rsquo;ve got a few guys who can handle themselves and who are a real presence for us.&rdquo;That taken care of, Sims hired veteran minor league center Bruce Boudreau as playerassistant coach. Boudreau brought along longtime NHL star John Anderson, a former teammate with the Maple Leafs and Marlboros in Toronto.Maybe Sims&rsquo; biggest coup was the signing of high scoring left winger Lonnie Loach, whose contract with the Chicago Blackhawks expired last summer. Boudreau centers one of the league&rsquo;s best lines with Loach and Anderson. Anderson (32-41-73) had been out of the lineup since Jan. 26 with a bruised thigh but Loach (43-61-104) and Boudreau (33-64-97) were second and third in league scoring.&ldquo;I had confidence in Lonnie being a good two-way player,&rdquo; says Sims, &ldquo;but I never dreamed he&rsquo;d have this kind of season.&rdquo;Sims added to the roster with free agents like Fort Wayne native and veteran Komet center Colin Chin and left winger Bob Lakso. Fourteen of the Komets&rsquo; 21 players in early March were their own free agents instead of under contract to NHL teams.&ldquo;As an independent, your bread and butter is your own people,&rdquo; Sims says. &ldquo;Those are the people you know are going to show up every night and you can depend on to do the job. The pros you&rsquo;re getting (from NHL teams) couldn&rsquo;t make the first affiliate and you wonder how much they can really help.&rdquo;Says Chin, in his fifth season in Fort Wayne: &ldquo;Sure, we&rsquo;re mostly free agents, but everyone here has been under an NHL contract at one time. So it&rsquo;s not like we feel like throwaways. It just happens this is a career where there aren&rsquo;t that many jobs and a lot of what happens to you depends on what the person in charge thinks of you.&rdquo;Sims says Fort Wayne can continue to be successful operating independently, but Steve Franke, mindful of rising costs, wonders whether independents are headed for extinction.&ldquo;Long term, for a thriving franchise, you&rsquo;ve got to be affiliated,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;To draw well consistently, you have to win. The days of having secondary relationships with the caliber of hockey in this league now will probably be over in a couple of years. It&rsquo;s too difficult to compete and make it financially.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-01

INDEPENDENT’S DAY

<div class="byline">BY NICK GATES</div>Expansion in pro hockey is on everyone&rsquo;s mind. The NHL plans to add three teams in the next two seasons but the East Coast League has done them one better&mdash;and a year earlier.Dayton, Ohio, was named an ECHL expansion team for the 1991-92 season following an exhibition game at Dayton&rsquo;s Hara Arena Feb. 20. Dayton joins Charlotte, N.C., Toledo, Ohio, and Raleigh, N.C., in boosting the league to 15 teams for next year.A sellout crowd for the game between Knoxville and Cincinnati showed there was enough interest to merit a franchise.&ldquo;We were ecstatic, to say the least.&rdquo; said Bud Gingher, one of the three owners of the team. &ldquo;We turned 600 to 800 away.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think we would get a sellout. I would have been thrilled to get 4,000.&rdquo;Knoxville&rsquo;s Dan Gauthier scored four goals to power the Cherokees by the Cyclones 9-4 before 5.593. After the game, commissioner Pat Kelly announced professional hockey would return to Dayton next year&mdash;the Dayton Gems were in the International League for 14 seasons from 1964-65 to 1979-80.&ldquo;We were delighted to get that kind of response in Dayton,&rdquo; said Kelly. &ldquo;The crowd was fantastic.&rdquo;Gingher and longtime friends Arnold Johnson of San Francisco and Richard K. Dawson of Peoria will operate the team, which will be named the Bombers and wear the colors of the St. Louis Blues.Dayton is the home of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. But Gingher&rsquo;s 16-year-old son Ed nicknamed the team without realizing more than 35,000 people work at the base.Gingher was involved with the Peoria Rivermen of the International League from 1985 to 1987.Johnson will be the Bombers&rsquo; general manager and take care of off-ice operations. The coach is still to be named with Gingher taking an active role with the team, but he doesn&rsquo;t consider himself a hands-on owner.&ldquo;I know what I don&rsquo;t know and I won&rsquo;t interfere,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll be ready.&rdquo;<h2>WILDCARD FEVER</h2>With the ECHL regular season winding down, only four playoff spots were locked up. Knoxville and Hampton Roads will finish No. 1 in their divisions.The Admirals captured the East Division title Feb. 27 despite losing 5-4 to Louisville in a shootout&mdash;second-place Johnstown lost 6-3 to Nashville the same night. The Cherokees, West Division champions, defeated Louisville 7-2 March 1 to claim the Brabham Cup for the regular-season title, the first in the club&rsquo;s three years in the league.Cincinnati and Greensboro have both clinched spots in the playoffs. The Cylones, who had won 10 in a row, and the Monarchs are guaranteed a berth in the eight-team Riley Cup playoffs.The only team that is out is Winston-Salem. It&rsquo;s wait until next year for the Thunderbirds, who have the league&rsquo;s worst record (19-38-3).Beyond this point, it&rsquo;s anybody&rsquo;s guess. Crystal ball, Ouija board and tea leaves, please.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t doubt it,&rdquo; ECHL commissioner Pat Kelly said. &ldquo;It could come down to the final day (before we know all the pairings).&rdquo;The top three finishers in each division earn spots. Two wild card teams&mdash;the ones with the next highest point totals regardless of division&mdash;also qualify. If five teams come from the same division, the one with the fewest points will crossover and face the top seed from the other division.Opening-round series are best-of-five games and cannot start before March 14. They must be completed by Feb. 20.The semi-finals and finals are best-of-seven series. Semifinals are scheduled from March 22 through April 3. The finals open April 5 and the seventh game&mdash;if necessary&mdash;will be April 14th. &#9632;

HOCKEY RETURNS TO DAYTON WITH SELLOUT

<div class="byline">&#x2014;with files from Kevin Oklobzija and Paul Abramowitz.</div>Name a job in hockey and Tim Burke has probably done it.His lengthy resume includes just about everything, from amateur scouting to being an assistant coach&mdash;both at the U.S. college and NHL levels.The only thing he was missing was head coaching experience. That was added to Burke&rsquo;s resume March 4, when he was reassigned from being an assistant coach in New Jersey to head coach of the Devils&rsquo; American League affdiate in Utica.It was a move connected to the firing of New Jersey coach John Cunniff, because Utica coach and general manager Tom McVie was promoted.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a lucky break for me.&rdquo; said Burke. &ldquo;Sometimes when there&rsquo;s a firing, everybody&rsquo;s gone. I think this is a positive thing for me.&ldquo;I was upset because I wanted to see John Cunniff do better, because I came in with him,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;For whatever reason he got fired. I was a part of it.&rdquo;Although Cunniff was fired, Burke landed in Utica, where the Devils OSSI-2) are in a fight with four teams for the remaining three playoff spots in the Southern Division. The Devils lost in Burke&rsquo;s debut 4-2 to Moncton March 6.&ldquo;Tommy did an excellent job here, things are regimented, people know what they have to do and the older players have helped me immensely.&rdquo;<h2>LUCKY SEVEN</h2>Rookie goalie Mike O&rsquo;Neill was a travelling man the first four months of the season, but he has suddenly emerged as Moncton&rsquo;s main man.O&rsquo;Neill replaced goalie Tom Draper late in the second period of a 6-2 loss at Rochester Feb. 20 and strung together seven straight starts&mdash;all of them wins.&ldquo;I had been looking forachance to play him in some games.&rdquo; said Hawks&rsquo; coach Dave Farrish. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s rolling right along. &ldquo;O&rsquo;Neill, 9-4-4 with a 3.21 goals-against average, beat Fredericton and Halifax twice during his streak. O&rsquo;Neill started his run with a 4-3 win over Newmarket Feb. 22 and added victories over the Canadiens (5-4 Feb. 24 and 5-1 Feb. 27). the Citadels (3-2 March 1 and 4-3 the next night). Capital District (5-2 March 3) and Utica (4-2 March 6).O&rsquo;Neill&rsquo;s position was solidified when Draper was traded to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations.<h2>TRADING PLACES</h2>A flurry of minor-league deals before the March 5 trading deadline affected the rosters of several AHL teams.The Newmarket Saints, all but eliminated from the Southern Division race, lost goalie Allan Bester, defenseman Darren Veitch and left winger Bobby Reynolds and gained right winger Keith Osborne and defenseman Rob Mendel.Bester was traded to Detroit for future considerations. He was put on Adirondack&rsquo;s clear-day roster, making him eligible for the Calder Cup playoffs, but was immediately recalled by the parent Red Wings.Veitch went to St. Louis for Osborne while Reynolds was traded to the Washington Capitals for Mendel. Reynolds was assigned to the Baltimore Skipjacks.Cape Breton right winger Kim Issel was traded by Edmonton to Pittsburgh for left winger Brad Aitken. Aitken is on Cape Breton&rsquo;s clear-day roster but was on emergency recall to Edmonton.Binghamton defenseman Dennis Vial was part of the Joey Kocur trade between the New York Rangers and Detroit. Vial was placed on Adiron-dack&rsquo;s clear-day roster but was on recall to Detroit. Binghamton received defenseman Per Djoos from Detroit.Halifax, which had the AHL&rsquo;s worst team goals-against average (4.42 as of March 6), picked up defensemen Mike McNeill and Ryan McGill when Quebec traded Dan Vincelette and Paul Gillis to Chicago. McNeill was on emergency recall to the Nordiques. &#9632;

BURKE NAMED DEVILS’ COACH

<div class="byline">&#x2014;with files from Adam Teicher and Bill Pickett</div>In early January, the Milwaukee Admirals were fifth in the International League&rsquo;s West Division just a few points out of a playoff spot. Nothing has changed in two months except the team the Admirals are chasing&mdash;instead of Phoenix, Milwaukee has its sights on San Diego.While the Gulls (27-35-7) were stumbling, losing eight straight at one point, the Admirals (27-37-3) continued to plod along. In early March, they trailed the Gulls by four points but had two games in hand.The Admirals could also get into the playoffs by beating out Muskegon, in fourth place in the East Division with a 29-33-4 record.&ldquo;We were in a position to really make a move and we couldn&rsquo;t get it done,&rdquo; Admirals&rsquo; coach Mike Murphy said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in decent shape because we only have to catch one of them. But we&rsquo;ve got to put together a string of wins.&rdquo;The big problem remained the inability to score goals. Milwaukee lost 1-0 at home to Indianapolis Feb. 27 and 2-1 at Kansas City March 5. The Admirals followed with a 6-1 loss to Fort Wayne the next night. The attack had been beefed up by the addition of center Alain Lemieux from Albany, but the Admirals must get more offense if they are to make the playoffs.<h2>ICE MELTS</h2>It seems every time Indianapolis coach Dave McDowall gets his team within striking distance of first place in the East, someone puts a road block in his way.For the most part it has been the first-place Kalamazoo Wings (43-230) reeling off wins keeping the Ice (39-24-3) in second. But lately, it had been a matter of personnel.Veteran defenseman Jim Playfair&mdash;the team captain&mdash;and rookie left winger Owen Lessard went down with injuries, Brian Noonan went home Feb. 28 because of a death in his family and missed six games. Then, Chicago traded center Mike McNeill and sophomore defenseman Ryan McGill to Quebec March 5.&ldquo;Ryan has had a good offensive year (11 goals, 40 assists),&rdquo; McDowall said. &ldquo;Mike has played about 35 games here and I sort of looked at having him as a bonus&mdash;we got him when Chicago wasn&rsquo;t using him. &ldquo;In return for McGill and McNeill, Chicago got center Paul Gillis and left winger Dan Vincelette. Vincelette was assigned to Indianapolis.Playfair suffered a detached retina March 3 in the Ice&rsquo;s 7-1 win over Kansas City. It was his first game back since a back problem sidelined him before Christmas. He had surgery March 4 and is out for the season.Lessard missed two games and was day-to-day after injuring his back in a 5-4 win at Peoria March 2.The Ice went into a March 6 showdown with the Wings trailing by five points. Kalamazoo answered with a 5-3 win.<h2>BUREAU MOVED</h2>The NHL&rsquo;s trade deadline also had an impact on several IHL teams. The biggest loss was felt in Salt Lake after the Flames sent center Marc Bureau to the North Stars. Others sent packing included Kansas City center Brad Aitken (sent by Pittsburgh to Edmonton), Peoria right winger Keith Osborne (from St. Louis to Toronto) and Milwaukee goaltender Steve Weeks (from Vancouver to Buffalo)&mdash;although Weeks stayed with the Admirals&hellip;Peoria left winger Dave Thomlinson had his scoring streak stopped at 25 games in a 6-5 win over Indianapolis March 1&mdash;although he did put the puck in the net. Thomlinson had a goal disallowed in Peoria&rsquo;s 6-5 win over Indianapolis. He scored in the next two games (a 5-4 loss to the Ice March 2 and a 4-2 win over Muskegon the next night). The disallowed goal would have kept Thomlinson on pace for the franchise record of 31 games, set by Michel Mongeau last season. &#9632;

ADMIRALS HAVING TROUBLE CATCHING PESKY GULLS

<div class="byline">BY KEN WARREN</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01749/5853510-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Unless Yanic Perreault slumps or gets fat, he&rsquo;ll have more points than pounds.</figcaption></div>Yanic Perreault probably won&rsquo;t join the Quebec League&rsquo;s 200-point club this season, but he&rsquo;s sure to have more points than pounds.With 82 goals and 174 points through 63 games, the Trois Rivieres Draveurs&rsquo; center needed nine points in seven games remaining to exceed his 182 pounds. The only Canadian Hockey League player who can say that is Ray Whitney of the Spokane Chiefs. The 160-pound center was closing in on 170 points as the season wound down.Even though Perreault has fallen off the three points-per-game clip he maintained through 40 games, he won&rsquo;t need to go on a crash diet to beat the point-per-pound pace. In fact, he still has an outside chance to become the 12th player in Canadian Hockey League history to reach 200 points in one season.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to put that kind of pressure on myself,&rdquo; Perreault insists. &ldquo;The first thing I want is for Trois Rivieres to do well in the playoffs. If the team keeps winning, obviously I&rsquo; 11 get a lot more attention for the (1991) draft.&rdquo;Perreault was overlooked in the 1989 and 1990 drafts, despite back-to-back 50-goal and 100-point seasons with Trois Rivieres.The knocks on Perreault are: his slight frame (5-foot-11 182 pounds), that he&rsquo;s a onedimensional player who doesn&rsquo;t play defense and can&rsquo;t skate well enough to warrant serious consideration from NHL teams.Perreault doesn&rsquo;t agree. He can&rsquo;t understand why a guy who scores a lot of points is automatically portrayed as a weak defensive player. Sure, he takes pride in his scoring totals, but he has made a concerted effort to satisfy the scouts.While Perreault acknowledges he is hardly fast, he doesn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s a two-toed sloth on skates. He says that he is not bitter over not getting drafted. That circumstance has served as a motivating force.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m a much better player than I was the past two seasons,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Not getting drafted actually helped me. A lot of players drafted in the first or second round decide to take a little break their next year of junior.&rdquo;For Perreault, this is a make-or-break season. He was rated a second-round draft prospect (24th overall) by the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau in the mid-season ranking. But that doesn&rsquo;t guarantee he&rsquo;ll be selected.Last season, he was rated as a third-rounder (51st) by CSB and 32nd by independent scout Jack Birch, who provides a computer analysis to CSB. Birch rates players on their likelihood of lasting more than a season in the NHL. In 1989, Perreault was ranked 39th by CSB.Perreault had 104 goals and 222 points his first two years in the QMJHL, but it was only this season that he became a first-line center. When the Draveurs traded Steve Larouche to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens during the off-season, Perreault skated into the spotlight.&ldquo;We made the decision to trade Larouche and keep Perreault for two reasons,&rdquo; Draveurs&rsquo; governor Andre Gabias says. &ldquo;Perreault&rsquo;s attitude is great. He has a very good influence on our young players. We also had confidence he would explode this year because he wasn&rsquo;t drafted.&rdquo;What makes Perreault such an exceptional scorer is his quick release. His junior career parallels that of Los Angeles King left winger Luc Robitaille&mdash;a below-average skater not taken until the ninth round of the 1984 draft&mdash;but Perreault has been compared to former Laval Titan and New York Islander star Mike Bossy.&ldquo;As soon as you give him the puck, it&rsquo;s in the net,&rdquo; Perreault&rsquo;s linemate Todd Gillingham says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not as though he has come out of nowhere. He&rsquo;s just now finally starting to get some recognition. He has had to play behind Larouche for two years. This time he&rsquo;s the star.&rdquo;Perreault&rsquo;s statistics speak for themselves, but Gabias is baffled by his star&rsquo;s numbers.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a Pink Panther-type player,&rdquo; Gabias says. &ldquo;Sometimes you don&rsquo;t notice him much. Then you look at the scoresheet after the game and he has got one, two, three points.&rdquo;The Draveurs are battling with Chicoutimi for first place in the Dilio Division. Perreault is not the only Draveur who specializes in scoring. He is joined among the top five by Gillingham (41 goals, 93 assists, 134 points in 58 games), Carl Boudreau (35-68-103 in 63 games) and Paul Brousseau (29-62-91 in 59 games).Although, Perreault keeps good company, he still had a hand in more than half of Trois Rivieres&rsquo; goals this season.But this season has not been without its disappointments. He was one of the first cuts by the Canadian national team despite being the CHL&rsquo;s top scorer. The coaches said Perreault could not keep up with the pace of world competition. He considered it the ultimate insult.&ldquo;I was very disappointed,&rdquo; Perreault says. &ldquo;When I got back (in Trois Rivieres) I was trying to concentrate on getting prepared for the (QMJHL-Ontario League) All-Star Game. I was very happy with that game.&rdquo;So, too, were most of the 8,000-plus fans at the Montreal Forum. The crowd erupted with patriotic fervor, crying &ldquo;PAIR-RO, PAIR-RO&rdquo; after he completed his hat trick in Quebec&rsquo;s 11-7 win. They started again when he was named first star, ahead of Oshawa General star Eric Lindros.&ldquo;I was so surprised,&rdquo; Perreault says. &ldquo;I never expected it and it was such a great feeling. But it was never a goal to be better than Eric Lindros. I just wanted to play better for myself and prove something to the scouts.&rdquo;Gillingham can&rsquo;t believe how well his linemate has taken all the criticism.&ldquo;He has had major disappointments in his career and he keeps coming back,&rdquo; Gillingham says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s unbelievable, really. You&rsquo;ve got to wonder when people will stop making excuses for not drafting him.&rdquo;Granby Bisons&rsquo; coach John Paris, for one, thinks it&rsquo;s time Perreault gets his due.&ldquo;Perreault should be drafted high on his stats alone,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say either first or second round. Somebody has to take a chance on him. The kid can score.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0026-01

NO PANIC NO PANIC YANIC

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02507/5853541-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg"></div>Trois Rivieres&rsquo; scoring star Yanic Perreault is not only running away with the Canadian Hockey League scoring crown, he also has a big lead in the points-per-game department.Perreault was averaging three points per game with the Draveurs most of the season, but recently fell below that clip to 2.91. He&rsquo;s well ahead of Oshawa Generals&rsquo; center Eric Lindros, who leads the Ontario League with a 2.64 average.The chart below shows the top CHL scorers this season on a points-per-game basis-The CHL record is 4.03 set by Mario Lemieux of the Laval Titan in 1983-84. He had 133 goals and 282 points in 70 games. &#9632;

f0026-02

POINTS-PER-GAME LEADERS

<div class="byline">BY BRIAN COSTELLO</div>Jason Young&rsquo;s season-long suspension comes to an end when the Sudbury Wolves&rsquo; playoff season begins.The Ontario League reinstated the 18-year-old left winger following an appeal hearing March 4. Young was suspended for the rest of the season for hitting Ottawa 67&rsquo;s defenseman Grant Marshall from behind into the boards Dec. 4. Marshall broke his neck and can&rsquo;t play again until September.&ldquo;There was no reason to keep him suspended for the playoffs,&rdquo; Wolves&rsquo; director of operations Sam McMaster said. &ldquo;We thought the suspension was too severe in the first place, but we accepted it. We&rsquo;re pleased with the ruling.&rdquo;OHL commissioner Dave Branch said reinstating Young was a sensitive issue because of the nature of the penalty.&ldquo;We have taken measures to hopefully eliminate this particular &lsquo;act&rsquo; from the game,&rdquo; Branch said. &ldquo;Jason Young has acknowledged that while the suspension has been difficult to cope with, it will be worthwhile if in some small way he has helped someone in the future.&rdquo;The Wolves appealed Young&rsquo;s actions weren&rsquo;t intentional or done in anger. In 99 career games. Young had just 86 penalty minutes to go along with 132 points. Seventy-one of those games were penalty free.When Young was suspended after 37 games Dec. 20, he was fifth in OHL scoring with 59 points. He was rated as a third-round prospect by the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau at mid-season. McMaster called him the best left winger available in the entry draft.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s refreshing how Jason and his family handled all this,&rdquo; McMaster said. &ldquo;Not once did they utter a negative word. Jason had the opportunity to go play in another league, but not once did he threaten to leave.&rdquo;Marshall has been mobile since January and was scheduled to have his halo removed in mid-March. He has been attending team meetings and occasionally travels on road trips. The 67&rsquo;s expect him to be playing again next season.<h2>BONUS BULL</h2>Scott Thornton has nothing against the Belleville Bulls or majorjunior hockey, he just wishes he could have weathered the storm with the Toronto Maple Leafs. &lsquo;Leafs&rsquo; general manager Floyd Smith said the NHL club returned the 20-year-old center to Belleville because it had almost no hope of making the playoffs and the Bulls are serious contenders for the OHL title.&ldquo;I struggled hard all season to make that team and I would have liked to go the distance with them,&rdquo; Thornton said. &ldquo;Coming back to junior was the easy way out. I did everything I could to stay there.&rdquo;Thornton scored one goal and four points in 33 games with Toronto. The first-round pick in 1989 was on Canada&rsquo;s national junior team that won a gold medal in January.In Belleville, Thornton will play left wing on a line with center Jarrod Skalde and right winger Brent Gretzky.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a natural center, but I&rsquo;ll be taking a lot of faceoffs and crisscrossing with Skalde.&rdquo; Thornton said. &ldquo;To tell you the truth, I didn&rsquo;t really follow this team when I was up in Toronto. They have a pretty impressive lineup.&rdquo;<h2>TOPS OF MONTH</h2>Oshawa Generals&rsquo; right winger Rob Pearson was named Canadian Hockey League player of the month for February. He had 24 goals and 45 points in 14 games&hellip;Oshawa had its 13-game undefeated streak broken by a 5-4 loss to Ottawa March 1&hellip;Ottawa goalie Peter McGlynn is OHL player of the week for the period ending March 3. He was 3-0-0 with a goals-against average of 3.33 and a save percentage of. 903. &#9632;

YOUNG CLEARED TO JOIN WOLVES IN PLAYOFFS

<div class="byline">BY VANCE OLIVER</div>The Regina Pats may no longer be a flagship franchise in the Western League, but they plan to keep sailing.Pats&rsquo; part owner/general manager Bill Hicke went on two fact-finding expeditions this season hoping to relocate into the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. He visited Tacoma, Wash., Eugene, Ore., Boise, Idaho, Bellingham, Wash., Fresno and Sacramento, Calif.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just like Johnny Cash,&rdquo; Hicke said. &ldquo;I went everywhere. If I would have gotten carte blanche, then we would have gone there.&rdquo;Hicke, however, couldn&rsquo;t negotiate a deal and is prepared to sink or swim in Regina. He&rsquo;s hoping to sign a cheaper lease with the Regina Agribition Park in June.Hicke said the club has lost $300,000 the last four seasons and has to improve its marketing practises. The Pats, who have been in the WHL 22 years, averaged only 2,500 fans this year.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question we would like more fans,&rdquo; Hicke said. &ldquo;We have to do a better job of marketing, especially with a $2 parking fee. But we have one of the nicest rinks (in the league) and four of the owners are from Regana.&rdquo;<h2>NO KIDDING</h2>A nagging back injury forced the Spokane Chiefs to rest all-star goalie Trevor Kidd four straight games.Kidd apparently injured his back during the World Junior Championship in early January, prior to being acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings Jan. 20.&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t been 100 per cent here,&rdquo; Chiefs&rsquo; GM Tim Speltz said. &ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t done anything to hurt it here, but perhaps he hasn&rsquo;t gotten the rest he needed to make it better.&rdquo;Kidd served as a backup to Scott Bailey for games Feb. 24, 27 and March 1 and then didn&rsquo;t dress against the Saskatoon Blades March 4. The rest was supposedly a precautionary measure. The first-round draft pick of the Calgary Flames in 1990, wasn&rsquo;t expected to miss more than two games.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to need Trevor for the playoffs,&rdquo; Speltzsaid. &ldquo;Wedon&rsquo;t want to do anything now to damage those chances.&rdquo;Kidd had a 3.55 goals-against average in eight games with the Chiefs and 3.96 GAA overall in 38 games this season.<h2>PENALTY KING</h2>Spokane defenseman Kerry Toporowski is closing in on the 500 club.The Paddockwood, Sask., native was 53 minutes shy of the WHL single-season mark of 511 penalty minutes set by Brent Gogol with the Victoria Cougars and Billings Bighorns in 1977-78. Toporowski had 458 minutes through 64 games.Toporowski would already be crowned penalty king if the WHL still counted misconducts and game mis-conducts as it did in Gogal&rsquo;s day.<h2>RUFF STUFF</h2>Lethbridge Hurricanes&rsquo; left winger Jason Ruff was named East Division player of the month for February.Ruff had 13 goals and 29 points in 11 games and helped the Hurricanes to a 20-game undefeated streak. He led the East Division with 57 goals and 123 points in 58 games.A sixth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 1990, Ruff watched his 16-game goal-scoring and franchise-record 26-game point-scoring streaks end March 1.Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; defenseman Darryl Sydor was selected West Division player of the month. He had six goals and 18 points in 12 games and led all Canadian Hockey League rearguards with 25 goals and 95 points in 58 games this year.Sydor was picked seventh overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 1990.Corey Schwab of the Seattle Thunderbirds was chosen goalie of the month. He had a 6-2-1 record in February and a 3.33 GAA. This season, Schwab was 27-17-2 withaGAA of 4.19. &#9632;

REGINA RELUCTANT TO STAND PAT

<div class="byline">BY KEN WARREN</div>For three seasons, Todd Gillingham bounced around the Quebec League as a role player&mdash;until finding a home in Trois Rivieres.Gillingham liked the city so much, he planned to s.tay after his majorjunior career expires this season. But now he has to makes plans for a professional career. Funny things happen when you play alongside Yanic Perreault.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s going better than I ever thought it would go,&rdquo; Gillingham said. &ldquo;Hopefully the season will never end. I was used to getting a point in every two and half or three games. This is kind of scary. I don&rsquo;t want to wake up.&rdquo;Gillingham was second in QMJHL scoring with 42 goals and 136 points in 59 games. With seven games left in the season, he had 10 more points this season than he had in three previous seasons with Verdun, St-Hyacinthe and Trois Rivieres.Labelled a &ldquo;checker&rdquo; his first three years, Gillingham has not let his point totals get in the way of physical play. Gillingham had 298 penalty minutes this season, the most among the top 30 scorers.&ldquo;You have to play that way,&rdquo; Gillingham said. &ldquo;If anybody happens to take a cheap shot (at Perreault), you can&rsquo;t let it go. He&rsquo;s one of the top players in Canada. But it doesn&rsquo;t really matter who it is. I&rsquo;ve been doing it for four years and nobody should have to take that.&rdquo;His grinding work along the boards earned Gillingham a taste in a professional camp, but it wasn&rsquo;t pleasant. The Quebec Nordiques invited him to camp last fall, but he was released.Gillingham was set to finish his education playing with former Draveurs&rsquo; coach Dany Dube at the University of Quebec at Trois Rivieres next season. He has since signed a three-year free-agent contract with the Calgary Flames.&ldquo;I definitely knew I had to prove something,&rdquo; Gillingham said. &ldquo;I was cut from the Nordiques camp and I came back here thinking it was my last year. I was just looking to get to school next year.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01725/5853620-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="550" height="685"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alain Tardif had enough of the Tigres&rsquo; losing, so he quit.</figcaption></div><h2>HOT TICKETS</h2>Tickets for May&rsquo;s Memorial Cup tournament in Quebec City are selling at a record pace. More than 3,100 tickets had been sold for the Canadian major-junior championship.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nothing we&rsquo;ve ever seen before,&rdquo; QMJHL president Gilles Courteau said. &ldquo;Usually the most significant ticket sales happen in the weeks just before the tournament. We have seen a very positive response, particularly in the Quebec (City) area.&rdquo;<h2>TARDIF QUITS</h2>The season can&rsquo;t end quick enough for the Victoriaville Tigres. At 9-531, they continue to lose by lopsided scores almost every game. And the news got worse.Tigres&rsquo; captain and leading scorer Alain Tardif quit the team. The four-year veteran left to join an exhibition club which started touring Europe in early March.Tardif, who had 30 goals and 78 points in 60 games, was the only Tigre among the top 30 scorers.<h2>FOUR IN A ROW</h2>They may as well rename the offensive-player-of-the-month award the Perreault award. The Trois Rivieres sniper wins it almost every month, anyway.Perreault won the award in February for the fourth time this season after scoring 19 goals and 26 points in 11 games.Goalies Francis Ouellette of the Hull Olympiques and Jean-Francois Labbe of Trois Rivieres shared the defensive honors.Ouellette had a 2.50 goals-against average and helped the Olympiques to a franchise-record 13-game undefeated streak. Labbe went 8-2-0 and registered a 2.33 GAA and two shutouts. Labbe also set a league record by playing 164 minutes, 43 seconds without allowing a goal.<h2>CLUB 400</h2>Chicoutimi Sagueneens&rsquo; center Steve Larouche hit the four-century mark. Despite missing half the season with a knee injury, Larouche reached the 400-point mark of his QMJHL career March 3 against the Beauport Harfangs&hellip;Beauport&rsquo;s Eric Cool continues to establish landmark point totals for the expansion club. He had 30 goals and 90 points in 59 games and could become Beauport&rsquo;s first 100-point player&hellip;The Shawinigan Cataractes, battling for the final playoff spot with Beauport, lost the services of coach Alain Sanscartier and players Eric Marcoux and Eric Bis-sonnette. They were suspended two games for their parts in a benchclearing brawl with Chicoutimi March 1. Chicoutimi coach Joe Canale and players Eric Duchesne and Martin Lacombe also were suspended two games and the team fined $2,000. &#9632;

f0028-01

GRINDER GILLINGHAM FINDS SCORING TOUCH

It lasted more than 66 minutes and was the longest Central Collegiate Hockey Association championship game ever, but most of the 17,682 fans in Detroit&rsquo;s Joe Louis Arena probably wouldn&rsquo;t have minded if Lake Superior State&rsquo;s 6-5 overtime win over Michigan had taken a little longer.The March 9 contest was a thrilling classic that lived up to advance billing. Second- and third-efforts in overtime by the Lakers led to freshman center Clayton Beddoes&rsquo; winning goal at 6:39.Beddoes, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound center, had two goals and two assists to net MVP honors.&ldquo;I was very nervous,&rdquo; said Beddoes, 20, of Bentley, Alta. &ldquo;I never played in front of that many people. It was really a big rush.&rdquo;In semifinal action March 8, Lake Superior swamped Western Michigan 11-4 and Michigan rallied to beat Ferris State 4-2.<h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>It may have been the most thrilling 24-hour period of Shawn McEachern&rsquo;s hockey career.On the night of March 9, the Boston University junior center learned he was one of the 10 Hobey Baker Award finalists. The next day, McEachern scored the winner 2:19 into overtime to give the Terriers a 4-3 win over Maine in the Hockey East tournament championship.&ldquo;This is the biggest goal of my career at BU,&rdquo; said McEachern, who took a pass from Tony Amonte, sliced across the crease and slipped a backhander between the pads of Garth Snow.BU advanced with a 7-5 semifinal win over Providence March 9 in which Dave Tomlinson had four points.Maine beat Northeastern 4-3 in overtime in the other semifinal as Steve Tepper got the winner on a rebound of a Matt Martin shot over Tom Coles at 8:16.<h2>ECAC</h2>The last time Clarkson won the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship. Golden Knights&rsquo; sophomore left winger Hugo Belanger wasn&rsquo;t even bom.But it was Belanger who exorcised the ghosts of Boston failures past with a hat trick as the Golden Knights defeated North Country rival St. Lawrence 5-4 March 10 to capture the ECAC title at the Boston Garden.Clarkson&rsquo;s last title came in 1966, at the old Boston Arena.Belanger, the MVP, scored the winner 43 seconds into the third period. Picking off a SLU pass, he put a backhander by Les Kuntar.Clarkson beat Harvard 3-2 in the semifinals. Scott Thomas scored two goals and Chris Rogles made 20 saves.The Saints needed overtime to beat Cornell 4-3 in the other semifinal. Daniel LaPerriere scored the winner on a 60-foot slapshot that went through a screen and eluded Corrie D&rsquo;Alessio. &#9632;

LAKERS SUPERIOR IN O/T THRILLER

<div class="byline">BY JASON KAY</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01629/5853675-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">This could be the year David Emma snaps the Hobey drought in Hockey East.</figcaption></div>As far as Hobey Baker is concerned, Hockey East is Hockey Least.While the league has produced a number of quality players since its inception in 1984-85&mdash;witness Brian Leetch, John Cullen, Craig Janney and Chris Terreri&mdash;it has failed to generate a Hobey Baker Award winner, college hockey&rsquo;s most coveted individual prize.Maine coach Shawn Walsh believes the league&rsquo;s tight, defensive style has been the major contributor to its Hobey drought.&ldquo;It seems in the past it has been difficult to put together tremendous stats in our league unless you&rsquo;re a goaltender,&rdquo; says Walsh. &ldquo;There was the one year when we thought Chris Terreri had a shot (in 1987 the Providence goalie finished ninth), but&hellip;&rdquo;&ldquo;I do think this will be the year it&rsquo;s snapped.&rdquo; While he wouldn&rsquo;t reveal which of the league&rsquo;s three candidates he feels has the inside track&mdash;Boston College&rsquo;s David Emma, Maine&rsquo;s Jean-Yves Roy and Boston University&rsquo;s Shawn McEachern are all nominated&mdash;it&rsquo;s clear most experts favor Emma.&ldquo;He has had a great year and he has really carried that team in a lot of ways,&rdquo; says Walsh.We&rsquo;ll find out whether Emma, Roy or McEachern were able to buck Hockey East&rsquo;s Hobey luck following the NCAA championship game in St. Paul, Minn., March 30. That&rsquo;s when the Decathlon Club of Bloomington, Minn., will announce the name of the winner.Listed below, alphabetically by league, are the 10 finalists for the award. Information includes position, age, team and overall statistics.<h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2>David Emma, C, 22, Boston College (3546-81, 37 games).A Hobey finalist last year, Emma emerged from Greg Brown&rsquo;s imposing shadow this season to earn sole possession of the Eagle spotlight.Not that the Cranston, R.I., native was looking for&mdash;or needed&mdash;Brown to make the jump to the NHL in order to receive attention. His numbers this season, and over his four years at BC, speak volumes.With his title this year, Emma is a two-time Hockey East scoring champ; is BC&rsquo;s all-time leading point-getter and goal-scorer; is this season&rsquo;s Hockey East Player of the Year; and is a two-time Hobey Baker Award finalist.&ldquo;David has been so consistent for us,&rdquo; says Eagle coach Len Ceglarski. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve said all year long that he&rsquo;s the best player in the country and he has shown it time and again.&rdquo;Emma was drafted 110th overall by New Jersey in 1989.Shawn McEachern, C, 22, Boston University (31-41-72, 35 games).No matter what your opinion is of the value of plus-minus, you have to be impressed by McEachern&rsquo;s school-record plus-51 this season.Couple that with his offensive prowess in a traditionally defense-oriented league, and McEachern&rsquo;s achievements are that much more remarkable.&ldquo;Obviously, from the statistics, Shawn had a fabulous year,&rdquo; says Terrier coach Jack Parker. &ldquo;But his contribution to our team went beyond goals and assists. He also played exceptionally well defensively.&rdquo;Jean-Yves Roy. RW, 22, Maine (31-42-73, 32 games).Roy has gone from the fire to the (Baker&rsquo;s) oven in a little more than two years.Resigned to the fact his career wasn&rsquo;t going anywhere. Roy joined the Rosemere (Que.) Fire Department with the intention of making firefighting a career.But after Maine super recruiter Grant Standbrook spotted Roy playing for the local junior college team, Roy was offered&mdash;and accepted&mdash;a hockey scholarship.Roy blossomed immediately, leading freshmen in goal-scoring with 39 a year ago, and continued that torrid pace this season.<h2>CCHA</h2>Jim Dowd, C, 22, Lake Superior State (1949-68, 39 games).Coming off a 92-point junior season, Dowd was expected by many to break the 100-point barrier and dominate the nation in scoring this year.Thirty-nine games later, it&rsquo;s apparent that won&rsquo;t happen. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean he hasn&rsquo;t been a force for the Lakers. His coach, Jeff Jackson, has used his star center with a number of different linemates, (more often than not having Dowd break in less experienced players), including promising first-year left winger Kurt Miller.&ldquo;He has been playing with a freshman,&rdquo; says Jackson, &ldquo;so maybe it has (Dowd&rsquo;s scoring decrease) been my fault.&rdquo;Still, Dowd, drafted 149th overall by New Jersey in 1987, continues to exhibit his ability to set up and/or score timely goals against the league&rsquo;s toughest teams.&ldquo;He plays his best hockey against the Michigans and Michigan States,&rdquo; says Jackson of the 6-foot-2, 190-pound native of Bricktown, N.J. &ldquo;He scores when it&rsquo;s important. A lot of guys have big weekends against weakers teams, but Jim usually doesn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;Denny Felsner, RW, 20, Michigan (37-3067, 39 games).Felsner, a solidly-built 6-foot, 180-pound right winger, is one of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association&rsquo;s most explosive skaters and scorers; he can drive past opponents with pure speed and when he gets to the net he usually doesn&rsquo;t miss.The St. Louis Blues&rsquo; draftee (55th overall in 1989) has played well enough this season to warrant visits from Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron and director of player personnel Bob Plager.<h2>ECAC</h2>Peter Ciavaglia, C, 21. Harvard (24-38-62, 27 games).Ciavaglia earned his second Eastern College Athletic Conference scoring championship this season, as he paced the league with 57 points in 22 games. The only other player to win more than one ECAC scoring title was 1986 Hobey Baker Award winner Scott Fusco, also of Harvard.Calgary&rsquo;s seventh-round pick (145th overall in 1987), Ciavaglia led the nation is scoring with a 2.30 points per game average, centering one of the top lines in college hockey. He and classmates Mike Vukonich and Ted Donato, dubbed &ldquo;The Fabulous Baker Boys,&rdquo; have scored 72 of Harvard&rsquo;s 133 goals during the regular season.&ldquo;Everyone thinks of Peter as a great pointgetter, but he&rsquo;s such a more complete hockey player,&rdquo; says Harvard coach Ronn Tomassoni. &ldquo;He started going to the net more this year and really added another dimension to his game.&rdquo;Joe Juneau, C, 23, RPI, (23-40-63, 29 games).One of two top 10 returnees (Emma is the other), Juneau had a productive season even though opposing teams made him the constant center of attention.Hampered by injuries, including a ligament problem in his back and a badly-bruised hand, Juneau managed to finish the regular season with 62 points and was third in the nation with a 2.17 average.&ldquo;I think Joe has proven himself to be one of the top players in college hockey,&rdquo; says RPI coach Buddy Powers.Juneau, known primarily as a playmaker, scored a single-season personal high 23 goals and also tied for the ECAC lead in gamewinning goals with four.Scott Beattie, C, 22, Northern Michigan (4336-79, 40 games).The nation&rsquo;s leading goal-scorer through 40 games, Beattie entered the Western Collegiate Hockey Association semifinals riding a 26-game point-scoring streak, during which time he had 33-30-63 totals.Earlier this season, Beattie had goal-scoring streaks of 11 and eight games and is just the second NMU player to top 40 goals in a season. Gary Emmons had 45 in 1986.&ldquo;He hasn&rsquo;t had a bad game yet,&rdquo; says Jim Hiller, who joins Kevin Scott as Beattie&rsquo;s wingers on the highest-scoring trio in college hockey. In 41 games, Scott was 26-26-52 and Hiller 19-39-58.Greg Johnson, C, 20, North Dakota (17-5976, 36 games).A deft, dynamic, dangerous playmaker who many coaches feel is the best forward in the WCHA, Johnson took the league scoring lead into the final weekend before surrendering it to Beattie.A member of the gold-medal winning Canadian entry in the World Junior tournament, Johnson was a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers (33rd overall, 1989).Brad Werenka, D, 22, Northern Michigan (18-41-59, 41 games).A poised, heady performer, Werenka&rsquo;s return from injuries (he was redshirted in 1989-90 after playing in just eight games) is a big reason why the Wildcats featured the best defense in the WCHA.Werenka, the only defenseman among the 10 finalists, contributed offensively as well, recording 18 goals, 41 assists and 59 points in 41 games to rank as the top-scoring rearguard in the country.A second-round pick of Edmonton (42nd overall, 1987), Werenka is the second NMU defenseman to top 50 points in a season and is one of only four to register 100 points in a career.&mdash;with files from Tom Boggie, Matt Carlson and Andv Baggot &#9632;

f0029-01

AMERICA’S TOP 10

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0030-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01716/5853727-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01661/5853720-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="3061" height="3552"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01706/5853713-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="3086" height="3582"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01629/5853706-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="3060" height="2385"></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<h2>Mon., Mar. 4</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02441/5853933-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="578" height="983"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03322/5853926-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="578" height="1019"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04257/5853919-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="567" height="181"></div><h2>Tues., Mar. 5</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05211/5853912-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="569" height="782"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06179/5853905-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="580" height="1020"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07162/5853898-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="579" height="971"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01714/5853891-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="617" height="3571"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02533/5853884-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="587" height="1141"></div><h2>Wed., Mar. 6</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03418/5853877-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="607" height="2372"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04314/5853870-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="583" height="1043"></div><h2>Thur., Mar. 7</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05248/5853863-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="605" height="2461"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06215/5853856-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="582" height="1359"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07200/5853849-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="580" height="1358"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01679/5853842-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="586" height="1370"></div><h2>Fri., Mar. 8</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02521/5853835-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="599" height="2097"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03420/5853828-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="581" height="1288"></div><h2>Sat., Mar. 9</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04336/5853821-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="581" height="2190"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05278/5853814-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="615" height="3525"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06251/5853807-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="589" height="2003"></div><h2>Sun., Mar. 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07233/5853800-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="577" height="1422"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08209/5853793-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="597" height="3484"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01646/5853786-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="588" height="1172"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02470/5853779-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="586" height="1172"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03379/5853772-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="588" height="1169"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04287/5853765-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="591" height="1174"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05235/5853758-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="587" height="1170"></div> &#9632;

f0033-02

NHL SUMMARIES

Andy Moog has a secret formula. He&rsquo;s the only NHL goalie who ranks in the top 10 of both the hot seat and eamed-goal average categories.The Boston Bruin goalie jumped from fifth to third the past week in the hot seat department&mdash;which looks at how often a goalie allows a power-play goal.Moog&rsquo;s 11 minutes, 37 seconds average is behind Washington&rsquo;s Don Beaupre (17:53) and Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Frank Pietrangelo (14:07). The NHL average is 8:36.TEAMS POWER PLAY / PENALTY KILLING TIME FRAMEGAMES PLAYED THROUGH 3/10/91<h2>POWER PLAY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08187/5853985-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="544" height="674"></div><h2>EGA LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09171/5853978-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="541" height="442"></div>Moog is ninth with an EGA average of 2:54. The EGA is goals-against average not including power-play goals allowed.Chicago&rsquo;s Ed Belfour leads with an average of 1.73. The NHL average is 2.85.The New York Rangers continue to lead scoring a power-play goal every 6:51 of opportunity. The NHL average is 8:36.<h2>PENALTY KILLING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10167/5853971-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="540" height="769"></div><h2>HOT SEAT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11157/5853964-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="540" height="470"></div> &#9632;

f0034-08

MOOG BRUIN A SECRET FORMULA

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01647/5854054-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="557" height="618"></div>Something is wrong with this equation. Very wrong. I&rsquo;ve been looking at this net, the standard hockey cage, and my limited mathematical background tells me that scoring just can&rsquo;t be so difficult.Proof? You say you want proof? Okay, go get yourself a puck. Hold it in your hand, and now take a look at the 24-square-foot net. The puck is one inch thick, three inches wide. The net is four feet high; six feet wide.So why is putting the puny little puck inside that net such a big fat chore? If my math is right, there is room for 1,152 pucks to fit inside that 4-by-6 opening. That works out to 24 pucks across the cage, with room to stack 48 pucks in two dozen rows. And to think, there are some NHL players who can&rsquo;t find one of those 1,152 openings in an 80-game season. Not one. Why? Do you ever wonder why?Are the goalies that good, or are the shooters that bad?Could it be coaching?Baseball has hitting coaches. Why shouldn&rsquo;t hockey have shooting/scoring coaches?Look at what happens in baseball. Rookies enter the big leagues and often hit. 260 or. 270 for their first year or two. Inside of three-to-five years, many have improved to respectable. 280-300 hitters. If they don&rsquo;t, there&rsquo;s another bunch of. 260-.270 rookies lined up and looking for work. Most hitters work at hitting for hours, under the eye of a batting guru, someone schooled in the Charlie Lau school of swing or some other technical or mystical aspect of hitting the ball. George Brett and Wade Boggs have put a lot of time and thought into their. 300 averages.But in hockey, for the most part the scorers are the scorers from Day 1. I&rsquo;m thinking about the big scorers. Mike Bossy. Denis Savard. Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, of course. Jari Kurri. They hit the ice scoring and for them putting the puck in the net looks as easy as dividing one into 1,152.The latest on the scene is Brett Hull, who scored 32 times his rookie year, 41 the next and now has back-to-back seasons of better than 70 goals. How does he do what he does?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, don&rsquo;t ask me,&rdquo; said Hull, dishing off the compliments to linemates Adam Oates and Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour. &ldquo;it wasn&rsquo;t always like this&hellip;I was a late bloomer.&rdquo;Now I&rsquo;m getting mad. That&rsquo;s another infuriating part about this goal-scoring business. Everyone, including the scorers themselves, say great scorers have two things in common: Instinct and quick release. Is that all it takes? A little savoir faire and a snap of the wrists? That can&rsquo;t be coached? C&rsquo;mon.The typical hockey practice runs anywhere from one-to-two hours. The players stretch, warm up with &lsquo;round-the-rink skating and usually hit a few slappers at the sideboards before the live action starts. There might be a scrimmage. Or there might be 10 guys lined up at the blue lines, each one hitting 55-footers at the goalie. Remember, 97 percent of those guys won&rsquo;t see a clear 55-footer for the remainder of their careers. A demanding, technical practice might have an assistant coach cradling a dozen pucks in his arms, dropping one after another between faceoff partners.Why doesn&rsquo;t someone teach these guys to score?We are surrounded now by experts. There are strength and conditioning coaches. Some teams hire mood men to look after the psychiatric well-being of the players. Got a problem on the ice, in the room? Talk it out. There are power skating experts. There are videotape savants. They roll in their TVs and in slow motion show the player his every fault, how he missed his timing on his pass, how he failed to floss his rear molars before a game in Montreal.All that, and what is object No. I in the game of hockey? Putting the puck in the net. Everybody is so busy coaching and cajoling every other part of the game, to the point of deliberating over the right music for the pre-game warmup, that they&rsquo;ve overlooked, of all things, scoring.Can you imagine a baseball team without a hitting coach? Swing-and-a-miss, strike three. In hockey, no one coaches the scoring art, and the league is loaded with guys who score 15 one year, 15 the next and average 15 goals a year upon retirement after eight seasons. They may not swing and miss, but they hit a few posts.No, I don&rsquo;t have the answers. I can&rsquo;t say that my math (one into 1,152) equals success. I can&rsquo;t say that designing, say, a mechanical goalie-akin to the Iron Mike that pitches batting practice&mdash;would provide a shooter a worthy opponent. But maybe someone ought to start thinking about putting the puck in the net.Hey, it&rsquo;s at least worth a shot.Kevin Dupont is a hockey writer for the Boston Globe. &#9632;

f0038-01

WHY DOESN’T ANYONE TEACH SCORING?

Hartford&rsquo;s Brad Shaw leads the NHL in percentage of points on the power play (players with 25 points or more). Through March 4, 19 of Shaw&rsquo;s 27 points came when his team had a man advantage&mdash;70.4 per cent. The next three players: Detroit&rsquo;s Doug Crossman, 70 per cent; Philadelphia&rsquo;s Gord Murphy, 67.5 per cent; and. Philadelphia&rsquo;s Terry Carkner, 66.7 per cent.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02498/5854085-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="712" height="438"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad Shaw</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0038-02

NUMBERS

<h2>SABRES</h2>The Sabres acquired Pittsburgh right winger Tony Tanti and Vancouver goaltender Steve Weeks at the trade deadline. Tanti came over in an exchange for the rights to center Ken Priestlay. Priestlay had not reported to the Sabres this season and was playing with the Canadian National Team. Weeks, acquired for cash and future considerations, is with Milwaukee of the International League. Sabres&rsquo; GM Gerry Meehan said Weeks was acquired as an insurance goaltender and would remain in Milwaukee unless there was a simultaneous loss of goaltenders Clint MaIarchuk and Daren Puppa. Maiarchuk was playing despite a neck/shoulder problem. Puppa is sidelined with groin and stomach muscle pulls&hellip;Meehan said he picked up Tanti for some depth and because Priestlay was adamant about not coming back to Buffalo if he had no chance of playing in the NHL. Meehan also said he moved on Tanti because he was hopeful the winger could regain his scoring touch and because he was concerned about Tanti going to division rival Boston.<h2>NORDIQUES</h2>Owen Nolan, the NHL&rsquo;s No. 1 pick in the 1990 entry draft, scored his second goal of the season in a 6-3 loss to Detroit March 5&hellip;Guy Lafleur scored his 557th career goal against the Red Wings, moving him out of a tie for seventh place on the all-time list with Boston&rsquo;s John Bucyk (556)&hellip;Quebec&rsquo;s 4-2 win over the New York Rangers March 7 marked the first time this season they rallied to win a game in the third period. The Nords had an 0-34-3 record when trailing at the start of the third before the win. The win ended the team&rsquo;s Il-game winless streak&hellip;Joe Sakic scored his 100th career goal against the Rangers&hellip;As of March 11, the Nordiques had used 46 players, three short of their record 49 set last season.<h2>BRUINS</h2>Seeking a veteran winger, the Bruins tried to acquire Tony Tanti from Pittsburgh and Joey Kocur from Detroit before the trade deadline. &ldquo;We talked to Pittsburgh two or three times about Tanti,&rdquo; said GM Harry Sinden. &ldquo;But I didn&rsquo;t like the deal. I didn&rsquo;t like what they wanted, and they didn&rsquo;t like what I was offering-,&rdquo;&hellip;Andy Moog earned his third shutout of the campaign in a 2-0 win over Toronto March 9&hellip;Two assists in the win over the Leafs gave Ray Bourque 2-12-14 totals over a sevengame stretch&hellip;Center Dave Poulin was expected to return March 14 from a broken shoulder blade&mdash;the first in a parade of Bruins (Chris Nilan, Lyndon Byers, Randy Burridge are the others) due back soon from injuries.<h2>WHALERS</h2>Carey Wilson completed a rather interesting circle March 5 when he was traded to Calgary. Wilson has been traded from the Flames to the Whalers to the Rangers back to the Whalers and finally back to the Flames. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to be the answer to somebody&rsquo;s trivia question some day,&rdquo; Wilson said&hellip;GM Ed Johnston has taken some heat about the six-player trade with Pittsburgh. &ldquo;Even my son Joey&rsquo;s mad at me,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;He had a poster of Ron Francis in his room.&rdquo;&hellip;C-zechoslovakian rookie Bobby Holik on life in the NHL: &ldquo;Last year, I come to sign contract. They trade Mike Liut. This year, they trade Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson. I am rookie. I can&rsquo;t understand. In Czechoslovakia, you play for team your whole career. Maybe in five or six years I understand this NHL.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03404/5854116-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="548" height="708"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bobby Holik was finding all the trades very confusing.</figcaption></div><h2>CANADIENS</h2>Left winger John LeClair, the Habs&rsquo; second pick (33rd overall) in 1987, signed a three-year plus an option contract March 7. LeClair, who spent the last four seasons with the Vermont Catamounts (56 goals and 116 points in 91 games), played in his first game two nights later against the Vancouver Canucks and netted his first NHL goal in the Canadiens&rsquo; 4-2 win&hellip;Brian Skrudland missed the Habs&rsquo; 3-2 overtime loss to the Flames March 4. He returned home to be with his wife, Lana, who gave birth to a baby boy&hellip;Patrick Roy became a dad for the second time Feb. 26 when his wife, Michelle, gave birth to their second son&hellip;Alain Cote played himself into a regular job with the Habs after starting the season in Fredericton (AHL). Cote, a second-round pick of the Boston Bruins in 1985, was kept around when blueliner Eric Desjardins returned to health. Donald Dufresne drew the short straw for a trip to the farm and Sylvain Lefebvre has become the designated sitter&hellip;The fickle Forum fans have swung once again in favor of Stephane Richer. The Habs&rsquo; hot-and-cold sniper was booed by 18,000 kids during a promotional practice Feb. 10 after he had gone nine games without a goal. But after he scored his sixth goal in six games since returning from the flu, the chant &ldquo;Richer, Richer, Richer&rdquo; went up in the Forum during the Habs&rsquo; 4-2 win over Vancouver March 9. &#9632;

f0038-03

SABRES ACQUIRE SCORING PUNCH

<div class="byline">BY KEVIN JOHNSTON</div>When general manager Pierre Page traded Paul Gillis to the Chicago Blackhawks March 5, he cut the last link to the Nordiques of old, the team that totaled 92 points and won the Adams Division title in 1985-1986.The 27-year-old center was the only player left from that championship team and was one of the team&rsquo;s most experienced players.The Nordiques&rsquo; elder statesmen are now 28-year-old left winger Mike Hough and 24-year-old defenseman Steven Finn. Hough was drafted in 1982 and has played 215 games with the Nords through March 11. Finn was drafted in 1984 and has seen action in 330 games.&ldquo;It was simply something that had to be done,&rdquo; said Page. &ldquo;We want a young team, a fast team. I had met with Paul on a few occasions since the beginning of the season and it was clear he wasn&rsquo;t happy about his situation here. And because of his style of play, because of his strong character, a few teams had expressed interest.&rdquo;In addition to Gillis, Page traded left winger Dan Vincelette to the Blackhawks in exchange for center Mike McNeill and defenseman Ryan McGill.The 24-year-old McNeill joined the team March 5 in Detroit (a 6-3 loss). Page says he&rsquo;ll be used mainly as a defensive specialist.A first-round pick of the St. Louis Blues (14th overall) in the 1988 supplemental draft, McNeill was signed as a free agent by Chicago in September, 1989.McGill reported to Halifax (American League). The 22-year-old Sherwood Park, Alta., native was Chicago&rsquo;s second choice, (26th overall) in the 1987 draft.The trade exemplified Page&rsquo;s goal of building the Nordiques with youth. When right winger Guy Lafleur retires at the end of the season, only three players on the current roster will be over 25&mdash;defensemen Alexei Gusarov (27), Randy Velischek (29), and Hough (28).Gillis wasn&rsquo;t surprised by the move.&ldquo;It was very clear in my mind from Day 1 of training camp the new management had no room for me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;1 simply didn&rsquo;t fit in their long term objectives. And not even in the short term ones either.&rdquo;Gillis was referring to the fact he was moved from center to left wing, where he wasn&rsquo;t comfortable.&ldquo;Looking back at this season, I certainly won&rsquo;t have any fond memories,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;The change of scenery should be very beneficial for me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It has been very tough losing so much in the past four years. Now I&rsquo;m going to a winning team and I hope I can contribute to their success.&rdquo;<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Paul Gillis, C, and Daniel Vincelette, LW, traded to Chicago for Mike McNeill, C/RW. and Ryan McGill, D. March 6: Kip Miller, C, assigned to Halifax (AHL). March 7: Serge Roberge, RW, recalled from Halifax. March 9: Kevin Kaminsky. C, recalled from Fort Wayne (IHL). March 10: Kaminsky assigned to Fort Wayne.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Sakic, Tony Hrkac, Mike McNeill.LW&mdash;Mike Hough, Herb Raglan, Everett Sanipass, Scott Pearson, Tony Twist.RW&mdash;Mats Sundin. Owen Nolan, Guy Lafleur, Mark Vermette, Serge Roberge.LD&mdash;Steven Finn, Shawn Anderson, Alexei Gusarov.RD&mdash;Randy Velischek. Craig Woianin, Mario Doyon.G&mdash;Ron Tugnutt, Jacques Cloutier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jeff Jackson, LW, broken arm, out for season. Claude Lapointe, C, groin pull, indefinite. Curtis Leschyshyn D. torn knee ligaments, out for season. Stephane Morin, C. broken finger, indefinite. Wayne Van Dorp, LW, torn muscle in shoulder, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Sakic, 39. A&mdash;Sakic, 52. P&mdash;Sakic. 91. PIM&mdash;Finn, 191. &#9632;

CRADLE-ROBBING CONTINUES, McNEILL, McGILL JOIN FOLD

<div class="byline">BY JIM KELLEY</div>Dale Hawerchuk&rsquo;s moment to remember came amid yet another night to forget.Hawerchuk became only the second player in Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; history to score 1,000 points March 8. The center, acquired last summer from the the Winnipeg Jets, joined Gilbert Perreault and 30 other NHLers in the exclusive club when he scored a power-play goal midway through the second period of a 5-3 loss to Chicago at Memorial Auditorium.&ldquo;It was nice at the time,&rdquo; Hawerchuk said. &ldquo;It felt good because it was 1,000 and I thought at the time that it might get us back into the game. We got to 3-1 at that point and I thought we might be able to get something going, but it didn&rsquo;t work out. It would have been nice with a win.&rdquo;A win? You have to go back to Jan. 22 to recall the last Sabre win in Memorial Auditorium. This loss extended the Sabres&rsquo; winless streak at home to 11 games (0-6-5) while at the same time ending their six-game un-beaten streak. Buffalo then doubled the record to 12 games (the original was six) two nights later with a 7-5. loss to Vancouver. The losses moved Buffalo to 11-13-11 at home, a gruesome mark considering they were 1414-6 on the road.After the Chicago game. Sabres&rsquo; coach Rick Dudley put forth the usual reasons for another home loss that pushed the Sabres five games beyond the previous home record without a win. He said his team lacked &ldquo;jam&rdquo; and it was outworked along the boards and in the comers (he could have. added in front of the net as well).Despite the loss, it was Hawerchuk and the conclusion of his quest that brightened the evening for a home crowd that now takes success in small doses.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a hell of an accomplishment particularly because he needed only 10 seasons to do it,&rdquo; said Rick Vaive. &ldquo;It was a great experience for me just to be out there when he did it. Dale and I have come to be pretty good friends. We live near each other, we drive to practice together and we room together on the road. I&rsquo;m really happy for him. When you think of 1,000, it&rsquo;s really something special.&rdquo;Hawerchuk hit the 1,000 mark in 781 games. By comparison, Perreault did it in 871 games. Perreault scored his 1,000th point April 3, 1982 in Montreal.&ldquo;When I look back at it later, I might think more about it,&rdquo; said Hawerchuk. &ldquo;It will have to be later though. The ones that stick out in your mind are the ones you score when you win.&rdquo;In Memorial Auditorium these days, you just can&rsquo;t have it both ways.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Steve Weeks. G, obtained from Vancouver for future considerations and cash. Weeks will remain in Milwaukee (IHL). Ken Priestlay, C. traded to Pittsburgh for Tony Tanti. RW. March 10: Brian Curran. D, assigned to Rochester (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Hawerchuk, Christian Ruuttu, Pierre Turgeon, Benoit HogueLW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk, Dave Snug-gerud, Mike Hartman. Darrin Shannon.RW&mdash;Alexander Mogilny, Rick Vaive, Rob Ray, Mikko Makela, Tony Tanti.LD&mdash;Mike Ramsey. Ken Sutton. Kevin Haller.RD&mdash;Grant Ledyard, Uwe Krupp, Dean Kennedy, Jay Wells.G&mdash;Clint Malarchuk, Darcy Wakaluk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Donald Audette, RW, torn knee ligaments, out for season. Doug Bodger, D, separated shoulder, out for season. Lou Franceschetti. LW, strained knee, day-to-day Greg Paslawski, groin pull, day-to-day. Daren Puppa, G, groin and stomach muscle pulls, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Turgeon, Andreychuk 29. A&mdash;Hawerchuk, 49. P&mdash;Hawerchuk, 73. PIM&mdash;Ray. 285. &#9632;

DESPITE MILESTONE, ALL ISN’T DUCKY

<div class="byline">BY JEFF JACOBS</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0040-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01327/5854195-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Whalers hope Zarley Zalapski solves their point-man problem.</figcaption></div>After he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins Dec. 21, right winger Scott Young prophesized that contract squabbles, the captaincy problem and management problems would seriously hamper the Hartford Whalers.&ldquo;Things are going to get worse before they get better,&rdquo; he said at the time.Well he&rsquo;s not a fortune teller, but true to Young&rsquo;s word, they have. General manager Ed Johnston returned to Pittsburgh March 4 to swing the biggest deal in team history.The Whalers sent center Ron Francis, defensemen Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings to the Penguins for center John Cullen, defenseman Zarley Zalapski and center/right winger Jeff Parker.Unfortunately, the deal didn&rsquo;t provide the spark the team needed. The Penguins immediately put together a four-game winning streak, while the Whalers dropped three games in a row&mdash;4-1 to St. Louis March 6, 5-2 to Pittsburgh March 9 and 2-1 to Quebec March 10.The losses extended the Whalers&rsquo; winless streak to nine games, their longest skid since the 1985-86 season.The trade was big news in Hartford. The Hartford Courant ran an editorial of a two-headed Ed Johnston-Ley monster tripping the Whalers&rsquo; former captain Francis saying, &ldquo;See You Later&rdquo; and &ldquo;Har Har.&rdquo; Among the letters received by editors, it was suggested Ley be sent to Iraq for future considerations.The trade was of major importance to the Whalers. They needed a proven point man to quarterback the power play&mdash;Zalapski&mdash;and they felt the only way to get him was to include Francis in a package deal.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not bitter, but I&rsquo;m disappointed they publicly demeaned my family and me,&rdquo; Francis said. &ldquo;Every second day there were stories about my contract, about me being stripped of my captaincy, the trade rumors. If they wanted to trade me, it&rsquo;s their prerogative. But after 10 years of giving everything I had when I stepped on the ice, I feel they could have done it differently.&rdquo;Ley said a major shakeup was necessary to jump-start the Whalers before the playoffs.&ldquo;This is a situation where everybody wants us to improve, everybody wants us to do better and we haven&rsquo;t lately,&rdquo; Ley said. &ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t doing it with the people that were here.&rdquo;Johnston said Zalapski will add toughness to the Whalers in addition to his prowess with the man advantage.&ldquo;He can be Bourque-like,&rdquo; Johnston said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s one of the few guys in the league who can really one-time it from the point. But as good as he is offensively, I feel he&rsquo;s even better defensively. We lost to Boston in the playoffs last year because of the power play. We hope this will rectify it.&rdquo;Ley&rsquo;s analysis of Cullen: &ldquo;Next to Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky, Cullen probably has the best set of hands in the NHL.&rdquo;&ldquo;Cullen means an automatic 100 points,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think he can put more points on the board than Ronnie. Ronnie possibly is a little better defensively, but we think Cullen sees the ice a little better.&rdquo;Cullen was a little more reserved than his new GM.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not Ron Francis,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He was the heart and soul of the team for 10 years.&rdquo;<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 4: Ron Francis, C, Grant Jennings, D, and Ulf Samuelsson, D, traded to Pittsburgh for Zarley Zalapski, D, John Cullen, C. and Jeff Parker, C/RW. March 5: John Stevens. D, recalled from Springfield (AHL). Carey Wilson, C. traded to Calgary for Mark Hunter, RW.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;John Cullen, Dean Evason, Mike Tomlak, Jeff Parker.LW&mdash;Todd Krygier, Pat Verbeek, Randy Cunneyworth, Jim McKenzie. Mikael Andersson.RW&mdash;Kevin Dineen, Bob Holik, Rob Brown, Ed Kastelic, Mark Hunter.LD&mdash;Randy Ladouceur. Doug Houda, John Stevens.RD&mdash;Sylvain Cote, Zarley Zalapski, Brad Shaw.G&mdash;Kay Whitmore, Ross McKay.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Babych. D, broken right thumb, indefinite. Adam Burt, D. knee surgery, out for the season. Daryl Reaugh. G, hamstring injury, indefinite Peter Sidor-kiewicz, G. sprained ankle, day-to-day.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Verbeek, 39. A&mdash;Cullen, 64. P&mdash;Cullen, 96. PIM&mdash;Kastelic. 188. &#9632;

f0040-01

BLOCKBUSTER DEAL NETS FINAL PIECES OF PUZZLE

<div class="byline">BY CHRIS STEVENSON</div>One puts pucks in nets for a living and one stops them. But as far as Pat Bums is concerned, what Wayne Gretzky and Patrick Roy do for their teams is exactly the same.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s to our team what Wayne Gretzky is to the Kings or Steve Larmer is to the Blackhawks,&rdquo; said the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; coach following the Habs 5-3 win over Chicago March 6. &ldquo;He affects us the same.&rdquo;In the second game back from an ankle injury, Roy stopped a personal-high 49 shots. It&rsquo;s hard to argue with the coach.Roy returned to the Habs March 4 against Calgary after missing 14 games with tom ligaments in his left ankle.He was simply his spectacular Vezina-winning self, turning aside 36 of 39 shots as the Canadiens lost 3-2 in overtime.Roy was even better two nights later against Chicago, weathering a second period storm that saw the Hawks outshoot the Habs 22-5.The Canadiens emerged from that period tied 2-2 and Stephane Richer, who had shaken his goal-scoring slump, scored the next two goals to complete his first hat trick of the season and power the Habs to the win.In the two games, Roy faced 91 shots. He stopped 85 of them for a save percentage of. 933. The 25-year-old seems to have recaptured the form which earned him two Vezina trophies, three Jennings trophies, a Conn Smythe trophy and two first-team all-star selections.No wonder Burns has no problem mentioning Roy and the Gretzky in the same breath.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always nice to hear that from my coach,&rdquo; Roy said. &ldquo;You always like to hear your coach talk like that. I just try to give some leadership and make the saves that keep the team in the big games.&rdquo;Roy like to talk about himself about as much as of likes giving up a goal through the five-hole.Without Roy, the Habs are pretty much an ordinary team. In the 30 games he did not start this season, the Habs had a mediocre 13-12-5 record. With him, they were 23-14-3. But it goes beyond that. Roy&rsquo;s presence inspires confidence and with confidence. not even a Stanley Cup is out of the question.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best goalie in the league.&rdquo; Habs&rsquo; right winger Russ Courtnall said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy to overlook what he means to this team because he&rsquo;s not a great scorer like Gretzky or (Mark) Messier. But when he gets in the net, the atmosphere on the team changes. With Pat we can afford to have a bad period and still win a game.&rdquo;<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 5: Mark Pederson, LW, traded to Philadelphia for second-round 1991 draft pick and future considerations. Donald Dufresne, D, and Jean-Claude Bergeron, G. assigned to Fredericton (AHL) March 7: John LeClair, LW, signed four-year contract<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Guy Carbonneau, Brian Skrudland, Denis Savard. Stephan Lebeau.LW&mdash;Mike McPhee, Shayne Corson, John LeClair, Andrew Cassels, Ryan Walter.RW&mdash;Russ Courtnall, Stephane Richer, Mike Keane, Brent Gilchrist, Tom Chorske.LD&mdash;Mathieu Schneider, Petr Svoboda, J.J. Daigneault, Sylvain Lefebvre.RD&mdash;Alain Cote, Lyle Odelein, Eric Desjardins.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Andre Racicot.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Todd Ewen. RW. broken right hand, out for season. Sylvain Turgeon, LW, fractured right knee cap. indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Richer, 26. A&mdash;Courtnall, 41. P&mdash;Courtnall. 66. PtM&mdash;Odelein, 214. &#9632;

ROY ON PAR WITH GRETZKY. COACH SAYS

<div class="byline">BY STEPHEN HARRIS</div>Mike Milbury was slumped against a table outside the Boston Bruins&rsquo; dressing room at Maple Leaf Gardens March 5, not looking at all happy.As the media approached him after the game, the Boston coach expropriated a nearby skate lace and pretended to hang himself.He was, of course, only joking. But the despair and concern felt by the confoundingly-inconsistent Bruins has been real.Milbury&rsquo;s club may have hit a low that night in Toronto, a 6-3 loss to the Maple Leafs in which the Bruins didn&rsquo;t skate, didn&rsquo;t hit and didn&rsquo;t look at all like the team which, only weeks ago, occupied the top spot in the overall NHL standings. &ldquo;That was arguably our worst lack of effort all season,&rdquo; said Milbury.The mysterious pattern for the Bruins has been this: When they&rsquo;re good, they&rsquo;re very good; but periodically, they&rsquo;re so bad&hellip;they make teams like Toronto look like world beaters.Yet only two nights later, after some intense soul-searching and an intense and emotional, private, nighttime team meeting at a hotel north of Boston, the Bruins good side resurfaced in a 5-5 tie against the St. Louis Blues.Brett Hull&rsquo;s second hat trick in 12 days against Boston partially spoiled the night for the home side, but the score wasn&rsquo;t as important as the style.But the Bruins have been burned too many times this season, believing a solid game signalled a permanent upturn&mdash;only to turn in another stinker.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a nice step for us, but it certainly isn&rsquo;t the turning point,&rdquo; said Cam Neely after the tie, in which he had his 44th goal. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve probably thought that in the past, and then let it slide again. Mentally, we have to be prepared for every game, especially at this time of year. Montreal is creeping up on us. First place (overall) was in our grasp, but we let it slide a little bit.&rdquo;Injuries and retirements have been a big part of the picture this season. Missing Bobby Carpenter, Dave Poulin, Randy Burridge, Chris Nilan, Lyndon Byers, Gord Kluzak, Michael Thelven and Vladimir Ruzicka for significant periods of time has made their ability to stick near the top of the league remarkable.But in as many as a dozen dreadful losses, many of the guys who were able to play merely went through the motions.&ldquo;Attitude, that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s all about, attitude,&rdquo; said general manager Harry Sinden. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t have the right attitude, no matter who&rsquo;s playing for you, you can&rsquo;t win.&rdquo;The flip side of that truism, often stated by Sinden: With the right attitude, even less-talented skaters can beat a strong club.&ldquo;What I wanted to see was a lot of effort, a lot of desire, a lot of dedication,&rdquo; said Milbury after the St. Louis tie. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pleased we can play with emotion. Now the key is, as always, can we do it again? As much as I was pleased with our effort tonight, we have to show it again and again.&rdquo;<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 7: Peter Douris, RW, and Ron Hoover. C, recalled from Maine (AHL). Wes Walz. C, and Jarmo Kekalainen, LW, assigned to Maine.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Craig Janney, Ken Hodge, Bob Sweeney, Ron Hoover.LW&mdash;Petri Skriko. John Carter, Jeff Lazaro, Shayne Stevenson.RW&mdash;Cam Neely, Dave Christian, Nevin Markwart, Peter Douris.LD&mdash;Glen Wesley. Don Sweeney, Jim Weimer. Bob Beers.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque. Stephane Quintal. Garry Galley.G&mdash;Andy Moog, Reggie Lemelin.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Randy Burridge, LW, torn right knee ligament, indefinite. Lyndon Byers, RW. left foot surgery, indefinite. Bob Carpenter. C, left knee surgery, out for season. Chris Nilan. RW. left ankle surgery, indefinite. Dave Poulin, fractured shoulder blade, day-to-day Vladimir Ruzicka. C, left ankle tendinitis, indefinite.<h3>LEADERS</h3>G&mdash;Neely, 45. A&mdash;Bourque, 61. P&mdash;Neely, 81 PIM&mdash;Nilan, 190. &#9632;

PLAYOFF SUCCESS RECIPE CALLS FOR GREATER CONSISTENCY

<div class="byline">BY FRANK BROWN</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01293/5854274-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="491" height="614"></div>Life in the New York area offers many profound hardships, and it provides one great luxury for those of us who enjoy pro hockey&rsquo;s Theater of the Absurd: It gives us three times more chances than most cities to observe strange behavior at the player and management levels.So, as a public service for you less fortunate, here is some of the stuff the area teams would have us believe:&#9632; That the Rangers are a &ldquo;great defensive team.&rdquo;Unquestionably, Coach Roger Neilson wants them to be a great defensive team. And unquestionably, the team&rsquo;s goals-against is well down since Neilson took over two seasons ago, bringing with him the conservative Peterborough work ethic.But the Rangers are not a great defensive team. On lots of occasions, they aren&rsquo;t even a very good defensive team. And if the goaltending hadn&rsquo;t been flat-out great throughout this season, the Good Ship Ranger would have sunk from first place long ago.A great defensive team would be able to win a 2-1 game occasionally; the Washington Capitals, who may miss the playoffs, have won two of them and the Chicago Blackhawks, who lead the league in team defense, have won ail three they have played. Yet through their first 70 games, when the Rangers scored two goals or fewer, they were 0-14-5. Moreover, when the Rangers scored four goals or fewer, their record was 11-23-10, a winning percentage of. 364.That&rsquo;s great defense? This great defensive Ranger team has given up 40 or more shots 14 times. This great defensive Ranger team allowed 62 shots to the Vancouver Canucks, which the defensively miserable Quebec Nordiques have not been able to match this woeful campaign.Granted, this is an offensively talented Ranger team, capable of scoring four or five goals any night, so they don&rsquo;t play 2-1 games. But they might have to in the playoffs, which seems to have slipped the minds of a lot of New York-area people who awarded the Rangers the Stanley Cup when the team obtained Joe Kocur from Detroit.That deal occurred at the trade deadline, which brings us to Nonsense Number 2:&#9632; The Devils fire coach John Cunniff March 5.As people, the Devils&rsquo; players might be the nicest bunch of guys in the NHL. As players and as a team, they are the underachievers of this young decade. Worse, they have abandoned the work ethic that at least allowed them to lose with pride back when Doug Carpenter coached them; now, they lose regularly with unashamedly poor efforts.It was positively astounding to see defenseman Eric Weinrich stand in the Devils&rsquo; dressing room, following the final game of Cunniff&rsquo;s tenure, the 67th game of a damnable season, and hear him say, &ldquo;We should start getting mad about losing, and take it out on our next opponent.&rdquo;That thought should have taken root a minimum of 66 games earlier. It never did, and that is a scorching indictment of Cunniff&rsquo;s skills as a motivator.But it is a more scathing indictment of general manager Lou Lamorielio that the players on his team are unable to motivate themselves. It is a sorry statement that with all the talent on the team, the line of Pat Conacher, Dave Maley and Doug Brown remains the club&rsquo;s most effective, hard-working unit most nights. Will that be the case five years hence, when Lamorielio has fired more coaches for not getting results? Firing Cunniff with a month to go delivered absolutely the wrong message; it gave the inmates a key to the asylum.Of course, if you want to talk craziness, let&rsquo;s move on to:&#9632; The Islander mess.A story gets leaked that Pat LaFontaine wants out. GM Bill Torrey declares he has-never in his life seen such manipulation of the media.Then he calls a news conference, so he can manipulate the media into spreading the word John O. Pickett&rsquo;s woeful team is for sale. John O. Pickett, Torrey tells us, is selling the team because he lives in Florida and no longer is able to attend many games.That&rsquo;s hilarious.Most people who own season tickets can&rsquo;t stomach watching more than half the home games. Pickett has been taking their money and moving it to Florida, because he sure as heck hasn&rsquo;t been putting it into his team, which may be rotten, but is not so rotten it can&rsquo;t beat the Rangers four times in six tries.See what you&rsquo;re missing by not living around here?Frank Brown is in his 20th season of covering pro hockey. &#9632;

f0043-01

WELCOME TO THEATRE OF THE ABSURD

Calgary&rsquo;s Theoren Fleury is listed at 5-foot-6, 160 pounds. But just because he&rsquo;s small, doesn&rsquo;t mean he&rsquo;s not tough. Through March 10, Fleury was one of only 15 NHL players to play every game last season and this season. Fleury also has more second half points than any other Calgary player this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02219/5854305-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="552" height="422"><figcaption class="caption-body">Theoren Fleury</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0043-02

ODDITIES

He&rsquo;s the foil for Don Cherry on Hockey Night in Canada, but HNIC host Ron MacLean is the boss when he shuns his blue blazer for a referee&rsquo;s uniform. MacLean has been officiating for 13 years and is a regular on the Ontario Hockey Association junior and senior circuits. &ldquo;Sometimes when you arrive in the smaller towns, at first there&rsquo;s a bit of fascination with the fact you&rsquo;re the guy they see on TV,&rdquo; MacLean said in an interview with the Toronto Globe and Mail. &ldquo;But about two calls into the game, they work up a good hate and treat you like any other referee.&rdquo; MacLean is a level four referee in a six-level system. Level five referees can handle university hockey, while level six cover Canada-Soviet games, the Izvestia tournament and world junior events.<h2>RECORD-BREAKER</h2>With his hat trick against the Boston Bruins March 7, St. Louis Blues&rsquo; right winger Brett Hull broke his NHL record for the most goals in a season by a right winger. Hull set the record (72) last season. Hull had 75 goals in 68 games and was on pace to finish the season with 88 goals, just four back of Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s NHL record (92) set in 1981-82. The top five highest scoring right wingers in a single season: Hull, 72, &lsquo;89-90; Edmonton&rsquo;s Jari Kurri, 71, &lsquo;84-85; New York Islanders&rsquo; Mike Bossy. 69, &lsquo;78-79; Kurri, 68, &lsquo;85-86 and Bossy, 68, &lsquo;80-81.<h2>DRAFT PROSPECT WATCH</h2>Trois Rivieres&rsquo; center Yanic Perreault has regained the No. 1 ranking in the Quebec League&rsquo;s top prospect rankings.Perreault was ranked fifth after last month&rsquo;s fourth segment, but rebounded after a strong February. He had 81 goals and 172 points after 59 games.The top prospect rankings:ONTARIO LEAGUE: 1. Eric Lindros. C. Oshawa. 2. Pat Peake, C. Detroit. 3. Dennis Purdie. RW, London. 4. Jason Dawe, LW, Peterborough. 5. Steve Staios, D, Niagara Falls. 6. Glen Murray, RW, Sudbury. 7. Dale Craigwell. C, Oshawa. 7.(tie) Alex Stojanov, RW. Hamilton.QUEBEC LEAGUE: I. Yanic Perreault, C, Trois Rivieres. 2. Philippe Boucher, D, Granby. 3. Eric Lavigne, D. Hull. 4. Martin Lapointe, LW, Laval. 4.(tie) Patrick Poulin, LW, St-Hyacinthe. 6. Rene Corbet, LW, Drummondville. 7. Francois Groleau. D. Shawinigan. 8. Patrice Martineau, LW, Chicoutimi.WESTERN LEAGUE: I. Scott Niedermayer, D, Kamloops. 2. Jeff Nelson, C, Prince Albert. 3. Pat Falloon, C, Spokane. 4. Brent Bilodeau, D, Seattle. 5. Richard Matvichuk, D, Saskatoon. 6. Lee Leslie, C, Prince Albert. 6.(tie) Darcy Werenka, D, Lethbridge. 8. Donevan Hextail. LW, Prince Albert. 8. Ray Whitney, C, Spokane.<h2>BATTING. 500</h2>Buffalo has brought mediocrity to new heights this season. After 66 games, the Sabres were. 500 at home (11-11-0),. 500 on the road (14-14-6),. 500 against the Patrick Division (5-5-4) and. 500 against the Smythe. And although they were one game over. 500 against the Norris Division (6-5-2), they made up for it by playing one game under. 500 against the Adams (9-10-7). They were also. 500 when outshooting their opponents.<h2>QUESTION OF THE WEEK:</h2>Why didn&rsquo;t you make a trade before the March 5 trading deadline?&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not exactly happy with our team, but I didn&rsquo;t think making a trade would make us any better,&rdquo; said Winnipeg general manager Mike Smith. &ldquo;For what was available, it didn&rsquo;t make sense.&rdquo; Winnipeg is battling Vancouver for the final playoff spot in the Smythe Division. &#9632;

MacLEAN’S THE BOSS IN THIS ARENA

&#9632; Your guide to winning your NHL playoff pool. We&rsquo;ll give you the key information on the most important players. And we&rsquo;ll tell you who will win in the playoffs and why.&#9632; Philadelphia&rsquo;s Tim Kerr has battled back after a difficult season. We&rsquo;ll tell you how the right winger has dealt with his setbacks&mdash;at work and at home.&#9632; Maine&rsquo;s Ralph Barahona and John Byce both won NCAA championships last season in Wisconsin&mdash;Byce with the Wisconsin Badgers and Barahona with Wisconsin-Steven&rsquo;s Point. Now they&rsquo;re linemates with the Mariners.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03185/5854360-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="550" height="637"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Kerr</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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March 22, 1991

NOBLE CAUSE

THIS WEEK

SCOREBOARD

DISCOVERING THE WARMTH OF RUSSIA IN FEBRUARY