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.

January 10, 1992

The Hockey News Janaury 10, 1992

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div>Rick Comacchia didn&rsquo;t want to even think about where Canada would be at the World Junior Championships without goalie Trevor Kidd.&ldquo;No kidding,&rdquo; Comacchia acknowleged without batting an eye when a reporter said that Kidd had saved Canada&rsquo;s skin several times at the eight-country, round-robin tournament in Fussen, Germany.Kidd was preparing himself for the 1992 Winter Games with Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team when Dave King answered Comacchia&rsquo;s pleas for the promising netminder, a first-round draft pick of the Calgary Flames in 1990.Comacchia felt Canada wouldn&rsquo;t be able to challenge for a third straight World Junior title unless he was able to add Kidd to his roster.Kidd didn&rsquo;t disappoint Comacchia, although he wasn&rsquo;t exactly at his best in Canada&rsquo;s wins over Germany and Switzerland Dec. 26 and 27. A flu bug had sapped his strength and he almost fainted twice in the opener against Germany, which Canada won 5-4 on a goal by Patrick Poulin with 20 seconds remaining.But as Kidd got healthier his netminding got sharper. It couldn&rsquo;t have happened at a more opportune time for the Canadians. Anything less than excellent performances by the 19-year-old against Sweden and Finland Dec. 29 and 30 would have dropped Canada out contention for the gold in the pressure-packed event.&ldquo;Trevor&rsquo;s an outstanding goaltender,&rdquo; Cornacchia said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what we expected&mdash;to keep us in games and give us the opportunity to get something going.&rdquo;Trouble is Kidd will be remembered for one play that didn&rsquo;t go his way.The Canadians tried to nurse a one-goal lead and were 14 seconds away from mission accomplished against Sweden when they were called for icing.Eric Lindros lost the ensuing faceoff and the puck rolled to the point. A weak shot made its way to the left side of the Canadian goal where Kidd attempted to play it, but flubbed his effort.&ldquo;I took a swipe at it and he (Swedish forward Mikael Nylander) got it before I did and I don&rsquo;t know where it went from there.&rdquo;Kidd turned around to see Mikael Renberg put it into a wide-open Canadian net for a 2-2 tie with seven seconds left in the game.The next night against Finland, Kidd was outstanding and again saved Canada from going down to defeat. Canada tied the Finns 2-2. That gave the Canadians a 2-0-2 record, good for second place.While the Russians were living up to their billing as fast and dangerous (4-0-0), the Americans were the surprise of the tournament, going 3-1-0 before dropping an 8-6 decision to Sweden Dec. 30.The Americans, who started with wins over Switzerland, Germany and Czechoslovakia, used to rely on a finesse game but have changed their strategy and were employing a tight-checking format.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01997/6437880-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="729" height="873"><figcaption class="caption-body">Great Scott: Defenseman Scott Lachance led the surprising young Americans.</figcaption></div>Head coach Walt Kyle isn&rsquo;t afraid to bench players who don&rsquo;t hold up their end of the defensive game plan.&ldquo;Defense wins championships and that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;ve been getting across to the guys,&rdquo; Kyle said.Scott Lachance, a first-round pick a by the New York Islanders last June, was a workhorse for the Americans.On loan from the U.S. Olympic team, Lachance has had to adjust to a winning environment. That Olympic squad has had an unsuccessful pre-Olympic season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re treating every game like a medal game,&rdquo; Lachance said. &ldquo;The big thing is we&rsquo;re developing good chemistry and that&rsquo;s important in a short-term tournament like this.&rdquo;The World Junior Championships are being held in the Bavarian Alps.The view from the Canadian hotel is picture postcard perfect. Rising from a pinnacle of rock is Neuschwanstein, a castle Walt Disney used as a model for Sleeping Beauty and for Disneyland itself.But it has been anything but Disney-like for some of the Canadians. The same flu which hit Kidd also hit 10 other players.Sickness, poor play and good goaltending by the opposition led to frustrations.Lindros, for one, blew a gasket at the end of the Swiss game. He deliberately rifled a slap shot at the Swiss bench after the game had ended, an action he later called stupid and embarrassing. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Star goalie treats Canada with Kidd gloves

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div>Civic leaders in Grand Forks, N.D., are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for Jace Reed, the University of North Dakota defenseman recovering from multiple organ transplants.Reed collapsed from severe dehydration during a 10-kilometer training run Sept. 15. The Grand Rapids, Minn., native underwent a liver and kidney transplant in early October and a second liver transplant later that month. He was released from Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Minn., Dec. 11 and is undergoing rehabilitation at home.&ldquo;It was such a wonderful Christmas present for the Reed family to have Jace released,&rdquo; said Fighting Sioux coach Gino Gasparini. &ldquo;It has been such a long ordeal for them and it&rsquo;s wonderful for them&mdash;and all of us&mdash;to have him back home.&rdquo;Several members of the Grand Forks&rsquo; community donated money to help the Reed family pay for medical expenses. Nearly $30,000 was raised through Dec. 18.Grand Forks attorney John Marshall -a leading force behind the fund-raising effort-said everyone offered support. Children offered their allowances and local business leaders chipped in hundreds of dollars.One elementary school student said he didn&rsquo;t have money, but would &ldquo;pray really hard&rdquo; to help Reed get better.&ldquo;In 30 years of fund raising, I have never seen anything like this,&rdquo; Marshall said. &ldquo;I have never seen a greater outpouring of love and support. It&rsquo;s coming from third&mdash;and fourth-graders. It&rsquo;s coming from people of all ages and jobs. It&rsquo;s an absolute outpouring of financial, moral and caring support.&rdquo;Reed won&rsquo;t return to school this year, but should be back to complete his business degree next year, Gasparini said.REMEMBERING BOB: The Wisconsin Badgers will wear decals on their helmets for the rest of the season in memory of former coach Bob Johnson, who died of brain cancer Nov. 26. The decals will bear Johnson&rsquo;s initials &ldquo;RNJ.&rdquo;Johnson coached the Badgers for 15 seasons from 1966-1981, compiling a 367-175-23 record. He led the team to three NCAA championships-1973, 1977 and 1981&mdash;and was named NCAA coach of the year in 1977.Johnson coached the NHL&rsquo;s Pittsburgh Penguins last year, guiding them to their first Stanley Cup championship.SATERDALEN SETS MARK: With two goals in a series split with Minnesota-Duluth Dec. 13-14, St. Cloud senior center Jeff Saterdalen became the all-time leading scorer in team history. The Bloomington, Minn, native had 66 goals and 147 points at the Christmas break. He surpassed Mike Brodzinski&rsquo;s mark of 146 points (76 goals) set from 1984-87 when the Huskies competed at the NCAA Division III level&hellip;Two members of the Michigan Tech Huskies will be sidelined indefinitely with back injuries. Senior defenseman Darcy Martini has a broken vertebrae of unknown origin. He appeared in the Huskies&rsquo; first seven games, but went for X-rays after experiencing back pain. They showed a fracture and Martini may be lost for the season. Senior left winger Davis Payne will be out until mid-February with a herniated disc&hellip;When Northern Michigan swept Minnesota in Minneapolis Dec. 14-15, it was a big moment for NMU sophomore right winger Steve Woog. Woog is the son of Minnesota Golden Gophers&rsquo; coach Doug Woog, and it marked his first trip to Mariucci Arena as a member of the Wildcats. &ldquo;It was a weird feeling stepping out on that ice surface,&rdquo; Woog said. &ldquo;I wanted to win more than anyone on the team.&rdquo; &#9632;

Sioux fans rally behind Reed family

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0005-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011514/6436959-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Ken Warren</div>Forget the players. Unhappy coaches and management stole center stage in the Quebec League prior to the Christmas break.St-Hyacinthe Laser coach Pierre Petroni and Laval Titan boss Bob Hartley heated up their feud during the pre-game warmup Dec. 9. The two met behind the goal area in the Centre Sportif Laval for a not-so-polite discussion.Their war of words started in a Montreal newspaper the day of the game, when Hartley read what he thought was disparaging comments against his team from Petroni.Immediately following their brief debate on the ice, Hartley claimed a Laser player intentionally shot a puck at a Laval owner sitting in the stands.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s unacceptable,&rdquo; Hartley said. &ldquo;It almost turned into a brawl, but I told my players to stay on their side of the red line. (Petroni) started bitching and asked me if I wanted to get even. I said &lsquo;No problem&rsquo;. No one can come into our building and do that to one of our owners. He put fuel on the fire by saying all that (stuff) in the paper before the game.&rdquo;Hartley and Petroni received a one-game suspension and a $500 fine from Quebec League vice-president Michel (Bunny) Larocque.Petroni accepted responsibility and was remorseful the situation mushroomed as it did.&ldquo;I got caught up in the emotion,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was an error in judgement. This game is supposed to be for the players and fans. I set a bad example doing what I did.&rdquo;The incident leaves a black eye on the image of the QMJHL, said president Gilles Courteau.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not in the 1970&rsquo;s anymore, we&rsquo;re in the &rsquo;90&rsquo;s,&rdquo; Courteau said. &ldquo;Not only is it not good for the league, it&rsquo;s not great for the future of the league. When players have the option of going to an American college, and they see this stuff on TV or in the papers, it doesn&rsquo;t help. We are a major junior league, we have to operate like one.&rdquo;Courteau also didn&rsquo;t mince words in reference to an incident involving one of the Laval owners following a 3-2 loss to Hull Nov. 24.Carol Morissette, one of six brothers who own the Titan, verbally abused referee Michel Lemieux in the hallway outside the officials&rsquo; dressing room. Morissette was fined $5,000-which he will get back at the end of the season should the behavior not be repeated.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s bad,&rdquo; Courteau said. &ldquo;When you own a business worth a quarter million dollars, you have to act like you own something worth a quarter million dollars. I understand the game is very emotional, but management has to be in control of its coaches, its players and themselves.&rdquo;Also receiving a one-game suspension was Victoriaville Tigres&rsquo; rookie coach Pierre Aubry, who threw a water bottle in the direction of official Guy Joubert Dec. 13.CROWDED CREASE: The St-Jean Lynx surprised a few people when it invited 12 goaltenders to training camp. Well, it may come close to using that many this season if it keeps up its current pace.The Lynx was banking on the return of overage Patrick Labrecque from the Quebec Nordiques, but he has spent the season with Halifax of the American League. So St-Jean has used six netminders this season.David Bergeron, Patrick Laferiere, Martin Lavallee, Jean-Francois Gagnon, Steve Plasse and Jean-Pascal Lemelin have all suited up in goal for at least one game.Of the group, rookie Bergeron, 17, has the best goals-against average at 3.73 in 13 games. Gagnon, 19, has been the busiest playing 20 games with a 4.97 GAA. &#9632;

Coaches heat up their feud

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011426/6436756-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="370" height="360"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021167/6436749-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="80" height="66"></div>Louie Crawford. Ten seasons and more than 600 minor pro games later, Bruin winger scores first NHL goal.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03856/6436742-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="78" height="60"></div>Larry Murphy. Penguin quietly became 10th defense-man to hit 700-career point mark Dec. 26</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04629/6436735-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="76" height="66"></div>Daryl Lubiniecki. Saskatoon (WHL) GM made callous and homophobic statement about AIDS testing.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05462/6436728-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="76" height="66"></div>Bill LaForge. Doesn&rsquo;t this guy ever learn? Guelph coach&rsquo;s &ldquo;body bag&rdquo; remark was in very poor taste.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06345/6436721-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="368" height="366"></div> &#9632;

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CHEERS & JEERS

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-07221/6436787-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="385" height="489"></div>Alan Eagleson leaves us with a bang. Not a whimper. Was there ever any doubt?His career has been carved out of controversy.But even by Eagleson standards this has been a trying year. First, there was Net Worth. Then, the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune five-part series.And on Dec. 27, news of the FBI investigating NHL Players&rsquo; Association business practices during Eagleson&rsquo;s 24-year stewardship. (See opposite page.)Eagleson&rsquo;s tenure as executive director of the NHLPA ended Dec. 31.Bob Goodenow officially succeeded the union founder on that date. Goodenow has been filling that role unofficially for some time.The NHLPA was the better for having Eagleson and it will be the better for not having him.He was the impetus for change in 1967 but nearly a quarter of a century later it is long past time for a change.It&rsquo;s not healthy for one man to nan an organization that long. Not when the leadership is so top-heavy. Eagleson says that he was the executive director, not executive dictator. Many of his words and actions have suggested otherwise.A well-informed membership is one of Goodenow&rsquo;s priorities. So is expanding the staff and the union&rsquo;s licensing agreements.Additionally, the NHLPA is moving out of its longtime headquarters at Maitland House in Toronto. Eagleson has a share in ownership of the building.Goodenow says the union is leaving because it needs room to grow. That is true both in symbolic and spatial terms.The Eagleson era is over. The NHLPA is moving on.The 12-year-old prodigy is hiding underneath a baseball cap and studying his black shoes during a postgame chat Dec. 29. Dan Tkaczuk is a lot more expressive on the ice than off it. The Toronto Red Wings&rsquo; minor peewee center is closing in on his 200th goal this season and 1,000th of his career.The Red Wings are virtually unbeatable; they had won 74 of 78 games this season. Tkaczuk is not a one-man team, although he outscored three of the first four teams Toronto faced at the Don Mills (Ont.) international tournament over the holidays.He scored 14 goals; the opposition scored four. Teammate Adam Colagiacomo had 13 goals. Shane Nash had 19 assists.At 5-foot-10, Tkaczuk towers over most of the opposition but it would be a mistake to assume his advantage is merely one of size, Tkaczuk isn&rsquo;t just bigger than most players his age; he&rsquo;s better. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s his size (that makes him special),&rdquo; coach Peter Mavroudis says. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s his intelligence.&rdquo;Daniel is the son of a Polish immigrant who can&rsquo;t skate. Andy Tkaczuk enlists the help of his other son, g Marek, when he rents a Mississauga arena to school Daniel in fundamentals.The Grade 7 student is well-known in Toronto hockey circles. Irate parents have yelled, &ldquo;Break his leg,&rdquo; when Daniel has gone on past scoring binges. He has scored as many as 18 goals in one game.A lot of things have changed for the black-haired boy since a limit was imposed upon him several years ago. That season, no matter how many goals he scored, only five counted per game.A lot of things haven&rsquo;t changed. Years later, the counting continues. &#9632;

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Surprise, the Eagle years end stormily

<div class="byline">By Al Morganti Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011571/6436849-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Alan Eagleson and the NHL Players Association is in the eye of yet another storm With news the FBI is investigating the NHLPA. (Photo by Bruce BennetUBBS)</figcaption></div>The official end of the Alan Eagleson era in the NHL has been postponed indefinitely. Five days before Eagleson stepped down as executive director of the NHLPlayers&rsquo; Association, shocking news emerged from Boston.The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said Dec. 26 it is investigating NHLPA business practices since the union&rsquo;s formation in 1967. Eagleson was the NHLPA&rsquo;s founder and only executive director until Dec. 31 when Bob Goodenow formally succeeded him.Eagleson has been one of hockey&rsquo;s most controversial figures for nearly 25 years withstanding the slings and arrows of many critics. This may represent Eagleson&rsquo;s greatest challenge, although he was not named by the FBI.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve initiated an investigation into the NHL Players&rsquo; Association with respect to certain financial transactions and arrangements,&rdquo; special agent William McMullin said Dec. 30, from FBI offices in Boston.A It is not known what specifically triggered the investigation, nor what the FBI is seeking. But it is generally believed the investigation was prompted by a five-part series that appeared in the Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune, Sept. 22-26. The newspaper examined questionable business practices employed by Eagleson during his reign as executive director.Eagleson was unavailable for comment on the (o&rsquo;Bl probe. The NHLPA said he was in Paris over the Christmas holidays and was not expected to return until Jan. 2. Ironically, he was also overseas in the fall when the Eagle-Tribune series was published.On his return, he defended his record and condemned the articles, which alleged Eagleson consistently placed himself in conflicts of interest and profited from his role as union leader.&ldquo;I have not made my money off the backs of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association,&rdquo; Eagleson said in the Oct. 25 issue of The Hockey News. &ldquo;I have not made my money off the backs of professional hockey players&hellip;There has not been one speck of impropriety.&rdquo;The latest controversy to engulf Eagleson and the NHL surrounds a $24-million pension Hktgue teams used to offset contributions to the pension fund.Former NHL players have launched civil suits in Canada and the U.S., claiming they are entitled to a share of the surplus. Eagleson said in the fall that he was glad the matter was before the courts and looked forward to a decision.Legal sources familiar with previous and present civil cases concerning the NHLPA postulate the FBI investigation will center on five areas: 1) pension matters; 2) insurance payments; 3) client fee structures; 4) money management and; 5) conflicts of interest.McMullin said, the investigation has been &ldquo;ongoing&rdquo; and the only reason it has been made public was in response to queries from the media.A &ldquo;Normally, we don&rsquo;t even confirm the fact the we have an investigation until such time as they hit the courts,&rdquo; McMullin said. &ldquo;But in cases like this, which was going to generate interest-just in the process of making contacts around the country-we just acknowledged the investigation. I really can not comment much beyond that.&rdquo;McMullin did clear up an early misconception that NHL activities were also being reviewed. &ldquo;The investigation is concerning the National Hockey League Players&rsquo; Association,&rdquo; he said.However, it&rsquo;s worth noting the NHL is inexorably tied to the NHLPA, and the FBI has already asked for what might literally amount to a ton of information from league headquarters in New York and the 15 U.S.-based teams.It was speculated the FBI would enlist the help of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to secure information from the league&rsquo;s seven Canadian teams. (Goodenow had not been officially notified of the investigation as of Dec. 30 but said the Toronto-based NHLPA will cooperate with any investigation.)&ldquo;The NHL might not be named in the investigation,&rdquo; said one legal source who has had dealings with the NHL and NHLPA, &ldquo;but I think there is going to be some investigation on both sides of the coin The way things are structured, it&rsquo;s going to be difficult to look into one without also looking at the business practice of the other.&rdquo;The league&rsquo;s usual end-of-year clean-up could not be completed because of the investigation. A league directive issued Dec. 30 advised teams not to throw out anything that might be of use to the FBI. The NHL and its U.S-based clubs have said they will comply with the FBI.&ldquo;The National Hockey League was advised that the U.S.-based members clubs have been served with subpoenas to produce documents for a Grand Jury investigation in a U.S. District Court in Boston, Mass.,&rdquo; Ziegler said in a prepared statement.&ldquo;Counsel has advised that neither the National Hockey League, nor its member clubs are targets of this investigation. As is appropriate, the league and its member clubs will cooperate.&rdquo;The sheer volume of information requested by the FBI is said to be overwhelming. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s sort of like they want every piece of paper ever written to or sent from the office of the NHLPA since 1967,&rdquo; said one office employee of an NHL club. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if the FBI knows just how much volume there is. Just the insurance stuff is a ton.&rdquo;The FBI has asked for pension and insurance records dating back to 1967. Curiously, it has also asked for league &ldquo;position papers&rdquo; on free agency. The NHLPA has made limited gains in terms of free agency over the years.It has long been speculated Eagleson was too close to the owners for the good of the players. It is a charge Eagleson has steadfastly denied, along with any other suggestions of wrongdoing. &ldquo;I may not always be right,&rdquo; he said in the fall, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ll never be on the side of wrong.&rdquo;McMullin said the FBI will follow through in this investigation and then decide whether it has evidence that warrants prosecution.&ldquo;Normally what we do is conduct the investigation and then go to the United States Attorneys Office for a prosecutorial opinion,&rdquo; McMullin said. &ldquo;It depends on whether or not they believe-once we&rsquo;ve gathered the evidence-that there is or there is not a violation which should be prosecuted. Once the investigation has been completed, it&rsquo;s up to them.&rdquo;McMullin would not speculate on how long the investigation will last. &#9632;

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NHLPA activities scrutinized

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011600/6436880-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Detroit&rsquo;s Fine Young Centers-Sergei Fedorov, Steve Yzerman and Jimmy Carson-are arguably the most talented nroun of centers ever assembled on one NHL team, maybe the best of all time. (Photo by Dan Hamilton)</figcaption></div>When people speak of the Big Three around the Motor City these days, they&rsquo;re not necessarily talking about General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.Among euphoric hockey fans in Detroit that term refers to the Red Wings&rsquo; trinity of Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Jimmy Carson, whose combined production, unlike the local car business, is way up. And so are the Wings in die NHL standings.Whether this is the most talented trio of centers ever assembled on an NHL team is open to debate. One thing is certain, though: the Calgary Flames, deep with talent up the middle themselves, would be hard-pressed to argue against it. Consider:Nov. 12: Carson scores a goal and assists on the other four in a 5-4 overtime win at the Olympic Saddledome.Dec. 3: Yzerman scores a hat trick, including the game-winner, in a 5-2 victory over the Flames at Joe Louis Arena.Dec. 14: Fedorov scores twice, including the overtime game-winner, in a 4-3 victory at Calgary.&ldquo;There aren&rsquo;t many teams that can match that,&rdquo; lamented Calgary coach-general manager Doug Risebrough, who failed with several different combinations against Detroit&rsquo;s top three lines.&ldquo;Most nights, we&rsquo;ve got one or two offensive lines to worry about,&rdquo; Risebrough said. &ldquo;But Detroit can throw three at you, all with great potential. And not many teams carry three defensive centermen.&rdquo;And not many coaches have had to worry about dividing minutes between three centers who could anchor the No. 1 line on many NHL clubs. But the Wings&rsquo; Bryan Murray was doing a good juggling act as his team flirted with first place in the overall league standings as mid-season approached.&ldquo;Bryan is using us in a way that&rsquo;s good for all of us,&rdquo; Carson said. &ldquo;But what we have here are three strong centers who would really like to play 25 minutes a game.&rdquo;The only problem is, NHL games are only 60 minutes long. Yzerman, 26, averages 23 to 25 minutes between wingers Gerard Gallant and Bob Probert. Fedorov, 22, with former centers Shawn Burr and Paul Ysebaert on his wings, usually gets 18-20, but more when he&rsquo;s assigned to check the other top centers around the league. Carson, 23, with rotating left wingers and Ray Sheppard on his right, gets what&rsquo;s left-18-20 on a good night and sometimes far fewer at home, where the matchups usually favor the Fedorov and Yzerman lines. Yzerman gets a few extra minutes double-shifting on the fourth line.Yet the three were remarkably close atop the team&rsquo;s list of scorers. Fedorov, who may have no equal in the world among two-way centers, was the team scoring leader after 34 games with 13 goals and 38 points. Yzerman rebounded from a slow start to log 17 goals and 35 points. And Carson had 14 goals and 34 points, making him the team&rsquo;s best producer on a points-per-minutes-played basis.&ldquo;Fedorov is playing great. He has outplayed (Chicago&rsquo;s Jeremy) Roenick in three games in a row,&rdquo; Quebec coach-GM Pierre Page said. &ldquo;Carson is having the best year of his career. Never mind the statistics. He&rsquo;s playing the best hockey of his life right now. And Yzerman is Yzerman, one of the best players in the world.&rdquo;Matched against some of the game&rsquo;s biggest stars, Fedorov is at his best, prompting considerable early attention as a Selke Trophy candidate. Roenick was 0-2-2 and minus-5 in three games against the Wings, in which Fedorov had four goals and eight points. St. Louis&rsquo; Adam Oates was 0-3-3 and minus-5 in three games in Detroit and 1-3-4 and plus-2 in one game in St. Louis, where coach Brian Sutter managed to get him away from Fedorov. Los Angeles&rsquo; Wayne Gretzky was 0-1-1 and minus-1 in two games; Quebec&rsquo;s Joe Sakic was 0-0-0 and minus-3 in two games; and, the New York Rangers&rsquo; Mark Messier was 0-1-1 and minus-2 in one game. The Wings were 9-2-1 in those games.&ldquo;I like to play against the best lines,&rdquo; Fedorov said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough work, you know, but I think we do a good job.&rdquo;Granted, none of Detroit&rsquo;s centers are on pace to reach 50 goals (as Yzerman has done the past four years and Carson did as a teenager with L.A.) or 100 points (Yzerman four times and Carson twice). But the Wings were winning at a pace not witnessed in Detroit since Gordie Howe and Terry Sawchuk patrolled the ice during the dynasty of the early 1950s. Their stretch of 18 games with one loss, 14-1-3, was Detroit&rsquo;s best since 195253, when the Wings went 11-17.&ldquo;I like the type of team we have,&rdquo; said Murray, whose mission since taking the job in Detroit 18 months ago has been to find enough capable wingers to complement the centers assembled by his predecessor, Jimmy Devellano. &ldquo;I like the balance. It&rsquo;s not all carried by one or two people.&rdquo;Of the three, Yzerman, has had to make the most visible adjustment. A few years ago, he was playing upwards of 30 minutes a game, sometimes as much as 35.&ldquo;He was the reason this team won or lost most nights,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;His ice time is down) but in talking to Steve both last year and this year, I know he really wants to win. Now, the pressure is not on him every night.&rdquo;Which suits Yzerman just fine. Contrary to the widespread belief that he is unhappy, Yzerman has rarely felt better about his play or his team in his nine NHL seasons.&ldquo;I feel very comfortable with the system we&rsquo;re playing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Things have changed. I&rsquo;m not always on in every situation. We&rsquo;ve got other guys who are getting increased roles because we&rsquo;ve got more depth.&rdquo;Carson has adapted well, too. His defensive play has steadily improved (plus-13 in 34 games).Carson&rsquo;s improvement is largely due to help he received from teammate Brad McCrimmon last season.While all three are praised around the league for their offensive prowess, Murray appreciates their work in all three zones.&ldquo;I want them all to be pretty well-rounded players,&rdquo; Murray said of his Big Three. &ldquo;Ice time doesn&rsquo;t allow any of them to score as many points as a lot of other teams&rsquo; better players. But each of them tells me they prefer to win over anything else.&rdquo;But what of being the best of all time?&ldquo;Our guys, boy oh boy, they certainly rank right up there in terms of talent,&rdquo; said Devellano, now the Wings&rsquo; senior vice-president &ldquo;And the thing that&rsquo;s really exciting about then is that they&rsquo;re all relatively young.&rdquo; &#9632;

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The Big Three

Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Jimmy Carson have undeniably earned their wings and as a trio of centers-have no peers in today&rsquo;s game. But they&rsquo;re up against some stiff competition for the best of all-time honor.Here&rsquo;s a look at some of the other talented trinities in NHL history:&bull; Alex Delvecchio, Norm Ullman and Earl (Dutch) Reibel were the Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; centers in the late 1950&rsquo;s. Delvecchio and Ullman are in the Hall of Fame and Reibel won the Lady Byng Trophy in 1956. Delvecchio took Lady Byng honors three years later.&bull; There wasn&rsquo;t a team in the 1950s and &rsquo;60s that didn&rsquo;t covet Montreal&rsquo;s foursome of Jean Beliveau, Henri Richard, Phil Goyette and Ralph Backstrom. Beliveau and Richard captured first&mdash;and second-team all-star berths three times.&bull; Bobby Clarke, Rick MacLeish and Orest Kindrachuk were a superstar, a super talent and a super worker for the Philadelphia Flyers in the mid&mdash;to late-1970s. They were supplemented by Terry Crisp and Bill Clement, who helped lead the Flyers to two straight Cups.&bull; Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Craig MacTavish of the Edmonton Oilers were masters of their craft. With apologies to Bryan Trottier, Butch Goring and Brent Sutter of the New York Islanders, the decade belonged to the Oiler trio.&mdash;Al Morganti &#9632;

Best ever? It’s too early to tell

An open letter to NHL president John Ziegler:In all your years of bumbling through the NHL presidency, you have never demonstrated such ignorance and poor judgement as when you expressed the league&rsquo;s policy on AIDS testing (THN, Dec. 6).You say AIDS is a social problem, not a hockey problem. The truth is, it&rsquo;s everybody&rsquo;s problem. It doesn&rsquo;t Make sense to isolate AIDS to hockey but it must be addressed in the hockey world. AIDS does not discriminate. It can kill you just as easily as it can kill me&hellip;or any member of the NHL.Why not simply encourage anonymous testing of players? It&rsquo;s time for you to open your eyes to this matter. If you think the NHL is exempt from this horrible, yet preventable disease, think again. I&rsquo;m sure the Los Angeles Lakers thought they were untouchable.No wonder AIDS has been so successful at killing thousands of people: It&rsquo;s people like you who give free aiblicity to pure ignorance.Katherine FrantaBrooklyn, N. Y.(Ed. note: While opposed to mandatory AIDS testing, Ziegler has encouraged each team to give players the opportunity to be tested voluntarily and confidentially.)<h2>Cover your assets</h2>It bewilders me why the management of the Quebec Nordiques continues to risk having its greatest asset devalued over the next few months.The extremely hectic schedule that Eric Lindros is keeping these days will undoubtedly increase his potential for injury and fatigue. If Lindros gets injured, Quebec will lose potentially great player acquisitions.Why don&rsquo;t the Nordiques handpick who they want from another NHL team now and pass on the risk? Will his market value be any higher next summer?Jim BooneOttawa. Ont.<h2>Welcome back</h2>My sincerest thanks to Jay Greenberg for his touching piece on Badger Bob Johnson (THN, Dec. 13). It&rsquo;s great to have you back, Jay. That piece was one of your best.Tom Speyer&nbsp;Pittsburgh. Pa.<h2>Wake up, Russ</h2>If Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; general manager Russ Farwell thinks that firing coach Paul Holmgren is the answer to his team&rsquo;s troubles, he doesn&rsquo;t have a clue what is going on.Why doesn&rsquo;t he go behind the Which if he thinks he can do better? He had a big part in assembling the team and that&rsquo;s where the problem lies. It was a really smart move to fire the coach and keep the scouting staff.Russ Farwell wouldn&rsquo;t know a good coach if he fell over one.William Anderson&nbsp;Philadelphia. Pa<h2>Unlucky times five</h2>This letter is in regard to your &ldquo;No Puck Luck&rdquo; story in the Dec. 13 issue.In the story, you say that Brian Propp has played 159 playoff games, including four Stanley Cup final series with losing teams: Philadelphia twice, Boston and Minnesota.Actually, Propp has lost with the Flyers three times (1980, 1985 and 1987) and has played in five finals without winning the Stanley Cup.Rod Johnson&nbsp;Scarborough, Ont.<h2>Keep up the fight</h2>I recently read about a marketing survey that suggested that 70 per cent of Canadians are against fighting in hockey. Surely that poll could not have been conducted at the turnstiles of NHL rinks.Nobody endorses the illegal stick work in today&rsquo;s game but the one-minute flurries that occasionally break out add intensity and entertainment to an already fast and exciting game.I think we can still watch the Proberts fight the McSorleys and the Baumgartners fight the Hunters and still enjoy the excellence and grace of the Gretzkys and Savards.Ed EislerBrantford, Ont.<h2>Sharks for real</h2>Just when Stan Fischler thought it was safe to stick a fork in the San Jose Sharks (THN, Nov. 29), they begin to show some teeth.I take exception to the notion that all there is in San Jose are fancy uniforms and a bunch of nobodies to wear them. The Sharks are for real. They are respectable against Smythe Division opponents and will continue to improve.Give us Sharks&rsquo; fans a break. Everyone knows that Sharks always circle before they strike, and some unsuspecting NHL teams are in for a big surprise.Eric Valeri&nbsp;San Jose, Calif.Make your feelings known. Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 445-0753&nbsp;or write to&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont., M3B 2R2&nbsp;in Canada. In the U.S., write xso&nbsp;Letters, The Hockey News, P.O. Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y., 14240-9947.&nbsp;Include home and business phone numbers.&nbsp;THN&nbsp;reserves the right to edit submissions. &#9632;

NHL must take AIDS seriously

<div class="byline">By Rand Simon</div><h2>The pluses and minuses</h2>The merits of the plus-minus statistic have long been debated by hockey fans. While the statistic does have its shortcomings, it is a useful tool to compare players on the same team. Here are the teammates with the widest plus-minus variances.islanders: Benoit Hogue (+22), Tom Kurvers (-23).Rangers: Mark Hardy (+22), Normand Rochefort (-12).Detroit: Paul Ysebaert (+27), Brent Fedyk (-3).Pittsburgh: Larry Murphy (+25), Grant Jennings (-5).Winnipeg: Teppo Numminen (+10), Fredrik Olausson (-16).<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021091/6436990-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="561" height="749"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Murphy</figcaption></div><h2>Records made to be broken</h2>Based on current projections, the following single-season records will fall in 1991-92. The old record is in parentheses, followed by what would be the new record.Wins by goalie: (47, Bernie Parent, Philadelphia 1973-74); 48, Tim Cheveldae, Detroit.Games by a goalie: (75, Grant Fuhr, Edmonton 1987-88); 80, Cheveldae.Assists by rookie defenseman: (60, Larry Murphy, L.A. 1980-81); 61, Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit.Points by left winger: (121, Michel Goulet, Quebec 1983-84); 141, Kevin Stevens, Pittsburgh. &#9632;

f0005-02

LISTS

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011691/6437021-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="389" height="509"></div>This is the New Jersey Devils&rsquo; 10th season in the NHL. Some occasions are more worth celebrating than others. The Devils haven&rsquo;t published a book to mark the anniversary. We can do the job in two paragraphs:The Devils moved to the Meadowlands from Denver in 1982. They dressed like Christmas trees. Wayne Gretzky called them Mickey Mouse. In 1988, the Devils became hot in March, made the playoffs on the final night of the regular season on an overtime goal, and won two rounds of the playoffs. Many hockey fans in North Jersey stopped rooting for the New York Rangers for almost two months.Since then, the Devils have hired a lot of players who can&rsquo;t speak English and have made the playoffs twice. But they lost in the first round both times, so now the fans like the Rangers again.That&rsquo;s it, the complete history of the Devils.&ldquo;Everywhere we go people want to write stories about me,&rdquo; says coach Tommy McVie. &ldquo;That tells me we have no identity.&rdquo;Opposing coaches have always puzzelled over which Devil line to check. Opposition goons have never known what Devil to fight. Until he was traded to Montreal in September, Kirk Muller was the greatest Devil of all time. Fine player. Nice person. But he has all the charisma of a Marsh peg.Last summer one of the Devils&rsquo; better faceless players, Brendan Shanahan, signed with the St. Louis Blues. Lou Lamoriello, the Devil general manger, asked for defenseman Scott Stevens as compensation. The Blues offered center Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, goalie Curtis Joseph, and a draft choice.With Peter Stastny turning 34, and Patrik Sundstrom&rsquo;s body falling apart, Brind&rsquo;Amour, promising, if unproven, would have been a fine addition to the Devils. No matter how many mean things Lamoriello told arbitrator Ed Houston about Joseph, the GM knew he was a better goalie than Craig Billington, who subsequently has become Chris Terreri&rsquo;s backup.Joseph has since demonstrated his quality and Brind&rsquo;Amour, subsequently dealt to Philadelphia, will prove to be the Flyers&rsquo; best trade acquisition since Mark Howe. Nevertheless, it remains obvious why Lamoriello wanted Stevens. He gives the Devils what they&rsquo;ve never enjoyed: a personality.Stevens is combative, skilled and durable. The league&rsquo;s hardest bodychecker, he plays with a passion that attracts the opposition&rsquo;s attention and their fans&rsquo; contempt. When a player like Stevens is dressed in the home team&rsquo;s uniform, he transforms patrons into zealots.Because McVie takes advantage of his six-deep defense, Stevens is not logging inordinate amounts of ice time. His real value will show up when he plays 28-32 minutes a game in the playoffs.The post-season has been referred to as crunch time, one definition of which is how your body goes numb when Stevens hits you. He&rsquo;ll play more, and better, when it matters the most.As effective as he often was in Washington, Stevens still played inconsistently. So when the Blues signed him in July 1990 to what seemed like a ridiculous four-year, $5.1 million contract, it was wondered (and here, too) whether the burdens of leadership and justifying his paycheck would make Stevens&rsquo; game even more schizophrenic. Wrong. He thrived on the responsibility, becoming a much steadier player.When he was awarded to the Devils, one of his first instincts was to go to court to remain a Blue. He opted instead for practicality.&ldquo;It would have been very expensive,&rdquo; Stevens says. &ldquo;It cost Dale McCourt $200,000 (to fight an arbitration decision) and that was (14) years ago. What would it be now?&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know who to blame, the Blues, the arbitrator, or the system. I still don&rsquo;t. But I looked at it and thought, &lsquo;Well, the Devils have a good team.&rsquo; I wouldn&rsquo;t be going some place where there was no chance to win.&rdquo;The Devils still need a center to relieve some of the offensive load from Stastny, somebody to make up some of the 40 goals lost when John MacLean&rsquo;s knee gave away, and maybe a transfer to another division, where their record would make them better than a fourth-place team.But at least now they have a personality.It didn&rsquo;t really matter what kind. Flashy would have been fine, too. Still, it seems particularly appropriate that a team called the Devils has a guy who plays with fire, melts the opposition&rsquo;s soul and occasionally wields his stick like a pitchfork.At last, this identity crisis is over. &#9632;

f0006-01

Stevens solves Devils’ I.D. crisis

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN Staff</div>There will likely be no franchise player for the new franchises at the NHL entry draft June 20 in Montreal.The word from NHL scouts is that no player has emerged as a dominant force. And that&rsquo;s not good news for the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning, which will have the first two picks in the draft.&ldquo;The expansion teams are going to have a difficult time,&rdquo; said one scout. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re going to draft somebody who definitely won&rsquo;t be ready to step in right away.&rdquo;Several players have been mentioned as the possible No. 1 pick, but there is no consensus choice. In addition to the top candidates from the major junior and U.S. college, Ryan Sittler, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound left winger from Nichols School in Buffalo has some support as the top pick. He is the son of former Toronto Maple Leaf great Darryl Sittler.Just as uncertain as who will get drafted first, is whether Ottawa or Tampa Bay will pick first. How or when that&rsquo;s to be decided had yet to be determined.Listed below are the top five players in the recent Central Scouting Bureau rankings for the Ontario, Quebec and Western Leagues and the U.S. colleges. Information includes position, team, height, weight and statistics (games-goals-assists-points) through Dec. 29. A more extensive listing can be found on page 35.OHL: 1. Todd Warriner, LW/C, Windsor, 61, 172, 35-30-27-57; 2. Cory Stillman, C, Windsor, 6-0, 174, 22-13-24-37; 3. Curtis Bowen, LW, Ottawa, 6-1, 189, 35-22-27-49; 4. Brent Tully, D. Peterborough, 6-3, 184, 35-6-11-17; 5. Brandon Convery, C, Sudbury. 6-1, 180, 20-149-23.QMJHL: 1. Paul Brosseau, RW, Hull, 6-2, 212, 25-17-20-37; 2. Simon Roy, D. Shawinigan. 6-1. 177, 36-2-14-16; 3. Dean Melanson. D, St-Hyacinthe. 6-0, 211, 10-3-4-7; 4. Martin Lepage, D, Hull, 6-1, 185, 38-2-7-9; 5. Martin Tanguay, C, College Francais, 5-11. 182. 36-2227-49.WHL: 1. David Cooper. D. Medicine Hat, 6-2, 204, 39-11-23-34; 2. Mike Rathje. D. Medicine Hat, 6-5, 203, 35-3-9-12; 3. Todd Klassen, D/RW, Tri-City. 6-0. 204. 38-19-26-45; 4. Jeff Shantz, C. Regina; 6-1, 184, 38-19-29-48; 5. Kevin Smyth. LW. Moose Jaw, 6-3, 229, 3821-30-51.U.S. Colleges: 1. Tim Hogan. D. Michigan (CCHA), 6-2, 180, 17-0-1-1; 2 Brent Peterson. C/LW. Michigan Tech (WCHA), 6-3, 195. 18-62-8; 3. Brian Loney, RW. Ohio State (CCHA). 6-2, 195, 16-13-11-24; 4. Eric Flinton, LW. New Hampshire (HE), 15-5-2-7; 5. Marko Tuomainen. RW, Clarkson (ECAC). 6-2, 190, 12-5-6-11.<h2>They&rsquo;re both in</h2>Four days after their final expansion payment was due, the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning officially gained NHL membership.League president John Ziegler made the announcement Dec. 20 after the league was satisfied both clubs met terms for expansion. The official granting of unconditional membership came one year after the Senators and Lightning were selected over several other candidates to be the NHL&rsquo;s 23rd and 24th teams.While each team made its final $22.5 million payment Dec. 16, the league needed the extra time to ensure all legal and financial documents were in order.Both teams are expected to announce shortly their minor-pro affiliates for 1992-93. Ottawa is expected to place its team in New Haven of the American League while Tampa Bay is reportedly considering the expansion Atlanta Knights of the International League.<h2>Last Senator</h2>Frank Finnigan, the last surviving member of the 1927 Stanley Cup champion Ottawa Senators, died Dec. 26 in his hometown of Shawville, Que. He was 91.He scored 97 goals and 57 assists in 466 games as a right winger with the Senators. He had 115 goals and 88 assists in 558 career games. He also played for the St. Louis Eagles and Toronto Maple Leafs.Finnigan, who was a big booster of the campaign to bring back the Senators after a 58-year absence, will have his No. 8 jersey retired when the Senators play their first game in the 1992-93 season.End of an eraCommunism isn&rsquo;t the only Soviet institution that may have come to an end.The Izvestia hockey toumame&rdquo; an international event held in the Soviet Union just before Christmas every year since 1968, did not take place this year.Hockey Canada spokesman Donald Beauchamp said the presence of several international tournaments over a short time span the Canada Cup, World Championships and the Winter Olympics-led to the cancellation of the tournament this year.The future of the Izvestia is in doubt after the fall of the Soviet Union and its federal sports funding agency, Gassport.The playing of the World Champonships and the Olympics in same year is a first. Normally the World Championships aren&rsquo;t held in Olympic years but significant sponsorship interest means the toumament will be played in 1992.The Olympic tournament is in Meribel, France from Feb. 8 to 23 and the World Championships are in Czechoslovakia April 29 to May 10.<h2>Great Scott</h2>Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; coach Scott Bowman will make his record-tying ninth All-Star Game appearance Jan. 18 in Philadelphia.Bowman was named by the NHL Dec. 18 as the Wales Conference coach to replace Bob Johnson. John son died Nov. 26 of brain cancer.Bowman will tie the All-Star Game record for most coaching appearances, held by former Montreal Canadien coach Toe Blake. &#9632;

Pickings will be slim for Senators and Lightning

A two-week compendium of significant events and developments.Dec. 17: Pittsburgh Penguins set a team record by scoring eight times in second period of a 10-2 win over San Jose Sharks.Dec. 18: Buffalo Sabres tie Washington Capitals 2-2, establishing a franchise record by playing 11 straight games without a win.Dec. 20: Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning are granted permanent membership in NHL as expansion franchises to begin play for 1992-93 season.Dec. 23: Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; right winger Joe Mullen scores four goals to lead Penguins to 6-3 win over New York Islanders.Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; right winger Mike Foligno will miss the rest of the season after breaking his right leg in Leafs&rsquo; 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.Dec. 26: Joe Mullen scores four goals and Mario Lemieux records two goals and five assists in Pittsburgh&rsquo;s 12-l win over Toronto. The 11-goal loss ties Leafs&rsquo; record for margin of defeat.World Junior Championships get underway in Germany, with Canada edging Germany 5-4 and the United States beating Finland 5-1.Dec. 27: Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune reports Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining business practices of NHL Players&rsquo; Association. The 15 U.S.-based NHL teams and league president John Ziegler are subpoenaed to supply league, club and union records dealing with insurance, pension funds and other union activities.Dec. 28: Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; right winger Brian Noonan scores four goals in Blackhawks&rsquo; 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. He scored all three of the Hawks&rsquo; goals in Chicago&rsquo;s 3-3 tie with Winnipeg Jets DEC. 27. &#9632;

THE WEEKS IN HOCKEY: DEC. 17-30

<div class="byline">By Stan Flschler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011531/6437107-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="369" height="489"></div>Nobody in hockey has a better deal than an NHL referee.He works-if you can call it that three hours a night. He gets good bucks, stays at the best hotels, never has to practise the way players do and enjoys a summer-long vacation.But the best part of being a ref is that they&rsquo;re treated like some revered, endangered species. Referees and linesmen receive better protection than the spotted owl, the vanishing bison and, certainly, Pat LaFontaine.George Bush and Brian Mulroney should be so insulated from criticism. Players and coaches see horrible call upon horrible call, inconsistency piled on inconsistency but hesitate to speak out thanks to the best gag rules since Joseph Stalin ran The Kremlin. Imagine the frustration a maligned player must absorb.&ldquo;You know this great country here has freedom of speech,&rdquo; says Boston&rsquo;s Chris Nilan, &ldquo;but we seem not to have it in this great league, the NHL, and I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s right. You say one little thing to a referee on the ice and you get a misconduct and you have no recourse &lsquo; Actually, you do have recourse, Chris. You can train to be a referee on the ice and you get a misconduct and you have no recourse Whatsoever.&rdquo;Actually, you do have recourse, Chris. You can train to be a referee.It is now apparent that only one team will be able to afford a deal for Eric Lindros, and that&rsquo;s the Paramount Communications-blessed New York Rangers.Only an entertainment-based conglomerate such as PC is willing to peel off mega-mega-mega-dollars for Eric-The-Grate. And only the Rangers have the talent depth to make the exchange palatable for Quebec. Once Lindros is in New York, PC will work a deal so that he. Will sign a film contract with its Rffiliate, Paramount Pictures, a book pact with its publishing offshoot, Simon & Schuster, and give him twice what Mark Messier&rsquo;s making to play hockey in his spare time.That&rsquo;s the easy part. The hard part is figuring what Nordiques&rsquo; president Marcel Aubut (forget Pierre Page, it&rsquo;s not his money), will accept in return.Here are some possible packages:1. Brian Leetch, Alexander Kovalev and two first rounders. 2. Leetch, John Vanbiesbrouck (or Kovalev) and Darren Turcotte for Lindros and Bryan Fogarty. 3. James Patrick, Tony Amonte, Kovalev and $5-$10 million, depending on how W&rsquo;ell Aubut bargains. 4. Patrick, Vanbiesbrouck, Turcotte, Doug Weight and $5-10 million.If you were Aubut, which package would you buy? Answer: 1.If you were Ranger GM Neil Smith, which deal would you want? Answer: 3.We all needed a good laugh before the year ended but who figured it would come in an interview with Wayne Gretzky?The Great One was asked about Tomas Sandstrom&rsquo;s suspension for high-sticking Buffalo&rsquo;s Kevin Haller. Instead of coming clean, Gretzky-with a straight face, no less-did a better bit of lawyering than Perry Mason.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021030/6437100-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="561" height="772"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tomas Sandstrom</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The question is,&rdquo; said Gretzky, &ldquo;the player (Haller) was not hurt. It was his (Sandstrom&rsquo;s) first offense. The guy never did it before.&rdquo;By this time, my ribs were splitting. Sandstrom, as Gretzky well knows, is the NHL&rsquo;s dirtiest player, give or take Esa Tikkanen, Ulf Samuelsson and the memory of Tiger Williams. Sandstrom&rsquo;s first offense happened in his first NHL game, seven years ago. Case closed.Isn&rsquo;t it apparent to the NHL&rsquo;s board of governors that increasing the space behind the net by a foot at either end was a piddling, nonsensical &ldquo;improvement&rdquo; that has had virtually no effett on the game?Gridlock is one of the most serious problems continually ignored by NHL ostriches. The result is scrambly, boring play that inhibits the precious few artists who attract customers.The time has come for a bolder attempt at opening up the game.Let&rsquo;s once and for all erase the center red line and allow passing to the far blue line. &#9632;

f0007-01

Blowing the whistle on NHL referees

<div class="byline">By Stan Flschler</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0007-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03667/6437138-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Troy Murray has earned respect in Winnipeg for his leadership on and off the ice. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Maverick player agent Rich Winter, who led the battle to depose NHL Players&rsquo; Association leader Alan Eagleson, says he got almost no support from the high-profile agents who could have helped him most. &ldquo;Where were they when help was needed?&rdquo; says Winter, who represents Esa Tikkanen of the Edmonton Oilers, among others. Winter also says during his crusade for improvements in the NHLPA he was targetted for various forms of intimidation. &ldquo;Little did I know what I was getting into. I got legitimate death threats and needed police protection.&rdquo; Winter claims more revelations about NHLPA mismanagement are on the way. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s coming,&rdquo; Winter asserts, &ldquo;will make Jimmy Hoffa look like Peter Pan.&rdquo;<h2>He&rsquo;s not game</h2>Paul Ysebaert isn&rsquo;t afraid to speak out against NHL teams playing meaningless exhibitions. The Detroit Red Wing forward, who suffered a minor injury in a match against Team USA, says none of his teammates wanted to be playing against Uncle Sam&rsquo;s skaters. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have a choice,&rdquo; says Ysebaert. &ldquo;The whole thing was just bad.&rdquo; Coach-GM Bryan Murray defends the game as a valuable tune-up for Team USA. &ldquo;NHL players going at half-speed is better competition than some college team.&rdquo;&hellip;Now that he has had a good taste of what it&rsquo;s like with the New York Rangers, captain Mark Messier detects a difference playing for one of the Original Six as opposed to a latter-day franchise such as his former team, the Edmonton Oilers. &ldquo;The Original Six teams are received differently around the league,&rdquo; Messier says. &ldquo;They have an aura about them, and they have a lot of respect when they go into the other buildings.&rdquo;<h2>Trouble Bruin</h2>Rarely has a team so frequently clashed with the radio station&mdash;and its personalities-that broadcast its games than the Boston Bruins and WEEI. One recent exchange involved Cam Neely and Andy Moes after the morning-drive host jeered the 26-year-old sharpshooter for dating 44-year-old actress Glenn Close. &ldquo;She is old enough to be his grandma,&rdquo; said Moes. Neely phoned WEEI protesting the put down, whereupon Moes wondered how Neely could accept his huge paycheck since he hasn&rsquo;t played since last spring. Teammate Chris Nilan needled Bruins&rsquo; analyst Dave Shea for not sticking up for Neely. That was not all. WEEI&rsquo;s Eddie Andelman, who launched his anti-Bruins&rsquo; campaign 25 years ago, recently tried to bury the hatchet with Harry Sinden, but the Bruins&rsquo; president wouldn&rsquo;t accept.<h2>What Mercedes?</h2>Alexei Kasatonov of the New Jersey Devils loves the capitalist system and the wealth it has brought him but sometimes the North American media has him yearning for Pravda. The Montreal Gazette recently reported &ldquo;Kasatonov has mdved into a $1.2-million home, purchased a new Mercedes, and a new car for his wife.&rdquo; The defenseman&rsquo;s agent and interpreter Mark Gandler says the Kasatonovs have only one car &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s a Volvo. As for his house, the price is nowhere near what was reported.&rdquo;&hellip;The furor over AIDS has one NHL trainer suggesting the league abolish fighting from the game. &ldquo;HIV is transferred through the blood,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;If two guys get into a fight and one has the virus and gives it to the other guy who is cut, then he, too, could get the virus. The eyes and nose are the easiest parts of the body through which the virus can be transferred. It can easily happen.&rdquo;<h2>When Troy talks&hellip;</h2>Troy Murray&rsquo;s Winnipeg renaissance is one reason for the Jets&rsquo; vast improvement in the Smythe Division. &ldquo;Some guys can say something in the dressing room and no one will listen,&rdquo; explains teammate Ed Olczyk. &ldquo;Guys will go, &lsquo;What are you talking about? You haven&rsquo;t done a thing in a week.&rsquo; But Troy can say it, then he goes on the ice and backs it up. You have to respect that.&rdquo;&hellip;Glen Sather&rsquo;s Oilers may miss the playoffs but he has no regrets about unloading ex-champs like Charlie Huddy. &ldquo;We lost Charlie because he went for money,&rdquo; says Sather. &ldquo;It was an economic decision; I wasn&rsquo;t going to give Charlie $650,000 to stay in Edmonton when he&rsquo;s 31. Let Los Angeles give it to him. At some point you have to say &lsquo;It&rsquo;s over with-see you later. Let&rsquo;s get on with something new.&rsquo;&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-03

Winter left out in the cold in struggle with NHLPA

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecklng</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0008-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-011597/6437169-1-eng-US/f0008-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Oates agreed to a contract extension with the Blues last summer, but says he still deserves more money. (Photo by Tim Parker)</figcaption></div>It seems unconscionable that the St. Louis Blues would be trying to trade star center Adam Oates, Brett Hull&rsquo;s left-hand man.The two are often mentioned as one-Hull & Oates-in a takeoff on the rock duo of Darryl Hall and John Oates. The Blues once promoted Hull & Oates as &ldquo;rockin&rsquo; the Blue note,&rdquo; and sold posters of them wearing skates on a band set. They have unquestionably made beautiful music together the past season-and-a-half and have been instrumental in the team&rsquo;s success.But a sour note has been struck. The issue is money. Oates wants more and the Blues, who have taken in several players with open wallets in recent years, have dug in their heels.Oates agreed to a contract extension this summer that will pay him $3 million over the next four years. The contract starts at $420,000 this season and culminates with just more than $1 million in 1993-94.But Oates feels he deserves more than he agreed to after scoring 115 points in 61 games last season, his second 100-point season with the Blues. Players of his ilk such as Hartford&rsquo;s John Cullen, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Ron Francis and Montreal&rsquo;s Kirk Muller-all of whom signed after Oates-eam about $1 million per season.But most upsetting to Oates is that he ranks fifth on the Blues&rsquo; salary list this season behind Hull ($1.5 million), Brendan Shanahan ($625,000), Garth Butcher ($600,000), and Dave Christian ($475,000). Only Hull started last season with the Blues.Oates has made no secret of the fact that he wants to be the second-highest paid player on the team behind Hull.&ldquo;Circumstances have changed,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m 29, and I&rsquo;m running out of time. There&rsquo;s money for the other guys. I deserve it. I earned it.&rdquo;Oates&rsquo; agent Lou Oppenheim defends his client&rsquo;s actions by saying that the extension took nine months to complete and much changed during that time. But the Blues have no intention of renegotiating the contract; saying they just did that six months ago. &ldquo;He won&rsquo;t get anything from me,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron.The only problem is that Caron has said he is unwilling to trade Oates. But something must give. Oppenheim said he and his client are not planning anything drastic like a walkout but they aren&rsquo;t willing to accept status quo either.&ldquo;Speculating on a trade would be silly,&rdquo; Oppenheim said. &ldquo;But if the club maintains its position as far as money goes then it&rsquo;s the only thing we can find acceptable.&rdquo;Among the more prominent trade rumors are Oates to Boston for disgruntled center Craig Janney; to Calgary for former Blue and equally-disgruntled center Doug Gilmour; or to New Jersey for former Blues&rsquo; captain Scott Stevens, who was lost in the controversial arbitrator&rsquo;s ruling as compensation for Shanahan.Caron admitted he inquired about Stevens, saying he &ldquo;threw a little dart&rdquo; to see if Stevens was available. He found out that Stevens isn&rsquo;t on the trading block.About the only thing Caron has traded with respect to Oates is verbal jabs. Caron threw the first one in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when he said Oates and Hull were floaters. &ldquo;Where&rsquo;s the loyalty?&rdquo; Caron said. &ldquo;Mr. Oates, if he goes back to Detroit, he won&rsquo;t make the team with the three centers they have there.&rdquo;Oates, particularly upset about the floater reference, fired back at Caron.&ldquo;I find it hard to believe that a guy who scores 160 goals over the last two years (Hull) can be called a floater,&rdquo; Oates said. &ldquo;Give me a break.&rdquo;If they&rsquo;re not willing to give him more money, a trade may be the only way the Blues can give Oates the break he&rsquo;s looking for. &#9632;

f0008-01

The Last Waltz?

<div class="byline">By Jeff Gordon</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-021247/6437207-1-eng-US/f0008-022.jpg" title="f0008-02" width="374" height="489"></div>After their exhilarating run to the Stanley Cup final, the Minnesota North Stars seemed to do all the right things in the months that followed.In their amoebic talent split with the San Jose Sharks, the Stars managed to keep top young players Mike Craig and Derian Hatcher. General manager Bobby Clarke adeptly converted the rights to defenseman Charlie Huddy, acquired via the Sharks&rsquo; talent split, into playmaking center Todd Elik.(That let the Los Angeles Kings match that staggering $600,000-a-year offer sheet the Philadelphia Flyers signed him to. That evasive action alone should earn Clarke a New Year&rsquo;s bonus from owner Norman Green.)The Stars&rsquo; jersey was redone in black and silver, making it a merchandising hit. Season ticket sales soared. The area around the once-isolated Met Center continued to grow.After much squabbling, Green gave home-grown center Neal Broten and linchpin goaltender Jon Casey lucrative new deals.While the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues were frantically retooling into the season, the North Stars kept their nucleus intact. Even Shane Churla ultimately got to stay.All and all, Green, Clarke and Co., did all they could to build on the momentum of the 1991 playoffs.That&rsquo;s why it was so disappointing to see the North Stars revert to last season&rsquo;s dreary regular-season form. You have to pull for these guys, the classic underdogs. Last season, this franchise would have been declared legally dead in 37 states.A good start this fall would have re-established the Stars in the finicky Twin Cities market. It would have moved them much closer to the perpetual sellout mode Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis and Toronto have been in.But in their first 30 games, the Stars won just 12 times.Coach Bob Gainey&rsquo;s exasperation may have peaked when his team mustered just 12 shots on goal&rsquo;in a game against Chicago. &ldquo;If you have weaknesses on your team, or weaknesses of spirit, of desire, of discipline, it makes it very difficult to be a team and play hard,&rdquo; he said.Were the Stars a fluke last spring? Were Met Center visitors merely hypnotized by the relentless playing of Gary Glitter&rsquo;s Rock and Roll, Part 11 on the sound system? Was this all part of some elaborate NHL conspiracy to revive the team in this hockey-mad state?Hardly. Anybody who saw the North Stars run over Chicago, St. Louis and Edmonton knew they were playing brilliantly. Balanced scoring, A Casey&rsquo;s hot goaltending and the checking of career pests Stewart Gavin and Gaetan Duchesne allowed them to dominate all three series. Gainey&rsquo;s uncompromising commitment to team defense finally paid dividends.The Stars should have built on those triumphs and took off this season. But they haven&rsquo;t, and aside from defenseman Mark Tinordi&rsquo;s costly injury-he missed 17 games with leg nerve damage&mdash;the Stars have no excuses.It&rsquo;s time for Mike Modano to grow up, take over and start being a Jeremy Roenick-like catalyst for this franchise. As Canada Cup observers know, the tools are all there.It&rsquo;s time for Brian Bellows (minus-13 in his first 31 games) to play more like Steve Larmer and less like Gary Leeman.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0008-03930/6437200-1-eng-US/f0008-032.jpg" title="f0008-03" width="561" height="789"><figcaption class="caption-body">Neal Broten</figcaption></div>It&rsquo;s time for Neal Broten to realize that Green went out on a financial limb for him. Don&rsquo;t leave him hanging. Resume scoring a point a game.It&rsquo;s time for Derian Hatcher to realize that whacking an opposing forward in the face with his stick blade-even if it that opponent is Washington&rsquo;s Dino Ciccarelli-won&rsquo;t be tolerated in this league.Green saved hockey in the Twin Cities when it may not have been worth saving. Now it&rsquo;s time for the people on his growing payroll to give him a return on his large and risky investment.The Stars must start coming out a&rdquo; night. &#9632;

f0008-02

It’s time the Stars came out at night

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave</div>The Detroit Red Wings ended months of speculation by finally finding a backup for workhorse goaltender Tim Cheveldae, acquiring veteran Greg Millen from the New York Rangers for a late-round 1992 draft pick.And judging by his smile, Millen got exactly what he wished for Christmas-an NHL job.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big thrill, a big honor, to be back in the league I love,&rdquo; Millen said Dec. 27.A day earlier, he had been a goalie for a weak minor-league club, Maine, on loan from the Rangers and riding the bus from town to town. Now, he was changing quickly in one of the nicest of NHL dressing rooms, getting ready to board the team&rsquo;s private jet for a quick flight to Toronto with a role in one of the league&rsquo;s longest-running rivalries.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe it,&rdquo; Millen said of his good fortune. &ldquo;Even the dressing room here&hellip;everything is just so first class.&rdquo;His first duty for the Wings was to dress as backup for games in Toronto (5-4 win Dec. 28) and Chicago (6-4 win Dec. 29). But Wings&rsquo; coach-GM Bryan Murray plans to give Millen i 10 to 12 starts over the season&rsquo;s second half.Detroit is Millen&rsquo;s seventh NHL team. The 34-year-old started with Pittsburgh, which drafted him in 1977. He also played for Hartford, St. Louis, Quebec and Chicago. In 594 career games, Millen has a 212-282-86 record with a 3.88 goals-against average.FINE TUNING: Bryan Murray says he would like to make at least one more addition before the March trading deadline, most probably a power winger.He said he planned to pursue talks with the Philadelphia Flyers about Rick Tocchet after hearing rumors that the right winger is unhappy.Also, Murray may not be finished pursuing goaltenders. He said he still plans to continue talks with Quebec about John Tanner. Quebec reportedly wants a first-round pick. The Wings offered minor-league right winger Sheldon Kennedy and a player from their current roster.NOTEBOOK: Santa was very good to the Wings. A few days before Christmas, players received a catalog from which they could choose a gift from the team. Choices ranged from TVs and stereos to furs to pool tables. But defenseman Bobby Dollas received the nicest gift of all&mdash;the miracle of birth. He and wife, Line, brought home on Christmas morning a daughter, Selina Marie, bom Dec. 23.Troy Crowder&rsquo;s rehabilitation from a herniated disc is progressing on schedule and he should be back in the lineup by the end of January.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 23: Allan Bester. G, assigned to Adirondack (AHL). Dec. 26: Greg Millen. G, obtained from New York Rangers for conditional 1992 draft pick.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Jimmy Carson, Sergei Fedorov, Kevin Miller.LW&mdash;Gerard Gallant, Brian MacLellan, Shawn Burr, Brent Fedyk, Johan Gatpenlov.RW&mdash;Bob Probert, Ray Sheppard, Paul Ysebaert, Alan Kerr.LD&mdash;Niklas Lidstrom, Vladimir Konstantinov, Yves Racine.RD&mdash;Brad McCrimmon, Brad Marsh, Steve Chiasson, Dennis Vial, Doug Crossman, Bobby Dollas.G&mdash;Tim Cheveldae, Greg Millen.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Troy Crowder, RW, bulging disc in back, indefinite. Vincent Riendeau, knee surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Millen to fill-in for Cheveldae

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div>The Chicago Blackhawks expected great things from Brian Noonan this year, and the talented right winger is starting to deliver.Noonan, 26, was the Blackhawks&rsquo; offense in back-to-back games against Winnipeg (3-3 tie Dec. 27) and Detroit (6-4 loss Dec. 29). He had all seven goals, establishing a club record.&ldquo;What can I say, the shots are going in,&rdquo; Noonan said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll just keep shooting.&rdquo;Noonan had three hat tricks in December and 12 goals. It was a dramatic turnaround for the Boston native, who went 16 games without a goal earlier this season. After 37 games, he had 15 goals and 20 points.&ldquo;This is what we expected out of Brian when we made the Wayne Presley trade with San Jose,&rdquo; said Mike Keenan. &ldquo;He can score goals, that&rsquo;s for sure.&rdquo;The Blackhawks drafted Noonan in the 10th round of the 1983 draft, but he has had trouble sticking with the club. After 77 games with the Blackhawks in 1987-88, Noonan has spent most of his time with the Hawks&rsquo; farm team in Indianapolis of the International League. Last year, he was named to the IHL&rsquo;s first all-star team after scoring 38 goals (91 points) in 59 games.&ldquo;I never lost confidence in myself,&rdquo; said Noonan. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been a goal scorer at every level I&rsquo;ve played.&rdquo;SPLIT PERSONALITY: The Blackhawks continue to be a team with a split personality. Approaching the midway point in the season, they were 12-5-4 at Chicago Stadium and 3-10-5 on the road.A lack of offense was the prime reason for the road woes. In a stretch that saw them go 1-8-3 on the road, they scored two goals or fewer in 10 of those 12 games.NOTEBOOK: Captain Dirk Graham said it&rsquo;s time for people-including some of his own teammates&mdash;to start thinking positively. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing some good things and playing good hockey, but everything we do is being magnified in the negative,&rdquo; Graham said. &ldquo;Everything we do is being compared to last year. Well, we&rsquo;re a different team. Last year was last year. Instead of comparing ourselves to what we did last year, we&rsquo;ve got think about what we can do this year.&rdquo;<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 16: Jeff Sirkka, D, recalled from Indianapolis (IHL) Dec. 18: Sirkka assigned to Indianapolis Dec. 19: Ryan McGill. D. recalled from Indianapolis Dec. 20: Mike Stapleton. C, and Cam Russell, D, recalled from Indianapolis: McGill assigned to Indianapolis. Dec. 24: Stapleton assigned to Indianapolis Dec. 29: Stapleton recalled from Indianapolis.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jeremy Roenick, Brent Sutter, Mike Hudson, Jocelyn Lemieux, Mike Stapleton.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet, Greg Gilbert, Dan Vincelette, Stu Grimson, John Tonelli.RW&mdash;Steve Larmer, Dirk Graham, Brian Noonan, Mike Peluso.LD&mdash;Steve Konroyd, Frantisek Kucera, Cam Russell.RD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Steve Smith, Keith Brown Rod BuskasG&mdash;Ed Belfour, Jimmy Waite.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bryan Marchment, D, fractured cheekbone, day-to-day. Stephane Matteau, LW, thigh bone ossification, indefinite. &#9632;

Noonan’s scoring outburst a most welcome sight

Peder Skinner would like to be just like hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky. He started skating before he was three years old and spends a most of his free time on the backyard rink that was constructed by his father.The five-year-old native of Isle aux Morts, Nfld., even sometimes dominates on the ice like his Los Angeles King idol. In just five games with the Canadian Tire novice team in the Port aux Basques Minor Hockey Association this season, the center had recorded 13 goals despite battling a case of chicken pox.Skinner is in his first year of organized hockey.Skinner attends kindergarten at LeGallais Memorial School this year. He is 3-foot-8 and weighs 40 pounds and attended a hockey school during the summer.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011521/6437286-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="573" height="984"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peder Skinner</figcaption></div>You or someone you know can be a part of The Hockey News Minor Hockey Showcase. Just send a photograph (non-returnable), along with biographical information (age, height, weight, team. Loach&rsquo;s name, school and grade, as well as favorite NHL team and player) to The Hockey News, attention: Player of the Week, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills. Ont., M3B 2R2. All entries submitted will be eligible for selection as The Hockey News Minor Hockey Player of the Year. &#9632;

f0009-01

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">By Paul Hunter</div>Mike Foligno&rsquo;s leg may be broken but not his spirit.As the veteran right winger lay in a Toronto hospital in late December-recovering from a broken leg suffered in a collision with Winnipeg rookie Luciano Borsato-he vowed he would return to the NHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be back,&rdquo; Foligno promised after doctors had stabilized his fractured leg with a plate and several screws during a two-hour emergency operation after the 3-1 Leaf win Dec. 23.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a good chance by the time camp opens (next fall), I&rsquo;ll be back just like it was any other camp,&rdquo; said Foligno, who is out for the season.It was a bold statement for anyone given the severity of the injury. Many onlookers suggested Foligno, who will turn 33 at the end of January, is being overly optimistic.The Sudbury, Ont., native snapped both the tibia and fibula just above his right ankle when he locked legs with Borsato on what appeared to be a clean, innocent check by the Leaf. One of the bones ripped through Foligno&rsquo;s skin and tore his hockey sock.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be fine. I don&rsquo;t buy this career-threatening stuff. Not for a minute,&rdquo; said Foligno, who had scored his 700th NHL point in the game before he was injured and was the best Leaf most nights.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t a messy break. It was clean. There&rsquo;s every reason to expect it&rsquo;ll knit nicely so that the leg will be as strong as ever,&rdquo; Foligno said. &ldquo;I was actually pretty fortunate in a lot of ways. My knee could have been wrecked. I might have hit my head on the ice. Instead, I&rsquo;ve got a fracture that&rsquo;s going to mend in due course and my job is to do all the rehab that&rsquo;s prescribed.&rdquo;Those countless hours of rehabilitation willbegin in earnest in April when the doctors remove the hardware they inserted during the operation.NO AIRLIFT: Despite Toronto&rsquo;s plummeting fortunes in the Norris division, general manager Cliff Fletcher said he had no plans to call up any players from the Maple Leafs&rsquo; farm team in St. John&rsquo;s, which led the American League&rsquo;s Atlantic Division.Prospects there include goaltender Felix Potvin, who is No. 1 in the AHL in goals-against average and save percentage, center Yanic Perreault, who leads the league in goals, and right winger Andrew McKim, the AHL&rsquo;s leading rookie point-getter.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t believe in bringing a player up too quickly,&rdquo; said Fletcher, who is preaching patience to the longsuffering Leaf faithful.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather have them stay there (in St. John&rsquo;s) and get the feeling of confidence that comes in playing well at that level, winning and being in first place.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Wendel Clark, who aggravated an injury to his left knee Nov. 6, has begun scrimmaging and hopes to return early in the new year.The 12-1 pasting Toronto suffered in Pittsburgh Dec. 26 equalled the worst loss in team history. In 1964, they were shut out by the Boston Bruins 11-0. Surprisingly, Toronto rebounded and went on to win the Stanley Cup that season.Paul Hunter is a hockey writer for the Toronto Star.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Peter Zezel. Brian Bradley, Mike Krushelnyski, Dave Hannan.LW&mdash;Craig Berube, Glenn Anderson, Mike Bullard, Claude Loiselle.RW&mdash;Gary Leeman, Daniel Marois, Lucien Deblois, Kevin Maguire.LD&mdash;Dave Ellett, Bob Rouse. Todd Gill.RD&mdash;Michel Petit. Alexander Godynyuk, Bob Halkidis, Darryl Shannon.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr. Jeff Reese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Rob Cimetta. LW. pulled groin, day-to-day. Wendel Clark, LW. sprained left knee, day-to-day. Mike Foligno. RW, broken right leg, out for season. &#9632;

Foligno vows he’ll return

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div>The St. Louis Blues have gone from being Road Warriors to Road Wimps. After leading the NHL with a 23-13-4 road record last year, the Blues slipped to 4-10-5 in their first 19 road games this season.A 5-2 loss to Minnesota Dec. 28 extended their losing streak on the road to three games. Excluding a 2-0-1 spurt in early December, the Blues showed little confidence away from The Arena.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re all concerned. We&rsquo;d be in real trouble if we weren&rsquo;t concerned,&rdquo; right winger Rich Sutter said. &ldquo;Early in the year, there wasn&rsquo;t a lot of concern, but we take pride in what we&rsquo;re known for on the road. We know we can turn it around.&rdquo;The Blues&rsquo; massive personnel turnover has made it more difficult.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think (the will to win) has changed, but we don&rsquo;t have as much confidence as we did last year,&rdquo; defenseman Paul Cavallini said.Cavallini is one of only two defenseman-Jeff Brown is the other&mdash;to start last season in St. Louis.&ldquo;You have to win to gain confidence,&rdquo; Cavallini added. &ldquo;We had problems the first couple of games and it led to a little hesitation on the road.&ldquo;It is still a new team getting to know its road personality. We&rsquo;re still learning to play together, at home and on the road.&rdquo;Some suggest the Blues are playing the same at home and on the road. The difference is, they bear down at home but fail to concentrate on the road.That has led to numerous problems, the most prominent being the number of shots they have allowed. The expansion San Jose Sharks were the only team to allow more shots on the road (1,262) through Dec. 30.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not only on the road, but at home,&rdquo; said center Adam Oates. &ldquo;When you give up that many chances, it&rsquo;s going to hurt you.&rdquo;FATHER KNOWS BEST?: Right winger Brett Hull said little after reading how his father, Bobby, ripped him in an Associated Press dispatch from Moose Jaw, Sask, on Christmas Day.&ldquo;Oh, I saw that, and I&rsquo;m not going to say anything about it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He can say whatever he wants. I&rsquo;m not going to get into an argument with him in the newspapers.&rdquo;Though Brett showed admirable restraint in the public forum, privately he was seething over the remarks attributed to his outspoken father.Some of Bobby&rsquo;s comments: &ldquo;Brett&rsquo;s got to get his head screwed on a little better. He should be so far ahead of everyone in goals that a farmboy couldn&rsquo;t throw a big red apple that far, as (Bobby&rsquo;s former coach) Rudy Pilous used to say.&ldquo;If Brett doesn&rsquo;t get his act together,&rdquo; Bobby said, &ldquo;1&rsquo;11 have to go back to being Dennis Hull&rsquo;s brother.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Brett Hull led the NHL with 36 goals through Dec. 30. He scored 33 times in 28 games after scoring just three goals in his first eight games. He had a six-game scoring streak and at least one point in 14 of his last 18 games (18 goals, 26 points)&hellip;Center Adam Oates led the NHL with 42 assists-19 coming on goals by Hull.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Adam Oates, Ron Sutter, Bob Bassen, Michel Mongeau.LW&mdash;Dave Lowry, Dave Christian, Brendan Shanahan, Gino Cavallini. Ron Wilson.RW&mdash;Brett Hull, Nelson Emerson, Rich Sutter, Darin Kimble, Kelly Chase.LD&mdash;Lee Norwood, Paul Cavallini, Rob Robinson.RD&mdash;Jeff Brown, Rick Zombo, Garth Butcher.G&mdash;Curtis Joseph, Guy Hebert.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Murray Baron. D. sprained right knee, day-today Pat Jablonski, G, pulled groin, indefinite. &#9632;

Lack of confidence behind woeful road mark

<div class="byline">By Gary Olson</div>Just when the Minnesota North Stars expected it least&mdash;and needed it most-they became a two-goalie team again.Jon Casey has been the Stars&rsquo; workaholic goaltender the last three seasons, playing 55, 61 and 55 games. And he started 25 of this season&rsquo;s first 29 games.Darcy Wakaluk, who won his job in training camp, played like a back-up early in the season, providing some relief for Casey, less for the Stars. He even sounded like a back-up, offering his support to Casey at every tum.Then Casey&rsquo;s play turned sour and he needed relief in two of three games in mid-December.Wakaluk played good enough in relief to earn a start. Then another. And another. Before Casey got back in the Stars&rsquo; goal, Wakaluk had started four straight games, won three all on the road&mdash;and had a 2.00 goals-against average during the stretch.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s fun for me to be able to help the team,&rdquo; Wakaluk said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve known I can play at this level but it&rsquo;s nice to get a chance.&rdquo;Even Casey was able to enjoy Wakaluk&rsquo;s success. &ldquo;Darcy came in and did well for the team and for himself,&rdquo; Casey said, probably finding some security in his new, four-year, $3.8 million contract. Teams don&rsquo;t give up easily on high-buck players. Still&hellip;&ldquo;As well as Darcy has played, I felt tonight&rsquo;s game was important for me to keep my job,&rdquo; Casey said after a 29-save 5-2 win over St. Louis Dec. 28.Casey has a history of benefiting from a challenge. Kari Takko and the memory of the minor leagues was enough to push him through the 1988-89 season. Then, in 1990, the Stars traded for Daniel Berthiaume late in the year and Casey&rsquo;s play got better. Last season, he had to compete with veteran Brian Hayward.STAR MAKER: The Stars may want to invite TV analyst Joe Micheletti to spend a little time with Mike Modano.Not many people remember that Micheletti was an Oiler when a kid named Wayne Gretzky arrived in Edmonton. &ldquo;I stayed just long enough to be sure he was on solid ice,&rdquo; Micheletti joked.And he was an assistant coach in St. Louis when Brett Hull became a Blue. &ldquo;I told him I&rsquo;d leave when he scored 70 goals,&rdquo; he added.NOTEBOOK: Center Neal Broten, who took his contract negotiations to Germany and back last fall, did not score a goal in the 28 games from Oct. 22 to Dec. 28. Eight of his 13 total points were scored in the team&rsquo;s first nine games&hellip;Craig Ludwig returned to the Stars&rsquo; lineup Dec. 28 (his 700th NHL game) after missing six games with a broken foot.Given just one day&rsquo;s notice that North Stars Won, their leased DC&mdash;9 airplane, would not be available for the trip to Vancouver, San Jose and Los Angeles, the team canceled the agreement and plan to use commercial flights for the rest of the season.<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 21: Derian Hatcher, D. began 10-game suspension for Dec. 7 stick-swinging incident. Eligible to return Jan. 13. Dec. 27: Steve Maltais, LW. assigned to Kalamazoo (IHL). Dec. 30: Tony Joseph, RW. and future considerations traded to Winnipeg for Warren Rychel. LW.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Neal Broten, Dave Gagner, Bobby Smith, Todd Elik. Marc Bureau.LW&mdash;Gaetan Duchesne, Brian Bellows, Basil McRae, Brian Propp.RW&mdash;Mike Modano. Mike Graig, Ulf Dahlen, Shane Churfa.LD&mdash;Mark Tinordi, Craig Ludwig. Al Pedersen.RD&mdash;Chris Dahlquist. Brian Glynn, Rob Ramage, Jim Johnson.G&mdash;Jon Casey, Darcy Wakaluk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Stewart Gavin. RW. aggravated strained groin muscle, day-to-day. Derrick Smith, LW. tom ankle ligaments, indefinite. &#9632;

Wakaluk comes through with welcome relief

Greg Gauthier is determined to clear things up for players who wear protective facemasks.The 24-year-old inventor is the main force behind Pro Vision Enterprises Inc., a Burlington, Ont., company that markets an adhesive plastic sheet designed to protect expensive facemasks from scratches and damage. The sheet is placed over the mask.Gauthier has spent more than two years and $40,000 developing the product and his hard work has paid off.Two NHL teams&mdash;the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers&mdash;and most major junior clubs in Canada are using the product. The Canadian Olympic team is also using it.&ldquo;The NHL wasn&rsquo;t a major concern when I first developed it because a lot of guys don&rsquo;t wear visors,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But it has caught on well in the amateur ranks.&rdquo;The visor protectors retail for about seven dollars each and can be purchased only in Canada at National Sports outlets.A former player with the Burlington Cougars of the Central Ontario Junior B League, Gauthier came up with the idea after listening to his younger brother Kevin complain about having to buy a new facemask because his was badly scratched.&ldquo;Kevin&rsquo;s a student and I knew he couldn&rsquo;t afford to spend a lot of money,&rdquo; Gauthier says. &ldquo;There are many families out there who can&rsquo;t afford to buy new equipment for their kids every year. I wanted to create a product that would protect them and their equipment.&rdquo;It took Gauthier 18 months to make a prototype. He called numerous adhesive and plastic companies for information while splitting time at his two-year-old company, G and G Millworking.The first prototype was patterned after the tint in a car window, but it lacked the proper consistency. It took Gauthier several more tries to get it right.&ldquo;People might think it was easy to create, but I can assure you, it wasn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;It was a complex process that took a lot of time.&rdquo;Once completed, Gauthier brought the prototype down to Coaches Corner, a Burlington sports store specializing in goalie equipment.&ldquo;I knew if it was successful with goalies, it would do well with other players,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I started getting positive feedback, I knew I had something.&rdquo;Gauthier has since designed a similar product for football helmets, ski masks and sports glasses and plans to market the products in 1992. He also hopes to showcase his wares at equipment shows in Montreal and Atlanta.&ldquo;It looks like a pretty simple product, but it&rsquo;s not,&rdquo; he says. &#9632;

Clear the way for visor guard

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011431/6437413-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Former Boston right winger Leo Labine gave Hall of Fame goalie Terry Sawchuk all kinds of trouble during the 1954-55 season.</figcaption></div>Hall of Fame goaltender Terry Sawchuk thwarted some of the NHL&rsquo;s greatest scorers during his 21-year career.But the former Detroit netminder had his hands full on Nov. 28, 1954, when an unlikely sniper made him look like an amateur.Boston Bruins&rsquo; right winger Leo Labine-known more for his aggressive style than his scoring touch-scored five points in the second period of a 6-2 Bruin win, tying an NHL record for the most points in a period.New York Islander center Bryan Trottier later broke the record with six points in the second period of a 9-4 win over the New York Rangers Dec. 23, 1978, but Labine&rsquo;s accomplishment was the highlight of his 11-year NHL career.The Haileybury, Ont., native-who played 643 games for Boston and Detroit from 1951-52 to 1960-61-loves to tell his friends and grandchildren about the night he rubbed shoulders with the NHL&rsquo;s scoring elite.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never forget that night, because I wasn&rsquo;t the league&rsquo;s top point-getter, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; Labine says. &ldquo;We scored only 15 goals against Detroit all year and I think I had seven of them. I guess Sawchuk was pretty sick of seeing my face.&rdquo;Labine finished the game with six points, tying Red Sullivan&rsquo;s team record for the most points in a game.&ldquo;The funny thing is, I could&rsquo;ve broke the record,&rdquo; Labine says. &ldquo;I had Sawchuk out of the net and passed to (Real) Cheverfils but he missed the open net.&rdquo;An avid hockey fan, Labine is now a truck driver for Star Transport in Haileybury. He still follows the Bruins, but is a little disenchanted with the modem style.&ldquo;Things are so wide open today,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t have 4-on-1s when I played. You couldn&rsquo;t play Montreal like that because you&rsquo;d be dead.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-01

Magical November night Labine’s brightest moment

<div class="byline">By Mike Weaver</div>The San Jose Sharks expected to encounter some problems as an expansion team this season. A surplus of talent wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be one of them.But entering the second half of the season, that is one of the dilemmas facing the team: The Sharks simply have too many NHL-calibre goalies in their system.The team&rsquo;s management has played an intriguing game of goalie roulette so far. And as that game unfolds, Jeff Hackett has become the player with the most chips to cash.Partly because of injuries and partly by design, the Sharks have been able to take long looks at Hackett, Brian Hayward, Jarmo Myllys and Arturs Irbe. All but Hayward, who missed nearly two months because of a bad back, had appeared in at least 10 of the team&rsquo;s first 37 games.Through games of Dec. 21 the Sharks were the only team with three net-minders with 10 or more appearances.And although all four have been impressive at times, Hackett has started to emerge as the team&rsquo;s No. 1 man.Hackett began to take over that role because of his outstanding work in a seven-game stretch in late November. During that time time he allowed an average of 2.22 goals per game before suffering a groin and hamstring pull in a game against Pittsburgh Dec. 5.The highlight of the stretch occurred when Hackett came within a minute-and-a-half of his first career shutout in a 2-1 victory over Calgary Nov. 30. He also played brilliantly in a 1-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks two weeks before.The stretch allowed Hackett, who was sidelined until after Christmas because of his injury, to drop his goals-against average from 6.09 to 4.23 in a team-high 16 appearances. record and 3.62 GAA with the Islanders last season. He gave the Sharks an idea of what to expect when he made 48 saves in a 4-3 loss to the Canucks in the season opening game<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011537/6437444-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="961" height="2120"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jarmo Myllys is one of four Sharks who&rsquo;ve had a crack at Winning the No. 1 job. (Photo by Tim Parker)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The thing that impresses me about Jeff is his desire to constantly get better,&rdquo; said Sharks&rsquo; coach George Kingston. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s very serious about his job.&rdquo;Kingston has been very serious about giving each of his goalies a chance to win a job.When the season began, he played Hackett, Hayward and Myllys in a straight three-man rotation while Irbe, who came to the Sharks from Latvia, gained some experience playing for the Kansas City Blades&mdash;the team&rsquo;s top affiliate in the International League.Hackett, Hayward and Myllys were all critical of the rotation and said it prevented them from getting into a groove.Kingston stuck with the rotation until Hayward&rsquo;s back problem forced him to the sidelines in late October. Hackett and Myllys then shared time until Myllys suffered a split finger in a game against Quebec Nov. 2.The injury to Myllys opened the door for Irbe and he responded by winning his first two NHL starts. But he was 0-3-3 in his next six starts and was sent back to Kansas City when Hayward completed a short rehabilitation stint with the Blades Dec. 15.Irbe, whose GAA of 3.79 led the team, was the odd man out when Hayward returned because Myllys was impressive in consecutive games in December.&ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t displeased with Arturs at all, but Jarmo played well enough to deserve to stay up,&rdquo; Kingston said. &ldquo;It was a tough decision, but that&rsquo;s the kind of problem you like to have.&rdquo;Having four quality goalies also gives the Sharks a commodity to shop around in the trading market. And although nothing has happened yet, they have received some inquiries from around the league.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a chip we have to play with,&rdquo; general manager Jack Ferreira said.When the chips are down, the Sharks are hoping they&rsquo;ll be able to continue counting on their goaltending by committee. &#9632;

f0012-01

Gaggle of goalies

<div class="byline">By Mike Beamish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021244/6437475-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="413" height="501"></div>Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; Mike Smith has to be the NHL&rsquo;s brainiest general manager.Oh, I&rsquo;m not talking about his bachelor of science degree, his master&rsquo;s in social science and PhD in Russian studies, his collection of 20th century paintings and sculptures by native North American artists or the five books he has authored.No. What is most impressive about Smith is his unique insight into the game of hockey. He has realized that to get an edge on the opposition you have to hire a sportswriter for the front office. Now that&rsquo;s smart.Smith, a rumpled academic type whom Don Cherry sneeringly refers to as &ldquo;a poetry reader&rdquo;, is a departure from the Nicaraguan-cigar, limo-and-five-star-restaurant style of NHL boss. And the scribe he added to his staff as a communications assistant earlier this year reflects Smith&rsquo;s original perspective.He is Igor Kuperman, 34, a Soviet Jew from Moscow and former hockey editor of Sovietski Sport.Now most hockey fans have never heard of Kuperman, but they should think of him every time they see the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; Pavel Bure explode up the ice or wire a shot into the goal.Most likely, Bure would be playing in another NHL jersey if not for Kuperman&rsquo;s intervention.You might remember two years ago-when Vancouver drafted Bure-there were howls of protests from other clubs. They claimed Bure had not played the required number of games (11) in the Soviet Elite League to be eligible. According to statistics distributed by the NHL, Bure had skated in only five games.NHL president John Ziegler took a full year to decide, ruled against the Canucks, then reversed his decision on the eve of the 1990 entry draft.What brought about Ziegler&rsquo;s about-face was new information obtained by Kuperman at the request of his good friend, Igor Larionov.The problem for the Canucks and the NHL was the Soviets&rsquo; haphazard record keeping. Kuperman spent two days sleuthing through Moscow to obtain scoresheets dating back two years indicating Bure&rsquo;s participation with Red Army, then had the information verified by officials.&ldquo;He (Kuperman) was the main guy who put out the effort to get Pavel here,&rdquo; says Larionov. &ldquo;I knew Igor was in charge of (hockey) statistics in the Soviet Union so I phoned him to help us. He found out everything. We went together to the Canadian embassy and asked officials there to fax the information to the Canucks right away.&rdquo;&ldquo;If we hadn&rsquo;t got the fax to Vancouver in time, Pavel would probably be playing anywhere but Vancouver,&rdquo; says Kuperman. &ldquo;When I helped the Canucks, I couldn&rsquo;t imagine I would be working for Winnipeg the following year.&ldquo;Too bad,&rdquo; he says, with a chuckle. &ldquo;We could use him.&rdquo;Over the years, Kuperman has made many friends among Canadian journalists and hockey people. He has become something of a legend for his extraordinary grasp of hockey trivia. Last year, two Canadian friends-former Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; goalie Ken Dryden and Globe and Mail Moscow correspondent Lawrence Martin-helped to bring Kuperman and his family to Winnipeg.The process of political and economic disintegration in the Soviet Union had made life ever more difficult for the Kupermans. Because of Igor&rsquo;s high profile and Jewish background, he became a target of persecution by a right-wing, antiSemitic group-Pamyat-which has used the relaxation of political constraints brought on by glasnost to become increasingly more strident.&ldquo;Now that everything is more in the open, there is a general rise in racism, which has always existed in the Russian culture,&rdquo; Smith says. &ldquo;I was approached by people who saw a chance to help him on humanitarian grounds.&rdquo;Winnipeg would seem to be a natural fit for Kuperman, not just because he didn&rsquo;t have to mothball his fur hat and coat to move there. Thousands of the city&rsquo;s residents have roots in the Ukraine. The Jets were the first NHL team to start a formal-exchange program with a Soviet club-Sokol Kiev&mdash;and Kuperman is considered an expert on all aspects of Soviet hockey.With all the connections, it&rsquo;s a bit of an oddity that of the 17 Soviets in the NHL this season not one plays for the Jets. Winnipeg, however, has the rights to four players, among them Alexei Zhamnov, a slick center for Moscow Dynamo.So if you think Don Cherry is bugged by Mike Smith&rsquo;s fancy degrees and multi-cultural approach to hockey management, just wait until those Russian players start arriving in Winnipeg.Old Grapes will pop a tie bar on one of his turtleneck dress shirts. &#9632;

f0012-02

Soviet Jet writer key player in Bure ruling

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>It would be easy to dismiss the odd bad bounce, but soft goals against are becoming more than isolated incidents for the Winnipeg Jets.So much so, that it appears the first crisis of the season is upon them.Gift-wrapped goals weren&rsquo;t an issue until goalie Bob Essensa went down with a left hamstring pull Dec. 8 against Washington. Essensa tried a return five games later in Vancouver, but aggravated the injury 41 minutes into the game.In his absence, the Jets have found it hard to win. Average would be a compliment to describe the play of Stephane Beauregard, Rick Tabaracci and a one-period stand by Mike O&rsquo;Neill. Following Essensa&rsquo;s injury, Winnipeg went 1-7-2 in its next 10 games, including losses to Calgary (7-4 Dec. 17), Toronto (3-1 Dec. 23), Minnesota (3-2 Dec. 26) and Boston (6-3 Dec. 29).Both Beauregard and Tabaracci were inconsistent and worse, each night&rsquo;s tale seemed to contain one or more disasters.Coach John Paddock was hoping for relief from the mounting pressure, as Essensa was expected to be ready for duty by New Year&rsquo;s Eve.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t said much because even though there have been some soft goals, in the some of the games we haven&rsquo;t provided enough offense to win the game,&rdquo; Paddock said.EDDIE STEADY: Right winger Ed Olczyk bolted up the scoring charts with a six-point (2-4-6) night Dec. 21 against Calgary, a 7-2 win.Olczyk had 19 goals in the team&rsquo;s first 39 games and should give the Jets their first 20-goal sniper of the season well before the 54 games it took Pat Elynuik to do so last season.NOTEBOOK: Randy Carlyle had his 1,000th career game postponed by a tender abdominal muscle. Returning for No. 996 Dec. 29 against Boston, he was on course for the milestone Jan. 6 in New York or Jan. 8 in Winnipeg against Edmonton&hellip; Thomas Steen was back on the shelf after taking a Fredrik Olausson shot in the ankle. Steen missed four more games after returning for 10 following early-season back trouble.<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 18: Russ Romaniuk, LW, assigned to Moncton (AHL). Luciano Borsato, C, recalled from Moncton. Mike O&rsquo;Neill, G. assigned to Fort Wayne (IHL). Dec. 20: Doug Evans, LW, recalled from Peoria (IHL). Kent Paynter, D, and Rick Tabaracci, G, recalled from Moncton. Dec. 22: Bryan Erickson, RW, and Dean Kennedy. D. signed contracts. Dec. 26: Rudy Poeschek, D, recalled from Moncton. Dec. 27: Jason Cirone, C, recalled from Moncton. Dec. 30: Warren Rychel, LW, traded to Minnesota for Tony Joseph, RW, and future considerations.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Troy Murray, Stu Barnes, Mike Eagles, Jason Cirone, Luciano Borsato.LW&mdash;Eddie Olczyk, Darrin Shannon, Doug Evans, Mark Osborne, Phil Sykes.RW&mdash;Pat Elynuik, Danton Cole, Paul MacDermid, Mike Hartman, Petri Skriko.LD&mdash;Randy Carlyle, Teppo Numminen, Moe Mantha, Kent Paynter, Rudy Poeschek.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, Fredrik Olausson, Mario Marois.G&mdash;Bob Essensa, Stephane Beauregard, Rick Tabaracci.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Shawn Cronin, D, bruised ribs, day-to-day. Bryan Erickson. RW, abdominal muscle tear, March 25. Dean Kennedy. D. tom knee ligaments, out for season. Thomas Steen. C, ankle contusion, day-to-day &#9632;

Soft-touch goalies to blame for year’s first losing crisis

<div class="byline">By Rick Sadowski</div>The earth moved in Southern California following the Christmas break.Another patented California earthquake?No, this massive shake-up involved the Los Angeles Kings, who have been underachieving all season long.Mired in a 1-7-2 slump that dropped them two games under .500 and into fifth place in the Smythe Division, the Kings made a relatively minor deal, sending center Randy Gilhen to the New York Rangers Dec. 23 for center Corey Millen. The Kings also revamped all four of their lines.The most striking change involved Marty McSorley, who moved from defense to right wing on the Kings&rsquo; top line with former Edmonton Oiler teammates Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri.Left winger Tony Granato was switched to center on the second line between Luc Robitaille and Tomas Sandstrom.But Sandstrom suffered a dislocated right shoulder Dec. 28 in Edmonton and will be out until early February.Millen centered a speedy third line with Mike Donnelly and Bob Kudelski, who had been used as the No. 2 center.The changes proved successful as the Kings posted back-to-back wins for the first time in a month-5-3 over San Jose Dec. 26 and 9-4 over Edmonton Dec. 28.The modest win streak and Gretzky&rsquo;s 15-game point-scoring streak-came to end Dec. 29 with a 62 loss in Calgary.The Gretzky-McSorley-Kurri line combined for five goals and 10 points in its first two games-with Gretzky picking up two goals and five assists-before it was blanked by the Flames.DASHING DEBUT: Goaltender David Goverde, 21, made his NHL debut in the win over the Sharks, stopping 28 shots.Goverde had a 6-10-2 record and a 3.43 goals-against average with the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International League before he was called up. He was chosen by Los Angeles in the fourth round of the 1990 entry draft.The rookie goalie also picked up an assist on Gretzky&rsquo;s empty-net goal.&ldquo;I was nervous the whole game,&rdquo; Goverde said. &ldquo;It was a thrill. Some people never get a shot. This has got to rank right up there as one of the best Christmas presents I&rsquo;ve ever had.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Coach Toni Webster returned from his 12-game suspension New Year&rsquo;s Eve against the first-place Vancouver Canucks. Webster was suspended for throwing a stick at referee Kerry Fraser in a game against Detroit Nov. 16. The stick struck Fraser&rsquo;s foot. The Kings posted a 3-8-1 record without him behind the bench.<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 18: Tim Watters, D, assigned to Phoenix (IHL). Dec. 23: Randy Gilhen, C, traded to New York Rangers for Corey Millen, C. Sylvain Couturier, LW. and Sean Whyte, RW, assigned to Phoenix. Watters and David Goverde, G, recalled from Phoenix.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Tony Granato. Corey Millen. John McIntyre.LW&mdash;Jari Kurri, Luc Robitaille, Mike Donnelly. Jay Miller.RW&mdash;Marty McSorley, Dave Taylor Bob Kudelski, Jim Thomson, llkka Sinisalo.LD&mdash;Brian Benning, Larry Robinson, Tim Watters, Peter Ahola.RD&mdash;Rob Blake, Charlie Huddy, Jeff Chychrun.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, David Goverde. Daniel Berthiaume.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tomas Sandstrom. RW, dislocated right shoulder, indefinite. &#9632;

Oiler pals reunited on line

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pan</div>The Soviet Union may be dead but the career of Russian-born center Igor Larionov is alive and thriving.Larionov, who stumbled to a dreadful start this season, has played the best hockey of his three-year NHL career since Nov. 1. In a 25-game span through Dec. 28, the Canuck forward had 13 goals, 25 points and two hat tricks.His excellent work sparked renewed talk about his contract and the fact that, at 31, he will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.It&rsquo;s hard to imagine the Vancouver Canucks letting him leave, but so far, no negotiations have taken place.&ldquo;I never think about contracts during the season,&rdquo; Larionov said. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s finish the season and then we will see what happens.&rdquo;The Canuck position may change in January after the team faces an arbitration hearing in Sweden regarding Vladimir Krutov&rsquo;s transfer fees. Krutov, Larionov&rsquo;s former Red Army linemate, was dropped last year by the Canucks after the first year of a three-year deal.The Canucks maintain Krutov breached his contract by reporting to training camp out of shape while Sovintersport, the body which signed the contract, still wants $750,000 in transfer fees.If the case goes in Vancouver&rsquo;s favor, Sovintersport might also lose its hold on any further transfer fees regarding Larionov.Larionov&rsquo;s deal calls for additional payments to Sovintersport-assuming it still exists under the new political structure-if Larionov re-signs with Vancouver.No transfer fee would have an impact on any offer to Larionov.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve still got this court battle,&rdquo; said Canuck coach-general manager Pat Quinn. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll see what happens then.&rdquo;ODJICK OUT: For the first time since he joined the Canucks in November, 1990, tough guy Gino Odjick was benched for poor play. He watched from the press box as the Canucks edged the San Jose Sharks 3-2 Dec. 28.Assistant coach Rick Ley said Odjick had lost his focus.&ldquo;He has got to play smarter and harder and he has got to be intelligent about using his toughness,&rdquo; Ley said. &ldquo;He has to understand he can&rsquo;t ever let up. When you sit a player down, you are trying to get a message to him.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Canucks picked up Tom Fergus from Toronto for $5,000 Dec. 18. The 29-year-old center had two points in his first game playing on the No. 1 line with Trevor Linden and Geoff Courtnall.Goaltender Kirk McLean collected his 20th win of the season in the win over San Jose.<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 18: Tom Fergus, C, acquired from Toronto for cash. Dec. 20: Rob Murphy. C, assigned to Milwaukee OHL).,<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Cliff Ronning. Igor Larionov. Petr Nedved. Tom Fergus, Ryan Walter.LW&mdash;Greg Adams, Geoff Courtnall, Garry Valk, Gino Odjick.RW&mdash;Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure. Jim Sandlak, Robert Kron.LD&mdash;Robert Dirk. Dave Babych. Dana Murzyn. Jim Agnew.RD&mdash;Doug Lidster, Gerald Diduck, Jyrki Lumme, Randy Gregg.G&mdash;Kirk McLean, Troy Gamble.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Sergio Momesso LW, separated shoulder, indefinite. &#9632;

Krutov arbitration hearing will delay new Larionov deal

<div class="byline">By Mike Weaver</div>Dale Craigwell has turned what he expected to be a short visit to the NHL into an extended stay.When Craigwell was called up from the Kansas City Blades of the International League on Dec. 12, the plan was for him to fill in for flustricken Dean Evason in that night&rsquo;s game against the Edmonton Oilers. Then he&rsquo;d be sent back.But Craigwell didn&rsquo;t go back to Kansas City when Evason returned to the lineup two nights later. Craigwell, a center, appeared in his eighth consecutive game when the Sharks lost 3-2 to the Vancouver Canucks Dec. 28.&ldquo;Every time we put him on the ice, we like more of what we see,&rdquo; associate coach Bob Murdoch said. &ldquo;He has good awareness at both ends of the ice, and he has won some key faceoffs. I would say he has been a pleasant surprise.&rdquo;The extended stay also caught Craigwell by surprise.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t expecting to be here this long,&rdquo; Craigwell said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t evenbring any extra clothes.&rdquo;Craigwell, 20, had an assist in his first NHL game, and added another two games later. The former Oshawa General (Ontario League) has also displayed strong penalty-killing abilities.His success has been particularly surprising considering that he was a l0th-round pick in the 1991 draft.HAYWARD HURTING: Goalie Brian Hayward, who was sidelined for about six weeks because of a back problem earlier in the season, is out with back pain again.The pain returned after Hayward started a Dec. 19 game against St. Louis on the heels of relief appearances in games against the Rangers Dec. 16 and Pittsburgh Dec. 17.The club said his most recent back problems aren&rsquo;t related to Hayward&rsquo;s initial injury and he is expected to return early in the new year.NOTEBOOK: The Sharks weren&rsquo;t able to use their private plane when they traveled to Los Angeles for a game against the Kings Dec. 26 because the company the team uses to handle its charters had its license revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration. The Sharks had to scramble for a commercial flight and arrived in Los Angeles at about 2 p.m. on the day of the game (a 5-3 loss)Wayne Presley returned for the Dec. 26 game against the Kings after missing nine games with broken bones in his left hand. Steve Bozek and Jeff Hackett returned two nights later for a 3-2 loss to Vancouver. Bozek had missed 11 games because of a hyper-extended back, and Hackett hadn&rsquo;t started since Dec. 5 because of a groin and hamstring pull.Doug Wilson missed the games against the Kings and Canucks because of an ear infection. Wilson also missed two games at the end of November with an ear infection.<h2>SAN JOSE</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 17: Peter Lappin. RW, Rick Lessard. D, and Pat MacLeod, D, recalled from Kansas City (IHL). Dec. 19: Lappin, Lessard and MacLeod assigned to Kansas City.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kelly Kisio, Dean Evason, Mike Sullivan, Dale Craigwell.LW&mdash;Steve Bozek, Paul Fenton. David Bruce, Brian Lawton.RW&mdash;Brian Mullen. Perry Berezan, Pat Falloon. Wayne Presley, Tony Hrkac.LD&mdash;Rob Zettler, Ken Hammond. Link Gaetz.RD&mdash;Neil Wilkinson. Bob McGill, Jayson More, David Williams.G&mdash;Jeff Hackett, Jamno Myllys.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Perry Anderson, LW, fractured jaw. ndefinite. Brian Hayward, G, sore back, day-to-day. Jeff Odgers RW, bruised hand, day-to-day. Doug Wilson, D, ear infection, day-to-day. &#9632;

Rookie a nice surprise

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div>Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; general manager Glen Sather said he has no intention of losing goalie Bill Ranford to free agency.Ranford has made it abundantly clear he has no desire to leave Edmonton.So let&rsquo;s get it done, gentlemen.The Oilers can surely dig into the $5 million (US) they got for Mark Messier, the $2 million (US) for Jari Kurri, whatever it is they got for Jimmy Carson or heck, maybe there&rsquo;s some left over from the $15 million (US) they got for Wayne Gretzky.Sather must give Ranford his due. He doesn&rsquo;t have to like it, but he must acknowledge the 1990 Conn Smythe winner a bargain at $225,000 per season-is clearly worth more than $1 million.Ranford, 25, isn&rsquo;t asking to be the highest-paid goalie in the NHL. He doesn&rsquo;t want to be No. 2. He has picked his place in an ever-changing market that is finally recognizing goalies as impact players.&ldquo;We felt Bill Ranford should be third,&rdquo; said his agent Tom Reich.Sather faxed Reich a proposal for a five-year-plus-option deal starting at $800,000 and it&rsquo;s likely Ranford will turn that down. Sather is optimistic a deal will be reached soon.But not on this offer as $800,000 would start him in fifth spot behind Toronto&rsquo;s Grant Fuhr, Montreal&rsquo;s Patrick Roy, Minnesota&rsquo;s Jon Casey and Chicago&rsquo;s Ed Belfour.&ldquo;It was Sather who initiated the concept of averaging the top five goaltenders,&rdquo; said Reich. &ldquo;Now, just because those guys sign their new deals, he wants to change the rules.&ldquo;If I get pushed into a comer, I will find Billy Ranford some places to reside and that you can take to the bank.&rdquo;&ldquo;Just because he has negotiated some baseball contracts, am I supposed to be intimidated?&rdquo; countered Sather.STORMIN&rsquo; NORMAN: It took defenseman Norm Maciver 22 games just to get a real chance to play, then another 17 to get a goal.Maciver scored for the first time this season in the Dec. 29 3-1 loss to Montreal. Maciver&rsquo;s job has been a steady one since he joined the Oilers&rsquo; lineup on a regular basis Nov. 27. He&rsquo;d sat out 20 straight games before that as the Oilers refused to tinker with their blue line contingent.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Kelly Buchberger, who had 11 career goals in 204 games before this season, had 10 in 38 games this year. ..The Oilers sold out Northlands Coliseum for the first time this year for their 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames Dec. 23.<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 23: Steven Rice, RW, assigned to Cape Breton (AHL). Dec. 30: Peter Ing. G, assigned to Cape Breton. Norm Foster, G, and Louie DeBrusk, LW, recalled.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bemie Nicholls, Josef Beranek, Anatoli Semenov, Craig MacTavish, Mark Lamb.LW&mdash;Vince Damphousse, Esa Tikkanen, Craig Simpson, Martin Gelinas. Troy Mallette, Louie DeBrusk.RW&mdash;Joe Murphy, Petr Klima, Scott Mellanby. Kelly Buchberger.LD&mdash;Geoff Smith, Dave Manson, Norm Maciver.RD&mdash;Craig Muni, Luke Richardson, David Shaw.G&mdash;Bill Ranford, Norm Foster.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kevin Lowe, D. bruised shoulder, day-to-day. &#9632;

Bargain Ranford wants out of NHL’s salary basement

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div>Unlike most North Americans, Doug Risebrough didn&rsquo;t wait until Dec. 31 to make his New Year&rsquo;s resolutions.The Calgary Flames&rsquo; coach-GM announced his five days early-on Boxing Day. It took two-and-a-half hours to get the message across, too.Risebrough skated his team around and around the Saddledome ice, trying to shed not only the Christmas turkey, but the psychological baggage that accompanies only four wins in 18 starts.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m convinced the team needs more skating, all the time,&rdquo; Risebrough said. &ldquo;We have been misled by the early part of the schedule, by the injuries and guys coming back early and they&rsquo;re trying to fight themselves into shape. I don&rsquo;t think you can do that in the game.&ldquo;So we&rsquo;re going to put a focus on improving the conditioning of the team right through the stretch.&rdquo;The early returns were favorable. The Flames, who had not won two games in a row since late October, managed back-to-back victories over Philadelphia (5-1 Dec. 28) and Los Angeles (6-2 Dec. 29).For the slumping Flames, who found themselves in fifth place for the first time in their Calgary incarnation, a reasonable goal was to get to the halfway point of the season at the .500 mark. That didn&rsquo;t leave much room for error. Even after their pair of wins, they were still two games under with three to go.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a race,&rdquo; Risebrough. said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve always been in a race in this league. It&rsquo;s just a different race right now.&rdquo;HARD TIMES: After scoring 10 goals in his first 17 games, second-year center Robert Reichel was mired in a horrible scoring slump. Until he scored Nos. 12 and 13 in a Dec. 29 game against the Kings, Reichel had managed only one goal in an 18-game span.Reichel lost ice time and powerplay time when Joe Nieuwendyk returned after missing the first month of the season due to injury.Discussing Reichel&rsquo;s slump, Risebrough said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re trying to play him in some situations that he can feel comfortable in. I&rsquo;ve had him out on key faceoffs. I&rsquo;ve had him out on left wing and right wing, trying to get him more ice time so he can work himself through it. Certainly, he isn&rsquo;t playing at the same level he was.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Trent Yawney proved to be a welcome addition on the Flames&rsquo; defense, especially with two of their top five rearguards, Gary Suter and Ric Nattress, out with injuries. Yawney stepped in beside Jim Kyte and added some steadiness to what had been a mistake-prone group.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 16: Stephane Matteau, LW, traded to Chicago for Trent Yawney, D. Dec. 18: Todd Harkins. C. and Darryl Olsen. D. assigned to Salt Lake (IHL). Dec. 22: Paul Kruse, LW, recalled from Salt Lake. Dec. 24: Kevan Guy, D, assigned to Salt Lake.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Doug Gilmour. Joe Nieuwendyk, Joel Otto, Robert Reichel.LW&mdash;Gary Roberts, Paul Ranheim, Tomas Forslund, Marc Habscheki, Paul Kruse.RW&mdash;Theo Fleury, Sergei Makarov, Ron Stern, Rich Chernomaz.LD&mdash;Jamie Macoun, Trent Yawney, Frank Musil.RD&mdash;AI Maclnnis. Jim Kyte. Mark Osiecki, Neil Sheehy.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Rick Wamsley<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tim Hunter, LW, fractured left ankle, indefinite. Ric Nattress, D, bruised foot, day-to-day. Martin Simard, RW, strained right knee, indefinite. Gary Suter, D, bruised right knee, day-to-day. Richard Zemlak, LW, twisted right knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

Practice makes perfect

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div>When John Muckier was hired last summer as the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; director of hockey operations, the former Edmonton Oiler coach said he had coached his last game.But everyone knew that if the Sabres faltered under head coach Rick Dudley, it wouldn&rsquo;t be long before Muckier was back behind the bench.And that&rsquo;s exactly what happened. Just 30 games into the season, Muckier replaced Dudley as coach of one of the most confounding and underachieving teams in the NHL.Many think that Muckier had no choice. But not only does he not agree with that, he says his title of interim coach is real and that he has no plans to stay in coaching beyond this season.&ldquo;I agreed (to take the coaching job) because I thought it would make my job (as director of hockey operations) easier,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A pattern has been set and we&rsquo;re going to build around a concept. We have to find an individual (new coach) who is going to take that concept a step further. This way, it gives me a chance to work with the coaching staff. This is a crisis and a tough job.&ldquo;The first challenge is to make the playoffs and go past the first round. The second challenge is to instill the type of play we want and improve the young people on our club.&rdquo;Muckier&rsquo;s task is a huge one. After being with an organization that won rive Stanley Cups by using team speed, Muckier has inherited one of the slowest teams in the league.The Sabres also seem to fade as the game goes on, calling into question the conditioning level of the players.All season the spectre of being fired hung over Dudley like the Sword of Damocles.When the Sabres picked up the option on his contract but didn&rsquo;t extend it before the season, they sent a clear message. Predictably, Dudley was fired after the Sabres posted a 915-4 record. Under Muckier, the Sabres were 2-4-2 in their first eight games.But Muckier said firing Dudley is not a cure-all and there is much work to be done.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011313/6437650-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="961" height="1984"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Muckier hopes to instill speed and some team pride into the Buffalo Sabres. (Photo by Bruce Bennett)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;The reason the change was made was because we felt we wanted to restructure the team,&rdquo; Muckier said. &ldquo;We wanted to be a more offensive club, a fast skating, good passing team.&ldquo;After we decided we were going in that direction we made the trade with the Islanders to get Pat LaFontaine. We wanted him as a cornerstone-along with Dale Hawerchuk&mdash;to take us in a new direction. At the same time, we felt the proper philosophy wasn&rsquo;t being instilled in the organization. They asked me to comeback and inject a philosophy and a style of play.&rdquo;Muckier has no plans to stay behind the bench next season.Once the pattern is in place he and general manager Gerry Meehan, will seek a replacement. A new coach may be chosen before the end of the season, but Muckier will coach until then. After that he will return to his post as director of hockey operations.&ldquo;I think one of the things that has gone wrong with the Buffalo organization is they seem to change every two or three weeks,&rdquo; Muckier said. &ldquo;If something didn&rsquo;t work, they would be doing something else. Well, that no longer is going to be the case. We are going to be a certain type of team. We are going to play a certain style of game.&ldquo;When we draft people and they walk into the dressing room they&rsquo;ll know what they have to do to be part of the Sabre organization. They&rsquo;ll have an identity.&rdquo;Muckier&rsquo;s main focus as director of hockey operations is to give the team that identity. And although he must now do that from behind the bench, it should help the players.&ldquo;This is an opportunity for me to get the know the players,&rdquo; Muckier said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have everyone on the same wavelength.&rdquo;Being on the same wavelength hasn&rsquo;t made it any easier so far for Muckier. The Sabres are playing dreadfully short of their potential.Evidence of the Sabres&rsquo; inconsistency occurred in late December when the dominated the Boston Bruins and won 8-1 one night then were shut out 3-0 by New Jersey the next night.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re young and they&rsquo;re going to make mistakes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re talented and they&rsquo;re capable of playing in the NHL. It&rsquo;s up to the coaching staff to take that and improve their potential.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0016-01

Back in the fight

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-021022/6437681-1-eng-US/f0016-022.jpg" title="f0016-02" width="381" height="477"></div>In his first game back with the Buffalo Sabres after missing six weeks with a broken jaw, Pat LaFontaine was the target of an attempted decapitation-by-elbow with Edmonton&rsquo;s Troy Mallette as the executioner.The next night, in Toronto, Craig Berube ran LaFontaine-twice. Later, Michel Petit put his stick upside LaFontaine&rsquo;s head. A few nights later in Hartford, one of the Whalers crosschecked LaFontaine from behind, sending him headfirst into the boards.Three games, five hits. One of them massive. All with a purpose. &ldquo;Welcome back to the NHL Pat LaFontaine. Here&rsquo;s a little test to see what you&rsquo;re made of.&rdquo;Hey, I don&rsquo;t mind the use of head games. Intimidation has always been a part of hockey and if you can&rsquo;t play through it you can&rsquo;t play the game. At least not at the NHL level.But this has become bloodsport.An NHL player, a star NHL player, misses six weeks and on his first night back in the lineup an opposing player tries, literally, to take his head off. Mallette&rsquo;s elbow was so well placed, and delivered with such a thunderous impact, that had LaFontaine not been wearing a specially constructed facial shield he surely would have been back in a hospital bed again waiting for his face to heal.Berube didn&rsquo;t hit him quite so hard, but the intent was clear. The play was dead, the whistle had blown when the Leafs&rsquo; player came up from the side and bounced LaFontaine into the boards-apparently trying to bounce his head off the glass. Petit&rsquo;s stick also appeared to be a well-delivered message, as was the check in Hartford.None of these were done in any attempt to disrupt a scoring chance. At least Jamie Macoun had that going for him when he broke LaFontaine&rsquo;s jaw in the first place. But in the aftermath of that incident, the injured player hasn&rsquo;t been welcomed back. He has been made a target. Why?The on-the-surface answers are easy. If there&rsquo;s a chance for intimidation, take it. Any edge helps you win. In the NHL, that&rsquo;s the way it is. If you can&rsquo;t play, don&rsquo;t go on the ice.But there&rsquo;s something more insidious here. Something that has crept into the game that makes people shudder. Players, it seems, no longer have respect for each other.It&rsquo;s hard to pinpoint the reason why. Money could be a part of the issue. It used to be things were pretty even in the NHL. A few stars made really big money. Everyone else was paid about the same. You didn&rsquo;t get rich playing in the NHL so players had a certain respect for one another. I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s the case anymore.Pressure is another factor. Every team has a player or two who will do whatever it takes to stay in the game. If he can&rsquo;t win the game with a goal, he can always do the next best thing. Deprive the opposition of one. The game is hard pressed for real talent and there are more of these kinds of players then anyone is willing to admit. The NHL was close to getting a great many of its knuckle draggers out of the game a few years back, but when the Edmonton Oiler dynasty faded, so did clean hockey. When teams realized they could win through attrition, open warfare made a comeback.Armored warriors get a share of the blame. From midget, through college and the junior ranks (especially in the junior ranks), players play with complete disregard for their opponents&rsquo; well being.The NHL must shoulder some blame as well. Executive vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill may have rooted his decision not to suspend Macoun in fact. He said there was no clear intent to injure and no one could say he was wrong, but in doing so he sent a message to the rest of the league. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not what you do that matters it&rsquo;s what I can prove.&rdquo;In a very real sense he declared open season on certain players. If you can play, but can&rsquo;t fight, you&rsquo;re a target. In the National Basketball Association, the powers that be suspended Karl Malone for a game and fined him $10,000 because his elbow opened up a cut on Isaiah Thomas&rsquo; forehead. The NBA couldn&rsquo;t prove it was intentional, but it didn&rsquo;t try to. Malone hurt a star, a player the fans. pay to see. That&rsquo;s a no-no in that league and the players, even those who sided with Malone, now know it.In the NHL, Macoun got away clean. Mallette didn&rsquo;t get a penalty and Sabres&rsquo; defenseman Jay Wells drew two in coming to the defense of LaFontaine. Those two were the difference between a win and a tie. Who would be foolish enough to come to LaFontaine&rsquo;s aid again?No one. O&rsquo;Neill didn&rsquo;t help. The officials don&rsquo;t help. The governors certainly haven&rsquo;t helped. In reality it&rsquo;s up to the players to police themselves.They are the only ones left to care and they don&rsquo;t. One can only wonder why. &#9632;

f0016-02

Bloodsport back with vengeance in the NHL

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div>As a rookie cop in Gatineau, Que., back in 1969, Pat Bums remembers clearing $39 a week. Now, as the highest paid coach in the NHL, that $39 won&rsquo;t cover the cost of one his ties.Bums is in his fourth season with the Canadiens, the longest consecutive term of any NHL coach. He signed a new contract Dec. 21 giving him a hefty raise and adding a year to his existing deal.Bums is now signed through the 1993-94 season. He&rsquo;ll earn $300,000 this season, $350,000 next year and $400,000 in 1993-94. It&rsquo;s believed to be the highest salary for an NHL coach who is not also a general manager.Bums believes his deal might open the door for other NHL coaches seeking a raise. But he isn&rsquo;t foolish enough to think coaches deserve as much as the game&rsquo;s top players.&ldquo;There are probably 21 coaches giving me a standing ovation in their offices right now. Everybody had to say we&rsquo;re underpaid,&rdquo; Bums said. &ldquo;Somebody had to break the bank. Everybody seemed to be waiting. 1get along with all the coaches. I talk to them all and we have a good relationship.&rdquo;Bums has done a remarkable job with the Habs, compiling a 159-89-33 career mark through Dec. 30. He has kept the team at or near the top of the league despite a big changeover in personnel-only six players remain from the team he inherited from Jean Perron in 1988&mdash;and more than his share of injuries.HALFWAY HOME: The Habs were the first team to reach the halfway point of the 1991-92 season, having played 40 games in just 84 days.They had 52 points after 40 games, first overall and nine points better than last season at the same point. A big reason for the improvement? They cut their goals against by 40 over last season.Pat Bums singled out goaltender Patrick Roy, defenseman Eric Desjardins and forwards Stephan Lebeau and Kirk Muller as the best players at their respective positions through the first 40 games.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Russ Courtnall who has been out since the third game of the season with a tom rotator cuff in his right shoulder-is expected to begin practising by mid-January&hellip;With two goals against the Quebec Nordiques Dec. 26, captain Guy Carbonneau was two shy of 200 for his career.<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 21: Pat Burns, coach, signed three-year contract. Dec. 22: Paul DiPietro, C, assigned to Fredericton (AHL). Dec. 23: Gilbert Dionne, RW, recalled from Fredericton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Guy Carbonneau. Stephan Lebeau, Denis Savard, Brian Skrudland.LW&mdash;Brent Gilchrist, Shayne Corson, John LeClair. Mike McPhee, Sylvain Turgeon.RW&mdash;Mike Keane, Kirk Muller, Gilbert Dionne, Todd Ewen.LD&mdash;Jean-Jacques Daigneault, Petr Svoboda, Mathieu Schneider.RD&mdash;Eric Desjardins, Lyle Odelein, Sylvain Lefebvre. Alain Cote.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Roland Melanson.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Benoit Brunet, LW, broken right ankle, indefinite. Russ Courtnall, RW. tom rotator cuff in right shoulder, indefinite. Donald Dufresne, D, tom ligaments in right knee, indefinite Mario Roberge LW, thigh injury, indefinite. &#9632;

Burns’ lucrative contract sets new standard for coaches

<div class="byline">By Jeff Jacobs</div>Forget for a moment the minors the Whalers could leave Hartford. Owner Richard Gordon and NHL president John Ziegler insist the talk is unfounded.Forget for a moment rumors of a seven-player deal with Calgary. Two weeks after the whispers started, no deal and no Doug Gilmour was forthcoming.Let&rsquo;s get to the true colors.Pending final detail-ironing with the NHL, the Whalers will change from green to navy blue as their primary color next season.The reason? Well, the talk started last summer soon after Gordon said Quebec Nordique president Marcel Aubut told him Hartford&rsquo;s uniforms made the team look small.But the major reason is the Whalers are actually looking for more green-in merchandising dollars.&ldquo;We came up with different color schemes that might be popular from a merchandising standpoint,&rdquo; vice-president Rick Francis said. &ldquo;Blackalways was at the top. It&rsquo;s a hot color. There are seven or eight teams with base blue. But no other team has what what we&rsquo;re planning. It&rsquo;s unique in the NHL.&rdquo;Although the entire uniform has not been put together yet, evidently it will end up something like the National Football League&rsquo;s Dallas Cowboys-except for some green stripping.Although there are no plans to drastically change the center crest, the Whalers have been planning to use a nautical rope to encircle the logo. That was used on the original uniforms 20 years ago in the World Hockey Association. There are, however, no plans to re-introduce the harpoon on the logo.RANDY RETURNS: Defenseman Randy Ladouceur returned to the Whalers&rsquo; lineup Dec. 28 in Quebec (4-1 loss) after missing four games following the death of his father. Roger Ladouceur died of brain cancer Dec. 18.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not something you easily put behind you,&rdquo; Ladouceur said. &ldquo;I think really the best thing for me is to at least put it in the back of my mind and the sooner I get back playing the better.&rdquo;Ladouceur, the Whalers&rsquo; captain, said his dad is the reason he is in the NHL. He coached Randy in the minor hockey program in Brockville, Ont.NOTEBOOK: The Whalers&rsquo; 6-4 triumph over the New York Islanders Dec. 29 prevented the club from tying its worst month in its history. The Whalers had five points in December, 1979 (1-8-3) and February, 1986 (2-10-1). They had beaten only Buffalo during December before the win over the Islanders gave them a 3-8-1 month.Rob Brown scored his NHL-leading 12th and 13th power-play goals against the Islanders. Brown, who had three even-strength goals, has become a power-play specialist.<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 16: Mike Tomlak, C. recalled from Springfield (AHL). Dec. 17: Chris Tancill, RW, traded to Detroit for Daniel Shank. LW. Dec. 23: Paul Cyr, LW, recalled from Springfield Dec. 27: Terry Yake, C, recalled from Springfield.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;John Cullen, Andrew Cassels, Terry Yake, Mike Tomlak, Geoff Sanderson.LW&mdash;Paul Cyr, Daniel Shank. Randy Cunneyworth, Jim McKenzie, Mikael Andersson, Murray Craven, Michel Picard.RW&mdash;Ed Kastelic, Pat Verbeek, Mark Hunter, Bob Holik, Rob Brown.LD&mdash;Randy Ladouceur, John Stevens, Zariey Zalapski, Marc Bergevin.RD&mdash;Adam Burt, Brad Shaw, Doug Houda.G&mdash;Peter Sidorkiewicz, Kay Whitmore.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

The color of money is blue

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div>Cam Neely is finally starting to feel like a hockey player again.Neely, Boston&rsquo;s two-time 50-goal right winger, came closer to returning from a serious left thigh injury during the Bruins&rsquo; year-ending, three-game road trip. Although he didn&rsquo;t play in games at Buffalo or Winnipeg and wasn&rsquo;t expected to be in the New Year&rsquo;s Eve lineup at Detroit, Neely did accompany the club on the road swing. He worked out in full gear during practice sessions and is hopeful of making his season debut before January is too old.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited about it,&rdquo; said Neely, who hasn&rsquo;t played since injuring his leg in Boston&rsquo;s final playoff game May 11. &ldquo;It has been a long time.&rdquo;Neely&rsquo;s recovery took a major step Nov. 29 when he skated for the first time since the injury. He began dressing for practices about two weeks later, got through his first full-contact workout in the days before Christmas and did everything his teammates did-except play games-on the road swing.Neely was close enough to returning to be concerned with the perception that his return would solve all the problems Boston experienced through an up-and-down first half.&ldquo;The guys know I&rsquo;m probably not going to be on top of my game right away,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m sure a lot of people are going to expect a lot of things from me right away. I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s going to happen.&rdquo;Despite the severity of the injury and concern for his career, Neely has been able to maintain his sense of humor.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m starting to like this Bobby Carpenter deal.&rdquo;Carpenter, who shattered a kneecap in 1990, rarely practices with the club and doesn&rsquo;t play games on back-to-back nights.OFF THE MATT: Rookie goalie Matt DelGuidice, assigned Dec. 27 to the U.S. Olympic team, rejoined the Bruins Dec. 29 at Winnipeg and dressed as Reggie Lemelin&rsquo;s backup. The alteration of Boston&rsquo;s goaltending tandem was forced when Andy Moog left a Dec. 27 8-1 loss at Buffalo with a hyperextended knee.Moog remained with the club after the game, but was sent home a day later when the knee stiffened. He was expected to be out until mid-January.NOTEBOOK: Chris Nilan left early from Boston&rsquo;s three-game, yearend road trip. Nilan sprained a knee ligament while colliding with teammate Garry Galley during a 3-2 victory over Hartford Dec. 26 and was expected to be out until mid-January&hellip;The Bruins, 4-2-2 at Buffalo over the past two seasons, are 0-2-1 at the Aud this year and have been outscored 15-6.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 26: Jeff Lazaro. LW, and Wes Walz, C, recalled from Maine (AHL). Lou Crawford. LW, assigned to Maine. Dec. 29: Matt DelGuidice. G. recalled from U.S. Olympic team.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Craig Janney, Vladimir Ruzicka, Ken Hodge, Barry Pederson, Wes Walz.LW&mdash;Dave Reid, Brent Ashton, Scott Amiel, Bob Carpenter, Jeff Lazaro.RW&mdash;Steve Leach, Peter Douris, Bob Sweeney.LD&mdash;Don Sweeney, Jim Wiemer, Glen Wesley.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque, Garry Galley, Stephane Quintal.G&mdash;Reggie Lemelin, Matt DelGuidice.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Andy Brickley, LW, right shoulder surgery, out for season. Glen Featherstone, D, back surgery, indefinite. Andy Moog. G, hyperextended right knee, day-to-day. Cam Neely, RW, left thigh contusion, day-to-day. Chris Nilan, RW, sprained left knee, day-to-day. Dave Poulin, abdominal surgery, indefinite. Dave Thomllnson. LW, lower back pain, indefinite. Jim Vesey C, bruised right shoulder, indefinite &#9632;

Don’t expect too much too soon, Cam warns

<div class="byline">By Kevin Johnston</div>Will the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; No. I goalie please step forward?The team&rsquo;s netminding situation has been one of its most perplexing problems this season. Nobody seems to want to lay claim to the top job. But it wasn&rsquo;t supposed to be this way.Ron Tugnutt entered the campaign as one of the league&rsquo;s brightest young stars, coming off a superb 1990-91, and many were expecting a repeat performance this season. And, should he falter, veteran Jacques Cloutier-waiting in the wings-would be willing and able.But neither has come to the fore-Tugnutt was 4-11-2 with a 4.18 GAA; Cloutier 5-9-3, 3.60&mdash;and everyone involved is getting a little antsy.&ldquo;Everything seems different this season,&rdquo; Tugnutt said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a lack of effort on my part, but I&rsquo;m not getting the breaks I did last year.&rdquo;Tugnutt, 24, contends he&rsquo;s not giving up bad goals, but he recognizes he isn&rsquo;t coming up. with the same performances he had last year. He said off-ice distractions haven&rsquo;t helped.&ldquo;All the trade rumors and also the lengthy contract negotiations finally got to me,&rdquo; said Tugnutt who signed a three-year deal in late November. &ldquo;My concentration wasn&rsquo;t up to par on certain nights.&ldquo;I (want to) prove to everyone that last season wasn&rsquo;t a fluke, that it was the real Ron Tugnutt.&rdquo;NO OLYMPICS: Nordique doctors have determined that Valeri Kamensky, who is recuperating from a fractured left leg, won&rsquo;t be able to start skating until the end of January. And he won&rsquo;t be ready to play for the Soviets at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.Dr. Pierre Beauchemin said Kamensky has to &ldquo;build up his calf muscles or else his leg could shatter.&rdquo;Kamensky suffered the injury while playing for the Soviets in a game against Sweden in August. It was originally thought he&rsquo;d be back soon after Christmas.NOTEBOOK: Coach-general manager Pierre Page confirmed he had offered a first-round draft choice to the Calgary Flames for malcontent center Doug Gilmour in December. Flame GM Doug Risebrough apparently rejected the deal because he wants immediate help.Curtis Leschyshyn made his season debut in a 4-1 win at Hartford Dec. 28 and finished the night at plus-2. The defenseman missed the first half of the campaign after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery at the end of last season.<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 23: Bryan Fogarty, D, recalled from Halifax (AHL). Dec. 27: Randy Velischek, D, assigned to Halifax for conditioning.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Sakic, Claude Lapointe, Marc Fortier, Stephane Morin.LW&mdash;Mike Hough, Doug Smail, Jamie Baker, Tony Twist,RW&mdash;Owen Nolan, Mats Sundin, Greg Paslawski, Herb Raglan, John Kordic.LD&mdash;Greg Smyth, Mikhail Tatarinov, Alexei Gusarov, Craig Wolanin.RD&mdash;Curtis Leschyshyn, Steven Finn, Bryan Fogarty, Dan Lambert, Adam Foote.G&mdash;Ron Tugnutt, Jacques Cloutier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Stephane Guerard, D, reconstructive surgery, right knee, indefinite. Valeri Kamensky. LW, fractured left leg, indefinite. &#9632;

No. 1 job still up for grabs

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div>The Buffalo Sabres got two big gifts for Christmas. Three if you count hope.During the Christmas week, doctors cleared both center Pat LaFontaine and goaltender Daren Puppa to play. If the two can return to top form, the Sabres feel they can still be a factor in the Adams Division race.LaFontaine is already on the move. The speedy center had been slated to miss six-to-eight weeks with his broken jaw and it was assumed he would be lost until at least the new year. LaFontaine, however, played in the Sabres&rsquo; 4-4 tie with the Edmonton Oilers Dec. 20 in Buffalo.He didn&rsquo;t score a point in that game, but he picked up a goal and an assist the following night in a 4-1 win at Toronto. That triumph ended a 12-game winless streak, the longest in franchise history. Rounding into form against Boston Dec. 27, he had a two-goal night and led his line (wingers Dave Andreychuk and Alexander Mogilny) to a nine-point outing (five goals, four assists) in an 8-1 rout of the Bruins.LaFontaine&rsquo;s early return was especially welcomed by the punchless Sabres&rsquo; offense. The team won just three games during the five weeks LaFontaine was injured.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited to get back into it,&rdquo; LaFontaine said. &ldquo;I wanted to make sure that when I got back out there I was able to help the team and contribute and not in any way hinder the team or hurt them because I wasn&rsquo;t 100 per cent.&rdquo;Puppa, recovering from a broken left forearm, had a losing but promising return. He was in net the night after the 8-1 win and although reasonably sharp at times, was touched for three goals in a 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils.Puppa broke his arm Nov. 11 during a morning skate. He had a two-game conditioning stint in Rochester of the American League and steps into a three-goalie situation with Clint Malarchuk and Tom Draper.NOTEBOOK: Alexander Mogilny tied an NHL record for the fastest goal from the start of a game when he beat Jeff Reese five seconds into the Dec. 21 game in Toronto. Mogilny bettered the previous Buffalo record of seven seconds established by Danny Gare against the Vancouver Canucks in 1978. Only two other players, Doug Smail and Bryan Trottier, have scored as quickly from the start of a game&hellip;Right winger Tony Tanti notched his first hat trick as a Sabre in the Dec. 20 tie with Edmonton.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 20: Daren Puppa, G, assigned to Rochester (AHL) for conditioning purposes. Dec. 23: Puppa recalled from Rochester.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pat LaFontaine, Dale Hawerchuk, Christian Ruuttu, Colin Patterson.LW&mdash;Randy Wood, Dave Andreychuk, Brad May, Rob Ray.RW&mdash;Dave Snuggerud, Alex Mogilny, Tony Tanti, Rick Vaive.LD&mdash;Mike Ramsey, Doug Bodger, Grant Ledyard, Ken Sutton,RD&mdash;Randy Hillier, Kevin Haller, Brad Miller, Jay Wells.G&mdash;Daren Puppa, Tom Draper, Clint Malarchuk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Donald Audette, RW, ankle sprain, indefinite. &#9632;

Return of core players provides hope for team

<div class="byline">By Mike Kane</div>Team USA reached the final leg of its preOlympic tour with a losing record and many questions to be answered.The Americans avoided going O-for December Dec. 29 with a 5-1 victory over the touring Soviet Selects at Atlanta, ending an 0-11-1 streak. Two of those losses came in the second annual USA Cup tournament Dec. 19-21 at Albany, N.Y., which was won by the Selects. The Soviets captured the round robin event with a 2-0-0 record after beating Canada 3-2 Dec. 20 and Team USA 5-2 Dec. 21.U.S. coach Dave Peterson called his club&rsquo;s 15-26-6 record through Dec. 30 misleading, since 13 of the losses came against NHL teams.&ldquo;We knew going in we had a schedule that was not going to give us a lot of wins,&rdquo; Peterson said. &ldquo;So you&rsquo;ve got to keep working on the positive aspect of the good things and keep working.&rdquo;In 1988, Peterson&rsquo;s club headed into Olympic competition with a 37-18-5 mark but finished a disappointing seventh. This time. Team USA officials chose a more challenging path.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how the 1988 team would have been if it played this schedule,&rdquo; said forward Clark Donatelli, a member of both teams. &ldquo;We played so many college teams in 1988 and were beating them by eight or nine goals, and the Russian team that came over wasn&rsquo;t very good. We were well prepared, but we didn&rsquo;t play the same schedule.&rdquo;Peterson said he&rsquo;d begin to trim the roster to the Olympic limit of 20 skaters and three goaltenders during the first week of January. He brought 17 forwards, nine defensemen and four goaltenders to the USA Cup. Two other regu-lars-defenseman Scott Lachance and forward Keith Tkachuk-were playing in the World Junior Championships. Peterson was evasive when asked about the final makeup of the Olympic roster.&ldquo;There are about eight players sitting on that bubble,&rdquo; he said without releasing names. &ldquo;That has somewhat dictated our lineup the last half dozen games. Sometimes we&rsquo;ve had people sitting that are counters and some people playing that are question marks.&ldquo;You can never get right down to the final squad because you don&rsquo;t know when you&rsquo;re going to get a guy-sick or hurt.&rdquo;USA officials contacted NHL teams in late December, seeking other experienced pros-specifically defensemen. That may produce late changes, but here&rsquo;s a list of likely candidates to make the team:Forwards: Clark Donatelli, Joe Sacco, Shawn McEachern, Marty McInnis, David Emma, Steve Heinze, CJ. Young, Tim Sweeney, Bill Guerin, Jim Johannson and Tkachuk.Defense: Dave Tretowicz, Dan Keczmer, Lachance, Lance Pitlick, Keith Carney and Ted Crowley.Goaltenders: Scott Gordon, Ray LeBlanc and Robb Stauber.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re going to get nothing but better,&rdquo; Peterson said. &ldquo;I think some of the players we&rsquo;ve added will help us and as we get down in numbers and they get to play with a regular set line we&rsquo;ll make a pretty good spurt.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re fairly gritty; we may be a little tougher than we were in 1988. We don&rsquo;t have the stars like we had in 1988, but I think that overall our players are a little bit stronger.&rdquo; &#9632;

Questions remain for Team USA

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie</div>Head coach Dave King has a multitude of personnel decisions still to make, but the nucleus of Canada&rsquo;s 1992 Olympic team is firmly in place.More than half of the 23 roster spots (20 skaters and three goaltenders) have already been won. Start in goal, with Sean Burke and Trevor Kidd.Burke, the disgruntled New Jersey Devil and a member of Canada&rsquo;s fourth-place team at the 1988 Winter Games, looks to be King&rsquo;s choice as the No. 1 man. In 1988, King rotated Burke and Andy Moog.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard to look past Sean&rsquo;s Olympic experience,&rdquo; King said after Burke led the Olympic team to a victory in the Alberta Cup. Dec 26 29, in Red Deer, Alta. Canada lost 4-3 to the Russian Selects Dec. 26, but beat Swedish club team HV 71 in two consecutive games (3-1 and 5-2), the latter in the tournament finale. Burke was outstanding in all three games.&ldquo;Trevor (Kidd) is an outstanding netminder who we wouldn&rsquo;t hesitate to use in any situation,&rdquo; King added. &ldquo;But Sean has been there before and that&rsquo;s worth a lot.&rdquo;You don&rsquo;t have to read too far between the lines to know the starting assignment is Burke&rsquo;s to lose at the Albertville Winter Games.On defense, five spots appear to have been won.Team captain Brad Schlegel, the only player who has been with the national team program for the four-year term, leads the way. NHL veteran Curt Giles plus Dan Ratushny, Jason Woolley and Kevin Dahl round out the starting five.Two defensemen who have been with the team all season-Gord Hynes and Adrien Plavsic&mdash;are on the bubble. Their future with the club depends upon two factors: 1. How they play in the weeks leading up to the Games; and, 2.What additional help is obtained from either the NHL or Canadians playing abroad in European leagues.Up front, the following forwards have earned their spots: Eric Lindros, Dave Archibald, Chris Lindberg, Joe Juneau, Kent Manderville and Randy Smith.Forwards on the bubble include Fabian Joseph, Chris Kontos, Todd Brost, Stephane Roy and Scott Scissons. All have a legitimate shot at making the team, but judgment has been reserved until King gets a look at potential reinforcements.King has briefly auditioned European league talent in the form of Gord Sherven, Wally Schreiber, Mark Napier, John Chabot, Mike Eaves, Tom Tilley and Tony McKegney.Of that group, Sherven and Schreiber, both members of King&rsquo;s 1988 squad, have the inside track on jobs this year.The European leagues take an Olympic break by the middle of this month and all those players are available to join King&rsquo;s team.&ldquo;There are a number of players there who could help us,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re used to the big ice and the international style of play.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t anticipate getting big-name help from the NHL, but we will use some pro help, too.King is most interested in experienced utility-type players to round out his supporting cast. &#9632;

This No. 1 goalie job is Burke’s for the taking

<div class="byline">By Vance Oliver</div>AIDS awareness filtered down to the Western League thanks in part to a general manager putting his foot in his mouth.Daryl Lubiniecki, GM of the Saskatoon Blades, committed a public relations gaffe when expounding on the issue of AIDS in sports:&ldquo;The doctors have told me the highest risk is in the gay community,&rdquo; Lubiniecki said recently. &ldquo;I think we&rsquo;re free of those type of people here. I don&rsquo;t think we have people with weak wrists in this dressing room.&rdquo;Local awareness groups, such as AIDS Saskatoon, responded to Lubiniecki&rsquo;s comments by distributing condoms and information sheets to fans prior to the Blades&rsquo; home game Dec. 6 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.The condoms were contained inside cardboard leaflets resembling matchbook covers. The Blades&rsquo; logo, with the words &lsquo;Blade Guard&rsquo;, appeared on the front, while the back flap stated &ldquo;Aids is not a weak-wrist issue.&rdquo;&ldquo;This is a golden opportunity for sports figures right now to be involved in education,&rdquo; said Bruce Garman, president of the board at AIDS Saskatoon. &ldquo;Mr. Lubiniecki has a real opportunity to be a spokesperson if he&rsquo;s informed, but he&rsquo;s misinformed.&ldquo;What we&rsquo;re doing, in a humorous and educational way, is to point out where he&rsquo;s wrong and educate the public.&rdquo;COACHES NAMED: The WHL announced that Prince Albert Raiders&rsquo; Mike Fedorko and Spokane Chiefs&rsquo; Bryan Maxwell will be cocoaches for Team West at the inaugural Canadian Hockey League All-Star Game Feb. 4 in Saskatoon.Fedorko and Maxwell earned the right to be behind the bench, since their teams had the best winning percentages in each of the WHL&rsquo;s two divisions as of Dec. 16. The Raiders were atop the East Division with a .700 winning percentage, while Spokane had a .650 winning mark.Joining forces as club managers and assisting in player selection will be the Raiders&rsquo; Dale Engel and the Chiefs&rsquo; Tim Speltz. Player announcements will be made in mid-January.Team West, an all-star team from the WHL, will play against a combined Ontario League and Quebec League all-star squad.Sault Ste. Marie&rsquo;s Ted Nolan and Joe Canale of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens have been selected as coaches of Team East.BRONCOS ON LOAN: The Swift Current Broncos have been the WHL team hardest hit by the World Junior Championships in Germany. Forwards Andy Schneider and Tyler Wright are playing for Team Canada and defenseman Brent Bilodeau is on the U.S. team.Each player is expected to miss a minimum of eight games because of the training camp and the tournament, which takes place Dec. 26 to Jan. 4. To make matters worse, the Broncos are without coach Graham James, who is serving a league supension and won&rsquo;t be back behind the bench until Jan. 8.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an understatement to say we&rsquo;re missing those guys,&rdquo; said Broncos&rsquo; assistant-coach Rob Daum. &ldquo;We have good, quality youngsters behind them, but they&rsquo;re still too inexperienced to pick up the slack.&rdquo; &#9632;

AIDS’ faux pas turned into awareness gimmick

Despite the influx of Europeans and American collegiate grads into the NHL, major junior leagues are still the No. 1 supplier of talent. Here are the Canadian Hockey League teams leading in that category, based on players who played at least one NHL game last season.1 Peterborough, OHL (22): You could ice a pretty fair lineup with the likes of Steve Yzerman, Mike Ricci, Randy Burridge, Larry Murphy, Luke Richardson and Kay Whitmore.2. Medicine Hat, WHL (22): They breed them tough. Trevor Linden, Craig Berube, Shane Churla, Rod Buskas. Goalies are Kelly Hrudey, Pete Peeters and Mark Fitzpatrick.3. Kitchener, OHL (21): How about this defensive corps? Paul Coffey, Al Maclnnis, Scott Stevens, David Shaw, Craig Wolanin and Larry Robinson. Also Brian Bellows.4. Oshawa, OHL (19): Eric Lindros hasn&rsquo;t made the jump yet, but many have-John MacLean, Dave Andreychuk, Derek King, Charlie Huddy, Tony Tanti and Kirk McLean.5. Saskatoon, WHL (19): No genuine superstars, but a lot of role players like Wendel Clark, Brent Ashton, Brian Skrudland, Joey Kocur, Curtis Leschyshyn and Grant Ledyard. &#9632;

Leading the NHL in assists

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>It didn&rsquo;t take Bill LaForge long to get himself into trouble with the Ontario League.LaForge, the controversial coach who joined the Guelph Storm Dec. 3, upset OHL commissioner David Branch and many governors for his comments in the Guelph Mercury Dec. 9.&ldquo;This is going to be the Storm Dome,&rdquo; LaForge said after a 5-5 tie with Kitchener at Guelph Memorial Gardens Dec. 8. &ldquo;They carried guys off. They better get some body bags because they&rsquo;re going to be carrying a few more off. We&rsquo;re going to be Stormtroopers.&rdquo;LaForge said in retrospect &ldquo;body bags wasn&rsquo;t a good choice of words.&rdquo;Branch received complaints from owners, fans and parents. London Knights&rsquo; governor Al Martin said the OHL should censure LaForge.&ldquo;The league is looking into it,&rdquo; Branch said.LaForge was fired by Niagara Falls Thunder owner Rick Gay in 1989. &ldquo;He talked about body bags then,&rdquo; Gay said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard this before. I could write a book on it. Hopefully this is just talk.&rdquo;Reaction came quickly from other governors.&ldquo;This is absolutely disgusting and 1&rsquo;11 tell Bill that,&rdquo; said Sault Ste. Marie Greyhound governor Sherry Bassin.&ldquo;It makes me think we&rsquo;re going back to the stone age,&rdquo; said Owen Sound Platers&rsquo; president Joe Holody. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s awful stuff to say. U.S. college recruiters love to get hold of this.&rdquo;LaForge said he&rsquo;s not concerned what people think, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve had owners say they&rsquo;re glad to have me back. When you have 2,000 more people in your building, sure they&rsquo;re glad. I&rsquo;ve done only positive things for the OHL. Why is everyone so worried?&rdquo;LaForge pointed out 11 of 34 individual OHL records are held by players he coached and only one is for penalty minutes.Controversy also dogged LaForge off the ice. Two days after landing in Guelph, he had a confrontation with a striking worker at the Mercury. LaForge said $1,500 damage was done to his car. Guelph police charged Dan Melanson, 27, of Fergus, with mischief over $1,000. Melanson appeared in court Dec. 16 and was released from custody. No trial date was set.IOB CHARGED: Greyhound overage left winger Tony lob was charged with assault with a weapon by Waterloo Regional police after a spectator was struck by a stick at a Nov. 8 game in Kitchener. Notice of the charge was sent through the mail Dec. 16. A court date was planned for February.Ottawa 67&rsquo;s coach Brian Kilrea was suspended five games and fined $1,000 for throwing a stick and towel on the ice to protest the refereeing of Jim Houston Dec. 6 in Ottawa. &ldquo;Mr. Kilrea is regarded as one of the leaders in our industry and it&rsquo;s disappointing when someone of his esteem is involved in this type of action,&rdquo; Branch said. Kilrea is scheduled to return Dec. 27 in Guelph.Greyhound center Chris Simon was suspended indefinitely by the league after punching Windsor goalie Todd Hunter at the end of the second period Dec. 8 in Sault Ste. Marie. Hunter, although wearing his mask, was knocked unconscious. Simon has already been suspended 14 games this season. Hunter, meanwhile, will be out until mid-January with a cracked left collarbone after being struck by a shot in a game Dec. 12.Detroit Ambassadors&rsquo; captain Mark Lawrence is out until February after breaking his left elbow Dec. 11. He had 15 points in a seven-game stretch. &#9632;

LaForge in trouble over ‘disgusting’ comment

Some college players not only produce impressive statistics on the ice, but they also come up with big performances in the classroom. Here&rsquo;s a look at five student skaters who excel in both the hockey and academic arenas of the nation.Etienne Belzile, D, Jr., Cornell (ECAC). Strapping Jonquiere, Que., native is one of team&rsquo;s most consistent players. Has a 3.40 GPA in pre-med. NHL rights: Calgary.David Burke. D, Sr., Cornell (ECAC). Reliable stay-at-home rearguard has a 3.40 GPA in mechanical engineering and is the Big Red team captain. NHL rights: Toronto.Mike Gilmore, G, Sr., Michigan State (CCHA). Farmington Hills, Mich, native grabbed No. 1 job this year and sports a 3.51 GPA in engineering arts. NHL rights: Rangers.Angelo Libertucci, G, Jr., Bowling Green (CCHA). Has 3.93 grade-point average in pre-med/biology. Too bad goals-against average is higher (5.43). NHL rights; Philadelphia.Jim Montgomery, C, Jr., Maine (HE). One of top scorers in Hockey East with 27 points in 12 games. Has a 3.37 GPA in business management. NHL rights: Not drafted. &#9632;

Saluting students of the game

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>It has been eight years since Hockey East was created and according to commissioner Stu Haskell, things couldn&rsquo;t be better.Haskell-in his fourth season as league commissioner-was the athletic director at Maine when conference play began in 1984-85. He has seen many changes over the years and is confident things are headed in the right direction.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m certainly happy with things,&rdquo; Haskell said. &ldquo;The schools in our league support their hockey programs well and that has made my job easier. The credit belongs to the schools, their athletic directors, their coaches and players. They&rsquo;ve done a great job emphasizing academics.&rdquo;Proof of the league&rsquo;s on-ice success can be found in the number of Hockey East graduates on NHL rosters. Several top notch players-Boston&rsquo;s Craig Janney, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Kevin Stevens, New York Ranger Brian Leetch, all of Boston College, Hartford&rsquo;s John Cullen (Boston University) and New Jersey&rsquo;s Chris Terreri (Providence)-honed their skills in Hockey East arenas. And 89 Hockey East grads were drafted by eight NHL clubs before the 1991-92 season.A strong television contract with the New England Sports Network has helped Hockey East flourish. The league is in its third three-year agreement with the Boston-based sports network.NESN will broadcast 20 Hockey East regular season games this season, seven involving Hockey East teams against Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference teams and two Beanpot Tournament semifinals. The network will also televise Hockey East quarterfinals, semifinals and finals and ECAC semifinals and finals. NESN has televised approximately 200 Hockey East games since 1985.Over the past few years, NESN has shared game coverages with other cable networks like Prime Ticket Network, giving Hockey East nation-wide exposure.Hockey East attendance has been on the rise as well. Seven of the eight schools improved their attendance figures last year over the 1989-90 season and Haskell said attendance figures seem to be even better for all the teams this season.On the ice, Hockey East teams had winning records against every other conference after the first half of the 1991-92 season. Hockey East teams were 38-14-1 against non-league opponents.HASKELL&rsquo;S HELPER: Hockey East has a new assistant commissioner this season to give Haskell a helping hand.Nonni Daly, 54, is a retired publisher who spent the last five years at the University of Maine putting out the Friends of Maine Hockey newsletter. She was also president of the Friends of Maine Hockey boosters club for three years.&ldquo;She has been doing a great job,&rdquo; Haskell said. &ldquo;Because of the strength of the league, phones ring off the hook all day and she has been so accessible.&rdquo;FAMILY TIES: It&rsquo;s a family affair this year in the Hockey East officiating ranks. Referee Rich Fowkes is the uncle of referee-linesman Bob Fowkes; referee Ned Bunyon is the father of linesman Jeff Bunyon; referee-linesman Bill Jones and linesman John Jones are brothers; and linesman Andy Hennigar is the son of the league&rsquo;s supervisor of officials Dana Hennigar. &#9632;

Haskell impressed with league’s progress

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>Brian Durocher has been placed in an awkward situation. As interim coach of the Colgate Red Raiders, he wants to preserve the memory of former coach Terry Slater, who passed away Dec. 5 after suffering a stroke.But the rookie head coach also wants to implement some of his own ideas.&ldquo;I hope you&rsquo;ll see a little bit of a Brian Durocher flavor,&rdquo; said the former Boston University goalie, an assistant coach at Colgate for the last seven years. &ldquo;When you think of Terry&rsquo;s style, it was skate, skate and then skate faster. I lean toward a defensive style. Defense is what will get us to the playoffs. I think my style is a combination of Terry Slater and Jack Parker (Durocher&rsquo;s coach at BU).&rdquo;Durocher, 35, has an impressive resume. After serving as co-captain of the Terriers&rsquo; national championship team in 1977-78, he spent two years at the American International College in Springfield, Mass, as an assistant coach before returning to his alma mater. He worked for Parker-considered by many to be one of the best teachers in the business-for five years before moving to Colgate in 1985-86.&ldquo;Terry was a tremendous psychological, motivational-type coach,&rdquo; Durocher said. &ldquo;That comes from years of experience and having the confidence to do the right things in the right situations.&rdquo;Since Slater&rsquo;s death, Durocher and newly-appointed assistant Jeff Weber have closely monitored the team, looking for signs of depression.&ldquo;The kids have adjusted well,&rdquo; Durocher said. &ldquo;Terry was in the hospital for four days and the outlook wasn&rsquo;t good, so it gave us time to think about it. But the kids were focused (at the time of Slater&rsquo;s death) on exams as well as hockey and many didn&rsquo;t have a chance to sit back and really think about it. It was a very emotional thing for everyone to go through.&rdquo;Durocher&rsquo;s main goal in the second half was to keep the Red Raiders focused and get them to play more consistently. Colgate was 1-3-0 (2-6-1 overall) and tied for ninth in the 12-team Eastern College Athletic Conference at the Christmas break.BEST DEFENSE: The ECAC&rsquo;s mid-term marks are in and the fourth-place Harvard Crimson earned an A-plus for its sterling defensive play.The Crimson led the league in team defense, allowing an impressive 2.51 goals per game. Senior goalie Allain Roy had the ECAC&rsquo;s best goals-against average at 2.26.The Brown Bears earned top marks for their special teams play. The Bears scored 10 powerplay goals and two shorthanded markers in seven games, while giving up just five powerplay goals.HE&rsquo;S NO DUFUS: Cornell sophomore goalie Parris Duffus saw limited action last season behind Corrie D&rsquo;Alessio and Jim Crozier, but has emerged as one of the league&rsquo;s most consistent goalies. Duffus appeared in each of his team&rsquo;s first six league games, compiling a .906 save percentage and a 3.05 GAA&hellip;The ECAC placed four goalies in the nation&rsquo;s top 10 at the break: Clarkson sophomore Jason Curris (2.80 GAA, second), Yale junior John Hockin (2.81 GAA, fourth), Clarkson junior Chris Rogles (2.84 GAA, fifth) and Duffus (ninth). &#9632;

Durocher’s goal to help Red Raiders stay focused

<div class="byline">By Matt Carlson</div>Spring sometimes doesn&rsquo;t arrive until May in chilly Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., but at Lake Superior State, some of the scorers bloom much later than the local flora.Senior center Paul Constantin is the latest Laker to follow the trend. Through three previous seasons, the Burlington, Ont., native had 20 goals and 16 assists in 89 games. Last year, he had nine goals and 18 points in 32 matches. But this season, Constantin had seven goals and 22 points in 17 games to lead Laker forwards inscoring.&ldquo;He played (well) in the past, but we used Paul in more of a defensive role,&rdquo; said LSSU assistant coach Ron Rolston. &ldquo;Last year, we used him as a penalty killer and a fourth-line player because of the depth we had.&rdquo;But the Lakers lost their top five scorers from last season to graduation or pro signings, leaving Constantin room to grow.&ldquo;With the extra playing time, you&rsquo;re confidence goes up tremendously,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m playing with some big, tough guys on the wings (junior right winger Dean Hulett and junior left winger John Hendry). I like to read off their forechecking, get the puck and then try to give it back to one of them.&rdquo;Constantin-who was recruited from the Burlington Cougars of the Central Ontario Junior League-joins a long line of Laker late bloomers. Last season, senior Tim Breslin had 25 goals and 62 points after never posting more than 25 points in a season. Jeff Jablonski and Mark Vermette are other former Lakers who exploded offensively as seniors.SOLID ON STRIPES: Illinois-Chicago freshman defenseman Shannon Finn has a special appreciation for on-ice officials. His father, Ron, has been an NHL linesman since 1969 and has worked more games than any other active official.&ldquo;A lot of guys won&rsquo;t give them respect,&rdquo; the Brampton, Ont., native said. &ldquo;Officials are aware players get into the game and say things, but it&rsquo;s not just a one-way street. Both (officials and players) have to give and take.&rdquo;Being the son of an NHL linesman has its advantages. &ldquo;Because of my dad, all my life I&rsquo;ve been exposed to NHL hockey,&rdquo; Finn said. &ldquo;He has been able to take me on the road with him sometimes to cities around the NHL and I&rsquo;ve heard plenty of stories from him.&rdquo;Finn isn&rsquo;t the only Central Collegiate Hockey Association player with an NHL officiating connection. Michigan State junior defenseman Wes McCauley is the son of the late John McCauley, a former NHL referee and director of officials.STICKY SUPERSTITION: Every time Miami-Ohio senior defenseman Steve Wilson tapes up a new stick, he lends a little artistic and superstitious touch.Wilson draws four things near the end of the shaft after he tapes it. First, there&rsquo;s a fish. Next come three sets of initials, &ldquo;AN,&rdquo; &ldquo;AC,&rdquo; and &ldquo;DC.&rdquo;The fish is for former Miami star center Craig Fisher, Wilson&rsquo;s friend and former roommate, who currently plays with the American League&rsquo;s Cape Breton Oilers. &ldquo;AN&rdquo; stands for Wilson&rsquo;s old high school friend, Al Newman. &ldquo;AC&rdquo; stands for Andy Cheatham, a young Cincinnati resident who is Wilson&rsquo;s biggest fan. And &ldquo;DC&rdquo; stands for Danielle Cirkham, Wilson&rsquo;s one-year-old niece. &#9632;

Constantin scoring constantly

<div class="byline">By Robin Brownlee</div>When the Alberta Golden Bears arrived at training camp this year, one cubicle at Clare Drake Arena remained mysteriously empty. No skates, no pads, no No. 27 jersey for the equipment manager to hang up. Adam Morrison was nowhere to be found.Another messy holdout? A hot-shot kid demanding a big raise in pay? Hardly.Morrison, 25, was still at home in Dawson Creek, B.C., because he knew working another week for the city&rsquo;s parks and recreation department meant more money for his books and tuition.The fifth-year center eventually returned, and he has been nothing but money in the bank for the Golden Bears all season.&ldquo;When you see these guys holding out for money all over the place and you&rsquo;re working for more money for school, it&rsquo;s kind of funny,&rdquo; Morrison said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not talking big money here.&rdquo;Morrison arrived with an extra $400 in his pocket after cutting grass and shovelling dirt as a Dawson Creek employee. But he might be rolling in the green if he played for pay.Morrision had 22 goals and 30 points in 13 games and was tied with Regina&rsquo;s Darrin McKechnie (11 goals, 19 points in 14 games) for the lead in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association scoring race.The former Victoria Cougar (1983-86)-who has attended NHL training camps with New Jersey and Detroit as a free agent-has always been a talented goal-scorer, but his 1991-92 pace is remarkable.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t too worried about the scoring race at the start. I just wanted to play well,&rdquo; Morrison said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re halfway through the year and you&rsquo;re near the top, you start to hope. But I&rsquo;m not going to die if I don&rsquo;t (win).&rdquo;Morrison scored at least three goals five times in the first half, including a four-goal game in a 5-5 tie with the Brandon Bobcats Nov. 23.An all-Canadian in 1989, he could easily add the CIAU&rsquo;s comeback player of the year to his trophy case. He missed half of last season after undergoing knee surgery and came back for his final year with something to prove.&ldquo;This might be the last competitive hockey I play,&rdquo; said Morrison, who is considering a career in law enforcement after graduation.&ldquo;It was one of those years for Adam,&rdquo; Golden Bears&rsquo; coach Bill Moores said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s ready to jump right back to where he was. He has been a leader.&rdquo;If Morrison can maintain his scoring pace in Alberta&rsquo;s final 15 games, he&rsquo;ll set a new standard for single-season goals in the CWUAA. Former Saskatchewan Huskie Ken Morrison (no relation) holds the league record with 40. Former Golden Bear great Stacey Wakabayashi&mdash;the CWUAA&rsquo;s career points leader with 250-holds the team record with 35.It would seem like the perfect exit for one of the CWUAA&rsquo;s most prolific scorers. But what Morrison wants more than anything, is to capture the CWUAA crown. He made the journey to The Nationals in 1989 and last year, but the Golden Bears came up short both times.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a big part of wanting to come back,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;To go out on a winning note.&rdquo; &#9632;

Golden Bears can bank on Morrison’s scoring

<div class="byline">By Dave Emlnian</div>International League commissioner Tom Berry said discussion of a policy addressing the virus that leads to AIDS will be part of the agenda at the league meetings Jan. 13 in Phoenix.&ldquo;In view of the recent revelations in Montreal, I think this is one of the most important issues of the day,&rdquo; said Berry, referring to a report by a Montreal doctor that a deceased patient with AIDS claimed to have had sex with 50 NHL players. &ldquo;We need to educate our players, league officials, everyone, and show some responsible action.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not proposing mandatory testing. But there is nothing in the players&rsquo; agreement with the league that would prohibit testing.&rdquo;Berry said several IHL players have been tested for AIDS this season while undergoing routine physicals. To his knowledge, no one has yet tested HIV positive.He said none of the IHL&rsquo;s 10 teams is currently testing or discussing the disease with its players.In the dressing room, however, players have been discussing AIDS.&ldquo;Something dangerous is going on,&rdquo; said Peoria Rivermen center and player representative Richard Pion. &ldquo;A lot of guys are thinking about it. I am personally in favor of mandatory testing and I don&rsquo;t think Mr. Berry would face too much of a fight from the players if he came to us and asked for mandatory testing.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we would like to see and it might give the IHL a good image.&rdquo;MARKETING MAN: The IHL has hired Mike McCall, 33, as its first-ever marketing director. The former general manager of the Western League&rsquo;s Tri-City Americans had been working as a general manager of a car dealership in Idaho. His duties with the IHL will include building a licensing program for the league, working on a league television and radio package and rounding up corporate sponsors.The league said its Feb. 2 All-Star Game in Atlanta will be televised in the United Stateson the subscription network Prime Ticket, and that television stations in IHL markets that don&rsquo;t have Prime Ticket can get access to the satellite feed and carry the game for no charge. Atlanta will join the IHL next season-becoming the league&rsquo;s 11th team.END OF STORY: The book on Brent Sapergia&rsquo;s IHL career appears to be over.Sapergia, suspended Dec. 1 by the San Diego Gulls, was playing in Switzerland after leaving San Diego. He failed to record a point and was released after three games.The Gulls lifted his suspension Dec. 19 and released him outright. He became a free agent eligible to sign with any team, though it was unlikely anyone would give Sapergia another chance. Sapergia has played 322 games over parts of seven seasons in the IHL.BLADES OF STEAL: When the Kansas City Blades found themselves down 2-0 late in the third period of their game Dec. 14, they must have had an experience of deja vu. After all, the Blades were 0-12-1 against the Rivermen going into the game.But the Blades battled back to win the game 5-4 in a shootout to end the franchise&rsquo;s streak of futility. The win was especially sweet for goaltender Wade Flaherty, who ended a personal steak against the Rivermen,. Going into the game, he had lost his 10 previous games against the Rivermen.San Diego Gulls&rsquo; goalie Rick Knickle has been a road warrior this season. The 30-year-old had a 10-1-0 record on the road while posting a 2.60 goals-against average. Knickle&rsquo;s only loss as a visitor came Dec. 13-Friday the 13th&mdash;at Kansas City, where he lost 2-0. &#9632;

HIV policy on league agenda

Oh brother, they&rsquo;re everywhere.The Sutters remain in a league by themselves, but here are 11 families with brother acts in the NHL and the minor pro leagues:Chelios: Chris&rsquo; younger brother Steve is a defenseman in Nashville.Clark: Wendel is a heavy hitter for Toronto. Kerry is a heavyweight with Salt Lake.Dineen: Kevin and dad Bill are in Philly. Gord&rsquo;s in Muskegon. Jerry&rsquo;s in Raleigh.Ewen: Todd hands out capital punishment in Montreal. Dean does it in Capital District.Granato: Like his brother Tony, Don played at Wisconsin. Now he&rsquo;s in Columbus.Gretzky: The Great One&rsquo;s brother Keith is a good one with the San Diego Gulls.Jablonski: Pat&rsquo;s twin starred at Lake Superior before joining Nashville Knights.Lebeau: Patrick, a big scorer in Fredericton, hopes to follow Stephan to Montreal.McRae: Chris is smaller than Basil, but plays same rough style for Fort Wayne.Stevens: St. John&rsquo;s is Mike&rsquo;s (Scott&rsquo;s brother) ninth pro city in seven years.Wolanin: Defense runs in the family. Craig&rsquo;s brother Chris plays for Greensboro. &#9632;

It’s all in the pro hockey family

<div class="byline">By Nick Gates</div>Expansion teams are supposed to take their lumps. But the first-year Toledo Storm has learned how to dish out punishment.And in the process, the Sike his brother Tonytorm was achieving goals not usually associated with first-year teams. In late December the Storm owned the East Coast League&rsquo;s best record, had scored the most goals and made believers out of the rest of the league.&ldquo;We are led by a trio of what I consider the best free agents in the league,&rdquo; said Storm coach Chris McSorley.McSorley is referring to forwards Mike Maurice and Brad McCaughey and defenseman Alex Roberts.Maurice was Toledo&rsquo;s leading scorer with 13 goals and 43 points in 24 games. McCaughey added 21 goals, including a league-high eight game-winners in 22 games. Roberts had 11 goals and 30 points in 19 games.&ldquo;I recruited all three very hard,&rdquo; McSorley said.The Storm also benefitted from its affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings. The NHL team assigned left winger Mike Casselman (13 goals and 27 assists in 24 games), right winger Dave Flanagan (eight goals in seven games), center Dan Wiebe (nine goals in 10 games) and defensemen Jody Praznik and Greg Bignell.The addition of goalie Dave Gagnon Dec. 11 gave Toledo four players-Flanagan, Bignell and Praznik are the others-from last season&rsquo;s Hampton Roads&rsquo; Riley Cup champions.&ldquo;The Red Wings have been tremendous and excellent to work with,&rdquo; McSorley said. &ldquo;I have an outstanding relationship with (assistant general manager and director of hockey operations) Nick Polano. They&rsquo;re a first-class organization.&rdquo;UNLUCKY 13TH: Adversity on the highway seems to bring out the best in the Knoxville Cherokees.The Cherokees&rsquo; bus broke down in Kentucky A and again just inside the Pennsylvania border while they were en route to Erie for a game Dec. 13.The nightmarish ride&mdash;it took 36 hours instead of the normal 12-continued as the Panthers scored four first-period goals. The Cherokees then rallied to win 5-4. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like Christmas,&rdquo; said Knoxville coach Bill Nyrop.To prove it wasn&rsquo;t a fluke, the Cherokees came from behind to bounce the Panthers 6-3 the next night and finished their journey through Pennsylvania with a 3-1 win at Johnstown Dec. 15.&ldquo;I think they just decided it was time they start playing a certain way and give a full effort on defense,&rdquo; Nyrop said.RECO RD&mdash;WRECKER: Center Craig Charron had three goals and shattered Cincinnati&rsquo;s single-game scoring record by adding four assists for seven points in a 7-5 victory over Columbus Dec. 14.Richmond traded right winger Kirby Lindal, to Raleigh Dec. 9 for future considerations and Winston-Salem dealt right winger Bruce Coles to Johnstown Dec. 10 for cash.Louisville claimed defenseman Geno PareA off waivers Dec. 10. The well-travelled Pare already has played with Knoxville and Winston-Salem this season, recording one assist in 16 games.Center Peter Kasowski left Roanoke Dec. 17 when the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the International League offered him a tryout. At the time of his departure, Kasowski had a league-high points streak of 21 games during which he scored 51 points. &#9632;

Expansion team sends out Storm warning

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzlja</div>Competing as the American League&rsquo;s only independent team, the New Haven Nighthawks were expected to struggle this season.That they stumbled out of the gate with a 5-14-0 record was no surprise.What is surprising is that they have become the AHL&rsquo;s hottest team. The Nighthawks went on an 8-1-1 romp in December to put themselves back into the Northern Division race. Their only losses in 12 games as of late December were both in overtime to Springfield.&ldquo;Receiving 11 players two days before the season opens made it a difficult chore (to start),&rdquo; said coach Doug Carpenter. &ldquo;Putting together 18 players constitutes a club. But through time we&rsquo;ve become a hockey team, and there&rsquo;s a big difference between being a club and being a team.&rdquo;The Nighthawks have players on loan from six NHL teams, and also signed several former NHLers. That meant players had to forget the previous systems they played and learn Carpenter&rsquo;s systems together.&ldquo;As time has gone on, we&rsquo;ve been able to get a power play, penalty killing forechecking, backchecking,&rdquo; Carpenter said. &ldquo;Not only are we in the same book, we&rsquo;re on the same page.&rdquo;Most of the players on the New Haven roster are castoffs from other organizations, who are trying to save their careers. Carpenter, hoping for another NHL coaching job, is using that to motivate his team.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re all in the same boat and in essense we all have the same career objectives,&rdquo; Carpenter said. &ldquo;The guys know that the better we do as awhole, the better it is for them as individuals.&rdquo;GREAT GOALIE SWITCH: A goalie rotation system usually refers to alternating starts. But for Washington Capitals&rsquo; farmhands Byron Dafoe and Olaf Kolzig, it involves rotating onemonth assignments between Baltimore of the AHL and Hampton Roads of the East Coast League.With Don Beaupre and Mike Liut in Washington, Jim Hrivnak was without a spot in Washington, so he will play the majority of the games for the Skipjacks. But rather than have Kolzig or Dafoe wasting away on the players&rsquo; bench with the Skipjacks, they are taking onemonth stints with Hampton Roads.Kolzig played 14 games in November, going 11-3-0 with a 2.90 goals-against average. He returned to Baltimore Dec. 2 and Dafoe went to Hampton Dec. 12.Dafoe played admirably with the Skipjacks&rsquo; He was 7-4-0 with a 3.29 GAA and .909 save percentage (second-best in the league).MAINE MAN: Right winger John Byce was the Maine Mariners&rsquo; offense in a 5-4 overtime loss at Rochester Dec. 11, scoring all four goals. He was recalled by Boston the next day and scored for the Bruins in a 5-1 win over Montreal&hellip; In the Rochester-Maine game, Americans&rsquo; center Ed Zawatsky scored the overtime goal to cap a whirlwind day. The former Colorado College player signed a tryout contract earlier in the day after scoring 20 goals and 19 assists in 17 games with the Erie Panthers of the ECHL&hellip;Adirondack left winger Kirk Tomlinson played his first penalty-free game of the season at Rochester Dec. 16. He had 135 minutes (including a league-high 15 majors) in his first 16 games. &#9632;

Nighthawks see daylight with December surge

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0026-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01851/6438352-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg"></div><h2>STANDINGS</h2><h2>OVERALL STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02555/6438345-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="498" height="616"></div><h2>OVERTIME RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-03441/6438338-1-eng-US/f0026-032.jpg" title="f0026-03" width="486" height="622"></div><h2>RESULTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-04320/6438331-1-eng-US/f0026-042.jpg" title="f0026-04" width="1016" height="1119"></div><h2>DIVISIONAL RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-05245/6438324-1-eng-US/f0026-052.jpg" title="f0026-05" width="540" height="780"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-06204/6438317-1-eng-US/f0026-062.jpg" title="f0026-06" width="914" height="1066"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ed Olczyk had a career high 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) as Winnipeg trounced Calgary 7-2 Dec. 21.</figcaption></div><h2>POWER PLAY</h2>(ADV)&mdash;TOTAL ADVANTAGES; (PPG)&mdash;POWER-PLAY GOALS; (PCT)&mdash;POWER-PLAY GOALS DIVIDED BY TOTAL ADVANTAGES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-07178/6438310-1-eng-US/f0026-072.jpg" title="f0026-07" width="472" height="635"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTIES</h2>(PIM)&mdash;TOTAL PENALTY MINUTES INCLUDING (BMI) BENCH PENALTY MINUTES; (AVG)&mdash;AVERAGE PENALTY MINUTES PER GAME.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-08162/6438303-1-eng-US/f0026-082.jpg" title="f0026-08" width="415" height="652"></div><h2>PENALTY KILLING</h2>(TSH)&mdash;TOTAL TIMES SHORTHANDED; (PPGA)&mdash;POWER-PLAY GOALS ALLOWED: (PCT)&mdash;SUCCESSFUL PENALTY-KILLING PERCENTAGE.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-09149/6438296-1-eng-US/f0026-092.jpg" title="f0026-09" width="473" height="649"></div><h2>TOP SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-10142/6438289-1-eng-US/f0026-102.jpg" title="f0026-10" width="612" height="558"></div><h2>TOP DEFENSEMEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-11137/6438282-1-eng-US/f0026-112.jpg" title="f0026-11" width="607" height="320"></div><h2>TOP ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-12128/6438275-1-eng-US/f0026-122.jpg" title="f0026-12" width="609" height="248"></div><h2>LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-13124/6438268-1-eng-US/f0026-132.jpg" title="f0026-13" width="608" height="1503"></div><h2>SCHEDULE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-14114/6438261-1-eng-US/f0026-142.jpg" title="f0026-14" width="482" height="1268"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-15106/6438254-1-eng-US/f0026-152.jpg" title="f0026-15" width="491" height="828"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-1696/6438247-1-eng-US/f0026-162.jpg" title="f0026-16" width="479" height="773"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Hardy</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0026-01

The Hockey News

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0027-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01802/6438565-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02493/6438558-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="1018" height="874"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03315/6438551-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="1010" height="764"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04215/6438544-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="1009" height="474"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05151/6438537-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="1019" height="399"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-06118/6438530-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="1019" height="819"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0798/6438523-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="1019" height="769"></div><h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0888/6438516-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="1009" height="822"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-0984/6438509-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="1022" height="349"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1077/6438502-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="1022" height="345"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1166/6438495-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="1014" height="714"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1256/6438488-1-eng-US/f0027-122.jpg" title="f0027-12" width="1015" height="720"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1350/6438481-1-eng-US/f0027-132.jpg" title="f0027-13" width="1018" height="686"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1445/6438474-1-eng-US/f0027-142.jpg" title="f0027-14" width="1015" height="700"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01836/6438467-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="1018" height="425"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02555/6438460-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="1012" height="874"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03393/6438453-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="1012" height="796"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04276/6438446-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="1021" height="716"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05219/6438439-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="1012" height="348"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06189/6438432-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="1019" height="320"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-07169/6438425-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="1000" height="794"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-08153/6438418-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="982" height="1327"><figcaption class="caption-body">Randy Burridge is on pace for a career-high point total while leading the Capitals to the top of the Patrick division.</figcaption></div><h2>SAN JOSE SHARKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-09142/6438411-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="1012" height="791"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-10136/6438404-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="1012" height="768"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-11130/6438397-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="1014" height="752"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-12123/6438390-1-eng-US/f0028-122.jpg" title="f0028-12" width="1006" height="636"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-13114/6438383-1-eng-US/f0028-132.jpg" title="f0028-13" width="1003" height="988"></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01733/6438617-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg"></div><h2>TEAM-BY-TEAM</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02471/6438610-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="1019" height="1264"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03298/6438603-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="1023" height="370"></div><h2>LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04211/6438596-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="1039" height="768"></div> &#9632;

f0029-01

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

NOTEUnofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League: (shots on Loal/plus-minus); SA-shots against; +3A-goals against; ENG-empty net goals; DEC-decision, charged to goaltenders of record when deciding goal is scored.<h2>MONDAY, DEC. 16</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05184/6438928-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="597" height="1792"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06151/6438921-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="604" height="521"></div><h2>TUESDAY, DEC. 17</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-07125/6438914-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="611" height="1570"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-08109/6438907-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="607" height="2179"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-09101/6438900-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="605" height="2180"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1092/6438893-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="601" height="1207"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, DEC. 18</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1186/6438886-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="607" height="897"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01829/6438879-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="601" height="2930"></div><h2>THURSDAY, DEC. 19</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02555/6438872-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="595" height="515"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03380/6438865-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="611" height="3530"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04269/6438858-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="602" height="3527"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05194/6438851-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="596" height="1327"></div><h2>FRIDAY, DEC. 20</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06157/6438844-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="599" height="2106"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-07132/6438837-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="595" height="463"></div><h2>SATURDAY, DEC. 21</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-08119/6438830-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="595" height="2977"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01770/6438823-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="606" height="3533"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02502/6438816-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="607" height="3528"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03364/6438809-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="597" height="2288"></div><h2>SUNDAY, DEC. 22</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04274/6438802-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="608" height="1155"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05223/6438795-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="611" height="3536"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06185/6438788-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="595" height="168"></div><h2>MONDAY, DEC. 23</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07160/6438781-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="604" height="3276"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01824/6438774-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="612" height="2644"></div><h2>THURSDAY, DEC. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02566/6438767-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="596" height="792"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03392/6438760-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="618" height="3499"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04267/6438753-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="628" height="3500"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05196/6438746-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="615" height="1780"></div><h2>FRIDAY, DEC. 27</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-06162/6438739-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="618" height="1648"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-07135/6438732-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="607" height="2161"></div><h2>SATURDAY, DEC. 28</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-08120/6438725-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="602" height="1274"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01743/6438718-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="610" height="3533"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02506/6438711-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="596" height="3537"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03372/6438704-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="600" height="2957"></div><h2>SUNDAY, DEC. 29</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04294/6438697-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="592" height="503"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05243/6438690-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="589" height="3527"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-06209/6438683-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="589" height="3527"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01833/6438676-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="593" height="1884"></div><h2>THURSDAY, DEC. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02591/6438669-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="590" height="1547"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03460/6438662-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="588" height="87"></div><h2>FRIDAY, DEC. 27</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04353/6438655-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="601" height="1712"></div><h2>SUNDAY, DEC. 29</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05282/6438648-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="589" height="1559"></div> &#9632;

f0029-05

NHL SUMMARIES

NOTE: ALL STATISTICS ARE AS OF MONDAY, DEC. 30/91 UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED. NHL AFFILIATIONS OF MINOR PROFESSIONAL TEAMS APPEAR IN BRACKETS; INDEPENDENT TEAMS WITH NO NHL AFFILIATION ARE INDICATED BY (IND).<h2>AHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06249/6439057-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="599" height="3281"></div><h2>IHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07229/6439050-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="601" height="2084"></div><h2>COLONIAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08213/6439043-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="604" height="1255"></div><h2>ECHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09191/6439036-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="598" height="2982"></div><h2>ALBERTA CUP</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10186/6439029-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="601" height="357"></div><h2>NATIONAL TEAMS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01792/6439022-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="612" height="1274"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02582/6439015-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="595" height="1365"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03472/6439008-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="566" height="715"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Juneau</figcaption></div>Listed below are some of the results of the Central Scouting Bureau&rsquo;s December rankings. Information includes position, team, height, weight and statistics (games-goals-assists-points for skaters and games, won-loss-tied and goals-against average for goalies)ONTARIO LEAGUE:1 Todd Warriner, LW/C, Windsor, 6-1, 172, 35-30-27-57; 2. Cory Stillman, C, Windsor. 6-0, 174. 22-13-24-37; 3. Curtis Bowen, LW, Ottawa, 6-1, 189, 35-22-27-49; 4. Brent Tully, D, Peterborough, 6-3, 184, 35-6-11-17; 5. Brandon Convery, C, Sudbury, 6-1, 180, 20-14-9-23; 6. Jeremy Stevenson, C, Cornwall, 6-1, 212, 37-9-16-25; 7. Chad Penney. LW, North Bay, 6-0, 196, 32-19-17-36; 8. Keii Corpse, C, Kingston, 5-11, 176, 34-20-27-47; 9. Ryan Black, LW, Peterborough, 6-1.180, 36-8-20-28; 10. Kevin Brown, RW. Belleville, 6-2, 212, 39-12-14-26; 11. Drew Bannister, D. Sault Ste. Marie, 6-1, 193, 36-1-13-14; 12. Richard Raymond, D, Cornwall, 6-1, 187, 34-3-6-9; 13. Geordie Maynard, LW, Owen Sound, 6-3, 225, 31-8-7-15; 14. Mark Matier, D, Sault Ste. Marie. 6-2, 190, 36-2-13-15; 15. Mark Visheau. D. London, 6-5, 197, 36-2-13-15; 16. Jarret Reid. C. Sault Ste. Marie. 5-11. 180, 31-28-26-54; 17. Shayne McCosh, D, Kitchener, 6-1, 185. 32-4-20-24; 18. Mike Johnson, D, Ottawa, 6-3, 172, 34-0-7-7; 19. Mike Peca, C/RW, Sudbury, 5-11, 163, 35-14-31-45: 20. Jeff Bes, C. Guelph. 6-1, 186, 33-24-29-53; 21. Doug Doull, C. Belleville. 6-1, 187. 35-2-5-7; 22. Jason MacDonald. RW. Owen Sound. 6-0, 195, 36-14-19-33: 23. Grant Marshall. D. Ottawa. 6-1, 185, 33-12-32-44, 24. Craig Rivet, D. Kingston. 6-2.172, 34-3-11-14.GOALTENDERS: 1. Mike Fountain, Oshawa. 6-1,176, 23. 11-7-3, 3.69: 2. Kevin Hodson, Sault Ste. Marie, 5-11, 178, 26, 13-7-2, 3.68; 3. Sandy Allan, North Bay, 6-0, 175, 18, 11-3-0, 3.75; 4. Ilpo Kauhanes, Cornwall. 5-9, 178, 18. 8-6-1, 4.45. 5. Derek Wilkinson. Detroit. 6-0, 160, 15, 6-6-0, 3.95.QUEBEC LEAGUE: 1. Paul Brosseau. RW. Hull, 6-2, 212, 25-17-20-37: 2. Simon Roy, D. Shawinigan. 6-1, 177, 36-2-14-16: 3. Dean Melanson. D. St-Hyacinthe. 6-0. 211,10-3-4-7: 4. Martin Lepage. D. Hull. 6-1,185. 38-2-7-9; 5. Martin Tanguay, C. College Francais. 5-11, 182, 36-22-27-49; 6. Patrick Traverse, D, Shawinigan, 6-4, 173. 36-2-9-11; 7. Claude Jutras Jr.. RW. Hull. 6-1.188. 36-14-21-35; 8. Joel Bouchard. D. College Francais. 6-0, 180, 37-5-23-28: 9. Louis Bernard, D. Drummondville. 6-2.198, 35-5-11-16: 10. Ian McIntyre, LW, Beauport. 6-0, 184, 36-18-24-42: 11. Ian Laperriere. C/RW. Drummondville. 6-0. 191, 35-14-21-35: 12. Carl Fleury, C/RW. Trois Rivieres. 6-1. 194, 33-8-20-28; 13. Donald Brashear, LW. College Francais, 6-3. 206. 34-9-16-25; 14. Claude Savoie. C/RW. Victoriaville. 5-11.182. 37-16-23-39; 15. Eric Bellerose, LW, Trois Rivieres. 6-1, 202, 35-23-37-60: 16. Joseph Napolitano, RW, Victoriaville, 6-2, 245. 33-16-13-29, 17. Michel St-Jacques. LW. Chicoutimi, 5-10. 194, 37-25-35-60. 18. Hugues Mongeon. C/LW. Granby. 5-11. 158. 37-36-52-88; 19. Jean-Franco Gregoire. LW. Shawinigan. 192. 36-9-13-22: 20. Daniel Paradis, C/LW. Chicoutimi. 6-2, 185, 37-25-22-47: 21. Carl Poirier. RW, Victoriaville, 6-1, 198, 36-4-3-7; 22. Christian Proulx. D. St-Jean, 5-11,188, 39-0-11-11. 23. Sebastien Berube. D, St-Hyacinthe, 6-3, 195, 30-0-4-4; 24. Mario Therrien, LW. Shawinigan. 6-2. 201,36-6-11-17.GOALTENDERS: 1. Emmanuel Fernandez. Laval. 6-0, 168. 12, 5-6-0, 2.77; 2. Phillippe Derouiville. College Francais. 6-1,183, 20, 11-4-0, 3.63; 3. Sylvain Rodrigue, Chicoutimi, 5-10, 154, 28. 12-11-2, 4 25; 4. Jean-Francois Labbe, Trois Rivieres, 5-9, 163, 26, 16-8-2, 3.37; 5. Martin Brochu, Granby. 5-11, 185, 25. 8-13-1, 4.80WESTERN LEAGUE: 1. David Cooper, D. Medicine Hat. 6-2, 204, 39-11-23-34, 2. Mike Rathje, D. Medicine Hat, 6-5. 203. 35-3-9-12; 3. Todd Klassen, D/RW, Tri-City, 6-0, 204, 38-19-26-45 4. Jeff Shantz, C, Regina. 6-1, 184, 38-19-29-48: 5. Kevin Smyth, LW. Moose Jaw. 6-3. 229. 38-21-30-51: 6. Jason McBain. D, Portland. 6-2, 178, 37-3-11-14: 7. David Wilkie, D, Kamloops. 6-2. 202. 39-6-14-20; 8. Andy MacIntyre, LW, Saskatooon, 6-2, 190, 38-19-10-29: 9. Marc Hussey, D, Moose Jaw, 6-4, 182, 39-3-15-18: 10. Layne Roland. RW. Portland. 6-1, 215, 39-22-21-43: 11. Jason Smith. D, Regina, 6-3. 183. 28-5-16-21; 12. Brandon Coates. LW. Portland, 6-3, 185, 39-16-14-30; 13. Lance Burns. RW. Lethbridge. 6-3, 208. 38-9-5-14. 14. Travis Thiessen, D. Moose Jaw. 6-3, 203, 39-3-28-31; 15. Lee J. Leslie, LW. Prince Albert. 6-5, 191. 39-31-24-55: 16. Tuomas Gronman. D, Tacoma. 6-2, 190, 30-1-7-8:17. Jeff Jubenville. RW. Seattle. 6-2. 194, 30-3-9-12; 18. Michal Sykora, D, Tacoma. 6-5. 198, 35-8-14-22; 19. Cale Hulse. D, Portland. 6-3. 205. 38-2-11-13, 20. Brantt Myhres. RW, Lethbridge. 6-3.195. 29-2-9-11; 21. Paxton Schulte, LW, Spokane. 6-2, 210, 33-30-23-53: 22. Valeri Bure, RW, Spokane. 5-10, 155, 14-7-6-13: 23. Eric Bouchard. RW, Seattle. 6-2, 179, 34-6-8-14; 24. Kurt Seher. D, Seattle, 6-2,180, 34-6-19-25.GOALTENDERS: 1. Scott Bailey. Spokane. 6-0, 195, 29, 18-7-2, 3.05; 2. Joaquin Gage, Portland, 6-0, 200, 31. 10-17-3, 4.65; 3. Steve Passmore, Victoria, 5-9,165, 38, 10-25-3, 5.22; 4. Darcy Austin, Lethbridge. 5-10, 180, 34, 17-14-1, 3.61; 5. Sonny Mignacca, Medicine Hat, 5-8, 178, 25,13-10-0, 3.64.U.S. COLLEGESHOCKEY EAST: 1. Eric Flinton, LW, New Hampshire, 6-2, 200,15-5-2-7: 2. Adrian Aucoin. D, Boston University. 6-1, 194, N/A; 3. Mike Prendergast, C, Boston University, 5-10, 180, N/A; 4. Chad Quenneville, C, Providence. 5-9, 160, 16-5-12-17; 5. Jean-Francois Aube. RW. Northeastern 6-0,185,12-4-6-10.ECAC: 1. Marko Tuomainen, RW, Clarkson, 6-2,190,12-5-6-11.2. Ben Coughlin, LW, Harvard. 6-0,185, 9-6-1-7: 3. Gus Gardner, RW, Harvard. 6-2, 185, 9-0-1-1; 4. Cory Gustafson, LW, Harvard, 5-11. 180, 9-1-6-7; 5. Wayne Clarke. RW. RPI. 6-2,175, 13-5-7-12.CCHA: 1. Tim Hogan, D. Michigan, 6-2,180,17-0-1-1. 2. Brian Loney, RW, Ohio State, 6-2, 195, 16-13-11-24; 3. Al Sinclair, D, Michigan, 6-3, 210, 7-0-2-2; 4. Raymond Murray. C/LW, Michigan State, 6-1, 178, 17-3-12-15: 5. Steve Suk. C. Michigan Staje. 5-11,194,17-3-20-23.WCHA: 1. Brent Peterson, C/LW, Michigan Tech, 6-3, 195, 18-6-2-8: 2. Kent Fearns. D. Colorado College. 6-0, 175, 15-4-12-16; 3. Layne Lebel. D. Michigan Tech, 5-11, 165, 18-3-6-9; 4. Corey Howe. D. North Dakota. 5-9. 175, 15-1-1-2; 5. Brian Rafalski. D. Wisconsin, 5-9, 176, 15-1-4-5.US COLLEGES OVERALL: 1. Hogan; 2. Peterson; 3. Loney: 4. Flinton; 5. Tuomainen: 6. Sinclair; 7. Murray; 8. Coughlin; 9. Aucoin; 10. Suk.OTHERS: David Dalgrande. D, Ottawa (COJHL), 6-5, 195; Chris Deruiter, RW, Kingston (MTJHL), 6-3, 190; Kelly Hollingshead, D, Estevan (SJHL), 6-0, 180; Tatsuki Katayama, D. Fort Saskatchewan (AJHL), 6-1, 180; James Mooney, D, Dauphin (MJHL). 6-1, 195; Roland Ramoser, RW, Vernon (BCJHL), 6-3, 215; Ryan Sittler, LW, Nichols (N.Y H.S.), 6-2, 195; Charlie Wasley, D, St. Paul (Minn. H.S.), 6-2,173.<h2>WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04380/6439001-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="588" height="1311"></div><h2>CHL TOP 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05320/6438994-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="592" height="307"></div><h2>WHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06292/6438987-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="597" height="1561"></div><h2>OHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07270/6438980-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="602" height="1798"></div><h2>QMJHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08241/6438973-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="600" height="1526"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-09221/6438966-1-eng-US/f0035-092.jpg" title="f0035-09" width="602" height="1422"></div><h2>ECAC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-10194/6438959-1-eng-US/f0035-102.jpg" title="f0035-10" width="597" height="1049"></div><h2>WCHA</h2>THE WCHA HOCKEY LEAGUE IS ON ITS HOLIDAY BREAK AND WILL RESUME PLAY ON JAN. 3.1992.<h2>CCHA</h2>THE CCHA HOCKEY LEAGUE IS ON ITS HOLIDAY BREAK AND WILL RESUME PLAY ON JAN. 3. 1992.<h2>CWUAA</h2>THE CWUAA HOCKEY LEAGUE IS ON ITS HOLIDAY BREAK AND WILL RESUME PLAY ON JAN. 10.1992.<h2>OUAA</h2>THE OUAA HOCKEY LEAGUE IS ON ITS HOLIDAY BREAK AND WILL RESUME PLAY ON JAN. 7, 1992.<h2>AUAA</h2>THE AUAA HOCKEY LEAGUE IS ON ITS HOLIDAY BREAK ANO WILL RESUME PLAY ON JAN 4, 1992. &#9632;

f0034-06

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">By Mark Herrmann</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01749/6439088-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">A Hogue-coming of sorts: Left winger Benoit Hogue, often benched and criticized during his time in Buffalo, has found his niche since being traded to the Islanders. (Photo by Marco campanein/BBS)</figcaption></div>With plenty of free time early this season, Benoit Hogue determined that only a trade could salvage his good name. Within two months, he had not only saved the name, he had inspired people to chant it.The cadence-&rdquo;Ben-wah Hogue, Ben-wah Hogue&rsquo;-sounds from the upper reaches of Nassau Coliseum every time the New York Islander left winger makes a smart pass, completes a gritty check or scores a goal. That has meant a lot of chanting since Hogue arrived from Buffalo in the seven-player Pat LaFontaine blockbuster Oct. 25.Hogue&rsquo;s transformation from fifth wheel to main cog has, at least in the short run, been one of the most stirring turnarounds this season.His is a reverse pivot with diverse twists: he often was scratched from the Sabres&rsquo; lineup, but now rarely leaves the ice. He considered a 14-goal season in 1988-89 encouraging, but eclipsed that total in his first 26 games with the Islanders. Having been viewed as a malcontent in Buffalo, he is now roundly accepted in the Islanders&rsquo; dressing room. Having moved Sabre fans to cheer most by being traded, he became an instant favorite with those who sit near near the Coliseum rafters.Using speed, conscientious defense and a deft touch in his first two months on Long Island, he has surpassed a plan set out by coach Al Arbour. &ldquo;He told me, &lsquo;You can be a player as good as Guy Carbonneau. I want you to be defensive,&rsquo;&rdquo; Hogue said. &ldquo;Well, I had seen varbonneau many times. I said, can do those things, but I can do more.&rsquo;&rdquo;In the early going, anyway, Hogue has backed his boast. In his first 27 Islander games, he collected 16 goals, 34 points and a plus-21 rating. He has been on the top penaltykilling and power-play units.His line, with center Ray Ferraro and Patrick Flatley (before the latter&rsquo;s recent injury), was designated the team&rsquo;s No. 1 scoring unit and its top checking trio. Although his position is left wing, he regularly is assigned to take important faceoffs.&ldquo;To be honest with you, I don&rsquo;t even know what happened to him in Buffalo, but how many times have you heard that story?&rdquo; said Islander teammate Joe Reekie, who played with Hogue in Buffalo. &ldquo;I guess they were just weeding him out.&rdquo;Hogue was outspoken in his stormy relationship with former Sabre coach Rick Dudley. The French-speaking 25-year-old also reportedly engaged in shouting matches with teammates that included ethnic remarks.&ldquo;It was easy to see there was a little something between us, that we weren&rsquo;t communicating,&rdquo; said Hogue of himself and Dudley. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d just look at each other from the comer of our eyes and walk away.&rdquo;While his new coach, teammates and fans endorse him, Hogue asserts the feeling is mutual. He recently toured Long Island and found it had a lot to offer an avid boater and fisherman who grew up by the water in Montreal&rsquo;s Pointe-aux-Trembles.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t know it was this nice,&rdquo; he said. And Long Island perhaps could say the same about him. &#9632;

f0036-01

Hogue’s a hero with Isles after stormy Sabre days

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02526/6439126-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="377" height="473"></div>Joe Mullen&rsquo;s story has been in circulation for years but somehow, it never seems to get old. Surely, the message it carries never does.It&rsquo;s the tale of how he and his brother, Brian, learned the game on roller skates on the playgrounds of New York City. How they grew up amidst the broken lives and shattered dreams of the Hell&rsquo;s Kitchen section of Manhattan. How they overcame mind-numbing odds to reach the NHLIf you&rsquo;re not impressed, even inspired, by the Mullen brothers&rsquo; successes, you might want to visit the family doctor. Or the coroner. There&rsquo;s a good chance you&rsquo;re clinically dead.But what we don&rsquo;t know is how the story of Joe Mullen&rsquo;s career will end. Or, more to the point, if it ever will.Mullen has been around for so long that it&rsquo;s reasonable to wonder if you could find his career statistics in the fossil record. He&rsquo;ll turn 35 Feb. 26 and has a hairline in full retreat to prove it, but you&rsquo;d never guess it from watching him play.&ldquo;Sometimes we overlook his age,&rdquo; said Pittsburgh teammate Kevin Stevens. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great player, and he might be here another three or four years.&rdquo;Or maybe decades. Yeah, that sounds silly, at least until you watch Mullen play and see that time appears to have enhanced, not eroded, his skills. He won&rsquo;t play forever, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean he couldn&rsquo;t.Certainly no one who witnessed his back-to-back four-goal games against the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs in late December will argue the point. Having a four-goal game isn&rsquo;t unprecedented for Mullen he had two of them when he was a runny-nosed youth of 31 three winters ago-but it was pretty compelling evidence his age is nothing more than a biographical detail.&ldquo;He seems to have that ability to not press,&rdquo; Pittsburgh coach Scott Bowman said. &ldquo;He has got those quick hands.&rdquo;Mullen used them to get 25 goals and 26 assists in the first 36 games this season. That means he was on a pace to pile up 48 goals and 103 points, nearly matching his personal bests from 1988-89 (51 goals, 110 points).Mullen just might have a career year at an age when most guys&rsquo; careers are discussed in the past tense.Mullen benefits from being on a team with a high-octane offense, but there can be a downside to playing with a team like Pittsburgh. For example, sharing a position with the likes of Mark Recchi and Jaromir Jagr, two of hockey&rsquo;s most gifted young wingers.Bowman said he envisioned Mullen as &ldquo;a solid, two-way player&rdquo; before the season began, and that projection has proven accurate. Mullen takes a regular shift and turns up on both special teams, just as he did last season before suffering a herniated disk in his neck that forced him to miss 33 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03428/6439119-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="568" height="736"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Mullen</figcaption></div>In short, he does exactly what the Penguins were hoping for when they sent a second-round draft choice to Calgary for him in 1990. That seemed like a lot to give up for a 33-year-old but the way Mullen is going, he might still be in the league by the time that second-rounder, who turned out to be Nicolas Perreault, retires.There&rsquo;s no easy explanation for Mullen&rsquo;s staying power. Sure, he makes conditioning a priority, but that&rsquo;s not unusual in the NHL these days and the league isn&rsquo;t exactly overrun by thirtysomething players.Ability is a factor, too, but more skilled players have lost their timing and their touch long before they reached Mullen&rsquo;s age.Stevens offered a rather novel theory &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a Boston College kid. He was brought up right, right from the start.&rdquo;-but chances are Mullen&rsquo;s choice of schools hasn&rsquo;t been a factor, either.But even if we can&rsquo;t explain Joe Mullen, we can enjoy him. He is the rare Baby Boomer who seems eons removed from a mid-life crisis, and that should do wonderful things for the morale of a generation that is getting intimately acquainted with graying hair and expanding waistlines. &#9632;

f0036-02

Mullen’s success unsolved mystery

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div>While the Philadelphia Flyers entered the season&rsquo;s mid-point still searching for an identity, Kerry Huffman appears to have found his.It took a year and it wasn&rsquo;t easy but the 23-year-old Huffman has managed to right a career that had self-destruction stamped all over it.Upset with his lack of playing time last season, Huffman left the Flyers for about a month.The team&rsquo;s first-round pick from the 1986 draft made no secret that he welcomed a trade.But general manager Russ Farwell wasn&rsquo;t about to let a talented player get away for less than fair value. Huffman eventually returned and spent the rest of the season with the Flyers&rsquo; farm team at Hershey in the American League.Few thought Huffman had a chance to return to the Flyers this year.A strong training camp, however, earned Huffman a roster spot. And when injuries hit, Huffman won a starting job back.In fact, Huffman was probably the Flyers&rsquo; most consistent defenseman during a 4-2-5 stretch in December.He was an even or plus player for nine straight games.The difference can be summed up in one word: attitude.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve learned that the best way to go about things here is to be quiet and do the job when you&rsquo;re asked,&rdquo; he said.Huffman had five goals in 19 games, just one shy of his career best (1987-88). Coach Bill Dineen has given the Peterborough, Ont., native a regular shift on the team&rsquo;s power play.HEXTALL SHARP: An 11-game layoff due to tendinitis left no rust on goalie Ron Hextall. He shutout the North Stars 3-0 in Minnesota Dec. 21 in his first game back. It was just the second regular-season shutout of Hextall&rsquo;s career and first since 198687, his rookie season.&ldquo;Obviously, things went well so I&rsquo;m pretty excited about it,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to overreact and say I&rsquo;m back. One game doesn&rsquo;t get you out of the woods.&rdquo;Hextall was equally sharp in a 1-1 tie at Vancouver Dec. 27.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Steve Duchesne scored the second hat trick of his career in a 6-2 win over the New York Islanders Dec. 19. It was the first hat trick by a Flyer defenseman since Tom Bladon recorded his team-record eight-point game against the Cleveland Barons in 1977&hellip;Rick Tocchet ended a 12-game point drought with a goal against Minnesota Dec. 21.At the request of their players, the Flyers offered an optional HIV test on Dec. 17. Of the undetermined number of players who participated, all tested negative.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 20: Dominic Roussel. G, assigned to Hershey (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Rod Brind Amour, Mike Ricci. Dan Quinn, Mark Freer.LW&mdash;Pelle Eklund, Andrei Lomakin, Mark Pederson, Claude Boivin, Tony Horacek.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Kevin Dineen, Brad Jones, Dave Brown.LD&mdash;Terry Carkner, Kerry Huffman, Corey Foster. Dan Kordic.RD&mdash;Steve Duchesne, Kjell Samuelsson. Gord Murphy.G&mdash;Ron Hextall, Ken Wregget.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Keith Acton, C, broken left wrist, indefinite. Mark Howe. D, broken left thumb, indefinite. Steve Kasper, C, right knee surgery, indefinite. Jiri Latal. D. sore left knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

Huffman Kerrys on with a new attitude and new lease

<div class="byline">By Mark Herrmann</div>When the New York Islanders reshaped their roster with early-sea-son trades, they believed depth was one of their key acquisitions. They will find out for sure now-following a streak of injuries-whether that is the case.Patrick Flatley, the captain and right winger who had been essential to the chemistry on a line with Benoit Hogue and Ray Ferraro, suffered a broken thumb in the last shift of a 6-2 loss in Philadelphia Dec. 19. He underwent surgery and is expected to be out until March.Ken Baumgartner sustained a broken bone in his face during a fight with Dave Brown in the same game. He is expected to be out until mid January.Wayne McBean, who finally seemed to be developing while playing in shorthanded and late-game situations, injured his left knee four days later. He required surgery and might be out for the season.Flatley&rsquo;s absence is particularly upsetting because of the pace his line had established. He also is better than most players in the league at sweeping the boards and comers. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s sort of the heart and soul of our team,&rdquo; teammate Jeff Norton said.The right winger was considered so irreplaceable that coach Al Arbour did not appoint another captain. He assigned Ferraro as the lone alternate. It is another disappointment for Flatley, whose career has been marred by injuries. He hasn&rsquo;t played more than 63 games since 1985-86, a circumstance his teammates do not consider coincidental.&ldquo;He plays so hard,&rdquo; Baumgartner said. &ldquo;Bodies aren&rsquo;t built for that.&rdquo;A PERFECT FITZ: Tom Fitzgerald, a natural center, was placed at right wing on the line with Ferraro and Hogue. Fitzgerald said Arbour told him to concentrate on defense, but the 23-year-old forward told the coach: &ldquo;Defense is my No. 1 priority, but with more ice time, I can score some goals for you.&rdquo;He proved that in a spirited game against the New York Rangers Dec. 28 which the Islanders won 5-4. He scored the winning goal with 2.7 seconds left. Ferraro and Hogue set it up. Both also had been on the ice for Derek King&rsquo;s tying goal against New Jersey with a half-second left in the previous game (5-5 Dec. 26).NOTEBOOK: Derek King reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time, clinching the achievement in his 35th game.General manager Bill Torrey was non-committal about what his status will be after the announced sale of the team is made official. Members of the consortium that agreed to take control from owner John O. Pickett said they want and need Torrey to stay as GM. But the team&rsquo;s original employee said, &ldquo;I have made no decisions, nor have we had any discussions.&rdquo;<h2>N.Y. ISLES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 16: Tom Fitzgerald. RW, recalled from Capital District (AHL). Dec. 20: Bill Berg, LW, recalled from Capital District. Dec. 29: Dennis Vaske, D, recalled from Capital District.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Ray Ferraro, Pierre Turgeon, Adam Creighton, Rob DiMaio.LW&mdash;Benoit Hogue, Derek King, Steve Thomas, Bill Berg.RW&mdash;Tom Fitzgerald, David Volek, Dave McLIwain, Mick Vukota.LD&mdash;Jeff Norton, Rich Pilon, Jeff Finley.RD&mdash;Joe Reekie, Tom Kurvers, Dennis VaskeG&mdash;Glenn Healy, Steve Weeks.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ken Baumgartner. LW/D, fractured right medial orbital. Jan. 20. Brad DaJ-gamo. RW, sprained left shoulder, dayto-day. Patrick Flatley, RW, broken right thumb, indefinite Uwe Krupp, D. sprained left knee, day-to-day. Wayne McBean. D, tom left knee ligament, indefinite. Gary Nylund, D. broken heel, indefinite. &#9632;

Reaching for new depths

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div>The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the final weekend of 1991 facing what coach Scott Bowman called &ldquo;two benchmark games&rdquo; as they went on the road to face Washington and the New York Rangers.Precedent didn&rsquo;t give them much cause for optimism. The Penguins were 0-3-0 against Washington, which had outscored them 21-4, and 1-3-0 against New York. And they were missing No. 1 goalie Tom Barrasso, who had a bruised Achilles&rsquo; tendon in his right leg.But goalie Wendell Young turned in an outstanding weekend performance, as Pittsburgh beat Washington, 6-2, and the Rangers, 6-3, to surge within striking distance of first place in the Patrick Division.The Penguins bolted back into the Patrick Division chase by virtue of a superior road record. The victory in New York was their fifth in a row on the road, a franchise record, and ran their away mark to 13-6-0, best in the NHL.That&rsquo;s quite an achievement for a team that never won more than 16 on the road in the previous 24 seasons.&ldquo;They (opponents) probably play tighter against us in Pittsburgh than they would at home, especially the good teams.&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;We get more chances on the road, because we&rsquo;re maybe playing a team that&rsquo;s less disciplined than they would be on the road.&rdquo;ON A TEAR: Mario Lemieux gave his long-time girlfriend, Nathalie Asselin, an engagement ring for Christmas. And he might be able to present her with an Art Ross Trophy in a few months.Lemieux led the NHL in scoring through Dec. 30 with 27 goals and 72 points in 35 games. Teammate Kevin Stevens was only five points behind with 29 goals and 67 points.But unless Lemieux&rsquo;s back gives out, Stevens figures he has little chance of overtaking his linemate. That point was reinforced when Stevens picked up six points in a 12-1 win against Toronto Dec. 26&mdash;and lost ground in the scoring race to Lemieux, who had seven.NOTEBOOK: General manager Craig Patrick is not soliciting trade offers for defenseman Paul Coffey, even though Coffey&rsquo;s ice time was reduced near the end of December&hellip; Defenseman Ulf Samuelsson signed a four-year contract believed to be worth $3.75 million. Samuelsson considered playing in Sweden next year, but said the Penguins&rsquo; success influenced his decision to stay&hellip;Larry Murphy became the 10th defenseman in NHL history to record 700 career points when he got an assist on Lemieux&rsquo;s second goal Dec. 26.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 18: Ulf Samuelsson. D. signed four-year contract<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Ken Priestlay, Jiri Hrdina.LW&mdash;Kevin Stevens, Bob Errey, Phil Bourque, Troy Loney.RW&mdash;Mark Recchi, Joe Mullen, Jaromir Jagr, Jamie Leach, Jay Caufield.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Gordie Roberts, Grant Jennings, Jim Paek.RD&mdash;Ulf Samuelsson, Larry Murphy, Paul Stanton.G&mdash;Wendell Young, Frank Pietrangelo.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tom Barrasso. G, bruised right Achilles&rsquo; tendon, day-to-day. Peter Taglianetti. D, sore back, day-to-day. Bryan Trottier, C, sprained right knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

Record-breaking road streak puts Mario’s boys back in race

<div class="byline">By Frank Brown</div>Mike Gartner answered all the questions gracefully and said all the very humble things you say when you are two points away from being the 33rd player in NHL history to score 1,000 career points.&ldquo;Of course, it has some significance-just as the 500th goal did,&rdquo; the New York Rangers&rsquo; right winger said. &ldquo;When I started playing hockey, it was beyond my wildest dreams that I would come this far.&rdquo;Gartner became only the 16th player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal plateau Oct. 14. And when he slam-dunked a Joe Kocur pass into the New York Islanders&rsquo; net Dec. 28, Gartner came closer to the next select group.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d love to have this as the biggest year of my career,&rdquo; Gartner said. &ldquo;I have a chance of also reaching 1,000 NHL games (Providing he doesn&rsquo;t miss any games, he&rsquo;ll reach that mark March 14.) I also think this team has a great shot at winning the Cup.&rdquo;That would be the grand slam of a lifetime-three milestones and a ring. But that is getting way ahead of the way Gartner looks at things.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure (the milestone) is something 1&rsquo;11 appreciate more when I&rsquo;m finished playing,&rdquo; Gartner said.Gartner has shown no signs of that time getting close. He remains one of the game&rsquo;s fastest straightaway skaters and continues to draw penalties with his speed. He continues to take the poundings in front in order to make those artful deflections.&ldquo;I was with him when he first started out,&rdquo; said Gartner&rsquo;s former Cincinnati Stingers&rsquo; teammate, Mark Messier, &ldquo;and he works harder now than he did then. You can&rsquo;t say enough about his attitude and his professionalism.&rdquo;REF TIMES: The Rangers&rsquo; rather odd relationship with referee Paul Stewart continued in a Dec. 29 game against Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers were down two men twice and the power plays, at one stage, were 7-1 in Pittsburgh&rsquo;s favor. The Penguins converted both ends of one of those two-man advantages, pulling even, 2-2, on the way to a 6-3 triumph that marked the Rangers&rsquo; fifth loss in the five Ranger games Stewart had worked.Of course Stewart didn&rsquo;t commit the penalties; he merely called them. Despite what ended as a 9-3 disparity in power plays, the Rangers had ample chances to win.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Brian Leetch was on a 16-game scoring streak through Dec. 29, tying Mike Rogers&rsquo; team record. He had five goals, 23 assists during the streak&hellip;Leetch also had notched an assist in 14 straight games, shattering the franchise record of nine, which Jean Ratelle (1972) and Darren Turcotte (1990) had shared.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 23: Corey Millen, C, traded to Los Angeles for Randy Gilhen, C-LW. Dec. 26: Greg Millen, G, traded to Detroit for 1992 conditional draft choice. Guy Larose, LW, traded to Toronto for Mike Stevens. LW. Stevens assigned to Binghamton (AHL). Dec. 28: Jeff Beukeboom. D, began four-game suspension for high-sticking incident Dec. 16. Eligible to return Jan. 6.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier, Sergei Nemchinov, Darren Turcotte, Doug Weight.LW&mdash;Adam Graves, John Ogrodnick, Kris King, Randy Gilhen.RW&mdash;Mike Gartner, Tony Amonte, Joe Kocur, Paul Broten, Tie Domi.LD&mdash;8rian Leetch, Mark Hardy, Normand Rochefort.RD&mdash;James Patrick, Joe Cirella, Per Djoos, Randy Moller.G&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Richter.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jan Erixon, LW, bruised ribs, day-today. Tim Kerr. RW. arthroscopic surgery, right shoulder, day-to-day &#9632;

Gartner going for big three

<div class="byline">By Dave Sell</div>The long, arduous and often acrimonious negotiations between the Washington Capitals and goalie Don Beaupre are finally complete.The 30-year-old goalie signed a four-year contract Dec. 30 worth an estimated $3.4 million plus bonuses, according to sources.Beaupre is in his fourth season with the Capitals, though much of that first season was spent in the minors. For much of the time since then, however, he has been their No. 1 goalie and one of the better goaltenders in the NHL. He finished second in the league in goals-against-average (2.64) in 1990-91 and was fifth in the league (2.78 GAA, with a 13-7-0 record) as of Dec. 30.It&rsquo;s believed Beaupre&rsquo;s salary this year will be $700,000, with the successive years being $850,000, $925,000 and $925,000. Only defenseman Kevin Hatcher has a higher base salary (including revisions with bonuses from 1990-91) for this season, believed to be just over o$800,000.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a relief and I&rsquo;m really happy, but it&rsquo;s almost anti-climactic because of the amount of time it took,&rdquo; Beaupre said of the package worked out by his agent, Ron Simon. &ldquo;Last year, I was looking for a four-year deal and it didn&rsquo;t work out, so this is a culmination of a year-and-a-half worth of negotiation.&rdquo;COOLING DOWN: It was inevitable that the Capitals would cool down after their torrid start to the 1991-92 season. But the question now is can they stay on top?After beginning the season with a 17-5-0 run&mdash;by far the best in franchise history&mdash;the Capitals were 8-8-1 in their next 17 games. That run of mediocrity included the longest losing streak of the season-three games.While three losses is hardly reason to panic, it was an ugly trio of outings. There were innumerable mistakes and no decent checks in a 4-3 loss Dec. 22 in Philadelphia, but it got worse. Much worse.The Capitals set a franchise record by squandering a 6-1 lead in losing to the Rangers, 8-6 Dec. 26 at Capital Centre. That loss cost the Capitalssole possession of first place in the Patrick Division, a spot they had occupied since Nov. 8. The next night they lost 6-2 to Pittsburgh, before regaining the division lead with a 4-3 come-from-behind win in New Jersey Dec. 29.NOTEBOOK: Washington captain and veteran defenseman Rod Langway returned to the lineup Dec. 22 after missing eight games with two broken toes. The Capitals were 5-3-1 without him, but three of their victories came against opponents with records below .500-Quebec, Buffalo and Toronto&hellip;Mike Ridley played his 500th NHL game Dec. 29 against New Jersey.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 30: Don Beaupre, G, signed four-year contract.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Hunter, Michal Pivonka, Dimitri Khristich, Mike RidleyLW&mdash;Randy Burridge, Todd Krygier, Alan May, Nick Kypreos, Dave Tippett.RW&mdash;Dino Ciccarelli, Peter Bondra, Kelly Miller, John Druce, Tim Bergland.LD&mdash;Calle Johansson, Rod Langway, Mike Lalor, Ken Sabourin.RD&mdash;Kevin Hatcher, Al lafrate, Sylvain Cote.G&mdash;Don Beaupre, Mike Liut.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Shawn Chambers, D, left knee surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Beaupre finally gets wish, signs long-term contract

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div>Thrilled by the NHL debut of Russian left winger Valeri Zelepukin, the New Jersey Devils are counting the days until the anticipated arrival of center Alexander Semak.Semak, a Moscow Dynamo center, should be available to the Devils after the Winter Olympics.Zelepukin, who played his first Mb game Dec. 19 in Hartford and collected three assists in a game against the New York Islanders one week later, displayed strong passing and stickhandling skills in addition to a surprising physical presence.&ldquo;He had as many hits as our so-called tough players that do a lot of the banging,&rdquo; coach Tom McVie said. &ldquo;On the power play he did things down low I liked. You could see the fire in his eyes heading for the net.&rdquo;&ldquo;I was nervous. Of course, the level of play is head and shoulders above the level of the American League,&rdquo; said Zelepukin, who scored S 20 goals in 23 games with Utica and was AHL rookie of the week three times in eight weeks before his Dec. 18 recall.Realizing his dream of playing in the NHL would have been enough of a Christmas present for Zelepukin. Playing alongside two of his boyhood idols, Viacheslav Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov, made it even more special.&ldquo;When I was 17 years old, I played against them when I played for Khimik and we played the Red Army,&rdquo; Zelepukin said through interpreter Dimitri Lopuchin. &ldquo;Then, when the Red Army took me (for the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons). I was in their presence. I trained and traveled with them. I couldn&rsquo;t believe I was on the same team. It&rsquo;s still strange for me to think I&rsquo;m playing in the NHL with Fetisov and Kasatonov.&rdquo;Zelepukin was signed by the Devils when he was held off Russia&rsquo;s Canada Cup team for failing to sign a contract with Khimik.The Devils helped make his NHL transition easier by skating him with veterans Peter Stastny and Claude Lemieux.BARR SERVICE: Three years ago, Dave Barr scored 27 goals for the Detroit Red Wings. He collected 18 last season.So when the Devils received Barr and Randy McKay from Detroit as compensation for the signing of free agent Troy Crowder, the Devils thought they were getting muscle and some scoring.They got muscle from McKay, but Barr failed to score a goal in his first 18 games and went 13 games without a point since collecting an assist Nov. 4 in Montreal.But he scored two goals Dec. 26 against the Islanders and went on to score points in three straight games.NOTEBOOK: Center Patrik Sundstrom, an alternate captain for two seasons, lost his &lsquo;A&rsquo; to defenseman Scott Stevens. &ldquo;The way Stevens has been leading on the ice and some of the key things he has said in our time of need make it clear that he&rsquo;s a leader,&rdquo; Tom McVie said.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Dec. 18: Neil Brady, C, assigned to Utica (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kevin Todd, Peter Stastny, Laurie Boschman, Patrik Sundstrom.LW&mdash;Claude Vilgrain, Valeri Zelepukin, Dave Maley, Dave Barr, Pat ConacherRW&mdash;Stephane Richer, Claude Lemieux, Doug Brown, Tom Chorske, Randy McKay.LD&mdash;Bruce Driver, Scott Stevens, Viacheslav Fetisov.RD&mdash;Alexei Kasatonov, Eric Weinrich, Ken Daneyko, Tommy Albelin.G&mdash;Chris Terreri, Craig Billington.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Zdeno Ciger, LW, right wrist surgery, indefinite. John MacLean, RW. right knee surgery, out for season. &#9632;

Russian winger a winner

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01411/6439308-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="559" height="769"></div>Mario Lemieux was named NHL Pro Set Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 29.Lemieux scored four goals and 16 points to lead the Penguins to victories in all four games.Lemieux&rsquo;s 16 points marked the second-highest weekly total since the inception of the Player of the Week award. Wayne Gretzky had a 17-point week in December, 1983.The Penguins&rsquo; center led the NHL in scoring with 72 points (27 goals) through Dec. 30.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02269/6439301-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="550" height="766"></div>Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; goaltender Patrick Roy was named the NHL Pro Set Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 22.Roy posted a 1.92 goals-against-average in four games (31-0), as the Canadiehs moved into first place in the NHL&rsquo;s overall standings.Roy allowed two goals or fewer in each of his four appearances, and continued to lead all NHL goaltenders with a 1.99 GAA.Roy stopped more than 91 per cent of the shots he faced. &#9632;

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January 10, 1992

Star goalie treats Canada with Kidd gloves

Sioux fans rally behind Reed family

ELSTON

Coaches heat up their feud