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

March 13, 1992

The Hockey News March 13, 1992

I understand the Hartford Whalers are going to change their team colors next season. While they&rsquo;re at it, in these ecologically-conscious times, why don&rsquo;t they also change their name?&ldquo;Whalers&rdquo; were the wonderful people who used to harpoon defenseless creatures for profit (Tom Webster&rsquo;s attempt on Kerry Fraser notwithstanding).I know Hartford dropped the harpoon from its logo years ago. But why not go all the way and become the Whales, who are large, strong, powerful, intelligent creatures and clearly the dominant species in their realm?Or they could just stay the Whalers, be politically incorrect, be outmoded and obsolete and remain grateful to share a division with the Quebec Nordiques.Mel Powell,&nbsp;Los Angeles, Calif.<h2>True colors</h2>By now everyone has heard the New Jersey Devils will change the colors of their uniform from red and green to red and black and that certain minor alterations will likely find their way into the design.The Devils claim the changes will merely serve to update their image but some critics charge there is much more at stake and that the Devils have high hopes of cashing in on a merchandising craze.With this in mind, I would like to suggest a new team logo:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011651/6709329-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="549" height="663"></div>John A. Klann,&nbsp;Huntington, N. Y.<h2>Hot in Dallas</h2>The national Neilsen ratings showed the National Basketball Association All-Star Game beating the Olympics (featuring the USA versus Italy hockey game) 12.8 to 10.9. In Dallas, the eighth-largest media market in the U.S.&mdash;and the largest without an NHL team&mdash;the Olympics beat the NBA 12.2 to 9.3.In 1988, the U.S. versus Soviet Union Olympic hockey game drew a 23.4 rating in Dallas while only a 19.3 rating nationally.Wake up, NHL! there is money to be made in Dallas.Eugene J. Flynn,&nbsp;Dallas, Tex.<h2>Pool fool</h2>To quote Jari Kurri in the Feb. 14 issue of THN, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a good thing they don&rsquo;t know about hockey pools in Los Angeles.&rdquo;&rsquo;Scuze me? With equal appreciation to Kurri, Ken Hodge Jr., Russ Courtnall (although he has a doctor&rsquo;s note) and Mats Sundin, I would like to thank you guys for putting me amongst the bottom half of a hockey pool I supposedly know nothing about.Joy Aoki,&nbsp;Pasadena, Calif.<h2>Pure purists</h2>I am tired of hearing that fighting is essential to hockey. Of all the fans I know, the most knowledgeable prefer end-to-end action, average one beer a game (on a warm night) and never embarrass their neighbors (or children) by screaming obscenities.But maybe that is because we are women and the last woman to start a war was Helen of Troy (or Jezebel, if you prefer the Old Testament).Buffy Parker,&nbsp;Darien, Conn.Pitt-iful formIsn&rsquo;t it ironic to see and hear the Pittsburgh Penguins crying about officiating? Wasn&rsquo;t it Pittsburgh that was on the upside of an absurd number of disallowed goals in their playoff series against New Jersey and Washington just last spring? How quickly they forget.To quote the great philosopher and Washington general manager David Poile, who said when learning Scott Stevens was going to New Jersey&rsquo;s toxic Meadowlands as a free agent, &ldquo;Life has a funny way of working itself out.&rdquo;Warren Avbogast,&nbsp;Charlottesville, Va.<h2>And Howe!</h2>Holy flying pucks! For once, I actually agree with Stan Fischler. Yes, Mark Howe does deserve to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Philadelphia Flyers could show some class by signing Howe next season.William A. Mattiford Jr.,Exton, Pa.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 to&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;

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IN THIS ISSUE

Changing name Whale of an idea

<div class="byline">By Nick Gates</div>Goalies are rewriting the record book this season in the East Coast League where goal-scorers usually bask in the spotlight.One record has been broken, another matched and two more are certain to be erased. Here are the goal facts through Feb. 23:&#9633; Greensboro&rsquo;s Nick Vitucci and Toledo&rsquo;s Mark Williams have passed the ECHL record for most wins in one season. Vitucci (26) and Williams (25) surpassed the milestone of 23 set by Erie&rsquo;s Craig Barnett in 1989-90 and equalled by Dean Anderson of Knoxville last season.&#9633; Winston-Salem&rsquo;s Frederic Chabot established the lowest goals-against mark for goalies playing more than 10 games. The Montreal farmhand&rsquo;s GAA was 2.94 in 24 games before he was promoted to Fredericton of the American League in January. If Chabot doesn&rsquo;t return to the Thundcrbirds&mdash;and coach Doug Sauter doesn&rsquo;t expect it-Anderson&rsquo;s 2.95 record set last season is history.&#9633; Most shutouts could be the next standard to go. Mike James of Roanoke Valley got his third Feb. 18 as the Rebels beat Toledo 3-0 to tie another Anderson record (1990-91). Three days later, Mark Bernard of Hampton Roads blanked Winston-Salem 9-0 for his third of the season.&#9633; Bill Horn&rsquo;s standard of 2,719 minutes played (in Roanoke Valley last season) is also in jeopardy. Louisville&rsquo;s Chris Clifford had played 22 consecutive games to reach 2,577 and, barring a season-ending injury, is a lock to become the new iron man in goal.So, who are these masked men?Clifford, who played in Muskegon of the International League last season, is a career minor leaguer. He was under siege earlier this season when the IceHawks had only three healthy defensemen. A 6-3 win over Columbus Feb. 21 pushed his record to 21-16-6.Williams, 24, has made the most of an opportunity to start for the Storm. Coach Chris McSorley signed the former Ferris State Bulldog as a backup. But because of injuries within the Detroit organization, the expansion Storm was forced to go with the Utica, Mich., native.Because Toledo had the league&rsquo;s best record and played four fewer games than East-leading Greensboro, Williams figures to overtake Vitucci in their head-to-head duel. But McSorley intends to rest Williams for the playoffs if the Storm clinches the West Division and regular-season points championship.Bernard, whose career GAA of 3.27 is lowest among active goalies, had played 21 consecutive games and will determine whether the Admirals defend their East title. Hampton Roads trailed the Monarchs by nine points but had six games in hand.WHO&rsquo;S HELPING WHOM?: Louisville, in a heated race with Columbus and Erie for the last two playoff berths in the West, loaned backup goalie Lance Madson to Columbus because of Chill injuries. Madson stopped 40 of 42 shots as the Chill beat Cincinnati 5-2 in his first start Feb. 22.Harry Mews, whose jaw was broken in a stick-swinging incident by Jason Taylor of Columbus earlier this season, was returned to Hampton Roads from Baltimore of the AHL Feb. 19. Taylor, meanwhile, still awaiting word of an appeal about his one-year suspension, continued to play for the Chi 11&hellip;Thirty-goal scorer Brian Martin was traded by Hampton Roads to Knoxville Feb. 21. &#9632;

First in goal: Net marks falling fast and furious

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021449/6709360-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div>March madness was sweet for the Pittsburgh Penguins last season. They rode a March winning streak to their first division title in franchise history and, eventually, a Stanley Cup.The Penguins were hoping for another late-season sprint this year. Not because they&rsquo;re looking for the Patrick Division championship; that dream died long ago. The Penguins will settle for securing a playoff berth and a chance to defend their title.When March began it wasn&rsquo;t clear if they&rsquo;d get that chance. Pittsburgh was just three points up on the fifth-place New York Islanders.The Penguins closed out February with a 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres Feb. 29 at the Civic Arena, one of their most impressive performances in two months.But that wasn&rsquo;t saying much, considering the Penguins were mired in a 6-15-4 slump dating back to a 7-4 loss to New Jersey on New Year&rsquo;s Eve.The win raised the Penguins&rsquo; home record to 13-13-6&mdash;just one more win than the expansion San Jose Sharks had in the same number of tries. The win over the Sabres was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s third home win in their previous 11 games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011490/6709876-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg" title="f0013-01" width="725" height="793"><figcaption class="caption-body">Either Frank Pietrangelo, above, or Wendell Young will likely be traded.</figcaption></div>Things weren&rsquo;t much better on the road. The Penguins embarked on a Western trip having gone 0-6-1 in their previous seven away games.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been trying but nobody seems to be going in the same direction,&rdquo; right winger Joe Mullen said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what happens when you&rsquo;re in a slump.&rdquo;GOALIE GLUT: Frank Pietrangelo was a local folk hero last spring, when his phenomenal glove stop on New Jersey&rsquo;s Peter Stastny in Game 6 of the Patrick Division semifinal became known as &ldquo;The Save.&rdquo;But this year, Pietrangelo and fellow goalie Wendell Young have seen little action. And when Pittsburgh acquired Ken Wregget from Philadelphia Feb. 19, they went from being Tom Barrasso&rsquo;s backups to trade bait.They were both left behind on a road trip in late February and each has asked to be traded.&ldquo;I feel like I can play some good hockey and help some teams,&rdquo; Pietrangelo said. &ldquo;I know I can help the Pittsburgh Penguins, but unfortunately, they don&rsquo;t feel the same way.&rdquo;General manager Craig Patrick said, &ldquo;we knew we weren&rsquo;t going to be able to carry four goalies.&rdquo; Patrick hoped to complete a deal involving at least one goalie.NOTEBOOK: Team president Howard Baldwin announced the creation of a scholarship to honor the memory of Bob Johnson, the Penguins&rsquo; late coach. Although the Penguins didn&rsquo;t specify the amount of the scholarship, it will be awarded to a Western Pennsylvania high school hockey player with strong academic abilities who demonstrates leadership, sportsmanship and a positive attitude on the ice&hellip;Left winger Shawn McEachern, who played with Team USA at the Olympics, joined the Penguins Feb. 28. He did not play against the Sabres. McEachern signed a multi-year contract with Pittsburgh Jan. 21.Baldwin denied reports the Penguins received money as part of their three-way trade with Philadelphia and Los Angeles Feb. 19.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 28: Shawn McEachern, LW, added to roster from U.S. Olympic team.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Bryan Trottier, Ken Priestiay, Jiri Hrdina.LW&mdash;Kevin Stevens, Bob Errey, Troy Loney. Phil Bourque, Shawn McEachern.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Joe Mullen, Jaromir Jagr, Jamie Leach, Jay Caufield.LD&mdash;Utf Samuelsson, Gordie Roberts, Jim Paek, Peter Taglianetti.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Jeff Chychron, Kjell Samuelsson, Paul Stanton.G&mdash;Tom Barrasso, Ken Wregget, Frank Pietrangelo. Wendell Young.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Grant Jennings, D, dislocated finger on left hand, day-to-day. &#9632;

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Spring magic just what struggling champs need

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011479/6709205-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="361" height="359"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021219/6709198-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="51" height="40"></div>Gilbert Dionne. Exciting Montreal Canadien rookie carries on family tradition of offensive excellence.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03903/6709191-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="51" height="40"></div>Ray Bourque. Boston Bruin superstar becomes third 1,000-point defenseman in NHL history.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04674/6709184-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="52" height="41"></div>Gerald Diduck. Canuck uses his head for all the wrong reasons-a head butt-in fight with Calgary&rsquo;s Paul Kruse.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05490/6709177-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="52" height="41"></div>Leg checks. We&rsquo;re not exactly going out on a limb but recent trend of leg checks is reason for concern.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06372/6709170-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="359" height="357"></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/f0002-07240/6709236-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="373" height="473"></div>A Czechoslovakian defenseman could become only the second European chosen first overall in the NHL entry draft.Roman Hamrlik, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound blueliner who has already played two seasons in his country&rsquo;s Elite League, is a strong candidate to go No. 1.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a complete defenseman,&rdquo; one well-respected scout says. &ldquo;Skilled, tough, competitive, smart. There are not too many holes in this guy&rsquo;s game.&rdquo;The scout says Hamrlik&rsquo;s offensive potential &ldquo;is good, not excellent.&rdquo; Hamrlik scored three goals in seven games at the 1992 World Junior Championships where Czechoslovakia finished fifth.At least one NHL general manager is highly impressed with the Zlin defenseman. &ldquo;He could play in the NHL right now,&rdquo; says Neil Smith of the New York Rangers.Hamrlik&rsquo;s brother, Martin, was picked 31 st overall by Hartford last season. Another top-rated Czechoslovakian has an NHL connection. Left winger Martin Reichel, is the brother of Calgary&rsquo;s Robert.Other European hotshots include center Alexei Yashin and right wingers Alexander Cherbayev and Sergei Krivokrassov of the Commonwealth of Independent States.Quebec is the only team to pick a European first overall; it selected Mats Sundin in 1989. Still to be determined is which of the two expansion teams, Ottawa and Tampa Bay, will choose first June 20 in Montreal.Early indications this season were that a North American was sure to go No. 1 but no player from Canada or the United States has established himself as the clear-cut top choice.Medicine Hat defenseman David Cooper was ranked No. 1 by the Central Scouting Bureau in its mid-season ratings. Windsor center-left winger Todd Warriner was ranked second. But none of the top North Americans, including Mike Rathje, another Medicine Hat defenseman, has overwhelming support.Truth is, none of this year&rsquo;s draft-eligible players is considered a premier prospect. Tampa Bay chief scout John Chapman says he would pick at least four players available next season ahead of anyone this season.He rates Medicine Hat center Rob Niedermayer, Kingston center Chris Gratton, Peterborough defenseman Chris Pronger and Victoriaville center Alexandre Daigle as 1993 bluechippers.A story in the Globe and Mail following up an item that appeared in this space said it looks like NHL referee prospect Don Van Massenhoven will be staying in the Ontario League next year because he can&rsquo;t afford to become a full-time NHL trainee.What the story doesn&rsquo;t say is that Van Massenhoven has made no such decision and is actually determined to give the NHL a shot, provided he is offered the chance and can avoid financial hardship.&ldquo;It gets in your blood and I&rsquo;d like to make it work,&rdquo; he says.A trainee who spends an entire season in the minors-as is customary for a first-year pro-makes $25,000, substantially less than Van Massenhoven earns as an Ontario Provincial Police constable.But the 6-foot-5, 230-pounder says there may be options that would make a bid to join the NHL feasible.One would be to ask for an eight- to nine-month leave of absence from the OPP, giving him the opportunity to rejoin his detachment for the busy summer months. &#9632;

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No. 1 may be Roman’s numeral in entry draft

<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/f0003-011634/6709298-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Player rep Mike Gartner says the CBA situation is more critical than many realize while Bob Goodenow (inset) says the players are united. (Photo by Brian Winkler/BBS)</figcaption></div>As executive director of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, Bob Goodenow is asking people to look at the collective bargaining process as a continuing reel of film. But he knows the final scene is all that anybody cares about-a sequence that will begin March 9, probably in New York.&ldquo;People tend to look at this like snapshots,&rdquo; Goodenow said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just human nature to look at the March 9 meeting like a snapshot but this has been a continuing, ongoing process.&rdquo;A more accurate adjective might be &ldquo;neverending,&rdquo; which is why many people are nonchalant about this latest negotiation session between the players and owners. The participants, of course, have a different perspective.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think people realize how serious it is,&rdquo; said Mike Gartner, the New York Rangers&rsquo; player representative and a member of the negotiating committee. &ldquo;I would say the meetings on March 9 will determine whether we have a collective bargaining agreement or not. I&rsquo;m not going to make a prediction one way or the other (about a strike or lockout). Let&rsquo;s just say it is a very, very critical time.&rdquo;Despite some optimistic statements from NHL president John Ziegler after the two sides met Feb. 24&mdash;the first such meeting since late September&mdash;the outlook is not altogether rosy.&ldquo;Things did not go well,&rdquo; said Jim Quinn, the NHLPA&rsquo;s legal counsel who has performed a similar task with the players&rsquo; associations in the National Football League and National Basketball Association. &ldquo;There has been movement on the players&rsquo; side but really none by the owners and management. So far, they just want to take something away.&rdquo;But will the players feel strongly enough to strike? &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the question, isn&rsquo;t it?&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;If things stay the way they are, that would be a decision for the players.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s a decision they&rsquo;re already preparing for. Player reps have gone to teammates to discuss the logistics of a strike. As it stands, one can&rsquo;t be called without a league-wide player vote but there has been talk of giving the eight-man negotiating committee the power to call a stoppage.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not afraid of using the word (strike) when talking to players,&rdquo; Goodenow said. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t really dwelled on it but I can tell you this: I don&rsquo;t think anybody should question the cohesiveness of this group.&rdquo;Clearly, the NHLPA would be in a stronger position if the committee had that authorization in hand. The threat of an immediate strike being called would give the union a powerful weapon.The major issues, meanwhile, remain: free agency; the pension plan; shares for awards and playoffs; arbitration reform; and recallable waivers.The owners, already complaining about high salaries, say ticket prices can&rsquo;t go much higher to pay for what the players want and the players ought to be thankful for the deal they have.As usual, the information coming from the owners&rsquo; side is muffled. Off-the-record comments indicate general managers are struggling to deal with salaries.A source from within the NHL office says if there is a strike the NHL would not use minor league players to stage the playoffs-as the NFL did during its early-season 1987 dispute with the players.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021305/6709291-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="617" height="765"></div>Throughout all this, owners have maintained their financial health is failing. Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; GM Pat Quinn even offered reporters the opportunity to look at the organization&rsquo;s books earlier this year.Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; president Jay Snider told a Philadelphia newspaper, &ldquo;The NHL players&rsquo; share (of revenues) is approaching 65 per cent. If the players are looking for a greater share of the pot, it&rsquo;s not there. They have to take some interest in the health of the sport. A strike would make no sense.&rdquo;Goodenow acknowledged salaries have escalated quickly but he has said that circumstance represents a market correction-one that has had the effect of raising player compensation to its proper level.The union leader said the lengthy layoff between owner-player meetings was constructive although it does put the two sides under some pressure to resolve the issue. &ldquo;I think it gave both sides an opportunity to sit down to reflect, revise and maybe re-evaluate,&rdquo; Goodenow said. &ldquo;I think it was time well-spent for both sides.&rdquo;Yet, there seems to remain enormous differences of opinion. For instance, the owners would like to see free agency rules even more restrictive. They have proposed teams losing a Group I free agent get the right of first refusal, as they currently do for Group 11 players.&ldquo;So far,&rdquo; Quinn said, &ldquo;all they have done is make a worse proposal. We made movement and they took away free agency. Sure-that&rsquo;s got a real good chance of happening.&rdquo;Although free agency is the issue getting the most attention, there are many players who feel other issues are more important.&ldquo;The players would like to see the free agency issue move along, there is no question about that,&rdquo; said Andy Moog, the Boston Bruins&rsquo; rep, &ldquo;but the bottom line could be the quality of everyday life issues. Things like life insurance; pension; waivers; transfers. Things that affect players on a day-to-day basis.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always felt that we&rsquo;re not in any kind of desperate situation. I firmly believe that once they sit down they can bang something out. Anyway, if you look at it, the longer this goes, it gets nearer and nearer to a very good leverage position for the players.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s because it&rsquo;s believed the players won&rsquo;t go into the playoffs, the prime revenue-earning period for owners-without a new CBA in place. The players have been in a legal position to strike since the CBA expired Sept. 15.The owners are also presenting a united front and haven&rsquo;t ruled out the possibility of a lockout. Though the tangible effects wouldn&rsquo;t be much different than a strike, a lockout would, in theory, put the onus on the players to come to an agreement.&ldquo;Nobody wants a strike but we can&rsquo;t go into this with our hearts; it&rsquo;s a business,&rdquo; said Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; goalie Rick Wamsley. &ldquo;For the first time in the history of the players&rsquo; association, we&rsquo;re willing to do whatever it takes to reach a fair settlement.&rdquo;&ldquo;There is no question this is difficult,&rdquo; Goodenow said. &ldquo;Players live to play but there comes a time when you have to take some action and do some things you wouldn&rsquo;t normally do.&rdquo; &#9632;

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Photo Finish

<div class="byline">By Matt Nicholls</div><h2>Kordic down but not out</h2>John Kordic was still bristling more than a month after being released by the Quebec Nordiques.The rugged 26-year-old right winger was let go Jan. 13 because coach-GM Pierre Page wanted to change the chemistry of the team.&ldquo;They never gave me a sound explanation of why I was let go,&rdquo; Kordic says. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never understand coaches and GMs. I don&rsquo;t know what their agenda is.&rdquo;Kordic, a recovering alcoholic, lives in Quebec City with his girlfriend. He is working out six times a week and hopes to catch on with an expansion team next season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031202/6709391-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="565" height="743"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Kordic</figcaption></div><h2>Replay officials keeping busy</h2>NHL replay officials have been kept very busy in their inaugural season of action.On-ice officials requested 110 replays through March 2. Here&rsquo;s a breakdown of the requests. To determin whether: (a) the puck had completely crossed the goal line-56; (b) the puck was kicked or batted in the net-29; (c) the net was dislodged before the puck went in-10; (d) the puck was knocked in with a high stick-10; and, (e) a goal was scored before time ran out-five.The league doesn&rsquo;t keep track of how many decisions were reversed by the video replay officials. &#9632;

f0004-03

UPDATE

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011579/6709422-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="370" height="470"></div>Al Arbour&rsquo;s four eyes have seen so much in his 59 years that by now he deserves to lie down on a beach and close them. On the last night of the regular season, he will pass Dick Irvin and coach an NHL-record 1,438th regular-season game.Arbour will doubtlessly regard the event as a statistical irrelevancy, although in fact it will reflect a staggering achievement. Nevertheless, it&rsquo;s not the game April 5 that drives him but the prospect of his New York Islanders playing another one April 8.Old Radar has the Islander blip back on the screen again, in the hunt for a playoff spot. It&rsquo;s hard to believe Pittsburgh will keep losing, but who in October would have expected the Isles would be capable of getting close? The prospect of post-season play appears to have underwhelmed a Long Island fandom that has been pulverized both by too many years of Mikko Makela and by the recession. But whether people are in the stands or not, Arbour is rejuvenated.&ldquo;I enjoy being with the kids,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;it keeps me young.&rdquo; In truth, the Islanders, glued towards respectability with veterans such as Steve Thomas, Ray Ferraro and Tom Kurvers, aren&rsquo;t really so callow. Nevertheless, Arbour sees results from his patience with Derek King and now has another worthy project in Pierre Turgeon. It&rsquo;s a far cry from last season, when the Isles were losing games even more quickly than Arbour was losing his mind.The star player was hopelessly alienated, the youth movement appeared to be a failure and the team was for sale. Arbour and general manager Bill Torrey had travelled too many miles together to air their dirty laundry but the coach was angry Pat LaFontaine had not been satisfied and increasingly questioned whether the draft-and-wait philosophy that built the Islander powerhouses still worked. Arbour&rsquo;s re-retirement seemed a foregone conclusion.But anyone who was as close to the situation as Glenn Healy saw strong indications Arbour would be back. &ldquo;He took far too much care for someone just waiting for the season to end,&rdquo; recalls the Isles&rsquo; goalie. &ldquo;The positiveness and the patience was still there.&rdquo; Arbour ran his standard April drill, going to Florida to think things over, and came to the conclusion Healy and Torrey expected all along: Okay, one more year. But this was absolutely, positively it. Maybe.In 1986, Arbour really had had it. After so many years of coaxing the rats through the maze, he earned the privilege of the lobotomized life of the scout and senior adviser. But Torrey pays Arbour, who earned more satisfaction than he did dollars during the Islanders&rsquo; salad years, more to coach than he does to counsel. So the money is hard to turn down. A challenge is, too. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s an old warhorse in this guy,&rdquo; says Torrey. &ldquo;As tough as last year was, I don&rsquo;t think he wanted to walk away until things got turned around.&rdquo;&ldquo;I figured, &lsquo;What the hell?&rsquo;&rdquo; Arbour says. &ldquo;You still want to see what can be done.&rdquo; Whether Torrey got equal value in the Buffalo deal will be determined by future Turgeon gut checks, but at least LaFontaine&rsquo;s points have been replaced. The Chicago trade brought a productive Thomas and the outlook for Mark Fitzpatrick-who had become a symbol of everything that could go wrong doing exactly that&mdash;is gradually brightening. New ownership and marketing strategies are in the works. If Torrey survives. Arbour may just take it a year-at-a-time for a few more.When he walked away in 1986, expectations for the Islanders had become unreasonable. In their old age, the core players from the Cup teams were becoming brittle, slow and stubborn. Though they didn&rsquo;t really want a new voice&mdash;and eventually sacrificed a competent Terry Simpson&mdash;the Islanders were nevertheless tired of listening to the old one. Arbour, more a tyrant than was popularly perceived, was sick of berating his players, too. After 1980, the best the Islanders could do every year was break even. It took its toll. &ldquo;You get possessed with winning after a while,&rdquo; Arbour says.The two-year break helped. Arbour stopped smoking and late-night eating, began working out and learned to better manage his stress. He yells less and jokes more because expectations and times have changed. &ldquo;The players seem more sensitive,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;You have to be more careful, they can lose confidence quickly.&rdquo;Let an Islander continue to disappoint him, however, and the paint on the locker room wall still peels. &ldquo;He could have scared the Iraqis out of Kuwait,&rdquo; Healy says. &ldquo;But that&rsquo;s not the only way he gets your attention. He has the ability to talk to 20 guys at once and make every one of them come away thinking, &lsquo;He&rsquo;s talking about me.&rsquo;&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the trick of Al Arbour&rsquo;s trade, which he appears to be plying happily-ever-after. &#9632;

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Old Radar has Isles back in the hunt

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN Staff</div>The financially-plagued Colonial Whalers Limited Partnership may be out of the hockey business by March 20.That&rsquo;s the day the NHL&rsquo;s Board of Governors will meet in Chicago to decide whether or not to vote to rescind approval of Colonial&rsquo;s transfer of 37.5 per cent ownership of the Hartford Whalers from former owner Donald G. Conrad The NHL has charged Colonial with furnishing false financial information in gaining the board&rsquo;s approval for the 1989 sale.After months of waiting for a resolution to a long-standing ownership dispute created by the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Colonial Realty and Colonial Whalers (formed by four Colonial Realty partners), the NHL decided to initiate proceedings under Article Three of its constitution.Richard Gordon, who got managing control of the club from Conrad as part of the 1989 deal and owns 37.5 per cent, welcomed the news. He has been trying to acquire the disputed 37.5 per cent for months.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s exactly what I wanted,&rdquo; Gordon said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been saying there was fraud. Now the NHL is saying it.&rdquo;Under the ownership agreement, Gordon has first right to purchase the 37.5 per cent. Area corporations own the remaining 25 per cent of the club.&ldquo;The most important thing is that the team remain in Hartford,&rdquo; Gordon said. &ldquo;The team is not for sale-in spite of what everybody has said and despite that fact I could make a substantial profit if it left town. I think the league has come out very strongly supporting me.&rdquo;Gordon said he made an offer of $4 million for the Colonial/Conrad interest. Gordon said this is considerably more than its worth. Colonial would receive $3 million to pay Merrill Lynch and Citibank to satisfy its creditors. Conrad, who said he has received $3.5 million of the $8 million he originally was scheduled to receive in the transfer, would get $1 million more from Gordon.Conrad disagreed with that proposal, saying any money coming from the sale of the team should go to him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m the only creditor of the Colonial Whalers,&rdquo; Conrad said. &ldquo;How can Gordon have a deal where he doesn&rsquo;t pay me more than $1 million and pays other creditors? They have nothing to do with Colonial Whalers.&ldquo;Why doesn&rsquo;t Richard simply go to an independent arbitrator with me and let the arbitrator decide a fair price?&rdquo;<h2>Another offer</h2>The International League&rsquo;s San Diego Gulls became the latest team to court 19-year-old sensation Eric Lindros.The independent team offered Lindros a contract to finish the 1991-92 season with the team. A source close to the negotiations said the offer was for $15,000 for each regular-season and playoff game.If Lindros accepts he would be considered a defected player by the NHL. So instead of holding his rights for two years, the Quebec Nordiques would own Lindros&rsquo; rights indefinitely. A defected player is any unsigned draft pick who plays in Europe or for an independent minor pro team.&ldquo;We are treating the San Diego offer as we have a number of other offers that have come in from other independent clubs and European teams,&rdquo; said Rick Curran, Lindros&rsquo; agent. &ldquo;At some point Eric will decide how he feels about what he&rsquo;ll do for the rest of the season.&rdquo;The Gulls&rsquo; offer came from Fred Comrie, who bought the team from Harry Cooper March 2. Comrie, a 38-year-old Edmonton native who owns eight furniture stores in the San Diego area, reportedly offered Lindros a &2.5 million pact for this season and next.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve made contact to tell them there&rsquo;s major interest,&rdquo; Comrie told the Toronto Sun. &ldquo;It would have to be a multi-million dollar deal. He&rsquo;s not going to come for less.&rdquo;Lindros could also return to the Oshawa Generals, his junior team in the Ontario League, or he could join the Canadian national team for the World Championships in Czechoslovakia.<h2>Patrick rules</h2>Not only is the Patrick Division the best in the league this season, it may be one the best of all-time.The six Patrick Division teams had a .595 winning percentage against the rest of the league through March 1. Since the NHL adopted its current divisional format in 1982-83, the best record posted by a division was .588 by the Adams Division in 1983-84.Every team in the Patrick had a winning record outside its division, with the New York Rangers leading the way at .725.The Norris Division had the next-best inter-divisional record at .513, followed by the Smythe at .455 and the Adams at .430.<h2>Wilson dies</h2>Bert Wilson, who played for four NHL teams, died in a Toronto hospital Feb. 28 of liver cancer. He was 42.He scored 37 goals and 81 points in 478 games with the New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames from 1973-74 to 1980-81.&mdash;With a file from Jeff Jacobs. &#9632;

Board of Governors probes Whalers’ ownership transfer

While Eric Lindros, and Joe Juneau are making headlines for not playing, there are some Olympians who are in action for their NHL teams.Here&rsquo;s a team-by-team look at Olympic players which have joined the NHL since the Olympics ended.Boston: Canadian defenseman Gord Hynes played in the 4-1 win over Washington March 1.Calgary: Canadian left winger Chris Lindberg made his debut in a 3-0 loss to Philadelphia Feb. 27. Goalie Trevor Kidd of Canada also joined the Flames.Chicago: Unified Team defenseman Igor Kravchuk signed a three-year contract. In his debut Feb. 27 against Detroit, he scored the winning-goal in a 4-2 win. He had one goal and two assists in three games.Islanders: U.S. defenseman Scott Lachance and center Marty McInnis signed four-year contracts.Philadelphia: American defenseman Moe Mantha was acquired in a trade from Winnipeg.Pittsburgh: U.S. left winger Shawn McEachern joined the team on Feb. 28.St. Louis: Winger Philippe Bozon of France and Canadian defenseman Curt Giles signed contracts.Toronto: Canadian center Dave Hannan and U.S. winger Joe Sacco played Feb. 29 in a 6-5 win over Chicago. Sacco had one assist, Hannan had no points. Sacco scored two goals in a 6-2 win over Minnesota March 1. Canadian left winger Kent Manderville joined the team March 2.Vancouver: Canadian defenseman Adrien Plavsic joined the team Feb. 28.Winnipeg: American right winger Keith Tkachuk had one assist Feb. 28 in a 5-3 loss to Vancouver.Several other players reported to the minors, including Canadian defensemen Jason Wooley and Brad Schlegel with Washington, American center David Emma with New Jersey, Canadian defenseman Kevin Dahl and U.S. wingers Tim Sweeney and C.J. Young with Calgary and American goaltender Ray LeBlanc with Chicago. &#9632;

Olympians make way to NHL

<div class="byline">By Stan Flschler</div>The NHL, which took a beating from the book Net Worth, will get slapped again by authors David Cruise and Alison Griffiths Bluelines has learned the paperback version of the best-seller is now in the works and will have new material unflattering to NHL president John Ziegler and former NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Alan Eagleson. Cruise tells Bluelines that, in addition, CBC-TV has picked up the option on the book and is planning a two-hour documentary for which the couple now is writing a screenplay. CBC&rsquo;s Bernie Zuckerman confirms, &ldquo;We&rsquo;re especially interested in the story about Ted Lindsay&rsquo;s attempt to form the original NHL players&rsquo; union and the league&rsquo;s attempt to crush it.&rdquo; Cruise adds the league&rsquo;s attempt to discredit Net Worth by suggesting it contains 250 errors is incorrect. &ldquo;There were no more than four or five mistakes,&rdquo; Cruise says, &ldquo;and they&rsquo;re being corrected for the paperback.&rdquo; Net Worth has sold more than 25,000 copies in hardcover and will be available in paperback this fall&hellip;Marty McSorley tells Bluelines it&rsquo;s easier to be a tough guy as a forward than a defenseman. &ldquo;You get up with the play more often,&rdquo; McSorley says. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s say you can cruise more. On defense, if you get caught out of position going after someone, it can mean a goal.&rdquo; Among the tougher players McSorley admires, Wendel Clark, Joey Kocur and Bob Probert rank the highest.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011754/6709508-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg" title="f0006-01" width="557" height="934"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marty McSorley says it&rsquo;s tougher for tough guys to play defense.</figcaption></div><h2>No backing down</h2>Tie Domi of the New York Rangers plays tough, but he can also take a hit. During a Nassau Coliseum game against the New York Islanders, the slugger was assessed a double minor and a 10-minute misconduct late in the second period, plus he lost a fight decisively to Mick Vukota. The Isles scored twice during the four-minute incarceration to put the game out of reach but Domi showed up for a between-periods interview which many other players would have blown off He said he wouldn&rsquo;t stiff a reporter just because he had a bad game&hellip;The Cam Neely-Ulf Samuelsson feud threatens to extend beyond a year whether they clash on the ice again or not. Samuelsson knocked Neely out of the playoffs and much of this season with a dirty check in the Wales Conference final last season. Neely not-so-obliquely accused the Pittsburgh Penguin defenseman of being afraid to skate against the Bruins in Boston Feb. 9, saying on Boston radio station WEE1 that Samuelsson came down with a case of the &ldquo;Boston flu.&rdquo; It meant Neely, who has been injured most of the season, didn&rsquo;t get the opportunity to play against Samuelsson this year.<h2>Dread Wings</h2>An NHL scout offers this negative assessment of the Detroit Red Wings: &ldquo;Tim Cheveldae has been allowing too many bad goals; Jimmy Carson&rsquo;s lack of upper body strength deters him from tying up his man in the defensive zone; there&rsquo;s too much fancy-dan individual play; Kevin Miller has been taking too many dives and referees are starting to ignore them so he doesn&rsquo;t get legitimate calls when they are deserved.&rdquo;<h2>Second Lachance</h2>Some hockey people are projecting greatness for 17-year-old Bob Lachance, younger brother of Islander draft pick Scott and a center with the Springfield (Mass.) Olympics Tier II junior team. &ldquo;Bobby is perhaps the most talented all-round player I&rsquo;ve ever had,&rdquo; says his coach, Gary Dineen. &ldquo;I never had a kid, including Scott, who could do some of the things that Bob does. He is a first-round draft pick.&rdquo; Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; scout Alex Smart also believes Lachance has first-round potential. Adds Pittsburgh Penguin Ron Francis, who skated with Lachance last summer: &ldquo;He can do everything and he has the tools to be a quality NHL center.&rdquo; The NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau doesn&rsquo;t totally agree. CSB had the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder projected as the 202nd pick overall in its mid-term rankings.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021194/6709501-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="556" height="1031"><figcaption class="caption-body">New York Ranger Tie Domi can take hits on and off the ice.</figcaption></div><h2>The name game</h2>The Portland Oregonian newspaper has decided to omit nicknames it deems insensitive to natives. So far it has decided to omit Redskins, Redmen, Indians and Braves. Now the Blackhawks and Canucks are being considered. But Vancouver official Norm Jewison says Canucks is not a derogatory name. &ldquo;A Canuck,&rdquo; Jewison says, &ldquo;is to a Canadian what a Yankee is to an American.&rdquo; The name is derived from Johnny Canuck, a term used to describe Canadians during World War 11. &#9632;

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Net Worth authors re-arm, prepare for second assault

A weekly compendium of significant events and developments.Feb. 24: The players and owners meet in New York to discuss a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The two sides agree to meet again March 9.Feb. 26: The NHL charges that Colonial Realty, which owns 37.5 per cent of the Hartford Whalers, provided false information to the league to gain an ownership transfer in 1989.The San Jose Sharks score a teamrecord seven goals in a 7-4 win over the Quebec Nordiques.Feb. 27: St. Louis Blues&rsquo; right winger Brett Hull becomes the first player to reach 60 goals this season with a hat trick in the Blues&rsquo; 7-3 win over the Washington Capitals.Feb. 29: Raymond Bourque of the Boston Bruins becomes the third defenseman in NHL history to record 1,000 points when he scores a goal and two assists in the Bruins&rsquo; 5-5 tie with the Washington Capitals.March 1: The Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames 11-0, their largest margin of victory ever and the Flames&rsquo; worst defeat ever. &#9632;

THE WEEK IN HOCKEY: FEB. 24-MARCH 1

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03735/6709570-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="365" height="476"></div>The good news is that officiating is no worse now than half a century ago. The bad news is that it never gets better; which means it&rsquo;s still pretty much at the same pre-historic level.&ldquo;As far as I can tell it hasn&rsquo;t changed in 20 years,&rdquo; says Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; assistant coach Terry Simpson. &ldquo;Officiating is just like the weather; some days are good and some are bad. Nothing can be done about it.&rdquo;David Poile doesn&rsquo;t buy into that theory.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to agree with what Simpson says because we&rsquo;re always working to make things better,&rdquo; the Washington Capitals&rsquo; general manager says, &ldquo;and we&rsquo;ve worked on the officiating.&rdquo;Tell that to Norman Green whose Minnesota North Stars conceivably could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars-not to mention a playoff berth-partly because of poor officiating.The Stars were at Madison Square Garden Feb. 21, nursing a 4-1 lead over the New York Rangers. With 12:43 remaining, Tony Amonte dove to the ice and plunged onto Jim Johnson&rsquo;s stick which was legally carried low at ice level.Referee Dan Marouelli provided new meaning to the term creative officiating by giving Todd Elik a five-minute penalty.A few seconds later Marouelli got real. This time Darren Turcotte actually was cut by Gaetan Duchesne so, what the heck, Marouelli hit the Stars with another major, which left them two men short for 4:31.That was enough for the Rangers to score twice en route to a 5-4 win.It is possible Green will wake up in April and discover his team has finished fifth, one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. Green will have only Marouelli and himself to blame for the loss in New York because Green is an NHL governor and owners like himself have allowed the Marouellis to become the laughing stock of professional sports.The Marouelli incident should surprise no one.It certainly doesn&rsquo;t surprise Mario Lemieux, Brian Bellows and Jaromir Jagr, all intelligent, creative performers who have defiantly spoken out against the officials. After Lemieux was called on the carpet by NHL president John Ziegler, he was fined because that is the NHL&rsquo;s automatic knee-jerk response to criticism. But it is important to recognize Lemieux never said he was sorry. There was no reason to do so because he meant every word he said. His agent Tom Reich, who sat in on the meeting, makes a point of that.&ldquo;You can rest assured,&rdquo; Reich says, &ldquo;no apologies were offered.&rdquo;Why should Lemieux apologize if he implicitly believes he is right? More importantly, why should referees receive favored treatment over players? Why, for example, are the officials so zealously protected from the media?Officials, who often do more to orchestrate a game&rsquo;s outcome than the players, are better shielded from the media than George Bush.When a game is over, managers, coaches and players are available to explain their positions. The officials? They hide behind closed doors, secure in the knowledge a $500-fine will be levied on anyone who is critical.I once believed I was alone in my read on referees. But, alas, others are being heard:&#9633; Tony Gallagher, Vancouver Province: &ldquo;It has become the hear-no-evil league.&rdquo;&#9633; Scott Taylor, Winnipeg Free Press: &ldquo;The fact of the matter is, the NHL has no rules. Oh, don&rsquo;t be mistaken, the NHL has a rule book and there, in black and white, are rules against hooking, holding and interference, but those infractions are called only when the score and time remaining permit.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04451/6709563-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="563" height="672"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gaetan Duchesne</figcaption></div>&#9633; Curtis Stock, Edmonton Journal: &ldquo;The problem isn&rsquo;t guys like (Alex) Mogilny and (Jaromir) Jagr; it&rsquo;s inconsistent officials who one game call penalties every three minutes and the next time refuse to call anything.&rdquo;At the very least, referees should get out of their safe and cozy little bunkers and meet the press after every game to explain or defend their work which has so pivotal an affect on the livelihood of those involved. &#9632;

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Refs owe it to fans to meet the press

<div class="byline">By Lisa Dillman</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011594/6709608-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="376" height="472"></div>The stack of papers was doing time in the comer of our cluttered den.And, during a futile attempt at reorganization, a column fluttered to the papered ground. The headline: &ldquo;Vachon May Be Duly Promoted (Kicked Upstairs) For Stringing Along With Kings.&rdquo;Uh, let it be said that, yes, Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; general manager Rogie Vachon did end up having a longer shelf life than the unfortunate National sports daily, in which that column appeared.Just who wrote that column? Okay, so I was wrong.The best thing about conventional wisdom is being able to make a U-turn away from it-even if it is almost two years later.Sometimes, it happens even faster. Wayne Gretzky talks about leaving the game one week, and he&rsquo;s leading the league in scoring the next.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021076/6709601-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="556" height="782"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rogie Vachon</figcaption></div>Anyway, among its many goals, The Hockey News is here to set trends, not follow them. But the next statement may come as a great shock to some.New conventional wisdom: Rogie Vachon, perhaps the most-maligned man in hockey, is doing a good job.No, he&rsquo;s not just doing a good job by simply keeping it. Vachon has the most difficult assignment in hockey. Maybe it&rsquo;s even more tenuous than when he was facing slap shots while carrying the sorry Kings&rsquo; franchise during the lean years.Now Vachon can&rsquo;t solve the Kings&rsquo; problems by throwing his body in front of a puck. It&rsquo;s a bit more complex than that.No matter what the Kings say or do, the constant league-wide perception remains that owner Bruce McNall and Gretzky are the real general managers. McNall, the GM in the office, and Gretzky, the GM on ice. Naturally, it has been insulting at times. But Vachon has proved to be resilient, successfully keeping his balance along the McNall-Gretzky high-wire act and essentially doing his best work behind the scenes.Last season, he was widely praised for the subtle moves, picking up Mike Donnelly for Mikko Makela and John McIntyre in exchange for Mike Krushelnyski. Now, one year later, he has been more like the captain of a mutinous ship, running around patching leaks right and left. Vachon&rsquo;s two biggest problems this season, to date?His part-time goaltender, Daniel Berthiaume; and his part-time coach, Tom Webster.Both were a drain on team morale. Berthiaume, so brilliant last season, was struggling on and off the ice. Starting goaltender Kelly Hrudey, who has two kids himself, didn&rsquo;t need another one to babysit full-time.Vachon jumped at the chance to move Berthiaume to Boston for future considerations in January. It was the best kind of math addition by subtraction.The Webster situation was trickier. Even before his latest stick-tossing exploit, the Kings were concerned about his frequent absences due to various health reasons.Then came the stick hurl at referee Kerry Fraser during a home game against Detroit in November. This earned Webster a 12-game suspension and the distinction of being the highest-paid temp in sports.What worked in Webster&rsquo;s favor was the hockey climate in L.A. There were front-page stories, to be sure, when the suspension was announced. But fans and local columnists weren&rsquo;t especially outraged this guy had missed more than 30 games and counting in less than three seasons.Vachon, visibly angered after the incident simply said, &ldquo;It won&rsquo;t happen again.&rdquo; And it hasn&rsquo;t.Out of the glare of the spotlight, Vachon has managed to keep the tightly-wound Webster in control. He got McNall to listen to reason when there was a recent dump Webster movement at the beginning of a four-game road trip in mid-February.The Kings went on to win four of their next six games after the trip as they moved into second place in the Smythe Division.Maybe they&rsquo;ll actually prove that, sometimes the best move is no move. All Vachon has to do is just look in the mirror to see the evidence. &#9632;

f0007-01

Surprise! Vachon’s doing a good job

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>As contributions go, you&rsquo;d be blind if you didn&rsquo;t recognize the one goalie Bob Essensa has made to the Winnipeg Jets this season.But color blindness-calling things either black or white-has recently clouded Essensa&rsquo;s real value to his team.Cruising along through the all-star break, Essensa had numbers that placed him among the NHL&rsquo;s elite. Five shutouts, a save percentage as high as .920 and a goals-against average well under 3.00 were forcing people to take notice of the 27-year-old Michigan State graduate and his ability.And figuring that if they didn&rsquo;t promote their puckstopper, nobody else would, the Jets launched a low-key but thorough campaign to further raise Essensa&rsquo;s profile. The team left the actual words to reporters and broadcasters, but Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophy have been frequent topics raised in relation to Essen-sa&rsquo;s play.Recently, however, both the Jets goalie have back to earth. At one time the Jets had visions of first place in the Smythe Division. Now qualifying for the playoffs is a more realistic goal. The Jets were in second place for much of the season, but fourth, just two points ahead of Calgary when March began.Essensa has quickly gone from an awards candidate to a candidate for an early vacation. He went through two weeks in late February in which he lost four of five games, giving up at least four goals in each one. His numbers through Feb. 27 were still respectable enough-2.85 GAA, .912 save percentage-but his mediocre play had elicited some unusual responses, even blame, for the Jets&rsquo; demise.&ldquo;I had a meeting with John (Jets&rsquo; coach Paddock) not so long ago and he made a good point that it&rsquo;s a similar situation with goaltenders as it is with coaches in a lot of ways,&rdquo; Essensa said. &ldquo;When the team&rsquo;s win ning and playing well, maybe the goalie gets a little too much credit. On the flip side, when things aren&rsquo;t going well, maybe you get too much blame. It&rsquo;s similar that coaches are always the first to go.&ldquo;Regardless of what the media or general managers say about my play, I&rsquo;m my own worst critic. Even when reporters say I have a good game, I might have a different opinion. If I&rsquo;m not sharp or mishandling rebounds or feel totally in control, I feel I&rsquo;ve had a bad game.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03690/6709639-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="942" height="1761"><figcaption class="caption-body">The Jets&rsquo; sights have turned from trophies for Bob Essensa to just making the playoffs. (Photo by Tim Parker)</figcaption></div>Paddock has maintained a consistently reserved attitude towards the team&rsquo;s goaltending highs and lows. Of late, he has taken a stance to try to protect against the downside.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re the last line of defense and everybody sees when they make a mistake,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You always see the puck going in the net whether it&rsquo;sa good goal or a bad goal. Just like when he makes a save. He can get built up because of that or cut down because of that.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good goalie. Some nights he has been great. Other nights he hasn&rsquo;t even been good. He was getting all the credit when we had an 11-game unbeaten streak. I don&rsquo;t necessarily think it was true. Maybe he got blamed for (a recent loss to the L.A. Kings) where maybe he wasn&rsquo;t sharp but he wasn&rsquo;t to blame. It changes so quickly.&rdquo;One important thing that hasn&rsquo;t changed is Paddock&rsquo;s opinion, which is that Essensa is the team&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie, the guy the Jets are counting on to help them into the post-season.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s how he should judge what a coach thinks of him,&rdquo; Paddock said, explaining that his definition of a No. 1 goalie is one who plays more than 40 games. &ldquo;When both goalies are healthy, to me, it says you&rsquo;re chosen as the No. 1 goalie. That&rsquo;s what he should be concerned with and I think that&rsquo;s what he is concerned with.&rdquo;For the critical late going of the NHL season, however, Essensa has a clear picture of the situation.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that this team is going to win a lot of hockey games with mediocre goaltending,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We realize we&rsquo;re not a team that can play a Los Angeles and just outscore them, win 7-6. We have to rely on team defense and eliminate the soft goals, the easy goals and capitalize on our opportunities. From my perspective, I can&rsquo;t afford to be giving up bad goals. Not only does it deflate the team, it makes it that much harder for a team that doesn&rsquo;t score a lot.&rdquo;He has accepted the role as the man in the spotlight and relishes the challenge.&ldquo;This is the first season anywhere where I think the load has really been thrust upon me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice for a coaching staff and management to have that sort of confidence in you, that you can do it for the team night in and night out. But I still look at it as a feeling out process for me, a learning experience.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0007-03

Turbulent Flight

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div>The Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; haven&rsquo;t had an offensive force on the blue line since they traded Paul Coffey to Pittsburgh in 1987.But this year, they have a committee of rushing rearguards led by Norm Maciver, Greg Hawgood and Dave Manson. All are proving they can wheel and deal at both ends of the rink.Maciver had 19 points in his previous 18 games giving him 35 points in 44 games. Manson had 37 points (13 goals) in 65 games, while Hawgood had five points in 11 games after being recalled from Cape Breton of the American League Feb. 12.The Oilers&rsquo; defensemen made their presence felt in a 6-1 win over Winnipeg Feb. 26. A defenseman earned a point on each goal.Oiler rearguards either scored or assisted on 35 of the team&rsquo;s 54 goals during their 9-3-0 winning streak in February. It was Edmonton&rsquo;s finest month of the year.The Oilers scored only 49 goals in their first 16 games of this season and defensemen figured in on just 21 of them. But that has all changed.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just scoring in bunches,&rdquo; Maciver said. &ldquo;I think (coach Ted Green) wants us to do it (rush with the puck). If I&rsquo;ve got a chance to go, he wants me to go. I haven&rsquo;t done it enough. They want the defensemen to get involved in the offense and it makes a huge difference.&rdquo;Maciver played only once in the Oilers&rsquo; first 22 games. But he hasn&rsquo;t missed a shift since he cracked the lineup in December.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;ve played pretty well but you can never be too satisfied,&rdquo; he said.The 27-year-old Thunder Bay, Ont., native hopes he doesn&rsquo;t have to wonder about life on the buses anymore. The minors are on his resume, not his horizon.&ldquo;I should hope I don&rsquo;t have to worry about that again. But then you never know,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;After last year&rsquo;s playoffs I felt really good about my own ability. The series against Calgary and L.A., I don&rsquo;t think there could be hockey played at a higher level than it was then. I felt I played well. I felt I had arrived. In my own mind that was a big confidence booster. But I had to wait awhile again this year.&rdquo;NICHOLLS SHINES: Veteran center Bernie Nicholls returned to form in a 4-2 win over Winnipeg March 1.He started the game by knocking Jets&rsquo; defenseman Teppo Numminen out of the game with a vicious elbow.He then whacked Danton Cole with a solid forearm (it cost the Oilers a five-minute penalty) and later scored the insurance goal.It was Nicholls&rsquo; 900th NHL point but he didn&rsquo;t bother to keep the puck as a&rsquo;souvenir. He had 13 goals and 32 points in 35 games since being traded from the New York Rangers in the Mark Messier deal.&ldquo;He has reached another level,&rdquo; coach Ted Green said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s skating, hitting, getting chances. If he keeps that up, we&rsquo;re a much stronger hockey club.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The hottest trade rumor in Edmonton in March had disgruntled left winger Petr Klima going to the Boston Bruins for Canadian Olympic star Joe Juneau. But Oilers&rsquo; general manager Glen Sather said he hadn&rsquo;t talked about that deal with Bruins&rsquo; GM Harry Sinden. Sather said he didn&rsquo;t want to &ldquo;screw things up&rdquo; before the March 10 trading deadline. However, Klima has been on the trade block for some time.The Oilers have received several offers for defenseman Greg Hawgood. He becomes a free agent afterl this year.<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Bemie Nicholls, Craig MacTavish, Mark Lamb, Josef Beranek.LW-Vince Damphousse, Martin Gelinas, Craig Simpson, David Maley.RW-Joe Murphy, Petr Klima, Scott Mellanby, Kelly Buchberger.LD-Geoff Smith, Dave Manson, Luke Richardson.RD-Craig Muni, Brian Glynn, Norm Maciver, Greg Hawgood.G-Bill Ranford, Norm Foster.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kevin Lowe, D, strained rotator cuff in right shoulder Jan. 28, indefinite. Esa Tikkanen, LW, left shoulder surgery Jan. 4, indefinite. Anatoli Semenov, C, sprained ankle, day-to-day. &#9632;

High-scoring defense corps leads late-season surge

<div class="byline">By Mike Weaver</div>The San Jose Sharks have one of the weakest defense corps in the NHL and things got a whole lot worse in early March.Injuries to Doug Wilson, Neil Wilkinson and Ken Hammond reduced the Sharks&rsquo; defense to a collection of youngsters. Only one player-veteran Bob McGill-is older than 24. Just two players had played more than 20 NHL games before the season began.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a situation where these guys can&rsquo;t lay back and hide and wait for somebody else to do the job,&rdquo; said Sharks&rsquo; coach George Kingston. &ldquo;Sometimes adversity challenges you and forces you to become better in a hurry.&rdquo;Wilkinson has been out of the lineup since Feb. 5 with a strained back muscle. Hammond broke a knuckle on his right hand during a fight with Vancouver&rsquo;s Geoff Courtnall Feb. 21 and will be gone until late March. Wilson tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Feb. 23 and will also be out until late March.McGill, 30, played 640 NHL games through March 2, more than five times the number of games of the other five defensemen combined.Rob Zettler, Jayson More, David Williams, Claudio Scremin and Link Gaetz will join McGill in defending the blue line until the veterans return.&ldquo;The coaching staff is looking for us to step up and take charge,&rdquo; said Zettler, who has been named an alternate captain in Wilson&rsquo;s absence. &ldquo;It gives us a chance to show what we can do.&rdquo;The youngsters played well in their first three games. The Sharks went 1-1-1, allowing only eight goals.&ldquo;There comes a point where you can&rsquo;t blame everything on inexperience,&rdquo; Williams said.MR. CLUTCH: Rookie right winger Pat Falloon is developing a flair for the dramatic.In a 3-3 tie with Montreal Feb. 28, Falloon scored the game-tying goal by beating Canadiens&rsquo; goalie Andre Racicot with 0.5 seconds left in the third period.It marked the third time this season that Falloon has won or tied a game in the last 15 seconds of play.Falloon nearly did it again in a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers March 1 but Flyers&rsquo; goalie Ron Hextall stopped his last-second blast.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want it to come down to that every time, that&rsquo;s for sure,&rdquo; said Falloon, whose goal against Montreal made him the first player in team history to reach the 40-point plateau.NOTEBOOK: Left winger J.F. Quintin scored his first goal of the season in a 7-4 win over the Quebec Nordiques Feb. 26&hellip;. The Sharks&rsquo; 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers March 1 marked the eighth time in 64 games they had been shut out this season. It was the third time goalie Jeff Hackett was beaten by a score of 1-0.<h2>SAN JOSE</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 20: Tom Pederson, D, signed contract; assigned to Kansas City (IHL) Feb. 24: Claudio Scremin, D, recalled from Kansas City.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kelly Kisio, Dale Craigwell, Mike Sullivan, Dean Evason, Perry Berezan.LW&mdash;Brian Lawton, David Bruce, J.F. Quintin, Steve Bozek.RW&mdash;Brian Mullen, Pat Falloon, Perry Anderson, Jeff Odgers, Wayne Presley.LD&mdash;Rob Zettler, Link Gaetz, Claudio Scremin.RD&mdash;David Williams, Jayson More, Bob McGill.G&mdash;Jeff Hackett, Jarmo Myliys.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Paul Fenton, LW, forehead laceration, day-to-day. Ken Hammond, D, broken right hand, March 31 Brian Hayward, G, herniated disc in back, out for season. Neil Wilkinson, D, strained back, day-today. Doug Wilson, D, tom ligament in right knee, March 31. &#9632;

Injuries deflate defense

<div class="byline">By Rick Sadowski</div>Tomas Sandstrom doesn&rsquo;t believe in turning the other cheek, but he doesn&rsquo;t mind turning the other shoulder-preferably driving it into an opponent&rsquo;s midsection.The Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; right winger was his usual feisty self upon returning to the lineup Feb. 23 after missing 26 games with a partially dislocated right shoulder.Sandstrom sustained the injury Dec. 28 in Edmonton after being checked by Luke Richardson.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting better and better,&rdquo; Sandstrom said. &ldquo;They kept me out of the lineup long enough that I&rsquo;m as close to being 100 per cent as I can get.&rdquo;Sandstrom made an immediate impact on the struggling Kings. He scored three goals&mdash;including the game-winner Feb. 29 in a 5-3 decision over Montreal&mdash;and one assist in four games, all King wins. The Kings were 10-10-6 without him.Sandstrom even picked up a save in the Kings&rsquo; 4-3 victory Feb. 25 in Vancouver, when he stood in the crease and used his right skate to deflect a Pavel Bure shot with the score tied and goaltender Kelly Hrudey down and out.&ldquo;If he wants the position, he can have it,&rdquo; Hrudey said. &ldquo;If he wants to switch contracts, that&rsquo;s fine, too.&rdquo;Sandstrom makes $750,000 while Hrudey pulls in $575,000.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a big part of our team,&rdquo; Bhrudey said. &ldquo;To have him out for two months really hurt us.&rdquo;Sandstrom&rsquo;s return helped bolster two lines. Tony Granato moved from left wing on Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s line to center with Sandstrom and Luc Robitaille.Bob Kudelski was switched from right wing on the second line to the left side with Gretzky and Jari Kurri.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just happy to be back,&rdquo; Sandstrom said. &ldquo;Two months is a long time to be out.&rdquo;GRETZKY&rsquo;S HOT: Captain Wayne Gretzky missed one game with a sprained right knee, then returned to register a goal and three assists Feb. 29 in the win over Montreal.&ldquo;Not bad, just a little tender,&rdquo; Gretzky said of the knee. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not bothering me too much. It seems to be OK.&rdquo;Gretzky was injured Feb. 25 in a win over the Vancouver Canucks. He was sandwiched between Dana Murzyn and Gino Odjick.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Paul Coffey returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower back strain. He picked up an assist Feb. 27 against Quebec and another Feb. 29 against Montreal but left the Canadiens game in the second period with what the Kings called mild back spasms. He was not expected to miss any more games&hellip; Luc Robitaille had 23 power-play goals through March 1, tying the club record set by both Marcel Dionne and Charlie Simmer in 1980-81.The Kings used a 9-4-2 month of February to secure a two-point lead over Edmonton in the race for second place in the Smythe Division. They were four games above .500 (28-24-13) for the first time since Nov. 26 (11-7-6).<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 25: Danyl Williams, LW, assigned to Phoenix (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Corey Millen, John Bjugstad.LW&mdash;Bob Kudelski, Tony Granato, McIntyre, Scott Luc Robitaille.Mike Donnelly, Jay Miller, Jim Thomson.RW&mdash;Jari Kurri, Tomas Sandstrom, Kyosti Karjalainen, Dave Taylor.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Peter Ahola, Brent Thompson, Larry Robinson.RD&mdash;Chariie Huddy, Rob Blake, Marty McSorley, Tim Watters.G&mdash;Keliy Hrudey, Steve Weeks.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None &#9632;

Sandstrom’s return produces regal results

<div class="byline">By George Johnson</div>Even the most case-hardened examiner in a pathology lab couldn&rsquo;t help but wince at such a mutilation.When the Calgary Flames lost 11-0 to Vancouver March 1 it marked the ugliest beating in franchise history, administered by a hungry team the Flames used to take for granted.As someone murmured in the dressing room afterwards: &ldquo;Even Bob Johnson couldn&rsquo;t have found anything positive in this one.&rdquo;For the Flames it was the lowest part of a bleak season. But the unprecedented walloping raised some touchy questions: How long will the Flame ownership allow the slide to go before it steps in? Is Doug Risebrough going to be relieved as his duties as coach to concentrate on the general manager&rsquo;s portfolio? Does he have at least until the end of the season to clean up the mess, or is time running out?Team president Bill Hay issued the perfunctory &ldquo;No comment&rdquo; on the issues.But it will be an embarrassment not soon forgotten in Calgary. &ldquo;Pathetic,&rdquo; muttered Mike Vernon, who lasted for three goals.The Flames surrendered six power play goals. Vernon allowed two bad ones and was replaced by Jeff Reese. During one ugly run, Reese gave up five goals on five shots.When asked if he felt such a drubbing caused him to question his coaching abilities, Risebrough replied: &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t play goal.&rdquo;For a team that is fighting for its playoff life, the performance was inexcusable.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t expect the guys from Salt Lake to make the difference,&rdquo; Rise-brough said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t expect the guys from the Olympic team to make the difference. We need to get more out of our better players right now.&rdquo;LINDBERG DEBUTS: Three days after arriving from the Olympics in Meribel, France, Chris Lindberg made his debut against the Philadelphia Flyers Feb. 27.He was nervous being in the same dressing room as Al Maclnnis and the other Flames but the left winger didn&rsquo;t appear jittery on the ice.He was Calgary&rsquo;s top man through a dreary 3-0 loss.NOTEBOOK: Goalie Trevora Kidd joined the club along with&rsquo; Lindberg. He&rsquo;ll get a chance but Doug Risebrough isn&rsquo;t showing a lack of faith in Mike Vernon, one of only a few players to put in commendable seasons.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: Trevor Kidd, G, Chris Lindberg, LW, and Kevin Dahl, D, added to roster from Canadian Olympic team Feb. 27: Martin Simard, LW, assigned to Salt Lake (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Robert Reichel, Joel Otto, Carey Wilson.LW&mdash;Paul Ranheim, Gary Roberts, Paul Kruse, Craig Berube, Chris Lindberg.RW&mdash;Sergei Makarov, Marc Habscheid, Ron Stem.LD&mdash;Gary Suter, Trent Yawney, Frank Musil, Kevin Dahl.RD&mdash;AI Maclnnis, Michel Petit, Mark Osiecki, Neil Sheehy.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Jeff Reese, Trevor Kidd.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tim Hunter, LW, dislocated left ankle, March 15. Jim Kyte, D, fractured right ankle, indefinite Gary Leeman, RW, sprained right ankle, day-to-day. Nevin Markwart, LW, twisted right knee, day-today. &#9632;

Worst defeat in team history raises all kinds of questions

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>Evgeny Davydov will eventually join the Winnipeg Jets. But when?After negotiating the release and transfer of the Russian-bom left winger Feb. 22, Jets&rsquo; general manager Mike Smith was being frustrated by Red Army red tape in trying to get his 1989 draft pick into a Winnipeg uniform.After numerous impasses. Smith made headway in his quest to obtain the forward, cutting the deal that was believed to involve a $ 100,000-transfer fee on the eve of the completion of the Winter Olympics. Davydov was a member of the gold-medalwinning Unified Team.But instead of getting on a plane in France for Winnipeg, the 24-year-old returned to Moscow and was incommunicado. Even his agent Mark Gandler couldn&rsquo;t reach him.Smith flew to Chicago Feb. 28 to meet with the new owner of the Red Army team, Nugzar Nachkebiya, who was there to negotiate the release of defenseman Igor Kravchuk.Smith came away from the meeting convinced Nachkebiya would honor the agreement.The misunderstanding appears to surround coach Viktor Tikhonov. Davydov was not a favorite of Tikhonov&rsquo;s but played well in recent months and was chosen to play at the Olympics, where he had three goals and 11 points in eight games. Now gearing up for the Russian Elite League playoffs and the World Championships, it&rsquo;s likely Tikhonov wants Davydov around a while longer.SNIPER STRUGGLES: Before missing 15 games with a dislocated left elbow and a sprained left ankle, right winger Ed Olczyk did many things well.But back in the lineup before he was expected, Olczyk didn&rsquo;t seem himself even though he had three goals in that six-game period.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m doing everything I can,&rdquo; Olczyk said. &ldquo;But in some of those games, I didn&rsquo;t have the puck much. That&rsquo;s because I wasn&rsquo;t skating, moving my legs and getting open. My bread and butter is getting open and I got reamed (for not doing it).&rdquo;Olczyk said he played the first two games of his return on adrenalin and was fighting to regain his timing.&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m being counted on for goals,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There are a lot of guys feeling pain. I just have to deal with it. I&rsquo;d like to take two weeks off but we don&rsquo;t have time for that.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Phil Housley strained an abdominal muscle Feb. 26 in Edmonton. He pulled the muscle skating and was expected back March 10&hellip;Pat Elynuik equalled his season&rsquo;s best point streak with four goals and four assists in five straight games.U.S. Olympian Keith Tkachuk, 19, joined the Jets Feb. 26 and made his debut two nights later. He had an assist in a 5-3 loss to Vancouver.<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 25: Rob Murray, C, assigned to Moncton (AHL). Feb. 26: Keith Tkachuk, LW, added to roster from U.S. Olympic team. Feb. 27: Kris Draper, C, recalled from Moncton, John LeBlanc, LW, assigned to Moncton, Moe Mantha, D, traded to Philadelphia for future considerations.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Thomas Steen, Troy Murray, Luciano Borsato, Aaron Broten, Kris DraperLW&mdash;Darrin Shannon, Doug Evans, Phil Sykes, Mark Osborne, Keith Tkachuk.RW&mdash;Ed Olczyk, Pat Elynulk, Paul MacDermid, Mike Hartman.LD&mdash;Shawn Cronin, Randy Carlyle, Igor Ulanov.RD&mdash;Teppo Numminen, Fredrik Olausson, Mario Marois.G&mdash;Bob Essensa, Stephane Beauregard, Rick Tabaracci.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike Eagles, C, broken left thumb. April 1. Bryan Erickson, RW, abdominal surgery, March 25 Phil Housley, D, abdominal strain, day-to-day. Dean Kennedy, D, left knee surgery, out for season. &#9632;

Davydov’s arrival delayed

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div>The Vancouver Canucks may be winners on the ice this season but they appear to have lost heavily in a Stockholm court room.Swedish arbitrator Dr. J. Gillis Wetter informed the Canucks Feb. 24 they lost the Vladimir Krutov transfer fee arbitration case. The Canucks, according to Dr. Wetter&rsquo;s ruling, will have to pay big bucks-approximately $800,000&mdash;to the Red Anny Sports Club, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation and Sovintersport, an agency that marketed athletes in the former Soviet Union.The claimants were seeking the final two years of transfer fee payments agreed upon in September 1989 when Canuck president Pat Quinn signed Krutov to a three-year contract. The deal called for Krutov to receive $375,000 each year and the Soviets to receive an equal amount.But the chubby left winger proved to be a bust and was released prior to the 1990-91 season. The Canucks claimed he was physically unfit and thus, had breached his contract. Krutov had 11 goals and 34 points in 61 games in 1989-90.The two parties could not agree on a settlement and finally faced off before Dr. Wetter during the NHL all-star break in January.The Canucks were confident of a victory and were stunned when Dr. Wetter ruled &ldquo;the claimants will succeed fully in this arbitration. The respondent (Canucks) will not be allowed reimbursement of its claimed costs but be ordered to pay all or some of claimant&rsquo;s costs.&rdquo;The final price tag was not immediately known but some estimates put the total at $1.3 million, which includes the transfer payments, court costs for both parties and the cost of the arbitrator.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re obviously elated,&rdquo; said Bill Faminoff, a Vancouver lawyer who represented the claimants.Canuck vice-chairman Arthur Griffiths was not pleased.&ldquo;This does not make sense,&rdquo; Griffiths said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m aware of the facts as well as anybody and this does not make sense.&rdquo;The Canucks may be on the hook for even more money, however. Krutov is attempting to recover the two years of salary he feels he is owed for wrongful dismissal. That case is currently in the hands of NHL president John Ziegler.WHAT A ROUT: The Canucks set a team record for the largest margin of victory when they trounced the Calgary Flames 11-0 at Pacific Coliseum March 1.The Canucks scored three times in the first, four in the second and four in the third and went 6-for-10 on the power play to set a team record.NOTEBOOK: Pavel Bure, dubbed the Russian Rocket in Vancouver, is making a late bid for the Calder Trophy as the NHL&rsquo;s top rookie. Bure netted his third gamewinning goal in eight days Feb. 28 when he scored on a penalty shot against Winnipeg to break a 3-3 tie. Bure reached the 20-goal plateau (in his 49th game) March 1.<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 28: Adrien Plavsic, D, added to roster from Canadian Olympic team.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Cliff Ronning. Igor Larionov, Tom Fergus. Petr Nedved.LW&mdash;Greg Adams, Garry Valk, Sergio Momesso, Ryan Walter.RW&mdash;Trevor Linden, Jim Sandlak, Pavel Bure, Jim AgnewLD&mdash;Robert Dirk, Dave Babych, Dana Murzyn, Randy Gregg.RD&mdash;Gerald Diduck, Jyrki Lumme, Adrien Plavsic.G&mdash;Kirk McLean, Troy Gamble.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Geoff Courtnall, LW, lacerated right foot, day-to-day. Robert Kron, RW, fractured right ankle, March 15. Doug Lidster, D, partial left shoulder separation. March 10 Gino Odjick, LW, sore right knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

Krutov’s court victory shocks management

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div>Until the New Jersey Devils win the Stanley Cup and become an established Wales Conference power, Lou Lamoriello won&rsquo;t be considered one of the game&rsquo;s great general managers.But there is no denying the 49-year-old native of Providence, R.L, has already begun to leave his stamp on the game by doing things his way. Somewhat of a maverick, Lamoriello has strayed from the beaten GMs&rsquo; path with such acts as taking legal action to protect a coach and being a pioneer in getting star players out of the former Soviet Union.Lamoriello season with presentation that convinced NHL arbitrator Judge Edward Houston to award Scott Stevens to the Devils for compensation in the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; signing of Brendan Shanahan, and on Jan. 10 he put the game&rsquo;s first female broadcaster in the booth when he hired Sherry Ross to do radio color commentary.Now he is pushing fellow GMs to adopt a plan in which NHL teams would play two regularseason home games in alternate cities while seeking network television deals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m from the school of, &lsquo;Let&rsquo;s Go Forward&rsquo;. I&rsquo;d like to see us get into a creative expansion.&rdquo; Lamoriello says. &ldquo;We should research and decide on eight non-NHL cities in the U.S. and Canada and play regular-season games there. You take two home games away from each of 24 teams (48 games). That&rsquo;s a six-game package in each of eight cities.&ldquo;You put the teams in cities strategically to draw. The Devils could play in Houston because they are televised there (Devils&rsquo; owner John McMullen also owns baseball&rsquo;s Houston Astros), the Kings maybe in Las Vegas and the Leafs in Hamilton. You sell out those buildings with a six-game package, get local TV coverage then go to the networks.&rdquo;Sure, there are flaws but give him credit for trying. Lamoriello, one of only four American-born NHL GMs, has long been an innovator.In 1983, while athletic director at Providence College, Lamoriello was the driving force behind forming a new league-Hockey East. Unhappy with the Ivy League atmosphere of the Eastern College Athletic Association, Lamoriello proposed a new league that would feature more games and stiffer competition. Hockey East now is a thriving eight-team league.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011588/6709814-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="948" height="1763"><figcaption class="caption-body">Devil inside: Lou Lamoriello is known to be tough on those who &lsquo;cross&rsquo; him. (Photo by Bruce Bennet/BBS)</figcaption></div>&ldquo;We started the league and I became commissioner,&rdquo; Lamoriello recalls. &ldquo;All the coaches gave me carte blanche to run the league.&rdquo;Just as McMullen gave Lamoriello to rebuild one of the NHL&rsquo;s perennial doormats. He became the Devils&rsquo; pres-ident in April, 1987 and was named GM prior to the 1987-88 season.The Devils went to the playoffs for the first time in their history that year. That&rsquo;s when Lamoriello became a pariah among league officials for obtaining a court order to temporarily prevent the NHL from suspending coach Jim Schoenfeld after Schoenfeld had an altercation with referee Don Koharski.&ldquo;I hate to resurrect this but I felt the Devils were as important as any team in the league,&rdquo; Lamoriello says. &ldquo;I would&rsquo;ve gone to any extreme.&rdquo;He went to even further extremes in the Shanahan case. Few people know exactly what happened at the hearing but the Lamoriello-led team from New Jersey presented a flawless case in an effort to get Stevens.&ldquo;He has everything you need,&rdquo; McMullen says. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a good organizer, he&rsquo;s a hard worker. he&rsquo;s intelligent, intuitive and he&rsquo;s afraid to do things.&rdquo;In doing things his way, Lamoriello has made his share of enemies. One player agent described him as &ldquo;a little weasel,&rdquo; and others who have dealt with him have few kind words. Pat Verbeek and Kirk Muller, two of the most popular Devils, were traded after protracted contract hassles. Some have accused him of intentionally punishing Bob Brooke with a 1990 trade to Winnipeg and trying to ruin Sean Burke&rsquo;s career by refusing to deal the unhappy goalie.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t get any cooperation, commitment or candor from Lou Lamoriello,&rdquo; says Burke&rsquo;s agent Herb Pinder, who calls Lamoriello a &lsquo;rah-rah college recruiter&rsquo;. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no point in talking to him.&rdquo;&ldquo;My contract problems were something I don&rsquo;t think sat too well with Lou,&rdquo; Verbeek says. &ldquo;Consequently, things happened because of it. I don&rsquo;t know if he regrets trading me but I&rsquo;d like to make him keep paying for the rest of my career.&rdquo;Lamoriello makes no excuses or apologies for his decisions, though he does deny accusations he hasn&rsquo;t tried to deal Burke.And, ironically, it may just be his ability to trade Burke for a quality player-one who could possibly help bring New Jersey a Stanley Cup that raises Lamoriello into that next echelon of great general managers. &#9632;

f0012-01

The Bold One

<div class="byline">By Al Morganti</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021282/6709845-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="368" height="472"></div>I don&rsquo;t know what the game plans are in either camp but I have one piece of advice for both the NHL Players&rsquo; Association and the club owners: take some time to talk to the fans.Take some time to see if the fans will be so willing to &ldquo;come back&rdquo; from a possible strike or lockout. Take some time to think beyond players versus owners and consider the effect a strike or lockout would have on the people who are the most important part of the upcoming negotiations between owners and players March 9.Take some time to think about the fans&rsquo; perspective on this matter&mdash;and then maybe each side will be willing to make some concessions.Although both Major League Baseball and the National Football League have survived strikes, those involved in the NHL talks shouldn&rsquo;t assume their league is strong enough to do likewise.Of all the major professional sports, hockey is the one most sensitive to the whims of the fan. Hockey has survived largely because of the affection held by its die-hard admirers.The NHL will find out absence does not make the heart grow fonder if it decides to pack things in. In fact, if the players or owners dare to tease the fans through an entire regular season, and then take away the playoffs, they may just drive the desperate fans to baseball stadiums.Hey, the biggest difference between hockey players and those other athletes has been the impression the guys in skates are the last breed of athlete who really do play with a lust for the game, and if they could walk away from playoffs, why not just watch the spoiled-brat baseball players?That&rsquo;s all. Pick up baseball a little early, and forget about hockey until next season.Worse than that&hellip;how about forget about hockey altogether?Unlike baseball, football and basketball, the NHL does not have the vehicle of a major television contract which would allow it to struggle through a strike or lockout and assume the fans would return.If you think back, you will recall when baseball and football players struck, there was a lot of tongue wagging by fans who proclaimed: &ldquo;Never again.&rdquo;The fans said they were sick of spoiled, overpaid athletes. They swore off the sport &ldquo;forever,&rdquo; only to return when the next pitch was thrown, or when the next football was teed up.The reason for their return was probably not so much loyalty as it was the fans cannot get away from baseball and football.Even if you wanted to ignore those sports, it would be virtually impossible.Turn on the TV any weekend, and football comes across the screen. If not the NFL, then it is the NCAA, with future NFL stars.As for baseball, that&rsquo;s on the tube every night of the week. From April through October, it&rsquo;s baseball, baseball, baseball.Sure, Canadians aren&rsquo;t as deluged with baseball as Americans. However, if you want some idea about how baseball can take over a city, just take a look at Toronto. There have been times I have arrived in Toronto during a hockey season, and there is more baseball in the local media than in New York where both the Mets and Yankees play their games.Let&rsquo;s face it. In most of the NHL cities hockey is the fourth sport and if the NHL is forced into a strike or a lockout it will be just that much easier to ignore hockey.In fact, you could probably put eight out of 10 sports editors in the United States on a lie detector and discover that they are rooting for a strike or lockout, just so they don&rsquo;t have to waste so much space on hockey.If the NHLPA calls a strike or if the owners call a lockout they had better be aware they are risking a crack in the foundation of the NHL known as the fans.These are people who have already been asked to suffer through situations which fans of other sports have not: they have to search and search for a game on television; they have to pay for a premium cable channel to watch the home team; and in some cases they even have to shell out pay-per-view money to watch the playoffs.Through all of this, they have stayed with the game, filling NHL arenas to about 90 per cent capacity over the past decade.Basically, they have had to work to follow the game, work at being fans, and if the NHL calls a work stoppage, it may find the fans also calling for a work stoppage.And unlike the scenarios in baseball and football, it will not be a bluff. &#9632;

f0012-02

Can NHL survive a strike or lockout?

<div class="byline">By Mark Herrmann</div>When defenseman Scott Lachance and center Marty McInnis signed contracts and joined the New York Islanders in late February, they took a familiar route. The Islanders are still happily accepting Olympic graduates.Lachance, chosen fourth overall in last June&rsquo;s entry draft, and McInnis, who was a pleasant surprise in Meribel, were added to the roster from the U.S. Olympic team.The routine has worked well for the Islanders. In 1980, defenseman Ken Morrow followed a gold-medal performance with Team USA by helping the Islanders win the first of their four Stanley Cups.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s an honor for me to follow in the footsteps of Ken Morrow,&rdquo; Lachance said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t have the opportunity to win a medal but I still see this as an honor.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s the way Pat LaFontaine and Patrick Flatley felt in 1984 and how Jeff Norton felt in 1988.Lachance, played one season at Boston University and helped the U.S. to a bronze medal in the 1992 World Junior Championships. He is a two-way defenseman who can contribute right away. He signed a four-year deal worth more than $1 million.McInnis, 21, played three seasons at Boston College and was an eighth-round draft pick in 1988. The 6-foot, 185-pounder led Team USA in scoring in Meribel with five goals and seven points in eight games.BOSSY RETURNS: Mike Bossy returned to Nassau Coliseum March 3 to have his No. 22 jersey retired.Bossy played in a Hockey Legends game two days before the ceremony. He has played only two previous games since retiring in 1988 but said former teammate Bob Nystrom-a Legend&rsquo;s organizer-was very persuasive.Once he started working out for the game. Bossy underwent different treatment on his chronic bad back from a new doctor. He said he was pain free for several days.NOTEBOOK: Steve Thomas bounced out of a long slump-three goals in 24 games&mdash;by collecting six in six games. He attributed the burst to more off-ice exercise and the opportunity to skate on the power play with Pierre Turgeon.<h2>N.Y. ISLES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: Joe Reekie, D, assigned to Capital District (AHL) for conditioning. Feb. 27: Scott Lachance, D, signed four-year contract. Feb. 28: Dean Chynoweth, D, assigned to Capital District. Feb. 29: Marty McInnis, C, signed four-year contract. Reekie recalled from Capital District.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon, Ray Ferraro, Hubie McDonough, Dave McLIwain, Marty McInnis.LW&mdash;Derek King, Steve Thomas, Bill Berg, Adam Creighton.RW&mdash;David Volek, Benoit Hogue, Tom Fitzgerald, Rob DiMaio.LD&mdash;Oennis Vaske, Gary Nylund. Ken Baumgartner, Scott Lachance.RD&mdash;Uwe Krupp, Tom Kurvers, Rich Pilon, Jeff Finley.G&mdash;Mark Fitzpatrick, Glenn Healy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Brad Dalgamo, RW, broken left wrist, March 15. Patrick Flatley RW, broken right thumb, indefinite. Rick Green, D, fractured right foot, day-to-day. Wayne McBean, D, tom left knee ligaments, out for season Jeff Norton, D, tom left wrist ligament, out for season. Joe Reekie. D, fractured left knuckle, indefinite. Mick Vukota, RW, bruised left hand, day-to-day &#9632;

Olympic pipeline busy again as Lachance, McInnis sign

<div class="byline">By Frank Brown</div>It&rsquo;s easier to have fun when you&rsquo;re winning, and since this is the winningest New York Rangers&rsquo; season since 1983-84, it follows this also seems to have been the most fun.The latest in a string of goofy Ranger events is the nightly chase for &ldquo;The Sluggo Award.&rdquo;Some Ranger took an old trophy and tied a toy sand shark to one of the cup&rsquo;s handles. To become an official sluggo, you must be a forward and you must not have scored a goal in a very long time. To gain temporary possession of The Sluggo, you must score a goal before any of the other sluggos does in that particular game.The funny thing is, nobody has been able to keep The Sluggo very long, because there has been a rash of Sluggo scoring lately.The four original sluggos were Paul Broten, Kris King, Randy Gilhen and Doug Weight. Weight qualified by not scoring in 28 games. King, who skates with Broten and Darren Turcotte, had not scored in 14. Gilhen gained entry with a 16-game slide, and the committee wasconsidering application from Joe Kocur(14 games).Almost as soon as The Sluggo was thrown up for grabs, though, miracles began to occur. Weight broke his streak against Chicago Feb. 25. King scored later in that game to end his drought. In their next contest, the Rangers played Hartford March 1 and Broten notched the first three-goal game of his NHL career&hellip;and had his photo taken with The Sluggo.Later in that game, Gilhen scored.&ldquo;Everybody wants into The Sluggo Award,&rdquo; said center Darren Turcotte, a non-Sluggo. &ldquo;It seems to be working magic for everybody.&rdquo;NEILSON RATING: Roger Neilson won the big deal of the day after the Rangers crushed Hartford 9-4 for his 300th win as an NHL coach.Assistant coaches Wayne Cashman and Colin Campbell presented Neilson with 300 doughnuts (a staple of Neilson&rsquo;s diet), 300 dog biscuits (a diet staple of Neilson&rsquo;s dog, Mike), $300 worth of T-shirts (a staple of Neilson&rsquo;s wardrobe), and $300 worth of cheap ties (because Neilson won&rsquo;t spend more than $5 on neckwear).&ldquo;Mike will certainly like the dog biscuits,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough to pick (which is better) between the ties and the doughnuts.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The hat trick by Paul Broten in the romp over Hartford was the first by a right-shooting Ranger since Guy Lafleur got three against Glenn Healy, then of Los Angeles, Feb. 27, 1989&hellip;The previous six Ranger hat tricks had been by left-handed shots, including two by Mark Messier and one by Adam Graves, all this season. The three Ranger hat tricks before that were by Darren Turcotte.John Vanbiesbrouck was sidelined by back spasms after starting 12 straight during the month-long absence of Mike Richter to a tom groin muscle.The victory over the Whalers gave the Rangers a 9-0-2 home unbeaten streak, their longest run since an 8-0-3 from Nov. 7 to Dec. 12, 1973.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 25: Rob Zamuner, LW, and Boris Rousson, G, assigned to Binghamton (AHL). March 1: Mark Laforest, G, recalled from Binghamton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier, Darren Turcotte, Sergei Nemchinov, Doug Weight, Randy Gilhen.LW&mdash;Adam Graves, Kris King, Joe Kocur, Jan Erixon, John Ogrodnlck.RW&mdash;Mike Gartner, Tony Amonte, Paul Broten, Tim Kerr, Tie Domi.LD&mdash;Brian Leetch, Mark Hardy, Per Djoos.RD&mdash;James Patrick, Jeff Beukeboom, Joe Cirella, Randy Moller.G&mdash;Mike Richter, Mark Laforest.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Normand Rochefort, D, Infected right elbow, day-to-day. John Vanbiesbrouck, G, lower back spasms, day-to-day. &#9632;

‘Sluggo’ new hot ticket

<div class="byline">By Dave Sell</div>The Capitals made more waves in Baltimore than Washington, adding two players and subtracting a coach.Two members of the Canadian Olympic team were assigned to the American League Baltimore Skipjacks. Defensemen and Canadian captain Brad Schlegel signed Feb. 28 and made his debut with the Skipjacks the next afternoon.Defenseman Jason Woolley was close enough to an agreement that he worked out with the Skipjacks March 1 and then hunted for an apartment.The pair may help the Caps in the long run, but they&rsquo;re joining a team in the midst of crisis. The Skipjacks slipped to the bottom of the Southern Division. General manager David Poile fired coach Rob Laird Feb. 24 and replaced him with Barry Trotz.&ldquo;The club was playing poorly and had two wins in 17 games,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;There was no sign the team was going to get out of it. It was that, coupled with the business side. Fans and media seemed to lose confidence. Attendance was suffering and we have a lot of home games left.&rdquo;The same day as the coaching change, Poile traded left winger Brent Hughes and a 12th-round draft pick this year to Boston for center John Byce and defenseman Dennis Smith.Poile also told defenseman Mark Ferner and left winger Craig Duncanson to stay home while he worked out a trade. A day later, Duncanson was loaned to Winnipeg&rsquo;s AHL affiliate in Moncton. Three days later, Ferner was traded to Toronto for a 12th-round pick this year.&ldquo;I wanted to make changes with the three guys,&rdquo; Poile said. &ldquo;They were veteran players and we felt they did not fit into our plans.&rdquo;TOUGH RETURN: The weekend of Feb. 29 to March 1 held such promise for Randy Burridge.Burridge returned to Boston for the first time since he was traded from the Bruins in June. He entered the game as the Capitals&rsquo; leading scorer and scored a goal to give the Capitals a 5-2 lead after two periods Feb. 29. But the Capitals blew the lead and the Bruins salvaged a 5-5 tie.The Capitals then lost 4-I at home March 1. Burridge was checked into the boards by ex-teammate Andy Brickley and sustained a minor strain of his left knee.NOTEBOOK: Jim Hrivnak was in goal for the Capitals&rsquo; Feb. 27 game in St. Louis and faced 54 shots in a 73 loss. The Capitals had not allowed that many shots since a 3-3 game with the New York Rangers Jan. 4, 1989&hellip;Dino Ciccarelli had just one goal in his previous 13 games through March 1.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 24: Baltimore coach Rob Laird fired and replaced by assistant Barry Trotz. Feb. 28: Brad Schlegel, D, signed contract and assigned to Baltimore (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Michal Pivonka, Mike Ridley, Dale Hunter, Todd Krygier.LW&mdash;John Druce, Randy Burridge, Dimitri Khristich, Nick Kypreos, Dave Tippett.RW&mdash;Peter Bondra, Kelly Miller, Dino Ciccarelli, Alan May, Tim Bergland.LD&mdash;Calle Johansson, Rod Langway, Mike Lalor.RD&mdash;Kevin Hatcher, Al lafrate, Sytvain Cote.G&mdash;Don Beaupre, Jim Hrivnak.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Randy Burridge, LW, strained left knee, day-to-day. Shawn Chambers, D, left knee swelling, indefinite. Mike Llut, G, back spasms, indefinite. &#9632;

Olympic defense tandem added as Skipjack farm aid

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div>An old-fashioned goalie competition may have been just what the new-look Philadelphia Flyers needed to get back into the playoff race.Rookie Dominic Roussel registered one shutout and veteran Ron Hextall pitched in with another as the Flyers won two of three on the road and pulled to within five points of fourth-place Pittsburgh March 1.The 22-year-old Roussel, who took over the No. 2 spot after Ken Wregget was traded to the Penguins, blanked Calgary 3-0 at the Saddledome Feb. 27. Two nights earlier, he came within a mishandled puck of shutting out the New York Islanders before settling for a 4-I win.Hextall responded with a strong, 30-save performance in a 1-0 win at San Jose March 1. It was his third shutout of the season.Roussel&rsquo;s surprising play couldn&rsquo;t have come at a better time for the Flyers, who continued to have trouble scoring goals.And while neither goalie wants to admit there&rsquo;s a rivalry for playing time, it&rsquo;s obvious Hextall is up for the challenge and thrives under such pressure.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never change, I&rsquo;ll always want to play every game,&rdquo; Hextall said. &ldquo;But Dom is razor-sharp right now and he deserves to play, too.&rdquo;Kevin Dineen said the play of Roussel and Hextall has given the Flyers confidence.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been getting great goaltending. It&rsquo;s the strongest part of our game right now.&rdquo;The wins at Calgary and San Jose were the team&rsquo;s second and third on the road since Dec. 21.RECCHI ROLLING: Mark Recchi registered seven points (three goals, four assists) in his first three Flyer games, including a three-point night against the Islanders Feb. 25.He scored a highlight-film goal in the first period, then set up goals by Kerry Huffman and Mike Ricci.&ldquo;The guy with the (number) eight on his back is doing it all,&rdquo; Flyers&rsquo; coach Bill Dineen said. &ldquo;The first goal, not too many guys can score a goal like that.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Flyers obtained defenseman Moe Mantha from Winnipeg for future considerations Feb. 26. Mantha, who played on the U.S. Olympic hockey team, is on his second tour of duty with the Flyers. He played for them in 1988-89&hellip;A 4-1 win over the Islanders extended the Flyers&rsquo; Spectrum unbeaten streak to 15 games (12-0-3) over their division rivals. New York has not won in Philadelphia since Nov. 21, 1987.The Flyers probably won&rsquo;t name a successor to ex-captain Rick Tocchet-traded to Pittsburgh Feb. 19&mdash;this season. Bill Dineen will go with a three-alternate system of Terry Carkner, Kevin Dineen and a veteran such as Mark Howe or Keith ActonBrad Jones&rsquo; ankle injury is worse than initially diagnosed. Jones, who suffered a chip fracture to his right ankle Jan. 28, was originally expected to miss about a month. But ligament damage around the joint may cause Jones to miss the rest of the season.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: Moe Mantha, D, acquired from Winnipeg for future considerations. Feb. 28: Corey Foster, D, assigned to Hershey (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour, Mike Ricci, Keith Acton, Mark Freer.LW&mdash;Andrei Lomakin, Mark Pederson, Claude Boivin, Dan Quinn.RW&mdash;Mark Recchi, Kevin Dineen, Al Conroy, Dale Kushner, Dave Brown.LD&mdash;Mark Howe, Terry Carkner, Kerry Huffman, Dan Kordic, Brian Benning.RD&mdash;Steve Duchesne, Garry Galley, Moe Mantha.G&mdash;Ron Hextall, Dominic Roussel<h3>INJURIES</h3>Pelle Eklund, LW, strained left knee, day-to-day. Brad Jones, RW, broken right ankle, indefinite Steve Kasper, C, right knee surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Net duo simply dynamic

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div>New Jersey Devils&rsquo; coach Tom McVie claimed it was a coincidence. His players are too proud to admit they rely so heavily on one player.Yet the Devils failed to win in five straight games after losing defenseman Scott Stevens with a strained right knee ligament Feb. 20 in Chicago. A 3-I triumph over the New York Islanders Feb. 29 finally ended their winless streak.&ldquo;Hey, if you&rsquo;re building a franchise and you can pick only one player, I&rsquo;d pick Scott Stevens,&rdquo; McVie said. &ldquo;But we have good defensemen. He&rsquo;s one of the best defensemen in the league, but if we had to depend on one player and one player only, we&rsquo;d be in a lot of trouble.&rdquo;The fact is, however, Stevens was a large factor in the Devils&rsquo; franchiserecord six-game winning streak Feb. 8 to 18. And when he suffered his knee injury during the first period of the game against the Blackhawks, it was a psychological blow.When the team flew to Winnipeg the morning after losing Stevens, the defenseman flew home to be examined by doctors. The Devils suffered a 6-4 loss Feb. 21 in Winnipeg followed by a 3-I loss Feb. 24 to Minnesota at the Meadowlands.&ldquo;Even when we had Scotty, we&rsquo;ve blown leads,&rdquo; Randy McKay said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve just got to stay composed and not panic. We have to keep playing aggressively and not make mistakes.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of playing team defense,&rdquo; added goalie Chris Terreri.Stevens was hoping to return before March 10.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s getting better. It&rsquo;s a lot better than it was, which is positive,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I had trouble walking before. Now it&rsquo;s a matter of stretching it out. It&rsquo;s really up to me when I come back. When you can do a squat without any pain, that&rsquo;s the biggest indicator. No surgery is needed. They&rsquo;re 100 per cent sure it&rsquo;s just a matter of time.&rdquo;UNKINDEST CUT: Few players could recall an injury as frightening as the one Dave Barr suffered in Winnipeg Feb. 21 when his right wrist was cut by the blade of Thomas Steen&rsquo;s skate.Barr suffered a severed artery, a severed tendon and a lacerated second tendon. He underwent microsurgery two days later and is expected to be lost for the season.&ldquo;I looked into Dave&rsquo;s eyes and I could tell it was serious,&rdquo; said goalie Craig Billington, the first player to reach Barr as he bled profusely. &ldquo;He yelled right off the bat. I glanced down to see and it was getting red real fast.&rdquo;&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t feel the cut at all at first,&rdquo; Ban said. &ldquo;I kind of knew something was wrong, but I didn&rsquo;t know why. Then my hand felt hot and I looked down and felt blood.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011361/6710003-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="570" height="1013"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scott Stevens expects to rejoin the Devils by March 10.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It scared me more than anything. Some guys said I grabbed it to try to stop the bleeding, but I don&rsquo;t remember if I did. The feeling was the same as a year ago when I broke my ankle. With these two injuries I just felt helpless.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Viacheslav Fetisov played eight games before a hairline fracture in his left foot was discovered in late February&hellip; Zdeno Ciger played his first game of the season Feb. 24 and scored two goals in four games after returning from a fractured hand&hellip;Former U.S. Olympian David Emma signed a multi-year contract with the Devils Feb. 26 and was assigned to Utica of the American League.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: David Emma, C. signed multi-year contract; assigned to Utica (AHL). Myles O&rsquo;Connor, D, assigned to Utica. Feb. 28: Alexander Semak, C, and O&rsquo;Connor recalled from Utica.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kevin Todd, Peter Stastny, Laurie Boschman, Alexander Semak, Jason Miller.LW&mdash;Valeri Zelepukin, Claude Vilgrain, Doug Brown, Zdeno Ciger, Troy Mallette.RW&mdash;Stephane Richer. Claude Lemieux. Randy McKay, Tom Chorske, Bill Guerin.LD&mdash;Bruce Driver, Tommy Albelin, Myles O&rsquo;Connor.RD&mdash;Alexel Kasatonov, Eric Weinrich, Ken Daneyko.G&mdash;Chris Terreri, Craig Billington.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Barr. C. right wrist surgery, indefinite. Pat Conacher, LW, hernia surgery, indefinite. Viacheslav Fetisov, D, fractured left foot, day-to-day. John MacLean, RW, strained right knee ligaments, Indefinite. Scott Stevens, D, strained right knee ligament, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0016-01

Knee injury to Stevens exposes glaring weaknesses in lineup

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0017-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011218/6710034-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Members of the Stratford Fram Flyers tournament champion team in Walkerton include: (front row, from left) Wayne Masson, Ken Chisholm, Sid Kemp (MVP), Paul Barton and Brian McGuinness; (back row) Craig Pestell, Dave Randerson, Steve Carter, Jim Uniac, Quincy Walker, Brad Walsh and Pat Simons.</figcaption></div>The Stratford Fram Flyers had only 12 players but that was enough to capture the championship at The Hockey News Classic Cup tournament in Walkerton Feb. 13 to 15.Wayne Masson scored two goals leading the Flyers to a 7-I triumph over Walkerton Pitt Produce Vegmen in the deciding game. Despite their depleted lineup, the Flyers dominated the tournament winning four games by a combined score of 28-4.Stratford beat Oakville Mother Truckers 72 and Toronto York Whalers 10-I in preliminary round games and the Toronto Wanderers 4-0 in a semifinal match.Quincy Walker, Paul Barton, Pat Simons, Dave Randerson and Ken Chisholm also scored for the Flyers in the championship game and MVP goalie Sid Kemp allowed just four goals in four games.The Kitchener Trojans edged Mother Truckers 3-2 in the consolation final. The Walkerton Leafs shaded the Brampton Raiders 5-4 in the recreation division final.The Classic Cup tournament is in its second year of operation and the Walkerton tournament was the eighth in a series of 16 across Ontario. Fourteen teams participated at the Walkerton Community Centre. Other teams came from St. Catharines, Mississauga, London and Newmarket. &#9632;

f0017-01

Flyers short on depth, long on talent

<div class="byline">By Jeff Jacobs</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0018-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011251/6710065-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Cullen says he is &ldquo;pretty embarrassed&rdquo; to be a part of the underachieving Hartford Whalers. (Photo by Michael Digiroiamo/BBS)</figcaption></div>After the Hartford Whalers had demoted a player for every goal allowed in a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues Feb. 25, the scene in the dressing room was as tense as it has been in years.Daniel Shank, one of the five assigned to Springfield of the American League, fired a roll of tape and refused to pack his equipment bag. Michel Picard, another of the demoted, let loose with a loud expletive and banged his sticks on the ground.While all this raged, John Cullen, the Million Dollar Center for this downtrodden franchise, sat head down at his stall. In full uniform, 20 minutes after the game, Cullen was sullen.&ldquo;This was very frustrating, very disappointing,&rdquo; said Cullen, tossing away the game sheet with barely a glance. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t understand the way we played. It&rsquo;s beyond me.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve got to start playing desperate, playing like some guys are going to take our jobs. And it starts with me. I&rsquo;m one of the leaders on this club.&rdquo;Many would say he&rsquo;s a leader on a club with precious little leadership. With 21 goals and 62 points in 56 games, Cullen leads the Whalers in goals, assists and points. He was the club&rsquo;s lone representative at the All-Star Game and could well be voted the team&rsquo;s MVP in a ballot by his teammates in late March.One could argue Cullen&rsquo;s biggest problem is he doesn&rsquo;t have the gifted wingers who can read and react properly to him as he had in Pittsburgh.But the truth is Cullen has enjoyed only one superb stretch-beginning in December and lasting about a month. He was named player of the month for January. But in recent weeks, Zarley Zalapski has been the team&rsquo;s best player. The fans sometimes ride Cullen for falling down too much.Compounding the problem is that after Jan. 2, the Whalers won only twice in 22 games (2-13-7), enduring a franchise record 14-game winless streak in the process. On the eve of a 4-0 victory over Quebec at the Civic Center Feb. 22, coach Jimmy Roberts had proclaimed the game against the Nordiques as the &ldquo;biggest game of the year.&rdquo; The Whalers briefly were spooked that the lowly Nordiques would catch them. That, in itself, demonstrated how far the Whalers have fallen.Owner Richard Gordon believes some of the blame can be attributed to a lack of leadership. Cullen, an assistant captain-defenseman Randy Ladouceur was voted captain by his teammates in November-is one of the players counted on to provide leadership. The four-year, $4-million contract he signed after a brief, early-season holdout and the subsequent proclamation by general manager Eddie Johnston that Cullen is the team&rsquo;s key player, added even more pressure.The downward spiral of the Whalers coincides with the trade of Ron Francis (the team&rsquo;s former captain), Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Cullen, Zalapski and Jeff Parker at last March&rsquo;s trading deadline.Although Cullen&rsquo;s and Zalapski&rsquo;s offensive numbers are superior to Francis&rsquo; and Samuelsson&rsquo;s, the Whalers have dropped from a .500 team to 20-39-12 after the deal. Chemistry has proven as important as natural ability.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not happy with what&rsquo;s going on this year,&rdquo; Cullen said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty embarrassed to be part of a team that has won only two games in 20.&ldquo;I knew the first period (against Quebec) was kind of dead. I said to myself, &lsquo;Work harder.&rsquo;&rdquo;Cullen scored a goal and made the difference in the modest victory over the Nordiques.But after two more losses the Whalers demoted Shank, Picard, Terry Yake, Mark Greig, and Jergus Baca and Roberts announced he was reuniting struggling Pat Verbeek with Cullen on a line with Randy Cunney-worth. The Whalers would stage a veteran lineup to prepare for their season&rsquo;s last gasp&mdash;the playoffs.Cullen came to Hartford from Pittsburgh in time for the playoffs last year and watched his former teammates win the Stanley Cup. He enjoys playing in Hartford but still regrets leaving Pittsburgh. He won-ders why the Penguins are dismantling a championship team.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t replace Paul Coffey and Mark Recchi. No way,&rdquo; Cullen said of the recent trade. &ldquo;I know how those guys are feeling right now. I&rsquo;ll tell you that.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-01

Sullen Cullen

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-02922/6710096-1-eng-US/f0018-022.jpg" title="f0018-02" width="373" height="470"></div>I don&rsquo;t really know Hartford Whalers&rsquo; owner Richard Gordon and I doubt if he knows me. I mean we met once, briefly, and it was a most cordial meeting, but it lasted about three minutes.This, however, does not deter me from feeling free to give him advice (writer&rsquo;s license you know). So here it is: stop knocking your players and the past. Talk only of the future. If you can&rsquo;t do that, keep your mouth shut.This may surprise you, but it pains me to do this. There isn&rsquo;t a writer on the planet who doesn&rsquo;t love a &ldquo;good quote&rdquo; owner and if Gordon is anything, he is a great quote. This is the man, when talking about Whalers&rsquo; leadership said, &ldquo;Ron Francis wasn&rsquo;t the greatest captain of all time, but he looks like General (Norman) Schwarzkopf right now.&rdquo;Or how about this one? After reading remarks attributed to Dean Evason, another former Whaler who said the current Whalers are more like an expansion team than his new team, the San Jose Sharks, Gordon said: &ldquo;Maybe Dean Evason is right. You&rsquo;ve got to have a core but you&rsquo;ve also got to have players available to trade to improve yourself and fill the needs. We ran out of players to trade.&rdquo;And just one more. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re lacking in leadership and chemistry right now. If Michel Picard and Mark Greig come up from Springfield, they need somebody to come up to them, put their arm around them and say, &lsquo;We&rsquo;re with you.&rsquo;&rdquo;Warm and insightful. I like it. I like them all actually. Without them I wouldn&rsquo;t have the makings of this column. If I didn&rsquo;t have this column I wouldn&rsquo;t get paid. If I didn&rsquo;t get paid I&rsquo;d lose my house and my kids would starve and we would become wards of the state and my state is already in deep financial dodo so it would probably collapse which would probably start a domino effect throughout the recession-ridden U.S. which would bring down the government and the country, causing the U.S. to lose its standing as a world power and be taken over by the Japanese, who would probably want to bash all of us uneducated and lazy masses who didn&rsquo;t starve to death or own Toyotas.So you see I&rsquo;m indebted to Gordon and all the other owners. But, I&rsquo;m willing to put all of that at risk because I think Gordon is hurting his team.Now it&rsquo;s true he doesn&rsquo;t have much of a team, but to say Francis looks like Schwarzkopf is a slap in the face to players such as John Cullen, Zarley Zalapski and Pat Verbeek. It&rsquo;s not easy playing for a team that nearly went oh-for-January and these are the players who have to keep it together. That&rsquo;s pretty tough to do when your team is bad. It&rsquo;s a heck of a lot tougher when your leadership group all came from different teams. The three (Cullen and Zalapski from Pittsburgh and Verbeek from New Jersey) haven&rsquo;t been Whalers long enough to remember former owner Howard Baldwin and they weren&rsquo;t exactly leaders where they were. They need time to grow.They also need support. Praising Francis is like kicking them when they&rsquo;re down. It doesn&rsquo;t help.And on bashing the old team, former general manager Emile Francis and all that. What&rsquo;s the point? Everyone knows what Emile Francis did. He tried the cut and paste method to try and keep the wheels from falling off. He did it partly because he wanted to win and partly because he was trying to keep a viable product on the ice in a smallmarket town that really doesn&rsquo;t care much about hockey.Okay, so Gordon was left with the mess but he had to know that going in and his hands aren&rsquo;t exactly clean, either. Former coach Rick Ley wasn&rsquo;t the reason for the Whalers failing to achieve last season but he was made the scapegoat. It may have pleased the fans but it let the players and the current GM, Ed Johnston, off the hook.But that&rsquo;s in the past and it should remain there. If you can&rsquo;t help, don&rsquo;t hurt. If Gordon trusts Johnston, he should be quiet and give him the time he needs to assemble new talent. Coach Jim Roberts needs time to build a program and gain the respect of his players. The players need time to grow in an atmosphere that is supportive and conducive to winning. You&rsquo;ve tried to physically build that with a new practice arena, a concrete display of support. You should also do it spiritually by lending some verbal support.If you can&rsquo;t do that, don&rsquo;t say anything at all. Your players are all you&rsquo;ve got. They are not the league&rsquo;s best but they deserve your support.And don&rsquo;t worry about me either. I can rework most of this column to fit the Buffalo Sabres, the Winnipeg Jets or the Quebec Nordiques and I haven&rsquo;t even met the owners of the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning or Ottawa Senators yet. I&rsquo;ll be okay until we meet again. &#9632;

f0018-02

Gordon must learn to keep a lid on it

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div>There&rsquo;s nothing like an old pro to help pull a team out of the dumps.Boston captain Ray Bourque helped the Bruins end a 2-6-2 slide and start a 2-0-1 streak. Boston overcame a 5-2 deficit to tie Washington 5-5 March 1. Bourque led that comeback with a goal and two assists, the third point giving him the 1,000th of his career.&ldquo;When I was 18, I never thought it would come to this,&rdquo; said Bourque, who joined Paul Coffey and Denis Potvin as the only NHL defensemen to reach the 1,000-point plateau. &ldquo;A thousand points and four Norris Trophies? Now I hope it doesn&rsquo;t stop here.&rdquo;Bourque, like most of his teammates, struggled during the five-game road trip in which the team went 0-4-1. Coming up with just two points in those games, however, gave him a chance to score his 1,000th at Boston Garden. The historic point, an assist on Bob Carpenter&rsquo;s game-tying goal with 1:38 left in regulation, made it all the more satisfying.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to do it in a loss or on the road,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The fans have been great to me. I&rsquo;ve been here 13 years and it&rsquo;s extra special.&rdquo;FROZEN OUT: Each passing day made it seem less likely that Joe Juneau, the top scorer on Canada&rsquo;s silver-medal Olympic team, would sign a contract with the Bruins.Juneau and his representative, Larry Kelly, rejected what the club called its best offer Feb. 26. Juneau re-stated his interest in playing professionally in Switzerland.&ldquo;What I&rsquo;m asking for is what I deserve,&rdquo; Juneau said. &ldquo;If nothing else happens, we have to go (to Switzerland).&rdquo;Juneau said he thought he might be part of a three-way trade that would bring Petr Klima from Edmonton to Boston, put Juneau in Quebec with several other Oilers, and give Edmonton the rights to Eric Lindros. Mike Milbury, Boston&rsquo;s assistant general manager, denied the deal is in the works.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Lyndon Byers celebrated his birthday Feb. 29 with his first goal of the 1991-92 season. Byers is 28, but being a Leap Year&rsquo;s Day baby has given him the chance to celebrate his true birthdate only seven times since he was born.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: Bob Beers, D, Petr Prajsler, D, and Dave Thomlinson, LW, assigned to Maine (AHL). Feb. 27: Glen Murray, RW, (Sudbury, OHL) signed contract. Feb. 28: Gord Hynes, D, signed contract. March 2: Lou Crawford, LW, assigned to Maine.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Vladlmir Ruzicka, Adam Oates, Dave Poulin, Barry Pederson.LW&mdash;Andy Brickley, Bob Carpenter, Dave Reid, Scott Amiel.RW&mdash;Steve Leach, Brent Ashton, Lyndon Byers, Peter Douris, Chris WinnesLD&mdash;Glen Wesley, Don Sweeney. Jim Wiemer, Gord Hynes.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque, Gord Murphy, Matt Hervey.G&mdash;Andy Moog, Daniel Berthiaume.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Glen Featherstone. D, back surgery, day-to-day. Jeff Lazaro, LW, right knee sprain, indefinite. Reggie Lemelin, G. left hamstring pull, indefinite. Cam Neely, RW, left knee surgery, indefinite. Bob Sweeney, RW, right knee surgery, Indefinite. Jim Vesey, C, right shoulder surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Bourque joins the 1,000 club

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div>The Buffalo Sabres have been searching for a No. 1 goalie and Tom Draper was making a strong bid to fill the role.Draper was the Sabres&rsquo; No. 3 man at the beginning of the season but he made his fourth straight start Feb. 29 against Pittsburgh. And although the Sabres lost 5-2, the 25-year-old Outremont, Que., native was solid throughout.He stopped breakaways from three of the Penguins&rsquo; best players-Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens and Joe Mullen.Draper put in another solid performance in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks the next night. He shut out the Hawks in their previous game and had extended his shutout streak against Chicago to 105 minutes and 16 seconds before Jeremy Roenick and Rob Brown scored power-play goals.Like the Sabres top two goalies, Clint Malarchuk and Daren Puppa, Draper had a sub- .500 record through March 2 (5-8-3).But the former Winnipeg Jet had the best goals-against average (3.41) and save percentage (.896) on the team.Draper makes no claim to being the team&rsquo;s No. 1 man. But coach John Muckier had used him exclusively of through early March and unless he plays himself out of the lineup, he has every right to think he&rsquo;s the No. 1 guy.&ldquo;I just love to play and I&rsquo;m having fun, that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s all about,&rdquo; Draper said. &ldquo;I guess I&rsquo;m playing a lot right now because the other guys aren&rsquo;t going that well. I don&rsquo;t know why that is but I&rsquo;m sure it will turn around.&rdquo;BODGER RETURNS: Defenseman Doug Bodger returned to the Sabres&rsquo; lineup for the Chicago game.It was his first game action since being hit in the face with a puck Feb. 11 at Hartford.Bodger had experienced severe bleeding behind his left eye and was asked to stay off his skates.The 25-year-old had nine goals and 37 points in 57 games.NOTEBOOK: The Sabres were talking about making a deal by the March 10 trading deadline. Winger Rob Ray and center Christian Ruuttu were being shopped around for a veteran defenseman&hellip;Dale Hawerchuk scored his 20th goal of the season in the loss to Pittsburgh&hellip;Colin Patterson re-injured his left knee and missed the games against Pittsburgh and Chicago.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 1: Darcy Loewen, LW, recalled from Rochester (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pat LaFontaine, Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Snuggerud, Christian Ruuttu.LW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk, Tony Tanti, Brad May, Rob Ray, Randy Wood. Darcy LoewenRW&mdash;Donald Audette, Alex Mogilny. Bob Corkum, Gord Donnelly, Rick Valve.LD&mdash;Mike Ramsey, Grant Ledyard, Ken Sutton.RD&mdash;Randy Hillier, Kevin Haller, Jay Wells, Bill Houlder.G&mdash;Daren Puppa, Clint Malarchuk. Tom Draper<h3>INJURIES</h3>Colin Patterson, LW, sprained left knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

Muckier looks to Draper to solve goaltending woes

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div>For one afternoon, Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; rookie Gilbert Dionne got to feel just what it&rsquo;s like to be in a goaltender&rsquo;s skates.And now the Canadiens&rsquo; newest offensive weapon has a greater appreciation for goalies. But you wouldn&rsquo;t know it by the way he was beating them in late February.Dionne, 21, the younger brother of former NHL great Marcel Dionne, donned backup goal-tender Andre Racicot&rsquo;s pads for an optional practice Feb. 24.&ldquo;Maybe I should have become a goaltender rather than a forward,&rdquo; he joked after practice. &ldquo;Maybe then they wouldn&rsquo;t keep comparing me to my brother.&rdquo;But the comparisons are inevitable, especially given Gilbert&rsquo;s recent goal scoring binge-14 goals in 25 games (including six in his previous three-after being recalled from the Canadiens&rsquo; American League farm team in Fredericton.Even Marcel is playing the comparison game. He told Le Journal de Montreal Gilbert reminds him of Charlie Simmer, his old Triple Crown linemate with the Los Angeles Kings. &ldquo;But (Gilbert)&rsquo;s got more finesse,&rdquo; his older brother said.Marcel has been watching the Canadiens&rsquo; games on his satellite dish from his home in Bedford Hills, N.Y.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-011042/6710175-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="717" height="869"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Keane looks to his rookie linemate Gilbert Dionne for flair around the net.</figcaption></div>He watched his younger brother score a natural hat trick against the Minnesota North Stars Feb. 27&mdash;including two goals in 24 seconds.&ldquo;I just wanted to show the coach I&rsquo;m capable of playing on the road,&rdquo; said Dionne, the team&rsquo;s fifth pick (81st overall) in the 1990 entry draft.Dionne followed that performance with a pair of goals in a 3-3 tie with San Jose Feb. 28.Hockey Night in Canada analyst Don Cherry jumped on the Dionne bandwagon, highlighting his goals against the Sharks on the Coach&rsquo;s Corner segment.One of Dionne&rsquo;s goals came on a nifty fore-hand-to-backhand move in front of the net. Another came on a deft re-direction of a centering pass on a 2-on-1.&ldquo;He has got some flair around the net,&rdquo; line-mate Mike Keane said. &ldquo;All you have to do is give him the puck. He plays with a lot confidence for a rookie.&rdquo;BEST DEFENSE: The Canadiens had a good chance of becoming the first team in 13 years to give up fewer than 200 goals in a season.After giving up a total of eight goals in two games to San Jose and Los Angeles, the Canadiens had allowed 164 goals in 67 games.That meant they would have to play air-tight defense, allowing 35 goals for an average of just 2.69 goals a game down the stretch to nip the 200-goal barrier. They had allowed an average of 2.45 after 67 games.&ldquo;It would be quite an accomplishment,&rdquo; said goaltender Patrick Roy, the leading contender for the Vezina Trophy.The last team to accomplish that was the 1977-78 Canadiens. They allowed 183 goals in 80 games.The record for the fewest goals allowed in an 80-game season-which was adopted in 1974-75-was 171, set by the 1976-77 Canadiens.NOTEBOOK: General manager Serge Savard was not expected to make any moves before the trading deadline. Savard is reluctant to give up any young talent.&hellip;Coach Pat Burns followed through on his promise to rest his regulars down the stretch. He scratched centers Denis Savard and Stephan Lebeau against the North Stars. Two nights later, he rested left winger Mike McPhee and right winger Brent Gilchrist in the tie with San Jose.<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 25: Paul DiPietro, C, assigned to Fredericton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Guy Carbonneau, Stephan Lebeau, Brian Skrudland, Denis Savard.LW&mdash;Mike McPhee, Shayne Corson, Gilbert Dionne, John LeClair, Sylvain Turgeon.RW&mdash;Russ Courtnall. Kirk Muller, Mike Keane, Brent Gilchrist, Chris Nilan. Todd Ewen.LD&mdash;dean&mdash;Jacques Daigneault, Mathieu Schneider, Sylvain Lefebvre. Donald Dufresne.RD&mdash;Eric Desjardins, Patrice Brisebois, Lyle Odeleln.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Andre Racicot.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Benoit Brunet, LW, broken right ankle, indefinite. Mario Roberge, LW, strained left thigh, indefinite. Petr Svoboda, D, sprained right ankle, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0020-01

Dionne draws rave reviews for scoring prowess

<div class="byline">By Kevin Johnston</div>The transactions may have been buried in most sports sections across North America but the additions of John Tonelli and Gino Cavallini to the Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; roster addressed a serious team deficiency.&ldquo;We simply had to add experience and a winlung attitude,&rdquo; coach-general manager Pierre Page said. &ldquo;John has won everything there is to win and Gino has always been known as a tireless worker.&rdquo;Tonelli, 34, is a 14-year NHL veteran who played on four Stanley Cup winners with the New York Islanders. He had been seeing little ice time with Chicago when the Nordiques acquired him for Jeff Jackson Feb. 18. He had two assists in his first five Nordique games after posting 1-7-8 totals in 33 games with the Hawks.&ldquo;I simply wasn&rsquo;t going anywhere with the Hawks,&rdquo; Tonelli said. &ldquo;I really appreciate the chance the Nordiques are giving me. I know I still have some hockey left in me. I&rsquo;m coming to Quebec to keep my career going. This isn&rsquo;t my Vast season in pro hockey.&rdquo;Cavallini, 29 and an eight-year veteran, was picked up on waivers from St. Louis Feb. 27. He was just as excited about coming to the Nordiques and getting the opportunity to play as Tonelli.&ldquo;I was waiting in the Blues&rsquo; offices as the minutes ticked by,&rdquo; said Cavallini who had to be claimed within 48 hours or he would have beensent to the Blues&rsquo; International League farm team in Peoria. &ldquo;There were only a few minutes left when the computer showed that Quebec had picked me up. What a relief.&rdquo;Cavallini, who had nine goals and 16 points in 48 games with St. Louis, earned an assist in his first game with Quebec (4-2 loss at Los Angeles Feb. 27).NOTEBOOK: Pierre Page was upset with St. Louis general manager Ron Caron for signing Curt Giles to a contract worth more than double what the Nords had offered the Canadian Olympian. &ldquo;This is really putting things out of whack,&rdquo; Page said&hellip;Owen Nolan was sent home (Thorold, Ont.) Feb. 28 for some rest and relaxation, during the team&rsquo;s recent four-day layoff. He spent two days resting and was expected to play March 3 against Buffalo.<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 27: Greg Smyth, D, given 10-game NHL suspension for leaving the bench during an altercation. Eligible to return March 21. Gino Cavallini, LW. claimed on waivers from St. Louis. Feb. 28: Dan Lambert, D. assigned to Halifax (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Sakic, Bill Lindsay, Jamie Baker, Claude Lapointe.LW&mdash;Valeri Kamensky, Tony Twist Andy Rymsha, John Tonelli, Wayne Van Dorp.RW&mdash;Owen Nolan, Mats Sundin, Greg Paslawski, Gino Cavallini, Herb Raglan,LD&mdash;Curtis Leschyshyn, Alexei Gusarov, Randy Vellschek. Steven Finn.RD&mdash;Mikhail Tatarinov, Craig Wofanin, Jon Klemm.G&mdash;Stephane Fiset, John Tanner.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steven Finn, D, sprained right wrist, day-to-day. Adam Foote, D, broken right thumb, out for season. Marc Fortier, C, pulled groin, indefinite Stephane Guerard, D, right knee surgery, indefinite, Mike Hough, LW, fractured left thumb, indefinite, Mike McNeill, C/LW, separated right shoulder, indefinite, Doug Smail, LW, stretched right knee ligaments, indefinite &#9632;

Hungry vets add missing ingredients

<div class="byline">By Jeff Jacobs</div>Looking into the face of what he called &ldquo;woes, woes, woes-triple woes,&rdquo; Hartford Whalers&rsquo; coach Jimmy Roberts decided to end the Springfield shuttle and pray new stability would spur the remaining, mostly veteran troops.For the short term, Training Camp 11 was a success.The Whalers went on the road, where they hadn&rsquo;t won in 13 games (0-11-2) and whipped Pittsburgh 8-4 Feb. 27 and got a miracle goal with 1.1 seconds left in overtime from Adam Burt to beat Minnesota 5-4 two days later.The Stanley Cup champions and runners-up have been struggling, but for the Whalers this was no small accomplishment. Even a 9-4 loss in the third game in four nights to a well-rested New York Rangers team didn&rsquo;t dampen Roberts&rsquo; spirits.&ldquo;Four of six points on a road trip-about time the worm turned,&rdquo; Roberts said.After a 5-2 home loss to St. Louis Feb. 25, the Whalers demoted five players to Springfield of the American League. Roberts announced the next day the lineup would be set for the rest of the season.This meant Pat Verbeek was reunited on a line with John Cullen; Mark Hunter, who had been scratched from seven of eight games, was back in action; and Randy Cunneyworth, who had played only four of 27 games, was on the No. 1 line with Cullen.ADAM&rsquo;S APPLE: Adam Burt&rsquo;s overtime goal with 1.1 seconds left in Minnesota was unbelievable enough to be in the movies.During the game, Disney Productions was filming a movie at Met Center called &ldquo;Bombay,&rdquo;starring Emilio Estevez and featuring a story about a Bad News Bears type of hockey team.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m friends with Jack White (involved in the production of Bombay),&rdquo; Burt said. &ldquo;He taught Rob Lowe to skate for Youngblood. I should ask him about getting this goal in the movie.&rdquo;With 4.4 seconds left, the Whalers had a faceoff in the offensive zone. Craven won the faceoff draw to Zarley Zalapski. Burt saw the rebound and took a backhand swipe between his legs and into the top comer of the net.NOTEBOOK: Bobby Holik had goals in four straight games and Randy Ladouceur and Ed Kastelic scored their first goals of the season on the road trip&hellip;Former Penguin Zarley Zalapski on the Pittsburgh troubles: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s going to take time to work it out. There&rsquo;s a lot of unhappy guys in that locker room.&rdquo;<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 25: Terry Yake, C, Daniel Shank, LW, Jergus Baca. D, Mark Greig, RW and Michel Picard, LW, assigned to Springfield (AHL). March 1: John Stevens. D, recalled from Springfield<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;John Cullen, Andrew Cassels. Geoff Sanderson, James Black.LW&mdash;Yvon Corriveau, Murray Craven. Mikael Andersson, Jim McKenzie.RW&mdash;Pat Verbeek, Mark Hunter, Bobby Holik, Ed Kastelic.LD&mdash;Randy Ladouceur. John Stevens, Zarley Zalapski.RD&mdash;Marc Bergevin, Adam Burt, Doug Houda.G&mdash;Kay Whitmore, Peter Sidorkiewicz<h3>INJURIES</h3>Randy Cunneyworth, LW, right ankle sprain, day-to-day. Paul Gillis, C, broken left foot indefinite, Steve Konroyd, D, flu, day-to-day. Brad Shaw, D, right knee contusion, indefinite. &#9632;

Sinking ship shapes up but all is not ship shape

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01940/6710254-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Right winger Michel Bedard and his UQTR teammates will be shooting for their second consecutive ClAU title at The Nationals March 14-15 at Varsity Arena in Toronto.</figcaption></div>If conquering adversity is the mark of a champion then the Trois-Rivieres Patriotes will successfully defend their Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union title.The Patriotes overcame several off-ice obstacles to reach The Nationals in Toronto March 14 and 15.UQTR captured a birth with a 2-I series win over the University of Toronto in the Ontario Universities Athletic Association East Division final.They will join either Acadia or UPEI from the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association; Regina or Alberta from the Canada West Universities Athletic Association; and either Guelph or Wilfred Laurier from the OUAA West.The Patriotes&rsquo; off-ice problems began last May when the OUAA voted not to renew playing privileges for the three Quebec schools-UQTR, McGill and Concordia. UQTR has yet to decide whether to join the AUAA or play as an independent next season.More trouble came in November when UQTR officials admitted paying team members $500 last year for meal money. Paying players is a violation of C1AU rules. The CIAU has yet to decide what the punishment will be.There have also been rumblings UQTR is using ineligible players.Despite the turmoil, the Patriotes finished first in the OUAA East and are favorites to retain their university crown.<h2>Trois-Rivieres Patriotes</h2>Trois-Rivieres has the best depth in the nation. It&rsquo;s very difficult to separate their scoring lines in terms of talent.Stephane Groleau (20 goals, 45 points) finished third in league scoring and was named to the OUAA first all-star team. Defenseman Marc Picard and goaltender Denis Desbiens were also first-team all-stars, while defenseman Francois Loranger and forward Benoit Gosselin were named to the second team.The Patriotes have the No. I offense in the country but are also strong defensively. They finished second in the nation with a 3.04 goals against average.Key to success: The Patriotes score in bunches and must capitalize on their opportunities.Keep an eye on: Desbiens. The OUAA&rsquo;s Sullivan candidate is even better in the playoffs.Need to know: The Patriotes were 1-5-0 when they scored three goals or fewer.<h2>Guelph Gryphons</h2>Adaptable is a good word to describe the Gryphons.They have one of the biggest teams in the OUAA but were slow last year and spent the off-season working on mobility important con-sidering they play on an Olympic-size ice surface at the Guelph Athletic Centre.OUAA all-star Steve Pcrkovic and freshman goaltender Jeff Wilson are the defensive stal warts. Wilson was strong in the second half, leading Guelph to nine wins in 11 games.First-team division all-star Rob Arabski heads the nation&rsquo;s second-best offense. He had 21 goals and 45 points in 22 games.Key to success: Solid defensive play in their own end. The offense should take care of itself.Keep an eye on: Wilson. If he&rsquo;s playing with confidence, he can carry the team.Need to know: The Gryphons were 4-1-1 against nationally-ranked opponents.<h2>Laurier Golden Hawks</h2>If ever a team could be called survivors, the Golden Hawks would be it. The Hawks were still in contention despite a .500 record after the Christmas break.This year&rsquo;s team doesn&rsquo;t fit the usual Laurier mold. It&rsquo;s not big, as Hawk teams tend to be, and it lacks a big scorer.The Hawks were seventh in the nation in team defense, but they aren&rsquo;t strong offensively. The defense is led by second-team all-star Larry Rucchin and veteran Marc Lyons.Key to success: The ability to stay close and keep in position to win.Keep an eye on: Sean Davidson. He had a poor season but came to life in the playoffs.Need to know: Laurier lost two games in a row only once this year.<h2>Regina Cougars</h2>It&rsquo;s no secret why the Regina Cougars won their first regular season title in seven years. The Cougars were the most offensive team in the west.Regina scored 159 goals in 28 games, 22 more than the next best team, the Alberta Golden Bears.The Cougars are also strong defensively. They allowed just 111 goals, tied for third in the conference. Goalie Craig Lumbard played in all 28 games and finished with a 3.92 GAA.The Cougars placed four players among the league&rsquo;s top 10 scorers-Len Nielsen, Troy Edwards, Darrin McKechnie and Gary Dickie.Key to success: Lumbard. He makes Regina&rsquo;s run-and-gun attack possible.Keep an eye on: Rob Harvey. He led the team with 42 points and three game-winning goals.Need to know: Regina often falters on the power play. They finished fourth in the league.<h2>Alberta Golden Bears</h2>Trying to find a weak link in the Bears is very difficult.The 36-time CWUAA champions were seldom spectacular but always solid, playing a textbook team game under coach Bill Moores.Outside of two-time CWUAA scoring champ Adam Morrison (31 goals, 61 points), and alL star rearguard lan Herbers, the Bears don&rsquo;t havl any stars. What they do have are players who excel within the team concept Moores demands.The Bears aren&rsquo;t great at one thing, they&rsquo;re simply good at everything-second in goals (137), first in goals-against (100) and second on the power play (26 per-cent success rate).Key to success: Defense. The Bears allowed 706 shots, 181 fewer than the next best team.Keep an eye on: Morrison. He led the conference in goals and power play goals.Need toknow: The Bears&rsquo; penalty-killing unit was best in the CWUAA at 82.3 per cent.<h2>UPEI Panthers</h2>It must be playoff time again because the UPEI Panthers are hungry. You might say they&rsquo;re having a Big Mac Attack.All-Canadian nominees Wayne MacPheaf and Shane MacEachem are doing their best to ensure the Panthers win the AUAA title and return to The Nationals.MacPhee, 25, the Panthers&rsquo; fifth-year captain, is the team&rsquo;s most reliable defenseman while MacEachem, 24, is widely regarded as the league&rsquo;s best forward.MacEachem, a Charlottetown native, spen two seasons in the St. Louis Blues&rsquo; system before joining the Panthers in January of last year. He scored 33 goals and 92 points in 37 regular-season games.Key to success: The Panthers must play a bump-and-grind style. If they change, they&rsquo;ll lose.Keep an eye on: Jamie Blanchard. The steady stand-up goalie is one of the AUAA&rsquo;s best.Need to know: Derek Clancey left the team mid-way through the year for the East Coast League.<h2>Acadia Axemen</h2>George Dupont holds the Acadia Axemen together. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound center led the Axemen in scoring three years ago with 42 points but left the school to play in England. He later joined Truro of the Nova Scotia League.Dupont returned from his sabbatical this season to complete his economics degree. And there&rsquo;s certainly no recession with his scoring prowess. He scored 13 goals and 44 points in 22 games to earn Kelly Division all-star status and an all-Canadian nomination.Dupont&rsquo;s strong play helped the Axemen rebound from a 12-12-2 record last year to a league best 18-4-2 record this year.Key to success: Special teams. The Axemen led the conference in all categories.Keep an eye on: Sean Rowe. The rookie winger is a strong two-way player.Need to know: Acadia lost only once this season on home ice (15-0-1).&mdash;With files from Robin Brownlee, Hallihan, Matt Nicholls and Claude Scilley. &#9632;

f0022-01

PATRIOTIC FERVOR

<div class="byline">By Matt Carlson</div>The Ferris State Bulldogs have found new life after coming precariously close to extinction.Faced with the need to cut university expenditures by $9 million over the next three years, Ferris State planned to slice $500,000 from its -, intercollegiate athletics budget.Hockey, the only Division I sport at the Big Rapids, Mich., school, was pegged to be dropped along with track events, cross country running and swimming.But the Ferris board of control voted 7-1 Feb. 22 to impose an athletic fee of $60 per year on each student over the next three years to fund and save the sports programs.&ldquo;The news was fantastic,&rdquo; said second-year Bulldogs&rsquo; coach Bob Mancini.The proposed termination of the hockey program shocked Bulldog fans.&ldquo;There was unbelievable community outrage and support for Ferris State hockey,&rdquo; Mancini said. &ldquo;Hockey is a very important thing to the university and community. We can use Ferris State hockey as a vehicle to get the name of the university out.&rdquo;Most Bulldog players&mdash;and more than 1,000 students-attended the Feb. 22 meeting.While the fee will be in place for the next three years, the university&rsquo;s pledge to keep the hockey program extends indefinitely.&ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t just a three year commitment to be followed by an evaluation,&rdquo; Mancini said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re out recruiting on the basis that we&rsquo;re out recruiting on the basis that we&rsquo;re Agoing to be around for a long time.&rdquo;The Bulldogs were struggling at 10-24-7 in Central Collegiate Hockey Association play through Feb. 24.SMOOTH CUSTOMER: Miami junior Joe Cook is in an unusual situation this season.The 21-year-old defenseman, who scored just one goal and 10 points last season, has blossomed into a bonafide scoring threat.He had 12 goals and 32 points in 32 games (overall) to rank second in scoring among CCHA defenseman behind Lake Superior State senior Mark Astley (10 goals, 43 points in 31 games).&ldquo;Everyone looks at Joe and asks where he came from,&rdquo; said Redskins&rsquo; coach George Gwozdecky. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not so much that he is a surprise this year as much as he was a disappointment last year.&rdquo;Cook is a second-year player but is listed as a junior because he has only three years of college eligibility. The Baton Rouge, La., native struggled last season because of poor conditioning and a lack of confidence.A graduate of the Detroit Compuware Tier 11 junior program, he wasn&rsquo;t physically or mentally prepared for the the rigors of college play.&ldquo;It took him two-thirds of the season to get into shape,&rdquo; Gwozdecky said. &ldquo;He has really had to buckle down and learn how to play defense.&ldquo;Because he wasn&rsquo;t strong and in great shape, he had a real tough time learning how to check. He wasn&rsquo;t good one-on-one. Physically, he just got beat.&rdquo;BIG MAC ATTACK: Illinois-Chicago center Chris MacDonald went on a scoring rampage against Notre Dame Feb. 21 and 22.The 6-foot-5, 200-pound freshman scored three goals and six assists in 9-3 and 10-5 wins.MacDonald, the only CCHA player from Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown), passed senior forward Rick Judson as the Flames&rsquo; leading scorer. MacDonald had 11 goals and 36 points in 30 games.&ldquo;His offensive instincts and ability to think with the puck are exceptional,&rdquo; said UIC coach Larry Pedrie. &#9632;

Bulldogs survive budget bite

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div>The independent Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves came one step closer to becoming a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.The WCHA&rsquo;s structural committee proposed at its Feb. 23 meeting that Alaska-Anchorage be added on a conditional basis (playoffs only) for the 1992-93 season. The board also voted to recommend Alaska-Anchorage as a full league member in 1993-94.Representatives of the nine WCHA teams will vote on the committee&rsquo;s proposal at the annual meetings April 24. A majority ruling is necessary to pass the resolution so five schools must support the recommendations.The Central Collegiate Hockey Association recently added independent Alaska-Fairbanks under a similar plan.Anchorage officials formally petitioned the league for membership at the National Collegiate Athletic Association meetings in Anaheim, Calif., in January.WCHA commissioner Otto Breitenbach refused to speculate on how the vote will come out but he has made it clear where he stands on the matter. Breitenbach does not have a vote on the committee.&ldquo;I have advocated their membership,&rdquo; said Breitenbach, who toured both Alaska campuses last month. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re (Anchorage) a good program in a tough geographic situation. They deserve league membership.&rdquo;The committee&rsquo;s recommendation includes conditions that minimize the loss of class time and expenses due to travel.Anchorage will provide subsidies for air fares to each visiting team. The number of league games, however, will be cut back from 32 to 28 because of NCAA regulations.The format of the schedule would also change. Each team currently plays a home-and-home series schedule.Under the new plan, the WCHA will be split in half according to the final standings of the previous season. The top five teams will play each other four times, one of the bottom five teams four times and the other four teams twice. Conversely, the bottom five teams will play each other four times, one of the top five teams four times and the other four teams twice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a unique approach towards parity,&rdquo; Breitenbach said.GOLDEN GOPHER: Minnesota senior center Larry Olimb became the seventh player in Golden Gopher history to reach the 200-point plateau.Olimb, who spent part of his career as a defenseman, had 54 goals and 200 points. He joined John Mayasich (298), Pat Micheletti (269), Corey Millen (241), Butsy Erickson (238), Steve Ulseth (202) and Tim Harrer (201) as the only Gophers to reach the milestone.Meanwhile, the Gophers clinched their third regular-season title in the last five years during a series split with Denver Feb. 21 and 22. It has been nine years since Minnesota finished lower than second in the WCHA regular-season standings.HOW SWEEP IT IS: The Colorado College Tigers pulled off a rare sweep of the Wisconsin Badgers Feb. 21 and 22.The Tigers won 6-2 and 2-I at the Broadmoor World Arena. Colorado College last swept Wisconsin in 1966. Tigers&rsquo; coach Brad Buetow was 15 at the time while UW coach Jeff Sauer was just 21. &#9632;

Independent Seawolves closer to coming aboard

It&rsquo;s fitting two of the three nominees for this year&rsquo;s Joseph A. Sullivan Award are goaltenders. The &ldquo;Sully&rdquo; awarded annually to the most valuable player in Canadian university hockey-was named after the acrobatic goalie who led Canada to a gold medal at the 1928 Olympics. Here&rsquo;s a look at the candidates from each division:Denis Desbiens, 25, G, Trois-Rivieres (Ontario). The Patriotes score so many goals that the agile St-Foy, Que., native often gets overlooked. He received the respect he deserves this season, however, grabbing a spot onthe OUAA&rsquo;s East Division all-star team.Roydon Gunn, 25, G, Saskatchewan (Canada West). The third-year psychology major spent two years in the New York Islander system before returning to university. He led the league in games played with 28, saves with 922 and an .896 save percentage.Shane MacEachem, 24, C, UPEI (Atlantic). A skilled playmaker with a terrific shot, the Charlottetown, P.E.I. native finished second in scoring with 18 goals and 59 points in 23 games. He spent two seasons in the St. Louis organization before joining the Panthers. &#9632;

Meet the Sullivan hooefuls

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>Boston College will have little trouble adjusting to their new coach next season. After all, he has been coaching with the Eagles for 17 years.Associate coach Steve Cedorchuk, 44, will replace Len Ceglarski, who is retiring at the end of this season. The Charleston, Mass., native was an assistant coach from 1975 to &rsquo;88 before taking over as an associate coach. He was named as Ceglarski&rsquo;s successor by the university on Feb. 24.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been coaching a long time and I&rsquo;ve learned a great deal from Lenny, the other guys I&rsquo;ve coached with and against. I know I can do the job,&rdquo; Cedorchuk said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll have my own style. I&rsquo;ll have teams that will be physically and Inentally tough. We&rsquo;ll be recruiting skilled, physical players.&rdquo;Cedorchuk was a standout defenseman with the Eagles from 1966 to &rsquo;69. He became the head coach and athletic director at Cardinal Cushing Academy in West Newbury, Mass., after graduation and moved to St. Anselm College (N.H.) two years later. He joined the Eagles in 1975.The Eagles were 12-16-3 heading into the final weekend of the season but Cedorchuk sees a bright future. He thinks the younger players will benefit from playing on a rebuilding team.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not unusual to have a rebuilding year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re hoping the experience these kids have gained will pay off. I&rsquo;m very happy with the recruiting class we&rsquo;ve got coming in next year.&rdquo;Ceglarski-who coached the Eagles for 20 seasons-approved of the university&rsquo;s choice.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s the best guy for the job,&rdquo; Ceglarski said. &ldquo;This will be great for our program. He has been here 17 years and he has certainly been loyal. He knows the ins and outs of the school. I&rsquo;m happy as hell for him. He deserves it.&rdquo;PLAYING FAVORITES: The Maine Black Bears clinched the Hockey East regular-season title Feb. 20 with a 5-3 win over New Hampshire.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a great feeling,&rdquo; said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s something we&rsquo;ve really worked for. The most difficult thing is to be picked to win it (in the pre-season coaches&rsquo; poll) and do so in a convincing fashion. Our guys have done that.&rdquo;Maine entered the final regular season series against Providence with a 15-2-2 record. They had gone 61 games without back-to-back losses.&ldquo;It took us four years to get a regular season title but we finally did it,&rdquo; said Maine senior left winger Scott Pellerin. &ldquo;This was one of our goals at the outset of the season and we&rsquo;ve worked hard for it. Because we&rsquo;re one of the older teams in the country, we were able to use our maturity to our favor and play well in just about every game.&rdquo;DOMINO AFFECT: University of New Hampshire senior left winger Dorn Amodeo extended his point-scoring streak to 15 games (12 goals, 20 assists) through Feb. 22. It was the longest streak of his career.&ldquo;A lot of credit should go to my linemates Glenn Stewart and Kevin Thomson,&rdquo; Amodeo said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re hungry and they&rsquo;ve been feeding me the puck in the slot.&rdquo;Amodeo had 57 points in 31 games overall. &#9632;

Cedorchuk succeeds Ceglarski as Eagles’ coach

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>If gaudy statistics are the sole criteria for success then Princeton senior center Andre Faust is having a disappointing season.The Anjou, Que., native could finish with the lowest single-season point total of his career this season. Faust had 29 points (13 goals) entering the final weekend of play. He needed five points to reach his freshman total of 34 and well off his sophomore pace of 44. He had 37 as a junior last year.But while his scoring is down, Faust is still one of the best players in Princeton history. He was second on the Tigers&rsquo; all-time scoring list with 144 points through Feb. 27. John Messuri led with 178 in 84 games from 1985-89.&ldquo;Andre is a very talented kid,&rdquo; said first-year coach Don Cahoon. &ldquo;The nice thing about him is he&rsquo;s a better captain and leader than he is a player. He struggled early but I think a lot of that was a new coach, a new system, and the new coach trying to find the right people to play with him.&rdquo;Faust, 22, didn&rsquo;t record a point in his first four games. But he rebounded with five goals and six points in a sweep over Dartmouth Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. He had 29 points in his next 19 games.&ldquo;He can take you right out of your seat with the types of plays he makes,&rdquo; Cahoon said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s frightening to think what he could do with players of his own caliber around him.&rdquo;That could happen in the near future. Faust was selected in the eighth round of the 1989 entry draft by the New Jersey Devils.HAIL YALE: Yale is one of the most surprising teams in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.Pegged to finish near the bottom of the league, the Bulldogs entered the final weekend of play needing one point to finish in the top four, securing home ice for the playoffs. Yale finished ninth last year.&ldquo;Even though we were picked to finish ninth, we imagined we were a vastly improved team,&rdquo; said Tigers&rsquo; coach Tim Taylor.Junior center Mark Kaufmann led the team with 21 goals and 40 points in 24 games. Senior center John Sather and junior right winger Jamie Lavish each had 14 goals in 20 games.SWEET REVENGE: Harvard senior goalie Allain Roy is having one of the best seasons of his career.Roy, who lost the goaltending title to Clarkson&rsquo;s Chris Rogles by one point (2.99 goals-against average to 2.98 GAA) last season, had a 2.23 GAA in 11 games. Roy won the ECAC goaltending crown as a freshman with a 2.07 GAA in 10 games.SCORING ENGINEER: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute freshman center Craig Hamelin scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season Feb. 22 in a 5-4 loss to Colgate.He became the first Engineer rookie to score 20 goals since George Servinis pumped in 35 and was named ECAC rookie of the year in 1983&hellip;Clarkson sophomore goalie Jason Currie had the best save percentage in the nation through Feb. 26. Currie pushed his save percentage to .920 after stopping 71 of 73 shots in wins over Yale (6-2 Feb. 21) and Princeton (4-0 Feb. 22).Union senior Craig Ferrero was named ECAC player of the week for the period ending Feb. 24. Ferrero had one goal and three assists in a 6-4 upset of Cornell Feb. 22. &#9632;

Princeton’s Faust second best

University of Toronto coach Paul Titanic declared earlier this year that the Varsity Blues would succeed or fail by their ability to play defensive hockey.Evidently the message fell on receptive ears. In reaching the Ontario Universities Athletic Association&rsquo;s Final Four, the Blues crept from a mediocre 4-4-0 start to the East Division final. An improved defense was the main reason.&ldquo;I think everyone understands how we have to play to win,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you win a game against a good team like Trois-Rivieres or Laurier and score five or six goals, sometimes the team starts to think it&rsquo;s winning because of its offense. They have to be reminded those goals are the result of opportunities being created by team defense.&rdquo;The Blues did everything right in their 2-I Eastern Division semifinal win over McGill. Toronto goalie Paul Henriques allowed just nine goals in his first four playoff games.CWUAA: While the Regina Cougars and Alberta Golden Bears lived up the their billing as the Canada West Universities Athletic Association&rsquo;s best teams this season, the rest of the field provided a few surprises.The Cougars parlayed the best offense in the conference into a first-place finish, holding off the Bears by two points despite 6-2 and 7-I losses in Alberta Feb. 21 and 22.The Calgary Dinosaurs finished third, a major surprise, considering they were supposed to struggle after losing Sullivan Trophy winner center Wayne Hynes and all-star defenseman Doug Quinn to graduation.The Manitoba Bisons&rsquo; raised a few eyebrows with their fourth-place finish. The Bisons beat out the Saskatchewan Huskies-last year&rsquo;s third-place team-for the final playoff spot. The Bisons clinched by sweeping the Huskies Feb. 21-22 (4-2 and 8-2).While many teams did better than expected, the Brandon Bobcats finished where everyone expected them to: last.To add insult to injury, the Bobcats (1-25-2) were stripped of three wins for using an ineligible player. Brandon&rsquo;s 25 losses tied the league futility record.AUAA: Cape Breton goalie Chris Some wants to be a lawyer someday but the jury&rsquo;s already in on his ability to stop pucks.Somers, 24, was one of the best players in the Atlantic Universities Athletic Association this year. He posted an 18-5-1 record in 24 games for the Capers with a 3.45 goals-against average, second behind Acadia&rsquo;s Dennis Spoxton (3.25).Somers was named to the MacAdam Division all-star team and is an all-Canadian nominee. He won the the Bill Godfrey Award-for excellence in athletics and academics&mdash;and is a nominee for the national award for most-sportsmanlike player.&ldquo;The opportunity to play as much as I have has made a huge difference,&rdquo; Somers said. &ldquo;I owe a lot to the team because they played well in front of me. And I owe a lot to (coach) Milk Johnston because he had the confidence to make me the No. 1 goalie.&rdquo;Somers was the No. 2 man last year behind Scott MacDonald. He took over the No. 1 job when MacDonald graduated.&mdash;With files from Robin Brownlee, Bruce Hallihan and Claude Scilley. &#9632;

Blues’ ship comes in after listening to Titanic

<div class="byline">By Dave Eminian</div>Ray LeBlanc may have a second chance to lead a miracle on ice. Well, for Ice at least.Any hope the Indianapolis Ice have to salvage an International League playoff spot will rest on the shoulders of LeBlanc, who surprised many by his outstanding play with the U.S. team at the Winter Olympics. LeBlanc, who played seven games with the Ice before joining the Olympic team, returned to Indianapolis Feb. 25.&ldquo;Time is running out for us, and the sooner we get Ray the better,&rdquo; said Indianapolis coach John Marks, who won his 200th career game Feb. 22 in Peoria-a 3-I win. &ldquo;This has been the worst record of my career. And goaltending, quite honestly, has been our biggest problem.&ldquo;When we had Dominik Hasek, his body was in Indianapolis but his head was in Chicago. Jimmy Waite was the same way. And Roch Belley (four wins in 18 starts), well, he&rsquo;s a rookie having a rough time.&rdquo;LeBlanc was suffering from asthma problems and was expected to get his first start March 4 against Kalamazoo. &ldquo;Ray has always been the kind of kid who can win games for you.&rdquo;The Ice was last in the East&mdash;and in the league-with a 19-34-9 record for 47 points through Feb. 26.Marks has had personnel problems to deal with all season, including 62 call-ups-six for center Mike Stapleton alone.He has used 40 different lines in 60 games, but the team has lost 21 times by one goal. So a hot goalie can make a difference.LeBlanc-who will be honored during a March 8 game in Indianapolis that has been billed as &ldquo;Ray LeBlanc Day&rdquo;-could help ease the sting of a rebuilding year.&ldquo;He was great in the Olympics, even surprising,&rdquo; Marks said. &ldquo;You can say we&rsquo;re very anxious to get him.&rdquo;LOST CAUSE? The Peoria Rivermen got lost on the way to Kalamazoo for a Feb. 23 afternoon game. But they eventually found their way with a 4-3 overtime victory.The Rivermen left the night before after a home game but had to stop for directions three times before finding their hotel at 3 a.m.There was more confusion when the game started. Peoria appeared to score the first goal of the game, but it was disallowed when Rivermen defenseman Dominic Lavoie, who was on the ice for the goal, was ruled ineligible to play.Peoria coach Harold Snepsts had accidentally scratched Lavoie from the lineup card before the game. Rookie winger Kyle Reeves, meanwhile, had been told he was a scratch and spent the first period watching from the stands.&ldquo;It was the worst feeling in the world,&rdquo; Snepsts said. &ldquo;The guys really bailed me out. My mind must have been in outer space.&rdquo;To top off the night, the radio broadcast ended halfway through the game when a transmitter broke down.I-OPENERS: Dmitri Kvartalnov&rsquo;s quest for 50 goals was put on hold when San Diego&rsquo;s Len Hachborn was suspended for three games. Hachbom, Kvartalnov&rsquo;s center, was suspended after bumping an official in a 4-1 loss at Kansas City Feb. 21. Kvartalnov went without a goal during Hachbom&rsquo;s absence. The Gulls lost the first two games&ndash;4-3 to Kansas City and 6-2 to Milwaukee&ndash;before beating Peoria 4-1. With Hachbom back in the lineup Feb. 27 against Peoria, the Gulls lost 6-4 to the Rivermen but Kvartalnov got his league-leading 50th goal of the season and Hachbom got his IHL-high 64th assist. &#9632;

Olympic hero LeBlanc hailed as a miracle for Ice

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>The Baltimore Skipjacks fired coach Rob Laird after a two-month freefall through the American League&rsquo;s Southern Division. He was replaced by assistant coach Barry Trotz.The Skipjacks were in first place on Dec. 15 with a 17-10-2 record and 36 points. But they went just 6-20-5 in the following two months, and 2-13-2 in Laird&rsquo;s final 17 games.The slump dropped the Skipjacks into last place at 23-30-7 and 53 points, five behind Utica for the final playoff spot.&ldquo;It was my feeling that to give the Skipjacks any chance of turning their season around in the remaining 20 games, a change was necessary,&rdquo; said Washington Capitals&rsquo; general manger David Poile after firing Laird Feb. 24.Laird was disappointed he wasn&rsquo;t given the chance to finish the season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a better team than our record indicates and I take responsibility,&rdquo; Laird said. &ldquo;But I really believe we could have turned this thing around. I just wish I would have been given the opportunity to meet that challenge.&rdquo;Trotz said he knew a coaching change was coming.&ldquo;In the hockey business when things are not going well, you can sort of read between the lines,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy the Capitals had enough confidence in me to say, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s your job if you want it.&rdquo;The Skipjacks finished third last season in the Southern Division-Laird&rsquo;s first in Balti-more-with a 39-34-7 record. In four years with the international League&rsquo;s Fort Wayne Komets, he went 194-116-18.PLAN FAILS: When Chris Govedaris left the Hartford organization Oct. 28 after being assigned to Springfield, he figured the Whalers would trade him. After all, doing that worked for other players desiring trades.But when 1991 became 1992 and the season &lsquo;was half over, the Indians&rsquo; left winger realized the Whalers were content to let him sit at home.Govedaris returned in early January and is making a strong contribution. He had nine goals and 26 points in 28 games.&ldquo;Hartford&rsquo;s position is Chris Govedaris is still a prospect, he still has potential to play in the NHL, but it&rsquo;s up to him,&rdquo; Indians&rsquo; coach Jay Leach said. &ldquo;We took him back and tried to encourage him. We know young kids make mistakes, but he has come back and has his head screwed on straight.&rdquo;McDOUGALL traded: just one year ago, Adirondack coach Barry Melrose predicted center Bill McDougall would become a fulltime NHLer.If that prediction comes true. McDougall will be playing in Edmonton not Detroit. The Red Wings traded McDougall to the Oilers for left winger Max Middendorf Feb. 22.&ldquo;Billy plays hard but he plays for himself,&rdquo; Melrose said. &ldquo;Teams that do that don&rsquo;t win championships.&rdquo;Melrose and McDougall often clashed. He was fourth on the team with 28 goals and 52 points in 45 games.In another deal, the Washington Capitals traded left winger Brent Hughes of Baltimore to Boston for right winger John Byce and defenseman Dennis Smith, who were playing in Maine. Hughes had 25 goals and 54 points in 55 games with Baltimore. Byce had 29 goals and 50 points in 55 games and Smith had two goals and 34 points in 63 games with Maine.The Skipjacks loaned left winger Craig Duncanson to Moncton Feb. 26. Duncanson had 20 goals and 46 points in 46 games this season. &#9632;

Stumbling Skipjacks fire coach

When the NHL adds teams in Ottawa and Tampa Bay next season, it will also be adding two referees and four linesmen. With that in mind, here are some minor league on-ice officials we may see in the majors in the coming years:Blaine Angus: A 30-year-old native of Shawville, Que., Angus is a second-year referee in the American League. Angus is also a registered X-ray technologist.Bernard DeGrace: DeGrace, a linesman, splits his time between the NHL and AHL. The 24-year-old native of Shippagan, N.B., is in his first year in the NHL trainee program.Jean Morin: A first-year NHL trainee, Morin also splits his time between the minors and the NHL. The 28-year-old linesman is from Ste-Victoire de Sorel. Que.Kevin Muench: Muench, a 30-year-old referee, splits his duties between the Western League and the AHL. The Moose Jaw, Sask., native works for a technical school.Stephen Walkom: A graduate of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ont., Walkom is a full-time AHL referee. The 28-year-old resides in Kitchener, Ont. &#9632;

It’s official: Future looks bright

<div class="byline">By Vance Oliver</div>Center Kimbi Daniels is either really tired or really lazy. It all depends on whom you believe.Daniels began the season with the Philadelphia Flyers but was returned to the Swift Current Broncos Jan. 24. Swift Current promptly traded the 19-year-old Daniels to Seattle for center Dody WoodDaniels left the Thunderbirds after a 4-3 overtime road loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers Feb 22 and went to Swift Current where his girlfriend lives.&ldquo;We sent him home,&rdquo; said Thunderbirds&rsquo; coach-general manager Peter Anholt. &ldquo;We left him in Swift Current for a few days to give him a bit of a rest.&rdquo;A rest? Daniels, a third-round pick of the Flyers in 1990, received precious little playing time with Philadelphia, recording one goal and one assist in 25 games.He was on loan to the Canadian team at the World Junior Championships in Fussen, Germany, before being returned to the junior ranks.Daniels collected seven goals and 19 points in 14 games before abruptly leaving the T-Birds.Some observers have speculated Anholt didn&rsquo;t take kindly to Daniels&rsquo; float-like-a-butterfly-sting-like-a-bee style.In any case, a team that&rsquo;s hosting the Memorial Cup championship just usually doesn&rsquo;t tell its franchise player to take a rest during the final push for the playoffs.Unless&hellip;&ldquo;He needed a rest,&rdquo; Anholt reiterated. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t playing very well.&rdquo;Daniels could not be reached for comment.FALSE ALARM: Richard Matvichuk got wrapped up in red tape during his first visit to the NHL.The Minnesota North Stars recalled the Saskatoon Blades&rsquo; all-star defenseman for a three-game trial Feb. 19 but NHL executive vice-president Brian O&rsquo;Neill ruled Matvichuk was ineligible because the Stars didn&rsquo;t meet the NHL&rsquo;s emergency recall requirements.&ldquo;There has to be three guys down on the injury list and there were only two,&rdquo; explained Matvichuk. &ldquo;One more guy would have to go down.&ldquo;They really didn&rsquo;t want to put anybody on the injury list so I could play. They more or less brought me down to stir the pot, to show that there are guys out there that can play.&rdquo;The abbreviated stay with the North Stars, however, forced Matvichuk to miss an important Feb. 21 game against the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Blades, who were battling the Tigers for second spot in the Western League&rsquo;s East Division, lost 4-2 to fall six points behind Medicine Hat.&ldquo;It was a great experience just going down there,&rdquo; added Matvichuk, who returned to Saskatoon in time for a 5-5 tie with the Kamloops Blazers Feb. 23. &ldquo;I learned more with them in just two practices than I have in a long time.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really an incentive for how hard you have to work to get up there.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: None of the three potential WHL offenders are affected by the Portland Oregonian&rsquo;s decision to stop printing nicknames that can be construed as degrading to native North Americans. The daily newspaper instituted a policy Feb. 16 to omit four sports teams&rsquo; names-Redskins, Redmen, Braves and Indians-from its coverage. The names of Portland&rsquo;s Winter Hawks, who sport an Indian head on the front of their jerseys, Spokane&rsquo;s Chiefs and Moose Jaw&rsquo;s Warriors will continue to appear in the newspaper. &#9632;

Daniels’ departure curious

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Belleville Bulls&rsquo; coach Larry Mavety always reminds star right winger Darren McCarty that when the crusher becomes the rusher he can also become an usher.In other words, one Gretzky on a line is enough.But McCarty, 19, who plays with center Brent Gretzky and left winger Tony Cimellaro, is trying his best to deliver the best of both worlds. He leads his Ontario League team in scoring and penalty minutes.McCarty became the league&rsquo;s first 50-goal scorer Feb. 26 with a goal against the Peterborough Petes. He also had 69 assists in 60 games for 119 points, 10 behind league leader Todd Simon of Niagara Falls. McCarty also had 165 penalty minutes, 17th in the league and far and away the most among the top 10 scorers.&ldquo;I like the role I play. I have tons of fun out there,&rdquo; he said.This is McCarty&rsquo;s third season with the Bulls. He had 30 goals and 151 penalty minutes last season. But despite his obvious offensive flair, he has never considered abandoning his aggressive style.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to bump and grind,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I play that way, I tend to get more points. My points come from working hard.&rdquo;McCarty, who is undrafted. is working to improve his skating ability. That&rsquo;s important because the Bulls play on the large ice surface (200 by 100 feet) at the Quinte Sports Centre.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like skating on Lake Erie,&rdquo; McCarty said. &ldquo;But it has been the best thing for me. You can only improve.&rdquo;Mavety can&rsquo;t figure out why NHL teams have bypassed McCarty at the draft.&ldquo;Darren takes a guy out and then has to bust his butt to get back in the play,&rdquo; Mavety said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not a Barbara-Ann Scott, but he&rsquo;s better than people think. Not many guys can catchA him. And he has a hell of a wrist shot.&rdquo;SHUTTING THE DOOR: Sudbury Wolves&rsquo; goalie Mike Lenarduzzi couldn&rsquo;t have picked a better time to come up with his third shutout of the season.Lenarduzzi blocked 34 shots in a 3-0 win Feb. 23 against his former team, the Ottawa 67&rsquo;s.It was Sudbury&rsquo;s first shutout on home ice in more than eight years. The last time the Wolves recorded a shutout at the Sudbury Arena wasJan. 17, 1984 when Danny Longe beat Bay 6-0.STREAK ENDS: Sault Ste. Marie Ottawa&rsquo;s 14-game unbeaten streak with win Feb. 21. The 67&rsquo;s recorded just two shots in the first period&hellip;Peterborough center John. Johnson needed five goals in his next four games to become the first Pete in the team&rsquo;s 36-year history to score 50 goals in 50 games played. Johnson had missed 12 games earlier in the season with injuries.The Petes defeated the North Bay Centennials 2-1 in North Bay Feb. 23, the first time in the Centennials&rsquo; 10-year history that they had lost six straight home games. North Bay&rsquo;s 18-10-1 road record through Feb. 27 was tops in the league&hellip;The Emms Division leading Soo Greyhounds saw their 10-game winning streak end Feb. 24 in Detroit. Center Pat Peake, a first-round choice of the Washington Capitals in 1991, scored three times for the Ambassadors in a 7-6 win.London goalie Fred Brathwaite got his third shutout as a Knight with a 5-0 win over Windsor Feb. 23. &#9632;

McCarty’s bullish style doesn’t affect his scoring

Striking a balance between goals and grades takes a special talent. But some Canadian Hockey League players have been able to excel on the ice and in the classroom. Here are five players who are truly students of the game.Curtis Bowen, 17, LW, Ottawa (OHL): This Gary Roberts clone is rated seventh over-all in the 1992 draft and carries an 80 per cent average at Ridgemount High School.Ashley Buckberger, 17, RW, Swift Cur-ent (WHL): Buckberger is touted as a first ounder in 1993 and is an 85 per cent student at Swift Current Comprehensive High School.Andrew Kemper, 17, D, Seattle (WHL): Kemper&rsquo;s plus-16 is fourth best on the team and his 3.8 grade point average at Edmonds Woodway High School is 18th out of 360.Nathan LaFayette, 19, RW, Cornwall (OHL): A third-round pick of St. Louis in 1991, LaFayette is enrolled in criminology courses through the University of Ottawa.Patrick Traverse, 17, D, Shawinigan (QMJHL): Rated 16th overall in the 1992 draft, Traverse has a 90 per cent average in sciences at a Shawinigan junior college. &#9632;

Brain power and power plays

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>The way St-Hyacinthe Laser coach Pierre Petroni figures, there&rsquo;s no reason why he shouldn&rsquo;t have the best line in the Quebec League.After all, he claims, Martin Gendron is the league&rsquo;s best goal-scorer. Charles Poulin is the most creative and intelligent player and Patrick Poulin is the QMJHL&rsquo;s best all-around player. The trio has done little to prove him wrong and may become the second teammates to finish 1-2-3 in the scoring race in league history. Guy Lafleur. Michel Briere and Andre Savard of the Quebec Remparts took the top three spots in 1970-71.&ldquo;They&rsquo;re the perfect line,&rdquo; Petroni said. &ldquo;Each of them knows his job and they work very well together.&rdquo;Gendron, a 17-year-old right winger, became the first player in the Canadian Hockey League to record 60 goals and he led the QMJHL scoring race with 118 points in 56 games. Center Charles Poulin, a third-round choice of Montreal in 1990, was tied for second with Hugues Mongeon of Laval with 35 goals and 115 points in 56 games. Left winger Patrick Poulin, a first-rounder to Hartford in 1991 was fourth with 41 goals and 111 points in 43 games. The Poulins are not related.Despite the fact Gendron is the most dangerous goal-scorer in junior hockey, he wasn&rsquo;t even ranked by the NHL&rsquo;s Central Scouting Bureau in its mid-term rankings. That he is 5-foot-8 and 179 pounds has a lot to do with it.&ldquo;I think once the scouts get to see him a little more that will change,&rdquo; Petroni said.&ldquo;The kid can play. If there&rsquo;s a loose puck, he&rsquo;s on it. He does things that you can&rsquo;t teach.&rdquo;None of the players are worried the scoring race will get in the way of their team play. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not selfish, we&rsquo;re trying to win,&rdquo; Charles Poulin said. &ldquo;If one of us wins, we&rsquo;ll all get the credit.&rdquo;MONGEON OUT: The Laval Titan didn&rsquo;t have Mongeon long enough to find out what it would be like to have him out of the lineup.Mongeon, who led the league in scoring most of the season, pulled ligaments in his left knee in an 8-4 win over St-Jean Feb. 17, two days after his trade to the Titan from Granby. He is expected to be back for the playoffs.Mongeon came to the Titan with Phillipe Boucher from Granby for Yannick Frechette and a second- and third-round choice in 1992. But the trade was actually a loan. Granby will get Mongeon and Boucher back and the Titan will retain the third-rounder after the season.Mongeon, with 48 goals and 115 points in 55 games this season, played just two games with Laval.STOP GAP: Former Chicoutimi Sagueneens goalie Denis Desbiens was recently named goalie coach for Trois-Rivieres. Desbiens, the goalie for the Universite de Quebec at Trois-Rivieres, is a candidate for the Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy as the most outstanding player in Canadian university hockey&hellip;The Draveurs earned their 800th win in franchise history with a 3-2 triumph over St-Jean Feb. 21. The Draveurs have been playing in the Quebec League since 1969-70. &#9632;

Laser threesome finds scoring goals easy as 1-2-3

<h2>STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01851/6710922-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="988" height="921"></div><h2>OVERALL STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-02532/6710915-1-eng-US/f0027-022.jpg" title="f0027-02" width="501" height="610"></div><h2>OVERTIME RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-03344/6710908-1-eng-US/f0027-032.jpg" title="f0027-03" width="475" height="610"></div><h2>RESULTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-04238/6710901-1-eng-US/f0027-042.jpg" title="f0027-04" width="986" height="1151"></div><h2>DIVISIONAL RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-05168/6710894-1-eng-US/f0027-052.jpg" title="f0027-05" width="517" height="778"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-06131/6710887-1-eng-US/f0027-062.jpg" title="f0027-06" width="902" height="1056"><figcaption class="caption-body">Raymond Bourque became the third defenseman in NHL history to score 1,000 points Feb. 29.</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/f0027-07110/6710880-1-eng-US/f0027-072.jpg" title="f0027-07" width="456" height="643"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTIES</h2>(PIM)&mdash;TOTAL PENALTY MINUTES NCLUDING (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/f0027-0897/6710873-1-eng-US/f0027-082.jpg" title="f0027-08" width="397" height="643"></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/f0027-0991/6710866-1-eng-US/f0027-092.jpg" title="f0027-09" width="454" height="636"></div><h2>TOP SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1083/6710859-1-eng-US/f0027-102.jpg" title="f0027-10" width="587" height="560"></div><h2>TOP DEFENSEMEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1172/6710852-1-eng-US/f0027-112.jpg" title="f0027-11" width="578" height="301"></div><h2>TOP ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1262/6710845-1-eng-US/f0027-122.jpg" title="f0027-12" width="591" height="295"></div><h2>LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1356/6710838-1-eng-US/f0027-132.jpg" title="f0027-13" width="594" height="1460"></div><h2>SCHEDULE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1451/6710831-1-eng-US/f0027-142.jpg" title="f0027-14" width="498" height="1149"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1540/6710824-1-eng-US/f0027-152.jpg" title="f0027-15" width="477" height="1045"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-1633/6710817-1-eng-US/f0027-162.jpg" title="f0027-16" width="474" height="636"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kirk Muller</figcaption></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01892/6710810-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="1011" height="1463"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02592/6710803-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="1000" height="997"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03422/6710796-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="1001" height="774"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04299/6710789-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="995" height="313"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05234/6710782-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="1000" height="1351"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WIHGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-06202/6710775-1-eng-US/f0028-062.jpg" title="f0028-06" width="985" height="976"></div><h2>EDMONTOH OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-07182/6710768-1-eng-US/f0028-072.jpg" title="f0028-07" width="993" height="581"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-08165/6710761-1-eng-US/f0028-082.jpg" title="f0028-08" width="994" height="388"></div><h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-09154/6710754-1-eng-US/f0028-092.jpg" title="f0028-09" width="1009" height="1046"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-10147/6710747-1-eng-US/f0028-102.jpg" title="f0028-10" width="991" height="861"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-11141/6710740-1-eng-US/f0028-112.jpg" title="f0028-11" width="1002" height="902"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01784/6710733-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="990" height="918"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02509/6710726-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="994" height="943"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03329/6710719-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="989" height="1212"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04233/6710712-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="1003" height="67"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05205/6710705-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="998" height="856"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06168/6710698-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="991" height="1185"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUIHS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-07142/6710691-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="1001" height="1062"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-08123/6710684-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="993" height="158"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-09114/6710677-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="985" height="892"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-10105/6710670-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="995" height="978"></div><h2>SAN JOSE SHARKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1197/6710663-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="988" height="812"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1286/6710656-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="992" height="567"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01887/6710649-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="993" height="609"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02595/6710642-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="988" height="451"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03409/6710635-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="983" height="340"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04293/6710628-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="984" height="730"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05216/6710621-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="983" height="1047"></div> &#9632;

f0027-01

The Hockey News

<h2>TEAM-BY-TEAM</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06177/6710974-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="991" height="1236"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-07150/6710967-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="986" height="1329"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-08136/6710960-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="986" height="457"></div><h2>LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-09120/6710953-1-eng-US/f0030-092.jpg" title="f0030-09" width="983" height="778"></div> &#9632;

f0030-06

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<h2>NOTE</h2>Unofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League; (shots on goal/plus-minus); SA-shots against; GA-goals against; ENG-empty net goals; DEC-decision, charged to goaltenders of record when deciding goal is scored.<h2>MONDAY, FEB. 24</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-10106/6711173-1-eng-US/f0030-102.jpg" title="f0030-10" width="572" height="429"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1198/6711166-1-eng-US/f0030-112.jpg" title="f0030-11" width="578" height="603"></div><h2>TUESDAY, FEB. 25</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1292/6711159-1-eng-US/f0030-122.jpg" title="f0030-12" width="569" height="114"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1384/6711152-1-eng-US/f0030-132.jpg" title="f0030-13" width="580" height="801"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1478/6711145-1-eng-US/f0030-142.jpg" title="f0030-14" width="571" height="805"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1572/6711138-1-eng-US/f0030-152.jpg" title="f0030-15" width="576" height="810"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01820/6711131-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="579" height="1916"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02538/6711124-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="595" height="1904"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03390/6711117-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="609" height="1904"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04295/6711110-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="583" height="315"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, FEB. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05238/6711103-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="593" height="1502"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06200/6711096-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="593" height="1906"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01879/6711089-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="599" height="473"></div><h2>THURSDAY, FEB. 27</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02608/6711082-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="601" height="2944"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03424/6711075-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="585" height="3519"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04295/6711068-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="597" height="1228"></div><h2>FRIDAY, FEB. 28</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05221/6711061-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="599" height="2205"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-06185/6711054-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="587" height="2790"></div><h2>SATURDAY, FEB. 29</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-07158/6711047-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="591" height="642"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-08138/6711040-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="604" height="3515"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01797/6711033-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="607" height="3517"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02546/6711026-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="584" height="1357"></div><h2>SUNDAY, MARCH 1</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03406/6711019-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="596" height="2065"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04319/6711012-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg" title="f0033-04" width="599" height="3517"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-05267/6711005-1-eng-US/f0033-052.jpg" title="f0033-05" width="584" height="3520"></div> &#9632;

f0030-10

NHL SUMMARIES

With a name like Nystrom, you know he must be good.And make no mistake. Lee Nystrom, 11, is a good young defenseman in the Snow Lake (Man.) Minor Hockey Association.Nystrom-who isn&rsquo;t related to former Islander great Bob Nystrom-is a rushing defenceman in the Paul Coffey mold. He set a league record with 20 goals and 58 points in 17 tournament games last year.He led his Atom Spartans to the silver medal in the provincial playoffs last year with six goals and 16 points in six games.At 4-foot-11 and 93 pounds, Nystrom isn&rsquo;t afraid to throw his weight around. And he has added the captain&rsquo;s &ldquo;C&rdquo; to his responsibilities this year. Nystrom is a big fan of the St. Louis Blues. His favorite players are Eric Lindros and Brett Hull.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07174/6711204-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="572" height="997"><figcaption class="caption-body">Lee Nystrom</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, &lsquo;coach&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;

f0031-07

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

NOTE: ALL STATISTICS ARE AS OF MONDAY.MARCH 2/92, 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/f0033-06231/6711333-1-eng-US/f0033-062.jpg" title="f0033-06" width="576" height="1711"></div><h2>COLONIAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-07210/6711326-1-eng-US/f0033-072.jpg" title="f0033-07" width="591" height="1473"></div><h2>IHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01887/6711319-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="595" height="1546"></div><h2>ECHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-02625/6711312-1-eng-US/f0034-022.jpg" title="f0034-02" width="599" height="1796"></div><h2>QMJHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-03489/6711305-1-eng-US/f0034-032.jpg" title="f0034-03" width="600" height="1555"></div><h2>WHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-04380/6711298-1-eng-US/f0034-042.jpg" title="f0034-04" width="615" height="1773"></div><h2>OHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-05308/6711291-1-eng-US/f0034-052.jpg" title="f0034-05" width="601" height="1644"></div><h2>NCAA TOP 10</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-06274/6711284-1-eng-US/f0034-062.jpg" title="f0034-06" width="588" height="450"></div><h2>HOCKEY EAST</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-07251/6711277-1-eng-US/f0034-072.jpg" title="f0034-07" width="607" height="1169"></div><h2>ECAC</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-08232/6711270-1-eng-US/f0034-082.jpg" title="f0034-08" width="590" height="1485"></div><h2>CCHA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-09209/6711263-1-eng-US/f0034-092.jpg" title="f0034-09" width="595" height="912"></div><h2>WCHA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-10201/6711256-1-eng-US/f0034-102.jpg" title="f0034-10" width="590" height="880"></div><h2>AUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-11188/6711249-1-eng-US/f0034-112.jpg" title="f0034-11" width="595" height="928"></div><h2>OUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-12181/6711242-1-eng-US/f0034-122.jpg" title="f0034-12" width="605" height="1497"></div><h2>CWUAA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-13160/6711235-1-eng-US/f0034-132.jpg" title="f0034-13" width="599" height="846"></div> &#9632;

f0033-06

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">Gary Olson</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0036-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01796/6711364-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ulf Dahlen doesn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;s having a great season even though he leads the North Stars in goals. (Photo by Mitch Jaspan/BBS)</figcaption></div>Ulf Dahlen&rsquo;s style of play has been likened by some to a baseball rain delay.When Dahlen first came to the Minnesota North Stars in a highly-unpopular 1990 trade-deadline deal that sent Mike Gartner to the New York Rangers, it seemed each time he latched onto the puck, the pace of play slowed.As is the case during a rain delay, people could go to the concession stands, wait in line for a hot dog and a Coke and when they got back to their seats, Ulfie still had the puck in his skates, working along the boards.Back then, and again at the start of last season, not much happened when Dahlen got the puck. It was great for the food peddlers, not great for the Stars. Gartner skated statistical circles around the young Swede. So much so, that at one point last year, the Stars were ready to make him available to San Jose as part of the dispersal agreement between the two teams.&ldquo;I used to work the boards so long I&rsquo;d get tired,&rdquo; Dahlen said. &ldquo;Now, I try to get to the net faster, while I still have the energy in my legs.&rdquo;Dahlen&rsquo;s game began to change midway through last season and he scored 19 of his 21 goals in his last 42 games. This year, he topped 30 goals for the first time in five NHL seasons-he had 31 through Feb. 27&mdash;and is the team&rsquo;s goal leader.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m having a great season. We should be at .500,&rdquo; Dahlen said. The team&rsquo;s struggle seemed more important to the 25-year-old than his goals. Honest.&ldquo;Ulf understands the concept of team play and his duties and does his best to carry them out,&rdquo; Stars&rsquo; coach Bob Gainey said, offering a rare compliment during a late-season struggle. &ldquo;His performance on the ice has matched his character off it.&ldquo;He is a European player who seems to really enjoy the NHL. He has made an emotional commitment to success that a lot of European players seem to save for the World Cham-pionships and other favorite events.&rdquo;The strength of Dahlen&rsquo;s game is still along the boards but now he uses it to get to the front. Sometimes, as he skates down his wing, he&rsquo;ll turn his back to the boards, inviting would-be checkers to come to him.&ldquo;The whole idea of playing with the puck along the boards is to get the guy checking you behind you,&rdquo; Dahlen said. &ldquo;That way, when he pushes you, he pushes you forward and helps you get away from him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve said before that I&rsquo;m not surprised that I&rsquo;m scoring goals. I scored 29 goals in my rookie season (198788) and 24 the next year even though I missed a lot of time with shoulder trouble.&rdquo;He separated his left shoulder early in the 1988-89 season, missed five weeks, returned for six games and separated his other shoulder. Somehow, he still managed to play 56 games.Roger Neilson took over as Ranger coach in 1989-90 and Dahlen&rsquo;s playing time began to dwindle until he was traded to Minnesota. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t blame the team or the coach,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;At the start of last season, I was in and out of the lineup and then there were all the rumors that I was part of a deal with San Jose and I&rsquo;d go there after the season. I finally got a chance to play and was able to put all the talk behind me.&ldquo;After the way we played last spring, I expected more of the team this year. We have the potential to be a winning team and there&rsquo;s still time, to become one if we get on a roll.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0036-01

Dahlen is Mahvellous

<div class="byline">By Bob McKenzie</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02556/6711402-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="374" height="497"></div>The Russians are coming, even to the Norris Division. And this is news?It is if you&rsquo;re talking about the staid midwest of the hockey map, where the gap-toothed grins of old-time hockey afficionados Bobby Clarke and Brian Sutter, not to mention the fire in Mike Keenan&rsquo;s eyes, speak volumes about the way the game is played in the true grit division.But give the inhabitants of the Norris some credit. They are catching on. Well, some of them are anyway.When Chicago Blackhawk defenseman Igor Kravchuk, the captain of the gold medal-winning Unified Team, made his NHL debut at the raucous Stadium Feb. 27, it was an historic occasion. The Hawks had their first Russian. More importantly, the Norris Division finally had more than one team with that old Soviet flavor. (It hasn&rsquo;t been quite the same since the Toronto Maple Leafs traded Ukrainian Alexander Godynyuk to Calgary.)The Detroit Red Wings, the Norris&rsquo; renaissance men, long ago decided better red than dead. Or, given these politically correct times, better to have a couple of highly-skilled speed merchants from the old U.S.S.R. than be looking up at the Leafs in the standings.Detroit doesn&rsquo;t lead the league in Russians&mdash;the New Jersey Devils, with four, hold that distinction-but the Wings do if you&rsquo;re counting impact players. Standout sophomore center Sergei Fedorov and rave rookie defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov will eventually be joined by waterbug forward Viacheslav Kozlov. He&rsquo;ll be in the Wing lineup as soon as a few Central Red Army palms can be greased.So, let&rsquo;s take a Norris Division Russian roll call.Detroit? All present and accounted for. Chicago? Check. Toronto? General manager Cliff Fletcher&rsquo;s calendar has March 10 circled. That&rsquo;s the day defenseman Dmitri Mironov is scheduled to join the Leafs. St. Louis? Yo, St. Louis. Absent. Minnesota? Oh, Minnesota? Absent.There are five teams in the NHL that have never drafted a Russian. The Blues and North Stars are two of them (Boston, Hartford and Pittsburgh are the others). No one is saying you absolutely must have a Russian in the lineup to be effective, but there are more teams than not out there who believe that to be the case.The highest R.Q. (Russians Quotient) belongs to the six-team Patrick Division, where seven players are active and 11 others have been drafted but remain in the motherland.For the purposes of this survey, signed Russians playing in the minors don&rsquo;t show up in these numbers.New Jersey leads the way with I four (active) and one (draftee). The New York Rangers are one and five; the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals are both one and two; the New York Islanders are oh and one; and, the Penguins are oh and oh.Next on the R.Q. list is the six-team Smythe Division, with seven active and an incredible 20 drafted.The breakdown is as follows: Calgary, two and five; Vancouver, two and two; Edmonton, one and three; Winnipeg (coming hard), one and seven; San Jose (after only one draft), one and two; and, Los Angeles, oh and one.Then comes the Adams Division (four and eight): Quebec, three and four; Buffalo, one and two; Montreal, oh and two; and, Hartford and Boston, both oh and oh.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03458/6711395-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="562" height="703"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vladimir Konstantinov</figcaption></div>The Norris, not counting imminent arrivals Kozlov and Mironov, is three and seven. Detroit is two and three; Chicago is one and one; Toronto is I oh and three; and, St. Louis and Minnesota are both oh and oh.But the Norris&rsquo; last-place standing in R.Q. will be shortlived. When Mironov and Kozlov begin playing, it will give the division five active, one more than those neanderthals in the Adams family.This, one may surmise, is a trend. Winnipeg GM Mike Smith has already predicted the day in the forseeable future when every team in the league will have at least three former Soviets and as many as five or six in the lineup.After all, if it will play in Peoria&mdash;or Chicago-history tells us it&rsquo;s bound to catch on in a big way. &#9632;

f0036-02

Will we be calling it the Boris Division?

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div>The St. Louis Blues turned things around after trading Adam Oates to the Boston Bruins. But they weren&rsquo;t able to win the important games.The Blues were 7-4-0 after acquiring Craig Janney and Stephane Quintal from Boston for Oates Feb. 7. But Janney&rsquo;s presence didn&rsquo;t help them beat Norris Division rivals Detroit and Chicago.The Red Wings beat St. Louis 3-2 Feb. 29, extending their season-long mastery over the Blues to 6-1-0. The Blues were beaten 4-2 six days earlier by the Blackhawks.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been playing well against everyone except Detroit and Chicago,&rdquo; right winger Brett Hull said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d rather lose to everyone else and beat them because those are the guys we have to beat in the playoffs.&rdquo;If there was ever a night for the Blues to end their Detroit jinx, it was Feb. 29. Detroit alternate captains Bob Probert and Gerard Gallant were ejected from the game after separate incidents in the first period. Gallant Reived a five-minute major and game misconduct for spearing Rick Zombo, while Probert received afive-minute match penalty for deliberately trying to injure Garth Butcher on the bench.&ldquo;Any time you can take Probert and an experienced guy like Gerard Gallant off their team, that kind of gives you the upper hand,&rdquo; Hull said. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t seize the opportunity.&rdquo;The Butcher-Probert incident added to the bad blood between the teams.&ldquo;He spun around and two-handed a baseball swing directly on the jaw,&rdquo; Butcher said. &ldquo;It was blatant. He swung and made direct contact.&rdquo;ADDING HELP: Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron made several moves to bolster the roster for the stretch run.He placed steady veteran Gino Cavallini on waivers Feb. 25 and signed left winger Philippe Bozon.Bozon, who played for France at the Winter Olympics, originally signed with the Blues in 1985. He played part of the 1986-87 season with Peoria of the International League before returning to France.Caron also signed veteran Curt Giles Feb. 29. Giles, 33, was a member of Canada&rsquo;s silver-medal winningteam. The 33-year-old defenseman played 12-seasons with Minnesota before joining the Olympic team this year.NOTEBOOK: Bob Bassen has found a home on a line with Craig Janney and Brett Hull. Bassen had 12 points in his previous 10 games through March 1, nearly equalling his previous output of 15 points through 53 games.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 25: Gino Cavallini, LW, placed on waivers. Feb. 27: Philippe Bozon. LW, signed multi-year contract. Feb. 28: Michel Mongeau, C. assigned to Peoria (IHL). Feb. 29: Curt Giles, D. signed contract.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Craig Janney. Ron Sutter. Dave Christian, Ron Wilson.LW&mdash;Bob Bassen, Nelson Emerson. Dave Lowry, Dave Mackey, Philippe Bozon.RW&mdash;Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, Rich Sutter, Darin Kimble, Kelly Chase.LD&mdash;Paul Cavallini, Jeff Brown. Murray Baron, Curt Giles. Lee Norwood.RD&mdash;Rick Zombo, Stephane Quintal, Garth Butcher.G&mdash;Curtis Joseph, Pat Jablonski.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Janney helps spark revival but key foes still dominate

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div>Mike Keenan thinks he added an important piece to the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; puzzle by signing Russian defenseman Igor Kravchuk.&ldquo;When we made some decisions earlier this year about (trading) Trent Yawney and Steve Konroyd, we had this in mind,&rdquo; said the Hawks&rsquo; general manager-coach.kravchuk, who helped lead his ed Team to an Olympic gold medal in Meribel, France, signed a three-year, $700,000 contract Feb. 27. He&rsquo;ll earn $200,000 this year, $250,000 next and $250,000 in the option year.The Hawks also paid Kravchuk&rsquo;s Central Red Army team a $90,000 transfer fee.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy to play for the Blackhawks and I&rsquo;m here to help them,&rdquo; said Kravchuk, who speaks broken English. &ldquo;I wanted to play in the NHL because there are many famous players here.&rdquo;Kravchuk made his impact felt early. In his first NHL game he scored the winning goal in a 4-2 win Wr Detroit Feb. 27. But his giveaway in overtime led to Wendel Clark&rsquo;s goal in a 6-5 loss to Toronto two nights later.Kravchuk, 25, was the Hawks&rsquo; fourth-round draft pick in 1991. Keenan said he expects Kravchuk to be his No. 3 defenseman behind Chris Chelios and Steve Smith.&ldquo;He plays well defensively and he can move the puck on offense,&rdquo; Keenan said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you should expect to see a superstar, but he&rsquo;s an experienced defenseman who&rsquo;ll add a lot to our team.&rdquo;Kravchuk is the first Russian ever to play for the Hawks, and if Keenan has his way, he won&rsquo;t be the last.&ldquo;Every team to win the Stanley Cup in recent years has had impact players from Europe going back to the Islanders with Tomas Jonsson and Stefan Persson,&rdquo; Keenan said.PAY UP: In an expected move, the Hawks announced they will televise their home playoff games on a pay-per-view basis.The cost will be $19.95 per game or $16.95 for those who purchase an entire playoff round. Bars and restaurants must pay $100 to show the games. The Hawks haven&rsquo;t televised a home game since 1985.The announcement irritated most sports fans in Chicago, who are used to watching home games of the Cubs, Bulls, Bears and White Sox for free.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not trying to force anything down their throat,&rdquo; said owner Bill Wirtz. &ldquo;We aren&rsquo;t asking anyone to buy it. What we&rsquo;ve done is make it available.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Jeremy Roenick tied two club records March 1 in a 3-I win at Buffalo. Roenick scored his 47th goal, tying Denis Savard&rsquo;s mark for most goals in a season by a Hawks&rsquo; center. It was also his 11th game-winning goal, equalling Bobby Hull&rsquo;s team record.<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: Stu Grimson, LW, recalled from Indianapolis (IHL) Feb. 27: Igor Kravchuk, D, signed three-year contract. Jeff Jackson, LW, assigned to Indianapolis Feb. 28; Dean McAmmond, RW, returned to Prince Albert (WHL). March 1: Jackson recalled from Indianapolis<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jeremy Roenick, Brent Sutter, Mike Hudson, Tony Hrkac.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet. Stephane Matteau. Stu Grimson, Dan Vincelette, Jeff Jackson.RW&mdash;Steve Larmer. Rob Brown. Dirk Graham, Mike Peluso.LD&mdash;Steve Smith, Frantisek Kucera. Igor Kravchuk. Cam Russell.RD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Bryan Marchment, Adam Bennett.G&mdash;Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Keith Brown, D. sprained right ankle, day-to-day. Rod Buskas, D, sprained left ankle, indefinite. Greg Gilbert, LW, broken right ankle, indefinite. Tony Horacek, LW, hip pointer, indefinite. Jocelyn Lemieux, RW. Charley horse, day-to-day. Brian Noonan, RW, torn left knee ligaments. day-to-day. &#9632;

Talented Kravchuk joins fold

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave</div>Viacheslav Kozlov is all set to follow comrade Pavel Bure&rsquo;s path to the NHL.The 19-year-old Russian center wants a Detroit judge to arbitrate negotiations for his release from his former team in Russia.Kozlov has filed suit in Wayne County Circuit Court against the former Central Red Army club and the NHL. At issue is an alleged five-year contract with four years remaining.which Kozlov wants declared void. He is also seeking an injunction that would require the NHL to allow him to play pending the outcome of the case.The Russians released Bure to Vancouver for $250,000 of which Bure chipped in $50,000 after a day of bargaining in the chambers of a Detroit courtroom in November.The suit was filed Feb. 21. A hearing is scheduled for March 6 before judge Sharon Finch, said Wings&rsquo; executive vice-president Jim Lites.Lites and coach-general manager Bryan Murray met with Russian officials, including Red Army general manager Valery Gushin, for several hours in Chicago Feb. 26. The talks ended in a stalemate.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re miles apart,&rdquo; Lites said. &ldquo;We think we know the market, and they&rsquo;re not even close.&rdquo;The going rate for players arriving from Russia had been between $200,000 and $250,000 a so-called developmental fee that teams negotiate for each player. 4But the Wings believe the going rate changed when the Chicago Blackhawks-according to sources familiar with the agreement-paid just $90,000 for the release of defenseman Igor Kravchuk. Sources said the Russians were asking upwards of $ I million for Kozlov&rsquo;s release.Court documents filed by Kozlov suggest he signed his Red Army contract under duress and he was not given the opportunity not to sign it. Documents also allege the contract is invalid because Kozlov no longer is a member of the military. It also suggests the Red Army breached the contract when it failed to pay Kozlov thfl agreed amount of $33 per month (5,000 rubles) when he was seriously injured in an October auto accident.MONEY IN BANK: Goalie Tim Cheveldae played in his league-leading 60th game Feb. 29 against St. Louis. Cheveldae stopped 27 shots in a 3-2 win.It qualified him for a $150,000 bonus, by far the biggest individual bonus among the Wings. It nearly doubled his base pay of $200,000.Cheveldae could be a millionaire by next season. He is in the final year of his contract and the Wings have promised him a long-term deal.Cheveldae was on pace to play 75 games, which would tie Grant Furhr&rsquo;s record with Edmonton in 1987-88.NOTEBOOK: The Wings&rsquo; victory in St. Louis gave Brian Murray 413 career wins, tying him with former Detroit coach-GM Jack Adams for eighth on the all-time list.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 26: Johan Garpenlov, LW, assigned to Adirondack (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman. Jimmy Carson. Sergei Fedorov, Kevin MillerLW&mdash;Keith Primeau, Gerard Gallant, Shawn Burr, Sheldon Kennedy. Brian MacLellan.RW&mdash;Ray Sheppard, Bob Probert, Paul Ysebaert, Alan Kerr, Brent Fedyk.LD&mdash;Nicklas Lidstrom, Vladimir Konstantinov, Doug CrossmanRD&mdash;Brad McCrimmon. Steve Chiasson, Brad Marsh. Bobby DollasG&mdash;Tim Cheveldae, Greg Millen<h3>INJURIES</h3>Troy Crowder, RW, bulging disc In back. March 15 Vincent Riendeau, G, right knee surgery, day-to-day. &#9632;

Kozlov follows Bure’s suit and files suit in court

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div>Like a blast of caffeine on a sluggish winter morning, an injection of youth and vitality was just what the Toronto Maple Leafs needed.The return of Rob Pearson from the minors and Joe Sacco from the U.S. Olympic squad in late February helped the Leafs close the gap on the fourth-place Minnesota North Stars.The Leafs hammered the Stars 6-2 in Toronto March 1 to put them five points back in the race for the last playoff spot. It was the closest the Leafs had been to the Stars since before Christmas.Pearson was a pleasant surprise after being recalled from Toronto&rsquo;s American League affiliate in St. John&rsquo;s, Nfld., Feb. 12. He started the season with the Leafs, but was sent down when his ice time dwindled.In his first nine games, the 20-year-old right winger had six goals and four assists. He started alongside No. 1 center Doug Gilmour as a fill-in for the suspended Glenn Anderson, was moved to a line with Peter Rezel and Wendel Clark upon Anderson&rsquo;s return.&ldquo;(Head coach) Tom (Watt) has given me a great opportunity,&rdquo; Pearson said.The 23-year-old Sacco joined the Leafs in Boston Feb. 27 after playing for the U.S. at the Winter Olympics. He scored his first two NHL goals in the win over the Stars.FLETCHER HURTING: The Leafs were a pain in the neck for general manager Cliff Fletcher in the first half of the season.But now the problem is more real than figurative.Fletcher returned from the Winter Olympics in France with severe back spasms resulting from a neck problem. A magnetic imagery resonance (MR1) examination revealed two dislocated discs in his spine.The 55-year-old Fletcher immediately started undergoing traction every morning at a Toronto hospital and it&rsquo;s hoped therapy will ease the problem and help him avoid surgery.NOTEBOOK: Until the arrival of Joe Sacco, the Leafs were the only entirely Canadian-bom team in the NHL&hellip;Dave Hannan returned from his Olympic experience with Canada to find his trade request had not been honored. He was back in the lineup Feb. 29 for a 6-5 overtime win over Chicago and it was unclear whether the team still planned to move him.Damien Cox is a hockey writer for the Toronto Star.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 25: Greg Johnston, RW, and Damian Rhodes, G, assigned to St. John&rsquo;s (AHL). Feb. 27: Joe Sacco, LW, added to roster from U.S. Olympic team Feb. 28: Dave Hannan, C, added to roster from Canadian Olympic team. March 2: Kent Manderville, LW, added to roster Canadian Olympic team.<h2>ROSTER</h2>C&mdash;Doug Gilmour, Peter Zezel, Claude Loiselle, Dave Hannan. Brian Bradley.LW&mdash;Joe Sacco, Wendel Clark, Guy Larose, Mike Krushelnyski, Mike Bullard, Kent Manderville.RW&mdash;Glenn Anderson, Rob Pearson, Daniel Marois, Lucien Deblois, Kevin McClelland.LD&mdash;Dave Eilett, Jamie Macoun, Darryl Shannon.RD&mdash;Bob Rouse, Ric Nattress, Todd Gill, Bob Halkidis.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr, Rick Wamsley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike Foligno, RW, broken left leg, indefinite. Kevin Maguire, RW, bruised back, indefinite. &#9632;

Injection of youthful talent rekindles playoff hopes

<div class="byline">By Gary Olson</div>Just when Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; goalie Jon Casey thought things couldn&rsquo;t get any worse, they did.The North Stars&rsquo; million-dollar goalie was assigned to Kalamazoo of the International League March 2 for a four-game conditioning stint. He was expected to rejoin the team March 9. Minnesota called up veteran Larry 26, to backup Darcy Wakaluk.North Stars&rsquo; general manager Bob Clarke said he made the move to give Casey time to compose himself after an poor second half.&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s the right thing for Jon and I think it&rsquo;s the right thing for the team,&rdquo; North Stars&rsquo; coach Bob Gainey said. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t afford to have him working out his problems at this level and I think Jon agrees.&rdquo;Gainey was particularly critical of Casey&rsquo;s play during the Stars&rsquo; 3-7-0 run in late February. He ripped the 29-year-old netminder Feb. 26 after a 4-1 loss to Montreal even though Casey didn&rsquo;t play.&ldquo;In big games you look to your leaders and they&rsquo;re supposed to lead,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy to point out Neal Broten&rsquo;s mistake (a blind clearing pass that led to the winning goal) but Jon Casey is another player the team has made a long-term commitment to and he wasn&rsquo;t even on the ice. He didn&rsquo;t play because he didn&rsquo;t deserve to play.&rdquo;Casey has been one of the league&rsquo;s best goaltenders in the past three years. But some contend he is slacking this season after signing a four-year, $3.8-million contract Nov. 12.Casey disagrees. And he wasn&rsquo;t particularly thrilled with Gainey&rsquo;s comments.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s pretty hard for us (goalies) to score,&rdquo; he said after the Montreal game. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t criticize the way he coaches. I don&rsquo;t take potshots at him about the way he does things. I feel I&rsquo;ve done my share.&rdquo;&ldquo;Jon is feeling a lot of pressure,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;But his history says he performs well when there&rsquo;s pressure.It&rsquo;s something that, with our help, he has to find a way through.&rdquo;McRAE OUT: Enforcer Basil McRae suffered a season-ending injury in the first period of a 5-4 loss to Hartford Feb. 29.McRae was cut between the top of his skate and bottom of his shin pad in a collision with teammate Shane Churla.According to Dr. Bill Simonet, who performed the surgery on McRae later that night, the tendons to McRae&rsquo;s two small toes were cut and so were two sensory nerves that control the feeling on the top of his foot.The surgery was a success and full recovery is expected.NOTEBOOK: Left winger Gaeten Duchesne had just seven goals and 22 points for the team through March 2. But the North Stars were 6-0-0 in games when he scored a goal.<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 29: Brad Berry, D, recalled from Kalamazoo (IHL). Steve Martinson, LW, recalled from San Diego (IHL). March 2: Jon Casey, G. and Steve Maltais, LW, assigned to Kalamazoo. Larry Dyck, G, recalled from Kalamazoo.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bobby Smith, Dave Gagner, Neal Broten, Todd Elik. Marc BureauLW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Gaetan Duchesne, Derrick Smith, Steve MartinsonRW&mdash;Ulf Dahlen, Mike Modano, Mike Craig, Shane Churta.LD&mdash;Mark Tinordi, Craig Ludwig, Brad Berry, Enrico Ciccone.RD&mdash;Chris Dahlquist, Jim Johnson, David Shaw.G&mdash;Darcy Wakaluk, Larry Dyck.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Stewart Gavin, RW, strained groin muscle, day-to-day Derian Hatcher, D, broken right ankle, indefinite. Basii McRae, LW, severed tendons, left foot, indefinite. Al Pedersen, D, abdominal surgery, indefinite Brian Propp, LW, dislocated right shoulder, Indefinite. Rob Ramage, D, left knee surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Casey sent to farm

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/c0004-01242/6711553-1-eng-US/c0004-012.jpg" title="C0004-01" width="566" height="780"></div>Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; goaltender Bill Ranford was named NHL Pro Set player of the week, for the period ending March 1.In three games, Ranford posted a 3-0-0 record and 1.67 goals-against average.Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; left winger Luc Robitaille, with eight points (4-4-8) in three games, was runner-up for player-of-the-week honors.Throughout the 1991-92 season, Pro Set Inc., will donate $600 to the youth hockey organization designated by the player of the week.Pro Set will also contribute $1,200 on behalf of the player of the month and $8,500 for the player of the year award winner. Now in its second season as sponsor of these NHL awards, Pro Set is contributing over $56,000 to youth hockey organizations acrossNorth America.Ranford began the week by leading the Oilers to a 6-1 home win over Smythe Division-rival Winnipeg Feb. 26, turning aside 30 of 31 Jet shots. He then led the Oilers to a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Feb. 28, closing out a five-game home stand.Ranford then posted his second win over the Jets in five days March 1 with a 4-2 decision in Winnipeg.For the week, Ranford stopped 74 of 79 shots for a .937 save percentage. He raised his won-loss record to 22-22-7.Robitaille started the week with a goal and two assists in the Kings&rsquo; 4-3 win over Vancouver Feb. 25. He added a goal and an assist in a 4-2 win over Quebec Feb. 27. Two nights later, Robitaille scored two goals with one assist in the Kings&rsquo; 5-3 win over Montreal. &#9632;

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March 13, 1992

Changing name Whale of an idea

First in goal: Net marks falling fast and furious

ELSTON

Spring magic just what struggling champs need