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.

April 3, 1992

The Hockey News April 3, 1992

An open letter to Bill Wirtz, owner of the Chicago Blackhawks:Under no circumstances will my season-ticket partners or I attend playoff games at the Stadium if replacement players are used.We have grown weary of the lack of co-operation between the owners and the NHL Players&rsquo; Association. It is the fans who support your teams, who will be cheated. It will not be tolerated.Don&rsquo;t lose sight of how long it took the fans to forgive you for the Bobby Hull debacle in 1972. Some of them never have.We support your organization, we&rsquo;re there when you need us. It&rsquo;s bad business to turn your back on your most valuable asset, the fans.Ronald R. Cook,&nbsp;First Balcony Section S, seats 1 and 2<h2>Yes, butt&hellip;</h2>The Hockey News obviously got just half the story in the Gerald Diduck-Paul Kruse head-butting incident. Otherwise, it wouldn&rsquo;t have jeered the Canuck defenseman (THN, March 13).I was at the game and had the perfect vantage point to view the incident. With just a few minutes left and the humiliation of losing 11-0, Calgary coach Doug Risebrough sent Kruse over the boards. The Flame forward skated across the ice towards Diduck, blind-sided him, then punched Diduck twice before anyone knew what was going on. That&rsquo;s why Diduck head-butted Kruse.Just what did Risebrough have in mind by sending Kruse out? Was Kruse hoping he&rsquo;d be able to inspire his teammates enough to score 12 times in the last two minutes?THN should have gotten the story straight before it accused Diduck of wrong-doing.Scott Taylor,&nbsp;Vancouver, B.C.<h2>Rookie mistake</h2>There was a glaring omission from Frank Brown&rsquo;s New York Ranger stretch-drive story (THN, March 6). Tony Amonte, the NHL&rsquo;s top rookie scorer through March 16, was left out of the Hardware Hopefuls category.Surely the league&rsquo;s most productive first-year player and the Rangers&rsquo; second-leading goal scorer warrants consideration for the Calder Trophy.Scott W. Wachs,&nbsp;Durham, N.C.<h2>Shame on Shane</h2>After watching highlights of the Feb. 29 game between the Minnesota North Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs, I am convinced Shane Churla of the North Stars is the biggest joke in the NHL.Case in point: Wendel Clark sidestepped the club-footed Churla who, having been easily beaten, deliberately stuck out his leg to make contact with the Leaf captain&rsquo;s oft-injured knee.Toronto rookie Rob Pearson intercepted Churla before Clark could reply, but be forewarned Mr. Churla: I would rather be dipped in steak sauce and fed to wild dogs than have your fate of facing up to Clark for your manly actions.Darren Pawlyk,&nbsp;Calgary, Alta.<h2>Hurting himself</h2>Isn&rsquo;t it a little silly for a player who sat out the entire season and wanted to be dealt to sign with an independent minor league team 24 hours before the trading deadline?In spiting Lou Lamoriello, Sean Burke precluded any chance of the New Jersey Devils trading him. I also believe he told all Devils&rsquo; fans to go to hell a second time.Thank you, Sean. Enjoy your stay in San Diego. It may be a long one.William Graziano,&nbsp;Rochelle Park, N.J.<h2>Same old Soviets</h2>I couldn&rsquo;t believe your Cheers for the Unified Team (THN, March 6). It was truly amazing how the media portrayed the former Soviets as a bunch of International League castoffs.With the exception of the four or five players they lost to the NHL, the Unified Team represented the cream of their hockey program and should have won gold.I can&rsquo;t recall how many Canada Cups Randy Smith, Wally Schreiber and Todd Brest have been in. How you can call the ex-Soviets the world&rsquo;s premier team is beyond me. Perhaps you need to re-examine just who they defeated.Michael Nease,&nbsp;Bramalea, Ont.<h2>School&rsquo;s out</h2>Andre Racicot&rsquo;s assessment that Ron Tugnutt would not be in the NHL in three year&rsquo;s time (THN, Feb. 28) prompted me to create this riddle:Q: What does Racicot have in common with an unemployed school teacher? A: No class.Hart Stoffman,&nbsp;Winnipeg, Man.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;

IN THIS ISSUE

Replacements won’t be tolerated

NOTEUnofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League; (shots on goal/plus-minus); SA-shots against; GA-goals against; ENG-empty net goals; iDEC-decision, charged to goaltenders of record when deciding goal is scored.<h2>MONDAY, MARCH 16</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1054/6718805-1-eng-US/f0041-102.jpg" title="f0041-10" width="587" height="713"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1149/6718798-1-eng-US/f0041-112.jpg" title="f0041-11" width="592" height="1071"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1241/6718791-1-eng-US/f0041-122.jpg" title="f0041-12" width="590" height="547"></div><h2>TUESDAY, MARCH 17</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1334/6718784-1-eng-US/f0041-132.jpg" title="f0041-13" width="593" height="449"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1432/6718777-1-eng-US/f0041-142.jpg" title="f0041-14" width="590" height="1071"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-1530/6718770-1-eng-US/f0041-152.jpg" title="f0041-15" width="597" height="1068"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-01377/6718763-1-eng-US/f0042-012.jpg" title="f0042-01" width="598" height="3499"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-02250/6718756-1-eng-US/f0042-022.jpg" title="f0042-02" width="590" height="1107"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-03191/6718749-1-eng-US/f0042-032.jpg" title="f0042-03" width="590" height="2311"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-04149/6718742-1-eng-US/f0042-042.jpg" title="f0042-04" width="575" height="975"></div><h2>THURSDAY, MARCH 19</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-05132/6718735-1-eng-US/f0042-052.jpg" title="f0042-05" width="593" height="2446"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-06119/6718728-1-eng-US/f0042-062.jpg" title="f0042-06" width="598" height="3491"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-07107/6718721-1-eng-US/f0042-072.jpg" title="f0042-07" width="596" height="1156"></div><h2>FRIDAY, MARCH 20</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0042-0896/6718714-1-eng-US/f0042-082.jpg" title="f0042-08" width="593" height="2262"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01397/6718707-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg" title="f0043-01" width="587" height="1235"></div><h2>SATURDAY, MARCH 21</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-02278/6718700-1-eng-US/f0043-022.jpg" title="f0043-02" width="596" height="2173"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-03230/6718693-1-eng-US/f0043-032.jpg" title="f0043-03" width="599" height="3491"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-04154/6718686-1-eng-US/f0043-042.jpg" title="f0043-04" width="581" height="2421"></div><h2>SUNDAY, MARCH 22</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-05135/6718679-1-eng-US/f0043-052.jpg" title="f0043-05" width="588" height="982"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-06110/6718672-1-eng-US/f0043-062.jpg" title="f0043-06" width="583" height="3495"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-0799/6718665-1-eng-US/f0043-072.jpg" title="f0043-07" width="587" height="3492"></div> &#9632;

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NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="byline">By Mark Herrmann</div>The New York Islanders are down to one enforcer but they insist they aren&rsquo;t going to be pushed around.Concern about the team&rsquo;s toughness is understandable considering Ken Baumgartner and Dave McIlwain were sent to Toronto March 10 for Daniel Marois and Claude Loiselle. The Islanders had always credited the &ldquo;Bomber&rdquo; for making them a more confident team when he was acquired from Los Angeles in November. 1989.The Isles demonstrated their confidence in him this season offering him a contract worth more than $300,000 per year.With Baumgartner gone, it would appear Mick Vukota, the lone remaining tough guy, has his hands full. But Vukota disagrees.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re never really alone,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have guys like Richie Pilon, Joe Reekie, Steve Thomas, Tom Fitzgerald, Gary Nylund, Benoit Hogue, Bill Berg. All those guys finish their hits.&rdquo;Defenseman Joe Reekie maintains toughness can have various interpretations. He said Ray Ferraro, one of team&rsquo;s top scorers who rarely fights. is a very tough player in his own way.Ferraro showed his ruggedness in a 1-1 tie with the New York Rangers March 18. Ferraro stood at the edge of the crease and took six unpenalized whacks from goalie John Vanbiesbrouck and defensemen Joe Cirella Brian Leetch during a power play.It has become one of the more memorable highlights of the season and got quite a response from the Madison Square Garden crowd.&ldquo;If I&rsquo;m going to score, that&rsquo;s where I&rsquo;m going to score from,&rdquo; Ferraro said, &ldquo;although it&rsquo;s not easy in there.&rdquo;WILL HE STAY?: Bill Torrey isn&rsquo;t sure if he will accept an offer from the Islanders&rsquo; new ownership group to stay on as general manager.Torrey has held the position since the franchise&rsquo;s NHL inception in 1972 but has also served as chairman and governor since owner John O. Pickett mo&rsquo; ed to Florida three years ago.The new ownership group will control off-ice business, leaving the GM to handle hockey matters.The expected approval of the Islanders&rsquo; sale was postponed by the NHL board of governors in Chicago March 20. The board was too busy to address the matter because they were discussing the possibility of an NHL strike March 30.Torrey said the board also requested &ldquo;additional information&rdquo; from members of a consortium of Long Island businessmen who have agreed to buy a portion of the team and full controlling interest from Pickett.NOTEBOOK: The Islanders were trying to stop an unfavorable late-season pattern. They were 13-26-5 in March over the previous three seasons and were 3-4-3 in their first 10 games in March this year.<h2>N.Y. ISLES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon, Ray Ferraro, Marty McInnis, Claude Loiselle, Hubie McDonough.LW&mdash;Derek King, Benoit Hogue, Adam Creighton, Bill Berg.RW&mdash;Steve Thomas, Daniel Marois, David Volek, Tom Fitzgerald, Mick Vukota.LD&mdash;Scott Lachance, Rich Pilon, Dennis Vaske, Rick Green.RD&mdash;Uwe Krupp, Tom Kurvers, Joe Reekie, Jeff Finley.G&mdash;Mark Fitzpatrick, Danny Lorenz.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Brad Dalgamo, RW, broken left wrist, March 30. Rob DIMaio, C, tom right wrist ligaments, out for season. Patrick Flatley, RW, broken left thumb, day-to-day. Glenn Healy, G, severed right index finger, March 30. Wayne McBean, D, tom left knee ligament, out for season. Jeff Norton, D, torn left wrist ligament, out for season. Gary lylund, D, pulled groin, day-to-day. &#9632;

Bomber’s gone but toughness not a problem

<div class="byline">By Kevin Johnston</div>Whenever Mats Sundin is complimented on his fine second half of the season, he accepts it cautiously.Hidden subliminally in the praise, Sundin hears, &lsquo;Where the heck were you during the first half?&rsquo;&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just say I would have been more satisfied if I had started the season along with everyone else,&rdquo; said the Quebec Nordique center.Sundin has dressed for every game this season but on many nights he took the role of an innocent bystander. He had a tough time picking up where he left off after a brilliant Canada Cup for Team Sweden.&ldquo;I was tired and wouldn&rsquo;t admit it,&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;I simply did too much. Two training camps, a World Championship, a Canada Cup and an 80-game schedule in a 12-month period was too much. I only had about five weeks of an off-season. I was 18, felt invincible, thought I could do it all without any problems. But I guess I was mistaken.&rdquo;Early in the season, Sundin looked confused and was a completely different player. He seemed tentative and wouldn&rsquo;t take any chances.It was mid-February when coach Pierre Page moved Sundin from right wing to center, a position that suits him like a glove. Tall, lanky, with one of the longest reaches in the league, Sundin is a made-to-measure center in the NHL.&ldquo;I had played center in Sweden.&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;I have a lot more room to manoeuver. And I have the puck a lot more. I feel a lot more useful.&rdquo; Sundin had 15 goals and 40 points in 54 games as a right winger, then 17 goals and 29 points in 21 games as a center. He won&rsquo;t reach his pre-sea-son goal of 85 points but 32 goals and 69 points through 73 games is satisfactory considering his rocky start.&ldquo;Those 100 point seasons will come,&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;I hope to be here a long time and contribute when we start changing things around.&rdquo;Sundin has a clause in his contract that permits him to renegotiate. He may want more money but he has no desire to leave Quebec.LAPOINTE NOMINATED: The Quebec chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association voted Claude Lapointe as the Nordiques&rsquo; representative for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.The 23-year-old rookie has had a solid season with 13 goals and 31 points in 69 games. Just three seasons ago, the 5-foot-9, 173-pound native from Lachine, Que., couldn&rsquo;t give himself away at the draft. Lapointe had three 100-plus-point seasons in the Quebec League and was drafted as an afterthought 12th-round pick in 1988.NOTEBOOK: Coach Pierre Page is always looking for different approaches to motivate his players. His latest is to videotape practices and show the players afterwards what they&rsquo;ve done right or wrong. &ldquo;It keeps them on their toes,&rdquo; Page said. &ldquo;An athlete plays like he practises. If he drags his feet during practice, he drags them during a game.&rdquo;<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 20: Andy Rymsha. LW-D, assignad to Halifax (AHL).<h2>ROSTER</h2>C&mdash;Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Claude Lapointe, Jamie Baker.LW&mdash;Mike Hough, Valeri Kamensky, John Tonelli, Wayne Van Dorp, Tony Twist, Gino Cavallini, Bill Lindsay.RW&mdash;Greg Paslawski, Owen Nolan Herb Raglan.LD&mdash;Steven Finn, Alexei Gusarov, Curtis Leschyshyn.RD&mdash;Randy Velischek, Craig Wolanin, Mikhail Tatarinov.G&mdash;Jacques Cloutier, Stephane Fiset, John Tanner.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Adam Foote, D, broken right thumb, out for season. Marc Fortier, C, pulled groin, indefinite. Stephane Guerard, D, right knee surgery, out for season. Mike McNeill, C/LW, separated right shoulder, indefinite. Doug Smail, LW, sprained left knee, indefinite. &#9632;

Second wind for Sundin

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011481/6716379-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="355" height="355"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021221/6716372-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="51" height="43"></div>Len Ceglarski. College hockey&rsquo;s all-time winningest coach retires after 34 years with Clarkson and BC.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03905/6716365-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="55" height="43"></div>Doug Sauter. Two years after a serious illness, Winston-Salem&rsquo;s Sauter wins ECHL coach of the year award.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04676/6716358-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="52" height="41"></div>Petr Klima. Hundreds of players would kill for an NHL shot and this guy refuses to take third-line role? Unbelievable!</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05492/6716351-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="51" height="41"></div>Calgary Flames. This is personal. Our pick to win the Smythe, they likely won&rsquo;t even make the playoffs. The nerve.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06374/6716344-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="354" height="354"></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/f0002-07242/6716410-1-eng-US/f0002-072.jpg" title="f0002-07" width="368" height="467"></div>For years people in hockey have debated the merits of the plus-minus statistic but never has it appeared so misleading.How else can the difference in NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association profit-and-loss projections be explained?The union says the league will finish the season plus-$24 million; the NHL says it will finish minus-$9 million.I don&rsquo;t know about you but I don&rsquo;t want any of those owners playing defense for me.What I do want is for both sides to be realistic in their proposals and counter-prosposals as collective bargaining talks reach their crisis point.A start would be acknowledgment of a shared responsibility for the fate of teams destined to compete at an economic disadvantage.There is an enormous disparity in wealth among NHL owners and the NHLPA says that circumstance manifests itself when the league applies the &ldquo;lowest-common-denominator&rdquo; theory in negotiations.That is, the owners seek conditions under which their weakest lodge member can survive.If so, are the players being asked to subsidize the poor by scaling back their demands? If so, should the owners not share in that responsibility? In other words, the &lsquo;R&rsquo; hyphenated word: revenue-sharing.It currently exists in only one area-television money is spread around&mdash;and the NHL has indicated no willingness to change that arrangement.Teams are considered Islanders onto themselves. Socialism wouldn&rsquo;t work in the NHL, said one league executive.That said, then, the Capitals and friends are perfectly justified in acting like capitalists.The players don&rsquo;t want to accept terms they believe not only help prop up low-end teams but strengthen high-end teams. They want to occupy a middle ground along with the team of average resources.Which is all well and good as long as the NHLPA is true to its spoken vow. It has promised to act responsibly in fighting for a fair deal.The union knows its members&rsquo; careers are at risk. If the NHL market is such that lesser teams can&rsquo;t survive, player jobs will be lost.Or transferred to another city.No team should be kept alive by maintaining an artificial marketplace. Nor should a raft of them be placed on life support by excessive demands.The NHL has promised not to sign its own death warrant (see page 9) agreeing to union demands it believes will contribute to a never-ending inflationary spiral.It says there are already signs of a two-tiered league emerging with an upper class comprised of six to seven money-making teams and an under class of 15 to 16 clubs locked in an eternal struggle to stay in the black.Being sympathetic to the owners is not easy, though&mdash;no matter how overwhelming the data supporting their claims of hard times.The rapid market correction over the past two seasons is proof the players were underpaid and the terms of the past CBA get little credit for instigating an overhaul. Considered more important, for instance, were the Wayne Gretzky windfall in L.A. and introduction of salary disclosure.But for the players, this is about more than redressing past grievances. The owners have done that in large part. It&rsquo;s about putting a system in place that will minimize future grievances. &#9632;

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Supporting the system is a shared responsibility

EXECUTIVE Chairman of the Board: Remi Marcoux. President and Publisher: David Clark. Editor-in-Chief: Steve Dryden. Controller: Wendy Currie-Mills. Marketing Manager: Esther Sumka. Circulation: Tom Moffat.EDITORIAL Senior Editor: Ken Campbell. Assistant Editors: Dave Bean, Jason Kay. Editorial Staff: Wayne Chow, Brian Costello, Matt Nicholls. Contributing Editors: Bob Amesse, Rand Simon. Production Manager: Brad Nussbaum. Photographer: Bruce Bennett. Design Director: Bob Torrans.ADVERTISING Manager, Generic: Randy Green. National Sales Manager: Stephen Moyer. Sales: Marilyn Patterson. Classified Advertising: David Burgess (416) 445-5702.ADMINISTRATION Editorial and advertising offices are located at 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2 (416) 445-5702. FREQUENCY The Hockey News (1SSN 0018-3016) is published by Transcontinental Sports Publications, Inc. weekly September through May (except for last week in December) and monthly in June, July and August. Total of 42 issues includes 37 regular issues, the THN Yearbook and four double issues&mdash;Season Preview (September). In the System supplement (January), Draft Preview (May) and Awards Review (July). Single-copy price: $2.75.SUBSCRIPTION RATES North America, $49.95. Canadian requests, send to THN, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2 (416 445-5702). U.S. subscription requests and address changes should be mailed to Box 904, Buffalo, N.Y. 14240-9554. United Kingdom and Europe, 124.35&pound; for air mail, 99.35&pound; for surface mail. (Publisher reserves right to adjust rates on quarterly basis.) Send to Barker&rsquo;s Worldwide Publications. Cherry Press, 155 Maybury Rd., Woking, Surrey. GU21 5JR. Phone/Fax 0483 776141. Registered as newspaper at Post Office in United Kingdom. Outside. Europe: $262.20 for air mail, $205.20 for surface mail. Send to THN, 85 Scarsdale Rd., Suite 100, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2R2. Please allow two to four weeks for all subscription processing.DISTRIBUTION Newsstand: Disticor, 155 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 213, North York, Ont. M2H 3N7 (416 496-8444). Canadian Publication Mail Registration No. 1327 paid at Toronto. Ont. In United States, second-class postage (No. 0579-540) paid at Buffalo, N.Y. 14240-9544.THE HOCKEY NEWS Co-founded by Ken McKenzie and W.V. Cote in 1947.COVER PHOTOS Craig Simpson by Bruce Bennett/BBS; Pat Falloon by Brian Winkler/BBS.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-08119/6716441-1-eng-US/f0002-082.jpg" title="f0002-08" width="164" height="149"></div>Audit Bureau of CirculationsA Division of GTC Transcontinental Pub. Inc. &#9632;

f0002-08

The Hockey News

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011636/6716472-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg" title="f0003-01" width="553" height="774"></div>New York Rangers&rsquo; center Mark Messier has been named the NHL Pro Set player of the week for the period ending March 22.In four games, Messier picked up seven points (five goals) in leading the Ran gers to a 3-0-1 record.Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; center Pat LaFontaine (two goals, eight points) and Rangers&rsquo; goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck (1-0-1 record, 0.96 goals-against-aver-age) were runners-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 across North America.Messier began the week by I recording a goal in the Rangers&rsquo; 4-1 home-ice win over the Montreal Canadiens March 16. The win stretched their lead in the NHL&rsquo;s overall standings.He later had a pair of assists in New York&rsquo;s 4-2 win at Detroit March 20.Messier completed the week by scoring four goals in the Rangers&rsquo; 6-3 win over their Patrick Division-rivals, the New Jersey Devils, March 22 at Madison Square Garden.Messier increased his season&rsquo;s point total to 103 (35 goals) in 74 games.He was fifth in overall scoring in one of the closest Art Ross Trophy races in history. &#9632;

f0003-01

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011653/6716510-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="658" height="683"><figcaption class="caption-body">Craig Simpson</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021451/6716503-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="694" height="656"></div> &#9632;

f0004-01

ON THE RISE

<div class="byline">By Murray Townsend</div>Let&rsquo;s get one thing straight. We&rsquo;re not suggesting Rob Ramage is a better playoff performer than Wayne Gretzky. Ramage has 50 career playoff points and one Stanley Cup. Gretzky has almost six times as many points and four Cups.So why is Ramage on our all-playoff team? Because the Minnesota North Star defenseman has a history of surpassing his regularseason production in the playoffs. Gretzky, on the other hand, averages almost two points per game in the playoffs but even that isn&rsquo;t enough to match his phenomenal regular-season statistics.Craig Simpson of the Edmonton Oilers leads all active players in productivity during the playoffs as compared to the regular season. His ability to thrive under playoff pressure has earned him a spot on the all-playoff team.&ldquo;As professional athletes, this is the pinnacle of our profession, to win the Stanley Cup,&rdquo; Simpson says. &ldquo;We have to play our best hockey, it&rsquo;s as simple as that.&rdquo;Here&rsquo;s the criteria we used to select our second-season all-stars: A regular-season points-per-game (PPG) average of 0.75 for forwards and 0.50 for defensemen and at least 25 games of playoff experience. Goalies must have played at least 20 playoff games.After that, it was simply a matter of subtracting their playoff points-per-game average (PS) from their regular-season points per game average (RS).We also wanted to make sure our players had ample recent playoff experience, so they all had to have played in three of the last five playoffs.Here is The Hockey News&rsquo; all-playoff team. Also listed are the players at each position who have experienced the biggest decline in playoff numbers over the regular season:<h2>ALL-STARS</h2>Forwards: Craig Simpson, Adam Oates, Mark Messier. Defense: Al Maclnnis, Rob Ramage. Goaltender: Ken Wregget.<h2>NO STARS</h2>Forwards: Sylvain Turgeon, Ron Francis, Kirk Muller. Defense: James Patrick, Paul Coffey. Goaltender: Jon Casey.The tables list players with the largest increase and decrease in post-season production as compared to the regular season. For players we&rsquo;ve listed regular- and post-season points-per-game average and the difference; for goalies the regular- and post-season goals-against average and the difference. &#9632;

Introducing THN’s all-playoff team

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031204/6716572-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="664" height="686"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ron Francis</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04977/6716565-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="697" height="653"></div> &#9632;

f0004-03

ON THE DECLINE

<div class="byline">By Murray Townsend</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-05" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05788/6716603-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">If the Blues don&rsquo;t get past the first round, super sniper Brett Hull isn&rsquo;t going to be of much use on your playoff pool team. (Photo by Tim Parker)</figcaption></div>If you read this feature last year, then you will certainly remember how I told you to go big on players from Minnesota and Pittsburgh.Yeah, right. If you won your pool last year, it wasn&rsquo;t because you knew what you were doing. Anybody who had even one player from Minnesota was clued out.It won&rsquo;t happen again this year. Not a chance. Read my lips: no new flukes. But, just to be on the safe side, load up on Hartford Whalers. And remember where you heard it.Okay, now on to the real business: how you&rsquo;re supposed to win your hockey pool.Power Play: This is the single most important factor. A higher percentage of goals are scored on the power play in the playoffs.Defensemen: Defensemen on the power play are more valuable in the playoffs than during the regular season. Last season, four of 16 playoff teams had a defenseman either lead or tie for the lead in playoff scoring. Ten teams had a defenseman among their top three playoff scorers.Season Series: Regular-season records of games played between two teams are insignificant. Last year, teams which won their season series in divisional play had a 7-5 record in the playoffs.Fish out of water: Don&rsquo;t assume a player who did well against a particular team during the season will do likewise in the playoffs. Last year, Johan Garpenlov, then with the Red Wings, scored seven of his 18 regular-season goals against St. Louis, which also happened to be their first round opponent. He managed just one assist in the series.Home Advantage: There hasn&rsquo;t been a series in either of the last two seasons in which the home team has won every game. Since a team is only going to get one extra home game at most, it&rsquo;s shouldn&rsquo;t be a factor when you&rsquo;re selecting the teams you think will win.Momentum: Some look at the last 10 games of the season and use that as an indicator of how teams will do in the playoffs. Forget it. Often those games are meaningless. Use the last 40 games as a better indicator (see next page).Keep an eye on: The Chicago Blackhawks. They played playoff hockey all year long last season and didn&rsquo;t have anything left for the playoffs. They may have learned their lesson.Don&rsquo;t be afraid to pick too many players from one team. In fact, that&rsquo;s how you win. For example, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Phil Bourque wasn&rsquo;t on many people&rsquo;s list of players to pick, and finished 10th for Pittsburgh. But that was good enough to outscore the top point-getter on nine other teams.The tortoise and the hare: Don&rsquo;t worry about trying to win in the first round. The more games your players play the better chance they&rsquo;re going to score.While the other guys jump out to early leads, they&rsquo;ll lose their players while yours keep plodding along.Europeans: Most pool veterans have learned to be wary of selecting European players during the regular season. They&rsquo;ve proven to be just too unpredictable.In the playoffs it&rsquo;s a different story. The skill players often get more power-play time where they can pile up the points.But be careful of Europeans whose defensive skills are lacking. Coaches may not wish to take a chance. Sergei Makarov is a case in point. He got into only three playoff games with the Flames last year.<h2>TEAM LISTINGS GUIDE</h2>The following is an explanation of the tables on Page 5.First and second-half points (1 and 2). We&rsquo;ve listed each players&rsquo; first- and second-half points (though March 22). It acts as a good indicator for who&rsquo;s hot and who&rsquo;s not entering the playoffs. You&rsquo;ll probably want to update the second-half totals. The lists were compiled two weeks before the end of the season.Power-play points (PP): You can&rsquo;t get these stats from your local newspaper and powerplay performance is critical in the playoffs.Points-per-game (PPG): The way I make up my pre-draft list is by going through all the matchups and determining how many games I think each team is going to play. Then, using six games a series as a base, I multiply the game total by each player&rsquo;s PPG.For example, Steve Yzerman has a 1.3 PPG-average. If you think Detroit is going to make in to the Stanley Cup final, you would multiply his PPG by 24 games (six games a series for four rounds). The total (31.44) gives you a reference point which you can compare to other players.Playoff points per game (PLF). This gives you an idea of a player&rsquo;s playoff history, although it should be regarded carefully. In some cases, it will show a veteran player with an excellent playoff history who is no longer an integral part of the offense.Lines and power-play units: We&rsquo;ve listed the top two lines and No. I power-play unit for each playoff-bound team (We&rsquo;ve eliminated San Jose, Quebec, New York Islanders and Philadelphia). Again, regard these with caution because coaches frequently mix up their lines. The surest bets are the power-play point men.Also, players who played fewer than 20 games are listed with an asterisk (*). &#9632;

f0004-05

Power players key to pool success

<h2>BOSTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011581/6716879-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="521" height="532"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021135/6716872-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="391" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Bourque</figcaption></div><h2>BUFFALO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03742/6716865-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="385" height="502"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pat LaFontaine</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04460/6716858-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="515" height="530"></div><h2>CALGARY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05276/6716851-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="519" height="525"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-06154/6716844-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="392" height="495"><figcaption class="caption-body">Theoren Fleury</figcaption></div><h2>CHICAGO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0791/6716837-1-eng-US/f0005-072.jpg" title="f0005-07" width="391" height="493"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jeremy Roenick</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0860/6716830-1-eng-US/f0005-082.jpg" title="f0005-08" width="510" height="530"></div><h2>DETROIT</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0936/6716823-1-eng-US/f0005-092.jpg" title="f0005-09" width="510" height="529"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-1022/6716816-1-eng-US/f0005-102.jpg" title="f0005-10" width="393" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body">Sergei Fedorov</figcaption></div><h2>EDMONTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-1116/6716809-1-eng-US/f0005-112.jpg" title="f0005-11" width="391" height="490"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bernie Nicholls</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-1213/6716802-1-eng-US/f0005-122.jpg" title="f0005-12" width="514" height="528"></div><h2>HARTFORD</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-1311/6716795-1-eng-US/f0005-132.jpg" title="f0005-13" width="508" height="527"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-148/6716788-1-eng-US/f0005-142.jpg" title="f0005-14" width="389" height="497"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Cullen</figcaption></div><h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-158/6716781-1-eng-US/f0005-152.jpg" title="f0005-15" width="391" height="497"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-167/6716774-1-eng-US/f0005-162.jpg" title="f0005-16" width="509" height="527"></div><h2>MINNESOTA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-175/6716767-1-eng-US/f0005-172.jpg" title="f0005-17" width="511" height="532"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-185/6716760-1-eng-US/f0005-182.jpg" title="f0005-18" width="389" height="497"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Bellows</figcaption></div><h2>MONTREAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-194/6716753-1-eng-US/f0005-192.jpg" title="f0005-19" width="391" height="492"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stephan Lebeau</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-203/6716746-1-eng-US/f0005-202.jpg" title="f0005-20" width="507" height="525"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-212/6716739-1-eng-US/f0005-212.jpg" title="f0005-21" width="507" height="526"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-22/6716732-1-eng-US/f0005-222.jpg" title="f0005-22" width="389" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body">Claude Lemieux</figcaption></div><h2>RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-23/6716725-1-eng-US/f0005-232.jpg" title="f0005-23" width="388" height="494"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mark Messier</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-24/6716718-1-eng-US/f0005-242.jpg" title="f0005-24" width="505" height="530"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-25/6716711-1-eng-US/f0005-252.jpg" title="f0005-25" width="512" height="532"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-26/6716704-1-eng-US/f0005-262.jpg" title="f0005-26" width="394" height="498"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jaromir Jagr</figcaption></div><h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-27/6716697-1-eng-US/f0005-272.jpg" title="f0005-27" width="390" height="496"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Shanahan</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-28/6716690-1-eng-US/f0005-282.jpg" title="f0005-28" width="510" height="531"></div><h2>TORONTO</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-29/6716683-1-eng-US/f0005-292.jpg" title="f0005-29" width="513" height="529"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-30/6716676-1-eng-US/f0005-302.jpg" title="f0005-30" width="392" height="495"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Gilmour</figcaption></div><h2>VANCOUVER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-31/6716669-1-eng-US/f0005-312.jpg" title="f0005-31" width="391" height="493"><figcaption class="caption-body">Trevor Linden</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-32/6716662-1-eng-US/f0005-322.jpg" title="f0005-32" width="503" height="529"></div><h2>WASHINGTON</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-33/6716655-1-eng-US/f0005-332.jpg" title="f0005-33" width="503" height="532"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-34/6716648-1-eng-US/f0005-342.jpg" title="f0005-34" width="393" height="495"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dale Hunter</figcaption></div><h2>WINNIPEG</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-35/6716641-1-eng-US/f0005-352.jpg" title="f0005-35" width="387" height="494"><figcaption class="caption-body">Phil Housley</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-36/6716634-1-eng-US/f0005-362.jpg" title="f0005-36" width="509" height="528"></div> &#9632;

f0005-01

PLAYOFF POOL

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011756/6716934-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0006-01

ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Rand Simon</div><h2>Gartner looks out for No. 5</h2>If Mike Gartner and Wayne Gretzky score 30 goals each in 1992-93, they&rsquo;ll become the first players to hit that mark in 14 straight seasons.This season Gartner moved ahead of five players and is 11th on the alltime goal list. If he maintains his pace of 41 goals a season, he will move into sixth place next year with 580.Here are the five players ahead of Gartner, their career totals and at what point Gartner is on pace to pass them:10. Stan Mikita, 541, Game 2.9. Maurice Richard, 544, Game 10.8. John Bucyk, 556, Game 34.7. Guy Lafleur, 560, Game 42.6. Mike Bossy, 573, Game 67.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021196/6716972-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="543" height="719"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Gartner</figcaption></div><h2>Making points in scoring race</h2>The National Basketball Association uses points-per-game, and not total points, to determine its scoring champion. A player must appear in at least 70 of 82 games or score 1,400 points to qualify.If the NHL used the same system, here are five players who would benefit most. Listed are cunent rankings in the scoring race, their points per game (PPG) and their revised ranking:<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03736/6716965-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="583" height="216"></div> &#9632;

f0006-02

LISTS

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011596/6717003-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="367" height="464"></div>It&rsquo;s not difficult to stand in front of a sportswriter and say all the right things. When Grant Fuhr was fooling himself for all those years, plastering that &ldquo;What, Me Worry?&rdquo; look on his &ldquo;ice, it was part of the deception. While it appears Fuhr has cut down the angle on a wildly-spiralling life, he still has to control the rebounds.But Fuhr is a different man now, that&rsquo;s obvious. Whereas he once spoke monosyllabically and in shrugs, the Toronto Maple Leaf goalie now carefully considers questions before giving answers.&ldquo;I have never been more comfortable with everything I do,&rdquo; he says.This is obvious in his crease, where during the second half of this season, Fuhr has been the best goaltender in the NHL. As for the quality of his existence away from the rink, we&rsquo;ll take his word for it. It has taken a journey through hell for Fuhr to realize heaven is not a few hours of cocaine-induced euphoria.The self-esteem that grows from having faced and solved your problems is a much longer-lasting high. Fuhr has been rewarded with a stable second marriage and the restoration, following a 60-game league suspension during the 1990-91 season, of the privilege of playing hockey.&ldquo;It was a personal insult to me to have it taken away,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I enjoy playing every day. It&rsquo;s never a job anymore.&rdquo;Hard labor instead has fallen upon the shooters, who must again beat the Fuhr that helped Edmonton win four Stanley Cups in five years.The Leafs, who are much improved in the second half, have kept the totality of Fuhr&rsquo;s comeback a secret. He made headlines earlier this year after being bombed and booed on sporadic nights. Since then, he has been quietly living happily ever after, le has been so good, he is again begging the question: If you had one game to win, who would be your goalie? Fuhr or Patrick Roy?Unfortunately, Fuhr was traded to a team that probably won&rsquo;t play that one game this season,&ldquo;It would be different to not be in the playoffs,&rdquo; Fuhr says. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s something I always took for granted.&rdquo;Even though the Leafs are not likely to catch the Minnesota North Stars, things are looking up in Toronto. Cliff Fletcher has restored confidence in the organization&rsquo;s competence with his acquisition of players such as Fuhr, Doug Gilmour, Jamie Macoun and Ric Nattress. And if their improvement continues, there will be plenty of springs left for Fuhr to strut his stuff in the playoffs, when he has always been at his best.This is one of the reasons why Fletcher traded for Fuhr upon moving from Calgary to Toronto.&ldquo;As much as he has accomplished over the last 10 years, he&rsquo;s still a young goalie,&rdquo; says Fletcher.Fuhr will turn 30 in September. If it seems like he should be much older than that, it is because his time in the NHL has been so eventful. His troublesome shoulders benefitted from John Ziegler&rsquo;s enforced rest, leaving him feeling as good physically as he does mentally. Thirty is hardly old for a goalie, especially for one whose maturity has caught up to his chronological age.Fuhr will soon write a book that will name the good guys and bad guys in his story. Be assured his name will be among the bad guys he writes about. He isn&rsquo;t copping out: Accepting responsibility is most of the cure.Nevertheless, Fuhr is still bitter at the people once close to him that spilled the beans about his cocaine use. He is also bitter about the punishment that resulted. He maintains he had not used the stuff in more than two years and had already completed treatment when his abuse was made public. He believes he had already earned the right to look ahead when he was hit from behind. To be penalized at that point was unnecessary.&ldquo;I was punished for something I had done two or three years prior,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Something that never affected my hockey, something that hurt nobody but myself. I don&rsquo;t know when the statute of limitations on something like that is supposed to run out.&rdquo;Certainly, they appear to have expired now. Considering how his shoulder problems had limited him to 21 games the season before his suspension, Fuhr&rsquo;s play after he returned to the Oilers in February 1991 was almost miraculous. Retcher saw everything in the playoffs he needed.&ldquo;When he beat us (the Flames) it was Fuhr at his best,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;I had no qualms (about trading for Fuhr) whatsoever.&rdquo;Fuhr has parlayed that confidence into a new life because he no longer has any qualms about himself.&ldquo;It has been a tough way to figure out what it takes to be a better person,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve done it.&rdquo;The pressure is off. Fuhr has a lot of saves left, none as hard as the one he has already performed on his life. &#9632;

f0007-01

Fuhr fooling himself no longer

<div class="byline">Compiled by THN Staff</div>The expansion Ottawa Senators will get off to the races next season with John Ferguson as director of player personnel.Ferguson, who has been the director of the Windsor Raceway since 1989, is a former general manager of the New York Rangers (1976 to 1978) and the Winnipeg Jets (1978 to 1988).He was named to the post March 23 by Senators&rsquo; GM Mel Bridgman. Ferguson signed a five-year deal.Ferguson&rsquo;s appointment gives the Senators some much-needed front office experience. He said that despite being a GM for 12 seasons, he has no concerns about not being the top man in the hockey department.&ldquo;No, not at all,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Being a GM is a job that takes an awful lot of work. I&rsquo;ve made it quite clear to Mel the position I have will be one where I can teach him a few things. I&rsquo;ll be comfortable doing what I&rsquo;m doing.&rdquo;Ferguson said the Senators must take advantage of the increasing availability of Russian players.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have to worry about spending three years training those players,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re a readymade product. That&rsquo;s definitely a market we&rsquo;re going to have to look at.&rdquo;Ferguson, who has been out of hockey since October 1988, said he has turned down other job offers to return to the NHL. He said he relishes the challenge of building a team from scratch.Ferguson was named NHL executive of the year by The Hockey News in 1981-82 and 1984-85. Before moving into management, Ferguson played eight seasons with the Montreal Canadiens from 1963 to 1971, playing on five Stanley Cup winners.Bridgman said it is important the Senators have an experienced hockey man going into the expansion and entry drafts.&ldquo;As far as scouting goes we do have a young staff and one of the things we&rsquo;re lacking is experience,&rdquo; Bridgman said. &ldquo;We just found that in John Ferguson. Not only will he help us evaluate players but our staff can learn off him and become better scouts.&rdquo;<h2>Heads or tails</h2>A coin toss will determine whether the Tampa Bay Lightning or Ottawa Senators select first in the 1992 NHL entry draft.The team that wins the flip of the coin will pick first in odd-numbered rounds. The other team will pick first in even-numbered rounds. No date has been set for the coin flip.David Cooper, a defenseman from the Western League&rsquo;s Medicine Hat Tigers was rated the best North American draft prospect by the Central Scouting Bureau in January.Other possible first overall selections include Tigers&rsquo; defenseman Mike Rathje, Windsor Spitfires&rsquo; (Ontario League) forwards Cory Stillman and Todd Warriner, Nichols School (N.Y.) winger Ryan Sittler and Czechoslovakian defenseman Roman Hamrlik.The NHL also announced the selection procedures for the expansion and supplemental drafts.For the expansion draft, the winner of the coin toss between the Senators and Lightning will be called Team A, the loser Team B.Team A will have the option of having the first and fourth picks among goaltenders or the second and third picks.For choosing defensemen, Team B decides whether it wants to have selections one, four, six, seven, nine, 12 and 14 or two, three, five, eight, 10, 11 and 13.For selecting forwards, Team A has the option of choices one, four, six, seven, nine, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 22 and 23 or two, three, five, eight, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19,21 and 24.In all, the Lightning and Senators will pick two goaltenders, seven defensemen and 12 forwards in the expansion draft.The winner of a coin toss will have first pick in the supplemental draft; the loser will pick second. Order is reversed for the second round.Ottawa and Tampa Bay are forbidden by the NHL from trading their first-round draft picks for one year. The year begins at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs.San Jose is also included in what amounts to an amendment of the expansion by-laws which originally prevented the three teams from trading their first-round pick for two years.<h2>Primo Chimos</h2>Team Alberta, represented by the Edmonton Chimos, defeated defending champion Ontario 4-0 to win the Canadian women&rsquo;s hockey championship in Edmonton March 22.Sharon Holubowich. France Montour, Tina Kristensen and Alison Ramsey scored for Alberta. Goaltender Shell Hyland blanked Ontario, represented by the Toronto Aeros.Ontario defenseman Geraldine Heaney was named the tournament&rsquo;s most valuable player. Quebec goaltender Manon Rheaume, who played in one game this season for the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs of the Quebec League, led the tournament with four wins.Quebec defeated British Columbia 4-1 to win the bronze medal. Quebec&rsquo;s MVP was center Sylvie Daigle, a gold medalist in short track speed skating at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.<h2>All-time stars</h2>Right wingers Guy Lafleur and Mike Bossy were neck and neck in the closest race for the NHL Pro Set all-time team.Lafleur with 42,185 votes had a slim lead over Bossy who had 37,591 in fan voting for right winger on the Third Era (1967-1992) team.Other leaders in the Third Era were center Wayne Gretzky, left winger Bobby Hull, defensemen Bobby Orr and Denis Potvin, goaltender Ken Dryden and coach Scott Bowman.Second Era (1947-1962) leaders were center Jean Beliveau, right winger Gordie Howe, left winger Ted Lindsay, defensemen Doug Harvey and Red Kelly, goalie Jacques Plante and coach Toe Blake.A team representing the first 25 years of the NHL (1917-1942) will be selected by a panel of experts.For complete voting results, see page 44.<h2>More Masterton</h2>The list of nominees for the Masterton Trophy, as chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association in each city, has been-completed. The award goes to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.Last week, we published the first 13 nominees. Here are the other nine:Bob Probert, Detroit; Kelly Buchberger, Edmonton; Luc Robitaille. Los Angeles; Brent Gilchrist, Montreal; Viacheslav Fetisov, New Jersey; Joe Mullen, Pittsburgh; Claude Lapointe, Quebec; Rod Langway, Washington; and Randy Carlyle, Winnipeg.Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; right winger Dave Taylor won the award last year.<h2>Thunder struck</h2>The Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks were one win away from winning the inaugural Colonial League championship.A 5-3 win over the St. Thomas Wildcats March 22 gave the Hawks a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven-final. Game 5 was scheduled for March 24 in St. Thomas.If necessary, Games 6 and 7 were scheduled for March 27 and 28 in Thunder Bay.The Wildcats&rsquo; only win came in Game 3 March 21, 5-4 in overtime. The Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the series with 4-2 (March 18) and 5-2 (March 19) victories. &#9632;

Senators boost front office by adding veteran Ferguson

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-In-Chief</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0009-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011568/6717058-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Gritty Blackhawk Jeremy Roenick supports the players&rsquo; union but he isn&rsquo;t sure he wants to picket outside of Chicago Stadium. (Photo by Tim Parker)</figcaption></div>The biggest game of the year has gone into overtime and the extra period is scheduled to last no more than six days. But it could seem like five minutes if the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association don&rsquo;t work out their differences by 12 noon, March 30.Initial signs did not bode well, with the owners promising to maintain their hard line and the players continuing to maintain their demands are reasonable. The two sides were to meet March 24 in Toronto to commence a final bid at heading off what would be the first league-wide strike in NHL history.Should the players walk out, as many as 35 regular-season games could be lost. But there would still be eight days before the playoffs are scheduled to begin April 8. It&rsquo;s not known if games would be made up if a settlement were reached quickly but replacement teams are not expected to be iced.There has been speculation that if a strike were to derail the playoffs, the owners would retaliate by delaying the start of the 1992-93 season-perhaps as late as Christmas.NHL players gave their nine-man negotitating ommittee the authority to call a strike in early March and NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow finally threw down the gauntlet March 20. He told owners they have until the start of the final week of the regular season to reach an agreement with the players.League president John Ziegler accepted the challenge, charged the union leadership of Goodenow and legal counsel Jim Quinn does not represent the players and asked how the players could justify a strike to fans given these recessive times and hefty salary increases over the past two seasons.&ldquo;I would try to explain to (a fan),&rdquo; Goodenow responded, &ldquo;that there are many, many issues on the table-some of them economic, some of them non-economic. If you just look at it from an economic point of view, particularly now, you can say there&rsquo;s a distortion.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a simple cut-and-dry issue. I think from a PR point of view, the league has gone to great lengths to try and portray it as one. Certainly, the numbers are a major factor. We were in New York two weeks ago and when they told us they were losing money, we said, &lsquo;Wait a second, that&rsquo;s very serious. We should be the st ones to know about that.&rsquo; We&rsquo;re trying to be responsible in negotiations.&rdquo;The NHL says the average player salary this season is $379,000 and the league will lose $9 million this season; the NHLPA says the average is $340,000 (with a median of $260,000) and league will make $24 million. They are but two of many disagreements that separate the two sides. Other sticking points include free agency, the entry draft, salary arbitration, licensing revenues, waivers, pension and playoff monies and insurance costs.Both sides remained firm in their public positions, although neither indicated there was no room to manoeuver once they get behind closed doors. But many owners have said there is no more money for the players and vowed to leather a strike rather than surrender.&ldquo;We will be at the table and we will be prepared to stay there to work out a fair agreement,&rdquo; Ziegler said after a board of governors meeting March 20 in Chicago. &ldquo;I am going to say very clearly&hellip;no matter what kind of action (the players) may wish to take, the ownership is not going to sign an agreement that guarantees that we are going to lose a substantial amount of money, so that this business moves into a position where franchises start disappearing and jobs start being lost.&rdquo;Ziegler hammered away at a familiar theme in Chicago. He said the players would be striking at the hearts of fans if they were to go on strike. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very curious as to the date the players have picked to go out on strike because they&rsquo;ve taken the fan&rsquo;s money,&rdquo; Ziegler said in an interview aired by The Sports Network. &ldquo;In the regular season, 95 per cent of gate receipts pay the players&rsquo; salaries&hellip;And now before the season is over, the players say, &lsquo;Gee, thanks, I&rsquo;ve got all your money. Now I&rsquo;m not even going to finish the season.&rsquo; &ldquo;The league has said players will owe refunds (of 11 per cent, according to Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; president Marcel Aubut) on their contracts if they do not participate in all regular-season and playoff games. Goodenow said players receive training camp allowances for the pre-season, their salaries for the regular season and league bonuses for the post-season.One of the league&rsquo;s strategies throughout this labor-management crisis has been to chum out statistics that support its cause. Among the latest is that the league will lose $70 million next season if salary inflation continues to average 28 per cent as it says it has the past two years. But that is an unlikely circumstance since the NHLPA says 78 per cent of its membership has already got in on the salary surge and signed contracts that will take them through at least next season.A major philosophical question centers on definition of hockey revenues. The NHL says 70 per cent of its revenues come in the form of gate receipts, 20 to 25 per cent from TV and broadcasting and the remainder from special events and merchandising. The NHLPA says all hockey revenues should be part of the equation.&ldquo;When they sold expansion franchises for $50 million,&rdquo; Goodenow said, &ldquo;that was predicated on the revenues of hockey and part of the revenues of hockey are revenues generated through the building: parking; concessions; signage; etc.&rdquo;The executive director said not all teams currently share in these revenues but it is the wave of the future. He said another burgeoning stream of revenue is pay-per-view television and while it is too early to forecast market penetration, it is sure to add significantly to the bottom line. Last season, the Minnesota North Stars profited from it; this season, the Chicago Blackhawks have their first-round playoff package priced at a minimum of $16.95 per game.Another significant dollar amount not figured into this year&rsquo;s bottom line by the owners is expansion revenues. Tampa Bay and Ottawa have paid a total of $100 million to join the league but the NHL does include it, saying it is not part of ordinary operating revenues.Many ironies have emerged during the negotiations, perhaps none more than the claim by owners the players have been squeezed out of the bargaining process by Goodenow and Quinn, an experienced labor lawyer who has been hired to work on the players&rsquo; behalf. Former executive director Alan Eagleson was accused of the same thing&mdash;by players.Goodenow denied he is bypassing the players, insisting they have never been better-informed or more involved. Ken Baumgartner, a member of the players&rsquo; negotiating committtee, said, &ldquo;Bob is our leader but he&rsquo;s only doing what the players are voicing.&rdquo;He added the players are united in their willingness to strike by a series of concerns, no single issue. Baumgartner said one player may be concerned about playoff monies, another, the owners&rsquo; insistence on the right to match for Group I free agents, and still another, pension monies. Baumgartner added one of his own. that a player should have once-in-a-career unrestricted free agency after 10 years of service.The players have been in a legal strike position since the collective bargaining agreement expired Sept. 15. While it is impossible to truly determine rank-and-file support for a strike and most players have been saying all the right things, some cracks have appeared in union solidarity.&ldquo;If it comes right down to it,&rdquo; Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; left winger Rob Ray said, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if a lot of guys have really decided whether they want to to strike or not. We&rsquo;ve taken a vote saying we&rsquo;ll do it but guys don&rsquo;t really want to.&rdquo;Blackhawks&rsquo; owner Bill Wirtz is the chairman of the NHL board of governors and the league&rsquo;s most influential force. But from third-liner Mike Hudson to first-liner Jeremy Roenick, the players said a strike would be legitimate.&ldquo;It seems we&rsquo;re so far apart on everything,&rdquo; Roenick said, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s the only thing we can do.&rdquo; He said the owners have made plenty of money in the past and wondered, &ldquo;Where did it all go?&rdquo; One source said the owners have recorded profits of $20 million, $48.7 million, $52.2 million and $46.1 million the past four seasons.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re ready to do what the negotiations committee suggests,&rdquo; Hudson added. Roenick wasn&rsquo;t so sure, though, about the prospect of taking the players&rsquo; cause to the public &ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of hard to picket outside Chicago Stadium.&rdquo; he said wryly. The arena is located in a notoriously high-crime area.If the players and owners don&rsquo;t resolve their differences, millions of hockey fans across North America might just consider it a crime. &#9632;

f0009-01

The beginning or end?

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div>If the NHL Players&rsquo; Association strikes for two weeks or more, causing a delay in the playoffs, an unlikely scenario could involve the New York Rangers. Their home ice for the Stanley Cup finals could be Nassau Coliseum (home of the Islanders) rather than Madison Square Garden. The reason: the Democratic National Convention will be held at MSG in July but work must start as early as May 20. The Rangers have until June 18 to play at the Garden-anything beyond that and they&rsquo;re in trouble. Nassau Coliseum officials have indicated they would make the arena available for the Rangers.<h2>Now it can be told</h2>A six-year secret by Abe Pollin regarding the defection of Michal Pivonka to Washington, is now revealed by the Caps owner. When Pivonka came to Landover in 1986, management hid the details. &ldquo;Now it can be told,&rdquo; Pollin says. &ldquo;The plan was Michal would go to a Yugoslavian beach with a group. At a certain time he was going to walk out of the hotel with just a towel and a bathing suit and pretend to be going swimming. And we were going to meet him. Someone would shepherd him to a safe place and from there across the border to Italy, and then get him to Washington.&rdquo; But a hitch developed when Pivonka unexpectedly brought his girlfriend, Renata, and Michal didn&rsquo;t give here much time to think about it. &ldquo;So now here&rsquo;s two instead of one,&rdquo; Pollin says. &ldquo;Renata had to make the choice that she may never see her parents again. They were both young kids but very much in love. We had some hair-raising hours while we coordinated things but we told our person, &lsquo;bring them both out.&rsquo;&rdquo; P.S. Renata and Michal are now married and have been back to see their parents.<h2>Pucks and strikes</h2>Scotty Bowman says some of his coaching moves are influenced by baseball. &ldquo;I learned a lot from (ex-Canadiens GM) Sam Pollock who always alluded to baseball,&rdquo; says Bowman. &ldquo;He used to say, &lsquo;Baseball managers take a lot of aggravation from a .300 hitter but not from a .200 hitter.&rsquo; I&rsquo;ve always had that in the back of my mind. Some people like to say you treat all the players the same but that isn&rsquo;t true. There are things you let your stars do that you wouldn&rsquo;t do for other players. I&rsquo;ve liked the challenge of having star players and trying to get the most of them.&rdquo;&hellip;The star-crossed life of the late Brian Spencer, the ex-Leaf and Islander who was found dead in Florida, will be the subject of a fulllength made-for-TV movie now being produced by CBC-TV.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011627/6717089-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg" title="f0010-01" width="535" height="1114"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brent Gilchrist says joining the Canadiens is a test for a rookie.</figcaption></div><h2>Just no respect</h2>NHL media aide Bill Wilkerson says he was dismayed by the manner in which reporters handled John Ziegler&rsquo;s media session in Manhattan during labor negotiations. Wilkerson argues the substance of the president&rsquo;s message was overlooked in favor of widespread opinionating. &ldquo;I call it &lsquo;By the Way&rsquo; journalism,&rdquo; Wilkerson says. &ldquo;They write &lsquo;By the way, here&rsquo;s what happened and, meanwhile, here are our opinions.&rsquo; I was concerned when senior reporters left the room before John (Ziegler) was half finished and later they would ask other reporters what he said. I&rsquo;ve never seen a performance like that before.&rdquo;...Brent Gilchrist says playing for the talent-rich Canadiens is a mixed blessing. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s tough at times.&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;We lose a lot of confidence as young players. The rookies who come here often have a tough time cracking that lineup and fitting into the system. But two or three years down the road you have a very complete player.&rdquo;<h2>Off to Moscow</h2>Nowadays you find as many NHL scouts and agents in Moscow and you would in Winnipeg. &ldquo;When I was in Moscow last November,&rdquo; says Red Wings&rsquo; aide Nick Polano, &ldquo;only one other NHL team had a scout there. This March every NHL team has at least one scout there.&rdquo; Polano figures as many as 10 Russians will be among the first 30 players picked in the 1992 draft. &ldquo;A lot of NHL teams are going to get stung because they pick guys who don&rsquo;t have the guts to play in the NHL, which is tough and aggressive.&rdquo;&hellip;A few years ago the NHL was gung-ho over Seattle as a future expansion site but now the Washington metropolis is down near the bottom of the list. The 13-acre site on which a new arena was to be built-abandoned because of financial difficulties-is being considered as a new home for baseball&rsquo;s Mariners.<h2>Where&rsquo;s Dave?</h2>Nobody can accuse Dave Poulin of being macho. &ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had many fights,&rdquo; says the Bruin. &ldquo;I found out early I wasn&rsquo;t good at it. Every time I fight someone, everybody looks at him and figures, He can&rsquo;t be tough if he&rsquo;s fighting Poulin!&rsquo; But when a brawl breaks, lots of players come looking for me. Some players don&rsquo;t like to get in those things so what they do is you look for someone else who doesn&rsquo;t want to be there either, which means I have guys coming after me, just to hang out.&rdquo;&hellip;When the Sabres elevated Dave Littman from Rochester, it marked the first time an NHL club boasted a Jewish goalie and a Jewish goaltending coach; the other being Mitch Korn, in his first year with the club. &#9632;

f0010-01

Rangers’ Home-ice advantage may mean finals on the Island

A weekly compendium of significant events and developments.March 16: Boston Bruins announce right winger Cam Neely is expected to miss the playoffs with his left knee injury.St. Louis Blues&rsquo; right winger Brett Hull stays home with back spasms as the team goes on a four-game road trip.March 19: Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; left winger Kevin Stevens sets the record for most points in one season by an American-born player with 112.Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; left winger Dave Andreychuk scores four goals-all on the power play-in an 8-2 win over Los Angeles. Pat LaFontaine scores one goal and five assists.March 20: NHL Players&rsquo; Association executive director Bob Goodenow announces the players will go on strike March 30 if no new collective bargaining agreement is reached with the owners by then.March 22: New York Rangers&rsquo; center Mark Messier scores four goals in a 6-3 win over New Jersey Devils. &#9632;

THE WEEK IN HOCKEY: MARCH 16 - 22

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-021208/6717151-1-eng-US/f0010-022.jpg" title="f0010-02" width="355" height="458"></div>Here&rsquo;s the deal on fighting and its future in the NHL: there&rsquo;s no deal. Nobody can agree.While others trouble themselves with issues such as a new collective bargaining agreement and whether the New York Rangers will win the Stanley Cup in 16 straight games, I worry about fisticuffs.Plenty of high-level types are worrying as well because no league issue has produced such internal dissent at the highest levels.On the one hand you have progressives such as Minnesota&rsquo;s Norman Green who argue fighting has as much place in contemporary civilization as a stage coach on the freeway.On the other hand, conservatives such as Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; assistant coach Terry Simpson believe fights are as much a part of the game as ice and Mike Keenan&rsquo;s moustache.And if you think this is a laughing matter, then wipe that smile off your face because the owners are dead serious about it, not to mention a whole bunch of players led by Ryan Walter of the Vancouver Canucks, who wants fighting curbed. During the off-season a group of anti-fight people will lobby hard for ban-the-brawl legislation.Players want it for humane reasons. Ownership is influenced by the money. Sophisticated marketing studies and consultation with Madison Avenue mentors has convinced some governors the league could make more money if fighting went the way of the straight stick.&ldquo;There has long been an argument that people come to see fighting,&rdquo; Green says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like when you drive by an accident, you stop and look at the mess. But are you happy when you leave? No.&rdquo;Green, a key figure on the NHL&rsquo;s marketing committee, takes the long view, eyeing a 28-team NHL with four new American franchises.&ldquo;Fighting may have been a part of the game,&rdquo; he reasons, &ldquo;but we&rsquo;re looking to new markets and people who have not grown up with hockey fighting. When they see a bare-fisted confrontation, it&rsquo;s a huge negative. It&rsquo;s hard for the non-fan to understand it.&rdquo;Green&rsquo;s anti-fight bloc has grown significantly. Another club president says economics dictate his thinking on the issue.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re listening to corporate people, our sponsors with the big money,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;They tell us they don&rsquo;t want fighting. We listen to that and then we look at the payroll and see we&rsquo;re keeping a couple of guys on our roster, just to fight. We can&rsquo;t afford that.&rdquo;A couple of factors have spurred the anti-fight movement in recent years.One is Harry Sinden, who coached The Big, Bad Boston Bruins to the 1970 Stanley Cup, and once had a blood-lust that would have made Dracula drool. Sinden suddenly has become one of the most influential pacifists in the game.Then there&rsquo;s the NHL Players&rsquo; Association.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-03752/6717144-1-eng-US/f0010-032.jpg" title="f0010-03" width="547" height="745"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tie Domi</figcaption></div>&ldquo;Some of the best games didn&rsquo;t involve fights,&rdquo; NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow says. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen from international competition, the Canada Cups that we can have exciting, entertaining hockey without fighting. To expand the appeal to other markets we need to clean up and cut back on the fighting.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s one side but hardly a unanimous view. Other heavyweights such as the Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; Jay Snider and Rangers&rsquo; general manager Neil-Smith are in no hurry for change. Smith has loaded his Rangers with fighters like Adam Graves, Joe Kocur, Kris King and Jeff Beukeboom, not to mention Tiger Tie Domi. It&rsquo;s a measure of fighting&rsquo;s appeal that even the New York Times, which piously rails against fisticuffs nevertheless recently ran a two-page spread glorifying El Domi.The owners&rsquo; fight over fighting will happen at the June meetings. It will be bloody and only slightly decisive. But if you believe one NHL executive, the writing is on the wall.&ldquo;If not next year,&rdquo; he ventures, &ldquo;surely the year after that, fighting will definitely be gone.&rdquo;Assuming he&rsquo;s right, I have only two words to say-too bad. &#9632;

f0010-02

Fighting may be gone in two years

<div class="byline">By Mike Beamish</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011471/6717182-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="358" height="461"></div>Serving almost four years in an Austrian prison for a heroin smuggling conviction should have been the end of the story for former Vancouver Canuck defenseman Jiri Bubla.At least that is where you would want it to end. Unfortunately for him, however, the private horror will persist for some time.Because of who he is, Bubla will serve as a public monument to selfdestruction. He not only screwed up his personal life, he screwed up the lives of his second wife. Ivana, and their two children.Bubla&rsquo;s five-year conviction in 1987 for trafficking four kilograms of heroin was a torment Ivana could not have imagined. Alone in a new country, with two boys to raise, lacking a working knowledge of English, she survived through prayer and the belief her husband was duped by the &ldquo;ader of a drug operation and the Canucks&rsquo; assistance.Bubla was working as a part-time scout for the Canucks when Austrian police arrested him. He was heading to a meeting with assistant to the chairman Arthur Griffiths at the World Championships in Vienna. Despite his conviction, Bubla Maintains his crime was of &ldquo;knowing, not doing.&rdquo; He says he gave Josef Janda, a North Vancouver neighbor and leader of a drug ring, $60,000 for a trip to Pakistan. Austrian police said Bubla accompanied Janda on several heroin-buying trips.Though he has repented and served his time, Bubla is still paying for his greed, deception and the good sense that deserted him. His future is uncertain and entwined with complications.In March, an immigration adjudicator ordered the 42-year-old be deported from Canada. Since he is a permanent resident seeking Canadian Crtizenship, and still holds a Czechoslovakian passport, Bubla was considered a member of the &ldquo;inadmissible class&rdquo;, having been convicted of a serious crime overseas.He will be allowed to remain in Canada at least another six months to a year until his appeal is heard. His lawyer, Dennis McCrea, said the appeal will be based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Bubla&rsquo;s family has lived in the Vancouver area since 1981.&ldquo;He has suffered greatly,&rdquo; McCrea says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s obvious he&rsquo;s very embarrassed and humiliated by what has happened. The whole thing occurred at a time of great stress in his life. He grets it very much. But he&rsquo;s facing up to it and trying to deal with it in the most honorable way he can.&rdquo;Bubla has politely turned down requests for interviews, explaining his lawyer has advised him to maintain a low profile. But he&rsquo;s not hard to find.He can be seen at Pacific Coliseum, still swinging a stick for the Canucks. But now it&rsquo;s a broom, instead of an Easton. His wife&rsquo;s cleaning company has a contract to sweep out the hockey club&rsquo;s offices and suites.An hour after a recent Canucks&rsquo; game, I caught a glimpse of Bubla pushing a janitorial cart. He gave me a nod of recognition, then disappeared quickly behind a door. Was he ashamed to be pushing a broom? Who can say? But he is earning an honest living and that&rsquo;s something to be proud of.Bubla skates with the Canuck old-timers in his spare time, which explains why he looks as fit and athletic as he did in 1981, when he first arrived in Canada.That was the summer Vancouver general manager Jake Milford made a secretive and controversial trip to Europe to sign Bubla and Ivan Hlinka, two World Championship all-stars from Czechoslovakia, under the noses of other NHL teams.League president John Ziegler later forced the Canucks to relinquish Brent Ashton and a fourth-round draft pick to Winnipeg for circumventing a special draft arrangement.Bubla ended up playing 256 games for the Canucks-almost twice as many as Hlinka&mdash;and helped them reach the 1982 Stanley Cup finals. He settled in the Vancouver area after his playing career ended in 1985.Hlinka returned to a coaching career in Czechoslovakia. One of the players he inspired to pursue an NHL career was Jiri Slegr, Bubla&rsquo;s son by his first marriage.Slegr, selected by the Canucks in the second round of the 1990 entry draft, changed his surname to his mother Vera&rsquo;s maiden name after his father&rsquo;s conviction.His dad and mom separated when young Jiri was two. The father had remarried by the time he came to Vancouver.Slegr, stocky and broad-shouldered like his father, has met his dad three times in his life. &ldquo;But my dream is to meet him again one day in Vancouver,&rdquo; he said.But unless Jiri Bubla wins his deportation appeal, Slegr may never get the chance. &#9632;

f0011-01

Bubla’s private horror continues

<div class="byline">By Al Morganti Senior Writer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0011-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-021053/6717213-1-eng-US/f0011-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Fenton and the Sharks have overcome a 13-game losing Streak and earned league-wide respect. (Photo by John Giamundo/BBS)</figcaption></div>The words &ldquo;success&rdquo; and &ldquo;San Jose Sharks&rdquo; weren&rsquo;t mentioned in the same sentence by many NHL forecasters entering the 1991-92 season. But with the campaign coming to a close, it could be argued the expansion Sharks have become a model franchise. That is model, as in the high-fashion clothing industry.Kidding aside, the team&rsquo;s gear has generated more than $100 million in sales. That total ranks second to the NBA&rsquo;s Chicago Bulls in terms of merchandising dollars made by North American sports teams within the last year.The Sharks? They don&rsquo;t exactly sell their stuff on the basis of great play or great players. They sell it because it looks great. But coach George Kingston and the rest of the San Jose staff had the tougher job of selling the players on the idea they could be competitive.&ldquo;I told our players at the beginning that it was going to be tough to be a Shark,&rdquo; Kingston said. &ldquo;But I wanted to make sure they enjoyed playing, and that we kept our spirit up.&ldquo;It was very difficult when every paper you picked up, and every newscast we looked at, San Jose was the &ldquo;lowly Sharks&rdquo;.&ldquo;I think our biggest victory this year is despite that, all of the players have been contributors to what we are trying to accomplish.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s hard to argue against the notion the Sharks achieved their most important goal: they were not a pushover.Granted, they will finish dead last in the NHL&mdash;they were on pace for roughly a 41-point-finish-but along the way they scared the heck out of a lot of clubs. That trip to northern California, which many teams viewed as a a &ldquo;vacation&rdquo;, turned into a lot of nervous moments as the Sharks showed some teeth at the Cow Palace where they were 14-20-3 after 37 games.More than that, the Sharks defeated every team in the division at least once. Their 50 losses included 15 by one goal (not counting empty-net scores), and only 14 of their losses were by more than three goals. True, they had the embarrassing 11-1 loss at Detroit and a lopsided 8-0 loss to Pittsburgh at home but for the most part the Sharks were not the easy marks many predicted they would be.Just ask the Montreal Canadiens, a team which escaped the Cow Palace with a 1-0 win in December, then had to settle for a 3-3 tie in February.&ldquo;I think the original Sharks will be looked at as a very representative group of people,&rdquo; Kingston said. &ldquo;We set an original goal of being competitive, and in a position to win every game we played.&rdquo;Kingston believes all of the attention given the logo, the uniform and the colors has had a positive impact on the players. That the Sharks were marketed so well, carried right into the dressing room.&ldquo;Everybody likes to be part of a pleasurable experience,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and it&rsquo;s a very positive, pleasurable experience to go into the Cow Palace and see the warm reception we get, and wherever our athletes go they are well received.&ldquo;I really think that counteracted a lot of the tough things about being a Shark.&rdquo;One of the toughest things was a 13-game losing streak early in the season, the last seven games of which the team was on the road. The tail spin left the club with a 1-15-0 record and it could have sent the team toward the sort of hellish season many had predicted.As it turned out, the club came home and beat Edmonton and the New York Islanders for the first winning streak in team history. Since then, the Sharks have only once suffered a losing streak of more than three games.&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t too worried during that stretch because I could see we were playing all right.&rdquo; Kingston s&rsquo;aid. &ldquo;The game is funny, some nights you outplay people and you lose, then another night you don&rsquo;t play as well, and you get a win.The Sharks have certainly fared better than the expansion seasons for the Washington Capitals (19 points), the New York Islanders (24 points) and the Kansas City Scouts (32 points) but that does not mean they are on their way to instant greatness.&ldquo;We did surpass a number of expectations&rdquo; Kingston said, &ldquo;but in this business&hellip;you had better.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0011-02

Shark-Dressed Men

<div class="byline">By Mike Weaver</div>It hasn&rsquo;t taken Johan Garpenlov long to get comfortable with the Sharks.In five games after being obtained from Detroit for defenseman Bob McGill March 10, Garpenlov had three goals and an assist.&ldquo;The first thing I thought when I got traded was I would finally get ice time.&rdquo; said Garpenlov, caught in a numbers game in Detroit. &ldquo;If I got the ice time, I could do something.&rdquo;Getting ice time won&rsquo;t be problem for Garpenlov, playing left wing on a line with rookies Pat Falloon and Dale Craigwell. Falloon had six points in Garpenlov&rsquo;s five games.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great skater,&rdquo; Falloon said. &ldquo;He seems to be in the right places.&rdquo;Garpenlov, who celebrated his 24th birthday with a goal in a 5-4 victory over Hartford March 21. likes the chemistry of his new line.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re working well together,&rdquo; said Garpenlov, who played four seasons with Djurgarden in Sweden before arriving in Detroit in September, 1990. &ldquo;We know how to play the puck and play well in our own end.&rdquo;Based on what he has done so far, Garpenlov may turn out to be a big scorer for the Sharks. But he says he isn&rsquo;t setting any lofty goals.&ldquo;I want to get at least one good chance a game,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When things go well, I&rsquo;ll get a point or two.&rdquo;BIG HOMECOMING: ExWhalers Paul Fenton and Dean Evason had a big night for the Sharks in the win at the Hartford Civic Center.Fenton and Evason, both obtained by the Sharks in October trades, combined for three goals in a 5-4 victory.&ldquo;Whenever you&rsquo;re overlooked by an organization, you like to come back and do something about it,&rdquo; said Fenton, who scored his 100th NHL goal while killing a penalty.Evason scored two goals to help the Sharks snap an 0-39-3 streak in games they trailed after two periods.&ldquo;Individually, it was a thrill,&rdquo; said Evason. &ldquo;The thrill was for the team to come back after being behind in the third period and win on the road.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Sharks may be without Kelly Kisio for the rest of the season because of a separated left shoulder he sustained during a 3-1 loss to Calgary March 19.,.Dan Craigwell scored the winning goal against the Whalers when he snapped a 4-4 tie with 1:14 remaining. The goal was Craigwell&rsquo;s second, and both were late game-winners.The victory over Hartford left the Sharks with a 3-30-2 road record. It gave them a 2-1 win in their season series against the Whalers, the second Adams Division team to lose a series to the Sharks. San Jose won two of three games against Quebec.<h2>SAN JOSE</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Craigwell, Dean Evason, Mike Sullivan, Dave Snuggerud.LW&mdash;Johan Garpenlov, Don Barber, Paul Fenton, Perry Anderson, David Bruce, Steve Bozek.RW&mdash;Pat Falloon, Brian Mullen, Brian Lawton, Jeff Odgers, Perry Berezan.LD&mdash;Rob Zettler, Neil Wilkinson, Pat MacLeod.RD&mdash;David Williams, Claudicr, Scremin, Mike Colman.G&mdash;Jeff Hackett, Jarmo Myllys.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Brian Hayward, G, herniated disc in back, out for season. Kelly Kislo, C, separated left shoulder, April 2. Jayson More, D, sprained right knee, day-to-day. Doug Wilson, D, tom ligament in right knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

New life according to Garp

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div>Time is running out on the Calgary Flames&rsquo; playoff chances.By losing for the ninth time in 12 games-5-2 to Los Angeles March 21&mdash;the Flames were four points back of Winnipeg in the &ldquo;race&rdquo; for the final Smythe Division playoff spot.How bad have things become?Consider the loss to the Kings was the Flames&rsquo; 36th, second most in franchise history. The only other time they lost more games was in 1972-73, (38) when they were the expansion Atlanta Flames.That year-with a group of players dredged up in the expansion pool&mdash;they were as competitive as they are this season with a star-studded lineup.Interim coach Guy Charron blames the dubious record on a lack of confidence-as individuals and as a team.&ldquo;They say they have it but they don&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Charron said.Penalties are another problem. By allowing two power-play goals against the Kings, the Flames became the first team to give up 100 power play goals this season.I &ldquo;It isn&rsquo;t just a matter of picking up The pieces anymore,&rdquo; center Carey Wilson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s time we started putting them together.&rdquo;MASTER OTTO: He didn&rsquo;t recover from a career-threatening injury and he isn&rsquo;t doddering into the twilight of his career.So how did Joel Otto get nominated for the Masterton trophy?Presumably because he became hockey&rsquo;s equivalent of the self-made man. In 1984, only one general manager-Cliff Fletcher-felt Otto had a remote chance of playing in the NHL. He is now a valuable defensive specialist.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think a lot of people figured I would play an NHL game,&rdquo; Otto said. &ldquo;The organization gave me the opportunity. Things fell into place at the right time. They were looking for a big center. Who knows? If I&rsquo;d gone to another team, maybe I wouldn&rsquo;t have had the opportunity.&rdquo;Otto is the only player to emerge from a Division II U.S. college (Bemidji State) and forge an NHL career. He played his 500th career game Feb. 1.After an up-and-down January, Otto got hurt at an inopportune time-against the Pittsburgh Penguins in mid-March. He sustained a concussion and a sprained left ankle.&ldquo;We had a new system and it benefited us,&rdquo; said Otto, who had 31 points in 71 games. &ldquo;I felt confident. I was playing against some big guys and our line was doing the job. The injury definitely came at the wrong time.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Robert Reichel. the team&rsquo;s No. 4 goalscorer, and right winger Gary Leeman, sat out two games in a row against Los Angeles and San Jose. Reichel had 10 goals in the Flames&rsquo; first 17 games but then slumped badly. He scored only eight times in his next 54 games. Leeman had only eight goals and 26 points in 57 games since coming over from Toronto in the Doug Gilmour trade Jan. 1.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 19: Paul Kruse, LW, assigned to Salt Lake City (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Nieuwendyk, Carey Wilson, Joel Otto, Marc Habscheid. Robert Reichel.LW&mdash;Gary Roberts, Paul Ranheim, Craig Berube, Chris Lindberg.RW&mdash;Sergei Makarov, Theo Fleury, Nevin Markwart, Ron Stem, Tim Hunter. Gary Leeman.LD&mdash;Gary Suter, Trent Yawney, Frank Musil, Greg Smyth.RD&mdash;AI Maclnnis, Michel Petit, Neil Sheehy, Mark Osiecki.G&mdash;Mike Vernon, Jeff Reese, Trevor Kidd.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jim Kyte, D, dislocated fracture, right ankle, indefinite. &#9632;

Charron cites lack of confidence for dismal season

<div class="byline">By Rick Sadowski</div>When the Los Angeles Kings lost their work ethic following a team-record tying eight-game winning streak, they had a tough time getting it back.The result was a stunning nose dive that saw them lose four of five games and loosen their grip on second place in the Smythe Division.Coach Tom Webster accused his team of playing &ldquo;soft&rdquo; and it was hard to disagree with him, especially after an 8-2 debacle March 19 against Buffalo.Fortunately for the Kings, however, they rediscovered their hard hats March 21 and drilled Calgary 5-2 to clinch a playoff berth.&ldquo;We were not happy with the kind of effort we had been getting,&rdquo; Webster said.&ldquo;We played two good periods out of 15. I didn&rsquo;t want to overreact but we had to remind the players we won eight games in a row because we worked hard. It&rsquo;s something we talked about at length.&rdquo;The Kings didn&rsquo;t hit or hustle during their five-game slide and were outscored 26-10. They were also outscored 22-3 in the second and third periods of those games.&ldquo;We have to stay physical, finish checks and be aggressive on the boards,&rdquo; defenseman Larry Robinson said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not playing our game if we plant our feet and coast all over the ice. We play much better when we&rsquo;re feisty. We&rsquo;re not a big team but we can still get into people&rsquo;s hair.&rdquo;BIG MAC&rsquo;S BACK: Center John McIntyre returned to the Kings&rsquo; lineup against Calgary.McIntyre missed five games with a broken nose he sustained in a March 9 fight with Toronto&rsquo;s Todd Gill. He celebrated with a goal in the win over the Flames. He plans to wear a full face shield until his nose heals.McIntyre said he also experienced headaches and dizzy spells during the layoff that were apparently related to pain-killers he was taking..&ldquo;I felt terrible,&rdquo; McIntyre said. &ldquo;They just didn&rsquo;t agree with my system, I guess.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Paul Coffey was fitted with a playing cast after suffering what the Kings called a &ldquo;minor&rdquo; fracture of the right wrist March 17 against Winnipeg. Coffey missed the next two games and is listed as indefinite.Defenseman Tim Watters served a one-game suspension after picking up his second major stick penalty of the season March 17. Watters was nabbed for high-sticking Winnipeg&rsquo;s Pat Elynuik.<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 18: Rene Chapdelaine, D, recalled from Phoenix (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky, Bob Kudelski, Corey Millen, John McIntyre, Shawn McCosh.LW&mdash;Tony Granato, Luc Robitaille, Mike Donnelly, Jay Miller, Jim Thomson.RW&mdash;Jari Kurri, Tomas Sandstrom, Kyosti Karjalainen, Dave Taylor.LD&mdash;Peter Ahola, Larry Robinson, Brent Thompson.RD&mdash;Marty McSorley, Charlie Huddy, Tim Watters, Rene Chapdelaine.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Steve Weeks.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Scott Bjugstad, C, abdominal surgery, out for season. Rob Blake, D, strained right shoulder, indefinite. Paul Coffey, D, fractured right wrist, indefinite. &#9632;

Work to rule campaign produces playoff berth

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div>It is a game Petr Klima can&rsquo;t win but he continues to play it anyway.The Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; enigmatic winger checked into coach Ted Green&rsquo;s doghouse March 16 and may take up permanent residence. He was assigned to the press box for four straight road games and is clearly at odds with Green.The two traded verbal jabs in the media-nothing new there-but when Green went to Klima with plans of playing him in Boston March 21, Klima dropped a bombshell.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m in a predicament,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;Petr told me he would rather sit in the press box than play on the third or fourth line.&rdquo;Green obliged and Klima confirmed the statement.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to have five or six shifts a game. I can&rsquo;t play my game with five or six shifts. It would hurt the team. I don&rsquo;t want to hurt them because I know I already have.&rdquo;It wasn&rsquo;t the team he was worried about, however, when his year-long war with Green erupted in a Minieapolis airport March 16.Klima had been benched two days earlier in a game with Hartford. Green then proceeded to dress him down in the media and Klima responded.&ldquo;I play one game with MacT (Craig MacTavish) and Bucky (Kelly Buchberger). We worked hard but we didn&rsquo;t do anything. I don&rsquo;t think I can use all my skills to play my style of game,&rdquo; Klima said.Green wasn&rsquo;t about to do him any favors and immediately called up Dan Currie from Cape Breton of the American League to replace him.&ldquo;The only favor I&rsquo;ll do is kick him in the butt and wake up his brain,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about time Petr Klima stops crying, starts playing and helps this team win.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Acting captain Craig MacTavish took exception to Quebec owner Marcel Aubut&rsquo;s contention that players should be docked 11 per cent of their wages next year if they go on strike and don&rsquo;t play in the playoffs. &ldquo;First of all, I didn&rsquo;t think Marcel Aubut knew there was a post-season,&rdquo; MacTavish said. &ldquo;When was the last time he was in it?&rdquo;<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 16: Greg Hawgood, D, recalled, from Cape Breton (AHL). March 17: Dan Currie, RW, recalled from Cape Breton. March 20: Francois Leroux, D, recalled from Cape Breton.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Bemie Nicholls, Anatoli Semenov, Craig MacTavish, Josef Beranek.LW&mdash;Vince Damphousse, Craig Simpson, Martin Gelinas, Mark Lamb, Petr Klima.RW&mdash;Joe Murphy, Scott Mellanby, Kelly Buchberger, Dan Currie.LD&mdash;Geoff Smith, Dave Manson, Luke Richardson.RD&mdash;Norm Maciver, Greg Hawgood, Francois Leroux.G&mdash;Bill Ranford, Ron Tugnutt<h3>INJURIES</h3>Brian Glynn, D, arthroscopic surgery, right knee, indefinite. Kevin Lowe, D, rotator cuff strain in right shoulder, indefinite. Dave Maley, LW, arthroscopic surgery, right knee, indefinite. Craig Muni, D, sprained left knee, indefinite. Esa Tkkanen, LW, left shoulder surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Klima prefers press box

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div>There was no champagne on ice, not even a drop of industrial red or white when the Vancouver Canucks clinched their first Smythe Division title since 1975.Seventeen years is a long time to wait but the Canucks were playing it cool and talking instead about unfinished business.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve won the division but let&rsquo;s not stop here,&rdquo; said Troy Gamble, who was in goal for the division-clinching 2-2 tie against the Winnipeg Jets March 20. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s still a lot of hockey to be played. We want to be No. I in the conference and let&rsquo;s not forget the overall lead.&rdquo;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice but it&rsquo;s weird because there&rsquo;s still so much to do,&rdquo; said 21-year-old captain Trevor Linden.Even Petr Nedved is enjoying himself again. In January, the 20-year-old center had requested a trade because he wasn&rsquo;t playing much and felt his career was going nowhere. As fate would have it, he scored the goal that clinched the division title.&ldquo;To be honest, with the trading deadline gone, I&rsquo;m happy I&rsquo;m here with the Canucks,&rdquo; Nedved said. &ldquo;The best thing is to play with a team that has a shot to win the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;It took Canuck boss Pat Quinn five years to build a winner. In his first season, the Canucks finished with a dreadful 59 points. They improved to 74 the following year but then slid to 64 and 65. This season the Canucks had 91 with seven games remaining.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t as quick as everybody wanted but we knew we were getting better,&rdquo; said Quinn, a candidate for coach-of-the-year honors. &ldquo;We saw progress. This year, it started to come right from training camp.&rdquo;SOUR TASTE: While Pat Quinn has enjoyed his team&rsquo;s on-ice success, he said he was &ldquo;devastated&rdquo; to lose the Vladimir Krutov transfer fee arbitration.The Canucks received the final bill from Swedish arbitrator Dr. J. Gillis Wetter March 18. It will cost the Canucks close to $1.3 million.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll have our (legal) experts look at it to see if there is an avenue of appeal,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;If there isn&rsquo;t, then we&rsquo;ll pay the bill. This is the sourest thing that could have ever happened.&rdquo;The Canucks dumped Krutov after only one year of his three-year deal, claiming he had breached the contract by reporting in poor physical condition. Under the terms of the pact, Krutov was to receive $375,000 per season with the Russian Hockey Federation receiving an equal amount.NOTEBOOK: The Canucks&rsquo; 5-1 loss to the Jets in Winnipeg March 22 ended three streaks in one swoop. Heading into the game, the Canucks were unbeaten in seven games. unbeaten in six on the road, and unbeaten against Winnipeg in nine dating back to last season&hellip;Geoff Courtnall returned to the lineup March 22 after missing 10 games with a lacerated foot and prostate infection.Canuck defenseman Robert Dirk picked up one of the easiest assists of his career in the tie with the Jets when he handed the puck to Pavel Bure deep in Canuck territory and then watched the Russian Rocket go end-to-end. &ldquo;I said, &lsquo;Here, Pavel, go&rsquo;,&rdquo; Dirk said.<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 17: Bob Mason, G, and Robin Bawa, RW, recalled from Milwaukee (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Cliff Ronning, Igor Larionov, Tom Fergus, Petr Nedved, Ryan Walter.LW&mdash;Greg Adams, Sergio Momesso, Geoff Courtnall, Gino Odjick.RW&mdash;Trevor Linden, Pavel Bure, Garry Valk, Robin Bawa.LD&mdash;Dave Babych, Robert Dirk, Dana Murzyn, Jim Agnew.RD&mdash;Gerald Diduck, Jyrki Lumme, Adrien Plavsic, Randy Gregg.G&mdash;Kirk McLean, Troy Gamble, Bob Mason.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Ken Hammond, D, broken knuckle on right hand, March 26. Doug Lldster, D, separated right shoulder, March 28. Jim Sandlak, RW, strained left knee, April2. &#9632;

GM Quinn’s five-year plan pays off with division title

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>In a season full of surprises, Igor Ulanov has been one of nicest of all for the Winnipeg Jets.The 22-year-old Russian defenseman joined the team in January after spending the first part of the year with Khimik in the Commonwealth of Independent States.After 21 NHL games, Ulanov has worked his way into a regular spot on the Jets&rsquo; blue line. He was also one of the team&rsquo;s best performers in March.He picked up six assists in three games late in the month, including a three-assist performance March 22 in a crucial 5-1 win over Vancouver.Injuries to the defense corps prompted the Jets to invite Ulanov to practice. But it didn&rsquo;t take coach John Paddock long to make it more than a look-see.&ldquo;We liked him because he hit people and wasn&rsquo;t afraid to do it,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;There have been instances where we&rsquo;ve been forced to use him but he has earned his playing time.&rdquo;Ulanov showed his playmaking skills against Vancouver by assisting on Aaron Broten&rsquo;s first goal of the season and setting up Eddie Olczyk&rsquo;s tip-in in the first period. In the second, he stole a clearing pass to set up countryman Evgeny Davydov for his first NHL goal. Ulanov had one goal and nine points in 21 games.&ldquo;In a lot of ways he&rsquo;s more coachable than a lot of players because you know he&rsquo;s always listening,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;He wants to play so bad. He has made mistakes but you can live with those when you know he&rsquo;ll understand what was wrong when it&rsquo;s pointed out.&rdquo;Ulanov is also making progress at breaking down the language barrier. Although he has yet to get beyond pleasantries and small talk, he continues to try to make the off-ice adjustment.&ldquo;In the last month, he has come around a bit more and understands more,&rdquo; said Jets&rsquo; goalie Rick Tabaracci. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;s more comfortable now. I&rsquo;m sure having another player here who can speak his language (Davydov) should help.&rdquo;EDDIE&rsquo;S ON: Eddie Olczyk got the message.Left out of the lineup March 11 because of unimpressive play, Olczyk got back in and got busy, scoring goals in four straight games between March 15 and 22.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always tried to be a positive person and turn a negative into a positive,&rdquo; said Olczyk, who increased his team-leading goal total to 28. &ldquo;That definitely was a negative. I agreed with John&rsquo;s (Paddock) reasoning, even though I didn&rsquo;t like it. All I can do is work hard and try to get back to where I was before I was hurt.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Pat Elynuik. who has had a trying season, ran into more bad luck March 17 in Los Angeles. He was clipped in the right eye by the tip of Tim Watters&rsquo; stick and had to return to Winnipeg. He suffered blurry vision and headaches after the incident and needed four stitches to close a cut in his eyelid.<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Thomas Steen, Troy Murray, Luciano Borsato, Aaron Broten, Kris Draper.LW&mdash;Darrin Shannon, Phil Sykes, Keith Tkachuk, Evgeny Davydov, Doug Evans.RW&mdash;Eddie Olczyk, Mike Hartman, Lucien Deblois, Danton Cote.LD&mdash;Mike Lalor, Randy Cartyte, Igor Ulanov, Shawn Cronin.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, 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. Pat Elynuik, RW, lacerated right eye, day-to-day. Bryan Erickson, RW, abdominal surgery, April 5. Dean Kennedy, D, left knee surgery, out for season. &#9632;

Surprise, Surprise! Ulanov makes big impression

<div class="byline">By Gary Loewen</div>In the eyes of a fashion-conscious North American, a shirt with the logo of a shark may not be as chic as a cardigan with a crocodile. And as a status symbol, perhaps a polo player is preferable to a skating penguin.But the gap is closing.While times are tough in the clothing trade, one segment of the industry is taking off. Apparel bearing licensed sports logos is very hot. So much so, in fact, that for some NHL teams, revenues from licensed products are comparable to their profit from television contracts.The league got $5.5 million from SportsChannel America for the television contract this season. They&rsquo;ll get almost that much from the sale of San Jose Sharks&rsquo; merchandise alone.And as the licensed apparel market grows, the NHL is aiming to get more control of the industry. In July, it will take licensing in-house, becoming the last of the four major pro sports to do so.Time Warner Inc., is the exclusive licensee of NHL merchandise. But the league recently rejected a five-year, $100 million offer from Time Warner to extend its contract.Time Warner will continue to lend a hand in quality control for the next two years. But the league-specifically, NHL Services Inc., under the direction of league vice-president Steve Ryan-will come up with its own product ideas while overseeing the manufacture and sales end.Ryan recently forecasted retail sales of NHL merchandise to be $700 million for the current fiscal year. The NHL will reap royalties of close to $30 million.While insiders say Ryan&rsquo;s estimate is optimistic, they agree licensing is a lucrative business the NHL can&rsquo;t possibly foul up.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a fantastic move to take it internally. It&rsquo;s big business,&rdquo; says Matt Levine, executive vicepresident in charge of business operations for the San Jose Sharks.Levine and the neophyte Sharks should know. Their merchandise is ranked No. 2 in North America, trailing only the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Chicago Bulls.Every NHL team is benefitting from the merchandising boom. Licensing profits are shared equally among the 22 teams although individual teams keep revenue from merchandise they sell on their own. Not surprisingly, the Sharks are leaders in both areas.San Jose&rsquo;s blueprint for success isn&rsquo;t that surprising, Levine says. The Sharks followed trends, held focus groups and came up with three logos, including an upscale model, that apparently have appealed to all hockey fans.Sharks&rsquo; merchandise is pegged to bring in $120 million by June 30, Levine says.&ldquo;The league is benefitting significantly,&rdquo; Levine says. &ldquo;The league&rsquo;s share of licensing revenues attributable to Shark sales is 75 to 80 per cent of the amount of the SportsChannel contract.&rdquo;The Sharks also do a fair selling job on their own. They have a thick mail-order catalogue that is the envy of all professional sports teams. Their summer catalogue has just been released.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011219/6717388-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="706" height="812"><figcaption class="caption-body">Doug Wilson and the Sharks are No. 2 among sports teams in merchandising.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It tells a different story about the potential for, hockey as the 1990s unfold,&rdquo; Levine says. &ldquo;Hockey doesn&rsquo;t have to be satisfied being the No. 4 sport in the U.S.&rdquo;And while hockey cards account for roughly one-third of all NHL royalties, the bulk of the licensing business is in clothing.&ldquo;Apparel bearing graphics of sports teams have come into the mainstream for adults,&rdquo; says Bob Carey, the NHL&rsquo;s new senior vice-president in charge of retail licensing. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s now fashionable for an adult to wear a leather jacket with a Kings&rsquo; logo. It&rsquo;s an &lsquo;in&rsquo; thing.&rdquo;Carey was hired by the league to oversee the transfer of licensing operations. He is a licensing expert. He was president of National Football League Properties, which controlled the merchandising for the NFL from 1970 to 1988.&ldquo;Time Warner developed a really good stable of licensees, so taking over the reins isn&rsquo;t a huge effort for us. We&rsquo;re not starting from scratch,&rdquo; he says.Time Warner officials can&rsquo;t comment in detail about their role in the changeover, but company officials will say they have been treated fairly.But Time Warner shouldn&rsquo;t be blamed if it felt somewhat jilted. After all, it established the licensees and started the entire sports merchandising business rolling. There are now 120 licensees in the U.S. and 80 in Canada producing all types of NHL paraphernalia.While most teams have retail outlets in their arenas, the league doesn&rsquo;t sell NHL merchandise directly to the customer. Instead, it gives manufacturers permission to use their crests in exchange for a nine per-cent royalty on the wholesale price (wholesale usually is half the retail price).The league collects a smaller royalty on hockey cards&mdash;five to six per cent&mdash;while the NHL Players&rsquo; Association gets about 10 per cent of the price. &#9632;

f0017-01

NHL poised to put licensing plans in motion

<div class="byline">By Gary Loewen</div>Maybe it has something to do with the greenhouse effect&mdash;or the greenhose effect.Whatever the reason, several NHL teams are changing their colors, logos, even their stripes, next season.Perhaps a new look will bring luck&mdash;if you can&rsquo;t fire the players, fire the uniform. Some organizations hope the change will improve their self-esteem and their merchandising.Redesigning the uniform has become almost trendy in the NHL. ever since the Vancouver Canucks abandoned their multi-colored pajamas a few years ago. From a performance and marketing standpoint, the Los Angeles Kings made the shrewdest switch, dumping their gaudy purple and gold colors four years ago for black and silver.A number of teams plan to be following the Kings&rsquo; example: Clearly, black is hot while green has become a fashion faux pas. As many as 11 of the 24 NHL teams will look like Johnny Cash next season.Among them are the New Jersey Devils, who will surrender their traditional Christmas-tree look in favor of black, red and white. In other words, the Chicago Blackhawks of the Patrick Division.&ldquo;But Chicago&rsquo;s red is a different red than ours,&rdquo; a Devils&rsquo; official says. &ldquo;General manager Lou Lamoriello believes the new design will give the team a more rugged look.&rdquo;The Devils aren&rsquo;t the first team to eschew green. The color wasn&rsquo;t even good enough for Norman Green, the owner of the Minnesota North Stars.Green started the anti-leprechaun movement this season, switching his team to black with just a touch of green trim. The NHL&rsquo;s only other predominantly green team, the Hartford Whalers, are changing too.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011252/6717419-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="544" height="821"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kevin Todd can stop resembling a Christmas tree in 1992-93.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;But we&rsquo;re not going to black, like a half-million other teams,&rdquo; Whaler spokesman Frank Polnaszek says.The Whalers will wear dark blue, more in keeping with their nautical theme. The rationale for the change?&ldquo;There was a feeling the green uniform made the team look smaller and perhaps meeker,&rdquo; Polnaszek says.The Toronto Maple Leafs are, in effect, taking a step backward with their new design. They are adding shoulder patches with the old-style, veined Leaf emblem.&ldquo;People have clamored for the nostalgia of the old Leaf uniform,&rdquo; Toronto&rsquo;s director of business operations Bob Stellick says.In Pittsburgh, the Penguins are pondering a revised logo. They want a meaner penguin. The current crest features a mild-mannered creature out for a skate. The decision to change was sparked by the San Jose Sharks&rsquo; success marketing their logo, which features a menacing shark chomping a stick in two.Although all the teams altering their uniforms won&rsquo;t admit it. expanded merchandising opportunities is the reason for change. Logos and colors must be appealing to adults, who buy and wear most NHL apparel. Adults prefer black to green.&ldquo;But now everybody is starting to look the same. It&rsquo;s getting boring,&rsquo; Kings&rsquo; merchandising director Harvey Boles says. &ldquo;We went to black because the players preferred it not because we thought we could sell more T-shirts. It&rsquo;s hard to imagine Wayne Gretzky in purple and gold.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0018-01

Black chic, green a faux pas for teams seeking new image

<div class="byline">By Paul Abramowltz</div>So, you want to buy a jersey worn by your favorite hockey player. Well, before you put your money down, do some homework.That&rsquo;s the advice given by Milton Byron of Bargaintown, N.J., who has been in the business of selling and buying game-worn jerseys since 1983.&ldquo;When people ask me how they can tell that it&rsquo;s real. I always tell them to make sure they have bought it from a reputable person,&rdquo; Byron said. &ldquo;Or, that they can trace it back to someone who is reputable.&ldquo;You always want to make sure you can have a good background on the jersey. The history of the jersey is very important. It&rsquo;s like a pedigree.&rdquo;No one would buy a champion poodle without proper papers. It&rsquo;s more difficult to get the same documentation for hockey jerseys.&ldquo;So, you have to make sure you know how to get back to the person whom you are buying it from,&rdquo; Byron said. &ldquo;If I was going to buy one from someone at a card show, I&rsquo;d ask for the guy&rsquo;s driver&rsquo;s license or ask the promoter of the show how to get in touch with the person.&rdquo;Then, there&rsquo;s the actual inspection.&ldquo;Look at it,&rdquo; Byron said. &ldquo;Does it look like it came off the rack? If it does, then it&rsquo;s probably not real. Look at the size of the numbers. Are there fight straps or aren&rsquo;t there?&rdquo;According to Byron, most of the jerseys from the late 1970s and early 1980s didn&rsquo;t have fighting straps.&ldquo;Make sure it looks like it has been worn,&rdquo; Byron said. &ldquo;If it doesn&rsquo;t look worn, fall back on the pedigree.&rdquo;Also, do your homework. For instance, said Byron, if you see a Tomas Sandstrom Los Angeles Kings uniform that is purple and yellow, stay away. Sandstrom never wore that jersey for the Kings, who switched to black and silver the year Wayne Gretzky arrived for the 1988-89 season.Patches for All-Star Games or team and league anniversaries help a buyer determine the history of a jersey. Brad Moore of Guelph suggests to look for wear and tear on the jersey.&ldquo;Check for holes or repairs,&rdquo; Moore said. &ldquo;There might have been a hole that was sewn up. Also, look inside the elbows because it wears there from elbow pads.&ldquo;If it looked brand new and it had just an average name on it. maybe I&rsquo;d buy it. But if it was somebody like Mark Messier, I&rsquo;d be hesitant because there are a lot of phony jerseys out there. It is a big problem.&rdquo;The range for a Messier game-worn jersey, depending on the condition. is between $1,500 and $1,800. Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s goes for about $3,000 Brett Hull&rsquo;s $2,000. Steve Yzerman about $1,500. The most expensive is Gretzky&rsquo;s at $7,500-if you can find one.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s very careful with his jerseys,&rdquo; Byron said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the things that make it so desirable.&rdquo;The jersey of the common player is $100-$150.This year&rsquo;s 75th anniversary jerseys of the Original Six teams are hard to find. They are popular and average about $400 and up.Autographs do not change the value of a jersey but &ldquo;a lot of people hate autographs on them,&rdquo; Moore said. &ldquo;Sometimes it ruins the jersey.&rdquo;&ldquo;The jersey is already a lot of money,&rdquo; said Byron. &ldquo;Having an autograph on it-does it change the value? Maybe a bit if the guy buying it is a collector.&rdquo;He didn&rsquo;t have a Hull jersey when Brett needed it the most, though. Hull&rsquo;s jersey was stolen in Philadelphia and Flyers&rsquo; trainer Jim Evers called Byron, who didn&rsquo;t have the jersey but directed him to someone who did.Hull used the borrowed jersey that night, returned it to the owner after the game and autographed it. &#9632;

Game-worn jerseys have special feel to them

<div class="byline">By Paul Abramowitz</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0021-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01814/6717474-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Grant Fuhr and several other marquee players have contracts to ensure their autographs are distributed properly.</figcaption></div>As autograph collectors will tell you, it comes down to a matter of trust when purchasing a signature.How else can a person be certain what he is buying isn&rsquo;t a valuable card tainted with a forged signature?&ldquo;I never know how to answer that,&rdquo; says Ian Ward, an Ontario autograph collector. &ldquo;The first thing you can do is buy from someone who is in the business.&rdquo;The seller should be reputable. It&rsquo;s a good idea to ask the person how he got the autograph. If you are at a memorabilia show and have questions, you can ask other dealers or the show promoter about the dealer with whom you are about to deal. If it&rsquo;s someone who has been in business for 10 years or more, you can kind of figure he&rsquo;s reputable.As anyone who has doctored his report card will tell you, it&rsquo;s easy to pretend you&rsquo;re someone else with a pen.&ldquo;I was trying to authenticate some old autographs from an old hockey stick,&rdquo; says Wayne Hepburn, a Guelph, Ont., collector. &ldquo;So, what I did was to look back at some of the old hockey cards that had autographs to see if they were the same.&ldquo;How else would you do it? I&rsquo;m not sure.&rdquo;Hepburn collects autographs as a hobby. Buying and selling them as a dealer is something he doesn&rsquo;t understand.&ldquo;To me, an autograph is a way to spend time with a star,&rdquo; Hepburn says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s sort of like a tradition you have grown up with. I think the real value of an autograph is you were able to share a little time with a star. So I question when people buy and sell autographs.&rdquo;Yet, go to any show and you&rsquo;ll see items signed. Cards, jerseys, photos, lithographs and even pucks. Prices depend on the item the autograph is signed on. For instance, an autograph on a jersey will cost more than an autograph on a puck.&ldquo;With the exception of an autograph on a rookie card,&rdquo; Ward says, &ldquo;an autographed card goes for around $10. If you get a rookie card signed, obviously it&rsquo;ll be more because of the price of the card. But I would never get a rookie card signed.&rdquo;If you are unable to spend a few moments with an athlete, there are ways to get his autograph. One of the ways is to deal with a company like The Score Board, Inc., in Cherry Hill, N.J. They basically sell memories.&ldquo;The most important thing when you buy an autograph is to make sure it comes with a certification of authenticity that states the article was signed by the athlete,&rdquo; says Steve Charendoff, The Score Board&rsquo;s director of special projects. &ldquo;That doesn&rsquo;t mean people can&rsquo;t play games with you but at least it puts a person (the seller) on the block. Everything we sell comes with a certificate of authenticity.&rdquo;The Score Board has contracts with a half dozen NHL players-Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr, Jaromir Jagr and old-timers Gordie Howe and Maurice Richard. They also work with baseball, basketball and football players. Retired boxer Muhammad Ali is another athlete who signs on their dotted line.Gretzky tops the price list&mdash;$150 for an autographed plaque with photo and $400 for an authentic gamemodel jersey.&ldquo;If you can&rsquo;t meet the athlete in person,&rdquo; Charendoff says, &ldquo;then the best way to know for sure you are getting his autograph is to go to a reputable source.&ldquo;This is a business that has taken some lumps. There is a temptation by some bad people to sell bad signatures. There are bad apples out there. It&rsquo;s a shame that people get ripped off. I wouldn&rsquo;t say it&rsquo;s a big problem but it is always a concern. Forgery is not running rampant because there are people making it a legitimate industry.&rdquo;Reputable companies, Charendoff says, lend credibility to the business and give people security that what they&rsquo;re getting is authentic.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s worth paying a premium,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;to give you peace of mind.&rdquo;If you don&rsquo;t want to pay the extra?&ldquo;Find someone you can trust,&rdquo; Charendoff said. &ldquo;Or find someone who knows autographs and signatures.&rdquo;Also, try to find someone you can go back to shortly after if there is any kind of problem. If it is someone just blowing through town and you&rsquo;ll never see again, be alerted. &#9632;

f0021-01

Know the warning signs: all that is signed isn’t fine

<div class="byline">By Rand Simon</div>If it seems like there&rsquo;s more hockey cards out there this season than ever before, that&rsquo;s because there is.The nine major companies produced more than 5,000 different cards this season alone. That&rsquo;s more cards than Topps made in 34 years of producing cards from 1954 to 1990. As recently as two seasons ago, there were only two sets to choose from.So here&rsquo;s a brief synopsis of each of the major sets available this season.<h2>Bowman</h2>Versions: English. No. of Cards: 429.Subsets: Hat Tricks, Playoffs. Bonus Cards: None.Key Rookies: None.<h2>O-Pee-Chee</h2>Versions: Bilingual. No. of Cards: 528.Subsets: All-Stars, Guy Lafleur tribute, highlights, league leaders, Super Rookies, Trophy Winners.Bonus Cards: 56-card Commonwealth of Independent States insert and 10-card San Jose Shark insert.Key Rookies: Tony Amonte, Igor Kravchuk, Valeri Zelepukin.<h2>Parkhurst</h2>Versions: English and French for Series I and II.No. of Cards: 225 in Series I; undetermined in Series II.Subsets: Rookies, 1,000-Point Club, Leaders, Frequent all-stars.Bonus Cards: Legends Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio and rookie leaders Ken Hodge, Robert Kron and Sergei Fedorov.Key Rookies: Tony Amonte, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kevin Todd. Series II will be released after the Stanley Cup playoffs and may include cards of Gilbert Dionne, Joe Juneau and Viacheslav Kozlov.<h2>Pinnacle</h2>Versions: English and French.No. of Cards: 420.Subsets: Game winners, good guys, idols, rookies, sidelines, technicians. Bonus Cards: None.Key Rookies: Tony Amonte, Nicklas Lidstrom, Valeri Zelepukin.<h2>Platinum</h2>Versions: English and French for Series I and II.No. of Cards: 150 in Series I; 160 in Series II.Subsets: Platinum Performance, Platinum Prospects, Original Six.Bonus Cards: Platinum Club-John Vanbiesbrouck, Pete Peeters, Tom Barrasso, Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Kelly Hrudey, Sergei Fedorov, Rob Blake, Ken Hodge.Key Rookies: Tony Amonte, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kevin Todd.<h2>Premier</h2>Versions: English.No. of Cards: 198.Subsets: Original Six. Bonus Cards: None.Key Rookies: Tony Amonte, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kevin Todd.<h2>Pro Set</h2>Versions: English and French for Series I and II.No. of Cards: 345 in Series I; 270 in Series II.Subsets: All-stars, team captains, leaders, oldtimers, play smart, trophy winners.Bonus Cards: Patrick Roy autographed cards. Collectible Cards&mdash;The draft, the mask, Pat Falloon, Scott Niedermayer, Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Adam Oates. Mark Recchi and John Cullen.Key Rookies: Tony Amonte, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kevin Todd.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01941/6717505-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="546" height="751"><figcaption class="caption-body">Upper Deck&rsquo;s Brett Hull card is one of 5,000 available this year.</figcaption></div><h2>Score</h2>Versions: Canadian English, Canadian bilingual, American.No. of Cards: Two series of 330 in Canadian versions; 440 in American.Subsets: All-rookie team, NHL award winners, brothers, crunch crew, dream team, franchise players, Guy Lafleur tribute, season leaders, top NHL prospects.Bonus Cards: Five-card Bobby Orr subset.Key Rookies: Tony Amonte, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kevin Todd.<h2>Stadium Club</h2>Versions: English.No. of Cards: 400.Subsets: None.Bonus Cards: None.Key Rookie: Patrick Lebeau.<h2>Upper Deck</h2>Versions: English and French for low and high number.No. of Cards: 500 in low number; 200 in high number.Subsets: Bloodlines, Canada Cup, heroes, Russians, all-rookie team, team checklists, star rookies, top guns, draft choices.Bonus Cards: Nine-card Brett Hull subset.Key Rookies: Tony Amonte, Viacheslav Kozlov, Alexei Kovalev, Nicklas Lidstrom, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Sittler.DRAFT PICK SETS<h2>Arena Holograms</h2>Versions: English and French. No. of Cards: 33.Subsets: None.Bonus Cards: Autographed cards.Key Rookies: Scott Lachance, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Poulin.<h2>Classic</h2>Versions: English and French.No. of Cards: 51.Subsets: None.Bonus Cards: Autographed cards.Key Rookies: Scott Lachance, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Poulin.<h2>Star Pics</h2>Versions: English and French.No. of Cards: 72.Subsets: Hall of Fame, flashback.Bonus Cards: Autographed cards.Key Rookies: Alexei Kovalev, Scott Lachance, Dimitri Mironov.<h2>The Ultimate</h2>Versions: English and French.No. of Cards: 90.Subsets: Black and white portraits, specialty cards.Bonus Cards: Autographed cards and Kyle Reeves.Key Rookies: Scott Lachance, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Poulin. &#9632;

f0022-01

All you need to know about Fortune 5,000

<div class="byline">By Bob Amesse</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01837/6717536-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="363" height="465"></div>Tim Riordan drank a lot those days. He tried to do something to make himself feel better and for a while it worked. When the alcohol clicked in, things looked as ripe as sweet-scented, yellow freesias. The moments soared like fast-paced pro hockey games that he would replay in his mind.Sitting at his favorite spot near the middle of the bar, a dozen or so stools from the front door, he&rsquo;d entertain friends and strangers with stories about his career with the Minnesota North Stars in the thick, smoky air of the Scoreboard Bar and Grill in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.Bourbon took Riordan wonderful places and he&rsquo;d shoot the breeze in his slow, deep voice. Talking about his hockey life would elevate him from anonymity to notoriety. Pro athletes-even if they&rsquo;ve retired-exude a kind of potent musk, especially for those who haven&rsquo;t smelled it before.&ldquo;Hockey was very much a part of his life,&rdquo; said Mark Jensen, his best friend. &ldquo;In fact, it was his life.&rdquo;Jensen said Riordan was a goalscorer, a forward with the North Stars. Bom in Minnetonka, Minn., Riordan was proud of the fact he played for his homestate team.After his career, legend had it he would go 1-on-l with the area&rsquo;s best skaters putting on wonderful displays at rinks on the outskirts of Salt Lake. One time he whacked a slap shot, opening a nasty gash on an opponent&rsquo;s face that took 43 stitches to close.That&rsquo;s when Riordan was a construction worker. He shored concrete at the Delta Center, forming the floors where the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Utah Jazz and International League&rsquo;s Salt Lake Golden Eagles play. The job took him to exhilarating heights. Binges took him to horrific depths.It became harder for him to emerge from booze-induced clouds. He was one of Steve Winters&rsquo; best employees at Blaine Construction Co., with more talent than the others. He was always welcomed back even if he&rsquo;d &ldquo;flake off&rsquo; for a few weeks.Jensen watched helplessly as his buddy lost control of his life. Riordan had no desire to work again and his bills began to pile up.Riordan&rsquo;s first suicide attempt came in Jensen&rsquo;s living room. A small hole remains in the ceiling from the Winchester Model 70 rifle shot.&ldquo;I heard the blast and wouldn&rsquo;t come out of my bedroom,&rdquo; Jensen said. &ldquo;I was afraid I&rsquo;d see his blood splattered all over the hallway.&rdquo;His mental state deteriorating, Riordan held up the First Federal Bank in downtown Salt Lake on Feb. 25.FBI special agent Rob Van Vranken remembered getting at least two telephone calls from Riordan following the heist.&ldquo;He said he was a former pro hockey player and there might be a chance he&rsquo;d give himself up,&rdquo; Van Vranken said. &ldquo;We made an appeal for him to give himself up.&rdquo;Three days later, two FBI agents found Riordan sleeping in a field behind a restaurant near Interstate 15. When the agents approached, Riordan fired a bullet into his head. He was 41.&ldquo;There was a lot of moodiness around here after that,&rdquo; Van Vranken said. &ldquo;The agents never saw someone commit suicide before.&rdquo;The two-by-five-inch obituary cost Jensen more than $200 to have published in the Salt Lake Tribune. Two sentences stand out: &ldquo;He was also a very talented athlete, a professional athlete in the NHL. He and his team still hold a record in the NHL to this day.&rdquo;But Riordan, you see, never played in the NHL. His bloated hands, with ugly scars carving crooked paths from his knuckles towards his wrists, were the result of construction accidents, not hockey fights.Riordan&rsquo;s mother, Linda, admitted her son&rsquo;s pro hockey career was, &ldquo;a bunch of information from a bottle.&rdquo; The only hockey Riordan played was at the University of Indiana in Pennsylvania almost 20 years ago.&ldquo;It just may have been something he aspired to,&rdquo; Van Vranken said of the make-believe NHL career. &ldquo;I aspired to play pro baseball but I don&rsquo;t go around telling people that I actually played pro ball.&rdquo;Jensen, meantime, remains convinced his friend was telling the truth. He hopes to find a picture of Riordan in a North Stars&rsquo; uniform. When he finds it, he will put it on the wall at the Scoreboard. It&rsquo;s a picture he will never find. The North Stars have never even heard of Riordan.Inside the bar, less than a week after Riordan&rsquo;s death, a bass guitar throbbed as Desperado, Riordan&rsquo;s favorite song, boomed and thumped. His friends had gathered to remember a man who craved attention.Sadly, he got what he wanted as a result of his grisly death. &#9632;

f0023-01

Bloody suicide was death of a dream

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave</div>How far the Detroit Red Wings go in the playoffs may depend on how many miles are left on their hard-driven Chevy. Or will it?It seems everyone worries about goaltender Tim Cheveldae breaking down. After all, he played 65 of Detroit&rsquo;s first 71 games. But the Wings aren&rsquo;t that concerned. And the hard-working Cheveldae wouldn&rsquo;t have it any other way.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s fine with me,&rdquo; says Cheveldae, who would have said the same thing if coach-general manager Bryan Murray had told him he&rsquo;d be playing all 80 games.&ldquo;Fatigue with Tim Cheveldae is a factor only to other people,&rdquo; Murray says. &ldquo;And it won&rsquo;t come up unless we get knocked out (of the playoffs) early. If we go some distance, they&rsquo;ll talk about all the good experience he had going in. You can&rsquo;t win an argument with the people who write the stories.&rdquo;Cheveldae, completing his second full season, has won many admirers in the past two years&mdash;including the people who write the stories.&ldquo;He has excellent composure and feel for the game for his age,&rdquo; says veteran goalie Greg Millen, the No. 2 man in Detroit. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s as mature as a veteran. He&rsquo;s as good as anyone in the league.&rdquo;That Cheveldae has come so far so fast surprised many people in the Detroit organization. Goaltending consultant Phil Myre remembers when the 24-year-old first came to training camp in 1988. He was ranked much lower in the pecking order among developing goalies.&ldquo;He really didn&rsquo;t rate very high,&rdquo; Myre said. &ldquo;Randy Hansch (since out of the organization) was our goalie of the future. But even in training camp, Chevy made saves when the game was on the line.&rdquo;Myre says Cheveldae has four attributes that make him a top NHL goalie: superior athletic ability; a quick glove; a cool demeanor; and the ability to position himself well.His determination and work ethic are also a plus. But Cheveldae is human and needs a tune-up from time to time. That was apparent during a difficult road sttetch in mid-March that included a 4-1 loss at Montreal, a tie at Quebec and two losses at home.&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t believe (fatigue) was a factor,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s only three, four or five games difference between him and the other top goalies in the league. I played him a lot last year and this year because he wasn&rsquo;t experienced. The time was necessary for him to catch up to the other guys.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02530/6717567-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="924" height="1773"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tim Cheveldae hopes a strong playoff will land him a lucrative new deal next season. (Photo by Brian Winkler)</figcaption></div>Cheveldae thrives on work. In his final year with Saskatoon of the Western League in 1987-88, he played 66 games and finished with 44 wins. Last year, he played 65 games and won 30-not bad considering the Wings finished four games under .500. This year, he will likely play more than 70 games.Cheveldae is anything but emotional and doesn&rsquo;t talk much about his accomplishments. Only once in the past two seasons has he shown any emotion at all. That was last season, when Washington&rsquo;s John Druce scored in overtime to give the Capitals a 3-2 win at home. Cheveldae was playing in front of his in-laws.Before the media was allowed into the dressing room, he stormed out. He apologized the next day.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s unflappable,&rdquo; Murray says. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t worry about the bad goal, the win or the loss. He lets it go and moves on to the next game. His mental sttength is his greatest asset.&rdquo;Cheveldae hopes to land a new contract in the off-season. With a base salary of $200,000, he&rsquo;s one of the best bargains in the league. Even with the $150,000 bonus he earned for playing in his 60th game Feb. 29 against St. Louis, the Wings are getting a deal.But Cheveldae is entering the option year of his contract and at mid-season turned down a deal that would have more than doubled his salary. He&rsquo;s gambling a good playoff run will put him in a position to earn much more. But should he fail, don&rsquo;t expect him to try to explain&mdash;or complain.&ldquo;In 21/2 years I&rsquo;ve never heard him use an excuse,&rdquo; Myre said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great guy to work with.&rdquo;Murray agrees. The two seldom speak, and when they do, the conversation is short.&ldquo;I say: &lsquo;How do you feel, Tim?&rsquo;&rdquo; Murray says. &ldquo;He says: &lsquo;I feel fine.&rsquo; And I say: &lsquo;OK, you&rsquo;re playing.&rsquo;&rdquo;But Cheveldae&rsquo;s role on one of the NHL&rsquo;s better teams should not be overstated, says Winnipeg coach John Paddock.&ldquo;All everybody talks about is Cheveldae,&rdquo; Paddock says. &ldquo;Hey, they&rsquo;ve got some good players playing in front of him.&rdquo;Chevy couldn&rsquo;t agree more. All he needs is a lube job and an oil change now and then, and the Wings are on cruise control. &#9632;

f0023-02

Chevy Motors On

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div>At one point this season, St. Louis Blues&rsquo; defenseman Jeff Brown was a man of shattered confidence. But now that he has regained his confidence, Brown is looking to shatter a scoring record.After scoring two power-play goals in a 3-3 tie against Montreal March 22, Brown pushed his season&rsquo;s total to 19, one short of Lawrence Sacharuk&rsquo;s team record for goals by a defenseman.&ldquo;Since I scored 21 goals before (1988-89 with Quebec), I thought I might have a chance at the record. But it has been a while,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;d have looked at my stats two months ago, you&rsquo;d have never thought I had a chance.&rdquo;Brown had seven goals and 27 points in his first 44 games. He had only two power-play goals, so coach Brian Sutter removed him from the top power-play unit.Brown has since regained his scoring touch&mdash;and his confidence. He scored 12 goals (seven on the power play) and 25 points in his next 30 games. Sutter rewarded him with a leadership role, letting him wear the assistant captain&rsquo;s &ldquo;A&rdquo; while Garth Butcher and Brett Hull sat out with injuries.PAINFUL TIMES: Brett Hull and goalie Curtis Joseph remained on the sidelines 11 days after suffering what Blues&rsquo; doctors had originally diagnosed as day-to-day injuries.Hull suffered back spasms in the first period of a 5-4 loss to Detroit March 12. Joseph left the same game after two periods with tendonitis in his right ankle.Hull didn&rsquo;t accompany the team on its four-game trip to Washington, Boston, Montreal and Toronto but he resumed light skating March 19. Team doctors said he would likely be return March 26. Joseph is expected back March 31.NOTEBOOK: U.S. Olympian Bret Hedican, the Blues&rsquo; 10th round pick in 1988, signed a four-year contract worth $700,000 March 18.Veteran Rick Zombo left the team in the middle of a four-game trip to the east coast. Doctors determined Zombo&rsquo;s left foot was broken and not bruised as was originally diagnosed. He will be sidelined until April 15.Lee Norwood returned to the lineup against Washington March 17 after being scratched for eight consecutive games.After allowing 11 goals in two games, Pat Jablonski lost his starting job to rookie Guy Hebert.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 18: Bret Hedican, D, signed tour-year contract.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Craig Janney, Ron Sutter, Bob Bassen, Ron Wilson.LW&mdash;Brendan Shanahan, Nelson Emerson, Dave Lowry, Phillipe Bozon, Dave Mackey.RW&mdash;Dave Christian, Kelly Chase, Rich Sutter, Darin Kimble.LD&mdash;Jeff Brown, Paul Cavallini, Murray Baron, Bret Hedican.RD&mdash;Stephane Quintal, Lee Norwood, Curt Giles.G&mdash;Guy Hebert, Pat Jablonski.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Garth Butcher, D, broken left foot, April 15. Brett Hull, RW, back spasms, March 26. Curtis Joseph, G, right ankle tendonitis. March 31. Rick Zombo, D, broken left foot, April 15. &#9632;

Confident Brown takes aim at team scoring record

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div>A lack of depth down the middle has put a severe crimp in the Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; playoff hopes.The loss of No. 2 center Peter Zezel to a knee injury March 5 coincided with a major drop in the club&rsquo;s offensive output.When Zezel went down with torn cartilage in his left knee, the Leafs were riding a four-game unbeaten streak. In Toronto&rsquo;s first six games without Zezel-three wins and three losses&mdash;the Leafs scored just 16 goals.Before he was injured, Zezel&rsquo;s linemates, Rob Pearson and Wendel Clark, were riding hot streaks. Without Zezel, Clark failed to score and Pearson notched two after scoring five in his previous seven games. It became the donut line.The Leafs don&rsquo;t have a replacement for Zezel. Brian Bradley flopped as a replacement with just one point in six games. The only other alternatives were Dave McLlwain, a defensive and penaltykilling specialist, and Mike Krushelnyski, who has been a zero offensively.Regardless of whether the Leafs catch Minnesota for the final Norris Division playoff spot, the lack of depth down the middle will be a key area for general manager Cliff Fletcher to address over the summer. Leaf officials hope Yanic Perreault, who led the American League in scoring this season before being injured, will be able to step in and center a second offensive line next fall.GIFFIN DIES: The Leafs wore black armbands for a home game March 21 against Chicago in honor of former team president Don Giffin, who died March 20 after a year-long battle with cancer. He was 76.Giffin will be remembered as the man who ran the Leafs for a stormy 18-month period between former owner Harold Ballard&rsquo;s death and the arrival of Cliff Fletcher. He helped instigate the raising of Stanley Cup banners in the Gardens and the renovation of the building.After hiring Retcher in June, Giffin stepped down as chairman of the board of governors in late November. &ldquo;He was one of the finest humans you&rsquo;d ever want to meet,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;He always had time for everyone.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Some tigers never change their stripes. Former Leaf Dave (Tiger) Williams managed to get into a couple of fights during a 12-game exhibition tour of eastern Canada organized by former Leaf captain Darryl Sittler&hellip;If Montreal can&rsquo;t join Chicago for a two-game tour of England in September, the Leafs may go instead.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Doug Gilmour, Brian Bradley, Dave McLIwain, Mike Krushelnyski.LW&mdash;Joe Sacco, Wendel Clark, Guy Larose, Kent MandervilleRW&mdash;Glenn Anderson, Rob Pearson, Mark Osborne, Mike Bullard.LD&mdash;Dave Ellett, Jamie Macoun, Dmitri Mironov, Ken Baumgartner, Darryl Shannon.RD&mdash;Todd GiH, Ric Nattress, Bob Rouse, Bob Halkidis.G&mdash;Grant Fuhr, Felix Potvin.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike Foligno, RW, broken right leg, Indefinite. Kevin Maguire, RW, bruised back, indefinite, Rick Wamsley, G, right knee sprain, April 5 Peter Zezel, C, left knee surgery, April 5. &#9632;

Donut line a concern

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div>Even before talk of a strike turned serious, Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; player representative Steve Larmer had other things to worry about. Like how to end a scoring slump that has dragged on most of the season.Only once in the previous nine seasons has Larmer failed to score at least 30 goals but he needed three in the last six games to do it this season.Furthermore, Larmer had 70 points with six games to play, a significant dropoff from 1990-91, when he checked in with a career-high 101.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t had the confidence,&rdquo; Larmer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m second-guessing myself instead of following my first instinct, and it has cost me.&rdquo;Larmer doesn&rsquo;t buy the theory he has been hearing all season that he burned himself out starring for Team Canada in the Canada Cup.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you can burn out doing something you enjoy,&rdquo; Larmer said. &ldquo;This isn&rsquo;t like a job. It&rsquo;s fun. I probably expected things to carry over into the season, and when they didn&rsquo;t, I got down on myself.&rdquo;It bodes well that Larmer has started showing signs that his offensive touch is returning.&ldquo;The last month or so I&rsquo;ve felt better than I have all season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m concentrating on today instead of trying to figure out what happened yesterday or what&rsquo;s going to happen in the future.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01816/6717646-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="558" height="718"><figcaption class="caption-body">A &lsquo;dumb&rsquo; act by Bryan March-ment cost him playing time.</figcaption></div>TEMPER TANTRUM: Defenseman Bryan Marchment didn&rsquo;t make the trip to Toronto for a March 21 game against the Maple Leafs for what Mike Keenan termed &ldquo;disciplinary reasons.&rdquo;Marchment, angered at being scratched from a March 19 game against Minnesota, threw a 30-pound dumbbell through a mirror in the dressing room causing $400 damage.&ldquo;I suppose we could have overlooked it but it&rsquo;s not the first time I had to discipline him,&rdquo; Keenan said.Keenan said Marchment needed to improve if he hoped to stay in the lineup. &ldquo;He has got to be better if he hopes to play more, or at all.&rdquo;According to Keenan, Marchment is frustrated by the cage he must wear to protect his fractured cheekbone.NOTEBOOK: The Hawks were being cautious with Brent Sutter&rsquo;s abdominal muscle pull. Sutter missed four games. &ldquo;We want him healthy for the playoffs,&rdquo; Mike Keenan said&hellip;The Hawks&rsquo; 1991 first-round draft pick. Dean McAmmond, agreed to a five-year contract March 22. McAmmond, 18, signed for four years plus an option season. The deal totals $820,000. He remains in Prince Albert of the Western League.<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jeremy Roenick. Mike Hudson, Tony Hrkac, Jocelyn Lemieux.LW&mdash;Stephane Matteau, Michel Goulet, Dan Vincelette, Mike Peluso, Tony Horacek, Stu Grimson.RW&mdash;Steve Larmer. Brian Noonan, Dirk Graham, Rob Brown.LD&mdash;Steve Smith, Frantisek Kucera, Igor Kravchuk, Bryan Marchment.RD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Keith Brown, Rod Buskas.G&mdash;Ed Belfour, Dominik Hasek.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Greg Gilbert, LW, broken right ankle, indefinite. Brent Sutter, C, abdominal muscle pull, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0025-01

Return to form of Larmer crucial for team’s fortunes

<div class="byline">By Gary Olson</div>The Minnesota North Stars have hitched their wagon to some pretty quick lead horses.Coach Bob Gainey abandoned his search for balance between scoring and defensive play when he put together the trio of Todd Elik between Brian Bellows and Mike Modano.In 11 games together, Bellows had seven goals and 16 points, Modano nine goals and 16 points and Elik two goals and 11 points.Bellows, who reached the 30-goal plateau for the seventh time in 10 seasons, was back on top as the Stars&rsquo; scoring leader with 30 goals and 73 points. Modano, with 32 goals and 72 points, was within three points of his rookie totals. Elik had 41 points in 55 games and has found his niche after an in-and-out start with the Stars.&ldquo;(Gainey) told us to use our speed and creativity to make things happen,&rdquo; Bellows said. &ldquo;But when the puck turns over, use that same speed to get back on defense.&rdquo;It has probably worked better than one might expect because the three seem to know they don&rsquo;t have a &ldquo;checker&rdquo; on the line to bail them out and they enjoy playing together enough to want to make it work.&ldquo;When players who have a history of scoring get success, it makes them anxious to get to the rink and do it again,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;Brian. Mike and Todd have that feeling.&rdquo;All was not roses for the Stars&rsquo; lead horses in Chicago March 19. The line was missing in action as the close-checking, hard-hitting Blackhawks made them disappear and scored a 4-1 victory.LANE CHANGES: On the trip from Chicago to Quebec the day after bangers Shane Churla and Derrick Smith separated their shoulders, the Stars stopped at a Montreal bowling alley for lunch.Players could bowl, eat lunch or combine the two before the 21/2-hour bus ride to Quebec.&ldquo;Bowling is good for our players.&rdquo; a coach said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ll see that it&rsquo;s okay to knock some things down.&rdquo;Churla and Smith, right shoulders aching, returned to the Twin Cities after the Chicago game March 19 and joined fellow bumper Basil McRae (severed foot tendons) with injuries that will sideline them for the rest of the regular season.NOTEBOOK: The alls-well declaration after goalie Jon Casey won back-to-back games March 14 (4-1 over Detroit) and March 17 (3-1 over Buffalo) was premature. The first three goals he gave up in the loss to Chicago were as soft as any during his slump&hellip;The Stars have a lifetime 4-14-2 record in Quebec.The Stars received nearly 20,000 applications for a lottery for playoff tickets. Fans are limited to four tickets each&hellip;Stewart Gavin was scheduled to play his 700th NHL game March 24 against Vancouver. Injuries have limited him to 38 and 29 games the last two seasons. Jim Johnson played in his 500th career game March 21 in Quebec.<h2>MINNESOTA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 17: Brad Berry, D, assigned to Kalamazoo (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Todd Elik, Dave Gagner, Neal Broten, Mark Janssens, Bobby Smith, Marc Bureau.LW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Brian Propp, Gaetan Duchesne.RW&mdash;Mike Modano, Ulf Dahlen, Stewart Gavin, Mike Craig.LD&mdash;Mark Tmordi, Craig Ludwig, Derian Hatcher.RD&mdash;Chris Dahlquist, Jim Johnson David Shaw, Rob Ramage.G&mdash;Jon Casey, Darcy Wakaluk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Shane Churla, RW, separated right shoulder, indefinite. Basil McRae, LW, severed tendons, left foot, indefinite. Al Pedersen, D, surgery to repair an abdominal tear, indefinite. Derrick Smith, LW, separated right shoulder, Indefinite. &#9632;

Red-hot trio using speed to burn opponents

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave</div>The question Detroit hockey fans have been asking for weeks is starting to be asked in their team&rsquo;s dressing room.&ldquo;What&rsquo;s wrong with the Red Wings? Even the players confronted themselves with a bit of soul-searching after losing for the sixth time in 10 games.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re just not playing with confidence that we used to have,&rdquo; forward Shawn Burr said.For whatever reason, the Wings weren&rsquo;t the same club that looked like a legitimate Stanley Cup contender at beginning of 1992. After equalling their best 40-game start in franchise history (25-11-4), the Wings were a game under .500 (13-14-7) in their next 34 games.And a sudden rash of injuries only made matters worse. Forwards Ray Sheppard (lower abdominal muscle strain) and Gerard Gallant (back strain) were doubtful until at least the first round of the playoffs. And defensemen Steve Chiasson (bruised hand) and Yves Racine (sore shoulder) were questionable participants with six games left on the regular-season schedule.But nothing was beyond repair with a simple-sounding attitude adjustment that Burr suggested.&ldquo;Ever since about New Year&rsquo;s Eve, we&rsquo;ve taken our success for granted,&rdquo; Bum said. &ldquo;We haven&rsquo;t worked as hard, and confidence is an extension of hard work.&ldquo;I think we&rsquo;ve been looking for too many excuses&mdash;the big lead we had, the worry about what the (NHL) Players&rsquo; Association was going to do. Everybody has been throwing us a crutch, and we&rsquo;ve been picking them up. It&rsquo;s time to stand up on our own. We don&rsquo;t need any excuses.&rdquo;Coach-general manager Bryan Murray says it starts with hard work.&ldquo;For a while there, we had a great feeling in the room,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everybody knew we&rsquo;d find a way to win. We lost a bit of confidence, and lately we&rsquo;ve been trying to get it done individually instead of working as a five-man unit as we did earlier.&rdquo;FARM REPORT: The Wings were heartened by good news from their American League farm team, where goalie Vince Riendeau allowed just three goals in his first two games during a conditioning stint with Adirondack.Riendeau won at Utica (4-2 March 20) and at Capital District (7-1 March 22). He underwent surgery to repair cartilage in his right knee, which he injured in his Wings&rsquo; debut Oct. 25.NOTEBOOK: Bob Probert is Detroit&rsquo;s Masterton Trophy candidate. He battled alcoholism and a drug problem that led to three months in prison and a one-year suspension from the NHL. Probert, a former All-Star Game participant, resurrected his career and life. Today, he is among the most active Wings in making public appearances, frequently addressing youngsters about the perils of substance abuse.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Jimmy Carson, Sergei Fedorov.LW&mdash;Bob Probert, Keith Primeau, Shawn Burr, Slava Kozlov, Brian MacLellan.RW&mdash;Sheldon Kennedy, Kevin Miller, Paul Ysebaert, Alan Kerr, Brent Fedyk.LD&mdash;Nicklas Lidstrom, Vladimir Konstantinov, Doug Crossman.RD&mdash;Brad McCrimmon, Bob McGill, Brad Marsh.G&mdash;TIm Cheveldae, Greg Millen.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steve Chiasson, D, bruised hand, day-to-day. Troy Crowder, RW, bulging disc in back, Indefinite. Gerard Gallant, LW, strained back, indefinite. Yves Racine, D, strained shoulder, day-to-day. Ray Sheppard, RW, lower abdominal muscle strain, indefinite. &#9632;

Players realize they must return to earth

<div class="byline">By Al Morganti Senior Writer</div>Mike Ricci is probably never going to be a 100-point scorer; he certainly doesn&rsquo;t have the hands to be a 50-goal scorer; and he doesn&rsquo;t really have the muscle to develop into the sort of bullish center who pushes people around.And yet, the Philadelphia Flyers remain bullish on the NHL sopho more who spent much of his final year of junior as the &ldquo;best prospect in Canada,&rdquo; and then slipped to the fourth selection in the 1990 entry draft.Sure, fans in Philadelphia sometimes look at Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Jaromir Jagr. chosen fifth, and think of &ldquo;what might have been&rdquo;. And if you look at the &ldquo;Fab Five&rdquo; from 1990, it&rsquo;s difficult to imagine that Ricci was the odds-on favorite to be selected before either Petr Nedved (second), or Owen Nolan (first).He&rsquo;s not nearly as flashy as Nedved; as adept a goal-scorer as Nolan; and probably not as strong as Detroit&rsquo;s Keith Primeau (third). Yet. the Flyers are content they made the right choice and there are no complaints in Philadelphia that the club blew its highest draft choice in more than a decade.&ldquo;Mike Ricci is exactly the kind of player we anticipated when we took him,&rdquo; said Russ Farwell, the Flyers&rsquo; second-year general manager who made Ricci the first player he ever selected in an NHL draft. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a hard working, character player.&ldquo;He has turned into the type of player we wanted, the type of player you can build a winning program around.&rdquo;In essence, he is the perfect Flyer: he has got the work ethic of a washing machine; a mean streak on the ice; he&rsquo;s willing to take a hit to make a play; and he works for every one of his goals.In his first year, his efforts yielded 21 goals; he scored 16 times in 71 games this season. That&rsquo;s a total of 37 goals and 89 points over almost two full seasons, which is fewer goals than Nolan will score this year; and about 50 points less than Jagr will have totaled in his first two seasons.Of course, Jagr is often playing on a line with Mario Lemieux and he had the good fortune of spending his first season on a Stanley Cup champion. On the other hand. Ricci is playing on a team which is doomed to miss the playoffs for its third consecutive season, which means that it will take him at least another year to enter the theater by which all great NHL players are judged: the Stanley Cup playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01894/6717725-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="931" height="1766"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Ricci provides the Flyers with the kind of character player every team covets. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/BBS)</figcaption></div>Throughout his junior career, Ricci built his reputation by his play in big games, and big events, such as the World Junior Championships. He was captain of the Canadian junior team which won the 1990 world title in Finland, and was named the major junior player of the year in 1989-90, one year after he led the Peterborough Petes to a Memorial Cup.Unfortunately, he arrived in Philadelphia at precisely the wrong time as the Flyers were beginning the first major reconstruction period in their history. The spotlight on him in Philadelphia was more intense than usual for a first-rounder, what with Flyer legend Bobby Clarke having just been fired as GM. And in the two years since, Ricci has discovered life in the NHL can be very unstable as more than 15 of his teammates have come and gone during his first couple of years.One of those players is Rick Tocchet, who was supposed to play on a line with Ricci for years to come. Instead, Tocchet had an awful season in Philadelphia, was traded to Pittsburgh, which landed Mark Recchi as the regular right winger on Ricci&rsquo;s line.&ldquo;On the whole, I think Mike has had a pretty good season,&rdquo; said Farwell. &ldquo;With all that has gone on with him, it&rsquo;s a pretty big load to carry.&rdquo;A good part of that load is personal as Ricci&rsquo;s father is gravely ill. It is a problem which began last spring, when Ricci was summoned home to be with his family, and this spring Ricci has been shuttling between Philadelphia and Toronto, his hometown.&ldquo;You can say he can play through it,&rdquo; Farwell said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s a situation which never really gets out of your mind. And sometimes people forget how young these guys are. Twenty years old. that&rsquo;s a bit of a weight on your back.&rdquo;Ricci has remained his gritty self through it all.&ldquo;You know,&rdquo; said Pat Quinn, the general, manager of the Vancouver Canucks, a team which passed on Ricci to pick Nedved, &ldquo;if we had just made out selection on the character of the individual, on how impressive a person he was in the interviews, he would have been the guy.&ldquo;He would have been anybody&rsquo;s guy, because he is a truly remarkable person.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0028-01

He’s Still the One

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02594/6717763-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="367" height="466"></div>If you live outside Western Pennsylvania&mdash;and it&rsquo;s amazing how many people actually do-you probably haven&rsquo;t heard much about Larry Murphy this season.Murphy hasn&rsquo;t missed playing time because of back spasms, the official ailment of the Pittsburgh Penguins.He hasn&rsquo;t suggested he earns his living competing in a &ldquo;garage league&rdquo; and he hasn&rsquo;t spent much time whining about officiating or the coaching methods of Scott Bowman.When you think about it, the guy hasn&rsquo;t really done much of anything. Except piece together one of the best years of any NHL defenseman.You&rsquo;ll have to trust me on this one, because you won&rsquo;t know it from the results of the Norris Trophy balloting. That will have about as much suspense as the elections they used to hold in the Soviet Union.Murphy, who has a keen interest in politics, offers a pre-election analysis few will dispute: &ldquo;Obviously, Brian Leetch is a hands-down winner.&rdquo;Believe him. The NHL could send the Norris to the engravers today to have Leetch&rsquo;s name etched on it, and no one would argue.Guys like Raymond Bourque and Phil Housley will get pockets of support and anyone who questions their qualifications would be making a public display of their ignorance.But with Leetch virtually guaranteed the top spot, the most interesting part of the Norris race might be seeing if Murphy can finish ahead of the &ldquo;others&rdquo; in the balloting.Murphy usually operates outside the spotlight, an occupational hazard when you share a dressing room with Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet and Joe Mullen. Even Murphy realizes it&rsquo;s unlikely many Norns voters have noticed him.&ldquo;What the perception is among the media is out of my control, so I don&rsquo;t worry about it too much,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If somebody&rsquo;s really worried about something like that they should hire a PR firm to promote them.&rdquo;If Murphy&rsquo;s play has been largely overlooked among fans, it hasn&rsquo;t gone unnoticed by his coaches and teammates. His exceptional work during the playoffs last spring suggested he was capable of a big year but no one anticipated the performance he has turned in.&ldquo;Murph has been unbelievable,&rdquo; Stevens said. &ldquo;The year he&rsquo;s having is as good as any defenseman in the league.. he deserves a lot more credit than what he&rsquo;s getting.&rdquo;The praise is effusive but justified, because Murphy arguably was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s most valuable player for the first 51/2 months of the season. He played well defensively and had goals in nine of 13 games during the stretch drive. Several led to critical victories.Murphy&rsquo;s production wasn&rsquo;t totally unexpected. His offensive abilities prompted Los Angeles to make him the fourth pick in the 1980 entry draft, and he has put up nice numbers throughout his career.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03424/6717756-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="555" height="724"><figcaption class="caption-body">Larry Murphy</figcaption></div>But equally important&mdash;and impressive-has been his work in his own end. He was labeled a one-dimensional player before the Penguins acquired him along with Peter Taglianetti from Minnesota for Jim Johnson and Chris Dahlquist Dec. 11, 1990. He was called a good powerplay guy who needed help in his own zone.But Murphy has been a stabilizing force on the Pittsburgh defense and has prevented more goals than he has helped produce. And on a team where defense is a chronic concern, that is a virtue of enormous magnitude.Murphy&rsquo;s defensive shortcomings were probably overblown-remember, he was an integral part of Washington&rsquo;s defense when the Capitals had the league&rsquo;s top defensive team a few years back-but it was Bob Johnson, the late Pittsburgh coach, who gave Murphy the chance to remove the tarnish from his reputation.&ldquo;I think all that changed last year,&rdquo; Bowman said. &ldquo;When he came here, Bob decided to play him under all circumstances, and I think he has just carried over. A new lease on life started for him last year, and he has just kept it up.&rdquo;And if Murphy does it for much longer, maybe, just maybe, somebody is going to notice. &#9632;

f0028-02

Murphy for Norris? Chances are remote

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div>The Pittsburgh Penguins were closing in on personal milestones as well as a Patrick Division playoff berth.Their run at the record book began when Mario Lemieux got his 400th career goal in Toronto March 14. Three nights later, right winger Joe Mullen became the first U.S.-born player to enter that exclusive club when he got No. 400 in a 6-5 victory against Edmonton.Kevin Stevens added a historical footnote in a 6-3 win against Quebec March 19 when he got an assist on the Penguins&rsquo; first goal. It was Stevens&rsquo; 111th point of the season, one more than Mullen&rsquo;s record for a U.S.-born player.Lemieux also was on the verge of a significant feat. He had 998 career points in 512 games going into the Penguins&rsquo; game in Detroit March 24.Lemieux will reach that plateau faster than anyone in NHL history with the exception of Wayne Gretzky, who did it in 424 games. Mike Bossy did it in 656. Lemieux could have reached the 1,000-pomt level much earlier in his career but injuries forced him to miss 121 games over eight seasons.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01889/6717818-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="551" height="794"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mario Lemieux will become No. 36 on the 1,000-point list</figcaption></div>The Penguin center was in line to become the 36th player in league history to get 1,000 points, and only the second Pittsburgh player to accomplish the feat. Former Pittsburgh defenseman Paul Coffey earned his 1,000th point last season.Lemieux and teammate Ron Francis were on the verge of another achievement. Both were nearing 600 career assists. Lemieux had 595 going into the game against the Red Wings, Francis had 597.TOCCHET TOOK IT: It took Rick Tocchet a while to find his scoring touch with Pittsburgh but once he rediscovered it, nothing shy of a broken jaw could slow him down.Tocchet had time goals in six games when he left the lineup with a broken jaw received when he was struck by a Mario Lemieux pass during a 4-3 win in Chicago March 15.Incredibly, two of those goals came after Tocchet&rsquo;s jaw was broken. The injury forced Tocchet to sit out at least three games and he was expected to return March 24 or 26.Tocchet said doctors gave him &ldquo;three or four options,&rdquo; including surgery but he decided &ldquo;the best way was to let it heal by itself.&rdquo;Tocchet was not allowed to eat solid food but was relieved that, &ldquo;at least my mouth isn&rsquo;t wired shu HeTocchet was scheduled to use a helmet similar to that worn by Buffalo center Pat LaFontaine when he returns to the lineup.NOTEBOOK: The Penguins took a five-game winning streak on home ice into their meeting with Vancouver March 26&hellip;Pittsburgh needed one victory in its final three road games to clinch the first winning road record in franchise history. The Pens were 1816-3 in their first 37 road games.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Bryan Trottier.LW&mdash;Kevin Stevens, Bob Errey, Troy Loney, Phil Bourque, Shawn McEachern.RW&mdash;Joe Mullen, Jaromir Jagr, Jay Caufield.LD&mdash;Ulf Samuelsson, Gordie Roberts, Jim Paek, Grant Jennings.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Jeff Chychnjrc Kjell Samuelsson, Paul Stanton.G&mdash;Tom Barrasso, Ken Wreggert, Wendell Young.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jiri Hrdlna, C, separated left shoulder, indefinite. Peter Taglianetti, D, back pain, indefinite. Rick Tocchet, RW. broken jaw, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0030-01

Milestones, playoff berth quickly becoming sure bets

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div>The Philadelphia Flyers haven&rsquo;t had a 100-point scorer in more than 16 years but that drought could end this season.Right winger Mark Recchi needed 11 points in his last seven games to reach triple digits.Hitting the century mark is not a big deal for Recchi. He had 113 points for Pittsburgh last season and had 70 in 58 games with the Penguins this year before the Feb. 19 trade that brought him to Philadelphia.While Recchi&rsquo;s totals (41 goals, 89 points) are impressive, when he gets his points is even more important.Recchi scored the game-winner with just 44 seconds remaining to give the Flyers a 7-6 win over Division rival Washington March 20.And two nights later, he assisted on a pair of goals as the Ryers rallied to beat Detroit 4-3 for their season-high fifth straight win.&ldquo;He (Recchi) is so good with the puck, he has always going to create some chances,&rdquo; said defenseman Steve Duchesne, who scored the winning goal against Detroit.Bobby Clarke and Bill Barber were the last Ryers to surpass the 100-point mark. They both turned the trick in 1975-76.ROUSSEL TO RESCUE: Coach Bill Dineen decided to pull starting goaltender Ron Hextall after a rocky first period against Detroit March 22. Dineen replaced him with rookie Dominic Roussel.Roussel shut out the Red Wings over the final two periods and the Ryers rebounded for an important 4-3 win.Among the 21 shots he stopped was a clean breakaway by center Steve Yzerman midway through the third period.NOTEBOOK: The Flyers scored four straight goals in the third period against Washington. It ended a Patrick Division road winless streak dating back to Feb. 23, 1991 (0-13-2 this season, 0-15-3 overall)&hellip;The win over the Capitals, combined with a 4-3 win at the Montreal Forum against the Canadiens March 18, gave the Ryers their first back-to-back road wins this year.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Rod Brin&rsquo;Amour, Mike Ricci, Keith Acton, Mark Freer.LW&mdash;Mark Pederson, Claude Boivin, Dan Quinn, Andrei Lomakin, Dale Kushner.RW&mdash;Matk Recchi, Kevin Dineen, Al Conroy, Dave Brown.LD&mdash;Mark Howe, Terry Carkner, Dan Kotdic, Brian Benning.RD&mdash;Steve Duchesne, Moe Mantha, Kerry Huffman, Garry Galley.G&mdash;Ron Hextall, Dominic RousselINJURIESBrad Jones, RW, broken right ankle, indefinite. Steve Kasper, C, right knee surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Recchi’s drive to century mark uncommon sight in these parts

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div>The New Jersey Devils didn&rsquo;t worry about their goaltending situation for most of the 1991-92 season.After all, Chris Terreri was chasing the franchise record for victories and Craig Billington had established himself as a capable backup with a 13-7-1 record in 22 games.But with the Stanley Cup playoffs inching closer, disaster struck. Billington suffered strained ligaments in his right knee March 11 in Edmonton. And 11 days later, Terreri was unable to play because of a back strain that has plagued him since Billington went down.The Devils&mdash;who were still fighting for a Patrick Division playoff berth&mdash;were forced to give rookie Chad Erickson his first NHL start March 22 against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.Erickson played well enough for an inexperienced 21-year-old but the Devils still lost 6-3, extending their winless streak to a season-high eight games (0-6-2).&ldquo;I was nervous as heck,&rdquo; Erickson said. &ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know how I&rsquo;d rate my performance. Good at times but I&rsquo;m disappointed. I wish it had been a win.&rdquo;The Devils were also forced to recall Doug Dadswell from Utica (American League) to dress as the backup. That left Corey Schwab as the only minor league goalie in the system.Despite the Devils&rsquo; grave goaltending situation, coach Tom McVie remained optimistic.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m concerned but the only thing on my mind is we have to get into the playoffs,&rdquo; McVie said, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure both goalies (Terreri and Billington) will be ready by then.&rdquo;TOP GUN: Right winger Stephane Richer will have significant pressure on him if the Devils make it to the post-season. How long the team survives in the playoffs could hinge on how often the former 50-goal scorer can find the net with his explosive slap shot.&ldquo;We had some one-goal losses and my teammates are expecting me to score the big goal,&rdquo; said Richer, who had 28 goals and 63 points in 70 games.NOTEBOOK: Stung by criticism that he was unwilling to play with pain, Patrik Sundstrom plans to undergo a new procedure which will prevent him from placing stress on his left thigh until mid-April. Therapist David Finnegar hopes a jelly-like salve will break up the calcium deposit on Sundstrom&rsquo;s thigh.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 20: Jarrod Skalde, C, and Myles O&rsquo;Connor, D, assigned to Utica (AHL). March 22: Doug Dadswell, G, recalledfrom Utica.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kevin Todd, Laurie Boschman, Alexander Semak, Pat Conacher.LW&mdash;Valeri Zelepukin, Claude Vilgrain, Zdeno Ciger, Troy Mallette.RW&mdash;Stephane Richer, Claude Lemieux, Randy McKay, Tom Chorske, Doug BrownLD&mdash;Scott Stevens, Bruce Driver, Tommy Albelin, Viacheslav Fetisov.RD&mdash;Alexei Kasatonov, Eric Weinrich, Ken Daneyko.G&mdash;Chad Erickson, Doug Dadswell.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Barr, C, right wrist surgery, indefinite. Craig Billington, G, strained right knee ligaments, indefinite. John MacLean, RW, strained right knee ligaments. indefinite. Peter Stastny, C, strained right knee, day-to-day. Chris Terreri, G, back strain, day-to-day. &#9632;

Health wanted: Disaster strikes as Terreri, Billington go down

Jason Perniciaro may be big for his age but he&rsquo;s no bully.The seven-year-old resident of St. Louis, Mo., stands 4-foot-9 and weighs 85 pounds. He&rsquo;s able to play in a league with nine-year-olds and hasn&rsquo;t looked out of place.In 29 games for the Affton Americans mites, Perniciaro has 46 goals, 69 points and no penalty minutes. The Grade 2 student at Beasley elementary school prefers to use his strong skating stride to get around opponents rather than his size to bull through them.Perniciaro is also an excellent playmaker and often picks top corners with a hard wrist shot.When he not playing or practising, Perniciaro watches hockey on TV and plays roller hockey. He stays in shape over the summer swimming and playing baseball.Perniciaro&rsquo;s favorite player is Brett Hull.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01881/6717897-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="573" height="1003"><figcaption class="caption-body">Jason Perniciaro</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, 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;

f0032-01

Player of the Week

<div class="byline">By Frank Brown</div>If the New York Rangers happen to cross paths with the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup finals, be prepared for a war.The principle combatants? Rangers&rsquo; right winger Tie Domi and Detroit winger Bob Probert.Of course, a lot has to occur for that to happen. The Rangers would have to make their first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals since 1979 and the Red Wings would have to survive three tough playoff rounds.But a Domi-Probert feud is already brewing, with the two heavyweights exchanging punches in print.Probert and Domi squared off in a lively bout Feb. 9 at Madison Square Garden, with Domi emerging the winner. Probert has since told reporters Domi is a &ldquo;dummy&rdquo; and a goon.The Wings and Rangers met March 20 at Joe Louis Arena but Domi missed the game because of a sprained right knee.Probert told the Detroit Free Press after the game: &ldquo;Maybe we&rsquo;ll see him in the playoffs. If not, then next year-if he makes the team.&rdquo;That sparked a vigorous response.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s lucky I didn&rsquo;t come on this trip, because we&rsquo;d be going at it in the hallway,&rdquo; Domi said. &ldquo;After our fight, I didn&rsquo;t say anything. He&rsquo;s a lot older (26 to 22), and I wanted to be mature about this&mdash;keep it low-key-but this guy has been talking like crazy in the (media). He&rsquo;s trying to humiliate me and finally, I&rsquo;m fed up.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want to get into a war of words but if he wants one, I&rsquo;ve got more lines than he has teeth. And he hits like a butterfly, anyway.&rdquo;Domi then took his hardest shot, in response to Probert&rsquo;s jab about not making the team next season.&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ll still be playing,&rdquo; Domi said, &ldquo;but if not, at least I know I can look for work in two countties.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Mark Messier became the fourth 100-point scorer in team history scoring four goals in a 6-3 win over New Jersey March 22.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mark Messier, Darren Turcotte, Sergei Nemchinov, Doug Weight, Randy Giihen.LW&mdash;Adam Graves, Kris King, Jan Erixon, John Ogrodnick, Joe Kocur.RW&mdash;Mike Gartner, Tony Amonte, Paul Broten, Tim Kerr.LD&mdash;Brian Leetch, Mark Hardy, Jay Wells, Normand Rochefort.RD&mdash;James Patrick, Jett Beukeboom, Joe Cirella, Per Djoos.G&mdash;John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Richter.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Tie Domi, RW, sprained knee, April 5. &#9632;

Domi, Probert confrontation spills over into newsprint

<div class="byline">By Dave Sell</div>After a long dry spell, Dino Ciccarelli is once again raining goals. And the timing couldn&rsquo;t be better.Ciccarelli had 26 goals after 52 games and it seemed conceivable the Washington right winger could score 14 goals in the remaining 28 games for what would be the sixth 40-goal season in seven seasons. (Ciccarelli missed 24 games with an injury last season and finished with 22.) But then the goals stopped coming.Ciccarelli had separate streaks of eight and 10 games without a goal in February and March. There were meetings, extra shooting sessions, video tape reviews but nothing seemed to help.Eventually, the black cloud dissolved and in four games over eight days, Ciccarelli scored six goals to give him a team-high 34 with six games left in the regular season.&ldquo;I hate to give in,&rdquo; Ciccarelli said of the idea he is an streaky scorer. &ldquo;I keep thinking about the five or six games before I got the first one. The opportunities were there. But when you start thinking, the stick and the skates can start to feel awful.&rdquo;MIKE AT THE MIKE: Goalie Mike Liut hasn&rsquo;t played since Feb. 4 but he has been fielding questions.Some are about his sore back, which had a relapse March 20. But Liut is also on the NHL Players Association&rsquo;s negotiating committee.The owners criticized the union for having attorneys do much of the talking and say rank-and-file players aren&rsquo;t getting the clear view.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve heard this many times,&rdquo; Liut said. &ldquo;If it&rsquo;s not the agents or lawyers or players, it&rsquo;s the owners. What is relevant is we have a discrepancy in the business of hockey. Those are the issues we should be talking about. The communication is not censored in the least. It&rsquo;s time to move forward.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A fan bid $1,500 for an autographed leather jacket and a ride with Al Iafrate on one of his Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The auction raised $37,000 for youth hockey programs&hellip;After a game, Dimitri Khristich held court with a Russian delegation that included First Deputy Prime Minister, Yegor Gaidar, and C.I.S Commander/Chief of Armed Forces/Marshal of the Air Force. Yevgenv Shaposhnikov.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 20: Ken Sabourin, D, recalled from Baltimore (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Michal Pivonka, Mike Ridley, Dale Hunter, Dave Tippett.LW&mdash;John Druce, Kelly Miller, Dimitri Khristich, Nick Kypreos, Todd Krygier.RW&mdash;Peter Bondra, Dino Ciccarelli, Paul MacDermid, Alan May, Tim Bergland.LD&mdash;Calle Johansson, Al lafrate, Ken Sabourin.RD&mdash;Kevin Hatcher, Sylvain Cote, Brad Schlegel.G&mdash;Don Beaupre, Jim Hrivnak.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Randy Burridge, LW, left knee surgery, indefinite. Shawn Chambers, D, left knee surgery, indefinite. Rod Langway, D, groin pull, day-to-day. Mike Liut, G, back spasms, indefinite. &#9632;

Dino no longer dogging

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzlja</div>Maine Mariners&rsquo; chairman and chief executive officer Ed Anderson denies he is looking to move his American League franchise despite published reports to the contrary.The Portland (Me.) Press Herald reported Anderson is looking to move the franchise to Providence. R.I., or Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pa.&ldquo;We are not investigating a move,&rdquo; Anderson said. &ldquo;We are not actively pursuing anything.&rdquo;Sources close to the league, however, insist Anderson would welcome a move.The Mariners are in the final year of their lease at the Cumberland County Civic Center. Their working agreement with the Boston Bruins also ends this season. Anderson maintains negotiations are taking place to renew both agreements.The Mariners were last in the Northern Division with a 21-41-10 record. They have already been eliminated from the playoffs.Anderson said he has not discussed a move with any representative from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, although the AHL expansion committee has identified the area as a possible expansion site. Providence has been in contact with the Bruins about expansion &ldquo;once a year for the last seven years.&rdquo; he said.Anderson did admit, however, that attendance at Mariner home games must improve for his franchise to survive. Maine averaged 3,626 for 38 home dates. The Civic Center seats 6,726.&ldquo;We lost money last year and we&rsquo;re probably going to lose more money this year,&rdquo; Anderson said. &ldquo;But if you look at the number of roster changes (51 players have played at least one game with the Mariners this year) you have to figure that has something to do with the problems we&rsquo;re having at the gate.&rdquo;MAD MAX: Adirondack right winger Max Middendorf was suspended for the rest of the regular season after slashing Capital District&rsquo;s Graeme Townshend in the face March 14.Middendorf&rsquo;s suspension covers Adirondack&rsquo;s final 11 regular-season games.Townshend suffered a broken nose and fractured sinus cavity, which will likely require offseason surgery. Middendorf was given a 10-minute match penalty.Middendorf has been suspended five times in his five-year career. It was his fourth match penalty.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s probably the dumbest thing I&rsquo;ve ever done,&rdquo; Middendorf said. Adirondack won the game 9-1.QUENNEVILLE SHINES: Joel Quenneville was sure he had played his final pro game when the Baltimore Skipjacks were eliminated from the Calder Cup playoffs last April.&ldquo;I played 13 years in the NHL and now I was in the minors. I had a pretty decent career and I just figured it was time to move on,&rdquo; said Quenneville, who played 803 NHL games with Toronto, Colorado, New Jersey, Hartford and Washington.Quenneville, 33, planned to get into coaching. But when Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; general manager Cliff Fletcher offered him the job as a player/assistant in St. John&rsquo;s, he agreed.Quenneville is proving he can still play. The veteran defenseman led the AHL with plus-44 and had six goals and 27 points in 66 games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m glad it came about where I still have to play because it keeps you young,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When Fletcher called and offered it to me, I said, &lsquo;What the heck, I wouldn&rsquo;t mind playing again.&rsquo;&ldquo;It has been a gradual transition to coaching but I still like playing the game.&rdquo; &#9632;

Mariners won’t move: Anderson

<div class="byline">By Dave Eminian</div>Scott Gruhl thinks it&rsquo;s fate that brought he and Fort Wayne Komets&rsquo; player-assistant coach Bruce Boudreau to the same team.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a couple of old guys looking for a place to play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When it&rsquo;s all said and done it would be nice to leave a legacy behind.&rdquo;Gruhl, 32, and Boudreau, 37. are working on that. Gruhl had 583 career minor-league goals (including post-season) during a 13-year career in three leagues. Boudreau, in his 17th season and fourth league, had 579 career goals.What&rsquo;s significant about that, according to the Hockey Hall of Fame, is the record for most career minor-league goals was 578, established by Art Jones in the old Western League.The Hall of Fame doesn&rsquo;t officially recognize a minor-league goal-scoring king-records are too difficult to research over time and leagues-but Jones is the best candidate.The criteria included regular and post-season play in all minor leagues, allowing for players such as Gruhl and Boudreau-whose careers have outlived leagues&mdash;to be considered.&ldquo;You play a long time and you never think about this happening to you,&rdquo; Boudreau said. &ldquo;Then people mention it and it starts to play on your mind. Scott and I have never discussed the record. We don&rsquo;t want that pressure.&ldquo;But the best thing about this is having two guys on the same team going for a record like that. What are the odds? If Scott wants it, he&rsquo;s going to end up with it. He can play longer than me, and really he&rsquo;s the pure goal-scorer.&rdquo;Gruhl&rsquo;s record-breaking 579th goal came March 5 in a victory at Salt Lake. Boudreau&rsquo;s 579th came March 15 in Fort Wayne against Phoenix.&ldquo;The record doesn&rsquo;t put food on the table or pay the rent but it would be nice to go out as one of the top goal-scorers,&rdquo; said Gruhl, who, plans to retire at the end of the season. &ldquo;The way minor-league hockey is now. with everyone having parent clubs, the days of guys playing six or eight years are probably passed. Someday, someone might pass us too. But it&rsquo;ll be harder to do.&rdquo;STRETCH RUN: East Division leader Fort Wayne tied West leader Kansas City for the overall point race, setting up a duel to the finish for the Huber Trophy. The regular season ends April 4.Indianapolis was on a sprint for a playoff spot, winning eight straight to close to within three points of fourth-place Salt Lake.Final roster moves of note: San Diego signed 11-year NHL defenseman Randy Hillier&hellip;Peoria placed Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; left winger Doug Evans on its list, although he is presently on recall with Winnipeg. According to Rivermen coach Harold Snepsts. the Jets told Evans he won&rsquo;t play in the NHL this season&hellip;Kansas City loaned left winger Craig Coxe to Kalamazoo&hellip;The Blades stand to cash in when parent San Jose&rsquo;s season is finished. Currently on NHL recall-but all on Kansas City&rsquo;s list-are forwards Jeff Odgers and Dale Craigwell and defensemen Claudio Scremin, Pat MacLeod. Davi Williams and Mike Colman.I-OPENERS: Fort Wayne&rsquo;s Jean-Marc Richard, with a goal and seven assists in three games, was player of the week for the period ending March 15&hellip;The league suspended Phoenix winger Sylvain Couturier for four remaining games against San Diego for his injuring of Gulls&rsquo; center Len Hachborn Feb. 28.. IHL owners formally approved the sale of the Gulls to furniture store magnate and ex-IHLer Fred Comrie. &#9632;

Komets Gruhl, Boudreau soar to top of goals list

<div class="byline">By Nick Gates</div>That Doug Sauter was able to coach a game in 1991-92 made it a successful season. That the Kenosee Lake. Sask., native was able to take a last-place team with only one returning veteran and turn it into a winner makes his a truly remarkable story.The Winston-Salem first-year coach figured his career was over in December. 1989. Stricken with Guillain-Barre, a life-threatening blood disorder which can cause paralysis, Sauter was forced to give up his position as head coach of the Western League&rsquo;s Brandon Wheat Kings. He was bed-ridden for more than four months.He recovered and general manager Larry Kish offered him the job of rebuilding the Thunderbirds, the East Coast League&rsquo;s worst team last year with a 20-41-3 record.With only left winger Brent Fleetwood remaining from last season&rsquo; team, the T-Birds improved 33 points, earning Sauter coach-of-the-year honors.&ldquo;This is more of an organizational award than an individual one,&rdquo; said the 38-year-old career coach. &ldquo;I feel honored to be singled out by my peers and the media for doing a good job.&rdquo;Winston-Salem finished 36-24-4, third in the East Division after winning 20 games the previous season.Sauter, who operates a golf course in his hometown from May until October, will likely be back next season but said he is keeping his options open.&ldquo;My good friend John Brophy says this is the best place,&rdquo; Sauter said, &ldquo;and he has been in all of them.&rdquo;SCARY SIGHT: Knoxville&rsquo;s Jamie Dabanovich experienced a terrifying moment in the Cherokees&rsquo; game against Greensboro March 15.Dabanovich collided with Monarchs&rsquo; defenseman Eric Dubois during Greensboro&rsquo;s 8-4 win and was unconscious for several minutes. Witnesses said he swallowed his tongue.Greensboro trainer Rick Carrano cleared Dabanovich&rsquo;s breathing passage.&ldquo;Carrano might have saved the kid&rsquo;s life,&rdquo; Greensboro coach Jeff Brubaker said.ALL-STARS: The league announced its first- and second-team all-stars March 12 as selected by coaches and media. They are:First team: Goalie Nick Vitucci of Greensboro, Ryan Kummu of Erie and Scott White of Toledo on defense, center Mike Maurice of Toledo, right winger Darren Colbourne of Dayton and left winger Mark Green of John stown.Second team: Goalie Stan Reddick of Johnstown; Kris Miller of Raleigh and Marc Laniel of Winston-Salem on defense, center Martin Bergeron of Louisville, right winger Phil Berger of Greensboro and left winger Mike Casselman of Toledo.NOTEBOOK: Richmond goalie Jon Gustafson and Hampton Roads forward Harry Mews were named co-players of the week for the period ending March 15. Gustafson was 2-0-1 with a 1.95 GGA, while Mews had six goals and five assists as the Admirals went 30-1.Because of the NCAA basketball tournament. East Division champion Greensboro plays its first two opening-round playoff games again Roanoke Valley at Vinton, Va. &#9632;

Coach of year Sauter has come long way back

<div class="byline">By Ken Warren</div>Day and night, Claude Therien delivers.The new coach of College Francais continues to successfully juggle his day job as a mailman with his nighttime coaching duties in the Quebec League.Neither sleet nor snow has stopped the mail from getting through; neither the Hull Olympiques nor St-Hyacinthe Laser&mdash;or any team-stopped College Francais from winning. Therien, who took over from Gerard Gagnon in mid-February, was 9-0-0 as coach and led the Verdun-based team to the LeBel Division title.&ldquo;I feel more comfortable,&rdquo; Therien said after winning a home-and-away series with the second-place Olympiques. &ldquo;Respect makes the difference. At the beginning, everyone was looking around at each other, wondering what was going to happen next.&rdquo;College Francais was comfortably in first at the time of Gagnon&rsquo;s firing but management was concerned the club wasn&rsquo;t playing &ldquo;playoffstyle&rdquo; hockey. Therien, who came out of the bullpen to lead Laval in last year&rsquo;s playoffs, is earning the reputation as the best relief coach.He says his current team may have the best talent he has ever coached, even if it doesn&rsquo;t have the size and physical presence usually associated with Therien teams.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve tried to get everyone involved,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Everybody was good with the puck but I tried to get them working without it. The players make you look good. You don&rsquo;t do anything yourself except try to make everyone happy.&rdquo;APPEAL DENIED: The Beauport Harfangs&rsquo; desperate plea to enter the playoffs through the back door has fallen on deaf ears.The Harfangs asked the league to give them two points and take six away from Drummondville because it used a player under suspension.Although he was supposed to be suspended for a game, Drummondville&rsquo;s Dave Whittom played a stretch of games in November before serving the suspension. Beauport claimed every Drummondville win during that time-including a win over Beauport-should have been reversed.Such a ruling would have lifted the fifth-place Harfangs into a playoff race with fourth-place Drummondville in the Dilio Division. League president Gilles Courteau and vice-president Michel (Bunny) Larocque turned down the Harfangs&rsquo; request. The Harfangs plan to appeal.LIMPING ALONG: A few teams are simply working on putting enough players on the ice before the post-season.The Shawinigan Cataractes, second to Trots Rivieres in the Dilio Division, will have played the final 10 games without defensemen Simon Roy and Patrick Traverse, both of whom could be selected early in the NHL draft.Veteran Cataracte winger Steve Dontigny, who took a stick in the eye two months ago, is recovering but is not expected back this season.The Hull Olympiques went back-to-back games without offensive and defensive stars Jim Campbell and Eric Lavigne March 15 and .17. Three other players missed action because of minor injuries or suspensions.VICTORY IN DEFEAT: The Victoriaville Tigres will miss the playoffs for the second straight year. They&rsquo;ve lost three times as many games as they&rsquo;ve won and can&rsquo;t buy a road win. So why is coach Pierre Aubry smiling?&ldquo;We have four (draft) picks in the first 26 choices,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be staying here to work with the kids the whole summer and we&rsquo;ll have 21 players coming back next season. That&rsquo;s 25 players for our team.&rdquo; &#9632;

Therien well suited to role as ace relief coach

<div class="byline">By Vance Oliver</div>Saskatoon Blades&rsquo; governor Rick Brodsky could soon cross the Western League and become owner of the Victoria Cougars.Brodsky, whose family has owned the Blades for 15 years, went to Victoria for an information-gathering mission in March. Cougars&rsquo; kowner Bob Vranckaert allowed Brodsky to &ldquo;examine the team&rsquo;s financial operations.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m interested in making a proposal,&rdquo; Brodsky said. &ldquo;If he&rsquo;s prepared to meet the conditions, it will be a done deal.&rdquo;Though the Cougars have finished last in the West Division the past three years, Brodsky wants to give them a try. The Blades, who are fifth in the WHL this season in attendance, experienced the biggest attendance drop. The Blades averaged 4,157 fans per game this season, a drop of 1,167 from last season. But Brodsky doesn&rsquo;t blame the community.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no onus on the people to come to the games,&rdquo; Brodsky said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s an onus on me to make the games an event the people want to come to. And I&rsquo;ve not done that.&rdquo;He convinced himself a change was necessary when only 7,609 fans turned out Nov. 29, 991 for the Great Saskatchewan Sellout II against the Medicine Hat Tigers. Last season, the Blades drew a then-record 12,341 fans for the initial Great Saskatchewan Sellout.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m frustrated with 11,300 seats at Saskatchewan Place,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter what we do there&rsquo;s a sea of blue out there. We can&rsquo;t seem to get people in the building.&rdquo;Brodsky&rsquo;s father Nate and brothers Jack and Bob would remain owners of the Blades if the deal is completed. The asking price for the Cougars will be at least $500,000.IT&rsquo;S A MARACLE!: Rookie goalie Norm Maracle backstopped the Saskatoon Blades to 6-1 and 5-4 overtime victories to open their best-of-seven East Division quarterfinal against the Lethbridge Hurricanes.Maracle, backup to Trevor Robins during the regular season, didn&rsquo;t expect to see any action during the playoffs.&ldquo;I thought I was done for.&rdquo; said Maracle, 17. &ldquo;The coaches have shown confidence in me.&rdquo;In other quarter-final action, the first-place Prince Albert Raiders survived a late scare in Game 1 to defeat the sixth-place Moose Jaw Warriors 6-4 March 20.The Raiders pounded the Warriors 10-2 the following night to take a 2-0 lead in the series.The fifth-place Swift Current Broncos surprised the second-place Medicine Hat Tigers March 20 with a 3-2 victory.In the West Division, the front-running Kamloops Blazers posted easy 7-0 and 8-2 wins against the expansion Tacoma Rockets to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven match-up.At Spokane, the Chiefs outscored the Portland Winter Hawks 8-6 March 21 to knot the series 1-1. Portland upset the Chiefs 4-1 the previous night.At Kennewick, Wash., the Seattle Thunder-birds, defeated the Tri-City Americans twice in their backyard to assume a 2-0 lead in the series.SHELL SHOCKED: Victoria Cougars&rsquo; goaltender Steve Passmore has been a busy man this season.He appeared in his 71st game March 17 to eclipse the WHL record of most games by a goalie. Gord Laxton of the New Westminster Bruins appeared in 70 games in 1974-75.Passmore, 18, also bettered WHL marks for most minutes (4,262), shots (2,930) and saves (2,585) in a season. He posted a 4.93 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage. &#9632;

Blade owner looks to cut deal

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Belleville Bulls&rsquo; coach Larry Mavety says one of the most dangerous acts in hockey continues to go unchecked.An outstretched leg cost Mavety the services of 121-point man Brent Gretzky for the Ontario League playoffs.Gretzky was avoiding a hip check from North Bay&rsquo;s Dennis Bonvie in the final game of the season March 11 when Bonvie stuck out his leg at the last second, catching Gretzky&rsquo;s knee. The 20-year-old Gretzky underwent arthroscopic surgery to correct ligament damage. No penalty was called on the play.Mavety said though many times the act is reactionary, players don&rsquo;t realize it can be career-threatening.&ldquo;Something has to be done,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You high-stick a guy and get five games. But when somebody uses a knee, nothing is done. The fact it&rsquo;s tolerated is what bothers me.&rdquo;BAY WATCH: North Bay was the first team to toast a playoff series win as the Centennials needed five games to defeat Belleville in a best-of-seven Leyden Division quarter-final.Mark Lawrence was the leading scorer with seven goals and 14 points.After setting a franchise record for wins and points in a season, the Cornwall Royals were on the ropes against Ottawa, the 67&rsquo;s leading 3-2 with all three wins in Cornwall.&ldquo;I knew we had to win in Ottawa but I didn&rsquo;t think we&rsquo;d lose three at home. We&rsquo;ve been brutal,&rdquo; Royals&rsquo; coach John Lovell said.Oshawa got help from an unexpected source to take a 3-1 lead on Sudbury. Rookie Stephane Yelle got credit for the Generals&rsquo; overtime goal in a 4-3 win March 22, but it was Wolves&rsquo; defenseman Barry Young who put the puck behind goalie Mike Lenarduzzi at 4:19. Young was trying to clear a rebound.The story of the Emms Division quarterfinals was Detroit. The Ambassadors, who finished 35 points behind Niagara Falls, had a 3-2 lead. The Thunder staved off elimination with a fight-filled 6-3 win March 21. There were 244 penalty minutes that night.London, after being upset in the opener at home&mdash;the third straight year the Knights have lost in overtime at home in the first game-won three in a row against Owen Sound to lead 3-1.Kitchener held a 3-1 lead over Windsor but not before both teams lost some sleep. The first three games went into overtime.Kevin McKay scored for Windsor at 1:40 of the third extra period in Game 2. It came at 12:20 a.m,, five hours after the game began.LASTING MEMORY: Oshawa&rsquo;s Eric Lindros suffered a facial gash that required 25 stitches when he was cross-checked by Sudbury&rsquo;s Leonard MacDonald March 13, the last game of the regular season. Lindros was playing his final OHL game with the Generals to protect his eligibility for the 1993 NHL entry draft. Commissioner Dave Branch was investigating the incident. Lindros had a goal and two assists in the 5-4 loss.STAT CHAMPS: Here are the individual statistical category champions in the OHL this season. Points, Todd Simon. Niagara Falls, 53-93-146; Goals, Darren McCarty, Belleville, 55; Assists, Brett Seguin. Ottawa, 100; Power-play goals, Steve Gibson, Windsor, 22; Goals-against average, Fred Brathwaite. Oshawa/London, 3.31; Rookie scoring, Bill Bowler. Windsor, 25-63-88; Defenseman scoring, Rick Corriveau, Niagara Falls, 2164-85. &#9632;

Knee injury to Gretzky has Mavety crying foul

Here are The Hockey News Canadian Hockey League favorites heading into playoffs:Kamloops (WHL): Return of Scott Niedermayer and Darryl Sydor from NHL teams solidified the defense. Corey Hirsch is the top goalie in the league. Weakness: scoring depth.North Bay (OHL): Bert Templeton has been putting pieces together the past two seasons to make a run at it in 1992. They&rsquo;re solid throughout. Weakness: Tough playoff road.Prince Albert (WHL): No team boasts as much scoring depth as the fast-skating Raiders, led by Jeff Nelson and Dean McAmmond.Weakness: The defense is not very mobile.College Francais (QMJHL): Marc Rodgers is a gritty scorer who will excel in the playoffs. Defenseman Karl Dykhuis anchors the defense. Weakness; penalty killing.Peterborough (OHL): Dick Todd&rsquo;s team is typically strong from the goal out. The Petes have the best record in the CHL since Christmas. Weakness: Just one scoring line.Hull (QMJHL): Though they struggled in March, the Olympiques have a good lineup that can can take the team a long way if it gets hot. Weakness: defensive breakdowns. &#9632;

March to the Memorial Cup

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div>National Collegiate Athletic Association referees clamped down on hooking, holding and interference penalties this year and the results were shown in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.Three teams broke the WCHA regular-season record for penalty minutes and six of the nine teams surpassed their penalty minute totals of a year ago. In addition, the record for the most penalty minutes in a game by two teams was broken three times.Minnesota (1,165), North Dakota (1,114) and Wisconsin (1,059) eclipsed the single-season penalty mark of 1,034 minutes set by the Wisconsin Badgers in 1988-89. Colorado College, Denver and Minnesota-Duluth accumulated more penalty minutes than they did in 1990-91.Before the season began, the WCHA record for the most penalty minutes by two teams in one game was 116. That mark was broken Dec. 7 when Wisconsin and Colorado College combined for 120 minutes.Minnesota and North Dakota broke the mark again March 6 when they combined for 128 minutes. The game also featured records for the most penalties by one team (North Dakota, 30) and two teams (59).When the Gophers and Fighting Sioux met again in the first round of the playoffs March 14, they combined for 150 penalty minutes to set a new record.AMAZING SERIES: Colorado College literally outlasted Minnesota-Duluth in their first-round, best-of-three playoff series March 13 to 15 at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.The Tigers advanced to their first WCHA Final Four but not before playing three games that lasted a cumulative 11 hours, 24 minutes.Colorado College won the first game 7-6 when Jody Jaraczewski scored 1:11 into the third 10-minute overtime session. The game lasted three hours and 56 minutes.The Bulldogs won the second game when Derek Plante scored 7:29 into the first overtime. That game lasted for three hours and 13 minutes.The Tigers captured the final game when Grant Block scored 3:57 into the third overtime. The final game lasted four hours and 15 minutes.&ldquo;It was unbelievable,&rdquo; Block said after his series-clinching goal. &ldquo;The games just went on and on. Each team had good chances to win every game. There was close calls on both sides.&rdquo;The first and third games were the longest in Colorado College history.AND THE WINNER IS: Wisconsin senior goalie Duane Derksen was named WCHA most valuable player.Derksen led the Badgers to a second-place finish behind Minnesota.Other award winners: Michigan Tech&rsquo;s Geoff Sarjeant (top student athlete), Northern Michigan&rsquo;s Dallas Drake (best defensive player) Minnesota&rsquo;s Darby Hendrickson (top rookie) and Colorado College&rsquo;s Brad Buetow (coach of the year).AT THE TURNSTILES: The end of the regular season saw seven of the nine WCHA teams finish with an increase in home attendance. The frontrunner was defending national champion Northern Michigan, which drew 77,859 for 19 games at the 4,105-seat Lakeview Arena. That translates to 99.8-per cent capacity for the season. Minnesota-Duluth and Wisconsin were down from a year ago but both averaged better than 90-per-cent capacity for the season. &#9632;

Penalty records shattered

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>The St. Lawrence Saints didn&rsquo;t celebrate much after beating Cornell 4-2 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship game. They were too busy worrying about teammate Michael Allain.The sophomore left winger sustained a neck injury early in the third period and was taken off the ice on a stretcher. He crashed head-first into the glass after being hit from behind by Shawn Hannah and Etienne Belzile. Replays showed he caught an edge and was off-balance prior to being hit.Boston Garden emergency personnel stabilized his neck with a brace and transported him to Massachusetts General Hospital.Fortunately, the injury wasn&rsquo;t serious. Allain was examined by doctors, who diagnosed the injury as a bad neck sprain. He was released March 16 and flew home to Shediac, N.B., to rest. He returned March 19 and will play in the NCAA tournament.&ldquo;It was pretty scary for a while,&rdquo; said St. Lawrence assistant coach Paul Flanagan. &ldquo;He blacked out on the ice and said he had a tingling sensation in his neck.&ldquo;The stretcher and everything else were precautionary. You know how players are. He wanted to walk off the ice. He didn&rsquo;t want to go out on a stretcher. But they (emergency personnel) didn&rsquo;t want to take any chances.&rdquo;St. Lawrence senior defenseman Dan Laper- riere-who was named the tournament&rsquo;s most valuable player-said the players didn&rsquo;t want to add insult to Allain&rsquo;s injury by losing. &ldquo;We wanted to come through for him,&rdquo; he said.LACROIX OUT: The Saints will be without senior right winger Martin Lacroix for the NCAA tournament.Lacroix injured his right ankle in the Saints&rsquo; ECAC semifinal double-overtime win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Saints gained a berth in the tournament by winning ECAC title.The injury was originally diagnosed as a sprain. Lacroix, who finished the year with 17 goals and 33 points, will be in a cast until the end of April. He missed eight games earlier in the year with a cracked bone in his left wrist.BIG SELL: The Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, N.Y.&mdash;the site of the NCAA Championships April 2-4&mdash;has already sold over 10,000 tickets.Arena officials maintain that if St. Lawrence, Maine or New Hampshire-which enjoyed tremendous fan support at Hockeyfest &rsquo;92 in the Boston Garden-make it to the Final Four, the 15,000-seat arena will be sold out well in advance.SUPER SENIORS: Cornell&rsquo;s senior class had the distinction of advancing to the ECAC semifinals in four consecutive years.But the Big Red&rsquo;s 4-3 double overtime win over Clarkson in the semifinals was their only win at the Boston Garden during that span.&ldquo;The seniors have been here four times, and no other group of seniors in Cornell history has been able to do that,&rdquo; said Cornell coach Brian McCutcheon.STELLAR ROTATION: Many college teams rotate their goalies. But none are more successful than Clarkson.Junior Chris Rogles and sophomore Jason Currie finished the year with almost the same numbers. Rogles played 973 minutes and faced 520 shots. He allowed 49 goals.Currie played 964 minutes and faced 522 shots. He gave up 42 goals. &#9632;

Neck injury won’t keep Saint out of tournament

<div class="byline">By Matt Carlson</div>Michigan junior David Roberts isn&rsquo;t scoring like he did last year but he&rsquo;s still one of the best players in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.The 6-foot-1, 185-pound forward finished second in team scoring a year ago behind Denny Felsner. He dropped to fourth this year.And although his numbers weren&rsquo;t outstanding, Wolverines&rsquo; coach Red Berenson said his strong two-way play is one of the main reasons for Michigan&rsquo;s success this season.&ldquo;He never went through a stretch where he played terribly,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;And in big league games and tournaments, he played very well for us. He has been great in the playoffs.&rdquo;Roberts, a fifth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 1989, is the son of former NHLer Doug Roberts. His uncle Gordie is with the Pittsburgh Penguins.Berenson moved the 21-year-old from left wing to center this season. Last year he scored 26 goals and 71 points. This year, he had 14 goals and 52 points in 40 games.&ldquo;I enjoy playing center with the guys I&rsquo;m playing with right now,&rdquo; said Roberts, who skates with sophomore Cam Stewart and senior Ted Kramer, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not getting the points but I&rsquo;m improving in other aspects of the game.&rdquo;CCHA&rsquo;S BEST: The CCHA&rsquo;s first and second all-star teams were announced prior to the tournament.First-team members included goalie Darrin Madeley and defenseman Mark Astley of Lake Superior; defenseman Joby Messier and forward Dwayne Norris of Michigan State; and forwards Denny Felsner of Michigan and KeithJones of Western Michigan. Second-team members included goalie Jon Hillebrandt of Illinois-Chicago; defensemen Joe Cook of Miami; defenseman Steven Barnes and forward Sandy Moger of Lake Superior; and forwards Peter Holmes and Martin Jiranek of Bowling Green.GOOD LUCK: The new order in the CCHA will have a tough time winning if this year&rsquo;s results are any indication.Kent State and Notre Dame will join the CCHA next year. Meanwhile, affiliate Alaska-Fairbanks will meet CCHA foes during the regular season only when it&rsquo;s convenient for opponents. The Nanooks will, however, participate in the playoffs.The newcomers face quite a challenge. Kent State went 15-14-2 overall this year but was 0-4-0 against Miami and Ohio State&mdash;the only two CCHA teams they played.The Fighting Irish finished 11-19-1 overall and 0-8-0 in CCHA games. The Nanooks, who finished 17-17-1, split their series with Miami.BRAINS AND BRAWN: Michigan State goalie Mike Gilmore was named to the CCHA&rsquo;s all-academic team for the third straight year.Gilmore, an engineering student, had a 3.47 grade-point average out of four.Also selected to the team: Bowling Green goalie Angelo Libertucci (3.95, pre-med); Illinois-Chicago center Brad Smiley (4.51 out of 5.00, business); Western Michigan center Pat Ferschweiler (3.66, accounting); Bowling Green winger Dan Bylsma (3.36, accounting) and Lake Superior forward Clayton Beddoes (3.16, business). &#9632;

Numbers game not applicable for Michigan’s Roberts

The Hobey Baker Award is college hockey&rsquo;s most prestigious individual honor. It is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in U.S. college hockey.Listed below are the 10 finalists for this year&rsquo;s Hobey:Scott Beattie, C, Sr., NMU. Skilled playmaker finished fifth in WCHA scoring.Duane Derksen. G, Sr., Wisconsin. The reason why Badgers took second in WCHA.Denny Felsner. LW, Sr., Michigan. Top scorer in CCHA with 60 points in 31 games.Rob Gaudreau. D, Sr., Providence. Led all defensemen in the nation with 54 points.Greg Johnson, C, Jr., N. Dakota. Smooth skater voted top forward by WCHA coaches.Daniel Laperriere. D, Sr., St. Lawrence. All-American selected ECAC&rsquo;s top player.Darrin Madeley. G, Jr., Lake Superior. Had best goals-against average in nation (2.06).Larry Olimb. D. Sr., Minnesota. Rugged rearguard also excelled at center this season.Scott Pellerin. LW, Sr., Maine. Two-way skills helped lead Maine to Hockey East title.Jean-Yves Roy, RW, Jr., Maine. Gifted scorer tied school record for career goals (107). &#9632;

Meet the Hobey hopefuls

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>The Len Ceglarski era came to an end March 12 when Maine eliminated Boston College from the Hockey East semifinals.The twenty-year Eagles&rsquo; coach&mdash;the winningest coach in college hockey history-is retiring. He compiled a 673-339-38 record in 34 years at Clarkson and Boston College. Eagles&rsquo; assistant Steve Cedorchuk will take over behind the bench next season.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t want it to end with us losing but if we had to lose, at least it was to someone in our league and the No. 1 team in the country,&rdquo; Ceglarski said after the Bears beat the Eagles 73. &ldquo;It has been a pretty good 34 years. There are a lot of guys who&rsquo;d like to have been in my shoes. I feel good.&rdquo;Ceglarski&rsquo;s BC teams won six Hockey East regular-season titles and two Hockey East championships. He was a three-time Spencer Penrose Trophy (national coach of the year) winner and guided 10 BC teams and four Clarkson teams to the NCAA tournament.&ldquo;After 34 years, I have a lot of nice memoBes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t remember specific teams and what they won or lost but I remember the people.&ldquo;I can also remember when I started. I made $2,600 a year and then went to $5,000 and I had $400 in the bank. I thought I was a millionaire but it was never the money that made me do this, it was the people.&rdquo;If Ceglarski could change one thing in his distinguished career it would be his record at the Beanpot Tournament. Boston College won only two Beanpot titles in his 20 years at the school (1976 and 1983).Maine coach Shawn Walsh paid tribute to Ceglarski.&ldquo;Lenny has been a great ambassador for the game,&rdquo; Walsh said. &ldquo;I admire the way he has run his program and I hope I can run mine with the same style and class.&rdquo;In the post-game handshake, the Maine players took a little extra time to wish the 65-year-old Ceglarski good luck.When asked what they said to him. Ceglarski quipped, &ldquo;One of them said he wanted to join me when I coach the Polish national team next year.&rdquo; Poland is not in Ceglarski&rsquo;s plans. He has a couple of things on the go but wouldn&rsquo;t reveal what they are.TOP PLAYERS: Maine junior left winger Jean-Yves Roy was named Hockey East player of the month for February. He had 12 goals and 18 points in 11 games, including four gamewinners.Two players tied for rookie-of-the-month honors: Boston University goalie Derek Herlofsky and Providence center Chad Quenneville.TOURNAMENT STARS: Maine senior forward Scott Pellerin was named the top player at the Hockey East tournament. Joining Pellerin on the all-toumament team were New Hampshire&rsquo;s Jeff Levy (goaltender), Providence&rsquo;s Rob Gaudreau (defense), Maine&rsquo;s Chris Imes (defense), New Hampshire&rsquo;s Domenic Amodeo (forward) and Maine&rsquo;s Jim Montgomery (forward).The Maine-New Hampshire championship game March 15 marked the first team in the league&rsquo;s eight-year history that a Boston-based school (Northeastern. Boston University, Boston College) did not make the final. Maine won the game 5-2. &#9632;

Ceglarski finally rests wings

The Lake Superior State Lakers turned the tables on the Michigan Wolverines to capture the Central Collegiate Hockey Association championship.The Lakers, who finished second in the regular season behind Michigan, grabbed the title with a 3-1 win March 22 at Detroit&rsquo;s Joe Louis Arena.The Lakers rode the solid goaltending of tournament most valuable player Darrin Madeley to win the title for the second straight year.Laker senior right winger Paul Constantin scored the winning goal at 9:02 of the third period to break a 1-1 tie. He then sprung freshman center Brian Rolston for another goal.WCHA: For whatever reason, big games at the Civic Center in St. Paul, Minn., are backyard nightmares for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. But the Northern Michigan Wildcats relish the surroundings.The Wildcats won their fourth major championship in St. Paul March 21 when they defeated the Golden Gophers 4-2 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association championship game.It marked the Wildcats&rsquo; third WCHA playoff crown at the Civic Center since the league adopted a Final Four format in 1988. The Wildcats also won the National Collegiate Athletic Association title there last March, defeating Boston University 8-7 in triple overtime.For Minnesota, it marked the fifth time it has lost a game of consequence in the Civic Center, located just 10 minutes from its regular-season campus home at Mariucci Arena. In addition to losing in the league playoff finals four times, the Gophers lost the 1989 NCAA title game there in overtime. 4-3 to Harvard.ByE THE WAY: Winning their league championships wasn&rsquo;t enough to give Lake Superior or Northern Michigan a bye in the first round of the 12-team NCAA tournament.Michigan, which lost to Lake Superior in the CCHA finals, and Minnesota, which lost to Northern Michigan in the WCHA tournament, were given the first two seeds in the West. Maine of Hockey East and St. Lawrence of the Eastern College Athletic Conference were given the top two seeds in the East.The tournament is a new format with regional play at neutral sites in Detroit and Providence, R.I. It is a single-elimination affair leading up to the Final Four in Albany. N.Y., April 2 to 4.First-round pairings in Providence March 26 have third-seed New Hampshire (HE) against sixth-seed Wisconsin (WCHA) with the winner playing St. Lawrence. Fourth-seed Boston University (HE) will play fifth-seed Michigan State (CCHA) for the right to play Maine.First-round pairings in Detroit March 27 have fourth-seed Northern Michigan against fifth-seeded Clarkson (ECAC) for the opportunity to play Michigan, and third-seed Lake Superior State against sixth-seed Alaska-Anchorage (Independent) with the winner playing Minnesota.East seeds: I. Maine (32-3-2); 2. St. Lawrence (22-9-2); 3. New Hampshire (23-122); 4. Boston University (22-8-4); 5. Clarkson (22-9-1); 6. Alaska-Anchorage (25-7-1).West seeds: I. Michigan (31-8-3); 2. Minnesota (32-10-0); 3. Lake Superior State (26-94); 4. Northern Michigan (24-13-3); 5. Michigan State (23-10-8); 6. Wisconsin (24-13-2).&mdash;With files from Andy Baggott and Matt Carlson. &#9632;

CCHA championship win sweet revenge for Lakers

<h2>STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01780/6718582-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="999" height="919"></div><h2>OVERALL STANDINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02573/6718575-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg" title="f0038-02" width="506" height="615"></div><h2>OVERTIME RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-03463/6718568-1-eng-US/f0038-032.jpg" title="f0038-03" width="492" height="609"></div><h2>RESULTS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-04363/6718561-1-eng-US/f0038-042.jpg" title="f0038-04" width="1006" height="1117"></div><h2>DIVISIONAL RECORDS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-05276/6718554-1-eng-US/f0038-052.jpg" title="f0038-05" width="540" height="777"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-06233/6718547-1-eng-US/f0038-062.jpg" title="f0038-06" width="902" height="1055"><figcaption class="caption-body">Kevin Stevens set a new mark for points by a U.S.-born player with his 111th in a game March 19.</figcaption></div><h2>POWER PLAY</h2>(ADV)&mdash;TOTAL ADVANTAGES; (PPG)&mdash;POWER-PLAY GOALS; (PCT)&mdash;POWERPLAY GOALS DIVIDED BY TOTAL ADVANTAGES.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-07214/6718540-1-eng-US/f0038-072.jpg" title="f0038-07" width="471" height="636"></div><h2>TEAM PENALTIES</h2>(PIM)&mdash;TOTAL PENALTY MINUTES INCLUDING (BMI) BENCH PENALTY MINUTES; (AVG)&mdash;AVERAGE PENALTY MINUTES PER GAME.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-08181/6718533-1-eng-US/f0038-082.jpg" title="f0038-08" width="404" height="651"></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/f0038-09165/6718526-1-eng-US/f0038-092.jpg" title="f0038-09" width="461" height="648"></div><h2>TOP SCORERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-10147/6718519-1-eng-US/f0038-102.jpg" title="f0038-10" width="611" height="556"></div><h2>TOP DEFENSEMEN</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-11136/6718512-1-eng-US/f0038-112.jpg" title="f0038-11" width="597" height="321"></div><h2>TOP ROOKIES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-12127/6718505-1-eng-US/f0038-122.jpg" title="f0038-12" width="600" height="325"></div><h2>LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-13117/6718498-1-eng-US/f0038-132.jpg" title="f0038-13" width="611" height="1420"></div><h2>SCHEDULE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-14108/6718491-1-eng-US/f0038-142.jpg" title="f0038-14" width="491" height="2908"></div><h2>BOSTON BRUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01746/6718484-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="1007" height="1050"></div><h2>BUFFALO SABRES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02505/6718477-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="997" height="1026"></div><h2>CALGARY FLAMES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03381/6718470-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg" title="f0039-03" width="998" height="703"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-04309/6718463-1-eng-US/f0039-042.jpg" title="f0039-04" width="997" height="258"></div><h2>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-05257/6718456-1-eng-US/f0039-052.jpg" title="f0039-05" width="989" height="1081"></div><h2>DETROIT RED WINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-06218/6718449-1-eng-US/f0039-062.jpg" title="f0039-06" width="1003" height="851"></div><h2>EDMONTON OILERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-07196/6718442-1-eng-US/f0039-072.jpg" title="f0039-07" width="995" height="605"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-08173/6718435-1-eng-US/f0039-082.jpg" title="f0039-08" width="1014" height="385"></div><h2>HARTFORD WHALERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-09151/6718428-1-eng-US/f0039-092.jpg" title="f0039-09" width="1011" height="877"></div><h2>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-10133/6718421-1-eng-US/f0039-102.jpg" title="f0039-10" width="999" height="826"></div><h2>MINNESOTA NORTH STARS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-11117/6718414-1-eng-US/f0039-112.jpg" title="f0039-11" width="1000" height="701"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-01447/6718407-1-eng-US/f0040-012.jpg" title="f0040-01" width="1006" height="133"></div><h2>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-02291/6718400-1-eng-US/f0040-022.jpg" title="f0040-02" width="1002" height="735"></div><h2>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-03209/6718393-1-eng-US/f0040-032.jpg" title="f0040-03" width="998" height="783"></div><h2>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-04165/6718386-1-eng-US/f0040-042.jpg" title="f0040-04" width="1001" height="1175"></div><h2>NEW YORK RANGERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-05142/6718379-1-eng-US/f0040-052.jpg" title="f0040-05" width="999" height="308"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-06124/6718372-1-eng-US/f0040-062.jpg" title="f0040-06" width="1007" height="501"></div><h2>PHILADELPHIA FLYERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-07112/6718365-1-eng-US/f0040-072.jpg" title="f0040-07" width="989" height="976"></div><h2>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-08100/6718358-1-eng-US/f0040-082.jpg" title="f0040-08" width="995" height="900"></div><h2>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-0981/6718351-1-eng-US/f0040-092.jpg" title="f0040-09" width="998" height="852"></div><h2>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1078/6718344-1-eng-US/f0040-102.jpg" title="f0040-10" width="1016" height="911"></div><h2>SAN JOSE SHARKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1174/6718337-1-eng-US/f0040-112.jpg" title="f0040-11" width="999" height="932"></div><h2>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1270/6718330-1-eng-US/f0040-122.jpg" title="f0040-12" width="1003" height="1151"></div><h2>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0040-1367/6718323-1-eng-US/f0040-132.jpg" title="f0040-13" width="1009" height="132"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-01371/6718316-1-eng-US/f0041-012.jpg" title="f0041-01" width="998" height="640"></div><h2>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-02228/6718309-1-eng-US/f0041-022.jpg" title="f0041-02" width="1008" height="141"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-03166/6718302-1-eng-US/f0041-032.jpg" title="f0041-03" width="1001" height="601"></div><h2>WINNIPEG JETS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-04140/6718295-1-eng-US/f0041-042.jpg" title="f0041-04" width="1004" height="189"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-05125/6718288-1-eng-US/f0041-052.jpg" title="f0041-05" width="1008" height="878"></div> &#9632;

f0038-01

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<h2>TEAM-BY-TEAM</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-06115/6718634-1-eng-US/f0041-062.jpg" title="f0041-06" width="998" height="1255"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-07102/6718627-1-eng-US/f0041-072.jpg" title="f0041-07" width="1008" height="1357"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0881/6718620-1-eng-US/f0041-082.jpg" title="f0041-08" width="1015" height="431"></div><h2>LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0041-0960/6718613-1-eng-US/f0041-092.jpg" title="f0041-09" width="1016" height="828"></div> &#9632;

f0041-06

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

NOTE: ALL STATISTICS INCLUDE GAMES OF SUNDAY, MARCH 22/92, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATEDNHL 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/f0044-01299/6718913-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="592" height="1882"></div><h2>IHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-02177/6718906-1-eng-US/f0044-022.jpg" title="f0044-02" width="595" height="1289"></div><h2>ECHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-03124/6718899-1-eng-US/f0044-032.jpg" title="f0044-03" width="599" height="2739"></div><h2>COLONIAL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0492/6718892-1-eng-US/f0044-042.jpg" title="f0044-04" width="604" height="591"></div><h2>QMJHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0578/6718885-1-eng-US/f0044-052.jpg" title="f0044-05" width="595" height="1621"></div><h2>OHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0669/6718878-1-eng-US/f0044-062.jpg" title="f0044-06" width="587" height="1710"></div><h2>WHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0764/6718871-1-eng-US/f0044-072.jpg" title="f0044-07" width="602" height="2365"></div><h2>NCAA TOP 10</h2>THE COLLEGE HOCKEY COMPUTER RATING IS A MATH-EMATICAL ANALYSIS OF ALL DIVISION I TEAMS. IT IS NOT A POLL NOR IS IT USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NCAA SELECTION PROCESS<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0852/6718864-1-eng-US/f0044-082.jpg" title="f0044-08" width="595" height="360"></div><h2>NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-0948/6718857-1-eng-US/f0044-092.jpg" title="f0044-09" width="604" height="394"></div><h2>CCHA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1043/6718850-1-eng-US/f0044-102.jpg" title="f0044-10" width="585" height="696"></div><h2>WCHA</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1136/6718843-1-eng-US/f0044-112.jpg" title="f0044-11" width="578" height="181"></div><h2>WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP</h2>ALL GAMES TO BE PLAYED IN PRAGUE (P) AND BRATISLAVA (B). CZECHOSLOVAKIA. TENTATIVE START TIMES AT EACH SITE FOR QUALIFYING ROUND GAMES ARE 7 A.M., 10:30 A.M. AND 2 P.M. (EST)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-1234/6718836-1-eng-US/f0044-122.jpg" title="f0044-12" width="582" height="1021"></div><h2>ALL-TIME TEAMS</h2>HERE ARE THE LEADING VOTE-GETTERS FOR EACH POSITION IN EACH ERA FOR THE PRO SET NHL ALL-TIME TEAMS.<h3>1942-67</h3>CENTER&mdash;JEAN BELIVEAU. 60.085; HENRI RICHARD, 25,945: TED KENNEDY. 6.395; MAX BENTLEY. 4.71M MILT SCHMIDT. 4.406. A LEFT WING-TED LINDSAY, 53,411; DICKIE MOORE. 26,306; DOUG BENTLEY, 10,274; BERT OLMSTEAD, 5,769; SID SMITH. 4.077.RIGHT WING&mdash;GORDIE HOWE, 74,239; MAURICE RICHARD. 19,330; ANDY BATHGATE, 5,342: BERNIE GEOFFRION. 2,871; BILL MOSIENKO, 1.451.DEFENSE&mdash;DOUG HARVEY. 63,115; RED KELLY. 48.979; TIM HORTON. 32,955; BILL GADSBY. 14.067; PIERRE PILOTE. 13.485; BUTCH BOUCHARD. 12.792; BILL QUACKENBUSH, 6.722, JACK STEWART. 5,428.GOAL&mdash;JACQUES PLANTE, 48,994; TERRY SAWCHUK, 32,151; GLENN HALL, 17,258; BILL DURNAN, 4,121.COACH&mdash;TOE BLAKE, 55,050: PUNCH IMLACH, 26,010; DICK IRVIN, 13,364; TOMMY IVAN. 5.378.<h3>1967-92</h3>CENTER&mdash;WAYNE GRETZKY. 69,558; MARIO LEMIEUX, 15,328; BOB CLARKE, 9,823; PHIL ESPOSITO, 6,692; STAN MIKITA, 5,238.LEFT WING&mdash;BOBBY HULL, 62,268: MARK MESSIER. 22,337: FRANK MAHOVLICH, 9,781; BILL BARBER, 6,133; JOHN BUCYK, 4.544RIGHT WING&mdash;GUY LAFLEUR, 42,185; MIKE BOSSY. 37,591: JARI KURRI. 9,612; YVAN COURNOYER. 8.974; LANNY MCDONALD. 5.750.DEFENSE&mdash;BOBBY ORR, 81,706; DENIS POTVIN. 31,308; RAY BOURQUE, 28.421; PAUL COFFEY. 24.777; LARRY ROBINSON. 17,008; BRAD PARK, 10,107; SERGE SAVARD, 7,155. ROD LANGWAY. 6,542.GOAL&mdash;KEN DRYDEN. 51,327; GRANT FUHR. 23,353 BERNIE PARENT, 18,147; TONY ESPOSITO, 13,345.COACH&mdash;SCOn BOWMAN. 50,799; AL ARBOUR, 27,101; GLEN SATHER, 15,355; FRED SHERO, 9,800. &#9632;

f0044-01

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-01268/6718944-1-eng-US/f0047-012.jpg" title="f0047-01" width="362" height="464"></div>When Pat LaFontaine was informed by the Buffalo chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association that he was the Sabres&rsquo; nominee for the Masterton Trophy, he was extremely pleased and grateful.He then smiled and mentioned he didn&rsquo;t think he was that old.When Michel Goulet received the nomination from the Chicago chapter he jokingly said, &ldquo;That&rsquo;s one of the awards no one remembers who wins.&rdquo; Both men have a point. Up to a point.The Masterton is supposed to go to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. But over the years, it has come to represent the comeback player of the year, the aging veteran who has reached some milestone and deserves recoggation for his achievement, a runner-up award and even a media award (aw he&rsquo;s a great guy, give him something).Past winners include many notable and deserving players-Dave Taylor, Tim Kerr, Brad Park, Glen Resch, Don Luce, Henri Richard and Bobby Glarke. Some got it because they so hard (the oft-injured Gord Kluzak of Boston comes to mind) while others got it because there was no other award to give them at the time (Anders Hedberg comes to mind.)It&rsquo;s hard to determine exactly how it came to be that way. Maybe one reason is because the fans&mdash;and perhaps even the writers-have forgotten just who Bill Masterton was.The NHL Official Guide and Record Book doesn&rsquo;t really say. The guide says the trophy is presented in his name, that it&rsquo;s cared for and administered to by the Players&rsquo; Association. It says the organization contributes a $2,500 grant annually to the sterton Scholarship fund and that Masterton played for the Minnesota North Stars. It says the trophy was first presented by the writers to memorialize the Masterton name and that Masterton died Jan. 15, 1968.What it doesn&rsquo;t say is Masterton was the only player to die as a result of injuries suffered in an NHL game. The guide never mentions that and most of the other guides only mention Masterton was involved in a collision, fell and hit his head and eventually succumbed to those injuries.Older books point out he was pretty much a journeyman center. He jyed only 38 games in the NHL and his career line reads four goals.eight assists, 12 points. He had four penalty minutes.You get a better idea of who Bill Masterton is when you meet his daughter Sally.Sally Masterton never knew her father either. She was bom several weeks after he died. She never knew his voice, felt his touch or saw his smile. But she does know his memory. On the 20th anniversary of his death, the league and the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association brought her to the Stanley Cup finals. She presented the award in her father&rsquo;s name but before that she asked everyone involved in the series if they knew her father.She collected a lifetime of memories and still draws on them when the Masterton Scholarship Fund calls her to present the annual cash award to a deserving child.I thought it was important to remind people of that the next time they sit down to nominate a player and vote for a recipient. The partial list for 1991-92 includes LaFontaine and Goulet, Boston&rsquo;s Bob Carpenter, Calgary&rsquo;s Joel Otto, Hartford&rsquo;s Marc Bergevin, Minnesota&rsquo;s Mark Tinordi, the Islanders&rsquo; Mark Fitzpatrick, the Rangers&rsquo; Mike Gartner, Philadelphia&rsquo;s Mark Howe, St. Louis&rsquo; Curtis Joseph, San Jose&rsquo;s Doug Wilson, Toronto&rsquo;s Wendel Clark and Vancouver&rsquo;s Ryan Walter.Many of them are good men and all make a case for the award. But my personal favorite is John Tonelli.I don&rsquo;t know if Tonelli got a nomination or if he ever will. But the former Stanley Cup champion with the New York Islanders has played through the good and the bad in stops in New York, Calgary, Los Angeles and Chicago. He also spent three seasons in the WHA and currently toils for the struggling Nordiques.When I last saw him, he was wearing a face cage to protect a cracked jaw and was working the boards trying to get a puck into the clear for a scoring chance in a game everyone knew the Nordiques were going to lose. He looked neither old or faceless. He wasn&rsquo;t making a comeback and he wasn&rsquo;t even close to winning a major award.After the game, nobody wanted to talk to him. To me he represented what sportsmanship, dedication and perseverance is all about. He also reminded me of just what kind of a person Bill Masterton was.Hopefully no one will forget that. The qualities or the man. &#9632;

f0047-01

Let’s never forget what Masterton’s all about

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0047-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0047-02187/6718975-1-eng-US/f0047-022.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">The plan was for Ray Bourque to see less ice time this season. Bad plan; Bourque is playing as well as ever. (Photo by Tim Parker)</figcaption></div>Ray Bourque doesn&rsquo;t think he&rsquo;ll win the Norris Trophy this year. More importantly, he doesn&rsquo;t think he deserves it.It&rsquo;s not that the Boston Bruins&rsquo; captain and unquestioned leader is having a bad season. To the contrary, he is a lock to top 20 goals for the sixth time in his career and was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer until Adam Oates arrived from St. Louis in February.He is also closing in on his first 80-game season since his rookie year, is averaging more than a point per game and had a team-high plus-11 ranking on a club that had allowed more goals than it scored.And it certainly has been a memorable campaign for the four-time Norris winner. Bourque broke Bobby Orr&rsquo;s Bruin record for goals by a defenseman and later joined Paul Coffey and Denis Potvin as the only blueliners in NHL history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.It&rsquo;s just that he feels it hasn&rsquo;t been an award-winning season; at least not by his standards.&ldquo;(It has been) all right,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Not great. Kind of like the team. It&rsquo;s tough to gauge your own season when you haven&rsquo;t had as good a year as you&rsquo;d like as a team.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s why Bourque sees New York Ranger Brian Leetch as the favorite to break his two-season grip on the best-defenseman prize. Leetch is threatening to reach 100 points and the Rangers are making a run at the President&rsquo;s Trophy as the top regularseason finisher.&ldquo;When things go well for the whole team, you get more recognition,&rdquo; Bourque said. &ldquo;The Rangers have had a great year and so has Brian. He deserves everything he&rsquo;ll have coming to him this year.&rdquo;You&rsquo;d have a tough time convincing many of Bourque&rsquo;s teammates, however, that his play has tailed off.&ldquo;I always knew he was a great player,&rdquo; Oates said. &ldquo;Now that I&rsquo;ve had a chance to play with him, I honestly think he&rsquo;s underrated. It&rsquo;s hard for me to believe there&rsquo;s a better defenseman than Raymond.&rdquo;&ldquo;Ray can still dominate a game whenever he wants,&rdquo; said Glen Wesley, a career-long resident in Bourque&rsquo;s shadow. &ldquo;The only difference I can see in him from last season is that he&rsquo;s a year older.&rdquo;At 31. Bourque isn&rsquo;t exactly over the hill but his age probably did figure into coach Rick Bowness&rsquo; preseason plan to limit Bourque&rsquo;s ice time. Problem is, Boston has been so inconsistent that Bowness has had to rely on Bourque more than he planned and the 13-year veteran still plays 30 minutes in most games.While he has slumped at times this season, Bourque has shown the ability to pull himself&mdash;and his team-out of a funk.Case in point: The Bruins, on a recent 0-4-1 dip, went into Quebec desperately seeking a win. Bourqueled Boston to a 5-4 overtime triumph with two goals and an assist. A night later, Bourque assisted on the winning goal in a 5-1 victory over Los Angeles and was one reason the Kings were held to just 20 shots.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d been dragging a little before that,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d just finished playing seven games in 11 days and I think we were all worn down.&rdquo;Bourque rested for a couple of days after that stretch, then played two of his best games since the All-Star break. With Boston playing its final nine games over a span of 18 days, it wasn&rsquo;t out of the question to predict he&rsquo;d finish the year with enough of a flourish to gain more last-minute Norris support. The award is voted upon by members of the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association.Awards, however, are the last thing on his mind.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think about them much,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Things like that I plan to look back on when I retire. Things have gone all right, but I&rsquo;d be surprised if I did win it.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0047-02

May Day Ray

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div>What started as a dismal season for defenseman Keith Carney has turned into a golden opportunity.Carney was one of the last players cut from the U.S Olympic team before the Winter Games and toiled for the Rochester Americans of the American League after that.But the 22-year-old has turned things around by grabbing a spot on the Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; roster.&ldquo;Keith Carney was like a breath of fresh air,&rdquo; said coach Muckier after finally seeing him perform in a Sabres&rsquo; uniform after his recall March 8.Carney was recalled after several Sabre defensemen went down with injuries. He wasted little time establishing himself as a steady player and is now a key force on the team&rsquo;s blue line.Carney had a goal and two assists in his first seven games and apparently made veteran Randy Hillier expendable. Hillier was assigned to Rochester March 11 and has since worked out an agreement to play with San Diego of the International League.Carney picked up his first NHL point in his first NHL game, a March 8 6-2 loss to the New York Islanders. He got his first NHL goal March 22 in a 6-2 win against Chicago. He has been getting a regular shift since he joined the team.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0048-01184/6719006-1-eng-US/f0048-012.jpg" title="f0048-01" width="551" height="732"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dave Andreychuk was fined for missing a team flight.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just been trying to learn as I go along,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I thought I had a lot to leant down there (in Rochester) and I still feel that way. This is just something I hadn&rsquo;t expected yet.&rdquo;The Sabres&rsquo; defense corps has been largely revamped since the start of the season. Gone are Hillier, Kevin Haller and Jay Wells (both moved at the March 10 trading deadline). New on board are Pefr Svoboda, Randy Moller and Carney.BIG GOAL: Wayne Presley scored what proved to be the gamewinning goal against the Chicago Blackhawks.Presley, who was obtained from San Jose for right winger Dave Snuggerud at the deadline, said he was just happy to score a goal. Presley had nine goals and 24 points in 53 games but it was his first goal in six games as a Sabre.&ldquo;The goal was great but I don&rsquo;t care who it was against,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I just wanted to get it off my back.&rdquo;Presley played eight years with the Hawks from 1984-91 before being traded to San Jose in the offseason.NOTEBOOK: The Sabres held a team meeting and vowed to work harder on the road after a 3-1 loss March 17 in Minnesota. They also vowed to work harder in the second period of road games. Most of the Sabres&rsquo; road losses have come after they fell behind in the second period. The meeting apparently had some impact. The Sabres scored five second-period goals in an 8-2 win at Los Angeles March 19. They also scored three goals in the second period of a 6-2 win at Chicago March 22.Winger Dave Andreychuk scored his league-high 28th power-play goal against the Hawks. Andreychuk had a four-goal night in the win over L.A.Center Dale Hawerchuk had four assists against Chicago. He had 66 in 70 games, three short of Gilbert Perreault&rsquo;s club record of 69 in a season. Pat LaFontaine had 42 goals in 50 games and was closing in on Perreault&rsquo;s club record for the most goals in a season by a center (44).<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pat LaFontaine, Dale Hawerchuk, Dave Hannan.LW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk, Tony Tanti, Brad May, Colin Pattersone, Rob Ray, Randy Wood.RW&mdash;Donald Audette, Alex Mogilny, Bob Corkum, Gord Donnelly, Wayne PresleyLD&mdash;Mike Ramsey, Doug Bodger, Ken Sutton.RD&mdash;Petr Svoboda, Randy Moller, Bill Houlder, Keith Carney.G&mdash;Tom Draper, Daren Puppa, Clint Malarchuk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Grant Ledyard, D, sprained right ankle, day-to-day. Christian Ruuttu, C, flu, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0048-01

Carney big part of new-look blue line

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div>Pat Burns is tired of being the man caught in the middle.The Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; coach, frustrated over his team&rsquo;s second straight poor effort at home, said talk of a potential NHL strike is becoming a major distraction for his players.&ldquo;The guys don&rsquo;t have their heads on hockey right now,&rdquo; said Burns after watching the Habs blow a 3-1 lead March 21 against St. Louis and settle for a 3-3 tie. &ldquo;I wish they&rsquo;d settle it one way or the other. Strike or no strike, It&rsquo;s murder on the coach. We have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. Now we don&rsquo;t even know if there&rsquo;s going to be a Stanley Cup.&rdquo;Burns said Blues&rsquo; coach Brian Sutter&mdash;and several other coaches-are having the same problem.&ldquo;Brian got it right today when he said somewhere down the line, they&rsquo;re going to blame the coaches,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;A team won&rsquo;t be ready, they&rsquo;ll lose some games and they&rsquo;ll blame the coach.&rdquo;But Montreal forward Brent Gilchrist said strike talk isn&rsquo;t a distraction.&ldquo;People might be thinking our minds are elsewhere and it has been in the back of our minds for quite a grille.&rdquo;he said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t have any problem getting my game ready for the playoffs. That&rsquo;s my job.&rdquo;BURNS BASHING: Pat Burns was booed by Forum fans when he made a couple of mistakes while playing for a Habs&rsquo; old-timers team against the Toronto alumni March 20.&ldquo;Chris Nilan tore me apart from AZ in the dressing room the next day but I expected that from him,&rdquo; Burns said. &ldquo;At least Mike Keane said he liked the fact I went into the comer a couple of times with Tiger Williams.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Sylvain Turgeon&rsquo;s miserable season bottomed out when he was scratched for the 12th straight game against Los Angeles March 14. Turgeon then watched defensemen Lyle Odelein and Sylvain Lefebvre&mdash;two of the seven defensemen dressed by Burns-take shifts at left wing. &ldquo;I felt humiliated,&rdquo; said Turgeon, who had seven goals and 18 points in 54 games.<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Guy Carbonneau, Stephan Lebeau, Brian Skrudland, Denis Savard.LW&mdash;Mike McPhee, Shayne Corson, Gilbert Dionne, Brent Gilchrist, Sylvain Turgeon.RW&mdash;Russ Courtnall, Kirk Muller. Chris Nilan, Todd Ewen, Mike Keane.LD&mdash;Jean-Jacques Daigneault, Mathieu Schneider, Sylvain Lefebvre, Kevin Haller.RD&mdash;Eric Desjardins, Lyle Odelein, Patrice Brisebois.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Andre Racicot.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Benoit Brunet, LW, broken right ankle, indefinite. &#9632;

Strike banter irks Burns

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div>Just when it appeared the Boston Bruins were ready to make a strong run heading into the playoffs, another rash of injuries threatened to mess up their plans.First, the Bruins learned star right winger Cam Neely-sidelined all but nine games because of serious left leg injuries-won&rsquo;t be back this season.Neely is progressing well following knee surgery Feb. 3 but doctors say he won&rsquo;t be ready to play until next year.The Bruins also lost 25-goal man Bob Carpenter when he sustained a strained right calf muscle March 19 against Quebec. Carpenter had three goals and five points in 5-4 and 5-1 wins over Quebec and the Los Angeles Kings March 14 and 15. He could be out until the end of April.The Bruins also lost right winger Lyndon Byers, one of their most consistent players in March. Byers sustained a broken finger on his left hand in a fight with Darin Kimble of St. Louis March 19.The Bruins were already missing regulars Glen Featherstone (back surgery), Dave Reid (pneumonia), Reggie Lemelin (strained left hamstring) and Jim Vesey (right shoulder surgery).BYERS BUGGED: Lyndon Byers was attracting a lot of attention before his hand injury. Unfortunately, it was from the wrong type of people.Byers, who has moved to eighth on the team&rsquo;s all-time penalty-minute list, was spending a lot of time battling other teams&rsquo; enforcers. &ldquo;If I could score goals, it probably wouldn&rsquo;t happen,&rdquo; he said.NOTEBOOK: A 5-4 loss to Edmonton March 21 ended the Bruins&rsquo; 8-0-1 regular-season streak against the Oilers at Boston Garden.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>March 19: Jeff Lazaro, LW, assigned to Maine (AHL). March 21: Brent Hughes, LW, recalled from Maine.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Vladimir Ruzicka, Adam Oates, Dave Poulin, Bob Sweeney.LW&mdash;Josef Stumpel, Ted Donato, Clark Donatelli, Brent Hughes, Scott Amlel.RW&mdash;Steve Leach, Joe Juneau, Steve Heinze, Brent Ashton.LD&mdash;Glen Wesley, Don Sweeney, Gord Hynes.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque, Gord Murphy, JimWiemer.G&mdash;Andy Moog, Daniel Berthiaume.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Lyndon Byers, RW, broken finger on left hand, day-to-day. Bob Carpenter, LW, strained right calf muscle, indefinite. Glen Featherstone, D, back surgery, indefinite. Matt Hervey, D, back pain, day-to-day. Reggie Lemelin, G, strained left hamstring, day-to-day. Cam Neely, RW, left knee surgery, out for season. Dave Reid, LW, pneumonia, day-to-day. Jim Vesey, C, right shoulder surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Prospects for playoffs gloomy without injured Neely in lineup

<div class="byline">By Jeff Jacobs</div>When the Hartford chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association selected Marc Bergevin as its Masterton Trophy candidate, Whalers&rsquo; coach Jimmy Roberts simply smiled.As Bergevin&rsquo;s coach in Springfield of the American League for two years, Roberts saw Bergevin suffer, persevere and show more determination than most men could.&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to give Marc a lot of credit,&rdquo; Roberts said. &ldquo;He had (346) games in the NHL and his life fell apart. The guy hung in there through some mentally depressing times.&rdquo;Bergevin, who was a regular with Chicago and the Islanders until 1989, surpassed 400 games played this season. That means he qualifies for the NHL&rsquo;s $250,000 lump-sum pension payment at age 55. But there was so much heartache to get back.In December 1986, his mother, Pauline, 57, died of a clot in her brain. In July 1990, he found his father, Denis, 62, dead of a heart attack.&ldquo;When my mom died, I was in shock for a year,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When my dad died, it was tough for a week, then I was okay but six months later it hit me like a ton of bricks. Every time I thought about my dad, I thought about finding him dead.&rdquo;Bergevin found strength in his relationship with his older sister and her husband Gilles. But then Gilles, 43, died last August of liver cancer.&ldquo;When they married I was five,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As far as I could remember, he was my family, too. The two Calder Cups we won in Springfield, I dedicated to my family.&ldquo;Today when things go bad, I don&rsquo;t get down as much. I want to win badly. But after all I went through, it&rsquo;s not fair for me to be down. I know I&rsquo;ve been through adversity a lot worse.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Former Whaler Dean Evason scored two goals and was named No. 1 star as San Jose beat Hartford 5-4 March 21. Evason had compared the Whalers to an expansion team in February. &ldquo;The comments I made weren&rsquo;t negative. I have no hard feelings toward the Whalers. I feel they have to build the team back up and build another core.&rdquo;There were banners greeting the the return of Ron Francis and Ulf Samuelsson for the 2-2 tie with the Penguins March 22. One said 10 &gt; 11, the mathematical equation suggesting Francis is greater than John Cullen. But it was Cullen, named team MVP by his teammates, and Zarley Zalapski, voted the club&rsquo;s top defenseman, who received awards in front of their former Penguins teammates. &ldquo;There are signs for me in Pittsburgh,&rdquo; Cullen said. &ldquo;Ronnie was Mr. Franchise here for 10 years. It doesn&rsquo;t bother me a bit.&rdquo;<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;John Cullen, Geoff Sanderson, Andrew Cassels, Paul Gillis, James Black.LW&mdash;Randy Cunneyworth, Mikael Andersson, Murray Craven, Jim McKenzie, Joe Day.RW&mdash;Pat Verbeek, Bobby Holik, Yvon Corriveau, Ed Kastelic, Mark Hunter.LD&mdash;Zariey Zalapski, Steve Konroyd, Randy Ladouceur.RD&mdash;Doug Houda, Marc Bergevin, Adam Burt, Brad Shaw.G&mdash;Peter Sidorkiewicz, Frank Pietrangelo, Kay Whitmore.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

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April 3, 1992

Replacements won’t be tolerated

NHL SUMMARIES

Bomber’s gone but toughness not a problem

Second wind for Sundin