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September 4, 1992
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.
Kordic situation wasn’t NH’s fault
Languorous thoughts on a late summer day: □ The NHL needs a drug policy that allows a player with a problem to voluntarily seek help. It won’t have one until its Players’ Association insists. That is unfortunate. Shame, too, on any manager or coach who was afraid to confront John Kordic about his problem out of fear he wouldn’t have him to fight Shane Churla the next night. Still, these unnamed player and management villains-the guilt by association is troubling-are being written about as if they held Kordic down and jammed cocaine up his nose. Addiction is insidious and addicts deserve our compassion. No one should be considered beyond help: There are many examples of persons with problems cleaning themselves up on the third or fourth attempt. Nevertheless, at some point the addict has to be…
Price of success becoming prohibitive
Just a few years ago, you probably could have found someone willing to predict the Pittsburgh Penguins would be the NH’s team of the early ’90s. Just as you could have tracked down a person who was convinced pigs would be piloting commercial aircraft before the turn of the century. Hey, it’s a big world out there, filled with lots of off-the-wall folks. Many of whom apparently went off those walls head-first. Hard. And repeatedly. So it didn’t matter there were plenty of seasons when even reaching the playoffs qualified as the Impossible Dream in Pittsburgh; when the Penguins were so inept they shouldn’t have been allowed to watch the post-season on TV, let alone participate in it. But those grim days that once seemed interminable are over now. obscured by the intoxicating…
Shuffling the deck
If there’s one division in the NHL that’s truly up for grabs this season, the Adams is it. Boston, Buffalo and Montreal all have a legitimate shot at first place, while the revamped Quebec Nordiques could have their best season in years. The following is a breakdown of what each team did in the off-season to improve itself for 1992-93. BOSTON The exporting that started last February with the Craig Janney and Stephane Quintal for Adam Oates trade turned into even more serious business in the off-season following the Bruins’ four-game playoff sweep at the hands of Pittsburgh. The coaching staff, thought to be secure after a run to the Stanley Cup semifinals, was wiped out in early June. After one season behind the bench, Rick Bowness was fired and assistant coaches Mike O’Connell and…
Day of Reckoning
This was no metaphorical line drawn in the sand. It was a warning from one of the toughest players in the NHL. “It’s a joke,” said Tie Domi of the New York Rangers. “If they take fighting out of hockey, then it’s going to be open season on guys like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Brett Hull. Players like that had better expect to be hit more often and harder than ever before. They won’t have guys on their teams to protect them. “They don’t get hit as much now because guys like me and (Ranger teammate) Joey Kocur are around. The NHL had better prepare for its marquee players to become prime targets of the hardest hitters in the game if fighting is taken out. How does the NHL expect to sell…
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