Domi wants to ‘Let it alone’ after loss to pugilist Probert

Tie Domi was scheduled to meet with NHL president Gil Stein Dec. 16, although no one in the New York Rangers’ organization could figure out why. What was there to explain about the right winger’s memorable fight with Bob Probert of the Detroit Red Wings Dec. 2 at Madison Square Garden? The bout-which occurred early in a 4-2 Ranger win-was front-page news in a number of Canadian newspapers and was the lead item on many sports highlight shows on TV. It was a battle memorable for its length, for the number of blows thrown and landed-more by Probert than by Domi-and for living up to the hype that began when Domi admitted he was looking forward to it. The match started just 37 seconds into the game after a faceoff which followed a Ranger…

THE DRAW

Smith’s offensive tinkering turns Huskies into attack dogs

The Northeastern Huskies definitely qualify as the most inconsistent team in Hockey East. The Huskies started the season with a pair of exhibition wins over Illinois-Chicago of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, but then lost three straight to Clarkson, St. Lawrence and Boston University. The Huskies were outscored 30-7 in those games before rebounding with a four-game winning streak to grab second-place in Hockey East at 4-1-0. “This is such a tough league that you don’t find too many streaks one way or the other,” said second-year coach Ben Smith. “Everybody beats everybody else in Hockey East-with the exception of Maine.” The high-flying Black Bears were undefeated in league play with a 6-01 record. There are several reasons for Northeastern’s fast stall. A coaching adjustment by Smith may have been the most critical. At the beginning…

Canadian takes his puck skills to Russia

Michael Nemirovsky needs a new agent. The one he took with him to Russia was a disaster. “They asked me if I wanted a salary and I didn’t ask for anything,” Nemirovsky said. “Then they said, ‘We’re paying you 10,000 rubles a month.’ I was very happy.” We can only assume Nemirovsky is more adept at negotiating sharp turns than contracts. As the first Canadian to play pro hockey in Russia, the 18-year-old right winger feels as much at home in Moscow as he did in his hometown of Toronto. Nemirovsky, a 6-foot-183 pounder, is fulfilling a lifelong dream by playing this season with Spartak of the Russian Professional League. While his childhood friends were Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux in shinny games, Nemirovsky was Sergei Makarov. He has taped more than 150 games…