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.

May 7, 1993

The Hockey News May 7, 1993

<div class="image-hero"><img title="cover-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-01903/6178553-1-eng-US/cover-012.jpg"></div>Amazing Curtis Joseph St. Louis showstopperOUR 3-STAR SELECTIONSDaigle earns No. 1 rank-P. 2 Brophy, Baldwin on Lemieux-P.4 NHL must haveshootouts-P.17Report Card An official look at playoff refs<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-02510/6178546-1-eng-US/cover-022.jpg" title="cover-02" width="630" height="1183"></div>Sabre Sweep Buffalo bashes first-place Bruins<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-03235/6178539-1-eng-US/cover-032.jpg" title="cover-03" width="647" height="1031"></div>The Disturbur Crease monster Dino Ciccarelli<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/cover-0482/6178532-1-eng-US/cover-042.jpg" title="cover-04" width="539" height="311"></div> &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

BLUE HEAVEN

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011370/6175769-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="361" height="470"></div>Alexandre Daigle should enter the 1993 entry draft as the top-rated NHL prospect in the world.The Victoriaville Tigres&rsquo; center is expected to be ranked first on the Central Scouting Bureau&rsquo;s (CSB) final listing of North American skaters eligible for the draft. No Europeans are included on this listing, but none is a serious contender for No. 1 status.Sources told The Hockey News that Daigle maintained his top mid-season billing after lengthy deliberations at the CSB end-of-season meeting in Toronto during April.Daigle, 18, blends speed, imagination and a hunger for greatness.He was on pace to challenge Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s Quebec League scoring records this year before a suspension derailed him. The native of Laval, Que., finished the regular season with 45 goals and 137 points in 53 games. He also collected 85 penalty minutes.Daigle is regarded as a franchise player, although not in the same class as Lemieux or Eric Lindros. He possesses a natural charisma that adds to his appeal in the marketing-conscious NHL.The Ottawa Senators, who have first choice in the entry draft have said they will choose Daigle unless they receive an irresistable offer for the right to pick first. Both the Quebec Nordiques and Montreal Canadiens have ample reason to trade for the draft pick that would give them the budding French Canadian star.The confidential CSB list was not scheduled for release to NHL general managers until the first days of May. Teams use the ranking as a guide for the annual entry draft, this year scheduled for June 26 in Quebec City.Daigle was ranked ahead of the Peterborough Petes&rsquo; Chris Pronger, a 6-foot-6 defenseman who has shown the ability to dominate games with superior defensive and offensive skills.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021112/6175762-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="836" height="960"></div>The Top NHL Draft Prospects1. Alexandre Daigle, Victoriaville2. Chris Pronger, Peterborough3. Chris Gratton, Kingston4. Rob Niedermayer, Medicine Hat5. Paul Kariya, Maine6. Jason Arnott, OshawaThe CSB top six are expected to be as follows (regular-season game, goal, assist, point and penalty-minute totals are included):1. Daigle; 2. Pronger (Ontario League), 61-15-62-77-108; 3. Chris Gratton, center, Kingston Frontenacs (OHL), 58-55-54-109-125; 4. Rob Niedermayer, center, Medicine Hat Tigers (Western League), 52-43-34-7767; 5. Paul Kariya, center, Maine Black Bears (Hockey East) 24-15-48-63-6 and; 6. Jason Arnott, center, Oshawa Generals (OHL) 56-41-57-98-74.Until the final list is compiled, we cannot say with more certainty that this will be the final top six. One reason is that three of the first six-Pronger, Gratton and Kariya-are still playing.Kariya, in particular, could be so impressive at the World Championships, director of CSB Frank Bonello might feel compelled to make a change. But that would be highly unusual.The mid-season ranking was virtually identical to the projected final list. The only change is Kariya leapfrogging past Arnott into fifth position.There has been speculation the Senators would be happy to choose Kariya, an explosive skater and consummate playmaker whose only drawback is size. Kariya is 5-foot-10 (and a smidge, he says) and 160 pounds.Should Canada win in Munich, Kariya would become the first player to win World Junior, Senior and U.S. college championships in one season.Center Niklas Sundstrom of MoDo in the Swedish Elite League is the top overseas player-ranking ahead of Moscow Dynamo winger Viktor Kozlov. The top-rated goalie in the draft remains Jocelyn Thibault of the Sherbrooke Faucons.The top-10 choices in the draft belong to: 1. Ottawa 2. San Jose 3. Tampa Bay 4. Anaheim/Miami 5. Anaheim/Miami 6. Hartford. 7. Edmonton 8. Rangers 9. Dallas 10. Quebec.Fourth and fifth choices will be determined by coin toss. No date has been set.It was mistakenly reported in the April 16 issue of THN that Pittsburgh-based player agent Steve Reich and his father, Sam, represented New York Islanders&rsquo; defenseman Tom Kurvers at his arbitration hearing in March.Kurvers is, in fact, represented by Ron Simon of Minneapolis and not the Reichs, who had no involvement with the arbitration case.Our apologies for the error. &#9632;

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Top-ranked Tigre has charisma and talent

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div>It&rsquo;s ironic that after playing more games than he has played in the each of past five seasons, Wendel Clark may have reached the depths of his value as a Toronto Maple Leaf.Clark played 66 games this year, the most the injury-plagued left winger has managed since playing the 80-game schedule in 1986-87.But he scored only 17 goals, was used sparingly on the power play, was criticized by coach Pat Bums after going on a Caribbean vacation during the all-star break while injured and didn&rsquo;t resemble the impact player he once was.It got worse in the playoffs. After two lackluster performances against the Detroit Red Wings in Games 1 and 2 of the Norris Division semifinal, Clark was vilified in the press for failing to stand up to a rampaging Bob Probert.Probert said he hadn&rsquo;t noticed the Leaf captain on the ice. One Toronto columnist said Clark had been &ldquo;emasculated&rdquo; by the Red Wings. A Detroit writer, meanwhile, wrote how the Red Wing players call Clark &ldquo;Wendel&rdquo; at Maple Leaf Gardens, but refer to him as &ldquo;Wendy&rdquo; when he plays in Detroit.Clark chose not to respond to the criticism-&ldquo;If not something I can control,&rdquo; is all he would say-and partially vindicated himself by an improved performance in Game 3 at home. He scored the winning goal in a 4-2 Toronto victory. He also had a strong effort in Game 4, a 3-2 Toronto win.Bums came to his player&rsquo;s defense after the first two games.&ldquo;You can question WendeI&rsquo;s ability, or his shot, but nobody can ever question his toughness,&rdquo; Bums said. &ldquo;Nobody here questions Wendel Clark&rsquo;s courage.&rdquo;The criticism was similar to what Clark received in the 1987 playoffs against Detroit, when he was shadowed effectively by his cousin, Joe Kocur. Clark chose not to use force of any kind to work himself free for offensive chances.Such performances will have to be considered this summer when the Leafs analyze his contract situation. He qualified for incentive bonuses this year by playing in 66 games and his salary was $825,000.NOTEBOOK: The Leafs will be without rookie defenseman Drake Berehowsky for the remainder of the season. Berehowsky injured his right knee in Chicago April 15. It was thought he&rsquo;d be ready to play at some point in the first round, but doctors confirmed he is done for the year.Damien Cox is a hockey writer for The Toronto Star.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 20: Kent Manderville, LW. recalled from SL John&lsquo;s (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Doug Gilmour, John Cullen, Peter Zezel, Mike Krushelnyski, Mike Eastwood, Dave McLlwain.LW&mdash;Dave Andreychuk, Wendel Clark, Bril Berg, Ken Baumgartner, Kent Mandery.RW&mdash;Gtenn Anderson, Rob Pearson. Mark Osborne, Mike FolignoLD&mdash;Dave ERett, Sylvaln Lefebvre. Jamie Macoun. Darryl Shannon.RD&mdash;Todd GiH, Bob Rouse. Dmitn Mironov.G&mdash;Felix Potvin, Daren Puppa, Rick Wamsley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Drake Berehowsky, D, strained right knee, out for season. Nikolai Borschevsky, RW, broken tight orbitalbone, indefinite. Bob McGill, D. broken jaw, out for season. &#9632;

Clark’s intimidating presence deserts him in post-season

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div>The odds were stacked against the St. Louis Blues.Few, if any, of the so-called experts expected them to beat the Chicago Blackhawks in the Norris Division semifinals. And no one, absolutely no one, could have predicted the Blues would sweep the Blackhawks in four games.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re a betting man going to Las Vegas, I don&rsquo;t think you would have made that bet,&rdquo; said goalie Curtis Joseph after Craig Janney&rsquo;s overtime goal gave the Blues a 4-3 win in Game 4, completing the sweep. &ldquo;What were the odds on a sweep? Maybe 10,000 to 1? I wouldn&rsquo;t have made that bet.&rdquo;It would have seemed so foolish to do so. The Blackhawks won the Norris Division title with a 47-25-12 record and finished third overall. They had 21 more points than the Blues, who qualified for the playoffs on the final night of the season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m speechless,&rdquo; said coach Bob Berry, who won his first playoff series in 10 seasons as a coach. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve come from so far back and worked so hard, I&rsquo;m sure the ever-positive members of the press would not have given us much of a chance against Chicago. But for some reason, this team found ways to win.&rdquo;The Blues found motivation in newspaper reports. When the Blues arrived in Chicago before Game 1, they read a story about how the Blackhawks might stop Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Mario Lemieux if they got to the Stanley Cup final.&ldquo;The guys took that to heart,&rdquo; Joseph said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a terrible feeling when people are looking past you.&rdquo;But what a remarkable feeling it was to beat the Blackhawks. The Blues have won only two of nine playoff meetings against their archrivals.&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t like them and I think it&rsquo;s because our fans don&rsquo;t like them,&rdquo; Garth Butcher said. &ldquo;For our fans, it&rsquo;s their mini-little Stanley Cup. Obviously, we want to keep this thing going.&rdquo;The Blues will play either the Toronto Maple Leafs or Detroit Red Wings in the Norris Division finals.&ldquo;We were the underdogs in this series and no matter who we play in the next round, we&rsquo;ll be underdogs, too,&rdquo; Brendan Shanahan said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anyone will expect us to win that one. No one expected us to win this one. We made the playoffs on the last game of the season. And we entered the playoffs without any pressure.&rdquo;Then, they pounded the Blackhawks.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s not a cliche when I say it was a team victory,&rdquo; Shanahan said. &ldquo;Everybody in the dressing room contributed.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Brett Hull, Craig Janney and Jeff Brown scored in each game of the division semifinal. They finished one-two-three in team scoring. Hull led with eight points, while Janney and Brown had six each. Janney had two goals and four assists, Brown a goal and five assists.The Blues&rsquo; penalty killers allowed only one goal on 24 Chicago power plays. Meanwhile, the Blues were 7-for-24 on the power play during the series.<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 23: Geoff Sarjeant, G, Jason Marshall, D. Kevin Miehm. C, recalled from Peoria (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Cralg Janney, Nelson Emerson. Bob Bassen, Ron Wilson, Igor Korolev, Kevin Miehm.LW&mdash;Basil McRae, Brendan Shanahan. Kevin Miner, Dave Lowry.RW&mdash;Brett HuB, Denny Felsner. Rich Sutter. Philippe Bozon.LD&mdash;Jeft Brown, Bret Hedican. Murray Baron, Doug Crossman.RD&mdash;Garth Butcher, Rick Zombo, Stephane Quintal. Jason MarshallG&mdash;Curtis Joseph, Guy Hebert. Geoff Sarjeant<h3>INJURIES</h3>Kelly Chase, RW. bruised left knee, day-to-day. Curt Giles, O. sprained left shoulder, day-to-day. Lee Norwood, D, broken right ankle, indefinite. Vitali Prokhorov, LW. right shoulder surgery, out for season. Ron Sutter, C, separated right shoulder, out for season &#9632;

Miracle upset complete

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03804/6175731-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="290" height="260"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04582/6175724-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="69" height="74"></div>Bully the Penguin. When a brawl broke out at the World Championships between Germany and France April 21, the official mascot waddled in to help break it up. Our fine feathered hero proved he won&rsquo;t be bullied into watching unnecessary fighting and nonsense.</div><div style="clear: both;"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05424/6175717-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="292" height="255"></div><div class="container"><div class="figure-block image-float"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06307/6175710-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="68" height="75"></div>Brutal stickwork. The numbers say stickwork is no worse this playoff season than last-there were seven high sticking majors through 32 games each year-but you wouldn&rsquo;t know it to watch Toronto and Detroit players skewer each other. &#9632;</div>

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CHEERS & JEERS

Print dates for The Hockey News spring schedule are as follows: No. 34, May 10; No. 35 Draft Preview, May 17; No. 36-May 24; No. 37-June 7 or 14 (depending upon when the Stanley Cup is decided). &#9632;

NOTE TO OUR READERS

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0003-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-011526/6175855-1-eng-US/f0003-012.jpg"></div>The lengths to which NHL officiating has changed over the past six years was never more evident than April 22.That night, two of three overtime games were decided by power-play goals. We humbly submit The Hockey News deserves a pair of assists.Second assists, mind you, but assists nonetheless.It was six years ago that THN published a story revealing there had not been an overtime man-advantage penalty assessed during the playoffs for more than three years.The totals were astonishing: zero overtime power plays in a combined 360 minutes of overtime play-the equivalent of six full games.<h2>CALLING THE SHOTS</h2>There has been a huge disparity-from the ever-vigilant Dan Marouelli to the easy-going Denis Morel-in the number of overtime power plays awarded by NHL referees over the past five-plus years.Below is the average number of man-advantage penalties assessed by all 10 referees who have been in at least three overtime games since 1988. Individual average power-play marks are projected totals over 60 minutes of overtime, not actual totals.Marouelli, as an example, had assessed, six man-advantage penalties in 44:05 of overtime. That works out to 8.1 penalties per 60 minutes.Morel had not awarded a single penalty in 68:05 of overtime.In 1988, the following spring, there were eight power plays awarded during a combined 71:11 of overtime, an average of 6.7 power plays per 60 minutes.Referees have not matched that level of vigilance since then, but at least they haven&rsquo;t reverted to pre-1988 form. Through the first 32 games of the playoffs this season, four power plays were awarded in 119:39 of overtime-an average of two power plays per 60 minutes.Regulation-time penalties during the playoffs over the past five-plus years have averaged about 10 per game.NHL referees started calling overtime man-advantage penalties after the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders played more than 68 minutes of overtime on April 18, 1987, without a single power play being awarded.It was the fourth-longest overtime game ever and it marked the end of an era of hands-off officiating.&ldquo;You could get away with anything short of murder in overtime that night,&rdquo; said defenseman Larry Murphy, then a Capital and now a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.When the Islanders and Capitals played more than 30 minutes of overtime April 20 this spring, one man-advantage penalty was called-against all-time playoff penalty leader Dale Hunter. A major penalty was assessed to the Islanders&rsquo; Richard Pilon by referee Paul Devorski in the final minutes of regulation time. It carried over into overtime when Hunter tied the game in the last minute of play.&ldquo;We have to cover our butts too,&rdquo; Devorski said. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t put your whistle away just because it&rsquo;s overtime.&rdquo;That philosophy is more evident during the first 60 minutes.Referees have consistently awarded as many power plays during playoff games as regular season games over me past five years, averaging about 10 during both seasons.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s an old adage; let the players decide the game,&rdquo; said veteran referee Kerry Fraser. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s bull. If I avoid making a call then I&rsquo;m affecting the outcome of the game. I&rsquo;m penalizing the other team by not making the call.&rdquo;Video replays&rsquo; have made a big difference for referees, not so much because they can be used to assess penalties for crease infractions, but because it relieves them of total responsibility for some decisions no human being can reasonably be expected to make.Rob Shick was spared eternal damnation in Detroit last year when video review picked up a goal scored by Sergei Fedorov during overtime of a Red Wings-Minnesota North Stars game.There must have been some sort of record set this spring when referee Bill McCreary twice went to video review during overtime of an April 22 game between the Montreal Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques.The first review comfirmed Montreal forward Stephan Lebeau knocked the puck in the net with a high stick and the second showed the winning goal going in off Quebec defenseman Alexei Gusarov&rsquo;s skate and not that of Montreal forward Kirk Muller.&ldquo;I always felt it was unfair that Joe Fan could sit in his living room and have the benefit of watching controversial plays on replay,&rdquo; Fraser said, &ldquo;while we were left scrambling on the ice trying to make the proper call.&rdquo;Not all referees are faced with that prospect during the playoffs. They earn the opportunity to earn extra money-as much as $25,000 for a referee assigned to the Stanley Cup finals-largely on the basis of regular-season rankings.Officials receive two grades; one at mid-season and another after the regular season concludes. Their performances during the playoffs are also closely monitored.The rating system is a touchy subject with most referees. Some say the supervisors are out of touch and the grading system is sure to be a matter of negotiation when the NHL Officials&rsquo; Association and NHL battle over a new collective bargaining agreement this summer.&ldquo;Anytime you have competition,&rdquo; said NHL director of officiating Bryan Lewis, &ldquo;there is going to be a grading process and you are going to have those who don&rsquo;t agree with their ranking.&rdquo;The top 11 referees and 19 linesmen advance to the first round of playoffs. In the ensuing rounds, the number of referees decreases to eight, six and, finally, three for the Cup finals.The first-round playoff referees are Devorski, Mark Faucette, Fraser, Terry Gregson, Koharski, Dan Marouelli, Bill McCreary. Denis Morel, Shick, Paul Stewart and Andy van Hellemond. Among those not making the cut was veteran Ron Hoggarth.Lewis said his instructions to referees at playoff time are simple: call blatant and obvious infractions.Still, no matter how much fine-tuning and fine work is done by officials, hockey remains an emotional sport and there will always be somebody feeling they received the short end of the stick.One general manager, whose team happened to have been penalized more severely than its opponent the night before, was asked if he agrreed refereeing had improved in the league.&ldquo;You&rsquo;d better come up with a new story idea,&rdquo; he said.<h2>POWER PLAYS IN OVERTIME</h2>Overtime power plays per 60 minutes of action has varied from 6.7 in 1988, when there were eight power plays in 71:11, to 2.2 in 1992, when there were four in 106:34. This year&rsquo;s mark stood at 2.0 through games of April 25.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0003-021239/6175848-1-eng-US/f0003-022.jpg" title="f0003-02" width="651" height="518"></div> &#9632;

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BLOWING THE WHISTLE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011534/6175886-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg"></div>Dear Mike: Rarely, never, do I react to anything said or written about our team, whether it is positive or negative. I have an enormous respect for the job a journalist such as yourself must do. However, your article in the April 30 issue of THN titled &ldquo;Stops &rsquo;N&rsquo; Starts,&rdquo; as it relates to Mario Lemieux, left me absolutely speechless.Selecting one player or another as your &lsquo;champ&rsquo; pick is certainly a matter of opinion. One of the most fun aspects of professional sports, whether as an owner, player, fan or journalist, is that opinions tend to differ. Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders is a great young player who had a remarkable year for his team.Mario Lemieux also had an absolutely extraordinary year on the ice. I, of course, opt for Mario Lemieux as mine.Naturally I am not objective, but I doubt his accomplishments will be duplicated in your lifetime or mine.But, how, Mike, in anyone&rsquo;s name can you possibly make the comment &ldquo;Lemieux&rsquo;s return from Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease has been well chronicled; but in retrospect, he came back from something that was no more serious than any other injury?&rdquo;Have you been living in a cave, Mike? This is not just another knee injury. This is not just a groin pull. This is cancer. Ask anyone, and I mean anyone, whether that person be a patient or a doctor, what it means psychologically, emotionally and physically to be struck with this disease.Whether Mario is your champ or your chump, how dare you be so incredibly cavalier about what has already proven to be one of the extraordinary sports stories of our time.If Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease is not deemed a serious injury in your mind, Mike, what is? Does one have to have a stake driven through his heart and rise from the dead to get your attention?Go ahead, as is your right. Pick someone other than Mario as your &lsquo;champ&rsquo; but do not make yourself look like a complete fool by referring to Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease as &ldquo;any other injury.&rdquo;Best regards, Howard L. Baldwin President, Pittsburgh Penguins<h2>An exchange of letters</h2>Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; president Howard Baldwin was offended by Mike Brophy&rsquo;s suggestion in the April 30 issue of The Hockey News that Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s battle with Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease &ldquo;was no more than any other injury.&rdquo; The Penguins&rsquo; executive addressed the matter in a letter to Brophy (inset below), who explains his Position in a letter to Baldwin.<h2>Mario recovered: End of the story</h2>Dear Howard: The item Champs and Chumps which makes a reference to Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s successful battle against Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease was never intended to downplay the seriousness of the disease or Lemieux&rsquo;s remarkable recovery.I have no doubt when Lemieux was informed he had Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease, it was the most traumatic thing he has ever faced. And I have never been anything but sympathetic toward his situation. My best friend&rsquo;s father died of cancer and a close friend&rsquo;s life was threatened by the disease. Fortunately, he made a full recovery.Had Lemieux not made such a speedy and successful recovery-for which we can all be thankful-I wouldn&rsquo;t have even mentioned it. I could not, however, possibly pick somebody else (Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders) as the Patrick Division&rsquo;s champ without offering an explanation why my choice wasn&rsquo;t Lemieux. It is regrettable if my reasoning came across as cavalier.However, the bottom line is Lemieux did recover and Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease ultimately had little, if any, effect on his ability to perform at his usual high level.More than anything, I&rsquo;m tired of Lemieux, through no fault of his own, being painted as some kind of superhero. He did exactly what anybody else with Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease would have done; he received his treatments and recovered. Hence, my conclusion that it amounted to little more than a minor injury in the big scheme of things.There are players who have sustained injuries or illnesses that affected their ability to perform. Cam Neely of the Boston Bruins and Al Maclnnis of the Calgary Flames may never be the players they were prior to suffering serious injuries. Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; defenseman Garry Galley played through the debilitating effects of chronic fatigue syndrome.Lemieux&rsquo;s bout with Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease certainly could have had a worse ending. Thank God, it didn&rsquo;t. End of story.Best regards, Mike Brophy Senior writer, The Hockey News &#9632;

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Lemieux champ, Brophy chump

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0004-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021373/6175917-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg"></div>It&rsquo;s all downhill from here.The first round has a reputation for delivering the highest level of entertainment during the NHL playoffs. Expect that to be true again this year.A pair of swift and stunning upsets, plus a series of gut-wrenchingly close decisions turned the first nine days of the playoffs into a time of emotional peaks and valleys for NHL fans.Never before have two first-place teams (Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks) been swept by fourth-place teams (Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues).And there may never before have been a night like April 22 when three of four games went into overtime and a fourth was decided by one goal during regulation time.The Sabres, New York Islanders and Montreal Canadiens all recorded extra-period triumphs and the Pittsburgh Penguins won by a goal during regulation time over the New Jersey Devils.Highlights and lowlights of the playoffs&rsquo; first nine days:&#9633; Pittsburgh lengthened its playoff winning streak record to 14 games before losing Game 4 to the Devils.&#9633; Buffalo advanced beyond the first round for the time since 1983.&#9633; Heroes included Ray Ferraro, who scored in each of the Islanders&rsquo; first four games (including two overtime markers, as well as earning an assist on one other), and Blues&rsquo; goalie Curtis Joseph, who compiled a .957 save percentage in four games.&#9633; Goats included Joe Murphy, who failed to earn a point for Chicago after being obtained late in the season to add scoring power, and Andy Moog, who had a .791 save percentage in three Boston losses. &#9632;

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First definitely not worst

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>There is nothing surprising about the ease with which the Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues completed upsets in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.In beating the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks, the Sabres and Blues remained faithful to a well-worn playoff script.A look at the five biggest upsets (see accompanying table) of the last 15 years shows the following:&#9633; In all five cases, the upset winner, as did the Blues and Sabres, won the first game on enemy ice.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s awfully difficult to start a series in your own building,&rdquo; said Buffalo coach John Muckier. &ldquo;The visiting team has nothing to lose and everything to gain.&rdquo;That first loss can trigger a freefall from which recovery is difficult.&#9633; In all five cases, the upset winner had a losing or .500 regular-season record against the team it defeated in the playoffs.St. Louis had a .500 record (3-3-1) against the Hawks, the Sabres had a 3-4-0 mark against the Bruins and entered the series losers of four straight games to Boston.Underdogs are free to improvise new tactics or juggle lines. Favorites, by nature, have to react because they begin a series unwilling to fix something that hasn&rsquo;t been proven to be broken.&ldquo;Certain teams who have been solid all season long can be thrown off when you throw new elements at them,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; general manager Ron Caron.&#9633; In all five cases, the upset winner bowed out in the first round of the playoffs the previous year. If the playoffs teach anything, it&rsquo;s to never overlook the hunger factor.&ldquo;Desperation,&rdquo; said Buffalo center Dave Hannan, &ldquo;is sometimes very good. When you&rsquo;re desperate, everybody wants a piece of the win.&rdquo;&#9633; In three of the five cases, the upset came in the first round. The other two came in the second round. It&rsquo;s no surprise the pace of playoff upsets slowed when the NHL went to seven-game first-round playoffs.The longer the playoff series and season, the more time talented teams have to find peak form.&ldquo;In Chicago we had teams that were expected to go to the final, but we lost two series in the first round,&rdquo; said New York Islanders&rsquo; winger Steve Thomas. &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t have that time to get on a roll.&rdquo;<h2>UPSETTING OUTCOMES</h2>Here are the five biggest upsets in the last 15 NHL seasons, Upsets one, four and five were best-of-five series. Included is the year, winner, loser, regular-season point spread, number of games played and playoff round.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011447/6175948-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="512" height="205"></div> &#9632;

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Upsets all part of NHL’s playoff script

Team Canada rode the broad shoulders of Philadelphia Flyers&rsquo; center Eric Lindros to a first-place finish in Group A at the World Championships in Munich, Germany.Lindros had 10 goals and 16 points in five games to lead all scorers in the tournament as Canada went a perfect 5-0-0 in the round-robin portion of the event. Canada was to meet Finland, which finished fourth in Group B, in the first round of the playoffs 28.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021044/6175979-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="555" height="687"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros carried Canada to a perfect round-robin record.</figcaption></div>The top three scorers in round-robin play were all Canadians. Maine (Hockey East) right winger Paul Kariya had two goals and nine points and Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; left winger Shayne Corson had one goal and eight points.&ldquo;We have a good combination of size and speed, young and old,&rdquo; said New York Rangers&rsquo; right winger Mike Gartner. &ldquo;The different types of players complement each other out on the ice.&rdquo;Lindros scored five goals and added an assist in an 11-2 win over Italy April 24.The United States, with a record of 2-1-2 to finish third in Group B, was scheduled to play Sweden in its first-round playoff game April 27.The leading scorer for the U.S. was San Jose Sharks&rsquo; right winger Rob Gaudreau, who had three goals and six points.Other first-round playoff matchups were the Czech Republic against Switzerland and Germany against Russia.Canada is looking for its first World Championship since 1961, the U.S., its first since 1960.LES TOILS: Canada&rsquo;s only fulltime women&rsquo;s hockey coach will lead its women&rsquo;s team at the 1994 Women&rsquo;s World Championships.Les Lawton, coach at Montreal&rsquo;s Concordia University, was named coach of the Canadian team April 19.Karen Kay was named coach of the U.S. women&rsquo;s team. Kay is coach of the women&rsquo;s team at the University of New Hampshire.<h2>HOCKEY WEEK: APRIL 19-25</h2>A weekly compendium of significant events and developments.April 19: San Jose Sharks fire coach/assistant general manager George Kingston.Florida franchise names team Panthers, hires Bill Toney as president.April 20: Pittsburgh Penguins win NHL record 13th straight playoff game, 7-0 over New Jersey Devils.Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; center Bobby Smith announces retirement.April 24: Buffalo Sabres defeat Boston Bruins 6-5 in overtime to win Adams Division semifinal series 4-0.April 25: St. Louis Blues defeat Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime to win Norris Division semifinal series 4-0.New Jersey defeats Pittsburgh 4-1 to end Penguins&rsquo; NHL record playoff winning streak at 14 games. &#9632;

f0005-02

Lindros shoulders load for Canada

<div class="byline">By THN staff</div>Alan Eagleson, the embattled former head of the NHL Players&rsquo; Association, has won a reprieve on two fronts.Most importantly, the Boston-based grand jury investigating allegations of wrongdoing has been postponed.The closed hearing process, in which 21 jurors hear testimony in private and determine whether to proceed with an indictment, was reportedly scrubbed by a more pressing investigation involving the bombing death of a Boston policeman. A source close to the case said the decision was made to temporarily halt the Eagleson investigation April 12 or 13.The hearing has heard evidence for more than a year. Under American law, a jury may be impanelled for 18 months, but an extension can boost the term to two years. After that period, any effort by the government to resume the investigation would be hamstrung by the need for a new jury.The grand jury is investing allegations involving the players&rsquo; pension funds and conflicts of interest during Eagleson&rsquo;s 24-year tenure as head of the association.A Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation into Eagleson also continued. but one media outlet has dropped the story.Street Stories, a CBS news program with 60 Minutes reporter Ed Bradley, cancelled a planned story on Eagleson. A publicity person from the network said changes in administration bumped any possible air date back to the summer. Network officials didn&rsquo;t want to run a story outside of hockey season.FAMILY AFFAIR: No matter what happens between the NHL and its former players in court, league commissioner Gary Bettman said it&rsquo;s time to make peace with the game&rsquo;s former stars.&ldquo;Over time, we have to look for ways to have everyone back in the family,&rdquo; Bettman said.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03696/6176010-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="553" height="734"><figcaption class="caption-body">CBS cancelled plans for its story on embattled Alan Eagleson.</figcaption></div>The league recently learned the Ontario Court of Appeal has scheduled Sept. 21, 22 and 23 to hear the appeal of a judge&rsquo;s decision rendered last fall that ordered it to return more than $25 million in surplus pension funds to a group of retired players. The amount could be up to as much as $40 million with interest.Bettman also said the league is still considering whether or not it will go ahead with the appeal.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a very complex issue and we have our lawyers looking at it,&rdquo; Bettman said. &ldquo;The fact we have such a dispute does not make me happy, though.&rdquo;The NHL also hired a new lawyer to represent the league in the appeal. Neil Finkelstein replaced Earl Cherniak on the case.RATINGS GAME: For ABC, Week 2 of its NHL experiment brought good and bad news.First the good. After pulling an overnight rating of 2.8 April 15, ABC&rsquo;s three regional NHL playoff games attracted a 3.0 rating April 25.Not bad, especially considering the game went head-to-head with a marquee National Basketball Association matchup on NBC between the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks. That contest drew a 5.9 rating, including a 14.4 in New York and 7.8 in Chicago.The NHL games-Calgary Flames at Los Angeles Kings in the west, Chicago Blackhawks at St. Louis Blues in the midwest and Pittsburgh Penguins at New Jersey Devils in the east-outpolled a CBS offering of NCAA wrestling and swimming, which attracted a rating of 1.4.Overnight ratings reflect the viewership of the top 25 metered markets in the U.S. Each ABC ratings point represents 931,000 homes.Now the bad. The more meaningful number is the final national figures. The final analysis of the first week of play showed the final ratings slipped from the overnight 2.8 to a final rating of 2.0.The final ratings indicate viewership in smaller centers which have no NHL teams. About 50 per cent of the television audience lives outside the overnight ratings web.DUCKS (Mc)NAB SCOUT: The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim have hired David McNab to be their director of player personnel.McNab, 37, spent the past four seasons scouting for the New York Rangers. His main area of responsibility was U. S. colleges and high schools.McNab previously scouted for the Washington Capitals and Hartford Whalers. He is the son of New Jersey Devils&rsquo; executive vice-president Max McNab. &#9632;

f0005-03

Grand jury suspends Eagleson investigation

With regard to Michael Ulmer&rsquo;s March 5 article &ldquo;Why Are no U.S.- born Blacks in the Big Leagues?&rdquo;, I would like to commend him for having the creative insight to attempt to address a topic of this kind.It seems the concept of Blacks organizing Blacks has always propagated a vision of radical assembly. Historically speaking, it was not until such movements were endorsed by non-Blacks that any positive awareness became possible.Second, while many inner-city residents may lack the finances to afford their children the opportunity to play hockey, there does exist a multitude of well-educated Afro-Americans who, in light of their own struggles to achieve success, have come to the realization their child&rsquo;s education is of utmost importance.These people simple don&rsquo;t want to invite a tidal wave of racial cynicism by having their kids pioneer in a sport that has always lacked a support system for visible minorities.The time has come for major changes to be made in policy by those at the top. It&rsquo;s incumbent upon the NHL to erase the stigma of hockey as the white man&rsquo;s sport.Every effort should be made to encourage children of all nationalities to dream the dream.Mike Marson,&nbsp;Toronto, Ont.<h2>Hall of shame</h2>I really don&rsquo;t understand why there is such a controversy surrounding the induction of NHL president Gil Stein into the Hockey Hall of Fame.So what if he was in power for only eight months and his contribution to the game was minimal? You can put his plaque right beside former Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; owner Harold Ballard.I have been a Maple Leaf fan for as long as I can remember and I have yet to figure out how Ballard scammed his way into the Hall.What did Pal Hal do to merit such an honor? All he did was turn a once proud franchise into a pathetic shell of its former self.Maybe the Hall should create a special exhibit for Mr. Ballard and Mr. Stein. It could be called &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t ask why, just accept the fact they&rsquo;re here.&rdquo;John Rossi.&nbsp;Oakville, Ont.<h2>Cheers to Cherry</h2>I&rsquo;m responding to Al Morganti&rsquo;s comment in the April 16 issue of THN.Morganti said people in the United States &ldquo;wonder how a guy such as (Don) Cherry gets on the air week after week.&rdquo;The fact of the matter is, it&rsquo;s too bad we don&rsquo;t get to see Cherry more often.If U.S. networks gave more exposure to Cherry, maybe we could market the game a little better. He is entertaining, controversial and funny.M. Murphy,&nbsp;Rockaway, N.J.<h2>Bernie who?</h2>Jeers to THN for leaving New Jersey Devils&rsquo; center Bernie Nicholls off your list of greats who have scored as many as 70 goals in a season (April 2).Bernie is having a difficult year on and off the ice without THN overlooking his greatest achievement.Brian Tuff,&nbsp;Lancaster, Calif.<h2>Adams family</h2>I&rsquo;m writing in response of the article on Greg Adams in the March 26 issue of THN.Regretfully, the Vancouver Canucks&rsquo; fortunes can only go backwards when you have a person such as George McPhee attempting to judge the team&rsquo;s talent.For McPhee to say Adams is a &ldquo;horse&mdash;&rdquo; player is completely out of line and quite frankly, inappropriate.Adams is a nine-year pro and has done everything asked of him for the more than seven years he has been with the Canucks.He is consistent, reliable and has meshed very well with the team&rsquo;s Russian players, increasing the team&rsquo;s offensive strength.Greg Banks,&nbsp;Rochester Hills, Mich.<h2>Rick deserves it</h2>While reading your nominees for the reader&rsquo;s choice awards (THN, April 16) I was shocked to see that Pittsburgh Penguin Rick Tocchet was not a nominee at right wing.If anybody deserves a nomination, it&rsquo;s Tocchet. He had the most productive year of his career, finishing with 48 goals and 109 points in 80 games.Tocchet also proved he is one of the NHL&rsquo;s toughest players by finishing with 230 penalty minutes.How anyone can overlook his achievement is beyond me. Tocchet is one of the most underrated players in the league.Jim Ashley,&nbsp;New Haven, W. Va.Make your feelings known. Fax us your comments at&nbsp;(416) 445-2501&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;

Blacks have place in the game, too

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011628/6176065-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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THE DRAW

<div class="byline">By Brian Costello</div>Brian Propp&rsquo;s search for the Holy Grail has spanned 13 years with three teams and included almost two full seasons of hockey without success. Propp has played 160 playoff games without gaining the right to carry the Stanley Cup. Here are the active leaders in this category prior to this season.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021112/6176110-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="569" height="336"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-03709/6176103-1-eng-US/f0006-032.jpg" title="f0006-03" width="557" height="736"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Propp</figcaption></div><h2>Cup has no home in N.Y.</h2>The New York Rangers will have to wait another year to try to put an end to their Stanley Cup drought, but another long one could end this season. Here&rsquo;s how long each NHL team has gone without winning the Cup and the number of Cups they&rsquo;ve won.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-04440/6176096-1-eng-US/f0006-042.jpg" title="f0006-04" width="571" height="430"></div> &#9632;

f0006-02

Searching for ways to win

<div class="byline">By Al Morganti</div>Eric Lindros is not going to win the Calder Trophy, but after the way he finished the season, you won&rsquo;t find hockey fans in Philadelphia complaining about the first year of the Lindros era.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to say I&rsquo;m satisfied, but I&rsquo;m not exactly ticked off, either,&rdquo; said Lindros late in the season. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I had a real bad year. I mean, you look at the games I missed&hellip;&rdquo;He was then told that if you took his stats (41 goals and 75 points in 61 games) and figured in the 23 games he missed, he would have probably wound up with about 60 goals and 100 points.He raised his eyebrows at the numbers, in mock surprise and said: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not too bad, eh? I think most people would take those numbers in their first year.&rdquo;Indeed they would. The only problem is Lindros was heralded as the next hockey god and there were times when he suffered through the human problems of a 19-year-old in his first NHL season.&ldquo;My greatest weakness was a lack of consistency,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I could feel when I wasn&rsquo;t ready.&ldquo;I guess that comes from playing an 84-game schedule. Maybe part of it was due to the games I missed. Whatever it was, I think I needed somebody to get me in line when I wasn&rsquo;t playing the best I could.&rdquo;The real problem developed when nobody on the club tried to give him a shove.&ldquo;I needed somebody to get all over me about it. And we didn&rsquo;t have that. The other thing we didn&rsquo;t have was pressure. There were too many nights when we played a silent game and there wasn&rsquo;t much criticism from fans and even media. I was really surprised at the silence after we played a bad game. I wish there was a lot more attention. And I know you can&rsquo;t have attention with pressure, that&rsquo;s fine with me. I think we need it.&rdquo;Imagine a bona fide superstar asking to get a boot in the rear end to get him going. Imagine a player asking for more pressure.The numbers don&rsquo;t nearly tell the whole story of Lindros and his first season in the NHL. Overall, it would have to be rated a success, but after talking to Lindros late in the season, it became very clear he doesn&rsquo;t just think he is going to be more of a force from now on-he knows it.&ldquo;Look, this is as quiet as I&rsquo;ve ever been in a season,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the first time I really shut up for an entire season, and 1 can guarantee you I won&rsquo;t be this quiet anymore. There was just no way I would come in here in my first year and try to take over in the locker room. It just didn&rsquo;t make sense.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011474/6176148-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="364" height="517"></div>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s just say it wouldn&rsquo;t have been a great move.&rdquo;The Flyers are going to wrestle with a very difficult question over the summer when the club&rsquo;s management tries to decide whether or not Lindros should be named captain.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-02987/6176141-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="553" height="819"><figcaption class="caption-body">Eric Lindros</figcaption></div>Like everything else which has involved Lindros, there will be a variety of upper-level meetings, a lot of hand wringing and then a day or so of soul searching before the final decision is made. The club wants to make sure it does what is best for the long-term run toward a Stanley Cup, and it doesn&rsquo;t want to make one false move along the way.But it won&rsquo;t matter. Not one bit.Whether or not he is awarded the captaincy won&rsquo;t have the least affect on Lindros.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not lobbying to be captain,&rdquo; Lindros said. &ldquo;Hey, if they gave it to me, it would be an honor. But that is not the issue. The issue is this club needs leadership. And I think from now on, I&rsquo;ll feel comfortable to be able to step up and speak my mind. I guarantee, it&rsquo;ll be different next season.&ldquo;This club traded away five regular players to Quebec, so you couldn&rsquo;t expect big things this season. But I think we&rsquo;ve got to get an attitude here that we can get it done.&rdquo;In other words, Philadelphia hockey fans should be prepared for a long ride because, after one year of lurking in the background, whether he&rsquo;s wearing the &ldquo;C&rdquo; or not, Eric Lindros is going to take the team on his back. &#9632;

f0007-01

Eric Lindros promises difference next season

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>Moments after Pierre Turgeon learned he had been traded from the Buffalo Sabres to the New York Islanders last season, Benoit Hogue set him straight.&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry, man,&rdquo; Hogue told the shocked Turgeon. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re not going by yourself.&rdquo;It was Oct. 25, 1991. When Hogue, who arrived with Turgeon, Uwe Krupp and Dave McLlwain in exchange for Pat LaFontaine, Randy Wood and Randy Hillier, arrived in Long Island, he barged into his new team&rsquo;s dressing room with Turgeon on his trail.Turgeon has never met a silence he didn&rsquo;t like. Hogue meanwhile, is the team&rsquo;s foremost practical joker. If Ray Ferraro&rsquo;s skates have been replaced by a pair of children&rsquo;s blades, if Uwe Krupp finds his name on the list of players who must take part in an optional practice, if someone wakes up from a flight to find shaving cream in his hair, Hogue is always the first and usually final suspect.&ldquo;When a tune comes on in the dressing room,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; forward Steve Thomas, &ldquo;Benny is always the guy who breaks up the dressing room by busting a move.&rdquo;Turgeon is a fixture as the pivot on the Isles&rsquo; No. 1 line. Hogue, however, has been every bit as valuable to the team as his superstar teammate. He has played all three positions on the team&rsquo;s second unit. He kills penalties, plays both ends of the ice well and chips in with timely goals.The 23-year-old Turgeon who is three years younger than Hogue, is married and has two children. Hogue is single.For all their differences, Hogue and Turgeon are inexorably linked. The two live four doors from each other in a Long Island suburb.&ldquo;We were together from the very start,&rdquo; said Hogue. &ldquo;Pierre is a very shy guy. I&rsquo;m pretty pushy. They had to accept me whether they wanted to or not.&rdquo;Hogue&rsquo;s defensive excellence is a valuable counterpoint to Turgeon&rsquo;s all-out emphasis on offense. Hogue&rsquo;s plus-13 was fourth best on the team. Last year his plus-32 (combined between the Sabres and Islanders) was the team&rsquo;s best.All this has not come at the expense of offensive production. In fact, Hogue posted his best numbers this season. Despite missing 14 games with injuries this season, Hogue carded a career high 33 goals, mostly as a center with Pat Flatley on his right. Ferraro&rsquo;s return from a broken leg moved Hogue back to the left side with Ferraro in the middle and Flatley on the right side.Throw in the fact that Hogue is the Islanders&rsquo; fastest skater and best faceoff man and you have a unique talent.Hogue was instrumental in two overtime wins over Washington in the opening round of the playoffs.&ldquo;I see myself as a player who can score between 30 and 40 goals, someone who can be a good two-way player and kill penalties,&rdquo; Hogue said.Hogue&rsquo;s self-assessment is pretty accurate. His ability to do all those things has made him a coveted commodity on the team.&ldquo;The knock on Benny was that he wasn&rsquo;t consistent,&rdquo; said Islanders&rsquo; assistant coach Lome Henning. &ldquo;There were a couple of stretches last year when that showed itself. This year, it would be tough to put Benny as the MVP in front of Pierre, but I&rsquo;ll tell you, he&rsquo;s right there.&rdquo;The Sabres drafted Hogue in the second round of the 1985 draft but the native of Repentigny, Que., never scored more than 19 goals in three frustrating seasons in Buffalo.Hogue acquired a reputation as a malcontent in Buffalo when the Francophone media aired his musings about whether his lack of ice-time was based on language. Hogue said he merely conceded the idea had crossed his mind in the height over his frustration of not playing.Idle time is hardly a worry now. A bargain at $160,000 last season, Hogue earned $815,000 this season, including a $235,000 signing bonus. His contract expires after next season and the next pact will probably be in the $1-million range.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-03652/6176179-1-eng-US/f0007-032.jpg" title="f0007-03" width="940" height="2379"></div><h2>DON&rsquo;T HIDE THE TEETH</h2>Benoit Hogue is a pain, but at least he has a conscience.Hogue is one of the league&rsquo;s foremost practical jokers. Here is his list of dos and don&rsquo;ts.Do: Use shaving cream in shoes and on the heads of sleeping players.Don&rsquo;t: Do anything that will ruin clothes. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s expensive.&rdquo;Do: Sneak under tables and pour steak sauce on teammates shoes. The thickness of the sauce means the victim can go several hours without knowing.Don&rsquo;t: Hide players&rsquo; false teeth. It&rsquo;s too dated. &#9632;

f0007-03

Benny and his jets

<div class="byline">By Frank Brown</div>Mike Keenan&rsquo;s first announcement as coach of the New York Rangers raised eyebrows because he named Adam Graves captain of Team Canada for the World Championships.In the moments that followed at Keenan&rsquo;s first news conference, it was reasonable to wonder whether that might be the start of a pattem-would the new bench boss dump his inherited incumbent captain Mark Messier.Don&rsquo;t count on it. There is no question Messier is the Rangers&rsquo; most controversial player. In fact, there were times this past season when it seemed the &ldquo;C&rdquo; on his sweater stood for controversial, not captain.But if Keenan had mustered any higher praise for Messier in his initial remarks, the words would have zoomed right up through the ozone.&ldquo;Mark Messier is a very sensitive individual, a very passionate and dynamic player, a very capable player,&rdquo; said Keenan, who gained that insight first hand as coach of Canada&rsquo;s 1987 and 1991 Canada Cup champions. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a fellow who wears his heart on his sleeve. He has taken this (last place season) to heart. He feels totally responsible.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s going to go through all aspects of failure. He&rsquo;s going to go through all aspects of missing something that is dear to him (the playoffs). But he&rsquo;s an individual who is gifted, who has tremendous leadership ability, who has given a great deal of himself to the game. He cares about his teammates and is nothing but a positive influence.&rdquo;While certain events of last season might argue against some of those assertions, it was obvious Keenan was wiping Messier&rsquo;s slate clean. Next fall will be a new start for the Rangers, a new start for Keenan and a new start for Messier, who missed the Stanley Cup tournament for the first time in his 13-season career.Messier attended Keenan&rsquo;s news conference, as did Brian Leetch, which offered a fairly sizeable portion of irony. Leetch showed up on crutches, thanks to the surgery that placed a metal plate on the fracture in his healing right ankle.Messier&rsquo;s suit and shirt covered the knob of injured tissue and bone that protrudes from the right side of his rib cage.After winning the Norris and Hart Trophies for their 1991-92 seasons, Leetch and Messier smiled from the cover of the Rangers&rsquo; media guide for 1992-93. The battering they ended up taking last season played a major role in the naming of Keenan-the first official act of 1993-94.NOTEBOOK: Arrangements apparently are just about complete for the Rangers to participate in a two-game exhibition series in London, England, early in September. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the probable opponents.The Rangers ordered defensemen Peter Andersson and Sergei Zubov and right winger Alexei Kovalev to play for thee Binghamton Rangers, their farm team in the American League, rather than for their national teams in the World Championships. But management changed its stance and said players who wanted to go to Munich could go. Andersson left in time to play for Sweden but roster spots for Kovalev and Zubov had been filled on the Russian team. Kovalev reported in time for Binghamton&rsquo;s playoff opener against the Baltimore Skipjacks. Zubov reported for Game 3 April 23. &#9632;

Messier’s tenure as captain will continue under Keenan

<div class="byline">By Jeff Williams</div>&ldquo;You won&rsquo;t believe it but I sit around and dream about this stuff,&rdquo; said Ray Ferraro. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been dreaming about it since 1 was a little kid.&rdquo;Dreams do come true, sometimes in spectacular fashion. Ferraro scored two consecutive overtime goals in the New York Islanders&rsquo; first round Patrick Division playoff series with the Washington Capitals.The Islanders had a 3-1 series lead after Ferraro&rsquo;s goal at 5:40 of the second overtime in a 4-3 Game 4 win at Nassau Coliseum April 24. He also scored at 4:46 of the first overtime for a 4-3 win in Game 3 April 22.Until those games, the Islanders had not come back in the third period to win a game all season. They were 0-25-2 when trailing after the second period. In both Games 3 and 4, the Islanders trailed 3-1 going into the third.But stuff Ferraro was dreaming about Dec. 10 had nothing to do with scoring in overtime. Rather, lying on a gumey in a Chicago hospital, the dreams were about how the broken leg he sustained would mean he&rsquo;d no longer be able to fantasize about being a winner.The leg was broken when, after being stopped on a breakaway by goalie Ed Belfour, defenseman Cam Russell lightly cross-checked him from behind. It was enough for Ferraro to lose his edge and crash feet first into the boards. Ferraro was taken away on a stretcher and to an inner-city hospital where he shared the medical staffs attention with gunshot-wound victims.Three months later, on March 10, Ferraro returned. The start of the season has been typically slow for Ferraro and he was just getting up to speed when the injury occurred. When Ferraro came back, coach Al Arbour was reluctant to use him and he often was on a fourth line rather than in his customary slot on the second line between Benoit Hogue and Pat Flatley.By the end of the season, Ferraro was in full flight. He scored in the last three games and had four goals in the first four games against the Caps. When the Islanders beat the Caps in double overtime in Game 2, Brian Mullen got credit for a goal that probably should have been Ferraro&rsquo;s.Ferraro finished the season with 14 goals in 46 games, a big dropoff from the 40 he had last season. He was annoyed Arbour wouldn&rsquo;t insert him in the lineup right away. But with the team in a drive for a playoff spot, he refused to carp publicly.&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t the time to be complaining about ice time when the team is trying to get into the playoffs,&rdquo; Ferraro said.The injury meant he&rsquo;s in mid-season form in April.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m fresh and ready to go,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I sort of missed the grind of the season. I have a lot of jump now.&rdquo;&ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t a little player with a bigger heart than Ray,&rdquo; Arbour said.NOTEBOOK: With three straight overtime victories, the Islanders ran their Stanley Cup playoff overtime record to 28-7, the best in NHL history. The Islanders last six playoff wins all came in overtime&hellip; Travis Green&rsquo;s goal in Game 4 was his first since Feb. 16.<h2>N.Y. ISLANDERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pierre Turgeon. Ray Ferraro, Travis Green, Tom Fitzgerald, Claude Loiselle.LW&mdash;Derek King, Benoit Hogue, BrianRW&mdash;Steve Thomas, Pat Flatley, Brad Dalgamo, Mick Vukota.LD&mdash;Jeff Norton, Dennis Vaske, Tom Kurvers.RD&mdash;Darius Kasparaltis. Uwe Krupp, Rich Piton, Vladimir Malakhov.G&mdash;Glenn Healy, Mark Fitzpatrick.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Scott Lachance, D, sprained left wrist, day-to-day. Marty McInnis LW, broken left kneecap, out for season. Gary Nylund. D. strained right knee 6gaments. Indefinite. &#9632;

Ferraro’s dream realized

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div>Throw the Pittsburgh Penguins against the rest of the NHL and they fare quite nicely. Their 5621-7 record during the regular season makes that point rather well.Still to be determined, however, is how these Penguins stack up against the two previous Pittsburgh teams. Early returns favor the 1993 edition quite strongly, but it is premature to reach any firm conclusions. Especially when those teams won Stanley Cups, while this one has nothing more than a President&rsquo;s Trophy on its resume so far.&ldquo;A lot of guys had great numbers and the team had great numbers,&rdquo; Larry Murphy said. &ldquo;But unless you win the Cup, then how good was the team? If this team loses out, then all of a sudden that question no longer will exist.&rdquo;Murphy&rsquo;s teammates aren&rsquo;t so cautious. They see how the team won 17 games in a row during the stretch drive-and had 14 playoff victories in a row before losing Game 4 of their first-round series against New Jersey April 26-and see only one possible answer.&ldquo;This is the best team I&rsquo;ve played on,&rdquo; Kevin Stevens said. &ldquo;To compare teams is awful hard, but we had a great year and played consistent hockey all the way through.&rdquo;If this team truly is better than its predecessors, it might be, at least in part, because of the titles those teams won. The climb to what Bob Johnson, their late coach, liked to call &ldquo;the top of the mountain&rdquo; wasn&rsquo;t easy, but it taught them what is required of a championship team.&ldquo;Once you learn how to win you&rsquo;re able to cope with adversity,&rdquo; Mario Lemieux said.COLLECTIBLES CORNER: Team president Howard Baldwin, whose creative approach to finances has enabled a franchise with a huge payroll to thrive in a fairly small market, said the team plans to start its own memorabilia company. Its products are scheduled to include a line of trading cards.The success of that venture is inexorably linked to the team&rsquo;s performance. If the Penguins continue to win consistently, they should be able to generate the revenues needed to keep their team largely intact, which means winning becomes almost self-sustaining.NOTEBOOK: KBL, the cable company which has secured the radio and TV rights to Penguins&rsquo; games, is interested in adding Don Cherry to the Penguins&rsquo; broadcast team. Cherry is best known in Pittsburgh for verbally bashing Mario Lemieux, Ulf Samuelsson and Jaromir Jagr as a commentator for Hockey Night in Canada.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Mike Stapleton, Martin Straka.LW&mdash;Kevin Stevens, Shawn McEachern, Troy Loney, Dave Tippett, Jett Daniels.RW&mdash;Rick Tocchet, Joe Mullen, Jaromir Jagr, Mike Needham, Jay Canfield.LD&mdash;Samuelsson, Mike Ramsey, Jim Pack, Grant Jennings.RD&mdash;Larry Murphy, Peter Taglianelti, Kjell Samuelsson, Paul Stanton.G&mdash;Tom Barrasso, Ken Wregget<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

This team has learned how to win

<div class="byline">By Dave Sell</div>The Stanley Cup playoffs bring out the best performances from NHL players and coaches are no exception.In the Patrick Division semifinal series, Washington Capitals&rsquo; coach Terry Murray went head-to-head with New York Islanders&rsquo; boss Al Arbour, who has more Stanley Cups than Murray has full seasons as an NHL coach.Does all that history make the task a bit daunting?&ldquo;Certainly I&rsquo;m aware of his history and stats and what he has accomplished in his career,&rdquo; Murray said. &ldquo;But whenever the game starts, my focus is on the game itself and not who is behind their bench changing fines.&rdquo;When asked to evaluate his performance this season after the Capitals trailed 3-1 to the New York Islanders in the Patrick Division semifinal, Murray said the question was unfair.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re getting into second-guessing and I&rsquo;m not going to evaluate myself,&rdquo; he said.Capitals&rsquo; general manager David Poile said Murray&rsquo;s contract runs through the end of the 1994-95 season and there is no reason to think he would net be back.Murray took over for his brother, Bryan, on Jan. 15, 1990, and his regular-season record since then is 143-111-24. He was 17-20 in the playoffs after the first four games of the Islander series.In his first year, the Capitals beat the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers in the playoffs before losing to the Boston Bruins in the franchise&rsquo;s only venture into the Stanley Cup semifinals. In 1991, the Capitals beat the Rangers and then lost 4-1 to the Penguins, who went on to win their first Cup.Some players are more inspired by Murray&rsquo;s motivational tactics than others, but there is no evidence of the sort of divisiveness that helped doom the New York Rangers this season.NOTEBOOK: The Capitals and Islanders played three straight overtime games in their series and the Islanders won all three of them after dropping the opening game. The Capitals were 2-5 against the Islanders in playoff overtime games, including the famous 1987 Easter Epic, decided by Pat LaFontaine&rsquo;s goal in the fourth overtime.Defenseman Kevin Hatcher and forwards Michal Pivonka and Peter Bondra, who combined for 92 goals during the regular season, did not score in the first four games of the series against the Islanders.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Dale Hunter, Mike Ridley, Michal Pivonka, Alan May, Steve Konowalchuk.LW&mdash;Todd Krygier, Bob Carpenter, Dimitri Khrictich, Randy Burridge.RW&mdash;Pat Elynuik, Kelly Miller, Peter Bondra, Keith Jones, Paul MacDermid, Reggie Savage.LD&mdash;Calle Johansson, Al lafrate, Shawn Anderson, Jason WoolleyRD&mdash;Kevin Hatcher, Sylvain Cote, Paul Cavallini.G&mdash;Rick Tabaraccl, Don Beaupre.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Murray will return to post despite outcome of series

The Hockey News is pleased to announce that CCM will be sponsoring our 92/93 NHL Coach of the Year Award. As part of this sponsorship CCM will be presenting a Coaching Tip of the Week (as shown below). This weekly program will begin next 5 fall beginning with our October 22nd issue.More Power to Your Game<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-011484/6176313-1-eng-US/f0009-012.jpg" title="f0009-01" width="991" height="284"></div>CCM* is the official sponsor of The Hockey News NHL Coach of the year Award.by &hellip; HURON HOCKEY SCHOOLThe Stanley Cup playoffs should be watched and enjoyed. That&rsquo;s the opinion of Shawn Walsh, the coach of the National Collegiate Athletic Association champion Maine Black Bears.Walsh plans to do just that and advises parents of young players to do the same because it&rsquo;s in the best interests of their hockey-playing children.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt kids need breaks so they can get recharged and I think the months of April, May and June should be targeted as times off,&rdquo; Walsh said. &ldquo;Hopefully, by the time July rolls around the kids are excited about the sport again and ready for summer hockey school.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0009-021055/6176306-1-eng-US/f0009-022.jpg" title="f0009-02" width="299" height="376"><figcaption class="caption-body">Shawn Walsh</figcaption></div>Walsh&rsquo;s team finished with an incredible 42-1-2 record this year.The Bears returned home to Orono, Me. from Milwaukee, Wisc.-the sight of their dramatic 5-4 win over the defending champion Lake Superior State Lakers-to find the doors of their weight room locked.&ldquo;A break is so important to us that I don&rsquo;t even let my players near the weight room for a month after our season is over,&rdquo; Walsh said. &ldquo;I want them to get away from all physical activity for that long and I like to see them away from the ice for two to two and a half months.&rdquo;Walsh won&rsquo;t come out and say it but intimates that spring and summer hockey leagues for youngsters are of questionable value in the development of players.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think you&rsquo;re going to find a kid that&rsquo;s going to benefit that much from playing continuously,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The benefits are going to be outweighed by the negatives.&rdquo;Summer hockey school has a number of developmental advantages over competitive summer leagues according to Walsh, who is rumored to be in the running for every vacant NHL head coaching job.&ldquo;It gives you a chance to do two things,&rdquo; said Walsh, who states he&rsquo;ll be at Maine if he&rsquo;s still coaching at the collegiate level next season. &ldquo;Hockey school lets you play without the restrictions of the coach and the game situations that you get during the regular season. You really get to freelance and it&rsquo;s the closest thing to pond hockey you&rsquo;re going to get. Secondly, you can usually put yourself against people in your own skill category. The one stifling thing about youth hockey today is the best players all too often dominate and Paul Kariya is the best story.&rdquo;Kariya, the Black Bears&rsquo; outstanding freshman left winger, captured the Hobey Baker Award this season as college hockey&rsquo;s top player.Walsh asked his Hobey Baker Award winner during the NCAA finals why he thought he had such an outstanding year.&ldquo;He told me that it was because he always played against older players and it really did a lot for his development because he was never the best player.Some thoughts to consider from Shawn Walsh, a coach whose hockey team came as close to perfection in the 1992-93 season as you&rsquo;re ever going to see. &#9632;

f0009-01

COACHING TIP OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0010-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0010-011548/6176344-1-eng-US/f0010-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rookie Dimitri Yushkevich made his mark as a reliable player this season, but beyond him, the blueline remains a sore spot for Philadelphia.</figcaption></div>While an eight-game winning streak was a nice way to close out the season, the Philadelphia Flyers know they still have work to do before they go from pretender to contender.The organization is pretty much in agreement the No. 1 need is defense. While the Flyers did score 67 more goals than they did each of the previous two seasons (252 to 319), they also gave up 319.Coach Bill Dineen&rsquo;s decision in late March to go to a more defensive style covered up some weaknesses on the backline, but more help is needed for 1993-94.The question is, how will these quality defensemen be attained? The Flyers don&rsquo;t have a No. 1 draft pick in 1993 or 1994 (both went to the Quebec Nordiques in the Eric Lindros trade) and general manager Russ Farwell said he doesn&rsquo;t want to trade one of his talented young forwards.Aside from Garry Galley and Dimitri Yushkevich, the defense didn&rsquo;t distinguish itself.Ric Nattress spent much of the year injured and others such as Shawn Cronin and Gord Hynes, made marginal contributions.&ldquo;We have pieces in place and on the right night, we can compete with a lot of teams,&rdquo; Farwell said. &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t think (the streak) has changed our opinion on what we need.&rdquo;Farwell knows the 30-year-old Galley will have a hard time repeating his career year.&ldquo;If we add two defensemen, I think we can really compete in our division,&rdquo; Farwell said.The Flyers hope to have rookie defensemen Vladislav Boulin of Russia and Jason Bowen in the lineup next season.Barring a trade or an acquisition through free agency, these players are the future on defense.&ldquo;At some point, (Bowen) is going to be a real good player,&rdquo; Farwell said.Farwell dipped into the free-agent market last year to pick up right winger Greg Paslawski and Nattress.Paslawski did not have much impact, scoring just 14 goals and 33 points in 60 games. He was traded to the Calgary Flames late in the season.Nattress only played 44 games.Farwell said he isn&rsquo;t discouraged from going that route again.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it has discouraged us at all,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You know when you dip into that, you&rsquo;re taking risk. If we can find a guy that we can get and think can help our team, we&rsquo;ll get him.&rdquo;COACHING DECISION: Bill Dineen will meet with Russ Farwell to discuss his status next season.The season-ending, eight-game winning streak and the New York Rangers&rsquo; hiring of Mike Keenan could work in Dineen&rsquo;s favor.Dineen said he had no indication one way or the other how the decision would go.It is believed his contract is structured in such a way he will remain with the organization, probably as a scout, if he is not brought back as coach next year.NOTEBOOK: Kevin Dineen&rsquo;s three goal, six-point night in the 7-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres April 15 was a single-game high for the right winger in &rsquo;92-93.Eric Lindros had 75 points in 61 games, one shy of Dave Poulin&rsquo;s 1983-84 club record for rookies.Russ Farwell expects Swedish left winger Mikael Renberg to capture a roster spot next year. Renberg, 20, was a second-round pick in 1990 and played for Lulea of the Swedish Elite League this season.Left winger Claude Boivin, who underwent reconstructive knee surgery Jan. 18, continues to make progress. The Flyers expect he will be ready for training camp.Brent Fedyk might need arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder in the off-season&hellip;The Flyers recorded six shutouts this season, the most by a Philadelphia team since 1985-86 when it picked up eight. Rookie Tommy Soderstrom led the team with four. Dominic Roussel and Stephane Beauregard each recorded one. &#9632;

f0010-01

Farwell not defensive about shortcomings

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div>Stephane Richer knew Game 4 of the Patrick Division semifinals might be his last game for the New Jersey Devils if they were swept out of the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He becomes a free agent after the season.But after crashing head-first into the end boards during the third period of the April 25 game at Meadowlands Arena, Richer wondered momentarily if it might have been his last game in the NHL.&ldquo;I thought I broke my neck,&rdquo; said Richer, who learned while lying in a Meadowlands Hospital bed that he was voted first star of a 4-1 win. &ldquo;The feeling was really scary. I can&rsquo;t believe 1 didn&rsquo;t break anything.&rdquo;Richer raced Pittsburgh defenseman Peter Taglianetti to the puck to avoid an icing call and both players lost their balance and crashed into the boards. Richer went in head first.There was no neurological damage and X-rays proved negative. The diagnosis was severe whiplash that produced a stiff neck and headache.The injury came in Richer&rsquo;s best game of the series. After the line of Richer, Bemie Nicholls and John MacLean went scoreless in the first three games, Richer kept the Devils alive by scoring a goal with two assists.Perhaps he was motivated by the attendance of his father, Jean-Paul, and agent, Don Meehan.&ldquo;Before the (fourth) game some of the guys asked me, &lsquo;Is this your last game here?&rsquo; I hope not. I want to stay in New Jersey,&rdquo; Richer said.Although he led the Devils with 38 goals during the regular season, Richer may look elsewhere after the season if the Devils don&rsquo;t come through with a multi-year contract in the $1 million per season range.SHADOW BOXING: After drawing the Penguins in the Patrick Division semifinal, Devils&rsquo; coach Herb Brooks decided the job of shadowing Mario Lemieux was not for a rookie such as Scott Pellerin.Instead, Brooks went with a trio of veterans in Dave Barr, Claude Lemieux and John MacLean and the matchups produced some entertaining moments.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-011407/6176375-1-eng-US/f0011-012.jpg" title="f0011-01" width="557" height="844"><figcaption class="caption-body">Stephane Richer becomes a free agent after this season.</figcaption></div>MacLean checked Mario Lemieux to the ice during one scoring opportunity in Game 4. Lemieux responded by grabbing MacLean&rsquo;s stick and tossing it away. Frustrated by no call from referee Mark Faucette, MacLean tackled Lemieux and the battle was on.Eventually, Lemieux and MacLean became tangled on the ice with Lemieux on the bottom, refusing to let go of the Devils&rsquo; right winger.Both were sent off with unsportsmanlike conduct minors.&ldquo;At playoff time you do whatever you have to do,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just one of these things where (Lemieux) has a job to do and we have jobs to do. We have to stay on him as much as possible. Sometimes he gets a little extra (from referees), but we can&rsquo;t let it affect us.&rdquo;Barr did the best job against Lemieux, who had four goals and seven points in the first four games.&ldquo;I look at my job as damage control,&rdquo; Barr said. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t stop this guy completely. I&rsquo;m just trying to limit the damage he does.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: General manager Lou Lamoriello was berated by an angry Meadowlands Arena fan after Game 3 while he was sitting in his customary spot in the lower press box. It took Meadowlands securit; and Lamoriello&rsquo;s 20-year-old son Chris, to prevent a physical attack from the unruly patron. Lamoriell said no charges would be filed, but security was beefed up for Garni 4&hellip;The Devils had a combined total of 9,205 empty seats for their two home playoff games.<h2>DEVILS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 22: Scott Pellerin. LW, assigned<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Alexander Semak. Bemie Nicholls, Peter Stestny. Dave Barr, Janne Ojanen.LW&mdash;Valeri Zelepukin. Bobby Holik. Torn Chorske. Randy McKay.RW&mdash;Claude Lemieux, John MacLean. Big Guerin, Doug Brown.LD&mdash;Bruce Driver. Scott Stevens, Viacheslav Fetisov.RD&mdash;Ken Daneyko.,Scott Niedermayer, Tommy Albelin. Alexei Kasatonov. Myles O&rsquo;Connor.G&mdash;Chris Terreri, Craig Billington.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Stephane Richer, LW, stiff neck, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0011-01

Richer receives major scare after serious spill

Nine-year-old Michael Saliba isn&rsquo;t long on experience, but he is tasting success.The Markham, Ont., Thunder &lsquo;BB&rsquo; novice goalie helped his team reach the division finals at a 72-team tournament in Toronto recently. He was then asked to fill in for the Markham &lsquo;A&rsquo; team and for his efforts won the Ian Young Award as the most outstanding goalie.Michael led the York Simcoe League with a 1.54 goals-against average and a second-place finish this season.The Grade 4 student at St. Francis Xavier school is passionate about hockey, both as a participant and a spectator. His favorite player is Vancouver gonalie Kirk McLean.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0011-03714/6176406-1-eng-US/f0011-032.jpg" title="f0011-03" width="505" height="863"><figcaption class="caption-body">Michael Saliba</figcaption></div>You or someone you know can be a part of The Hockey News Minor Hockey Showcase. Send a photograph (non-returnable), along with biographical information (age, height, weight, team, statistics, coach&rsquo;s name, school and grade, favorite NHL team and player) to The Hockey News, attention: Pl3yer 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;

f0011-03

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div>St. Louis Blues&rsquo; goalie Curtis Joseph rose to the level of cult hero during his team&rsquo;s surprising sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks in the Norris Division semifinals.Luckily, his teammates were able to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground.&ldquo;Cujo has been the difference,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; center Craig Janney, &ldquo;but he&rsquo;s still just a chubby little goalie to us.Many goalies in the league would happily take I Joseph&rsquo;s body fat percent. If age if his save percentage I came with it. He was simply spectacular against I Chicago and was the main I reason the Blues beat the I league&rsquo;s third-best team in the regular season.Joseph, who goes by the nickname Cujo (the first two letters of his first and last names), shut out the Blackhawks in Games 2 and 3, stopping 79 shots in Blues&rsquo; 2-0 and 3-0 victories. Overall, he stopped 105 consecutive shots. After Brian Noonan&rsquo;s goal 8:51 into the second period of Game 1, the Blackhawks didn&rsquo;t score again until Brent Sutter lit the red light at 3:09 of the second period of Game 4.Joseph went 174 minutes and 18 seconds without allowing a goal, breaking the Blues&rsquo; playoff record. The legendary Jacques Plante blanked the Philadelphia Flyers for I 146 minutes and 28 seconds in the first round of the 1969 playoffs.&rsquo;Blues&rsquo; fans paid hornage to Joseph during his I incredible streak, perhaps I starting a St. Louis tradition. They carried signs I that read &ldquo;Only God Saves More Than Joseph,&rdquo; and they began I bowing with their arms extended whenever he made big saves.The message board egged on the fans, flashing the message: &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not worthy.&rdquo;Joseph got cold chills the first time it happened, as the final seconds ticked off the clock at the end Game 3.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard not to get chills,&rdquo; Joseph said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s fun. It gives everyone a shot of adrenaline. Hats off to the fans. They can be inspiring.&rdquo;Joseph was even more inspiring to his teammates. He allowed only six goals in the series-three each in Games 1 and 4-for a remarkable 1.43 goals-against average. He stopped 134 of 140 Chicago shots for a league-leading .957 save percentage. All of them were league bests after the first week of the playoffs.&ldquo;We should be bowing to him, too,&rdquo; said Blues&rsquo; right winger Nelson Emerson. &ldquo;He has gone above and beyond what anyone can imagine. That&rsquo;s what you need at playoff time. A good goalie can take you a long way.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-011502/6176437-1-eng-US/f0012-012.jpg" title="f0012-01" width="934" height="1905"><figcaption class="caption-body">Curtis Joseph stopped 105 consecutive shots against Chicago.</figcaption></div>Joseph already has taken the Blues a long way. He rescued them from a miserable first half and led them on a remarkable second-half charge. The Blues were in fifth place most of the season and were 11 points out of a playoff spot at one point.But game after game, Joseph stopped shot after shot. He faced 2,202 shots, more than any goalie in one season since the NHL started keeping track of such things. He had the best save percentage at .911.The Blues allowed 40 or more shots in 17 games this season, but Joseph was 10-4-3 in those games, with a 2.59 GAA and a .937 save percentage.He was 19-24-6, with a 3.18 GAA and .898 save percentage in games in which the Blues allowed fewer than 40 shots.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re here because of him,&rdquo; Blues&rsquo; captain Brett Hull said. &ldquo;He has been unbelievable. I pray to God that he continues to do so. It&rsquo;s really fun to watch.&rdquo; It wasn&rsquo;t much fun for the Blackhawks, who tried their best to get Joseph off his game. They ran him with regularity, a tactic Chicago&rsquo;s Jeremy Roenick discussed before Game 3.&ldquo;Whatever it takes, we have to get him,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;Whether we put him through the boards or put the puck through the boards, we just have to get him.&rdquo;Joseph was not fazed by the Blackhawks&rsquo; strategy.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re playing well, you know they&rsquo;ll go by and try to distract you and keep you off your game,&rdquo; Joseph said. &ldquo;They go over and bump Brett Hull and say things to him, anything to throw him off his game. If you have any type of temper, you might blow up and give up a bad goal.&rdquo;That never happened in the Chicago series, despite the Blackhawks&rsquo; best efforts.&ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t say much; they just tried to do it with their actions,&rdquo; Joseph said. &ldquo;Occasionally, they&rsquo;d say something when they scored.&rdquo;And what did they say after Brent Sutter broke his shutout streak?&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t remember, but it was something derogatory,&rdquo; Joseph said.No doubt, Hawk forwards will spend a long summer cursing Cujo. &#9632;

f0012-01

Cult hero Cujo

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-021226/6176475-1-eng-US/f0012-022.jpg" title="f0012-02" width="365" height="512"></div>All these years of Wayne-watching out here in the Smythe Division keep you tuned to even the smallest changes in the Great One&rsquo;s vision of the game and his place in it.Gretzky used to be so self-effacing you wanted to grab him by the throat and say, &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you know who you are? Don&rsquo;t you realize you&rsquo;re Wayne Gretzky?&rdquo;But five years of playing in Los Angeles-five years of trying to sell the game to a largely indifferent U.S. public-has changed that. Now, Gretzky is keenly aware of his place in the overall scheme of things.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re Wayne Gretzky and you&rsquo;re not winning, you don&rsquo;t quietly play bad,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It just doesn&rsquo;t happen. It&rsquo;s frustrating when you&rsquo;re used to winning and being successful. The last thing I wanted to do was throw in the towel or quit, but&hellip;&rdquo;But the regular season just completed proved to be his most frustrating ever. On the days when he was doing his daily therapy-trying to come back from a thoracic disc injury in his back-the temptation to pack it in must have been great.Gretzky has said many times he does not want to go out as a shadow of his former self.One of the saddest things to see is great players hanging on long past their time.Did he ever consider retiring?&ldquo;No, because I didn&rsquo;t want to finish that way,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wanted to find a way to get out of it. And I wouldn&rsquo;t have worked so hard for six weeks to come back. That wouldn&rsquo;t have been fair to anybody. 1 didn&rsquo;t want to put the team in that position either: Of coming back and then saying, &lsquo;See you later.&rsquo;&rdquo;The most difficult time of all came right around the NHL All-Star Game. Gretzky was in the midst of a 16-game goal-scoring drought-no big news if you&rsquo;re Warren Rychel, but incredibly disappointing if the career goal-scoring mark is the last major record still in your gunsights.For one of the first times in his career, people genuinely wondered if he was slipping.The criticism, he said, didn&rsquo;t bother him because he is his own worst critic.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a big guy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Some guys are under the microscope more than others. Some guys can quietly go through their careers, scoring 50 goals and not being really under a lot of pressure. Or the expectation isn&rsquo;t as high for other guys. I&rsquo;m under a watchful eye. I understand that.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t lie about my play. My play was very poor at that point.I just wasn&rsquo;t playing well. When you&rsquo;re not playing well or contributing and the team isn&rsquo;t doing well, I don&rsquo;t care who you are, if you&rsquo;re not winning, it&rsquo;s no fun.&ldquo;It was very difficult. I had a heart-to-heart with assistant coach Cap (Raeder) and Barry (Melrose) before the all-star break. The biggest thing of all was I didn&rsquo;t want to embarrass myself or the organization.&ldquo;I wanted to win. That was the bottom line. People said to me at the All-Star Game, &lsquo;You&rsquo;re not smiling a lot.&rsquo; I said, &lsquo;Well, we haven&rsquo;t won a lot. When you&rsquo;re winning, you&rsquo;re smiling.&rsquo; That was the hardest part of my career that I&rsquo;ve gone through.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0012-03806/6176468-1-eng-US/f0012-032.jpg" title="f0012-03" width="538" height="686"><figcaption class="caption-body">Wayne Gretzky</figcaption></div>Unfortunately, Gretzky, at 32, is running out of chances to make that last dream come true and win a Stanley Cup for the Los Angeles Kings.After missing half a season with his back problem, he was laboring during the first round of the playoffs against the Calgary Flames, this time with a Charley horse.&ldquo;I think for any guy who gets older, you think about running out of chances,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I mean, I&rsquo;m not 25 years old anymore. But I don&rsquo;t think Jeremy Roenick thinks about it any differently than I do; that he may be running out of chances too and he&rsquo;s only 23. As athletes, you get so close, sometimes you think, &lsquo;Well, gee, that could be my last chance.&rsquo;&ldquo;I&rsquo;m concerned about it, but I think the organization did a nice job. The three kids we have on the blueline are all 23 and under.&ldquo;In the past couple of years, it was all or nothing. This year, they said, &lsquo;We&rsquo;re going for it, but we want some young guys too.&rsquo; So there&rsquo;s a light at the end of tunnel now. Players move on and move out and there&rsquo;s still good people here.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0012-02

Gretzky running out of chances at Cup

<div class="byline">By Rick Sadowski</div>As the Los Angeles Kings battled the Calgary Flames in the Smythe Division semifinal, any success they had around the net could not be attributed to their so-called Fabulous Four.Wayne Gretzky, Luc Robitaille, Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato combined for 141 goals in the regular season but had no goals through four games against the Calgary Flames.Robitaille was the biggest mystery: No goals, one assist, 12 penalty minutes and minus-7.Go figure. Robitaille is coming off the finest season in NHL history for a left winger; his 63 goals and 125 points were records for the position.What gives?&ldquo;If I knew, I&rsquo;d be scoring,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;(Calgary) is playing well. We&rsquo;re trying, but we&rsquo;re trying in the wrong way.&rdquo;Robitaille&rsquo;s frustration showed April 23 in the Kings&rsquo; Game 3 loss, a 5-2 decision. The Kings were down 3-1 late in the second period when he knocked down Joel Otto in the Flames&rsquo; zone and then cross-checked him behind the head.Early in the third period, with the Kings down 4-2, Robitaille foolishly elbowed Otto and forced his teammates to kill another penalty when they needed to be attacking.&ldquo;I was stupid,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It was my fault. It doesn&rsquo;t matter what (Otto) does, I&rsquo;ve got to keep my emotions in check.&rdquo;After the first four games of the series, Robitaille had 25 career goals in 53 playoff games for a per-game average of .47. Robitaille has 348 goals in 557 regular-season games, an average of .62 per game.Coach Barry Melrose, in an act of desperation, shook up all of his lines April 25. He used nine combinations, including putting Warren Rychel (six regular-season goals, 314 penalty minutes) with Gretzky and on power plays.Rychel scored the tie-breaking goal, his second goal of the series, in the Kings&rsquo; 3-1 win.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just a matter of time before those guys explode,&rdquo; Rychel said.NOTEBOOK: Rookie goalie Robb Stauber, making his first-ever playoff appearance, made 28 saves in the Kings&rsquo; Game 4 win. Stauber didn&rsquo;t dress for the first two games, when Barry Melrose suggested me 25-year-old couldn&rsquo;t handle pressure and expected less of himself than the coach did. Stauber vehemently disagreed. &ldquo;Nobody expects more out of myself than I do, including Barry Melrose,&rdquo; Stauber said. Melrose said he switched from Hrudey to Stauber to shake things up. &ldquo;It was a gamble, but sports are a gamble,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re afraid to take chances, you should be in the hatchery business.&rdquo;<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Wayne Gretzky. Jimmy Carson, Corey Millen. Pat Conacher. Guy Leveque.LW&mdash;Warren Rychel. Luc Robitaiite, Mike Donnelly. Gary Shuchuk, Lonnie Loach.RW&mdash;Tomas Sandstrom, Jari Kurri, Tony Granato, Dave Taylor, Marc Potvin, Brandy Semchuk. Jim ThomsonLD&mdash;Alexi Zhitnik, Darryl Sydor, Mark Hardy, Tim Watters.RD&mdash;Rob Blake, Chartie Huddy, Marty McSoriey, Brent Thompson.G&mdash;Kelly Hrudey, Robb Stauber. Rick Knickle.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Team’s Fab Four anything but as offense struggles to produce

<div class="byline">By Eric Duhatschek</div>The Calgary Flames began their Smythe Division semifinal with a healthy Mike Vernon and a strong belief the edge in goal belonged to them.But Vernon damaged the ligaments in his right ankle during Game 2 against the Los Angeles Kings, so the Flames were forced to turn to bullpen ace Jeff Reese.Reese provided the Flames with excellent goaltending as they gained a split in Games 3 and 4.In both games, Reese allowed only two goals and played exceptionally well-not bad for someone with only 101 previous minutes of playoff experience.That came in 1989-90 when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Down 3-0 in a series to the St. Louis Blues, coach Doug Carpenter put Reese in for the fourth game, which the Leafs won. They lost their next game and were eliminated.Of course, there&rsquo;s not much pressure when you&rsquo;re about to be swept. The Kings&rsquo; series was a little different.Reese came in with sparkling numbers against Los Angeles-2-1-0 this season; 5-1-0 lifetime, with a 2.36 goals-against average-but had no inkling he was getting the start until game day.&ldquo;The way I looked at it was, all I can do is the best I could do,&rdquo; said Reese. &ldquo;It was exciting to get in. Once you get into the game, you&rsquo;re not really thinking about it being Game 3 of the playoffs. I think it helped that I wasn&rsquo;t talking to anybody before.&rdquo;The Flames kept Vernon&rsquo;s injury under wraps until just before game time.The fact is, Reese has made a habit of bailing out the Flames this season. In October, when Vernon went out with the lacerated forehead, Reese played five games in a row and won four of them. During Calgary&rsquo;s lengthy January slump, Reese ended a two-month stay on the bench by beating the Kings.Vernon, meanwhile, was healthy enough to dress as a backup for both playoff games.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a strain or a ligament stretch,&rdquo; Vernon said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s nothing major. It just poses some problems once 1 start twisting it around.&rdquo;OTTO&rsquo;S MOTORING: Center Joel Otto turned in a strong performance in the opening four games of the Kings&rsquo; series.Mainly playing head-to-head against Wayne Gretzky. Otto kept the Great One off the scoresheet and contributed three goals himself.NOTEBOOK: Just a coincidence? The Flames went into the playoffs with a 1-4-1 record in afternoon games. In gaining a split of their first four games against Los Angeles, the Flames won both times in the evening and lost both afternoon games.Defenseman Trent Yawney did not score his first goal of the season until the 84th game against San Jose Sharks. In the first four games against the Kings, he scored three. How did he explain his outburst? &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just riding a wave,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I&rsquo;m going to ride it for as long as I can.&rdquo;<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joel Otto, Joe Nieuwendyk, Robert Reichel, Brian Skrudland, Todd Harkins. Patrick Lebeau.LW&mdash;Paul Ranhelm, Gary Roberts, Brent Ashton, Roger Johansson, Paul Kruse. Chris Lindberg.RW&mdash;Theo Fleury. Ron Stem. Greg Paslawski, Craig Berube, Sergei Makarov, Sandy McCarthy.LD&mdash;Gary Suter. Frank Musil, Trent Yawney, Alexander Godynyuk.RD&mdash;AI Macinnis. Kevm Dahl, Chris Dahlquisl, Michel Petit, Greg Smyth.G&mdash;Jett Reese. Mike Vernon. Jason Muzzalti.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Carey Wilson, C, tom left knee tendon, Indefinite. &#9632;

Super Reese sparkles

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div>If Vancouver Canuck right winger Jim Sandlak is, as rumored, the &ldquo;future consideration&rdquo; in the Murray Craven deal with the Hartford Whalers, then Whalers&rsquo; general manager Brian Burke may be exchanging a few pointed words with John Paddock.Paddock, the Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; coach, was highly critical of Sandlak during the Winnipeg Jets-Vancouver Smythe Division semifinal and implied that the bashing Canuck winger is a coward.When he was told Sandlak wouldn&rsquo;t be playing Game 3, replied: &ldquo;What has he got, road flu?&rdquo;Paddock kept right on talking.&ldquo;At least our guys who aren&rsquo;t brave admit it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When you pretend you&rsquo;re brave then you sit out, that&rsquo;s sickening. I don&rsquo;t think Sandlak is brave, I think he pretends to be brave, I&rsquo;m not letting any secrets out here, the whole hockey world knows it.&rdquo;Sandlak, who was sidelined with back spasms, refused comment on Paddock&rsquo;s remarks. The rest of the Canucks showed no such reluctance.&ldquo;For a coach to stand back and take a shot like that is uncalled for,&rdquo; said left winger Geoff Courtnall. &ldquo;Who is he to judge a guy on our team, especially the way he played in his career? I know a lot of guys who played against him and he wasn&rsquo;t exactly the bravest. Maybe he doesn&rsquo;t like the way Jimmy plays but he shouldn&rsquo;t question his toughness.&rdquo;Canuck boss Pat Quinn called Paddock&rsquo;s statement &ldquo;surprising&rdquo;, although protecting a player, or soon-to-be former player, is standard procedure.&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s all part of the war,&rdquo; Quinn said, &ldquo;but it&rsquo;s certainly uncalled for. Jimmy&rsquo;s one of the best hitters in a game that doesn&rsquo;t have much hitting anymore. I suppose if you define courage, maybe it means putting a face mask on and using your stick to hurt people. Maybe that&rsquo;s what he means by courage.&rdquo;Assistant coach Rick Ley said Paddock&rsquo;s remarks were &ldquo;classless&rdquo;.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s quite obvious John hasn&rsquo;t been watching some of the flinches behind his blueline,&rdquo; Ley said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s still upset because last year in the playoffs, Jimmy had them in disarray with some of his big hits.NOTEBOOK: Trevor Linden set a team record for the fastest two goals in a playoff game when he scored 45 seconds apart in Game 3 against Winnipeg. The Canucks won the game 31.Linden also set a franchise mark for the most career playoff assists in the game, beating Thomas Gradin&rsquo;s mark of 21.<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 22: Stephane Morin, C, Jassen Cullimore, D, and Jason Fitzsimmons, G, recalled from Hamilton (AHLJ.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Cliff Ronning, Murray Craven, Anatoli Semenov, Petr Nedved. Tom Fergus, Ryan Walter, Stephane Morin.LW&mdash;Greg Adams, Geoft Courtnail, Sergio Momesso, Dixon Ward, Gino Odjlck.RW&mdash;Trevor Unden, Pavel Bure, Garry Valk. Tim Hunter.LD&mdash;Dana Murzyn, Adrien Plavsic, Dave Babych. Jassen CuBimore.RD&mdash;Gerald Diduck. Jyrki Lumme, Jiri Stegr, Doug Lidster, Dan Ratu&beta;hny.G&mdash;Kirk McLean, Kay Whitmore, Jason Fitzsimmons.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Robert Dirk, D, back spasms, day-to-day. Jim Sandlak, RW, back spasms, day-to-day. &#9632;

Paddock draws ire of team after calling Sandlak coward

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with being a keen observer when you&rsquo;re trying to learn about your job.But it is not a good method for success in the playoffs, as the Winnipeg Jets were finding out.The retooled Jets arrived in Vancouver for a second straight divisional matchup and left town down two games after poor efforts. The Jets gained a split in more competitive games back in Winnipeg, but trailed 3-1 in games.Winnipeg has never prolonged a playoff series by winning a game when facing elimination.&ldquo;The message was we haven&rsquo;t played well,&rdquo; coach John Paddock said. &ldquo;1 tried to emphasize we need to use our speed and we need to do things. Maybe we had several new players who were doing more observing. And I told them if they thought the criticism was bad so far, they should expect it to get worse if they don&rsquo;t improve.&rdquo;The Jets did improve at home, winning 5-4 in Game 3. They played with grit in Game 4, but couldn&rsquo;t solve Vancouver goalie Kirk McLean in a 3-1 loss.Blunders cost the Jets in a big way. Three spoon-fed goals in Vancouver might have told the tale in two close decisions. That, and sub-par play from key players-Teemu Selanne, Alexei Zhamnov, Sergei Bautin and Igor Ulanov-left the Jets in a hole.&ldquo;I was watching too much in the first game,&rdquo; Selanne said.The Finnish Flash was held pointless after ending the regular season with 76 goals and a 17-game points streak. He rallied with one assist in Game 2 and a hat trick in Game 3 in Winnipeg.U.N. DISPUTE: Facing criticism about the team&rsquo;s European performers, John Paddock came to their defense.Paddock said he didn&rsquo;t understand the United Nations knock because the lack of playoff jam extended beyond the foreign players.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t matter if you&rsquo;re European, or what you are, or what style of game you play,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t play with some-we have about 20 different words for it-heart, determination or desire, you&rsquo;re no good. You&rsquo;ve got to have double that desire in the playoffs.&rdquo;&ldquo;Lotta fame, lotta blame,&rdquo; added assistant coach Alpo Suhonen. &ldquo;These labels&hellip; we already went through (expletive) like this. Now we&rsquo;re going to have to all over again.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Teemu Selanne&rsquo;s Game 3 hat trick was the first ever in Stanley Cup play by a Jet&hellip;Games 3 and 4 of the series at Winnipeg&rsquo;s white-clad Arena were the first sellouts in the series (15,569 and 15,567) and were sold out days in advance.Former Russian journalist and now Jets&rsquo; communications assistant Igor Kuperman went to the World Championships in Germany. He was assembling scouting reports in advance of next winter&rsquo;s Olympic Games, having been hired as a researcher by CTV&hellip; Defenseman Mike Lalor was scratched from the first two games, with the Jets&rsquo; coaching staff citing inconsistent play. Lalor returned and was a steady force in the next two games.<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 24: Rob Murray. C. assigned to Moncton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Alexei Zhamnov, Thomas Steen, Stu Bames, Luciano Borsalo, Mike Eagles.LW&mdash;Keith Tkachuk, Darrin Shannon, Kris King, John Druce.RW&mdash;Teemu Selanne, Evgeny Davydov. Tie Domi. Bryan Erickson.LD&mdash;Teppo Numminen, Sergei Bautin, Mike Lalor. Igor Ulanov, Randy Cartyle.RD&mdash;Phil Housley, Fredrik Olausson, Dean Kennedy, Dallas Eakins.G&mdash;Bob Essensa, Jim Hrivnak.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mike O&rsquo;Neill, G. dislocated right shoulder, indefinite. &#9632;

Guilty of all watch, no play

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div>Copps and robbers? Stealtown?Edmonton newspaper headlines like those screamed news that turned Oilers&rsquo; fans angry, scared or both.Whether by design or by circumstance, Oilers&rsquo; owner Peter Pocklington managed to whip Edmonton media and sports fans into a state of frenzy. He called a state-of-the-franchise news conference eight days in advance and then went golfing.Word leaked out Pocklington has had discussions with Hamilton mayor Bob Morrow and the people who run Copps Coliseum about moving the Oilers to the Steel City. For days the media was full of facts and speculation about what Pocklington would say April 27.&ldquo;The fans of Edmonton are scared and I&rsquo;m scared too,&rdquo; said Edmonton Northlands president Gerry Yuen. Northlands operates the Coliseum, where the Oilers play, under terms of a lease Pocklington said is running him out of business. He gets no share of concessions or parking revenues and claims to have lost $1.5 million this season, a shortfall made up by $3.5 million worth of expansion fees.The Copps Coliseum deal, on the other hand, is a sweetheart, the same one Hamilton has extended to any team willing to come to their city.It includes 100 per cent of concession sales, 100 per cent control of broadcast revenues, 100 per cent of parking revenues from 2,000 spaces at $5 each, 100 per cent of licensing and merchandising revenues and 85 per cent ad revenue from the scoreboard.There was no word on the amount of rent Pocklington would pay Copps Coliseum. But unless it&rsquo;s prohibitive, it&rsquo;s a deal Northlands cannot possibly match. Oilers&rsquo; GM Glen Sather said making a decision on that deal would be a &ldquo;no brainer.&rdquo;Unless, of course, Pocklington would have to pay millions in indemnification to Buffalo and Toronto. Leafs&rsquo; GM Cliff Fletcher was adamant his team would have to be compensated, but Morrow disagreed.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve had legal opinions for a long time,&rdquo; Morrow said. &ldquo;The law of the land prohibits monopolies. It is a good bit of law. Hamilton will not have our rights trampled on.&rdquo;Whether or not Pocklington intended to use Hamilton&rsquo;s interest for leverage wasn&rsquo;t known. But the Steel-town offer had Edmonton worried about losing its team. Almost nobody cared if Pocklington left town, but there would be regrets if the nearest NHL hockey was played 300 kilometers (180 miles) south in Calgary.&ldquo;The Hamilton situation is different in that any deficit incurred by the Coliseum would be assumed by the City of Hamilton. That is not the case with Northlands,&rdquo; said Yuen, explaining why his 28-member board cannot rewrite the lease to Pocklington&rsquo;s specifications, even if it wanted to.Northlands, a not-for-profit society, lost $1.3 million last year and is budgeting for a $600,000 shortfall this year but are already behind that projection.&ldquo;We are not the City of Edmonton. We are not the Province,&rdquo; Yuen said. &ldquo;We cannot go to the Alberta Treasurer and ask for more money because we spent ours. If we gave Pocklington everything he wanted, we would be out of business.&rdquo;Pocklington was unavailable for comment. Speculation had it despite his denials the team is for sale, this might be a tactic to drive up the price. Northlands had offered $65 million for the team, prompting Pocklington to scoff it wasn&rsquo;t for sale, unless somebody offered him $125 million.Pocklington might need all of that to be happy. He operates on a $41 million line of credit with the Alberta Treasury Branch and is fighting a $69-million lawsuit launched by the province over his handling of Gainer&rsquo;s Inc. &#9632;

City in frenzy over rumored move to Hamilton

<div class="byline">By Mike Weaver</div>A dismal second season for the San Jose Sharks cost coach George Kingston his job.Kingston was fired April 19 by team president Art Savage.A change had been expected in the wake of a season in which the Sharks (11-71-2) finished in a last place tie with the expansion Ottawa Senators in the overall NHL standings.The team set a league record for losses in a season and matched the record for consecutive defeats by losing 17 in a row.&ldquo;It is my opinion and the opinion of the owners that the potential of this team was not reached,&rdquo; Savage said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;d like to change the personality of the team. We want to instill a winning attitude. We expect to play hard and win and we expect to get everything possible out of our players. I don&rsquo;t think that happened in every game this year.&rdquo;Kingston, 53, was offered a position as a pro scout with the Sharks, but turned down the offer. He had one year remaining on a three-year contract and Savage said the contract will be honored.Kingston could not be reached for comment.&ldquo;We respect George and we realize he has done a lot for this franchise,&rdquo; Savage said. &ldquo;We think we&rsquo;ve made some progress, but it&rsquo;s time to step up to a new level.&rdquo;Injuries and a heavy commitment to youth were key factors in the team&rsquo;s struggles this season. But Savage won&rsquo;t alter the team&rsquo;s philosophy of trying to build around developing young players.He said the highlight of the season was the emergence of rookies Rob Gaudreau, Arturs Irbe, Doug Zmolek and Sandis Ozolinsh.&ldquo;We understand we&rsquo;re still in a process of growth,&rdquo; Savage said. &ldquo;If we can continue to add four or five players per year to the core of our team, we&rsquo;ll be on the right path.&rdquo;The Sharks have a list of 18 to 20 potential replacements for Kingston, whose two-year record was 28-129-7. Among the candidates are Sharks&rsquo; associate coach Bob Murdoch and Kansas City Blades&rsquo; coach Kevin Constantine, who led the team&rsquo;s top minor-league affiliate to the International League title a year ago.Other names on the list are Minnesota North Stars&rsquo; assistant Rick Wilson, St. Louis Blues&rsquo; assistant Wayne Thomas, New York Islanders&rsquo; assistant Lome Henning and former New Jersey Devils&rsquo; coach John Cunniff.No timetable has been established for replacing Kingston and Savage said the hiring process could extend beyond the June 26 entry draft.The draft will be handled by director of player personnel Chuck Grillo, director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi and the scouting staff.HELP WANTED: The Sharks will be active shoppers in the NHL freeagent market as they try to change the team&rsquo;s personality this summer.Dean Lombardi said money will be no object in the team&rsquo;s pursuit of talent. But he warned the team will have to be wary because of compensation for most NHL free agents.&ldquo;We&rsquo;d like to get some more players like Kelly Kisio,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If we had 20 Kelly Kisios, we&rsquo;d be in great shape.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Mark Beaufait, who finished the season with the Sharks after playing most of it with Kansas City, was honored with the Ken McKenzie Award as the best U.S.-born rookie in the IHL this season. The native of Royal Oak, Mich., had 12 goals and 68 points in 66 games with the Blades.<h2>SAN JOSE</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 19: George Kingston, coach, fired. &#9632;

Kingston pays dearly for team’s terrible season

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-011130/6176650-1-eng-US/f0017-012.jpg" title="f0017-01" width="367" height="517"></div>Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; president Marcel Aubut showed up at an NHL board of governors meeting last summer armed with a proposal to end regular-season ties with a shootout.After little discussion, the governors went on to other pressing matters. One owner, tongue firmly planted in cheek, suggested they forget about the game and go straight to the shootout.The proposal received even less attention at a recent general managers&rsquo; meeting. Not one of the league&rsquo;s 24 GMs was in favor of it.Once again, the NHL exhibits the large mindedness and foresight that has propelled it in viewer popularity right up there with tractor pulls and the pro bowling tour.If the league really wants to attract new fans and secure its beloved network television contract in the United States, it should forget about trying to curb fights. Right after the NHL eliminates the red line for offside passes, it should take a serious look at Aubut&rsquo;s proposal.Actually, the shootout concept has been Aubut&rsquo;s hobbyhorse since 1983, when he spearheaded the move to a five-minute sudden death overtime in the regular season.The man who orchestrated the tie between the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers in the Eric Lindros Sweepstakes last year wants to see deadlocks gone for good.&ldquo;We need to stop having ties,&rdquo; Aubut told Hockey Night in Canada April 18. &ldquo;The substance of sports is to have a winner and a loser. People pay $50 to come and see us and it&rsquo;s not good for them to see the teams in the same situation three hours after the game. I hate that.&rdquo;The only problem is, many hockey people hate his idea. Even progressive commissioner Gary Bettman said there is no pressing need to break ties.Baseball and basketball continue their games until a winner is decided and while there is the potential for a tie in football, there have been only two sister-kissers in the National Football League in the last five seasons.If the game is tied after regulation, the five-minute sudden-death overtime should remain. If it&rsquo;s still tied, each team should get five penalty shots to decide a winner. After that, shooters would go head-to-head until one scores and the other misses.If nothing else, it will make overtime more exciting. Too many teams treat the dying minutes and the over time frame like they&rsquo;re carrying bone china. Teams don&rsquo;t play to win, they play not to lose.The penalty shot is the most exciting event in hockey and it was used exactly 30 times in 1,008 games this season. If the NHL had a shootout format in place, fans would have been able to see it at least 1,000 more times, since 100 of the 161 games tied after regulation went in the books as ties.Conventional thinking suggests a team that works hard for 65 minutes on the road deserves a point for its efforts. Does that mean a pass that bounces off a skate and goes in during overtime shouldn&rsquo;t count?&ldquo;As a coach, I always feel good when my team gets a tie on the road,&rdquo; said Calgary Flames&rsquo; coach Dave King. &ldquo;But when you&rsquo;re trying to market the game, you have to look at a way of getting rid of ties.&rdquo;King, who favors three-on-three play in overtime, didn&rsquo;t have time to debate the merits of the shootout the last time he was involved in it. In a crucial game against Germany in the 1992 Olympics, King&rsquo;s Canadian team escaped with a shootout victory.I&rsquo;ll forget who scored the Stanley Cup winning goal about 10 minutes after the game is played this year, but I&rsquo;ll always remember the excitement I felt when Gerd Truntschka&rsquo;s shot hit Sean Burke and fluttered before stopping right on the goal line.The East Coast League, which does a magnificent job selling third-rate hockey in non-hockey markets, has the shootout. One ECHL game this season needed 42 shooters before it was decided.The International League introduced the shootout in 1986. Milwaukee Admirals&rsquo; owner Lloyd Petit, a staunch opponent, leaves his seat every time there&rsquo;s a shootout. None of his fans are in their seats either.&ldquo;It has proven to be extremely popular with everybody, but the so-called hockey purists,&rdquo; said IHL commissioner Tom Berry. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s face it, we&rsquo;re playing this game for the fans. If we were playing it for the players we could have it on a pond in somebody&rsquo;s backyard.&rdquo;The shootout would force teams to build their lineups with it in mind. Teams might have designated shooters or find goalies who are particularly good at stopping breakaways.Next time you see Pavel Bure busting in on a breakaway, think of how exciting it would be to see that scene 10 times with two points on the line. &#9632;

f0017-01

It’s time NHL took shot at tie-breaking

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div>If you really want to find out how abrasive Dino Ciccarelli really is, don&rsquo;t ask anybody in the NHL. You&rsquo;re better to consult with Tony Collard and Alex the Gator.Collard was a Swedish import whom Ciccarelli pounded during a game while playing for the London Knights of the Ontario League. Only one problem. Collard was playing for the Knights, too.Later that season he smacked Alex-the Brantford Alexanders&rsquo; reptilian mascot-over the head with his stick because the alligator was taunting him during a stoppage of play.Dino the Disturber&rsquo;s reputation is well earned. He gives opposing defensemen and goalies fits by parking himself in front of the net. His stick is a dangerous weapon, as capable of carving opponents as it is scoring goals.But he has a desire to win matched by few other NHLers. It was that grittiness and determination the Detroit Red Wings coveted when they got him from the Washington Capitals in the off-season for Kevin Miller.This season, Ciccarelli scored 41 goals, including a club-record 21 on the power play. The Capitals, meanwhile, traded Miller to the St. Louis Blues for defenseman Paul Cavallini.Throughout his 13-year big league career Ciccarelli could usually be found parked in front of the opposing team&rsquo;s net. He takes a beating by defenders twice his size but never backs down, at home or on the road.With 81 penalty minutes this season, Ciccarelli passed the 1,000 minute mark. Next season, he&rsquo;ll almost certainly pass the 500-goal mark. He finished the season with 485.&ldquo;I know my place in the game,&rdquo; Ciccarelli said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t skate as well as Steve Yzerman or Paul Coffey so I can&rsquo;t play the perimeter. I have to position myself in the high-traffic areas.&rdquo;When push comes to shove, Ciccarelli isn&rsquo;t afraid to shove back.I take a lot of crap, Ciccarelli said. &ldquo;But to be honest, I dish out a lot of crap too. Intimidation is a big part of the game. Players will try to get an edge on you but it doesn&rsquo;t work with me.&rdquo;In the Red Wings&rsquo; Norris Division semifinal against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ciccarelli was at his thom-in-the-side best. He was responsible for several Detroit goals and drove Leaf goalie Felix Potvin to the point where he took a couple of swipes at Ciccarelli with his stick.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0017-02857/6176681-1-eng-US/f0017-022.jpg" title="f0017-02" width="937" height="1635"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dino Ciccarelli is closing in on the 500-career goal mark.</figcaption></div>At 5-foot-10 and 180-pounds, Ciccarelli is too small to compete with most defensemen. The stick is his great equalizer.&ldquo;Some players do a lot of yapping,&rdquo; said Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; defenseman Grant Jennings. &ldquo;Not Ciccarelli. He yaps with his gloves and his stick.&rdquo;While Ciccarelli has his share of enemies, he also has many admirers.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s like me,&rdquo; said Doug Gilmour of the Leafs. &ldquo;He thrives on the attention. We&rsquo;re both small so we have to prove our courage-every game.&rdquo;But to your own team? In the 1980 incident with London, Ciccarelli was killing a penalty and attempted to ice the puck. But he accidentally fired it into his own bench and hit backup goalie Frank Caprice. Caprice suffered a broken jaw.&ldquo;I was leaning against the boards feeling just awful about what happened,&rdquo; Ciccarelli said. &ldquo;He (Collard) started yapping at me so I popped him.&rdquo;The pair got into a shoving match with Ciccarelli finally punching Collard in the head before teammates intervenedLuke Richardson, now with the Edmonton Oilers, also drew Ciccarelli&rsquo;s wrath. In 1987, Ciccarelli attacked Richardson with his stick and was convicted of assault in Ontario provincial I court. He was sentenced I to a day in jail and fined $1,000.Goalies may accuse him of being a crease crasher, but a former teammate said Ciccarelli seldom enters the forbidden zone.&ldquo;He stands right on the edge of the crease and that&rsquo;s legal,&rdquo; said Bob Rouse of the Leafs, a former teammate in Washington. &ldquo;Pound for pound he&rsquo;s as strong as most big guys. He has a low center of gravity and he&rsquo;s hard to move.&rdquo;In 12 years with Minnesota and Washington, Ciccarelli averaged 37 goals and 35 assists per season. The Red Wings signed Ciccarelli to a two-year contract worth I nearly $1 million per I season. Ciccarelli. 33, J repaid them with his third-best season ever, 41 goals and 97 points.&ldquo;When we got Dino, we figured he&rsquo;d play for two or three seasons,&rdquo; said Red Wings&rsquo; assistant general manager Doug MacLean. &ldquo;Now I&rsquo;m not so sure he won&rsquo;t play even longer. He&rsquo;s in great shape and he does what&rsquo;s expected from him.&rdquo;With Ciccarelli playing in-your-face on the power play, the Red Wings power play improved from 18.4 per cent last season to a league-leading 24.9 success rate.&ldquo;He sure pays the price for that success,&rdquo; MacLean said. &ldquo;Our fans love him.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0017-02

Dino the Disturber

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div>It is often said that a team&rsquo;s shortcomings are magnified in the playoffs. Never was that more true than with the Chicago Blackhawks in their first-round playoff loss to the St. Louis Blues.The Hawks had trouble scoring during the season, especially on the power play, and nothing changed in the playoffs. If anything, they were worse, which is the chief reason why they swept by the Blues in four games.&ldquo;The people we count on as our goalscorers didn&rsquo;t come through,&rdquo; coach Darryl Sutter said.The Hawks had six goals in four games and were 1-for-24 on the power play. They went eight periods without scoring (174 minutes, 18 seconds) from Game 1 to Game 4 against Blues&rsquo; goalie Curtis Joseph.Jeremy Roenick had just one goal. Joe Murphy, Steve Larmer and Michel Goulet were blanked. Murphy, acquired in February from Edmonton to score important goals in the playoffs, didn&rsquo;t didn&rsquo;t have a point in the series.&ldquo;I wanted to come in and help the team, but it didn&rsquo;t happen,&rdquo; said Murphy, whose play was so spotty he was removed from the Roenick line as the series wore on. &ldquo;It just wasn&rsquo;t there.&rdquo;Roenick will face the most questions for his performance since he&rsquo;s the Hawks&rsquo; 50-goal scorer and 100-point man. But he needed more help offensively.&ldquo;I never felt I had to do it alone,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a team game.&rdquo;It was the second time in three years the Hawks have been eliminated in the first round after 106-point regular seasons. They were ousted by the Minnesota North Stars in six games in 1991.&ldquo;This feels like somebody died,&rdquo; Roenick said. &ldquo;The best team doesn&rsquo;t always win.&rdquo;The Hawks finished 21 points ahead of St. Louis, but faced an insurmountable task after they lost the first two games on home ice.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sure at some point we&rsquo;ll look back at what we accomplished this year, but it&rsquo;s like painting a nice picture and someone comes along and writes something on it,&rdquo; Sutter said.NIGHTMARE ENDING: Not only did the season come to an abrupt end, but the Blues got the overtime winner in the clinching fourth game by Craig Janney into an open net.Ed Belfour was bumped by Brett Hull at the side of the cage and couldn&rsquo;t scramble back into the crease in time to stop Janney&rsquo;s shot from along the left boards.Belfour screamed at referee Rob Shick for an interference penalty, breaking his stick over the crossbar then tossing it in Shick&rsquo;s direction. Shick ruled it incidental contact since he felt Hull was nudged into Belfour by defenseman Bryan Marchment.&ldquo;The whole thing&rsquo;s a (expletive) joke,&rdquo; said Belfour. &ldquo;The (expletive) referees are nothing but a (expletive) joke. Is that what you want me to say? Well, that&rsquo;s the way I feel right now.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Hawks have lost eight playoff games in a row, dating back to last year&rsquo;s finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins&hellip; Curtis Joseph&rsquo;s shutouts in Games 2 and 3 marked the first time the Hawks had been blanked in back-to-back playoff games since 1979, when Billy Smith and Chico Resch of the New York Islanders did it.<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 19: Adam Bennett. D, recalled from Indlanapobs (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Jeremy Roenick. Christian Ruuttu, Brent Sutter, Troy Murray.LW&mdash;Michel Goulet. Greg Gilber, Joe Murphy, Stephane Matteau, Stu Grimson, Dave Christian,RW&mdash;Steve Larmer, Dirk Graham, Bnan Noonan, Jocelyn Lemieux.LD&mdash;Bryan Marchment, Steve Smith. Cam Russell.RD&mdash;Chris Chelios, Craig Muni, Keith Brown, Adam Bennett.G&mdash;Ed Belfour. Jimmy Waite.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Frank Kucera, D. pulled groin. &#9632;

One-dimensional offense comes up lame in crunch

<div class="byline">By Gary Olson</div>A career that began in Minnesota 15 seasons ago ended just days after the North Stars&rsquo; final season in Minnesota.Bobby Smith, the first pick of the 1978 draft, retired April 20, five days after the Stars were eliminated from the playoffs and taken to Texas.&ldquo;It will seem strange when September rolls around and I&rsquo;m not going off to play hockey,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;Hockey hasn&rsquo;t just been part of my annual clock for 15 years, it has been part of my whole life.Smith said the team&rsquo;s move to Dallas had nothing to do with his retirement. He finished his career with 1,036 points in 1,077 games. He won the Calder Trophy as the league&rsquo;s top rookie in 1979 and a Stanley Cup championship in 1986 with the Montreal Canadiens.&ldquo;I want to miss pro hockey. I don&rsquo;t want to walk away and say, &lsquo;OK, what&rsquo;s next?&rsquo; That wouldn&rsquo;t say much for what I&rsquo;ve done. I can retire now and know I didn&rsquo;t leave anything on the table. I didn&rsquo;t quit too early and I didn&rsquo;t stay too long and I didn&rsquo;t have my career cut short by an injury. I&rsquo;ve been fortunate to play 15 seasons and not be just another name on the roster.&rdquo;Smith, 35, will spend the summer with his family and then enroll at the University of Minnesota as a full-time student. He plans to get a business degree in the next two years.During his final seasons as a player, he was often mentioned as a likely candidate to become a hockey executive.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not ruling out the possibility of coming back to the NHL in another capacity,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;d like to step back for a couple years and acquire the skills I&rsquo;ll need to be successful if that&rsquo;s what I choose. I don&rsquo;t want my next job to require name recognition.&ldquo;My brother tells me I&rsquo;m the only guy he knows who has never worked a day in his life. I&rsquo;ve always thought I would have been a success even if I hadn&rsquo;t been able to skate, pass and shoot.&rdquo;But because he could skate, pass and shoot better than anyone else in 1978, he became the first pick of the Stars&rsquo; new general manager, Lou Nanne. After winning the Calder Trophy in his first season and scoring 114 points-still a team high-two years later, Nanne traded him to Montreal, making one of his least popular deals.After seven seasons in Montreal, he was traded back to Minnesota for the final three seasons of a career that may someday lead to the Hall of Fame.Smith asked Nanne to trade him early in the 1983-84 season and pushed hard enough to get the deal done. When he felt it was time to leave Montreal, he asked Canadiens&rsquo; general manager Serge Savard and was delighted to rejoin the North Stars.&ldquo;I thought I was a much better player than (North Stars&rsquo; coach Bill Mahoney) thought I was at the time,&rdquo; Smith said, explaining why he needed to leave Minnesota. &ldquo;I felt I should be playing a lot more and all the coach kept telling me was how good another player (Brian Bellows) was going to be. I was of the opinion that anywhere would be better than playing here.&rdquo;The last two seasons haven&rsquo;t been easy as Smith was gradually phased out of the Stars&rsquo; lineup. It&rsquo;s an experience usually reserved only for the game&rsquo;s great players.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve seen other players put as much into the game as I have and not get nearly as much out of it,&rdquo; he said &ldquo;When I walk away. I&rsquo;ll know I was a top player for 13 years.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Ulf Dahlen signed a two-year, $1.25 million contract April 16&hellip;The Stars have renewed their working agreement with the International League team in Kalamazoo, Mich., for two more seasons.<h2>DALLAS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 16:ULF Dahlen. RW. signed two year contract. April 20: Bobby Smith. C, retired. &#9632;

Smith says goodbye to game after stellar career

<div class="byline">By Roy Cummings</div>His team&rsquo;s inaugural campaign is behind him, so Tampa Bay Lightning coach Terry Crisp is putting together a wish list for next season.Commodities at the top of the list are more size and toughness.&ldquo;We have to get bigger and tougher,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to need some toughness against some of those Patrick Division teams or it&rsquo;s going to be a long haul.&rdquo;The need for a greater physical presence was never driven home more thoroughly than it was in Philadelphia April 3.The Lightning was virtually run out the Spectrum by the physically imposing Flyers, who are one of the teams Tampa Bay will face regularly next year after the NHL completes the task of realigning its divisions.&ldquo;Philly was tough on us, but we knew before then we needed to add toughness,&rdquo; Crisp said. &ldquo;So that&rsquo;s a point we&rsquo;re going to address in the off-season. And there are a number of ways to address it. We&rsquo;ve got some avenues open to I us and we plan to explore every one of them.&rdquo;The easiest, yet most expensive, is free agency. So in addition to scanning the free-agent marketplace for a legitimate 30-goal threat, the Lightning will also go shopping this summer for an intimidating winger capable of opening a skating lane and a rugged defenseman capable of clearing the front of his net.That is where expansion may help Tampa Bay, because with expansion comes expansion drafts and with expansion drafts comes roster shuffling, the kind that usually results in increased trading activity.But with the exception of draft picks, which Tampa Bay wisely does not want to surrender, the Lightning has little to trade in return for its needs.That could force the club to look at its own system for answers and Crisp said that may not be the worst of his alternatives.&ldquo;I think we have some kids who&rsquo; can give us what we need,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know down in Atlanta we&rsquo;ve got this kid (Jeff) Buchanan who has just been pounding people all year.&rdquo;The Lightning has already looked to see whether defensemen Chris LiPuma and Matt Hervey can handle the job. LiPuma was especially strong down the stretch.&ldquo;I like his attitude, his guts and willingness,&rdquo; Crisp said. &ldquo;The only thing is we have to make sure that at 20 years of age, we&rsquo;re not asking him to do something he&rsquo;s not ready for. That&rsquo;s why we may have to find a veteran or at least somebody who has been in that role before. We don&rsquo;t &#316; want to ruin some kid.&rdquo;GOOD SHOW: Playing competitive hockey wasn&rsquo;t the only objective for the Lightning this year.The club wanted to provide its fans, many of whom had never seen hockey before, with an entertaining evening.Lightning general manager Phil Es posito believes his team succeeded in that quest.&ldquo;We wanted to be entertaining and competitive because we were selling something new here,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;As far as we were concerned, the only way to get that was through hard work. They showed the whole NHL just what hard work can get you, and that&rsquo;s not going to change.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Brian Bradley was the big winner at the Tampa Bay Lightning Booster Club awards banquet April 17. Bradley captured three honors: the scoring leader, MVP and Star of Stars awards. The Star of Stars was given to the player who received the most points from three star selections during the season. Marc Bergevin captured the Unsung Hero Award. &#9632;

Realignment increases need for more toughness

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave</div>The Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; defense won&rsquo;t rest now that the playoffs are in full swing.The Wings&rsquo; blueline corps stole the limelight in their rugged first-round playoff tussle with archrival Toronto Maple Leafs.Steve Chiasson, Mark Howe and Yves Racine scored in a 6-3 rout in Game 1. Nicklas Lidstr&ouml;m scored in Game 2, while defense partner Paul Coffey had three assists in a 6-2 win.As a group, they played well enough to impress Toronto coach Pat Bums, who knows good defense when he sees it.&ldquo;They played well defensively,&rdquo; Bums said. &ldquo;We made a lot of turnovers at their blueline and they turned it up on us.&rdquo;The Wings&rsquo; defense corps has been criticized for being too soft as well as too offense-minded.But after physically dominating Toronto in the first two games of the series, out-of-town reporters who were surprised by their performance were met with a grin from Detroit coach-general manager Bryan Murray.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll tell you boys,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;some people just didn&rsquo;t see a lot of our games this season.&rdquo;The key defenders were Chiasson and partner Vladimir Konstantinov, who were on the ice at all times against Leafs&rsquo; center Doug Gilmour and linemate Dave Andreychuk.Chiasson&rsquo;s importance was underscored in Game 4, when he was ejected in the second period for boarding Gilmour. Andreychuk scored two goals in a 3-2 Leafs&rsquo; win that tied the series 2-2.Chiasson, an All-Star Game participant this season, appreciated the praise, but said the checking line of Sergei Fedorov, Paul Ysebaert and Slava Kozlov deserved much of the credit in the first two games.&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t stand up Doug Gilmour at the blueline if it&rsquo;s a 3-on-2 and Glenn Anderson&rsquo;s streaking down the other side,&rdquo; Chiasson said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the forwards, too. But I&rsquo;m enjoying it. It gives the game a little more purpose as an individual.&rdquo;STEP BY STEP: Newspapers in Toronto made a big deal of Pat Bums getting a step up on Bryan Murray after the series shifted away from Detroit. And now we know why. The coaches&rsquo; playing field wasn&rsquo;t level.Murray complained after Game 3 that Bums stood on an eight-inch platform behind the Toronto bench, giving him a better view of the game and a more imposing image to the referees.Murray wanted a similar platform installed behind the Detroit bench for J Game 4 and he got it. ILegitimate gripe, Bums said.&ldquo;I complained about it when I came in here (with the Montreal Canadiens) last season,&rdquo;he said.But Bums has his problems with the facilities at Joe Louis Arena.&ldquo;In Detroit, the coach&rsquo;s office is in the men&rsquo;s room,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s not bad, except when a security guard came in and used it.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Bryan Murray wasn&rsquo;t surprised to see the St. Louis Blues upset the Chicago Blackhawks. &ldquo;St. Louis has some good offensive players. We&rsquo;ve known (goalie) Curtis Joseph is a key guy for them. It&rsquo;s just an example of how you can&rsquo;t win if your goalscorers don&rsquo;t score.&rdquo;<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Keith Primeau, Shawn Burr,LW&mdash;Gerard Gallant. Slava Kozlov, Bob Probert. Dallas Drake, John Ogtodnick.RW&mdash;Dino CIcoareW, Paul Ysebaert. Ray Sheppard. Sheldon Kennedy, Jim Hiller.LD&mdash;Paul Coffey, Steve Chiasson, Steve Konroyd. Brad McCrimmon.RD&mdash;Nicklas Lidstrom, Vladimir Konstantinov, Yves Racine.G&mdash;Tim Cheveldae, Vince Riendeau.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Defense silences critics

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>The hockey future of Laval Titan defenseman Benoit Larose is uncertain after a blood vessel in his neck burst during Game 4 of the Titan&rsquo;s semifinal series against the Drummondville Voltigeurs.Larose, who won the Emile (Butch) Bouchard Trophy as the son, collapsed on the bench after the first period April 18.&ldquo;I was scared,&rdquo; said Titan captain Martin Lapointe, a close friend of Larose. &ldquo;His eyes were rolling back in his head.&rdquo;Larose, a 6-foot-1, 209-pounder, was placed on a stretcher, fitted with an oxygen mask and rushed to Ste-Croix Hospital in Drummondville. He was later transferred to Notre Dame Hospital in Montreal, where he was to remain for at least two weeks while undergoing tests to discover what made the vessel in his neck burst.Larose won&rsquo;t play again this season and the hockey future of the undrafted 19-year-old is in doubt.Lapomie said it was originally thought Larose sustained a cerebral hemorrhage, similar to the one which ended Normand Leveille&rsquo;s NHL career with the Boston Bruins in 1982 and left him partially paralyzed.&ldquo;At first the doctors were telling us it was the same thing as Normand Leveille,&rdquo; Lapointe said. &ldquo;We were all upset. (General manager) Jean-Claude Morissette started crying like a baby. All us players are like his children to him.&rdquo;Lapointe visited Larose in hospital April 19.&ldquo;He can move his arms and legs but has trouble speaking,&rdquo; h Lapointe said. &ldquo;He understands what you say, but can&rsquo;t speak.&rdquo;Larose had 16 goals, 78 points, 218 penalty minutes and a plus-43 rating in 63 games this season.While the loss of Larose will hurt Laval, Lapointe believes the Titan will still make it to the Memorial Cup. Laval had a 13-game winning streak heading into the best-of-seven final.&ldquo;We have a good team spirit,&rdquo; Lapointe said. &ldquo;We have a lot of character&hellip;everybody is like family.&rdquo;CANALE ON MOVE: Joe Canale&rsquo;s days as coach of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens are over.Chicoutimi management met with Canale for 30 minutes in early April to try and reach a new deal, but the coach wanted a two-year contract. The Sagueneens were offering one year.Canale, who was an assistant coach with Canada&rsquo;s national junior team this year, spent three seasons with Chicoutimi. In 1990-91, he was named Canadian Hockey League coach of the year after leading the Sagueneens to the QMJHL championship for the only time in their 20-year existence.This season the Sagueneens finished fourth in the Dilio Division with a 38-29-3 record and were swept by the Sherbrooke Faucons in the quarterfinals. Canale said he&rsquo;ll look for another coaching job.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-03211/6176863-1-eng-US/f0021-032.jpg" title="f0021-03" width="916" height="245"></div>HIGHLIGHTS (APRIL 19 TO 25): Sherbrooke beat Hull 7-2 to win their semifinal series 4-2 despite strong performances from HuH&rsquo;s Pierre-Francois Lalonde. Jim Campbell and Paul Brousseau. Laval swept Drummondville in the other series to extend its unbeaten streak to eight games. The top two teams during the season square off in the final. Sherbrooke has home-ice advantage which could be trouble for Laval since the Faucons are unbeaten In 22 games at home. However, Laval is on a 13-game winning streak and has won its last six road games.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-01735/6176856-1-eng-US/f0021-012.jpg" title="f0021-01" width="565" height="656"><figcaption class="caption-body">Draft-eligible Benoit Larose is the league&rsquo;s top defenseman.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-03

Top rearguard felled by burst vessel

<div class="byline">By Vance Oliver</div>Kamloops Blazers&rsquo; defenseman David Wilkie&rsquo;s season may be over, but his career isn&rsquo;t.The first-round pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 1992 sustained his fourth concussion of the season April 9 in Game 1 of the West Division semifinal against the Spokane Chiefs. No damage was round, but doctors recommended Wilkie take four months off to prevent any additional trauma to the brain.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s more preventative than anything else,&rdquo; said Blazers&rsquo; general manager Bob Brown. &ldquo;Just a little jiggle and (the concussions) could re-occur quicker because it doesn&rsquo;t have time to heal.&rdquo;Wilkie, 18, signed a four-year contract with the Canadiens last November worth an estimated $1.1 million. He had 11 goals and 39 points in 50 games this season and four goals and six points in five playoff games.The Blazers also lost starting goalie Steve Passmore April 9. Passmore was pulled at 7:23 of the second period in Game 1 against the Chiefs because he became ill.At first, team officials thought it was the flu, but doctors diagnosed Passmore&rsquo;s ailment as a mild case of mononucleosis.END TO RUMORS: The Regina Pats&rsquo; playoff run may have put an end to rumors the team is listed on the real estate market.Bill Hicke, coach-GM and part-owner, spent most of the season denying the team was for sale. But when the Pats averaged fewer than 3,000 fans tor their first two playoff games in their quarterfinal series against the Lethbridge Hurricanes, the rumor mill began churning again.Three unidentified groups made overtures toward buying the team this season. A successful playoff run, however, will likely keep the Pats in the hands of Hicke and his partners.A franchise-record 6,717 fans showed up at the Agridome April 18 for Game 2 of the East Division final against the Swift Current Broncos.&ldquo;It proved once and for all there are a lot of hockey fans in Regina,&rdquo; Hicke said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re like any other hockey fans. They want to see a winner.&rdquo;RAIDERS OF THE LOST SEASON: The Prince Albert Raiders descent from first to last in the East Division this season represented their first last-place finish since they entered the league as an expansion team in 1982-83.The Raiders&rsquo; 55 points was also their lowest total since that season, when they earned 33.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-04150/6176901-1-eng-US/f0021-042.jpg" title="f0021-04" width="911" height="397"></div>HIGHLIGHTS (APRIL 19 TO 25): Trent McCleary notched the overtime winner to lift Swift Current to a series clinching 7-6 win over Regina. Portland needed five games to oust defending Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Defenseman Jason Werner&rsquo;s second-period goal was decisive.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-02398/6176894-1-eng-US/f0021-022.jpg" title="f0021-02" width="565" height="656"><figcaption class="caption-body">A fourth concussion put an end to David Wilkie&rsquo;s season.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0021-04

Concussions put Wilkie’s career on hold

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>Fred Brathwaite didn&rsquo;t see the puck go in the net, but he figured by the mobbing he was getting, he&rsquo;d scored.The Detroit Jr. Red Wings&rsquo; goaltender is the first goalie to score a goal in the Ontario League playoffs.His rink-length goal came with four seconds left and the Sault Ste. Marie net empty as the Jr. Wings defeated the Greyhounds 5-2 in Game 3 March 20 at Joe Louis Arena.It&rsquo;s the fourth time a goalie has scored in the OHL and the seventh in the Canadian Hockey League. The others: Chris Clifford. with the Kingston Canadians, Jan. 7, 1986; Jason Houle, North Bay Centennials, Sept. 25, 1988; Olaf Kolzig, Tri-City Americans, Nov. 29, 1989; Chris Osgood, Medicine Hat Tigers, Jan. 3, 1991; Peter McGlynn, Kingston Frontenacs, Oct. 11, 1991; Jeff Calvert, Tacoma Rockets, Dec. 29, 1992.Brathwaite was a double hero that night. He stopped 41 shots as the Jr. Wings ended the Greyhounds&rsquo; 17-game winning streak. They had gone unbeaten in 19 games.Brathwaitc, an overager who works on his shot every day at practice, made two other attempts at the empty net.&ldquo;I was watching and watching, hoping it would go in,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Then Todd Harvey was in my face and everyone mauled me and I didn&rsquo;t even see it go in.&rdquo;.MONEY PENNEY: Sault Ste. Marie left winger Chad Penney signed one of the most lucrative contracts ever for an NHL second-round draft pick. Penney signed with the Ottawa Senators on April 20.The contract could net Penney $660,000 over three years. The signing bonus is $225,000. The salary breakdown: $190,000, $210,000 and $230,000 in the NHL; $45,000, $50,000 and $50 000 in the minorsRUN FOR THE BORDER: The OHL has seven players on a CHL all-star team making a goodwill trip to Mexico City with a U.S. college all-star team May 10-14. The teams will put on a series of demonstrations and games to open a new arena.The CHL decided its team would consist of 19- and 20-year-olds who didn&rsquo;t play on the national team &ldquo;for a bit of a thank you for their years of playing in the CHL,&rdquo; said OHL commissioner Dave Branch.The players are: center Jim Brown, left winger Andrew Brunette and defenseman Scott Walker of the Owen Sound Platers, right winger Kevin Brown of the Niagara Falls Thunder, defenseman Mark DeSantis of the Newmarket Royals, center Rod Hinks of the Sudbury Wolves and right winger Scott Hollis of the Oshawa GeneralsAWARD WINNERS: The final three league awards were announced: Detroit center Pat Peake won the Red Tilson Trophy as most outstanding player; Jr. Wings&rsquo; general manager Jim Rutherford, executive of the year; Kitchener Rangers&rsquo; Tim Spitzig right winger, scholastic player of the year.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0021-05124/6176932-1-eng-US/f0021-052.jpg" title="f0021-05" width="927" height="397"></div>HIGHLIGHTS (APRIL 19 TO 25): Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Peterborough Petes play for bragging rights after winning division titles. The Petes are assured of being in the Memorial Cup as the OHUs second entry. The Hounds made it eartlier as hosts, beating the Petes in the Super Series. &#9632;

f0021-05

Brathwaite’s shot sets league first

<div class="byline">By Dave Eminian</div>The San Diego Gulls took to studying films of Peoria Rivermen rookie goaltender Geoff Sarjeant after he played brilliantly in the first two games of their International League quarterfinal series.No doubt those re-runs the powerhouse Gulls watched could serve as a remake of the horror classic The Birds. To be sure, these birds swarmed around Sarjcant, firing 98 shots.But the rookie from Michigan Tech responded with a .938 save percentage as San Diego squeezed out two tight victories 5-3, April 16 and 3-1 April 17. They scored empty-net goals both nights.&ldquo;I knew they would come out strong, but 1 never thought it would be like that,&rdquo; said Sarjcant, after making 51 saves in Game 2, which started out with 12 pointblank chances in the first 3:30 of the game. &ldquo;It was the greatest game of my life.&rdquo;The Gulls, who served notice to future opponents to expect a tidal wave of shots, took notice of this unheralded rookie, too.&ldquo;He played a helluva game, stood on his head (in Game 2),&rdquo; said San Diego winger Scott Arniel, who scored twice in Game 1.The teams were tied or separated by no more than one goal for all but 34 seconds in the first two matches.&ldquo;I was still a little intimidated by the Gulls coming into this series,&rdquo; said Sarjcant, 23, a supplemental draft pick of the St. Louis Blues in 1990. &ldquo;They are so powerful, if you aren&rsquo;t on top of your game they&rsquo;ll pump seven past you.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s exactly what happened in Game 3 April 20 when San Diego drilled Peoria 7-2.It was the worst home playoff loss in Peoria history. The Gulls were awarded 12 power-play opportunities.It didn&rsquo;t get much better for the Rivermen in Game 4. San Diego clinched a sweep of the series with a 5-4 win April 22.Sargeant was recalled by the Blues after the final game.HONOR ROLL: The league doled out several awards as the playoffs began, including naming its first- and second-team all-stars for 1992-93.San Diego earned a league-high five all-star spots in voting conducted among the league&rsquo;s 12 coaches.The first team: goalie, Rick Knickle(San Diego); defensemen, Bill Houlder (San Diego) and Shawn Evans (Milwaukee Admirals); left winger, Brad Lauer (Indianapolis Ice); center, Tony Hrkac (Indianapolis); right winger Daniel Shank (San Diego).The second team: goalie, Wade Flaherty (Kansas City Blades); defensemen. Dale DeGray (San Diego) and Kevin Wortman (Salt Lake Golden Eagles); left winger, Dave Michayluk (Cleveland Lumberjacks); center, Hubie McDonough (San Diego); right winger, Jeff Madill (Milwaukee).The IHL also named Hrkac, the league scoring champion, its regular-season MVP. Hrkac finished the season with 45 goals and 132 points in 80 games.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01864/6176963-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="778" height="159"></div>PLAYOFF HIGHLIGHTS (APRIL 19 TO 26): San Diego got nine points from 36-year-old John Anderson-tied for the series best-to hand Peoria only its second playoff sweep in franchise history. The Rtvermen scored first in every game.. Dale Craig-well&rsquo;s goal at 8:45 of double-overtime in Game 4 gave Kansas City a 3-1 series lead, but the Admirals won Game 5 to take the series back to Milwaukee. Admirals&rsquo; super center Michel Mongeau had one goal, four assists in three games after rejoining the team on loan from the Quebec Nordiques&hellip;Jock Callander&rsquo;s six-goal, four-assist series effort helped Atlanta &#9632;

f0022-01

Red-hot rookie Sarjeant battles Gulls to no avail

<div class="byline">By Nick Gates</div>Toledo Storm left winger Rick Judson overcame a lackluster training camp and November illness to become a hometown hero.Judson, a graduate of Toledo&rsquo;s Bedford High School, scored seven goals and collected 23 points to spark the Storm to its first East Coast League championship.Toledo defeated the Wheeling Thunderbirds 4-2 in the best-of-seven final to win the Riley Cup. Judson, 23, was chosen the most valuable player of the playoffs.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always believed in hard work,&rdquo; Judson said. &ldquo;In the playoffs, I&rsquo;ve had some good bounces. Things just started coming together.&rdquo;That wasn&rsquo;t always the case for the University of Illinois-Chicago product.He contacted mononucleosis, which sapped his strength and stamina early in the season. He also sustained a broken nose.But he kept playing and developed into one of the Storm&rsquo;s best players.&ldquo;There is no doubt he was our most-improved player,&rdquo; said Storm coach Chris Mc-Sorley. &ldquo;He killed penalties and played the power play. He really doesn&rsquo;t have a position. Anywhere on the ice where he&rsquo;s needed.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Toledo rode its power play to the Riley Cup. The Storm converted 31 of 88 manpower advantages for 35.2 per-cent success rate&hellip;Wheeling, whose special teams were among the league&rsquo;s best during the regular season, suffered a post-season slump. The T-Birds killed a league-worst 70.5 per cent of penalties, allowing 23 goals in 78 tries. &#9632;

Judson weathers Storm, leads Toledo to crown

<div class="byline">By Brendan Savage</div>The Brantford Smoke left no doubt it was the best Colonial League team this season.After winning the regular-season crown with 81 points, the Smoke captured its first Colonial Cup by beating the St. Thomas Wildcats 4-1 in the best-of-seven championship series.Former NHL goalie Rollie Melanson, who won three Stanley Cups with the New York Islanders, was named playoff MVP after registering a 3.55 goals-against average in 15 games.&ldquo;Rollie played well,&rdquo; Brantford general manager Don Robertson said. &ldquo;The St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs sent Guy Lehoux and Greg Walters back to us and that was a boost.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Regular-season scoring leader Len Soccio of St. Thomas was the playoff scoring champ with 10 goals and 31 points in 15 games&hellip;Brantford&rsquo;s Sasha Lakovic was suspended 20 games by commissioner Bob Myers after leaving the penalty box to fight before pushing referee Dave Cassidy in Game 1 of the finals. Lakovic, whose rights were traded from Brantford back to the Chatham Wheels after the series ended, will serve 16 games next season.Thunder Bay Thunder Hawks&rsquo; assistant coach Larry Wintoneak and five players were fined for going into the stands in St. Thomas after a fan spit in Wintoneak&rsquo;s face during the playoffs. Wintoneak was fined $1,000 and Brian Wells, (Mel Angelstad, Tom Warden. Gerry St. Cyr and Marc Labelle were fined $100 each.Myers said the CHL governors hope to meet to discuss expansion. The league wants to add three teams next year, bringing the total to 10. The front-runners are St. Paul, Minn., Green Bay, Wise., Fargo, N.D., and Port Huron, Mich. &#9632;

Brantford captures title after the Smoke clears

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzlja</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0022-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-02597/6177042-1-eng-US/f0022-022.jpg"></div>The battle to bring pro hockey to Charlottetown, P.E.I., has been a long one. but local backers never gave up. Even after five failed attempts in three years.The first talks were with the Montreal Canadiens, who left Sherbrooke, Que., after the 1989-90 season. But the Charlottetown group lost out to Fredericton, N.B.There were then discussions with the New York Islanders, who were leaving Springfield, Mass., after that same season. Troy, N.Y., was the winner that time.The Hartford Whalers, who then left Binghamton, N.Y., that same season, were next, but they chose Springfield.The most serious negotiations took place in 1991 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were moving from New market, Ont. But St. John&rsquo;s, Nfld. won the bidding war.Maine Manners owner Ed Anderson toured Charlottetown last season when he decided to leave Portland. But he chose Providence, R.I., and ended up with the second-highest attendance in AHL history this season (371,162).When the Ottawa Senators announced they had purchased the New Haven Senators from Peter Shipman and would move the franchise to a Canadian city, the Charlottetown group again went to work.Ottawa announced April 14 the AHL is heading to P.E.I., becoming the province&rsquo;s first pro sports team. Don MacAdam, who coached New Haven, will return to his native province as coach.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m exhausted but I can&rsquo;t wait for the first puck to be dropped,&rdquo; said Ian Moore, a veterinarian and head of the local group of investors.&ldquo;All our efforts were focused on one team and that was the Ottawa Senators. They appear to be an organization that knows where they&rsquo;re going.&rdquo;The Prince Edward Island Senators will begin play next season, subject to formal approval by the league&rsquo;s board of governors. The New Haven Senators averaged a league-low 1,926 fans this season. They finished with a 22-47-11 record and finished last in the Northern Division, nine points out of a playoff spot.The Charlottetown group has pledges for 1,250 season tickets and the goal is to have 1,500 this spring. The Charlottetown Civic Centre seats about 3,550, with another 115 standing-room tickets.DEVILISH FIGHT: A group of Utica business people has launched a season ticket drive-dubbed Pro Hockey and Proud-in the hopes of keeping its affiliation with the New Jersey Devils.New Jersey has not said where its AHL affiliate will play next season There has been no announcement thal it will leave Utica, its home for six seasons, but it is known the Devils have investigated a possible move.Pro Hockey and Proud is attempting to raise the season-ticket base from the 696 this season to 2,000.<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2>PLAYOFF HIGHLIGHTS (APRIL 20 TO 26): The Springfield Indians completed their shocking first-round upset of the Northern Division-champion Providence Bruins. Scott Daniels scored the winning goal in Game 6, a 4-3 victory for the Indians, who finished 30 points behind the Bruins in the regular season&hellip;Adirondack goaltender Allan Bester allowed only six goals in tour games and had a save percentage of .949 as the Red Wings swept Capital District&hellip;The Cape Breton Oilers finished off the Fredericton Canadiens for the first playoff series victory in franchise history&hellip;The Utica Devils still haven&rsquo;t won a playoff series in tour tries after being eliminated in five games by the Rochester Americans&hellip;Cape Breton&rsquo;s Bill McDougall led the league in playoff scoring with seven goals and 15 points in five games. &#9632;

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Persistence Pays off as hockey arrives in Charlottetown

CALL TOLL FREE NOWTO SUBSCRIBE The Hockey NewsCALL 1-800-268-7793NHL STATISTICS THROUGH GAMES OF SUNDAY, APRIL 25/93.<h2>PRINCE OF WALES CONFERENCE</h2><h3>ADAMS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-01769/6177346-1-eng-US/f0023-012.jpg" title="f0023-01" width="714" height="500"></div><h3>PATRICK DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-02489/6177339-1-eng-US/f0023-022.jpg" title="f0023-02" width="718" height="652"></div><h3>TOP SCORERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-03338/6177332-1-eng-US/f0023-032.jpg" title="f0023-03" width="476" height="469"></div><h3>TOP DEFENSEMEN</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-04243/6177325-1-eng-US/f0023-042.jpg" title="f0023-04" width="473" height="61"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-05201/6177318-1-eng-US/f0023-052.jpg" title="f0023-05" width="468" height="203"></div><h3>TOP ROOKIES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-06171/6177311-1-eng-US/f0023-062.jpg" title="f0023-06" width="472" height="419"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1361/6177304-1-eng-US/f0023-132.jpg" title="f0023-13" width="1428" height="1473"><figcaption class="caption-body">Curtis Joseph recorded back-to-back shutouts as St. Louis swept Chicago in four games.</figcaption></div><h3>LEADERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-07152/6177297-1-eng-US/f0023-072.jpg" title="f0023-07" width="856" height="608"></div><h2>CLARENCE CAMPBELL CONFERENCE</h2><h3>NORRIS DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-08136/6177290-1-eng-US/f0023-082.jpg" title="f0023-08" width="713" height="511"></div><h3>SMYTHE DIVISION</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-09114/6177283-1-eng-US/f0023-092.jpg" title="f0023-09" width="725" height="667"></div><h3>TEAM PENALTIES</h3>PIM-TOTAL PENALTY MINUTES INCLUDING (BMI) BENCH PENALTY MINUTES; AVG-AVERAGE PFNAI TY MlNUTES PFR GAME.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-10102/6177276-1-eng-US/f0023-102.jpg" title="f0023-10" width="330" height="460"></div><h3>POWER PLAY</h3>ADV-TOTAL ADVANTAGES: PPG-POWER-PLAY GOALS; PCT-POWER-PLAY GOALS DIVIDED BY TOTAL ADVANTAGES<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1187/6177269-1-eng-US/f0023-112.jpg" title="f0023-11" width="351" height="458"></div><h3>PENALTY KILLING</h3>TSH-TOTAL TIMES SHORTHANDED; PPGA-POWER-PLAY GOALS ALLOWED; PCT-PENALTY-KILLING PFRCENTAGE.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1273/6177262-1-eng-US/f0023-122.jpg" title="f0023-12" width="353" height="465"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1453/6177255-1-eng-US/f0023-142.jpg" title="f0023-14" width="364" height="425"></div>Get the Inside Scoop on the NHL; Get Inside HOCKEYCall 1-800-268-7793 Now! to Subscribe<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0023-1544/6177248-1-eng-US/f0023-152.jpg" title="f0023-15" width="370" height="434"></div>KEY TO ABBREVIATIONSStatistics provided by National Hockey League; NO.&mdash;uniform number; GP&mdash;games played; G&mdash;goals; A&mdash;assists; P&mdash;points; +/&mdash;plus&mdash;minus; PM&mdash;penalties in minutes; PP&mdash;power&mdash;play goals; SH&mdash;short&mdash;hand goals; GW&mdash;game&mdash;winning goals; S&mdash;shots on goal; PCT&mdash;shooting percentage. Players indicated by an asterisk (&rsquo;) are eligible for the Calder Trophy.<h3>BOSTON BRUINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01840/6177241-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg" title="f0024-01" width="959" height="620"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1188/6177234-1-eng-US/f0024-112.jpg" title="f0024-11" width="938" height="1210"><figcaption class="caption-body">Adam Oates&rsquo; nine assists weren&rsquo;t enough to keep the Bruins from being swept four straight by the Sabres.</figcaption></div><h3>BUFFALO SABRES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-02564/6177227-1-eng-US/f0024-022.jpg" title="f0024-02" width="956" height="381"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-03363/6177220-1-eng-US/f0024-032.jpg" title="f0024-03" width="949" height="224"></div><h3>CALGARY FLAMES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-04226/6177213-1-eng-US/f0024-042.jpg" title="f0024-04" width="974" height="567"></div><h3>CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-05165/6177206-1-eng-US/f0024-052.jpg" title="f0024-05" width="958" height="594"></div><h3>DETROIT RED WINGS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-06137/6177199-1-eng-US/f0024-062.jpg" title="f0024-06" width="960" height="562"></div><h3>LOS ANGELES KINGS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-07115/6177192-1-eng-US/f0024-072.jpg" title="f0024-07" width="949" height="459"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-08107/6177185-1-eng-US/f0024-082.jpg" title="f0024-08" width="949" height="150"></div><h3>MONTREAL CANADIENS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-0998/6177178-1-eng-US/f0024-092.jpg" title="f0024-09" width="963" height="647"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1280/6177171-1-eng-US/f0024-122.jpg" title="f0024-12" width="936" height="1209"><figcaption class="caption-body">Tommy Albelin had the winning goal as the Devils avoided a sweep by Pittsburgh with a 4-1 win April 25.</figcaption></div><h3>NEW JERSEY DEVILS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1090/6177164-1-eng-US/f0024-102.jpg" title="f0024-10" width="953" height="485"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01746/6177157-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg" title="f0025-01" width="943" height="113"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1367/6177150-1-eng-US/f0024-132.jpg" title="f0024-13" width="339" height="442"></div>This Month in Inside HOCKEY:* THE BEST: A CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE ** MONTREAL&rsquo;S MATT SCHNEIDER COMES OF AGE ** MIKE UERNON: IS HE FINALLY SAFE AT HOME? *<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-1458/6177143-1-eng-US/f0024-142.jpg" title="f0024-14" width="339" height="442"></div><h3>NEW YORK ISLANDERS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02474/6177136-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="947" height="565"></div><h3>PITTSBURGH PENGUINS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03300/6177129-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="950" height="565"></div><h3>QUEBEC NORDIQUES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-04188/6177122-1-eng-US/f0025-042.jpg" title="f0025-04" width="941" height="295"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-05149/6177115-1-eng-US/f0025-052.jpg" title="f0025-05" width="938" height="318"></div><h3>ST. LOUIS BLUES</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-06125/6177108-1-eng-US/f0025-062.jpg" title="f0025-06" width="936" height="529"></div><h3>TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-07114/6177101-1-eng-US/f0025-072.jpg" title="f0025-07" width="947" height="607"></div><h3>VANCOUVER CANUCKS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-08102/6177094-1-eng-US/f0025-082.jpg" title="f0025-08" width="936" height="91"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-0989/6177087-1-eng-US/f0025-092.jpg" title="f0025-09" width="937" height="505"></div><h3>WASHINGTON CAPITALS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1072/6177080-1-eng-US/f0025-102.jpg" title="f0025-10" width="941" height="539"></div><h3>WINNIPEG JETS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1163/6177073-1-eng-US/f0025-112.jpg" title="f0025-11" width="944" height="587"></div> &#9632;

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NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONSStatistics provided by National Hockey League; GP&mdash;games played; MIN&mdash;minutes played; GAA&mdash;goals-against average; W&mdash;wins; L&mdash;losses; ENG&mdash;empty-net goals; SO&mdash;shutouts; GA&mdash;goals against; SA&mdash;shots against; SV%&mdash;save percentage. Players indicated by an asterisk (*) are eligible for the Calder Trophy.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1253/6177398-1-eng-US/f0025-122.jpg" title="f0025-12" width="938" height="485"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1347/6177391-1-eng-US/f0025-132.jpg" title="f0025-13" width="939" height="757"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1444/6177384-1-eng-US/f0025-142.jpg" title="f0025-14" width="933" height="235"></div><h2>LEADERS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1539/6177377-1-eng-US/f0025-152.jpg" title="f0025-15" width="933" height="413"></div> &#9632;

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NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1634/6177436-1-eng-US/f0025-162.jpg" title="f0025-16" width="315" height="270"></div>Rick Tabaracci has emerged from the fog that was enveloping his career. The 23-year-old Toronto native spent the past three seasons wondering if he&mdash;d ever get a shot at becoming a No. I goaltender in the NHL. Well, thanks to the Washington Capitals, he&mdash;s getting his chance. The Capitals dealt backup goalie Jim Hrivnak to the Winnipeg Jets for Tabaracci March 19 and he performed well down the stretch. Tabaracci&mdash;s 3-2-0 record and 1.75 goals-against average since the trade earned him the starting assignment in the playoffs. He has performed admirably. &ldquo;I&mdash;m just glad to be finally getting a chance,&rdquo; he said.Official Sponsor of The Hockey News &ldquo;NHL Goalie of the Year Award&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-1729/6177429-1-eng-US/f0025-172.jpg" title="f0025-17" width="570" height="571"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rick Taboracci</figcaption></div> &#9632;

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THE UPPER DECK COMPANY™ PRESENTS GOAUE PROFILE OF THE WEEK:

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NHL SUMMARIES

<h2>QMJHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01794/6178009-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="576" height="1447"></div><h2>OHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-02533/6178002-1-eng-US/f0028-022.jpg" title="f0028-02" width="571" height="1627"></div><h2>WHL</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-03376/6177995-1-eng-US/f0028-032.jpg" title="f0028-03" width="583" height="2049"></div><h2>WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-04266/6177988-1-eng-US/f0028-042.jpg" title="f0028-04" width="567" height="949"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-05210/6177981-1-eng-US/f0028-052.jpg" title="f0028-05" width="573" height="1971"></div> &#9632;

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SCOREBOARD

GET ALL THE FACTS - FAST - FROM NORTH AMERICA&rsquo;S PREMIERE SOURCE FOR HOCKEY NEWS CALL 1-800-268-7793 Now! To SUBSCRIBE<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01690/6178152-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="593" height="2702"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02450/6178145-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg" title="f0029-02" width="546" height="491"></div><h2>TEAM-BY-TEAM</h2><h3>ADIRONDACK</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-03286/6178138-1-eng-US/f0029-032.jpg" title="f0029-03" width="578" height="626"></div><h3>BALTIMORE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-04202/6178131-1-eng-US/f0029-042.jpg" title="f0029-04" width="559" height="629"></div><h3>BINGHAMTON</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-05176/6178124-1-eng-US/f0029-052.jpg" title="f0029-05" width="572" height="646"></div><h3>CAPE BRETON</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-06143/6178117-1-eng-US/f0029-062.jpg" title="f0029-06" width="572" height="628"></div><h3>CAPITAL DISTRICT</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-07118/6178110-1-eng-US/f0029-072.jpg" title="f0029-07" width="569" height="655"></div><h3>FREDERICTON</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-08102/6178103-1-eng-US/f0029-082.jpg" title="f0029-08" width="564" height="683"></div><h3>MONCTON</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-0994/6178096-1-eng-US/f0029-092.jpg" title="f0029-09" width="557" height="483"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1085/6178089-1-eng-US/f0029-102.jpg" title="f0029-10" width="555" height="149"></div><h3>PROVIDENCE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1180/6178082-1-eng-US/f0029-112.jpg" title="f0029-11" width="565" height="686"></div><h3>ROCHESTER</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1273/6178075-1-eng-US/f0029-122.jpg" title="f0029-12" width="563" height="682"></div><h3>SPRINGFIELD</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1362/6178068-1-eng-US/f0029-132.jpg" title="f0029-13" width="568" height="713"></div><h3>ST. JOHN&rsquo;S</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1458/6178061-1-eng-US/f0029-142.jpg" title="f0029-14" width="556" height="224"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1552/6178054-1-eng-US/f0029-152.jpg" title="f0029-15" width="558" height="402"></div><h3>UTICA</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1649/6178047-1-eng-US/f0029-162.jpg" title="f0029-16" width="568" height="660"></div><h3>GOALTENDING</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-1746/6178040-1-eng-US/f0029-172.jpg" title="f0029-17" width="583" height="1552"></div> &#9632;

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

<h2>PLAYOFFS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01790/6178288-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="586" height="2051"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02532/6178281-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="561" height="323"></div><h2>TEAM-BY-TEAM</h2><h3>ATLANTA</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03361/6178274-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="573" height="608"></div><h3>CLEVELAND</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04251/6178267-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="574" height="663"></div><h3>FORT WAYNE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05179/6178260-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="562" height="164"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06142/6178253-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="561" height="454"></div><h3>INDIANAPOLIS</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-07118/6178246-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="572" height="585"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-08108/6178239-1-eng-US/f0030-082.jpg" title="f0030-08" width="538" height="694"><figcaption class="caption-body">Ray Whitney</figcaption></div><h3>KANSAS CITY</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-0996/6178232-1-eng-US/f0030-092.jpg" title="f0030-09" width="558" height="189"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1085/6178225-1-eng-US/f0030-102.jpg" title="f0030-10" width="561" height="452"></div><h3>MILWAUKEE</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1178/6178218-1-eng-US/f0030-112.jpg" title="f0030-11" width="570" height="658"></div><h3>PEORIA</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1272/6178211-1-eng-US/f0030-122.jpg" title="f0030-12" width="568" height="559"></div><h3>SAN DIEGO</h3><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1368/6178204-1-eng-US/f0030-132.jpg" title="f0030-13" width="559" height="215"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1463/6178197-1-eng-US/f0030-142.jpg" title="f0030-14" width="571" height="299"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1561/6178190-1-eng-US/f0030-152.jpg" title="f0030-15" width="543" height="697"><figcaption class="caption-body">Daniel Shank</figcaption></div><h2>GOALTENDING</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-1649/6178183-1-eng-US/f0030-162.jpg" title="f0030-16" width="566" height="991"></div> &#9632;

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INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div>A plethora of points to ponder during the playoffs.&#8266;If ABC-TV thinks it&rsquo;s going to win new fans with creative NHL coverage, it has another think comingbased on its telecast of Game 1 of the Pittsburgh Penguins-New Jersey Devils series. Cameras appeared to be located somewhere on Venus and stickhandlers looked more like bedbugs than hockey players.&#8266; The Penguins&rsquo; core offense-Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens, Rick Tocchet, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis and Joe Mullen-is better than the five-time Cup-winning (1956-60) Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; sextet of Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore, Bemie Geoffrion, Bert Olmstead and Maurice and Henri Richard.&#8266; Don&rsquo;t be fooled; the quick hiring of Mike Keenan by the New York Rangers was done for two reasons. Paramount Communications blew $5 million on their darling Rangers and faced a mass exodus of season-ticket holders if something wasn&rsquo;t done. Hiring Keenan, pronto, was the only way to stop the fiscal blood loss.&#8266; With former New York Islanders&rsquo; general manager Bill Torrey becoming president of the Florida Panthers, it is now official: the infant Panthers will win the Stanley Cup before the Rangers.&#8266; It&rsquo;s not on any secret NHL agenda yet, but the governors had better keep an Argus eye on the International League. The T has enough major markets (Phoenix, Kansas City, and Milwaukee) and enough rich, itchy owners to make a World Hockey Association-type move and take on the big fellas.&#8266; Easily the best most-underrated-at-the-deadline-trade belongs to Washington Capitals&rsquo; GM David Poile for obtaining Rick Tabaracci for Jim Hrivnak.&#8266; Since Bettman & Co., is hellbent on developing a cult of NHL personality, it ought to make certain Paul Stewart gets to officiate the Stanley Cup finals.&#8266; Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; GM Mike Smith does a lot of talking, about 75 per cent of which is comprehensible.&#8266; When the Boston Bruins lose, it&rsquo;s because of Brian Sutter-inspired dissension and when they win, it&rsquo;s because Brian is such a determined disciplinarian.&#8266; Nothing against Chris Chelios, Ray Bourque or Kevin Hatcher, but my April nomination for the Norris Trophy is Larry Murphy.&#8266; 1 haven&rsquo;t found a good reason why Bill Dineen shouldn&rsquo;t be rehired as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01691/6178326-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="365" height="514"></div>&#8266; I still miss Charlie Bourgeois a whole lot, but I&rsquo;m getting to like Jeff Odgers, big-time.&#8266; Believe it or not, there remains a large group of fans who care about the following so, as a public service, here is the updated list of five best NHL fighters: 1. Bob Probert; 2. Craig Berube; 3. Marty McSorley; 4. Stu Grimson; 5. Tony Twist.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02473/6178319-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="554" height="818"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bob Probert</figcaption></div>&#8266; My odds on a strike next fall are 10:1 against. Odds on a salary cap. 15:1 against.&#8266; I&rsquo;m getting tired of waiting for Adam Creighton to get his act together. I suspect Tampa Bay Lightning GM Phil Esposito feels likewise.&#8266; If Kelly Miller of the Capitals had a good press agent, he&rsquo;d win the Selke Trophy as the league&rsquo;s best defensive forward.&#8266; The best fourth-line addition any team made in 1992-93 was Pittsburgh&rsquo;s acquisition of Dave Tippett.&#8266; Here&rsquo;s why hockey is truly indecipherable: the Buffalo Sabres close the regular season like superklutzes and open the playoffs like Supermen.&#8266; When you talk about scapegoats don&rsquo;t move past George Kingston, formerly of the San Jose Sharks. What do you figure Scotty Bowman would have done with the Sharks, maybe 12-68-4?&#8266; The least-noticed-most-improved-defenseman title belongs to Dennis Vaske of the New York Islanders.&#8266; Why do critics dump on Tim Cheveldae of the Detroit Red Wings so often and so unfairly? He&rsquo;s a decent enough goalie with a not-so-terrific defense. &#9632;

f0033-01

Panthers will win before Rangers

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>It has been a truly remarkable year in the world of sports. Charlie Brown hit a home run and Gerry Meehan won a playoff series.Peanuts creator Charles Schulz recently ended 42 years of frustration for the world&rsquo;s most lovable loser when Charlie Brown tagged Roy Hobbs&rsquo; great granddaughter for a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning for his first win ever.The ignominy for the NHL&rsquo;s version of Charlie Brown has not been as long, but it has been just as painful. As a player, Meehan was a 10-year journeyman who played for six bad teams. Two of them made the playoffs, but never got out of the first round.Like their general manager, the Buffalo Sabres hadn&rsquo;t seen the second round in 10 years. But when they completed a sweep of the Boston Bruins in the Adams Division semifinal with a thrilling 6-5 overtime win April 24 in Buffalo, Meehan finally realized what it feels like to be a winner.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just unbelievable. This is the greatest thing that has happened to our team and our city in a long time,&rdquo; Meehan said. &ldquo;Everything we&rsquo;ve done over the past couple of years has been in anticipation of this moment.&rdquo;Meehan, who joined the Sabres as an assistant GM in 1984 and replaced Scotty Bowman as GM in 1987, had the most to lose from another first round loss. The Sabres changed players and coaches and hadn&rsquo;t won, so Meehan would have been the next to go. Going into the playoffs, Meehan&rsquo;s acquisition of Grant Fuhr for Dave Andreychuk, Daren Puppa and a first-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs was being second guessed. But Fuhr bailed out the Sabres&rsquo; porous defense and provided the margin of victory in a series that included three overtime games.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll never be unemployed, I&rsquo;m a lawyer,&rdquo; Meehan said. &ldquo;But the one thing I want to say is that those so-called critics are not pro hockey people, they don&rsquo;t know the game. We needed goaltending and leadership and Grant gave us both of those so yes, dammit, it was a great move.&rdquo;The Sabres seemed to have all the right moves in the series, the first time in six tries they&rsquo;ve been able to beat the Bruins. To compare this year&rsquo;s team to others that have failed would be unfair, but the spectre of another first-round loss weighed heavily on them.&ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t manufacture this thing, but we did inherit it,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; coach John Muckier. &ldquo;Every time we&rsquo;d go in a slump or have a bad game you&rsquo;d see it in the paper or on TV. People would say, &lsquo;Here we go again. They&rsquo;re going to lose in the first round.&rsquo; Well, this time we didn&rsquo;t.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03346/6178357-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="935" height="1371"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brad May&rsquo;s series winner put the Sabres in the second round.</figcaption></div>The present, just as much as the past, had most people believing a snowball had a better chance in Hades than the Sabres had in the playoffs. Cemented in fourth place in March, the Sabres were winless in their last seven games, while the Bruins went 18-3-0 heading into the playoffs. The Sabres finished with 86 points, 23 fewer than the Bruins.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re an underachieving club&rdquo; said left winger Brad May, whose highlight reel goal in overtime clinched the series. &ldquo;People doubted us and we gave them good reason to. We lost games in the regular season that were silly. But we learned from it and that&rsquo;s what winning teams do.&rdquo;Winning teams also come up with the puck in the comers, beat out icing calls and win crucial faceoffs, things the Sabres did throughout the series. Alexander Mogilny had six goals in the series, most of them the product of his blinding speed.And Buffalo had Bob Sweeney, a utility forward picked up by the Sabres after being placed on waivers by the Bruins in October. Sweeney, from Concord, Mass., scored twice in the series, including the overtime winner in a 5-4 win in Game 1.&ldquo;The Bruins didn&rsquo;t even think about us. All they thought about was their matchup with Pittsburgh and shame on them from doing so,&rdquo; Sweeney said. &ldquo;The thing that makes me feel that much better is that they got nothing in return for me. That&rsquo;s the ultimate revenge.&rdquo;For May, the series was sealed with a kiss. Just after the Sabres tied the score after being down 52 in Game 4, the fans littered the ice with debris and May picked up a quarter and gave it to the trainer.&ldquo;I had a feeling that would be my lucky quarter,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;And then I kissed my stick just before the overtime shift. I used to do that a lot when I was a cocky junior guy.&rdquo;Going into the playoffs, the Bruins had made it out of the Adams Division three straight years, including one trip to the Stanley Cup final. Much of the reason for their success was the play of goalie Andy Moog.But in the first minute of the first game, Moog misplayed the puck and allowed an easy goal that gave the Sabres a lead. He was pulled from Game 2 and watched Game 3 from the bench. He finished the series with a career-worst 5.22 goals-against average.Bruins&rsquo; GM Harry Sinden pointed to the last two games of the season against the Ottawa Senators as the foundation of the demise.&ldquo;In those games, they got away from everything Brian (coach Sutter) and Tom (assistant coach McVie) taught them,&rdquo; Sinden said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t like the week we had, I didn&rsquo;t like our team, I didn&rsquo;t like our attitude. I told the guys they had lost their edge. If you&rsquo;re looking for a reason why we lost the series, I just gave it to you.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0033-03

Boston Buffaloed

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div>If it&rsquo;s true misfortune comes in threes, Mathieu Schneider must shudder to think about what could possibly go wrong at his wedding.Schneider, the Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; best defenseman this season, had his season come to a crashing halt April 18, during the opening game of the Adams Division semifinal against the Quebec Nordiques.Schneider was taken into the boards by Claude Lapointe, the Nordiques&rsquo; pesky center, and sustained a separated right shoulder. The hit, however, created some open ice and on the ensuing rush, Brian Bellows scored.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect the hit,&rdquo; Schneider said. &ldquo;I put myself in a bad position against the boards.&rdquo;Schneider had just returned from another serious injury. On Jan. 27, against the Hartford Whalers, he jumped into a pile of players, seeking retribution against Terry Yake, who had hit Vincent Damphousse. Schneider landed awkwardly, spraining his ankle. He missed 24 games, returning March 31, against Quebec.&ldquo;There are so many cliches you can use,&rdquo; Schneider said. &ldquo;But what it comes down to is bad luck. It was a freak thing. If I did it again, nine out of 10 times nothing would happen.&rdquo;Although Schneider could use beefing up-he&rsquo;s 5-foot-11 and 189 pounds-he won&rsquo;t implement a weight program this summer nor will he wear bigger shoulder pads.&ldquo;I played four years without problems,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I hope this was my worst year. It&rsquo;s over and now I can get on with my career.&rdquo;Schneider was having a career year at the time of his first injury. He had 12 goals and 23 assists in the first half, was invaluable on special teams and was playing physically. He ended the season with 13 goals and 44 points in 60 games.&ldquo;I know what I can do in the league,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know I can produce.&rdquo;Being a bystander was killing Schneider mentally although he&rsquo;s made to feel part of the team. He comes to the Forum daily, travels with the team and is a part of team meals.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got to keep my spirits up,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s sad not to be a part of it, but at the same time I&rsquo;ve talked with Jacques (coach Demers). He has let me know I&rsquo;m still a part of the team.&rdquo;Schneider is scheduled to marry Evor Antkowiak, July 4 in Banff, Alta.NOTEBOOK: Although Mathieu Schneider&rsquo;s loss was costly, the Canadiens were able to replace him with a more experienced defenseman. Rob Ramage missed four games with a knee injury but returned for Game 2 against Quebec. Ramage was acquired in March from the Tampa Bay Lightning.The Canadiens, along with the Nordiques, were each fined $25,000 following a pre-game scuffle prior to the third game of the series. When Quebec goaltender Ron Hextali went to the center ice dot-part of the superstitious player&rsquo;s ritual-he was slashed by reserve left winger Mario Roberge. That brought in players from both teams although no punches were thrown.The publication ban has been lifted. Jacques Demers had banned all newspapers, except USA Today, from the dressing room late in the season while the Canadiens were losing. Then came a rare outburst of negativism by Demers following Game 2 against Quebec. Figuring it might make sense for his players to read what had been said, Demers lifted the ban.<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Kirk Muller, Stephan Lebeau. Guy Carbonneau, Jesse Belanger, Paul DiPietro.LW&mdash;Brian Bellows, Vincent Damphousse, John LeClair, Benoit Brunet, Mario Roberge.RW&mdash;Gary Leeman, Mike Keane, Denis Savard. Gilbert Dionne, Todd Ewen.LD&mdash;Jean&mdash;Jacques Daigneault, Eric Desjardins, Kevin Haller, Donald Dufresne.RO&mdash;Lyle Odelein, Patrice Brisebois. Rob Ramage, Sean Hill.G&mdash;Patrick Roy, Andre Raclcot.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Mathieu Schneider, O. separated right shoulder, out for season. &#9632;

Schneider struck by injury jinx

<div class="byline">By Jeff Jacobs</div>How skinny was Michael Nylander? Well, the Hartford Whalers&rsquo; rookie center sustained a badly broken jaw Jan. 23 and gained six pounds.&ldquo;Sounds impossible, right?&rdquo; said Whalers&rsquo; general manager Brian Burke. &ldquo;Most guys lose 10 pounds from not eating.&rdquo;When Chicago Blackhawk Brad Lauer plastered Nylander that night at the Hartford Civic Center, the young Swede weighed 178 pounds.When he returned in March from a 15-game absence, he was up to 184. It was six pounds of lean muscle. There was a lesson to be learned.&ldquo;I had told him when he comes back I want him looking like Nick Kypreos,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;But he did work his tail off on the weights.&rdquo;Under the guidance of strength and fitness coach Doug McKenney, Nylander also went from a 3,600-calorie-per-day to 5,000 calorie diet. It worked.Initially, there were fears that Nylander, who returned wearing the same kind of spaceman helmet Pat LaFontaine did in 1991-92, would be lost for the season.Instead, he finished with 14 points in the last eight games and 33 in 59 games overall.It took him 45 games to score his first 19 points.&ldquo;For a 20-year-old, his composure with the puck is frightening,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;He hangs onto the puck, looks at all the options to make the good play. That&rsquo;s a mark of a 24-year-old. With his hands and vision, he&rsquo;s way better than I thought he&rsquo;d be.&ldquo;He has courage. His challenge now is to continue getting stronger. He is still playing well with a child&rsquo;s body in the NHL. He has to turn it into a man&rsquo;s body. There are very few guys in the NHL who excel without any upper-body strength. Wayne Gretzky is one of them.&ldquo;When he first got here, we were measuring his shot&rsquo;s hang time. He has learned to shoot the puck, too.&rdquo;Second-year man Geoff Sanderson, 21, who was selected team MVP by his teammates, is getting most of the attention these days.Others talk about Patrick Poulin, 20, becoming one of the best left wingers in the NHL in three years.During the Whalers&rsquo; 9-10-2 finish, however, it was Nylander who had fans buzzing. He had a hat-trick against the Ottawa Senators in a 6-1 win April 7.&ldquo;The difference in my mind is he has adjusted to the speed of the NHL,&rdquo; Burke said. &ldquo;The isn&rsquo;t Europe. This is a smaller rink with bigger opponents as he found out the hard way from Brad Lauer.&ldquo;It was a great pick (third-round in 1991) by Ed Johnston. But I had seen him in a game in Sweden last year before I was hired by the Whalers. He was on the visiting team and he didn&rsquo;t break a sweat. It might have been one of the worst performances I&rsquo;d seen in my life.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: His first half was disappointing. His second half was impressive. In fact, if the season had gone six more weeks, the media likely would have selected Eric Weinrich the outstanding Whalers&rsquo; defenseman, not Zarley Zalapski.A benching in Edmonton did the trick. scored a goal and an assist in Montreal in January. The next night he sat out,&rdquo; said assistant coach Kevin McCarthy.&ldquo;He was flabbergasted. Couldn&rsquo;t believe it. (Coach) Paul Holmgren said to him, &lsquo;You had a goal and an assist. But what about the three goals you were standing beside the guy doing nothing? I think it was a wakeup call to play better without the puck.&rsquo; But confidence is a bg problem. Every time he made a mistake you could see it in his eyes. He didn&rsquo;t want to go back on the ice. But after that benching he seemed to say, &lsquo;The heck with it. I&rsquo;ll play hard, let the cards fall where they may.&rsquo; We told him he&rsquo;d play 20 minutes a game whether he made a mistake or not.&rdquo; &#9632;

Nylander’s strong finish Swede success story

<div class="byline">By Kevin Johnston</div>Negotiations have begun between the Quebec Nordiques and Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s agent to bring the Swedish star center to Quebec for next season.Nordiques&rsquo; owner Marcel Aubut and assistant general manager Gilles Leger were at the World Championships in Munich to meet with Don Baizley. Forsberg was playing for his native Sweden in Germany.Forsberg, chosen sixth overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1991 entry draft and acquired by the Nordiques last June in the Eric Lindros deal, is considered to be the best player in the world outside the NHL.He scored 23 goals and 47 points in 39 games for MoDo this season to finish second in scoring in the Swedish Elite League.But getting Forsberg won&rsquo;t be an easy matter. He is a free agent, eligible to sign with any team, though the Nordiques would retain the right to match. A similar situation last year had the Calgary Flames offer a contract to Teemu Selanne before the Winnipeg Jets matched the offer, which included a $1.5 million signing bonus.One report out of Montreal said the New York Rangers would pursue Forsberg and offer him a $4 million signing bonus.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve checked around and the Rangers wouldn&rsquo;t do anything like that,&rdquo; Aubut told Le Journal de Quebec April 24. &ldquo;Nobody has yet ventured into those waters. Forsberg is ours and we have solid arguments to bring him to Quebec.&rdquo;Working in Aubut&rsquo;s favor is the fact the Nordiques were the league&rsquo;s most improved team this season and their roster includes Forsberg&rsquo;s friend and former Swedish national team linemate, Mats Sundin.&ldquo;Peter is a winner, he hates to lose,&rdquo; Sundin said. &ldquo;We have the better chance of getting him on our team for next winter. We have the team of the future. So if he really wants to win, it&rsquo;s here he&rsquo;ll come.&rdquo;To further try to convince Forsberg, there was speculation the Nordiques would offer his father a scouting position in Sweden.DIVORCE TIME?: The honeymoon between the Nordiques and the city of Halifax may be over.There was a good chance the Nordiques will move their American League farm team elsewhere because of contract hassles and lack of fan interest. Cornwall, Ont., was reported to be the most likely destination for the Nordiques&rsquo; AHL affiliate.Neither Marcel Aubut nor Gilles Leger, the Citadels&rsquo; governor, would comment on the situation, but Aubut said no firm decision had been made to leave Halifax.NOTEBOOK: Right winger Owen Nolan was plagued by several injuries during his first professional playoff series. In addition to his NHL shoulder problems, he was also suffering from a charley horse.Through four playoff games, the Nordiques had unlikely scoring leaders. Center Claude Lapointe led with five points (one goal and four assists), while right winger Scott Young was the leading goal-scorer with four.<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 21: Paul Krake, G, Jon Klemm, D, Ed Ward, RW. Denis Chasse, RW, Michel Mongeau. C, and Steve Tuttle. RW. removed from playoff raster. Rene Corbet, LW, recalled from Drummondville, QMJHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Mike Ricci, Claude Lapointe.LW&mdash;MIke Hough, Valeri Kamensky, Chris Simon, Scott Pearson. Gino Cavallini. Tony Twist, Niklas Andersson, Rene CorbetRW&mdash;Owen Nolan. Andrei Kovalenko. Scott Young, Dwayne Norris.LD&mdash;Steven Finn, Curtis Leschyshyn, Alexei Gusarov, Len Esau.RD&mdash;Steve Duchesne, Adam Foote, Craig Wolanin, Mikhail Tatarinov, Kerry Huffman.G&mdash;Ron Hextali, Stephane Fleet. Jacques Cloutier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Forsberg focus of Aubut’s German vacation

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div>All season long, Brad May told anyone who would listen that he&rsquo;d be a factor in the playoffs.Talk is cheap, but the goal May scored in overtime April 24 was pure platinum.The second-year pro took a pass from Pat LaFontaine, knifed across the blueline, shifted around defenseman Ray Bourque, threw a move on goalie Andy Moog, slid to his left and lifted the puck into an open net. Buffalo wins 6-5.Bedlam. In one classic rush, May ended 10years of post-season frustration for the Sabres and their fans. Buffalo had finally beaten the | Bruins-in four straight-and advanced to the second round for the first time since 1983.To understand what that meant to a franchise that had never beaten the Bruins in post-season competition you needed only to be in the Auditorium or outside. There have been Stanley Cup celebrations more subdued.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s the biggest goal I ever scored,&rdquo; May said. &ldquo;I saw him (Bourque) coming out of the comer of my eye. It (the move) is something that 99 times out of 100 isn&rsquo;t going to work, especially against Bourque, He probably didn&rsquo;t expect that from someone like myself.&rdquo;Understandably. May, expected to be a goalscorer when he was chosen in the first round of the 1990 draft, hasn&rsquo;t lived up to that projection. The skills are there, but so is the pressure and in key situations. May has often mishandled the puck. Not this time.The irony wasn&rsquo;t lost on May. He had been a contributor in this series largely for punishing hits on Bourque, but his series-winning goal came on his second shot of the series.&ldquo;A few times Alex (Mogilny) passed me the puck when I was the third man high and it jumped off my stick,&rdquo; May said. &ldquo;Alex was getting frustrated with me. I couldn&rsquo;t seem to get a hold of the puck.&rdquo;Not anymore. It&rsquo;s in his personal Hall of Fame.TEAM EFFORT: Buffalo won the series with a remarkable team effort that featured some standout performers.In addition to May, Bob Sweeney and Yuri Khymlev each scored in overtime as the Sabres took three of the four games with extra-frame goals. Dale Hawerchuk played what may have been the playoff series of his career and almost singlehandedly brought the Sabres back from a 5-2 deficit in Game 4 with a goal, assist and some big hits and faceoffs. And Grant Fuhr shut out the Bruins in Boston in Game 2.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t get a whole lot of chances,&rdquo; Hawerchuk said. &ldquo;I kept stressing to the guys-you don&rsquo;t get that many chances. You can always slough them off and say there&rsquo;s next year, but those years run out in a hurry.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Grant Fuhr sustained a minor right knee injury in the first period of Game 4 and was replaced by Dominik Hasek. Hasek let in the first shot, but blanked the Bruins the rest of the way. Fuhr will be ready for Buffalo&rsquo;s next series&hellip;Pat LaFontaine injured his left knee in Game 1, but played every game the rest of the way.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 21: Greg Brown, D, assigned to Rochester (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Pat LaFontaine, Dale Hawerchuk, Bob Sweeney. Dave Hannan, Bob Corkum. ILW&mdash;Yuri Khymlev, Brad May, Randy Wood, I Matthew Barnaby.RW&mdash;Alexartoet Mogilny, Donald Audette, Wayne Presley, Coin Patterson.LD&mdash;Doug Bodger, Richard Smehlik, Keith Carney, Randy Moller.RD&mdash;Ken Sutton, Grant Ledyard. Bill Houlder, I Gord DonnellyG&mdash;Giant Fuhr, Dominik Hr Tom Draper I<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bob Errey, LW. bruised hip, day-to-day. Rob Ray, LW, tom right knee ligaments, out for season. Petr Svoboda, D, right knee surgery, our for season. &#9632;

Years of frustration come to end on May day

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div>There probably wasn&rsquo;t a Boston Bruin who had a more difficult season than Andy Moog and he took the end of it harder than anyone.Boston&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie, who shook off an early slump, disagreements with the coaching staff, his father&rsquo;s serious illness and a hamstring injury to win a career-high 37 games, didn&rsquo;t win once during the numbing first-round sweep at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres.Moog had a career post-season record of 5938 and 2.98 goals-against average. He finished this year at 0-3, 5.22.The 33-year-old netminder, who often disputed his employers&rsquo; assessment of his work early in the season, was not publicly criticized during the playoffs-except by himself.&ldquo;Personally, I felt I was an underachiever,&rdquo; Moog said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a tough pill to swallow, but I&rsquo;m going to have to deal with it.&rdquo;Moog&rsquo;s series mirrored the first half of his season: If he made a mistake, the puck went in he net. If his teammates made an error-and Boston made several huge ones against the Sabres-the result was usually the same.The situation again came to a head in Game 2, when coach Brian Sutter pulled Moog after he had allowed three Buffalo goals on 10 shots in 25 minutes. The Sabre strikes were a perfect shot by Wayne Presley from 35 feet on a 2-on-1, a Randy Wood power-play deflection from just outside the crease and a clean breakaway by 76-goal scorer Alexander Mogilny that got between Moog&rsquo;s pads.John Blue relieved Moog after Mogilny&rsquo;s goal. He started Game 3 and, as Moog did in Games 1 and 4, lost in overtime.Moog&rsquo;s absence in Game 3 fuelled speculation that either the Bruins might not want him back next season or he wouldn&rsquo;t want to stay in Boston. He shot down the second theory immediately.&ldquo;Absolutely,&rdquo; he said when asked if he wanted to spend another year in Boston. &ldquo;I want to stay with these players. I&rsquo;ve been treated very well by this organization and I want to return the favor. This little dip in my career is hopefully all it is. I wouldn&rsquo;t want to play for anybody else.&rdquo;Boston&rsquo;s goaltending, safe since 1988 in the hands of Moog and Reggie Lemelin, has suddenly become one of the team&rsquo;s big questions. Lemelin retired in early January after the Bruins waived him and he wasn&rsquo;t claimed. Moog was unofficially benched during that span: he had minor back and kidney injuries at the time, but Sutter probably wouldn&rsquo;t have let Moog play even if he was healthy.Blue, who spent five-plus seasons in the minors before finally making his NHL debut, gained respect and admiration for his performance (9-8-4, 2.90 GAA) and demeanor during trying times. He has not agreed on a contact for next season, however.NOTEBOOK: The bright light in Boston&rsquo;s dark hour was Cam Neely, who played in every game and scored a team-high four goals. Neely, shelved for most of the previous two years because of career-threatening knee and thigh injuries, plans to use this summer to build the muscle in the area surrounding the damage.Only five of the 22 skaters used in the series scored more than a point. Adam Oates led the club with nine points, all assists. Ray Bourque had one point, a power-play goal in Game 3.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C&mdash;Adam Oates, Dave Poulin, Bryan Smolinski. Ted Donato.LW&mdash;Steve Leach, Peter Douris. Joe Juneau, Tim Sweeney, Brent Hughes.RW&mdash;Cam Neely, Steve Heinze, Dmitri Kvartalnov, Darin Kimble.LD&mdash;Don Sweeney, Glen Wesley. Gord Roberts, Jim Wlemer.RD&mdash;Ray Bourque, David Shaw, Stephane Richer, Gord Murphy.G&mdash;Andy Moog, John Blue.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Glen Featherstone, D, strained back. Dave Reid, LW. sprained right knee Vladimir Ruzlcka, C, pulled groin. &#9632;

Playoffs a disaster for Moog

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div>The Ottawa Senators were the laughingstock of the NHL this past season, but they took a step towards respectably by agreeing to terms with highly touted center Alexei Yashin.The 19-year-old native of Sverdlovsk, Russia agreed to a five-year deal worth $2.2 million April 26.Included in the package is a signing bonus worth a reported $500,000.&ldquo;We are confident Alexei will make a significant contribution to our team this fall,&rdquo; said Senators&rsquo; interim general manager Randy Sexton. &ldquo;He is young, only 19 years old, and needs time to mature physically, but his play with Moscow Dynamo and international experience has demonstrated his ability to compete at the NHL level.&rdquo;Yashin was the second pick overall in last year&rsquo;s draft behind defenseman Roman Hamrlik of the Tampa Bay Lightning.The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder is a skilled offensive player who is known for his ability to maintain his composure in the offensive zone in heavy traffic.Sexton, director of player personnel John Ferguson and coach Rick Bowness met with Yashin in Munich at the World Championships, where Yashin was skating with the Russian national team.Yashin had two goals and one assist in five games for the Russian team. In Elite League play this year with Moscow Dynamo, he had nine goals and 22 points in 31 games.Yashin has previous international experience as a member of the gold-medal winning Commonwealth of Independant States team at the 1992 World Junior Championships.Having Yashin in the lineup is just one of the changes the Senators hope to engineer for next season.Another is having Dimitri Filimonov, a teammate of Yashin&rsquo;s on Moscow Dynamo, in Ottawa.The big defenseman was picked up by the Senators in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets for a fourth-round pick. He has agreed to terms.What to do with the team&rsquo;s first-round pick in this year&rsquo;s entry draft is also being considered.&ldquo;We believe in scouting players, drafting them, signing them and developing them,&rdquo; Sexton said. &ldquo;If somebody is going to give you a bunch of stuff for a guy, he must be a hell of a player. Why trade him?&rdquo;TOUGH SPOT: John Ferguson admitted the Senators did all they could do to make their team better-but not too much better.Getting the first pick in the draft was viewed as the No. 1 goal of the franchise, but management had to walk the tightrope between trying to improve and still remain last overall.&ldquo;We gave people an entertaining product and we tried our best every night,&rdquo; Ferguson said. &ldquo;It got to the point where we knew we couldn&rsquo;t improve the club a great deal if we wanted that first overall draft pick.&ldquo;It was difficult because you have to have integrity, but we couldn&rsquo;t afford to improve by one or two points and blow that first pick.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Norm Maciver was named the club&rsquo;s MVP. Winger Sylvain Turgeon was the team&rsquo;s Molson Cup winner for the most three-star selections.The futures of two veterans will be decided shortly. Defenseman Brad Marsh concluded a termination contract with the club this season. If he&rsquo;s not back as a player next year, he could be back in a player-assistant coach role with the Senators&rsquo; American League farm team. Captain Laurie Boschman&rsquo;s future with the team is also uncertain. &ldquo;We probably worked harder than any team just to stay in games,&rdquo; Marsh said. &ldquo;The end of the road was looked forward to. How long can you work and bang your body and not get any reward?&rdquo;<h2>OTTAWA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>April 26: Alexei Yashin, C. agreed to multi-year contract. &#9632;

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May 7, 1993

BLUE HEAVEN

Top-ranked Tigre has charisma and talent

Clark’s intimidating presence deserts him in post-season

Miracle upset complete