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

March 11, 1994

The Hockey News March 11, 1994

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><h2>Wing Osgood hot stopper</h2>1. Chris Osgood. Detroit&rsquo;s rookie goalie records back-to-back shutouts, 0.82 GAA in three games.2. Original six. Rangers, Detroit, Toronto, Boston and Montreal in five of top six spots in standings.3. Tommy Salo. Swedish goalie makes five consecutive saves in gold-medal game shootout.4. Boston tops. Bruins 5-1-1 on road trip, move from third to first in Northeast Division.5. Player of week. New York Islander goalie Ron Hextail 3-1-0 with two shutouts and 1.74 GAA.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-021131/6288587-1-eng-US/f0006-022.jpg" title="f0006-02" width="575" height="741"><figcaption class="caption-body">Chris Osgood</figcaption></div><h2>Shootout is hokey hockey</h2>1. Shootouts. Great way to end International League games, not international gold medal games.2. Whoomp! There he goes Ambulance attendants drop injured Mike Modano from stretcher.3. We&rsquo;re No. 8. U.S. Olympic team wins just one game in Lillehammer.4. Russian Pens. Touring Russian team wins two and ties one of first 10 games of IHL tour.5. Josef Beranek. Hasn&rsquo;t scored since Dec. 21-that&rsquo;s no goals in 23 games. &#9632;

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IN THIS ISSUE

PLUS MINUS

<div class="byline">-Michael Ulmer</div>Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; coach John Paddock claims he can pinpoint the reason for his team&rsquo;s fall from grace.Not enough players cared enough to win.There were more visible factors. The trade of Phil Housley and an injury to Teppo Numminen created a painfully weak defense.The Jets scored just 23 goals in the first 10 games after Teemu Selanne sustained a severed Achilles tendon. Through late February, Alexei Zhamnov had been plagued by injuries and had one goal since Christmas.Starting goaltender Bob Essensa is enduring an unremarkable season and has been mentioned in trade rumors all year.But the real problem, said Paddock, was a lack of resolve.&ldquo;Early in the year, we had too many guys play soft,&rdquo; Paddock said. &lsquo;Too many guys thought the game wasn&rsquo;t played with contact or battle and that hurt us. It was an overall attitude of some players.&rdquo;Despite a 18-game winless streak through Feb. 25 that all but ended any hopes for a playoff spot, the Jets find themselves with much to work with. Zhamnov has obvious skills and Selanne seems a foundation for the franchise.They have a first-line power forward in captain Keith Tkachuk and a very good second-line center in Nelson Emerson.On defense. Stephane Quintal and Numminen are solid pros and rookie Boris Mironov has shown promise.Paddock, who added the GMs&rsquo; job to his coaching duties when Mike Smith was fired Jan. 19, sees getting help on the blueline as the most pressing need. He also wants to add size up front and more heart.&ldquo;There are changes that are going to happen.&rdquo; Paddock said, &ldquo;both in attitude and personnel.&rdquo; &#9632;

Jets’ Paddock promises changes

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INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0038-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-02536/6289914-1-eng-US/f0038-022.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0038-01719/6289907-1-eng-US/f0038-012.jpg" title="f0038-01" width="3109" height="3021"></div> &#9632;

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AMERICAN LEAGUE

<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-011395/6288259-1-eng-US/f0002-012.jpg" title="f0002-01" width="509" height="795"><figcaption class="caption-body">Marty McInnis is the Isles&rsquo; Mr. Versatile. Page 12</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-021138/6288252-1-eng-US/f0002-022.jpg" title="f0002-02" width="511" height="794"><figcaption class="caption-body">Vitali Prokhorov has gotten rid of the shakes. Page 23</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-03828/6288245-1-eng-US/f0002-032.jpg" title="f0002-03" width="723" height="1383"><figcaption class="caption-body">Scott Stevens may be caught in a bidding war this summer. Page 11</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-04604/6288238-1-eng-US/f0002-042.jpg" title="f0002-04" width="509" height="795"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour has regained his touch. Page 11</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-05441/6288231-1-eng-US/f0002-052.jpg" title="f0002-05" width="508" height="793"><figcaption class="caption-body">John Slaney hopes he&rsquo;s a Capital for good. Page 12</figcaption></div>&ldquo;They&rsquo;re just catalysts for every one of those floaters over there.&rdquo;-St Lows&rsquo; Brett Hull, explaining the impact of three former Blues in Quebec. Page 23.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry, I&rsquo;m not Chris Chelios. It&rsquo;s not the same incident. I could have easily beaten the tar out of Bob Errey.&rdquo; &middot;-Suspended Los Angeles King Marty McSorley, claiming his eye-gouging incident was embellished. Page 46.<h2>NEXT WEEK</h2>NHL&rsquo;s stretch drive: Contenders, also-rans in league&rsquo;s bell lap &#9632;

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QUOTABLE

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0002-06320/6288290-1-eng-US/f0002-062.jpg" title="f0002-06" width="382" height="483"></div>The Hockey News has learned more dramatic means of breaking ties than the shootout were part of contingency plans at the Olympics.Had Canada pulled even with Sweden in a second shootout round, the two countries would have faced off in a relay race to determine the gold-medal winner. Under tournament rules, five skaters from each team would skate around four pylons (as many defensemen as the Winnipeg Jets could spare) with their helmets on backwards.Plan C was a beer-chugging contest.Sweden was favored slightly in the relay race event. Canada was heavily favored in the mug-chug. It&rsquo;s believed Sweden would have conceded defeat had it come to that. Officials breathed a sigh of relief when Sweden won gold the oldfashion way. The penalty-shot contest has a long and proud history of settling intermission features, road hockey battles and International League games.Some purists (ugh!) suggested a prolonged overtime period would have been the stuff of magical memories. But shootout proponents argued the skills competition guaranteed the winning goal would be scored by a true hero, not some stiff who had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time. It&rsquo;s believed talk of shootouts originated in the wake of (ironically enough, Swedish legend) Bob Nystrom&rsquo;s overtime, Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1980.The NHL was embarrassed one of its higher profile players didn&rsquo;t score the decisive goal and it was outraged a marketing campaign couldn&rsquo;t be built around the hero. Olympic shootout champion Peter Forsberg is scheduled to go on a hockey promotional tour co-sponsored by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Quebec Nordiques. First stop is Disneyland.Conspiracy theorists suggested it had to be more than coincidence the shootout came down to representatives of the two teams most supportive of the NHL implementing a shootout. Forsberg will join the Nordiques later this season and Kariya was the Mighty Ducks&rsquo; first-ever draft choice. There were unconfirmed reports Mighty Ducks of Anaheim president Michael Eisner chose the five shooters from Sweden and Canada.Eisner has called the shootout a &ldquo;no-brainer&rdquo; and on that count he&rsquo;s right. (Do I detect a note of seriousness creeping in?) You&rsquo;d have to be devoid of grey matter or any passion and respect for the game to think the shootout is a satisfying conclusion to a hockey game.Most hockey people are opposed to the shootout, but they were also opposed to the draft lottery and it only took commissioner Gary Bettman a matter of months to turn the tide on that issue. Bettman was right on that one, but there was laughably little resistance from those who professed dissatisfaction with the plan. You&rsquo;d like to think NHL executives are more committed to protecting the integrity of the game than they were committed to protecting the integrity of regularseason competition.Not that it matters. Shootouts will settle regular-season ties in the NHL within three years. It&rsquo;s a done deal even if they represent hockey&rsquo;s virtual reality, a solo journey in a manufactured environment. It is hockey in a vacuum safe from the likes of Todd Hlushko and Dwayne Norris and the rest of those heart-and-soul players who inject nothing but pride, guts and oxygen-rich effort for us all to breathe in. Check the replay of Forsberg&rsquo;s goal and the only thing emptier than the left side of the net is a sense of accomplishment. Feb. 27 was a wonderful day for Sweden and Canada, but a bad day for hockey. &#9632;

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Shootout nothing more than virtual reality

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editorin-Chief</div>Ed Jovanovski&rsquo;s growing reputation precedes him in the Ontario League. The Windsor Spitfires&rsquo; defenseman and top-ranked prospect for the 1994 entry draft was chosen third star during a recent WindsorNiagara Falls Thunder game. His performance was average at best. Even Jovanovski disagreed with the star selectors. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what game they were watching,&rdquo; he said. Jovanovski has burst upon the OHL this season like, well, a hotshot 17-year-old defenseman. He was ranked third overall in the NHL Central Scouting Bureau&rsquo;s January rankings and is a strong candidate to go first overall despite a scoring slump in 1994. He had yet to score in the new year, going 22 games without a goal. The Jovanovski bandwagon is filling up nonetheless. Thus, the three-star selection. Not all opponents, though, are excited about his success. &ldquo;I get a lot of trash talk and stickwork,&rdquo; Jovanovski said. &ldquo;In London they&rsquo;re calling me a third-rounder.&rdquo; The Florida Panthers have first pick and the choice is likely between Jovanovski and Las Vegas Thunder center Radek Bonk. Outside candidates are Guelph Storm center Jeff O&rsquo;Neill and Soviet Wings&rsquo; defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky. Jovanovski is projected to be a hard-hitting, 60-70-point NHL defenseman with strong leadership skills. His stats as an OHL rookie (11 goals, 39 points and 189 penalty minutes in 53 games) are impressive. He makes errors, but Florida director of player personnel John Chapman calls them &ldquo;working mis-takes&rdquo;-the kind that can be corrected. It&rsquo;s a stretch to think he can play in the NHL next season, but Jovanovski doesn&rsquo;t think so. &ldquo;It would be a great thrill to jump in and play next year,&rdquo; Jovanovski said. Of note is that first star in the Windsor-Niagara Falls game was Thunder center Jason Bonsignore. He entered the season as a candidate to go No. 1 overall, but has not had an exceptional sophomore season. Bonsignore had just 19 goals to go with 56 assists in 51 games. His level of play improved late in the season. &ldquo;I get a chance to redeem myself after a slow start,&rdquo; he said. Remarkably, Bonsignore scored a pair of goals Feb. 23, the day after he was involved in a highway accident. The car Bonsignore was driving hit a truck and he sus-tained a gash to his forehead and scrapes to his face&hellip;Before Peter Forsberg scored two goals in the gold-medal shootout, scouts were questioning Quebec Nordique prospect&rsquo;s heart. That&rsquo;s a tough thing to measure. One thing that isn&rsquo;t, though, is the difference in dimensions of international (100-by-200 feet) and North American (85-by-200 feet) rinks. Forsberg, 20, has not played a single game on the smaller ice surface. Don&rsquo;t expect too much when he joins the Nordiques late this season&hellip;Sources say the worst regular-season finisher would have a nearly 45 percent chance of getting first pick under the lottery proposed by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. The proposal guarantees the lastplace team chooses no lower than second overall, teams cannot move down more than one position in drafting order and they can only move up a maximum of four. In other words, the best non-playoff team or No. 10 seed can pick sixth at best. Its chances of doing even that are remote. The team would have less than one per-cent chance of winning the lottery if Bettman&rsquo;s plan is endorsed by the board of governors. Approximate chances of the 10 teams winning the lottery are: No. 1-30 per cent; No. 2-20; No. 3-15; No. 4-10; No. 5-eight; No. 6-five; No. 7-four; No. 8-three; No. 9-one-plus; and No. 10-.5. The numbers have yet to be finalized and don&rsquo;t add up to 100 per cent. The bottom line to most people is the last-place team has a good chance of picking first. It has a 30 percent chance of winning the lottery outright and gets the top selection by default if seeds No. 6-10 win. Their combined chances are about about 14 percent. I hat means the worst team would have about a 44 per-cent chance of picking first. The worst team in the National Basketball Association has a 25 per-cent chance of picking first overall&hellip;No 18-year-old seventh overall pick has ever had as much ice time as Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; center Jason Arnott&hellip;Judging from the appearance of Czech and Slovakian hockey players, the loneliest men in the tormer Czechoslovakia are barbers&hellip; Montreal Canadien public relations&rsquo; director Donald Beauchamp said he holds two Quebec League records: Lightest goaltender (119 pounds) and most consecutive games on the bench (55). &ldquo;Manon Rheaume and I have two things in common,&rdquo; Beauchamp said. &ldquo;We both rode the bench in Trois-Rivi&egrave;res and we both turned down Playboy.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-011565/6288380-1-eng-US/f0004-012.jpg" title="f0004-01" width="370" height="362"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-021399/6288373-1-eng-US/f0004-022.jpg" title="f0004-02" width="382" height="542"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bill Quackenbush: First defenseman to win Lady Byng Trophy (1949).</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-031173/6288366-1-eng-US/f0004-032.jpg" title="f0004-03" width="1152" height="1630"><figcaption class="caption-body">Top NHL prospect Ed Jovanovski is a popular figure in the OHL.</figcaption></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-04959/6288359-1-eng-US/f0004-042.jpg" title="f0004-04" width="388" height="548"><figcaption class="caption-body">Raymond Bourque: Next defenseman to win Lady Byng Trophy (1994)?</figcaption></div><h2>THE GRETZKY GOAL RUSH</h2>Wayne Gretzky&rsquo;s march towards Gordie Howe&rsquo;s NHL career goal-scoring record of 801 continued in March.The Great One charged out of February with four goals in his last four games-including two against the Toronto Maple Leafs in a Feb. 21 game. That gave him a total of 48 in games against the Leafs.With 32 goals in 62 games (797 career), Gretzky was averaging one goal every other game.Below is a list of the Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; remaining regular-season games, plus Gretzky&rsquo;s season and career goal totals.<h2>THE CHASE</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0004-05777/6288352-1-eng-US/f0004-052.jpg" title="f0004-05" width="682" height="1774"></div> &#9632;

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Spitfire shoots for NHL skies

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div>Wally and Pam Berard run the Broad Street Garage, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean their son is a bully.Bryan Berard of Woonsocket, R.I., has emerged as one of the best prospects in North America on the strength of brain over brawn. A smooth-skating defenseman with skill and poise, Berard has drawn comparisons to New York Ranger defenseman Brian Leetch.Berard turns 17 March 5 and isn&rsquo;t eligible for the NHL draft until 1995. but he has red, white and blue chip written all over him. He is USA Hockey&rsquo;s great hope for the future and has NHL scouts impressed.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be happy just to take him this year and call it a day,&rdquo; said one scout.This season Berard is playing at Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, a tiny parochial school that is going for its national-record 17th straight state championship this season. The school has produced Brian Lawton, Mathieu Schneider and the Capuano brothers, but head coach Bill Belisle claims Berard is the best he has seen.&ldquo;He&rsquo;ll see an open man and there will be four guys between, but he&rsquo;ll put the puck right on his stick,&rdquo; Belisle said. &ldquo;He could be my best forward if I put him up front.&rdquo;The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Berard starred at the World Hockey Challenge in Quebec, the unofficial under-17 world championship. He was also judged the best prospect at the prestigious Hockey Night in Boston tournament last summer.It&rsquo;s still unclear whether Berard will pursue the major junior or college route. He is leaning towards the Western League.If he does decide to play major junior, one team that wants him badly is the WHL&rsquo;s Seattle Thunderbirds. &ldquo;I love this kid,&rdquo; said Thunderbirds&rsquo; coach Walt Kyle. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no doubt he&rsquo;d be a great player here and a first-round NHL pick.&rdquo;Berard leads our list of 10 players aged 16 or under for whom the future holds great potential. Here are nine others, listed in alphabetical order, along with age, height and weight:Andrew Berensweig, 16, 6-1, 195: Defenseman known as Bubba. Native of Arlington, Heights, Ill., playing at Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Corm. Strong skater with great acceleration. Could have been Division I football player.Nicholas Boynton, 14, 6-1, 190: Defenseman playing midget hockey in Richmond Hill, Ont. Could be first pick in 1995 OHL draft.Glenn Crawford, 15, 5-10, 165: Center had 38 points in 31 games for Barrie, Ont., Jr. B team. Has led last two teams to Ontario titles.Radek Dvorak, 16,-6-0, 170. Czech center was most talented player at World Hockey Challenge. Great skater, skilled around net.Christian Lefebvre. 15, 6-5, 215: Defenseman very mobile for size. Plays for Lac St-Louis midgets and could go first in Quebec League draft.Mike Oliveira. 14, 5-10, 170: Forward made jump from peewee to Sarnia, Ont. Jr. B team. Averaging point per game.Joey Tetarenko, 15, 6-2, 215: Defenseman is good skater, punishing hitter. Calgary native will play for WHL&rsquo;s Portland Winter Hawks next season.Alexei Vasiljev. 16, 6-0, 165: Russian defenseman showed skill and poise at World Hockey Challenge. Was Russia&rsquo;s best player.Jeff Ware. 16, 6-5, 210: Defenseman for Wexford, Ont., Jr. A would have been top pick in Ontario League last year, but turned league down. Could go first this year. Will never be offensive force, but dominates defensively. &#9632;

Young American best prospect

<div class="byline">By THN Staff</div>The NHL&rsquo;s eight Canadian-based teams are trying bring hockey fans in Canada a game virtually every night of the season.The Hockey Channel, a new Canadian pay-per-view service will be in operation by next season subject to approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).A delegation that included Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; president Glen Sather, Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; general manager Serge Savard, Toronto Maple Leafs&rsquo; GM Cliff Fletcher and Winnipeg Jets&rsquo; president Barry Shenkarow pitched the pro-posal to the CRTC, Feb. 26 in Hull, Que.In true television style, the hearing spun off a sequel as Sather and Hockey Night in Canada analyst Don Cherry clashed publicly over Cherry&rsquo;s Coaches Comer segment. (For more on Sather-Cherry, see page 47).The proposed service is a co-operative venture owned by the NHL&rsquo;s eight Canadian-based teams.The government made no comment on the presentation and no decision is expected until at least May. The CRTC has no figure on the number of services it expects to license, but observers expect at least six new entities. It heard 48 presentations.The Hockey Channel is designed to be a clearing house for hockey broadcasts, so in its first year it wouldn&rsquo;t originate its own productions. Instead, it would pick up feeds of existing broadcasts and provide hockey on nights when there is no local or free television. Customers would have their choice of games involving any Canadian team playing that night by ordering through their cable company.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-011478/6288435-1-eng-US/f0005-012.jpg" title="f0005-01" width="724" height="824"><figcaption class="caption-body">Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; president Glen Sather is a proponent of an all-hockey station.</figcaption></div>No price has been set for the service but it is expected to cost between $5 and $10 per game.Fletcher said The Hockey Channel is a way for Canadian teams, hard-pressed by a deflated dollar and the seven per cent federal Goods and Services Tax on tickets, to compete with American teams.&ldquo;The Toronto Maple Leafs will survive regardless of whether this is approved, but this is a critical question for some of the Canadian teams in the smaller markets,&rdquo; Fletcher said.&ldquo;This measure alone won&rsquo;t make Canadian teams viable, but it&rsquo;s a very important step,&rdquo; said Jets&rsquo; board of directors member Bill Davis.Cherry, meanwhile, labeled Sather &ldquo;a twofaced hypocrite,&rdquo; for telling the CRTC panel Cherry&rsquo;s views on fighting should be muzzled.&ldquo;One area that we should probably look at is getting Don Cherry off the subject of fighting, which has been a problem for all of us,&rdquo; Sather said during the televised hearing.Cherry responded that Sather, who used tough guy Dave Semenko to protect Wayne Gretzky during the Oilers&rsquo; glory days, was talking out of both sides of his mouth. He vowed to resign before letting the CBC network censor him.RHEAUME KNIGHTED: The first woman to play in an NHL pre-season game is on the move.Manon Rheaume, who tended goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the St. Louis Blues in a 1992 pre-season game, was reassigned to the Nashville Knights from the Knoxville Cherokees Feb. 25. Both East Coast League teams are Lightning affiliates.Rheaume, 22, made her debut with the Knights Feb. 25 at 3:59 of the third period with her team trailing 4-1. She made seven saves and didn&rsquo;t allow a goal.The Trois-Rivieres, Que., native played in four games with Knoxville and had a 2-0-0 record with a 4.17 goals-against average and.870 save percentage.FIVE ALIVE: Brent Sapergia of the Wichita Thunder set a professional hockey record by scoring five goals in one period of a Central League game Feb. 23.The 29-year-old right winger scored four goals at even strength and one on the power play in an 8-2 win over the Memphis River-Kings. CHL public relations director Scott Wood contacted all the professional leagues and determined the previous record of four goals in a period was held by a number of players, including nine NHLers. &#9632;

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TV group bids to make every night hockey night in Canada

Life as an NHLer scorer is supposed to end at about age 35. Somebody forgot to tell Joe Mullen. The 37-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; winger was on pace for a 45-goal, 79-point season and had 43 more points than anyone in his age group as of Feb. 27. Below is a breakdown of scoring leaders by age. Ages are as of April 15, the last day of the season.<h2>20 AND UNDER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-021068/6288501-1-eng-US/f0005-022.jpg" title="f0005-02" width="722" height="258"></div><h2>21 TO 25</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-03711/6288494-1-eng-US/f0005-032.jpg" title="f0005-03" width="704" height="250"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-04443/6288487-1-eng-US/f0005-042.jpg" title="f0005-04" width="710" height="884"><figcaption class="caption-body">Joe Mullen</figcaption></div><h2>26 TO 30</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-05268/6288480-1-eng-US/f0005-052.jpg" title="f0005-05" width="718" height="254"></div><h2>31 TO 35</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-06150/6288473-1-eng-US/f0005-062.jpg" title="f0005-06" width="726" height="248"></div><h2>36 AND OLDER</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0005-0788/6288466-1-eng-US/f0005-072.jpg" title="f0005-07" width="718" height="250"></div> &#9632;

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AGE AGREES WITH MULLEN

I would like to comment on the double standard concerning suspensions in the NHL by league disciplinarian Brian Burke.Tony Granato of the Los Angeles Kings received a 15-game suspension for a slash to the helmet of Chicago Blackhawk Neil Wilkinson.This was a very deserving suspension, but why did Florida Panthers&rsquo; goalie Mark Fitzpatrick receive only a two-game suspension for his slash to the face of New York Islander Dave Maley?Does Burke pull a number out of his hat to decide suspensions? How can two similar incidents warrant a difference of 13 games? Do goalies really warrant less severe suspensions than regular skaters?I think not.Jerry Reschke, Regina, Sask.<h2>Blow the whistle</h2>The Feb. 18th cover story in THN &ldquo;No Holds Barred,&rdquo; should be attached to the paycheques of every NHL official.The officiating in the NHL has been in large part responsible for all the stick holding, cheap shots and foul play that exists in the game today.Paul Purter,&nbsp; Boston, Ma.<h2>Looking good</h2>I would like to be the first to thank THN for Michael Ulmer&rsquo;s recent article &ldquo;If Looks Could Kill&rdquo; (THN, Feb. 18).As the designer of the Huntington Blizzard&rsquo;s logo and uniform, I feel it is a great honor to be ranked by THN in the top 20 in minor-league logos.Ever since I began playing hockey at the age of six on the frigid ponds outside of Chicago, I have always dreamed of one day designing a logo for an NHL team.Thanks to The Hockey News and the Huntington Blizzard of the East Coast League, my dream may one day become a reality.Robbie Destocki,&nbsp; Sinti Valley, Calif.<h2>Smith guilty</h2>It is of course a universal law that for every move made by a team&rsquo;s management there will be at least one journalist who takes issue with it.Witness Mr. Steve Dryden&rsquo;s belief that Mike Smith should have been given more time as general manager of the Winnipeg Jets.As a Jets&rsquo; fan, I am as dismayed as anyone at this disastrous season after last year&rsquo;s promise. Whether the blame is placed on the players, instead of Smith, matters little because they are players that Smith acquired.I&rsquo;d be the first to agree that all the players are performing poorly and the first to point out it&rsquo;s easier to replace Smith than the entire team.Again, as a fan, I feel I&rsquo;ve spilled enough of my own blood through this season. Rather than just wish John Paddock luck in his new position, I beg him: Please, please do something.I&rsquo;m ashamed to wear my jersey in public.Steven McKinnon,&nbsp; Albany, N.Y.<h2>Getting defensive</h2>I enjoyed reading the results of your mid-season poll (THN, Jan. 28), but I feel the NHL is missing an award category: Best defensive defenseman.It says in Mike Brophy&rsquo;s article that &ldquo;offense is a pivotal factor when it comes to identifying the game&rsquo;s best defenders.&rdquo; The logic of this criterion escapes me.A defensive player&rsquo;s ability to score says nothing about his defensive ability. I&rsquo;m not saying that Raymond Bourque and Brian Leetch aren&rsquo;t top-notch defensemen, but there needs to be an award for the solid, stay-at-home defensemen in the league.It seems the only time a player even begins to be discussed as a Norris Trophy candidate is when he starts scoring.Jeffrey Hall,&nbsp; Jamaica Plain, Mass.<h2>Wild about Harry?</h2>I have been an avid Boston Bruins&rsquo; fan for many years, so I was not surprised to see general manager Harry Sinden panic about their goaltending situation.But I don&rsquo;t think demoting John Blue to the Providence Bruins of the American League and giving Vincent Riendeau a reasonable chance in the nets is the answer to the team&rsquo;s problems.Maybe Sinden should forget about the defense and worry about the offense. The Bruins have had trouble scoring all season and would likely be no where without the resurgent Cam Neely.Unfortunately for the Bruins&rsquo; loyal fans, as long as Sinden is in charge there will be no parades in Boston come June.Douglas Simpson,&nbsp; Portland, Me.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;

Guilty goaltenders should pay big-time

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0006-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0006-011654/6288556-1-eng-US/f0006-012.jpg"></div> &#9632;

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ELSTON

<div class="byline">By Steve Dryden Editor-in-Chief</div>WILMINGTON, Mass.-Cam Neely is having soup and a sandwich with a visitor near the Boston Bruins&rsquo; practice facility. His treat.A fan approaches and asks him to sign a piece of paper. The woman says if her nephew discovered she had seen Neely and didn&rsquo;t ask for an autograph, he would kill her.&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t have that,&rdquo; Neely says.The Bruins&rsquo; superstar smiles and signs his name with a flourish-in much the same fashion he has put his signature on this NHL season.Neely, goal-scorer, hitman, inspirational leader and now life-saver, is in the midst of a season for the ages.Just five months after contemplating retirement because of knee problems, Neely is scoring goals as consistently as the legends of modem NHL history-Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s probably the best player in the National Hockey League at going to the net and keeping goal-scoring simple,&rdquo; says Bruins&rsquo; coach Brian Sutter.Skate, shoot, take a crosscheck in the back, glare, get the rebound, shoot, score.Neely is averaging more than a goal per game and threatening unofficial singleseason records for scoring goals in the highest percentage of games and accounting for the highest percentage of goals in games he played.By March 1, Neely had scored goals in 31 of 41 games (76 per cent), accounted for 31 per cent of Boston goals in games he played and led the NHL with 46 goals.Lemieux set unofficial standards in 1992-93 when he scored in 73 per cent of his games and contributed 24 per cent of the Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; goals in those games.Gretzky holds the record for highest goals-per-game average (1.18). Neely was at 1.12.Neely, 28, is challenging another NHL accomplishment: most electrifying comeback.Lemieux also established that record last season with a dramatic run to the scoring championship after battling Hodgkin&rsquo;s disease.Neely&rsquo;s return has been similarly compelling.Consider that his 44th goal of the season, scored against the Winnipeg Jets, meant he had scored twice as many goals this season as he had played regular-season games (22) over the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons.He spent most of the past two seasons working to control pain and fluid buildup on his left knee, the residual effect of a deep charleyhorse sustained during the 1991 playoffs.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-011501/6288625-1-eng-US/f0007-012.jpg" title="f0007-01" width="564" height="810"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Sutter</figcaption></div>The injury occurred while he was taking a run at Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; defenseman Ulf Samuelsson and led to calcification in his left thigh. Its impact migrated south.Thus, the battle of wounded left knee.Nearly three years after the ill-advised hit, Neely adheres to a conservative playing schedule to minimize stress on his knee. He had yet to play games on consecutive nights, but is encouraged by his progress and expects to be available for all playoff games.Teammates marvel at Neely&rsquo;s return and level of play.&ldquo;If I was going to build a hockey player,&rdquo; says Bruins&rsquo; defenseman Don Sweeney, &ldquo;I&rsquo;d start with him.&rdquo;Neely, a hulking 6-foot-1 and 217 pounds, is the NHL&rsquo;s consummate power forward. He is a finished product to Eric Lindros&rsquo; work-inprogress.Bruins&rsquo; general manager Harry Sinden says Neely is now what the 21-year-old Philadelphia Flyer phenom will be in the future.Sinden, whose job it will be to sign the free agent during the off-season, says Neely was the best bodychecking forward he had ever seen before the injury.The GM adds Neely may not have the physique of those oiled-up men whose polished pecs fill bodybuilding magazines, but he packs as much punch.&ldquo;I call him truck-driver strong,&rdquo; Sinden says.Strongest of all is Neely&rsquo;s spirit. He keeps on trucking in the face of devastating personal and professional set-backs.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m a firm believer out of everything bad, there is something good,&rdquo; he says.It is a philosophy born of hardship and heartache. Both his parents were victims of cancer-most recently his father in December.He has learned from the emotional and physical trauma.&ldquo;With losing both parents,&rdquo; Neely says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve realized, as much as you have to prepare for the future. I think people can enjoy the (present) a lot more.&ldquo;Everybody has got problems. Commitments. Looking after family, kids. But I think we can all enjoy the day more than we do. And that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m trying to do.&rdquo;Tragedy brings out introspection in all people. What marks Neely as different is a sincere effort to improve his lifestyle, not just talk about it.A small example: He is trying to cope better with the little things that eat away daily at one&rsquo;s composure.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s so much more in life that means a lot more than, say, being stuck in a traffic jam and getting pissed off,&rdquo; Neely says. &ldquo;I still do (get angry), but not as much as I used to. Sometimes I found myself in a hurry to go nowhere.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0007-021009/6288618-1-eng-US/f0007-022.jpg" title="f0007-02" width="1506" height="2380"><figcaption class="caption-body">(BRIAN WINKLER)</figcaption></div>Truth is, though, Neely is still more comfortable playing in traffic than driving in it.Like Dave Andreychuk of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Neely is most dangerous in the densely populated patch of ice measuring 12 square feet directly in front of the goal.&ldquo;He scores where other guys don&rsquo;t simply because he goes there,&rdquo; Sutter says.Fierce toughness provides the time and place for Neely&rsquo;s goal-scoring talent to take over in the combat zone.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t really know how far to push him,&rdquo; Sweeney says. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t blame guys if they test him a little bit and then back off. Because if he turns around and gives you a look, you better be able to back it up because he can.&rdquo;Neely has fought only twice this season and is more judicious about accepting and issuing challenges than in the past-partly because of Bruins&rsquo; assistant GM Mike Milbury.&ldquo;Milbury said to me a few years ago, &lsquo;Cam, we need you more on the ice than we do in the penalty box. Don&rsquo;t let someone else decide for you when you&rsquo;re going to fight,&rsquo;&rdquo; Neely explains.&ldquo;Before if a guy wanted to fight, I&rsquo;d fight. (Milbury was) telling me, &lsquo;If you want to fight a guy, it should be your decision.&rsquo; &ldquo;A big example: Neely made a split-second decision this season not to fight with defenseman Darius Kasparaitis, after the New York Islanders&rsquo; defenseman leg-checked him.&ldquo;I was more upset with myself than him,&rdquo; Neely says. &ldquo;I thought that maybe it was a bad check, but the ref said no and some of the guys on the team said no.&ldquo;With a guy like him, you want to stay wide and I should stay wide anyway, but I cut into the middle. It was my own fault for putting myself in that position. It was my (right) leg. If it was my bad leg, you probably would have seen a different scenario after the hit.&rdquo;More common than fistfights are fights over loose pucks in front of the net. All defensemen object to Neely entering occupied territory, but not all choose to confront the enemy head on.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t try to move him because you&rsquo;ll just wear yourself out,&rdquo; says New Jersey Devils&rsquo; defenseman Scott Stevens. &ldquo;You try to tie up his stick because you can&rsquo;t score without your stick.&rdquo;Good in theory, perhaps, but defensemen are having limited success hooking, holding and hounding Neely. Counting playoff and regularseason games, Neely had 70 goals in 67 games since the start of the 199192 season.He scores goals from in close with quick hands and from far out with a crushing slapshot.There have been many highlights this season, but none more memorable than a natural hat trick in 4:02 of a Feb. 12 game against the Devils. New Jersey rookie goalie Martin Brodeur was bowled over in his first appearance at the Boston Garden.&ldquo;It happened real fast,&rdquo; Brodeur says. &ldquo;Thirteen minutes and I was out of there.&rdquo;He got the Cam-shaft.Michael J. Fox could have a project on his hands one day.Neely, fresh from his acting debut in The Mighty Ducks II, may try to trade the Boston Bruins&rsquo; black and gold for the silver screen when his NHL career comes to an end.&ldquo;Mike has always said he&rsquo;d give me a million dollars worth of acting lessons free,&rdquo; Neely says.The Bruin runs with an exciting crowd of movie and television stars that includes fellow British Columbia native Fox and Woody Harrelson, the Cheers bartender.Neely and Harrelson are ping pong rivals.Who&rsquo;s better?Let&rsquo;s just say white man can&rsquo;t play ping pong&hellip;well enough to beat Neely. There is ample and irrefutable proof. On one wall of the hockey player&rsquo;s rec room is a small indentation. Another is on the opposite wall.The fiercely competitive Harrelson has been there.It was through Harrelson that Neely, met actress Glenn Close. Neely says widely circulated rumors of a romance between the two are wrong. He has escorted her to a couple of functions, but they are friends. No more than that.Among Neely&rsquo;s closest friends is Lyndon Byers, ex-Bruin and current member of the Las Vegas Thunder in the International League.&ldquo;People who don&rsquo;t know Cam think he&rsquo;s a hard-ass and stuck up,&rdquo; Byers says. &ldquo;But he&rsquo;s one of the most genuine people I know.&rdquo;Neely is guarded around strangers, aware of his celebrity status and fearful strangers will get the wrong impression of him.He plays the the strong, silent type on the ice. There&rsquo;s a place for those kind of men in the movies.Does that truly interest him?&ldquo;It does,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;but I don&rsquo;t think I could do it. It&rsquo;s a lot more difficult than people realize. There&rsquo;s a lot more to it than trying to remember lines. The Mighty Ducks thing was easy because I just played me.&rdquo;Fox&rsquo;s offer has no expiry date. But neither, happily, does Neely&rsquo;s NHL career.The knee injury may have rendered him &ldquo;day-to-day&rdquo; for the remainder of his career, but it promises to be a longer and more fruitful one than many feared.Hollywood can wait.This much we know for sure: If Neely ever does try Tinseltown, his hockey career will be a tough act to follow. &#9632;

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Bruins’ star Neely perfect Acting may be in Neely’s post-playing picture

<div class="byline">By Rick Carpiniello</div>The New York Rangers showed in late February precisely why they are the NHL&rsquo;s best team so far this season.The Rangers were embarrassed twice as February came to a close-63 by the Boston Bruins Feb. 23 and 3-1 by the Dallas Stars Feb. 26-but they still picked up two important victories.The first, a 4-3 come-from-behind overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Feb. 21, illustrated the Rangers&rsquo; impressive depth, which has been rarely used this season.They also beat the New Jersey Devils 3-1 Feb. 24 for their fifth win in five meetings with their cross-river rivals.That record was the reason for the Rangers&rsquo; 10-point lead over the Devils in the Atlantic Division.&ldquo;So far this season we&rsquo;ve rebounded by really bearing down, playing a smart, heady game,&rdquo; Mark Messier said.The Pittsburgh game was the Rangers&rsquo; third in 66 hours, thus preventing coach Mike Keenan from relying too much on his top 10-12 players as he usually does.The fourth line of Greg Gilbert, Mike Hudson and Joey Kocur was assigned to check Pittsburgh&rsquo;s Rick Tocchet and Kevin Stevens, and defensemen Jay Wells and Jeff Beuke-boom were paired to round out the five regular defensemen.&ldquo;The whole year has been dedicated to going all the way,&rdquo; Wells said. &ldquo;And as long as we keep winning, who cares who plays how much? We need all 25 guys and our dedication is to do whatever it takes to keep winning.&rdquo;Teamwork is the key to the Rangers&rsquo; success this season. Each player has accepted his role and nobody has complained, at least not publicly.&ldquo;That has been one of the biggest turnarounds from the previous couple of years,&rdquo; said Messier, whose main beef with coach Roger Neilson last year was that roles were not defined.&ldquo;That was laid out to everybody pretty clearly at the beginning of the season. Then it was left to everybody to either accept it or not. The greatest thing about our year so far is everybody has accepted it. The only way for a team to be successful is for everybody to accept it.&rdquo;LIFE OF ALEX: Russian right winger Alexei Kovalev has had to endure a lot this season, including three suspensions and, at times, the wrath of Mike Keenan.In the loss to Boston, Keenan made another point on the 21-year-old winger.Keenan, feeling Kovalev was reverting to a habit of staying on the ice too long, made the Russian play the final six minutes of the second period and almost all of the first seven minutes of the third.&ldquo;Alex enjoys ice time, so we thought we&rsquo;d let him play a little more,&rdquo; Keenan said, turning up the sarcasm. &ldquo;He doesn&rsquo;t like to come off after a shift. It&rsquo;s amazing how people forget where they came from.&ldquo;Overextending shifts is another subtle indication of a lack of discipline. Alex probably thinks I was rewarding him.&rdquo;Which is exactly right. Kovalev didn&rsquo;t have a clue that he was being punished. In fact, he drew two penalties and scored a power-play goal during the six-minute shift in the second.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what the idea is. but I like to play like that,&rdquo; Kovalev said. &ldquo;When I played junior, I played all the time like that.&rdquo;The next night, Kovalev had received the proper message from teammates. Keenan said he didn&rsquo;t have to speak to Kovalev because he felt the veteran leadership on the team would handle the problem.NOTEBOOK: Mark Messier reached two career milestones in late February. He recorded the 1,300th point of his NHL career at New Jersey and picked up his 825th assist in Dallas, which tied him with Alex Delvecchio for 10th all-time&hellip;Goalie Mike Richter was the first goalie to reach 30 wins this season and did so for the first time in his career.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Mark Messier. Esa Tikkanen, Sergei Nemchinov, Mike Hudson.LW-Adam Graves. Alexei Kovalev. Nick Kypreos. Greg Gilbert. Phil Bour-que, Mike Hartman.RW-Steve Larmer, Tony Amonte, Mike Gartner, Joey Kocur.LD-Brian Leetch. Kevin Lowe, Jay Wells, Peter Andersson.RD-Jeff Beukeboom, Sergei Zubov, Alexander Karpovtsev, Doug Lidster.G-Mike Richter. Glenn Healy.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Eddie Olczyk, C. right thumb surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Ability to bounce back key to team’s success

<div class="byline">By Craig Dolch</div>The expansion Florida Panthers have proven they can play on even terms with any NHL team at even strength.But when the Panthers skidded to five losses in six games in late February, it was because of their not-so-special teams.During their worst stretch since the season&rsquo;s opening month, the Panthers actually outscored the opposition 108 at even strength.But they managed only two points because they were outscored 14-3 on special teams.&ldquo;It has definitely been costing us games,&rdquo; said right winger Scott Mel-lanby. &ldquo;Special teams is what wins you games-and it&rsquo;s what loses you games.&rdquo;Prior to the slump, the Panthers were eighth in the NHL in penalty killing at 83 per cent. But they killed only 60 per cent of the penalties (18 of 30) during the six games.The power play wasn&rsquo;t much better, converting only two of 31 opportunities. Making matters worse, the Panthers allowed two shorthanded goals, including what proved to be a game-winner in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals Feb. 24.&ldquo;You just can&rsquo;t allow shorthanded goals in situations like that,&rdquo; said coach Roger Neilson.It&rsquo;s no coincidence the Panthers started struggling as soon as rookie center Jesse Belanger left the lineup with a broken left hand. Belanger was third on the team with eight powerplay goals and he also had nine power-play assists.Neilson met with his team during the slump to remind them how well they have played this season. The Panthers outscored teams 118-101 at even strength going into March.But unless they can get the special teams problems corrected, the Panthers will have no shot at holding on to the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve just been telling them that we&rsquo;ve been fine at even strength,&rdquo; Neilson said. &ldquo;But we have to start playing better on special teams.&rdquo;NIEDS A BREAK: What once was a promising rookie season for center Rob Niedermayer has turned into a fight for respectability.Niedermayer, who led the team in scoring before separating his right shoulder in mid-November, hasn&rsquo;t regained his form.Roger Neilson tried to motivate Niedermayer by playing him sparingly in consecutive road games against the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres in late February.The 19-year-old center understood why he was spending more time on the bench.&ldquo;I have to be more intense, more assertive, every time I go out there,&rdquo; Niedermayer said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been struggling for a while and sometimes it takes something like this to get you going.&ldquo;It has been tough. You get upset when you&rsquo;re not out there as much as you think you should be. But it&rsquo;s a battle to regain your confidence when you&rsquo;re not playing well.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Right winger Bob Kudelski can set an NHL record by playing 87 games this season if he remains healthy for the final 19 games. Kudelski was traded by the Ottawa Senators Jan. 6. Jimmy Carson set the record last season when he played in 86 games for the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings.<h2>FLORIDA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 23: Jeff Greenlaw, LW. recalled from Cincinnati (IHL), Doug Barrault. RW. assigned to Cincinnati.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Brian Skrudland, Rob Niedermayer, Stu Barnes, Tom Fitzgerald.LW-Mike Hough, Dave Lowry, Bill Lindsay, Jeff Greenlaw.RW-Jody Hull. Scott Mellanby. Bob Kudelski, Andrei Lomakin.LD-Brian Benning. Geoff Smith. Greg Hawgood. Brent Severyn.RD-Gord Murphy. Joe Cirella, Paul LausG-John Vanbtesbrouck. Mark Fitzpatrick.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jesse Belanger, C, broken left hand, indefinite Keith Brown, D, groin pull, day-to-day. Mike Folfgno, RW. hip flexor, day-to-day. &#9632;

Special teams especially bad as team fades in Feb.

<div class="byline">By Wayne Fish</div>All Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour needed was a change of scenery. Not a new team, just a new line.Brind&rsquo;Amour, mired in perhaps his worst scoring slump since joining the Philadelphia Flyers from the St. Louis Blues in September, 1991, was moved from second-line center to first-line left winger.Playing alongside Eric Lindros seemed to rejuvenate his game immediately.He broke a 12-game goal drought with a pair of goals (and two assists) in an 8-7 win over the Montreal Canadiens Feb. 21. He followed that with two goals in a 5-4 win against the New York Islanders Feb. 24.Brind&rsquo;Amour had 13 points in six games on his new line as the Flyers put together a 4-2-0 record.Brind&rsquo;Amour played left wing in his two seasons with the Blues, but says he prefers center. The 23-year-old started to change his tune, though, when he joined the Lindros line.&ldquo;I like it now,&rdquo; Brind&rsquo;Amour said. &ldquo;When you&rsquo;re playing with Eric and Mikael (Renberg), it doesn&rsquo;t matter where you&rsquo;re playing. It&rsquo;s fun.&rdquo;Brind&rsquo;Amour had 18 goals and 50 points in 68 games.TRADING PLACES: The Flyers went through with their plan to send goaltender Tommy S&ouml;derstrom to the Hershey Bears of the American League for a two-week conditioning stint.They also acquired goaltender Frederic Chabot from the Montreal Canadiens Feb. 21 for future considerations. Chabot, 26, had been on loan to Hershey from the Canadiens since Nov. 30.The Flyers assigned Soderstr&ouml;m and recalled Chabot Feb. 22 to back up Dominic Roussel. They hope an increased workload will help get Soderstrom back on track. After compiling a 20-17-6 record with a 3.42 goals-against average last year, he was 3-12-2 with a 4.18 GAA this season.NOTEBOOK: Bill Barber was named an assistant coach under coach Terry Simpson Feb. 26. Barber, the Flyers&rsquo; director of pro scouting, will join assistants Craig Hartsburg and Mike Eaves. The Flyers want Barber to help instruct young players and fill them in on tendencies of other teams. Barber&rsquo;s only coaching experience was a brief 16-game stint with Hershey in 1985.<h2>PHILADELPHIA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 21: Frederic Chabot, G, acquired from Montreal for future considerations. Feb. 22: Tommy Soderstrom. G, assigned to Hershey (AHL). Chabot recalled from Hershey. Dan Kordic, D/LW, recalled from Hershey. Feb. 26: Bill Barber named assistant coach.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Eric Lindros, Mark Recchi, Josef Beranek, Dave TippettLW-Rod Brind&rsquo;Amour. Claude Boivin, Andre Faust, Dan Kordic.RW-Mikael Renberg, Kevin Dineen, Dave Brown. Al Conroy.LD-Garry Galley, Yves Racine, Rob Zettler. Jeff Finley.RD-Ryan McGill, Rob Ramage, Bob Wilkie.G-Dominic Roussel. Frederic Chabot,<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jason Bowen, D, separated left shoulder. March 4. Pelle Eklund, LW. hernia operation, indefinite Brent Fedyk, LW. sprained left wrist, indefinite. Stewart Malgunas, D. strained left knee ligament, day-to-day. Dimitri Yushkevich, D, strained groin, day-to-day. &#9632;

Brind’Amour rekindles flame playing next to fiery Lindros

<div class="byline">By Rich Chere</div>The New Jersey Devils should have learned a lesson when they lost high-scoring forward Brendan Shanahan as a free agent back in 1991.Apparently they did not.Although they eventually offered Shanahan a lucrative new contract, the Devils waited too long and lost the rugged winger to the St. Louis Blues.History may soon repeat itself for the Devils and general manager Lou Lamoriello. This time, it appears they may have waited too long to re-sign captain Scott Stevens. The defenseman could walk after this season without the Devils receiving compensation.Stevens, who turns 30 April 1, would move into the category of free agents over 30 that do not require compensation. The only way the Devils could keep him would be to match an outside offer.Since the hard-hitting veteran is in the midst of perhaps his best season in the NHL at plus-37 with 13 goals and 54 points in 59 games, the offers from several NHL clubs after this year are expected to be very lucrative.Stevens is earning $1.1 million in the final season of a four-year free contract he signed with the Blues in July, 1990. He could command $2 million to $2.5 million. Or more.So why did the Devils wait to make an offer other than the mandatory 15 per cent raise they were required to make?&ldquo;I guess they wanted to see what they had this year, take a look at their personnel and see what they needed,&rdquo; Stevens said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;ve obviously played out my option and that was a risk because I could have gotten injured or something.&rdquo;Lamoriello was scheduled to meet with Stevens&rsquo; agent, Richard Bennett, hoping to strike a deal before those mega-offers rolled in.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll always listen,&rdquo; Stevens said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m really excited about the way the coaches have brought a good system here. That&rsquo;s important. Plus, the travel in this division is great. But I&rsquo;ve taken a risk.&rdquo;TOO FRAGILE?: The knock on rookie goaltender Martin Brodeur has always been his susceptibility to injury.And the Devils received a haunting reminder of that Feb. 24 when he hurt his right knee in a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers.The 21-year-old Calder Trophy candidate sustained a mildly sprained knee in the game. He has had surgery on both knees during his climb through the junior and minor pro ranks.&ldquo;I got scared,&rdquo; Brodeur said of the popping sound he heard. &ldquo;Every time it comes to my knees, I&rsquo;m more scared than anything.&rdquo;Brodeur practised the following day and did not start Feb. 26 against the Hartford Whalers. He was expected to bounce back without lasting problems.NOTEBOOK: John MacLean was fortunate to escape major injury when he was hit in the right eye Feb. 24 against the Rangers. A puck deflected off Mark Messier&rsquo;s stick and hit MacLean in the eye. The Devils&rsquo; right winger sustained a cut that needed 20 stitches to close. MacLean played the next game against Hartford.<h2>NEW JERSEY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Corey Millen. Bernie Nicholls. Bobby Carpenter, Alexander Semak.LW-Valeri Zelepukin, Bobby Holik, Stephane Richer, Mike Peluso.RW-Bill Guerin. John MacLean. Randy McKay, Claude Lemieux, Tom Chorske.LD-Scott Stevens, Bruce Driver. Viacheslav Fetisov,RD-Ken Daneyko, Scott Niedermayer, Tommy Albelin, Jason Smith.G-Martin Brodeur, Chris Terreri.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Captain Stevens may walk

<div class="byline">By Jeff Williams</div>There&rsquo;s something natural and uncomplicated about the way Marty McInnis plays the game. He has innate hockey sense and rocket-assisted blades.It&rsquo;s that mix that leads to the type of shorthanded goal he scored in the New York Islanders&rsquo; 4-0 victory over the Washington Capitals Feb. 21. The left winger sensed a pass would be made from the left point to the right and de-flected the puck out of the zone. Center Pierre Turgeon got to it and slipped a pass to McInnis, who beat goalie Don Beaupre.The goal was McInnis&rsquo; 17th of the season and tied him for the NHL lead with five shorthanded. He scored another pretty goal in a victory over the Quebec Nordiques Feb. 27 which boosted his point total to 42 in 61 games. Last year, in his first full NHL season, he had 10 goals and 30 points in 56 games.Throw in McInnis&rsquo; plus-23, which tied him with Vladimir Malakhov for the team lead, and it&rsquo;s not hard to see why people are saying he&rsquo;s the most improved Islander.With each passing week, McInnis, 23, seems more and more at ease. Whether he&rsquo;s playing with linemates Travis Green and Brad Dalgarno or paired with Turgeon in a penalty-killing tandem, McInnis is proving he belongs a year after it looked like maybe he didn&rsquo;t.The Islanders put him at center between David Volek and Pat Flatley last season. The line was a bust and by November of last season McInnis was sent to the Capital District Islanders of the American League.When he was recalled, coach Al Arbour put him on left wing with Green and Dalgamo. Little did Arbour know that line would make him look like a magician.McInnis is a confident, though unassuming player. He doesn&rsquo;t know exactly why his production is up this season or why he&rsquo;s a better player. &ldquo;If I start thinking about it, I&rsquo;d screw up,&rdquo; he said.&ldquo;He has great speed and great anticipation,&rdquo; said assistant coach Lome Henning. &ldquo;He isn&rsquo;t plus-23 without reason.&rdquo;HEXTALL HOT: Goalie Ron Hextall, who started poorly this season, was the NHL&rsquo;s player of the week after recording three shutouts in four games from Feb. 18 to Feb. 25.All three shutouts came at Nassau Coliseum, against the Ottawa Senators, Washington and the Philadelphia Flyers. The streak ended Feb. 27 when Quebec Nordique Chris Simon scored at 2:39 of the third period. It ended Hextall&rsquo;s run at 249:39, which is a team record for home games.Through games of Feb. 27, the Islanders had not allowed a goal at the Coliseum since Feb. 15, when Brian Bradley of the Tampa Bay Lightning scored his team&rsquo;s only goal at 13:00 of the second period.NOTEBOOK: Keith Acton played his 1,000th regular-season game Feb. 21 against the Capitals at Nassau Coliseum. It was at the Coliseum as a member of the Montreal Canadiens that Acton made his NHL debut Dec. 11, 1979. He also scored his 500th point and 200th goal at the Coliseum while a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. Acton&rsquo;s stick and jersey from Game 1,000 will be displayed at the Hall of Fame in Toronto.<h2>N.Y. RANGERS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 23: Joe Day, LW. assigned to Salt Lake (IHL). Rich Pilon, D. assigned to Salt Lake for conditioning.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Pierre Turgeon, Ray Ferraro, Travis Green, Keith ActonLW-Derek King, Benoit Hogue, Marty McInnis, Dave Maley.RW-Steve Thomas, Pat Flatley, Brad Dalgamo, Mick Vukota, Yan Kaminsky.LD-Scott Lachance. Danus Kasparaitis, Dennis Vaske.RD-Uwe Krupp. Vladimir Malakhov. Tom Kurvers, Dennis Vaske, Dean Chynoweth.G-Ron Hextall, Jamie McLennan.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Claude Loiselle, C. knee surgery, out tor season. David Volek, LW, lower back strain, indefinite. &#9632;

McInnis proves he belongs

<div class="byline">By Roy Cummings</div>Talk of a San Jose Sharks-like sophomore swoon was running rampant around the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this season after the team got off to a bad start.Despite the talk and predicted disaster, the Lightning has bounced back to respectability.&ldquo;I knew we&rsquo;d have some tough times, some ups and downs,&rdquo; Marc Bergevin said. &ldquo;But I also knew we had way too much character on this club to let those bad times effect us and keep us from making progress.&ldquo;People forget, the Sharks had a lot of young kids and a lot of injuries and that really hurt them. But we have some veterans here.&rdquo;The Lightning certainly turned things around. Following a dreadful 3-12-2 start, the team went 20-20-6 in its next 46 games. And at times, it was one of the NHL&rsquo;s best teams.Examples of the strong play included a 4-0 win over the Calgary Flames Feb. 24 and a pair of wins over the red-hot Boston Bruins (7-2 Feb. 20) and Montreal Canadiens (4-3 Feb. 17).The win over Calgary gave the Lightning 54 points, one more than it had last season.&ldquo;That was a good all-around game we played against Calgary, one of our best,&rdquo; said coach Terry Crisp. &ldquo;We got four goals, which for us is great, we killed off all our penalties and we got great goaltending from Daren Puppa.&rdquo;Puppa recorded his fourth shutout of the season and his effort again had the Lightning talking about the playoffs.Tampa Bay pulled to within eight points of a playoff spot, and despite the climb that&rsquo;s ahead, could still make a run at the post-season.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve reached our primary goal, which was to improve on last year, and we&rsquo;ve still got several games to go.&rdquo; Bergevin said. &ldquo;This is already a successful season for us, so now we&rsquo;re going to try and take it a step farther and maybe make a run at the playoffs.&rdquo;JABLONSKI GONE: The Lightning found a taker for one of its spare goalies Feb. 22.After shopping backups Wendell Young and Pat Jablonski for weeks, the Lightning traded Jablonski to the Toronto Maple Leafs for future considerations.&ldquo;I know I&rsquo;ve got a reputation for making a lot of trades, but I really hate trading players and I really hated trading Pat,&rdquo; said general manager Phil Esposito. &ldquo;Pat was a real good guy, and I think he was a good goaltender. The problem was, we didn&rsquo;t need three goalies, so somebody had to go.&rdquo;&ldquo;This is really tough for me,&rdquo; said Jablonski, 26, the first player for whom the Lightning ever traded. &ldquo;I never wanted to leave Tampa.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Goalie Wendell Young made his season debut Feb. 26 against the Vancouver Canucks. The 30-year-old veteran had not played since March 20 of last season. He missed the end of last year and beginning of this one due to right shoulder surgery. He gave up two goals in a 3-1 loss. Tampa Bay held the Canucks scoreless until the 4:38 mark of the third period.The Lightning will have to do without leading scorer Petr Klima until mid-March. The left winger was checked by Edmonton defenseman Adam Bennett Feb. 27 and sustained a slightly separated right shoulder.<h2>TAMPA BAY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Brian Bradley, Chris Gratton. Marc Bureau. Denis Savard.LW-Adam Creighton, Mikael Andersson, Gerard Gallant.RW-John Tucker. Danton Cole, Pat Elynuik, Tim Bergland. Rob DiMaio.LD-Joe Reekie. Marc Bergevin, Shawn Chambers.RD-Chris Joseph, Roman Hamrlik, Rudy Poes-chek.G&mdash;Daren Puppa, Wendell Young.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Donald Dufresne, D, sprained right knee, indefinite. Petr Klima, LW, separated right shoulder, March 13. &#9632;

Crucial late-season surge could produce playoff trip

<div class="byline">By Dave Sell</div>Joe Slaney reads the newspaper and watches the highlights on television, but the real confirmation his son John has arrived will come from his scissors.When a customer comes into his St. John&rsquo;s Nfld., barber shop and orders a haircut with a Washington Capitals&rsquo; logo shaved in, Joe will know his boy has hit the big time.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve gotten (requests) for the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins,&rdquo; Joe Slaney said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;ve never got one for the Washington Capitals.&rdquo;Until recently, John Slaney had spent most of his pro career in the American League. The ninth overall pick in 1990, Slaney was the highest Capitals&rsquo; draft choice since Scott Stevens was selected fifth in 1982. Naturally expectations for the former star of the Ontario League&rsquo;s Cornwall Royals were high.But Slaney&rsquo;s development stalled after he became Capitals&rsquo; property. He spent the latter part of 1991-92 and all of last season with the Baltimore Skipjacks of the AHL.Just recently has Slaney becoming a regular contributor on the Capitals&rsquo; blueline.&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think I was ready for the NHL then,&rdquo; Slaney said. &ldquo;Now that I&rsquo;m here, hopefully I can stay.&rdquo;He made his NHL debut Dec. 11 against the Montreal Canadiens and has seen varying amounts of ice time since. In 34 games, Slaney had five goals and 10 points.&ldquo;What he does real well is see the entire ice surface and he is a very good passer,&rdquo; said coach Jim Schoenfeld. &ldquo;The main thing he has to work on is his conditioning, so he can do the things he does well for a longer period of time and do them better. Whenever John gets in trouble, it&rsquo;s normally a mistake caused by fatigue.&rdquo;WILLING AND ABLE: Goaltender Olie Kolzig understands the Capitals are in a playoff race and that new coach Jim Schoenfeld has relatively little knowledge of him.But Kolzig also knows he will be 24 before the regular season is over and is itching to play in the NHL.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m getting antsy because it is my fourth year and I&rsquo;m still in the minors,&rdquo; said Kolzig, a first-round draft pick in 1989. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s a situation where Washington has two great goalies.&rdquo;Kolzig was recalled from the Portland Pirates of the AHL Feb. 21 after Rick Tabaracci went down with a strained knee. With the injury taking longer to heal than expected, Kolzig could be with the team for a while.Whether he plays or not is another issue. Don Beaupre will get most, if not all, of the starts. Barring the unexpected, when Tabaracci returns Kolzig will go back to Portland where he will continue to share the duties with Byron Dafoe.Kolzig expects one of the franchise&rsquo;s goalies to be moved by the March 21 trading deadline.&ldquo;Byron and I would be upset (if the status quo remained), but I think something will happen,&rdquo; Kolzig said. &ldquo;One of us will get traded.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Two of three home sellouts this season have taken place since Jim Schoenfeld took over as coach and turned the team around. In the other sellout, scores of Pittsburgh Penguins&rsquo; fans made the trek to Landover for a holiday weekend game.<h2>WASHINGTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 21: Olie Kolzig. G, recalled from Portland (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Dale Hunter. Mike Ridley, Michal Pivonka, Alan May.LW-Dimitri Khristich. Randy Burridge. Kelly Miller, Craig Berube.RW-Peter Bondra. Steve Konowalchuk, Todd Krygier, Keith Jones.LD-AI lafrate, Calle Johansson, Enrico Ciccone. Shawn Anderson.RD-Sylvain Cote. Kevin Hatcher. John Slaney.G-Don Beaupre, Olie Kolzig.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Pat Peake, RW. tom cartilage in rib cage, indefinite. Dave Poulin, C. asthma, day-to-day. Rick Tabaracci, G. knee strain, day-to-day Jason Woolley, D. tom abdominal muscle, indefinite. &#9632;

Slaney trying to prove he’s a cut above the rest

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0013-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0013-011431/6288824-1-eng-US/f0013-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">(TIM PARKER)</figcaption></div>The recent court victory that gave NHL pensioners about $45 million in pension surpluses got its kick-start at a Boston Bruins&rsquo; Stanley Cup reunion party at Waltham, Mass., in June 1990. Former Bruin Eddie Westfall, now a broadcaster for the New York Islanders, said several members of the media were invited to the party, including Lawrence Eagle-Tribune sports editor Russ Conway. Conway was so intrigued with stories of pension injustice that he began what became a four-year probe into the NHL and NHL Players&rsquo; Association. &ldquo;I kept hearing story after story and said to myself, &lsquo;Too many of them sound the same,&rsquo;&rdquo; Conway said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what got me going.&rdquo; Since the Feb. 17 ruling by the Ontario Court of Appeal, Conway has been besieged by phone calls from oldtimers thanking him for his diligence. &ldquo;When (former Bruin) Johnny McKenzie called,&rdquo; Conway said, &ldquo;I told him that the guy he really should thank is my publisher, Irving E. Rogers, Jr. Without his support, it never would have happened.&rdquo;<h2>Lemaire&rsquo;s side</h2>New Jersey Devils&rsquo; coach Jacques Lemaire has finally answered to Guy Lafleur&rsquo;s charge that as Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; coach, he hastened The Flower&rsquo;s first retirement in 1984-85 by forcing Lafleur to play defensive hockey. &ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t going to make him play defensive hockey,&rdquo; Lemaire told the New York Post. &ldquo;I told him to be the first man on the puck, then he would not have to be back. But he didn&rsquo;t want to. He was a different man than the one I played with. He didn&rsquo;t want to play anymore. Players on the bench would watch him and shake their heads. I could not use him or I would have lost the team.&rdquo; Lafleur, who now writes a column for Quebec&rsquo;s Le Soleil, refuses to retaliate. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to start another feud with Lemaire,&rdquo; Lafleur said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to talk about past problems.&rdquo; But Lafleur was not hesitant to speak out on another subject: The possibility of the Quebec Nordiques trading Owen Nolan, who recently got into a fight with assistant coach Don Jackson. &ldquo;It would be (Quebec general manager) Pierre Page&rsquo;s biggest mistake, if he trades him,&rdquo; Lafleur said. &ldquo;Nolan could be to Quebec what Doug Gilmour is to Toronto.&rdquo;<h2>Butt out, Jim</h2>From the Good Try Department: Washington Capitals&rsquo; coach Jim Schoenfeld is working on Al lafrate in a gallant attempt to get the hard-shooting defenseman to forsake cigarette smoking. It may be easier to persuade fish to give up swimming&hellip; When will the California media begin pointing a finger at Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; coach Barry Melrose? Melrose has an excellent cast in Wayne Gretzky, Kelly Hrudey and Rob Blake, but the Kings aren&rsquo;t even in playoff contention. If the Kings think Marty McSorley is their savior, they&rsquo;d better check their stick blades twice a day.<h2>Slava for prez</h2>Viacheslav Fetisov is seriously considering a political career in Moscow once his NHL days are over. But the defenseman may find it difficult leaving the United States since he&rsquo;s fast becoming a successful businessman&hellip; Forget about the Pittsburgh Penguins as a Stanley Cup-winner this spring. Mario Lemieux&rsquo;s back injury makes them vulnerable and they have an inadequate defense corps&hellip;Firing Mike Smith as GM sure has made a difference in the rise of the Winnipeg Jets, hasn&rsquo;t it? How about bright Doug Soetaert as the next Winnipeg GM?&hellip;The performance of the Dallas Stars has made it impossible for Bob Gainey not to be seriously considered for coach of the year.<h2>Cool, Crisp cash</h2>Tampa Bay Lightning coach Terry Crisp has an interesting solution to the chronic coaching problem of handling millionaire players. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s only one way to do it,&rdquo; Crisp told Bluelines, &ldquo;and that&rsquo;s to make the coaches richer and richer and richer.&rdquo;&hellip;I like Alexei Yashin over Jason Arnott for rookie of the year, but if Martin Brodeur keeps improving, the New Jersey goalie gets the nod over both sharpshooters&hellip; One of the more interesting trade rumors has Devils&rsquo; prodigy Scott Niedermayer going to Pittsburgh for Jaromir Jagr. The theory is that Jagr&rsquo;s salary ($1.3 million) is too heavy for a team that already leads the NHL at $19 million. More importantly, the Pens need a young and gifted rushing defenseman.<h2>THE ROOKIES OF 1993-94</h2>Denny FelsnerBorn: Warren. Mich.Age: 23Team: St. Louis BluesHeight: 6 feetWeight: 195 poundsPosition: Right wingHow acquired: St. Louis&rsquo; third choice (55th overall) in 1989 entry draft. &#9632;

f0013-01

Pension battle started at Boston ‘B’ party

<div class="byline">By Jim Kelley</div>Buffalo Sabres&rsquo; coach-general manager John Muckier insists he&rsquo;s not looking to trade Grant Fuhr.Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; assistant GM Doug MacLean says the Sabres don&rsquo;t want to trade Fuhr.And Fuhr says he&rsquo;s not looking to be traded.So why are Detroit scouts at virtually every game Fuhr plays? Well, no one said they won&rsquo;t trade Fuhr.The veteran goalie is the object of interest for the Red Wings. MacLean and scouts Danny Belisle and Jim Clark have all seen Fuhr play in recent weeks and while no one will comment on what they&rsquo;ve seen, Fuhr has been impressive.He had wins over the New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and ties with the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals. Fuhr was a game star in losses to the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins after returning from an arthroscopic procedure to remove particles under his left knee cap.And Fuhr expects to get better.&ldquo;Things have come along all right,&rdquo; Fuhr said. &ldquo;The knee is starting to feel better. It&rsquo;s getting stronger every time out. I&rsquo;m getting some strength in it now where I can push and do the things I used to do on it.&ldquo;Still, there&rsquo;s room to get better. Until you see zeroes across the board there&rsquo;s room for improvement.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s common knowledge the Red Wings have been scouting goalies in recent weeks. While there are some who may be available, none come with five Stanley Cup championships on their resume.That poses a dilemma for both teams. If the Wings take a chance on Fuhr, they&rsquo;re risking the 31-year-old still has what it takes to win. They also have to consider the price. Buffalo is said to be interested in forward Keith Primeau for starters.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0014-011511/6288855-1-eng-US/f0014-012.jpg" title="f0014-01" width="572" height="935"><figcaption class="caption-body">Grant Fuhr has been solid since his return from a knee injury.</figcaption></div>Meanwhile, the Sabres have to be concerned about surrendering Fuhr at a time when Dominik Hasek is un-proven in the playoffs and there is no experienced backup in Buffalo&rsquo;s system.The most rumored deal had Primeau and a goalie going to Buffalo, but the Sabres are not interested in picking up Tim Cheveldae&rsquo;s milliondollar contract and the Red Wings are not interested in parting with Chris Osgood.AT THE TOP: Where would the Sabres be this season without the services of resilient veteran Dale Hawer-chuk?The 29-year-old center has been the Sabres&rsquo; most productive and valuable forward this season. He led the team with 27 goals and 65 points in 61 games. He has missed just 16 games in 13 seasons.Hawerchuk. who has reached milestones of 1,000 games and 800 assists this season, needed just three goals to reach the 100 mark in a Sabre sweater.He already surpassed his goal output of last season in Game 40 this season. Hawerchuk had a career-low 16 goals in 81 games last year.NOTEBOOK: Center Dave Hannan scored a shorthanded goal in a 43 loss to Pittsburgh Feb. 26. The goal was just his fourth of the season, but two have been shorthanded. Hannan also assisted on two shorthanded goals in one game earlier this season against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Wayne Presley had three shorthanded goals this season and assisted on Hannan&rsquo;s goal in Pittsburgh.Defenseman Randy Moller scored his first goal of the season Feb. 21 in a 2-1 victory against the Quebec Nordiques. He had 44 goals in 780 career games&hellip;Defenseman Richard Smehlik had a three-assist night against Anaheim Feb. 23. It was his third three-assist game in seven outings. Smehlik led Sabres&rsquo; defensemen with 12 goals and 31 points.Defenseman Doug Bodger missed a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks Feb. 25 and the 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh Feb. 26 due to a death in the family. Prior to those losses, the Sabres had a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1), their longest unbeaten streak of the season.<h2>BUFFALO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 21: Denis Tsygurov. D. assigned to Rochester (AHL). Feb. 24: Philippe Boucher. D, recalled from Rochester.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Dale Hawerchuk. Derek Ptante, Bob Sweeney. Dave Hannan.LW-Yuri Khmylev. Randy Wood. Brad May, Rob Ray.RW-Donald Audette. Wayne Presley, Jason Dawe. Matthew Bamaby.LD-Doug Bodger. Petr Svoboda. Ken Sutton.RD-Craig Muni, Richard Smehlik.G-Dominik Hasek, Grant Fuhr<h3>INJURIES</h3>Pat LaFontaine, C, tom right knee ligament, out for season. Craig Simp-son, LW. sore back, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0014-01

Trading established Fuhr not Muckler’s dream deal

<div class="byline">By Herb Zurkowsky</div>When he was a child growing up in the Montreal suburb of Dorval, Bryan Fogarty had only one opportunity to attend a Montreal Canadiens&rsquo; game.He doesn&rsquo;t even remember which team provided the opposition.&ldquo;I just remember going to the Forum. It was just a great feeling,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was a young kid, going with my grandfather. It was too big to believe back then, but when I look back upon it, it&rsquo;s one of my greatest memories.&rdquo;Years from now, Fogarty might remember the Forum as the place where he salvaged his NHL career.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0015-011398/6288886-1-eng-US/f0015-012.jpg" title="f0015-01" width="552" height="850"><figcaption class="caption-body">Bryan Fogarty has the tools to improve Montreal&rsquo;s power play.</figcaption></div>The Canadiens, in a surprising Bove considering their exceptional alent on the blueline, signed the free-gent defenseman to a contract for the maimier of this season and next, his option year. Fogarty will receive 275.000 (U.S.) annually.following a personality conflict with coach Gene Ubriaco. He also played for the Las Vegas Thunder and Kansas City Blades of the IHL.Canadiens&rsquo; pro scout Carol Vad-nais kept tabs on him and convinced Montreal general manager Serge Savard he was worth a look. However, coach Jacques Demers agreed to the move only after four veteran players-captain Guy Carbonneau, Patrick Roy, Kirk Muller and Mike Keane-gave it their approval.&ldquo;Fogarty can help us on the power play,&rdquo; Demers said. &lsquo;The important thing is he knows what the situation is. He&rsquo;s a free agent, so he didn&rsquo;t cost us anything. If he can help us, that&rsquo;s great. If it doesn&rsquo;t work out, he won&rsquo;t be around here for long.&rdquo;TOUGH NUT TO CRACK: Ron Tugnutt is convinced he can do the job Roland Melanson, Jean-Claude Bergeron, Frederic Chabot, Andre Racicot and Les Kuntar couldn&rsquo;t handle-backing up goaltender Patrick Roy.No one has handled the chore well since Brian Hayward, who left in 1990. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m confident and experienced enough to handle the pressure,&rdquo; said Tugnutt, acquired from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Stephan Lebeau.&ldquo;Everyone who was there before me came in at a young age. Hayward and Melanson were successful because they had experience and had played a lot of games. I&rsquo;ve played over 200 games. I&rsquo;m not going to let pressure get to me.&rdquo;Tugnutt, 26, goes into his option year next season, he said he doesn&rsquo;t want to be a stop-gap solution. He sees himself remaining a Canadien for some time.NOTEBOOK: Hard-luck defenseman Patrice Brisebois went down with an injury for the third time this season. He sustained a sprained right ankle against the Philadelphia Flyers Feb. 21 and is out until mid-March. He had already missed 24 games this season due to injury.<h2>MONTREAL</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 25: Bryan Fogarty, D. signed two-year contract.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-John LeClair. Kirk Muller, Guy Carbonneau, Paul DiPietro, Ron Wilson.LW-Vincent Damphousse, Gilbert Dionne, Benoit Brunet. Mario Roberge. Pierre Sevigny.RW-Brian Bellows. Mike Keane, Oleg Petrov. Ed Ronan.LD-Mathieu Schneider. Peter Popovic. Kevin Haller, Bryan FogartyRD-Lyle Odelein, Enc Desjardins, Jean-Jacques Daigneault.G-Patrick Roy, Ron Tugnutt.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Patrice Brisebois, D, sprained right ankle, indefinite. &#9632;

f0015-01

Fogarty will get another chance

<div class="byline">By Chris Stevenson</div>Hank Gathers and Reggie Lewis.The names of the two basketball stars who died of heart problems on the court have rattled around the mind of Ottawa Senators&rsquo; defenseman Norm Maciver this season.Maciver, 29, has battled and defeated a heart problem which started when he was struck in the chest by a stick in a pre-season game.While his problem-it was diagnosed as a bruised heart-was nothing like the congenital conditions which cost Gathers and Lewis their lives, Maciver wondered at times if the same ending could have been lurking in a rink somewhere, waiting for him.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0016-011295/6288917-1-eng-US/f0016-012.jpg" title="f0016-01" width="572" height="844"><figcaption class="caption-body">Norm Maciver aims to end mis-erable season on positive note.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I thought &lsquo;Holy smokes, If I got hit in the same spot again, what would happen?&rsquo;&rdquo; Maciver said. &ldquo;Sometimes you get those thoughts in your head and can&rsquo;t get them out.&rdquo;The only thoughts in Maciver&rsquo;s head now are positive ones. He&rsquo;s feeling strong now, no longer short of breath and he&rsquo;s full of confidence.The Senators&rsquo; scoring leader last season with 17 goals and 63 points, Maciver has slumped to three goals and 23 points this season. He missed 10 games with the heart problem.He just wants to finish this season strongly.&ldquo;The jump is back in his legs,&rdquo; said coach Rick Bowness. &ldquo;He has had some intense off-ice workouts. You can&rsquo;t play this game if you&rsquo;re not in shape. Nobody can.&rdquo;&ldquo;I feel I&rsquo;ve got that jump back,&rdquo; Maciver said. &ldquo;My legs feel strong. Physically and mentally, I feel good.&rdquo;The tissue may have healed, but it takes longer for the psychological wound to get better, he said.&ldquo;I went for a long stretch where I was feeling uneasy, worrying about getting hit and reinjured,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I now feel completely over that.&rdquo;TICKET RENEWALS: The number is down to 7,560.That&rsquo;s how many season tickets have been renewed for next year in the 9,575-seat Civic Centre.There are two ways of looking at the 19 per cent decline in renewals from last year&rsquo;s total of 9,300.The Senators are looking at it in a. positive way.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s gratifying to us that, in these uncertain economic times, so many fans chose to renew for the 1994-95 season, fully six months away,&rdquo; said Senators&rsquo; president and general manager Randy Sexton.The cost is about $6,000 for a pair of tickets for a team that had lost 114 games in less than two years.So, when it comes to putting a public face on it, the Senators are expressing satisfaction.Privately, they must be concerned.The Senators, who said they contacted about 90 per cent of the people who chose not to renew their tickets, say most of those cite economic reasons.Perhaps some fans simply aren&rsquo;t happy with the glacier-like progress of a team that has won just 20 games in less than two years.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s (the media&rsquo;s) message, not ours.&rdquo; said Senators&rsquo; chairman and governor Rod Bryden. &ldquo;I wish this team was better, too. But they&rsquo;re telling us they&rsquo;re not buying because of money.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Senators eq-ualled their win total of last season with their 10th victory, a 6-4 win over the San Jose Sharks Feb. 24&hellip;Winger Dave Archibald got some good news&middot; in what has been a miserable season marred by injuries. He won&rsquo;t need surgery to repair an injured groin. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s good news, but we don&rsquo;t know if he&rsquo;s going to play again this season.&rdquo; Rick Bowness said.Rookie Alex Yashin&rsquo;s favorite player growing up in Russia was center Igor Larionov, so it was a big thrill for Yashin to play against him when the Sharks came to town. Yash-in had three assists and was the game&rsquo;s first star in the Ottawa win.<h2>OTTAWA</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Alexandre Daigle, Alexei Yashin, Mark Lamb.LW-Syfvain Tutgeon. Dave McLI-wain, Troy Mallette Brad Lauer, Bill HuardRW-Andrew McBain. Gene Davydov. Scott Levins. Herb Raglan.LD-Dennis Vial, Kerry Huffman. Norm Maciver.RD-Brad Shaw, Gord Dineen, Darren Rumble.G-Craig Billington. Darrin Madeley.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Archibald, RW. strained groin. indefinite. &#9632;

f0016-01

Restless Maciver ices bad thoughts

<div class="byline">By Mike Loftus</div>The Boston Bruins couldn&rsquo;t have asked for more from the seven-game road trip that came to an end with an almost routine 4-0 victory Feb. 27 at Chicago.But the Bruins, who logged 9,000 air miles along with a 5-1-1 record, lamented the one that got away.&ldquo;To play seven straight games away from home and lose only one is dam good,&rdquo; said coach Brian Sutter. &ldquo;The funny thing is, the one we lost (3-1, Feb. 19 at St. Louis) was the game we really dominated. It could have been an even better trip.&rdquo;It&rsquo;s conceivable the Bruins might miss the points they didn&rsquo;t get against the Blues, whom they outshot 41-17. Boston moved from third to first place in the Northeast Division during the trip, but had just a three-point lead over Montreal.&ldquo;It would have been good to have that one in St. Louis, too,&rdquo; said Don Sweeney, who had a shorthanded goal against Chicago, &ldquo;though that doesn&rsquo;t make it a bad trip by any means.&ldquo;We have to make sure we realize there&rsquo;s still a long way to go and a lot still to be decided.&rdquo;The most encouraging thing about the trip was that, while critical players such as Jon Casey-on a career-best 10-0-2 run that included four shutouts-and Cam Neely made the usual contributions, others chipped in.Dave Reid, stuck in a season-long scoring slump, had a goal and three assists in victories at New York (6-3), Winnipeg (7-6) and Chicago, while Sweeney scored goals in the trip&rsquo;s last two games and Jozef Stumpel hit the mark at New York and Chicago.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s really important for us,&rdquo; Sutter said. &ldquo;This is a team, and you need everybody.&rdquo;MAN IN MIDDLE: Joe Juneau, who missed games at St. Louis and Tampa because he re-fractured his jaw Feb. 16 at Dallas, was moved to center when he returned Feb. 23.Juneau, playing mostly between Ted Donato and Bryan Smolinski, had a goal and an assist against the Rangers, then picked up a pair of assists two nights later at Winnipeg.&ldquo;Playing center makes things easier for my jaw,&rdquo; said Juneau, who has missed nine games because of jaw injuries. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t forecheck or go into the comers as much, and when we break out of our zone I&rsquo;m not on the boards, so I&rsquo;m not hit as much.&rdquo;Dave Reid and Dmitri Kvartalnov split time replacing Juneau on Boston&rsquo;s top line with Adam Oates and Cam Neely.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Glen Wesley had to leave a Feb. 27 game at Chicago because of a suspicion he sustained a bruised kidney. He was held that night at Illinois Masonic Hospital for observation, but the club said it was just a precaution&hellip;The Bruins were to play nine of 14 games in March at home.<h2>BOSTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 22: Sergei Zholtok. C. and Grigori Panteleev, LW. assigned to Providence (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Adam Oates. Joe Juneau. Jozef Stumpel, Andrew McKim.LW-Dave Reid. Ted Donato, Brent Hughes, Dmitri Kvartalnov.RW-Cam Neely. Bryan Smolinski, Glen Murray. Jamie Huscroft.LD-Don Sweeney. Gord Roberts.RD-Raymond Bourque, Paul Stanton. Glen Featherstone.G-Jon Casey, Vince Riendeau.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Steve Heinze, RW, strained right knee, day-to-day Steve Leach, RW. sprained left knee, indefinite. Daniel Marois, LW. shoulder surgery, indefinite. David Shaw, D, tom left knee ligament, indefinite. Glen Wesley, D. bruised kidney, day-to-day. &#9632;

All thumbs up after road trip

<div class="byline">By Dave Molinari</div>There are plenty of compelling reasons why the Pittsburgh Penguins would be eager to trade Rick Tocchet.He&rsquo;s 29, has a cranky back and is in line for a big contract in about a year.The question is, why would anyone want to trade for a guy like that?Well, probably because Tocchet is one of hockey&rsquo;s premier power forwards. offers intangibles that can&rsquo;t be coached and blends grit and skill in a style few can match.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0018-011188/6288972-1-eng-US/f0018-012.jpg" title="f0018-01" width="578" height="808"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rugged Rick Tocchet enters his option season in 1994-95.</figcaption></div>Suddenly, it&rsquo;s easy to see why teams would be happy to clear a spot on their payroll for him. And if a season&rsquo;s worth of speculation means anything, just about every team in the league has expressed some degree of interest in acquiring him.So, as the NHL&rsquo;s March 21 deadline approaches, Tocchet&rsquo;s name continues to be prominent in trade rumors, even though there is no evidence the Penguins are shopping him.&ldquo;I have never heard his name mentioned from Craig (Patrick, Pittsburgh&rsquo;s general manager),&rdquo; said Penguins&rsquo; coach Ed Johnston. &ldquo;Never.&rdquo;Details, details. Such things rarely deter those who traffic in rumors and Tocchet has heard his name in so many trades put together by amateur GMs this winter he&rsquo;s fairly numb to it all.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been in the league for 10 years, so it doesn&rsquo;t bother me anymore,&rdquo; he said.His teammates don&rsquo;t care much for talk that has Tocchet on his way to another team, however.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been hearing it, but I don&rsquo;t like to hear it,&rdquo; said left winger Kevin Stevens. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a valuable player on our team.&rdquo;Despite his recurring back troubles, Tocchet gives the Penguins a measure of toughness that&rsquo;s in short supply now that Marty McSorley has returned to the Los Angeles Kings.Tocchet&rsquo;s statistics as March approached-12 goals and 34 points in 42 games-were not overwhelming, but the Penguins realize his value should not be measured strictly by points.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a pretty big part of our hockey club,&rdquo; Johnston said.Tocchet also is an expensive one. He is scheduled to earn $997,000 in 1994-95, his option year.Whether Pittsburgh has a sevenfigure salary set aside for him is uncertain and it might be that economics, not hockey, are what ultimately cause Tocchet and the Penguins to part company.Patrick is not known for going public with his personnel plans, but it merits mention that virtually all the Tocchet trade speculation this season has been spawned outside Pittsburgh.&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t blame the Penguins because they might not have said anything,&rdquo; Tocchet said. &ldquo;Maybe teams have called them.&rdquo;FOUL BALL: The Pittsburgh Pirates&rsquo; 10-member board of directors unanimously rejected an offer from Penguins&rsquo; owner Howard Baldwin to buy the baseball team.The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that while Baldwin placed the value of his offer at $81 million, it included only $6 million in cash up front.Baldwin&rsquo;s group was invited to submit a revised bid for the Pirates, but it was not immediately clear if there would be a second proposal.NOTEBOOK: Mario Lemieux missed games Feb. 21 and 24 against the New York Rangers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim because of soreness in his back, but returned for the 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres Feb. 26 and scored the first Pittsburgh goal&hellip;The Penguins&rsquo; 4-3 loss in New York Feb. 21 was their first defeat in 30 overtime games. They had been on a 7-0-22 run in games that went to overtime since a 5-4 loss to Buffalo Jan. 23, 1992.<h2>PITTSBURGH</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 24: Mike Needham, RW, recalled from Cleveland (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Mario Lemieux. Ron Francis, Martin Straka. Shawn McEachern.LW-Kevin Stevens, Doug Brown. Markus Naslund. Jeff Dantels.RW-Jaromir Jagr. Rick Tocchet, Joe Mullen. Tomas Sandstrom. Mike Needham,LO-Ulf Samuelsson, Mike Ramsey. Grant Jennings.RD-Larry Murphy. Kjell Samuelsson, Peter Taglianetti. Greg Brown.G-Torn Barrasso, Ken Wregget.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Bryan Trottier, C, back spasms, day-to-day. &#9632;

f0018-01

Tocchet trade talk just won’t go away

<div class="byline">By Viv Bernstein</div>Anaheim has its duckbill and San Jose its shark. Both have become big sellers in the NHL.The Hartford Whalers thought they came up with a new logo fans would buy, but they couldn&rsquo;t sell it to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.The league rejected the Whalers&rsquo; proposed logo change featuring a whale bearing its teeth with a puck speeding past.&ldquo;I talked to Gary Bettman and he said he wasn&rsquo;t convinced it was a whale-it looked like a shark-and, second, he wasn&rsquo;t blown away by it,&rdquo; said Ashley Gordon, Whalers&rsquo; director of special events. &ldquo;So our design is not strong enough yet.&rdquo;The Whalers also were rejected because they changed their base color from green to dark blue in 1992 and the league didn&rsquo;t want another change so quickly.The Hockey News recently published an advertising executive&rsquo;s rating of NHL logos. The Whalers wound up last.And Gordon said the Whalers have had trouble getting local and national distribution of their merchandise, featuring the Whalers&rsquo; &lsquo;W&rsquo; logo with an &lsquo;H&rsquo; in between. Last season, they ranked 22nd in the league in sales.Hence, the decision to make a design change.&ldquo;This whale was sharp,&rdquo; said coach Pierre McGuire said. &ldquo;It was ferocious.&rdquo;Said general manager Paul Holmgren, &ldquo;I could have gone with a little blood dripping from the whale&rsquo;s mouth, too.&rdquo;The Whalers also are considering changing their name from Hartford to Connecticut. They could also switch from the Whalers to the more politically correct Whale or Whales.GOAL WOES: With 177 goals in 63 games, Hartford was on pace for its worst ever season offensively.&ldquo;Andrew Cassels has had an off-year offensively,&rdquo; Holmgren said. &ldquo;Geoff Sanderson has. Probably the only guys who haven&rsquo;t are Pat Ver-beek and Robert Kron.&rdquo;Sanderson&rsquo;s slump-four goals in 17 games-began around the time he attended the All-Star Game Jan. 22.NOTEBOOK: Paul Holmgren said he won&rsquo;t make a trade that would hurt the future of the team even if it would help the Whalers make the playoffs this season. &ldquo;If something came up that made sense, we&rsquo;d look at that,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But I&rsquo;m not going to make a move out of panic to get this team in the playoffs.&rdquo;The Whalers expected center Robert Petrovicky and defenseman Ted Crowley to join the team in early March following the Olympics.<h2>HARTFORD</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 23: Bob McGill. D, recalled from Springfield (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Michael Nylander. Andrew Cassels. Mark Janssens. Todd Harkins.LW-Geoff Sanderson. Jim Storm, Randy Cunneyworth, Igor ChibirevRW-Pat Verbeek. Brian Propp. Kevin Smyth, Marc Potvin.LD-Zarley Zalapski, Chris Pronger, Bob McGill.RD-James Patrrck, Alexander Godynyuk, Brad McCrimmon.G-Sean Burke. Jeff Reese.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Adam Burt, D, sprained left shoulder, indefinite. Mario Gosselin, G, left knee surgery, out for season. Robert Kron, RW. sprained left shoulder, day-to-day. Bryan Marchment, D. sprained left ankte. indefinite. Jim Sandlak, RW, broken right foot, day-to-day. Darren Turcotte, C, left knee surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Attempt to improve team logo harpooned by commissioner

<div class="byline">By Kevin Johnston</div>When a hockey player is assigned to the minors, he usually isn&rsquo;t a happy camper.That&rsquo;s not the case with Jocelyn Thibault following his demotion to the Cornwall Aces of the American League. In fact, Thibault applauded the move.&ldquo;This is exactly what I needed,&rdquo; the 19-year-old goalie said. &ldquo;I have to play as often as possible and for now, (coach-general manager Pierre) Page is going with the team&rsquo;s No. 1 goalie Stephane Fiset. I appreciate the chance I was given.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m going to be able to rebuild my confidence in Cornwall by playing four or five games in a couple of weeks.&rdquo;The assignment is a two-week conditioning stint, otherwise the underaged Thibault would have to be returned to the Sherbrooke Faucons of the Quebec League.Thibault said he didn&rsquo;t have the right to complain.&ldquo;There are a lot of people in Canada and around the world who are far worse off than I am,&rdquo; he said.Page said the move makes sense all around.&ldquo;If Jocelyn were 27 or 28, there wouldn&rsquo;t be any problem keeping him in Quebec even if he wasn&rsquo;t playing,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But a kid his age has to play. He can&rsquo;t sit around.&rdquo;Page told Thibault a return to the QMJHL is out of the question.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s out of my mind once and for all,&rdquo; Thibault said. &ldquo;The stint in the AHL will be a great experience. The learning process is going its way. And it will make me even stronger mentally.&rdquo;The Nordiques haven&rsquo;t indicated how they plan to use U.S. Olympic team goalie Garth Snow.MEDIA TO BLAME: Pierre Page says the media is partially to blame for Quebec&rsquo;s poor season.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always taken 50 per cent of the blame, the other 50 per cent going to the players,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But lately, I&rsquo;m only taking 33.3 per cent and giving the players 33.3 per cent. The other 33.3 per cent of the blame goes to the media.&rdquo;Page wouldn&rsquo;t give examples, but said some media representatives have undermined team morale this season.&ldquo;A few reporters have had a good time behind the scenes,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t like people working when I have my back turned. We told the players about this, told them to beware. We had a few meetings with them and they also met between themselves.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: A lower back strain may sideline Adam Foote for the remainder of the season. He will be examined by the same specialist who treated Phil Housley of the St. Louis Blues and Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys.A St. Louis newspaper reported new Nordique Ron Sutter in unhappy about the cold weather and French culture in Quebec. Sutter was quoted as saying people generally aren&rsquo;t friendly towards him. Confronted later about the story, Sutter later said too much was being made of the situation.<h2>QUEBEC</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 22: Jocelyn Thibault, G, assigned to Cornwall (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Mike Ricci, Ron Sutter.LW-Claude Lapointe. Valeri Kamensky, Martin Rucinsky. Chris Simon, Tony Twist.RW-Bob Bassen, Scott Young. Andrei Kovalenko, lain Fraser, Paul Mac-Dennid.LD-Steven Finn, Alexei Gusarov, Curtis Leschyshyn.RD-Craig Wolanin, Garth Butcher, Tommy Sjodin. Mike McKee.G-Stephane Fiset. Jacques Cloutier.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Adam Foote, D, lower back strain, indefinite. David Karpa, D. broken right wrist, indefinite. Chris Lindberg, LW, pulled muscle in right hip, day-to-day. Owen Nolan, RW. left shoulder surgery, indefinite. Reginald Savage, RW. broken left wrist, out for season. &#9632;

Thibault welcomes demotion

<div class="byline">By Stan Fischler</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-01984/6289058-1-eng-US/f0020-012.jpg" title="f0020-01" width="381" height="532"></div>This is a story of a not-very-big-deal that really is big if you happen to be the Ottawa Senators or San Jose Sharks. Or if you really care about how votes are tallied for awards such as the NHL All-Star Game&rsquo;s most valuable player or Conn Smythe Trophy.It starts with the All-Star MVP vote which puzzled me the moment it was announced and still bothers me.New York Rangers&rsquo; goalie Mike Richter won the MVP for the Jan. 22 game in New York City for one period of play. Although he allowed two goals in 20 minutes (a 6.00 goals-against average), the Rangers&rsquo; goaltender tallied 38 points. The runner-up, San Jose Sharks&rsquo; defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh, had 18. Voting was based on five points for first, three for second and one for third.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-02654/6289051-1-eng-US/f0020-022.jpg" title="f0020-02" width="572" height="880"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Richter</figcaption></div>Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings finished third (12) while New York Islander Pierre Turgeon, who had four assists, received 11. Alexei Yashin, the Ottawa rookie who scored two goals, including the winner, wasn&rsquo;t even among the top four.No less illogical was the decision to have all votes collected a full 10 minutes before the game was over. We&rsquo;re talking about omitting the most critical one-sixth of a tight, one-goal match so that votes could be rushed in ostensibly to placate television. Yashin&rsquo;s winner was scored in the interim.Even more curious was that among the more than 300 NHL accredited journalists, Ottawa didn&rsquo;t have a vote. And among the more than 70 accredited Professional Hockey Writers&rsquo; Association members at the game, only 11 were allowed to vote, although others wanted a ballot. On that basis alone, one must question the vote and some did.&ldquo;Without a doubt either Yashin or Turgeon should have been the MVP,&rdquo; said broadcaster Marv Albert who handled the All-Star play-by-play for NBC. &ldquo;Eleven voters is ridiculous.&rdquo;Why were only 11 people given the right to vote when so many other qualified experts were there? Who did the voting?PHWA president Jim Kelley wondered about the MVP vote and he wasn&rsquo;t alone. Apparently, other PHWA members were equally dubious and voiced their feelings to the president.&ldquo;I brought it up as soon as the game was over.&rdquo; said Kelley, who voted for Turgeon. &ldquo;The PHWA should not have anything to hide.&rdquo;Yet neither the PHWA nor the NHL would reveal who voted for whom. No less ridiculous was the failure to allow non-aligned journalists such as USA Today&rsquo;s Kevin Allen and The Hockey News&rsquo; editorin-chief Steve Dryden the right to vote.&ldquo;I found it odd that only 11 voted when they should have gotten as broad a base as possible,&rdquo; said Chris Stevenson of the Ottawa Sun. &ldquo;I would have voted for Turgeon.&rdquo;The Tampa Bay Tribune&rsquo;s Roy Cummings also was bypassed. He said he likely would have voted for Yashin, certainly not Richter. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s ridiculous that (Yashin) didn&rsquo;t get it.&rdquo;But the real issue here is not the choice of winner, but rather the method by which Richter was chosen and the big rush to hustle a decision only halfway through the third period.Kelley agrees changes should be made. &ldquo;The system isn&rsquo;t perfect,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We need to expand the pool of voters.&rdquo;That would be a good start. It also would be sensible for the PHWA and NHL to hammer out a uniform, year-to-year voting code that erases any question of impropriety and includes a broader spectrum of voters.Is it a big deal? If you&rsquo;re the embattled Senators and need all the positive ink you can get, it would have been a public relations blast to have Yashin the MVP. And imagine the hoopla in San Jose if the Sharks&rsquo; Ozolinsh had copped the prize.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman promised reform.&ldquo;We can&rsquo;t fix everything at once,&rdquo; Bettman said, &ldquo;but this won&rsquo;t be a problem down the road.&rdquo;We&rsquo;ll wait and see. But it&rsquo;s too bad we can&rsquo;t have a recount of 70 voters for 1994. &#9632;

f0020-01

All-Star vote sham exposes big flaws

<div class="byline">By Mike Brophy</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0020-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0020-03440/6289089-1-eng-US/f0020-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Dale Hawerchuk shoots for 40 goals for the first time in five years. (JIM McISAAC/BBS)</figcaption></div>Dale Hawerchuk never lost faith in his ability to score.There were, however, a few times when his faith was put to the ultimate test.Hawerchuk, who had averaged 39 goals a year entering 1992-93, managed just 16 last season. In one 18-game stretch, he scored just once.A strong playoff-five goals and 14 points in eight games-silenced those suggesting he might never again be a consistent scoring threat.Ironically, as Hawerchuk bottomed out in goals, he recorded a career-high 80 assists.&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say not scoring really bothered me. but the few times I slid down low from my point position on the power play to score felt great,&rdquo; Hawerchuk said. &ldquo;It was like I was reassuring myself I could still do it. It was important for me to come back this season and pick up where I left off in the playoffs.&rdquo;Hawerchuk led the Sabres with 27 goals after 61 games and was on pace to score 36. That would represent his best output since 1988-89 when he had 41.More importantly, he has emerged as a team leader at a crucial time.Captain Pat LaFontaine went down with a knee injury 16 games into the season, Alexander Mogilny has been sidelined periodically with various ailments and Craig Simpson has been limited to 21 games because of a chronic bad back.Hawerchuk has picked up the slack and more.A point-man on the power play last season, he has moved back to center and scored as many powerplay goals after 58 games-eight-as he did during all of &lsquo;92-93.The 30-year-old Toronto native came to the Sabres in a 1990 draft day trade for Phil Housley. Hawerchuk was cast as a second-line center behind Pierre Turgeon. When Tur-geon was traded to the New York Islanders for LaFontaine, Hawer-chuk&rsquo;s status remained status quo.Playing second fiddle wasn&rsquo;t first nature for Hawerchuk. As a junior, he led the Cornwall Royals to consecutive Memorial Cup titles, was the main man in Winnipeg for nine years and was also an integral part of two Team Canada championship teams in the Canada Cup.Time has shown Hawerchuk has the invaluable ability to adapt to most situations.&ldquo;This season is not a case of Dale Hawerchuk having his usual 100-point season,&rdquo; said Sabres&rsquo; assistant coach John Tortorella. &ldquo;He is a solid two-way contributor who does what it takes to be a winner.&rdquo;Hawerchuk used to be criticized for being a selfish player. But it&rsquo;s tough to label a guy with 80 assists as selfish.&ldquo;Personal points are no longer something I really think about, it&rsquo;s team points that concern me,&rdquo; Hawer-chuk said. &ldquo;When you break into the league you want to score because you want to get your career off on the right foot. After a while the only thing you care about is the Stanley Cup.&rdquo;Tortorella insists Hawerchuk isn&rsquo;t just blowing smoke. In a season when the Sabres could have used injuries as an excuse to fold, Tortorella said Hawerchuk simply wouldn&rsquo;t allow that to happen.&ldquo;Dale bought into the team concept and when a player of his stature does that, it makes it an easy sell to the rest of the team,&rdquo; Tortorella said. &ldquo;With the adversity this team has faced, he has shown his true colors as a leader.&rdquo;Teammates voted Hawerchuk the Sabres&rsquo; most valuable player his first season in Buffalo. He&rsquo;s in a two-man race with goalie Dominik Hasek for the honor this season.Hawerchuk credits coach and general manager John Muckier with turning his game around. In Winnipeg under Bob Murdoch and his first few years in Buffalo under Rick Dudley, Hawerchuk felt his strengths weren&rsquo;t being fully exploited.Muckier, on the other hand, is a proponent of up-tempo hockey.&ldquo;John likes players to use their creativity,&rdquo; Hawerchuk says. &ldquo;It took a while to get used to doing things with the puck again. But it comes back.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0020-03

Dale doesn’t fail

<div class="byline">By Tim Sassone</div>General manager Bob Pulford thought his biggest problem heading into the stretch run was finding more offense for the Chicago Blackhawks.That thinking changed Feb. 24 when Steve Smith and Eric Weinrich, two of the Hawks&rsquo; top three defense-men, went down with injuries in a 7-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets.Smith broke his left leg in two places during a fight with Tie Domi and is lost for the rest of season. Weinrich broke his jaw when he was hit by a Stephane Quintal slapshot and is expected to be sidelined until mid-March.Those injuries occurred less than a week after captain Dirk Graham separated his left shoulder. He&rsquo;ll be out at least until mid-March.Pulford was looking for help on defense even before the injuries, but now it has become a priority.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think this alters our plans of what we&rsquo;ve been trying to do,&rdquo; Pulford said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been looking for a defenseman anyway, but if anyone thinks we&rsquo;re going to be able to go out and make a trade for a Steve Smith they&rsquo;re wrong, because there are no Steve Smiths out there.&rdquo;Smith&rsquo;s injury meant even more ice time for Chris Chelios (he was up to 35 minutes a game) and added res-ponsibilities for Cam Russell, Frank Kucera, Neil Wilkinson and Greg Smyth. Keith Carney was recalled from the Indianapolis Ice of the International League to fill in.Smith broke the tibia and fibula bones when his leg buckled he took a hard punch in the face from Domi. Smith was expected to be in a hip-to-toe cast until late May.&ldquo;I planted the leg and it just buckled under me,&rdquo; Smith said.Weinrich needed surgery to have his jaw wired shut and will be forced to eat through a straw for six weeks. The Hawks are hoping to have Weinrich back in mid-March, but that could be wishful thinking since he&rsquo;ll likely lose strength and weight.CHASE BACK ON: After scoring eight goals in four games, Jeremy Roenick was back in the hunt to score 50 for the third straight season.It wasn&rsquo;t long ago, after just one goal in 14 games, that Roenick said getting 50 again was out of reach.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to talk about 50 goals, but let&rsquo;s say it&rsquo;s back in sight,&rdquo; Roenick said after scoring four goals against Winnipeg Feb. 24. &ldquo;A few more games like this wouldn&rsquo;t hurt.&rdquo;No one in Hawks&rsquo; history has scored 50 goals in three straight seasons. Roenick is also shooting to become the first Blackhawk to get 100 points three years in a row.NOTEBOOK: Jeremy Roenick&rsquo;s four-goal game against Winnipeg was the second of his career. He also tied a career high for points in a game with five&hellip;The Hawks&rsquo; 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins Feb. 27 made them 3-8-1 in their last 12 games at home.Rookies Jeff Shantz, Steve Dubinsky and Sergei Krivokrasov, all recent recalls from Indianapolis, were playing on the same line.<h2>CHICAGO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 21: Sergei Krivokrasov, RW, recalled from Indianapolis (IHL). Feb. 25: Keith Carney. D. recalled from Indianapolis.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Jeremy Roenick. Christian Ruuttu. Brian Noonan, Jeff Shantz, Kevin ToddLW-Patnck Poulin, Michel Goulet, Jocelyn Lemieux. Steve Dubinsky.RW-Joe Murphy, Stephane Matteau, Rich Sutter, Sergei Krivokrasov, Darin Kimble.LD-Keith Carney, Frank Kucera, Greg Smyth.RD-Chris Chelios, Cam Russell, Neil Wilkinson.G-Ed Beffour, Jeff Hackett.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dirk Graham, RW. separated left shoulder, indefinite. Steve Smith, D, broken left leg. out for season. Brent Sutter, C, strained back, day-to-day. Eric Weinrich, D, broken jaw. indefinite. &#9632;

Defensive injuries changes focus of bargaining

<div class="byline">By Steve Huber</div>The Dallas Stars kept up their winning ways, but in the process they were losing players.Going into March, the Stars were unbeaten in four games and were 7-21 in their last 10. But they lost two of their best position players in defenseman Mark Tinordi and center Mike Modano to injuries.Tinordi was lost for the season after breaking his left femur Feb. 23 when he crashed into the boards while chasing the puck for an icing with Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; forward John Druce.Three days later, leading scorer Modano was knocked unconscious by an open ice check from New York Ranger Mark Messier during the Stars&rsquo; 3-1 win.Messier&rsquo;s shoulder caught Modano on the jaw, knocking his helmet flying and sending the all-star center crashing to the ice.&ldquo;It was scary,&rdquo; said defenseman Derian Hatcher. &ldquo;His eyes were open, but he wasn&rsquo;t there. I was really worried about Mike.&rdquo;Then the ambulance attendants dropped the stretcher Modano was on, but there was no further injury. Modano was kept overnight at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas and released the next day. He is expected to return the second week of March.Messier expressed concern.&ldquo;I barely felt any contact,&rdquo; Messier said. &ldquo;I must have hit him just right. I don&rsquo;t want to see anyone get hurt, certainly not someone who plays the game the way he does.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0022-01876/6289144-1-eng-US/f0022-012.jpg" title="f0022-01" width="582" height="750"><figcaption class="caption-body">Mike Modano was knocked unconscious by Mark Messier.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t think it was a dirty hit,&rdquo; said Stars&rsquo; coach Bob Gainey. &ldquo;His shoulder seemed to hit Mike&rsquo;s jaw.&rdquo;Gainey, however, was annoyed with Druce. He criticized Druce for pursuing a potential icing when he had already lost the race to Tinordi.&ldquo;Druce knew the play was dead,&rdquo; Gainey said. &ldquo;There has to be a code among the players, for an icing you&rsquo;re not going to risk an injury.&rdquo;Replays showed Druce had his hand on Tinordi&rsquo;s back as they neared the puck behind the Stars&rsquo; net. Druce said he did not push Tinordi.Tinordi&rsquo;s ankle buckled and his left knee slammed into the boards violently. Referee Paul Devorski assessed a minor for boarding. There was no further penalty after review of the play by NHL vice-president Brian Burke.The issue of automatic versus touchicing came up at recent general managers&rsquo; meetings. Gainey favors the current rule, but an automatic icing could prevent injuries such as Tinordi&rsquo;s.&ldquo;I may have to rethink my position,&rdquo; Gainey said.CASE CLOSED: Owner NormGreen and a former employee who filed a sexual-harassment lawsuit against him settled out of court Feb. 23.Karen Marie Dziedzic and Green agreed to accept the recommendation of a mediator and drop their lawsuits. The sides agreed to keep the settlement amount confidential.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy it&rsquo;s over,&rdquo; Dziedzic said. &ldquo;I think it was a settlement that was good for everybody. It has been a long and bitter process, a roller coaster and it&rsquo;s time to move on.&rdquo;Green&rsquo;s attorney, Judith Langevin, was also satisfied.&ldquo;It was a successful mediation and we are pleased, she said. Green could not be reached for comment.Dziedzic was Green&rsquo;s personal secretary. She alleged in her lawsuit that Green &ldquo;poisoned&rdquo; the workplace for women by soliciting kisses from female employees and making comments about their clothing and makeup.Green countersued Dziedzic for defamation.According to Green&rsquo;s deposition in the case, Dziedzic&rsquo;s father told him that &ldquo;Kari wanted $500.000&rdquo; to step aside.&rdquo; Green turned down the request, calling it &ldquo;extortion.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Stars&rsquo; 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks Feb. 21 tied the franchise record for consecutive road wins at seven. Their next game was a 0-0 tie against the L.A. Kings.<h2>DALLAS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Neal Broten, Dean Evason, Dave Gagner. Dave BarrLW-Mike McPhee. Ulf Dahlen, Brent Gilchrist. Jim McKenzie.RW-Russ Courtnall, Mike Craig, Paul Broten.LD-Derian Hatcher, Craig Ludwig, Richard Matvchuk.RD-Grant Ledyard, Paul Cavallmi, Gord Donnelly.G-Andy Moog, Darcy Wakaluk.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jim Johnson, D. fractured vertebra, day-to-day. Mike Modano, C. concussion, indefinite. Mark Tinordi, D, broken left femur, out for season. &#9632;

f0022-01

Loss of leading stars puts team under gun

<div class="byline">By Tim Campbell</div>Twenty-three is probably too early to be talking about last chances, but Russ Romaniuk&rsquo;s latest opportunity is not lost on him.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it&rsquo;s a last chance, but I know I&rsquo;ve been given a couple of chances already,&rdquo; said the Winnipeg-bom left winger. &ldquo;I know the Jets have been wondering when this guy was going to show up.&rdquo;Romaniuk was summoned back to the Winnipeg Jets Feb. 19 after several discouraging months this season that included an unsuccessful bid to win a spot on Canada&rsquo;s Olympic team.&ldquo;I came out of the Olympic experience really questioning my ability,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was really concerned about where my career was going. I went to Moncton (the Jets&rsquo; American League farm team) and felt that might be my last chance to turn it around.&rdquo;The Jets&rsquo; second choice in the 1988 entry draft did exactly that. He scored 16 times in 18 games for the Moncton Hawks, going to the front of the line when it came time for coach-general manager John Paddock to make a call.&ldquo;I think Russ has played pretty well,&rdquo; Paddock said. &ldquo;He has that ability to get chances to score. He&rsquo;s really our only young player that was in Moncton that has a chance to be a regular in the NHL.&ldquo;I would like to have left him there a little longer, to help him steady his game. But we&rsquo;re left with little choice.&rdquo;That&rsquo;s because the Jets were in the throes of their worst stretch ever under Paddock, a slump that had extended to 10 straight losses (tying a 1980 franchise record) and 18 games without a win (0-16-2).Romaniuk had two goals and five points four games into his recall and had demonstrated an ability to get scoring chances.&ldquo;The points are not what I&rsquo;m worried about,&rdquo; Romaniuk said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with the amount of ice time and the confidence that John has shown in me. I&rsquo;m just glad to be back and making a contribution.&rdquo;COLD AS ICE: Two months and two days went by between impact games for center Alexei Zhamnov.Zhamnov picked up five points in a 5-2 win over the Quebec Nordiques Dec. 23 to tie a career-high.He duplicated that feat Feb. 25 in a 7-6 loss to the Boston Bruins. Unfortunately for the Jets, the 23-year-old Russian did very little in between.&ldquo;We need that from Alex,&rdquo; said coach John Paddock. &ldquo;It was nice to see him crank it up for the first time in 20 games.&rdquo;Zhamnov had 17 goals and 51 points in his first 34 games, but had only three goals and 11 points in his next 19 games.NOTEBOOK: After picking up only two assists in 10 games, right winger Paul Ysebaert was scratched four straight times to Feb. 25. His chances of getting back in the lineup seemed small and a trade before the March 21 deadline seems more likely.Right winger Nelson Emerson had a stiff neck, but considered himself lucky after being blatantly checked into the boards from behind by Florida Panther Bill Lindsay in the last two minutes of a neutral-site game in Hamilton Feb. 22. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s how somebody can get paralyzed.&rdquo; Emerson said. &ldquo;If they (the NHL) don&rsquo;t do something about that hit. it&rsquo;s really going to bother me.&rdquo;<h2>WINNIPEG</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 21: Bryan Erickson, RW. released. Feb. 26: Dave Tomlinson. C. assigned to Moncton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Alexei Zhamnov, Thomas Steen, Randy Gilhen, Mike Eagles.LW-Keith Tkachuk. Darrin Shannon. Kris King. Russ Romaniuk. Kevin Mc-Clelland, John LeBlanc.RW-Nelson Emerson. Luciano Bor-sato. Paul Ysebaert. Tie Domi.LD-Sergei Bautin, Igor Ulanov. Darryl Shannon.RD-Stephane Quintal. Wayne Mc-Bean, Boris Mironov. Dean Kennedy.G-Bob Essensa. Mike O&rsquo;Neill.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Teppo Numminen, D. dislocated left thumb, March 2. Teemu Selanne, RW, severed right Achilles tendon, April 10. &#9632;

Romaniuk making an impact

<div class="byline">By Keith Gave</div>The Wizard of Oz for the Calder Trophy? Scotty Bowman says it should happen.Detroit Red Wings&rsquo; goaltender Chris Osgood is emerging as a leading candidate for the NHL&rsquo;s rookie of the year and he&rsquo;d win it if the Detroit coach had his way.&ldquo;I would like to vote for him,&rdquo; Bowman said, &ldquo;But I don&rsquo;t have a vote&hellip;I guess we&rsquo;re going to find out how good Bill Jamieson is.&rdquo;Jamieson is Detroit&rsquo;s public relations director, voted best in the NHL by writers in seven of the past eight years.Bowman&rsquo;s remarks came after Osgood&rsquo;s first NHL shutout, 3-0 over the Hartford Whalers in a neutral-site game at Cleveland Feb. 24.Osgood followed that with his second consecutive shutout, 2-0 over the San Jose Sharks Feb. 26. It pushed his record to 19-5-4 with a 2.83 goals-against average and a.897 save percentage.Osgood&rsquo;s teammates were joining the campaign to drum up support for the Calder. Captain Steve Yzerman, who finished second by a narrow margin as rookie of the year to goaltender Tom Barrasso 11 years ago, is among them.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know who the leading candidates are, but maybe the PR department should get on the stick and start promoting him for rookie of the year,&rdquo; Yzerman said. &ldquo;He has been really solid back there.&rdquo;And goaltending partner Tim Cheveldae is Osgood&rsquo;s main supporter.&ldquo;I think he is, without a doubt,&rdquo; Cheveldae said when asked if Osgood is the season&rsquo;s best rookie. &ldquo;He has a phenomenal record for a rookie and at the toughest position to play.&rdquo;But writers who vote for the awards will not be besieged by videotapes and other slick promotional material on behalf of Osgood or any of Detroit&rsquo;s other leading award candidates-Sergei Fedorov for the Hart Trophy or right winger Ray Sheppard for first-team all-star.&ldquo;We write extensive game notes on each player, very extensive,&rdquo; Jamieson said. &ldquo;And that really serves the purpose better than putting out a slick flier on a player. We feel that&rsquo;s even more effective than launching some sort of Heisman Trophy-type promotion and I think the writers would argue that it&rsquo;s less intrusive.&rdquo;CENTURY CLUB: Sergei Fedorov and Ray Sheppard are on pace to give the Red Wings two 100-point scorers for the first time ever.Fedorov was on a pace to finish with 135 points, while Sheppard was on a 104-point pace.&ldquo;Getting 100 would be nice,&rdquo; Sheppard said, &ldquo;but I try not to think about that much. Sergei will be there soon and he&rsquo;s battling (Wayne) Gretzky for the league scoring title. For me, the main thing is how the team does. Individual stats are only nice when you win.&rdquo;Last season, Steve Yzerman and Dino Cic-carelli nearly became Detroit&rsquo;s first 100-100 pair. Yzerman finished with 137 points and Cic-carelli had 97.Remarkably, Yzerman was on a pace to finish with 95 points despite missing 26 games with a back injury.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Mark Howe and right winger Dino Ciccarelli returned to the lineup following lengthy absences in the win over Hartford. Howe missed 26 games with a sore back and Ciccarelli was out 17 games with a broken foot.<h2>DETROIT</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Sergei Fedorov. Steve Yzerman. Dallas Drake, Kris Draper.LW-Slava Kozlov, Keith Primeau, Shawn Burr. Micah Aivazotf.RW-Dino Ciccarelli. Ray Sheppard. Darren McCarty, Mike Slllinger. Sheldon Kennedy. Bob ProbenLD-Paul Coffey, Steve Chiasson, Mark Howe, Bob Halkidis, Steve KonroydRD-Nick Lidstr&ouml;m, Vladimir Konstantinov. Terry Carkner.G-Tim Cheveldae, Chris Osgood.<h3>INJURIES</h3>None. &#9632;

Calder possibility for Osgood

<div class="byline">By Damien Cox</div>March promises to be an eventful month for the Toronto Maple Leafs.First, they&rsquo;re involved in a competitive playoff race in the Western Conference that had them sitting two points out of first and five points out of fifth at the start of the month.Second, the club was set to add up to five players after the conclusion of the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.Team USA center David Sacco, winger Darby Hendrickson and defenseman Matt Martin, Canadian rearguard David Harlock and Russian center Alexei Kudashov were all made available when the Games concluded Feb. 27.Hendrickson had not signed a contract, while only Sacco and Kudashov were expected to proceed directly to Toronto when the Games ended.Finally, the Leafs were poised to make a pitch to free-agent center Petr Nedved. The Leafs almost did just that in early January before the Olympics, but backed off at the last moment because of Nedved&rsquo;s high contract demands.General manager Cliff Fletcher made it clear he was interested in signing Nedved to a free agent offer sheet and then taking his chances with an arbitrator, rather than trying to trade with the Vancouver Canucks for Nedved&rsquo;s rights.&ldquo;We&rsquo;re not in the running with Vancouver as far as making a deal goes,&rdquo; Fletcher said. &ldquo;But we could be in the running financially.&rdquo;Fletcher met briefly with Nedved at the Olympics, but the Leafs&rsquo; GM said they didn&rsquo;t discuss a contract. Assistant GM Bill Watters, however, has had recent negotiations with Ned-ved&rsquo;s Calgary-based agent Tony Kondel.MINOR ADJUSTMENT: Goalie Pat Jablonski wasn&rsquo;t keen on being a Toronto Maple Leaf. Getting sent to the American League didn&rsquo;t make life any better.Still, Jablonski appeared determined to make the best of things after being the first star in his debut with the St. John&rsquo;s Maple Leafs Feb. 25 in a 5-1 win over the Hershey Bears.The Leafs picked up the 26-year-old from the Tampa Bay Lightning Feb. 21 as goaltending insurance should either starter Felix Potvin or backup Damian Rhodes get hurt.Jablonski immediately assumed the No. 1 goalie job in St. John&rsquo;s ahead of veteran minorleaguer Bruce Racine and rookie Marcel Cousineau. The Leafs will decide whether to keep him, trade him or buy him out in the summer.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve talked to people who think Pat is a better goalie than he&rsquo;s had a chance to show,&rdquo; said assistant GM Bill Watters. &ldquo;After this season, we don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going to happen.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Winger Nikolai Borschev-sky is obviously still feeling the effects of having his spleen removed earlier this season. He was sent home from a road trip in late February due to fatigue, but was not expected to miss a significant amount of time. Borschevsky had nine goals and 28 points in 38 games.Damien Cox is a hockey writer for The Toronto Star.<h2>TORONTO</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 23: Pat Jablonski, G. assigned to St. John&rsquo;s (AHL). Feb. 25: Chris Snell, D. recalled from St. John&rsquo;s.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Doug Gilmour. Mike Eastwood. Mike Krush-elnyski. Peter Zezel. Kent Manderville.LW-Dave Andreychuk, Wendel Clark. Ken Baumgartner. Bill Berg.RW-Nikolai Borschevsky. Rob Pearson. Glenn Anderson, Mark Osborne.LD-Jamie Macoun. Dave Eltett, Chris Snell.RD-Sylvain Lefebvre Drake Berehowsky. Dmitri Mironov.G-Felix Potvin, Damian Rhodes.<h3>INJURIES</h3>John Cullen, C. sprained right ankle, day-to-day. Todd Gill, D. back spasms, day-to-day. Mark Greig, RW, hip flexor, day-to-day. Bob Rouse, D, sprained right knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

Costly Nedved may be added for March drive

<div class="byline">By Dave Luecking</div>Vitali Prokhorov&rsquo;s personal statistics during his first two seasons as a St. Louis Blue aren&rsquo;t exactly awe-inspiring, but the good things that happen in games he plays are impressive.Through Feb. 27, Prokhorov had 14 goals and 21 points in 59 games with the Blues. The team was 11-3-1 in the 15 games the Moscow native scored at least one point and was 9-2-0 when he scored a goal.A statistician will tell you those numbers aren&rsquo;t significant, but Prokhorov&rsquo;s teammates like what they see.&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a pretty good hockey player,&rdquo; Brendan Shanahan said. &ldquo;Everybody talks about the transition and he&rsquo;s starting to come around.&rdquo;Prokhorov, 27, has been one of the Blues&rsquo; best forwards of late. After scoring two goals and an assist in an 11-1 drubbing of the Ottawa Senators Feb. 26, Prokhorov had five goals and an assist in six games.&ldquo;He has been a big boost for us offensively,&rdquo; said coach Bob Berry. &ldquo;He has been one of our most consistent forwards the last few weeks.&rdquo;In 33 games after his recall from the Peoria Rivermen of the International League Dec. 13, Prokhorov had 10 goals and 16 points. He was one of only six Blues&rsquo; players in double figures for goals.A third-round pick in 1992, Prokhorov said improved health is the key to his strong play. He said he has completely recovered from off-season shoulder surgery and is gaining confidence from increased ice time.&ldquo;I am totally healthy,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;When I first came, something was wrong. I (didn&rsquo;t) feel 100 per cent, but now, I feel good. Now, when I play, I have no shaky hands, no shaky legs. I&rsquo;m working, trying to be better at everything every day.&rdquo;RECORD SETTER: The Blues set franchise records for most goals and largest margin of victory in their 11-1 win over Ottawa.The old record of 10-1 was accomplished three times, most recently against the Toronto Maple Leafs Jan. 15, 1986.&ldquo;We weren&rsquo;t trying to rub their noses in it,&rdquo; Bob Berry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want anybody to do that to me, and I didn&rsquo;t do that to anybody tonight. We just tried to play for 60 minutes. We&rsquo;ve been talking about that all year. We want to make working for 60 minutes a habit.&rdquo;The victory obviously was the easiest of the season for the Blues, who had not won a game by more than three goals all year.&ldquo;It was nice to be able to smile on the bench in the third period,&rdquo; said Brendan Shanahan, who had three goals and two assists in the game. &ldquo;We didn&rsquo;t have to play where we were afraid to take a penalty or afraid to take chances.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Craig Janney was listed as day-to-day with a strained left knee. In his absence, Brendan Shanahan moved from left wing to center&hellip;Brett Hull on the impact ex-Blues Ron Sutter. Bob Bassen and Garth Butcher have had on the Quebec Nordiques: &ldquo;They&rsquo;re just catalysts for every one of those floaters over there.&rdquo;Defenseman Jeff Brown scored his first road goal of the season in the victory at Ottawa. Through Feb. 27, he had one goal and 13 assists on the road, with 11 goals and 29 assists at home.&rdquo;<h2>ST. LOUIS</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 21: Tony Hrkac. C, recalled from Peoria (IHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Jim Montgomery. Brendan Shanahan. Igor Korolev, Tony Hrkac.LW-Kevin Milter. Philippe Bozon, Vitali Prokhorov, Dave Mackey.RW-Brett Hull. Nathan LaFayette. Kelly Chase.LD-Murray Baron, Jeff Brown, Bret Hedican.RD-Steve Duchesne, Rick Zombo. Tom Tilley, Doug Crossman.G-Curtis Joseph, Jim Hrivnak.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Denis Chasse, RW. pinched nerve in neck, indefinite. Denny Fetsner, RW, sprained right ankle, day-to-day. Phil Housley, D, surgery to repair herniated disc in back, indefinite. Craig Janney, C, strained knee, day-to-day. Basil McRae, LW, abdominal surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Vitali signs: Improving Prokhorov brings luck, too

<div class="byline">By Kevin Allen</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0024-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0024-01852/6289271-1-eng-US/f0024-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Peter Forsberg&rsquo;s goal ended a 74-year Swedish gold drought.</figcaption></div>LILLEHAMMER, Norway-Kent Nilsson was a hero in absentia when Sweden claimed its first-ever hockey gold medal.Five years ago Peter Forsberg, then 15, was watching TV when Nilsson scored a dazzling goal against USA at the World Championships. Forsberg marveled at the way Nilsson, on a breakaway, cut left at the goal and pulled the puck behind him before poking a backhand past the goaltender with one hand.&ldquo;It is one of the greatest goals in Swedish history,&rdquo; Forsberg said with pure admiration.Probably the second greatest. The most memorable was scored by Forsberg on Canadian goaltender Corey Hirsch in the shootout of the gold-medal Olympic game to give Sweden a 3-2 win. The move was a carboncopy of Nilsson&rsquo;s goal.Forsberg had tried the same move three times this season while playing for MoDo in the Swedish Elite League. &ldquo;I missed all three.&rdquo; he said.Sweden&rsquo;s gold-medal win ended a horrible Olympic championship drought. Sweden was to Olympic hockey what the New York Rangers are to Stanley Cups or what the Chicago Cubs are to World Series.Sweden, one of the original hockey entrants when the Olympics sanctioned hockey in 1920, had zero Olympic titles until Forsberg defied logic to net the game-winning goal in the second round of the overtime shootout.&ldquo;Since (U.S. figure skater) Nancy Kerrigan didn&rsquo;t win the gold,&rdquo; said Swedish teammate Mats Naslund, &ldquo;Hollywood should make a movie about him instead.&rdquo;No doubt it would be titled Great Expectations. For the last two seasons, Forsberg has been touted as the best player outside the NHL and has faced intense scrutiny and pressure. Early in the tournament, he did not perform to expectations, but had three assists in Sweden&rsquo;s win over Russia in the semifinal and scored on both his chances in the shootout.Earlier in the week, teammate Tomas Jonsson said Forsberg has faced more pressure than any player in Swedish history. Coach Curt Lundmark asked the Swedish media, critical of Forsberg&rsquo;s play, to be kinder to a player who had yet to reach his 21st birthday.The pressure of the shootout was so intense that Naslund and Hakan Loob, veterans of Stanley Cup finals and World Championships, declined to take part in the second round of shots after being stopped in the first shootout. &ldquo;They were scared,&rdquo; Lundmark said.Canada&rsquo;s Todd Hlushko, a standout for Canada throughout the tournament, said the pressure was so severe, &ldquo;I thought I was going throw up on the bench.&rdquo;&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t remember a time when I felt worse.&rdquo; said Canadian defenseman Brad Werenka, who took a penalty with 2:10 left which allowed Sweden to tie the score.Forsberg only got his opportunity because Petr Nedved of Canada had been thwarted on a shot along the ice by goaltender Tommy Salo. The first two shots by Nedved and Paul Kariya in the first round of shootout went high into the net behind Salo for goals. Inexplicably, the last five shooters went low against him.Since Magnus Svensson had already missed a shot to start the second round, Canada would have won the gold had Nedved scored.&ldquo;When Nedved went up, I thought it was over,&rdquo; said Swedish defenseman Roger Johansson.One observer was Quebec Nordiques&rsquo; owner Marcel Aubut, a proponent of shootouts in NHL play and Forsberg&rsquo;s future boss. Forsberg is scheduled to join the Nordiques when the Swedish season ends.&ldquo;(Forsberg) showed he&rsquo;s a player when it counts&rdquo; Aubut said. &ldquo;This is a 20-year-old player who has the country on his shoulders and a gold medal in his hand.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0024-01

SHOOTING FOR GLORY

<div class="byline">By Alan Adams</div>LILLEHAMMER, Norway-Todd Hlushko summed up the feelings of the Canadian Olympic team when faced a throng of reporters with a silver medal around this neck.&ldquo;Two weeks ago,&rdquo; Hlushko said, &ldquo;we were just a bunch of players, but look at how we developed into a team. Just think what this team would have done had it been together for a month or more.&rdquo;Hlushko had a point. The team that came one shot away from giving Canada its first hockey gold medal since 1952 got better and better with every game. Almost nobody-with the exception of the players themselves-thought the Canadians would be challenging for gold on the last day of the tournament.Canada lived by the shootout with a pivotal victory over Germany in 1992 and died by the shootout two years later when Swedish goalie Tommy Salo stopped Paul Kariya in the longest and one of the most dramatic Olympic games in history.Goalie Corey Hirsch. so brilliant throughout the tournament, wore a stunned look as he lowered his head to receive the second-place prize. Like most other players on both teams, he was surprisingly calm afterward.&ldquo;I felt fine (finishing second) because we&rsquo;ve accomplished something that nobody thought would happen.&rdquo; he said.Kariya echoed those sentiments. &ldquo;There is nothing wrong with winning silver,&rdquo; Kariya said.Canada accomplished much in the tournament. Their only loss in the round robin portion was to Slovakia and the team posted impressive wins over the Czech Republic and undefeated Finland in the playoffs.Six months ago, nobody would have given Canada a chance of winning a medal. As late as Christmas, things looked bleak. The Canadians returned from the Izvestia Cup in Moscow having scored four goals in four games. France beat them 2-0 while Belarus held them to a 2-2 tie.&ldquo;Izvestia was the key.&rdquo; said general manager George Kingston. &ldquo;We knew we needed goal scorers and a more mobile defense.&rdquo;The changes started.soon after and continued up until the final day before roster cuts for the Lillehammer Games.The Olympic team received a big boost when Petr Nedved signed on Dec. 26. Defensemen Mark Astley came in from Switzerland on the eve of the Games as did defenseman Brad Werenka from the Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; organization.In all. 12 roster changes were made between mid-December to the day Canada opened the Olympics against Italy.Canada came a long way in a short time and showed how far chemistry can carry a team.&ldquo;Going to war for the next guy is a critical part of how teams have to function and in that room that was a given,&rdquo; Kingston said. &ldquo;They were playing for each other.&rdquo;Hlushko is one of seven players who don&rsquo;t have a team to go to now that the Olympics are over. He has been with the Olympic program for two years and likes to call it home, but may soon face eviction.The future of Canada&rsquo;s Olympic program is undecided, especially since NHL players will likely be involved in Nagano, Japan in 1998.&ldquo;Our most critical decision is determining when the NHL will be able to reach a decision on the availability of players in &lsquo;98,&rdquo; said Hockey Canada president Ron Robison. &#9632;

Canadians prove all that glitters not gold medals

<div class="byline">&#x2014;Kevin Allen</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0025-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-01762/6289333-1-eng-US/f0025-012.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">To the victors go the spoils: Sweden celebrates its first-ever hockey gold medol after defeating the Canadian team in a shootout.</figcaption></div>LILLEHAMMER, Norway-The U.S. Olympic team, which was built on speed, took the fast track to become the worst team in the country&rsquo;s Olympic history.U.S. coach Tim Taylor was highly emotional after his team lost 4-3 to Germany to assure itself a USA-record low eighth-place finish. The 1984 and 1988 teams both finished seventh.&ldquo;If that&rsquo;s the only measure of their success and failure, then we have to be labeled a failure,&rdquo; Taylor said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m the one who selected and trained them and I&rsquo;ll accept responsibility.&rdquo;With a record of 1-4-3, Taylor&rsquo;s troops are the first USA team to leave an Olympics with fewer than two wins. Their only win came in the last game of the round-robin, a 7-1 triumph over Italy.Jim Campbell, who was among the top offensive players in the pre-Olympic tour, didn&rsquo;t have a point in the tournament. Todd Marchant, a go-to player all season, had just one goal. Ted Drury didn&rsquo;t play as well as had been expected.A lack of discipline, especially against Finland in the quarterfinals, hurt the team. USA gave up four power-play goals in the 6-1 loss to the Finns.&ldquo;They preached to us all year the penalties would kill us,&rdquo; said Brian Rolston, who led USA with seven goals. &ldquo;But when the bounces don&rsquo;t go your way, you start to get frustrated.&rdquo;The team started the tournament with ties against France, Slovakia and Canada that would have been losses if not for late comebacks.The USA players were clearly more uptight, more error-prone than the other top echelon teams. The team lacked intensity and Taylor said the players never found the balance between being disciplined and playing aggressively.&ldquo;When the puck didn&rsquo;t go in for us, right away,&rdquo; said center Peter Ciavaglia, &ldquo;we tended to be a bit panicky.&rdquo;<div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-02486/6289326-1-eng-US/f0025-022.jpg" title="f0025-02" width="1550" height="1934"><figcaption class="caption-body">Paul Kariya&rsquo;s brilliant playmaking was a big reason for Canada&rsquo;s quicksilver success.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0025-01

No. 8 all-time worst for U.S.

<div class="byline">By Ken Campbell</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0025-03309/6289364-1-eng-US/f0025-032.jpg" title="f0025-03" width="300" height="376"></div>Talk about irony.The shootout worked to perfection in the gold-medal game at the Olympics and because of that, Marcel Aubut will likely have a tougher time selling the NHL&rsquo;s bored of governors on the concept than he will turning around the fortunes of his Quebec Nordiques.If you weren&rsquo;t on the edge of your seat during the shootout between Sweden and Canada, don&rsquo;t bother even checking for a pulse because you&rsquo;re already dead. And it could be the shootout is too because of small-minded critics who think the most exciting play in hockey is no way to decide games.That something as important as a gold medal was won and lost because of it will only add to their arguments. Presumably, they&rsquo;re the same people who would rather watch the Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings play to a 0-0 tipThese Olympics were a thrill if you were a Swede, Canadian or Finn, but truth be told, the calibre of hockey was nothing special. Most of the games were predictable, closechecking affairs with too much neutral-zone play and too many bad teams. (Sound familiar, NHL fans?)But none of that matters because when people recall the 1994 Winter Olympics, their most vivid memories will be of two future NHL stars-Quebec Nordique prospect Peter Forsberg and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim prospect Paul Kariya-and how their final shots provided the slimmest margin ever between gold and silver.If the NHL has any guts at all, it will take the bold step of implementing the shootout during the regular season. The five-minute overtime would still be played and the losing team would still receive a point in the standings.At least then the poor guy who paid $50 to watch two teams lob the puck into each other&rsquo;s end for 65 minutes would be able to watch some of the greatest players in the game perform at their best.In the shootout against Canada, Forsberg displayed talents that we didn&rsquo;t see throughout the entire tournament.The bottom line is this: the game isn&rsquo;t for the owners, the general managers, hockey writers or self-proclaimed, holier-than-thou purists. It is for the fans and a league that has shortchanged them for so long would go a long way toward giving something back by instituting the shootout.If not, at least we&rsquo;ll get to see it four years from now when the NHL&rsquo;s millionaires decide to grace the Olympics with their presence. &#9632;

f0025-03

NHL crazy not to have shootouts

LOUISVILLE HOCKEY CONGRATULATES STEVE YZERMAN FOR BEING NAMED NHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK-4 GAMES, 2 COALS, 8 ASSISTS. (WEEK OF 2/14)<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-02545/6289423-1-eng-US/f0026-022.jpg" title="f0026-02" width="512" height="450"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0026-01829/6289416-1-eng-US/f0026-012.jpg" title="f0026-01" width="3104" height="2979"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0027-01780/6289409-1-eng-US/f0027-012.jpg" title="f0027-01" width="3089" height="3525"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0028-01813/6289402-1-eng-US/f0028-012.jpg" title="f0028-01" width="3093" height="3509"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-01709/6289395-1-eng-US/f0029-012.jpg" title="f0029-01" width="3075" height="1378"></div> &#9632;

f0026-02

NHL STATISTICAL REPORT

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0029-02" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0029-02461/6289454-1-eng-US/f0029-022.jpg"></div> &#9632;

f0029-02

NHL GOALTENDING STATISTICS

<h2>NOTE</h2>Unofficial game summaries provided by National Hockey League; (shots on goal/plus-minus); SA-shots against; GA-goals against; ENG-empty net goals; Dec-decision, charged to goaltenders of record when deciding goal is scored.<h2>MONDAY, FEB. 21</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-01807/6289681-1-eng-US/f0030-012.jpg" title="f0030-01" width="598" height="3058"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-02543/6289674-1-eng-US/f0030-022.jpg" title="f0030-02" width="593" height="3467"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-03371/6289667-1-eng-US/f0030-032.jpg" title="f0030-03" width="595" height="1242"></div><h2>TUESDAY, FEB. 22</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-04261/6289660-1-eng-US/f0030-042.jpg" title="f0030-04" width="593" height="2128"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-05188/6289653-1-eng-US/f0030-052.jpg" title="f0030-05" width="595" height="394"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, FEB. 23</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-06151/6289646-1-eng-US/f0030-062.jpg" title="f0030-06" width="593" height="2979"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0030-07127/6289639-1-eng-US/f0030-072.jpg" title="f0030-07" width="593" height="3469"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-01748/6289632-1-eng-US/f0031-012.jpg" title="f0031-01" width="600" height="592"></div><h2>THURSDAY, FEB. 24</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-02489/6289625-1-eng-US/f0031-022.jpg" title="f0031-02" width="590" height="2825"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-03353/6289618-1-eng-US/f0031-032.jpg" title="f0031-03" width="594" height="3515"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-04266/6289611-1-eng-US/f0031-042.jpg" title="f0031-04" width="594" height="864"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-06179/6289604-1-eng-US/f0031-062.jpg" title="f0031-06" width="592" height="590"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-07155/6289597-1-eng-US/f0031-072.jpg" title="f0031-07" width="590" height="860"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-08135/6289590-1-eng-US/f0031-082.jpg" title="f0031-08" width="592" height="586"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-09118/6289583-1-eng-US/f0031-092.jpg" title="f0031-09" width="588" height="1842"></div><h2>FRIDAY, FEB. 25</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-1099/6289576-1-eng-US/f0031-102.jpg" title="f0031-10" width="592" height="1580"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-01795/6289569-1-eng-US/f0032-012.jpg" title="f0032-01" width="592" height="3305"></div><h2>SATURDAY, FEB. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-02548/6289562-1-eng-US/f0032-022.jpg" title="f0032-02" width="582" height="112"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-03378/6289555-1-eng-US/f0032-032.jpg" title="f0032-03" width="592" height="994"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-05183/6289548-1-eng-US/f0032-052.jpg" title="f0032-05" width="588" height="526"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-06151/6289541-1-eng-US/f0032-062.jpg" title="f0032-06" width="588" height="998"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-07126/6289534-1-eng-US/f0032-072.jpg" title="f0032-07" width="596" height="524"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-08111/6289527-1-eng-US/f0032-082.jpg" title="f0032-08" width="596" height="3517"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-0995/6289520-1-eng-US/f0032-092.jpg" title="f0032-09" width="594" height="3515"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-01718/6289513-1-eng-US/f0033-012.jpg" title="f0033-01" width="592" height="2232"></div><h2>SUNDAY, FEB. 27</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-02492/6289506-1-eng-US/f0033-022.jpg" title="f0033-02" width="592" height="1132"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-03361/6289499-1-eng-US/f0033-032.jpg" title="f0033-03" width="586" height="3455"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0031-05216/6289492-1-eng-US/f0031-052.jpg" title="f0031-05" width="1198" height="2012"><figcaption class="caption-body">Darren McCarty set up Slava Kozlov&rsquo;s 29th goal Feb. 24 in Detroit.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0032-04254/6289485-1-eng-US/f0032-042.jpg" title="f0032-04" width="1192" height="1942"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brendan Shanahan scored three goals against Ottawa Feb. 26.</figcaption></div> &#9632;

f0030-01

NHL SUMMARIES

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0033-04" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0033-04286/6289845-1-eng-US/f0033-042.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0034-01806/6289838-1-eng-US/f0034-012.jpg" title="f0034-01" width="3029" height="3470"></div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-01767/6289831-1-eng-US/f0035-012.jpg" title="f0035-01" width="596" height="3485"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-02567/6289824-1-eng-US/f0035-022.jpg" title="f0035-02" width="602" height="3487"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-03460/6289817-1-eng-US/f0035-032.jpg" title="f0035-03" width="594" height="3481"></div><h2>OLYMPICS</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-04368/6289810-1-eng-US/f0035-042.jpg" title="f0035-04" width="588" height="1588"></div><h2>MONDAY, FEB. 21</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-07258/6289803-1-eng-US/f0035-072.jpg" title="f0035-07" width="588" height="140"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-05308/6289796-1-eng-US/f0035-052.jpg" title="f0035-05" width="596" height="1564"></div><h2>WEDNESDAY, FEB. 23</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-08232/6289789-1-eng-US/f0035-082.jpg" title="f0035-08" width="592" height="176"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-02510/6289782-1-eng-US/f0036-022.jpg" title="f0036-02" width="601" height="1565"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0035-06280/6289775-1-eng-US/f0035-062.jpg" title="f0035-06" width="1192" height="1506"><figcaption class="caption-body">Brian Savage helped Canada upset Finland in the semifinals 5-3.</figcaption><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-01723/6289768-1-eng-US/f0036-012.jpg" title="f0036-01" width="2427" height="1751"><figcaption class="caption-body">NHL veteran Peter Stastny and his Slovak teammates were the surprise team of the Olympics as Slovakia was 3-0-2 in the opening round.</figcaption></div><h2>THURSDAY, FEB. 24</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-03413/6289761-1-eng-US/f0036-032.jpg" title="f0036-03" width="600" height="917"></div><h2>FRIDAY, FEB. 25</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-04316/6289754-1-eng-US/f0036-042.jpg" title="f0036-04" width="589" height="455"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-05261/6289747-1-eng-US/f0036-052.jpg" title="f0036-05" width="586" height="400"></div><h2>SATURDAY, FEB. 26</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-06228/6289740-1-eng-US/f0036-062.jpg" title="f0036-06" width="594" height="1069"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-07209/6289733-1-eng-US/f0036-072.jpg" title="f0036-07" width="589" height="443"></div><h2>SUNDAY, FEB. 27</h2><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-08193/6289726-1-eng-US/f0036-082.jpg" title="f0036-08" width="595" height="1030"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0036-09181/6289719-1-eng-US/f0036-092.jpg" title="f0036-09" width="601" height="3507"></div><h2>EUROPEAN LEAGUES</h2>European statistics for NHL-draftees are listed below with games played, goals, assists, points and PIM. Goaltenders are listed with games played, minutes, goals against and average. The nationality of the player is the same as the league except where noted.<h2>CZECH REPUBLIC</h2>Buf-Jiri Kuntos, D, HC Olomouc, 38-3-4-6; Milan Nedoma, D, Stadion, 36-11-4-15; Ondrej Steiner, F, Skoda, 31-3-6-9; Cgy-Leo Gudas, D, Sparta, 4-1-1-2 (playing for Biel in Switzerland); Pavel Rajnoha, D, ZPS Zlin, 26-2-1-3; Dai-Roman Turek, G, HC Ceske Budejovice, 39-n/a-98-2.66; Det-Petr Hrbek, F, Sparta, 11-6-4-10 (playing for Rosenheim in Germany); Vitezslav Skuta, D, HC Vitkovice, 30-1-4-5; Edm-Radek Toupal, F, HC Ceske Budejovice, 39-16-21-37; David Vyborny, F, Sparta, 37-13-21-34; Hfd-Marek Malik, D, HC Ceske Budejovice, 34-3-3-6; Jan Vopat, D, Chemopetrol, 38-8-14-22; LA-Tomas Vlasak, F, Chemopetrol, 36-15-10-25; NYI-Tomas Klimt, F, Skoda, 27-2-3-5; NYR-Lubos Rob, F, HC Ceske Budejovice, 28-10-14-24; Ott-Jaroslav Miklenda, G, HC Vitkovice, 10-555-25-2.7; Pit-Jan Aline, F, Chemopetrol, 31-15-20-35; Que-Petr Franek, G, Chemopetrol, 10-475-28-3.54; SJ-Jan Caloun, F, Chemopetrol, 38-25-17-42; Tor-Tomas Kuchar-cik, F, Skoda, 26-10-7-17; Martin Prohcazka, F, HC Kladno, 38-21-13-34.<h2>FINLAND</h2>Ana-Antti Aalto, F, TPS, 26-3-7-10-14; But-Petri Matikainen, D, JoKP, Div. 2, 33-9-28-37-32; Cgy-Sami Helenius, D, Reipas, 30-1-2-3-38; Marko Jantunen, F, TPS, 38-22-20-42-20; Veli-Pekka Kautonen, D, Tappara, 33-5-7-12-61; Esa Keskinen, F, TPS, 38-19-35-54-6; Chi-Tommi Puli&oacute;la, F, Lukko, 1-0-0-0-0, TuTo, Div. 2, 23-721-28-32; Jonni Vauhkonen, F, Reipas, 26-2-35-20; Dal-Jere Lehtinen, F, TPS, 36-16-17-33-6; Juha Lind, F, Jokerit, 37-12-10-22-37; Edm-Petro Koivunen, F, Kiekko-Espoo, 37-19-16-3512; Sami Nuutinen, D, Kiekko-Espoo, 36-7-12-19-28; Keijo Sailynoja, F, Jokerit, 29-108-18-16; LA-Jere Karalahti, D. HIFK, 36-0-8-832; Jukka Tiilikainen, F, Kiekko-Espoo, 23-2-2-4-6; Kimmo Timonen, D, KalPa, 36-5-5-10-47; Mtl-Saku Koivu, F, TPS, 37-18-24-42-28; Sergei Martynyuk (Rus), F, KalPa, 3-0-1-1-2; NJ-Lubomir Kolnik (Cze), F, JokP, Div. 2, 22-23-1740-14, Lukko, 15-7-9-16-2; Phi-Janne Niinimaa, D, Jokerit, 35-1-8-9-18; Jukka Seppo, F, HPK, 30-10-10-20-30; Pit-Pasi Huura, D, Lukko, 19-01-1-18; Jiri Kucera (Cze), F, Tappara, 37-12-2133-31; Mika Valila, F, Lukko, 37-7-7-14-16; Que-Petri Aaltonen, F, Tappara, 25-2-4-6-12, Karhu-Kissat, Div. 2, 4-3-3-6-2; Tuomas Gron-man, D, Lukko, 34-4-9-13-32; Janne Laukkanen, D, HPK, 38-4-18-22-26; Mika Stromberg, D, Jokerit, 38-15-5-20-41; Sakari Lindfors, G, HIFK, 36-2043-115-3.38; SJ-Ville Peltonen, F, HIFK, 33-14-13-27-14; Petri Varis, F, Jokerit, 21-9-918-10; Tor-Janne Gronvall, D, Tappara, 37-2-810-46; Van-Karri Kivi, D, Assat, 38-0-8-8-41; Wpg-Mika Alatalo, F, Lukko. 35-14-9-23-63; Teemu Numminen, F, Tappara, 36-1-2-3-4; Rauli Raitanen, F, Assat, 38-11-21-32-40; Juha Ylonen, F, Jokerit, 31-5-8-13-2.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0037-01645/6289712-1-eng-US/f0037-012.jpg" title="f0037-01" width="631" height="3510"></div>Ana-Valeri Karpov, F, Traktor, 20-8-10-18; Nikolai Tsulygin, D, Salavat Yulayev, 33-1-8-9; Bos-Andrei Sapozhnikov, D, Traktor, 31-2-9-11; Cgy-Andrei Potaichuk, F, Krylja Sovetov, 34-1319-32; Ravil Yakubov, F, Dynamo Moscow, 3410-12-22, Sergei Zolotov, F, Krylja Sovetov, 34-14-15-29, Chi-Sergei Klimovich, F, Dynamo Moscow, 31-7-6-13; Det-Yuri Yeresko, D, CSKA, 36-0-1-1; Hfd-Dmitri Gorenko, F, CSKA, 34-4-48; Konstantin Korotkov, F, Spartak, 27-3-8-11; Andrei Nikolishin, F, Dynamo Moscow, 32-9-12-21; Mtl-Sergei Martynyuk, F, Torpedo Yaroslavl, 4-1-1-2 (playing for KalPa Kuopio in Finland); NJ-Sergei Brylin, F, CSKA, 32-6-5-11; Vitali Tomilin, F, Krylja Sovetov, 33-3-4-7; Vladislav Yakovenko, G. CSKA, 27-2-3-5; Nikolai Zavarukhin, F, Salavat Yulayev, 34-7-7-14; NYI-Vladimir Grachev, F, Dynamo Moscow, 28-4-5-9; Andrei Vasiljev, F, CSKA, 35-10-9-19; NYR-Vitali Chi-nakhov, F, Molot, 32-11-7-18; Pavel Komarov, D, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, 12-1-0-1; Sergei Kon-drashkin, F, Metallurg Cherepovets, 32-5-4-9; Maxim Smelnitsky, F, Traktor, 12-1-2-3; Vladimir Vorobjev, F, Dynamo Moscow, 27-6-10-16; Phi-Vladislav Buljin, D, Dynamo Moscow, 34-4-3-7; Roman Zolotov, D, Dynamo Moscow, 28-0-1-1; StL-Yuri Gunko, D, Sokol-Eskulap, 35-0-7-7; Tor-Sergei Simonov, D, CSKA, 32-0-3-3; SJ-Viktor Kozlov, F, Dynamo Moscow, 32-13-8-21; Alexander Osadchy, D, CSKA, 35-2-3-5; Van-Yevgeny Babariko, F, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, 32-2-4-6; Wsh-Sergei Gonchar, D, Dynamo Moscow, 34-25-7: Wpg-Ruslan Batyrshin, D, Dynamo Moscow, 18-0-0-0; Yevgeny Garanin, F, Khimik, 33-4-3-7; Ravil Gusmanov, F, Traktor, 33-15-6-21; Artur Oktyabrev, D, CSKA. 34-0-3-3; llja Stashenkov, D, Krylja Sovetov, 35-4-4-8; Nikolai Khabibulin, CSKA, 33-2.47.<h2>SLOVAKIA</h2>Edm-Miroslav Satan, F, Dukla Trencin, 24-2814-42; Wsh-Roman Kontsek, F, Dukla Trencin, 25-18-23-41.<h2>SWEDEN</h2>Bos-Mariusz Czerkawski (Pol), F, Djurgarden, 10-10-20-16; Mattias Timander, D, MoDo, 130-1-1-4; Cgy-Jonas Hoglund, F, Farjestad, 22-72-9-10; Mathias Johansson, F, Farjestad. 16-2-1-3-4; Andreas Karlsson, F, Leksand, 14-00-0-0; Kenneth Kennholt, D, HV 71, 19-4-2-6-6; Jesper Mattsson, F, Malmo, 31-1-4-5-6; Robert Svehla (Cze), D, Malmo, 31-12-19-31-97; Magnus Svensson, D, Leksand, 31-10-11-21-14; Chi-Stefan Elvenas, F, Rogle, 31-10-16-26-30; Jonas Heed, D, Vastra Frolunda, 14-5-1-6-22; Dai-Lars Edstrom, F, Lulea, 31-9-6-15-16; Per Svartvadet, F, MoDo, 29-1-0-1-2; Det-Anders Eriksson, D, MoDo, 29-2-8-10-16; Hfd-Joacim Esbjors, D, Vastra Frolunda, 29-4-5-9-32; LA-Mattias Olsson, D, Farjestads, 21-1-7-8-10; Patrick Ross, F, HV 71, 0-0-0-0-0; Daniel Rydmark, F, Malmo, 31-1214-26-40; Magnus Wernblom, F, MoDo, 30-10-717-40; NJ-Peter Larsson, F, Brynas, 30-6-15-21-16; Fredrik Lindqvist, F, Djurgarden, 20-4-8-12-6; Rickard Persson, D, Malmo, 31-9-716-26; NYI-Andreas Johansson, F, Farjestad, 20-3-6-9-6; Daniel Johansson, D, Rogle, 27-3-6-9-20; Tommy Salo, G, Vasteras, 23-n/a-71-3.08; NYR-Niklas Sundstrom, F, MoDo. 29-710-17-20; Niklas Eriksson, F, Leksand, 27-8-18-26-28; Ott-Petter Rondqvist, G, Djurgarden, 9-500-32-3.55; Phi-Patrick Juhlin, F, Vasteras, 31-12-10-22-14; Johan Salle, D, Malmo, 15-1-2-3-10; Pit-Hans Jonsson, D, MoDo, 22-4-1-5-14; Que-Peter Forsberg, F, MoDo, 31-16-18-34-62; StL-Christer Olsson, D, Brynas, 30-4-2-6-42; SJ-Marcus Ragnarsson, D, Djurgarden, 20-0-4-4-24; Marcus Thuresson, F, Leksand, 23-3-3-6-22; Jonas Forsberg, G, Djurgarden, 1-60-4-4.00; Tor-Mikael Hakansson, F, Djurgarden, 28-2-2-4-6; Kenny Jonsson, D, Rogle, 28-4-7-11-28; Van-Hakan Ahlund, F, Malmo, 28-7-6-13-20; Roger Akerstrom, D, Vasteras, 28-2-3-5-26; Roger Hansson, F, Malmo, 30-9-6-15-16; Leif Rohlin, D, Vasteras, 31-5-11-16-22; Wsh-Anders Huss, F, Brynas, 319-9-18-4; Stefan Nilsson, F, Lulea, 30-4-16-2026; Wpg-Patrick Erickson, F, Djurgarden, 19-1-1-2-4; Mats Lindgren, F, Farjestad, 22-11-6- &#9632;

f0033-04

SCOREBOARD

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-01684/6289952-1-eng-US/f0039-012.jpg" title="f0039-01" width="378" height="534"></div>The game-day skate has been over for an hour, but Viacheslav Fetisov remains on the ice at Maple Leaf Gardens.The New Jersey Devils play the Toronto Maple Leafs that evening, but the 35-year-old Fetisov, one of the greatest defenseman of his era, is a scratch. Instead, in an empty arena, he is working on his shot with assistant coach Larry Robinson, taking passes on the backhand and polishing skills that age relentlessly yellow.It may be time to go, but he isn&rsquo;t ready to finish yet.Fetisov is playing out the final chapter in what is one of the most intriguing careers in hockey history. He came of age as his country did, challenged an oppressive hockey system and then, perhaps, most courageously of all, stayed behind to face the consequences.NHL history will note that in 1989, Fetisov and Sergei Starikov in New Jersey, Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov in Vancouver and Sergei Makarov in Calgary were the first significant players from the former Soviet Union to ride perestroika to the NHL. He could have defected two years before with the help of the Devils, but could not live with the consequences.&ldquo;Yes, there were lots of possibilities,&rdquo; Fetisov says as he wearily hauls off equipment, &ldquo;but I saw what happened to Alexander Mogilny and how they went after his father and mother. Second, I thought it would close the door on my teammates from ever having the chance of playing here. I couldn&rsquo;t take that kind of responsibility and be so selfish.&rdquo;Instead, he lost two more years of his prime, a prime that North American fans never saw outside of the Olympics and the World Championships. Captain of the Russian national team for nine years, he was stripped of his letter because he feuded with dictatorial national team coach Viktor Tikhonov.In North America, Fetisov is a decent defenseman who arrived in the NHL at 31, a little too old to quickly adapt to the NHL. The passing of time has only left him with only the residue of his gifts, Fetisov hasn&rsquo;t scored this season and has just 18 NHL goals.&ldquo;There are nights,&rdquo; Robinson says, &ldquo;that he is his brilliant self, he controls the game, makes smart passes. He has an uncanny way of protecting the puck and not giving it away. He&rsquo;s probably one of the few guys who can get away with it. But still, there is the age factor.&rdquo;Fetisov, on the last year of his five-year contract, says he understands.&ldquo;When I came here, our coach sat out some very good players to get me into the lineup,&rdquo; Fetisov says. &ldquo;That was done for the team. Now it&rsquo;s my turn.&rdquo;What has not diminished is Fetisov&rsquo;s standing with Russian players. Pavel Bure, Sergei Fedorov and par-ticularly, Mogilny, who calls him frequently, consider him a confidant.&ldquo;He is history,&rdquo; says Devils&rsquo; left winger Valeri Zelepukin. &ldquo;He and (goalie Vladislav) Tretiak are the most popular players ever in Russian hockey.&rdquo;Fetisov is unsure whether this will be his last year. There is talk of a future in coaching in the NHL, but Fetisov is also considering returning to Russia after his playing career for a run at politics.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-02470/6289945-1-eng-US/f0039-022.jpg" title="f0039-02" width="570" height="886"><figcaption class="caption-body">Viacheslav Fetisov</figcaption></div>&ldquo;It would be very tough,&rdquo; Fetisov says, &ldquo;but there is a model here in the NHL. You have Russians, Czechs, Canadians, Americans, Swedes, all playing and getting along.&rdquo;Fetisov bristles at professional athletes who feel their standing comes without social responsibility.&ldquo;What good is sitting back and quietly counting your money if the world is collapsing around you?&rdquo;As for history, Fetisov says he is unconcerned.&ldquo;If people thought of me as a pioneer I would be pleased, but people can read history if they&rsquo;re interested,&rdquo; Fetisov says. &ldquo;I know that in Russia, all of us, Larionov, Krutov, Makarov, all of us, fought to play where we wanted to and get what we thought we deserved.&ldquo;We fought them face-to-face, nose-to-nose. And we beat them.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0039-01

Amazing Fetisov faces end of line

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div><div class="image-hero"><img title="f0039-03" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0039-03358/6289983-1-eng-US/f0039-032.jpg"><figcaption class="caption-body">Pierre Turgeon missed 12 games with a broken orbital bone. (BRIAN WINKLER/BBS)</figcaption></div>In the morning, Kris King&rsquo;s body sometimes tells him who the Winnipeg Jets played the night before.&ldquo;When you get up, you know you played Toronto or Chicago,&rdquo; said Winnipeg&rsquo;s rugged left winger, &ldquo;just by how you feel.&rdquo;And how he often feels is bad. Through late February, King had played 109 straight games for the Jets since being acquired from the New York Rangers. He isn&rsquo;t threatening the NHL ironman record, but consider his list of injuries.Just before a Feb. 22 neutral site game in Hamilton, King had cortisone and pain-killer injected into his broken right big toe so he could wedge his foot into his skate. King hurt the toe blocking a shot.Both his eyes were blackened, the result of a seven-stitch cut he took when he was hit by a puck a few nights before. It was the fourth time he had been cut for stitches this year.King could barely grip his stick because of a deep cut in his right hand sustained when a skate blade sheared his skin through his glove. Of late, he has had no pain from the pinky he suspected was broken, but never checked out.Then there are the litany of stiff limbs, minor groin pulls and bruises.&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t make a big deal about injuries,&rdquo; King said, &ldquo;because you want to play.&rdquo;No sport can hurt you in as many ways as hockey. Players can be hit by sticks, skates and pucks, their limbs can be pinned against ice or board. Everyone has a potential club in his hand and a knife strapped to his foot. Unlike football players, hockey players perform three or four times a week.Routine acceptance of painful injuries isn&rsquo;t just the province of physical players such as King. The game&rsquo;s aristocrats play hurt as well.New York Islanders&rsquo; center Pierre Turgeon came under fire for missing 12 games with broken cheek and orbital bones. The prognosis was that he would return in 10 days to two weeks, but he ended up missing three weeks.&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to hurt the team,&rdquo; Turgeon said, &ldquo;you&rsquo;re better off not being there, but you want so much to be involved.&rdquo;Before giving in and having surgery in January, Winnipeg&rsquo;s Randy Gilhen played three weeks with a left elbow so badly damaged he had to drain it before every game. He said much of what he learned about playing with pain came from watching Mario Lemieux.&ldquo;I played in Pittsburgh in 1991 when Mario&rsquo;s back was so bad he couldn&rsquo;t tie up his skates,&rdquo; Gilhen said. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re never forced to play hurt, but when you see a player like Mario doing those things, it motivates you to get out there.&rdquo;Pittsburgh Penguin Ulf Samuelsson is known for returning to the lineup in a fraction of the time originally allocated. Dallas Stars&rsquo; defenseman Craig Ludwig routinely plays through broken toes. Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; forward Shayne Corson began skating four days after a Dave Manson shot broke the fibula bone in his right leg.Players come back quickly and endure pain because they fear they will be displaced in the lineup and they feel disconnected from the team when injured.&ldquo;Any guy who has been injured will tell you it&rsquo;s a lot tougher to rehab than play,&rdquo; said Florida Panthers&rsquo; captain Brian Skrudland. &ldquo;The last two years I&rsquo;ve had eight little minicamps due to the fact that I&rsquo;ve been injured and injured and injured.&rdquo;In his nine-year career, Skrudland has broken an ankle and severely sprained another. He has broken both his big toes and missed six weeks with tom medial collateral ligaments in his right and left knees.He has had three major shoulder separations and bone chips that routinely irritated the inside of his elbows have been pulverized by the constant pounding.Skrudland has broken his fingers and thumbs on numerous occasions and once broke his nose in eight places. He stopped counting stitches years ago.Players who play through injury often pay a supreme price after their careers. Former New York Islander defenseman Ken Morrow had four surgical procedures performed on his right knee and estimates he played on gimpy knees for the last eight seasons of his NHL career.Now he often wakes up with pain in his shoulder. His knee aches if he stands on it too long and if Morrow wants to play 18 holes of golf, he rents a cart.&ldquo;You find out when you get up towards 40, you start feeling things you never felt before,&rdquo; said the 37-year-old Morrow. &ldquo;You ask yourself why and then you remember.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0039-03

Pain and suffering

<div class="byline">By Kevin Oklobzija</div>When the Quebec Nordiques decided in training camp that Rene Corbet would benefit from a year in the American League, the rookie left winger took the positive approach.He knew he&rsquo;d be able to learn the pro game while working on his deficiencies at the same time. His skating needed to improve. So did his defensive game.But in his time with the Cornwall Aces, Corbet has learned another important lesson: Change is a constant and only those who adapt advance.Corbet was the Nordiques&rsquo; second-round pick (24th overall) in the 1991 entry draft. He started the season on the left side of slick playmaking center Michel Mongeau with Denis Chasse on the right side.Corbet scored six goals in the first seven games and was the AHL&rsquo;s first rookie of the week. But then Mongeau was traded, so Aces&rsquo; coach Jacques Martin moved Niklas Anders-son into the top slot at center. The 6-foot, 185-pound Corbet continued to score, with 24 goals rAfrough 37 games.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the game, you never know what happens with a hockey team,&rdquo; Corbet said. &ldquo;You have to be able to play with anybody.&rdquo;The line combination changed again in January, this time in two spots. Chasse was included in the deal that sent Steve Duchesne from Quebec to the St. Louis Blues and Andersson sustained a season-ending shoulder injury which required surgery to repair a tom muscle.After an adjustment period, Corbet has recovered. He remains the AHL&rsquo;s leading rookie scorer with 29 goals and 61 points in 52 games. He led the team in goals and plus/minus with plus-21.&ldquo;He has worked very hard and has developed his intensity and defensive play,&rdquo; Martin said. &ldquo;It took him a while to adjust when we lost Chasse and Andersson, but he is still playing well.&rdquo;Corbet, 20, scored 79 goals last season to lead the Quebec League in that department. He also led in points with 148. In three seasons for the Drummondville Voltigeurs, he scored 150 goals in 164 games.He has become a dangerous scorer in the AHL and had a goal and one assist in nine games with Quebec during a mid-season recall.TENSE TIMES: A strike by city employees in Moncton, N.B.-including maintenance workers at the Moncton Coliseum-has prompted the Hawks to change their game-day procedures.Because of picketing at the rink, the Hawks and visiting teams were meeting at undisclosed locations, then boarding buses and heading to the Coliseum with a police escort.About 150 workers went on strike Feb. 18, and the Hawks first game after the strike was Feb. 23. About 40 police officers were at the rink to ensure safety and a crowd of about 2,200 attended the game. That total was about 350 below average.The Hawks hope the situation doesn&rsquo;t escalate as it did a year ago in St. John&rsquo;s, Nfld., where a strike by city maintenance workers forced the Maple Leafs to play on the road or in neutral sites for nearly three months.IT&rsquo;S A RAP: The Springfield Indians are gaining national publicity in a strange place: a music video by rap star Snoop Doggy Dogg.The controversial rapper wears Indians&rsquo; sweater No. 00 in his video for the song Gin and Juice and one of his sidekicks wore No. 16 to the American Music Awards show in February.The team is baffled by Snoop&rsquo;s apparel choice, since he is from Long Beach, Calif., and they are unaware of any ties he may have to Springfield.Owner Peter Cooney doesn&rsquo;t mind, though he&rsquo;s no rap fan. &ldquo;My favorite rapper is George Foreman,&rdquo; he said. &#9632;

Cornwall’s Ace Corbet rolls with the punches

<div class="byline">By Dave Eminian</div>A week after the Cincinnati Cyclones dismissed coach Dennis Desrosiers, additional reasons behind his firing surfaced.Initial reports said Cincinnati fired Desrosiers Feb. 16 because of poor chemistry between the second-year International League coach and the players. Then Bob Clarke, general manager of the parent club Florida Panthers, said Desrosiers actually had physical conflicts with his players.&ldquo;There were too many conflicts between players and (Desrosiers),&rdquo; Clarke said. &ldquo;It actually got to the physical level certain times. We hoped we could make it through the winter&hellip;it was a messy situation.&rdquo;No one with the Cyclones has confirmed physical incidents with the sometimes-verbally combative coach. Desrosiers has been unavailable for comment since being dismissed.&ldquo;The reference to Dennis having physical confrontations is a little misleading,&rdquo; said Cyclones&rsquo; owner Doug Kirchhofer, who fired Desrosiers in consultation with Clarke. &ldquo;To my knowledge, there has never been a physical incident between Dennis and his players. The firing was about where we felt we were going as a team.&rdquo;The Cyclones struck an agreement with the Washington Capitals Feb. 18 to have fired NHL coach Terry Murray behind the Cincinnati bench.Murray, who is still under contract to Washington, replaced interim coach Rich Kromm and guided the Cyclones to a 5-4 home-ice win over the Indianapolis Ice in his debut with the team Feb. 20.The 43-year-old Murray was 163-134-28 in five seasons with Washington and takes over a Cincinnati team that had resided in the Central Division lead for much of the season under Desrosiers.Kromm led Cincinnati to a 5-3 win over the Peoria Rivermen the day after the firing.MOTOR CITY MADNESS?: League sources at both the player and front-office levels are saying the IHL has settled on an 18th team and will include it in the four-franchise expansion class of 1994-95.The newest expansion market on the horizon is an old host to pro hockey-Detroit.Those sources say the proposed ownership group includes investors involved with the National Basketball Association&rsquo;s Detroit Pistons.The IHL, meanwhile, has raised its expansion fee to a cool $6 million, and among the reported investors willing to take them up on that price are three Russian businessmen.The Russian trio made the rounds at the IHL&rsquo;s all-star festivities in Fort Wayne in January and are lobbying for an expansion team in Orlando, Fla.I-OPENERS: The Peoria Rivermen lost center Tony Hrkac (50 points in 30 games) to NHL recall by the St. Louis Blues Feb. 21&hellip;The Chicago Blackhawks assigned veteran center Troy Murray (542 points in 791 career NHL games) to Indianapolis Feb. 18.The San Diego Gulls were outshot in 18 consecutive games in a streak still active through Feb. 21&hellip;The Russian Penguins have been pounded on their debut tour through the IHL with a 2-7-1 record. But one player who has risen to the task is Andrei Vasiliev, who had nine goals and 14 points in 10 games.Cleveland Lumberjacks&rsquo; winger Dave Michayluk, who had five goals and nine points in three games, was named IHL player of the week for the period ending Feb. 20&hellip;The Phoenix Roadrunners were one of the hottest teams in the IHL. posting a 9-3 record in their first 12 games under new coach Rick Dudley.Cleveland center Jock Callander&rsquo;s march toward 1,000 career points stood at 992 (611 goals and 381 assists) through Feb. 21. &#9632;

Cyclones deny reports of punchups with coach

<div class="byline">-Brendan Savage</div>Future Colonial League expansion teams may want to model themselves after the Flint Generals. The Generals have been the biggest surprise this season both on the ice and off.Not only did they rip off a CHL-best nine-game winning streak during the season&rsquo;s first month, but the Generals have also led the league in attendance most of the campaign.Flint was averaging a league-high 3,509 fans in the 4,021-seat IMA Sports Arena. That&rsquo;s the highest average by a Flint team since the Generals of the International League averaacd 3,552 in 1977-78.The club made itself tan-friendly and coachgeneral manager Peter Horachek assembled a top-notch front-office staff led by assistant GM Steve HillHill&rsquo;s business contacts in Flint have been invaluable and helped the Generals sell all of their dasher board ads.GAME EXPANSION: CHL governors vol-I ed to expand the schedule from 64 to 74 games next season. They also set next year&rsquo;s expansion fee at $250,000- the same as this sea-son-and would like to add two more teams in 1995-96. &#9632;

Generals deserve A-plus

<div class="byline">By Nick Gates</div>Johnstown Chiefs&rsquo; general manager John Daley is faced with a shorthanded situation. His team may have to play several men short the rest of the season.Daley and coach Eddie Johnstone intended to spend the final month of the season polishing their lineup for the playoffs. Now they are scrambling to fill a depleted roster.The Chiefs were down to 12 skaters-three below the East Coast League limit-and two goalies for games against the Birmingham Bulls and the Raleigh IceCaps after four players were injured in a two-car crash in Johnstown Feb. 18.The injured players included leading scorer Dennis Purdie. 21, who broke his nose and had a sore ankle; fifth-leading scorer Gord Christian. 24, who sustained lacerations; defenseman Campbell Blair, 27, and defenseman Ben Wyzansky, 23. Blair fractured his cheekbone and will undergo facial surgery. Wyzansky hurt his leg.All of the players are out indefinitely.Blair was the driver of the car which struck a vehicle driven by Parris Smith. 19, of Johnstown. The accident occurred just after midnight on an icy road about a mile from a house where the players live. Police have not determined the cause and no charges have been laid.&ldquo;We hit the hill. We hit the ice,&rdquo; Christian said in a statement released by the Chiefs. &ldquo;We had no control over what happened. The other car was there and we hit it. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re lucky to be alive. Hopefully, everyone will be all right.&rdquo;The Chiefs beat Birmingham 9-7 the next day. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve never seen anything like it,&rdquo; Daley said. &ldquo;Never. We were on an emotional pitch and jumped on them quickly.&rdquo;Fatigue caught up with Johnstown the next afternoon, however. The Raleigh IceCaps beat them 8-3.Daley has been strapped to find reinforcements for his team. The ECHL trade deadline has passed and teams are no longer able to sign players from Europe.They also cannot receive help from their American or International League affiliates unless the assigned player has already played at least one game with the ECHL team this season.BAD BREAK: A ruptured pipe at Ohio State Fairgrounds Coliseum forced the Columbus Chill to postpone two games-against Birmingham Feb. 18 and the Nashville Knights Feb. 20. No makeup dates were announced.Columbus has averaged 5,834 and sold out the arena 29 times this season to push its minorleague record for consecutive sellouts to 68.HELPING HAND: Dayton Bomber Tom Nemeth broke the ECHL record for assists in a season by a defenseman. He got his 64th and 65th assists in an 11-3 win Feb. 22. Scott White of the Greensboro Monarchs had 63 helpers in &lsquo;91-92. &#9632;

Automobile accident leaves Chiefs shorthanded

<div class="byline">By Jim Cressman</div>The one thing the Detroit Jr. Red Wings were concerned about as they headed down the playoff stretch was goaltending.Would it be good enough to win an Ontario League championship?Instead of making a trade, Jr. Wings&rsquo; general manager Jim Rutherford hired a specialty coach, former NHL goalie Greg Stefan.Stefan had been on the job only a month and his expertise was paying dividends as the Jr. Wings were beginning to run away with first place in the Emms Division.Jason Saal, in his second year, and Aaron Ellis, an OHL rookie after leaving Bowling Green University in a scholarship dispute, have benefitted from Stefan&rsquo;s nine years in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings.Saal climbed to the third-best goals-against average, 3.35, and a 25-10-3 record. The Jr. Red Wings had the third-fewest goals against.Stetan, 33, played in the NHL from 1981 to 1990 and had a 115-127-30 record and 3.92 GAA. He has lived in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills since his retirement and was working in real estate when he approached Rutherford, also a retired Red Wing goalie, about the coaching position with the Jr. Wings.&ldquo;I missed hockey,&rdquo; Stefan said. &ldquo;Jim and I played together one year and we became good friends. It was his last year with Detroit and my first. I figured this would be a good opportunity to get my feet wet.&rdquo;Stefan wants a coaching career.&ldquo;I want to get back in the NHL,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s my goal. You&rsquo;ve got to start somewhere and there&rsquo;s no place better than the OHL.&rdquo;The Oshawa Generals&rsquo; grad won&rsquo;t be content to stay a goalie coach. He has head coaching aspirations.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m enjoying working with goalies, but my gut feeling is I want to be behind the bench,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to be in the action every day.&rdquo;WE RE NO. 1: The North Bay Centennials, who have clinched first place in the Leyden Division for the first time in their history, are also getting first-rate goaltending.Sandy Allan registered his first OHL shutout in three seasons, stopping 29 shots to blank the Kingston Frontenacs 5-0 Feb. 20.Allan led the league with a 3.24 GAA and a 27-9-1 record.The last time the Cents recorded a shutout was Dec. 7, 1991, when Ron Bertrand stopped 25 shots in a 4-0 win over the Windsor Spitfires.The Dave Pinkney Trophy goes to the goalies on the team with the best goals-against average. The Centennials, who have never won the award, led the league in that category.The Centennials were 8-1-1 after acquiring B.J. MacPherson from Oshawa. The high-scoring center had four goals and 18 points.The Centennials&rsquo; first-place finish gives them a bye in the first round of the playoffs.RUBBER STAMP: The Newmarket Royals&rsquo; proposed move to Sarnia will be on the agenda of a March 14 governors&rsquo; meeting.Since this is the transfer of a franchise rather than an expansion application, the governors are virtually powerless to block the move, which will throw the divisions out of whack. The Royals are owned by Detroit Red Wing Dino Ciccarelli and two of his brothers.The league couldn&rsquo;t stop Royals&rsquo; former owner William Wise from moving the team out of Cornwall two years ago.RIVERS RUN DEEP: Sudbury Wolves&rsquo; defenseman Jamie Rivers was named player of the week for the period ending Feb. 20.The third-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 1993 had four goals and 11 points in three games and led OHL defensemen with 28 goals and 100 points. He was sixth in league scoring.Rivers owns the single-season points mark for a Sudbury defenseman. The previous mark was 93 by John Baby. &#9632;

Stefan steps in to give Jr. Wings’ goalies boost

<div class="byline">By Stuart Cowan</div>When the Quebec Nordiques traded the NHL rights of Laval Titan goalie Manny Fernandez to the Dallas Stars, he said &ldquo;this is a new way for me to motivate myself.&rdquo;Well, it has worked.The day after the Feb. 13 trade, Fernandez stopped 27 shots in a 4-0 shutout victory over the Hull Olympiques. Then Fernandez picked up his league-leading fifth shutout of the season Feb. 20 when he stopped 30 shots in a 3-0 win over the Granby Bisons.The following day, Fernandez was named the Quebec League&rsquo;s player of the week after posting a 3-1-0 record and 1.25 goals-against average in four games after the trade.The hot week improved Fernandez&rsquo;s season record to 26-12-1 with a 3.12 GAA, second best in the league behind College Fran&ccedil;ais&rsquo; Philippe DeRouville at 3.07. DeRouville was a fifthround pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992. Fernandez was Quebec&rsquo;s third-round pick the same year.200-GOAL CLUB: Hull right winger Martin Gendron became the 17th player in the 25year history of the QMJHL to score 200 career goals when he scored his 22nd of the season Feb. 18 in an 8-7 loss to the St-Hyacinthe Laser.The 20-year-old was traded from St-Hyacinthe to Hull prior to this season, but spent the first half of the year with the Canadian Olympic team. He had 22 goals and 43 points in 25 games with Hull, giving him 200-171-371 totals in 212 games.Other QMJHL players to hit the 200-goal plateau are: Mike Bossy (309), Stephan Lebeau (281) Normand Dupont (278), Jacques Locas (269), Normand Aubin (258), Sylvain Locas (254), Guy Rouleau (253), Mario Lemieux (247), Denis Cyr (236), Guy Lafleur (233). Patrick Emond (229), Patrice Tremblay (225), Steve Cadieux (224), Steve Chartrand (219), Steve Pepin (208) and Denis Pomerleau (207).Gendron was Washington&rsquo;s third-round pick in the 1992 NHL draft.TERRIFIC TRIO: Chicoutimi Sagueneens&rsquo; coach Gaston Drapeau said his top line of Dany Beauregard. Michel St-Jacques and Alexei Lojkin is the best he has ever coached in the QMJHL.That&rsquo;s quite a compliment, coming from a man who coached Yanic Perreault, Todd Gillingham and Paul Brousseau with the Trois-Rivi&egrave;res Draveurs in 1990-91. That trio combined for 163 goals and 429 points.The Chicoutimi trio had 116 goals and 308 points as of Feb. 21. The Sagueneens (38-21-3) defeated Hull 6-2 Feb. 21 to equal their point production of last season when they finished 3829-3.50-GOAL PLATEAU: Eric Daze became the first player in Beauport Harfangs&rsquo; history to score 50 goals in a season.Daze scored 40 seconds into the first period of an 8-3 win over the Victoriaville Tigres Feb. 18. The 6-foot-5, 213-pound right winger had 51 goals and 93 points in 56 games. He was the Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; fourth-round pick at last year&rsquo;s draft.Daze is the second player in the QMJHL to score 50 goals this season. Yanick Dube of the Laval Titan has reached the 60-goal plateau.The Harfangs set a team record Feb. 20 with their fourth straight win, 4-2 over Hull. The win gave Joe Canale&rsquo;s team a 7-1-0 record in its last eight games. The Harfangs (29-27-5) had already earned 27 points more than last season.NOTEBOOK: For the first time ever, the expansion Val d&rsquo;Or Foreurs came back from a two-goal deficit after two periods to win. The Foreurs scored four goals in the third period to beat the St-Jean Lynx 7-5 Feb. 19, much to the delight of the 1,576 fans at Vai d&rsquo;Or&rsquo;s Palais des Sports.St-Hyacinthe had its 10-game winning streak snapped Feb. 20 in a 6-4 loss to College Fran&ccedil;ais. However. St-Hyacinthe&rsquo;s 14-game unbeaten streak at home was intact. As of Feb. 23, the Laser was unbeaten at the Louis-Phil-ippe Gaucher Arena after a 3-2 loss to Vai d&rsquo;Or Dec. 4. &#9632;

Fernandez responds to trade

<div class="byline">By Rob Vanstone</div>Ryan Duthie could use a publicist.Even though the Spokane Chiefs&rsquo; center is enjoying a tremendous Western League season, he is being overshadowed by flashy teammates Valeri Bure and Maxim Bets.&ldquo;People talk about Bets and Bure a lot,&rdquo; said Duthie, the Chiefs&rsquo; captain. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t mind. It just takes a lot of pressure off me.&ldquo;If people are talking about them, that just draws less attention to me. I can go out and do my job when they&rsquo;re watching those two guys.&rdquo;Duthie, 19, has done his job and then some.He was third in league scoring with 49 goals and 105 points in 62 games, better totals than Bets or Bure. He has twice been named the WHL&rsquo;s player of the week this season.The New York Islanders picked Duthie in the fifth round (105th overall) of the NHL&rsquo;s 1992 entry draft. If the 5-foot-11, 178-pound Duthie doesn&rsquo;t sign with the Islanders by June 1, he will return to the draft pool for 1994.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s always an option,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The Islanders are a good club. They have a lot of tradition and I would like to sign with them.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard around the league that if I go back in the draft, I may go higher. But I don&rsquo;t really want to go back in there.&rdquo;STAYING PUT: The Moose Jaw Warriors are not for sale-and they&rsquo;re not moving.That is the word from Larry Booth, president of the financially strapped team.&ldquo;Read my lips: We&rsquo;re staying,&rdquo; Booth said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m starting to sound like George Bush.&rdquo;Bush and Booth can both relate to deficits. The community-owned Warriors carried a $75,000 debt into the 1993-94 season.Booth said the club could incur another $40,000 in losses if attendance stays at about 1,700 at the 2,969-seat Civic Centre. But he is undaunted.&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no longer any doubt we&rsquo;re staying,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;From what people are telling us around the city, they&rsquo;re saying, &lsquo;What can we do to keep the Warriors here?&rsquo;&rdquo;At a Feb. 10 public meeting, the Warriors&rsquo; indicated the team may be sold and relocated if sufficient funds could not be generated.Booth is confident the citizens of Moose Jaw will respond-so confident, in fact, the contracts of coach-general manager Al Tuer and assistant Len Nielsen were extended by two years. Both men were working under one-year pacts.&lsquo;It&rsquo;s nice,&rdquo; Tuer said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a real indication they&rsquo;re in this thing for the long haul.&rdquo;NOT GUILTY: Red Deer Rebels&rsquo; right winger Ken Richardson was acquitted Feb. 16 on charges of assaulting a fan in Prince Albert.An eight-woman, four-man jury reached a unanimous verdict in Richardson&rsquo;s favor.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very happy,&rdquo; said Richardson, 21. &ldquo;I felt like jumping up in the air when I heard it.&rdquo;The charge stemmed from a Dec. 19, 1992 incident. During a game against the Prince Albert Raiders at the Prince Albert Communiplex, Richardson threw his helmet into the stands and struck Eugene Sabo, who had thrown coffee in Richardson&rsquo;s face.Sabo was knocked unconscious. The fan also sustained slight nerve damage to his left eye.GORDON&rsquo;S GOOSE-EGGS: Swift Current Broncos&rsquo; goalie Ian Gordon carried six shutouts into late February.He is the first WHL netminder to record tha^ many shutouts since 1971-72, when John Davidson of the Calgary Centennials blanked eight opponents. Chris Worthy of the 1967-68 Flin Flon Bombers holds the WHL single-season record of 10 shutouts.Gordon shattered Swift Current&rsquo;s single-season shutout record. Henry Durkin had four for the 1971-72 Broncos. With one more shutout, Gordon will tie Swift Current&rsquo;s career record of seven, set by Durkin between 1970 and 1973.GAMES RECORD: Brandon Wheat Kings&rsquo; defenseman Dwayne Gylywoychuk owns the team record for career games played.Gylywoychuk, 20, played 312 games as of Feb. 23. He has broken Dale McMullin&rsquo;s record of 309. McMullin played for Brandon between 1970 and 1976. &#9632;

Duthie shines in spotlight of big Chiefs Bure & Bets

<div class="byline">By Andy Baggot</div>As the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular season came to a close, several coaches were asked to identify the leading goal-scorer for the Wisconsin Badgers.Andrew Shier, said one, referring to the senior right winger and leading point-scorer in the league. Kelly Fairchild, said another, referring to the junior center and the third-leading scorer in the WCHA. Jason Zent, said another, referring to the senior left winger who had nearly 90 career goals.All three were incorrect.With 11 goals in his past nine games, senior center Blaine Moore was the surprising leader for the Badgers with 17 goals. Shier had 15 while Fairchild and Zent had 14 each.Moore had just 36 goals in 104 games entering the season, a resume which would not indicate he could lead the Badgers in goal scoring.His career high was 16 as a sophomore and junior. In contrast, Shier had 22 as a junior. Fairchild 25 as a sophomore and Zent 27 as a sophomore.But Moore, 24, had five multi-goal games this season, including three in a five-game stretch in February. And the undrafted native of Kitimat, B.C., was extremely hot down the stretch.&lsquo;I&rsquo;ll ride it out as long as I can,&rdquo; Moore said. &ldquo;The key is that I&rsquo;m getting opportunities.&rdquo;&ldquo;The last month, Blaine has come up with some big plays at crucial times,&rdquo; said Badgers&rsquo; coach Jeff Sauer. &ldquo;He never gives up. He&rsquo;s playing with great confidence.&rdquo;SCHILL SOUND: When people talk about the top goaltenders in the WCHA, Jamie Ram of the Michigan Tech Huskies and Jim Carey of Wisconsin usually top the list.Ram, a senior, was a West all-America last season, while Carey, a sophomore, was a second-team all-WCHA pick and rookie of the year last season.But heading down the stretch, Lee Schill of the Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves has estab-lished himself among the best. So much so that Colorado College coach Don Lucia believes Schill should be considered for player-of-the-year honors.Schill had numbers comparable to Ram and Carey with a 3.04 goals-against average and.903 save percentage.During one nine-game stretch, he had a 5-2-1 record, 2.77 GAA and.913 save percentage. Perhaps most impressive is the fact the junior had allowed only 24 third-period goals in 27 appearances overall.FOREIGN INTRIGUE: The Northern Michigan Wildcats had the unique distinction of placing five alumni players on four teams competing at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway.Defenseman Brad Werenka (1986-91) played for Canada; center Mark Beaufait (1988-92) with USA; defenseman Eric LeMarque (198690) with France; and goaltender Bruno Campese (1981-82) and defenseman Phil DeGaetano (1981-85) with Italy. &#9632;

Badgers’ Moore surprises

<div class="byline">By Larry Mahoney</div>The Maine Black Bears and Boston University Terriers once again etched their names into the Hockey East record books.The Black Bears and Terriers skated to a 0-0 tie Feb. 19 in Boston. It was the Terriers&rsquo; first 00 tie in their 1,670-game, 73-year history and Maine&rsquo;s first 0-0 deadlock in its 17-year, 632-game history.J.P. McKersie made 34 saves for the Terriers, while Blair Allison made 26 for Maine. They each recorded their first collegiate shutout in the game.&ldquo;It was a terrific game,&rdquo; said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. &ldquo;It was one of the best regularseason games I&rsquo;ve ever been involved in. Each team had great scoring chances. It was clean and very intense.&rdquo;Added BU coach Jack Parker: &ldquo;Obviously the star of the game for us was McKersie. He had another terrific game, but has been great all year.&rdquo;McKersie, a 22-year-old junior, was pulled from a game against Maine a year ago and was anxious to atone for his bad performance.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been thinking about it ever since I got pulled last year.&rdquo; McKersie said. &ldquo;I kept thinking, just don&rsquo;t say the word &lsquo;shutout.&rsquo; I feel like it&rsquo;s a jinx. It&rsquo;s the same deal as when you&rsquo;re pitching a no-hitter.&rdquo;Allison credited the sellout BU crowd with helping him record his first career whitewash.&ldquo;The fans get all over you and I think it helps you get into the game a little bit,&rdquo; the freshman said.BIG HURT: Maine defenseman Jason Weinrich sustained severely sprained right knee ligaments against Boston University.The senior from Gardiner, Mass., will be sidelined for the rest of the season. He had missed 12 games earlier this year with a tom posterior cruciate ligament in the same knee.Weinrich, the brother of Chicago Blackhawks&rsquo; defenseman Eric Weinrich. had three goals and seven points in 18 games.He was injured in a collision with Maine goalie Blair Allison, who also sustained a knee injury that will sideline him until early March.THAT&rsquo;S NO BULL: Center-left winger Greg Bullock became the first UMass-Lowell freshman to eclipse the 50-point mark since Jon Morris in 1984-85.Bullock is also the first rookie to reach the 20-goal plateau since 1986-87. He had 21 goals and 50 points in 29 games.Meanwhile, Chiefs&rsquo; senior goalie Dwayne has moved into second spot in career saves at the school. He had made 2,703 saves with three regular-season games left.EXTRA, EXTRA: The Merrimack Warriors are almost unbeatable in the clutch.Merrimack&rsquo;s 3-2 overtime win over the Northeastern Huskies Feb. 17 gave the Warriors an 8-0-2 mark in the extra frame since joining Hockey East five seasons ago. &#9632;

Goalies McKersie, Allison great in rare scoreless tie

<div class="byline">By Tom Boggle</div>All it took to make Brian Farrell one of the most prolific goal-scorers in the nation was about 40 feet.As a junior for the Harvard Crimson last season, Farrell played the point on the power play, but only scored one power-play goal in 31 games.This season, Harvard coach Ronn Tomas-soni decided to put Farrell in front of the net, where he could take advantage of his 6-foot, 200-pound body.The result? In 23 games Farrell had 21 goals, including 15 on the power play. His emergence has turned Harvard&rsquo;s power play into one of the most potent units in the country, scoring one power-play goal in every three opportunities.&ldquo;We had Brian on the left point because he has such a powerful shot,&rdquo; Tomassoni said. &ldquo;But then we made the decision to put him down low because he&rsquo;s so strong and difficult to move away from the net. Maybe we had him in the wrong place all along.&rdquo;With Farrell, junior Steve Martins and senior defenseman Sean McCann operating down low on the power play, Harvard has been lethal with the man advantage.When a game is on the line, Farrell is at his best. Exactly one-third of his goals (seven) have been winners, giving him the national lead in that category.Farrell was a fifth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1990 draft. He played in just nine games as a sophomore because of a leg injury, but came back with a solid season as a junior, scoring 10 goals and 33 points. But the 21-year-old&rsquo;s accomplishments were overshad-owed by Ted Drury.&ldquo;To be fair to Brian, in the first two years, he missed a lot of games because of injuries,&rdquo; Tomassoni said. &ldquo;Last year, he had a real good season, but like everyone else, he was in Teddy&rsquo;s shadow.&rdquo;HOT STREAK: Harvard and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute were the hottest teams in the league down the stretch.The Crimson had a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) snapped with a loss to the Boston College Eagles in the Beanpot final, but the Crimson was 10-2-1 after Dec. 11.Rensselaer got rolling at the same time. Following a 4-3 loss to the Princeton Tigers Dec. 10, the Engineers went 10-1-4 in their next 15 games. But the Engineers may not be delighted at earning home ice for the first round of the ECAC playoffs. The Engineers were 9-1-3 on the road, but only 7-5-1 in Houston Field House.GALLANT EFFORT: If the ECAC gave an award for the most improved player, Union College junior goalie Mike Gallant would definitely be in the running.Gallant played only 10 games last year and had a 4.79 goals-against average, but his 3.66 GAA this year is one reason why the Dutchmen were bidding for their first ever playoff appearance in three years in the league. &#9632;

Farrell powers Crimson

<div class="byline">By Matt Carlson</div>In four seasons with the Michigan Wolverines, goaltender Steve Shields has deflected more criticism than shots.&ldquo;Shields-bashing&rdquo; is popular around the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Detractors of the 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior argue he has had impressive numbers during his career simply because the teams in front of him have been strong.Critics maintain Shields crumples in the clutch and is not good enough to lead the Wolverines to a national championship.Michigan coach Red Berenson disagrees.&ldquo;He has been a big part of this team and a plus for us all season,&rdquo; Berenson said. &ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s a big-game goalie.&ldquo;People have said he&rsquo;s a winner because he has played for good teams, but this year he has faced a lot more shots. We easily have the youngest defense in the league and at this point, they&rsquo;re not skilled.&rdquo;Shields, 21, was taken 101st overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1991 draft. And despite his unorthodox style, he has an impressive career record of 106-22-8. His 106 wins are an National Collegiate Athletic Association record and his career goals-against average is 2.70.So does the North Bay, Ont., native get upset when he hears critics say he can&rsquo;t lead the Wolverines to a national title?&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been hearing that kind of stuff since I was a freshman,&rdquo; Shields said, &ldquo;but I think at this point in my career I&rsquo;ve accomplished quite a bit. My goal is to get in front of the puck regardless of how I look.&rdquo;&ldquo;Whenever I have a bad game, it seem like people start to talk again. But everyone has bad games. I just laugh at it.&rdquo;Shields had a 23-3-1 record, 2.42 goals-against average and.906 save percentage this season.MAC IS BACK: It took a threat from Illinois-Chicago coach Larry Pedrie, but Flames&rsquo; center Chris MacDonald is starting to live up to his potential.Pedrie had MacDonald, a junior, penciled in for at least 50 points this season, but the Charlottetown, P.E.I., native had just five goals and 21 points in 26 games.In his next four games, however, the 22-year-old MacDonald was more assertive on the ice and moved the puck much better. The result was four goals and nine points.&ldquo;I woke him up a couple of weeks ago,&rdquo; Pedrie said. &ldquo;I told him he was very average and too good to play like that. I was tired of seeing that and if he didn&rsquo;t improve, I wasn&rsquo;t going to play him any more.&rdquo;FAIR PLAY: Alaska-Fairbanks senior center Dean Fedorchuk broke Steve Moria&rsquo;s school record of 108 goals when he scored Feb. 19 against Army. Moria set the mark from 1982-85. &#9632;

Shields remains confident despite constant criticism

<div class="image-hero"><img title="f0043-01" src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0043-01356/6290285-1-eng-US/f0043-012.jpg"></div><div class="figure-block image-bleed"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0044-01262/6290278-1-eng-US/f0044-012.jpg" title="f0044-01" width="3119" height="3515"></div> &#9632;

f0043-01

CLASSIFIED

<div class="byline">By Jay Greenberg</div><div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-01214/6290316-1-eng-US/f0045-012.jpg" title="f0045-01" width="382" height="532"></div>As the 60-game mark whizzed by, I felt like Grant Jennings trying to stand up at the blueline on Sergei Fedorov. The Florida Panthers were over.500. The San Jose Sharks and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. The Quebec Nordiques had fewer points than the Tampa Bay Lightning.I must have joined Gordie Roberts in The Twilight Zone. Desperately, I searched the rosters for some form of reality and fortunately, found Marty McSorley still playing for the Kings.Of course, it has long been the theory of casual fans that anything happening through February doesn&rsquo;t amount to a hill of Wayne McBeans. March 1 is the traditional start of the who-is-going-to-play-whom-in-the-playoffs season, so I checked the standings to figure out how the races were shaping up.Immediately, I began drooling over that potential Northeast Division first-round series pitting the second-place Montreal Canadiens, who won last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup, against the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins, who should have won last year&rsquo;s Stanley Cup.&ldquo;Boy, it doesn&rsquo;t get any better than that,&rdquo; I said to myself. In fact, in 1992, after six of eight first-round series went to a seventh game, the playoffs got decidedly worse. And that was far from the only year the early rounds proved to be the best rounds, too.There have been two seven-game finals since 1971 and few down-to-the wire semifinals. Good teams getting bumped early has had something to do with this, of course, but the slackening of emotions as non-traditional rivals bump in the night of later rounds has also been a factor.As a result, the NHL had no good reason to think of fixing a system that wasn&rsquo;t broken. Oh, some of the teams didn&rsquo;t like playing the same opponents every year, but they only complained when they couldn&rsquo;t beat them. Playoff attendance was good, except where boring or bad teams gave reason for it to be bad, and rivalries nurtured in hard-fought playoff series carried over to make subsequent regular-season meetings more interesting.But that was before the NHL figured out how exciting it would be to need two sets of standings to figure out possible playoff matchups. Second-place Montreal playing third-place Pittsburgh didn&rsquo;t leave enough to the imagination, so a one-against-eight conference format was arranged that left the divisional standings that run in the newspapers every day virtually meaningless. Since a lot of sports editors haven&rsquo;t caught on to this and even more of them don&rsquo;t care, fans need to buy not only a paper, but a tablet of ledger paper and a pencil to figure out who is currently in and out of the playoffs.Of course, there is an even better reason for the new system than just to make it harder to follow the game. Over a number of years, fans will be subjected to fewer playoff matchups such as Quebec/Montreal, Boston Bruins/Montreal, New York Islanders/New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues/Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings/Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames/Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles/San Jose. And it&rsquo;s a good thing, too, because those kinds of natural rivalries build up far too much excitement.The rationale for dumping the divisional playoffs was that fifth-place teams in stronger divisions were missing the playoffs in favor of third-and fourth-place clubs in weaker ones. With two expansion teams making geographical snug fits into each of the Pacific and Atlantic Divisions, I bought this argument as valid until the new clubs proved so startlingly competent.Sure, the Blackhawks, the fifthplace team in the Central Division, are well ahead of the Ducks, the fourthplace Pacific team. Under the old system, Chicago would be out and Jeremy Roenick and Darryl Sutter would have something new to bicker about. I&rsquo;d feel sorry for them, too, but not too sorry. The Blackhawks are only a.500 team. We&rsquo;re not exactly talking the Ottawa Senators getting in at the expense of Montreal.The advocates of the conference setup cannot argue for its complete pureness, anyway. The ninth-place team in the Eastern Division could very well wind up with more points this year than the eighth-place one in the Western. Also, since the NHL continues to use an unbalanced divisional schedule, an uneven playing field still exists.Whatever small gains in fairness are accomplished by conference playoffs aren&rsquo;t worth the ebbing of the rivalries or the absurdity of the NHL maintaining virtually meaningless divisional standings.No wonder the Kings, a finalist a year ago, might miss the playoffs. Thanks to the new setup, they have to go to too much trouble to determine just how much trouble they are in. &#9632;

f0045-01

Give me former format any time

<div class="byline">By Michael Ulmer</div>It seemed like such a good idea at the time.Fifteen years ago, the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques were absorbed by the NHL from the World Hockey Association and began playing catch-up.Hartford. Quebec and Winnipeg were allowed to protect four players, two skaters and two goalies. The Oilers only kept three, although one, Wayne Gretzky, was all they needed.Fast-forward to 1993-94 and a look at winning percentages shows the four teams were actually more successful in their inaugural NHL seasons than in their 15th.Hartford, Quebec, Edmonton and Winnipeg combined for a winning percentage of.397 in 1979-80. This year, the four clocked in at.368 through games of Feb. 28.Barring a miracle, none of the four will make the playoffs this season. Joe Sakic is the only player from any of the four in the league&rsquo;s top 25 scorers. All four are either in the bottom third of the league in goals-for and goals-against or at least perilously close.The picture is bleak off the ice as well. In terms of percentage of capacity, the Whalers have the worst attendance in the NHL and the Oilers aren&rsquo;t far behind. Both teams are at the bottom of the pile in merchandise sales.The Oilers are now bound by a court injunction to Edmonton after owner Peter Pocklington made public his intentions to shift the franchise to Minneapolis. The Jets, meanwhile, say they could lose $6 million this year and as much as $14 million next year. Whalers&rsquo; owner Richard Gordon has said he will lose $12 million if the club draws 9,500 per game (it&rsquo;s averaging about 10,500) and rumors persist about an impending franchise shift.All four have enjoyed good times in the NHL. but these are dark days for the WHA survivors.<div class="figure-block image-block"><img src="/var/site_2854/storage/images/media2/images/f0045-02132/6290347-1-eng-US/f0045-022.jpg" title="f0045-02" width="570" height="1006"><figcaption class="caption-body">Rookie Jason Arnott gives the Oilers hope for the future.</figcaption></div>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know that I&rsquo;d call this a case of never really catching up,&rdquo; said Winnipeg Jets president Barry Shenkarow. &ldquo;This is a glitch. Two teams, ourselves and Quebec, are having disappointing seasons, but last year we had very good ones. Hartford has good talent.&ldquo;Only Edmonton is in what you would call a rebuilding cycle, but they certainly had a lot of success in the past.&rdquo;This will be the first year at least one of the four teams won&rsquo;t qualify for the post-season. With five Stanley Cups to their credit, the Oilers have won more league championships that the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks, two Original Six members of the NHL.&ldquo;There are a lot of teams, not just the WHA teams that haven&rsquo;t won in a long time,&rdquo; said Oilers&rsquo; assistant GM Bruce MacGregor. &ldquo;How long has it been since Detroit or Chicago won, and they&rsquo;ve been around a lot longer.&rdquo;And while all four teams are enduring poor seasons, there is hope. Edmonton has rookie-of-year candidate Jason Arnott, Winnipeg has Teemu Selanne, Hartford has a player to build around in Chris Pronger and Quebec has the best group of prospects in the league.Whalers&rsquo; coach Pierre Maguire said his team&rsquo;s troubles are temporary.&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve still got one of, if not the youngest team in the league and a lot of good young talent. We&rsquo;re turning this around.&rdquo;The four former WHA teams are victims of a rapidly changing present, not the legacy of the past. Each exists in a small market, which poses a unique set of challenges and difficulties.MacGregor said refitting a team today is harder than starting from scratch in 1979.&ldquo;We had seen Mark Messier in the WHA, where a lot of NHL teams hadn&rsquo;t. We had a jump in Finland,&rdquo; MacGregor said. &ldquo;Now everybody has seen the same players and with so many more teams, it&rsquo;s a long time between draft picks. It&rsquo;s a lot tougher now.&rdquo; &#9632;

f0045-02

As the World turns

<div class="byline">By George Johnson</div>Each year the Calgary Flames distribute a poster in aid of charity, a series of limited edition prints called The Quintology Collection.The first showed players and coaches doing their biker bit, straddling Harleys and dressed in black leather. This year&rsquo;s edition, called Fire On Ice, saw them perched atop a fire truck.Next year&rsquo;s poster should more accurately reflect their predicament: Maybe photograph the players stuffed inside, say, an ambulance.Captain Joe Nieuwendyk, unquestionably the club&rsquo;s MVP through 63 games, became the latest casualty. A sprained right knee will sideline him at least until late March, perhaps bringing the Vancouver Canucks clearly back into the Pacific Division title picture.Through 63 starts, the Flames lost 319 mangames to injury, already a franchise record.&ldquo;I was trying to cut through the middle,&rdquo; said Nieuwendyk of his injury, sustained Feb. 24 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. &ldquo;I slid into the net and caught my heel on the post. It didn&rsquo;t give. I knew right away. I felt it burning.&rdquo;Nieuwendyk&rsquo;s importance to the Flames this season cannot be underestimated. He led in points (72), goals (36), game winners (seven), and power-play goals (14) before going down. And he was tied with Gary Roberts for the top plus-minus among forwards (plus-21).He was on pace for his first 100-point year.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m disappointed, but this isn&rsquo;t the end of my season.&rdquo; Nieuwendyk said. &ldquo;This knee injury isn&rsquo;t as severe as the last one. I&rsquo;ll be back and rested for the playoffs.&rdquo;Other players will have to pick up the slack. Robert Reichel is doing his bit. A game-winner against the Los Angeles Kings Feb. 26 was the Czech sniper&rsquo;s 15th goal in 17 games.&ldquo;No doubt this is going to hurt us,&rdquo; Theoren Fleury said. &ldquo;Nieuwy was skating well. He&rsquo;s a guy who broke a lot of games open for us. You&rsquo;re not going to replace a guy like that.&rdquo;The injury means Kelly Kisio, the milliondollar off-season signing, may finally get the chance to live up to advance billing. Kisio was the team&rsquo;s best center at training camp between Fleury and Roberts. Then he went down with a fractured kneecap and hasn&rsquo;t found his niche.OH, SHOOT(OUT)!: For King and country.That was a slogan during Calgary coach Dave King&rsquo;s decade at the helm of the Canadian national team. His ties to the program remain.&ldquo;I feel like I&rsquo;ve been through the ringer,&rdquo; he said after Team Canada lost Olympic gold in a shootout with Sweden. &ldquo;I was up at 6 a.m., got the coffee on, the bacon, waffles, sausages. It was great. Then we delayed practice. If that game was still going, we still wouldn&rsquo;t be practising. We&rsquo;d still be watching.&rdquo;Canada lost the gold medal match in an overtime shootout, 3-2 to Sweden. King led Canada to silver in the 1992 Olympics.&ldquo;That&rsquo;s the rules, so it&rsquo;s fair for both teams,&rdquo; King said. &ldquo;But I think that&rsquo;s an awful way to lose a chance at a gold medal. My feeling is that they didn&rsquo;t lose the game, they lost the shootout. They lost a contest, not a game.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Al Maclnnis bruised a knee in the win over Los Angeles and did not accompany the team to Detroit, its first stop on a key four-game eastern road swing. The injury was minor and expected to keep him out only a couple of days.<h2>CALGARY</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Rotert Reichel, Kelly Kisio. Joel Otto.LW-Gary Roberts, German Titov, Paul Ranheim, Paul KruseRW-Theoren Fleury. Ron Stern. Sandy McCarthy, Wes Walz, Guy LaroseLD-Frank Musil, Trent Yawney. Gary Suter. Dan Keczmer.RD-Chris Dalquist. Lee Norwood. Kevin Dahl. Michel Petit.G-Mike Vernon. Trevor Kidd.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Al Maclnnis, D. bruised knee, day-to-day. Joe Nieuwendyk, C, sprained knee. Indefinite. Mike Sullivan, LW, pulled groin, day-to-day. Andrei Trefilov, G. right knee surgery, indefinite. &#9632;

Nieuwendyk latest add to sick bay

<div class="byline">By Rick Sadowski</div>The bitterness felt by the Los Angeles Kings towards their California rival, the San Jose Sharks, didn&rsquo;t end when Marty McSorley&rsquo;s four-game suspension did.&ldquo;They will take any avenue they can to ensure themselves of a playoff position.&rdquo; said general manager Nick Beverley. &ldquo;We will do anything we can-on the ice-to secure a playoff position. Beyond that, we look forward to playing San Jose again.&rdquo;The Kings and Sharks, along with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, are involved in a heated Western Conference playoff race. The Kings were to meet the Sharks three more times this season, but not until March 19.Beverley said he planned to voice his objections to Sharks&rsquo; director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi before then.The Kings were angry about the suspension which NHL vice-president Brian Burke gave McSorley Feb. 23-after viewing a videotape sent by the Sharks-for gouging the left eye of San Jose winger Bob Errey.Beverley disputed Burke&rsquo;s conclusion that McSorley committed the act. He blasted the Sharks for &ldquo;embellishing&rdquo; a tape of the incident and presenting it to league supervisor Jim Christison shortly after the Feb. 19 game. He also said Burke was guilty of &ldquo;some prejudgment&rdquo; in the case.McSorley, who lost about $40,000 in salary, returned Feb. 28 when the struggling Kings played the Montreal Canadiens.&ldquo;Eye-gouging, that&rsquo;s a pretty serious charge,&rdquo; McSorley said. &ldquo;I think somebody tried to make an educated guess about what happened and I&rsquo;m really disappointed.&rdquo;The Kings were told Errey sustained eye injuries that would prevent him from playing, but that didn&rsquo;t prove to be the case. Beverley&rsquo;s response: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s using a seeing-eye dog with skates on.&rdquo;McSorley and Beverley expressed anger over Burke&rsquo;s comparison of the incident with one involving Chicago Blackhawk Chris Chelios earlier in the season. Chelios was suspended four games for gouging the eye of Vancouver Canuck Dana Murzyn.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry, I&rsquo;m not Chris Chelios,&rdquo; McSorley said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not the same incident. I could have easily beaten the tar out of Bob Errey.&rdquo;ZERO TOLERANCE: Robb Stauber picked up his first career shutout Feb. 23, but still didn&rsquo;t get a win.The second-year goaltender made 34 saves while Dallas Star Andy Moog registered 34 in only the fourth scoreless tie since the NHL instituted overtime in 1983-84.&ldquo;I guess it wasn&rsquo;t a thriller,&rdquo; Stauber said. &ldquo;Maybe as I get older it&rsquo;ll get better. I&rsquo;ll tell people I stopped five breakaways.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Center Wayne Gretzky finally signed his three-year, $25.5 million contract Feb. 21, five months after he agreed to the deal. Gretzky will receive $2 million each season and $2 million after each season, with the remainder deferred.<h2>LOS ANGELES</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 21: Wayne Gretzky. C, signed three-year contract. Feb. 23: Marty McSorley, D. suspended four games by NHL. Eligible to return Feb. 28: Rob Murphy. C. recalled from Phoenix (IHL). Feb. 24: Murphy assigned to Phoenix.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Wayne Gretzky, Robert Lang. Pat Conacher, Brian McReynolds.LW-Mike Donnelly, Luc Robitaille, Warren Rychel. Keith Redmond.RW-Jari Kurri. John Druce, Phil Crowe, Gary Shuchuk. Dixon Ward.Lt-Alex Zhitnik. Darryl Sydor. Jim Paek, Tim Watters.RD-Rob Blake, Chartie Huddy. Marty McSoriey. Doug Houda.G-Kelly Hrudey. Robb Stauber.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Dave Taylor, RW. concussion, indefinite. Dave Thomlinson, RW. broken left hand, out for season. &#9632;

McSorley’s suspension enrages bitter Beverley

<div class="byline">By Elliott Pap</div>As the Winter Olympics wound down in Lillehammer, Norway, the Petr Nedved soap opera began winding up again in Vancouver.The unsigned free agent was rumored to be headed to either the Chicago Blackhawks, New Jersey Devils or Toronto Maple Leafs according to various reports. Canucks&rsquo; general manager Pat Quinn claimed it was all news to him.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not any closer to a deal at this point.&rdquo; Quinn said.Nedved, who played for Team Canada in Lillehammer, is available again with the completion of the Games. The Maple Leafs hinted they were preparing an offer sheet for the Group I free agent, feeling it might be easier than obtaining him via a trade.&ldquo;I haven&rsquo;t seen an offer sheet so I don&rsquo;t know what&rsquo;s going on there,&rdquo; said Quinn, who would love to solve the Nedved matter and get on with the stretch drive. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know whether these are good rumors or bad rumors. Who knows in this business? There&rsquo;s not much coming out of Toronto that you can count on.&rdquo;Quinn, however, did not discount the possibility he may find an offer sheet on his desk sometime in early March.&ldquo;It may happen now because Petr has played very well over there,&rdquo; Quinn said. &ldquo;Maybe some team will put itself in a position to take a chance.&rdquo;The Canucks are in a no-lose situation. They have managed, although not terribly successfully, without Nedved all season long so if they receive a blue chipper in return, it could give them a significant boost.Nedved&rsquo;s agent, Tony Kondel, said more than a few NHL teams have been keeping a close eye on his 22-year-old client.&ldquo;Obviously there is interest with Petr playing overseas,&rdquo; Kondel said. &ldquo;Quite a few GMs are very impressed. We&rsquo;ll have to wait and see what happens.&rdquo;There is also talk of a three-way deal between the Canucks, Leafs and Quebec with Nedved landing in Toronto, Mike Ricci in Vancouver and Dave Ellett and Rob Pearson in Quebec.GRANDPA DAVE: With his craggy features and balding pate, defenseman Dave Babych is often mistaken for someone older than 32.In fact, teammate Gino Odjick thinks Babych deserves the nickname &ldquo;Gramps&rdquo;.&ldquo;Why Gramps? Just look at him,&rdquo; chuckled Odjick. &ldquo;But I say that just to tease him. He&rsquo;s really having a good year. Of course, the reason for that is because he uses all the experience you get with old age.&rdquo;Babych is playing far beyond the capability of anybody&rsquo;s grandfather, though. He has been Vancouver&rsquo;s most consistent defenseman this season after Jyrki Lumme. Babych has also been durable, missing just four of Vancouver&rsquo;s first 61 games.&ldquo;You&rsquo;re always happy when you can play this many games,&rdquo; said Babych, now in his 14th season. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy with the year, although there is always room for improvement.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: Jyrki Lumme tied his career high in points (44) with the winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning Feb. 26&hellip;Trevor Linden broke a nine-game goal drought with an empty-netter against Tampa. Linden, who had 13 goals in his first 20 games, had 28 after 61 games.<h2>VANCOUVER</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Jimmy Carson, Murray Craven, Cliff Ronning, John McIntyre.LW-Geoff Courtnall, Martin Gelinas. Gino Odjick. Shawn Antoski.RW-Pavel Bure. Trevor Linden, Sergio Momesso, Tim Hunter.LD-Dana Murzyn. Rodert Dirk, Brian Glynn. Adrien Plavsic.RD-Jyrki Lumme. Dave Babych. Jiri Slegr.G-Kirk McLean. Kay Whitmore.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Greg Adams, LW. bruised left foot, day-to-day. Gerald Diduck, D, bruised left foot, day-to-day. &#9632;

Nedved circus starts again as Olympics wrap up

<div class="byline">By Robyn Norwood</div>Joe Sacco has found the finishing touch.Sacco is an outstanding skater, but too often in the past the right winger for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hasn&rsquo;t been able to bury his chances.But the month of February provided a different story.Sacco had two-goal performances in back-to-back games against the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers in mid-February, scored seven goals in nine games and had 18 points in a 22-game stretch.That hot spell alone left him one short of the 19 points he scored with the Toronto Maple Leafs the past two seasons. Overall, Sacco had xx goals and xx points in xx games this season.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s nice to see Joe score on some of his chances, because his speed creates so many,&rdquo; said Mighty Ducks&rsquo; coach Ron Wilson.Sacco, 25, played for the U.S. Olympic team in 1992 along with teammates Tim Sweeney and Sean Hill. This year was his younger brother David&rsquo;s turn. David was an assistant captain of the U.S. team that finished eighth in Lillehammer, Norway.Wilson had a bit of fun after Sacco&rsquo;s hot streak began, playfully referring to him as David, &ldquo;because David&rsquo;s the only Sacco I know who scores like that.&rdquo;Joe Sacco scored two goals in the first four games of the season, but more than three months later he had managed only three more. Then he scored eight in February.&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m more confident right now,&rdquo; Sacco said. &ldquo;It was a little frustrating at times this season, but Ron has had confidence in me.&rdquo;The line of Sacco with Shaun Van Allen at center and Troy Loney on right wing was the Ducks&rsquo; best as the season entered the March stretch drive.&ldquo;You give a guy with Joe&rsquo;s speed and talent consistent chances and he&rsquo;s going to score,&rdquo; Loney said. &ldquo;He was snakebit earlier. He was hitting posts. But his speed opens up so much for all of us, even when he doesn&rsquo;t score.&rdquo;GRADING THE TRADE: The assessment of the Ron Tugnutt-for-Stephan Lebeau deal will take time, but Guy Hebert&rsquo;s first two performances as the No. 1 goalie had to make general manager Jack Ferreira squirm just a bit. Hebert allowed four goals in back-to-back losses to the St. Louis Blues Feb. 20 and Buffalo Sabres Feb. 23. Hebert came around with a much sharper performance Feb. 26 in a 6-3 victory over the Quebec Nordiques in his next start and Lebeau came through with his first goal and first assist for the Ducks.&ldquo;I&rsquo;d be lying if I said the two losses didn&rsquo;t bother me,&rdquo; Hebert said. &ldquo;I worked a long time to get to this position.&rdquo;In the meantime, new backup Mikhail Shtal-enkov was sharp in his first game since November, holding the powerful Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-2 tie Feb. 24.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Alexei Kasatonov&rsquo;s broken foot was a tough blow, but at least came when the Ducks had seven healthy defensemen.<h2>ANAHEIM</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>None.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Bob Corkum. Stephan Lebeau, Shaun Van Aften, Anatoli Semenov, Lonnie Loach, Patrik Camback.LW-Tim Sweeney. Troy Loney, Garry Valk, Stu Grimson.RW-Terry Yake, Joe Sacco. Peter Douns, Todd Ewen.LD-Randy Ladouceur. Bobby Dollas. Bill Houlder, Mark Ferner.RD-Don McSween, David Williams. Sean Hill.G-Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtalenkov.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Alexei Kasatonov, D, right foot fracture, indefinite. Steven King, RW. reconstructive surgery on left elbow. out for season. Jim Thomson, RW, reconstructive surgery on left shoulder, out for season. &#9632;

Speedy Sacco finally cashing in on opportunities

<div class="byline">By Dan Barnes</div>When Edmonton Oilers&rsquo; prospect Dean McAmmond was assigned to the Cape Breton Oilers of the American League earlier this season, he packed one thing he now wishes he&rsquo;d left behind: A bad attitude.&ldquo;I went down and I felt I&rsquo;d walk right onto the power play and be the first-line winger and that wasn&rsquo;t the case,&rdquo; said McAmmond, who rejoined the big team Feb. 18 and promptly scored five points in his first four games.&ldquo;I found there are a lot of good players down there and it is a strong league. It was good for me. It put things in perspective.&rdquo;McAmmond, 20, credits Cape Breton coach George Burnett, tabbed as the man most likely to get Edmonton&rsquo;s head coaching job next year, with helping him get his game together.&ldquo;George was patient,&rdquo; McAmmond said. &ldquo;He talked to me a lot and it wasn&rsquo;t easy for him. I was a tough person to talk to at first.&rdquo;A first-round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 1991, McAmmond was a junior star and an integral part of a World Junior Championship team. Cape Breton general manager Dave Andrews said it&rsquo;s not uncommon for players who experience that kind of success to be shaken when they&rsquo;re assigned to the farm.&ldquo;First, they&rsquo;re disappointed to be here and second they expect to dominate the league,&rdquo; Andrews said. &ldquo;They have to come to the realization that being depressed isn&rsquo;t going to get them back to the NHL. In my experience, I&rsquo;ve found it can take 15 to 20 games.&rdquo;That was McAmmond&rsquo;s experience, too.&ldquo;At first, it really was a mental battle,&rdquo; McAmmond said. &ldquo;I was very down on myself.&rdquo;WRATH OF GRAPES: Oilers&rsquo; GM-coach Glen Sather engaged in a war of words with Hockey Night in Canada&rsquo;s Don Cherry.Sather suggested Cherry should stop showing hockey violence on his Coach&rsquo;s Comer segments. Sather made the statement at the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission hearings in Ottawa, where an application was heard for a pay television hockey channel.&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve always been his friend,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got about 50 million enemies. But I never guessed it would be him who&rsquo;d stab a knife in my back.&rdquo;Cherry fired back on air, calling Sather a hypocrite and saying he should be more concerned about his team than what Cherry says.&ldquo;I think he&rsquo;s just upset because I criticized his attitude toward fighting,&rdquo; Sather said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s always promoting it because it helps his tapes.&rdquo;NOTEBOOK: The Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the injunction obtained by Edmonton Northlands which prevents the Oilers from moving until the expiration of their Coliseum lease in 1998-99. If the two sides can&rsquo;t work out an agreement, the issue goes to court in May or June to decide whether or not the Oilers have a valid lease. Northlands has sued owner Peter Pocklington for refusing to live up to financial terms of the lease and he has sued Northlands for allegedly reneging on a May 13 agreement. Pocklington wouldn&rsquo;t comment on the Appeal Court decision. Meanwhile, Dana Warg, the man trying to bring the Oilers to the Target Center in Minneapolis, said he has a mystery buyer lined up if Pocklington will sell.<h2>EDMONTON</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 27: Brad Zavisha, LW. assigned to Cape Breton (AHL).<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-Jason Arnott. Doug Weight, Craig MacTavish, Dean McAmmond, Peter White.LW-Mike Stapleton, Brent Grieve, Scott Thornton. Scott Pearson, Louie DeBruskRW-Zdeno Ciger, Ilya Byakin, Kelly Buchberger, Shjon Podein.LD-Luke Richardson. Fredrik Olausson, Igor Kravchuk.RD-Dave Manson. Bob Beers. Adam BennettG&mdash;Bill Rantord, Fred Brathwaite<h3>INJURIES</h3>Shayne Corson, LW. broken left leg. Indefinite. Kirk Maltby, RW, fractured right ankle, indefinite. Steve Rice, RW. broken knuckle on right hand, indefinite. Vladimir Vujtek, C. left shoulder surgery, out for season. &#9632;

McAmmond gets dose of reality

<div class="byline">By Mike Weaver</div>San Jose Sharks&rsquo; coach Kevin Constantine is convinced new interpretations of the rules are at the heart of his team&rsquo;s slump.The Sharks, who have been the least penalized team in the NHL all season, lost for the sixth time in seven games-a 2-0 setback to the Detroit Red Wings Feb. 26- and they were hit with a rash of penalties during that stretch.&ldquo;It doesn&rsquo;t make sense,&rdquo; Constantine said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know how a team that was the least penalized before the all-star break can now be consistently more penalized. We aren&rsquo;t doing anything different, so there has got to be some other explanation for it.&rdquo;The penalties are coming more frequently since the league directed referees to crack down on restraining fouls such as holding, hooking and interference.Constantine is convinced the mandate was aimed directly at defense-minded expansion teams such as the Sharks, Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.&ldquo;Is there a perception that Florida, Anaheim and San Jose aren&rsquo;t supposed to be good?&rdquo; Constantine asked. &ldquo;Is there a tendency to say we must be doing something illegal because we&rsquo;ve been having some success?&rdquo;Constantine said his criticism isn&rsquo;t aimed at the referees because they&rsquo;re doing what they have been told. He also said the situation doesn&rsquo;t excuse the Sharks, who allowed three power-play goals and a shorthanded goal in a 6-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators Feb. 24.&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to take away from the fact that our team needs to play better to win,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We have to do a better job.&rdquo;NEW DEALS: Wingers Pat Falloon and Johan Garpenlov signed new contracts with the Sharks Feb. 23.Falloon, the second overall pick in the 1991 entry draft, signed for $3.8 million over four seasons (including this season), and Garpenlov signed for $500,000 per year for this season and an option year. Falloon&rsquo;s package includes a $400,000 signing bonus. Both players had been in the option year of previous contracts.&ldquo;I wanted to stay here,&rdquo; said Falloon, who had 18 goals and 38 points in 62 games. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m happy about that.&rdquo;Garpenlov, who was obtained from Detroit in a trade for defenseman Bob McGill near the end of the 1991-92 season, also had reason to be satisfied.His new salary matches that of linemates Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov, as well as goalie Arturs Irbe. Garpenlov had 13 goals and 35 points in 59 games.NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Jeff Norton sprained his left ankle Feb. 19 against the Los Angeles Kings and is expected to be sidelined until mid-March. Norton sprained the same ankle Dec. 11 and missed 14 games&hellip;Rookie defenseman Mike Rathje strained a ligament in his left knee during a 6-4 loss to Ottawa Feb. 24 and will return to action the second week of March.The Sharks&rsquo; record without center Igor Larionov slipped to 2-15-5 when they were beaten 2-0 by Detroit Feb. 26. Larionov missed that game because of the flu. The Sharks were 2015-6 in games in which Larionov was in the lineup.<h2>SAN JOSE</h2><h3>TRANSACTIONS</h3>Feb. 23: Pat Falloon, RW. and Johan Garpenlov, LW. signed contracts.<h3>ROSTER</h3>C-lgor Larionov, Todd Elik, Jamie Baker, Dale Craigwell, Viacheslav Butsayev,LW-Johan Garpenlov, Ga&eacute;tan Duchesne, Bob Errey, Ray Whitney.RW-Sergei Makarov. Pat Falloon, Jeff Odgers, Rob GaudreauLD-Sandis Ozolinsh. Doug Zmolek, Jay More. Mike Lalor,RD-Vlastimil Kroupa. Tom Pederson. Shawn Cronin.G-Arturs Irbe, Jimmy Waite.<h3>INJURIES</h3>Jeff Norton, D. sprained left ankle, March 14. Mike Rathje, D, strained left knee, day-to-day. &#9632;

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March 11, 1994

PLUS MINUS

Jets’ Paddock promises changes

INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE

AMERICAN LEAGUE